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The Telecom Digest for Thu, 25 Mar 2021
Volume 40 : Issue 84 : "text" format

table of contents
New CWA District 1 Website!
Re: Whistleblower Says AT&T Has Been Ripping Off US Schools For A Decade
Using hands-free cellphones when you drive is not as safe as you think
This would be funny except it's not

Message-ID: <20210324033114.5D2C1790@telecom2018.csail.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2021 03:31:14 +0000 (UTC) From: Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: New CWA District 1 Website! Last week, the CWA District 1 website got a facelift and a new web address: cwad1.org. You can still reach the website using our old web address, district1.cwa-union.org. At the D1 website you can find: * Info about District 1 * CWA Local Directory and links to Local websites * D1 offices and staff contact info * D1 news * Legislative and Political Action info * Info about joining CWA https://cwad1.org/news/new-district-1-website
Message-ID: <20210324140438.GA6240@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2021 14:04:38 +0000 From: Bill Horne <malQassRimiMlation@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Whistleblower Says AT&T Has Been Ripping Off US Schools For A Decade On Tue, Mar 23, 2021 at 03:19:17AM +0000, Moderator wrote: > from the a-pattern-develops dept > > By Karl Bode > > In just the last five years or so AT&T has been: fined $18.6 million > for helping rip off programs for the hearing impaired; fined $10.4 > million for ripping off a program for low-income families; fined $105 > million for helping "crammers" by intentionally making such bogus > charges more difficult to see on customer bills; and fined $60 million > for lying to customers about the definition of "unlimited" data. This > is just a few of AT&T's adventures in regulatory oversight, and in > most instances AT&T lawyers are usually able to lower the fines, or > eliminate them entirely, after years of litigation. > > https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210318/10560346446/whistleblower-says-att-has-been-ripping-off-us-schools-decade.shtml I used to wonder why Blue Boxes(1) were in use for so long: mostly, from about 1960 to the early 1980's. It occurred to me one day that there was a simple explanation: there was no effective action taken against phreakers for the simple reason that MA BELL(2) WAS GETTING PAID. Blue boxes worked by diverting a call that had been made (in most cases) to an 800 number, and sending it to a different destination: but after the call had been rerouted, and the new destination answered it, the billing office would mark the call as "completed" - and the owner of the 800 number would be billed for it. That meant that Blue Box use served to generate more revenue, so Ma Bell had little motivation to take any serious action against the phreakers. It also meant that Blue Box use was never a victimless crime, as some have claimed. As we used to say in the Military Police: "Follow the Money!" It always boils down to the questions "Who paid?" and "Who got paid?" - and in the cases that Mr. Bode cites, the answer to the first question was "Us!" Tax dollars paid for the programs to aid hering-impaired users and the elderly, and most cramming fraud was directed at unsophisticated home users and small businesses that couldn't afford detailed billing analysis. The bait-and-switch claims of "unlimited" data were directed at the same small businesses and home users. Time and time again, I am reminded of Juvenal's prescient question: "Who will watch the Watchmen?" In Mother Bell's case, the answer was "Nobody." Bill 1. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_box 2. Since the original company named "AT&T" is not the same as the one Mr. Bode wrote about, I use the name "Mother Bell" to apply to all similar entities, past and present. -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)
Message-ID: <648ACAFA-EB98-4833-8255-9BE8E85B333A@roscom.com> Date: 22 Mar 2021 21:54:39 -0400 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Using hands-free cellphones when you drive is not as safe as you think Using hands-free cellphones when you drive is not as safe as you think When someone calls me when they're traveling in a vehicle, I just hang up. It's rude, but it's safer for the driver. By David Tuller >From his Match.com profile, the guy looked like a keeper. He was my age, give or take. A do-gooder type -- he ran a large social services agency and he seemed to have a rich social life. We flirted by message. I planned our future. Then he called. As we began chatting, I heard it: traffic noise. "I can't talk while you're driving," I said. He offered the typical response. "It's okay, it's hands-free." I hesitated. Principles were principles, no matter how tempting the circumstances. "I'm sorry, I can't. Let's talk later. When you're not driving." I cut off his objections and hung up. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/hands-free-cellphone-driving-risk/2021/03/22/780d7ae8-8112-11eb-ac37-4383f7709abe_story.html
Message-ID: <20210324161654.GA7069@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2021 16:16:54 +0000 From: Bill Horne <malQassRimiMlation@gmail.com> Subject: This would be funny except it's not My cell phone is out of service. I can't call out or be called. I borrowed my wife's phone to report the problem. Verizon wants to know the PIN that applies to the account. I keep trying to get to a human, and their mindless mechanical droid keeps demanding the PIN that applies to the account. I keep trying to get to a human, and their mindless mechanical droid keeps demanding the PIN that applies to the account. Perish the thought that a warm body should be made available to take down a report. Having already charged my credit card for a another month, Verizon seems to feel that I'm not entitled to anything like an actual person to write down a report: I guess the money was spent on bonuses for the executives and bribes for politicians and PR to fend off their customers. If anyone knows how to reach a human at Verizon Wireless, I'd love to hear about it. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)

End of telecom Digest Thu, 25 Mar 2021

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