From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Mar 1 13:26:19 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i21IQJF20604; Mon, 1 Mar 2004 13:26:19 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 13:26:19 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200403011826.i21IQJF20604@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 #98 TELECOM Digest Mon, 1 Mar 2004 13:26:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 98 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AOL Reverses Course on Broadband (Lisa Minter) Qwest Communications Introduces Nationwide Wireless Calling (M Solomon) InterActiveCorp Buys ZeroDegrees (Monty Solomon) CRYPTOCard's CRYPTO-Server X: First Authentication Solution (M Solomon) Verizon/NYNEX/NYTel Upstate NY (Mark J Cuccia) Re: "Upstate NY" (Re: Verizon Plans to Sell ...) (Tony P.) Re: Technology Triumphs Do Not Call List; Block ALL Unwanted (Ken Chase) Re: Verizon Land Line International Rates (Bob Goudreau) 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: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:07:54 EST From: Lisa Minter Subject: AOL Reverses Course on Broadband This appeared in the Independence, KS Sunday Reporter Business News, February 29, 2004: America Online, Inc. has quietly stopped offering a complete broadband package, requiring subscribers to instead obtain their high-speed Internet connections directly from a cable company or a DSL provider, such as Cable One, or TerraWorld here locally, or SBC which also offers DSL service. The reversal in strategy stands as another black mark against the purported wisdom of the $160-billion merger between Amerrica Online and Time Warner the former owner of the cable franchise here in Independence until last year. The merger between the two, widely touted as a'perfect marriage' of old and new style media 'with the means to deliver it' occurred at the height of the internet boom during the 1990's. The decision to stop selling bundled service -- an AOL branded cable or DSL connection combined with AOL's walled garden of content -- follows a strategic realignment that began in December, 2002, according to AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley said Friday. The change, which took effect late in January does not affect customers who bought the package before then. Those customers will continue to be 'grandfathered' unless/until they either change the terms of their service, for example with Cable One or TerraWorld, or move to a different address requiring a service change. Although AOL would not provide a detailed breakdown, we found that relatively few of the company's 3 million broadband customers had the $54.95 per month package, preferring locally instead to use Terra World's DSL service combined with AOL's 'bring your own access' for $14.95 per month or Cable One (Independence)/Cox Cable (Coffeyville) services to access the same 'BYOA' service, as AOL called it. Both TerraWorld and Cable One/Cox Cable offer much less expensive service, as does HIT.net (Horizon Internet Technologies), another local provider in southeast Kansas. The DSL service offered through SBC is different, since that company requires its DSL subscribers to also use its phone service, so a comparison on prices could not be made as easily. In addition to the broadband customers, AOL has about 21 million dial-up subscribers in the United States. Dave Burstein, editor of the online DSL Prime newsletter termed AOL's termination of the bundled service an admission of defeat for AOL. Lisa Minter *** 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 owners, in this instance Associated Press and Independence Reporter Publishing Company. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 08:46:18 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Qwest Communications Introduces Nationwide Wireless Calling Qwest Communications Introduces Nationwide Wireless Calling - Mar 1, 2004 06:01 AM (PR Newswire) New Plans Offer Customers Greater Flexibility and Choice with Wireless Calling Across the United States DENVER, March 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE:Q) today introduced its nationwide wireless voice service for residential and small business customers. For the first time, Qwest wireless customers can choose competitive national or state service plans. Qwest's nationwide calling plans start as low as $24.99 for 200 minutes when customers combine wireless with any other Qwest service on a single bill. More information about these new plans is available at www.qwest.com. In addition, the company today will begin promoting the plans in television and print advertising featuring Qwest employees and customers, including hockey great Wayne Gretzky. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40719658 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 09:49:03 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: InterActiveCorp Buys ZeroDegrees InterActiveCorp Buys ZeroDegrees By REUTERS NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - InterActiveCorp . (IACI.O), media mogul Barry Diller's conglomerate of enterprises ranging from online dating to home loans, has agreed to acquire business networking site ZeroDegrees, the company said on Monday. ZeroDegrees of Hollywood is one of more than a dozen start-ups that have been launched over the past year in the hope of cashing in on the trend popularized by dating site Friendster, which has drawn millions to seek connections via online social networks. Friendster is the leading example of personal/dating sites, along with Tribe Networks and CraigsList. Last month, Google Inc. introduced Orkut, its own personal referral service. In contrast, ZeroDegrees focuses on business contacts. Potential rivals include LinkedIn, Contact Networks, Socialtext, Spoke Software, Ryze, Visible Path and Eliyon. These sites are versions of the concept of ``Six Degrees of Separation,'' the title of a Broadway play and a movie that has become a phrase embedded in the popular culture and refers to the web of connections that tie together seemingly remote people via friends of friends and so on. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-tech-diller-zerodegrees.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 09:52:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: CRYPTOCard's CRYPTO-Server X: The First Authentication Solution CRYPTOCard's CRYPTO-Server X: The First Authentication Solution to Provide SSH Connection for Mac OS X 'Panther' OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2004-- CRYPTOCard's CRYPTO-Server X Follows Up Macworld 2004 "Best of Show" Award By Wowing Renowned Apple Security Expert CRYPTOCard's (www.cryptocard.com) "Best of Show" award winner at Macworld 2004, CRYPTO-Server X, the first authentication solution for the Mac, has received high praise from the former leader of Apple's IT Security Department, and one of the foremost experts in Macintosh forensic analysis, Derrick Donnelly, CTO, BlackBag Technologies, for making it simple to positively authenticate remote Mac users attempting to access a system via a Secure Socket Shell (SSH) connection. SSH, an internet protocol that increases remote security by encrypting passwords and authenticating both ends of the client/server connection using a digital certificate, effectively eliminates eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other network-level attacks. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=40721583 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 07:13:24 -0600 (CST) From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: More, Verizon/NYNEX/NYTel Upstate NY ***IN TELECOM DIGEST***, John Levine earlier posted: > Mark J. Cuccia asked: >> John, what does your local media (radio/TV/newspapers) say? > http://www.syracuse.com/business/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/business-4/1078047320315550.xml > I found an article in today's Syracuse Post-Standard. They reiterate > the reasons VZ would want to sell the upstate NY territory, lower > profits than downstate, hostile regulators who are about to fine them > yet again for lousy service, etc. But they can't figure out who'd want > to buy it, either. The article also mentions Citizens/Frontier/Rochester (I guess Global Crossing has entirely vacated the LEC side of Frontier and Rochester? Whatever became of 101-0444 Frontier LD which I think Global Crossing also acquired?) But from that Syracuse Post-Standard article are the following two quotes: "Verizon officials have let it be known they are thinking about breaking up their New York telephone business and selling off the least profitable part, which is everything north and west of Westchester County." and "The Upstate network Verizon might sell comprises about 2.5 million customer lines, from Buffalo to the northern border of Westchester County." WOW! This is even *MORE* than I thought they would have planned to have sold off! (Note that Rochester NY is its own LATA and not part of any NYTel/NYNEX/ BA/VZ LATA; It has been an independent LEC/telco for decades; Also, the entire Citizens/Frontier Rochester NY Telco area split off to NPA 585 in Fall 2001. But some of NYT/NYNEX/BA/VZ in NPA 716 also split off to the new NPA 585 as well at the same time) It appears that all of the following LATAs of NYT/NYNEX/BA/VZ in *upstate New York* (some of these LATAs also spill over slightly into PA and MA, but I think those out-of-state ratecenters associated with NY state LATAs are served by "independent" telcos) ... would be sold off, according to what was mentioned in the Syracuse Post-Standard newspaper article: LATA 140 "Buffalo", all of NPA 716 and parts of a large amount of NPA 585. LATA 138 "Binghampton" MOST all of NPA 607 (to the south) LATA 136 "Syracuse" all of NPA 315, a small part of NPA 607 (to its north) LATA 134 "Albany" all of NPA 518 LATA 133 "Poughkeepsie" the northern part of NPA 845 (which split from NPA 914 in 2000) (and maybe some residual "wireless" 914-NXX codes that didn't seem to go mandatory as 845-NXX in 2000, yet these are associated with ratecenters within the Poughkeepsie LATA); and the "non-Westchester County" areas of LATA 132 "New York City Metro" which would include all of the remaining parts of NPA 845. However, there are some ratecenters which are in this NYC Metro LATA 132, which "straddle" the county line of Westchester with an adjacent county to the north or west. There seem to be more 845-NXX c.o.codes in LATA 133 "Poukeepsie" rather than in LATA 132 "NY City Metro". Also, the "non-Westchester County" areas of LATA 132 "New York City Metro", which VeriZon would want to sell-off, seem to include all of Putnam County and Rockland County, and the southern part of Orange County. The northern part of Orange County would most likely be in the "Poughkeepsie" LATA (133). And all of this "non-Westchester County" area of LATA 132 (NYC) and all of LATA 133 (Poughkeepsie) is what split off to NPA 845 (previously NPA 914) in 2000, NPA 914 being retained by NYC-132-LATA-associated Westchester County which VeriZon wants to retain. I suppose that those two extreme-southwest-CT towns of Byram and Greenwich (still part of NPA 203) which have always been NYT/NYNEX/BA/VZ and are also associated with the NYC LATA #132, will be retained by VeriZon, unless there might be forthcoming plans to sell those off as well, possibly to SBC-SNET? BTW, the ratecenter of Woodbury CT within SBC-SNET's LATA 920, was the only "independent" telco within the state of CT (if you consider SNET to have been "Bell" all along, even though AT&T only owned a minority share in the old pre-1984 "Bell System" days), however, around 1999 or 2000, SBC-SNET actually purchased the Woodbury Telephone Company! Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA CSA ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: "Upstate NY" (Re: Verizon Plans to Sell ...) Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2004 06:52:44 GMT In article , Wesrock@aol.com says: > In a message dated Sun, 29 Feb 2004 13:00:06 CST Mark J Cuccia > writes: >> What would be interesting is if Qwest-LEC or SBC (or even BellSouth) >> would take it over! If BellSouth were to take it over, what *NAME* >> would BellSouth Corporation use for marketing and as the local >> operating company, as this area is *NOT* "south"! :-) > Southwest Airlines seems to be operating profitably in Providence, > Albany and Baltimore without changings its name, not to mention > Northwest Airlines operations in the South and Southeast and indeed in > many parts of the world. Yes but if they don't extend the runway at PVD we can pretty much kiss our airport goodbye. PVD will become a backwater, great. > Wes Leatherock > wesrock@aol.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, but ... the objective of Southwest > Airlines is for the carriage of passengers and freight to somewhere > in the southwest, is it not? Or does Southwest Airlines have much or > any 'local' traffic around New England and New York City? PAT] Soutwest flies to Tier 2 cities -- like Providence, Islip, etc. On the other end they fly to destination cities like Orlando etc. Works well for me. Inter-region there is Bonanza and Greyhound, or Acela/Acela Regional. For travel between RI and MA there's always the MBTA commuter rail. And of course if they ever get their crap together the MBTA will service the PVD airport. Makes expansion of that airport an absolute necessity now. ------------------------------ From: Ken@Privacy-Call.com (Ken Chase) Subject: Re: Technology Triumphs Do Not Call List; Block ALL Unwanted Calls Date: 1 Mar 2004 06:51:06 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Ken@Privacy-Call.com (Ken Chase) wrote in message news:: > In response to numerous questions about the 'Do Not Call' List and > blocking unwanted calls, we are posting information about the latest > release, the http://privacycall.com/pages/caller-id-screener-intro.htm > TECHNOLOGY TRIUMPHS OVER FTC'S "DO NOT CALL" LIST > New Caller ID Screener Allows Only 'Invited' Callers to Ring - Free of > Fees > (SCOTTSDALE, AZ) Telemarketing companies and exempted groups may have > found loopholes in the new National Do Not Call List, but > telecom automation groundbreaker Bill Sasso of Digitone Communications > thwarts them again with his latest invention, the > http://privacycall.com/pages/id-screener-3.htm Privacy Call ID > Screener > A small, tabletop device designed for customers who subscribe to > Caller ID, the Privacy Call ID Screener allows only 'Invited' callers > to ring their phone. All other callers are handled as the consumer > chooses. > Although the device is customizable, its use is simple. Callers on the > consumer's 'Invited' list ring through without interference, while > anonymous or unfamiliar callers are asked to identify themselves or > leave a message, without ringing the phone. Callers on the consumer's > 'Excluded' list cannot ring the phone or leave a message, including > cell phone, out-of-state, and international callers. > "We call it 'Caller ID with attitude!'" says Sasso. "Now consumers can > choose who can ring their phone, and when, without the limits and > extra monthly charges from your telephone service provider. Using the > unit's Caller ID screen, it only takes a push of a button to add > callers to your 'Included' or 'Excluded' list. And, using the > 'Wildcard' feature, the consumer can 'Invite' or 'Exclude' entire area > codes, prefixes or number sets. With the ID Screener, exemptions like > those to the National 'Do Not Call' List simply do not exist." > A snap to install, the Privacy Call ID Screener prevents telemarketing > calls, predictive dialers, misdialed numbers, hang-up calls, false > faxes, pollsters, political organizations, exes, creditors and anyone > else the consumer doesn't want to talk to ... ever again. > Additional benefits include a call-forwarding feature that, on a > single line, seamlessly connects 'Invited' callers to a cell phone or > alternate location, as well as a 'Do Not Disturb' mode. This feature > prevents all callers from ringing the phone during set hours, such as > bedtime and study time, either on a one-time or daily basis. > "The ID Screener is particularly useful for people who keep unusual > hours, such as those working the graveyard or swing shifts," says > Sasso. "During 'Do Not Disturb' hours, 'Invited' callers can leave a > message, but the phone will not ring, ensuring total privacy." A > secret emergency code is provided in case of emergencies. > The Privacy Call ID Screener is the latest addition to the Privacy > Call series, designed to help residential consumers and business > owners better manage their telephone communications and reduce monthly > telephone charges. Consisting of six different models, Privacy Call > Series products are available at the Privacy Call website > www.Privacy-Call.com or by > calling (888) 833-5333. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This sounds a great deal to me like the > old Privcode machine, which was popular back in the 1970's. It was > attached to the phone line, and was sensitive enough to go off hook at > the slightest hint of a change in voltage, so the phones seldom if > ever actually rang. Instead, this machine -- the Privcode -- would > announce its intentions and demand that the caller enter or speak his > Privcode ID number (actually, it was referred to as the 'extension' > number desired by the caller. The proper three digit 'extension' > allowed the phones to ring. Otherwise, the caller got transferred to > an answering machine. Really a great device, and manufactured in those > days by IMM (International Mobile Machines) of Bala Cynwyd, PA. It > is no longer available I don't think. Perhaps this new machine which > Ken Chase describes is a good replacement. PAT] Thanks for your comment. Indeed, there have been a number of attempts to create devices that can eliminate unwanted calls. Over the years, what the public has most often requested from us is a device that allows only 'Invited' callers unimpeded access while blocking or pre-screening all others. A number of devices introduced in the last couple of years have attempted to stop telemarketers, but have been only mildly successful at actually controlling the increasing number of annoyances that ring the phone and interupt privacy. These calls include misdialed numbers, false faxes, predictive dialers calling to harvest working voice and fax numbers, prank and harassment calls, etc. And of course, those exempt from the rules of the FTC's National Do Not Call List, and there are many, have continued to call. The Privacy Call series addresses all of these problems with simple solutions, whether the consumer subscribes to Caller ID or not. With our latest introduction, the Privacy Call ID Screener, consumers can either screen all calls and invite some, or use the built-in 'Wildcard' feature to invite everyone with Caller ID information and exclude the numbers they choose. Either way, the phone doesn't ring until it's a welcome caller. ------------------------------ Reply-To: BobGoudreau@newsgroup From: BobGoudreau Subject: Re: Verizon Land Line International Rates Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 10:16:36 -0500 [Please continue to despammify my email address. Thanks.] Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote: > [re charging $3.00 or so per minute for overseas calls made without a > calling plan] > This is but one more example of the drawbacks of privatizing the phone > system. If companies can still make money charging $0.15/minute to > Europe, what in the world makes anyone think it's better for consumers > to have companies charging 20 times that? Several decades of empirical economic data, that's what. Turns out that the costs of having Gosplan centrally micromanage the operation of a particular consumer market end up far exceeding the benefits to the country at large. I have a limited amount of sympathy for the original poster, given that he incurred costs due to his own carelessness. But my sympathy does not extend to the notion that I should have to pay extra to fund some government agency that will protect him from his carelessness. To draw an analogy, consider bottled water. You can walk into any supermarket and buy a generic or store-brand bottle of drinking water for a few tens of cents. You can also pay far more for a bottle of Perrier or Evian or some other premium brand. And there are no doubt various "super-premium" brands of bottled water available in rich shopping zones like Rodeo Drive that cost far more still. But all of these are essentially the same product. If companies can make money selling water for a few dimes a bottle, what in the world makes anyone think it's better for consumers to have companies charging 20 times that? Bob Goudreau Cary, NC ------------------------------ 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. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #98 *****************************