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Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #521

TELECOM Digest     Sun, 31 Oct 2004 19:55:00 EST    Volume 23 : Issue 521

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Smart Web to Usher in Host of New Services-Gartner (Lisa Minter)
    China Closes 1,600 Internet Cafes in Crackdown (Lisa Minter)
    Companies Scramble to Deal With Spyware (Lisa Minter)
    Users Often Invite Spyware Trouble (Monty Solomon)
    Sneaky Spyware Becomes Internet Scourge (Monty Solomon)
    VPN Over Vonage Router (Mike Kraley)
    Delphi, XM Unveil Handheld Satellite (Marcus Didius Falco)
    Re: Cybersquatter Update (Gary Breukman)
    Re: New Electronic Check Law Sinks 'Float' (DevilsPGD)
    Re: New Electronic Check Law Sinks 'Float' (Steve Sobol)
    Re: Yet Another Telco Tax Proposed (Tony P.)
    Re: Home Phones Face Uncertain Future (John Levine)
    Last Laugh! A Halloween Weekend Car Trip (Patrick Townson)

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
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               ===========================

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.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Smart Web to Usher in Host of New Services-Gartner
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 17:22:31 -0600


Smart Web to Usher in Host of New Services-Gartner

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&u=3D/nm/20041031/wr_nm/tech
_trends_gartner_dc

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A smarter Internet and a host of cheap,
Web-enabled mobile devices will allow users to access a whole range of
services on the move, research group Gartner Dataquest said on Sunday,
ahead of its ITXpo symposium.

At the annual gathering in Cannes, France next week, Gartner analyst
Alexander Linden will identify several of the long-term technology
trends and innovations whose seeds were sown in the days of the tech
bubble.

A smarter Internet will allow consumers to collaborate to pay for
services costing just a few cents, making a whole range of new
offerings viable.

"We can start selling products we could not sell before.  iTunes
(Apple's online music store where songs cost $0.99 apiece) is just the
start," Linden said.

Navigation systems which now offer only a rudimentary selection of
road services such as fuel stations and tourist sights are just a
beginning.

Mobile users will one day be shown the way to the nearest doctor on
weekend duty. Parents will be able to contact the nearest child minder
to take over at a moment's notice.

Consumers will be able to select and rate a wide range of services
such as restaurants or shops.

"It will influence competition. Companies will have to
compete more on quality and location than brand," Linden said.

Some Web sites already offer a glimpse of the future by having
customers describe and rate restaurants they visit, in a real life
version of what Google and Amazon.com do by tracking clicks and
customer purchases.

Consumers and businesses should expect this kind of Internet
intelligence to come to the real world.

There is also a new opportunity for investors. On the new Internet,
they will not need expensive investment software to find and compare
data from company financial reports.

The building blocks for a more intelligent Internet are standardized
data from a plethora of sources which can be recognized and connected.

For now, we are in a technology cycle in which all kinds of
information network are built and tied together for ubiquitous access
to the Internet, Gartner says.

It expects the distinction between fixed and mobile Internet to slowly
disappear.

The first signs of this can be seen in some Web sites which recognize
how a consumer accesses a site, either by PC or cellphone.  They
adjust the size and content of the page accordingly and automatically.

The next cycle of connectivity, where all systems understand each
other, has barely started, while the following cycle -- in which this
intelligence is embedded in every device -- is still a dream.

"We always say we live in the information age. But in fact we live in
an information wanna-be situation," Linden said. "It will take a
century or more to get to ubiquitous intelligence."

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For more information go to:
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------------------------------

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: China Closes 1,600 Internet Cafes in Crackdown
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 17:23:20 -0600


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&u=3D/nm/20041031/wr_nm/chin=
a_internet_crackdown_dc=20

BEIJING (Reuters) - China shut 1,600 Internet cafes between February
and August and imposed $12.1 million worth of fines for allowing
children to play violent or adult-only games and other violations,
state media said.

Of 1.8 million Internet bars inspected, 18,000 were ordered "to stop
operation for rectification," Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang Xinjian,
deputy director of the Culture Ministry's market department, as
saying.

"Porn, gambling, violence and similar problems have
adversely affected the healthy development of the Internet in China,"
Zhang was quoted as saying.

The crackdown comes amid a nationwide push to limit violence
and pornography on the Internet that has seen the government shut down
hundreds of Web sites it deemed unsavory.

China has some 87 million Internet users, over 50 percent of whom are
under 24 and approximately 18 percent are minors.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.  Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance Reuters News Service.

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

------------------------------

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Companies Scramble to Deal With Spyware
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 17:23:02 -0600


By ALLISON LINN, AP Business Writer

SEATTLE - The people who call Dell Inc.'s customer service
line often have no idea why their computers are running so slow. The
ones who call America Online Inc. can't necessarily explain why Internet
connections keep dropping. And those who file error reports with
Microsoft Corp. don't always know why their computers inexplicably
crash.

Sometimes, the company that gets the complaint is rightly to
blame. But with alarming frequency, officials at these and other
technology companies say they are tracing customer problems back to one
culprit: spyware.

In the past year, spyware problems have become especially pernicious,
leaving companies scrambling to respond to customers who don't
necessarily realize they have spyware.

Companies are concerned about the cost of dealing with such calls. But
perhaps more worrisome, they fear customers will wrongly blame them.

Spyware generally refers to programs that land on computers without
their owners' knowledge. They can deliver hordes of pop-up ads,
redirect people to unfamiliar search engines or, in rare cases, steal
personal information.

Users most often get them by downloading free games or file-sharing
software -- and consenting to language buried deep within a licensing
agreement.

And because they consented, "in some ways it ties our hands because we
can't legally interfere," said Mike George, head of Dell's U.S.
consumer business.

Russ Cooper, senior scientist with TruSecure Corp., said a
longstanding fear of legal repercussions is likely one reason
companies have only recently begun to address the problem.

But now that spyware has become epidemic, he believes Microsoft and
other companies ought to do much more to educate the public -- such as
by running public-awareness commercials akin to the old Smokey Bear
slogan "Only you can prevent forest fires."

The industry's incentive is simple survival, Cooper said.

"It's almost ridiculous," said Bill Bane, 33, a derivatives trader in
New York. "You buy a computer. It's new, bright and shiny and looks
great and three months down the road, it's infested with spyware."

Though he recognizes he's partly to blame for his surfing habits, he
believes his service provider and manufacturer share responsibility.

"Either the Internet providers figure out a way to clean up the Net or
people are just going to pull the plug at home," Bane said.  "It ain't
worth it."

Microsoft officials blame unwanted software for up to one-third of
application crashes on Windows XP computers. AOL estimates that just
three such programs together cause some 300,000 Internet
disconnections per day.

Forrester Research analyst Jonathan Penn said a
spyware-related support call can cost $15 to $45, and companies may lose
business.

"Security is a component of loyalty," Penn said. "People, they want
all these various services, but they expect security to come with it."	

Some companies have begun offering spyware-detection tools -- Yahoo
Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news)'s is free, while AOL and EarthLink Inc.
limit key features to paid subscribers. Anti-spyware software that
Hewlett-Packard Co. began shipping with new computers in June comes
with a 30-day free trial; it's about $20 a year after that. Dell will
have similar software by the holidays.

Most tools leave it to users to decide what to do with any programs
found.

EarthLink's tool -- and AOL's by default -- will quarantine spyware
without removing it completely. EarthLink spokesman Jerry Grasso said
some users may decide that having spyware is worth the nuisance in
exchange for the free program that came with it.

Microsoft's Service Pack 2 security upgrade for Windows XP warns users
of spyware and other unexpected programs before they are loaded. And
the company plans spyware-specific tools to give users more control,
said Paul Bryan, a director in the security, business and technology
unit. He said it was too soon to say when they would be available.

Advertisers are responding, too. After using the criticized delivery
methods for nearly two years, Verizon Communications Inc.  suspended
those campaigns in July.

"We realize it was being raised as a consumer issue," spokesman John
Bonomo said. "We wanted to make sure we were keeping with the trust
they place in us."


*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
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understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
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believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
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For more information go to:
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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 16:28:51 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Users Often Invite Spyware Trouble


By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tagalong software, generally known as spyware, is an
especially tricky security threat because user carelessness is nearly
always to blame.

All Dennis McGrath wanted was to belong. Just about everyone else in
his chat room began displaying new kinds of smiley faces with their
messages. So he downloaded a free program to get some, too.

Little did McGrath know he would also get a pesky toolbar that keeps
reappearing no matter how he tries to disable it.

      - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=44636966

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 16:28:51 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Sneaky Spyware Becomes Internet Scourge


By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Spyware, an amorphous class of software that mostly
gets onto computers without their users' knowledge, has become
epidemic in the past year as people spend more time online and spyware
developers get more aggressive. The resource-hungry programs often
render machines unusable.

      - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=44636941

------------------------------

From: Mike Kraley <mike@kraley.com>
Subject: VPN Over Vonage Router
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 21:50:13 -0400


I have a Linksys RT31P2 router for my Vonage VOIP
connection. Everything else works fine, but I cannot establish a
vanilla Microsoft VPN connection thru it. Topology is my computer to
Linksys to cable modem thru internet to VPN server. I could easily
establish a connection with my previous router (DLINK DI-624) where
the Linksys is now.

Now, however, I get hung at the "verifying username and password"
prompt.  Googling this says the likely culprit is that PPTP passthru
is not enabled in the router; however, this router gives such an
option in its menus and it is enabled.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 ....Mike

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 00:46:41 -0500
From: Marcus Didius Falco <falco_marcus_didius@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Delphi, XM Unveil Handheld Satellite


A nice photo on the original main page.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A610-2004Oct26.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A610-2004Oct26?language=3Dprinter

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Delphi, XM Unveil Handheld Satellite Radio Receiver

By Annys Shin
Washington Post Staff Writer

XM Satellite Radio and radio manufacturer Delphi yesterday introduced
the Delphi XM MyFi, a portable, handheld satellite radio receiver the
companies hope will lure more consumers to a medium currently limited
to car and home units.

Along with giving its subscribers the convenience of a traditional
transistor radio, the MyFi also offers a five-hour recording capacity
to let listeners download favorite programs and songs.

The MyFi is the latest entry in the highly competitive battle over
digital music, a fight that pits XM against its immediate competitor,
Sirius Satellite Radio, but more broadly against on-line music sources
like Napster, and the makers of small, highly portable MP3 and other
devices. It was unveiled at a New York nightclub on the same day that
Apple Computer used rock superstars U2 to promote the release of a
higher capacity iPod, and less than a month after Sirius announced it
had signed popular radio personality Howard Stern to a five-year
contract.

Since it launched its service three years ago, XM has reached its 2.5
million subscribers through factory-installed receivers in
automobiles, detachable units for other cars, and Delphi
boomboxes. Over the past several weeks, it also announced a deal to
pipe music into Starbucks stores, and to offer programming online for
paid subscribers.

But XM's service, along with that of Sirius, has lacked the
portability of devices such as the iPod and MP3 players. Now, with the
MyFi, subscribers can receive XM's more than 130 channels of talk,
news, sports, and commercial-free music, on a device about the same
size as a handheld organizer.

Unlike Delphi's plug-and-play satellite radio receivers, the MyFi
doesn't require an antenna and can be used with headphones. The device
also comes with a docking station for recharging and accessories to
hook it up to car stereos and home audio equipment.

MyFi will be available in stores and through on-line retailers in
December -- too late for the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush, but
still in time for the holiday gift-buying season. The suggested retail
price of $349.99 makes it a high-end item, said analysts. And
consumers still have to pay $9.99 per month for programming. But XM
officials and analysts said the product is likely to appeal to those
who prefer to have disc jockeys serve up music instead of having to
burn their own CDs or download music to MP3 players.

Such "user-intensive" devices require consumers "to work too hard to
get the freshest entertainment product," said Francisco Ordonez,
president of Delphi Product and Service Solutions.

Ordonez and XM Satellite Radio chief executive Hugh Panero unveiled
the MyFi at the Chelsea nightclub in Manhattan before an audience of
about 50 reporters and Delphi and XM staff, as they nibbled on
potato-goat-cheese-and-wasabe dumplings and shrimp on skewers.

In his remarks, Panero called the MyFi "the next big step" in the
evolution of XM Satellite Radio.

Ordonez called the MyFi "a change not just in the satellite radio
category, but in consumer electronics," and likened its debut to the
introduction of the transistor radio and the portable CD player.

At the end of his remarks, Panero quipped, "We've gone Hollywood," and
on cue, several "lifestyle" models -- a young male in a red hooded
sweatshirt, a young woman in a pink track suit and a man in a business
suit, among others -- descended a set of stairs, listening to the new
radios.

XM officials would not disclose how much they spent to develop MyFi or
how much they intend to spend on marketing it. They did, however,
preview a new television spot featuring singer Elton John hawking the
MyFi and his new song, "Answer in the Sky."

The roll out of MyFi caps a busy month for XM, which earlier this
month debuted the "Bob Edwards Show," and shock jocks Opie and
Anthony. On Oct.  20, the company also announced it had signed an
11-year, $650 million broadcasting and marketing deal with Major
League Baseball.

Shares of XM closed yesterday at $32.54, down slightly from $32.74.

Even before the MyFi debut, XM Satellite Radio was on target to reach
its goal of 3.1 million subscribers by year's end, said Janco Partners
analyst April Horace.

"Will [the new device] continue to drive subscription growth? Yes,"
Horace said. "Has XM expanded the marketplace once again? Yes."

In a research note released yesterday, Legg Mason's Sean Butson wrote,
"Although we are disappointed that the device will not be available
until after Thanksgiving, we do believe it will be a game-changer and
provide XM with a differentiated weapon in its retail arsenal."

Copyright 2004 The Washington Post Company

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.  Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
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For more information go to:
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------------------------------

From: Gary Breuckman <gary@breuckman.com>
Subject: Re: Cybersquatter Update
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 18:13:47 -0600
Reply-To: gary@breuckman.com


On 27 Oct 2004 22:45:48 GMT, Ed Clarke <clarke@cilia.org> wrote:
 
> Godaddy also has an "auto-renew" feature so that you don't
> inadvertently lose your domain name.
 
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So the Public Interest Registry *could*
> do the same thing if they felt like it; either 'renew' or put a short
> hold on a URL pending a final notice to the owner. 

The registrar that I use, dotregistrar.com, does this.  They put
expiring domains on a 30-day hold.  If you want them back, it does
cost more than just the renewal would, but you can get them back, at
least for a while.

They also will auto-renew domains, if you wish that, and they send
renewal reminders by email starting about 30 days prior to expiration.

-- Gary Breuckman

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That seems fair enough, and one does
not mind a small extra charge for that courtesy service, but PIR (the
Public Interest Registry, an ICANN thing) would probably tell you it
is more profitable to let the porn sites have it and share with them
whatever ransom can be extracted from the guy who lost the site.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: DevilsPGD <devilspgd@crazyhat.net>
Subject: Re: New Electronic Check Law Sinks 'Float'
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 12:43:57 -0700
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com


Rick Merrill wrote:

> IF these images were accessed it would give criminals access to an
> image of the customer's signature. Said criminal could then use a
> laser printer with 640 dpi resolution to print checks that would be
> indistinguishable from the photo check after a 240 dpi Scan!?

I'm curious, is there a requirement that the bank which accepted the
cheque store it for any period of time?


Hey, it's the female man.
  -- Bart Simpson

------------------------------

From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: New Electronic Check Law Sinks 'Float'
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 20:26:11 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


AES/newspost wrote:

> In article <telecom23.519.1@telecom-digest.org>, Lisa Minter
> <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com> wrote:

>> Consumers are unlikely to get their cancelled checks back, although
>> some banks had already stopped this practice.

> Not sure what the practice is in other places, but at my Credit Union
> you can view a scanned image of any of your cleared checks online
> (only after logging in to your personal account, of course).

At my bank, too (Bank of America). They only keep images online for (I
think) two months, though.

JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California     Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

------------------------------

From: Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net>
Subject: Re: Yet Another Telco Tax proposed
Organization: ATCC
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 23:02:52 -0400


In article <telecom23.520.12@telecom-digest.org>, spamtrap100@
comcast.net says:

> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote:

>> 1) One is the ever increasing demand for government services.  All
>>    of us are guilty of that even though we all blame someone else.

> At the federal level and at most local levels, the "ever increasing
> demand" is primarily social transfer taxes, not roads or other classic
> government responsibilities.

> The single largest component of my local tax bill is the county
> hospital. Don't tell me we do not have government mandated universal
> healthcare in the US. I pay thousands every year to cover the
> uninsured.

Close to 75% of local taxes here go to the schools. 

------------------------------

Date: 31 Oct 2004 03:12:08 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Home Phones Face Uncertain Future
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


> What do land lines provide?  Security.  Predictable service.  Almost
> unlimited bandwidth. ...  Virtually every building in these towns
> are being rewired with direct fiber optic cables -- from CO to every
> building.  That means VoIP, massive data transfers, security, the
> reliability not provided, yet, by cell phones, and a host of other
> yet to be discovered features.

Fiber has bandwidth, but unlike copper, it can't power the phones.  An
important parts of the reliability of POTS is that the phones are
powered from the phone line, so you don't depend on the power company
or batteries.

John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711
johnl@iecc.com, Mayor, http://johnlevine.com, 
Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail

------------------------------

From: Patrick Townson <ptownson@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Last Laugh! Our Weekend Auto Trip
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 17:14:16 -0600


Over this Halloweeen holiday weekend, I took a ride with some friends
through the countryside, and made a little movie for you to see.

I thought you might like to see it, and just in time for Halloween and
last night's blood red full moon eclipse.  Be sure and have your
speakers turned up when you play the movie, you don't want to miss
any of it.

Watch it and about halfway through, as the car emerges from the clump
of trees, look and you will see something interesting, Be sure to have
your sound turned up, since the people are speaking sort of quietly.

Here is the link to the movie: Just click it and it should open up.
It's about 4M so it's not huge, but might take a few seconds on a
really slow dial up connection. When it starts, watch it and listen
very closely.

http://63.78.183.81/temp/j/Classic_Auto_1.mpeg

Oh, and happy Halloween to all of you. I assume you *did* get your
clocks set back an hour sometime last night or today.  

PAT

------------------------------

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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #521
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