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TELECOM Digest Wed, 30 Nov 2005 15:34:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 541 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Class Action Lawsuit Against SBC by Its Employees (Cohen, Millstein) WSIS Report - ccTLD Problems Linger (Ronda Hauben) Report: Security Flaw Allows Wiretaps to be Evaded (harold@hallikainen.com) Cyberspace Assistance to Kashmir Earthquake Victims (Terry Friel) Google Sees Advertisers Devoting More Money to Online Ads (Eric Auchard) TDC Recommends $12B Takeover Offer (USTelecom dailyLead ) Cellular-News for Wednesday 30th November 2005 (Cellular-News) Verizon GTE Merger -- How Did it go? (Lisa Hancock) Re: When is TDMA Being Phased Out? (Lisa Hancock) Re: JFK Assassination (George Mitchell) Re: Voicepulse Owns Your Number (Scott Dorsey) Re: Showdown With USA Over Internet Control (Scott Dorsey) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cohen, Millsteien, et al <barton@chmt.com> Subject: Class Action Lawsuit Against SBC by Its Employees Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 01:34:58 -0600 Lawsuit Concerning Elimination and Reduction of SBC Telephone Concession Plan Benefits Filed On Behalf of Current and Former Employees and Retirees of SBC, Ameritech, Pacific Telesis and Southern New England Telephone. Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. has filed a complaint against SBC Telecommunications (and its predecessors) concerning the management of and the reduction of benefits by the SBC Telephone Concession Plan. This lawsuit alleges that SBC violated nearly every provision of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") governing defined benefit plans with respect to the SBC Telephone Concession Plan (the "Plan") by failing to treat the provision of the Telephone Concession to retirees as an ERISA covered employee benefit plan. This lawsuit seeks a determination that the Plan is a defined benefit pension plan covered by ERISA, seeks to reform the Plan so that it complies with ERISA and also seeks to restore telephone concession benefits to retirees and other employees of SBC (and its predecessors and/or affiliates) who were vested in the Plan pursuant to ERISA which SBC has attempted to eliminate or reduce. This lawsuit is filed on behalf of the following groups of retirees and employees: (1) Retirees of SBC or a predecessor of SBC (including, but not limited to Ameritech, Pacific Telesis and Southern New England Telephone) who were entitled to receive received the Telephone Concession Benefit after they retired; or (2) Current or former employees of SBC with more than five years of service during the time that SBC had a policy to provide employees with a Telephone Concession Benefit upon retirement. If you are a current, former or retired employee of SBC (or its predecessors and/or affiliates) who are receiving or did receive the telephone concession benefit, or you have information which might assist us in the prosecution of these allegations, please contact one of the following persons: R. Joseph Barton, Esq. jbarton@cmht.com Jill Soroka jsoroka@cmht.com Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. 1100 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20005 Telephone: 888-240-0775 or 202-408-4600 The law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C., is a nationally recognized plaintiffs' class action law firm and has significant experience in representing employees injured by corporate misconduct. The firm's reputation for excellence has been recognized on repeated occasions by courts which have appointed the firm to lead positions in complex multi-district or consolidated litigation. Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll's ERISA practice is headed by Marc I. Machiz, formerly the Department of Labor's chief ERISA lawyer. Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. 1100 New York Ave. NW, Ste 500, West Tower Washington, D.C. 20005 T: 202.408.4600 F: 202.408.4699 E: info@cmht.com Copyright 2005 CMHT ------------------------------ From: Ronda Hauben <ronda@panix.com> Subject: WSIS Report - ccTLD Problems Linger Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 15:53:26 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC I recently returned from the WSIS meeting in Tunis and found it a very interesting experience. The ICANN problem, however, remains unsolved. My article in OhmyNews discusses some of the problem outstanding with the ccTLD's and ICANN. "WSIS Proves a Summit of Unsolved Solutions" http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=260786&rel_no=1 excerpt: "A criticism of ICANN is that it focuses on commercialization issues, rather than internationalization issues. Instead of extending ccTLDs to include other alphabets like Chinese, ICANN focuses on the interests of the trademark holder community." "It was clear from the Tunis Summit that the frustration expressed by governments around the world that was not addressed, will continue to impact Internet governance developments in various ways." Best wishes, Ronda ronda.netizen@gmail.com http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/ ------------------------------ From: harold@hallikainen.com Subject: Security Flaw Allows Wiretaps to be Evaded, Study Finds Date: 30 Nov 2005 08:31:46 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com From Benton Communications Headlines (http://www.benton.org). SECURITY FLAW ALLOWS WIRETAPS TO BE EVADED, STUDY FINDS [SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Schwartz and John Markoff] The technology used for decades by law enforcement agents to wiretap telephones has a security flaw that allows the person being wiretapped to stop the recorder remotely, according to research by computer security experts who studied the system. It is also possible to falsify the numbers dialed, they said. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/30/national/30tap.html?pagewanted=all (requires registration) This is the first I'd heard of the "c-tone'. Harold FCC Rules updated daily at http://www.hallikainen.com ------------------------------ From: Terry Friel <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Cyberspace Comes to Aid of Kashmir Earthquake Survivors Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 12:33:04 -0600 By Terry Friel As Pakistan and India were still floundering to respond in the early hours after the Kashmir quake, a convoy laden with supplies snaked its way along the debris-cluttered road to one of the worst-hit areas in Pakistan. The mission of mercy began with a simple SMS in Islamabad. The armies and emergency services of India and Pakistan were caught largely off guard by the October 8 quake that killed more than 73,000 and made millions homeless, but new technology is allowing ordinary people to step in and help in a major way. "(The) army has been very inefficient and poor with their response and efforts," said Zohare Haider, a project coordinator at Nortel in Islamabad who helped organize that early convoy and has been arranging more support since through his Web log, or blog, Shakethequake (http://zohare.blogspot.com). "The Sunday after the quake, a friend sent an SMS saying we should get together and help out," wrote Haider, replying to an Internet message. ""We all met at his house ... and that's when things just went out of control." Haider has now quit Nortel to work for a relief agency. Within hours, the group had scraped together 12 truckloads of food, blankets, medicine and supplies and almost 30 million Pakistani rupees and were on their way to Balakot in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. DONATIONS BY SMS Spurred by the success of blogs on the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, bloggers have opened up new sites to raise and channel donations, coordinate efforts on the ground and match volunteers and donors with aid groups and projects. SMS, or text messaging, has also been used for everything from coordinating aid to letting people in the United States make donations a few cents at a time and have it added to their monthly cellphone bill. Blogs such as Quakehelp http://quakehelp.blogspot.com have had tens of thousands of hits, many in the early days of the Kashmir disaster. Postings range from NGOs calling for volunteers and doctors to discussions on the best material for winter shelters and appeals for more supplies. Contributors include aid groups and ordinary Net surfers. Because they act in a way like community noticeboards, putting people in touch with each other, bloggers say they have no way of knowing how much aid they raise. It is not the first time blogs have helped in the wake of a major disaster. They were prominent after the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Many of those behind Kashmir quake blogs also blogged the tsunami, Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Mumbai-based writer Peter Griffin, one of a loose group from around the world that set up Quakehelp, said their Katrina blog drew more than a million hits a day at its peak. "I'd put that down to the much higher Internet access in the USA," he said. The sensitivities involved in Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, where both armies are faced off over a ceasefire line, have made aid work harder, bloggers say. "The information hasn't been easy to find," said Griffin. "It's a sensitive area politically and a remote, almost hostile land." Quake survivors in Indian and Pakistani Kashmir complain official aid was slow to reach them in the critical early days and some say their armies were too slow to respond. But the armies were also hopelessly short of resources for dealing with a disaster on such a colossal scale, as well as being badly hit by casualties themselves, and have been praised by aid agencies for the way they have built up their efforts. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Eric Auchard <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Google Sees Advertisers Devoting More to Budget Online Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 12:34:46 -0600 Google sees advertisers devote more budget online By Eric Auchard2 hours, 22 minutes ago Corporate marketers have made online advertising a standard part in media budgets as online spending looks set to accelerate further in 2006, Google Inc.'s North American sales chief said late on Tuesday. Tim Armstrong, Google's advertising sales vice president, said in an interview before the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit that 2005 marked the turning point when advertisers switched from testing to investing in the decade-old medium. "There is robust interest in online advertising and that interest is now turning into real dollars," Armstrong said, noting that market analysts are predicting a banner 2005 year with forecasts ranging from $10 billion to $15 billion. "The experimenting and testing phase begun in the 1990s has ended. Corporate ad buyers are investing now," he said. Jupiter Research estimates the U.S. online advertising market will grow 28 percent over last year, to $11.9 billion in 2005 to $13.6 billion in 2006 and $15.1 billion in 2007. By contrast, Google, which dominates the fast-growing market for keyword-search advertising, has been growing at three times the industry rate, or around 100 percent a year. Industry estimates put Google's market share at 30 percent of overall online ad spending, with as much as 40 percent of the category it dominates -- paid search. Armstrong said two factors are driving the race to boost budgets. Consumer adoption of the Web has far outpaced advertisers commitment to the medium. More recently, Madison Avenue executives have begun advising clients to close the gap by committing more dollars online, Armstrong said. The budget shift is benefiting not just Google but Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, he said. The acceleration of online ad budgets can be measured by the increasing number of companies marketing through online channels, the growing number of divisions within each company using the online medium and the percentages committed online relative to other media, the Google executive said. While estimates vary, analysts believe around 5 percent of U.S. advertising dollars will be spent online this year, up from around 2 percent just a couple of year ago. In short order, 10 percent or more could move online, analysts say. "Some are putting 10 percent or even more than 10 percent of their 2006 budgets into online," Armstrong said. By no means all companies are at this stage, he said but the tide has turned. Google is making progress on its strategy expanding beyond keywords to offer advertising anywhere, Armstrong said. "We started with text, we now offer graphic ads and are moving into print advertising," Armstrong said. Google has been selling print advertisements in a select number of technology trade publications and are talking to major publishers about expanding this approach across a variety of niche markets. Video advertising will be a natural extension of these existing efforts, part of Google's long-term strategy to offer relevant advertising wherever possible. Google's accelerating growth is being driven by brand advertising and site-targeting campaigns that extend beyond its core keyword advertising business, Armstrong said. Executives of the Mountain view, California company have previously said that more than 25 of the top 100 online advertisers are using its site targeting tools, which allow advertisers to create custom ad campaigns on hundreds of the most relevant sites to a specific message. Armstrong declined to say how many more of these major advertisers had adopted its site-targeting tools, saying only that, "We have seen continued growth within those major advertisers." (For other news from the Reuters Advertising and Media Summit, click on http://today.reuters.com/summit/SummitInfo.aspx?name=MediaSummit05&pid=500 ) Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. See our new Classified Advertising Section in the Digest at: http://telecom-digest.org/classified.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 12:50:37 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com> Subject: TDC Recommends $12B Takeover Offer USTelecom dailyLead November 30, 2005 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/zikIatagCyxsBJbzuF TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * TDC recommends $12B takeover offer BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Cingular links wireless service with AT&T's local phone service * AT&T to sponsor U.S. Olympic Team in 2006, 2008 * Intel announces Viiv partners * High-ranking Nortel executives leave company USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * 2005 USTelecom Industry Directory TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Analysis: Next 12 months could be big for IMS * Battle for control of the digital living room * Report sees acceleration of switch to mobile, VoIP services REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC to take a second look at a la carte cable pricing * Vonage among companies that missed Monday's E911 deadline Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/zikIatagCyxsBJbzuF ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Wednesday 30th November 2005 Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:44:30 -0600 From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news-mail.com> Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ 3G ]] India Min:To Decide On 3G Spectrum Allocation By March http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15019.php The Indian government expects to decide by March whether to allow local telecommunications companies to offer third generation, or 3G, mobile phone services, said Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran Tuesday. ... Ericsson's HSDPA Now Used In 15 Countries http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15022.php Telefon AB LM Ericsson said Tuesday its third-generation wireless technology upgrade solution HSDPA is now in operation in 15 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. ... Chinese Academy Buys 3G Test Tool http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15026.php Dilithium Networks says that CATR (China Academy of Telecommunications Research of M.I.I.), the national telecom research institution of the Chinese government, has purchased the DNA (Dilithium Networks Analyzer), a 3G protocol analysis and test tool... [[ Handsets ]] Ningbo Bird Secures Indian Handset Distribution Deal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15025.php China's Ningbo Bird has announced the formal launch of its GSM handsets under the brand name of Bird in western India from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Targeting the low-end customers, the company has launched seven new GSM mobile phones priced starting fro... Nokia Adds WLAN to Smartphone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15028.php Nokia has added WiFi connectivity to its existing PDA handset, the Nokia 9300. The Nokia 9300i incorporates WLAN connectivity with a full keyboard, 65,536-color screen, support for a broad range of enterprise email solutions and an attachment viewer.... Top Selling Handsets in November http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15029.php The Swedish manufacturer of carrying cases for portable electronics, Krusell, has released their "Top 10" list for November 2005. No changes at the top of this month's list from Krusell. Stable Sony Ericsson W800 will probably stay even for... [[ Legal ]] Government Fines KT KRW2.8 Billion For "Unfair" Mobile Resale Practice http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15017.php The South Korean government has fined KT Corp., South Korea's largest fixed-line operator, KRW2.8 billion ($1=KRW1,036) for "unfair" practices related to the resale of mobile phones. ... Vodafone to sue Russian company for brand violation http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15020.php The U.K.'s telecommunication company Vodafone Group plans to start court proceedings against Russia's Vodafone Telecom to regain the right to use its trademark in Russia, Vedomosti business daily reported Tuesday quoting Vodafone Group's Spokesman Bo... Alfa Group says not seeking to raise stake in Turkcell http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15021.php Russia's Alfa Group (ALFAGP.YY) said Tuesday it isn't seeking to increase its 13.22% stake in Turkey's mobile-phone operator Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TKC). ... [[ Mobile Content ]] Network Operators Dominate Mobile Games Sales - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15024.php As several mobile games publishers announce their intentions to launch direct-to-consumer sales of mobile games, M:Metrics says that it has found that the vast majority of mobile game consumers rely on their carriers to inform their mobile game purch... [[ Network Contracts ]] Orange Inks Deal With Cingular For Business Customers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15016.php Orange, the mobile telecommunications arm of France Telecom, Tuesday said it has signed a deal with U.S. mobile operator Cingular Wireless to provide multinational business customers with better international services. ... New Orleans Mayor Launches Free Internet Wireless System http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15023.php NEW ORLEANS (AP)--Hurricane-ravaged New Orleans is starting the U.S.'s first free wireless Internet network owned and run by a major city, a move aimed at boosting the city's stalled economy, Mayor Ray Nagin announced at a news conference Tuesday. ... Nokia Wins Indonesian GSM Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15027.php Indonesia's Indosat has chosen Nokia to expand its GSM network in Bali and Java, excluding Jabotabek (Jakarta and surrounding areas), with radio network and circuit and packet switched core networks. Nokia will also supply cellular transmission for E... [[ Statistics ]] Mexico's 3Q Telecom Sector Growth Is Fastest In 5 Years http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15015.php Mexico's telecommunications industry grew at its fastest pace in five years during the third quarter, the sector regulator said Monday. ... African Americans and Hispanics Lead Mobile Culture http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15030.php When it comes to the use of enhanced mobile features such as texting and downloading ringtones, African Americans and Hispanics lead the market, a national study finds. "If you want to know where mobile technology is going, watch these two groups of ... [[ Technology ]] Texas Instruments Unveils New Chips For Advanced Phones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15018.php DALLAS (AP)--Texas Instruments Inc. says it is testing two new semiconductor chipsets that could mark the next step in making so-called third-generation mobile phones more affordable and widely available. ... ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Verizon GTE Merger -- How Did it Go? Date: 30 Nov 2005 07:35:52 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com A while back Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic and Nynex NY Telephone et al) acquired GTE -- General Telephone & Electronics local phone companies. GTE was the biggest of the "independents", that is, local telephone companies not affiliated with the Bell System. I was wondering how well the integration of GTE into Verizon was working. The former Bell System was heavilly standardized, down to the pens on desktops. Most equipment came from Western Electric and usually (though not always) was the same throughout the country. By equipment I mean switchgear, carrier technology, and local loop plant (and pay phones). Also, business practices were somewhat consistent, such as rate plans and service representative styles. In contrast, I don't know how much GTE was standardized. For one thing, GTE was made up of smaller local independent companies acquired or traded over the years. In the 1970s, many local companies "swapped" exchanges so as to give each other contiguous areas instead of a patchwork for more efficiency. GTE owned a supplier, Automatic Electric. However, I wonder if GTE was so strictly wedded to AE as was Bell to Western. In other words, over the years perhaps equipment from other suppliers was used as well. My impression was that GTE was always more "informal" and less rigid than the Bell System in doing things. (Just as Remington Rand/Sperry Univac was much more informal than IBM in the computer industry). A key difference between Bell and GTE was that overall GTE (and the other independents) tended to serve much less densely populated areas. A map of Pennsylvania shows half the land mass of the state served by "independents" yet the vast majority of phones were under Bell control. Historically, Bell gained control of the cities and nearby suburbs while the independents were generally left with the rural areas (there are some exceptions). I wonder if this characteristic has impacted the merger. Merging two dis-similar organizations can bring down both if not done carefully. The Penn Central Railroad is the classic example of how not to do a merger. In more recent years, megarailroad and airline mergers have had troubles too. [public replies, please] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: When is TDMA Being Phased Out? Date: 30 Nov 2005 07:24:37 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The word from Mike Alexander, Cingular > Wireless customer service/sales manager here in Independence is that > it will s-l-o-w-l-y disappear a tower at a time. I switched my > personal phone from TDMA to GSM .... Could someone describe what is "TDMA" and "GSM" in layman's terms? I presume these are communication protocols and are not compatible with each other. Is one analog? Do other carriers (ie Verizon) use them or other protocols? Does Verizon have any protocols that are going away? I guess now there are three big cellular companies -- Verizon, Cingular, and VoiceStream? Is Sprint still independent or did they merge? I get the impression all three companies are actually a hodgepodge of smaller companies they acquired and merged into along the way. That means service quality of a particular carrier will vary greatly from one part of the country to another, just as landline service varies greatly. (In Verizon particularly which is made up of many different companies). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sprint merged with Nextel recently, or bought them out, one or the other. Nextel at present is totally useless around this area in Kansas; however Sprint is a big thing. I suppose the merger will bring Nextel around here soon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell <george@m5p.com> Subject: Re: JFK Assassination Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 10:53:48 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > It is not surprising that TV equipment still contained many tubes. It > would do so for a number of years. And still does. Perhaps you're familiar with the cathode ray _tube_? -- George Mitchell ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Voicepulse Owns Your Number Date: 30 Nov 2005 14:09:31 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote: > Michael D. Sullivan wrote: >> Fred, you can file a complaint with the FCC > Which will be ignored, since the FCC doesn't regulate VoIP. They do regulate number assignment, though. I don't think the issue itself is VoIP-related, to be honest. --scott ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Showdown with USA Over Internet Control Date: 30 Nov 2005 14:08:16 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) <nospam4me@mytrashmail.com> wrote: > So what would you have ICANN do about spam and other forms of > anti-social net behavior? The same thing that SRI did, before ICANN existed. Disconnect sites that refuse to control their problem customers. Very simple. The reason that spam exists is because some ISPs permit it. The reason that some ISPs permit it is because backbone sites permit it. Shutting off connectivity to kornet and thrunet would about halve the spam problem, right there. If backbone sites took spam seriously, it would go away. If ICANN took spam seriously, backbone sites would have to. <jmeissen@aracnet.com> wrote: > I'm afraid you're overstating things a bit. > ICANN's arbitration authority is over the domain name. Period. It > has nothing to do with the content hosted at any site. They have > no control over any website (other than their own), simply the > name by which it's referenced. Yes. They can say "your service is not appropriate and therefore we refuse to allow bulkemail.com (a former uunet customer) to receive DNS." Furthermore, they can shut off the uunet dns until uunet gets their spam problem under control. JUST like Postel did with problem customers back in the days when he ran the name server. scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: __Thank you very much__ for speaking the truth on this, something which seems to be in very short supply where the liars at ICANN and their mouthpiece Vint Cerf are concerned. I have said time and time again that spam could be cut back considerably if ICANN would just make it happen. But ICANN and Vint Cerf are not about to make that happen; their preference, (and the loud mouths of their choir of apologists) _like_ seeing the internet gradually being converted to a totally commercial thing. When did Postel pass? Was it 1993 or 1994? They couldn't wait to get the net out of his hands and into theirs. I know that about that time, their flunkies, the International Telecom Union (ITU) decided to start humoring (and attempting to bribe?) people like myself with gobs of money to sing to their tune. ITU promptly started sending me $500 per month and they did so 'faithfully' every quarter -- 3 months, $1500 -- clear up through the end of 1999 when they saw I would not be quiet and do things their way. Then a message or two they considered to be particularly outragous appeared here and bingo! that was it for my 'sponsorship'. That monthly hush money started about the time that I was on that long distance telephone conference call with Vint Cerf and asked him what the hell was going to happen to us little users who only wanted to use the net for its originally intended purpose? Cerf had no answers but then shortly thereafter the money started showing up here. Nah ... don't count on anything but spam, scam and more deterioration of the net as long as ICANN is our governor. It just won't happen. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V24 #541 ****************************** | |