From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 27 12:54:55 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id i8RGstK20827; Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:54:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:54:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200409271654.i8RGstK20827@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 #450 TELECOM Digest Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:53:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 450 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Microsoft Set-Top Box Ready to Roll (Monty Solomon) Software That Knows Your Every Move (Monty Solomon) What's Lurking In Your PC? (Monty Solomon) 'Wikis' Offer Knowledge-Sharing Online (Monty Solomon) RIM To Enable Aftermarket Solution For BlackBerry Connect (M Solomon) Virgin to Launch Commercial Space Flights (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless Unleashes Ogo (Monty Solomon) Re: BART Cop Orders Radio Turned Off to Protect Trains (Mark Atwood) Re: BART Cop Orders Radio Turned Off to Protect Trains (Brian Inglis) Re: BART Cop Orders Radio Turned Off to Protect Trains (George Mitchell) Re: BART Cop Orders Radio Turned Off to Protect Trains (jdj) Re: Magic Telemarketer Bullets, was Re: Out of Area Calls (AES/newspost) Re: Magic Telemarketer Bullets, was Re: Out of Area Calls (John McHarry) Re: Magic Telemarketer Bullets, was Re: Out of Area Calls (Justin Time) 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: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 02:52:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Microsoft Set-Top Box Ready to Roll By Ina Fried Staff Writer, CNET News.com MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Microsoft plans to start shipping a new set-top box next week, and it's not your grandmother's WebTV. Though MSN TV2 is the successor to the original WebTV devices, the new box is a vast departure from its predecessors . On the outside, it's slick, with new video-playback and photo-viewing programs, and a custom version of Internet Explorer 6 designed to make Web browsing on the television a far less painful process. On the inside, it's a Windows CE-based product with a 733MHz Celeron -- slow by PC standards but downright zippy in the world of set-top boxes. Microsoft will sell the $199 device in two ways--as a dial-up product for technology newbies with $21.95 monthly service; and as an additional way for broadband homes to view the Web for $9.95 using the existing Internet connection. Newbies, who have historically been the bulk of MSN TV subscribers, are likely to be the majority of initial customers, said MSN TV General Manager Sam Klepper. http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5381459.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 02:55:33 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Software That Knows Your Every Move By Burt Helm It's called Worklenz, and it can be a powerful management tool for tracking projects and people -- or a scary Big Brother Look busy -- Worklenz is watching. Designed by privately held information-technology company Matier in Washington, D.C., Worklenz is software designed to help companies manage large projects and maximize efficiency. But unlike an enterprise resource program, which tracks a company's inventory, invoices, and assets, Worklenz tracks workers -- what they do, when they do it, and how long it takes. And it's spreading fast. Matier says it has been profitable for just over two years and has won contracts with Lockheed Martin ( LMT ), BMW, Northrop Grumman ( NOC ), and the U.S. Agriculture Dept. In the next week, BusinessWeek Online has learned, Matier will announce a contract with the FBI to manage all of the bureau's IT-related projects. In its essence, Worklenz uses an extreme form of micromanagement to help a company make broad decisions. The program can sync with each employee's Microsoft Outlook e-mail account, Microsoft Project scheduling software, and his or her PeopleSoft timesheet, to let a boss see everyone's schedules, what tasks they're working on, and how soon each employee will complete his or her work. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2004/tc20040923_0520_tc024= ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 03:00:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: What's Lurking In Your PC? What's Lurking In Your PC? How to keep spyware from tracking your habits -- or hijacking your computer. At first I was just mildly irritated when my Internet browser opened up to a strange Web site rather than to my regular home page. I figured I must have inadvertently hit a wrong key. When I tried to reset it, nothing happened. Again, I thought I must be doing something wrong. But since the problem didn't prevent me from using my computer, I decided to deal with it later. Big mistake. Just weeks after my home page was hijacked, I got hit with an onslaught of pop-up ads. Then I was unable to complete a Web search. Despite typing an address dozens of times, I always ended up somewhere else. Time to call a computer expert. His diagnosis? Spyware. As it turns out, one-third of Internet users have been similarly afflicted, according to a recent survey by Consumer Reports . "Spyware, without question, is on an exponential rise over the last six months," says Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering with Symantec Security Response ( SYMC ), the maker of Norton security software. Microsoft ( MSFT ) reports that spyware was the cause of one-third of all computer crashes in the past year. Because it's so new and still evolving, many computer users don't understand spyware. Here's a quick tutorial to bring you up to date on this insidious problem. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_40/b3902115_mz070.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:19:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Wikis' Offer Knowledge-Sharing Online By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Taran Rampersad didn't complain when he failed to find anything on his hometown in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Instead, he simply wrote his own entry for San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. Wikipedia is unique for an encyclopedia because anybody can add, edit and even erase. And the Wikipedia is just one _ albeit the best known _ of a growing breed of Internet knowledge-sharing communities called Wikis. There are Wiki cookbooks, a compendium of quotations and a repository on guitar players. College professors use Wikis to spur discussion. Software developers create online manuals. Small teams within businesses track projects, exchange ideas and list good places for lunch. Though their openness can encourage mischief _ spammers have been known to add porn links, Wikis have the power to change how we live and work, replacing e-mail as a tool of collaboration and spanning hierarchies. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43857421 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:20:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RIM To Enable Aftermarket Solution For BlackBerry Connect Software MUNICH, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE) Customers Will Be Able To Download BlackBerry Connect Software for their existing Palm OS Device and Subscribe to BlackBerry Wireless Services Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSX: RIM) today announced plans to offer an aftermarket BlackBerry Connect(TM) software download for the Palm OS from PalmSource, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSRC). With the BlackBerry Connect software download, customers with existing Palm OS-based wireless devices will be able to sign up for BlackBerry(R) wireless services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43862154 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:22:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Virgin to Launch Commercial Space Flights LONDON (AP) -- British entrepreneur Richard Branson said Monday that his company plans to launch commercial space flights over the next few years. Branson's Virgin transport, entertainment and communications group has signed an agreement with pioneering aviation designer Burt Rutan to build an aircraft based on Rutan's SpaceShipOne vessel, Branson said. SpaceShipOne cracked the barrier to manned commercial space flight in June by flying 328,491 feet, or about 62 miles, above Earth _ about 400 feet above the distance scientists widely consider to be the boundary of space. The flight lasted 90 minutes. SpaceShipOne's effort was bankrolled by billionaire Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen. Virgin said its agreement to license technology from Allen's company, Mohave Aerospace Ventures, could be worth up to $25 million over the next 15 years, depending on the number of spaceships built by Virgin. The company said it planned to begin construction of the first vessel, VSS Enterprise, next year, and would invest about $108 million in spaceships and ground infrastructure for the venture. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43866757 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:23:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Unleashes Ogo Company Introduces Country's First Affordable, Comprehensive Messaging Device and Service Only Mobile Device Under $100 to Offer IM and e-mail From AOL(R), MSN(R), Yahoo!(R), and More REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- All of those messages typically confined to the desktop are about to be unleashed with Ogo(TM) -- a radically new, hip, and affordable mobile messaging device for the masses, particularly teens and young adults. Introduced today and available exclusively from AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE), Ogo is the first and only wireless messaging device to provide unlimited instant messaging (IM) and email from all three leading providers -- AOL, MSN, and Yahoo! -- plus text messaging, all in a sleek, simple-to-use device. At an affordable device price of $99 (after $30 mail-in rebate) with unlimited messaging plans starting at only $17.99 per month, Ogo provides customers with a wireless messaging device priced for the typical consumer. Ogo-ers will be able to experience instant messaging and email services in a dramatically different way than most Americans do today. Ogo gives customers the freedom to stay connected to their online communities while on-the-go. Ogo's design requirements and all other elements of its service experience were created and directed by AT&T Wireless. While designed specifically for multiple messaging applications, the company expects instant messaging users to be among Ogo's earliest adopters, since the device offers a near desktop- like IM experience. According to figures released by the Pew Internet and Life Project earlier this month, there are currently more than 53 million IM users in the US today, and 24% of them send more instant messages than email messages.* - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=43867195 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: BART Cop Orders Radio Turned Off to Protect Trains From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 00:31:04 GMT hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) writes: > It is important to distinguish invidual officer actions from > department policy, and also take into account the circumstances > present. When some pinhead cop is being, well, a pinhead, the difference is immaterial to the person being pinned. > When someone is bearing safety responsibility, it is natural > to err on the side of caution; and people without any of that > responsibility might not understand that reasoning. Ah, the plea of "necessity", mixed with the "precautionary principle". Too bad things that work worse together. > Also, like it or not, some citizen complaints against cops are > simply unfounded. In my old city cops had a bad reputation among > young people and I tried to research it out. It turned out nobody > personally had a bad experience, indeed several people had been helped > by cops going out of their way for them. It was that everybody "had > heard" something. Lots of rumors, no facts. I have personally seen > incidents where cops took a lot of abuse yet were blamed for the > incident. If cops would do a better job of cleaning out instead of covering up for their own bad apples, they wouldn't suffer the stink of said bad apples. They insist on the collective "blue wall" to protect each other. They have no right to complain about sufferening the flip side of collective support, collective responsibility. > Cops and prosecutors are human and do make mistakes, but it is > important to get all the facts before reaching a conclusion. That they make mistakes, that's understandable. That they then invariably and with each other's support use the powers of the state to hide from the fallout of those mistakes, that is what pisses people off. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, people won't be sure mra@pobox.com | you've done anything at all. http://www.pobox.com/~mra | http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 02:55:18 +0000 (GMT) From: Brian Inglis Subject: Re: BART Cop Orders Radio Turned Off to Protect Trains Reply-To: Brian.Inglis@SystematicSW.ab.ca Organization: Systematic Software fOn 25 Sep 2004 19:39:25 -0700 in comp.dcom.telecom, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > Never heard that. But I've heard to turn off cell phones while > refueling the car, and I wonder if that's really necessary. According to MythBusters, it's not; but opening the car door (e.g. to get at a ringing cell phone) has caused incidents, either from static electricity or the lighting circuit (haven't seen a definitive cause). 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: George Mitchell Subject: Re: BART Cop Orders Radio Turned Off to Protect Trains Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 23:06:46 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Lisa Hancock wrote: > As to the claim BART radios were "special" years ago, there is > definitely truth to that. BART's original train control system > had many problems, including a train that ignored a stop signal > and flew off at a terminal into the parking lot. This had nothing to do with radios. The lead car of the train was receiving a 27-mph signal from the track. The system for trans- mitting the speed command from the lead car to the rest of the train was to transmit one of a specified set of audio frequency signals over a wire bus. However, the crystal in the 27-mph oscillator was cracked and oscillated at the 72-mph frequency, causing the train to speed up instead of slow down. The operator was not able to apply the brakes in time to stop before reaching the end of the track. http://www.wws.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/byteserv.prl/~ota/disk3/1976/7614/761406.PDF -- George Mitchell (obfuscated email address) ------------------------------ From: jdj Subject: Re: BART Cop Orders Radio Turned Off to Protect Trains Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 01:19:52 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com There may be another edition of this reply. That one disappeared while I was writing it and I have no idea where it went. On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 19:39:25 -0700, Lisa Hancock wrote: > jdj wrote in message > news:: >> A BART cop ordered riders to turn off their FRS radios while in the >> station and on trains to keep the trains from crashing. > Would you have a newspaper or other citation for this? We need a lot > more information to reach any conclusion and what and why happened. Sorry. I was not asking for conclusions. I was really interested in others' experiences, particularly with airlines. I was ordered by BART police on three occasions, at three different times to turn off my radios. THe first was a tunable VHF receiver, the second was when I had a pocket scanner and the third was when the officer who threatened me with jail for the scanner demanded I turn off the radio he said I had. (I had no radios at all at the time, not even a pager.) >> This reminds me when they ordered people to turn off receivers or face >> jail years earlier. At the time they claimed their own radios were >> "special" and so could be used on trains. I later verified with their >> own radio shop that there was nothing special about their radios. [snip] > I have never heard of BART placing any restrictions on radios, other > then perhaps asking people with radios to keep them off to avoid > disturbing other passengers. Before lightweight "Walkman" headphones > came out. some rude people carried "boom boxes" which were big portable > radios with big speakers, and played them very loudly. From inauguration to at least 1977 there were signs requesting that transmitters be turned off in stations and on trains. I did not see those signs again after talking to the radio shop. > As to the claim BART radios were "special" years ago, there is > definitely truth to that. BART's original train control system had many > problems, including a train that ignored a stop signal and flew off at a > terminal into the parking lot. Whether silencing radio receivers would > make a difference I don't know, but it is a fact BART had serious system > problems and may have been very sensitive about any perceived risk of > interference, justified or not. No, there is no truth to it. Per BART's own tech's the radios were ordinary Motorolas like those found in use everywhere else. The same models were used for operations, maintenance, roads, fire and police on three or four VHF and UHF bands. There was nothing "special" about them at any time. I remember the incident where the train hit the barrier at the Fremont station. As I recall, radio interference was not a consideration. Hasn't there been discussion of BART and radios here before? Seem to be catching a little whiff of dejavu here. [snip] >> Have you ever been told *as a passenger, not the driver* in an >> automobile not to use your cellular phone because it 'might distract >> the driver'? > Never heard that. But I've heard to turn off cell phones while > refueling the car, and I wonder if that's really necessary. It has happened before where transmitters have caused explosions. Whether this has specifically happened during refueling a car, I have not been able to find out. I am not inclined to find out for myself. I do know that it is possible for any transmitter to induce an explosion of fuel vapour under the right conditions, which are pretty much fulfilled at the gas pump. I'll turn off the phone and try hard not to blow myself up, thank you very much. [TEELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if it has ever occurred to the federal government, in its never ending fight against 'terrorism' to ban cell phones entirely, since they are used in cars and cars have to get gasoline from time to time, and since terrorists like to commit suicide while taking 'x' number of people along with them, that a Al-Quaida terrorist could drive a car into a gas station and while he was filling up, a confederate could call him on his cell phone, causing the gas station, its attendant, other customers in line, maybe half a city block and last, but not least, the terrorist to be dispatched to wherever it is people go when they die. For the American devils of course, straight to hell; to the terrorist his reward with all those virgins in heaven, etc. True Patriots would gladly sacrifice their cell phones in the war on terrorism if it meant one life would be saved. PAT] ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Magic Telemarketer Bullets, was Re: Out of Area Calls Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 19:29:44 -0700 I wrote a short while ago: >> Said it early on, will say it again: The intelligent and effective way >> to handle telemarketing would have been legislation requiring that any >> and all telemarketing calls be made using Caller ID with a distinctive >> and national standardized Area Code, e.g. 311 or something similar, so >> that recipients who didn't want to receive such calls could easily >> filter and reject them. >> Would have been cheap and easy to implement (for callers and >> recipients); and John Levine -- whose postings to this group I regularly read, and whose technical knowledge in these areas I respect -- replied: > Well, let's see. and I'm responding to his arguments below. > Cost to telcos to implement the overlay area code in your plan, > several billion dollars. (Every tandem switch in the country would > have to be upgraded, since there's no such thing as a national overlay > now.) Cost of network upgrades in the current system, zero, since > none are needed. My understanding (glad to be corrected if I'm wrong) is that Caller ID can be easily "faked" purely locally (i.e., by the caller, at the caller's location), and that doing this requires only modest equipment and no telco involvement -- certainly not any nationwide equipment changes (and that this sort of Caller ID modification by callers happens fairly frequently; is not necessarily even illegal; and even if it is, could be made legal for this purpose). I'm just suggesting that a prefix number for telemarketers be legislatively standardized, not that some national system be set up (or that Caller IDs with this prefix be required to accept return calls from those called by telemarketers. Callback numbers, if desired by the telemarketer, can be given in their pitch) > Service cost to users who'd have to buy CLID service to hide from > telemarketers but don't want CLID otherwise, three bucks a month or so > times something like 30 million people who don't have CLID now, about > a billion dollars a year. Monthly cost of current system, zero since > no special service is required. A red herring, I think. More and more people are getting CLID, one way or another, and usage is likely to grow toward saturation, as new services and systems emerge, and as a result of competition among these new services. My cell phone service already has CLID built in. Providing CLID really doesn't cost the telco three bucks a month, it's just another way to grab a little more revenue, and this charge could easily go away in the longer run. > Hardware cost to phone users who'd all have to buy special CLID boxes > that recognize the magic area code and don't ring, say $20 each times > a hundred million phone lines, again several billion dollars. > Hardware cost of the current scheme, zero, since no new hardware is > needed. Sounds dramatic -- but for most people, cost of a 20 buck gadget from Radio Shack, if it did this job, would be in the noise level compared to their total phone costs. And, some telcos (or VOIP services) might start including it as a free option in their regular service. > Likelihood that telemarketers who disobey the current law would all > obediently sign up for special service with their 311 "bad neigborhood" > area code, about zero. Get real. Agreed, there could still be problems like this, and fighting (or even identifying) those violators would still be messy -- but maybe there'd be a little more chance of catching some of the most egregious violators. And, the telemarketers' current excuses that "Oh, we must have been given an old list" or "Oh, there must have been a glitch in your getting your number on the list" would be eliminated. > In case you haven't been paying attention, the cost of the do-not-call > list is paid for by telemarketers in subscription fees. Cost to > recipients, zero. Not so -- cost to recipients of present system comes in having to get your number (or multiple numbers) on the list; having to remember to change or add numbers every time you change your service; and difficulties in confirming that you've even been added (is there any formal way to confirm that your number has been added?) -- along with having to maintain the bureaucracy to manage the system in perpetuity (who really does this job, by the way?). Would you want to bet the system is really well run? Or really pays its own way? >> Your scheme only strikes me as "cheap and easy" in comparison to >> fighting a land war in Asia. > PS: Every time you make this silly proposal, someone writes in to > point out how impractical it is. In the future, could you save us all > time by sending the response along with the proposal? Sorry, but I don't think it's that impractical, and might have very significant advantages in efficiency and efficacy. Its core concepts include freedom, transparency, simplicity, automation, and self reliance, all concepts I generally believe in: Any telemarketer is free to call, he's just required to be transparent as to why he's calling, and I can accept or block his call as I choose, using a simple and automated technology that requires no permanent bureaucracy to maintain. Unless you can come up with some more realistic objections that those above, I'm likely to continue pushing it (though I'll use restraint on this NG). Anyone else want to weigh in on this? ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Magic Telemarketer Bullets, was Re: Out of Area Calls Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 15:08:10 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net John Levine wrote: > Cost to telcos to implement the overlay area code in your plan, > several billion dollars. (Every tandem switch in the country would > have to be upgraded, since there's no such thing as a national overlay > now.) Cost of network upgrades in the current system, zero, since > none are needed. There are a number of incoming overlays, so making such numbers dialable would be close to de minimus. All that would be needed to make the outgoing part work would be to frame the 311 number into the CLID, a burden which might be foisted onto the telescum themselves. > Service cost to users who'd have to buy CLID service to hide from > telemarketers but don't want CLID otherwise, three bucks a month or so > times something like 30 million people who don't have CLID now, about > a billion dollars a year. Monthly cost of current system, zero since > no special service is required. Many, if not all, telcos that offer CLID will throw in anonymous call reject for free to subscribers to CLID. The FCC could simply mandate that this option be universal, much as they forced the IXCs to transport CLID for free several years ago. Or it could be bundled on to the charge for a 311 line, although that would create some settlement issues. > Hardware cost to phone users who'd all have to buy special CLID boxes > that recognize the magic area code and don't ring, say $20 each times > a hundred million phone lines, again several billion dollars. Not with anonymous call reject. > Likelihood that telemarketers who disobey the current law would all > obediently sign up for special service with their 311 "bad neigborhood" > area code, about zero. Get real. That is true, unless the penalties were draconian, not that many would object to that. ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Magic Telemarketer Bullets, was Re: Out of Area Calls Date: 27 Sep 2004 06:36:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com John Levine wrote in message news:: >> Said it early on, will say it again: The intelligent and effective way >> to handle telemarketing would have been legislation requiring that any >> and all telemarketing calls be made using Caller ID with a distinctive >> and national standardized Area Code, e.g. 311 or something similar, so >> that recipients who didn't want to receive such calls could easily >> filter and reject them. >> Would have been cheap and easy to implement (for callers and >> recipients); > Well, let's see. > Cost to telcos to implement the overlay area code in your plan, > several billion dollars. (Every tandem switch in the country would > have to be upgraded, since there's no such thing as a national overlay > now.) Cost of network upgrades in the current system, zero, since > none are needed. > Service cost to users who'd have to buy CLID service to hide from > telemarketers but don't want CLID otherwise, three bucks a month or so > times something like 30 million people who don't have CLID now, about > a billion dollars a year. Monthly cost of current system, zero since > no special service is required. > Hardware cost to phone users who'd all have to buy special CLID boxes > that recognize the magic area code and don't ring, say $20 each times > a hundred million phone lines, again several billion dollars. > Hardware cost of the current scheme, zero, since no new hardware is > needed. > Likelihood that telemarketers who disobey the current law would all > obediently sign up for special service with their 311 "bad neigborhood" > area code, about zero. Get real. > In case you haven't been paying attention, the cost of the do-not-call > list is paid for by telemarketers in subscription fees. Cost to > recipients, zero. > Your scheme only strikes me as "cheap and easy" in comparison to > fighting a land war in Asia. > R's, > John > PS: Every time you make this silly proposal, someone writes in to > point out how impractical it is. In the future, could you save us all > time by sending the response along with the proposal? But John, It's only a few bucks for EVERY person, and that's not much of a stretch is it? At least that seems to be the thinking of most politicians when they want to fund a new social program with added fees and taxes. Reality bites -- but only in small nibbles. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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