From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Nov 25 23:05:36 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id iAQ45Zq15547; Thu, 25 Nov 2004 23:05:36 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 23:05:36 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200411260405.iAQ45Zq15547@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 #568 TELECOM Digest Thu, 25 Nov 2004 23:05:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 568 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Film Studios Win $24 Million Against Web Site (Lisa Minter) Cyber Cops Say 'Tis the Season to Be Wary (Lisa Minter) EBay Uses Snail-Mail to Hook New Users (Lisa Minter) Linksys RT31P2 VPN PPTP Port 1723 Problems (Dee Anthony) Questions on WML/WAP [Push]/HTTP/Cell-Carrier/Telco (Jimmy) Re: Telecom Bill Will Position Pennsylvania as National Leader (McHarry) Re: Dropping SBC For a VoIP Solution -- Vonage or Packet8 (John McHarry) Tis the Season (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 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 Subject: Film Studios Win $24 Million Against Web Site Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 11:28:19 EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood's major movie studios said they won a $23.8 million judgment against a California company and its Malaysian owner for operating a Web site that charged customers to download illegally copied movies. The company, MasterSurf Inc, is owned by Tan Soo Leong, and it operated a site called Film88.com, according to a statement by the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents the studios in governmental and industry matters. The award was handed down earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles as a default judgment, meaning the defendants never responded, according to the MPAA. The defendants could not be reached for comment. The studios want to amass legal rulings against Web sites offering illegal copies of films for downloading as they press their campaign against copyright piracy. The studios claim illegal copying and distribution of movies on videos and DVDs cost them more than $3.5 billion annually, and they are concerned that distributing illegal film copies on the Internet will cost them billions more. They have mounted educational and legal efforts aimed to end copyright piracy, and are now suing individual users who copy and share digital copies of movies via the Web. Reuters/VNU *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without 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/VNU. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Cyber Cops Say 'Tis the Season to Be Wary Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 11:32:46 EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - As the holiday shopping season ramps up, cyber cops warned on Wednesday that online fraudsters are working over time. Analysts from the Global Threat Command Team at Web and e-mail filtering company SurfControl (SRF.L) said phishing attacks -- spam e-mails in which scammers lure people into divulging personal or financial information -- are becoming increasingly sophisticated and growing at a month-over-month rate of 20 percent to 25 percent. Prior phishing scams were somewhat easy to spot. Either the lure was rife with misspellings, or potential victims clicked on links that routed them to ersatz sites that tried to appear legitimate but didn't look quite right. But new scams are more sophisticated and harder to identify as phishers employ spammers, hackers, virus writers, and Web designers. "'Tis the season when people will be most vulnerable to such scams," said Susan Larson, SurfControl's president of global contacts. In one of the latest attacks, a phishing e-mail claimed to be confirming an eBay purchase made through the Web auctioneer's PayPal online payment system. The e-mail, which requested information that could be used to steal money from the victim's bank accounts or credit cards, was fraudulent. BEWARE CYBER SANTAS Others look more innocuous but contribute to the problem. One offers to send children a Christmas greeting from Santa in exchange for home or e-mail addresses. Another asks for similar personal information and promises participants a $200 gift card from Macy's department store. Larson said the latter cases are probably examples of groups that are harvesting live e-mail addresses to sell. "There is no Santa Claus coming to you this season on e-mail," she added. Larson said consumers should continue to be very wary of unsolicited e-mail. She and others reiterated their recommendation that consumers never give out personal or account information by e-mail. If consumers need to respond to an e-mail information request, Larson recommends that they go directly to the site themselves and that they avoid following links provided in e-mail. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without 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 Subject: EBay Uses Snail-Mail to Hook New Users Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 11:35:07 EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Online marketplace and auctioneer eBay Inc. is using a decidedly low-tech retail tool to lure more Christmas shoppers -- a glossy, 32-page catalog. With the move, eBay joins Internet companies such as Amazon.com and RedEnvelope in using catalogs to reach customers they might not find with Web advertisements. Leading Web companies like eBay and Yahoo Inc. also are buying television and radio advertising spots in their effort to fuel growth. Among the featured items in eBay's holiday catalog are autographed copies of former U.S. President Bill Clinton's memoir "My Life," Ping golf clubs and giant Sesame Street Pez candy dispensers, as well as clothing, power tools and jewelry. Since the items offered by eBay sellers are constantly changing -- eBay has long been a favorite place to sell Christmas gifts that have missed the mark -- the catalog suggests how consumers can search for specific items on the site. In some cases, it shows where prices start. The company mailed "several million" holiday catalogs, said Michael Dearing, San Jose, California-based eBay's vice president of marketing and merchandising. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without 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: Dee Anthony Subject: Linksys RT31P2 VPN PPTP Port 1723 Problems Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 21:15:18 -0500 I also have the same problem with the Linksys Router not passing GRE properly. I get the 721 error as well. Did you find a solution? I contacted Linksys and they said they would look into it, but the router is being supported solely by Vonage. Dee Anthony ------------------------------ From: jimmy_please@yahoo.com (Jimmy) Subject: Lot of Questions on WML, WAP [Push]/HTTP, Cell-Carrier/Telco Date: 25 Nov 2004 19:28:06 -0800 - Does WML has post method like in HTML? So it's just really sending a HTTP request. - Or WAP [Push] only? Is WAP widely use and common-standard in the wireless world these days? - Whether is HTTP or WAP [Push], can I send binary? Or need encoded with Base64? - Does cell-carrier (or telco) accept HTTP? WAP [Push]? - If so, which one? Bell Mobility, AT&T Rogers Wireless, or Telus Mobility? - Does any of them (carriers) accept virtual SMS or MMS #? - Will they (carriers) forward the cell request as HTTP? Email? to a server (i.e. pre-defined IP ... say my little linux box at home?). - Will they (carriers) have public API (i.e. through HTTP or even Push-Proxy-Gateway) to accept request then forward request (may contain just text or even binary) back to cell phone? - Do any of them (carriers) have SMSC and/or MMSC to be access publicly? - Is there such as thing as WAP [Push] servlet? If so, do I need to implement one or there's already an open-source library (i.e. say in Java) I can use? Hope some of you experts out there can help me answer these questions. Jimmy-the-wireless-newbie ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Telecom Bill Will Position Pennsylvania as National Leader Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 03:09:57 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Monty Solomon wrote: > Telecom Bill Will Position Pennsylvania as National Leader in > Advanced Telecommunications, Broadband Deployment > - Nov 24, 2004 03:57 PM (PR Newswire) > Facts Disprove Coalition's Misleading Claims > HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ Well, PR Newswire and Verizon have always been reliable sources, so I guess that cinches it. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Dropping SBC For a VoIP Solution -- Vonage or Packet8 ?? Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 03:13:21 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Ringo Langly wrote: > I would've rather used Vonage, but like you Vonage isn't in my area > yet. I'll post some reviews and notes about it when I get it. Also > thanks for the firmware upgrade suggestion... does it have > instructions on how to do this? It is on the support section of their website. Quite easy to do. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 22:20:45 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Tis the Season Here we are between in the 'holiday season' once again, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years. A message from our news feed today deals with the accelerated activity of phishers and spammers and scammers at this time of year, and it should be obvious to this group of readers at least, to be extremely careful about personal infrormation given out over the computer. As a general rule of thumb, **never** respond to any message you receive on the computer asking you to click on a link, or at least read the total link first and understand *where* it is going to wind up. The best way is to open a new browser window and from there go to wherever you were told to go for whatever 'maintainence' is purported to be needed on your account, etc. And it is not just computer transactions which need to be watched closely; in face to face, person to person transactions as well, between now and Christmas Eve, frauds and scams will come out all over the place. Ask almost anyone who works in the credit business; i.e. accepting point of sale transactions of credit cards, or 'back office' functions on credit cards. The amount of fraud is worse than ever between now and the new year. Especially please, use very good judgment on Christmas Eve, which is the biggest fraud transaction day in the year. I do not mean to sound like a Scrooge; just use extremely good judgment. *They* are hoping your sentiments for the season will rule instead of your good sense. On another topic: Beginning about two months ago, I started running a modest (and I hope tasteful collection of pertinent ads on the Digest web site, in an effort to *eventually* take the pressures off of readers who faithfully support me and the Digest financially. It has not worked all that well, as of now, in fact Google has not yet remitted anything thus far. (: 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 and advertisers 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, and presenting a small collection of advertisements on the web site. 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 I hope in a few months this message will not be needed at all, if Google 'comes through'. 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. 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