TELECOM Digest     Wed, 14 Dec 2005 19:16:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 563

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Many Amazon.com Workers Sick From Food Poisoning (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    China on Track to Add 100M New Phone Users (USTelecom dailyLead)
    DirecTV to Pay $5.35 Million For Do-Not-Call Violations (Monty Solomon)
    Cellular-News For Wednesday 14th December 2005 (Cellular-News)
    Microsoft Warns of Critical Errors (Reuters News Wire)
    Attack Targets Mozilla Firefox (Robert McMillan)
    Bell System Service Standard 'Green Books'- What is Used Now? (L Hancock)
    IEC's Broadband World Forum Asia Presents IPTV Developments (Lisa Reyes)
    Re: Hypothetical SxS Question (DevilsPGD)
    Re: Parental Electronic Supervision of Teens - Good or Bad? (Scott Dorsey)
    Re: FTC Do Not Call List (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Re: FTC Do Not Call List (jmeissen@aracnet.com)
    Re: FTC Do Not Call List (Charles Cryderman)
    Spam (was Re: FTC Do Not Call List) (Jim Haynes)
    Re: Spamming the Wrong Message (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Re: Communications History (Charles Cryderman)

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

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.  

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

Subject: Scores of Amazon.com Workers Sickened From Apparent Food Poisoning
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:41:58 EST
From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor)


Several dozen amazon.com employes in the Coffeyville/Independence
facility were stricken with apparent food poisoning early Tuesday
morning after eating food provided to them by an Oklahoma catering
company. The company normally provides food to employees working at
night. 

Local and area hospitals were inudated with Amazon employees after the
outbreak began about 1:30 AM Tuesday. The distribution center is
located between Coffeyville and Independence in the Coffeyville
Industrial Park.

Emergency Medical Service paramedics and technicians from
Independence, Coffeyville, Parsons, and Caney were alerted to the
outbreak and began transporting victims to the Coffeyville Regional
Medical Center, Mercy Hospital in Independence, and Labette County
Medical Center in Parsons. Joanne Cox, director of Public Relations
for Mercy Hospital said one woman was admitted, five others were
treated and released.

At CRMC, Susan Correll said 20 people were transported to that
facility, and eight were admitted. At LCMC there were eight employees
treated, then released, according to William Mahoney, CEO of the
hospital.

Amazon announced the closing of the facility during the early morning
hours on Tuesday, but by the time for the day shift, the facility had
re-opened.

Word of the outbreak began shortly after midnight according to the
Montgomery County Sheriff's Department. Deputy Todd Clark was making
his routine rounds and noted a car on the side of the road at Paul
Street and Walnut Street in Coffeyville. As is customary, the deputy
stopped to inquire about the well-being of the passenger and notice a
female occupant who was leaning out of the car window vomiting. He
offered to help the woman or escort her to her destination. She told
him she worked at amazon.com and had eaten some barbeque pork catered
to the employees between the late evening and early morning shifts by
Poritunes Food and Ale, an Oklahoma company which feeds employees at
the facility. Cook advised his dispatcher about the situation and then
about an hour later, at 1:16 AM the dispatcher advised him that
Coffeyville EMS personnel were responding to Amazon where a woman with
diabetes had become ill and was believed to be striken with food
poisoning.

Cook responded to the facility to assist the EMS workers and was told
upon arrival that between 60 and 80 employees had become ill. At that
point, Tony Lamb, an employee of Coffeyville EMS requested other
emergency agencies in the area to assist in the evacuation and
transport of the facility's employees, and that a public announcement
be made asking everyone who had eaten the barbeque offered by the
catering service (from the earlier shift, now mostly scattered and on
their way home) to be alert to the problem and see their physician as
needed. A general announcement was made over cable television in 
Independence and Coffeyville seeking amazon.com employees for this. 

Sharon Watson, director of public affairs for Kansas Department of
Health and Evironment said three investigators had been assigned to
work with Montgomery County health officials to detirmine the exact
cause of the outbreak; They were joined by Oklahoma health officials
(the catering firm is located in Oklahoma) in saying it was apparently
'tainted pork sausage' which was responsible. Samples of the pork
sausage and samples from the patients were sent to the state
laboratory in Topeka for futher examination. By Wednesday things were
back to normal at the Amazon facility.

Copyright 2005  Independence Reporter Publishing.

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

Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:46:45 EST
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: China on track to add 100M new phone users in


USTelecom dailyLead
December 14, 2005
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/zZBoatagCAASfBXSzN

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* China on track to add 100M new phone users in '05
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* SureWest hits sweet spot with IPTV
* AT&T debuts online security news channel
* SES Global to buy rival New Skies
* KT to raise investment 20% in 2006
* Verizon tests IMS solution from Nortel
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT
* Learn how to implement IP video
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* Avaya unveils VPN remote software for IP phones
* Intel eyes home-entertainment market with new chip
* Companies test wireless payments via NFC network
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* TWC seeks statewide franchise in Texas
* DirecTV fined $5.3M for telemarketing

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/zZBoatagCAASfBXSzN

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

Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 01:15:43 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: DirecTV to Pay $5.35 Million For Do-Not-Call Violations


By Andrew Bridges, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- DirecTV Inc. will pay $5.35 million to settle
charges that its telemarketers called households listed on the
national do-not-call registry to pitch satellite TV programming,
Federal Trade Commission officials said Tuesday.

The proposed settlement, if approved by a federal judge in Los
Angeles, would be the FTC's largest civil penalty in a consumer
protection case.

The DirecTV complaint, filed by the Department of Justice at the FTC's
request, named the company and five telemarketing firms it hired, as
well as six principals of those firms.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/12/13/directv_to_pay_535_million_for_do_not_call_violations/

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

Subject: Cellular-News for Wednesday 14th December 2005
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 07:48:11 -0600
From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news-mail.com>


Cellular-News  http://www.cellular-news.com

[[ 3G ]]

Malaysian 3G Coverage Expanded
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15225.php

Malaysia's Maxis Communications has expanded its 3G service coverage
to Penang. Since the launch of its 3G services on 1 July, Maxis has
significantly increased its 3G coverage in the Klang Valley and will
soon offer 3G services in Johor Bahru. To da...

Temporary 3G Expansion in New Zealand
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15228.php

Telecom New Zealand says that it is investing about $1.7 million in
additional temporary mobile coverage to meet the demand at New
Zealand's favourite holiday spots during the local summer. The extra
mobile sites and increased capacity will cover the...

CDMA Upgrade for Venezuela
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15231.php

Venezuela's Movistar has announced the commercial launch of it's 3G
CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network to serve the country's 26 main cities. Lucent
upgraded Movistar's existing Lucent-supplied base stations and mobile
switching center (MSC) to support CDMA200...

[[ Financial ]]

Vodafone Buys Telsim In Turkey For $4.55 Billion
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15215.php

Vodafone Group said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire Telsim, the
number two mobile operator in Turkey, from the Turkish Savings Deposit
and Investment Fund ("SDIF") for a consideration of US$4.55bn. ...

Telefonica Moviles' Brazilian JV To Lower Capex In 06-07
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15216.php

Telesp Celular Participacoes, the largest company within the Brazilian
joint venture of Telefonica Moviles and Portugal Telecom SA, plans to
cut sharply capital expenditure in 2006 and 2007, according to a
filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange...

PRESS: VimpelCom's directors may block 2006 capex in Ukraine
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15218.php

Three members of Russia's second-largest mobile operator VimpelCom's
board of directors may vote against the company's investment program
in Ukraine for 2006, Vedomosti business daily reported Tuesday, citing
a letter sent to VimpelCom's Chairman D...

Russia's MegaFon to bid for Uzbekistan's Buztel
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15220.php

Russia's third largest mobile operator MegaFon plans to participate in
the tender for Uzbekistan's mobile operator Buztel-GSM, MegaFon's
Press Secretary Marina Belasheva told Prime-Tass Tuesday. She did not
elaborate. ...

SonyEricsson Increases Chinese Investment
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15227.php

Sony Ericsson has received Chinese Ministry of Commerce approval to
take control of Beijing Suohong Electronics (BSE), a Sony China
controlled manufacturing facility, by raising its share holding to
74.5%. The BSE site, which is 60% dedicated to the ...

Celtel Buys Madagascan Network
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15230.php

The Pan-African GSM operator, Celtel International has reached an
agreement to acquire a majority stake in Madagascar's mobile telecom
operator, Madacom for an undisclosed amount. The agreement was reached
with the current shareholders led by the Dis...

[[ Handsets ]]

Japan October Mobile Phone Shipments Up 32% On Year
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15211.php

Japan's shipments of mobile phones, including personal handy-phone
system devices, soared 32.0% in October from a year earlier to 3.17
million units, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology
Industries Association said Tuesday. ...

Emblaze Mobile Buys Handset Distributor
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15224.php

Israel's Emblaze Mobile says that it has acquired a strategic interest
in the European handset distributor, Global Telecoms Distribution. GTD
is one of Europe's leading distributors of multimedia handsets with a
3 year trading history and 100 staff...

[[ Legal ]]

EU Delays Review Of Telefonica Takeover Of UK's O2
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15212.php

The European Commission Tuesday delayed by two weeks its antitrust review of Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica's planned takeover of U.K. mobile communications company O2 PLC. ...

Ericsson Employees Charged On Tax Crimes In Sweden
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15214.php

The Swedish National Economic Crimes Bureau Tuesday charged four
current and former employees at telecommunications equipment vendor
L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. with severe evasion of tax controls. ...

Russia's Rezervspetsmet says MTS' buy of Bitel illegal
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15219.php

The purchase of Kyrgyzstan's largest mobile operator Bitel by Russia's
largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) was illegal, little
known Russian company Rezervspetsmet said in a statement Tuesday. ...

[[ Mobile Content ]]

Gambling Via Vodafone Live
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15221.php

Austria's GSM network operator, A1 has launched a gambling service
through the Vodafone live! portal. Mobile phone bets can even be
placed while games are in progress. Every newly registered customer
will also receive a gaming credit of EUR5....

Mobile Gamers Likely To Replace Handsets Twice a Year
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15223.php

IGN Entertainment has released a new report which finds mobile gamers
are key growth drivers for the mobile industry. The survey documents
spending habits of mobile gamers, which shows more hardware buys per
year, higher minute usage and bigger wirel...

[[ Network Contracts ]]

Vodafone To Invest $600 Million To Upgrade Telsim Radio Network
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15217.php

Vodafone Group PLC said Tuesday that it will invest $600 million over
three years in upgrading the radio network of Turkish mobile phone
operator Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon. ...

[[ Network Operators ]]

Vodafone in a Strop, a FlexiStrop
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15229.php

The Czech Republic GSM operator, Oskar Vodafone has launched a service
that enables customers to impose limits on the cost of their monthly
phone bill. Following the Smart Overview service, the operator is
introducing FlexiStrop. With this free servi...

[[ Personnel ]]

Eva Lindqvist Appointed Senior Vice President of Mobile Business
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15222.php

Eva Lindqvist has been appointed new Senior Vice President of Mobile
Business at Marketing, Products & Services at TeliaSonera's Head
Office as of January 1, 2006. She will have the strategic
responsibility for the mobile business within the TeliaSon...

[[ Regulatory ]]

French Regulator Cuts Mobile Phone Tariffs
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15213.php

France's telecommunications regulator said Tuesday it will force the
country's mobile-phone companies to slash wholesale tariffs by 24%
from 2006, a move that will cost the three network operators an
estimated EUR900 million in sales. ...

[[ Statistics ]]

UK is the Music Download Capital of Europe
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15226.php

Motorola have released a report into the attitudes of Britons towards
new technologies. The MotoWithMe study reveals that Britons' attitudes
have considerably matured since the millennium dawned. Five years ago
the talk was of gimmicks like intellige...

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

From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Microsoft Warns of Critical Windows Security Flaws
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 23:30:55 -0600


Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday warned users of its Windows operating
system of a "critical" security flaw in its software that could allow
attackers to take complete control of a computer.

The world's largest software maker issued a patch to fix the problem
as part of its monthly security bulletin. The problem mainly affects
the Windows operating system and Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web
browser.

Computer security experts and Microsoft urged users to download and
install the patch available at www.microsoft.com/security.

Microsoft said the vulnerability exists in its Internet Explorer Web
browser, which an attacker could exploit to take over a PC by running
software code after luring users to malicious Web pages.

Microsoft also issued one other security warning it rated at its
second-highest level of "important."

A vulnerability defined as "important" is one where an outsider could
break into a machine and gain access to confidential data but not
replicate itself to other computers, Microsoft said.

Microsoft defines a flaw as "critical" when the vulnerability could
allow a damaging Internet worm to replicate without the user doing
anything to the machine.

The "critical" flaw affects Internet Explorer which is a part of
Windows while the "important" flaw is a vulnerability in the
fundamental code that the higher level functions of Windows are all
based on.

For more than three years, Microsoft has been working to improve the
security and reliability of its software as more and more malicious
software targets weaknesses in Windows and other Microsoft software.

More than 90 percent of the world's personal computers run on the
Windows operating system.

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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

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

From: Robert McMillan <idg@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Attack Targets Mozilla Firefox
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 23:32:22 -0600


Robert McMillan, IDG News ServiceTue Dec 13,10:00 AM ET

Computer users who have not upgraded to the latest version of
Mozilla's Firefox browser may now have an extra incentive to do so,
thanks to a hacker who has posted an exploit.

Exploit Shown

On Sunday, a hacker going by the name of Aviv Raff published sample
code that could be used to take over the computers of Firefox users
running version 1.0.4 or earlier of the browser. The exploit takes
advantage of a known bug in the way Firefox processes the popular
Javascript Web programming language.

"I think it's been enough time for people to upgrade from v1.0.4. of
Firefox. So, here is the PoC [proof of concept] exploit for the...
vulnerability," he wrote on his blog.

The bug was fixed in Mozilla version 1.0.5, which was released during
the summer, and has also been fixed in version 1.7.9 of the Mozilla
Suite, said Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering with
Mozilla. "As long as users keep updated to the latest version,
they're, in general, very safe."

Similar to IE Flaw

In some ways, this latest exploit is similar to highly publicized
attack code that has been circulating for the Microsoft Internet
Explorer browser, said Russ Cooper, editor of the NTBugtraq newslist
and a scientist with security vendor Cybertrust.

"It can install and run code of the attacker's choice if a victim
visits a malicious Web site," he said of the IE bug in an interview
via instant message.

Users who are not already in the habit of frequently updating their
browsers should change their ways, because browsers are "historically
broken," Cooper said. "That means they have vulnerabilities
regularly," he added. "You should keep them updated within 30 days of
patches being made available, regardless of what the patch is for."

The IE code, which was published in November, takes advantage of a
Javascript problem that has not yet been patched.

Many security experts expect Microsoft to patch its Javascript bug on
Tuesday, but the Redmond, Washington, software giant has not confirmed
that this will be the case.

Copyright 2005 PC World Communications, Inc.

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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Bell System Service Standard 'Green Books'- What is Used Now?
Date: 14 Dec 2005 12:16:42 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


I understand until the end of the old Bell System, AT&T published
service standard indexes in something called the "Green Book".  This
was a collection of indexes that quantified service and performance
quality in a variety of ways (billing accuracy, dial tone time, etc.)

Would anyone know if the baby Bells replaced that with anything?  Do
the non-traditional carriers (ie VOIP) have any such performance
standards?

Some standards may be obsolete due to replacement of expensive
electro-mechanical equipment with ESS.  I suspect today the local,
intermediate, and long haul land-side networks have more capacity than
in the past.  For example, obviously we don't want long waits for dial
tone.  However, an instantaneous dial tone at all times for all
customers would push the index too far into the opposite direction and
in the old days that mean excessive expensive equipment was in use.
On the other hand, incomplete call completion and call cutoffs remain
a problem on wireless calls.

[public replies, please]

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

From: Lisa Reyes <forums_@iec-mail.org>
Subject: IEC's Broadband World Forum Asia Presents IPTV Developments
Date: WED, 14 DEC 2005 15:16:11 -0600
Reply-To: lreyes@iec.org


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lisa Reyes
Phone: +1-312-559-3325
E-Mail: mailto:lreyes@iec.org

IEC'S BROADBAND WORLD FORUM ASIA PRESENTS CUTTING-EDGE IPTV
DEVELOPMENTS AT FIRST-EVER IPTV GLOBAL COMFORUM

CHICAGO December 14, 2005 The International Engineering Consortium's
(IEC) Broadband World Forum Asia 2006 will bring information
technologies 15-18 May 2006 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition
Centre in Hong Kong, China, with PCCW as the official host sponsor.

As Asia leads the world in broadband penetration and innovative
services, telecommunications professionals will have the opportunity
to learn from top-level executives at the forefront of quadruple-play
profitability and real-world deployment. They will address issues such
as content licensing, market realities, managing broadband services
over IP/MPLS core, security environments, digital rights management,
personalization and interactivity for the end user, and more.

Chairperson of an IPTV workshop Mr. Jeffrey Soong, Chief Executive
Officer, BNS Ltd., commented, "With content universally accepted as
being the most important differentiator for an IPTV service,
understanding the licensing and copyright environment is paramount for
telecommunications operators' success. However, the content
business is also a largely new territory for telcos. This workshop
brings together a lineup of content industry specialists to give telco
IPTV operators a fundamental understanding of the basic components of
content licensing, negotiations, and copyright management, which are
crucial to the success of an IPTV service."

The Broadband World Forum Asiass first-ever IPTV Global ComForum
focuses on communications service providers who must shift from a
voice-centric revenue model to a broadband IP-centric model. The
IPTV Global ComForum will also allow attendees to forge business
relationships with key deal makers in the rapidly expanding Asian
broadband market. Additionally, the IPTV Global ComForum will provide
a unique experience to examine in detail access networks to services
control, delivery to QoS and customer experience, content, and
multimedia applications.

Mr. Vince Pizzica, Chief Technology Officer, Alcatel Asia Pacific,
further commented on another IPTV workshop: "The future of a more
participatory, rewarding TV experience lies in how we creatively
combine communication with entertainment. Triple play will "socialize"
and at the same time "personalize" the TV experience. The key
question, then, for telecom operators, is how to realize the power of
merging triple-play components, as this represents unprecedented
opportunity to differentiate themselves by creating a user-centric,
interactive TV experience for viewers. The session will focus on
exploring the market potential of interactive, personalized video
services, and how different players in the ecosystem can exploit this
new business opportunity."

Key Speakers at both the Broadband World Forum Asia and its co-located
IPTV Global ComForum include the following: Keynote speakers Alex
Arena, Executive Director and Group Chief Financial Officer, PCCW, and
Tadanbu Okada, Senior Vice President, Executive Director, Information
Sharing Labs Group, NTT. Additional speakers include the following:
Eric Li, Regional Sales Director, Asia Pacific, Microsoft TV; Paul
Berriman, Head of Strategic Market Development, PCCW; Thorsten Heins,
Member of the Group Board and Chief Technology Officer, Siemens
Communications; Paolo Pastorino, Chief Technology Officer and Chief
Business Officer, Home Gateway Initiative; Michelle Guthrie, Chief
Executive Officer, STAR; and Jonathan Spink, Chief Executive Officer,
HBO Asia.

Broadband World Forum Asia 2006 will also feature a Wireless Broadband
track, a Broadband Networking Technologies and Architectures track,
and a Broadband Convergence track.

Mr. Soong further commented, "The Broadband World Forum is a
well-organized event which maintains a high-quality standard in terms
of speakers and presentations. This ensures a well-attended and
fruitful discussion platform for networking and learning about latest
industry issues."

Last year's Broadband World Forum Asia in Yokohama, Japan, drew more
than 3,000 people to register, included more than 150 presentations,
and presented more than 120 industry experts as speakers. A two-day
technology exhibition accompanied the show, featuring the latest
broadband services, solutions, and products by more than 40 of the
world's leading manufacturers and producers. NTT served as the
official host sponsor in the show's second year. This year's Broadband
World Forum Asia 2006, hosted by PCCW, expects to grow on the
exhibition floor as well as in attendee registration.

Registration for the event is now open at
http://www.iec.org/events/2006/bbwf_asia/register/. For more
information, please visit http://www.iec.org/events/2006/bbwf_asia/ or
contact Lisa Reyes at +1-312-559-3325 or mailto:lreyes@iec.org.

ABOUT THE IEC

A nonprofit organization, the IEC is dedicated to catalyzing
technology and business progress worldwide in a range of
high-technology industries and their university communities. Since
1944, the IEC has provided high-quality educational opportunities for
industry professionals, academics, and students.

In conjunction with industry-leading companies, the IEC has developed
an extensive, free on-line educational program. The IEC conducts
industry-university programs that have substantial impact on
curricula. It also conducts research and develops publications,
conferences, and technological exhibits that address major
opportunities and challenges of the information age.

More than 70 leading high-technology universities are IEC affiliates,
and the IEC handles the affairs of the Electrical and Computer
Engineering Department Heads Association and Eta Kappa Nu, the honor
society for electrical and computer engineers. The IEC also manages
the activities of the Enterprise Communications Consortium. Please
visit www.iec.org.

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

From: DevilsPGD <spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net>
Subject: Re: Hypothetical SxS Question
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 01:59:32 -0700
Organization: Disorganized


In message <telecom24.562.13@telecom-digest.org> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
wrote:

> Joe Morris wrote:

>> And I'm sure you remember the little "dial lock" gizmos that were
>> clamped into the "1" fingerhole and were supposed to keep people from
>> making outbound calls on an unattended office telephone?  It seems
>> that nobody ever thought about dialing with the switchhook -- or just
>> banging away with ten or more pulses and asking the operator for
>> assistance.

> I think it was pretty difficult for most people to tap in accurately a
> seven digit number.  If you're timing was the least bit off any part
> of the way you had to start over.  You also risked discovery while
> doing it.

A little bit of experience and it wasn't too hard to do it correctly
the majority of the time.  The rest of the time you'd just apologize
for misdialing.

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

From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: Parental Electronic Supervision of Teens - Good or Bad?
Date: 14 Dec 2005 11:24:22 -0500
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)


Carl Navarro  <cnavarro@wcnet.org> wrote:

> If you have a 1970 Pinto you're probably safe from carjacking, but an
> SUV or any Honda or sports car and you could be a victim.  To be able
> to go on the internet or call the law enforcement people and track
> your stolen ride is a pretty reasonabe investment.

I used to drive a sports car with a manual transmission and a second
gearshift for the adjustable differential.  I'd love to see a
carjacker try and figure that out.  Hell, I bet most of them can't
even drive a manual....

--scott

"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: FTC Do Not Call List
Date: 14 Dec 2005 07:07:28 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Wesrock@aol.com wrote:

> This must not be a true statement, since otherwise there would be no
> telemarketing calls, expecially.  It is a labor intensive business and
> must provide a sufficient return to the operators of such services to
> make a profit.  Otherwise they would go bankrupt.

Would you have any figures?  How much does a telemarketing campaign
cost to run and what is its rate of return?

Lately I've been innundated by political calls.  How many recipients
minds are changed and react as desired to the telephone request?  (The
calls lately aske me to call my congerssman in support or against some
particular pending measure).

> Spam is not nearly so expensive to originate, but it, too, has costs
> and must provide a sufficient return that it is not true that ALL
> consumers do not want it.

Again, what are the costs and benefits?  Spam is particularly odious
because the sender's costs are very low and the recipients end up
paying for them.

In any event, people have always responded to socially undesirable
antics.  That doesn't mean we should accept or tolerate them.  Most
people think prostitution ought to remain illegal even though it has,
is, and will be always well patronized.  It doesn't mean we like it.

> Actually, I have occasionally gotten e-mails, mostly spam, form
> organizations or businesses with which I do have a legitimate business
> relationship, which make offers that I have responded to favorably and
> which, in at least one case, have saved me money.

The emails you describe fall outside a strict definition of spam.
Most people associate genital enlargement or NIgerian oil ministers or
get rich quick schemes with spam.

> Defining spam in some cases becomes very controversial.

I don't think so.

Mark Crispin wrote:

> The general problem is the considerable cost in going after spammers.
> It is almost impossible to recover more than a fraction of these
> costs, even when there is complete success in prosecution and seizure
> of the spammer's ill-gotten gains.

Could you elaborate on this issue?

There are two aspects of enforcement.  One is via the criminal justice
system, where a spammer is prosecuted for violating a law and upon
conviction, sent to jail.  The government assumes the cost of
investigation and prosecution.

The other is via the civil system, where a private party (or the
government) initiates a civil lawsuit against another person in the
hopes of collecting monetary damages.  In some cases it is easier to
win a civil case than a criminal case (note certain high profile
murder cases recently), but "winning" a case is only part of it.  The
first part is winning your claim, that is, the court agreeing with
your case.  That in itself doesn't mean very much.  The second part is
the court awarding damages to you for your loss.  You may be awarded
only a nominal amount, ranging from literally $1.00 or a few hundred
or thousand dollars (to a big corporation, this is meaningless).  To
the defendant, it is merely a cost of doing business and no big deal.
The third part is the defendant's ability to pay.  Even if you are
awarded a large settlement, you must collect it from the defendant.
Apparently some of these guys are pretty slimy and have their assets
well hidden or declare bankruptcy.  If there is ENOUGH willpower, the
government can push aside those smokescreens, but it takes an enormous
willpower not usually available.  (In one rare case, a man claiming he
is broke has been held in jail for ten years to force him to come up
with the money the court believes he has hidden somewhere).

>> I don't understand Internet message addressing, but it seems to me any
>> initiated message should have a secured sender's address address.

> Technically, this is impossible with the current mechanisms used by
> Internet mail.  Nothing short of a complete redesign from the ground
> up will accomplish it.  An effort to create a new Internet email
> infrastructure would be extraordinarily expensive and complex.  It
> would make the conversion to TCP and SMTP in 1983 look trivial by
> comparison.

I'm not at all sure it would be as a complex process as you suggest.
The internet is software driven, not hardware driven; that is, it's
not like someone going out and physically rewiring every PC and server
in the world.  Rather, it is developing new software and downloading
it.

Very often I am offered upgrades for various Internet software
compnents -- the PDF reader, basic browser, news reader, "flash
player", basic PC operating system, etc.  Actually I'm quite content
with a bare bones system, but I've found that won't work.  If you
don't keep up, in a very short time your browser just won't work at
all -- some site will simply reject you and tell you to get a new
browser.  My point is that with all these upgrades constantly going
out it shouldn't be that big a deal to download new components.  Must
could be done on the gateway end.

> The new email infrastructure will also give the world email postage
> stamps.  And this time, it won't be just governments who get a cut of the
> profits.  The biggest objection to SMTP in the SMTP vs. X.400 wars two
> decades ago was that SMTP's fundamental design made it impossible to
> impose email postage stamps.  You can bet that the new redesigned Internet
> email won't have that problem.

Email and internet use is NOT "free".  Someone is paying for the
servers, routers, and lines and people who install and maintain them.
For consumers, many pay an Internet Service Provider, such as an AOL,
for that service.

They say a very substantial amount of today's email traffic is spam.
Reducing that traffic would reduce the need for routers and lines and
that would save money.  Maybe having email stamps isn't such a bad
idea.

Telephone service is offered in many grades and prices including many
"unlimited" use plans for local and long distance, even overseas calls
are offered at cheap package rates.  There is no reason Internet
service can't be offered on a similar pricing scale -- those who use it a
lot would pay a lot.  That is, after all, our social policy regarding
communications -- pay for usage and costs.  The concept of rate averaging
and universal service was discarded as social policy at the time of
Bell System divesture.

> Be careful for what you wish.  You may get it.  And there are plenty of
> people who are quite happy to provide it to you (*ka-ching*!).

The costs of spam and fraud and high enough now, the cash register is
going along quite nicely, except the thieves are getting the money.

How many people, other than myself, are holding back from  participating
in e-commerce and communications because of mistrust of the system?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Quite a few of us are holding back. Lisa. 
I order via the net when it is absolutely neccessary, or appears to me
to be very good deal (and have been assured it is legitimate. Usually
I just deal with the local stores however.  PAT]

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

From: jmeissen@aracnet.com
Subject: Re: FTC Do Not Call List
Date: 14 Dec 2005 16:36:05 GMT
Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com


In article <telecom24.562.9@telecom-digest.org>,
<jmeissen@aracnet.com> wrote: >

> No, she and we are trying to dictate what people can talk about on OUR
> phones. Big difference. My paying for a phone does not give someone
> else license to unlimited use of it for THEIR purposes.

> John Meissen                                   jmeissen@aracnet.com

>[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That would also be true regarding
>_your_ computer accounts would it not? 

Absolutely.

> But finding the _legitimate, bonadide_ guilty party and chopping off
> his fingers would not be so futile, would it?

If you could find them, and if it were legal to do so. Maybe you could
do that in Saudi Arabia, but the last time I checked, chopping off
fingers was illegal here in the US.

> But I have many readers here who consider me to be an imbicile and
> unable to correctly idenfity spammers; apparently they do not know
> how to geographically locate and match up IP numbers, and no, you do
> _NOT_ rely upon what the "From:" has to say; you begin much further
> up in the envelope.

And you don't rely on the IP addresses, either. As has been repeatedly
pointed out 90% or more of the spam we're subjected to is proxied
through virus-infected home computers and compromised servers. The
owners of those systems are no more responsible for sending spam than
you would be of making phone calls to Columbia that came from someone
tapping your line outside your house.

You could TRY to make a claim about the websites the spam refers to,
but those also are extremely short-lived, unauthorized servers often
running on the same compromised systems.

> Start with the "from " at the very top and carefully examine the
> first two or three lines as well as paying close attention to the
> path lines showing how the message got to you. Some of that stuff up
> there is much harder (but not impossible!) to forge.  Now, 'tis true
> that dial-up IPs tend to be quite dynamic and almost useless, but
> really serious spammers have a solid line all the time don't they?

Yes, you can tell where the system is that the spam was sent through.
But that doesn't tell you WHO sent the spam, only which compromised
zombie system they used to relay it through.

It won't tell you how to track down the sender, but you can use it to
block further attempts. For instance, my system blocks based on sender
IP address and hostname. I block anything that resolves to a hostname
that looks like it came from a home system.. basically any hostname
whose left-most portion contains 4 sets of numbers separated by '-',
or contains any of the strings "client", "dhcp", "dsl", "pool", "ppp"
and "user". I also block on a rather large list of IP ranges.

> Please go look at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html
> to see an example of something I am working on in cooperation with the
> geobytes.com database. Testing the accuracy of my 'welcome to visitors'
> line has thus far shown a high degree of positive results. Just go
> look at those lines on that page. I don't care if you bother to listen
> to the audio or read the AP newswire. Some of you are probably too
> smart to bother with that anyway. If the 'welcome to visitors from'
> line produces really gross inaccuracies in your instance, I would like
> to know about it. In a day or three, I am going to present here an
> HTML 'form' in which you can cut and paste the top half dozen or so
> lines from your favorite spam. I hope you will give it an honest
> review, and report your results to the Tin Hat imbicile.   PAT]

Yes, I'm sure it works. But there's a HUGE difference between
legitimate web surfers and scum spammers. Web surfers don't tend to
hide their activities.

John Meissen                                  jmeissen@aracnet.com


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you say is true, however if the
top three or four(?) lines of the header -- let's call it the 'true
 From line' points at you, then you have a problem. Either you are
the spammer or you are a spam-enabler (by virtue of proxies, open
relays, etc.) You would not be up there in the top lines if you were
neither a spammer nor an enabler, now would you? Either way, you need
to have your ass kicked hard. Kicked harder for the spammer than for
the enabler I guess, but kicked none the less.  Anyone can be 'From:'
anyone else, just as I could write a perfectly awful letter to our
resident President Dubya and sign your name and address to it. But
if the letter was postmarked "Independence 67301 KS" and _you_
disavowed any knowlege of it, most simpletons and brain diseased old
Tin Hat fools would agree it _probably_ was not your doing. PAT]

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

Subject: Re:  FTC Do Not Call List
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:49:21 -0500
From: Charles Cryderman <Charles.Cryderman@globalcrossing.com>


Pat,

An interesting note of this law. The main author of this law, US
Congressman from Michigan, John Dingle (50 years in the House) hasn't
even set his own telephone numbers on the list. (as told to JJ & Lynne,
morning DJs WCSX 94.7 in Detroit)


Chip Cryderman

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

Subject: Spam (was FTC Do Not Call List)
Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu
Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni
From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes)
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 17:50:52 GMT


Another part of the general spam problem is that spam blockers do not
keep spam off the network and do not cause the spammers any pain.
Most of them block spam at your machine, or at one point upstream from
your machine.  So the spammers just try harder to get past them by
sending more messages, and that further congests the network.

One scheme that seemed to me to have some promise was to detect spam
in the SMTP receiving program and deliberately delay its responses
to the sending program.  So that the transaction of sending a message
is stretched out far longer than normal.

jhhaynes at earthlink dot net

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Spamming the Wrong Message
Date: 14 Dec 2005 10:02:38 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Adam L. Penenberg wrote:

> Indeed. Recently, DoubleClick reported that clickthrough rates on
> e-mail were still at about 8 percent.

Is he saying 8% of spam recipients respond and send money in response?
I find that hard to believe.  I am curious as to who actually responds
to spam and why.  Are people that stupid, greedy, or desperate?

> He asks: "Do people trust TV less because of infomercials? Or mail
> less because of annoying mortgage offers that disguise themselves as
> bills? My guess is that these things annoy people, but they have
> learned to compartmentalize their impact -- the mediums still
> deliver value, so consumers are willing to put up with some
> annoyances for the real benefits."  Think about that the next time
> you return from vacation and have to spend an hour deleting spam.

Well, I for one have changed my habits.  I immediately throw out mail
that looks like an ad, and I have destroyed legitimate mail as a
result.  In one situation, when I called to get a replacement letter,
the company acknowledged that their external printing on the envelope
caused many people to do just as I did and they had to send out many
replacements.  So they can push this stuff, but only to a point and
consumers will rebel.

I rarely watch TV when it's broadcast because of heavy and annoying
commercials.  I tape everything then watch it later so I can fast fwd
through the commercials.  There are some shows, especially on cable
TV, that are so commercial loaded I just don't bother watching them at
all, indeed, I'm rethinking about my paying $60 a month for "basic"
cable TV when I watch so little of it.

I use email and e-commerce extremely sparingly solely because of spam
and fraud.  If it weren't for them, I'd freely give out my email
address; today I just tell people I don't have one.

In other words, the medium no longer delivers that "value" to justify
putting up with the annoyances.  There is a tipping point and
consumers are reaching it.

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

Subject: Re:Communications History
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 15:00:46 -0500
From: Charles Cryderman <Charles.Cryderman@globalcrossing.com>


Professor Gray enlightened us with:

> In 1959 I was assigned to the US Army Signal Depot in Okinawa.  I got
> my uniform all spruced up and answered all of the questions from the 
> examining board correctly and won "soldier of the month".  There were
> three awards.  One was a new Army Green uniform, which would have cost
> me about half a month's pay out of my pocket.  When I joined the Army in
> 1957 they issued us one OD uniform and one green one.  We were supposed
> to buy the second green one ourselves.  We got black shoes,
> but we had to dye the brown boots black ourselves.

> Another piece of the award was a three-minute phone call to the United
> States -- which at the time would cost about US$36.00 (over a third of a
> month's pay).  As I recall it was handled by RCA Globecom from a phone
> booth in Sukiran to Tulsa, OK.  It was full duplex, so we didn't have to
> do the "over" thing.  I called my wife, who had just borne our first
> son.  I learned that he had been born via a Red Cross "health and
> welfare" telegram, since my wife couldn't afford to call me.  I'm glad
> that the troops today have multiple methods of communicating, but in
> 1958-59 I was severely restricted.  My wife wrote every day, but we only
> had that one single phone conversation in my 15 months overseas. At $12
> a minute, we could buy a lot of stamps.

> The final part of the award was a trip to the northern part of Okinawaka
> (on the general's helicopter) to have a look at the tropospheric scatter
> radio site that was being installed.  My memory is clouded by the fog of
> time, but I think it was Philco doing the installation. Since I was a
> radio repairman I got the "grand tour" of the whole site.  The
> helicopter ride was something special as well, since they were not
> nearly as ubiquitous as they are today.

Professor,

As of 1987 (when I left Okinawa) the tropospheric scatter radio systems
were still in use. There were two satellite stations (not sure if that 
has changed any) as well as sub-sea cable off the island. Also, the US 
Air Force had installed a telephone system that was available for
personal use though out the island. This include family housing and
single enlisted housing (barracks). It was at that time about $15.00 a
month and calls to the US were about 0.45 per minute.

One last note, I too went before the board as a NCO. Just before I went
before them it they drop the main award, a back seat ride in a Air Force
F15 around the island. Now that would have been a blast.

Chip Cryderman

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


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