TELECOM Digest     Fri, 5 Aug 2005 23:53:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 356

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Craig Niedorf Remembered - Part 1 (TELECOM Digest Archives Reprint)
    Craig Niedorf Remembered - Part 2 (TELECOM Digest Archives Reprint)
    Re: Nextel False Advertising (Joseph)
    Re: Analysts: ATMs Highly Vulnerable to Fraud (Wesrock@aol.com)
    Re: Credit Report, was Re: AT&T Customers Taken By Alltel (Damon Brownd)
    Re: Today's Long Distance Circuits? (Neal McLain)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are
included in the fair use quote.  By using -any name or email address-
included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article
herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the
email.

               ===========================

Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without explicit written consent.  Chain letters,
viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.

We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because
we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands
against crime.   Geoffrey Welsh

               ===========================

See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri,  5 Aug 2005 22:42:12 EDT
From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: Craig Niedorf Remembered - Part 1


It was fifteen years ago, about this time in the summer of 1990, that
Craig Niedorf, then a college student about 20 years old, was told by
the federal government that they would not be finding him guilty
after all. The federal prosecutor came up with a total crock based
on some flaky testimony by BellSouth. To save embarassment to 
themselves because of this prosecutorial misconduct, the government
simply decided to let him go, after all the hell they had first put
him through, for his alleged 'hacking'. I thought you might like to
see the story I ran in the Digest fifteen years ago, over the last
weekend of July, 1990.

   Date: Fri, 27 Jul 90 16:55 CDT
   From: TK0JUT2%NIU.BITNET@uicvm.uic.edu
   Subject: NEIDORF TRIAL OVER! GOVERNMENT DROPS ALL CHARGES!

Less than halfway through the trial, and before it had presented its
remaining witnesses, but government dropped all charges against Craig
Neidorf. Defense Attorney Sheldon Zenner said that Prosecutor Bill
Cook's decision was "in line with the highest standards of good
government and ethical conduct." Zenner said that the government could
have continued to the last and let the jury decide, but did the
honorable thing.

One reason for the surprise decision, according to one inside source,
was that, as the testimony and cross-examination proceeded, the
government realized that BellSouth had not been forthcoming about the
extent of availability of the document and its worth. The prosecution
apparently relied on the good faith of BellSouth because of the
previously good working relationship it had with it and other telecom
companies.

Craig Neidorf was ecstatic about the decision, and feels vindicated.
He can now resume his studies, complete his degree, and seriously
consider law school.  He *WILL NOT* resume publication of PHRACK!

Zenner praised Bill Cook's decision to drop all charges, and added he
is not angry, but appreciative. Zenner also felt that the the efforts
of EFF, CuD, and the many individuals who supported Craig were
instrumental in creating credibility and visibility for the case,
generating ideas and information for the defense, and facilitating
enlisting some of the prospective defense witnesses to participate.

There are those who have taken the Ed Meese line and assumed that
Craig must have done *something* or the government wouldn't be
prosecuting him. Others have not been as strident, but have put their
faith in "The System," assuming that the process works, and as long as
Craig's procedural rights were protected, we should "wait and see."
Others on the extreme end have said that those of us who supported
Craig would change our minds once all the evidence has come out, and
we were criticized for raising issues unfairly when the government, so
it was claimed, couldn't respond because it had to protect Craig's
privacy and was required to sit in silence. One prosecutor even said
that when all the evidence comes out, Craig's supporters would slink
back under their rocks.

There is little cause for Craig's supporters to gloat, because the
emotional and financial toll on Craig and his family were substantial.
Dropping the charges hardly means that the system works, because if it
worked, there would have been no charges to begin with. From the
beginning, Craig expressed his willingness to cooperate, but the
government made this impossible with its persecution. Craig's
supporters, from the beginning, have published the evidence, explained
the issues, and we can still see no reason for his indictment. The
evidence presented by the government in some cases could have been
presented as well by the defense to show that *no* criminal acts
occurred.  When witnesses must be coached into how to present negative
evidence, and when little, if any, can be adequately constructed, one
would think that somebody in the prosecutor's office might realize
there simply isn't a case there.  The government had no case in the
beginning, they could not construct one, and they had nothing at the
end. So, dropping the charges does not indicate that the system works,
but rather that sometimes a just outcome may result despite unjust
actions of over-zealous agents. The prosecution not only lost the
case, but reduced its credibility in all areas of computer
enforcement.

The claim that a recent TELECOM Digest contributor made that the SS
and others may intentionally overstep bounds to establish more clearly
the lines of law may be true, but what about the costs to innocent
victims of such Machiavellian tactics?  Do we really live in such a
cynical society that we find it acceptable to place lives, careers,
and reputations at great risk?

Now, however, it is time to move on and address the lessons learned
from the experience. Some of the issues include how computerists can
be protected from overzealousness, how law enforcement agents can
perform their legitimate tasks of gathering evidence without violation
rights, and how legislation can be written to reflect technological
changes that protect us from predators while not subverting our rights
with loose, broad, or inaccurate language. This has been the goal of
Mitch and the EFF, and it is one on which we should *all* unite and
focus our energy.

    ------------------------------

    Date: Fri, 27 Jul 90 03:23 CDT
    From: TK0JUT2%NIU.BITNET@uicvm.uic.edu
    Subject: Days Three and Four of Craig's Trial


Some final comments on Day Three of Craig Neidorf's trial:

It was curious that, in introducing the PHRACK/INC Hacking Directory,
a list of over 1,300 addresses and handles, the prosecution seemed it
important that LoD participants were on it, and made no mention of
academics, security and law enforcement agents, and others. In some
ways, it seemed that Bill Cook's strategy was to put HACKING (or his
own rather limited definition of it) on trial, and then attempt to
link Craig to hackers and establish guilt by association.  It was also
strange that, after several months of supposed familiarization with
the case, that neither Bill Cook nor Agent Foley would pronounce his
name correctly.  Neidorf rhymes with eye-dorf. Foley pronounced it
KNEEdorf and Cook insisted on NEDD-orf. Further, his name was spelled
incorrectly on at least three charts introduced as evidence, but as
Sheldon Zenner indicated, "we all make mistakes." Yeh, even Bill Cook.
One can't but think that such an oversight is intentional, because a
prosecutor as aware of detail as Bill Cook surely by now can be
expected to know who he is prosecuting, even when corrected.  Perhaps
this is just part of a crude, arrogant style designed to intimidate,
perhaps it is ignorance, or perhaps it is a simple mistake.  But, we
judge it an offense both to Craig and especially his family to sit in
the courtroom and listen to the man prosecuting their son to
continually and so obviously mispronounce their name.

DAY FOUR OF THE TRIAL (THURSDAY, JULY 26):

Special Agent Foley continued his testimony, continuing to describe
the step by step procedure of the search, his conversation with Craig,
what he found, and the value of the E911 files.  On cross-examination,
Agent Foley was asked how he obtained the original value of the files.
The value is crucial, because of the claim that they are worth more
than $5,000. Agent Foley indicated that he obtained the figure from
BellSouth and didn't bother to verify it. Then, he was asked how he
obtained the revised value of $23,000. Again, Agent Foley indicated
that he didn't verify the worth.  Because of the importance of the
value in establishing applicability of Title 18, this seems a crucial,
perhaps fatal, oversight.

Next came the testimony of Robert Riggs (The Prophet), testifying
presumably under immunity and, according to a report in the last issue
of CuD, under the potential threat of a higher sentence if he did not
cooperate. The diminutive Riggs said nothing that seemed harmful to
Craig, and Zenner's skill elicited information that, to an observer,
seemed quite beneficial. For example, Riggs indicated that he had no
knowledge that Craig hacked, had no knowledge that Craig ever traded
in or used passwords for accessing computers, and that Craig never
asked him to steal anything for him.  Riggs also indicated that he had
been coached by the prosecution.  The coaching even included having a
member of the prosecution team play the role of Zenner to prepare him
for cross-examination. It was also revealed that the prosecution asked
Riggs to go over all the back issues of PHRACK to identify any
articles that may have been helpful in his hacking career.  Although
it may damage the egos of some PHRACK writers, Riggs identified only
one article from PHRACK 7 that MIGHT POSSIBLY be helpful.

What are we to make of all this? So far, it seems that the bulk of the
evidence against Craig is weak, exaggerated, and at times seems almost
fabricated (such as the value of the E911 file and Craig's "evil"
attempt to organize a league of "criminals." We have been told
repeatedly be some law enforcement officials and others that we should
wait, because evidence will come out that could not be discussed in
public, and that this evidence would silence critics. Some have even
said that those who have criticized law enforcement would "slink back
under their rocks" when the evidence was presented. Perhaps. But, so
far at least, there has been no smoking gun, no evidence that hasn't
been discussed previously, and no indication of any heinous conspiracy
to bring America to its knees by trashing the E911 system, robbing
banks, or destroying the technological fabric of society.  Perhaps a
bombshell will be introduced before the prosecution winds up in a few
days.  But, even if Craig is ultimately found guilty on any of the
counts, there is certainly nothing presented thus far that appears to
justify the severity of the charges or the waste of state resources.
To paraphrase that anonymous writer in the last issue of CuD, I can't
help but wonder why we're all here!

------------------------------

Date: Fri,  5 Aug 2005 22:35:21 EDT
From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: Craig Niedorf Remembered - Part 2 


Another incident during that summer of 1990 we shouldn't forget were
the various newspaper accounts written by reporter Joe Abernathy. 
Although Mr. Abernathy in his earlier articles got a lot of
details wrong, by this point (summer, 1990) he was doing better at
reporting facts, not hearsay and rumors. Abernathy talked in this
article about the government sponsored witch hunt that went on
for couple of yeas in 1989-1990.

ANOTHER ARTICLE BY JOE ABERNATHY ABOUT THE INTERNET IS LOCATED IN THE
MAIN DIRECTORY OF TELECOM ARCHIVES UNDER THE TITLE
'ABERNATHY.INTERNET.STORY' .

     Date: Wed, 5 Sep 90 19:29:47 CDT
     From: edtjda@MAGIC712.CHRON.COM(Joe Abernathy)
     To: tk0jut2%niu.bitnet@UICVM.UIC.EDU
     Subject: Text of chron-sundevil article
 
 
War on computer crime waged with search, seizure
  
By JOE ABERNATHY
Houston Chronicle

The government's first assault on computer crime, unveiled with
fanfare six months ago, has generated few criminal cases and is
drawing allegations that federal agents are using heavy-handed
tactics.

Although only four people  have  been  charged,  searches  and
seizures  have  been conducted in at least 44 homes or businesses
in the crackdown, called Operation Sun Devil.

   One prosecutor attributed the delay in  filing  cases  to  the
vast amount of information that must be sorted. Authorities would
not say, however, when or if  additional  charges  might  be  re-
turned.

   Sun Devil, so named because it began in Arizona and  targeted
an  evil  that  investigators deemed biblical in stature, is held
forth as a sophisticated defense of the nation's computer  in-
frastructure.  Computer-related  abuses  will cost the nation's
business community $500 million this year, according to some esti
mates.

   Operation Sun Devil and several  related  investigations  made
public in March have been under way for more than two years. Hun-
dreds of agents from the Secret Service, U.S. attorney's  office,
the  Bell  companies,  and assorted law enforcement agencies are
involved.

   But the operation  is  coming  under  fire  for  what  critics
describe  as  unjustified  searches  and seizures of property and
electronic information protected by the Constitution.

   Among examples they cite:

   * An Austin publishing house  is  clinging  to  life  after
Secret  Service  agents  confiscated  equipment  and manuscripts,
leaving behind an unsigned search warrant.
   * A Missouri college student faces an extra year in  school
and  $100,000  in legal fees after defending himself from charges
that he stole a proprietary document from the telephone  company
by publishing it in a newsletter.
   * The wife and children of a Baltimore corporate  computer
consultant were detained for six hours while he was interrogated
in a locked bedroom and his business equipment  was  confiscated.
With  no  way  to support itself, the family has sunk into pover-
ty.

   At a press conference in March, authorities presented Sun  De-
vil as a full-scale response to a serious criminal threat.

   "The United States Secret Service, in cooperation with the  Un-
ited  States  attorney's  office and the attorney general for the
state of Arizona, established an operation utilizing sophisticat-
ed investigative techniques," a press release said, adding that
40 computers and 23,000 data disks had been seized in the initial
sweep.

   "The conceivable criminal violations of  this  operation  have
serious implications for the health and welfare of all individu-
als, corporations, and United States government agencies relying
on computers and telephones to communicate," it continued.

   Six months later, most officials are silent about  Sun  Devil.
But  at  least  one  principal  denies excesses in the operation.

    "I  am  not  a  mad  dog prosecutor, "  said  Gail
Thackeray, assistant attorney general for the state of Arizona
and the  intellectual  parent  of  Operation  Sun  Devil.
"(Agents) are acting in good faith, and I don't think that can be
said of the hacker community.

   "Over the last couple of years, a lot of us in different places
 --  state,  federal  and  local  -- have been getting hit with a
dramatic increase in complaints from computer hacker victims.  So
in  response to that the Secret Service started the Sun Devil in-
vestigation trying to find a more effective way to deal with some
of this."

   Thackeray said the Secret  Service,  an  agency  of  the  U.S.
Treasury  Department,  assumed  jurisdiction  because computer
crime often involves financial fraud. Most of the losses are  at-
tributed to stolen long distance service.

   "It's not unusual for hackers to reach six figures  (of abuse)
in  one  month''  at  a  single business location, she said. "This
whole mess is getting completely out of hand.''

   But computer experts critical of Sun Devil contend the  opera-
tion  also is out of hand. They have rallied behind the banner of
the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which contends that computer
networks represent a fundamentally new realm of self-expression
into which constitutional protection must be extended.

   Some visitors to this realm deem it cyberspace,  using  termi-
nology borrowed from a science fiction genre set in a gritty fu-
ture in which computer and telephone lines become extensions  of
one's intellect and even physical being.

   Hackers, as those who enter others' computers without authori-
zation are known, are referred to as cyberpunks by some computer
network users.

   It may have been this connection that drew the Secret  Service
to  the  Austin  offices of Steve Jackson Games, which early this
spring  was  about  to  publish  something  called  "GURPS Cyber-
punk."

   It is a rule book for a role-playing adventure along the lines
of Dungeons & Dragons, played with dice and not computers.

   The cover page, however, credits the Legion of Doom,  a  self-
professed underground hackers group, for assistance in providing
realism. The  game's  author  admits  discoursing  with  the  Le-
gion.

   This link ensnared the company in the  nationwide  sweep  con-
ducted  March  1, when 27 search warrants were executed in 14 ci-
ties. A number of cases targeted members of the Legion.

   The  Secret  Service  seized  all  copies  of  the   Cyberpunk
manuscript, along with the computers on which it was being stored
prior to publication.

   "One of the Secret Service agents told Steve Jackson that they
thought  the  book  was  a  handbook  for computer crime,'' said
Sharon Beckman of the Boston firm Silverglate &  Good,  Jackson's
attorney.  "It looks like what (this) was, in effect, was a prior
restraint on protected speech,  speech  protected  by  the  First
Amendment."

   Jackson's company, which had revenues  of  $1.4  million  in
1989, was nearly dealt a death blow by the raid. Cyberpunk was to
be its main spring release, but it would  have  to  be  rewritten
from  scratch. Jackson was not allowed access to the reams of in-
formation stored on the confiscated equipment.

   "We had to lay off eight people, and we had to cut way back on
the  number  of  products we were producing," said Jackson, who
put the cost of the raid at $125,000. That doesn't  include  lost
revenues, "or  the  value to the company of the eight (of 17) em-
ployees we had to lay off, because I don't know where to start to
put a value on that."


   Beckman described her client as an  ordinary  businessman  who
uses a computer in his business. "He's not a computer hacker. He's
not even a particularly sophisticated computer user," she  said.

   "It was terrifying,'' Jackson recalled." I was in the hands of
a  lot of keen, earnest, sincere people who had no idea what they
were doing and who had federal law enforcement powers.

 "It's frightening that they can do this to innocent people."
  No charges have been filed.

   Some of the equipment has been returned, but some was  damaged
beyond  repair.  Jackson  said  agents recently acknowledged that
some equipment indeed is gone forever.

   The Secret Service, Arizona U.S. attorney's office and Justice
Department  all  refused to discuss any specifics of Jackson's
case, or any activities associated with Operation Sun Devil.

  "We're a very efficient organization, and we follow  the  guide-
lines  set  forth by the law," said Michael Cleary, assistant to
the special agent in charge of the  Secret  Service  in  Chicago,
which  has  jurisdiction  in the case. "If we have a signed, sworn
affidavit, and a search warrant, we execute that warrant."

   Cleary wouldn't say why the search warrant used against  Steve
Jackson was not signed. A request by Jackson's attorney for more
information went unanswered.

   Beckman said a raid conducted without a signed warrant  would
violate  Fourth  Amendment  protection against unwarranted search
and seizure.

   Mike Hurst, a Steve Jackson Games editor who lost his  job  to
the  raid  on the company, offered bitter advice: "The Secret Ser-
vice ought to make some attempt to find out if there's actually a
case  involved  before  they  begin searches and confiscations of
property."

   In one incident, the government did file a case, only to aban-
don it when it fell apart in court. The defendant, Craig Neidorf,
is going back to college at  the  University  of  Missouri  this
fall,  but  his  reputation is stained, he's having to repeat his
senior year, and he's $100,000 in debt.

   An intrusion into the computers of  Bell  South  by  a  Legion
member  in 1988 set off much of the activity in Operation Sun De-
vil, including the case against Neidorf.

   While in Bell South's computer, Legion  member  Robert  Riggs
found  and copied a document describing administrative aspects of
the emergency 911 system.

   Riggs and associates Franklin E. Darden Jr. and E. Grant,  all
three  of  whom  are  from  Georgia,  recently  pleaded guilty to
federal conspiracy charges and  await  sentencing.  Darden  and
Riggs  face  up  to  5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Grant
faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

   Neidorf, publisher of Phrack, a newsletter  for  hackers,  was
accused  of  theft  for  republishing  the 911 document stolen by
Riggs. Prosecutors stopped the trial after  the  document  was
shown to be freely available.

   His case received widespread coverage because it  raised  is-
sues  of  free  speech.  Phrack was published electronically via
computer networks instead of on paper, and thus did  not  immedi-
ately  receive  the  First  Amendment  protection that virtually
would have been assured a paper document, according to  Sheldon
Zenner, Neidorf's attorney.

   "Going through this last seven months is not something I would
wish on my worst enemy," said Neidorf, 20, who faced 31 years in
prison. "It devastated my parents. My  grandparents, they  didn't
take it well. They're in their 80s.

   "I kind of broke down myself at one point. I don't like to talk
about it exactly."

    Leonard Rose, a computer consultant in  Baltimore,  let  the
Legion forward network mail through his computer, an everyday ar-
rangement on the sprawling Internet research and  education  net-
work.  But  because  the  name  of  his  computer appeared in the
group's electronic address, he was portrayed by the government as
the mastermind of the group.

   "I've lost everything because of it," he said.  Business con-
tracts worth $100,000 a year, $70,000 worth of computer equipment
used in his business, his top secret clearance, his wife's  dream
home,  their  credit  rating, cars, are gone. The Roses now live
with their two young children in an apartment furnished with  two
mattresses and a TV.

  "I used to look at people in the street and I  couldn't  under-
stand  how  they  could get there," Rose said. "I couldn't under-
stand how you could sink that low, but now I understand. I under-
stand a lot more now."

   He was never charged as part of the Legion of Doom  investiga-
tion,  but during that probe he was found to have received an il-
licit copy of a computer  program  that  must  be  licensed  from
AT&T.

   "What Len Rose is accused of turns software piracy into a felo-
ny,"  said John Perry Barlow, a co-founder of the Frontier Foun-
dation. "If the government is prepared to go out and turn  every-
body  who has engaged in software piracy into a felon, it'll make
the war on drugs look like a minor undertaking."

   Detractors say  that  the  investigative  techniques  used  in
Operation  Sun Devil are at best rude, at worst illegal. Authori-
ties respond that they are adjusting to a new world.

   Most concerns center on bulletin  board  systems,  a  frequent
point of access into the nation's computer network byways. Locals
call the BBS, which then moves private electronic mail and  pub-
lic  messages  into the public networks, which as a whole are re-
ferred to as Internet or simply the matrix.

   "The government is seizing electronic mail like crazy, in  the
sense  that  it's  seizing BBS's and all their contents," Barlow
said. "It's the equivalent of seizing post offices and  all their
contents."

   The privacy of electronic mail is protected under the Computer
Fraud  and Abuse Act of 1986, which is also the law setting forth
most of the conditions under which computer hacking can  be  con-
sidered a crime.

    "We've seized lots of BBS's," acknowledged Thackeray of  the
Arizona  attorney  general's  office, although search warrants
were obtained only for the owner of each computer, not for  each
person with electronic mail stored on that computer.

   Benjamin Wright, a Dallas attorney  who  writes  and  lectures
frequently on electronic data interchange, said that surveillance
of electronic mail poses serious questions  even  when  conducted
properly under the supervision of a court.

   "A huge amount of information could build up, so there could be
a great mass of information laying at the government's feet," he
said. "To tap into all the phone lines of a corporation would be a
lot  of work, but if there's this database building up of a large
part of a company's business, then there's a reason for  being  a
little bit concerned.

   "This applies to private people as much as it applies  to  cor-
porations."
   Authorities see the BBS seizures as preventive medicine.

   "The only thing I have ever found that has an effect  on these
kids is to take their computer away," Thackeray said. "It final-
ly sinks in, 'I'm really not going to get this back.' "

   But Barlow criticizes that  approach.  "Essentially  what they
have  done is to fine (the suspect), without conviction, for the
entire value of his  property,"  he  said.  "They're  not making
arrests.  This  is  turning the whole search and seizure into the
punishment."
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The preceding appeared Sunday, 9/2/90, on the front page
of the Houston Chronicle.
 
Please send comments to: edtjda@chron.com

ANOTHER ARTICLE ON THE INTERNET BY JOE ABERNATHY IS LOCATED IN THE
MAIN TELECOM-ARCHIVES DIRECTORY UNDER THE TITLE 'ABERNATHY.INTERNET.STORY'


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder what the past fifteen years 
has done for Craig, Len Rose and those other guys. And also of
interest to me would be what the past fifteen years has done to the
several individuals who were responsible for this misguided attack on
computer 'hackers'.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Nextel False Advertising
Date: Mon, 01 Aug 2005 10:18:56 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 20:37:41 -0700, Telecom digest editor wrote:

> but now these guys are stuck with a couple phones that are useless,
> and a contract to boot.

Did you even check this out?  To my knowledge if you sign up with a
carrier and move to an area that they do not serve they usually will
let you out of a contract.  They may need some proof such as a utility
bill, but more than likely they would be let out of any contractual
obligation.  If no one checked that out that's yet another error that
they've made.

> When newer technologies are sort
> of a mystery even to relatively experienced users, how is it that kids
> in their early/mid twenties getting a 'cellular phone' for the first
> time in their lives are expected to know anything?

<sigh> No one needs to play the "victim" in this day and age.  You do
some not so hard research on the net and you find an answer!  Just
typing "cellular phone basics" into Google brings up over 800,000
hits!   Going to google and asking the question "cellular service
independence missouri" brings up several results including a Google
page showing all registered cellular towers around Independence.  It
also shows you which services are available.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are wrong! I am no where close to
Independence, MO; I am in Independence, KS, about 300 miles southwest
and I know what cell towers we have around here. Independence, MO
is a suburb of Kansas City, MO, which is nowhere near me. But I will
explain to Justin how to use Google and look for the information he
will need if he wishes to cancel his contract. He will be returning
back home to Orlando, FL in about a week.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: Wesrock@aol.com
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 19:42:04 EDT
Subject: Re: Analysts: ATMs Highly Vulnerable to Fraud


In a message dated Wed, 3 Aug 2005 22:36:32 -0400 Monty Solomon
<monty@roscom.com> writes:

> By BRIAN BERGSTEIN AP Technology Writer

> BOSTON (AP) -- By failing to scan security codes in the magnetic
> strips on ATM and debit cards, many banks are letting thieves get away
> with an increasingly common fraud at a cost of several billion dollars
> a year.

> Surprisingly, Litan said, perhaps half of U.S. financial institutions
> have not programmed their ATM systems to check the security codes.
> Con artists specifically seek out customers of banks that do not
> validate the second track on the strip, she said.

A very large number of ATM's are owned by ATM companies, not banks,
who provide ATMs in many convenience stores, stadiums race tracks and
arenas, shopping malls and casinos.  To blame the banks for what these
companies do is disingenuous.


Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com

------------------------------

From: Damon Brownd <dbxyzzy@att.net>
Subject: Re: Credit Reports, was Re: AT&T Customers Taken Over By Alltel
Organization: AT&T Worldnet
Date: Sat, 06 Aug 2005 01:23:41 GMT


Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message 
news:telecom24.355.17@telecom-digest.org:

> Maybe you got special consideration as a soldier. Perhaps enlisted men
> and women got a special deal because it wouldn't be easy for them to
> deal with credit issues overseas ... But as far as I know, the rest of
> us were not entitled to any free reports unless we were denied credit
> or employment (as I posted earlier) or if there was a state law
> specifying we were not to be charged. There have been some state laws
> on the books prior to this past year.

See https://www.annualcreditreport.com. 

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 20:54:46 -0500
From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com>
Subject: Re: Today's Long Distance Circuits?


hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> By how, I mean what physical medium is chosen and how is it
> routed.  Do they use satellite, microwave, fibre optic, coax,
> plain wire?

Whereupon Justa Lurker <JustaLurker@att.net> responded:

> Depends on your choice of designated long distance carrier, and
> the extent to which it owns and operates its own facilities vs.
> buying capacity 'wholesale' from one of the big guys or perhaps
> a "carrier's carrier" (Wiltel comes to mind here).

Or even a "carrier's carrier's carrier."

Back in the 1980s, Wiltel provided capacity to Norlight, which in turn
provided capacity to IXCs.  At the time, Norlight was owned by a
consortium of Minnesota- and Wisconsin-based electric utility
companies.  Most of the network was constructed using grounded Optical
Ground Wire (OPGW) installed at the top of the electric transmission
lines owned by the member utility companies.  OPGW is a metallic
(usually aluminum-clad steel) conductor with optical fibers buried
inside; it is installed at the top of a transmission line in place of
a static wire, where it serves the same purpose as the static wire --
protecting lower conductors from lightning.

http://www.phillipsfitel.com/english/48specs.html

Norlight faced a problem when it tried to extend its network to Chicago: 

Commonwealth Edison Company.  ComEd was not a member of the consortium
that owned Norlight, so it had no financial interest in Norlight's
success.  ComEd's price for letting Norlight use its transmission
lines was higher than Norlight was willing to pay.

So Norlight turned to Wiltel instead.  Wiltel (then a subsidiary of
Williams Pipeline, a gas and petroleum transmission company) installs
fiber optic cables in abandoned pipelines.  Norlight contracted with
Wiltel for dark fiber between Maple Park IL and Chicago, bypassing
most of ComEd's transmission lines.

Thus, Wiltel became a "carrier's carrier's carrier" (and AFAIK, it
still is, although since I've retired I've lost contact with the folks
I used to deal with).

Neal McLain

------------------------------


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