From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon May 3 16:39:56 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i43Kduo01075; Mon, 3 May 2004 16:39:56 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 3 May 2004 16:39:56 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405032039.i43Kduo01075@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #222 TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 May 2004 16:38:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 222 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #431, May 3, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Anyone Local to These Scum? (Marcus Jervis) Re: Anyone Local to These Scum? (Frank@nospam.biz) Re: Iraq/Westchester Area Code (Scott Dorsey) Re: Good News: Four Oakland Cited in First U.S. Spam Case (Scott Dorsey) Re: Honesty from Earthlink (Scott Dorsey) How to Block Unknown Caller (David Courmanof) Winning the Election The Republican Way (Gary Novosielski) 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: Mon, 03 May 2004 10:29:19 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #431, May 3, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 431: May 3, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Nortel Fires Frank Dunn ** BCE Exec Demands New Telecom Policy ** Allstream Challenges Dark Fibre Ruling ** Sprint Expands Local Phone Coverage ** AT&T Plans Sale of Rogers Shares ** CRTC Chair Outlines Principles for VoIP Review ** Yak Market-Tests IP Phone Service ** Northern Satellite Projects Approved ** Bell to Market E-Payment Cards ** Bell Cells Work in Montreal Subway ** Cogeco Small Business Package Offered in Quebec ** Jury Convicts Four of Directory Fraud ** Russians Will Launch Anik F3 ** U.S. Prosecutes Spammers ** Microcell Raises $97 Million ** Aliant Wireless Up, Wireline Down ** Telecom Conference Seeks Speakers ** Angus on Issues in CRTC VoIP Review ============================================================ NORTEL FIRES FRANK DUNN: Nortel Networks has terminated CEO Frank Dunn and two financial executives "for cause," in connection with the ongoing review of its financial statements from 2000 to mid-2003. Four other financial managers have been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the review. ** Nortel says it expects the review will cut its previously announced 2003 net earnings in half. The company again delayed publication of its final financial statements for 2003, and did not release preliminary results for 1Q 2004. ** Nortel's new President and CEO is William Owens, former CEO of Teledesic and former Vice-Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. BCE EXEC DEMANDS NEW TELECOM POLICY: Speaking in Quebec City last week, BCE CEO Michael Sabia said that Canada's leadership role in IP is being "jeopardized by a public policy environment that is outdated and sorely removed from the realities of today's marketplace." He called for new policies based on "treating all players equally." ** Sabia said Canada's communication policy must "change this year -- the window of opportunity is that short." www.bce.ca/en/news/eventscalendar/webcasts/2004/20040427/ ALLSTREAM CHALLENGES DARK FIBRE RULING: Allstream has applied to the Federal Court for leave to appeal CRTC Telecom Decision 2004-20 (see Telecom Update #426), which approved three Bell Canada dark fibre CSAs for Villages Branches projects in Quebec. Allstream says the Telecom Act does not allow the CRTC to approve a rate it has found not to be just and reasonable. SPRINT EXPANDS LOCAL PHONE COVERAGE: Sprint Canada says it expanded the service areas for its existing local telephone service coverage in Burlington, Mississauga, and Oakville, and established new service areas in 11 other communities. ** Sprint says it is now co-located in 148 wire centres serving 31 municipalities across Canada. AT&T PLANS SALE OF ROGERS SHARES: AT&T Wireless says it wants to sell its 34% stake in Rogers Wireless Communications. Rogers Communications, which has the right of first refusal, says it has not yet decided whether to buy the shares. CRTC CHAIR OUTLINES PRINCIPLES FOR VoIP REVIEW: In a speech prepared for an industry conference on April 20, CRTC Chairman Charles Dalfen outlined four principles that will guide the Commission's response to VoIP and other "disruptive technologies." ** Dalfen's speech was delivered in his absence by Broadcasting Vice-Chair Andree Wylie. www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/SPEECHES/2004/s040420.htm YAK MARKET-TESTS IP PHONE SERVICE: Yak Communications says it has started market testing a VoIP local telephone service it plans to roll out beginning September 8. The company says it will offer bundles including local, long distance, and basic features, priced between $24.99 to $39.99 a month. NORTHERN SATELLITE PROJECTS APPROVED: Ottawa has announced the first four projects that will be allocated satellite capacity for broadband Internet access in remote northern communities, under the National Satellite Initiative. (See Telecom Update #402) http://broadband.gc.ca/pub/program/nsi/applications/index.html http://broadband.gc.ca/pub/media/news/kuujjuaq042604.html ** Industry Canada has posted a report on its February consultations with satellite service providers and operators in preparation for Round 2 of the NSI. http://broadband.gc.ca/pub/program/nsi/reports/consultations/index.html BELL TO MARKET E-PAYMENT CARDS: Bell Canada has acquired exclusive marketing rights to a service that allows consumers to pay for small items like coffee or newspapers using a prepaid electronic debit card. The service, developed by Toronto-based Dexit Inc, will initially be offered in the 416 and 905 areas, then extended across the country. BELL CELLS WORK IN MONTREAL SUBWAY: Bell Canada has extended its 1X digital wireless network underground to five stations and associated tunnels in the Montreal subway system. The telco says the pilot will let it assess the feasibility of providing coverage in subway systems in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada. COGECO SMALL BUSINESS PACKAGE OFFERED IN QUEBEC: Cogeco Cable's small business Internet service, launched in Ontario in February, is now available in Quebec. Business Starter provides downloads at up to 5 Mbps, uploads at 640 Kbps, and five e-mail addresses for $49.95/month on a 12-month contract. JURY CONVICTS FOUR OF DIRECTORY FRAUD: A jury has found four men associated with Yellow Business Pages.com and Yellow Business Directory.com guilty of sending phony directory invoices to businesses across Canada in 2002. The scam, which took in over $1 million in seven months, produced more than 4,400 complaints to the Competition Bureau. ** The offences carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine, or both. RUSSIANS WILL LAUNCH ANIK F3: Telesat Canada has chosen Russia's International Launch Services to launch Anik F3 in 2006. The satellite, Telesat's 17th, is currently being built at Europe's EADS Astrium. U.S. PROSECUTES SPAMMERS: The U.S. Justice department last week filed the first criminal charges for violations of federal anti-spam legislation. Four Detroit area men are accused of sending millions of e-mails advertising a weight-loss patch, using false return e-mail addresses. MICROCELL RAISES $97 MILLION: Microcell Telecommunications' fully subscribed rights offering, completed last week, should net about $97 million. The company expects to raise another $50 million selling Class B Non-Voting Shares to COM Canada, owned by Craig McCaw. ALIANT WIRELESS UP, WIRELINE DOWN: Aliant's first quarter consolidated revenues were $504.4 million, up just 0.7% over last year. Local revenue was down 0.9% and LD was down 8.6%, while wireless increased 18.3% and Internet 14.2%. ** Local residential lines in service are down 1.8% from 1Q 2003; business lines are down 0.4%. TELECOM CONFERENCE SEEKS SPEAKERS: Telemanagement Live! will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, October 20- 21. Anyone interested in speaking at this new national conference on enterprise telecom and networking should read the Call for Presentations at the Telemanagement Live! website. ** Telemanagement Live! is organized and presented by Angus Dortmans Associates and PW Ritchie & Associates. www.telemanagementlive.com/attendee.html ANGUS ON ISSUES IN CRTC VoIP REVIEW: The May issue of Telemanagement, now available online, features a report by Lis Angus on issues facing the CRTC and the telecom industry in the current review of regulations for IP-based telephone service. Also: Is wireless competition in local phone markets as strong as Bell and Aliant claim? ** Telemanagement Online subscribers can access this issue, and our extensive library of past issues, columns, editorials, and feature reports, at http://online.angustel.ca. To subscribe or to add online access to your existing subscription, go to www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub-online.html. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2004 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Marcus Jervis Subject: Re: Anyone Local to These Scum? Date: Mon, 03 May 2004 07:18:47 +0000 wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) wrote: > I receive about a dozen spams a day from an outfit calling itself > "InfoSource Group" advertising the "2004 American Medical Directory". > They seem to be incredibly persistent; I've observed (and reported) > them using dozens of different cable-modem ISP accounts, mostly on > Comcast. > They seem to have at least figured out that spamming doesn't pay for > on-line merchants, so they are doing it the old-fashioned way: >> complete the information below and fax it to 905-751-0199. >> (tel: 905-751-0919). According to the www.whitepages.com reverse directory, 905-751-0919 is for: Rosin, K 5 Offord Cr Aurora, ON L4G 3G8 (905) 751-0919 (see http://whitepages.com/search/Reverse_Phone?phone=9057510919 ) Aurora is north of Toronto. To get to 5 Offord Crescent, take 404 north to exit 41, take Bloomington Road E. west about a mile and a quarter to BabcockBlvd, go right for 200 yards to Offord Crescent and turn left. Number 5 is on the left (south) side about 100 feet from Babcock. Good luck! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for your research on this. I imagine many guys would probably prefer to make personal visitations to find out what it is all about. Those who cannot make personal visits because of the distance involved may prefer to use regular phone or even request information via fax. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: Anyone Local to These Scum? Date: Mon, 03 May 2004 06:01:29 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Why don't you subscribe to one of the many nation-wide flat-rate long distance plans available these days and do your own dirty work? Garrett Wollman wrote: > I receive about a dozen spams a day from an outfit calling itself > "InfoSource Group" advertising the "2004 American Medical Directory". > They seem to be incredibly persistent; I've observed (and reported) > them using dozens of different cable-modem ISP accounts, mostly on > Comcast. > They seem to have at least figured out that spamming doesn't pay for > on-line merchants, so they are doing it the old-fashioned way: >> complete the information below and fax it to 905-751-0199. >> (tel: 905-751-0919). > Now, I certainly would not suggest that someone in the 905 area code > call up their fax machine and send a copy of the Toronto phone book, > since that would violate Bell's copyright and besides, it might be > considered telephone harassment. However, if you happen to be in a > position to track down the particular telemarketing office that is > accepting these calls, and explain to them that it would not be wise > to associate themselves with these sleaze, I would certainly owe you > the beverage of your choice should you ever be in Boston. > Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every > wollman@lcs.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own > Opinions not those of| search for greater freedom. > MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. __ (2003) ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Iraq/Westchester Area Code Date: 3 May 2004 11:17:31 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) wrote: > First thank you for the excellent work with Telecom Digest. > I have a question: In the article > http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?pid=1396 > that speak of with a satellite phone, a regular Iraqi cell phone > ("Iraqnafone"), and a special CPA phone with a 914 (Westchester, NY) > area code just to stay in touch with people. Even then, most of the > time you can't call one type of phone from the others. > Why would you not be able to call one from another except for lack of > coverage perhaps? Almost certainly political issues. Everybody has their own fiefdom. In Nigeria, there is a government telephone system, and there is a Shell Oil telephone system, and there are only limited interconnection trunks between them, whick work poorly when they work. In the US, we had a number of businesses with independant telephone networks, like the railroads. Bell Telephone did not like interconnecting with them, for fear people would "leak" long distance calls through the company networks. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Good News: Four Oakland Cited in First U.S. Spam Case Date: 3 May 2004 12:16:13 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) SELLCOM Tech support wrote: > Joe Wineburgh posted on that vast > internet thingie: >> Other unwitting companies and agencies whose computers were used >> include > All of the aforementioned and deliberately not quoted were *all* > running open relays or unsecured email servers in 2004??????? Well, with all of these nifty Outlook viruses, just about any Windows user can be inadvertently running a mail relay. Viruses that turn infected machines into spam zombies are the latest in spam technology and they are extremely popular, as the huge influx of spam from home broadband address blocks will show. > Let's just kinda hope that the prison population will be computer > literate enough to give the spammers the same courtesy formerly > reserved for child molesters and such like. It will be interesting to see. No doubt they will be going into the sort of minimum security facility reserved for white-collar criminals, so the chances are better than one might expect. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Honesty from Earthlink Date: 3 May 2004 15:10:09 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Mail Ias wrote: > Let's consider that the original poster is wrong -- Earthlink really is > trying to fix the problem, but can't so far. Do you really expect any > CSR to be able to explain it to your satisfaction? What do you want? > "we use SQL Server 2000 build 5915, and there's a bug with index > headers on tables larger than 6,000,007 bytes, only when the first > field of the table starts with the letter J". That's the sort of service I came to expect from Netcom before they got borged by Mindspring and then shortly afterward by Earthlink. I remember using the Netcom shell servers when the /var partition overflowed, calling the shell experts at Earthlink and explaining what was going on. I spent twenty minutes with this moron explaining what was going on with his machine, and that it was not at all an issue with my configuration. He had enough trouble getting it through his head that I wasn't using either a PC or a Mac. After a long discussion, he finally said, "maybe I should escalate this. A lot of people have been calling about this thing." Watching how Earthlink mutilated and destroyed the shell systems, dropped support with only limited notice, and generally treated the shell users rudely and with total ignorance, this does not give me a warm feeling about Earthlink's ability to run _any_ computer system. Not to mention that Earthlink continues to have a severe spam problem overall. For a very short period, Earthlink was a very fine example of how to deal with spam effectively, and then the one guy running their abuse department left and the whole thing collapsed. There was about a six month time period when they actually had their act together, after abandoning the Elron management structure but before their growth got totally out of control. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: moulbai@hotmail.com (David Courmanof) Subject: How to Block Unknown Caller Date: 3 May 2004 03:24:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Is there a way to block or on my mobile? I have an Sony Z-600. Thanks, Alex [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Probably not. Privacy Manager (at least the SBC version of it, which I think the same generics most telcos are using), only works when the caller **deliberatly** does *67 on their call or their phone system deliberatly inserts *67 in the dialing string. I do not know if the Sony Z-600 has any hardware on the phone itself (or built in firmware, etc) to make it happen. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Winning the Election The Republican Way Date: Mon, 03 May 2004 05:11:35 GMT Charles Cryderman wrote in the thread "If I am Elected": > It just amazes me the way you people keep going on about this. First > the media did a recount of their own and found that there was no > difference in who won the Florida vote. Second, if these people in > Florida are so stupid that they can't figure out how to vote then > maybe they are to stupid to even be permitted to vote. I have used the > old lever machines, optical scan machines as well as absentee and > punch cards. Found them all easy to use and understand. Besides, if > they are that stupid there are people at the polling places to teach > them how to vote. Not quite right. Consider the following quote from Greg Palast, investigative reporter for BBC, and author of _The Best Democracy Money Can Buy_: "Five months before the election, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris ordered the removal of 57,700 names from Florida's voter rolls on grounds that they were felons. Voter rolls contain the names of all eligible, registered voters. If you're not on the list, you don't get to vote. "If you commit a felony in Florida, you lose your right to vote there, and you're 'scrubbed' from the rolls. You become a non-citizen, like in the old Soviet Union. This is not the case in most other states; it's an uncivilized vestige of the Deep South. "My office carefully went through the scrub list and discovered that at minimum, 90.2 percent of the people were completely innocent of any crime except for being African American. We didn't have to guess about that, because next to each voter's name was their race. "When I questioned Harris' office about the high percentage of African Americans on the scrub list, they responded, 'Well, you know how many black people commit crimes.'" {OOTC: I understand that the above questioning took place by telephone.) This and several other types of election fraud covered in the article (and the book) would never be detected by any recount, since these ballots were never cast. But there were also thousands of optical scan ballots that were cast but didn't scan properly, and were therefore marked "spoiled" (even though a human could easily discern the markings). In predominantly black districts the ballots were simply shoved in storage and never counted (or recounted). In case you're wondering, neighboring predominantly white districts had available on-site verifying scanners in each polling place. Voters in those districts whose ballots didn't scan were given the opportunity to re-mark a fresh ballot before leaving the polls, so those districts had no "spoiled" ballots. Read the full article, "Winning the Election The Republican Way: Racism, Theft and Fraud in Florida"; The Weekly Dig, Boston, MA; Tuesday, April 22, 2003, at http://tinyurl.com/3bne2 . [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's the way things happen in Chicago also, and the Democratic 'Machine' hardly has its hands clean, either. The very same article could have been entitled 'Winning the Election the Democratic Way', etc and set in northern Illinois. Nationally, the whole system of elections needs such bad reform. And racism remains a serious problem also, not just in the deep south, although it is more obvious some places than others. People do not become less racist as time goes on, they simply become more sophisticated in the ways they hide their feelings. Years ago they used to use poll taxes, read/writing tests, or downright refusals to allow voting. Now they use more sophisticated methods such as taking people police have selected to go to jail (guilt not a factor on that) and eliminate them with the same results. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #222 ******************************