From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed May 19 14:48:26 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4JImPa19319; Wed, 19 May 2004 14:48:26 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 14:48:26 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405191848.i4JImPa19319@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 #248 TELECOM Digest Wed, 19 May 2004 14:41:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 248 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks (Monty Solomon) Privacy Jam on California Highway (Monty Solomon) ICANN Wins Round in Internet Suit (Monty Solomon) Point, Click and Swap -- Digital Photos go P2P (Monty Solomon) E-Mail Scammer Gets Four Years (Monty Solomon) Identity Crisis / Stations Hay Have to Change Channels in shift (Solomon) DomainKeys (Monty Solomon) Re: Phone Books and D/A For Non-Bell Subscribers? (Fred Atkinson) Re: Phone Books and D/A for non-Bell Subscribers? (Jack Decker) Best Consumer Answering Machine? (zmike6) Re: The Making of an Idol (David Quinton) Flat-Rate International VoIP Providers? (Zed) Re: Verizon Wireless "Detail Missing" New Bills (William Robison) Pulver: CRTC Shouldn't Treat VoIP Like Phone Service (VOIP News) AT&T To Offer Wireless Services to Consumers and Businesses (VOIP News) Gradwell dot com Ltd. launches VoIP Centrex Service (VOIP News) Pundits Sound Off on VoIP's Future (VOIP News) Skype Signs Deal With Two Carriers (VOIP News) Unconventional Activity; Unconventional Phone Number Parsing (Carl Moore) 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: Wed, 19 May 2004 08:58:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com Auto insurance company Geico has sued Google and Overture Services for allegedly violating its trademarks in search-related advertisements, in the latest legal salvo against the Internet companies. Geico, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company owned by Warren Buffett, filed suit against Google and Yahoo-owned Overture on May 4, in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The insurer charged the two companies with infringing on its trademarks when they sold them as keywords to Geico's rivals, so that the protected terms could appear in sponsored search results. According to the suit, that practice causes consumer confusion, in violation of the Lanham Act, the primary federal law covering trademark registration and protection. http://news.com.com/2100-1024-5215107.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Older readers may recall when what is now called 'Geico' used to -- many years ago -- be 'Government Employees Insurance Company'. It was a federal level quasi-governmental agency dealing with automobile insurance for government employees, who were the company's only customers. I do not know when it got disttached from the government or when its name changed to the initials 'GEICO' only, or when its mascot became the cute little reptile character, and I do not know if the little reptile's name is pronounced 'Geckko' or 'G-eye-co'. I have heard both. I know a huge number of its customers are still federal employees, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 09:19:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Privacy Jam on California Highway By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com The pictures show a driver peering angrily out his window at the photographer. In one, his middle finger is raised at the camera. In the last, his license plate is captured on digital film as he drives away. These are the kinds of photos that until a few weeks ago made up the front page of a Web site called CarpoolCheats.org, where a pair of frustrated San Jose, Calif., commuters posted photos of single drivers who they spotted using the carpool lanes. As highway vigilantism goes, it was mild. There were no legal repercussions for the drivers caught on film, and the state highway patrol, while aware of the site, can't use the information. But it drew enough rancor that creator Sean Mcintyre has temporarily closed the site down. http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5212280.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 09:48:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: ICANN Wins Round in Internet Suit By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com A federal judge on Tuesday handed domain name registry VeriSign a preliminary setback in its dispute with Internet regulators over proposals to add controversial new features to .com and .net addresses. U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz dismissed allegations that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers had violated federal antitrust laws in its attempts to bar VeriSign from adding services like Site Finder, which effectively took control of all unassigned .com and .net domain names and redirected them to the company's Web site. During a hearing Tuesday morning, Matz gave VeriSign until June 7 to try again to make its antitrust claims stick, which the company said it would do. "We ultimately believe we'll prevail on the matter," VeriSign spokesman Brian O'Shaughnessy said. "This is part of the process ... Antitrust certainly has a higher burden. When a court asks for more detail and more specificity in essentially proving your claim, that's what you do." http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5215324.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 09:53:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Point, Click and Swap -- Digital Photos go P2P By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com Peer-to-peer technology, made famous by music-sharing networks like Napster, may have found a new lease on life in the digital pictures business. OurPictures, a Palo Alto, Calif., start-up, on Tuesday plans to launch its service for letting subscribers share pictures over the Internet but without the constraints of e-mail attachments or Web sites. The idea behind OurPictures, which is set to conclude a three-month test of its service, is that subscribers can post pictures to a network of fellow subscribers who transfer the pictures directly from one computer to another. http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5214575.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 21:45:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: E-Mail Scammer Gets Four Years By David McGuire washingtonpost.com Staff Writer An Internet scammer who used e-mail and a fraudulent Web site to steal hundreds of credit card numbers was sentenced to almost four years in jail Tuesday, one of the stiffest-ever penalties handed down for online fraud. Houston, Texas federal court Judge Vanessa Gilmore sentenced Houston resident Zachary Hill to 46 months in jail for his role in duping consumers into turning over 473 credit card numbers. The Justice Department said the sentence is "one of, if not the longest" ever handed down against an e-mail scammer, said spokesman Michael Kulstad. Hill, 20, used a "phishing" scheme to make his e-mail look like it came from America Online, the nation's largest Internet service provider, or PayPal, the online payment subsidiary of auction giant eBay. The message told victims that their accounts had lapsed and that the companies required their credit card numbers and passwords to restart them. Hill prompted recipients to enter their information into Web forms designed to look like pages run by the companies, the Justice Department said. Hill then used the credit card numbers to buy $47,000 in goods and services. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37406-2004May18.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 22:10:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Identity Crisis / Stations May Have to Change Channels in Shift By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/17/2004 For more than 50 years, WWOR New York has built a brand around its location on the dial: channel 9. The station bills its 10 p.m. newscast "UPN9 News," and callers with tips for the investigative team are asked to phone 1-800-CH9-News. The latest headlines can be accessed on UPN9.com, and, of course, the number 9 is prominent in its logo-in type twice as big as its call letters or network affiliation. But WWOR may be facing an identity crisis. As soon as 24 months, the Fox-owned station may lose its highly prized single-digit spot on the TV dial for a new channel, 38, erasing enormous brand identity built up since the station was founded in 1949. That's because WBPH Philadelphia has first call on channel 9 when stations shift to an all-digital-TV format as mandated by law. Because the two stations' transmitters are so close, WWOR can keep using channel 9 only if it gives up some of its coverage area-a loss of audience WWOR can ill afford. But moving to channel 38 may be a worse fate, allowing WWOR to keep its coverage area but exiling it to what Paxson Communications chief Bud Paxson calls the UHF "wasteland," the bank of double-digit channels known for bad reception and low ratings. The DTV transition is forcing hundreds of big-market stations to make a similar choice. Because of interference from new neighbors, some of the more than 300 major-market stations in the Northeast, the Great Lakes area, and northern California will be forced by the government to return their longtime analog channel when they go all-digital. Others will find their old location unappealing because they may have to surrender audience-the decision WWOR faces-so a move to a new channel may be the only choice. For stations, the transition calls for aggressive new marketing-new logos, new promos, even new jingles-to coax viewers into changing the channel. The difficult choice is being forced on stations by the TV industry's switch to all-digital channels, which some hard-liners in Congress want to complete by 2006. The FCC estimates the transition will be completed by 2009. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA417940 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 22:38:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DomainKeys DomainKeys: Proving and Protecting Email Sender Identity http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys IETF Draft Domain-based Email Authentication Using Public-Keys Advertised in the DNS (DomainKeys) http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-delany-domainkeys-base-00.txt ------------------------------ Reply-To: Fred Atkinson From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Phone Books and D/A For Non-Bell Subscribers Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 21:23:09 -0400 Well, I believe that I pointed out earlier that you can pay to have your Vonage (or any other company) residential number listed in directory assistance. So, they do make money on it and you get your number made available to anyone who is looking for you. It is called a 'Foreign Listing'. You have to request it and then they have to create a 'Miscellaneous Account' for the purpose of billing you. Someone told me that one of the other VOIP companies actually arrange to have your number listed for you. Vonage does not. I guarantee you that they are arranging compensation for it. Fred Atkinson ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 22:55:26 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: Phone Books and D/A for non-Bell Subscribers Pat, please conceal my e-mail address. On 18 May 2004 10:26:05 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > It doesn't seem fair that the Bell company provide listings without > compensation since it bears the expense of printing and distributing > the phone books. Funny, it's never seemed fair to me that a telephone company would charge customers an extra monthly charge to keep their private information private (the unlisted/nonpublished number charge). But they do, so obviously each listing much be worth something to them. Unfortunately, what I suspect happens (and someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) is that the baby Bells charge they own customers the extra monthly fee to not be listed, but they charge other telephone companies to list their customers. So it seems to me that something's not right about this. Either a listing is an added cost to them, and therefore they shouldn't charge their own customers to keep their info out, or it's a profit maker for them, in which case they should be willing to list the customers of other companies for free (in fact, they should even share some of the revenue with those companies). But, as Lily Tomlin as "Ernestine" might have said (if CLEC's had been around back then), "It's our phone book, so we make the rules. We don't care if they're not fair. We don't have to. We're the phone company." However, I suspect that not a few of the customers who have given up their landlines in favor of wireless or VoIP (and by the way, Lisa, we know you don't like VoIP but we're going to talk about it anyway, whether you like it or not) have switched away from the traditional wireline phone company because neither wireless companies nor VoIP companies at present list their customers' numbers. While some people may find that a negative, a lot of people find it a plus, because you effectively get an unlisted number with no bogus unlisted number charge. ------------------------------ From: zmike6 Subject: Best Consumer Answering Machine? Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 04:14:05 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net A google search suggested that this group had the most discussion of answering machines. My 10-year-old dual microcassette unit is acting flaky, and I fear will have to be replaced soon. This entire product category has been replaced with digital units (only new dual cassette unit I could find was $250!) and in looking at product reviews of AT&T, GE, Panasonic and other brands, I could find NO product that was widely praised. General complaints ranged from horrible sound and/or horrible reliability. So, can anyone recommend a currently-available answering machine, with good sound and no glaring defects? Leading contenders I've found are AT&T model 1726, and some mid-level GE models, but even of those, reviews were very mixed. Rant: In general, I find audio quality has gone sharply downhill on most telecom products, compared to the old models. My ears and/or brain don't seem to process "digital" well, I have to strain more to understand it and recognize who is speaking. I really liked my dual-cassette machine and wish these were still available at reasonable cost. Judging from other comments I've seen I'm not alone, there should still be a significant market for analog tape units (hint to product designers). Is this a case where the marketers forced an inferior technology (in terms of sound fidelity) on the market? ------------------------------ From: David Quinton Subject: Re: The Making of an Idol Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 08:54:42 +0100 On Tue, 18 May 2004 22:54:48 GMT, Gary Novosielski wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> Talent show or popularity contest? An inside look at how reality's >> No. 1 show works-and is worked over by-the fame biz. >> By JAMES PONIEWOZIK >> http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040524-638335,00.html > That article is only available to paying subscribers of Time Magazine. > If you're not prepared to quote it, posting the URL serves as little > more than spam. I haven't been able to read it either. However, here in the UK a principle known as "call gapping" is used to lessen congestion. This means that one in every X calls will receive a congestion message advising the caller to try again. I also think that for some of the busiest Televoting services, the calls never actually get switched any further than one of the main BT centres. Call Accounting is handled at each of the centres and the totals are then calculated ... UK Computer stuff from Morgan Auctions. Bids start at 1. No reserve. Sign up NOW! Track a Mobile phone: . ------------------------------ From: zzuser@yahoo.com (Zed) Subject: Flat-Rate International VoIP Providers? Date: 19 May 2004 07:03:56 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi everybody! Does anybody know of any other VoIP provider with flat-rate plans to Europe or Scandinavia other than Packet8? Thanks in advance for any pointers! Zed ------------------------------ From: William Robison Subject: Re: Verizon Wireless "Detail Missing" New Bills Organization: Universitry of Iowa Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 13:55:38 GMT On Tue, 18 May 2004 00:54:34 -0500, Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: > Now, notice that at this point I have not contacted them AT ALL -- they > _should_ have simply dropped the detail; instead they charged me $5.00 > for it. What about the $1.99??? Is this the point where you send a check for what you believe is the correct balance, along with a note that you are cancelling your service with them as they will not honor the contract? It seem unfortunate that the only way to get the attention of some vendors is to have a signifigant portion of the customer base leave (running and screaming). -Willy ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 22:11:47 -0400 Subject: Pulver: CRTC Shouldn't Treat VoIP Like Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&lid=1&sid=55635&adBanner=Networking 5/18/2004 5:00:00 PM - Vonage co-founder says regulators should hold off for five to 10 years by Derek Abma OTTAWA -- The guru of Internet telephony is in Canada, and he's talking revolution. Jeff Pulver, president of Pulver.com and co-founder of Vonage, was in the nation's capital on Monday for a speaking engagement just before heading to Toronto for VON Canada, a voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) convention being held at the Markham Conference Centre Tuesday through Thursday. Pulver helped start Vonage, a U.S. broadband phone-service company that recently began serving Canada. Currently, he heads Pulver.com, which offers VoIP-related products and information, and hosts events such as the one happening in Markham this week. Pulver is an outspoken opponent of over-regulating VoIP service. His lobbying played a factor in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's decision not to regulate computer-to-computer VoIP communications. It's known by many as "the Pulver decision." Meanwhile, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) has said it will likely regulate VoIP phone service similar to the way it does traditional phone service. But both Canadian and U.S. authorities have much work to do before VoIP policies are finalized and all-encompassing. Full story at: http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&lid=1&sid=55635&adBanner=Networking How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 22:20:32 -0400 Subject: AT&T To Offer Wireless Services to Consumers and Businesses Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-18-2004/0002176405&EDATE= AT&T Makes Agreement with Sprint BEDMINSTER, N.J., May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T) today announced that it has taken its first step in re-entering the wireless market by reaching an agreement with Sprint that will allow AT&T to sell AT&T-branded wireless service to its over 30 million business and consumer customers. As a result of the five-year agreement, AT&T expects to significantly expand the wireless services it is currently testing in select U.S. markets with hopes of a launch later this year. "In a world where customers increasingly desire the flexibility of mobile communications, we are confident that they will want to buy AT&T wireless services from one of the most trusted names in communications," said AT&T Chairman and CEO David W. Dorman. "AT&T has proved it is capable of rolling out bundles of new and complex services quickly and cost-effectively, with top-notch customer service, and we are excited to have this important capability that will help us better serve customers." "We are delighted that AT&T has expressed their strong vote of confidence in the performance and capabilities of our nationwide CDMA network," said Len Lauer, Sprint's President and COO and President of Sprint Consumer Solutions. "We believe this agreement provides substantial positive benefits for both of our companies and we look forward to serving AT&T's wireless communications needs. " Dorman said the company intends to widen availability of its wireless service later this year by aggressively adding the service to the company's other popular consumer bundles of communications products. Among them: the AT&T OneRate local and long-distance plans, and AT&T's CallVantage Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service that is delivered over broadband connections. What's more, as integration of wireless handsets with WiFi networks improves over the next 18 months, AT&T plans to offer handsets that also allow customers to make VoIP calls over broadband connections in homes and businesses. AT&T's wireless service also will be offered to enterprise, small and medium business customers. With a large base of customers and expertise in selling new products, AT&T is excited about the opportunities that this agreement presents. The arrangement with Sprint combines the unique strengths of AT&T's brand, customer base, marketing reach and innovation with a state-of-the-art wireless network that can deliver the voice and data services that customers want. Under the agreement announced today, AT&T, which will offer wireless service as a "mobile virtual network operator," will provide its own unique content and applications, operator assistance, 411 information service, customer care, billing and handsets, allowing it to differentiate much of its customers' experience. AT&T also has the added benefit of carrying the long distance and international calls made by its wireless customers over its own long haul network. Additional terms of the agreement include: * Non-exclusive five-year deal * Freedom for both parties to compete in market without restrictions * The ability of AT&T to utilize existing customer channels and technology to provide directory assistance, customer support, and billing for customers. * The ability of AT&T to sell AT&T-branded handsets through its own vendor relationships * The ability to leverage Sprint's existing wireless data network and innovate on top of it with AT&T-developed content and ISP platforms, value-added voice services and Virtual Private Networking services. * No financial terms of the deal were disclosed "The MVNO model has achieved great success in Europe and is showing promise in the U.S. when executed with the right strategy," said Dorman. "AT&T plans to take that experience to a new level by giving customers innovative ways to integrate wireless into all of their communication needs. Residential, small business and enterprise customers can anticipate a wide array of choices -- whether as a casual talker who wants a mobile phone for safety or a road warrior whose business depends on it." Dorman said AT&T is confident in its ability to offer AT&T branded wireless services for several reasons. Although the wireless industry is competitive, demand for wireless voice and data service continues to grow. Also, recently introduced local number portability rules that let customers take their wireless phone numbers with them when they switch carriers mean that carriers who market successfully face fewer barriers to taking market share. Dorman added that the MVNO model allows AT&T to re-enter the market without incurring significant capital spending costs. AT&T also hopes to benefit from its scale and streamlined internal systems, as well as its status as one of the world's most recognizable companies. About AT&T: For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 07:27:56 -0400 Subject: Gradwell dot com Ltd. launches VoIP Centrex Service With Free Trial Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.w3reports.com/index.php?itemid=359 Technology and Internet product and services provider, Gradwell dot com Ltd. launch their VoIP service with free trial through VoIP.org.uk. The trial has been devised to allow users to test this new technology, before committing to the service and is intended to remove some of the mystery and scepticism surrounding Internet-based telephony. VoIP (Voice over IP) telephony is a way of sending voice calls over the Internet using either software or a hardware telephone, which is currently experiencing rapid growth amongst SME and corporate sectors. Voip.org.uk, a joint venture between Gradwell dot com Ltd. and Call UK (http://www.calluk.com/), covers the hardware, the software, the service providers and the jargon from the point of view of the UK small business and/or the end user. The free trial service, which is available at http://www.gradwell.com/voip/ gives the user 50p of credit (for calling public telephones) and a free public network number (0870 930 NNNN), which is valid forever, providing it is used once every three months. Everyone can use it (one trial per customer); providing they have broadband. The free trial will allow users to (a) experiment with voice on the Internet for free, and (b), 'self prove' that it works for those individuals that are not convinced. Peter Gradwell, Managing Director at Gradwell dot com explains, "VoIP is beneficial because you can get your phone, plug into your broadband line and make and receive high quality calls. Calls to other VoIP users are free and PSTN (public telephone network) calls are competitively priced at UK 2.5ppm Mobiles 16ppm. It also provides a range of features, such as call transfers, conferencing and voicemail etc., 'out of the box' and 'for free.' " The full-blown service is a virtual office PBX (telephone exchange) with a Web control panel, and is fully integrated with the public network (PSTN). Customers receive a recognisable ‘real world’ phone number and can make and receive calls with standard telephone users in addition to those also using VoIP. Where other services, such as Skype, are closed user systems, VoIP.org.uk is a full second line service. Gradwell explains how this innovative technology works within their own organisation, "We are a virtual company that exists as proof of the model. For example, I am in Bath, my colleagues Richard and Ben are in Tunbridge Wells and Leeds respectively. When a customer rings the main contact number, each phone rings at the same time and whoever gets there first picks up. If we need to transfer a call, have a quick conference etc., we just push a button on the phone and off we go. It saves a fortune in divert costs and means that we don't have people waiting for ages whilst we hunt around the country. It also means we can use 'proper' phone numbers and don't have to hide behind a 0870 number. We support a range of geographic numbers with more coming in June 2004", Gradwell concludes. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 12:31:50 -0400 Subject: Pundits Sound Off on VoIP's Future Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.itworld.com/Net/3303/040519voipfuture/ Stefan Dubowski, ITWorldCanada.com Voice over IP (VoIP) technology may well usher in a new communication paradigm for the enterprise, but it could also be tough on telecom service providers. That was one of the insights provided by high-tech pundits at VON Canada, a communication technology conference held in Markham, Ont., from May 18 to 20 that gathered industry insiders and commentators to present their views on the telecom sector's future. Among the crystal-ball gazers was Jeff Pulver, a VoIP advocate and VON Canada's organizer. He described a future wherein big businesses connect with each other directly, bypassing the public-switched telephone network (PSTN) and leaving carriers out of the loop. "There's no reason why one large enterprise can't talk to another large enterprise peer to peer, IP PBX to IP PBX," Pulver said, noting that in his estimation, IP presents an opportunity for businesses to have more control over their communication infrastructures. However, Pulver also outlined some of the barriers that stand before this peer-to-peer vision. He pointed to regulations, saying that governments should not regulate IP-based telecom services. "Give a window for things to grow," he said, explaining that IP would mature in the market, and stagnate in a highly regulated environment. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is reviewing VoIP regulations these days. The Commission recently put out a public notice saying local VoIP service provided by incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) like Bell Canada and Telus Corp. should fall under the same rules as do PSTN-based local voice service. Full story at: http://www.itworld.com/Net/3303/040519voipfuture/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 12:37:05 -0400 Subject: Skype Signs Deal With Two Carriers Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/8701585.htm NEW SERVICE WILL ALLOW CALLS TO ANY STANDARD PHONE IN U.S. By Dawn C. Chmielewski Mercury News TORONTO - As a waiter serves breakfast, Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom puts his head down and starts tapping on his handheld computer. Zennstrom's not checking the time of his next appointment or reading his e-mail. He's showing off a new version of Skype's free Internet phone service that will turn any wireless-equipped PDA into a no-cost mobile phone. More than a million people use Skype's software to make and receive free long distance and international phone calls on their computers. On Tuesday, Zennstrom revealed agreements with two telecommunications carriers that by summer will allow Skype calls to be made to standard phones anywhere in the United States. Zennstrom would not name his telecommunications partners in advance of an official announcement. But the deal overcomes Skype's major shortcoming: Skype users only can call people who have Skype software installed on their computers. ``It's really taking off now,'' said Zennstrom, the Swedish-born co-creator of Kazaa, the online file-swapping service whose peer-to-peer technology has become synonymous with disruptive, industry-rattling change. Full story at: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/8701585.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 13:29:42 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Unconventional Parsing KYW news-radio in Philadelphia has a report about (condemnation of) human trafficking (i.e. slavery). It gives a telephone number to report such: 888-3737-888 . It then says, and I quote: "Officials are promoting the unconventional parsing of the phone number in the hope that people can remember it better that way." ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. 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 #248 ******************************