From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Aug 13 13:43:01 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i7DHh0c20314; Fri, 13 Aug 2004 13:43:01 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 13:43:01 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200408131743.i7DHh0c20314@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 #378 TELECOM Digest Fri, 13 Aug 2004 13:43:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 378 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Ex-Verizon Wireless Employee Charged (Monty Solomon) DoubleClick Announces Compliance With Sender ID for Email (M Solomon) T-Mobile USA Reports Second Quarter 2004 Results (Monty Solomon) Teen Pleads Guilty to Releasing Blaster Worm Variant (Monty Solomon) VeriSign To Integrate Sender ID Specifications Into Email (M Solomon) News Corporation Reports Third Consecutive Year Double-Digit (Solomon) EFFector 17.29: Calling All Tech-Savvy Lawyers! (Monty Solomon) DirecTV Slashes PanAmSat Price by $200 Million (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless Motorola V710 Megapixel Camera Phone (Monty Solomon) Re: Wardriving Guilty Plea in Lowe's Wi-Fi Case (Paul Vader) Re: Wardriving Guilty Plea in Lowe's Wi-Fi Case (Robert Bonomi) Re: Wardriving Guilty Plea in Lowe's Wi-Fi Case (Jack) Telogy and TI platform phones (ImOkYoureNot) Re: US West History (Al Gillis) Re: US West History (Lisa Hancock) Re: Vonage Traffic Clarification (John R. Covert) 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: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 10:49:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Ex-Verizon Wireless Employee Charged By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A former Verizon Wireless employee was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges he stole more than $20 million from the company's prepaid cellular telephone service. Timothy Charles Mattos, 32, of Folsom, was indicted on 10 fraud and money laundering counts. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. As a customer service representative, Mattos had access to a password-protected Verizon computer account in which the company kept a record of prepaid cell phone minutes. Customers on the plan could buy cards on which were printed 15-digit personal identification numbers. They would then call a telephone number to activate the prepaid minutes to make a telephone call. Mattos is alleged to have copied more than $20 million worth of the 15-digit numbers and sold them on his own between November 2002 and March. He continued accessing the Web site and copying the numbers even after he left the company in November 2003, the charges allege. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43083910 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 10:57:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DoubleClick Announces Compliance With Sender ID for Email -- Company Embraces Authenticated Email Solution to Help Counter Spam, Email Spoofing and Phishing -- NEW YORK, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DoubleClick Inc. (Nasdaq: DCLK), the leading provider of technology solutions for marketers, advertising agencies and web publishers, today announced that its DARTmail email management system is fully compliant with Microsoft's Sender ID framework. DoubleClick is the first Email Service Provider to announce its compliance with Sender ID. The announcement was made today at the Email Service Provider Coalition's (ESPC's) Sender ID Summit at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Sender ID, which is designed to eliminate domain spoofing and better enable email recipients to identify and filter junk mail, allows the recipient to verify that each e-mail message originates from the Internet domain it claims to come from based on the sender's server IP address. As such, compliance with the Sender ID framework ensures email sent by DoubleClick's customers will be more easily identifiable as coming from a legitimate source rather than from spoofed domains commonly associated with spam and phishing scams. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43065171 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 11:00:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: T-Mobile USA Reports Second Quarter 2004 Results BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 12, 2004--T-Mobile USA, Inc.: -- 1.092 million new net customers added in Q2 2004 -- New net customers totaled 2.27 million during the first half of 2004, up from 1.53 million for the first half of 2003 -- Customer base currently at 15.4 million, compared to 11.4 million mid year 2003, an increase of 4 million for the 12 months -- $717 million in Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) in Q2 2004, up 46% from Q1 2004 T-Mobile USA, Inc. ("T-Mobile USA") the U.S. operation of T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG ("T-Mobile International"), the mobile communications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG ("Deutsche Telekom") (NYSE:DT), today announced second quarter 2004 results. All financial amounts are in USD and are based on accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") in order to provide comparability with the results of other U.S. wireless carriers. T-Mobile USA results are included in the consolidated results of Deutsche Telekom, but differ from the information contained herein as Deutsche Telekom reports its financial results in accordance with German generally accepted accounting principles. In the second quarter of 2004, T-Mobile USA added 1,092,000 net customers, compared with 1,174,000 added in the first quarter of 2004 and 606,000 in the second quarter of 2003. About 86% of the growth in the second quarter of 2004 came from new postpay customers, which currently comprise 89% of the customer base. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43059239 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 11:01:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Teen Pleads Guilty to Releasing Blaster Worm Variant Teen pleads guilty to releasing Blaster worm variant SEATTLE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - A teenager pleaded guilty on Wednesday for unleashing a variant of the Blaster worm that infected computers worldwide last year and targeted computers at Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), prosecutors said. Jeffrey Lee Parson, 19, of Hopkins, Minnesota, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle, and faces a maximum of 37 months in prison and financial restitution that could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sentencing is scheduled for November. Parson said in the plea agreement that he created his "B" or "teekids" variant of the Blaster worm and used it to access fifty computers which he then used to launch a broader attack on more than 48,000 computers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43057167 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 10:58:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: VeriSign To Integrate Sender ID Specifications Into Email Verified Domains List, an Added Layer of Protection Against Spam, Will Be Made Available by VeriSign to Further Complement Sender ID MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and REDMOND, Wash., THE ESPC SENDER ID SUMMIT, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today announced it will work to integrate Microsoft's Sender ID Framework specifications into VeriSign's Email Security Service. This move is part of the industry-wide effort to implement authenticated email solutions to combat the growing problem of spam. Sender ID, a draft technical specification submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), will verify that email messages actually originate from the Internet domain shown in the address. Based on the sender's server IP address, Sender ID aims to eliminate domain spoofing, helping legitimate senders to protect their domain names and reputations and allowing recipients to more effectively identify and filter junk email. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43063552 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 11:03:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: News Corporation Reports Third Consecutive Year of Double-Digit NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 11, 2004--The News Corporation Limited (NYSE:NWS, NWSA): -- EARNINGS RELEASE FOR THE QUARTER AND FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2004 IN U.S. DOLLARS PREPARED FOR THE U.S. MARKET. AUSTRALIAN READERS SHOULD REFER TO THE AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR EARNINGS RELEASE -- NET PROFIT INCREASES 57% TO A RECORD $1.6 BILLION AND RECORD CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS OF $2.4 BILLION GROWS 47% OVER FISCAL 2003 -- FULL YEAR OPERATING INCOME INCREASES 21% TO A RECORD $3.1 BILLION ON REVENUE GROWTH OF 20% -- FOURTH QUARTER OPERATING INCOME OF $747 MILLION, A 31% INCREASE, ON REVENUE GROWTH OF 20% FULL YEAR HIGHLIGHTS -- Record Filmed Entertainment operating income up 38% on continued strength of home entertainment sales of film and television titles and string of theatrical hits. -- Strong advertising growth at Fox News and FX and higher affiliate revenues at the Regional Sports Networks drives record operating income up 43% at Cable Network Programming. -- Television segment operating income up 12% as higher pricing increases advertising revenues at the broadcast network and fuels record operating income at television stations and STAR. -- All print businesses report higher earnings contributions: advertising and circulation revenue gains in the U.K. and Australia drive record operating income at Newspapers, higher contributions from free-standing inserts volume lifts Magazines and Inserts; array of bestsellers fuels record operating income at Book Publishing. -- Completed acquisition of a 34% interest in The DIRECTV Group. -- Announced plan of reorganization that would change the Company's place of incorporation to the United States by the end of calendar 2004. QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS -- Tenth consecutive quarter of revenue and operating income growth. -- Higher earnings contributions across nearly all operating segments led by double-digit growth at Television, Cable Network Programming and Newspapers segments. -- SKY Italia operating losses decline $49 million from a year ago as subscriber base expands to nearly 2.7 million with over 90% of new subscribers opting for a premium-programming tier. The News Corporation Limited (NYSE:NWS, NWSA) today reported fourth quarter consolidated revenues of $5.5 billion, a 20% increase over the $4.6 billion in the prior year, and full year revenues of $21.0 billion, an increase of 20% over the $17.5 billion reported a year ago. Consolidated operating income for the fourth quarter of $747 million was up 31% over the $570 million reported a year ago. For the full year, operating income was a record $3.1 billion, an increase of 21% over the $2.5 billion reported in fiscal 2003 despite the inclusion of $267 million in losses from SKY Italia during the current year. Fiscal 2003 results included $68 million in losses from SKY Italia for the two months ended June 30, 2003. The Company's 31% fourth quarter growth and record full year operating income were driven by double-digit increases across nearly all of its operating segments. Net profit for the fourth quarter was $399 million, an increase of $29 million over the $370 million reported in the fourth quarter a year ago. For the full year net profit was $1.6 billion, an increase of $601 million over the $1.0 billion in fiscal 2003. Net profit before other items in the fourth quarter increased to $429 million ($0.29 per ADR) versus $320 million ($0.24 per ADR) reported in the prior year and full year net profit before other items increased to $1.7 billion ($1.20 per ADR), an increase of $585 million over the $1.1 billion ($0.83 per ADR) reported in fiscal 2003. Fourth quarter and full year increases were primarily due to higher consolidated operating income and significant improvement in net profit from associated entities. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43049882 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 01:09:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.29: Calling All Tech-Savvy Lawyers! EFFector Vol. 17, No. 29 August 12, 2004 ren@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 301st Issue of EFFector: * Calling All Tech-Savvy Lawyers! * Sunshine Sought for Texas Election Systems Examiners * Maryland E-Voting Suit Pushes to Decertify Diebold Machines * EFF Supports Distribution of INDUCE Hearing on P2P * Freedom Fest 2004 - Another Great Success! * MiniLinks (9): The Revolution Will Be Downloaded, then Televised * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/29.php ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 19:07:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DirecTV Slashes PanAmSat Price by $200 Million PHILADELPHIA, Aug 12 (Reuters) - DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE:DTV) on Thursday agreed to sell its satellite affiliate for 7 percent less than previously negotiated as a discount to cover the failure of one of its satellites. Recent technical troubles on one of PanAmSat Corp.'s (NASDAQ:SPOT) 24 satellites, which shortened its expected operating life-span to about three years from seven years, had given its buyers the right to walk away under the terms of their agreement. As a result, satellite TV company DirecTV agreed to reduce the price it would be paid for its stake in PanAmSat -- which transmits television programming and telecommunications traffic -- by $200 million to $2.6 billion. The buyers -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Providence Equity Partners and Carlyle Group -- still would pay the original $23.50 per share price to the other PanAmSat shareholders, DirecTV said. That would bring the total value of the deal to about $3.35 billion, based on the original purchase price of $3.55 billion. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43068003 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 17:33:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Motorola V710 Megapixel Camera Phone Sleek Flip-Phone Delivers Extreme Photo Functionality Coupled with Cool Cutting-Edge Bluetooth(R) Wireless Technology BEDMINSTER, N.J. and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Attention gadget-loving customers, the wait is over -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service provider, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT), a global leader in wireless communications, announced the availability of the highly- anticipated Motorola V710 wireless phone. With integrated 1.2 mega-pixel camera, video playback, record and messaging, along with integrated Bluetooth wireless technology, the Motorola V710 is available exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers. Looking to do more with a phone than talk? The Motorola V710 delivers a complete package for today's mobile customers with its sleek look and popular features. One of the first CDMA mega-pixel camera phones in the United States to date, the Motorola V710 is the perfect convergence device. The phone's integrated 1.2 mega-pixel camera allows customers to snap better photos than ever before, as well as shoot and playback video clips. Coupled with the separately purchased custom designed Bluetooth headset, the wireless, cordless device is the must-have device of the year. The Motorola V710 is also Get It Now(R)-enabled, offering customers even more options in an already full-featured device. With several shopping aisles to choose from, Get It Now provides access to a plethora of downloadable applications including games, ringtones, productivity tools and more. Customers can quickly and easily select from 500 downloadable applications in the Get It Now virtual store. Features The Motorola V710 features include: * 1.2 mega-pixel camera * Video capture, playback and messaging * Bluetooth wireless connectivity * Speaker independent voice dialing * Office quality speaker phone * Stereo sound * TransFlash memory expansion slot * Mobile Web 2.0(SM) capable * Get It Now capable * Large 2.2" internal color display * Large 1.3" external color display * PIM functionality with picture caller-ID * Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) * E-mail: POP3, SMTP, IMAP4* - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43070239 ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Wardriving Guilty Plea in Lowe's Wi-Fi Case Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 20:45:47 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations Jack writes: [long tale of woe deleted] > Mr. Vader's moralizing, where he says, "at worst, you're in jail like > Mr. Timmins" shows his total ignorance of the case. My understanding I was responding to a digest article, which quoted a story in the news. And I fail to see where 'moralizing' even enters into it. I don't have any basis, even a name, to document your story, but we have the news article. Which are you going to believe at a glance? This isn't a court of law -- it's a frelling news digest. I hope things work out for your friend, but you don't do him any favors by flying off the handle. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Wardriving Guilty Plea in Lowe's Wi-Fi Case From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 23:00:11 +0000 In article , Dave Garland wrote: > It was a dark and stormy night when PAT wrote: >> Now my friend who got me the card and wireless router did say if I >> mounted a highly directional antenna out of my window I could probably >> go 'one mile or so' and still get the signal. Is that correct? > At the recent DEFCON hacker convention in Vegas, a couple of teenagers > managed to get 55.1 miles, and said they probably could have gotten > more if they hadn't run out of road. Granted, the antennas were 10 > foot satellite dishes, so that would adversely impact the portability > of your laptop :). > Two women who improvised an antenna out of "cardboard, duct tape, and > a car sun visor" managed 0.82 miles. > The world record is 192 miles, but Swedish Space Corporation used a > weather balloon and RF amplification so that was sort of cheating. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I think the 'couple of teenagers' > at Vegas were too smart for their own good. Is the idea to be able > to stand on the roof of your house naked and show everyone all your > stuff or is the idea to be able to get some kind of convenient mix > between flexibilty and privacy? So they got 55 miles? Sounds very > impressive until you realize how many people in the span of that > 55 miles were eager to see what those boys were doing with their > computers and had WiFi cards of their own they could use to explore > the boys' computers in more detail. After all, the more people who > get in the middle between the base station and yourself, the greater > the likelyhood of *someone* -- at least one malcontent -- along the > way spying on you successfully, encryption and answering to one non- > broadcasted MAC address only not withstanding. Of course, finding the > proper mix between flexibilty and privacy is dependent on your > circumstances, but 55 miles? PAT, you don't know what you don't know. I've seen the gear the guys that got the 55 mi point-to-point distance used. A 'standard' system, at virtually any point in-between those two *very* special antennas would -not- have been able to get into the network. If someone trying to intercept the traffic were relatively close to one end or the other, they might, using *VERY*SPECIALIZED* equipment, be able to passively listen in to _one_side_ of the traffic. "standard" equipment, just like a modern high-speed modem, won't show -anything- without some 'negotiation' between the two ends. With Diffie-Hellman key exchange, or similar practices, being able to listen to only one side of the traffic gives you *nothing* to work with. With the actual antenna equipment they used, anybody trying to 'intercept' any part of the traffic would have had to had their receiving antenna _very_ close to the straight-line path between the two antennas. like no more than about 20', horizontally or vertically. Also, anybody 'in the middle' who had up "enough antenna" to capture a 'usable' signal would almost assuredly have interfered enough with the 'end-to-end' signal strength to the point that the end-to-end connection would not have been usable. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 22:46:12 -0400 From: Jack Subject: Re: Wardriving Guilty Plea in Lowe's Wi-Fi Case Pat, please conceal my e-mail address as usual. I have one correction to my earlier post and some additional information. First, I had said that I was told by Paul's uncle that the local FBI agents apparently even expressed some interest in using Mr. Timmins as an expert witness in future cases, because of the level of cooperation he gave them in this case. That *was* what I was told, but it was inaccurate -- actually it was Paul's attorney that wanted to use him as an expert in future cases, not the FBI. The AP issued a correction earlier this week that is starting to be picked up by some of the papers that carried the original story (wonder how far back in the papers it got buried, though). You can read it at: http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw102484_20040809.htm A far more interesting and enlightening article (though perhaps just a bit dated) is this one by Kevin Poulsen at SecurityFocus: http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9281 A couple of significant excerpts from that article: [Excerpt #1:] "I tried to discourage Adam several times," says Timmins. "He kept saying, 'They won't catch us.' I'm like, 'Whatever. Don't do it here.'" [Adam was the guy who actually did the hacking.] [Excerpt #2:] Cyberlaw lawyer Jennifer Granick, director of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, agrees with the government that Timmins' is likely the first wardriving conviction. But she isn't convinced that he actually committed a crime. "Using an open wireless access point isn't the same thing as using a computer illegally," says Granick. "Convictions for this type of thing are possible where it's part of a larger criminal case, but it shouldn't happen in the absence of some other criminal purpose, like stealing credit cards, or knowledge that the network is closed. Wardriving isn't criminal." "All he did was check his e-mail and try to browse the Internet," said Botbyl. "That's the only connectivity he had with their network. He didn't do anything at all... I think the only reason they charged him is because they arrested him." [End of excerpts] My thought on this is that even if the simple act of access were technically illegal, to me this almost seems on the order of walking across the corner of a neighbor's yard, where technically you might be guilty of trespass but unless you had scaled a fence or something (or had at least been warned not to do it in some way), you'd be very shocked to actually get arrested for trespassing, let alone convicted of it. You really have to wonder about our system of justice sometimes -- we have so many laws on the books that are never enforced unless it's convenient for the authorities to do so, then some poor sap who's doing the same thing that maybe thousands of other people have done (very often quite openly) gets in trouble for it. Ah, well, I'd best climb off the soapbox before I get going again. Personally, I like the security of wired networks, and wonder why any retail establishment would ever use wireless in the first place -- are they just too lazy/cheap to run networking cable to their cash registers? As a customer, I would not feel very secure know that my financial information is just floating through the air on a poorly secured system. I suppose that for most customers, "ignorance is bliss", though. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Jack, one thing perhaps you do not understand is that police have to have those jillions of 'technical' rules on the books. There has to always be some way of arresting the person(s) they dislike or are 'suspicious' of. Like your 'cutting across the corner of a lawn; get arrested for trespass' illustration. My favorite is the catch-all 'disorderly conduct'. It is used time and again when police feel they need some excuse to legitimatize their own conduct in arresting someone. Better if we had just a totalitarian country (don't we really, anyway?) where police could do as they wanted (isn't that the practical effect anyway?) Then maybe half of the foolish laws on the books could be removed. You may say well then we would live in an anarchy. Don't we anyway? ------------------------------ From: j_macaroni@yahoo.com (ImOkYoureNot) Subject: Telogy and TI platform Phones Date: 12 Aug 2004 10:22:43 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does anyone know of any manufacturers who use the TI platform and Telogy in their phones? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: US West History Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 16:35:08 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Jack Adams wrote in message news:telecom23.366.15@telecom-digest.org: > Doug Faunt N6TQS wrote in message > news:> Am I correct in believing that US West was one of the "baby bells"? >> And what happened to the company, if so? >> 73, doug > Yes, the short answer is that it encompassed Mountain Bell and Pacific > Northwest Bell which covered almost the entire Northwestern quadrant US West's make up also included the former Bell System operating company, Northwestern Bell, which operated in several states including the Dakota's, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska. Pacific Northwest Bell had Oregon, Washington and part of Idaho. Mountain Bell (whose correct name was Mountain Statest Tel & Tel, as I recall) had the states in the mountain west. Overall, US West had pretty much the entire west except California and Nevada. The fun pretty much ended when Qwest International bought US West, changed the name and began sucking the money out of it. Al ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) Subject: Re: US West History Date: 12 Aug 2004 18:58:20 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Doug Faunt N6TQS wrote: > Am I correct in believing that US West was one of the "baby bells"? I recommend the book "Muttering Machines to Laser Beams" by Herbert Hackenburg Jr, published by Mountain Bell. While primarily a history of Mountain Bell, it is also a good history of the Bell System. A good book. It has a particularly good account of nonsense frustrations the plant people had to go through to divy up between Bell and AT&T at the time of divesture. Marking tape ran literally through switching frames. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 01:39:59 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Vonage Traffic Clarification > But if one Vonage customer calls another, Vonage tells the two TAs to > talk directly to each other over the net, without routing the call > through Vonage's servers at all. While SIP has this capability, Vonage does not use it. Even Vonage to Vonage calls send the audio traffic via Vonage's switches, not directly between the TAs. I suppose this facilitates Vonage's ability to comply with court-ordered wiretaps. /john ------------------------------ 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'. 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