From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Aug 4 17:12:38 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i74LCcb25526; Wed, 4 Aug 2004 17:12:38 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 17:12:38 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200408042112.i74LCcb25526@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 #363 TELECOM Digest Wed, 4 Aug 2004 17:13:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 363 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google Queries Provide Stolen Credit Cards (Monty Solomon) RFID Hack Could Allow Retail Fraud (Monty Solomon) Phone-PDA Combo That Works On Wi-Fi Is Bulky but a Winner (M Solomon) Two Million Scans Uncover 55 Million Instances of Spyware (M Solomon) T-Mobile Sidekick II (Monty Solomon) Qwest Communications Introduces Flexible Wireless Plans (Monty Solomon) Credit Firms Resist Anti-ID Theft Measure (Monty Solomon) It's BlackBerry Season, but Maybe Not for Long (Monty Solomon) Obituary: Richard Gabel Dead at 84 (Marcus Didius Falco) Trying to Identify 1940's Equipment (Prison Phone?) (John Stafford) Re: POTS' Dirty Little Secret (Lisa Hancock) Re: Computer Programmers in Telecom (Jack Adams) Re: Computer Programmers in Telecom (Bit Twister) Re: Cheapest Incoming-Only Phone Service? (Lisa Hancock) Re: In a Surprising Turn of Events (John McHarry) Free Broadband Service in our Country Now! (Jason) Re: Opportunity to Become an Embedded Professional (Nathan Strom) Re: Last Laugh! Interesting Origins (Brian Inglis) VoIP Reach Goes Rural (Jack Decker - VOIP News) Why VoIP Regulation Looks Dead This Year (Jack Decker - VOIP News) Jeff Pulver: FCC Adopts the CALEA NPRM (Jack Decker - 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: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 01:17:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google Queries Provide Stolen Credit Cards By Robert Lemos Staff Writer, CNET News.com Simple queries using the Google search engine can turn up a handful of sites that have posted credit card information to the Web, CNET News.com learned on Tuesday. The lists of financial information include hundreds of card holders' names, addresses and phone numbers as well as their credit-card data. Much of the credit-card data that appears in the lists found by Google may no longer be valid, but CNET called several people listed and verified that the credit cards numbers were authentic. The query, the latest example of "Google hacking," highlights increasing concern that knowledgeable Web surfers can turn up sensitive information by mining the world's best-known search engine. http://news.com.com/2100-1029-5295661.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 02:02:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RFID Hack Could Allow Retail Fraud By Mark Hachman LAS VEGAS-A German consultant has released a tool that its creator says will allow modifications of the code stored within RFID tags, theoretically allowing consumers to wreak havoc in future retail deployments. The RFDump software allows a user equipped with an RFID reader, a laptop or PDA, and a power supply to rewrite the data stored in ISO 15693 tags, the most common tags used to host the EPC (Electronic Product Code) information traditionally stored in bar codes. Although each RFID tag carries with it a unique product ID, the EPC is stored in the "user area" portion of the chip, which allows it to be rewritten. That poses problems to both consumers and retailers, RFDump's author, Lukas Grunwald, a senior consultant with Hildesheim, Germany-based DN-Systems Enterprise Solutions GmbH, said: On one hand, consumers could defraud a retailer by reprogramming a premium item as a cheap commodity. On the other hand, consumers would have to worry about the items in their shopping carts being read by "Big Brother," or at least the many retailers in a shopping mall. The tool was released as part of a talk at the Black Hat Briefings here, dedicated to IT security. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1628696,00.asp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 02:10:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Phone-PDA Combo That Works On Wi-Fi Is Bulky but a Winner By WALTER S. MOSSBERG For people who rely on a smart phone or wireless PDA to do e-mail and access the Web, the Holy Grail has been to get a device that can work on both a cellphone network and on faster Wi-Fi wireless networks. The idea is that when you are near a Wi-Fi transmitter, your device will work at high speed, and when you're not, you still will be able to get online, albeit at slower speeds, via the much more widespread cellphone network. The cellphone industry has been working on such combo devices, and Nokia and Motorola have announced specific models. But this week, Hewlett-Packard, the computer giant, and T-Mobile, the cellphone carrier, announced what they say will be the first combined Wi-Fi/cellphone to reach the public. A wireless PDA that can also make phone calls, rather than a traditional cellphone, it's called the HP iPAQ h6315. The device is a Microsoft-based Pocket PC with an antenna on top. It goes on sale Aug. 26 for $499, plus either $79.99 or $89.99 a month, depending on which T-Mobile rate plan you choose. I tested the 6315 over the past few days. It worked very well and was smart enough to switch smoothly between the Wi-Fi and cellphone networks for Internet access with little or no input from me. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20040729.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 09:00:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Two Million Scans Uncover 55 Million Instances of Spyware EarthLink and Webroot Release Six-Month SpyAudit Report CoolWebSearch Identified as the Most Virulent Adware Program ATLANTA and BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Today EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK), one of the nation's leading Internet service providers, and, Webroot Software, a producer of award-winning privacy, protection and performance software, released their third SpyAudit Report, which has tracked the growth of spyware on consumer PCs for the first half of 2004. Since the SpyAudit report's inception on January 1, 2004, more than two million scans have been performed. The scans discovered approximately 54.8 million instances of spyware, for an average of 26.5 traces per SpyAudit scan. Scans nearly doubled from the first to the second quarter. For each category, the instances of adware increased month-over-month, while adware cookies, system monitors and Trojans decreased slightly overall. The complete report is available at . - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42899777 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 09:01:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: T-Mobile Sidekick II T-Mobile USA Flips the Lid Open on the T-Mobile Sidekick II HOLLYWOOD--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 2004-- Building on Success of first Sidekick(TM), Marquee Device Features Slimmer Design, Integrated Camera and Built-In Speakerphone, Some of the Many Upgraded Features Some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment will be walking the red carpet here tonight. But the brightest spotlight will be squarely focused on the biggest star -- the T-Mobile(R) Sidekick II -- successor to the original hit of Hollywood and action sports stars -- the original Sidekick from T-Mobile. One of the most highly anticipated sequels to hit Hollywood this year, the T-Mobile Sidekick II will be making its debut at an exclusive, VIP party featuring a performance from The Black Eyed Peas. In conjunction with the beginning of the ESPN X Games X, this star-studded event will feature celebrity Sidekick fans from sports, television and film and musicians from all over. The public will be able to get its hands on the T-Mobile Sidekick II this fall. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42899600 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 09:12:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Qwest Communications Introduces New Flexible Wireless Plans DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 2004--Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE:Q) today introduced business shared plans -- a new set of wireless calling plans for medium-sized and large-business customers. Available to customers in Qwest's local service region, the plans offer shared nationwide wireless service to help business customers improve communication with their customers and colleagues. Qwest's business shared plans offer customers unique bundling of wireless services with their existing Qwest wireline and data services, resulting in convenient billing and competitive pricing. The plans start as low as $220.49 for 3,500 minutes when customers combine their wireless service with any other Qwest service on a single bill. Studies indicate Qwest wireless business customers use nearly 29 percent of their minutes to call colleagues' and employees' wireless phones. To help customers save on those costs, Qwest's business shared plans include free, unlimited nationwide calling between plan members while on the network. Additionally, when customers combine their office and wireless services on one bill, Qwest offers free, unlimited calls between their main office numbers and their wireless phones while on the network. The primary use location of all phones on the plan must be within the same local service area. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42901204 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 15:51:00 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Credit Firms Resist Anti-ID Theft Measure By Brian Bergstein, AP Technology Writer | August 1, 2004 NEW YORK --Little by little, a weapon against identity theft is gaining currency -- but few people know about it. It's called the security freeze, and it lets individuals block access to their credit reports until they personally unlock the files by contacting the credit bureaus and providing a PIN code. The process is a bit of a hassle, and the credit-reporting industry believes it complicates things unnecessarily. But it appears to be one of the few ways to virtually guarantee that a fraudster cannot open an account in your name. The freeze became an option in California and Texas last year, and Louisiana and Vermont will allow it beginning next July. However, the Texas and Vermont laws apply only to people who already have been victimized by identity theft. Only 2,000 Californians and 150 Texans have taken advantage of the freeze, according to Experian Inc., one of the three major credit bureaus. But identity theft watchdogs say usage is low simply because the credit bureaus don't publicize the option. With identity theft apparently growing, the advocates hope the freeze gains national momentum. Congress resisted calls for a freeze rule during debate over a major credit law last year. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/08/01/credit_firms_resist_anti_id_theft_measure/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 14:05:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: It's BlackBerry Season, but Maybe Not for Long By RANDALL STROSS MAXWELL SMART could hold his shoe to his ear and talk quite naturally. But he was the inimitable Agent 86, and the shoe phone -- the original Smart phone =- was a running gag in the 1960's television comedy "Get Smart." (Operator: "What is the number of your shoe?" Smart: "It's an unlisted shoe, operator!") Its phone-in-disguise successor is the BlackBerry, the squat, rectangular gizmo that provides e-mail on the go, and includes, incidentally, a cellphone. Holding it to the ear to make a call feels like calling with a wallet, which is about the same size. But when held in both hands to read and fire off e-mail, it works like a dream. Introduced in 1999, the BlackBerry brand has become synonymous with the concept of ultraportable e-mail. More than one million subscribers are paying for the service, which costs between $35 and $50 a month. BlackBerry's maker, Research in Motion, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is profitable, and the gadget has been touted by celebrities.Oprah, for one, has stated her personal opinion of the BlackBerry forthrightly: "Love it! Love it! Love it! Love it!" That all said, it's not too early to point out that, looking down the road a bit, the hand-held BlackBerry's future is dim. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/01/business/yourmoney/01digi.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 03:01:37 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Obituary: Richard Gabel Dead at 84 Richard "Dick" Gabel died Sunday at age 84. He was active until shortly before the end, despite serious health problems for some years. As you may recall, he got his start in telephony with the Army Signal Corps during WW II. After the war he became the first employee of the Telephone Division of the Rural Electrification Administration. In this capacity he helped establish rural telephone cooperatives and small telephone companies throughout the western United States. Then he went to the General Services Administration where he helped establish the first federal telephone system. He also worked briefly at the Federal Communications Commission. He worked in the White House during the Nixon Administration. I believe it was during this period that he did a lot of the work involved in the sale of "White Alice" to RCA Alascom. "White Alice" was the telephone system the Air Force had built in Alaska during the second World War. It was used partly by civilians by the time it was privatized. He then went to the Brookings Institution where he wrote his classic book, "The Development of Separations Principles in the Telephone Industry." This remains the most comprehensive discussion of the financial arrangements that led to the enormous expansion and great success of the telephone industry between World War II and the divestiture (Consent Decree) in 1982. For those who are too young to remember, "separations" was the allocation of the telephone companies' costs into "intrastate" and "interstate" pools. On the basis of this allocation, the Bell Companies engaged in "division of revenues," and also conducted "toll settlements" with the non-Bell "independents." Because of niceties in the way costs were measured and allocated, settlements were actually quite lucrative for small telephone companies. Much of the current controversy in access charges (the system that supplanted settlements after divestiture) has to do with eliminating some of the hidden subsidies that developed during the years after 1949. Mr. Gabel helped develop the 1974 antitrust case against AT&T, and retired from government so he could help the government's witnesses. He was also scheduled to be a witness. After leaving the government Mr. Gabel acted as a consultant and witness for state commissions and consumer counsels, and also for a variety of consumer organizations. Much of this work was done pro bono. Those of us who knew him and benefited from his experience and knowledge and friendship will miss him. The death notice in the Washington Post for Monday, August 2, 2004, p. B4, reads: Gabel, Richard On Sunday August 1, 2004 at Arlington VA. Loving Husband of Louise, father of Susan (Donald) Poretz, Jon (Judith) Gabel, Carol (Chuck) Barlin and David (Janet) Gabel; brother of Harold (Addie) Gabel; grandfather of Jeffrey, Michelle, Stephen, Joshua, Brad, Karen, Eric, Deborah and Terrence. He is also survived by six great-grandchildren and loving neices and nephews. A Funeral Service [was] held on Tuesday, August 3, 1:30 PM at Beth El Hebrew Congregation, 3830 Seminary Rd., Alexandria, VA. Interment King David Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Amnesty International, USA, 304 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington DC 20003; the Arlington YMCA, 3422 N. 13th St., Arlington VA 22201, and/or Doctors without Borders, USA, PO Box 1856, Merrifield VA 22116-8056. ------------------------------ From: usenet.persona@earthlink.net (John Stafford) Subject: Trying to Identify 1940s Equipment (Prison Phone?) Date: 4 Aug 2004 08:40:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'm trying to identify a piece of telecom equipment that appears to be from the 1940s. It consists of a suitcase with dividers that contains two Stromberg Carlson telephones and a battery-operated amplifier. The phones plug into the amplifier using one quarter inch plugs. The amplifier has a rotary off/on volume control, a speaker, and an output jack (marked record). When both phones are taken off hook they're connected to each other and can be used like ordinary phones, both sides of the conversation are also audible through the amplifier speaker. The amplifier is powered by a six volt "battery" that is a cardboard box that indicates that it contains 4 AA cells, as well as by a "standard" 9 volt battery. There are no markings that I can see on any of the equipment (other than on the phones). It does appear that the suitcase was custom-made because the rivets that hold the dividers are the same as those that hold the suitcase together. The suitcase handle does say made in the USA on one side and has the numeral 6 (or 9) on the other. The latches are marked with a flying airplane logo. Please see pictures at http://www.flortraits.com/wii/ My current guess is that it is some sort of "portable prisoner to outside phone". I will summarize and post any information I received. Thank you. John "but then I've been wrong before" Stafford ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: POTS' Dirty Little Secret Date: 4 Aug 2004 07:24:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The traditional telcos and their shills > hate VOIP. Admittedly, the VOIP News 'story' had some problems with it > to say the least, but Traditional Bell hardly has its hands clean, > either, just a 125 year head start at going to the toilet in our > drinking water. Given everything that's been discussed here lately -- from apt house intercoms to Norvergence -- I'm surprised to read this. I am not connected with the phone company nor do I consider myself a "shill" for them. I look at their record as a subscriber and what "competition" has done for me. To be truly HONESTLY competitive: 1) VOIP users may not have any traditional lines as "backup". 2) VOIP providers must provide the same service reliability as the baby bells. That is, if a flood washes out lines, they must be replaced in the same time frame. The service must continue in the event of a commercial power failure. 3) VOIP subscribers must pay all the taxes that traditional subscribers pay such as 911 fees, deaf relay fees, etc. 4) VOIP providers must provide the same reports to state and federal regulators that other companies provide on their services. 5) The networks must have adequate spare capacity so that major events generating lots of phone calls will not cause call delays. As mentioned in the apt house calling system, the Bell System had developed a wide array of excellent products and services but then got shackled by arbitrary rules to sell them. The System successors couldn't sell that stuff so they withered away (such as Lucent and AT&T). Customers, instead of having strong sturdy reliable and maintainable equipment, got junk instead. Earlier Pat described the dedication and resourcefulness of telephone company employees -- a monopoly -- in keeping service going in difficult conditions. Today in a competitive environment, do you think those people and their employers would do that? I don't. I note the big fire and lack of watchmen occured AFTER divesture. Literally thousands of customers decided it was too expensive to pay Baby Bell prices so they jumped to a cheaper alternative -- Norvergence. No such thing as a free lunch, and all those people are screwed. (Of course, we didn't see Qwest being concernred about Norvengence's future fiscal health when it gladly offered to support them.) MCI was a scam from day one. It was unregulated while AT&T was regulated, so it could take the high profit cream and leave AT&T with the high overhead waste (like any call needing operator service). Then of course it wiped out its stockholder and lenders when it filed for a huge bankruptcy. No such thing as a free lunch, and all those people are screwed. Remember, one of Enron's big entities was cheapo electric power generation. When Enron went broke, some PUCs ordered that the existing power company take over its customer as the cheaper Enron rate. Was that fair to existing companies? There were good reasons to establish a chartered regulated monopoly to a utility like telephone service. In my town, thanks to competition, they had to double the size of the phone central office building, destroying some historic houses in the process. This was to provide room to house competitive line termination equipment in separate locked rooms. It didn't add new capacity or provide us any new or better services. That 125 year head start -- that people think is a bad thing -- is years of experience doing things right and doing the right things. Of course it wasn't always perfect. But being a chartered regulated monopoly gave it some breathing room to provide that extra measure of service and stability. When Norv ran into trouble, it shutdown immediately, leaving its employees unpaid and its customers screwed. When NY Telephone ran into trouble, it brought it Bell System people nationwide on an emergency project to clean up its troubles. People think "competition" will always work better than a regulated monopoly because of the magic of the marketplace. That is economic garbage. The marketplace finds an equilibrium, but that level is not at all necessarily where people might want it to lie -- as we are learning the hard way, the marketplace equilibrium (match point of demand and supply of cost) can be quite high. Norvergence and MCI took advtg of competition by undercutting its competitors and look what we got. ------------------------------ From: adamsjac@telcordia.com (Jack Adams) Subject: Re: Computer Programmers in Telecom Date: 4 Aug 2004 07:34:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com This is a fairly broad question. In fact, a comprehensive answer would consume far too much bandwidth within this newsgroup. My suggestion is do some more research about the industry and formulate a more focused question(s). To start with, lurking around this (and other) newsgroups will reveal much information, albeit over a period of time. Try perusing the archives as well. Good luck to you. sumitkchawla@rediffmail.com (Sumit Chawla) wrote in message news:: > I'm a computer engineer. I want to pursue a career in the telecom > sector. Please suggest diffrent options (programming for telecom sector) > and various resources available. You can mail me direcly on > sumitkchawla@rediffmail.com ------------------------------ From: Bit Twister Subject: Re: Computer Programmers in Telecom Organization: home user Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 19:08:33 GMT On 3 Aug 2004 07:35:52 -0700, Sumit Chawla wrote: > I'm a computer engineer. I want to pursue a career in the telecom > sector. Move to China, Vietnam, India where the outsourcing is going. I wish you luck; ALCATEL France, came over, bought a telecom company, took the good projects back to Europe, outsourced other jobs, layed everyone else off except enough to keep the sales/service office up and running. Suggest moving your expertise into the medical field. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Cheapest Incoming-Only Phone Service? (Westchester, NY) Date: 3 Aug 2004 13:58:31 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com T. Sean Weintz wrote > I am in the property management business, and in my experience the > most common type of these building entry systems are made by a company > called "doorking". The base models ... simply have 1 outgoing phone line. > These are "option 3" as you note above. There is a database of phone > numbers mapped to entry codes (or apartmenet numbers). When you enter > the code (or apt number) on the panel, all it does is call the number. My mother lived in a facility served by the cheapo system. It took the place forever to add her name to the directory (handled by the security dept at the main facility in another location). Until then I would just wait until someone walked out and opened the door. When she moved out, we waited for the movers. They called and announced their arrival. We punched in the access code. They kept calling back and said the door wouldn't unlock. Finally I went down to get them. It turned out they were calling us on their cell phone, not the entry phone on the wall. The cheapo system is lousy when you call someone and they're on the phone -- you get a busy signal. Lots of people do NOT have caller ID. Apt. bldg. security isn't that good. As mentioned, in most you can easily walk in when someone else leaves. (As we left the aforementioned NYC bldg, some people came in doing just that, I hope they weren't burglars.) I've dialed the wrong unit and got buzzed in anyway. My place has a private entrance and that's a good asset over a hallway even when shared by only a few people. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I know that at the time of divestiture, > telco was forbidden (under divestiture) to actively solicit new > subscribers to the Enterphone Front Door Security System, Pat, thanks for the history of this fine Bell System product. I've used it to get into nicer apt houses. My first exposure was back in 1968 in a NYC building, and the lobby unit had a Touch Tone pad which was a novelty at the time. The residents dialed (rotary phone) a 4 for admission. It's quite a shame the companies were not allowed to continue marketing it after divesture as it clearly offers superior service to the other cheapo service more widely used. I remember another large apt building with a 1960s Bell System auto dialer. It was a small desktop unit, about 1" high with a window showing a name and a red index ine, and about 5" wide and deep. To use it, you pressed a key to start a motor that whirled the directory and used the index line for the alpha letter desired. You then used a manual wheel to select the exact name. You pressed a button and the party was dialed. I wonder what dialer this was? (I've also seen them at airport motel directory displays, which had ads for multiple traveler services, and a similar unit to autodial the desired one.) It seemed these dialers had a high capacity in a compact unit; I don't know how they stored the number. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, there is no doubt, IMO, that the *old* Bell System was a class act, with very good products. There were 'some problems' (to put it politely) with customer service but the equipment and network was superb. The old, entirely central office- based Enterphone service was a very good example. Older, more elegant apartment buildings still using it (who would have gotten it installed prior to 1983 or so, when the rules were changed) still have the best system. In those days (pre-1983) Illinois Bell as one example, charged *the building* fifty dollars per month for the system and nothing to individual tenants who either had phones of their own or not. Typically, an 'extension' of the door system also went to the management office so the person in the office could also admit a visitor to the building, and some long, obscure string of digits on the lobby phone functioned like a 'ringback code' which would click once or twice in the caller's ear then unlatch the door automatically. I think it was called 'Fire Department Service' and was intended to admit emergency entrance to firemen as needed. That same string of digits would also ring a designated phone (such as the building manager) to advise that an emergency enter had occurred. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: In a Surprising Turn of Events Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 22:19:44 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net johndee wrote: > A well-publicized piece of legislation -- sponsored by U.S. Senator > John Sununu (R-NH) and backed by IP voice providers -- intended to > deregulate VoIP services was radically changed during a mark-up > session by the Senate Commerce Committee last week. In a surprising > turn of events, the Committee voted 13-9 to amend the bill to require > VoIP providers to be subject to intrastate access charges, universal > service obligations, E-911 and CALEA responsibilities. The action > taken by the senators is an important step toward ensuring the > long-term stability of the universal service system and the overall > fairness of intercarrier compensation. It also signifies a subtle > shift in focus from technology interests to public interests. This sounds like incumbent telco propaganda. I suppose the other side would say it is a major attempt to kill off an infant industry before it can become a serious threat. ------------------------------ From: lovzy@hotmail.com (Jason) Subject: Free Broadband Service in Our Country Now! Date: 3 Aug 2004 21:50:17 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Enjoy free broadband here in our country!absolutely no gimmicks. All you need is a telephone line. Click on link to find out more on this service! Limited application available! http://www.juiceboosted.com/index.php?RequestId=1&Id=xc3ns [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds like some kind of a trick to me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za (Nathan Strom) Subject: Re: Opportunity to Become an Embedded Professional Date: 4 Aug 2004 06:31:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Sagar Singh wrote in message news:: > Fresh batch starts on 9th Aug 2004. For details contact > Sanish@utltraining.com Don't confuse this "United Technologies" from India with the real United Technologies, http://www.utc.com/. I fear they're trying to capitalize on a well-known company name in the United States. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 06:45:34 GMT From: Brian Inglis Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Interesting Origins Organization: Systematic Software On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 11:42:08 -0400 in comp.dcom.telecom, Cryderman, Charles wrote: > Another acronym from days of old that is now considered a word: > In England many years ago to procreate you had to have the permission > of the King. Once received you placed a sign on the door of your > dwelling: > "Fornication Under Consent of King." > I am sure you can figure out what the word used today is. Rubbish! Most of the so-called four letter or swear words were normal Anglo-Saxon words, not too different from modern German, which were considered vulgar by the French and Latin speaking Norman lords and bishops who invaded England, presumably as the phrases were addressed to them by the previous landowners. Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada Brian.Inglis@CSi.com (Brian dot Inglis at SystematicSw dot ab dot ca) fake address use address above to reply ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 12:24:57 -0400 Subject: VoIP Reach Goes Rural Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/business/9304543.htm Phone companies outside Twin Cities to offer Internet phone connections BY LESLIE BROOKS SUZUKAMO Pioneer Press VoIP, the telecommunications technology most often associated with the trendy and cutting edge, is about to go country. St. Louis Park-based Onvoy Inc. says it will launch a service called "Bandwagon" starting next month that will allow small rural phone companies to offer VoIP, the acronym for "Voice over Internet Protocol" a way for customers to make phone calls over their high-speed Internet connections. The service is another sign that the "digital divide" between rural and urban Minnesota is shrinking, even while the telephone market itself is fleeing from the nation's more than century-old analog phone system. "Our customers are no different from anybody else," said Rick Keane, manager of the Pine Island Telephone Co., a small local phone company north of Rochester, Minn., that has been testing Bandwagon for several months. Full story at: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/business/9304543.htm (Free registration required) 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: Jack Decker Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 11:59:07 -0400 Subject: Why VoIP Regulation Looks Dead This Year Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=108413 By: Al Senia America's Network Enews The latest debate over VoIP and the role federal and state regulators should play with the technology underscored the point that there is little chance Congress is going to do much with the divisive and thorny VoIP issue this year. Just a little over a week ago, a sharply divided Senate Commerce Committee approved the VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act, which in its original form would have protected VoIP services from any regulation, by a 13-9 vote. Problem is, the lawmakers amended the final bill to preserve some regulatory authority for the states, essentially allowing them to impose taxes on VoIP calls to pay for universal service and for line access charges. That action divided not just the committee, but also much of the industry itself. State regulators were jubilant at maintaining at least partial access to an important tax revenue source. Executives from VoIP companies such as Vonage, however, expressed disappointment with the result, noting that the last-minute amendments were very problematic for their industry. Full story at: http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=108413 ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 12:43:53 -0400 Subject: Jeff Pulver: FCC Adopts the CALEA NPRM Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from The Jeff Pulver Blog at http://192.246.69.231/jeff/personal/index.html As expected, they adopted the CALEA NPRM at their August 4th meeting. Below are the words of FCC Chairman Powell regarding CALEA: STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MICHAEL K. POWELL Re: In the Matter of Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act and Broadband Access and Services, RM-10865, ET Docket No. We are entering a dynamic space in the evolution of Internet voice services and applications. As technologies re-shape communications, this Commission must continually assess the needs of the law enforcement community under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). More and more people are taking advantage of these new and exciting competitive voice offerings, and we are starting to see substantial consumer and economic benefits emerge. The development and success of the Internet has been a result, in part, of our desire to maintain its minimally regulated status. Above all, law enforcement access to IP-enabled communications is essential. CALEA requirements can and should apply to VoIP and other IP enabled service providers, even if these services are information services for purposes of the communications Act. The NPRM we issue today demonstrates that the interests of the law enforcement community can be fully addressed for potential information ser vices and these interests need not be an excuse for imposing onerous common carrier regulations on vibrant new services. Previous Commission action on CALEA has focused primarily on circuit-mode technology. Today's item takes a major step in implementing CALEA, particularly with respect to new packet-mode technologies, by tentatively concluding that broadband Internet access services and managed voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services are subject to CALEA. The item also tentatively concludes that non-managed, or disintermediated, VoIP and Instant Messaging are not subject to CALEA, and that it is unnecessary to identify future services and entities subject to CALEA. Additionally, the item addresses important compliance and cost issues, and requests comment on (1) the feasibility of carriers relying on a trusted third party to manage their CALEA compliance obligations; and (2) whether standards for packet technologies are deficient and preclude carriers relying on them as safe harbors for complying with CALEAs capability requirements. Finally, in the companion Declaratory Ruling grants in part a Law Enforcement request in the Petition and clarifies that commercial wireless push-to-talk services are subject to CALEA, regardless of the technologies that Commercial Mobile Radio Service providers choose to apply in offering them. I write to make clear that our tentative conclusion is expressly limited to the requirements of the CALEA statute and does not indicate a willingness on my part to find that VoIP services are telecommunications services under Title II of the Communications Act. We have before us a pending rulemaking and several petitions for declaratory ruling that address themselves to the classification of VoIP services and nothing in this item prejudices the outcome of those proceedings. Our support for law enforcement is unwavering; it is our goal in this proceeding to ensure that law enforcement agencies have all of the electronic surveillance capabilities that CALEA authorizes to combat crime and terrorism and support Homeland Security. The Commission will devote the necessary resources to expeditiously and responsibly complete this task. In the interim, carriers, the law enforcement community and the Commission must continue to work in partnership to ensure that law enforcement retains access to the information they have now and to ensure that they have the tools they need in this ever changing environment. Posted by jeff at 10:16 AM ------------------------------ 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. 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