From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 15 21:38:00 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6G1c0p09980; Thu, 15 Jul 2004 21:38:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 21:38:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407160138.i6G1c0p09980@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 #334 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Jul 2004 21:37:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 334 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon Wireless Offers Consumer Tips for Area Code Split (M Solomon) Cingular, AT&T Wireless Top Consumer Complaints (Monty Solomon) Verizon's New 411 System: Is It a Live Operator, or 'Darby'? (M Solomon) Microsoft Research DRM talk (Monty Solomon) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (ranck@vt.edu) Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord (Mark Atwood) Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord (Joseph) Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord (SELLCOM Tech) Re: Norvergence Question (no one) Re: Norvergence Question (Billy Wickline) Norvergence Bulletin Board (Sarai Rueda) Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (N. Rakeertu) Re: Virtual PBX Competitors (AFN) Re: Vonage(R) Activates 200,000th Line (AFN) Clearpath Communications and Easy411 Announce Partnership (VOIP News) AT&T Power Line Test May Aid Its VoIP Rollout (VOIP News) 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: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:19:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Offers Consumer Tips for Area Code Split Verizon Wireless Offers Consumer Tips for Area Code Split in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties to Ease Transition - Jul 15, 2004 01:00 PM (PR Newswire) Some California Wireless Users Must Take Steps to Help Ensure Their Service is Not Interrupted; Calls to and From Southern California Region are Affected IRVINE, Calif., July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless provider with 38 million customers, today announced tips for consumers and businesses that are affected by the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) decision to split the 909 area code into two area codes on July 17, 2004. To help ensure that their service isn't interrupted, wireless users need to know if their phone number, based on its prefix, has been slated by the CPUC to be changed to the new area code, 951, and whether or not their new phone number can be programmed on their phone using over-the-air technology. The 909 Area Code will be split generally along the San Bernardino/ Riverside County line resulting in a northern section, which keeps the 909 Area Code, and a southern section, which has been assigned the new area code, 951. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42521199 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:27:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular, AT&T Wireless Top Consumer Complaints NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters) - AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE) and Cingular Wireless, which plan to merge, drew the most complaints about their service in the second quarter, the Consumers Union advocacy group said on Wednesday. More than 70 of the 132 second-quarter complaints were about AT&T Wireless and Cingular, Consumers Union analyst Janee Briesemeister said. She added that many of the complaints were about how customers were billed, as well as about cell phone network quality or service. Complaints to the Consumers Union Escape Cell Hell Web site have roughly halved since the first quarter. In the first quarter, operators struggled with a rule change that let people keep their mobile number while switching to a new service. About 41 complaints were targeted at AT&T Wireless while 32 were about Cingular Wireless, a venture of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corp (NYSE:BLS), Briesemeister said. Sprint (NYSE:FON) and Deutsche Telekom AG's (DE:DTEGn) T-Mobile USA had 18 complaints each and Verizon Wireless had 15 complaints, while Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) had seven, according to Briesemeister. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42504244 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:28:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon's New 411 System: Is It a Live Operator, or Is It 'Darby'? Self-Service System Brings Latest Speech Recognition Tools to New York to Better Serve Customers NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The new voice on Verizon's 411 service is so expressive, and the listings "she" gives are so effectively researched, that New Yorkers are about to befriend Darby, the California voice-actress on the automated directory assistance system being introduced in New York this month. Verizon has enhanced its 411 directory assistance service, applying advanced speech-recognition and Internet technologies to give customers the kind of fast, accurate and automated information they are accustomed to getting in their own Internet data searches. The newest version of 411 begins in Manhattan and the outer boroughs today, and follows introduction of the service on Long Island and in Westchester, Syracuse, Albany, Buffalo and Binghamton in recent weeks. Because the automated system is so effective, many customers do not even realize that the voice they hear has been prerecorded, or that the listing they receive was researched instantaneously without human intervention. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42489639 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:25:21 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Research DRM talk by Cory Doctorow This talk was originally given to Microsoft's Research Group and other interested parties from within the company at their Redmond offices on June 17, 2004. http://craphound.com/msftdrm.txt ------------------------------ From: ranck@vt.edu Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:14:10 UTC Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA Charles Cryderman wrote: > Bill Ranck placed before us: >> "They have no legal standing to do so. I know they are asking to >> have a law passed to enable them, but they would need a >> Constitutional amendment to actually be able to do this. That >> certainly isn't going to happen. I doubt that Congress will even >> consider the idea in a serious way." > Well Bill I got bad news for you. The Constitution has nothing in it > about holding elections. There are laws made by Congress and which > Congress has the power to change or void. But a Constitutional > amendment is not necessary. The only thing the Constitution specifies > is that the "electors" cast their votes. Nothing about the people > voting. Yes, *Congress* can set the date of the choosing, and of the voting of the electors, not some appointed board or other group. I really can't see Congress delegating that authority. There is also the clause which says the term of the President and Vice President is 4 years. So that sort of limits how much even Congress could delay an election if they don't want to start a real Constituional crisis. Technically, the states get to choose electors in any manner the state's legislature wants. There is *no* requirement for a statewide popular vote at all, and indeed until some time in the late 1800's some state legislatures chose the electors for their state. The only requirements the Constitution places on the process is that the choice of electors must happen on the same day in all states, and that all the electors for all the states have to make their choice on the same day. Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: I believe the term of office is 4 years but any given person can serve up to two complete terms maximum. I believe this came about at the urging of Republicans in 1950 when President Truman was in office, because they (Republicans) were quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting *four* terms in office, even though he died about a year after getting elected the fourth time. Since normally any changes voted into law do not affect the incumbent but only his successors, Truman could have theoretically been around for many more years. So the Republicans got Eisenhower in office in 1952. He was an enormously popular president and the Republicans were sorry (in 1960) when he wound up having to leave office also because of those rules they (Republicans) had passed several years before. I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in office, under the new rules. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 23:27:23 GMT Don Saklad writes: > What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone > receiver to the base? ... > There is a particular movement that does untangles when a telephone > receiver cord gets curled in upon itself. Hold the base up in the air, with the receiver dangling. It will unwind itself. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, people won't be sure mra@pobox.com | you've done anything at all. http://www.pobox.com/~mra | http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:11:54 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 15 Jul 2004 11:15:49 -0400, Don Saklad wrote: > What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone > receiver to the base? ... > There is a particular movement that does untangles when a telephone > receiver cord gets curled in upon itself. If the handset cord is modular simply remove the cord at the "pinch" plugs and let it untangle itself. If the cord has "back" curls you may have to undo that and bring it out to the end of the cord. If the cord has been very tightly tangled you may not be able to get it back to "normal" but you should be able to at least undo the tangles. If the handset cord is "hard wired" the only way that I've determined to do it is to just keep turning the handset til the curls are loosened. If you have "back" curls you'll have to do the same as with just the regular modular cord, but it will take a bit more work as you have to turn the whole cord including the handset. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 21:51:18 GMT Don Saklad posted on that vast internet thingie: > What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone > receiver to the base? ... > There is a particular movement that does untangles when a telephone > receiver cord gets curled in upon itself. Yes, you must hold the handset over your head and spin around in the opposite direction from which you normally pace when conversing. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: no one Subject: Re: Norvergence Question Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:47:54 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 04:35:53 -0700, William Van Hefner wrote: > If you'd like to see an example of the Norvergence contract, you can > browse through http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence . I'd be more > likely to sign my own death warrant than sign a contract like this. > William Van Hefner > Editor - http://www.thedigest.com One of the licenses on the page Hefner refers to says that you can terminate the service (clause 7 of http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence/07122004-PelasEquipmentLeaseContract.pdf or http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/General_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf ) The SLA is at http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/ATM_Service_Level_Agreement.pdf and says "Customer may terminate the Affected Services without penalty if, in any single calendar month: (i) Network Downtime exists for at least ninety-six (96) hours in the aggregate; or (ii) any single event entitling Customer to credits under Network Availability exists for a period of at least thirty-six (36) consecutive hours." (there's some other good stuff in there). But that doesn't seem to terminate the equipment lease. See section 5 of http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/General_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf "NorVergence is not a party to any hardware rental or lease contract between customer and customer's financing bank. Hardware Rental or Lease Agreements between Customers and their Lenders are non-cancelable and not part of or affected by NorVergence Circuitry Services in any way." Some of the pricing is given in the documents on the page Hefner refers to above . The ones I saw show the lion's share of the fees going to the leasing company. ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Billy Wickline Subject: Re: Noververgence Question Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 14:33:25 -0700 Hi Pat, I wanted to post a follow up for everyone. I appreciate the feedback that everyone has given me. I think the company I work for will be okay, and further calls will not be necessary. Thanks again for all the advice, and I count our lucky stars that the box was never installed! ---Billy Wickline ------------------------------ From: Sarai Rueda Subject: Norvergence Bulletin Board Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 15:44:45 -0500 Share your experience with others at http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com All those victimized by Norvergence including long distance customers, past employees and others. The sole purpose of this bulletin board is to allow the victims to unite in order to release themselves from the malicious leasing contracts. Sarai Rueda sarai@affordabletours.com 866-265-2610 ext. 109 ------------------------------ From: nrackeertu@cliornuwta.mailexpire.com (N. Rakeertu) Subject: Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: 15 Jul 2004 10:58:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) wrote in message >> The customers have plenty of defenses against Norvergence > Why would they? The company went broke. Companies do that all the > time and anyone who is owed money (customer or creditor) has to get in > line at bankruptcy court and file a claim. Because Norvergence didn't perform on its agreement to provide the service for 5 years. So for instance if Norvergence had kept the equipment rental agrements instead of unloading them to the finance companies, the customers could argue that they didn't owe Norvergence anything because Norvergence hadn't performed on the service part of the deal. By assigning greatly inflated values to the equipment part of the deal, and assigning the equipment stream of income to a third party, Norvergence made it much harder for the customers to resist payment to the third party assignees (because these assignees supposedly take the assignment as purchasers for value with no actual knowledge of customer defenses against Norvergence). That is why it is so important for the customers to band together and take action on their own behalf. It's almost certain that the financing companies will try to enforce the leases even though Norvergence is BK, and it's up to the customers to defend themselves (or continue to pay for nearly worthless equipment and no phone service). NR:>> What needs to happen here, in my view, is that the customers of >> the various leasing companies ... need to band together and file >> class action lawsuits against them. JNL > It depends on the amount of individual losses. For some, the time, effort, aggravation, and legal fees wouldn't be worth it. Right. Individual losses, though substantial (most Norvergence customers are probably looking at over $25,000 in payments over five years, and some will owe much more than that) make it difficult to justify a lawsuit, and it will be expensive to get the right amount of discovery done to prove that the financing companies knew what was up, at least at some point. That's why the customers need to find each other and take action. If they don't, the financing companies will just pick them off one at a time and it will be difficult to resist. JNL > In the event that actual fraud (intentional deception) is found, > then the district attorney should be brought in. Good point. It looks like Norvergence wasn't paying its telecom bills, and I've read complaints from employees that they weren't being paid their commissions due, so all that money from selling rental contracts must have been going somewhere. I wonder where it all went? N. Rackeertu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Norvergence customers can find each other through a web site http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com set up for them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: AFN Subject: Re: Virtual PBX Competitors Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:20:48 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - West Punch in "virtual pbx" at google and see the sponsor ads on the right. John Bartley wrote in message news:telecom23.332.11@telecom-digest.org: > Who are the major competitors to Virtual PBX, for folks who don't want > to maintain their own phone switch? > Anyone here have experience with the Virtual PBX service? > Thank you kindly. > John Bartley K7AAY > Talk More, Pay Less with Net2Phone Direct(R), up to 1500 minutes free! > http://www.net2phone.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?143 ------------------------------ From: AFN Subject: Re: Vonage(R) Activates 200,000th Line Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:19:59 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - West Where are they getting most of their customers from? They're not a household name (yet). VOIP News wrote in message news:telecom23.330.16@telecom-digest.org: > http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-13-2004/0002209431&EDATE= ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 15:02:44 -0400 Subject: Clearpath Communications and Easy411 Announce Partnership to Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb141354.htm Clearpath Communications and Easy411 Announce Partnership to Provide Low-Cost Directory Assistance to VOIP Customers Clearpath Communications agreed today to provide the Easy411 service to its VOIP customers, and to resell the Easy411 mobile service to mobile phone users nationwide. Easy411 helps ease the sticker shock many consumers see on their monthly mobile phone bills, offering the same national Directory Assistance access provided by mobile phone carriers, but at up to half the cost -- only 65 cents per call. By comparison, mobile phone carriers charge up to $1.40 per call for Directory Assistance. BURLINGTON, MA (PRWEB) July 15, 2004 - Clearpath Communications of West Bloomfield, MI today announced that it would provide the Easy411 Directory Assistance service to its VOIP customers, and to resell the Easy411 mobile service to mobile phone users nationwide. Clearpath will be connecting calls via a SIP connection into Easy411's gateway, making the connection digital from end to end. Michael Desmon, the President of Clearpath Communications, announced the new arrangements by stating that "we were very impressed with Easy411's commitment to customer service and the high quality of their listings database. Since we're committed to VOIP it was important for us to find a DA provider who would accept an SIP connection, and Easy411 was able to meet this critical requirement." Easy411 Directory Assistance is powered by LSSi, Inc., one of the largest providers of Directory Assistance data in the world. LSSI's database of more than 150 million U.S. listings is updated every 24 hours, and serves more than two billion requests each year. It was the first telephone listings database to be certified as more than 98 percent accurate. "We're excited about the opportunity to work with a next-generation network company like Clearpath Communications," said Jon Spector, CEO, Easy411. "We also think this is a good opportunity for Clearpath's customers to start realizing 50 percent savings on their mobile phone calls to directory assistance." Calls to Easy411 are only 65 cents for two listings, whereas most of the major mobile carriers charge $1.25 or more per call. The Easy411 service can be accessed from any registered phone number by dialing 1-877-Easy411, or 1-877-327-9411. There's never a need to log in or provide a user name or password; the system recognizes registered callers automatically. Users can request up to two listings per call, or can ask for one 'reverse listing,' which supplies name and address based on the phone number given. About Clearpath Communications Clearpath Communications is an information technology and telecommunications consulting firm based in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The company provides objective professional guidance, process management and implementation project management services for a wide range of communications technology systems, services and infrastructure. Its core business revolves around network infrastructure services. Clearpath considers infrastructure to be the foundation elements of the overall IT environment -- the voice systems, network components and structured cabling systems that enable organizations to communicate with internal and external customers. Clearpath also markets wireless services to consumers and businesses nationwide. www.clearpath1.com About Easy411 Easy411 provides reduced-cost national Directory Assistance services, at up to a 50 percent discount as compared to major telephone carriers. Easy411 provides simple registration, never charges sign-up fees and requires no monthly minimum. Easy411 can be accessed by calling 1-877-Easy411, or by visiting www.Easy411.com ### 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/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I want to mention that TELECOM Digest is also a reseller of Easy411, and profits each time you use the service. To sign up so that TELECOM Digest earns money on this program, use the sign up form at http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest or from the link on our home page at http://telecom-digest.org, and you can enroll various phone numbers you normally would use to get directory assistance. And the money would really help me! Thanks! PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:03:11 -0400 Subject: AT&T Power Line Test May Aid Its VoIP Rollout Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040715S0005 By W. David Gardner, TechWeb News AT&T has begun testing broadband over power lines (BPL) in hopes the nascent technology will give it a means to circumvent the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) and cable companies. In announcing a test of BPL with Pacific Gas and Electric, AT&T said, however, that the technology is still a few years away from implementation. AT&T and Pacific Gas reported Wednesday that about 100 residents in Menlo Park, Calif., will use the BPL technology in a test. Full story at: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040715S0005 ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #334 ******************************