From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 28 22:09:55 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i0T39tP11212; Wed, 28 Jan 2004 22:09:55 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 22:09:55 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200401290309.i0T39tP11212@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 #45 TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Jan 2004 22:10:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 45 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson A Visit From the FBI (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless Launches Complete Connectivity Solution (Monty Solomon) LG Mobile Phones and Verizon Wireless Blend Must-Have Style (Solomon) Satellite Radio Competition Heats Up (Monty Solomon) RealNetworks' Helix Player Project Wins Award for Best Open (M Solomon) U.S. Cable Rates Rose 5.1 Pct in Latest Year-FCC (Monty Solomon) Court Hears About FCC Competition Rules (Monty Solomon) US Court Casts Doubt on Telecom Network Rules (Eric Friedebach) Book Review: Kerberos: The Definitive Guide, Jason Garman (Rob Slade) Metrobility/Transition DS3 to Fiber Extenders (Michael Ryan) Re: Overseas Toll Free Numbers (John R. Covert) Re: Why SCO's McBride Declared War (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Linus Torvalds: SCO Is "Just Too Wrong" (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: New Virus Infects PCs, Whacks SCO (Jim Haynes) Re: CLEC Question (noname) Re: Homeland Security to Offer Cyber Warnings (Walt Howard) Words and Numbers (was T-Mobile USA Show Biggest Gains) (Joel Hoffman) Share Day for January (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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 is 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, 28 Jan 2004 15:12:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Visit From the FBI By Scott Granneman Well, it finally happened. Right before Christmas, I had a little visit from the FBI. That's right: an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation came to see me. He had some things he wanted to talk about. He stayed a couple of hours, and then went on his way. Hopefully he got what he wanted. I know I did. Let me explain. I teach technology classes at Washington University in St. Louis, a fact that I mentioned in a column from 22 October 2003 titled, "Joe Average User Is In Trouble". In that column, I talked about the fact that most ordinary computer users have no idea about what security means. They don't practice secure computing because they don't understand what that means. After that column came out, I received a lot of email. One of those emails was from Dave Thomas, former chief of computer intrusion investigations at FBI headquarters, and current Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the St. Louis Division of the FBI. Dave had this to say: "I have spent a considerable amount in the computer underground and have seen many ways in which clever individuals trick unsuspecting users. I don't think most people have a clue just how bad things are." He then offered to come speak to my students about his experiences. I did what I think most people would do: I emailed Dave back immediately and we set up a date for his visit to my class. http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/215 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Indeed, they do not have any idea about how bad things are on the net with identity theft, fraud, spam and viruses. I listen very patietly to my mother, for example, and the other day she asked me quite innocently, "Has your computer ever gotten one of those virus things?" When I responded "only about a hundred or so each day, if I do not keep my firewall and virus checkers in place all the time," she was absolutely astounded. She, like most casual computer users -- most people -- do not have even an iota of the amount of trouble going on with the net. While I do NOT approve of it, I am frankly very surprised that the government (the feds) have not long ago clamed down very sternly, very heavily on the trouble makers. Like many folks around here, long ago I was an anarchist also, but any longer, I am not so sure at all. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 09:50:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Launches Complete Connectivity Solution Verizon Wireless Launches Complete Connectivity Solution for Mobile Subscribers - Remo(TM) by Xpherix Corporation Available Through Verizon Wireless' Get It Now(R) Service, the Affordably Priced Remo Incorporates E-mail, Contacts, and Calendar BEDMINSTER, N.J. and SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless service provider, and Xpherix Corporation, the leading provider of personalized mobile connectivity solutions, today announced the launch of Remo on Verizon Wireless' Get It Now service. For less than $8 monthly access, Remo is a powerful communications tool that provides remote access to e-mail, contacts, and calendars through an everyday data-enabled wireless phone. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40331025 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 09:51:31 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: LG Mobile Phones and Verizon Wireless Blend Must-Have Style The New VX4500 Handset Offers Perfect Marriage of High Fashion and Sophistication SAN DIEGO and BEDMINSTER, N.J., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Mobile Phones and Verizon Wireless announce their newest handset, the VX4500 will be available to customers on Jan. 29. Equipped with some of the most advanced functions available today, the VX4500 offers the latest in voice recognition commands and two-way speakerphone technology. The VX4500's two-way speakerphone allows customers to speak hands-free with one push of a button. With its powerful voice recognition command system, users can access their contacts, voicemail, schedules and time information quickly, accurately and safely, without touching the keypad. The VX4500 also features a color screen and external LCD screen so users can see caller ID without flipping open the phone. The external screen can also be set to flash a different color for events such as incoming calls, a new voice mail message, text message or missed call. The VX4500 gives consumers a sleek new twist on LG's trademark clamshell design and an extensive selection of must-have features they have come to expect from LG. The VX4500 functions as a personal organizer with a phone book that stores up to 499 names with five numbers and three email address per contact, a calendar with scheduler, built-in alarm clock, CMX MIDI sound, 36 standard ring tones and speed dialing. The VX4500 also features English and Spanish language options, T9 text input, five-way navigation key, TTY/TDD, SMS capabilities and is E911 capable. Connecting the phone to a local PC network is easy with the VX4500's external USB capability and Openwave UP 4.1 browser. The VX4500 is also Get It Now(R)-enabled. Verizon Wireless' Get It Now service is a one-stop virtual mall that gives customers a myriad of choices in downloadable pay-as-you-go options that include games, ring tones and productivity tools. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40331014 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 18:48:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Satellite Radio Competition Heats Up NEW YORK (AP) -- The satellite radio business is getting feistier. Leading provider XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. is making its music channels commercial-free, taking away an advantage touted by its more expensive rival, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Sirius executives have said their higher price was justified largely because Sirius delivers commercial-free music, though there are a few ads on its talk, news and sports stations. Meanwhile, XM had a few minutes of commercials each hour on all of its channels. But XM is going ad-free on its music channels as of Sunday, without raising the subscription price. XM also plans to introduce local traffic and weather channels in many markets this year. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40335533 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 18:50:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RealNetworks' Helix Player Project Wins Award Helix Player Fast Becoming the Standard for Linux Audio and Video SEATTLE, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RealNetworks(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), the leading creator of digital media services and software, today announced that the Helix(TM) Player, the first commercial grade, open source and multi-format digital media player, has been awarded top honors by the LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards, as unveiled at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo(R) 2004 held last week in New York. The Helix Player was recognized for being the 'Best Open Source Project'. Innovative products across 10 categories were nominated for awards. The Helix Player project, https://player.helixcommunity.org , was singled out to receive the award for best open source project over; KDE 3.2, Gentoo Linux, and Sun's JXTA. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40335064 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 18:53:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Cable Rates Rose 5.1 Pct in Latest Year - FCC WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Prices for cable television in the United States rose 5.1 percent in the year ended June 30, 2003, more than twice the rate of inflation, the Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday. The annual report, required by Congress, also showed satellite television services adding customers faster than cable operators. The jump in cable prices was more than two-and-a-half times the general inflation rate, which rose 2.1 percent over the same period. In the prior 12 months, cable rates had skyrocketed 6.3 percent while inflation rose 1.1 percent. Satellite television providers like EchoStar Communications Corp. and DirecTV saw a 12.1 percent incre in subscribers, to 20.4 million up from 18.2 million, while cable companies added about 1.7 million customers, according to the FCC. The report does not examine satellite television prices. The four biggest cable operators, Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX), Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) and Cox Communications (NYSE:COX), served about 50.5 percent of cable subscribers in June 2003, down slightly from 51.7 percent the previous year. While some blame deregulation of cable rates for the increases, the cable industry blames increased costs for programming and labor, the FCC said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40336481 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 18:54:21 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Court Hears About FCC Competition Rules By HOPE YEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Communications Commission was back in court Wednesday with challengers who say its rules for telephone and Internet services unfairly restrict competition and give states too much regulatory power. The government requires regional phone companies to lease portions of their local networks to competitors at wholesale rates. The companies _ BellSouth Corp., SBC Communications, Verizon Communications and Qwest Communications _ say that allows others to use their networks at artificially low prices. Meanwhile, competitors are challenging rules that allow the regional companies to keep their high-speed fiber optic lines off limits to Internet rivals. The companies are challenging the FCC rules for a third time. The agency approved changes giving the states more authority in February 2003 on a contentious 3-2 vote, leading to litigation after the rules were released in August. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, expected sometime this spring, could determine the corporate winners in the rapidly expanding broadband market and the declining landline phone business. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40338711 ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: US court Casts Doubt on Telecom Network Rules Date: 28 Jan 2004 14:25:12 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com By Peter Kaplan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two appeals court judges Wednesday sharply criticized rules that force U.S. local telephone carriers to continue leasing their networks to rivals at government-mandated prices, signaling that the court could overturn the rules. The two judges, on the three-judge appeals panel, said the U.S. Federal Communications Commission erred by giving state regulators instructions to enforce the new network-sharing rules. http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2004/01/28/rtr1232084.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 08:34:07 -0800 Subject: Book Review: Kerberos: The Definitive Guide, Jason Garman BKKRBSDG.RVW 20031018 "Kerberos: The Definitive Guide", Jason Garman, 2003, 0-596-00403-6, U$34.95/C$54.95 %A Jason Garman %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 2003 %G 0-596-00403-6 %I O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. %O U$34.95/C$54.95 800-998-9938 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596004036/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596004036/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596004036/robsladesin03-20 %P 253 p. %T "Kerberos: The Definitive Guide" Kerberos is not flashy, but it is a venerable and mature technology. Yes, it has limited scalability, but most of the "successful" PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) projects are small enough that they could easily have been accomplished with Kerberos technology: an eminently elegant solution to the problem of communicating and authenticating over any channel that is, or must be, assumed to be insecure. Chapter one provides a history, base concepts, and variants of Kerberos. Terms and components are given in chapter two. The Needham-Schroeder work, and the idea of ticket-granting, is in chapter three. Implementation, in chapter four, reviews design, UNIX and Windows servers, and special considerations for a mixed environment. The troubleshooting chapter, five, for once comes early enough in a book to be of use. Security aspects external to Kerberos, and specific settings for different implementations, are covered in chapter six. Chapter seven looks at some generic support for applications, as well as some specific programs that already have Kerberos support built in. Cross realm trust is one of the advanced topics, but most of chapter eight concentrates on special requirements for Windows. Chapter nine is a kind of review of the book, involving the various topics that have been discussed in a sample Kerberos installation. Chapter ten looks at the future of Kerberos, with possible public key additions, Web applications, and smartcards. An appendix contains an administrative command list. While Kerberos may not be as highly regarded as the more mathematically complex asymmetric cryptographic systems, it still have many uses, and this book provides the outline, background, and details to help you take full advantage of them. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKKRBSDG.RVW 20031018 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Buying the right computer and getting it to work properly is no more complicated than building a nuclear reactor from wristwatch parts in a darkened room using only your teeth. - Dave Barry http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ From: Michael Ryan Subject: Metrobility/Transition DS3 to Fiber Extenders Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 07:51:00 -0600 Hi, Has anyone had any experience with either Metrobility or Transition fiber extenders? I'm looking for a recommendation to extend two DS3's about 1000ft. Both products look like they'll work, but the Transition product is about 2-3 times the price. I've used their products in the past, but have never heard of Metrobility. Thanks in advance, Michael (Remove the NoSpamPlease to send me an email) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 10:03:53 -0500 (EST) From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Overseas Toll Free Numbers John Levine wrote: > Vonage gives me a fast busy ... I suspect that it's because nobody's > noticed that +800 is a valid country code. On April 30th, 2003, I wrote to the VP of customer service at Vonage: Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 8:32 PM Subject: International Toll Free Service Vonage appears to not process 011-800-nnnn-nnnn. These are toll-free numbers, and should work even if "international calling" is turned off, since there is never any charge. Two test numbers are Hong Kong Cable and Wireless: 011-800-2000-2000 and Sweden Direct: 011-800-4600-4600. Please let me know when they are working. Thanks/john I received the following reply: John, We do not support toll-free international calling, only domestic. Sincerely, Vonage DigitalVoice Customer Care 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357) I persisted: Are you not able to just hand it off to a carrier which does support it, just like you hand 800 service off? It is just an extension of 800 service, isn't it? And got this reply: I am not sure but I will check and get back to you. Sincerely, Vonage DigitalVoice Customer Care 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357) But she never replied. /john ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Why SCO's McBride Declared War Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 10:52:05 -0500 Organization: Bell Sympatico noname wrote: > In article , clj@panix.com says: > I have a very low opinion of those who use the courts and our > legislators to fatten their own pockets. McBride falls beneath my > contempt because of this. Well, I don't want to paint them all with the same brush because I do understand that there are people out there who steal others ideas and make money on them, often ruining the original inventor's reputation in the process by misleading the customer into confusing the two. I therefore understand SCO's lawsuit against IBM. However, SCO's letters to Linux end users asking for licensing fees now and threatening higher damages at a later date based on unproven claims to rights ... well, that's extortion that should make the mob jealous. (I hereby claim that analogy, as I'm in the process of writing -- in my scant spare time -- an article making this comparison in more dramatic style. However, should the FTC or the DOJ decide to pursue action against SCO, I hereby grant them an unlimited non-transferrable royalty-free license to use it.) > SCO doesn't have a leg to stand on I don't know that for sure and I don't think that any one person can know that for sure, but SCO's own actions suggest that the whole suit is far from kosher. If I was SCO and I honestly believed what SCO is saying, I'd be calling a press conference and showing the media as many examples of stolen code as I could cram into a session -- or, if I didn't want to be accused of holding the trial in the court of public opinion, I'd have Gartner, IDC, and every analyst I could get over to look at it and express their own opinions. Since the whole source code to Linux is publicly available, what does SCO stand to lose by revealing which portions they claim are theirs? If everyone rushes to exorcise SCO's code from Linux, that doesn't destroy evidence of past wrongdoing. Are they hoping that, by not revealing which code is infringing, others will unwittingly make use of it and become targets for future extortion^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h lawsuits? Geoffrey Welsh Always looking for a good condition original 'chicklet keyboard' Commodore PET ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Linus Torvalds: SCO Is "Just Too Wrong" Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 11:03:35 -0500 Organization: Bell Sympatico Thomas A. Horsley wrote: > SCO could easily demonstrate that Linux NFS is just as sucky and prone > to errors. How, therefore, could it possibly be equally bad if the > Linux programmers didn't steal it? :-). I was going to comment that the history of software development has proven that there is no limit to how badly software can be written, but your comment raises a very interesting question: If I recall correctly, NFS was developed by Sun. Or maybe Bill Joy's team at Berkeley. In any case, it's been passed around pretty freely and I believe that the specifications are available in public documents which may or may not mention licensing conditions. Under the terms of Sun't UNIX license, is NFS Sun's to give away or SCO's to license? SCO's claims about IBM would suggest the latter, unless IBM's license is very different from Sun's. Or is the question irrelevant because Sun paid off SCO? And did Sun pay off SCO for this reason, or just to cover their behinds for distributing Linux? Also, if all NFS implementations are based on the same publicly available specification, would similar or even identical bugs necessarily be the result of copied code, or the natural result when similarly educated/trained/experienced people working with similar tools in a similar environment sit down to implement the same specification? Geoffrey Welsh Always looking for a good condition original 'chicklet keyboard' Commodore PET ------------------------------ Subject: Re: New Virus Infects PCs, Whacks SCO Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 18:31:09 GMT And now SCO has offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the virus author. jhaynes at alumni dot uark dot edu ------------------------------ From: noname Subject: Re: CLEC Question Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 19:15:35 GMT In article , paravant@excite.com says: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here are a few answers; I am sure other > readers will fill in the blanks. (1) Most CLECs lease from the telco > of record in the community of service. (2) I do not know how to > evaluate the word 'major'. (3)'Co-location' refers to the CLEC having > their switching equipment at the same location as the telco of record > in the community. For example, here in Independence, the SW Bell > central office is at the corner of 6th and Maple Streets. The CLECs > who have equipment in town have theirs in the same physical building. > They are located in the same building, or co-located. Terms like > 'cageless' and 'virtual' are sort of interchangeable. The CLECs have > to put their switching equipment and/or computers, etc inside a locked > (i.e. caged) area separate from that of Bell. Maybe other readers can > tell you more. PAT] The CO in Providence doesn't cage -- they do it by floor access. Whereas years ago every floor of the building contained switching gear (It's an 8 or 10 story building -- I never really counted.) now there are offices on the 1st floor where the cable terminations used to be, 2nd is the cable term now, 4th is where PRVDRIWADS0 sits, and that leaves 3 and 5 through 10 for the other switches. There's even a blockhouse on the roof for AT&T. ------------------------------ From: howard@rumba.ee.ualberta.ca (Walt Howard) Subject: Re: Homeland Security to Offer Cyber Warnings Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 20:12:23 UTC Organization: A poorly-installed InterNetNews site In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > By TED BRIDIS AP Technology Writer > WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans can sign up beginning Wednesday to > receive free cyber alerts and computer advice from the Homeland > Security Department to help protect themselves on the Internet. Is this the same Homeland Security Department that runs their own computers with the least-secure operating system available? > The new National Cyber Alert System, expected to be announced > Wednesday, is an ambitious program to develop a trusted warning system > by the government to help home users and technology experts. It will > send e-mails about major virus outbreaks and other Internet attacks as > they occur, along with detailed instructions to help computer users > protect themselves. Oh, goody. Now I can not only get forged emails from Microsoft with the "latest security update", I can get them "from" the government as well. I can hardly contain my joy. > The effort is aimed at improving the overall security of the Internet, Coming from an outfit that can't even secure its own network, it's unlikely to help much. > a goal frustrated by increasingly complex software that can be > difficult to secure and by hackers learning to launch sophisticated > new attacks. Right. The recent MyDoom virus was so crude it was laughable, but it still spread pretty fast. Walt Howard /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign InterNet: whoward@ieee.org \ / No HTML in mail or news! BellNet: +1 780 492 6306 X / \ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 23:47:00 GMT From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Subject: Words and Numbers (was: T-Mobile USA Show Biggest Gains) Organization: Excelsior Computer Services > Deutsche Telekom's (DE:DTEGn) T-Mobile, the sixth largest > U.S. wireless service, said it added 1.015 million customers Purely as a curiosity, why would anyone write "1.015 million" instead of "1,015,000" (or, even better, "just over a million customers")? -Joel ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For January Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 21:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. And *please* try to send some money by the end of this month, in a long, cold winter. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #45 *****************************