From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri May 21 00:24:41 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4L4Ofq06959; Fri, 21 May 2004 00:24:41 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 00:24:41 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405210424.i4L4Ofq06959@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 #251 TELECOM Digest Fri, 21 May 2004 00:23:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 251 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Comcast and Microsoft Announce Licensing Agreement for Microsoft (Solomon) The Fight Against Spam, Part 2 (Monty Solomon) Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks (John David Galt) Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks (Barry Margolin) Last Western Electric Conventional Equipment? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Jeff Pulver Statement on New York Public Services Commission (Frank) Re: New York Classifies Vonage as Phone Company (Tony P.) Re: 5.8 G 2-Line (Michael DeMarie) Bye, bye Ma Bell - Internet Phones Give Land Lines a Run (VOIP News) New York Public Service Commission Rules Vonage Is A Phone (VOIP News) States, Feds Headed For VoIP Clash (VOIP News) Re: Last Laugh! Is Google on Drugs? (unplug.nz) 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: Thu, 20 May 2004 13:32:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast and Microsoft Announce Licensing Agreement for Microsoft PHILADELPHIA and REDMOND, Wash., May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Comcast Cable and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced an agreement that extends their existing relationship and gives Comcast the ability to make Microsoft(R) TV Foundation Edition 1.7 software available to up to 5 million customers, with the option to expand the rollout at a later date. Taking Microsoft TV Foundation to the next level reinforces Comcast and Microsoft's commitment to driving industry innovation and working together to bring advanced digital television services to consumers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41571641 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 22:33:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Fight Against Spam, Part 2 by Francois Joseph de Kermadec In Part 1, I focused on laying the foundation for an anti-spam strategy and covering how to block most of your unwanted mail. In today's article of this three-part series, I'm going to fine-tune this strategy, plus take a closer look at Mail.app, so that you can more fully unleash its potential. http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/05/18/spam_pt2.html ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 13:45:11 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society dold@GeicoXSues.usenet.us.com wrote: > I believe that the participants in Google's paid advertising select > their own keywords. You don't "buy" keywords from a search engine. You can, but lately the major search engines are letting you know when some of the links returned by a search are to companies that paid to be included (by labeling them as "sponsored links" or some such). > A Google search for "I hate Geico" shows up 25 listings, and one > "Sponsored Link" on the right side. It goes to geico-comnn.com. I > would think that would be the target of Geico's wrath, a misuse of > their (presumably) trademarked name as part of someone else's domain > name. Since that page is merely a listing of competitive insurance > companies, it would seem like a misuse of "geico" to me. The only > entry for "geico" at dictionary.com is as an acronym for "Government > Employees Insurance Company". GEICO is widely hated by drivers because they have the habit of buying radar guns for the police in any community one of their policyholders lives in. But if you're one of that tiny minority who actually obey most speed limits on boulevards, then go for it! ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks Organization: Looking for work Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 22:20:24 -0400 In article , dold@GeicoXSues.usenet.us.com wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The weird thing to me is the company > name (or acronym) is phonetically pronounced G-eye-co yet the little > reptile mascot's name is pronounced 'g-ekk-o'? To the biologists > among us: is there such a reptile as a gekko/g-eye-co? The little guy > looks more like a baby frog to me. They have got some very clever > commercials on TV-land in any event, all based on the "I have good > news, I saved money" theme. PAT] The TV commercials pronounce the company name g-eye-co. Yes, there's an animal called a gekko -- it looks alot like a salamander. In Hawaii, gekkos can often be found walking on the walls of homes, and this is considered good luck. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Last Western Electric Conventional Equipment? Date: 20 May 2004 11:21:06 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Just out of curiosity, would anyone know when the last pieces of traditional telephone equipment was manufactured new at Western Electric? Things such as the 500/554 basic rotary telephone set, the 2500/2554 basic Touch Tone set, the basic Strowger switch unit, or a 3-slot pay telephone? I suspect reconditioned equipment of the above kept going on for several years after the last truly new originals were built. ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: Jeff Pulver Statement on New York Public Services Commission Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 14:38:46 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications VOIP News wrote: > [Comment: I'm guessing that the ILEC's in New York State had something > to do with this, and I'm also assuming that Vonage will probably take > this to court as they did in Minnesota. I hope the precedent set in > Minnesota will be followed by the judges in New York, or that the FCC > or Congress will simply strike down state level regulation. As far as > I know, no VoIP company is headquartered in New York, so it would seem > to me that every VoIP call would be inherently interstate and subject > to FCC regulation (if subject to regulation at all), and not to New > York PSC regulation.] It will be interesting, particularly as the Third World Nation of California tries to sink its tax claws into VoIP. I reside in California and I am a subscriber to Vonage. My primary Vonage telephone number is in Cleveland, Ohio. I sometimes pack up my Vonage adapter and plug it into broadband in Hawaii, or Nevada, or Oklahoma. I sent a note to the California PUC's director of telephones, but he ignored my input. When he climbed aboard, so to speak, he made no bones about it; loss of subsidies for low-income wireline service is his total focus. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The public servants do not like it when some kind of dam appears which plugs up their constant flow of money for their various petty projects. Did anyone ever notice how the more 'peoples-republic-like' our major cities and more populous states become, the more oppressive they also become on things like taxes and government regulation in general? California is one good example, New York and Chicago are two others. All those places overrun with more people than can possibly live there comfortably; three or four times as many public servants as they need, each of whom of course is just one more hungry mouth to feed, and more laws and regulations and taxes than are real. Its almost like those larger cities/states are trying hard to drive people away with their oppressive rules, taxes, etc. They have more taxes, police, rules, regulations, etc in those places than more libertarian communities like Boulder, CO or Independence, KS would ever dream of or dare impose. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: New York Classifies Vonage as Phone Company Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 21:42:59 GMT In article , VOIP News says: > http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5216639.html > By Evan Hansen > CNET News.com > Handing a setback to emerging Internet phone services, the New York > State Public Service Commission on Wednesday ruled that Vonage > Holdings is a telephone company and thus subject to state regulation. > In a statement announcing its decision, the agency sought to soften > the blow, saying that it nevertheless hoped to apply "only minimal > regulations to ensure that it does not interfere with the rapid, > widespread deployment of new technologies." > New York is the latest state to weigh in on regulation of so-called > voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, a hot-button policy > issue that has some local officials worried about potential tax losses > as the technology grows in popularity. > Full story at: > http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5216639.html I have to wonder how many 'favors' Verizon provided to members of the PSC. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, if Verizon is the typical Bell company, their employees and managers belong to the very same country clubs, churches and other social organizations as the members of the commission. There is a joke around Topeka (our state capitol) which says the Kansas Commissioners 'eat out of the hands' of Southwestern Bell and Sprint (the old United Tel); belong to the same country clubs and the same churches, etc. The Commissioners hate that 'joke' and insist it is not true. They say that in fact they hate Bell with a passion, but you could not prove it by me, except they have been very generous and liberal in the application of the rules where Prairie Stream and Gage are concerned. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Michael DeMarie Subject: Re: 5.8 2-Line Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 17:58:34 -0700 Northwestern Bell has one out! Do a Google search on 5.8 2 line phones. Michael DeMarie VP/Sr. Project Manager HBI, Inc. 949-794-3145 Direct 866-591-5111 Direct Fax 310-567-2111 Mobile email: mdemarie@hbiconst.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 13:11:39 -0400 Subject: Bye, bye Ma Bell - Internet Phones Give Land Lines Run for Money Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.madison.com/captimes/business/stories/74581.php By Jeff Richgels Barb Maxwell of the city of Madison water utility uses a VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) system to communicate with customers and keep tabs on accounts. The name - voice over Internet protocol - sounds so geeky. But special VoIP phones operate just like regular phones. Traditional phones can be used with some simple adaptive equipment. And that's a good thing when you're talking about a service used by everyone, even the most tech averse. "When we first did (VoIP) deployments, because Cisco called it IP telephony, people thought it was a foreign language," said Frank Albi, president of Madison-based Inacom Information Systems and a leader of Cisco Systems' VoIP effort during his five years with that tech giant. "But the phone rings and has a dial tone. It works, and has all the reliability and functionality (of traditional phone service) with a lower cost point." Even government bureaucrats -- a stodgy lot, by the stereotype -- can be on the cutting edge of the technology, which some experts predict will account for 40 percent of all U.S. phone calls in five years. While only about 10 percent of U.S. businesses -- and only a few hundred thousand residential customers -- have adopted VoIP, it's already installed for the city of Madison water utility, with other city departments to follow. Full story at: http://www.madison.com/captimes/business/stories/74581.php How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 14:56:08 -0400 Subject: New York Public Service Commission Rules Vonage Is A Phone Company Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/May/1042293.htm The New York State Public Service Commission has determined that the Vonage Holdings Corporation (Vonage), which offers competitive telephone services to New Yorkers through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, is a telephone corporation as defined by New York State Law and, therefore, must obtain a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN). In its decision, the Commission emphasized its keen interest in applying only minimal regulations to ensure that it does not interfere with the rapid, widespread deployment of new technologies. At the same time, the Commission must ensure that its core public interest concerns, including public safety and network reliablity, are met. Thus, consistent with its longstanding policy, the Commission determined that Vonage, a competitive service provider, should be subject to, at most, the same limited regulatory regime which is applied to comparable competitive carriers in New York. Therefore, Vonage will not be subject to economic or rate regulation, but, pursuant to Public Service Law, Vonage must obtain Commission authorization to provide telephone service (CPCN) and file a schedule of its rates. [... Comment: Seems I was right about an ILEC being behind this .....] In September 2003, Frontier Telephone of Rochester, Inc. (Frontier) filed a complaint with the Commission alleging that Vonage should be required to obtain a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity under New York State Public Service law as an intrastate provider of telecommunications services. Frontier also asked that Vonage be required to route all "911" calls over dedicated "911" networks and participate fully in "enhanced 911" (E911) services where available. Full story at: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/May/1042293.htm [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would not put it past Bell to completely screw up as much as possible about VOIP's essentially non-regulated status. You, the end users will be paying as much as can possibly be milked out of you a year or two from now if Bell has its way, with 'taxes' and other regulatory fees, etc. In fact, given enough time, Bell is going to make you wonder why you ever decided to leave them in the first place. Watch and see. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 21:40:24 -0400 Subject: States, Feds Headed For VoIP Clash Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5217512.html By Ben Charny CNET News.com Regulators in large U.S. states are moving forward with Net-phoning rules, forcing an inevitable confrontation with federal regulators who believe the industry falls under their jurisdiction. By pushing ahead with regulation now, states are facing long battles in court with Net-phoning -- or VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) -- service providers that believe existing laws don't apply to them; and later with the Federal Communications Commission, which is expected in the next few months to leave states with very little, if any, regulatory power over Net-based phone calls. Though small Net-phoning start-ups like Vonage are moving forward unfazed by the unsettled legal and regulatory picture, larger providers that want to play good corporate citizen might be forced to wait the months or years for the regulatory and legal picture to come into focus, industry sources say. "There will be a collision if the FCC takes a position that's at variance with a state's," said Carl Wood, one of the five commissioners on the California Public Utilities Commission. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5217512.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But of course! Mssrs. Pulver and Citron do not belong to the same country clubs and churches the Bell people and thier pets, the state commissioners belong to. PAT] ------------------------------ From: unplug.nz@gmail.com (unplug.nz) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Is Google on Drugs? Date: 20 May 2004 18:24:57 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Yeah, I had the same thing happen to me ... but it seems that they have fixed it now ... oh well ... 1gb is enough for me and a small country. jmayson@nyx.net wrote in message news:: > This morning I noticed my Google Mail account said I was using about > 10 MB of my 1000000 MB quota. Apparently they've upped their mail > storage limit from 1 GB to 1 TB. > http://www.scripting.com/images/archiveScriptingCom/2004/05/18/terabyte.gif > At my current rate, if I deleted nothing, I was going to hit my 1 GB > limit in 2014. Now I should make it to 12004 before needing more > space. ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #251 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri May 21 15:13:39 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4LJDdw14197; Fri, 21 May 2004 15:13:39 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 15:13:39 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405211913.i4LJDdw14197@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 #252 TELECOM Digest Fri, 21 May 2004 15:13:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 252 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Online Trading of TV Episodes Grows (Monty Solomon) FCC Asked To Examine A la Carte Cable TV (Monty Solomon) Coming Soon: A Cellphone Directory (Monty Solomon) One Poor Test Result: Cheating Teachers (Monty Solomon) Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks (Mark Crispin) Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks (Daryl R Gibson) Re: Jeff Pulver Statement on New York Public Services Commission (Frank) Re: Phantom Cell Phone Call; What's Going On ...? (jdj) Re: Last Western Electric Conventional Equipment? (Tony P.) Vonage Vows to Fight New York Ruling (VOIP News) Wireless World: Bye-bye to Ma Bell? (VOIP News) Re: Bye, bye Ma Bell - Internet Phones Give Land Lines Run (Lisa Hancock) Does AT&T Still Carry TV Programs (Lisa Hancock) Live Real Time Directory Assistance Coming to Digest (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 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: Thu, 20 May 2004 23:19:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Online Trading of TV Episodes Grows By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY LOS ANGELES - Missed the final episode of Frasier or Friends? Many college kids aren't waiting for the reruns. They're downloading the shows instead. With millions of unauthorized media files being traded on the Internet, it's impossible to put an exact number on how many TV episodes are out there. But Jorge Gonzalez, who runs Zeropaid.com, a file-sharing guide, says he's seen "a big increase in the last six months for new sites that specialize in trading TV shows." The Simpsons, Friends, The Sopranos and other shows are readily available at both Kazaa, the world's most-used file-sharing program, and new sites like eDonkey, TVTorrents.com and Bucktv.net. BayTSP, a Silicon Valley company that tracks unauthorized Internet file trading, found nearly 20,000 files of popular TV shows like The Simpsons and Alias being offered for free on Wednesday. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-05-20-tv_x.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 23:27:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Asked To Examine A la Carte Cable TV Lawmakers Seek Feasibility Study By Frank Ahrens Washington Post Staff Writer Key members of the House Commerce Committee have asked the Federal Communications Commission for a detailed study on the feasibility of cable and satellite companies offering their subscribers the ability to pay for the individual channels they want. Most satellite and cable companies require their customers to subscribe to packages of channels, arguing the system allows them to maintain robust lineups at affordable rates. But a la carte pricing, which would allow subscribers to pick and choose the channels they want, has been gaining momentum among some lawmakers and consumer groups as costs have risen and concerns have grown over televised indecency. Several parents groups have complained that consumers should not have to pay for channels that air content they find offensive. In the letter sent Tuesday, Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Tex.) was joined by ranking member John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) in asking FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell to have his agency determine -- within six months -- whether a la carte pricing would be technologically and economically feasible. Powell has not publicly taken a position on the alternative pricing scheme. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40996-2004May19.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 10:19:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Coming Soon: A Cellphone Directory THE NATION Privacy advocates fear consumers will face a flood of unwanted calls and junk e-mail. By Jube Shiver Jr., Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON - After years of anonymity, the numbers of most of the nation's mobile phones will be compiled later this year in the first wireless directory. The database being assembled by the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Assn. is expected to include about 75% of the 163 million mobile phones in the United States, making looking up a wireless number as easy as dialing 411. The association is pitching the directory as a boon for real estate agents and other on-the-go professionals who want people to be able to find their mobile numbers. But privacy advocates, some members of Congress and even a major cellular carrier -- Verizon Wireless -- fear that mobile phones, once immune to telemarketers and e-mail spammers, could become as vulnerable as home telephone lines and computer in-boxes. http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-cellphones20may20,1,3236420.story ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 10:26:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: One Poor Test Result: Cheating Teachers THE NATION By Erika Hayasaki, Times Staff Writer One cheater whispered answers in students' ears as they took the exam. Another photocopied test booklets so students would know vocabulary words in advance. Another erased score sheets marked with the wrong answers and substituted correct ones. None of these violations involving California's standardized tests were committed by devious students: These sneaky offenders were teachers. Since a statewide testing program began five years ago, more than 200 California teachers have been investigated for allegedly helping students on state exams, and at least 75 of those cases have been proved, according to documents obtained by The Times. Most cases have led to reprimands and warnings that future scores will be monitored, but a few teachers have been fired or have resigned, say school administrators and union officials. Some educators say teacher cheating comes as no surprise, given increased anxiety surrounding state tests and the federal use of them under the No Child Left Behind law. While students may want to do well on those tests to please parents or avoid remedial classes, their regular report cards are more important. But principals pressure teachers to work on raising scores not just for bragging rights. The staff of a school with consistently bad results can be reassigned and federal funding can be withheld. http://www.latimes.com/la-me-cheat21may21,1,1915055.story ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 09:55:28 -0700 Organization: University of Washington On Thu, 20 May 2004, John David Galt wrote: > GEICO is widely hated by drivers because they have the habit of buying > radar guns for the police in any community one of their policyholders > lives in. But if you're one of that tiny minority who actually obey > most speed limits on boulevards, then go for it! There's another reason to hate GEICO. To find out why, all you have to do is be the innocent victim in a collision where the other driver has GEICO (try being stopped at a stop sign, and the other driver being drunk). "Chickenshit" doesn't even begin to describe what GEICO will put you through. As far as I am concerned, a driver insured by GEICO is uninsured. There's no "let the insurance handle it" -- go straight to a lawyer and sue. GEICO won't make a serious attempt of proper compensation until lawyers are involved. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Daryl R Gibson Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 08:09:48 -0600 Subject: Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks On 21 May 2004 at 0:24, editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The weird thing to me is the company >> name (or acronym) is phonetically pronounced G-eye-co yet the little >> reptile mascot's name is pronounced 'g-ekk-o'? To the biologists >> among us: is there such a reptile as a gekko/g-eye-co? The little guy >> looks more like a baby frog to me. They have got some very clever >> commercials on TV-land in any event, all based on the "I have good >> news, I saved money" theme. PAT] The whole reason behind them using the gekko is for brand recognition. Some people hadn't heard about Geico, they didn't know how to pronounce it, so the early gekko commercials had the frustrated gekko taking phone calls from people, sometimes having been pulled out of the shower (complete with shower cap), saying "No...this is gekko, you want Geico." Geico is a fairly well-run insurance company, owned by Berkshire Hathaway (which is managed/largely owned by Warren Buffet.) Berkshire owns several insurance companies, as well as furniture stores, a vast gas transmission network, and Dairy Queen/Orange Julius. Having finally found a phone-related angle to this thread, I will bow out and go back to sleep. Daryl Gibson ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: Jeff Pulver Statement on New York Public Services Commission Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 03:27:50 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The public servants do not like it when > some kind of dam appears which plugs up their constant flow of money > for their various petty projects. Did anyone ever notice how the more > 'peoples-republic-like' our major cities and more populous states > become, the more oppressive they also become on things like taxes and > government regulation in general? California is one good example, New > York and Chicago are two others. California is a geographically very large state. Most of the population is contained in well less than 50% of the physical area. Some of the relatively empty areas are desert, but there are extensive mountain and forest areas that are very rural. Of course, these folks views are drowned out by the socialists that run the place. ------------------------------ From: jdj Subject: Re: Phantom Cell Phone Call; What's Going On ...? Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 09:34:05 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On Wed, 12 May 2004 14:44:16 -0700, zerge wrote: > This happened to me recently. Could anybody give a technical > explanation? Here's another weird: My Sprint phone rings once approx 30 minutes after the call to me was made. I was watching my phone while watching an impromptu airshow because I was expecting a call to come in within 5 minutes and it was a bit noisy. But the phone did nothing when they called, while I watched it, at 13:38. I checked it again at 13:50 and it still indicated nothing. At 14:20, the phone "rings" once then indicates a missed call at 13:38. That's some kind of latency ... ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Last Western Electric Conventional Equipment? Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 05:41:24 GMT In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > Just out of curiosity, would anyone know when the last pieces of > traditional telephone equipment was manufactured new at Western > Electric? > Things such as the 500/554 basic rotary telephone set, the 2500/2554 > basic Touch Tone set, the basic Strowger switch unit, or a 3-slot pay > telephone? > I suspect reconditioned equipment of the above kept going on > for several years after the last truly new originals were built. Probably some of the TAM based stuff. They looked and felt a little cheap but were built every bit as rugged as their other gear. I've got a 1200 AT 1 TAM dialer that works fine and it's got to be at least 20 years old. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 04:28:23 -0400 Subject: Vonage Vows to Fight New York Ruling Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5217000.html By Ben Charny CNET News.com Net phone service provider Vonage has vowed to battle a recent ruling that classified it as a telephone company and thus subject to some of New York's regulations. "We're disappointed, we're concerned and we're incensed," a Vonage representative said Thursday. The ruling, which was made by the New York State Public Service Commission on Wednesday, starts the clock ticking on a 45-day deadline for Vonage to file for a state telephone license. The Vonage representative said that "obviously, (New York) didn't get the memo from Minnesota," where a federal judge ruled that state telephone regulations don't apply to Net phone service providers. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5217000.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 12:33:55 -0400 Subject: Wireless World: Bye-bye to Ma Bell? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040521-125335-1453r By Gene J. Koprowski United Press International A weekly series by UPI examining emerging wireless telecommunications technologies and markets. CHICAGO, May 21 (UPI) -- Local phone companies may soon be relics of a bygone era, as quaint as an RCA Victrola phonograph or a Kodak "Brownie" camera. In the next five years, as technology start-ups begin offering wireless Internet telephone service commercially, look for consumers to chase low monthly telephone service prices, to be offered by developers located all over the United States and around the globe, futurists and technologists told United Press International. "Voice is the killer application that everyone has been looking for -- for years -- on the Internet," said Jonathan Lieberman, president and chief executive officer of ISN Telcom Inc. in Miami. An array of vendors, such as Motorola Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and a number of obscure Taiwanese companies, are planning to bring hybrid wireless phones to the mass-market -- and soon. The phones will work on both the regular wireless telephone network and over the Wireless Fidelity networks, connected to the Internet. "The potential for disrupting the sleepy monopolies of the Bell System is there," said Edward Cespedes, president of Voiceglo Inc., an Internet telephone service provider in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "With voice over Internet, all geography (for a phone provider) goes away." Full story at: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040521-125335-1453r ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Bye, bye Ma Bell - Internet Phones Give Land Lines Run for Money Date: 21 May 2004 11:19:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com VOIP News wrote: > But the phone rings and has a dial tone. It works, and has all the > reliability and functionality (of traditional phone service) with a > lower cost point. Of course it has a lower cost point -- it doesn't have to carry the regulatory burden that traditional land line telephone service must do. Not being that familiar with VOIP, I have no idea whether it will indeed be the wave of the future as some predict. But I do have enough gray hair to have seen many "wonderful technologies" come in with a bang than quietly disappear. Nuclear energy was once touted as being "too cheap to meter". I'd be more inclined to look into VOIP hype if there was a true apples to oranges comparison. How do costs stack up: 1) A recent post described VOIP quality as being "nearly" as good as land line. Well, call me back when you get the quality to be as good or _better_ than land line. 2) If the company's internal data lines can accomodate the full volume of telephone traffic, including peaks, at all times with 24/7 reliability? 3) If the VOIP had to support everyone in a city using it for local and long distance telecom--would the data lines, trunks, and routers be able to handle the peak volume load? Time and time again I've seen a new technology touted but could only handle laboratory loads and not real life loads. 4) If VOIP included all the taxes and fees landline charges. 5) If VOIP included the social requirements of regulated telephone service, such as the expense of filing tarrifs with the PUC (a big job in itself), and providing universal service to unprofitable and non-paying customers, and other public service obligations the regulated companies must meet. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But really, Lisa, why does traditional telephony have to carry the burden it does these days? Why shouldn't there be some telecom reform in 2004 which grossly eliminated about ninety percent of all the garbage sent through on telephone bills? PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Does AT&T Still Carry TV Programs Date: 21 May 2004 11:07:13 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com When the radio age took off, AT&T was a big part of it by providing high quality lines for the broadcast networks to send shows to different city affiliates. Much radio was done live in those days. After WW II, television began to grow at the same time AT&T deployed high capacity coaxial cable and microwave transmission media. They had much more bandwidth than pre-war carrier systems and could accomodate television signals. For years AT&T carried television programs from the networks to affiliates. In the early years of TV, much of that was live. Now that there are so many satellites, does AT&T still carry TV programs for the networks? I sense it is easier and cheaper to download them via satellite. Also, since virtually programs are pre-recorded, I sense that downloads are done in advance allowing for redos if there's a problem (something not possible when done in real-time). ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Real Time Directory Assistance Coming Soon to Digest Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 13:00:00 CDT I have recently completed an agreement with a major provider of Directory Assistance which will enable all readers here to get real time DA service from any of several telephone lines for the relatively low cost of 65 cents per call. It will work like this: From our web page http://telecom-digest.org you will go to the sign up area. You will list any phone number you want to sign up, or any of several numbers, actually, and you list the phone numbers you want to use. For example, your cellular phones, your landline phones, etc. Then you will list the credit card number you wish to use for payment. To then use the service, you will dial a certain toll free number which (a) notes the calling number for billing purposes *and* (b) patches you through to DA at the same time. You get billed call by call at 65 cents each, about once per month on your credit card. At the web site, there is also a place where you can monitor your useage and detirmine what your month bill will be. You also use that same place to change your credit card number as desired and other stuff. Then it is up to you to configure your cell phone or landline phone as desired to speed dial into the service. More details soon; and you can listen in to a sample DA call to see how it works at the sign up page. I hope this service proves very useful and inexpensive to users of Directory Assistance, especially those of you with large phone systems you administer and pay for. 65 cents for one or two inquiries is about the best rate I could get for you, but that still should save you some money. PAT] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #252 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat May 22 16:09:23 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4MK9NN23565; Sat, 22 May 2004 16:09:23 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 16:09:23 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405222009.i4MK9NN23565@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 #253 TELECOM Digest Sat, 22 May 2004 16:09:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 253 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Spam Adversaries to Meet, Debate (Monty Solomon) Can Cable Bring DBS Back Down to Earth? (Monty Solomon) Mac OS X Update Addresses Security Concern (Monty Solomon) New TV Network To Take On TiVo and Other DVRs (Monty Solomon) TiVo Fine-Tuning its Commercial Strategy (Monty Solomon) To Record in HD is a Step Closer to Techie Heaven (Monty Solomon) Now, Two-Thirds of All E-mail is Spam (Monty Solomon) Your Cellular Number, Available Through Information Please (John Bartley) Verizon Gets Low NYS PSC Grade, Has to Pay Rebates (Danny Burstein) Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks (Fred Atkinson) Re: Does AT&T Still Carry TV Programs (Danny Burstein) Re: 5.8GHz 2 Line Phones (Pete Romfh) Re: Phantom Cell Phone Call; What's Going On ...? (DaveC) FCC in a Quandary Over VoIP (Chicago Tribune via VOIP News) 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: Sat, 22 May 2004 03:04:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Spam Adversaries to Meet, Debate By Amit Asaravala Two bitter adversaries in the spam wars said Thursday they have agreed to meet face-to-face in a public debate next month. The debate will be held at the upcoming Email Technology Conference in San Francisco. It will feature Internet marketer Scott Richter, who has been accused of being one of the world's most prolific spammers, and SpamCop founder Julian Haight. The two sides are currently embroiled in a legal battle involving SpamCop's spam blacklist service, which Richter says violates the rights of his online marketing firm, OptInRealBig.com. Lawyers for both sides said they have agreed to allow the debate because they believe it will not focus on the lawsuit. However, early comments make it highly unlikely that either Richter or Haight will be able to avoid the issue. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63537,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 03:16:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Can Cable Bring DBS Back Down to Earth? If you think that DirecTV's low churn figure was scary, well, don't look now, 'cause Rupert's comin' ... By Mavis Scanlon The ITV All-Stars Reunion and awards for leadership in interactive television at this month's NCTA show was a downright raucous affair compared with some of the conference's more staid sessions. Loud cheering and clapping erupted after each winner's name was called out-until Rupert Murdoch was pronounced one of the seven winners. An awkward silence descended, and people looked around to see if Murdoch was actually in the room. He wasn't. Instead, Dr. Dov Rubin, GM and VP of NDS Americas, a News Corp. subsidiary, accepted the award on Murdoch's behalf. No doubt Rubin's comments bolstered the interactive TV luminaries gathered that evening, a group that's waited to see the promise of interactivity realized in the U.S. as long as Vladimir and Estragon waited for Godot. Rubin's not exactly politically correct closing remark underscored what many in the cable industry believe: that cable's network upgrades, which allow for two-way, high-speed Internet access and telephony, among other services, give it an advantage over satellite. http://www.cableworld.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=051704&file=cancablebring.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 02:54:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mac OS X Update Addresses Security Concern CUPERTINO, California-May 21, 2004-Apple today posted a Mac OS X update to address a theoretical vulnerability in the Help Viewer application that could have been exposed when browsing the web. The update is available automatically to all users through Apple's free Software Update service or by going to http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ . http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/may/21security.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 12:18:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New TV Network To Take On TiVo and Other DVRs Diane Sherwin Millions of Americans now have digital video recorders (otherwise known as DVRs or PVRs) thanks to TiVo, ReplayTV and cable and satellite providers who offer PRVs in their satellite receiver boxes. Users who have PVRs are now calling the physical act of recording shows with their hard drive recorder "TiVo-ing" even if the service and hardware unit they are using is not actually a TiVo. This is remnisciant of how photocopying has become "Xeroxing" to many consumers and many people who blow their noses think they are using a Kleenex, when they are in fact most likely using a facial tissue. As much as consumers with PVRs rave about being able to "TiVo" their favorite shows and skip the commerials, TV executives and ad agencies are less excited. Free television content is created so that networks can sell ads. Now that model is being challenged by the progress of technology but a new TV network thinks they have the answer. Ripe Entertainment is introducing a free "on-demand" cable network, called RipeTV, which will have advertising embedded into its shows. It has seven different types of advertising that will not be able to be fast-forwarded through when recorded on a PVR. RipeTV's CEO, Ryan Magnussen, calls it "TiVo-proof." New ads include a 3-D animated advertiser logo or graphic to open and close the show, an animated logo occupying the lower third of the screen, a "video skin" or graphic frame with the advertisers brand framed around the show, video billboards in the lower third, strategically placed spots and long-form commercials. The ads are more like magazine advertisements, in a video magazine setting. http://www.audiorevolution.com/news/0504/20.ripetv.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 12:22:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Fine-Tuning its Commercial Strategy By Paul Bond TiVo says its users skip about half of all primetime television commercials. Nevertheless, TiVo thinks of itself as the advertiser's best friend and not the mortal enemy some have made it out to be. "It's a delicious irony," TiVo president Mary Yudkovitz said while recently hosting an event for advertising executives in Santa Monica. "TiVo didn't create commercial avoidance." He believes that honor goes to the remote control, refrigerator and bathroom. Part of the solution, in fact, are ads delivered to TiVo hard drives that consumers will choose to watch -- which they have been doing in large numbers when the ads are educational or entertaining or when they're accompanied by a chance to win major prizes. Some video-on-demand ads (or video-to-video, as the company cryptically refers to them) are watched by as many as 20% of TiVo's users. "The punch line is, viewers love it," Yudkovitz said of TiVo-delivered commercials. And he offered up a few third-party executives for unbiased proof of his assertion. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/tech_reporter_display.jsp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 12:55:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: To Record in HD is a Step Closer to Techie Heaven By Jonathan Bloom, Globe Correspondent There's probably at least one in your circle of friends, the guy who loves his gadgets, who needs to have the latest home-entertainment toys first, whose pulse quickens at the mention of acronyms like DSL and DBS. Two of these gadgeteers' most lust-inducing acronyms are HDTV, the television format that offers startlingly clear pictures and sound, and DVR, a class of VCR-like devices that record content digitally on hard drives, skips over commercials, and enables live television pausing. Until recently, the twain did not meet: You could watch high-definition shows when they were broadcast, or you could use DVRs to watch whenever you wanted, but only in the pale-by-comparison standard format. Yet these two technologies are now converging, and in the place where these guys hang out -- online, of course -- the fervor is overflowing. The activity on the TiVo Community Forum, a blog linked to, but not operated by, the company, illustrates the frenzy. There are over 60,000 registered bloggers, 167,000 threads, and 1.8 million posts. A recent thread that suggested Best Buy might have some units that work with satellite TV in stock elicited over 1,800 postings. There are even more potential HD DVR owners lurking on other blogs like DBSForums.com and DBSTalk.com (DBS stands for Digital Broadcast Satellite). And these numbers represent only those users who get their HDTV from satellite or over the air. Units that work with cable-TV signals are not yet available. http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2004/05/20/to_record_in_hd_is_a_step_closer_to_techie_heaven/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 12:59:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Now, Two-Thirds of All E-mail is Spam And in the U.S., spam tops 80 percent mark By Bob Sullivan Technology correspondent MSNBC When the amount of unwanted e-mail advertisements flying around the Internet surpassed the number of real e-mails last year, it was regarded as a landmark moment. Since then, things have only gotten worse, anti-spam firms say, and in April, another milestone was passed. Spam last month accounted for two-thirds of all e-mail traffic, according to e-mail monitoring firm MessageLabs Inc. Things are even worse in the United States, where spam accounted for more than one in five e-mails, according to Message Labs. The firm tracks virus and spam volume by filtering every e-mail destined for its 8,500 customers, and checking it for spam or viruses. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5032714/ ------------------------------ From: John Bartley Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 16:20:49 -0800 Subject: Your Cellular Number, Available Through Information Please The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, a trade group who "serves the interests of service providers, manufacturers, wireless data and Internet companies", has announced its plans to add your cellular numbers to a cellular phone directory service, to be accessed through 411 and other, less spendy information providers such as Easy 411.com and Infone. Details at http://pdaphonehome.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30032 John Bartley K7AAY PDX CERT NET BET ARES ARC http://celdata.cjb.net ~ Handheld's Cellular Data FAQ http://livejournal.com/users/clackablog ~ Life in the Suburbs of the Silicon Forest "Politics is the business of getting power and privilege without possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Verizon Gets Low NYS PSC Grade, Has to Pay Rebates Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 21:42:24 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC (cut and pasted from a PDF. reformatted for clarity) "For the Retail Service Quality Plan year ending February 29, 2004, Verizon missed Commission targets for restoring service to customers within 24 hours the "service restoration target" and for the "localized service" comprehensive category target. "Verizon's failure to meet the annual service restoration target results in a $20 million rebate. "The company will issue a one-time credit of about $35.70 on bills, beginning in June, to about 627,000 customers throughout the state who experienced a service outage lasting longer than 24 hours between March 1, 2003, and February 29, 2004. "Verizon's failure to meet another Commission standard the "localized service quality" target also will result in a $20 million rebate, which will be paid to all of its customers throughout the state in the form of a bill credit of about $2 per access line (approximately 10.1 million lines).' rest at the PSC's website. go to http://www.dps.state.ny.us [a] -> press releases -> PSC: Verizon New York to Rebate $40 Million for Targets Missed Last Year - Service Quality Improves in First Quarter of 2004 (direct url is an ugly javascript popup) [a] "dps" = "department of public service", aka public service commission. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Reply-To: Fred Atkinson From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Geico Sues Google, Overture Over Trademarks Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 16:07:35 -0400 GEICO is not on my list of favorites, either. In the early 1980s (while living in Maryland), I had a clean record (no accidents or tickets) in five years, which is the maximum time that they could rate you for. I applied to GEICO for insurance and was told that I wasn't eligible for coverage. When I asked why, they refused to tell me claiming that in Maryland they were not required to give me a reason for denial. I called the Bank Commissioner's office (who at that time regulated the insurance industry in Maryland). When I told my story, they advised me that GEICO was indeed required to give a reason for denial. They asked me to write a letter naming whom I spoke to and what had transpired. They also said that GEICO was probably discriminating against me since I was in a 'high risk bracket' (being that I male, single, and under 30 years old at the time). The fact that I rarely get tickets and had no accident claims didn't make any difference. As I had not gotten the person's name, I called GEICO again and demanded to know why I was turned down. I was told that they didn't have to tell me in Maryland. I told her about my conversation with the Bank Commissioner's office. Ghe took my information and told me it was because I had not been with my current employer long enough (two years was not enough time?). I asked when I would be eligible. She said they were not required to tell me that. I promised her that her name and what she said would be quoted in my letter to the Bank Commissioner's office. After the Bank Commissioner contacted them, I was contacted by a representative from GEICO who now said that she could not understand why I had been told I wasn't eligible. She immediately offered me a policy at a savings (which I decided not to take because of their conduct in this matter). I pointed out that I was pretty upset because they had refused to give me a reason for denial the first two times. She told me that in Maryland they didn't have to give me a reason for denial. I dispatched another letter to the Bank Commissioner's Office advising them that GEICO was maintaining their position on the real issue. Shortly after this matter was concluded, I had a close friend (that was within a month of my age and had the same status of driving record that I had) call GEICO and request a quote. He was immediately quoted a policy and a rate. Apparently GEICO knew that any subsequent complaints for the same thing might raise more curiousity from the state regulators. Most of my records are in storage. I probably still have copies of the letters that flew around on this subject, though, if I took the time to look for them. I remember sending Harry Hueghes (who was then the Governor of Maryland) a very nice letter commending them and the Public Service Commission (that had handled a problem I couldn't get resolved with C&P Telephone on my own) for their professionalism and prompt assistance. I got a very nice letter back from the governor thanking me for taking the time to write him about it. I showed the letter to my landlord. He told me that his mother had worked for Harry Hueghes and he had seen his signature a number of times. He insisted that it was indeed the Governor's signature and not some staff person signing it. Apparently my letter made a splash. I've only ever had one serious accident in my entire driving career (it was snow and ice related and it was ruled to be beyond my control. No one was hurt including me) I say a proven track record over the last five years should negate any 'high risk bracket' you fall into because of your personal particulars. I understand that someone who has just started to drive has no track record and should probably be considered a higher risk because their is little other to base a rate quote on. Fred Atkinson ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: Does AT&T Still Carry TV Programs Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 20:24:43 +0000 (UTC) Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) writes: > Now that there are so many satellites, does AT&T still carry TV > programs for the networks? I sense it is easier and cheaper to > download them via satellite. Unlikely to be AT&T per se, but plenty of terrestrial links still interconnect major parts of the television networks. That's the key ... major portions. For example, Washington<->NYC has plenty of redundant cheap hi capacity fiber circuitry. One way to tell is to watch as the local folk switch back and forth to the distant ones, and see if there's a satellite induced delay in the response. Since the birds are 24,000 or so miles away from each ground station, there's a minimum half second (and usually more) delay time involved. So, for example, when ABC"s World News Now, the late night news program from which more insoniacs get their news, flips between tgheir NYC hq. and their Washington DC correspondent, there's quick interchange. On the other hand, when they interview someone in the middle of nowhere, there's a marked delay between them. (And if it's a really remote site using a satellite truck, there's often compression delay and artifact thrown in the picture.) One of the fun things for those of us with warped senses of humor is to watch something like a Presidential news conference in Washington DC and flip through the various stations covering it. The general pattern is that the three main commercial networks will have it at the same time, but other groups (typically Fox) will be delayed. this is not hard and fast, as all these folk, for something like a White House scheduled event, can and do swap and pool. Even more fun for those of us with nothing to do is watching this when it's covered by the BBC (or BBC America) which is broadcast locally by one of the PBS stations. So the way that one works is a satellite bounce from a Washington area base station over to England, then another satellite bounce back to the US, and then, finally, a rebroadcast. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Pete Romfh Subject: Re: 5.8GHz 2 Line Phones Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 18:20:22 -0500 Organization: Not Organized SELLCOM Tech support wrote: > In a desperate attempt to start an "on topic" thread ... > A sincere question. > Why are there no 2 line 5.8GHz cordless phones? > Is there a technical or legal (FCC yada yada) reason for > it to be impractical for manufacturers? > We get many requests for multiline 5.8 cordless phones. > Steve at SELLCOM > http://www.sellcom.com > Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, > Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic > phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non > MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you > sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. I've looked around a lot and haven't seen any either. With the number of 802.11b sites in homes you'd think 5.8Ghz would be a logical option. Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet. promfh at Texas dot net ------------------------------ From: DaveC Subject: Re: Phantom Cell Phone Call; What's Going On ...? Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 10:18:14 -0700 Reply-To: me@privacy.net On Fri, 21 May 2004 09:34:05 -0700, jdj wrote (in article ): > My Sprint phone rings once approx 30 minutes after the call to me was > made. > I was watching my phone while watching an impromptu airshow because I was > expecting a call to come in within 5 minutes and it was a bit noisy. But > the phone did nothing when they called, while I watched it, at 13:38. I > checked it again at 13:50 and it still indicated nothing. At 14:20, the > phone "rings" once then indicates a missed call at 13:38. > That's some kind of latency ... Your cell was busy. Not your phone, but the cell (constituting the geographic area covered by the provider's antennae) was max'd out. Your call went to voice mail, instead, because there was no frequency available to deliver the call to your phone. The delivery of notification of calls missed takes a low priority, so it takes a very long time to even get the notice that you "missed" your call. Instead, I should be getting a "we screwed up and couldn't get your call to you so we're going to refund a portion of your bill" notice, but so far, nada. Happens to me all the time. DaveC me@privacy.net This is an invalid return address. Please reply in the news group ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 06:24:48 PDT Subject: FCC in a Quandary Over VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Internet phone service is cheap, if it's not subject to access fees. By Jon Van Tribune staff reporter A former Ameritech executive believes he can deliver phone service through the Internet to low-income people for $5 a month. Dwayne Goldsmith, now chief of Detroit-based Inflexion Communications Corp., and his bargain-phone scheme embody the promise and peril of Internet telephony. Most experts agree that the technology, called voice over Internet protocol, is far cheaper and more feature rich than regular phone service. But the VoIP technology runs smack into a thicket of regulations, fees and taxes that dominate traditional phone service. If Inflexion's $5 service were subject to these regulations and fees, the cost structure wouldn't work. Many of those fees were established to promote universal phone service that helps the poor -- now they could prevent public housing residents from getting phones, Goldsmith said. "It doesn't make sense to collect all these dollars and then push them back to the very phone companies that failed to provide truly universal service," he said. Inflexion has asked the Federal Communications Commission to exempt its service from the system of subsidized payments that characterizes traditional phone service. So-called access fees typically paid by long-distance companies like AT&T Corp. to local phone companies like SBC Communications Inc. were instituted decades ago to keep local phone service rates low. But Inflexion's ultralow rates won't be possible if it is subject to access fees, Goldsmith argues. Goldsmith wants to supply high-speed Internet connections to densely occupied housing projects in Detroit, offering phone service as a Web-based application, much like e-mail. Residents who have computers could access the Internet from Inflexion's system, but others without computers would be supplied with phones to use Internet telephony. Inflexion would avoid the expense of billing and metering the service by selling communications in bulk to landlords who could add $5 a month to rent to cover costs, he said. FCC Chairman Michael Powell has called for "lightly regulated" Internet telephony, and Congress recently approved extending a tax moratorium on Internet services. But whether the FCC will grant Inflexion's plea to avoid traditional phone fees is unknown. Last month the FCC unanimously turned down a request from AT&T Corp. that would exempt it from paying traditional access charges on calls that use VoIP technology. "This is a landscape that's very treacherous and exciting," said David Roddy, managing director of the telecom practice at FTI Consulting Inc. "You're dealing with policy issues -- not light regulation versus heavy. Do the states give up billions in revenue they get from taxing phone service?" Rural firms wield clout If access fees go uncollected, rural phone companies will face serious financial trouble, he said, and they have considerable clout with Congress. David Siddall, a Washington lawyer who specializes in communications and a former FCC staffer, said that the agency is truly in a quandary over what to do with VoIP. Neither Siddall nor Roddy expect action from the FCC until next year. In the absence of specific rulings, VoIP companies tend to be unregulated. Vonage, a leading Internet phone provider with more than 100,000 customers, for instance, pays no access fees. "Right now VoIP is a small dribble and doesn't make much difference," said Siddall. "But the FCC recognizes that as this continues, the current system will be harmed." Roddy said that the telecom industry is headed for a "perfect storm," led by VoIP's disruptive technology. VoIP customers must have a broadband connection to make voice calls, and today most consumers get broadband either over a DSL phone line or a cable modem. But more choices are on the horizon. Wireless broadband using a standard called WiMax should become available next year, and most electric utilities are experimenting with technology to bring broadband to their customers, Roddy said. "We're about to see true competition to provide broadband, and VoIP is the key to the whole play," he said. Internet telephony's economics are so attractive that the technology will spread no matter what regulators do, said Jim Hart, senior vice president with the Burwood Group Inc. "Businesses are adopting this technology," Hart said. "It's ready for prime time. The bottom line is there." Regulators have pushed for reducing access fees and their cross-service subsidies for years, and they have become less important for large carriers like SBC and Verizon Communications. But access fees are still a major part of the revenue flow to many rural phone carriers. TDS plans market trials An important carrier is Chicago-based Telephone and Data Systems Inc., which serves more than 1 million wired phone customers, mostly in small towns and rural areas, through its TDS Telecom unit. "We're certainly looking at VoIP," said David Wittwer, chief financial officer of TDS Telecom. "We plan to do a couple of small market trials to understand how we may offer it to our customers." Industry groups are trying to build a consensus of how the existing system of intercarrier compensation should be revised, said Kevin Hess, TDS' vice president for regulatory affairs. "Clearly, changes will be made," he said. "It cannot stay the way it's done today." Inflexion's Goldsmith agrees. "We need to adjust regulation so that it matches the technological landscape," he said. Copyright (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune *** 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, Chicago Tribune Company. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #253 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun May 23 03:08:05 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4N785d27887; Sun, 23 May 2004 03:08:05 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 03:08:05 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405230708.i4N785d27887@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 #254 TELECOM Digest Sun, 23 May 2004 03:07:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 254 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Western Union Public Telegraph Offices (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: To Record in HD is a Step Closer to Techie Heaven (Paul Vader) Test-Driving a Cellular GPS Service (Monty Solomon) Re: Now, Two-Thirds of All E-mail is Spam (jmeissen@aracnet.com) The Efax Fax Police Are After Me!!! (Carl Navarro) Mobile IM Survey (T Green) Licensed vs. Unlicensed in Cartoon Format (Tony P.) Cordless Phone Features (Harvey Krodin) Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? (John R Levine) 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: Sun, 23 May 2004 00:36:34 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices Here is another historical look at Western Union, a company which was known throughout the USA during the first half of the 20th Century. During the period 1900 through about 1969, when Western Union was at its height, a very common feature in every town in America was the public telegraph office. In larger cities, there were offices before that time, but they became pretty much standardized in appearance around the start of the twentieth century. Typically they were very ornate places, with marble top writing desks for public use, a marble top counter where the clerk(s) could be found, high back plush chairs for people to sit in while waiting for telegrams, often times rather plush thick carpeting, spitoons near the chairs, a Western Union clock and overhead fans to cool the air. Air conditioning was essentially unheard of, although a few offices had it in the 1950-60's. At each of the public writing tables, a supply of blank writing paper for customer use in printing out the messages they wished to send and at each desk, one or two fountain pens for their use in their compositions, etc. The phone (some prefix-4321) was always ringing it seemed, since in most offices (except the very large ones like Chicago) one of the clerk's duties in addition to waiting on the customers was to answer the phone and take dictation from someone calling in a telegram they wished to send. In Chicago at least, they had a 'phone room' with clerks assigned to taking messages over the phone, but in smaller towns, and especially the 'agencies' (those small town places where the the WUTCO company did not actually own the business but none the less kept a sort of tight control over the commission agent who did own it) the hapless clerks (usually one per shift) had to do it all. A short distance back from the clerks behind the counter sat the telegaph machines, ordinarily two or three large teletype machines in smaller offices and perhaps five or six machines in busier places. The machines were all wired in a 'hunt group' so that if one machine was in use and another message came in or was being sent it would 'hunt' to the next machine automatically. The 'telegraphers' worked back there, and had little or nothing to do with the public out in front. The clerks were the intermediaries. When you, the customer, approached the counter with a message to be sent, the clerk would take over. Like a school teacher examining a student's composition, she would read it over. Any words which were not clear to her, she would ask you, "what is this word here?" You told her, then she took a red pencil, drew a circle around the word in question and clearly printed it in the margin. There was always a din of noise in the background from the mechanical teletype machines working. Only on very rare occassions would all the machines stop at once for a few seconds while nothing was being sent or received and there would be almost dead silence in the room. Then just as quickly as they stopped, within a few seconds or maybe a minute, you would hear a 'whirr' noise as a motor started running, the gears would engage and one of the machines would start up again, delivering another soap opera like story for someone, somewhere. In most offices there would be one or two telegraphers in back, sitting in rolling chairs with wheels; they would roll themselves from one machine to the next, to supervise the input which was on rolls of paper. Maybe one telegrapher mainly did outgoing traffic while the other guy did mostly incoming traffic. There was no certain way. Meanwhile, the harassed clerk would alternate between phone calls from the public sending messages and the 'walk up' customers at the counter. Western Union had a policy that a walk up customer with cash in hand *always* was to take priority over a phone call, so often times the phone would ring off the hook while the clerk finished waiting on the customer at the counter. After the phone had rang often enough, the clerk would reach over it, respond with the single word 'Hold' and set the phone down on the counter until she was able to give it her attention a few seconds or a minute later. In finishing with the customer at the counter, after editorially proof-reading the message and making suggestions to the custmer such as "if we cut this word here and that word there, then you will get the whole thing in fifteen words, and that will cost eighty-five cents." The customer would generally agree with that, and give her the eighty-five cents or whatever. The clerk would then put the money in the cash box, and quickly stamp indicia all over the back side of the blank. Clop! the date and time. Clop! Her clerk's number. Clop! a serial number for the whole thing. Clop!Clop!Clop! all in two or three seconds. Then she would put it on a spindle behind her from which the telegraphers would take it, examine it and send it over the wires. There was another spindle next to it which was for incoming wires and as the telegraphers put things there, the clerk would reverse the process: stamp it in with her indicia, copy the serial number in a log book and then fold the telegram and put it in an envelope, then call the name out to the waiting room people: "Is Mr. Johnson here waiting for a message?" If Mr. Johnson was there waiting he walked up to get his message. Folding the message paper and putting it in an envelope was intended as a matter of courtesy and privacy to the customer. If Mr. Johnson was not there, then the sealed in an envelope message was put for the messenger boy to take out. The clerks could turn smiles and tears ond off by the minute, depending on the customer they were with at the time. One minute, a message would arrive telling someone that Grandma had died. The clerk would announce the name, and the man and his wife who had been there waiting for message approached the counter; the clerk gave them the sealed envelope, the man opened it and read it then showed it to his wife. The clerk would appear to be on the verge of tears herself and note, "I am really sorry to hear the news" as the man clutched his wife's hand and they turned to walk away. Or maybe she would suggest, "if you want to send a ten word response back to them letting them know if you will be going to the funeral service, if you do that while you are here, it will just cost fifty cents for overnight delivery." Then the next happy man and wife who came to the counter had a message to be sent to their family announcing that Junior had graduated from high school. The same clerk would beam with pleasure as she would congratulate the parents saying, "It sounds like Junior is a really smart kid." And thats the way they went all day: smile, cry, smile, cry, depending on who they were dealing with. And always the constant din in the background from the teletypes as they banged their keys and told yet another story, the occassional minute or so of silence as all the machines went silent for a few seconds and there was just the ticking of the Western Union Clock and the whir of the overhead fans and then suddenly some gears somewhere would engage and a machine would start chattering again, with another story to tell. And both the telegraphers and the clerks (although sometimes on the overnight shift there was only one person who worked counter and the machines) were sworn to **absolute secrecy** about the messages they handled. FCC regulations about privacy in communiations required that and every employee was required to sign a form to that effect when they were first employed by the company. There were, in those days, any number of illiterate Americans. Unlike today, where a college education is the norm, and a person with high school is more and more a rarity, fifty to seventy-five years ago, a high school education meant a lot and there were (ufortunatly) many Americans -- especially in some rural areas and in much of the southern states who could not read or write; to put it politely, they were functionally illiterate. This was especially true of racial minorities in large cities, many of whom had migrated from rural areas of the south. When these people came into the Western Union office, the clerks had to help them if they could. A man might stand at the public writing desk and make scratch marks with the pen (to preseve his own dignity) then go up to the counter and ask the clerk "I do not know for sure what I want to say, can you help me?" Or maybe there was an incoming message and upon announcement of the name, a person would come up to the counter to get the message and their excuse always was "I seem to have forgotten to bring my reading glasses, can you tell me what this says." In which case the clerk would open the sealed envelope (which she had just finished sealing, and read it to the customer. But in those cases, where the customer needed assistance in writing his message or having his message read to him, the clerk was required to add an extra indicia on the back side giving the date and saying in words like this: "My name is (name), I am employed by Western Union Telegraph Company in the (name of city) public office. I was requested by (customer name) to assist in reading/composing this message." And the customer requesting this had to put his own mark or scratch marks for his name there. This was their protection in the event there were any questions later asked. Now and again, however, the low pay the clerks/telegraphers received and the lack of respect they received from the management put them in a strike mood. Next week in this space we will discuss one or two of the work stoppages by telegraphers to protest their working conditions. PAT ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: To Record in HD is a Step Closer to Techie Heaven Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 21:03:41 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations Monty Solomon writes, quoting Jonathan Bloom: > The activity on the TiVo Community Forum, a blog linked to, but not > operated by, the company, illustrates the frenzy. There are over > 60,000 registered bloggers, 167,000 threads, and 1.8 million posts. Since when is a web-board a blog? One would think words like 'thread' and 'forum' would have tipped the writer off. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 17:07:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Test-Driving a Cellular GPS Service By WALTER S. MOSSBERG Navigation systems based on the government's Global Positioning System satellites have become increasingly popular. But they require specialized gear -- either expensive modules permanently installed in a car, or dedicated devices you must remember to carry. But what if you could get GPS navigation in a gadget that's with you all day anyway -- your cellphone? Now, you can. Nextel is now offering cellphones that include a GPS navigation service from a Sunnyvale, Calif., outfit called Televigation Inc. Phones with this service, called TeleNav, display detailed information about your current location, including street names and the direction in which you're headed, as well as large arrows telling you where to turn next and how far you'll have to drive before making that turn. You can even have the directions announced out loud, just like the fancy built-in car GPS systems. My assistant Katie Boehret tested TeleNav this week around Washington, with decidedly mixed results. She found that the system presented directions in an easy-to-follow format, but it was frustratingly inaccurate at times and slow compared with in-car or hand-held systems. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20040519.html ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Now, Two-Thirds of All E-mail is Spam Date: 22 May 2004 21:41:45 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > Spam last month accounted for two-thirds of all e-mail traffic, > according to e-mail monitoring firm MessageLabs Inc. Things are even > worse in the United States, where spam accounted for more than one in > five e-mails, according to Message Labs. Huh? The last time I checked, 20% was less than 66%, not greater than. > http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5032714/ The posting misquoted the article, which actually states,"... in the United States, where spam accounted for more than four in five e-mails" John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com [TEELCOM Digest Editor's Note: I definitly know that is the case here many days, like today, for example, where the spam was coming in much faster than I could get it all erased. Many days the Digest mailbox is 90-95 percent spam. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 22:13:34 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com Well it finally happened. I had two people send me 11+ pages of faxes and I just got a message of overuse on my Efax free account! They think I'm going to pony up $12.95 for montly service to keep my number. Wow, I wonder if they read the part about I was looking for a fax when I found them? So, any suggestions? I'm not paying real money per month for a service I use one or two times a month. And to think, all I wanted to do was save a step in having to scan a document into a file. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: verdantone@yahoo.com (T Green) Subject: Mobile IM Survey Date: 22 May 2004 20:34:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'd like your input on the future of Mobile IM. There is a survey at http://www.generationtext.us that is geared toward kids under 18, but all input is welcome. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Licensed vs. Unlicensed in Cartoon Format Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 03:55:14 GMT This illustrates the spectrum grab by big business oh so well. The CTIA comments in particular are interesting when one looks at the what is happening between an unlicensed user and licensed user in the BPL vs. Amateur Radio debacle. ------------------------------ From: hkrodin@hotmail.com (Harvey Krodin) Subject: Cordless Phone Features Date: 22 May 2004 20:59:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I've been in the market for a new cordless phone for months now, and I can't find a phone that has what I want. It seems every phone has one quirk or another that eliminates it from my list. So I decided to write down all the features I could think of. Here's the list, please add to it or pass it along to one of the manufacturers: 1. Base Unit a. Full duplex speakerphone b. Excellent audio c. 2.5mm jack for headset in base d. Corded handset e. Separate speaker and microphone volume control f. Mute button with lighted mute indicator g. Caller ID with name h. 100 programmable contacts Nokia mobile phone menu style access i. Programmed name replaces transmitted name when found in contact list j. Talking Caller ID with names in users voice for all contacts k. USB connection to PC for: i. Setup ii. Synchronization with Outlook Contact list iii. Synchronization with PC clock (optional) iv. PC-initiated calling v. Voice mail management l. PC need not be switched ON for phone to operate m. Clock appears on display at all times (12/24-hour format selectable) n. Clock is automatically updated with incoming call information. o. 20-number redial list; scrolling list appears on base display. p. Press-and-hold any numeric key for speed dialing up to 10 numbers q. Voice dialing for all contacts r. Extra modular jack for connecting PC's modem to phone line s. Handset paging (one/all) t. Handset Intercom (one/all) u. Wall mount option v. Battery for use during power outage w. Calling card info stored and automatically dialed if SEND key is held down. x. Live dial pad option 2. Handset(s) a. Excellent audio capability b. At least 100 ft. range, no disturbance from microwaves, wireless networks, etc. c. At least 4 handsets link to a single base d. Up to 4 handsets may be used simultaneously on a single active call e. Separate speaker and microphone volume control f. Passive noise-canceling microphone positioned near mouth g. Thick/Large enough to cradle with shoulder h. Belt clip i. Vibrating ringer option independent of ringer setting j. Selectable ring tones k. Uses base unit's contact list Nokia mobile phone menu style access l. Ability to edit/program base unit's contact information m. Voice mail access, independent of whether another handset is in use n. 20-number redial list appears on handset display. Common (or optionally independent) list on all handsets. o. Voice dialing (access to stored voice dialing in base unit). Programmable from handset. p. 2.5mm standard plug for headset q. Full duplex speakerphone r. Mute button with button on side of handset for easy access. s. Base unit and inter-handset paging / intercom t. Clock synchronized with base unit (time/format) u. Line in use indication, also works if PC modem is using phone line v. Clock visible at all times on display. w. Press and hold any numeric key for speed dialing up to 10 numbers (synchronized to base unit or individual option). x. Calling card automatically dialed if SEND key is held down. y. 3 programmable alarms with text message, snooze, and reset features. z. Keypad lock/unlock sequence (e.g., MENU + *) aa. AA NiMH rechargeable batteries 3. Digital Answering Machine a. Phone company voice mail audio quality b. Visible flashing indicator on base c. Visible indicator on all handset displays d. Number of new messages visible on both base and handset displays e. Controllable from base or any handset f. Minimum 15 minute conversation duration g. Single/all message erase ------------------------------ Date: 23 May 2004 00:00:15 -0400 From: John R Levine Subject: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? I'm going to a conference in Geneva in July, and it'd be nice to have a phone. What's the best way to do it? I have a Cingular tri-band phone, with one of the band being GSM. Cingular says they have roaming agreements with most of the GSM carriers in Europe, so if I put my GSM SIM card into a phone that works on Euro frequencies, it'll work there, albeit at rather high roaming rates. Cingular will sell me a Nokia 3100 "world" phone that works on GSM 1800, but 360 days out of the year I'm in North America where my current phone is just what I want and fits the car kit in my truck. Can I easily rent a phone when I get there, either an empty one into which I plug my SIM card, or one with its own card and a number I can use? Or should I rent one here before I go? Or something else? Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Mayor "I dropped the toothpaste", said Tom, crestfallenly. ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #254 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon May 24 14:51:56 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4OIpuR13225; Mon, 24 May 2004 14:51:56 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 14:51:56 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405241851.i4OIpuR13225@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 #255 TELECOM Digest Mon, 24 May 2004 14:51:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 255 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Should Regulators Treat Internet Phone Service Like a Phone? (VOIP News) Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers (Daveman750) WCPE and WFMT May Lose Satellite Carriage (Neal McLain) Saga Continues (was Re: Verizon Wireless Detail Missing) (Gordon Hlavenka) An Opportunity to Become A Wireless Professional (singhsagarsk) VOIP Tutorials - Choice Links For Learning VOIP (sitekeeper) Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! (Frank@nospam.biz) Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! (Fred Atkinson) Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Vonage Questions (charlie3) Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? (Gene S. Berkowitz) Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices (Frank@nospam.biz) Re: Test-Driving a Cellular GPS Service (Frank@nospam.biz) Re: Question About Verizon Home Voicemail (Dave Hauss) Re: 802.16(Wi-Max) (charlie3) Re: Jeff Pulver Statement on New York Public Service Commission (Al Gillis) Re: 5.8GHz 2 Line Phones (SELLCOM Tech support) The Fight Against Spam, Part 3 (Monty Solomon) Nortel Meridian Contractors Wanted (Bob Hoffman) 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: VOIP News Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 10:42:56 -0400 Subject: Should Regulators Treat Internet Phone Service Like a Phone? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0024_BC_WSJ--InternetTelephon&&news&newsflash-financial Should regulators treat Internet phone service like a phone or the internet? By MARK WIGFIELD The Associated Press The Wall Street Journal Internet phone service could be the next big thing in telecommunications, promising more competition, new high-tech features and free or low-cost calling to anywhere in the world. But first, regulators have to decide: Is it more Internet, or more telephone? The distinction could be critical to the fledgling service. Because while the telecommunications industry has a long history of heavy government intervention, Internet services have been only lightly regulated so far. Moreover, supporters of Internet calling say that subjecting the newcomer to the same kinds of strict rules that entrenched telephone companies operate under could strangle the infant in its cradle. State regulators and their backers argue that taking a laissez-faire approach to Internet calling threatens to weaken long-established consumer protections for telecommunications that exist only because of the regulators' stick. They want to ensure that services like 911 emergency calls and subsidies for rural service survive. The Federal Communications Commission, however, has signaled a clear interest in minimizing regulation of Internet telephony, known as voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP. In February, in response to a request from a tiny Melville, N.Y.-based VOIP provider, pulver.com Inc., the agency issued a ruling that said pulver's Free World Dialup and other similar VOIP services are to be considered interstate information services subject to FCC jurisdiction, not telecommunications services subject to much stricter state and federal regulation. The FCC's reasoning: Services like Free World Dialup use only broadband networks; unlike some other VOIP services, their calls never touch a traditional phone network. FCC Chairman Michael Powell further emphasized the agency's antiregulatory stance regarding these kinds of VOIP services by saying the agency will assert "significant authority to act if conflicts arise between state and federal law as a result of the (pulver) ruling." Full story at: http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0024_BC_WSJ--InternetTelephon&&news&newsflash-financial How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: dsimcha@yahoo.com (Daveman750) Subject: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers Date: 23 May 2004 18:38:53 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I would like to share DSL between 2 desktop computers. Is it possible, since I don't have a phone jack near either, to share DSL wirelessly by using 2 wireless adapters, one for each computer, and placing a wireless router near the phone jack across my house (well within range)? In other words, I would like all my computers to access my DSL wirelessly and to have no "main" computer. If so, how exactly would that work? Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 21:38:04 -0500 From: Neal McLain Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: WCPE and WFMT may lose satellite carriage. As I noted in my June 25, 2003 essay ("WFMT, Cable FM, and Classical Music" ), the company formerly known as United Video (now the UVTV distribution arm of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc.) relays WGN Superstation and two classical-music FM stations (WCPE Wake Forest and WFMT Chicago) via satellite, on Galaxy 5, Transponder 7: WGN Superstation video on the main channel. WGN Superstation audio on subcarriers. WCPE stereo audio on subcarriers at 5.58 and 6.12 MHz. WFMT stereo audio on subcarriers at 6.30 and 6.48 MHz. YUSA monaural audio a subcarrier at 6.80 MHz. On March 2, 2004, EchoStar (Dish Network) agreed to acquire several of Gemstar-TV Guide's assets, including the UVTV Distribution division ("EchoStar And Gemstar-TV Guide Sign License And Distribution, Asset Purchase, And Settlement Agreements" ). This acquisition closed on April 6, 2004 ("Gemstar-TV Guide Completes Previously Announced Sale of Assets to EchoStar" ). WGN-Superstation's owner (Tribune Company) has apparently decided to discontinue its uplink arrangement with UVTV. It's apparently building its own uplink facility, and plans to begin uplinking WGN Superstation as of the end of June. As far as I know, neither UVTV nor Tribune intends to continue uplinking any of those radio signals after that date. If that happens, neither WFMT nor WCPE will be available via satellite. WCPE is trying to find a berth on some other G5 transponder, or, failing that, on some other satellite. According to a message I received from Deborah Proctor, WCPE's station manager/chief engineer: > It appears that WGN is making a move to half-analog, half- > digital, and will need ALL of the transponder bandwidth. > Therefore, WCPE, WFMT, and Yesterday USA are out at the > end of June. > I've not talked with WFMT, but Y-USA and WCPE are very > worried. We serve a great deal of traffic via that here- > to-fore tried and true site. > I am under the impression that WFMT will take this as the > end and pursue it no more. WCPE will be left to fight the > battle until the last listener is served. I have not been able to get any information about what WFMT intends to do. Maybe Deborah Proctor is right: WFMT may just let the matter die. Neal McLain nmclain@annsgarden.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 00:16:23 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Saga Continues (was Re: Verizon Wireless "Detail Missing" New) The story so far: On my February Verizon Wireless bill, I was informed that my detail billing would be discontinued unless I called a certain 800 number by June 30. After June 30 I could order detail billing for $1.99/month. I did nothing. My March bill included detail billing, plus a charge of $5.00 for said detail. I called the 800 number and pushed all the right buttons, then called CS and got a credit for the $5.00. The April bill showed that credit, plus a $2.58 charge for "Detail billing -- partial month". I waited with breathless anticipation to learn what adventures might befall my May bill. Well, the May bill has arrived and here's the poop: The May bill includes another $5.00 credit for "Detail billing" under the "Adjustments" section. Last month, the credit showed as a negative charge under "Services". However, this bill does NOT include the call detail -- AND it includes $2.99/month for "Roadside Assistance". Oy. So I called them back. They don't know why there's no detail included; the computer says it should be there. They are sending me a duplicate bill and waiving the $6.00 fee. I will not be surprised if I discover the duplicate does not have call details either. WRT the Roadside Assistance charge: This service was given to me as a free promotion when I renewed in February. However the promotion was only for three months -- those months have now expired so I'm being charged. The Roadside Assistance never appeared on my bill until now because it was free. That's their story and they're sticking to it. Now the Roadside Assistance is (theoretically) canceled and the charge therefor has been (theoretically) credited to my account. I think I've been credited twice for the $5.00 Detailed Billing charge that I should only have been credited once for; this tends to make me believe the root problem is incompetence -- see http://www.jargon.net/jargonfile/h/HanlonsRazor.html I now await the duplicate May bill (with or without detail) and am giddy with impatience to learn what thrills will be packaged in my June bill. William Robison wonders, > Is this the point where you send a check for what you believe is > the correct balance, along with a note that you are cancelling > your service with them as they will not honor the contract? I think I will wait until I've seen my June bill, then summarize the whole process for our friends at http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/ with a copy sent to Verizon. For a number of reasons, I'd prefer to keep the Verizon service for now. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: singhsagarsk Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 13:44:33 -0000 Subject: An Opportunity to Become a Wireless Professional Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com India is emerging as one of the most important and exiting wireless markets in the world. The next two years will be decisive as the wireless market in India reaches its take off point. Another 70 million wireless subscribers are expected to be added by 2006, pushing up the total base to over 100 million. No other world market has seen this pace of development. United Technologies (A Division Of United Telecoms Limited, www.utlindia.com) offers you an opportunity to become a Telecom Professional. The course is backed up by a real time experience in our parent Company United Telecoms Limited. It's like Learning telecom from a telecom Company. Telecom Course Details (Wireless) Course Duration: 2 Months Batch Starts on: 31st May 2004. (Evening and weekend batches batches are also available for working professionals.) Target Audience: M.Tech, B.E, Diploma, MCA, Msc and Bsc (in Elecronics & Computer science) Course Contents Comprehensive Study on RF and Data communication Fundamentals Comprehensive design work on CELL PLANNING & overview of 1st and 2nd Generation technologies Descriptive study on the selected standard i.e. CDMA 2000 1x Code generation, Channel allocation, Forward (Uplink) and Reverse (Down)Link analysis, Call Processing, Handoffs, Power Control Hands-on experience in RF devices & CDMA Equipments (On site) Expertise in Network Planning using RF Tools CONTACT ADDRESS: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES No. 32, CMH ROAD (Above the Bata Show Room) INDIRANAGAR. Bangalore 38 Phone No's: 25212393 / 25254678 / 9886285226 Email: sanish@utltraining.com Visit us at: www.utltraining.com / www.utlindia.com ------------------------------ From: sitekeeper@intersyncsolutions.com (sitekeeper) Subject: VOIP Tutorials - Choice Links For Learning VOIP Date: 23 May 2004 12:21:31 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Free Access -- Resources for Learning VOIP Network Technologies. www.intersyncsolutions.com Great for: -students learning networking -professionals seeking information on networking technologies -businesses seeking to apply networking technologies Practical. Fresh Content - updated daily! Check it out! :-) ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 05:28:14 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Carl Navarro wrote: > Well it finally happened. I had two people send me 11+ pages of faxes > and I just got a message of overuse on my Efax free account! > They think I'm going to pony up $12.95 for montly service to keep my > number. Wow, I wonder if they read the part about I was looking for a > fax when I found them? > So, any suggestions? I'm not paying real money per month for a > service I use one or two times a month. And to think, all I wanted to > do was save a step in having to scan a document into a file. > Carl Navarro There's no free lunch. ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 12:40:07 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Well, Then don't sign up for a pay account. The worst they can do is shut down your free account. It's not like it is something that you are paying for. Police? Did you ask to see their badges or police ID? Did they have them? (yes, of course I am injecting a little bit of humor here, I don't mean to be negative. Put on a smiley face). I have an Efax account myself. I rarely get anything on it. But, it is there if I need it. If I were a traveling on business, it would be a great way to receive faxes regardless of where I was. When I was on a training trip in Denver, my office in Washington hit a major snag. Due to my paricular expertise, I was the only person who had a chance of getting it resolved (and it would've been a major disaster if it was not quickly addressed). As I was running across the countryside from radio site to radio site and not near a fax machine, it was a while before I got somewhere I could receive a fax with the data I needed. I couldn't begin making phone calls to appropriate people to begin a resolution process without it. Efax would've been great back then. Of course, that was at a time when not that many people had heard of the Internet and Efax probably wasn't yet around. By the way, does anyone know of an online fax service that allows you to paste text into a form, put a telephone number into a text box in that form, press submit, and have that fax go through? It is just that I send faxes so rarely (and since I have the free Efax account, I can't send faxes over that number), that I'd rather pay by the fax rather than by the month. Ciau for now. Fred On Sat, 22 May 2004 22:13:34 GMT, Carl Navarro wrote: > Well it finally happened. I had two people send me 11+ pages of faxes > and I just got a message of overuse on my Efax free account! > They think I'm going to pony up $12.95 for montly service to keep my > number. Wow, I wonder if they read the part about I was looking for a > fax when I found them? > So, any suggestions? I'm not paying real money per month for a > service I use one or two times a month. And to think, all I wanted to > do was save a step in having to scan a document into a file. > Carl Navarro ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 23:31:15 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! Carl Navarro wrote: > Well it finally happened. I had two people send me 11+ pages of faxes > and I just got a message of overuse on my Efax free account! I wouldn't worry about it. I've gotten this warning twice so far, each time the warning was followed by another message telling me the account had been closed -- yet my efax number continues to work just fine, months later. I mostly just get junk, which is the reason I signed up for it in the first place; why buy paper for junk faxes? Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 04:02:46 GMT Carl Navarro posted on that vast internet thingie: > Well it finally happened. I had two people send me 11+ pages of faxes > and I just got a message of overuse on my Efax free account! > They think I'm going to pony up $12.95 for montly service to keep my > number. Wow, I wonder if they read the part about I was looking for a > fax when I found them? > So, any suggestions? I'm not paying real money per month for a I hope I am not going too far in left field here but I found this awesome little program that creates PDF www.pdf995.com and it costs $9.95 (I bought the guy's whole thing for $19.95). For that you can print to this pdf printer and then it even opens an email for you to send it AND the pdf reader so you can be sure you are sending what you think you are. I do that instead of FAXing for just about everything these days. (I am in no way connected to them except as a happy customer. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: charlie@cdsdetroit.com (charlie3) Subject: Re: Vonage Questions Date: 23 May 2004 06:12:59 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I just tried the voip link test and got average results from my comcast cable connection. I have years of experience with internet voice chat. The principle one today is www.paltalk.com . It is designed to work adequately with decent dialup and mostly it does. May be a lot of the troubles with viop is the provider trying to use more bandwidth than really needed for a phone quality call. I'd rather have a reliable connection than stereo quality sound that skips and misses. May be the voip companies should allow the subscribers to choose what sound quality they want. ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 01:30:46 -0400 In article , johnl@iecc.com says: > I'm going to a conference in Geneva in July, and it'd be nice to have a > phone. What's the best way to do it? > I have a Cingular tri-band phone, with one of the band being GSM. > Cingular says they have roaming agreements with most of the GSM carriers > in Europe, so if I put my GSM SIM card into a phone that works on Euro > frequencies, it'll work there, albeit at rather high roaming rates. > Cingular will sell me a Nokia 3100 "world" phone that works on GSM 1800, > but 360 days out of the year I'm in North America where my current phone > is just what I want and fits the car kit in my truck. > Can I easily rent a phone when I get there, either an empty one into which > I plug my SIM card, or one with its own card and a number I can use? Or > should I rent one here before I go? Or something else? > Regards, > John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", > Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Mayor > "I dropped the toothpaste", said Tom, crestfallenly. In 2000 I rented a tri-band from Omnipoint (now Voicestream) for a trip to Europe. Renting it here was convenient, as I could make sure it was fully charged, I was able to put all my contact numbers into it, and I could give out the number to the people I was meeting ahead of time. --Gene ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 17:02:00 GMT In article , johnl@iecc.com says: > I'm going to a conference in Geneva in July, and it'd be nice to have a > phone. What's the best way to do it? > I have a Cingular tri-band phone, with one of the band being GSM. > Cingular says they have roaming agreements with most of the GSM carriers > in Europe, so if I put my GSM SIM card into a phone that works on Euro > frequencies, it'll work there, albeit at rather high roaming rates. > Cingular will sell me a Nokia 3100 "world" phone that works on GSM 1800, > but 360 days out of the year I'm in North America where my current phone > is just what I want and fits the car kit in my truck. > Can I easily rent a phone when I get there, either an empty one into which > I plug my SIM card, or one with its own card and a number I can use? Or > should I rent one here before I go? Or something else? In preparation for a vacation in Italy, just bought a world phone on eBay, and an Italian SIM card from www.cellularabroad.com. The latter will also sell or rent world GSM phones. They have SIM cards from many different countries. You would be best off with a SIM card from the country that you will be in, because local calls will be cheap and international calls may be less expensive than if using another country's SIM card, since you would not be roaming. This solution will be much less expensive than using your Cingular SIM card, which would probably cost you a few bucks a minute to use, even for local calls. And an in-country SIM card will also give you a local cellular number in the country, which you can give out to other conference attendees seeking to reach you in Geneva, give it to restaurants as the callback for reservations, etc. I was surprised at how inexpensive world phones are on eBay; lots of Sony Ericsson units being unloaded. Search for "unlocked GSM tri-band". Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 02:21:25 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > Here is another historical look at Western Union, a company which was > known throughout the USA during the first half of the 20th Century. > During the period 1900 through about 1969, when Western Union was at its > height, a very common feature in every town in America was the public > telegraph office. I don't recall much use of telegrams after nationwide direct distance dialing (DDD) was pretty much in place, which was the late 1950s. I suspect by 1965 WU was gasping for breath. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: An item in Business Week Magazine for August 27, 1960 entitled "Electronics Puts Young Blood in Old Company" is quoted in part here: > "Electronics Puts Young Blood in Old Company" > "When Walter P. Marshall (cover) stepped into the president's job at > Western Union in December, 1948, it looked as if his tenure might be > short and unhappy. Western Union, once the backbone of fast and > dependable long-distance communications in the United States, was, > quite plainly, a deathly sick old company. It was saddled with high > labor costs, old equipment, crushing debt, and local operations that > often cost more to run than they returned in gross revenue. > "Some Western Union executives were waiting for a declaration of > bankruptcy; many doubted that the company would survive to celebrate > its 100th anniversary in 1951. > "-Rejuvenation- But in the ensuing 10 years, Western Union not only > has pulled through, but it has thoroughly rejuvenated itself. Instead > of a winded oldster that could only look back at the days when its > competition was the Pony Express, it now resembles an electronics > adolescent with a bright and profitable future. The company's new > strength already is evident: Last year its revenues and earnings set > an all-time high. > "Western Union can be expected to keep on growing. In the next five > years, management hopes to spend $350-million on expansion. Next > year, the company plans to spend $105-million for plant and equipment > on top of $45-million this year. Completion of a transcontinental > microwave network will increase the system's circuit capacity 10 > times, and will add enormously to the range of services it can offer. > It will be able to provide increased telegraphic service, leased voice > channels, facsimile, closed-circuit television, and perhaps most > important of all, high-speed data processing channels that can > handle digital information at computer speeds. This next weekend, the Memorial Day holiday, I am going to reprint this entire article from Business Week magazine to show just how wrong WUTCO executives were about the company in 1960. And you know, just as in 1960 the business community was saying Western Union would rise again, I strongly suspect one of these days we are going to read about AT&T filing bankruptcy. Sounds unreal, doesn't it? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: Test-Driving a Cellular GPS Service Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 02:23:45 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Monty Solomon wrote: > By WALTER S. MOSSBERG > Navigation systems based on the government's Global Positioning System > satellites have become increasingly popular. But they require > specialized gear -- either expensive modules permanently installed in > a car, or dedicated devices you must remember to carry. But what if > you could get GPS navigation in a gadget that's with you all day > anyway -- your cellphone? Now, you can. General Motors has had that disaster they call OnStar for several years now. It is worthless as a navigation device and very poor as a locator service. The only merging of GPS and wireless that makes any sense is as a locator rather than a navigator. ------------------------------ From: dahauss@unlimitedsounds.com (Dave Hauss) Subject: Re: Question About Verizon Home Voicemail Date: 24 May 2004 05:25:55 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Yes I have it doing that now but its a pain to get a call every time there there is voicemail. I wish Verizon would add the feature like my BROADVOICE voicemail has where it will send an email with info such as caller ID and other info and I had it going to my cell phones text messaging. Temporary FL@L&ER wrote in message news:: > Unless I am mistaken, on 19 May 2004 11:41:56 -0700, > dahauss@unlimitedsounds.com (Dave Hauss) wrote: >> I have Verizon home voicemail and am trying to find out if there is >> any possible way I can have it sent a text message to my cell phone >> when a voicemail comes in. Right now, the only thing verizon told me >> it can do is ring a number when a voicemail comes in. I don't want it >> to do that. Any ideas? > If you have the enhanced home voice mail, you can have it dial your > cellphone -- don't think there is any way for it to do a speech-to-text > conversion. All it will do is call whatever number you program it to, > then it will *replay* the message over your cell. That's what you > have, not what you want, right? > Use the usual techniques if you wish to reply via email. > Molon Labe! ------------------------------ From: charlie@cdsdetroit.com (charlie3) Subject: Re: 802.16(Wi-Max) Date: 23 May 2004 13:50:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have some of the same questions you have. I've been searching for answers online same as you have. Besides the ones you raise, what about line of site restrictions. That is the major one that has limited widespread use of land based wireless broadband in urban areas. As you mention there is also supposed to be some unlicensed frequencies available as there is with WIFI. This should mean sooner or later there will be some consumer class equipment. Will this equipment perform better than WIFI? What's most interesting is I can't find the answers to these questions either. The test results blackout is so complete it is as though there has been no testing. Maybe WIMAX is bombing technically, not working as expected. Maybe the big players are dragging their feet because they can't find a way to control the technology as they might like. May be it is both. The reality is there is no WIMAX and my bet is there won't be for the foreseeable future, years to come, not because it can't be done but because the major companies don't want it to be done, yet. It might have been better to have the standards set by a noncommercial group who want the best system rather than the most profits. These are strange words for a person like me who is a self avowed moneygrubbing bloodsucking capitalist pig with no objections to people making money. In this case however the government controls these frequencies and has a responsibility to see if they are used for the public benefit. If you find quality information about WIMAX performance in the real world please pass it along, I'm interested too. ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Jeff Pulver Statement on New York Public Services Commission Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 19:44:51 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com wrote in message news:telecom23.252.7@telecom-digest.org: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The public servants do not like it when >> some kind of dam appears which plugs up their constant flow of money >> for their various petty projects. Did anyone ever notice how the more >> 'peoples-republic-like' our major cities and more populous states >> become, the more oppressive they also become on things like taxes and >> government regulation in general? California is one good example, New >> York and Chicago are two others. > California is a geographically very large state. Most of the > population is contained in well less than 50% of the physical area. > Some of the relatively empty areas are desert, but there are extensive > mountain and forest areas that are very rural. Of course, these folks > views are drowned out by the socialists that run the place. Years ago, just after a California election, my uncle, who lived in the town of Susanville in the north-east of that state, told me he was worried that California had no state senators from the northern part of the state. He said he was worried that with all the representation from the southern part they'd probably all vote to pave Northern California for use as a parking lot for the southern part! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My favorite take-off on this theme is an old comedy show now appearing on TV Land a few times each day called 'Green Acres' which takes place in a mythical town called 'Hooterville'. One day the main character in the show, Oliver Wendall Douglas, an attorney formerly in residence in New York City discovers that Hooterville has no representation in Congress, just loads of public servants who tax and regulate things in the little town as much as they can. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: 5.8GHz 2 Line Phones Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 03:53:48 GMT Pete Romfh posted on that vast internet thingie: > I've looked around a lot and haven't seen any either. With the number of > 802.11b sites in homes you'd think 5.8Ghz would be a logical option. We have a lot of folks going with the TMC ET4000 4 line wired phone system and then adding single line 5.8GHz Motorolas with it. It has great support for adding cordless phones to the system. It has a module that adds an analog port to the system so that a single line cordless can access all 4 lines incoming and outgoing. (That is what we are currently using at SELLCOM and I like it.) Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 12:06:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Fight Against Spam, Part 3 The Fight Against Spam, Part 3 by Francois Joseph de Kermadec Editor's note: In part one, F.J. focused on laying the foundation for an anti-spam strategy and he covered how to block most of your unwanted mail. Then in part two, he fine-tuned this strategy, plus he took a closer look at the technologies inside of Mail.app. Now in part three, the conclusion of this series, F.J. covers rules and additional tools and techniques you can use to avoid becoming buried in spam. http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/05/21/spam_pt3.html ------------------------------ From: "Bob Hoffman" Subject: Nortel Meridian Contractors Date: Sun, 24 May 2004 11:34:42 Organization: www.family-bbs.net [FamilyNet International] I am looking for a company in the Dallas Area that will provide contractors on an as needed basis to do moves adds and changes on an as needed basis. Thanks in advance. FamilyNet <> Internet Gated Mail http://www.fmlynet.org ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #255 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 25 00:24:05 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4P4O4a17412; Tue, 25 May 2004 00:24:05 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 00:24:05 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405250424.i4P4O4a17412@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 #256 TELECOM Digest Tue, 25 May 2004 00:24:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 256 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson The Strike Goes On (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Bye, bye Ma Bell - Internet Phones Give Land Lines Run for Money (Karl) Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices (Lisa Hancock) Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! (SELLCOM Tech Support) Re: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers (SELLCOM Tech) Re: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers (John Levine) Re: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers (Brad Houser) Re: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers (Gene S. Berkowitz) Re: Question About Verizon Home Voicemail (Shadrach) Port 25 Among First to Integrate Yahoo's Domain Keys Email (Monty Solomon) Time May Have Come For Ordering Channels a-la-carte (Monty Solomon) Best News in the War on Spam: Phishing (Monty Solomon) Re: Jeff Pulver Statement on New York Public Services Commission (Schaffra) Share Day for May (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 23:18:57 -0400 (EDT) From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: The Strike Goes On According to the Independence Reporter for Sunday, May 23, the labor dispute at SBC continues. There was a time in the United States when a strike at the telephone company meant bad news. Now, all it seems to amount to is a slight delay in getting an answer from Directory Assistance or the operator. Here at our central office in Independence, over at 6th and Maple, there was no sign of any action other than back on Friday (when the strike started) two guys with picket signs on the sidewalk in front for a short time, but then they went away and there was nothing. The other tenants, with co-location cages, came and went normally. Telco may just allow this strike to linger on and make no real effort to settle it anytime fast. What is the reaction/ response in other communities? My understanding is it is not just SBC on strike, but all the (remnants of) Baby Bells. PAT ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: Bye, bye Ma Bell - Internet Phones Give Land Lines Run for Money Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 15:56:55 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On 21 May 2004 11:19:35 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: Price is only one part of the equation. and the cost differential between VoIP and GSTN calls is getting smaller (e.g. for $20/month, SBC allows me to make an unlimited number of domestic voice calls.) VoIP services have to compete on features. For example, AT&T's CallVantage offers a 9-way conference bridge, and the ability to have a call ring up to five devices. Both of these features can be done on a landline, but I don't know of any providers who offer the multiple ring capability. IMO, VoIP will grow because the VoIP providers can add the features that customers want cheaply and quickly. >> I'd be more inclined to look into VOIP hype if there was a true apples >> to oranges comparison. How do costs stack up: Right now, I get a line from SBC with some custom features that make it similar to Vonage's offering. (voice mail, unlimited domestic calling plan, SBC redirect to operator/cellphone vs Vonage ringing two numbers at once). SBC comes in at about $88/month, Vonage is about $50/month before taxes, etc. Vonage gives me an additional fax line (but I have an Internet fax service for $3.95/month vs having to maintain a fax machine for the Vonage line). Vonage has cheaper international calls. Since I use this line for business, it has to work all the time, so I'm willing to pay for the higher quality of service offered by SBC. But that may change as VoIP providers get their QOS acts together. > 1) A recent post described VOIP quality as being "nearly" as good > as land line. Well, call me back when you get the quality > to be as good or _better_ than land line. How good is the quality of your land-line? I've had occasional voice quality problems on mine (static when it rains, etc). I've used Free World Dialup. Some calls are better than land-line, some are terrible. Its been better lately (they may have upgraded their servers, or I may have finally gotten the config right :-) Overall, its worth what I paid for it. VoIP is relatively new and great progress will be made on the quality issues; how good was the quality of long distance 10 years after the landline telephone was invented? > 2) If the company's internal data lines can accomodate the full > volume of telephone traffic, including peaks, at all times > with 24/7 reliability? Work is progressing on these issues. Many approaches to QOS have been proposed. As far as reliability, companies will pay for what they need, and not all the telephone traffic need to be high availability. 911 calls do, other calls may have lower priorities, and it may be ok to have, say, non-emergency calls from most employees at a lower priority (of course, accounts receivables and sales would have a higher priority ;-) > 3) If the VOIP had to support everyone in a city using it for > local and long distance telecom--would the data lines, trunks, > and routers be able to handle the peak volume load? > Time and time again I've seen a new technology touted but > could only handle laboratory loads and not real life loads. Fortunately, everyone in a city will move to VoIP at different rates, so the infrastructure will have a chance to grow. And yes, it will be able to support everyone in a city, IP scales as well as the GSTN does. Besides, right now many people in a city don't even have Internet access, so they wouldn't use VoIP. > 4) If VOIP included all the taxes and fees landline charges. The government can screw up just about anything (and generally does so). > 5) If VOIP included the social requirements of regulated telephone > service, such as the expense of filing tarrifs with the PUC > (a big job in itself), and providing universal service to > unprofitable and non-paying customers, and other public service > obligations the regulated companies must meet. - I don't care if a bunch of tariffs are filed if I can quickly switch to a lower-cost provider. - Why should those who use the phone the most (i.e. businesses) pay to give phone service to people who can't afford their services? - public service obligations? Many people in the world today do not have a phone. Plenty of people lived before phones were invented. If the non-paying customers require a phone, shouldn't this burden be born by all (and be paid for by the state), rather than by the people who use the phone the most? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But really, Lisa, why does traditional > telephony have to carry the burden it does these days? Why shouldn't > there be some telecom reform in 2004 which grossly eliminated about > ninety percent of all the garbage sent through on telephone bills? PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices Date: 24 May 2004 12:10:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > Here is another historical look at Western Union, a company which was > known throughout the USA during the first half of the 20th Century. Thank you for putting this out. Please keep them coming. > Typically they were very ornate places, with marble top writing > desks for public use, a marble top counter where the clerk(s) could > be found, In 1979, the Western Union office in my town was not ornate. It had a very spartan seedy lobby, and the clerk was located behind a thick glass window. An office near Lake St in Chicago around that time had a similar appearance. I understand by 1975 the bulk of WU's business was money transfers. Soon after it closed and business was handled by an agent. > There were, in those days, any number of illiterate Americans. Another source was immigrants, who either couldn't read/write English or couldn't read/write at all. From what I've read, I sense that much of today's money transfer business, along with WU's other target markets, is for low-income people who may not have normal checking accounts or credit cards and deal solely in cash. > Now and again, however, the low pay the clerks/telegraphers received > and the lack of respect they received from the management put them in > a strike mood. Next week in this space we will discuss one or two of > the work stoppages by telegraphers to protest their working conditions. According to the Oslin book labor troubles were a factor in WU's demise. Union pressures forced the elimination of telegraph boys and staff cutbacks. I knew someone who worked in one of their computer centers around 1975 and she reported the job paid very well for the type of work, but was very closely monitored. The computer checked every keystroke and counted all errors as well as tracking time away such as in the restroom. Unfortunately, in some companies labor-mgmt deteriorates so low that it becomes a lose-lose. Each side digs in their heels and becomes unreasonable. Such places end up closing altogether. I don't think the Bell System generally ever had such severe labor problems, but the Bell System had an ever expanding business instead of a contracting one. I understand that generally Bell had Western Electric employees suffer layoffs in soft times as opposed to in the operating companies. Of course now the desendant Bell companies have unionized employees while the competitors don't. The RBOCs created new subsidiaries that are not union, and try to shift as much work over as possible. I once had an installer come out who was a contractor (not a Verizon employee -- his truck had the Verizon sign just taped on as opposed to painted on.) He was rude and slovenly. I contested and received credit for his charges afterwards. In the meantime, the CWA (Communications Workers of America) have sought to unionize workers in new industries. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: By 1979, there was nothing of any significance left to the old Western Union empire. And on Lake Street in Chicago, a very racially diverse neighorhood where the citizens would murder your mother and attack you for the change or food stamps in your purse, Western Union money transfer agents were not the only business places to have thick, bullet proof glass over their cashier windows in those days, and even today, 25 years later, it stays that way. Lisa, I am curious; what were YOU doing on West Lake Street, during the seventies or anytime since? The main Western Union Building downtown *was* nice at one point; the last time I walked past in the middle nineties (when I was strongly thinking about checking out of Chicago once and for all), the building was not in good condition, and where the public office on the first floor had been was a currency- change looking place with two or three windows (again, behind thick glass) for money transfers. The building was otherwise mostly boarded up and abandoned. And speaking of unionized employees, the telcos are on strike as I write this, and I do not think it will end anytime soon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 20:10:35 GMT Gordon S. Hlavenka posted on that vast internet thingie: > I mostly just get junk, which is the reason I signed up for it in the > first place; why buy paper for junk faxes? Well, I find that saving them up and about once a month sending them with a cover letter to the FCC Enforcement Divsion gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. FCC Enforcement Telecommunications 445 12st St SW Washington, DC 20554 Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 20:14:03 GMT dsimcha@yahoo.com (Daveman750) posted on that vast internet thingie: > I would like to share DSL between 2 desktop computers. Is it > possible, since I don't have a phone jack near either, to share DSL > wirelessly by using 2 wireless adapters, one for each computer, and > placing a wireless router near the phone jack across my house (well > within range)? In other words, I would like all my computers to > access my DSL wirelessly and to have no "main" computer. If so, how > exactly would that work? I do it. Just buy a wireless router (G is best these days) to plug into your DSL / Cable thingie with the Ethernet cable (may require crossover cable). And then get wireless thingies for the computers. We just do it here for laptops but it is the same idea. Take a few moments and learn how to secure your setup. The mac address thing is a good idea and the WEP. Don't set up any security until you get it working without it. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Date: 24 May 2004 21:01:58 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I would like to share DSL between 2 desktop computers. Is it > possible, since I don't have a phone jack near either, to share DSL > wirelessly by using 2 wireless adapters, one for each computer, and > placing a wireless router near the phone jack across my house The router, which you can get for about $30 when they're on sale at places like Best Buy, connects to the DSL modem. The two computers have WiFi adapters. Works great. I'd suggest changing the SSID in the router to something other than the default and set a password, so passing tourists can't share your network. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ From: Brad Houser Subject: Re: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 15:30:56 -0700 Organization: Intel Corporation Daveman750 wrote in message news:telecom23.255.2@telecom-digest.org: > Hi, > I would like to share DSL between 2 desktop computers. Is it > possible, since I don't have a phone jack near either, to share DSL > wirelessly by using 2 wireless adapters, one for each computer, and > placing a wireless router near the phone jack across my house (well > within range)? In other words, I would like all my computers to > access my DSL wirelessly and to have no "main" computer. If so, how > exactly would that work? A wireless router will do what you want. It connects to the DSL modem. Your 2 desktops will receive an IP address from the router. You will connect to the router, and give it the DSL logon information, and then both computers will see the internet. Make sure the wireless adapters you purchase for the desktops have PCI card adapters. Brad Houser ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Sharing DSL Wirelessly w/o Hardwiring Any Computers Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 23:21:20 -0400 In article , dsimcha@yahoo.com says: > Hi, > I would like to share DSL between 2 desktop computers. Is it > possible, since I don't have a phone jack near either, to share DSL > wirelessly by using 2 wireless adapters, one for each computer, and > placing a wireless router near the phone jack across my house (well > within range)? In other words, I would like all my computers to > access my DSL wirelessly and to have no "main" computer. If so, how > exactly would that work? > Thanks. Yes, this is a common approach. The only device that needs to physically plug into the phone line is the DSL modem. It doesn't have to be right at the jack either, you can run a long phone cable to it. The modem will have an RJ45 Ethernet jack. Connect the wireless router to the modem. It may be necessary (depending on the router) to physically connect your PC to it for configuration purposes; once configured, you can connect via wireless. The router is a DHCP server, which means it will hand out IP addresses to PCs that connect to it automatically. --Gene ------------------------------ From: Shadrach Subject: Re: Question About Verizon Home Voicemail Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 22:46:07 -0500 Reply-To: w9vhe@arrl.net Unless I am mistaken, on 24 May 2004 05:25:55 -0700, dahauss@unlimitedsounds.com (Dave Hauss) wrote: > Yes I have it doing that now but its a pain to get a call every time > there there is voicemail. I wish Verizon would add the feature like > my BROADVOICE voicemail has where it will send an email with info such > as caller ID and other info and I had it going to my cell phones text > messaging. > Temporary FL@L&ER wrote in message > news:: >> Unless I am mistaken, on 19 May 2004 11:41:56 -0700, >> dahauss@unlimitedsounds.com (Dave Hauss) wrote: >>> I have Verizon home voicemail and am trying to find out if there is >>> any possible way I can have it sent a text message to my cell phone >>> when a voicemail comes in. Right now, the only thing verizon told me >>> it can do is ring a number when a voicemail comes in. I don't want it >>> to do that. Any ideas? >> If you have the enhanced home voice mail, you can have it dial your >> cellphone -- don't think there is any way for it to do a speech-to-text >> conversion. All it will do is call whatever number you program it to, >> then it will *replay* the message over your cell. That's what you >> have, not what you want, right? >> Use the usual techniques if you wish to reply via email. >> Molon Labe! It would seem that VZ is using a different type VM system than Broadvoice. Most of the ones I was familiar with were from Digital Sound. Don't think they had the speech to text boards out yet. Use the usual techniques if you wish to reply via email. Molon Labe! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 23:37:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Port25 Among First to Integrate Yahoo's DomainKeys Email Port25 Among First to Integrate Yahoo's DomainKeys Email Authentication Technology ELLICOTT CITY, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2004-- Port25 Demonstrates Commitment to Make it Easy for Senders to Adopt the Latest Anti-Spam Standards Port25 Solutions Inc., a leading provider of e-mail delivery software, announces that it has successfully integrated DomainKeys support into PowerMTA(TM), its intelligent e-mail delivery gateway product. Yahoo's (NASDAQ:YHOO) DomainKeys is a cryptographic authentication system that allows receivers of email to verify the identity an email sender and will help combat common spamming techniques. Port25 is the first company to announce its implementation of the current DomainKeys specification. Organizations interested in evaluating PowerMTA(TM) and/or learning more about our support for DomainKeys should visit http://www.port25.com/domainkeys . - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41611895 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 23:55:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Time May Have Come For Ordering Channels a la carte Page 1B Time may have come for ordering channels a la carte Congress, consumers push for paying only for what you want By Michael McCarthy USA TODAY Cara Cooper-Padilla is fed up with ever-higher bills for cable/satellite TV service to get the channels she wants -- along with dozens more she never watches. "Cable should be like ordering sushi, where you check off what you want on a menu," says the wife, mother and teacher from Torrance, Calif. "Give me a list of all the channels that you're offering -- then I'll check off what I want to pay for." Count Cooper-Padilla, 33, among a growing body of cable and satellite customers and consumer advocates demanding that pay TV companies be forced to offer so-called 'a la carte' pricing to give subscribers more control over bills. This model would price channels individually and let consumers buy the ones they want, as opposed to the industry practice of offering a few 'tiers' of progressively more expensive all-or-none packages. No U.S. pay-TV provider offers channels a la carte, and such demands have gone unheard in the past. But in the post-Janet-Jackson era of decency backlash, conservative and family advocacy groups have added their voices, seeing such 'channel choice' as a way to keep smut out of the family room. This coming together of groups that might disagree on everything but their pay TV bills -- along with the fact that cable or satellite TV is in about 88% of the nation's 108 million TV homes -- has caught bipartisan attention on Capitol Hill and brought at least saber-rattling about mandating more channel choice. http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040524/6226831s.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 00:09:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Best News in the war on Spam: Phishing UPGRADE Best news in the war on spam: phishing By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff The Internet continues to serve up a steady diet of rancid fare -- first spam, and now phish. You've heard of phishing by now; indeed, most active e-mailers have already received a few dozen helpings of the stuff. Phishing is the up-and-coming Internet ripoff technique that takes spamming one nasty step further. The phishers are scam artists who have designed e-mail messages that seem to come from legitimate businesses -- banks, credit card companies, online retailers. Anybody with some skill in Web page design can whip up an e-mail that looks like it really was sent from eBay or Citibank. And if they also know about e-mail 'spoofing,' they can add a phony but legitimate-looking return address. The message will generally contain a warning. Your account is overdrawn or may have been accessed by thieves. To be on the safe side, the company has deactivated the account. To get it started again, click on the Web link and fill out the very legitimate-looking form that appears on your screen. You're asked for information that proves who you are -- not just your account number, but also your Social Security number or driver's license number; and perhaps numbers from other bank accounts and credit cards. Of course, all of this data is relayed to crooks who will use it to empty out your savings or create false identity documents. It's a clever trick that often snookers people who are too smart to fall for other forms of spam. Indeed, the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of businesses and law enforcement agencies, estimates that this gimmick works on about 5 percent of those who get the e-mails. That's far better than the success rate for traditional spamming. Besides, regular spammers just sell a bottle of phony weight-loss pills for $50; phishermen can steal every cent you own. No wonder phishing is the next big thing in Internet crime. The APWG will release a report today that says the numbers of recorded phishing attacks rose 180 percent between March and April. Each attack represents a stream of thousands or millions of phony messages, each seeking sensitive financial data. In April, APWG counted over 37 million such outbreaks daily. All the crooks need is a few dozen suckers a day, and they could rake in millions. All in all, it's the best news yet in the war on Internet junk mail. Yes, you heard right: It's good news. Here's why. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/05/24/best_news_in_the_war_on_spam_phishing/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 01:29:49 GMT From: Schaffrath Subject: Re: Jeff Pulver Statement on New York Public Services Commission Organization: Total Disorganized > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My favorite take-off on this theme is > an old comedy show now appearing on TV Land a few times each day > called 'Green Acres' which takes place in a mythical town called > 'Hooterville'. One day the main character in the show, Oliver Wendall > Douglas, an attorney formerly in residence in New York City discovers > that Hooterville has no representation in Congress, just loads of > public servants who tax and regulate things in the little town as > much as they can. PAT] ... and just to interject a little telecom back into this thread; the motto of the Hooterville Telephone Company was "ervice is ur mott" (it was "Latin" according to County Agent Hank Kimball). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 23:21:28 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For May Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 00:00:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #256 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 25 14:20:02 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4PIK2l25846; Tue, 25 May 2004 14:20:02 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 14:20:02 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405251820.i4PIK2l25846@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 #257 TELECOM Digest Tue, 25 May 2004 14:20:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 257 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #434, May 25, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) Pulver Gets Trademark for FWD (VOIP News) FTS to Begin Offering Customers Bundled Wi-Fi and VoIP (VOIP News) VoIP Goes Mobile (VOIP News) Free World Dialup Selects eDial for Enhanced IP Telephony (VOIP News) Brix Networks Expands and Enhances Its Free VoIP Quality (VOIP News) Vonage Has First Mover Advantage, But It's Not Your Fathers (VOIP News) Lucent Bids Over $300m for Marlborough's Telica (VOIP News) 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: Tue, 25 May 2004 11:09:27 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #434, May 25, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 434: May 25, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell Moves to Block MTS-Allstream Deal ** Microcell Board Rejects Telus Bid ** CRTC Says Do-Not-Call List Requires New Law ** AT&T Rejects Rogers' Buy-Back Offer ** Sprint to Test Voice on Wireless Broadband ** CLEC Business Customers Can Get Telco DSL ** Telus Loses Labour Ruling ** Industry Group Creates Telecom R&D Fund ** Bell May Offer DSL over Dry Copper ** Telus Mobility Promises GSM Roaming ** UBS Chair to Head Look ** Navigata Wins Northern B.C. Broadband Contract ** Deferral Account Proposals Filed ** Nortel Hit by Class Action Suits ** Ipsos-Reid Plans Call Centre Awards ** Bell Buys Call Centre Integrator ** IBM, Cisco to Cooperate on IP Communications ** Managing Performance in Wireless LANs ============================================================ BELL MOVES TO BLOCK MTS-ALLSTREAM DEAL: Bell Canada has asked the Ontario Superior Court for an injunction to prevent MTS from proceeding with its acquisition of Allstream. (See Telecom Update #425) Bell says the deal violates the terms of its strategic-alliance agreements with MTS, including a commitment not to set up sales operations in each others' territories. ** MTS says it believes Bell has no basis for interfering with the transaction, and it will "vigorously defend against this injunction." ** The Court will hear Bell's application, and MTS's motion that the case should not be heard in Toronto, on May 31. The MTS-Allstream deal is scheduled to close on June 1. MICROCELL BOARD REJECTS TELUS BID: Microcell's Board of Directors has urged shareholders to reject Telus's unsolicited offer to buy the wireless carrier's shares. The Board says the offer is too low and subject to inappropriate conditions, and that other bidders may submit more attractive offers. ** If it acquires Microcell, Telus will own more radio spectrum than allowed under current regulations. One of its conditions of purchase is that Industry Canada must waive the spectrum cap rules. CRTC SAYS DO-NOT-CALL LIST REQUIRES NEW LAW: In Telecom Decision 2004-35, the CRTC says there is "considerable merit" in the establishment of a national do-not-call list for telemarketers, but that new legislation is required to fund the system and to allow imposition of fines for violations. ** The Decision strengthens current rules for company- specific do-not-call lists, requires users of predictive dialers to restrict dropped calls, and expands tracking of complaints. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2004/dt2004-35.htm AT&T REJECTS ROGERS' BUY-BACK OFFER: AT&T Wireless has rejected Rogers Communications' offer of $31/share to buy back AT&T's 34% interest in Rogers Wireless. AT&T can now seek other buyers, but cannot sell the shares for less than the price Rogers offered, and cannot sell more than a 5% stake to any single buyer. (See Telecom Update #431) SPRINT TO TEST VOICE ON WIRELESS BROADBAND: Sprint Canada plans to test the wireless broadband service provided by the Inukshuk/Allstream/NR joint venture, to see if it is suitable for residential primary-line voice and Internet services. The trial will take place over the next several months in north Toronto. CLEC BUSINESS CUSTOMERS CAN GET TELCO DSL: CRTC Telecom Order 2004-34 rules that Bell, Aliant, SaskTel, and Telus cannot refuse to provide DSL service to business customers who obtain telephone service from a competitor, if the customer would otherwise qualify for DSL. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2004/dt2004-34.htm TELUS LOSES LABOUR RULING: The Canadian Industrial Relations Board has ruled that Telus Mobility and Telus Communications are a single employer, so formerly non-unionized Telus Mobility employees in Ontario and Quebec are now represented by the Telecommunications Workers Union. Telus says it will appeal. INDUSTRY GROUP CREATES TELECOM R&D FUND: The Montreal-based International Institute of Telecommunications says its new "pre-competitive R&D Consortium" will spend about $50 million over the next five years supporting advanced telecommunications research. Members include Bell Canada, Nortel Networks, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard, Exfo, Rogers Wireless, and Microcell. BELL MAY OFFER DSL OVER DRY COPPER: Responding to an application by FCI Broadband and Maskatel (see Telecom Update #427), Bell Canada says it may be able to offer DSL on copper loops that are not used for voice service by late 2004 or early 2005, but not when competitors are using the existing drop wires or inside wire. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2004/8622/f18_200402321.htm TELUS MOBILITY PROMISES GSM ROAMING: Telus Mobility says that next year it will offer global roaming on GSM networks for its PCS and Mike customers, using new dual-mode phones developed by Motorola. UBS CHAIR TO HEAD LOOK: Unique Broadband Systems has appointed its Chairman, Gerald McGoey, as CEO of Look Communications. UBS, which now owns 51% of Look, says it will receive a one-time payment of $1.2 million plus $2.4 million a year, for providing the CEO and for updating Look's strategic plan, monitoring and renegotiating service provider contracts, providing technical support, and supplementing back-office services. NAVIGATA WINS NORTHERN B.C. BROADBAND CONTRACT: Navigata Communications has won contracts to provide broadband Internet connections to the Nadina and Stuart Nechako regions of Northern B.C. The $2.1 million project is scheduled for completion in 2005. DEFERRAL ACCOUNT PROPOSALS FILED: Responding to the CRTC's request in PN 2004-1, incumbent telcos and others have submitted proposals for spending surpluses accumulated in the telco deferral accounts created by the CRTC's 2002 Price Cap decision. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2004/8678/c12_200402313.htm NORTEL HIT BY CLASS ACTION SUITS: Several organizations, including OPSEU Pension Trust and Netherlands-based pension giant Stichting Pensionfonds, have filed lawsuits against Nortel Networks in regard to accounting irregularities. The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board has asked to become co-lead plaintiff in some actions previously filed in the U.S. ** The Ontario Securities Commission has banned 161 current and former Nortel executives from trading the company's shares until two days after the company files its revised financial statements from 2001, 2002, and 2003. IPSOS-REID PLANS CALL CENTRE AWARDS: Ipsos-Reid has announced an award program for incoming call centres in Canada. The researcher will survey 100 customers and 40-50 call centre employees for each centre that registers, announce its "Call Centre of the Year" awards in December, and provide benchmark reports to participants. ** Participation costs $3,000 for centres with up to 50 seats; $4,500 for larger ones. For information go to www.ccoty.com BELL BUYS CALL CENTRE INTEGRATOR: Bell Canada has acquired a majority interest in Elix, a Montreal-based systems integrator that specializes in contact centres. The 125- employee firm will now operate as BCE Elix. IBM, CISCO TO COOPERATE ON IP COMMUNICATIONS: IBM and Cisco have announced a "broad-based initiative" to offer their IP- based communications systems and expertise to customers, including offering Cisco CallManager on IBM servers. MANAGING PERFORMANCE IN WIRELESS LANs: Wireless LANs work -- but how well, and how efficiently? This month, Telemanagement subscribers received a feature report on practical ways to improve coverage and speed in enterprise Wi-Fi. Also in this issue: ** Wireless Substitution: How Accurate Are Telco Claims? ** Toronto Airport Implements Multi-User IP Network ** Key Issues in the CRTC's VoIP Review To become a Telemanagement subscriber--including unlimited access to Telemanagement's extensive online content--visit Angus TeleManagement's website. http://www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub-online.html ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2004 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ============================================================ JOHN RIDDELL jriddell@angustel.ca Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca 8 Old Kingston Road Tel: 905-686-5050 x226 Ajax Ontario L1T 2Z7 Canada Fax: 905-686-2655 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 13:13:07 -0400 Subject: Pulver Gets Trademark for FWD® Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from Jeff Pulver's Blog for May 25, 2004, at http://192.246.69.231/jeff/personal/index.html FWD(R) Trademark Granted Yesterday I received the official letter from the US Trademark and Patent office that FWD(R) is now a registered and recognized trademark for Free World Dialup. [Comment: Note to Jeff: If I recall correctly, a letter "R" in parenthesis is NOT a legal equivalent for the R-in-a-circle trademark symbol, ®. So, you should probably be writing it as FWD®. In HTML you'd use "& # 1 7 4 ;" (without the quotation marks or spaces) to make the ® symbol. But I am not a lawyer, so I might be wrong about that.] How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 09:55:11 -0400 Subject: FTS to Begin Offering Customers Bundled Wi-Fi and VoIP Services Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/news_releases.mhtml?d=58130 Source: FTS Wireless, Inc. LEVITTOWN, Pa., May 25, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- FTS Wireless, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of FTS Group, Inc. (OTCBB:FLIP), an operator of retail wireless locations that market and sell next generation wireless and VoIP products and services and operate Wi-Fi HotSpot's, today announced that FTS will offer its customers bundled Wi-Fi Internet service with VoIP Telephony service combined plans starting at $39.99 per month. FTS CEO Scott Gallagher commented, "After successfully testing VoIP service provided by our strategic partner, Voiceglo.com (OTCBB:TGLO) over a wireless 802.11b (Wi-Fi) network for 3 months, we are confident the service, pricing and call quality will be well received by our wireless customers and plan to begin selling the bundled service through both our retail and Internet channels immediately." Mr. Gallagher continued, "The ability to efficiently check e-mail and make Internet Calls while on the road should radically change the communications expense structure of some 70 million business travelers often referred to as 'Road Warriors'." According to a recent article in Barron's magazine titled "Talk Gets Cheap" published 5/24/2004, Market-research firm In-Stat estimates that 4% of all U.S. businesses used some VoIP services in 2003. This year, the figure should reach 6% and the total will keep growing. Full press release at: http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/news_releases.mhtml?d=58130 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 09:52:20 -0400 Subject: VoIP Goes Mobile Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=100667&ref=-1 By Mark Frauenfelder, Tue May 25 09:15:00 GMT 2004 VoIP is slowly moving into the mobile space, as one US company offers cellular users cheap international calls. [.....] As you probably know, VoIP (short for Voice over Internet Protocol) is a way to use the Internet -- rather than traditional phone networks -- to make telephone calls. Phone networks typically route phone calls over a dedicated circuit, but VoIP networks send voice calls as plain old digital packets, using the standard Internet protocol. Phone Bills Too Cheap to Meter There are a number of benefits (and some drawbacks) to making phone calls over the Internet, but the number one reason people use VoIP is because it dramatically reduces phone bills. For example, through Vonage, a VoIP company, you pay a flat fee for unlimited local calling, and just pennies per minute to call other countries. The traditional phone companies, which for decades have been able to get away with charging several dollars a minute for an overseas call, are trying to compete with VoIP startups, but they just can't keep their rates that low. Naturally, they're doing everything they can to kill VoIP companies by lawyering them to death, but cool technologies have always been able to mutate their way out of any impediment. (Look at what happened when the record industry shut down Napster, and as a result, help spawn umpteen all-but-unstoppable peer-to-peer networks.) Guess what -- somebody has figured out a way to sneak cheap long distance into the cellular carriers' networks. Full story at: http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=100667&ref=-1 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 09:57:20 -0400 Subject: Free World Dialup Selects eDial for Enhanced IP Telephony Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040525005120&newsLang=en WALTHAM, Mass. & MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004-- Leading Internet Telephony Community Deploys eDial's Audio Presenter to Offer Audio Conferencing and advanced dialing services to Subscribers eDial, Inc., a leading provider of open platform solutions and applications that enable service providers and enterprise system integrators and OEMs to quickly develop and implement rich media services that meet the specific needs of their customers, today announced that Free World Dialup (FWD) has selected and deployed the company's Audio Presenter and Instant Collaboration System (ICS) to offer audio conferencing and dialing technology to its subscribers. Free World Dialup is an IP communications service that offers broadband consumers everywhere the ability to join a community of FWD users who are able to call one another directly, at no cost, from anywhere, using their computers or IP phones and the Internet. With hundreds of thousands of members in more than 180 countries, FWD continues to provide the best-connected, standards-based services in IP communications. "eDial understands the requirements of service providers such as Free World Dialup to offer subscribers a breadth of enhanced IP communications services that provide a distinct competitive edge," said Jeff Pulver, chief executive officer of Free World Dialup. eDial's provides a complete environment for developing and deploying advanced, revenue-generating rich media services, including audio and web conferencing, IM and presence, over new and existing network infrastructures "Free World Dialup has a unique offering that has attracted hundreds of thousands of members from around the globe and we are pleased to be playing an integral role by enabling a host of highly collaborative and scaleable services," said Jill Smith, president and CEO of eDial, Inc. "Our solution empowers service providers like FWD to quickly integrate and deploy the audio and collaborative services that give them a competitive edge." About Free World Dialup FWD is the largest open network service provider for person-to-person, advanced, real-time IP communications. Lead by visionary Jeff Pulver, the breadth of useful services, interconnectivity, cool technology, and zero cost makes FWD a clear leader in the industry. For more information, please visit www.freeworlddialup.com. About eDial eDial, Inc. offers service providers, enterprise system integrators and OEMs a flexible platform for the development and deployment of customized scaleable, real-time media services over existing network architectures. eDial addresses the rapidly escalating demand by carriers and partners to have access to new premium service revenues streams that will ultimately increase profit margins and give them a true competitive edge. For more information, visit the Web site at www.edial.com or call 866-99-eDial (866-993-3425). All product and company names herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Contacts: Racepoint Group Dan Carter, 617-583-1331 dcarter@racepointgroup.com or Qorvis Communications Brian Lustig, 703-744-7826 blustig@qorvis.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 10:02:34 -0400 Subject: Brix Networks Expands and Enhances Its Free VoIP Quality Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040525005110&newsLang=en CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004 -- TestYourVoIP.com Now Offers Testing Locations In Canada And Europe, Adds New Call Setup And Signaling Quality Metrics, And Allows Users To Compare Results With Others Brix Networks (www.brixnet.com), the trusted provider of real-time service assurance solutions to operators of service-centric networks, today announced Version 2.0 of TestYourVoIP.com, the company's highly popular, free, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) quality testing portal that enables users to independently measure the quality of their residential VoIP connections via a quick, user-initiated test call. In response to increased interest in the site beyond the United States, Brix now offers new testing points in Montreal, London, and Helsinki, the latter being hosted by Creanord Oy, the company's Scandinavian partner, from that organization's SLAvision.net data center. These three new locations join the company's initial two sites in Boston and San Jose. With Version 2.0, TestYourVoIP.com provides even more insight and various performance metrics to prospective VoIP users about the ability of their broadband connections to successfully support VoIP. Specifically, TestYourVoIP.com now reports call setup and signaling quality statistics, including Post-Dial Delay, Post-Pickup Delay, Call Setup Time, and Media Delay. Other enhancements to TestYourVoIP.com that were unveiled by Brix Networks today let users: -- Identify firewall or other environmental configurations that may restrict their ability to run VoIP. -- E-mail a copy of their VoIP performance test results to themselves for future reference or, if they do not achieve the level of performance they require, even to the customer support department of their broadband provider. -- Compare how their test scores stack up against other users based on time (hour, day, week), region, country, or broadband provider. The access technology-independent TestYourVoIP.com site can be used by potential VoIP consumers who have cable, DSL, broadband over power line, satellite, or other broadband options. "With more than one million hits received since the initial launch of our TestYourVoIP.com portal less than two months ago, it has quickly become a 'must visit' site for anyone contemplating or already using a residential VoIP service," said Tom Pincince, president and CEO of Brix Networks. "With these new enhancements, TestYourVoIP.com is an even more useful and compelling tool for VoIP prospects and users alike as it accurately measures the ability of their broadband connection to support IP telephony." TestYourVoIP.com is powered by the Brix System, Brix Networks' award-winning VoIP performance management solution. The Brix System consists of distributed hardware test points, called Verifiers, which communicate with, and are managed by, the BrixWorx(TM) central-site software application. With its unique Brix Tri-Q(TM) Analysis, the Brix System provides total VoIP service testing across each of the areas that impact users' experience of quality, namely: signaling quality (call setup performance), delivery quality (media path network performance), and call quality (overall voice clarity and call experience). The Brix System improves the overall effectiveness of networks, and allows organizations to maximize their investment in -- and increase the value of -- all their business-critical IP services. About Brix Networks Brix Networks develops and markets real-time service assurance and performance management solutions that verify the quality of advanced, Internet Protocol-based services, including VoIP, VPN access, video, and Web-hosted business applications. The Chelmsford, Mass.-based company's hardware and software offerings allow carriers, service providers, cable operators, large enterprises, and government agencies to build, operate, and assure their IP networks and services by providing proactive, end-to-end, service level management (SLM) and service level agreement (SLA) verification. Additional information about Brix Networks can be found on the company's Web site at www.brixnet.com, and by calling 978-367-5600, or 1-888-BRIXNET. Brix Networks, Brix, Brixnet, the Brix Networks logo, BrixWorx, and Brix Tri-Q are trademarks of Brix Networks, Inc. All other company or product names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective holders. Contacts Brix Networks John H. Ricciardone, 978-367-5757 jricciardone@brixnet.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 10:00:35 -0400 Subject: Vonage Has First Mover Advantage, But It's Not Your Fathers Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040525005088&newsLang=en Vonage Has First Mover Advantage, But It's Not Your Fathers Telephone Company, Says Yankee Group BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004-- Better quality of VoIP offerings emerging from incumbent providers will make competition difficult In the bleak telecommunications sector, broadband telephony start-up Vonage has emerged as one of the most well known, yet, controversial companies. Vonage, a provider of SIP-based broadband VoIP services, launched its all-you-can-eat consumer voice service in 2002. Providing a best-effort service with local, long distance, and enhanced calling features for a single price, Vonage's service has appealed to the price sensitive user. In a year, Vonage signed up 100,000 users, creating a level of angst among broadband providers, and renewing interest in broadband VoIP among the investment community. "Vonage has successfully marketed itself, and its concept. The company has created a grand illusion in the marketplace," says Lindsay Schroth, Broadband Access Technologies senior analyst. "Most service providers are not only familiar with this small, privately held company, but feel threatened by the start-up and its approach to offering telephony services." "However, we anticipate Vonage will become a victim of its own success. Their eventual downfall will come because the company threatens the RBOCs, IXCs, and MSOs. As the incumbent service providers and MSOs offer wide-scale residential VoIP services with QoS at the same price point as Vonage, we believe the start-up will find it difficult to compete. Today, some RBOCs require their customers to subscribe to their telephony services to receive broadband. Tactics such as this, as well as the increased focus on the triple play and bundling discounts, will aggravate Vonage's problems," adds Schroth. Because Vonage operates over the Internet and does not own network assets, the company easily expanded its service to 125 U.S. markets. The start-up also launched its service in Canada in 2004. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 04:46:45 -0400 Subject: Lucent Bids Over $300m For Marlborough's Telica Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/05/25/lucent_bids_over_300m_for_marlboroughs_telica/ Vote of confidence seen for local firms By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff Lucent Technologies Inc., a frequent buyer of Massachusetts telecommunications start-ups during the 1990's boom years, broke a four-year drought of local deal making yesterday, offering over $300 million for Marlborough equipment maker Telica Inc. The deal represents a long-hoped-for vote of confidence in the local telecom sector, especially for the voice-over-Internet protocol market in which Telica has become an increasingly strong alternative to bigger players like Nortel Networks Inc. and Sonus Networks Inc. of Westford. Telica, whose customers include Verizon Communications Inc. and some four dozen smaller phone companies, estimates its switches are now processing 4 billion minutes a month of voice and data traffic and can serve up to 3 million callers at a time. Up until last week, 251-employee Telica had been on the brink of filing for an initial public offering of stock. Lucent's integrated network solutions president, Janet Davidson, said with the market for phone company voice-over-Internet equipment expected to grow from $1 billion now to as much as $15 billion in 2008, Lucent saw adding Telica as a key way to bolster its product line. Verizon, for example, has said it expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in coming years converting its network to carry phone calls in the same Internet data packet format as e-mail and Web pages, which can slash the cost of handling traffic and also make it easier and cheaper to offer advanced services such as combined voice mail and e-mail. AT&T this spring has begun offering a $40-a-month unlimited calling plan over the Net called CallVantage, which requires a separate broadband connection. "Telica clearly has a product that we don't have, as well as a set of human resources and a lot of talent for us," Davidson said. Lucent has been relying on Cisco Systems Inc. and BroadSoft Inc. for key elements of its voice-over-Internet equipment packages. Full story at: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/05/25/lucent_bids_over_300m_for_marlboroughs_telica/ ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #257 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 25 17:08:17 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4PL8HZ27927; Tue, 25 May 2004 17:08:17 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 17:08:17 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405252108.i4PL8HZ27927@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 #258 TELECOM Digest Tue, 25 May 2004 17:08:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 258 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson T-Mobile USA to End Network Venture With Cingular (Monty Solomon) Humble Cell Morphs Into Device for All Seasons (Monty Solomon) Re: The Strike Goes On (Paul Vader) Re: The Strike Goes On (David B. Horvath, CCP) Understanding the WAN (David C.) Re: ICANN Wins Round in Internet Suit (Robert Bonomi) Re: Verizon Payphones in non-Verizon Area (BV124@aol.com) Ringing Multiple Devices (was Re: Bye, Bye, Ma Bell) (Joel Hoffman) Re: The E-Fax Police Are After Me! (nstrom@ananzi.co.za) Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices (Lisa Hancock) Northern Telecom Vantage 12 Help (jr9@sympatico.ca) VoIP,Inc. Announces Joint Venture With Korean Corporation (PressRelease) Share Day for May, 2004 (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 08:33:48 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: T-Mobile USA to End Network Venture with Cingular T-Mobile USA to End Network Venture with Cingular and Acquire California/Nevada Network and Spectrum; Acquisition Positions T-Mobile USA for Strong Growth - May 25, 2004 01:15 AM (BusinessWire) BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004--T-Mobile USA, Inc. ("T-Mobile USA"), the U.S. operating subsidiary of T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG ("T-Mobile International"), the mobile communications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE:DT) ("Deutsche Telekom"), today announced it has entered into agreements with Cingular Wireless LLC ("Cingular") to terminate their wireless network sharing joint venture and for T-Mobile USA to acquire 100% ownership of the shared networks in California and Nevada for $2.5 billion. The purchase price of $2.5 billion for the GSM network in California/Nevada will be offset by $200 million related to the unwinding of the joint venture, resulting in a net cash payment of approximately $2.3 billion to Cingular. In addition, T-Mobile USA will: -- provide network services to Cingular under a wholesale arrangement until Cingular's customers in these markets transition to the networks it will acquire through its pending merger with AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. ("AT&T Wireless"); -- replace its existing roaming agreement with Cingular with a new nationwide agreement with improved terms; -- transfer 10 MHz of New York spectrum in exchange for certain California spectrum owned by Cingular as specified in the termination provisions of the joint venture agreement; -- acquire an additional 10 MHz of spectrum from Cingular in certain key California markets for $180 million; and -- receive an option to acquire an additional 10 MHz of spectrum in other key California markets from Cingular within two years. While the joint venture has owned and successfully operated the networks that service both companies' customers in these markets since its formation in 2001, this new agreement with Cingular is expected to position T-Mobile USA for continued operational success and strong growth in the future. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41618239 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 10:05:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Humble Cell Morphs Into Device For All Seasons By Yoshiko Hara EE Times TOKYO, Japan - The mobile phone of the future was demonstrated, in bits and pieces, at the Business Show Tokyo 2004 earlier this month. While no single model included all the potential features of upcoming phones, various units had enough of them to prove that the next-generation handset is being transformed into personal entertainment/information devices. Some received radio and TV broadcasts; some played music, videos and games. Others functioned as electronic money or personal identification systems, with the help of wireless ICs; still others accessed the Internet to remotely control home robots. Of all those functions, digital TV reception linked with data transmission is expected to be one of the killer applications that will increase the average revenue per user for carriers. Europe's heated DVB-H activity shows that TV reception is an attractive feature for consumers (see story, page 18), but beaming it through a built-in tuner does not contribute to a mobile carrier's profits. That's why carriers are interested not only in delivering terrestrial digital TV broadcasts, but also in downloading program-related data. Japan's terrestrial DTV service can broadcast for mobile service and for stationary reception of high-definition programs. Mobile broadcasts employ 1/13 of a 6-MHz piece of bandwidth that is assigned to each broadcaster. The rest of the 6-MHz band is used for one channel of high-definition or three channels of standard-definition programming. Broadcasters plan to begin mobile digital TV broadcasts in Japan sometime next year. In the beginning, they will simulcast regular TV broadcasts. To make use of the limited bandwidth available for mobile broadcasting, H.264 encoding will be used to compress video data. http://www.commsdesign.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=20900447 ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 11:43:16 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations TELECOM Digest Editor writes: > According to the Independence Reporter for Sunday, May 23, the labor > dispute at SBC continues. It's over. A tentative agreement was reached early this morning. > at our central office in Independence, over at 6th and Maple, there > was no sign of any action other than back on Friday (when the strike > started) two guys with picket signs on the sidewalk in front for a > short time, but then they went away and there was nothing. Despite what you might have heard during the strike, the CWA has a pretty decent relationship with SBC. It's not uncommon to see managers buying lunch for the strikers, letting them use the bathrooms where security allows, etc. Sometimes you just gotta strike though, or the executives forget they have to actually make concessions now and again. > cages, came and went normally. Telco may just allow this strike to > linger on and make no real effort to settle it anytime fast. What > is the reaction I really doubt that was ever the plan. There is no upside to a strike for either side. > response in other communities? My understanding is it is not just > SBC on strike, but all the (remnants of) Baby Bells. No, that's wrong. It's just the CWA members working for SBC. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 09:09:41 -0400 Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On From: someone@somewhere.org Reply-To: someone@somewhere On Mon, 24 May 2004 23:18:57 -0400 (EDT), our esteemed moderator wrote: > According to the Independence Reporter for Sunday, May 23, the labor > dispute at SBC continues. There was a time in the United States when > a strike at the telephone company meant bad news. Now, all it seems > to amount to is a slight delay in getting an answer from Directory > Assistance or the operator. Please hide my email address and full name, too much SPAM (and I don't want my comments connected back to the source). The wife of a good friend works for SBC in the Cleveland Ohio area. Knowing that she is "management" I spoke with him. It seems that the Union planned to go out for four (4) days to show the company how important they were. Senior management decided that the union members would not be allowed back to work after those four days and all prior offers would be taken off the table. Except for repairs and new service provisioning, there should be no real impact. While I realize that I am hearing a biased viewpoint, it seems that the union was being unreasonable in these economic times. They wanted a raise (in excess of inflation), no co-pay for medical, no reduction in medical benefits, and a no-layoff clause. The company was willing to offer more money but in return for co-pay for medical. The company was willing to promise another job in the same state for anyone layed off. From my conversation, it sounds like the union is in a power play and I'm not sure who is going to lose. I know the employees/union members will lose in the end, but that's the way it always is. ------------------------------ From: DaveC Subject: Understanding the WAN Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 12:14:50 -0700 Reply-To: me@privacy.net I've got a pretty good understanding about the workings of the LAN, but now my curiosity is wandering to the WAN. I'd like to understand the area of data network switching and routing before a packet gets to the customer's site. Are there any good primers, intros, etc. on-line to help someone learn about how it all works? Thanks, DaveC me@privacy.net This is an invalid return address Please reply in the news group ------------------------------ Subject: Re: ICANN Wins Round in Internet Suit Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 15:08:00 +0000 In article , George Mitchell wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz dismissed allegations that the >> Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers had violated >> federal antitrust laws in its attempts to bar VeriSign from adding >> services like Site Finder, which effectively took control of all >> unassigned .com and .net domain names and redirected them to the >> company's Web site. > To refresh people's memory, Site Finder was a VeriSign "service" > which made nonexistent second-level domain names under .com and .net > appear to exist, rendering one popular spam test useless. VeriSign > nominally discontinued this "service" months ago, but I still see > as many as a dozen instances per day where the root name servers are > supplying addresses instead of name server referrals in response to > queries in the .com and .net zones. I haven't investigated any > further, but this seems to contradict VeriSign's statement that they > have stopped doing this. Nope. not at all. there are situations where a _host_ itself is listed in the root registry. i.e. where it is a declared nameserver for a 2nd-level domain. Querying for that host *will* resolve directly from the root servers. ------------------------------ From: BV124@aol.com Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 00:53:40 EDT Subject: Re: Verizon Payphones in non-Verizon Area Spotted one tonight in Glendale, CA (SBC-Pac Bell area) adjacent to the Sav-On Drug store on East Broadway. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 20:00:29 GMT From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Subject: Ringing Multiple Devices (was Re: Bye, Bye Ma Bell) Organization: Excelsior Computer Services > VoIP services have to compete on features. For example, AT&T's > CallVantage offers a 9-way conference bridge, and the ability to have > a call ring up to five devices. Both of these features can be done on > a landline, but I don't know of any providers who offer the multiple > ring capability. Do you mean up to five different numbers ring at once, as in, say, your CallVantage line, a landline, and a cellphone? THAT would be a wonderful feature. -Joel ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za Subject: Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! Date: 25 May 2004 13:55:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Fred Atkinson wrote in message news:: > By the way, does anyone know of an online fax service that > allows you to paste text into a form, put a telephone number into a > text box in that form, press submit, and have that fax go through? It > is just that I send faxes so rarely (and since I have the free Efax > account, I can't send faxes over that number), that I'd rather pay by > the fax rather than by the month. Try tpc.int; specifically, http://www.tpc.int/sendfax.html If the destination number is within their coverage area (http://www.tpc.int/fax_cover_auto.html) it should work fine for you. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices Date: 25 May 2004 10:11:20 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock): > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: By 1979, there was nothing of any > significance left to the old Western Union empire. > ...Lisa, I am curious; what were YOU doing on West Lake Street, > during the seventies or anytime since? I was MISPELLING! I wasn't on Lake Street, I was downtown at LA SALLE St, opposite the commuter railroad station (formerly Rock Island). > The main Western Union Building downtown *was* nice at one point; > the last time I walked past in the middle nineties (when I was > strongly thinking about checking out of Chicago once and for all), > the building was not in good condition, Speaking of buildings, I was downtown visiting a friend and her window looked out onto a vacated Western Union building. I was all excited, thinking maybe there were some forgotten goodies left behind (maybe telegraph blanks, misc hardware). My friend immediately insisted the building (owned now by her employer) "had been completed emptied, absolutely nothing whatsoever left in it!" I suspect my friend, knowing how cluttered my apt is, might have known otherwise but didn't want me adding more junk. I still am curious as to when telegram rates went up and voice long distance rates when down so that the telephone became cheaper to use than telegrams. My guess is in the late 1950s/early 1960s, which I believe really caused WU's downfall since that eliminated the basic need for a telegram (speed). Did WU's rates vary by mileage as long distance rates did or were they flat for the whole continental U.S.? Of course, for business users, the convenience of a two-way conversation to make plans would be worth paying a premium for voice long distance over a telegram. I wonder if WU had bulk rates for high volume telegram senders, like a business. I was once in an industrial company's personnel office and they had recalled laid off workers by sending them Mailgrams; I presume they would've previously used telegrams. Even into the 1960s it's possible many urban factory workers didn't have their own telephone or spoke English that well, so a telegram provided the notice and the interpretation was done by the recipient rather than a company secretary trying to explain it. That is, here's a single message and a list of recipients. Another cost/curve breakdown would be person-to-person calls, which are essentially obsolete. I believe the premium for such a call is extremely high relative to direct station dialed. This began in the mid 1970s when AT&T introduced lower dialed-direct rates -- operator handled rates started to go up while dialed direct would go down. The only thing I don't know if it's worth going person when calling from a payphone since the payphone LD rates are so damn high. Unfortunately, it's virtually impossible to find out how much you'll be gouged for a payphone LD call today. Back in the 1970s, before the rate drop, it was typical for business to make all their calls person-to-person (remember that charges didn't start until the desired party got on the line, and that could mean a savings of several minutes while the recipient was located.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Western Union had 'day rates' (for delivery same day), 'overnight rates' (for delivery next day) and 'priority rates' (for same day delivery, even late at night). Mail- grams were in connection with the post office, when messenger service was discontinued. You sent the mailgram by phone (or in one of the dwindling number of public offices) and it was transmitted to a teletype machine at the post office of record for the requested zip code. At the receiving location, postal clerks attended to the teletype machine, folding and inserting the message into a window envelope, and the local postal carrier delivered it to you. Even with the postal service's spotty record for delivery on a timely basis, they are usually able to offer next day delivery within the same zip code. At least they were then, in the 1960's. I dunno any longer. I could not imagine *you* (Lisa) ever being on the corner of Lake Street and Kedzie Avenue. There was a WUTCO public office there for many years, a few blocks down the street from the telephone company (in those days we called it euphemistically 'Kedzie Bell' since it was and still is the Chicago-Kedzie central office of Illinois Bell/ Ameritech/SBC. And telco had a public business office there also, long since gone. It was quite a grand old business area, between the WUTCO office, the telephone company, a hospital, any number of theaters and other stores in the 1930-60's era. But by 1960, things had changed there. The Jewish people had long since moved out, going to Rogers Park and Skokie; the area was becoming increasingly minority; most of the merchants had long since either begun using iron gates across their storefronts at night time or had vanished entirely, and those who remained took the hint and fled for their lives that Tuesday night in April, 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated and the whole neighborhood went up in flames and rioting. WUTCO was already limping along in bankruptcy at that point and decided to close their inceasingly shabby public telegraph office and rented it out to some agent who partioned off the huge, formerly glamorous office into a small section with heavy glass behind which he could stand to sell money transfers (the one area the company was still making money at). Telco closed their public office also, and over a few months consolidated their operators from the second floor of the Kedzie c.o. building to wherever else in the USA they put them. Lisa, you mentioned that you had meant to say 427 South Lasalle Street, the main, downtown office of WUTCO. Quite a historic location, where the original telegraph office had stood which was destroyed in the great fire of October, 1871; where the grand WUTCO office building was constructed early in the twentieth century, whose first floor public telegraph office ran a very close second only to Illinois Bell's upscale taste in public office furbishings. And when you passed by the area in the late seventies, it was all gone. Only the little dingy storefront with bullet proof glass remained and the cut-rate liquor store next to it, occupying the rest of the (now) greatly partitioned (former) public office. Ditto the former WUTCO public telegraph office at Lawrence and Broadway on the north side or the south side version at 63rd and Englewood. When AT&T is bankrupt and gone (how long that will be, I won't venture a guess), I wonder what will happen to their grandiose office building on Wacker Drive downtown. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 00:46:44 EDT From: jr9@sympatico.ca Subject: Northern Telecom Vantage 12 Help Hi all. Are any of you familiar with the old Vantage 12 phone system from the 1980s? A local church has one and we would like to enable toll denial on some of the sets, but the programming manual we have seems to be for a later version of the control card, and the codes don't work. According to the manual, all programming uses the 'Feature' key, but where the manual says the phones should have the 'Feature' key, the phones instead have the 'Privacy Release' key ... and using it does not seem to work for the programming. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Jeff ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 19:57:53 +0400 From: Editor PressReleaseNetwork.com Subject: VoIP, Inc. Announces Joint Venture With Korean Corporation PRESS RELEASE NETWORK http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com Fort Lauderdale, FL - May 25, 2004 (PRN): VoIP, Inc. (OTCBB: VOII) today announced that it has signed a Joint-Venture Agreement ("Agreement" with iCable Systems Co., Ltd., a Korean corporation ("iCable'). Under the Agreement, VoIP, Inc. and iCable have formed iMax Solutions, Inc., a Nevada corporation ("iMax") to act as a joint venture vehicle for both of the companies to develop Voice Over-IP related products with exclusive marketing of iCable products in North and South America. iCable is an R & D oriented company with 37 highly qualified Voice Over IP engineers focusing on the VoIP and WiMax Technologies. iCable products are based on the Broadcom® Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), BCM1112 CHIP; Broadcom Corporation, the leading provider of silicon solutions enabling broadband communications. As a manufacturer of these products, iCable projects $30 million in sales for 2004 and $50 million for 2005 for the Korean based company. iCable's lead product is their S-MTA (Stand-alone Multimedia Terminal Adaptor) which provides two VoIP telephone lines for customers having broadband-cable or DSL Internet access. Key features include a built in DHCP server; other products include the S-MTA with built in Cable Modem, ADSL Modem, & 911 Life Line patent pending technology. Each of these products are available with integrated WiFi access point. A new product, the IP Set-top box, will be used in the new world of technology where, Voice, Video and Data converge and will be known as the "Triple Play". Under the Agreement, 51% of iMax will be owned by VoIP, Inc. and 49% by iCable. The Agreement is subject to VoIP, Inc. paying iCable $5 million dollars in two equal installments. The first installment is due on June 30, 2004, with a 30 day grace period; the second payment is due on July 30, with a 60 day grace period. VoIP, Inc. will attempt to obtain the necessary funds through private placements of equity or debt securities, and if unable to do so, will either forfeit its rights under the venture or will attempt to renegotiate the deal. Under the Agreement, iCable will contribute all of its rights and interest in contracts and rights with current customers in North and South America. iMax shall have the exclusive right to use iCable's intellectual property and rights to its products in North and South America. iCable has guaranteed iMax Solutions minimum yearly sales for 2004, 2005 and 2006 of $10 million, $25 million and $40 million respectively. The entire Agreement between the respective parties can be found in VoIP, Inc.'s Form 8K filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm which will be filed by VoIP, Inc. within two business days from the date of this press release. Further information on iCable can be found at: http://www.icablesystem.com VoIP, Inc.'s (http://www.voipincorporated.com) goal is to become a world leader in providing voice over IP customer premise equipment and in addition, premium voice over IP subscriber-based enhanced telephony services, as well as innovative WiFi and WiMAX technology solutions for residential and enterprise customers globally. Steven Ivester VoIP, Inc. Tel: (954) 434-2000 12330 S.W. 53rd Street Suite 712 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33330 Email: sivester@voipincorporated.com Website: http://www.voipincorporated.com Editor & CEO Press Release Network editor@pressreleasenetwork.com http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For May, 2004 Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 3:50:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 258 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 25 23:52:10 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4Q3q9l01343; Tue, 25 May 2004 23:52:10 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 23:52:10 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405260352.i4Q3q9l01343@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 #259 TELECOM Digest Tue, 25 May 2004 23:52:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 259 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Over-the-Counter VoIP: Internet Calling Goes Retail (VOIP News) Federal Lawmakers Urge FCC To Take VoIP Under Its Wing (VOIP News) ETSI to Stage VOIP Test (VOIP News) Qwest DSL Service and Modem (Niy) Re: FCC Asked To Examine A la Carte Cable TV (jmayson@nyx.net) Re: New York Classifies Vonage as Phone Company (Jim Burks) Re: Phantom Cell Phone Call; What's Going On ...? (jdj) Re: Verizon Payphones in non-Verizon Area (Steven J Sobol) Re: The Strike Goes On (Steven J Sobol) My Vonage Posting (Steve Lopes) Gossiptel - UK Provider Offers VoIP With FREE PSTN Numbering (Call UK) Share Day for May, 2004 (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: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 17:22:10 -0400 Subject: Over-the-Counter VoIP: Internet Calling Goes Retail Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.reed-electronics.com/ednmag/article/CA420950?industryid=22043 Matthew Miller, Special Projects Editor -- Arrival in retail stores represents both a milestone and a litmus test for technology products and services. Cellular phones, satellite radios, and satellite-TV services have done well. By contrast, PVRs (personal video recorders) have experienced slow growth because their benefits proved tough to get across in a brief explanation. Now, thanks to Vonage and RadioShack, we'll get a chance to see how the public warms to VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) services. Vonage has announced that its service will be available in about 4,000 RadioShack stores in the United States. About 1,600 of those stores will be offering in-store demonstrations starting in July. To kick start sales, Vonage says that it is offering RadioShack customers a deal: Sign up for service and purchase the required $89.99 hardware ATA (analog telephone adapter), and the company will provide a free month of unlimited calling (normally $29.99), waive its standard activation fee (also $29.99), and provide a $30 mail-in rebate coupon. Strangely, however, this actually isn't a deal at all. If you sign up on the Vonage Web site, you pay $29.99 for your first month of service, plus the $29.99 activation fee. But you get the hardware at no additional cost. In other words, both approaches end up costing about $60. If Vonage and RadioShack are serious about making VoIP appealing to the masses, a smoke-and-mirrors "deal" is a strange way to go about it. Full story at: http://www.reed-electronics.com/ednmag/article/CA420950?industryid=22043 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the author of this article may have gotten some things incorrect, unless Vonage has changed things around since when I first started with them. *I* had to sign up, pay for the first month's service and the cost of the adapter. There was no 'set up fee' as such. And that is the way I explain it to guys who ask for a free e-coupon for a month of service. You click on the link in the e-coupon I send you; it leads you through the sign up process, gets your phone number, etc. Then you use your credit card to pay for the adapter box and the first month of whatever service plan you wish. Whatever service plan you choose, you get the identical service free in your second month with the e-coupon. If you have meant to sign up but have not done so yet, ask me for an e-coupon. Write not for pub to ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 17:20:25 -0400 Subject: Federal Lawmakers Urge FCC To Take VoIP Under Its Wing Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.internetwk.com/allStories/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=21100196 By W. David Gardner, TechWeb News Three Republican federal lawmakers are urging the Federal Communications Commission to rule that VoIP services are "interstate in nature," arguing that such a determination would bring VoIP technology under FCC jurisdiction and away from state regulators. The lawmakers' letter was sent after the New York Public Service Commission ruled last week that VoIP provider Vonage Holdings was a telephone company and thus subject to state regulation. Signing the letter against state regulation are U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss., and U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J. Reps. Ferguson and Pickering are members of the House Telecommunications Committee. "What's being encouraged is that the FCC rule on the interstate part (of telecom regulations,)" Vonage spokeswoman Brooke Schulz said. "If the FCC doesn't decide, the courts will." Full story at: http://www.internetwk.com/allStories/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=21100196 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 17:23:39 -0400 Subject: ETSI to Stage VOIP Test Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.boardwatch.com/document.asp?doc_id=53407 SOPHIA-ANTIPOLIS, France -- At two events, one in Europe and one later this summer in the United States, manufacturers of VoIP gateways and terminals will have the opportunity to test their equipment in controlled and uniform IP network conditions. Manufacturers will learn about their equipment performance, compare the results to other implementations and derive hints for potential system optimization together with the speech quality testing experts. Anonymity is guaranteed. Full story at: http://www.boardwatch.com/document.asp?doc_id=53407 ------------------------------ From: niy38@hotmail.com (Niy) Subject: Qwest DSL Service and Modem Date: 25 May 2004 14:55:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Recently Qwest has a promoting package, 256k/256k, MSN, $31.99 every month, sounds not too bad. But later I found I either have to rent their modem,3$/month, or buy so called Actiontec modem from them, and charge is unreasonable, compared to other brand on the market. And technical support say I can not use other modem+router. Does anyone here use Qwest DSL service with other modem? ------------------------------ From: jmayson@nyx.net Reply-To: jmayson@nyx.net Subject: Re: FCC Asked To Examine A la Carte Cable TV Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 01:17:58 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com > Key members of the House Commerce Committee have asked the Federal > Communications Commission for a detailed study on the feasibility of > cable and satellite companies offering their subscribers the ability > to pay for the individual channels they want. I just don't see this working. If someone pays $60/month for 150 channels, they'll expect 50 channels for $20. But it doesn't worth that way. There are many fixed costs in the price cable that would be there whether they offered 1 or 1,000 channels. You might get 50 channels for $55 a month instead. Why would the consumer go for that? John Mayson Austin, Texas, USA ------------------------------ From: Jim Burks Subject: Re: New York Classifies Vonage as Phone Company Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 01:41:08 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com Tony P. wrote in message news:telecom23.251.7@telecom-digest.org: > I have to wonder how many 'favors' Verizon provided to members of the > PSC. Just because the regulators want to jump on Vonage doesn't necessarily mean they like the LECs or are doing them a favor. If they let Vonage set a precedent that any VoIP is per se unregulated, they will be out of business soon, and they are protecting their turf. Regulators subsidize rural phone companies with the Universal Service funds (UCC). They also put on pseudo-taxes for 911 and lots of other stuff. If VoIP really catches on, then all these piggy-banks either go away, or get so small it's not worth doing. AT&T tried to make the case that, since they were using VoIP in the middle, between circuit-switched at each end, those services were exempt. FCC said naaaaa to that idea. Look for them to come back with proposals for large businesses to either originate or terminate traffic on VoIP, be exempt from these regulations, and split the savings with their customers. If the Vonage precedent is upheld, there's no reason why they shouldn't. Jim Burks ------------------------------ From: jdj Subject: Re: Phantom Cell Phone Call; What's Going On ...? Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 15:57:15 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On Sat, 22 May 2004 10:18:14 -0700, DaveC wrote: > On Fri, 21 May 2004 09:34:05 -0700, jdj wrote (in article > ): >> My Sprint phone rings once approx 30 minutes after the call >> to me was made. > Your cell was busy. Not your phone, but the cell (constituting the > geographic area covered by the provider's antennae) was max'd out. Your > call went to voice mail, instead, because there was no frequency > available to deliver the call to your phone. That is very much a Bad Thing when the phone and system must, without exception or excuse, work properly and deliver all calls. I don't get a call, I lose money. Or worse. I've observed problems with call delivery with wired carriers, too. Without Ma Bell around, seems the babies are getting more careless. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Verizon Payphones in non-Verizon Area Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 18:14:58 -0500 BV124@aol.com wrote: > Spotted one tonight in Glendale, CA (SBC-Pac Bell area) adjacent to the > Sav-On Drug store on East Broadway. I don't think that counts. ;) Greater Los Angeles is split up pretty well between SBC and Verizon. It's not strictly SBC and it's not strictly Verizon either, as far as ILECs go; which company is the ILEC depends on which city you happen to be in. Last December I was visiting family friends in Redondo Beach and noticed that they had *both* SBC *and* Verizon local phone books. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 18:23:31 -0500 someone@somewhere.org wrote: > While I realize that I am hearing a biased viewpoint, it seems that > the union was being unreasonable in these economic times. They wanted > a raise (in excess of inflation), no co-pay for medical, no reduction > in medical benefits, and a no-layoff clause. The company was willing > to offer more money but in return for co-pay for medical. The company > was willing to promise another job in the same state for anyone layed > off. > From my conversation, it sounds like the union is in a power play and > I'm not sure who is going to lose. I know the employees/union members > will lose in the end, but that's the way it always is. This sounds like what was happening here with the grocery store strike. I'm sorry, but I sided 100% with the grocery chains this time. California grocery store hourly employees make at least 1 1/2 times what they do back in the area where I grew up, and the major concession they were fighting over was health care -- $5/week premium for an individual or $15/week for a family instead of $0/week which was the status quo. And as I understand it, the money paying the premiums up until then was from a previous settlement, was a fixed amount and the till had run dry. It was just stupid. I am probably biased by the fact that I was forced to be a UFCW member in Dayton, Ohio, working for Kroger Company at a Kroger's store there -- and the union was completely useless, but I still think fighting over $20 the $60 per month is not worth striking over -- especially given the situation in question. (Kroger, incidentally, owns Ralph's and Food4Less, two of the four major SoCal grocery chains. Food4Less employees were not striking, nor were Stater Brothers employees; Stater Brothers is the only major chain in SoCal that is still locally owned. The employees of Ralph's, Safeway-owned Von's and Albertsons, owned by Federated Department Stores, were striking.) JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I take it Ohio does not have a 'Right to Work' law on the books, which is why you were 'forced' to join the union. But there is still a way around that, partially. You can join the union, but only be forced to pay the portion of the dues which apply to the administration of the union, and withhold the (majority of) the dues which the union officials use for whatever political causes they are promoting. Federal law allows for people to be 'administrative members' only, as a free speech matter. Your money cannot be taken forcibly from you (through payroll deduction for example) to support causes you do not believe in. Ask any lawyer specializing in labor matters. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steve Lopes Subject: My Posting on Norvergence Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 19:29:53 -0400 Could you remove this posting from your website? I have resolved my differences with Norvergence. Part of my resolution with Norvergence is that I no longer post negative points of view toward Norvegence. Every time this post keeps popping up, I get a call from Norvergence. http://www.mailarchive.ca/lists/comp.dcom.telecom/2003-11/0513.html Steve Lopes [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For hopefully the last time, Steve, the answer is a three letter word, "N-O-E". Norvergence asked me to remove the message, Norvergence then tried to twist the arms of the MIT trustees, then their lawyer asked me. You asked me once before, your lawyer asked me, and now you are asking me again. Even if I were so-inclined -- I am not -- once the message leaves here and goes out on net in various archives, not all of which are my own, then even God Almighty could not get the message removed. Well, I guess God could, if she caused earthquakes and fires all over the world at the same time, but that is about it. No! No! No! PAT] ------------------------------ From: jeb@calluk.com (Call UK - VoIP PSTN) Subject: Gossiptel - UK Provider Offers VoIP with FREE PSTN Numbering Date: 25 May 2004 17:22:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com GossipTel have now officially launched and are taking registrations. Offering is: - Free SIP account - Free Voicemail (with email copy of message) - Free UK PSTN number (0870 National Rate number) - Full mapping of Caller Line ID (in both to/from PSTN directions) - Free calls to outbound UK 0800 numbers - Free download of softphone (X-Lite) - Pre-pay with credit/debit card for SIP to PSTN calls - Web based user console - SIPURA SPA-2000 Terminal Adapters with auto-configuration - Comprehensive NAT Traversal - Peering with other 'open' SIP networks e.g. Free World Dialup - Dedicated help/customer support line - DO ALL THAT SKYPE DOES, AND MUCH MUCH MORE! Check out the website (and sign up for FREE) at [url]http://www.gossiptel.com[/url] Full set of press releases can be downloaded at [url]http://www.gossiptel.com/about/?pr=yes[/url] ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For May, 2004 Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 11:00:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #259 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed May 26 15:16:00 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4QJG0s09627; Wed, 26 May 2004 15:16:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 15:16:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405261916.i4QJG0s09627@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 #260 TELECOM Digest Wed, 26 May 2004 15:16:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 260 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson TiVo Q1 Results (Monty Solomon) Microsoft, Developer Combine Anti-Spam Standards (Monty Solomon) Microsoft and Meng Wong to Merge Caller ID for E-Mail and SPF (M Solomon) Ringtones Left Out of Digital Music Price Wars (Monty Solomon) Getting a Handle on URNs (Monty Solomon) Multiline Residential Phone System Recommendations? (ed) Re: Ringing Multiple Devices (was Re: Bye, Bye Ma Bell) (Hank Karl) Re: FCC Asked To Examine A la Carte Cable TV (Garrett Wollman) Re: T-Mobile USA to End Network Venture with Cingular (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Cell Phone in Switzerland, Part II (John R Levine) Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider (gene) Re: Qwest DSL Service and Modem (Dave Garland) Labor/Union Stuff (Short) was Re: The Strike Goes On (Danny Burstein) Re: The Strike Goes On (Mark Crispin) Re: The Strike Goes On (Michael Chance) Re: My Posting on Norvergence (Tony P.) Re: My Posting on Norvergence (Justin Time) Re: My Posting on Norvergence (Steve Lopes) Naked DSL - Verizon to Ditch Forced Bundling? (VOIP News) Comcast Plans to Offer Phone Service (VOIP News) Popular Telephony Announces Peerio444 Serverless (VOIP News) Comcast Announces VoIP Service (VOIP News) 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: Tue, 25 May 2004 23:43:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Q1 Results Strong Consumer Demand More than Triples Q1 Subscription Growth for TiVo; Lower Prices and Broad Availability Drive Record Results DIRECTV with TiVo subscription additions grew nearly 5x compared to Q1 of last year; TiVo owned subscription additions nearly double in the same period Service revenues grew 74% in the quarter, compared to Q1 of last year Management reiterates plans to double subscription base in current year SAN JOSE, Calif., May 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), reported today that it added a record 264,000 subscriptions in the first quarter, more than three times the number added in Q1 of last year. Total cumulative subscriptions grew to nearly 1.6 million, more than double the subscription base TiVo reported a year ago. Net revenues for the quarter were $34.5 million. Of this amount, Service revenues were $22.2 million, which represents growth of 74% compared to the same quarter of last year. Net loss for the quarter was ($9.1) million, or ($0.11) per share, compared to a net loss of ($7.9) million, or ($0.12) per share, for the three months ended April 30, 2003. Of the 264,000 new subscriptions added in the quarter, approximately 196,000 resulted from TiVo's relationship with DIRECTV, nearly five times the number of DIRECTV subscriptions added in Q1 of last year. New TiVo Service subscriptions additions in the quarter were 68,000, an 84% increase compared to Q1 of last year. DIRECTV with TiVo and Series2 DVRs Momentum Drive Record Q1 Results The explosive growth of DIRECTV with TiVo in Q1 demonstrates the growing strength of what is one of the best experiences in television home entertainment: the DIRECTV DVR with TiVo. The record number of DIRECTV activations in the quarter was driven by increased product availability, the $99 price point, and a variety of promotional programs directed at the DIRECTV subscriber base. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41637010 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 23:52:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft, Developer Combine anti-Spam Standards By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - The backers of two anti-spam proposals said on Tuesday they would work together to provide a single standard that would make it easier for Internet providers to block unwanted junk e-mail. Giant software company Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT). and Pobox.com co-founder Meng Wong said they would combine their approaches, which both aim to weed out fake e-mail addresses used by spammers to cover their tracks. Both Microsoft's Caller ID for e-mail and Wong's Sender Policy Framework would allow Internet providers to check that a message from joe@example.com actually comes from the numerical addresses used by example.com's e-mail servers. Mail that did not match up could be safely rejected as spam. The standard would pose few difficulties for most companies that handle e-mail, and individual users would not have to make any changes at all. E-mail forwarders like Pobox.com would have to make the biggest efforts to comply with the new standard, Wong said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41633697 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 23:53:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft and Meng Wong to Merge Caller ID for E-Mail and SPF Unified Anti-Spam Proposal to Enable Swift Industry Adoption of E-Mail Authentication Technology to Help Prevent Domain Spoofing and Phishing REDMOND, Wash., and PHILADELPHIA, May 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp (Nasdaq: MSFT), author of the Caller ID for E-mail proposal, and Meng Wong, co-founder and CTO of Pobox.com and author of the Sender Policy Framework (SPF), have announced today that they have agreed to converge the two proposals into one specification designed to help eliminate domain spoofing and provide greater protection against phishing schemes. By providing a unified specification, Microsoft and Wong hope to simplify industry adoption of effective e-mail authentication technology, thereby helping to more swiftly provide greater spam protection to e-mail users worldwide. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41629190 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 00:02:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Ringtones Left Out of Digital Music Price Wars By Bernhard Warner LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - A recent price war has made Internet song downloads cheaper while the price tag on a mobile phone ringtone has barely budged, and in some cases, is creeping up, a new report on Tuesday said. The price discrepancy between downloads and ringtones -- those ubiquitous tuneful greetings programmed into millions of handsets -- can be laid squarely at the feet of record companies, according to London-based consultancy Informa Plc. The main culprit is the advent of so-called "sample" ringtones, the latest stereophonic tones pulled from actual studio recordings. They carry a price tag of as much as four times higher than the typical Internet download price in Western Europe -- a price gap that could prematurely stifle a promising ringtone business, Informa said. Record labels are demanding mobile operators and other ringtone resellers pay a royalty rate equivalent to between 25 percent and 55 percent of the total retail price for a "sample" ringtone, Informa said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41628362 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 00:12:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Getting a Handle on URNs It is extraordinary how in just over a decade Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) have entered everyday life to such an extent that they are now found practically everywhere -- from the side of buses to the back of cornflake packets. But this universality tends to mask the fact that they suffer from a serious defect. Everyone has encountered the problem, which manifests itself as the dreaded "404 page not found" message. The trouble is that changes in site design, file directories and domain names can easily make a URL obsolete, with no means of automatically redirecting to the new Internet location (where it exists). What is needed is a standard way of permanently naming a digital resource similar to that provided by the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for analogue books. The solution is to move from URLs to URNs: Uniform Resource Names. The important thing about URNs is that they do not point directly to an Internet resource, but are rather a placeholder for the location and other metadata. This means that the URN does not need to change if the URL does: it is enough to update the redirection. URNs sound great in theory. Unfortunately, progress towards realising them has been slow. One attempt to address what is sometimes called linkrot is the use of PURLs: Persistent URLs. This employs redirection to solve the problem of changes in directory structure, but is basically an adaptation of the URL. More thoroughgoing in its attempt to create full URNs is the Handle system. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2004/05/24/getting_a_handle_on_urns.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 11:38:29 -0400 From: ed Subject: Multiline Residential Phone System Recommendations? I'm seeking recommendations for a multi-line (3 lines) residential phone system that also supports cordless extensions and can be interfaced to standard intercom systems. ease of use and reliability are key requirements. Any suggestions? Thanks much! -ed ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: Ringing Multiple Devices (was Re: Bye, Bye Ma Bell) Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 12:21:19 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On Tue, 25 May 2004 20:00:29 GMT, joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) wrote: >> VoIP services have to compete on features. For example, AT&T's >> CallVantage offers a 9-way conference bridge, and the ability to have >> a call ring up to five devices. Both of these features can be done on >> a landline, but I don't know of any providers who offer the multiple >> ring capability. > Do you mean up to five different numbers ring at once, as in, say, > your CallVantage line, a landline, and a cellphone? THAT would be a > wonderful feature. According to http://www.usa.att.com/callvantage/what/features.jsp, (click on the "locate me" option) the numbers can ring at once or in sequence (your choice). ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: FCC Asked To Examine A la Carte Cable TV Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 17:04:10 +0000 (UTC) Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , wrote: > there whether they offered 1 or 1,000 channels. You might get 50 > channels for $55 a month instead. Why would the consumer go for that? I'd be happy with broadcast basic plus about 20 channels (mostly news and public affairs). The real sticking point, I think, is that most consumers want their VCR/DVR/PVRs to work, and going a-la-carte would require a substantial increase in encryption, which is generally incompatible with those devices. Perhaps when the cable companies finally implement the requirements of the '94 Cable Act to standardize on a workable (non-"box") consumer interface to conditional access and digital cable services. Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@lcs.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those of| search for greater freedom. MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 14:46:52 GMT From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Subject: Re: T-Mobile USA to End Network Venture with Cingular Organization: Excelsior Computer Services > approximately $2.3 billion to Cingular. In addition, T-Mobile USA > will: > -- transfer 10 MHz of New York spectrum in exchange for certain > California spectrum owned by Cingular as specified in the > termination provisions of the joint venture agreement; Won't that significantly decrease service in NY, an area where the network is already often overloaded? -Joel ------------------------------ Date: 26 May 2004 00:10:46 -0400 From: John R Levine Subject: Cell Phone in Switzerland, Part II I got lots of helpful advice on my quest for a cell phone to use in Switzerland. One of the most helpful bits of advice was that there are zillions of phones for sale on ebay, so why pay $50 to rent a Euro phone when for the same $50 you can buy one to keep. So I'm working on that. Several people pointed out that you can buy prepaid Swiss SIM cards. The prices in the US are ridiculous, but a little poking around found the very informative http://www.post.ch/SiteOnLine/EN/Accueil/1,1727,6419,00.html which lists the prepaid SIM cards you can buy at Swiss post offices. They're the same ones sold here, at half the price. So here's my comparison sheet, prices in Swiss francs. The value is the amount of credit you get in the initial SIM. If you use it up, you can buy reload cards. Local/min and US/min is the price to make local calls and calls to the US. Network SIM price Value local/min US/min SMS Orange 49 20 .90 ?? .25? Sunrise 65 50? .69 .89 .20 Pronto Swisscom Natel Easy 120 80 .80-.99 1.10 .20 Cingular via Swisscom -- -- $1.29 $1.29 The post office says the Pronto card is worth SFr 50, although some of the other web sites say 25. Orange's price goes down if you use more than SFr 30/mo. You get extra credit which makes the effective price lower. If I roam with my US Cingular account, I don't have to buy a SIM, but I pay more per minute and incoming calls are quite expensive, $1.29 plus whatever they charge to call Switzerland, $1.50 the last time I looked. Assuming the numbers I have are right, it looks like my best bet is to get a Sunrise SIM when I get there, then find an internet cafe and forward my Vonage number to it, which is 32 cents/min. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Mayor "I dropped the toothpaste", said Tom, crestfallenly. ------------------------------ From: gnj2@ridgenet.net (gene) Subject: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider Date: 26 May 2004 04:44:01 GMT I'm planning on switching to Verizon DSL for my ISP. Talked to their technical information person to ask who Verizon gets their Newsgroup feed from. Her answer:"What's a newsgroup?" Is there someone using Verizon DSL here who can answer this for me. I know there are NG providers that you can sign up with for a monthly fee. Up to now though all the ISPs I've used provide one in their regular package for no cost. Thanks for any information. Gene ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Qwest DSL Service and Modem Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 00:19:41 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when niy38@hotmail.com (Niy) wrote: > Does anyone here use Qwest DSL service with other modem? There's a list at http://www.dslreports.com/faq/9142 . The Cisco 678 is probably the best (that's what I use), but they're discontinued so you'd have to find one on eBay. Other users at my ISP seem to like the Zoom X3/X4/X5 (basicly the same unit), but it may require different settings on the ISP end. Don't expect any cooperation or support from Qwest or MSN. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Labor/Union Stuff (short) was Re: The Strike Goes On Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 04:24:50 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Steven J Sobol : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I take it Ohio does not have a 'Right > to Work' law on the books, which is why you were 'forced' to join > the union. But there is still a way around that, partially. You can > join the union, but only be forced to pay the portion of the dues > which apply to the administration of the union, and withhold the > (majority of) the dues which the union officials use for whatever > political causes they are promoting. Federal law allows for people > to be 'administrative members' only, as a free speech matter. Your > money cannot be taken forcibly from you (through payroll deduction > for example) to support causes you do not believe in. Ask any lawyer > specializing in labor matters. PAT] Just to respond to this one point, as the bigger issues of whether labor unions are good, bad, evil, or great ... and whether they're "wrong" to force people to join, etc., etc. could go on forever (and aren't quite that relevant to telecom): Our esteemed moderator makes the valid point that union members, or "agency shop" (an alternative available in many states to people who don't want to join the union but are kind-of forced to [a]) can get a refund of their dues that were used for non laborish items. [a] big over-simplification there ... The Federal laws that require unions to refund (or not collect) the monies that are used for such things as political campaigns is commonly referred to as the "Beck decision", based on the case of "Communications Workers of America v. Beck, 487 U.S. 735 (1988)". As one might expect, since unions generally delude themselves into thinking Democrats are friendy to workers organized labor, when the Republicans are in control they and their sock puppets make sure that as many people as possible hear about this and demand refunds. (Politicians playing political games? I'm shocked) While the exact definitions of what is and is not a direct and valid management/labor/contract type expense by a labor union has made plenty of lawyers rich, the percentage of union dues that goes to secondary functions is usually quite small. In my own experience a decade ago as a municipal union officer in NYC, the number (which was well documented and audited) was roughly 15 percent. And yes, this was refunded to people on request. Obviously other unions will have different figures, and while most will be honest and upfront, some are every bit as sleazy as the corporate titans they're in battle with. Anyway, my point is simply that, on a strictly direct financial measure, getting a refund of the "Beck" money will generally not make a huge difference in the member's wallet. It may still be something the member wants to do, but in just about all cases it's not going to lead to the major discount in dues payments that the usual pundits claim. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Danny is correct. There is some difference of opinion as to the amount of the dues is 'Beck' money and how much is legitimate union administration fees. But whatever the amount of money is, **by all means withhold it from the dues** unless you happen to like whatever cause the union is promoting and you wish to participate. Another thing you can do is exercise your own freedom of speech: on any check you send the union, always be sure to write the phrase 'extortion payment' in the memo area of the check. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 21:45:28 -0700 Organization: University of Washington On Tue, 25 May 2004, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Steven J Sobol: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I take it Ohio does not have a 'Right > to Work' law on the books, which is why you were 'forced' to join > the union. But there is still a way around that, partially. You can > join the union, but only be forced to pay the portion of the dues > which apply to the administration of the union, and withhold the > (majority of) the dues which the union officials use for whatever > political causes they are promoting. In states without Right-To-Work laws, the so-called "representation fee" which "union protestors" (people who decline to join the mandatory union) must pay is very close to the union dues. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't care if the difference is one dollar or less: **Always demand your money back**. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Michael Chance Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 10:29:48 GMT In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to pv+usenet@pobox.com: > TELECOM Digest Editor writes: >> According to the Independence Reporter for Sunday, May 23, the labor >> dispute at SBC continues. > It's over. A tentative agreement was reached early this morning. The union agreed to essentially SBC's "final" offer. There was some tweaking around the edges of the proposal. You can read the details of the agreement at http://www.sbc.com/Investor/IB_242_5_25_04-830a.pdf There was an interesting analysis of the strength of the union (or the lack thereof) in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday. You can read the article at http://makeashorterlink.com/?X59B14668 Some info that I heard during the walkout: - while the vote to approve giving the union leadership the ability to call a strike was 90% in favor, only about 10% of the membership actually voted. - SBC did a poll either just before or just after the strike, and according to their results, 90% of the CWA union households polled indicated that they would accept the offer SBC put on the table last week. - Except for some isolated locations, and the big rally in San Antonio on Monday, there were very few picketers at most SBC locations, even on Friday when the walkout started. Given that the union has over 100,000 members working at SBC, I'd have expected significant numbers at most of the work locations when the replacement workers started arriving on Friday. - There have been a few incidents of apparent sabotage either just before or during the walkout, and some reported incidents of union harassment of either replacement workers or their families by strikers, mostly in Michigan and California. A big question now is what will happen when the IBEW contract with SBC (mostly for employees in Illinois) expires at the end of June. Michael Chance [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, but is SBC being truthful with their employees and the 'final offer'? If they lie and are deceptive with their employees to the same extent they are with their customers, then I'd be most reluctant to accept the offer. Yesterday in the US Mail I got still another 'offer' from SBC telling me how much they wanted me back as a customer. Their latest deal is $15.95 for the take it all package for six months, then $25.95 per month after that. For another $2.00 per month, an hour each month of long distance, which reverts to $7.00 per month after six months. I decided to verify that, so I called the business office, waded through several layers of voice mail hell and another 5-10 minutes on hold. When I got through to a rep, she hastened to inform me there was *no such offer available*, despite the fact that I got a postcard from SBC telling about it. Finally she looked further and said "Well, but you would not be eligible for it." and then proceeded to give me a hard sell line on going back wth SBC. For that I wasted 15-20 minutes on the phone. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: My Posting on Norvergence Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 04:03:43 GMT In article , stlopes@comcast.net says: > Could you remove this posting from your website? I have resolved my > differences with Norvergence. > Part of my resolution with Norvergence is that I no longer post > negative points of view toward Norvegence. Every time this post keeps > popping up, I get a call from Norvergence. > http://www.mailarchive.ca/lists/comp.dcom.telecom/2003-11/0513.html > Steve Lopes > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For hopefully the last time, Steve, > the answer is a three letter word, "N-O-E". Norvergence asked me > to remove the message, Norvergence then tried to twist the arms > of the MIT trustees, then their lawyer asked me. You asked me once > before, your lawyer asked me, and now you are asking me again. Even > if I were so-inclined -- I am not -- once the message leaves here > and goes out on net in various archives, not all of which are my > own, then even God Almighty could not get the message removed. Well, > I guess God could, if she caused earthquakes and fires all over the > world at the same time, but that is about it. No! No! No! PAT] This is one of those people for whom the go-back feature in some e-mail schemes was written. Lotus Notes had that -- you could cancel that nasty e-mail you sent to the boss, or take back that hasty resignation. But Usenet isn't like that. Groups get copied all over the place, and I do mean that geographically, as in places not subject to U.S. law. I would've told both Steve Lopes, his attorney and the attorneys from Norvergence to go and pound sand if they didn't know how the net worked and what replication was. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ah, the hotshot lawyers at Norvergence don't know chicken salad from chicken shit. Their ignorance is the reason for their bliss. I am tired of trying to be courteous to those fools. I encourage them to start a lawsuit. PAT] ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: My Posting on Norvergence Date: 26 May 2004 06:26:29 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Steve Lopes wrote in message news:: > Could you remove this posting from your website? I have resolved my > differences with Norvergence. > Part of my resolution with Norvergence is that I no longer post > negative points of view toward Norvegence. Every time this post keeps > popping up, I get a call from Norvergence. > http://www.mailarchive.ca/lists/comp.dcom.telecom/2003-11/0513.html > Steve Lopes > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For hopefully the last time, Steve, > the answer is a three letter word, "N-O-E". Norvergence asked me > to remove the message, Norvergence then tried to twist the arms > of the MIT trustees, then their lawyer asked me. You asked me once > before, your lawyer asked me, and now you are asking me again. Even > if I were so-inclined -- I am not -- once the message leaves here > and goes out on net in various archives, not all of which are my > own, then even God Almighty could not get the message removed. Well, > I guess God could, if she caused earthquakes and fires all over the > world at the same time, but that is about it. No! No! No! PAT] Not having been trained in the rules of courtroom intimidation, it would seem that the order to Mr. Lopes to not post articles critical of Norvergence is being obeyed -- if he does not post a NEW message, then he is compliant. If someone reposts a previous message, one filed before the agreement, then he is still compliant as he was not the originator of the repost. If the agreement was that he were to remove all postings, then as you stated Pat, it would take a superhuman action as the order cannot be enforced in areas that do not recognize the authority of the entity giving the order to cease and desist. In other words, all their lawyers and all our judges can't make the citizen - or server or database in a different country -- comply with their demands. Rodgers Platt [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder why the FOOLS cannot see or understand that www.mailarchive.ca does not equal telecom-digest.org and that there is no way I can tamper with anything on www.mailarchive.ca . But so many of these FOOLS make their money off of nonsensical lawsuits mainly designed to harass people. Read this closely: I strongly encourage any damn FOOL of an attorney who represents Norvergence or Steve L. or whoever to bring it on here and now. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steve Lopes Subject: Re: My Posting About Norvergence Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 12:26:29 -0400 Pat, This is why I asked you to remove it. Norvergence is harassing me again. If you can remove it would save me a lot of aggravation. If you cannot, they have already threaten to sue both you and I. I understand your position though. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Gattuso" To: Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 9:29 AM Subject: RE: My posting > Mr. Lopes, > Please be advised you are in breach of Settlement, per section 2 listed > below. Failure to remove the aforementioned internet posting within > (15) fifteen days from the date of this email will result in legal > action by Norvergence, Inc. against Stanley Steamer and yourself. Your > anticipated cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated. > Section 2, Settlement Agreement: > 2. Stanley Steamer Carpet Cleaner agrees to take the necessary > action(s) required to rescind any and all current and future legal > actions and Internet postings upon receipt of the above mentioned one > time payment of $1000.00. > Thank you, > Jim Gattuso > Director of Corporate Affairs > Norvergence, Inc. > 550 Broad St., 3rd Floor > Newark NJ 07102 > 973-242-7500 x4599 > jim.gattuso@norvergence.com -----Original Message----- > From: TELECOM Digest Editor [mailto:ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu] > Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 8:46 PM > To: ptownson@telecom-digest.org; stlopes@comcast.net > Cc: Jim Gattuso > Subject: Re: My posting > You are going to have to live with it. Whats in the archives is there > for good. I am so sick and tired of hearing about Norvergence either > way. I do NOT alter the archives, and that is that. > Patrick Townson > TELECOM Digest Editor/Publisher [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Where does Stanley Steamer come into this? I suggest you write Mr. Gattuso and let him know that the Digest Editor for one is eagerly awaiting his suit on behalf of his client, Norvergence. In fact, let him know that *I* am likely to sue him (the attorney, as an individual) for Barritry (or the filing of useless lawsuits intended only for harrassment.) Suggest to him that someone may force an appearance by himself before the appropriate bar association on account of his inability or unwillingness to understand rules pertaining to my free speech, my role and immunity as a newsgroup moderator. Steve, if you and the attorney are trying to cause me to have another heart attack, you are doing a damn good job of it. Obviously the only way this matter is going to be concluded is for the attorney to go right ahead with his lawsuit plans. Well, I am waiting ... ah. and they were going to buy you off for a thousand dollars, eh? PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 10:25:52 -0400 Subject: Naked DSL - Verizon to Ditch Forced Bundling? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/44664 In a move to be applauded if true, Verizon hopes to offer "naked" DSL (not requiring the bundling of local service) before the end of the year, according to the latest edition of DSL Prime . The tactic of forced bundling has seen no limit of complaints from users who have had their DSL line shut off when switching to a local competitor, or who simply wanted DSL without a local voice component. Responding to complaints, bell representatives often informed users that simply providing DSL was either illegal or not technically possible. Canadian telcos Telus and Bell Canada recently justified the tactic by claiming that without local service pushing 48-volt DC current through the lines, the lines would oxidize and fail . Qwest also recently decided to begin offering naked DSL . The issue has recently received more attention as an increasing number of VoIP and wireless users look to ditch their landlines. Article plus reader comments at: http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/44664 http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/44664 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 10:30:51 -0400 Subject: Comcast Plans to Offer Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5066666/ Report: Cable firm eyes 40 million households NEW YORK - Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable television operator, plans to offer a phone service to about 40 million households by the end of 2006, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday. Comcast executives told the Journal they are moving ahead with plans for a national rollout and will introduce phone service that uses the Internet to transmit calls -- a method called voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP, the Journal said. Full story at: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5066666/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 10:59:32 -0400 Subject: Popular Telephony Announces Peerio444 -- The First Serverless Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20040526005209&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view Popular Telephony Announces Peerio444 -- The First Serverless Technology Application for Peer-to-Peer Telephony NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2004--SYNOPSIS: Company will be the first to integrate true peer-to-peer technology in a free Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) product for consumers; expects to introduce competitively priced peer-to-peer telephony product for the enterprise based on this technology later this year. Popular Telephony Inc., a telecommunications middleware company, today announced Peerio444(TM) -- the first Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application powered by true serverless peer-to-peer technology. Peerio444 marks the company's introduction of a consumer application for serverless peer-to-peer telephony, with plans to introduce a separate enterprise application based on this technology at SuperComm 2004, Chicago, IL, June 22-24, 2004. Expected to completely transform traditional telecommunication infrastructures by eliminating the need for servers and associated hardware, the patent-pending technology behind both applications will also address previous scalability, security, redundancy and system issues inherent in a peer-to-peer network. Currently in beta testing on a limited basis and expected to be generally available via free download at www.peerio.com in the coming weeks, Peerio444 turns a PC into a fully functioning telephone that allows users to make unlimited, free calls via the Internet to other PCs, as well as low-cost PC-to-phone calls. Inspired by the principles of peer-to-peer computing, the forthcoming enterprise application will enable companies to create and deploy a wide-scale serverless IP telephony network. Popular Telephony's groundbreaking technology will enable application developers to create VoIP-enabled applications to bring peer-to-peer telephony to a wide audience. "We anticipate that within ten years there will only be peer-to-peer calls placed over the telephony network, making it the de-facto standard for next generation telecommunications," said Dmitry Goroshevsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Popular Telephony Inc. "Built on open standards and inspired by the principles of true peer-to-peer computing, we expect the enabling technology behind Peerio444 to become a basic platform for peer-to-peer telecommunications. Peerio444 will be forever free to consumers and is phase one of Popular Telephony's plan to become the leader in peer-to-peer telephony." Calls placed using Peerio444 technology will be connected to any PC or telephone number -- including mobile phones, 800 and international numbers -- via a built-in telephony interface. The technology is currently compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems, with plans to add Macintosh compatibility later this year, and provides users with more free features than a traditional landline phone, including voicemail, call waiting, call hold, call transfer, contact management and filters. Unlike existing peer-to-peer VoIP technology, Peerio444 is not monitored by switchboards or Spyware, does not contain Adware or other backdoor profit tools and does not restrict users to call only other standard VoIP applications. Compatible with industry standards for VoIP, including H.323 and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Peerio444 is relevant to both consumers and application developers: -- For consumers, the technology can be applied as ready-to-use, downloadable, standards-based, feature-rich client software for peer-to-peer communication. -- For developers, the open source application and the proprietary Peerio444 core library will enable them to create an enhanced peer-to-peer application for voice communications. The highly portable core library will be supported by a dedicated team at Popular Telephony, ensuring a high level of technical support, product updates, roadmaps and documentation. "With VoIP services gaining significant momentum in today's markets, evidenced by the number of legacy telecommunications firms that have recently launched VoIP divisions, Popular Telephony is helping to bring a cutting-edge technology to a wider audience," said Stanley Blau, Managing Director of PS Capital, a member of the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and Vice Chair of the Enterprise Communications Association (www.encomm.org). Blau, who is also a member of Popular Telephony's advisory board, added, "This move, coupled with additional growth plans in 2004, strongly positions Popular Telephony as a leader in the peer-to-peer telephony market." ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 12:20:23 -0400 Subject: Comcast Announces VoIP Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040526S0001 TechWeb News Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable-television operator, will begin to roll out its VoIP offerings next year, in anticipation of providing the service to 40 million households in 2006. In announcing the move Wednesday, Comcast noted that it will continue testing the Internet-telephone service in three markets this year. Initial tests with VoIP in Boston and Minneapolis were successful, the firm said, and influenced its decision to forge ahead with Web phoning. To work efficiently, VoIP must travel over broadband, and Comcast has several million broadband subscribers, placing it in a strong position to take advantage of the nascent Web-phoning technology. "We're hopeful voice telephony will allow our industry, yet again, to have another growth product," Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts told The Wall Street Journal. The VoIP announcement came just days after the cable company abandoned its campaign to take over the Walt Disney Co. Full story at: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040526S0001 ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #260 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed May 26 23:59:30 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4R3xU714175; Wed, 26 May 2004 23:59:30 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 23:59:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405270359.i4R3xU714175@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 #261 TELECOM Digest Wed, 26 May 2004 23:58:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 261 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson VOIP Regulation ... A Free VoIP "Walkie-talkie" (underscore) Re: Qwest DSL Service and Modem (George Mitchell) Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: The Strike Goes On (Lisa Hancock) Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices (Lisa Hancock) Re: My Posting About Norvergence (Scott Dorsey) Re: My Posting About Norvergence (ll7f16t02@sneakemail.com) Have You Signed up for Directory Assistance Yet? (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: Justin Subject: VOIP Regulation ... A Free VoIP "Walkie-talkie" Organization: Comcast Online Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 20:41:02 GMT So I was just reading through some google posts in this group ... particularly this one (link below), regarding VoIP regulation ... and the poster mentioned the fact that someone could write an "Internet walkie-talkie" that would not require a central server or entity which could be regulated ... it would just stream voice over IP packets between two IP's, and that's that. Incidentally, I did just that (for that reason, among others) ... and I did call it "WalkieTalkie" ... after looking around to make sure I didn't see any other software using the name. It's free software ... you can get it here: http://home.comcast.net/~justin_brady/walkietalkie/index.html I'm working on a linux version, right now it's just Windows and Mac OS < X This is the original post which caught my eye: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=telecom23.178.2%4 0telecom-digest.org&rnum=10&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dvoip%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3 DUTF-8%26selm%3Dtelecom23.178.2%2540telecom-digest.org%26rnum%3D10 Justin [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Justin, thank you very much for this contribution to the ongoing discussions here about VOIP. I hope if people choose to try out your free software they will be pleased with it. My assumption is if two or more users install your software they can use it to talk to each other, sort of like, well, a Walkie Talkie CB radio. PAT] ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell Subject: Re: Qwest DSL Service and Modem Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 11:56:39 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Niy wrote: > Recently Qwest has a promoting package, 256k/256k, MSN, $31.99 every > month, sounds not too bad. But later I found I either have to rent > their modem,3$/month, or buy so called Actiontec modem from them, and > charge is unreasonable, compared to other brand on the market. And > technical support say I can not use other modem+router. > Does anyone here use Qwest DSL service with other modem? I subscribed to DSL from Qwest in the Portland area at the beginning of 1999. They gave me a free Cisco 675 DSL modem AND a free 3Com 3C509 PCI ethernet card. I got my actual internet bits from a Portland ISP, Easystreet Online. I had a very reliable 766Kbps down and 256Kbps up. All of a sudden this spring, Qwest offered an upgrade to 1.5Mbps down and 768Kbps up for the same monthly rate, if I would purchase the Actiontec DSL modem. I would not have been aware of this upgrade if Easystreet hadn't told me about it and offered the same upgrade on their end. I said yes. I wouldn't be surprised if Qwest won't offer you the Cisco 675 at this point, since it's to their advantage to minimize the number of different pieces of equipment they have to support. But the 675 certainly did the job reliably. The new Actiontec also appears to be reliable. I've been pleased since day one with the service I've received both from Qwest and Easystreet. However, the day of changeover was somewhat painful. For Qwest, some software-triggered process changed over the configuration of my loop at midnight on the scheduled day. Easystreet did not realize this until I called them later in the morning, at which point it took 90 minutes to "reprovision the line." I feel this could have been coordinated better. George Mitchell (obfuscated email address) I have no other connection with Qwest or Easystreet besides being a happy customer. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 01:10:19 GMT gnj2@ridgenet.net (gene) posted on that vast internet thingie: > I'm planning on switching to Verizon DSL for my ISP. Talked to their > technical information person to ask who Verizon gets their Newsgroup > feed from. Her answer:"What's a newsgroup?" Is there someone using > Verizon DSL here who can answer this for me. Try news.verizon.net Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On Date: 26 May 2004 13:06:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Steven J Sobol : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: . You can join the union, but only > be forced to pay the portion of the dues which apply to the > administration of the union, and withhold the (majority of) the dues > which the union officials use for whatever political causes they are > promoting. I've seen that, and the dues the "fee payers" pay are almost as much as full union dues. I used to dislike unions, feeling in the 1970s they got excessively powerful and demanding inefficient featherbedding, like a fireman on a diesel train where there is no fire to tend. But times changed and in the 1990s corporations began to merge and merge and become rather powerful. I think the pendulum has swung the other way to an extent and there is a legitimate need for unions for workers. For example, companies treat their salaried (non-hourly) workers as professionals when it suits them (no overtime pay for working considerably extra), but as hourly when it suits them (docking for sick days). A company can't have it both ways. White collar employees are under increasing pressure for very high productivity and under close computerized scrutiny. For example, the working condition in call service centers might be good _physically_ (ie comfortable chair, air conditioned office), but very demanding psychologically (very high quotas, constant pressure). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, the workers can't have it both ways, either. Did it occur to you that much of the union excesses of the 1970-80's was partially responsible for the condition things are in today, with all the outsourcing of labor to India and such places? PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices Date: 26 May 2004 13:22:59 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in respose to hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock): > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: ...You sent the mailgram by phone (or > in one of the dwindling number of public offices) and it was > transmitted to a teletype machine at the post office of record for > the requested zip code. At the receiving location, postal clerks > attended to the teletype machine, folding and inserting the message > into a window envelope, and the local postal carrier delivered it to > you. Even with the postal service's spotty record for delivery on a > timely basis, they are usually able to offer next day delivery > within the same zip code. At least they were then, in the 1960's. I > dunno any longer. Mailgram service was very popular with businesses to get out important information en masse cheaply yet quickly. As mentioned, a factory doing a worker recall-from-layoff could use it. I never got a telegram in my life and only saw but one (to my sister -- congrats for her marriage), but I have received a number of Mailgrams. Around 1982, I saw a business that had its own online terminal to directly send Mailgrams. When Compuserve came out, it accepted Mailgrams to be forwarded. I would say cheap* fax machines and desktop word processing eliminated the need for Mailgrams. *Fax machines have been around since at least WW II, but they were big and expensive. In the 1980s they got down to the desktop size and affordable for widespread placement. Xerox marketed one called the Telecopier, with an acoustical coupler for the phone. > The Jewish people had long since moved out, going to Rogers Park and > Skokie; I've been to Skokie. I didn't think Skokie had good bagels. I was at the train/bus station (former North Shore Dempster) in 1982. Were you working there at that time? The CTA has changed the line names to color codes which confuse me. > Lisa, you mentioned that you had meant to say 427 South Lasalle Street, > the main, downtown office of WUTCO. I missed seeing the former LaSalle St train station, it's replacement is small and sterile. Likewise with the Northwestern Station headhouse, though the track sheds are still there. But it's been awhile since I've been to Chicago. > When AT&T is bankrupt and gone (how long that will be, I won't > venture a guess) We just sold the little AT&T stock we had through a buyback program the company offered. We don't want anything more to do with them after being overcharged too many times. Whatever heritage to pre-1983 has been utterly stamped out. I had hoped that Verizon would hold the torch, but they're not turning out much better. It used to be that when certain companies advertised something at a given price, you knew you could depend on them and not discover a 'bait 'n switch'. But now it seems the telcos, big and small, can ONLY advertise sleazy and misleading come-ons. (Banks today aren't any better). Regretfully, consumers are lazy and won't fight ridiculous charges on their telecom bills. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you realize in the twenty years since divestiture became reality, at least 75 percent of the current workforce at AT&T has only come on board since that time? Most of the have no idea what the old days were like. Of course that is true of this Digest also. Most of our readers here have come on board since that time and don't remember the olden days of 'one system, one way of doing things, the Bell System way', either. Skokie is still a mostly Jewish town; it has been since the late 1940's when its old name, 'Niles Center' was changed to Skokie. The influx of Jews from the west side of Chicago started around that time. Unlike Evanston, which shares a long border of several miles with the City of Chicago, Skokie only touches Chicago in one litle obscure place for about four blocks on the far northwest side of the city. Mostly the town of Lincolnwood sits in the middle which suits the Skokieites just fine. The old Skokie train station (which served the North Shore line and later the Chicago Transit Authority rapid transit) was taken over by Greyhound for busses and since has become a national historic landmark and further since, (in keeping with the 'no destruction of historic landmarks' provision of the government) has been moved away to elsewhere on the property, with the bus station moving into a small section of the newer, more modern rapid transit facility. Coincidentally, all Skokie telephone are 847-672, 673, 674, 675 as in ORChard, since many long years ago the area was replete with apple orchards, and there is still the Old Orchard Shopping Mall there. The old LaSalle Street (train) Station, just like the Northwestern Station and Grand Central Station are either gone entirely or greatly reduced from their former grandiose selves. Chicago used to have railroad stations (and political conventions) in its former, glory days, but no longer. We also had the North Shore line station, the Illinois Central Station, Union Station and the Randolph Street station. Randolph Street Station and Union Station are still around. Union was greatly renovated and Randolph is still as tacky as always, at least the last time I saw it, five years ago. That whole town still leaves me with a very bad taste in my mouth. I cannot imagine having lived there for forty years or what I saw in it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: My Posting About Norvergence Date: 26 May 2004 15:29:40 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Steve Lopes wrote: > This is why I asked you to remove it. Norvergence is harassing me again. If > you can remove it would save me a lot of aggravation. If you cannot, they > have already threaten to sue both you and I. I understand your position > though. Pat cannot. It is archived in thousands of places. Nobody can do anything about that. Norvergence can sue and sue and it is not going to change the basic structure of the web. This may be unfortunate for everyone involved but it's not going to change any more than the state legislature can alter pi. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Illinois state legislature at one point did try to make a formal declaration of pi; they said it would be 3.1416, no more, no less. I think it failed to pass. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ll7f16t02@sneakemail.com Subject: Re: My Posting About Norvergence Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 15:37:27 -0500 Organization: Vorturdgance Steve Lopes wrote: >> Failure to remove the aforementioned internet posting within >> (15) fifteen days from the date of this email will result in legal >> action by Norvergence, Inc. This is a problem, because Mr. Gattuso is obviously a moron who doesn't know the difference between a website under your control, websites over which you have no control whatsoever, and USENET. Perhaps if you point out that posting on usenet is like shouting into a room full of people who have tape recorders. Once it's done, it's history, and you can't change history. It's not in your power, Pat's power, the court's power, or the power of some Norvergence scammer. You can (and apparently have) agreed not to badmouth whatever fraudulent scheme Norvergence is running. Presumably you have abided by that. You have presumably removed the posting from all websites over which you exercise control (I'd guess that number would be zero). If you have agreed to remove the posting from websites and archives over which you have no control, you might have a problem, but it seems unlikely that such a provision would be enforceable, since no reasonable person would expect you to have the ability to do so. I don't know anything about Norvergence myself, except what I have read here in comp.dcomp.telecom. Which predominantly talked about their sleazy business practices. Between that and the fact that they're a technical company whose Director of Corporate Affairs apparently has no clue whatsoever as to how Internet services work, I would certainly have reservations about buying their services. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 22:51:15 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Have You Signed up for Directory Assistance Yet? I mentioned here the other day that we now have an alternative REAL TIME Directory Assistance service for Digest readers. No Pin codes are needed. You just go to our sign up page and enter the phone numbers you wish to have enrolled. Then whenever you dial directory assistance on a toll-free 800 number, it uses ANI to capture the number you are using, and you are billed 65 cents for each call to DA; you get one or two inquiries per call. 65 cents is about half or two thirds of what you would pay for DA otherwise. You guys in particular who administer phone systems might find this a good deal, but it can be done for your cellular phone or your landline phone as well. People who have tried it said they set up the single digit '4' to be a speed dial on their cell phone. There is no obligation or contract of any sort other than to pay 65 cents per call, billed either monthly or quarterly to whatever credit card you choose, and if you don't like the service, just quit using it. Sign up on our page for same at http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest. Oh, you can also check on line from day to day to see how much of the service you have used and what your monthly/quarterly bill is going to be. Let me know how well it works for you. PAT ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #261 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu May 27 15:17:53 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4RJHqx21954; Thu, 27 May 2004 15:17:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 15:17:53 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405271917.i4RJHqx21954@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 #262 TELECOM Digest Thu, 27 May 2004 15:18:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 262 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Adds New Features and Enhances AT&T CallVantage Service (VOIP News) VOIP, Inc. Files Patent Application for 911 Emergency Life (VOIP News) Cable Firm to Challenge AT&T With Speedy Net Phone Lines (VOIP News) Comcast Goes Digital With Phone Service (VOIP News) CNN/Money: Are You Ready for a Net Phone? (VOIP News) Equant Polishes up its VOIP Phone (VOIP News) DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices (Al Gillis) Re: The Strike Goes On (Tony P.) Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider (Gary Novosielski) Future of Cellular Phone (test) Why Would I Want a Local T1? (BR) 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: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 11:16:33 -0400 Subject: AT&T Adds New Features and Enhances AT&T CallVantage Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-27-2004/0002182853&EDATE= New Capabilities Provide Even More Control, Convenience and Simplicity BEDMINSTER, N.J., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today announced the immediate availability of new enhancements to its feature-rich AT&T CallVantage(SM) Service that will provide users with even more control and convenience over their broadband calling experience. The new capabilities are the first in a long series of innovations the company plans to add to this popular new Voice over Internet Protocol service. "AT&T CallVantage Service is an exciting, new technology that promises to transform the way people communicate and today it's getting even better," said Cathy Martine, AT&T senior vice president for Internet Telephony, Consumer Marketing and Sales. "One of AT&T's key IP telephony strengths is the technological leadership, vision and capabilities of AT&T Labs. We expect to continually introduce new features and capabilities that will set the standards for VoIP and provide our customers with the most reliable and innovative broadband phone service in the country." The first new feature is the introduction of an online, searchable "Phone Book," that provides users the ability to store up to 250 names and phone numbers on their Personal Call Manager homepage with click-to-dial accessibility. Names and numbers can be quickly shared between AT&T CallVantage Service features like Call Logs, Voice Mail Logs and Speed Dial. At the heart of AT&T CallVantage Service is its Phone Feature Manager that is accessible by phone or online and puts users in command of all their services. A discrete telephone number provides connectivity from any phone in the world. In response to user feedback, the company is now introducing "Simplified Dialing" from an AT&T CallVantage Service phone by simply dialing '***'. This immediately connects users to the Phone Feature Manager, where customers can check their voicemail, record a personal greeting, and turn features like Do Not Disturb and Locate Me on and off. Additional systems enhancements introduced today also include: * "10-digit Dialing," enabling callers to dial either the 10-digit telephone number or 1+ the ten-digit number; * "Call Log Sorting," to make it easy and convenient for users to find a number and track the calls they've placed and received. * "Multiple E-Mail Recipients," allowing users the ability to send alerts and forward voicemail messages to multiple e-mail addresses; * "Searchable Help," enables users to find useful information in the "Help" and "FAQ" areas more quickly and easily. * "Personal Conferencing Enhancements," enables easier scheduling by making it possible to e-mail conference call information to call participants and the scheduling of recurring conference reservations. And, conference call participants will now receive a five-minute notice that a conference call is scheduled to end and have the ability to extend it in real time. In addition, AT&T soon will phase in "Caller ID with Name," a new enhancement that will display the incoming caller's telephone number and name on a caller ID unit or caller ID-equipped phone as well as being displayed in Call Logs and Voicemail Logs. The outbound caller's name and phone number also will be displayed to the called party. "All of these new capabilities are being provided to all AT&T CallVantage subscribers at no additional charge," added Martine. "It's just our way to enhance the customer experience." Introduced in late March to select markets, AT&T CallVantage is receiving rave reviews for its quality, reliability and innovative features. Now, in just a matter of eight weeks, AT&T is introducing the first set of new enhancements that simplify the management of calls and messages and makes the service even easier to use. AT&T CallVantage Service is available at a special introductory rate of $19.99 a month for the first six months to those who subscribe by June 30, 2004. It will cost $39.99 a month thereafter. [..... COMMENT: Note that this monthly rate (after the introductory period ends) is higher than every other major VoIP provider in the United States -- in fact it is about double the rate charged by the lowest priced providers, such as BroadVoice and Packet8, and in my opinion both VoicePulse and Vonage offer far more useful features for the average residential user, both at a significantly lower monthly rate. But, if you need one of the features offered by CallVantage and no one else, then perhaps it is worth the higher rate to you. Continuing on with the press release ...] The service is different than traditional phone services because through the use of IP-based networks it can offer customers typical features such as call waiting, three-way calling, and call forwarding, and far more advanced ones as well. Indeed, consumers will get unprecedented convenience and control with innovative features including: * "Call Logs," to track incoming and outgoing calling; * "Do Not Disturb," to receive calls only when wanted; * "Locate Me," which rings up to five phones, all at once, or sequentially. All that is required for service is an easy-to-connect, plug-in telephone adapter (TA) provided by AT&T, a DSL or cable high-speed Internet connection and regular telephone and PC supplied by the customer. It is simple to use and easy for consumers to install - typically in 10 minutes. And, the adapter can be used from almost any location where there is a telephone and a broadband connection. That gives customers the ability to stay connected by taking this service with them when they travel. The company's commitment is to expand AT&T CallVantage Service to 100 major markets by year's end as part of AT&T's growing strategic focus on IP- based communications services. To date, the service has been launched in 34 markets or one-third of the way to that ambitious goal. The company expects to sign up 1 million business and consumer users by year-end 2005. Later this year, AT&T plans to expand its industry-leading portfolio of business VoIP services with the introduction of a telework solution based on the features and capabilities of AT&T CallVantage Service. To learn more about AT&T CallVantage Service, consumers can visit http://www.CallVantage.com or call 1-866-816-3815 extension 70339. How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 11:38:39 -0400 Subject: VoIP, Inc. Files Patent Application for 911 Emergency Life Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com COMMENT: I, for one, would like to know what is covered by this patent application. If it's simply the fact that when someone dials 911 their call would be routed to the PSTN rather than the customer's VoIP service, then I suspect there are numerous examples of "prior art" around - for example this method of rerouting 911 calls has been discussed in the BroadbandReports.com VoIP forum. In any case, I'm starting to get the idea that this just might be a company that wants to make their money off of so-called "intellectual property" rather than by actually offering anything truly innovative, but time will tell what sort of mark they leave on the world and on the VoIP industry. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040527005296&newsLang=en May 27, 2004 09:03 AM US Eastern Timezone VoIP, Inc. Files Patent Application for 911 Emergency Life Line Technology; Technology Will Significantly Enhance Voice Over IP Services FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 27, 2004--VoIP, Inc. (OTCBB:VOII) today announced that it has filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent application is titled "Method and System for Back-up of Voice Over IP Emergency Calls." The application describes a technological process for a specific coding scheme to redirect certain call types based on emergency dialing patterns, such as "911." Based on the number pattern dialed, the call will be redirected to the legacy emergency telephony system, allowing the user to reach critical fire, police, and other services from VoIP-capable devices. This is a critical differentiator in assured delivery of calls using VoIP telephony devices, because today the delivery of emergency calls over VoIP networks has been plagued with problems during the transition period to next-generation phone services. In addition to specific call routing of emergency calls out to traditional "copper-based" 911 facilities, the device also provides a fail-safe mechanism for routing calls during power failure events. The device will automatically pass calls out to the traditional PSTN during power failures, thus guaranteeing connectivity even during A/C power failures, which would cause complete dialing failure with other VoIP equipment in the same class. These FCC-approved devices allow transparent connection to the PSTN network and the SIP-based VoIP next-generation networks and maintain the emergency services that customers have come to expect in telephony-style platforms. The ability to use geographically-based emergency services location ability is a huge step forward in the advancement of VoIP services and their integration into existing telephony infrastructure. The regulatory and government environment is still formulating a plan for emergency dialing methods for VoIP, and this device allows for use in environments where regulatory requirements may prohibit network-only emergency dialing in the near future. VoIP, Inc.'s Chief Technology Officer, John Todd, said, "We will be filing additional patent applications before year-end as we continue to develop and enhance our core technologies and the product portfolio they support. If all the claims made in this application are approved, they could represent a major positive step for VoIP, Inc. and its customers with 911 services inside their products. Moreover, we believe it would continue to solidify our position as a premier Voice Over IP innovator and strengthen the technology platform upon which we can expand market share." VoIP, Inc.'s (www.voipincorporated.com) goal is to become a world leader in providing Voice Over IP customer premise equipment, and in addition, premium Voice Over IP subscriber-based enhanced telephony services, as well as innovative WiFi and WiMAX technology solutions for residential and enterprise customers globally. Full press release at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040527005296&newsLang=en ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 11:03:28 -0400 Subject: Cable Firm to Challenge AT&T With Speedy Net Phone Lines Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/05/27/BUG4B6S8CU1.DTL Verne Kopytoff, Chronicle Staff Writer Are you ready for a Net phone? Comcast, the Bay Area's dominant cable company, plans to offer telephone service over high-speed Internet lines by 2006, marking the latest entry by a major telecommunication firm into this nascent business. The service will allow customers to make calls using regular phones, with the audio routed online using a technology called voice over Internet protocol. The rollout will place Comcast in direct competition with AT&T, which unveiled its own Internet telephone service in April for most of California. At the same time, Comcast will be up against industry upstarts Vonage and 8x8. "Once people have an opportunity to look at the (Internet telephone) service, we think that a significant number of them will give us a try," said Robert Smith, a Comcast spokesman. Full story at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/05/27/BUG4B6S8CU1.DTL ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 04:36:15 -0400 Subject: Comcast Goes Digital With Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0405/27/b01-165354.htm Setup will allow telephone calls over the Internet Detroit News staff and wire reports PHILADELPHIA Comcast Corp., Michigan's dominant cable company and the largest provider in the country, plans to offer digital phone service to almost all its customers nationwide by the end of 2006. Comcast will begin digital phone service this year in three cities Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Springfield, Mass. CEO Brian Roberts made the announcement at the company's annual meeting in Philadelphia on Wednesday. The company's phone service will be provided over its cable systems using so-called Voice Over Internet Protocol technology, a less expensive way to send calls than over traditional phone lines. Comcast already offers phone service in 55 Michigan communities, mostly in Metro Detroit. Although the signals enter homes through Comcast's cable lines, the service currently runs through a switched network similar to traditional phone lines and costs about the same as service from SBC Communications Inc. The all-digital service will send signals as data over the Internet. About 1.2 million Comcast customers nationwide currently get phone service from the company; officials will not say how many are in Michigan. Full story at: http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0405/27/b01-165354.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 13:33:31 -0400 Subject: CNN/Money: Are You Ready for a Net Phone? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/26/pf/comcastvoip/ Telephones are evolving into Internet gizmos. Will making the switch save you money? By Les Christie CNN/Money contributing writer NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Cable TV giant Comcast announced Wednesday that it plans to offer Internet-based phone service to its 40 million households by the end of 2005. The news caused a flurry of interest in the burgeoning business of Internet telephony. It may also soon lead consumers to ask just what Internet telephony is and whether they should get in on it. Full story at: http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/26/pf/comcastvoip/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 13:35:59 -0400 Subject: Equant Polishes up its VoIP Offer Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2004/0527eq.html By Denise Pappalardo Network World Fusion, 05/27/04 Equant is expanding the availability of its voice-over-IP service and lowering its per-minute service rates for customers. The carrier this week announced that its Voice for IP VPN service is now available in 17 additional countries, costs less and will support multiple vendor products by year-end. Equant's Voice for IP VPN service, which runs over the carrier's Multiprotocol Label Switching IP network, is now available in 93 countries. Algeria, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are three of the 17 new countries the carrier has added this year. The carrier has also benefited from recent regulatory approvals in China and India, says Michael Burrell, head of enterprise telephony at Equant. Equant has been offering on-net voice over its VPN service to customers in China and India for a couple of years. But it was not permitted to terminate calls outside of a user's corporate network. Both countries have made changes to their telecommunications regulations that lift those restrictions. Now Equant customers can make voice-over-IP calls destined for locations outside of their company to Europe or the U.S. from China, Burrell says. Additional countries, such as Costa Rica and Mexico, are expected to be added to the list of countries where Voice for IP VPN will be available this year. Full story at: http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2004/0527eq.html ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: 27 May 2004 07:56:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com My local telephone company (Verizon) and cable TV company (Comcast) have been running an aggressive TV ad campaign pushing their respecting high speed data services. Verizon is pushing DSL while Comcast is pushing cable modem. Each says they're far superior (faster data and more reliable) and cheaper than the other. Any opinions on cable modems vs. DSL in today's world? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as DSL is effectively the 'property' of the established, traditional telephone companies, (that is, give up your traditional telephone service and you cannot have DSL), then a lot of subscribers are left high and dry. Telco seems to be betting that this 'all from us or nothing from us' approach will work to their benefit. In fact, it may hasten the demise of Bell even more. Take my case, which I think is sort of typical: I was spending a hundred dollars plus per month on phone and DSL from Southwestern Bell, and extra for what little long distance I use. Cable was another $50-60 per month, for a limited package of basic stuff only (60 channels). By eliminating Bell totally (I use Prairie Stream in a combined local phone and LD package) which costs $25 per month and cable internet which includes all the 'premium' cable television channels for $100 per month, I save a little money on the total bill. If Bell ever released their tight grip on DSL as a general rule, it might be different, but for those of us who are disabled and with fixed incomes from Social Security, we just cannot afford to get huge packages from Bell in order to use our computers effeciently *and* a package from cable as well. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Western Union Public Telegraph Offices Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 20:01:10 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com A couple of comments below: Lisa Hancock wrote in message news:telecom23.256.3@telecom-digest.org: (Some Snippage) > Union pressures forced the elimination of telegraph boys and > staff cutbacks. I knew someone who worked in one of their computer > centers around 1975 and she reported the job paid very well for the > type of work, but was very closely monitored. The computer checked > every keystroke and counted all errors as well as tracking time away > such as in the restroom. Back in the days of "keypunch" machines the newer products replaced paper cards with the same records written onto magnetic tape. These computerized keypunch machines were computers themselves, of course, and fed the data processing professionals appetite for reports, charts and graphs. The systems kept track of every document keyed, every keystroke entered, every misteak and correction and provided "management reports". All those stats were then posted on a bulliten board for one and all to see. The pressure, subtle or not, was to go faster and faster. > I once had an installer come out who was a contractor (not a > Verizon employee -- his truck had the Verizon sign just taped on as > opposed to painted on.) He was rude and slovenly. I contested and > received credit for his charges afterwards. In the meantime, the > CWA (Communications Workers of America) have sought to unionize > workers in new industries. The current "New Yorker" magazine has a cartoon (page 54) showing a sloppy, unshaved telephone technician working on the network interface box. The woman of the house there with her arms folded and looking very pi**ed. The telephone man (a mere contractor, no doubt) is saying her "Look, Lady, we're not bad people - we're just really lousy at what we do." So I guess some things don't change, do they!!! Al ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 03:59:02 GMT In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, the workers can't have it both > ways, either. Did it occur to you that much of the union excesses of > the 1970-80's was partially responsible for the condition things are > in today, with all the outsourcing of labor to India and such places? > PAT] But how does that account for those of us who have never been part of a union, yet feel the effects of the outsourcing movement? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You account for it this way: You are sitting, clothed, reading a book next to a swimming pool when a big, fat lady jumps off the diving board doing a belly flop. The splash of the water is going to wreck your clothes and your book. The employers are saying "It is nothing personal; we have been getting eaten alive by the unions for many, many years, maybe even before you were old enough to be in the work place." If you are 'feeling the effects of the outsourcing movement', don't blame the employers, blame the unions for their infamous greed over the years. Another example: politicians are fond of reminding us that our nation's trillions of dollars' debt and eventual social security shortfall is going to be a horrible burden on our grandchildren and great-grandchilden yet to be born. *They* will be the ones to eventually have to stand in disgrace as the 'national debt' is repudiated (and it will be some day; can't see any way around it) and the old people and disabled are left to fend for themselves when the social security pot goes dry and we run out of creative ways and excuses to re-arrange our federal budget. You are seeing a mini-version of that now as employers flee while there is still some safety for them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 04:56:05 GMT gene wrote: > I'm planning on switching to Verizon DSL for my ISP. Talked to their > technical information person to ask who Verizon gets their Newsgroup > feed from. Her answer:"What's a newsgroup?" Is there someone using > Verizon DSL here who can answer this for me. I know there are NG > providers that you can sign up with for a monthly fee. Up to now > though all the ISPs I've used provide one in their regular package for > no cost. Thanks for any information. Yes, I use Verizon DSL, and news is included "free" in the monthly cost. The news server is nominally news.verizon.net. Using the news server requires login with your assigned username and password, which is typically handled automatically by your newsreader software once you configure the account. The servers are reasonably quick, and the list of newsgroups seems complete. ------------------------------ From: e250tani@st.yatsushiro-nct.ac.jp (test) Subject: Future of Cellular Phone Date: 27 May 2004 00:12:29 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Now, as for the cellular phone, advanced functions are progressing. Goods can already be purchased using a cellular phone with a vending machine. In the future, what other possibilities can be considered? Please tell me your idea. It is OK also in a dreamlike idea. ------------------------------ From: xasdfg123456@yahoo.com (xasdfg123456@yahoo.com) Subject: Why Would I Want a Local T1? Date: 27 May 2004 11:45:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am confused about something: why would I want my own local T1 into my office? It seems like it would be less expensive to use the local carrier's lines that are already in place in the building then having our own dedicated circuit installed. Why do people do this? Thanks. BR [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because everyone in your building would share the same T1. Some people, for various reasons, do not like to share, either because they need the bandwidth or they have security concerns, or maybe they are just greedy. Shared facilities are always cheaper, if that's your only concern. PAT] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #262 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu May 27 23:58:23 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4S3wNm26387; Thu, 27 May 2004 23:58:23 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 23:58:23 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405280358.i4S3wNm26387@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 #263 TELECOM Digest Thu, 27 May 2004 23:58:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 263 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Free World Dialup Services Need Some Testing (VOIP News) 8x8 Announces Fourth Quarter and Year End 2004 Results (VOIP News) Comcast's Virile VOIP Story (VOIP News) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Kenneth P. Stox) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Tony P.) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (John McHarry) Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? (John McHarry) Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? (William Warren) Re: The Strike Goes On (Curtis CCR) I Need: 48 & 96 Count RIBBONIZED, Armored Cable; 4,000 Feet + (Sourcing) California Adopts New Wireless Cell Phone Regulations (Monty Solomon) 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: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 13:44:55 -0400 Subject: New Free World Dialup Services Need Some Testing Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This message was found at: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,10351842~mode=flat edguy3 Loc:Melville, NY VoIPers, We at FWD have a few new features which we could some help testing: 1) FWD Pounce - call a user when they come on line. 2) vmail2email - voice mail delivery via email 3) SIP URI forwarding - set a forwarding address for your FWD number. 4) FWD Instant Communication System (ICS) -- web control of your FWD phone with integrated conferencing. Access these features by logging into your fwd account on www.fwdnet.net and selecting from the 'My Account' Menu. (N.B: these features are not yet in full production, but your testing will help them get there.) Thanks! /ed guy How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 18:18:57 -0400 Subject: 8x8 Announces Fourth Quarter and Year End 2004 Results Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-27-2004/0002183309&EDATE= SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGHT) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2004. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 were $2 million, compared with $2.9 million for the same period of the prior year. The net loss for the quarter was $1.5 million, or $0.04 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.8 million, or $0.13 per share for the same period last year. Total revenues for the year ended March 31, 2004, were $9.3 million, compared with $11 million for fiscal 2003. The net loss for fiscal 2004 was $3 million, or $0.09 per share, compared with a net loss of $11.4 million, or $0.40 per share for fiscal 2003. The decline in total revenues for the quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2004, as compared to the comparable periods in 2003, was attributable to the Company's transition from its legacy semiconductor business to the Packet8 voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone service. Total revenues for the Company's Packet8 VoIP service and related equipment sales increased to $672,000 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, compared with $363,000 for the third quarter of fiscal 2004. For the year ended March 31, 2004, Packet8 service revenues and related equipment approximated $1.3 million. As of March 31, 2004, the Company had approximately 11,000 activated Packet8 subscriber lines in service. The Company's cash position increased to $14 million as of March 31, 2004, compared with $13.2 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2004 due to proceeds received from the exercise of warrants issued in the November 2003 private placement. For detailed financial results and other disclosures, see 8x8's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2004, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 27, 2004. About 8x8, Inc. 8x8, Inc. offers the Packet8 voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service and Packet8 Virtual Office (http://www.packet8.net). For additional company information, visit 8x8's web site at http://www.8x8.com. About Packet8 and Packet8 Virtual Office Packet8 enables anyone with high-speed access to the Internet to sign up for voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service at http://www.packet8.net . Customers can choose a direct-dial phone number from any of the more than 270 area codes offered by the service, and then use an 8x8-supplied terminal adapter to connect any telephone to a broadband internet connection and make or receive calls from a regular telephone number. For $19.95/month, Packet8 subscribers can make unlimited calls to any telephone number in the United States and Canada, and unlimited calls to any other Packet8 subscriber anywhere in the world. Calls to non-Packet8 numbers outside the United States and Canada are charged at the additional per-minute rates available at http://www.packet8.net/about/international.asp . All Packet8 accounts come with voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, call waiting caller ID, call forwarding, hold, line-alternate, 3-way conferencing, web access to account controls, and real-time online billing. Packet8 Virtual Office allows business users anywhere in the world to be part of a virtual PBX that includes auto attendants, conference bridges, extension-to-extension dialing, ring groups and a host of other business class PBX features, while still enjoying unlimited phone calls anywhere in the United States and Canada and the same low, per-minute international rates available in Packet8's residential plans. With Packet8 Virtual Office, each extension has its own direct dial telephone number which can be any telephone number on the Packet8 network, regardless of geographical location, and can make unlimited extension-to-extension calls anywhere in the world. NOTE: 8x8, the 8x8 logo, Packet8, the Packet8 logo and Packet8 Virtual Office are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Full press release (includes financial data) at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-27-2004/0002183309&EDATE= ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 19:37:33 -0400 Subject: Comcast's Virile VOIP Story Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=53568 Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) announced its voice-over-IP (VOIP) plans yesterday, and if you didn't read the fine print the effort sounded like a world beater. But the hard numbers tell another story. Comcast announced that, by year's end, the company plans to be able to offer VOIP service to half of the 40 million homes its cables pass. By the end of next year, it plans to be able to offer the service to 95 percent of those 40 million homes (or 38 million homes). Several papers, including The Wall Street Journal, ran broad descriptions of the announcement, each noting that Comcast plans to offer VOIP service to all the 40 million households served by its cable systems by the end of 2006. Comcast shares climbed 12 cents to $29.69 on the news (see Comcast Directors Re-Elected ). However, the difference between "offer" and "provide" is mighty big. Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=53568 ------------------------------ From: Kenneth P. Stox Organization: Imaginary Landscape, LLC. Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 19:31:34 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as DSL is effectively the 'property' > of the established, traditional telephone companies, (that is, give up > your traditional telephone service and you cannot have DSL), then a lot > of subscribers are left high and dry. Telco seems to be betting that > this 'all from us or nothing from us' approach will work to their benefit. > In fact, it may hasten the demise of Bell even more. FYI: Verizon is now offering stand-alone DSL: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=582&e=5&u=/nm/20040526/wr_nm/telecoms_verizon_dc ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Organization: ATCC Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 20:45:04 GMT In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > My local telephone company (Verizon) and cable TV company (Comcast) > have been running an aggressive TV ad campaign pushing their > respecting high speed data services. Verizon is pushing DSL while > Comcast is pushing cable modem. Each says they're far superior > (faster data and more reliable) and cheaper than the other. > Any opinions on cable modems vs. DSL in today's world? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as DSL is effectively the 'property' > of the established, traditional telephone companies, (that is, give up > your traditional telephone service and you cannot have DSL), then a lot > of subscribers are left high and dry. Telco seems to be betting that > this 'all from us or nothing from us' approach will work to their benefit. > In fact, it may hasten the demise of Bell even more. Take my case, > which I think is sort of typical: I was spending a hundred dollars > plus per month on phone and DSL from Southwestern Bell, and extra for > what little long distance I use. Cable was another $50-60 per month, > for a limited package of basic stuff only (60 channels). By > eliminating Bell totally (I use Prairie Stream in a combined local > phone and LD package) which costs $25 per month and cable internet > which includes all the 'premium' cable television channels for $100 > per month, I save a little money on the total bill. If Bell ever released > their tight grip on DSL as a general rule, it might be different, but > for those of us who are disabled and with fixed incomes from Social > Security, we just cannot afford to get huge packages from Bell in > order to use our computers effeciently *and* a package from cable as > well. PAT] Verizon now offers naked DSL. I think SBC is doing it now too. Far as I know, you can't get consumer cable IP feed without subscribing to cable television. Ran into that when I was working for state government. We needed a cheap point to point solution. When I talked to the Cox rep they mentioned they couldn't sell us just the data, that we'd have to be a basic cable subscriber too. Luckily we were. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Organization: BellSouth Internet Group Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 22:35:49 -0400 Lisa Hancock wrote: > My local telephone company (Verizon) and cable TV company (Comcast) > have been running an aggressive TV ad campaign pushing their > respecting high speed data services. Verizon is pushing DSL while > Comcast is pushing cable modem. Each says they're far superior > (faster data and more reliable) and cheaper than the other. > Any opinions on cable modems vs. DSL in today's world? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as DSL is effectively the > 'property' of the established, traditional telephone companies, > (that is, give up your traditional telephone service and you cannot > have DSL), then a lot of subscribers are left high and dry. Telco > seems to be betting that this 'all from us or nothing from us' > approach will work to their benefit. In fact, it may hasten the > demise of Bell even more. Take my case, which I think is sort of > typical: I was spending a hundred dollars plus per month on phone > and DSL from Southwestern Bell, and extra for what little long > distance I use. Cable was another $50-60 per month, for a limited > package of basic stuff only (60 channels). By eliminating Bell > totally (I use Prairie Stream in a combined local phone and LD > package) which costs $25 per month and cable internet which includes > all the 'premium' cable television channels for $100 per month, I > save a little money on the total bill. If Bell ever released their > tight grip on DSL as a general rule, it might be different, but for > those of us who are disabled and with fixed incomes from Social > Security, we just cannot afford to get huge packages from Bell in > order to use our computers effeciently *and* a package from cable as > well. PAT] Well put, but my experience is that it depends on where you are and what is on offer locally. I had a cable modem for a couple years in Northern VA, and was quite satisfied; although they kept trying to force me to also buy their TV service, which I didn't want since I had Echostar, which was cheaper and better quality. When I moved to Southeastern NC I tried cable modem, but it was too unreliable, and the cable company didn't seem to much care. I have had DSL for a couple years now, and it is rock solid, but they are playing with the rates, so I plan to give cable modem another try. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? Organization: BellSouth Internet Group Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 19:27:01 -0400 xasdfg123456@yahoo.com wrote: > I am confused about something: why would I want my own local T1 into > my office? It seems like it would be less expensive to use the local > carrier's lines that are already in place in the building then having > our own dedicated circuit installed. Why do people do this? Thanks. > BR > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because everyone in your building would > share the same T1. Some people, for various reasons, do not like to > share, either because they need the bandwidth or they have security > concerns, or maybe they are just greedy. Shared facilities are always > cheaper, if that's your only concern. PAT] I don't know what he wants it for, but if it is for access to an interexchange carrier, it could well be cheaper than paying the the LEC origination and termination charges. If it is just back to the LEC, there could be issues of features. Most likely it is bandwidth, or grade of service, which is much the same thing. Oh, another would be to get a connection to a second or remote CO. ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? Organization: Comcast Online Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 01:48:34 GMT wrote in message news:telecom23.262.12@telecom-digest.org: > I am confused about something: why would I want my own local T1 into > my office? It seems like it would be less expensive to use the local > carrier's lines that are already in place in the building then having > our own dedicated circuit installed. Why do people do this? Thanks. > BR > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because everyone in your building would > share the same T1. Some people, for various reasons, do not like to > share, either because they need the bandwidth or they have security > concerns, or maybe they are just greedy. Shared facilities are always > cheaper, if that's your only concern. PAT] BR, There are several factors to consider here: 1. Your usage pattern. If most of your traffic is incoming to your business, and represents essential information (most printing firms, for example, now receive their copy electronically, directly from ad agencies or corporate Graphic Arts departments), then you might choose to enjoy the extra speed a DS-1 represents. Shared capacity, while less expensive, will "bottleneck" during busy hours, and you'll have to decide if you want to risk alienating your customers. 2. The type of traffic. If you're doing a lot of VoIP, you might want a DS-1 because it gives you enough bandwidth to predict VoIP quality metrics. There is no "minimum transit time" in the IP protocol, and although packets can be marked as time-sensitive, there's no specification for how long an IP datagram will take to go from point A to B. Remember, TCP/IP was designed to maximize the throughput of unreliable links, and has very good mechanisms for assuring reliable transport, but at the heart of the protocol suite is the notion of time-insensitivity, i.e., the fundamental assumption that packet transit times can be sacrificed in exchange for reliable transport. Works great for email, not so well for VoIP, Multicast streaming video/audio, or other "real time" info. 3. Access to experts. DS-1 lines are very profitable for the ILECs and CLECs, and they get top-notch technicians, with much better training, equipment, and budgets than the consumer-grade services such as DSL. Since DS-1 circuits are provisioned with "Special Service Protection", they're less likely to be interrupted by cable swaps, linemen looking for dial tone, etc. 4. Simplified maintenance and accountability. A DS-1 circuit going from your business to a backbone provider is much easier to maintain than a shared line with an unknown owner, unclear bandwidth, or unpredictable error rates. It's a straight pipe from you to the Major League data transfer points (assuming you order it wisely), and so will obviate any possible choke points caused by other customers. 5. All the eggs are in one basket. A DS-1 is a single point of failure if that's all your business has. More sophisticated customers pay for dual DS-1 feeds, with diverse routing, backup power, etc., but that's almost always for police, fire, or other 27/7 shops. You can get backup capacity that'll carry you through an outage, for example by using several multi-link PPP dialup circuits, but you'll have to bargain for this and set it up well in advance. HTH. YMMV. Bill ------------------------------ From: curtisccr@sbcglobal.net (Curtis CCR) Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On Date: 27 May 2004 16:04:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor wrote in message news:: > According to the Independence Reporter for Sunday, May 23, the labor dispute > at SBC continues. There was a time in the United States when a strike at the > telephone company meant bad news. Now, all it seems to amount to is a slight > delay in getting an answer from Directory Assistance or the operator. Here > at our central office in Independence, over at 6th and Maple, there was no > sign of any action other than back on Friday (when the strike started) two > guys with picket signs on the sidewalk in front for a short time, but then > they went away and there was nothing. The other tenants, with co-location > cages, came and went normally. Telco may just allow this strike to linger > on and make no real effort to settle it anytime fast. What is the reaction/ > response in other communities? My understanding is it is not just SBC on > strike, but all the (remnants of) Baby Bells. This was a sweetheart strike. They pre-planned to walkout for only four days. So where was the pressure on SBC if they knew everyone was coming back in four days? There was no pressure -- the reason the "srike" was only four days long because the union and the company agreed in advance that if the strike lasted no longer than 4 days, the workers wouldn't be locked out and their benefits would continue. In the end, what happened. SBCs "final offer" was accepted. The workers will get some modest raises but SBC retained the right to layoff some workers. The company is still paying medical insurance premiums, but the employee co-pays are going from something like $10 to $25. I read an analysis on the medical coverage issue saying that it sort of screws both sides later. SBC will save a couple of billion dollars in the immediate future by raising co-payments, but the rising cost of insurance will quickly overtake the savings again. All they did was buy time -- both sides are going to be facing this issue again in 5 years. And the workers will likely be at an even bigger disadvantage because most of the general public will not feel sorry for employees that don't have to contribute to tehir health insurance premiums. ------------------------------ From: True Sourcing, Inc. Subject: I need: 48 & 96 Count RIBBONIZED, Armored Cable; 4,000 - 15,000 Feet Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 20:21:29 -0400 I need: 48 & 96 count RIBBONIZED, armored cable. 4,000 - 15,000 Feet Must be corning, pirelli, or Alcatel. Will take a bunch of shorts. Stuff from boneyards. Applcation Calls for cutting into 200 foot sections. Must buy today. Please advise. ----- Matthew Denton ph: 404.759.9041 ----- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 23:38:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: California Adopts New Wireless Regulations By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer SAN RAMON, Calif. - California on Thursday became the first state in the nation to adopt consumer protections for cell phone customers, after a four-year tussle with the industry. The state Public Utilities Commission adopted the so-called Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights on a 3-2 vote. The commission said it received more than 5,000 complaints from consumers last year about wireless companies; nationally, the Council of Better Business Bureaus said wireless carriers are the No. 2 topic of complaints filed with its bureaus, second only to auto dealers. The regulation passed after an acrimonious debate about whether the reforms represented enlightened regulation or ham-handed meddling into the free market. http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_business10may27,1,6443663.story ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #263 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri May 28 14:18:51 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4SIIpD03993; Fri, 28 May 2004 14:18:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 14:18:51 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405281818.i4SIIpD03993@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 #264 TELECOM Digest Fri, 28 May 2004 14:18:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 264 Inside This Issue: Happy Memorial Day Weekend to All! RCN Files Chapter 11 Restructuring Plan (Monty Solomon) Cingular Lags Rivals in High-Speed Wireless Data (Monty Solomon) Comment Requested on A La Carte and Themed Tier Programming (Monty Solomon) Media Bureau Seeks Comment on Over-Air Broadcast Television (Monty Solomon) TiVo, Say It Ain't So (Monty Solomon) Comcast and T-Mobile to Create Philadelphia's First-Ever (Monty Solomon) Comcast to Offer Phone Service to 40 Million in 2006 (Monty Solomon) Maryland Governor Signs Tough Anti-Spam Law (Monty Solomon) Verizon to Offer 'Naked' DSL (Monty Solomon) BBC Prepares to Put TV Archive on Web (Monty Solomon) 'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns (Monty Solomon) For Some, the Blogging Never Stops (Monty Solomon) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Barry Margolin) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Fred Atkinson) Health Insurance, was Re: The Strike Goes On (Danny Burstein) Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider (Gordon S. Hlavenka) +88234, a Country Code to Antarctica (Mr.R.) Phone Plug (Steve) A Query on World's Advanced Data Networks (Rohith) How Linux is Inadvertently Poised to Remake the Telephone (VOIP News) Juniper Research: Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) to Account for Over 12% (VOIP News) Welcome to Summer (VOIP News) 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: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:09:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RCN Files Chapter 11 Restructuring Plan By JEFFREY GOLD AP Business Writer PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) -- RCN Corp., a telecommunications upstart that packages phone, Internet and cable service but has been shedding assets and employees, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday and said it has support from creditors for a restructuring plan. The company's troubles stem from poor timing and its expensive decision to challenge telecom and cable giants such as Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. by building its own network _ laying expensive fiber optics instead of leasing lines from bigger players. RCN spent $1.88 billion on its network between the beginning of 2000 and the end of 2002. But revenue didn't keep pace, reaching only $542 million by 2002. Others in the telecom industry were also building or expanding their networks, planning for a surge in traffic that never developed. Since the tech bubble burst in 2000, a spate of bankruptcies, price wars and stock declines have roiled the industry. The company said the filing, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District Court of New York, is not expected to result in any service disruption to customers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41691440 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:14:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Lags Rivals in High-Speed Wireless Data By Sinead Carew NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - Cingular Wireless (NYSE:SBC) is falling behind nimbler rivals in offering high-speed mobile services that let customers easily view the Internet and e-mail on phones and other wireless gadgets. Cingular, which will surpass Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ)(LSE:VOD) as the biggest U.S. carrier when it buys AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE) this year, said it is unlikely to offer the highly anticipated service until as late as 2006 and 2007. That could be as much as two years behind Verizon, which already offers a high-speed service in two markets. If Sprint (NYSE:FON) uses the same technology -- known as EV-DO -- as Verizon it could have a service next year. Cingular, which faces the task of welding its network to that of AT&T Wireless, is also waiting for equipment suitable for the airwaves it plans to use for its high-speed data. Cingular is using a technology popular in Europe known as UMTS rather than EV-DO, first used in Korea. Because of the delay it will need to offer a more compelling service to win subscribers, especially lucrative business customers, who need fast data, according to analysts. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41701703 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:28:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comment Requested on A La Carte and Themed Tier Programming Released: 05/25/2004. COMMENT REQUESTED ON A LA CARTE AND THEMED TIER PROGRAMMING AND PRICING OPTIONS FOR PROGRAMMING DISTRIBUTION ON CABLE TELEVISION AND DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE SYSTEMS. (DA No. 04-1454). (Dkt No 04-207). Comments Due: 07/08/2004. Reply Comments Due: 07/23/2004. MB. Contact: Ben Golant at (202) 418-7111 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:34:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Media Bureau Seeks Comment on Over-The-Air Broadcast Television Released: 05/27/2004. MEDIA BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON OVER-THE-AIR BROADCAST TELEVISION VIEWERS. (DA No. 04-1497). (Dkt No 04-210). Comments Due: 07/12/2004. Reply Comments Due: 08/05/2004. MB. Contact: Rick Chessen at (202) 418-7200 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 08:43:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo, Say It Ain't So By adding new services, the DVR company may be making a fatal mistake. By Phillip Swann Washington, D.C. (May 26) -- TiVo, the Digital Video Recorder service, yesterday reported that it added 264,000 subscribers in the last quarter, bringing its total to 1.6 million. Normally, that would be good news. However, in a conference call with investors, TiVo CEO Mike Ramsay said something that could spell doom for TiVo. Ramsay indicated that his company would spend more time and money on developing new features for TiVo, such as satellite radio, digital photo editing and the ability to surf the Internet. The executive believes that the new services will generate more revenue from current subscribers, enabling the company to survive despite competition from unbranded DVRs used by cable and satellite TV operators. Many analysts believe that the unbranded DVRs will eventually dominate the market, leaving TiVo with a niche audience of less than 10 million people. Considering that the DVR market is getting crowded, it's understandable that TiVo would seek new revenues. However, the company's plan to add non-DVR features puts its most valuable asset at risk -- its brand. http://www.tvpredictions.com/tivo052604.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 08:48:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast and T-Mobile to Create Philadelphia's First-Ever Outdoor Comcast and T-Mobile to Create Philadelphia's First-Ever Outdoor Wi-Fi HotSpot at South Street's Headhouse Square - May 26, 2004 08:02 AM (PR Newswire) Residents, Visitors, Business People can Connect to Internet Without Wires at Historic Headhouse Square Plaza PHILADELPHIA and BELLEVUE, Wash., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast and T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced the planned June launch of Philadelphia's first-ever outdoor Wi-Fi wireless Internet service located at Philadelphia's historic Headhouse Square Plaza. The T-Mobile HotSpot network, supported at Headhouse Square by the Comcast high-speed data network, will give residents and visitors the ability to get online at wireless broadband speeds with a Wi- Fi enabled laptop computer or personal data assistant (PDA). The launch will create one of the nation's largest Wi-Fi "hotspots," available in most indoor and outdoor areas of the plaza, covering Second Street between South and Pine Streets. The introduction of Wi-Fi, or "wireless fidelity," further enhances the vibrant shopping, dining and living experience available in the broader South Street business district. The network will enable Wi-Fi users in Headhouse Square Plaza to catch up on email, access company intranets, make restaurant reservations, take advantage of special offers from merchants, and generally enjoy on-the-go information and entertainment that only a wireless broadband connection can deliver. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41649162 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 08:51:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast to Offer Phone Service to 40 Million in 2006 NEW YORK, May 26 (Reuters) - Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), the nation's largest cable television operator, said on Wednesday it will offer telephone service to more than 40 million households in 2006, in a significant challenge to local telephone companies. Comcast also said that non-Executive Chairman C. Michael Armstrong has stepped down and will be replaced by Chief Executive Brian Roberts. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41652546 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 08:59:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Maryland Governor Signs Tough Anti-Spam Law By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - Internet "spam" purveyors who hide behind false e-mail addresses could face up to 10 years in jail and fines of $25,000 per day under a new state law signed Wednesday by Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich. The Maryland Spam Deterrence Act allows state officials to arrest and fine those who engage in a variety of deceptive tactics to send junk e-mail. The law was hailed as the nation's toughest by Internet provider America Online (NYSE:TWX)., which has helped officials in other states track down spammers who send out fraudulent messages. But one anti-spam activist said it would do little to stop the unsolicited bulk messages that now account for up to 83 percent of all e-mail, because most of those already violate anti-fraud laws. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41660480 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 01:47:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon to Offer 'Naked' DSL By Marguerite Reardon Staff Writer, CNET News.com Verizon Communications will soon become the second Baby Bell in the United States to offer broadband to consumers regardless of whether those customers also buy its local phone service. The company confirmed on Wednesday that it plans to offer what's been called "naked" digital subscriber line (DSL) service to customers within its local phone region by the end of 2004. Qwest Communications in February announced plans to offer a similar service to its customers. Up until that point, the Baby Bells typically offered DSL as part of a package with local phone service. Customers who switched local phone providers risked losing their DSL service. Consumer groups argued that this practice locked customers into services with the Baby Bells, while shutting out other DSL competitors. But now local phone companies seem to be having a change of heart. Some experts say it is a result of more customers abandoning their local phone lines for wireless services and voice over Internet services. The Baby Bells also have lost some local lines to competing phone companies such as AT&T and MCI. http://news.com.com/2100-1034-5221095.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 02:15:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BBC Prepares to Put TV Archive on Web Graeme Wearden ZDNet UK The BBC's decision to let British surfers download TV footage and share it between friends could help to drive broadband and the take-up of new, faster PCs. The BBC has given a major boost to the Creative Commons movement this week by revealing how it plans to open up its archive of broadcasting material to UK Internet users. The corporation has decided to allow surfers to download, distribute and modify digital clips of BBC television programmes through an initiative called the Creative Archive. While users won't be allowed to resell the material, they will enjoy increased access to content that many potential users effectively paid the BBC to create through their licence fees. A Creative Commons licence allows content creators to dictate whether or not anyone can copy their own work, creative derivative works from it, or use it for commercial purposes. It is an attempt to create a middle-ground rather than making content owners choose between putting something fully into the public domain or controlling it tightly through copyright. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39156023,00.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 01:42:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com File swappers concerned about getting in trouble with record labels over illegal downloads may soon have a major new worry: the U.S. Department of Justice. A proposal that the Senate may vote on as early as next week would let federal prosecutors file civil lawsuits against suspected copyright infringers, with fines reaching tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. The so-called Pirate Act is raising alarms among copyright lawyers and lobbyists for peer-to-peer firms, who have been eyeing the recording industry's lawsuits against thousands of peer-to-peer users with trepidation. The Justice Department, they say, could be far more ambitious. One influential proponent of the Pirate Act is urging precisely that. "Tens of thousands of continuing civil enforcement actions might be needed to generate the necessary deterrence," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said when announcing his support for the bill. "I doubt that any nongovernmental organization has the resources or moral authority to pursue such a campaign." The Pirate Act represents the latest legislative priority for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and its allies, who collectively argue that dramatic action is necessary to prevent file-swapping networks from continuing to blossom in popularity. http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5220480.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do I read this correctly? It will no longer be required to have an announced or alleged 'victim' of a crime in order to have government intervention? The government will now be the 'victim' (and the judge and the jury) for the 'crime' of making copies of things? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 00:09:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: For Some, the Blogging Never Stops By KATIE HAFNER TO celebrate four years of marriage, Richard Wiggins and his wife, Judy Matthews, recently spent a week in Key West, Fla. Early on the morning of their anniversary, Ms. Matthews heard her husband get up and go into the bathroom. He stayed there for a long time. "I didn't hear any water running, so I wondered what was going on," Ms. Matthews said. When she knocked on the door, she found him seated with his laptop balanced on his knees, typing into his Web log, a collection of observations about the technical world, over a wireless link. Blogging is a pastime for many, even a livelihood for a few. For some, it becomes an obsession. Such bloggers often feel compelled to write several times daily and feel anxious if they don't keep up. As they spend more time hunkered over their computers, they neglect family, friends and jobs. They blog at home, at work and on the road. They blog openly or sometimes, like Mr. Wiggins, quietly so as not to call attention to their habit. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/technology/circuits/27blog.html ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Organization: Looking for work Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 01:41:01 -0400 In article , Tony P. wrote: > Far as I know, you can't get consumer cable IP feed without > subscribing to cable television. That's not true with Comcast. They offer discounts if you purchase multiple services, but they don't require you to. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 11:43:32 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Well, I'm not so sure that DSL is a cost effective alternative to DSL. I've just exhausted the 'six months of cablemodem for $29.95 per month'. So now, the cost is now a little over fifty dollars. I am looking for a way to cut costs. I looked into adding DSL to the local line here. For the DSL light (one hundred and twenty-eight kbps upstream and two hundred and fifty-six kbps downstream), they want about thirty-five per month. Considering the difference in speed, I hardly think it is competitive. I also am running Vonage. According to the Vonage folks, you need ninety kbps per call (in other words, if you use a service that requires two calls (such as using three-way calling or call waiting), you need one hundred and eighty kbps in each direction. So, one hundred and twenty-eight kbps. So, if I get the next highest package, I'm paying the same as I'm paying for the [much faster] cablemodem. And besides, if you have to pay for local service as well as the Vonage line, that kind of kills the deal anyway. So for the time being, I'll stick with cablemodem until someone offers me a better deal. Road Runner is offering a reduced deal, but I've already had a special from them within the last year, so I am not eligible for that promotion. Regards, Fred On 27 May 2004 07:56:14 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > My local telephone company (Verizon) and cable TV company (Comcast) > have been running an aggressive TV ad campaign pushing their > respecting high speed data services. Verizon is pushing DSL while > Comcast is pushing cable modem. Each says they're far superior > (faster data and more reliable) and cheaper than the other. > Any opinions on cable modems vs. DSL in today's world? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as DSL is effectively the 'property' > of the established, traditional telephone companies, (that is, give up > your traditional telephone service and you cannot have DSL), then a lot > of subscribers are left high and dry. Telco seems to be betting that > this 'all from us or nothing from us' approach will work to their benefit. > In fact, it may hasten the demise of Bell even more. Take my case, > which I think is sort of typical: I was spending a hundred dollars > plus per month on phone and DSL from Southwestern Bell, and extra for > what little long distance I use. Cable was another $50-60 per month, > for a limited package of basic stuff only (60 channels). By > eliminating Bell totally (I use Prairie Stream in a combined local > phone and LD package) which costs $25 per month and cable internet > which includes all the 'premium' cable television channels for $100 > per month, I save a little money on the total bill. If Bell ever released > their tight grip on DSL as a general rule, it might be different, but > for those of us who are disabled and with fixed incomes from Social > Security, we just cannot afford to get huge packages from Bell in > order to use our computers effeciently *and* a package from cable as > well. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Health Insurance, was Re: The Strike Goes On Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 04:03:19 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In curtisccr@sbcglobal.net (Curtis CCR) writes: [ big snip ] > premiums, but the employee co-pays are going from something like $10 > to $25. > I read an analysis on the medical coverage issue saying that it sort > of screws both sides later. SBC will save a couple of billion dollars > in the immediate future by raising co-payments, but the rising cost of > insurance will quickly overtake the savings again. All they did was > buy time -- both sides are going to be facing this issue again in 5 > years. We're getting off telco stuff into more general social issues here, but this is actually a realistic health related settlement for two key reasons (and five years is a pretty long time...) : First: under the new Medicare drug regs, the costs to the company for covering their retired workers will be going DOWN in a couple of years. The exact amount is far from obvious and lots and lots of things can and will change between now and then (partly in response to the different cost structure ...) but realistic guesses are in the 30-40% range. That's a BIG savings which will be available as an offset to paying for the working folk. And second: in a few months there's an election coming up. In two years there's another Congressional one. And in four years, there's another Presidential race. National healthcare coverage is an important issue, and (if we don't find ourselves in even "hotter" warfare) will move more and more to the national front. Every dollar that gets picked up by the Feds (i.e. the general taxpayer) is a dollar the company doesn't have to pay. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 00:28:35 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider gnj2@ridgenet.net asked: >> I'm planning on switching to Verizon DSL for my ISP. Talked to their >> technical information person to ask who Verizon gets their Newsgroup >> feed from. Her answer: "What's a newsgroup?" Is there someone using >> Verizon DSL here who can answer this for me. Steve replied: > Try news.verizon.net Steve, I don't think this answers the question. One of my past ISPs simply leased access to somebody else's newsgroup server; you set your reader to "news.[name-of-my-isp].net" and that was all there was to it on the users' end. But the ISP simply redirected that to somebody else's hardware -- so when the newsfeed went down (which it did quite a bit) it was a nightmare to get it fixed. The ISP could do nothing themselves except to call their nooz provider. Another possible interpretation is, "Who is the upstream feed to whatever news server Verizon uses?" Does Verizon hang their server directly on a backbone and take their own news? Or do they let somebody else do that (since it requires considerable horsepower) and then buy a newsfeed from them? If the latter, it matters very much who they buy their news from; not only from a reliability standpoint but also completeness as different providers capture different subsets of newsgroups. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: gsmrules2000@yahoo.ca (Mr.R.) Subject: +88234, a Country Code to Antarctica Date: 28 May 2004 00:17:53 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Interesting article about the phone calls to Antarctica, I wish the service was on few years ago when I had a chance to visit there, I could have used my cell phone!!! ... well, next time. Two thumbs up! GSM network coverage soon in Antarctica by Global Networks, Inc. GSM is the proven Global roaming standard, already 593 Operators in 203 Countries have adopted the system. Global Networks, Inc. will deploy the GSM network to the last continent in the world, where is no GSM network yet, but thousands people living there. "ITU ( International Telecommunication Union) is pleased to assign to Global Networks, Inc. shared E.164 country code and identification code 88234 and shared E.212 MCC and MNC code 90113, for the purpose of providing mobile telephony services to the few areas of Antarctica," says Houlin Zhao Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. "Antarctica is the last untouched continent in the world without GSM network and we are very excited to offer GSM services there. The service should be up and running in 2004 There are 35 scientific stations in Antarctica where people live all year round, and even the South Pole tourism is not a mass market, it has increased rapidly in the last ten years, to about 13,000 in 2002-2003. Even though the population is minimal and this is one of the most rural areas in the world, there is a need for GSM network to be used by scientists and even their equipment, collecting valuable research data of our precious planet. It is a remarkable test and development ground for our various mobile technology solutions, including voice and data services. So, we are not trying to sell ice to Eskimos nor Polar Bears since there are none, but next time when you visit Antarctica, take your GSM phone with you." says Pekka Maunuksela, Chief Information Officer of Global Networks, Inc. (http://gni-usa.com) ------------------------------ From: marsh@khl.com (Steve) Subject: Phone Plug Date: 28 May 2004 02:51:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hey all! Poor question really coz I should know this but I would like to put a phone plug thing (dont have a clue what they are called!) in a room that doesnt have one. This is because I want to put Sky in there and plug it in so no-one complains! I heard that depending on the wiring, there is phone cabling under the floorboards in a random fashion of most rooms, and this was because when the original upstairs phone ports where installed, electricians slack off some extra cable in case of possible expansion? This could be complete bullsh** but as I don't have a clue this is sadly what I have to believe. Anyways, if it is or its not, how would I set one of these bad boys up?! Many thanks if you can help! Steve ------------------------------ From: rohithkn@rediffmail.com (Rohith) Subject: A Query on World's Advanced Data Networks. Date: 28 May 2004 05:08:46 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi all, I was searching for information regarding networks that are in existence today, I need data on: 1) The top networks in terms of number of users/size of the network, 2) The service providers who are using the latest technology, 3) The kind of services that they are offering, and data on any other parameter that you can come up with. Thanks, Rohith K N ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 11:15:07 -0400 Subject: How Linux is Inadvertently Poised to Remake the Telephone Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Comment: Cringely goes on another flight into the improbable, but there may be a bit of useful information in this article: http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040527.html The Little Engine That Could By Robert X. Cringely One of the cheapest Linux computers you can buy brand new (not at a garage sale) is the Linksys WRT54G, an 802.11g wireless access point and router that includes a four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch and can be bought for as little as $69.99 according to Froogle. That's a heck of a deal for a little box that performs all those functions, but a look inside is even more amazing. There you'll find a 200 MHz Intel processor and either 16 or 32 megs of DRAM and four or eight megs of flash RAM -- more computing power than I needed 10 years ago to run a local Internet Service Provider with several hundred customers. But since the operating system is Linux and since Linksys has respected the Linux GPL by publishing all the source code for anyone to download for free, the WRT54G is a lot more than just a wireless router. It is a disruptive technology. ... look at it this way: the WRT54G with Sveasoft firmware is all you need to become your cul de sac's wireless ISP. Going further, if a bunch of your friends in town had similarly configured WRT54Gs, they could seamlessly work together and put out of business your local telephone company. Full story at: http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040527.html Slashdot comments on this article: http://slashdot.org/articles/04/05/28/1249235.shtml?tid=106&tid=137&tid=185&tid=193&tid=215 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 11:21:26 -0400 Subject: Juniper Research: Voice-over-IP (VoIP) to Account for Over 12% Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/May/1044725.htm Juniper Research: Voice-over-IP (VoIP) to Account for Over 12% of All Telephony Revenues by 2009 Ian Cox, Broadband Specialist, said VoIP brings new revenue generating opportunities to the telephony market, by combining voice services with other IP applications. This will redefine the telephone bringing brand new services, with telephony at its core. The challenge to service providers will be to carefully manage this convergence, balancing new VoIP revenues against declines in traditional fixed line revenues. Flat-rate IP-based voice tariffs will gradually replace time and distance related tariffs. Full story at: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/May/1044725.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 12:15:26 -0400 Subject: Welcome to Summer Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com The Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the kickoff of Summer here in North America. It is also the time when people start taking vacations, and those who are not on vacation have to do the work that might normally be done by their vacationing co-workers. In past years I have noticed a sharp decline in real, hard news between Memorial Day and Labor Day (and even slightly thereafter - people don't seem to get into the mindset to do real work until about October in some companies!). So if you see the output of news go down, rest assured that's a normal summer phenomenon, and not an indication that I'm not at least trying to keep up with the news. At the same time, once in a while during the summer I will probably get occupied with some project or other and may not get to the news until later in the day. So, if you post something to the list and are waiting for it to be moderated, don't panic unless it is late in the evening and it still hasn't gone out (actually this is more likely to be the case from about September to November since I tend to try to stay indoors during REALLY hot weather, which in Michigan is anything above about 75 degrees!). Anyway, I hope everyone has a great extended weekend, and if you can afford to drive anywhere with today's gas prices being what they are, please drive safely. And, if you are staying home and have absolutely nothing else to do, tell a friend or two about the VoIP News and/or MI-Telecom mailing lists -- as far as list subscribers go, the more the merrier! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you, Jack, for your continued hard work with VOIP News. Like your news area, ours here at TELECOM Digest and comp.dcom.telecom, the flow of LEGITIMATE news (as compared to spam and virii things) also goes down over the summer months; it is sort of like one long extended weekend now through Labor Day in the United States which is the first Monday in September. And as 'they' used to say about drunken drivers (of which there are still plenty on the roads) 'death takes no holidays and frequently works overtime on holiday weekends'; just like spam and virii (which I suspect as soon as the amount of legitimate email/news versus the other stuff will soon reach into the ninetieth percentile -- it is now 83 percent pure rot) will spell just one more step in the long awaited 'death of the net'. **So please be careful if you drive anywhere in the next few days; I hate having to print obituary notices as I did for Bill Pfieffer and other guys. Regards the cost of gas, that does not bother me a lot; almost all my trips 'away from home' -- if one or two miles could be considered 'away' -- are done via Independence Taxicab Company for a flat rate of $1.50 per ride anywhere in town; the usual rate for taxicab is $4.50 anywhere in town; the three dollar difference is subsidized by City of Independence for old people and handicapped people of which my age qualifies me on the first count and my brain desease covers the second part. I'll be around a little over the weekend, with at least one or two issues of the Digest, and our Western Union material for this weekend will be the Business Week magazine article from the 1960's when 'things looked bright and rosy for Western Union' as the article implied. So, stay tuned for at least a little bit of this Digest over the summer months unless we get days like last summer where the temp- erature reached 115 degrees several days and my irregular blood pressure gets out of control and I have to check into Sisters of Mercy Hospital here for emergency treatment. I hope that will happen, if it does, of my own volition (calling the cab, paying $1.50 and a coupon to go over to Mercy Hospital), rather than having my housekeeper or Lisa or other friends finding me comatose and calling 911 for the EMTs and/or paramedics. Anyway, to our US readers, do have a happy Memorial Day. PAT] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 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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If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #264 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri May 28 15:18:22 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4SJIMi04910; Fri, 28 May 2004 15:18:22 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 15:18:22 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405281918.i4SJIMi04910@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 #265 TELECOM Digest Fri, 28 May 2004 15:18:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 265 Inside This Issue: Happy Memorial Day Holiday to all! Things Looked Rosy for Western Union in 1960 (Jim Haynes) 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: Fri, 28 May 2004 14:31:29 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Things Looked Rosy for Western Union in 1960 Over this holiday weekend, a lengthy magazine article submitted by Jim Haynes from Business Week magazine, copyright 1960 by Business Week. It originally appeared in this Digest in three parts back in 1992. The three parts (a technical neccessity then) are combined in one single part in this edition. PAT From: haynes@cats.UCSC.EDU (Jim Haynes) Date: Thu, 20 Feb 92 22:51:55 -0800 Subject: Things Looked Rosy for Western Union in 1960 The August 27, 1960 issue of {Business Week} showed W. U. President Walter P. Marshall on the front cover, with a pushbutton message switching position in the background, and the following story inside. (page 86 ff) "Electronics Puts Young Blood in Old Company" When Walter P. Marshall (cover) stepped into the president's job at Western Union in December, 1948, it looked as if his tenure might be short and unhappy. Western Union, once the backbone of fast and dependable long-distance communications in the United States, was, quite plainly, a deathly sick old company. It was saddled with high labor costs, old equipment, crushing debt, and local operations that often cost more to run than they returned in gross revenue. Some Western Union executives were waiting for a declaration of bankruptcy; many doubted that the company would survive to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1951. -Rejuvenation- But in the ensuing 10 years, Western Union not only has pulled through, but it has thoroughly rejuvenated itself. Instead of a winded oldster that could only look back at the days when its competition was the Pony Express, it now resembles an electronics adolescent with a bright and profitable future. The company's new strength already is evident: Last year its revenues and earnings set an all-time high. Western Union can be expected to keep on growing. In the next five years, management hopes to spend $350-million on expansion. Next year, the company plans to spend $105-million for plant and equipment on top of $45-million this year. Completion of a transcontinental microwave network will increase the system's circuit capacity 10 times, and will add enormously to the range of services it can offer. It will be able to provide increased telegraphic service, leased voice channels, facsimile, closed-circuit television, and perhaps most important of all, high-speed data processing channels that can handle digital information at computer speeds. -I. Financial Turnaround The job of turning Western Union around from a faltering centenarian to an eager and aggressive competitor in the communications field was a difficult one. Before the company could even think about modernization, it had a raft of complex financial problems to solve. Few outside the company realized just how close to extinction it was 10 years ago. A look at the books shows how deeply in trouble the company was: - Operating losses were about $1-million a month. - Bond issues totaling $30-million were maturing in 1950 and 1951, and bond issues and notes totaling $35-million were due in 1960, but no provisions for paying them were being made. - Labor costs were eating up 69.2% of the company's gross revenues, leaving little money for maintenance or modernization. - Message service, Western Union's basic revenue source, was declining steadily. It dropped from $178-million in 1947 to $146- million in 1949. - Competition was formidable. More and more, business communication was going over long-distance telephone lines, and American Telephone & Telegraph's TWX service, a teletypewriter exchange network, was diverting a tremendous amount of business from Western Union's wires. So the yellow glow of the familiar Western Union offices burned red in Western Union's ledgers. The many local offices it maintained hung like a weight around the company's neck, pulling it deeper toward losses. Yet to abandon some of the offices or even limit their hours required not only months of delay but also expensive hearings. -Quick Action - These are problems that Marshall set about solving when he took over in 1948. He was 47 and had a background in financing and accounting. Unlike most of his predecessors, he had long experience in the telegraph business. With the exception of Joseph Egan, Marshall's immediate predecessor, Western Union's presidents since the 1930s all had been railroad men. Marshall had come to Western Union in 1943 as assistant to the president when the company absorbed Postal Telegraph, where he had been executive vice-president. For years, Postal Telegraph had been on the verge of insolvency, and its troubles provided familiar experience. Marshall's first actions as president of Western Union were to organize the company's debts and to start cutting labor costs. He took care of debts by selling off property and leasing it back, by selling pole lines, cashing in securities, and selling such subsidiaries as Teleregister and American District Telegraph. For example, the big Western Union building in downtown New York was sold to Woodmen of the World Life Insurance ... [illegible] company for over $12-million. Then Marshall shocked the board of directors by announcing immediate plans to spend millions of dollars on a broad modernization and expansion program for services such as Desk-Fax, a method of transmitting telegrams by facsimile directly to business offices. He also accelerated the program for installing automatic switching centers in 15 cities. He got management behind a big push to get more private wire business and to increase facsimile services. All of this cost a lot of money. And with the company's history of steadily diminishing revenues, it looked risky indeed. -Quick Results- Losses in 1949 amounted to nearly $4.5-million on sales of $181-million. But by the end of 1950, Marshall's moves began to show results. Unprofitable local offices were being cut out and automatic switching centers were beginning to increase efficiency. That year alone, labor costs were cut by nearly $6-million, revenues went up to almost $188-million, and the company turned a $7-million profit. There has been no red ink since then, and in 1959 earnings were a record $16-million on sales of $276-million. The company's debt position also has been reversed. All the outstanding bond issues have been paid in full or advantageously refinanced. -II. Leap to Modernization- So, with its financial house in order, Western Union is in a position to take off in new directions to insure its future. And in many respects, never has there been so fortuitous a time for the company to modernize. During the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, startling progress has been made in electronics and communications technology. Two developments particularly were important to Western Union: (1) the perfection of high frequency radio relay system - microwave - which provided a logical and much less expensive way to increased long-distance facilities; and (2) development of computers and automatic electronic switching systems, which promised big increases in efficiency at high reliability levels. -Big Jump- With much of its plant obsolete, Western Union was able to go from old manual systems to the most modern automatic equipment in one big jump. For example, in the 1940s almost all of Western Union's services were carried on telegraph channels of a very narrow frequency range of 170 cycles per second, providing a top communications speed of only 60 to 100 words a minute. Today, the company's nearly complete transcontinental microwave system will consist of two 6-million cycle channels capable of carrying broadband television, handling over 12,000 simultaneous telegraph messages, transmitting computer tapes at high speed, or carrying voice communication or facsimile. These so-called broad band signals can't be carried on ordinary wires, but require coaxial cable or ultra-high-frequency radio beam carriers. Had its modernization started earlier and been more gradual, the company would have sought to increase its capacity slowly through intermediate steps. These would have been expensive and yet they would not have been able to provide the facilities the company now feels it needs. -Decreasing Dependency- The new broad-band system also will reduce Western Union's dependence on other communications carriers. Western Union particularly has been dependent on the Bell System for leased facilities. In the early 1950s, about 70% of Western Union's circuit mileage was leased, mostly from AT&T. Although the number of leased wires has not been reduced in absolute terms, today their proportion has decreased to about 60%. S. M. Barr, Western Union vice-president in charge of planning, expects this percentage to drop to 40% in the next few years, hopes to get the proportion of leased facilities down to 20% eventually. 'You can see the kind of growth we expect, then, if we see no reduction and a possible increase in the number of leased facilities,' he says. The big increase in traffic that Western Union anticipates for its new system is not likely to come from public message services, which have been the backbone of its business. This type of service basically is tied to population growth, and to some extent to merchandising gimmicks such as singing birthday greetings, flowers and candy by wire, and other special services. [1] -Private Expansion- But it does expect its private wire services to expand greatly. Here, particularly, Western Union's new facilities will be of help in solving communications problems for private customers. Western Union already has a good deal of savvy when it comes to tailoring a special system to a customer's needs. About 2,000 companies in the U.S. -- among them U.S. Steel, General Electric, Sylvania, and United Air Lines -- have private communications networks leased from Western Union. And its bank wire service interconnects 213 banks in 55 cities with pushbutton switching. Western Union got into the private systems business without much selling effort. In most cases, it just waited for customers to come to it. But those days, like the days of the hand-operated message centers, are long since gone. Now the company is pushing leased systems aggressively, and the results show it. In 1950, private wire revenues brought in $8-million, or about 5% of Western Union's message business. In 1959, private wires sang a $52.3-million tune on the cash register. It won't be long, Marshall believes, before the revenues from private wires top those from public message services. -Meeting the Competition- Until recently, however, Western Union could not compete directly with AT&T's TWX network, which offers direct customer-to-customer teleprinter connection through a central exchange system similar to a telephone network. Several years ago, FCC gave Western Union permission to purchase TWX from AT&T, but the price was too high. Now, Western Union is expanding a roughly similar system called Telex that will offer direct customer-to-customer dialing. [2] Besides direct dialing, the biggest difference between Telex and TWX is the method of billing customers. Telex customers are charged only for the time that the facilities are in use plus a 50-cent connection charge. A short order to a New York broker from, say, Chicago via Telex might be subject only to a 10-second time charge, compared with a three-minute basic charge on TWX. -Growing Network- At present, Telex service is available only between New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. But before yearend, 19 more cities will be added. In 1961, it will cover 23 more cities, and management hopes to get approval from the board of directors to cover 128 cities by 1962." [Note 1 by Jim Haynes] One would think that a writer for such an astute publication as {Business Week} would have noted the price elasticity of personal communication. This would have suggested that the dropping price of long-distance telephony would devastate public Telegram service, as it did. [Note 2 by Jim Haynes] Dial Telex service began in Germany in 1933, just three years after AT&T introduced manual TWX service in the U.S. Telex used modified SxS telephone switching equipment. Western Union imported the European technology and equipment, even to the 50-baud teleprinters. One wonders if AT&Ts conversion to dial TWX was at all in response to competition from Telex, or if it was simply a matter of taking advantage of the switched telephone network for transmission. I assume that manual TWX calls were timed using Calculagraphs, just as voice calls were. Telex used a simpler charging mechanism, no doubt because it originated long before automated telephone billing. At the time a Telex call was set up the customer's charging register was connected to a pulse generator, the pulse rate depending on the distance to the called station. The charges could be reduced at night simply by slowing down the pulse generators. At least in Germany there were Telex PBXs in hotels; in this case the pulses were relayed to the PBX so that the hotel guest could be billed. Telex was always customer-dialed long-distance service. [Moderator's 1992 Note: Although telex was always customer-dialed, provision was made for an operator's help in completing a difficult connection. Dialing (was it? ) '17' from the telex unit connected the user to WU's 'manual assistance positions' in Bridgeport, MO. An operator there communicated with the user by typing back and forth on the keyboard, like a modern day 'chat', and the operator could then do what any telco operator could do: complete the connection, verify a busy terminal, busy circuits, out of order, or number not in service condition on the receiving end. In addition, the WU manual assistance operator was used to place 'collect' (reverse charge) connections and special or third-party billing. I think dialing '19' connected the user to WU directory assistance where help was given by 'chatting'.] III. Building For the Future- Western Union has great hopes that Telex will increase its revenue load many fold. Even so, it's hard to imagine that such business will fill all the extra traffic capacity that Western Union's new microwave system provides. And so, once again, President Marshall is counting on electronics technology to help him out. Three out of every four systems that Western Union is now installing for customers include provision for handling data processing information. Communication between computers, or tape-to-tape digital messages between dispersed plants, offices, and data processing centers may eventually equal the volume of voice and message communication. AT&T President Frederick R. Kappel, too, thinks that's possible. -Expandable System- So Marshall believes his modern plant is coming on stream just in time to catch the new flood of data processing business. The transcontinental microwave network's two 6-million cycle channels each are capable of handling transcontinental telecasts, or thousands of telegraphic, voice, and data processing channels. The system is designed to carry up to seven broad-band channels, and these will be added as needed. The Transcontinental network, with extension legs, will cost $56-million, but once the microwave relay towers are in place, the system's capacity can be doubled for about 15% to 20% of this cost. Eventually, Western Union will have a great loop of microwave routes that will interconnect North and South as well as East and West. The full system may cost $250- million between now and 1970. -Government Contracts- Part of the load the new microwave system will carry is already under contract. The U.S. Air Force hired Western Union to build an automatic system of data and message handling that will interconnect all domestic Air Force bases. The combat and logistics network (COMLOGNET) [1] also costs, coincidentally, $56- million and will be operated by Air Force personnel. Western Union also built for the Air Force an international automatic switching telegraph network, [2] which was completed last May, and has put in a high-speed weather map facsimile system for the Strategic Air Command. In addition, it built a nationwide weather map facsimile system for the Weather Bureau that serves several hundred points. To work out new communications applications to keep its microwave system busy, Western Union has enlarged its engineering and research departments. The company is now spending about $6-million a year on research and development -- more than ever before in its history. Of course, Bell Laboratories spends a lot more. But Marshall has some pretty definite ideas on how to get the most mileage out of research expenditures. 'One problem,' he admits, 'is getting the right kind of people that can really come through with innovations, and I'm not at all sure it is possible to hire this kind of person off the street, even if you have the most wonderful facilities in the world. Some people just don't like to work for big organizations.' -Research Interests- To tap that kind of talent, Western Union has purchased large interests in a number of small companies that offer intriguing technological or manufacturing competence: Microwave Associates, Inc., a leading developer of microwave elements such as waveguides, tubes, and semiconductor elements. Technical Operations, Inc., a Boston company engaged in contract research for the government and industry in computing, physics, mechanical engineering and electronics. Dynametrics Corp., another Boston company, which produces electronic measuring equipment that possibly could be related to future production control systems. Such systems might fit into an integrated data processing system built around a Western Union network. Hermes Electronics Co., a producer of crystal filters for microwave uses and designer of part of the telemetering system for the Titan missile. Hermes also has done a lot of work on computer translators that change binary code to decimal readouts. Gray Mfg. Co., Hartford, manufacturer of switchboards, dictating machines, and electronic gear. Teleprinter Corp., which has developed the smallest page teleprinter on the market. [3] These six companies dovetail so well as a combined research, engineering, and manufacturing operation that there are incessant rumors that Western Union intends to meld them into one big outfit. Marshall denies such an intent, disputes the logic of such a move on the ground that the talent attracted by these companies comes from their small size and independence. Actually, Western Union benefits substantially from the present management. As part owner, it can use the services of the individual companies and also coordinate their activities to some degree. In addition to these six companies, Western Union also has invested in Teleprompter Corp. But this company falls into a different category. Teleprompter is not a manufacturer of communications equipment. It custom-designs office communication centers, assembling equipment made by others and mounting it on its own furniture. But Teleprompter's work in closed-circuit and pay TV and in other fields jibes with Western Union's interests. -Dynamic Outlook- These new interests and Western Union's own research efforts all point to a greatly expanded future for the company. Although it still has some problems to solve, the company is in vastly better shape than it was ten years ago. Instead of sitting back and being outdated by new technology, Western Union very definitely is counting on the latest electronic wizardry to win a bigger piece of the communications market for itself." [Note 1 from Jim Haynes] COMLOGNET started out as a bunch of IBM card transceiver machines, which used internal modems to transmit punched cards over private telephone lines connecting the Air Materiel Command bases. When the Air Force set out to replace these with a Real communication system, both the name and the scope of the project changed several times as is typical of government projects. Names that followed COMLOGNET were first AFDATACOM and ultimately AUTODIN (automatic digital network), which became the main record communication system for the whole DOD. The original terminals consisted of a Model 28 ASR teletypewriter, an IBM card reader/punch, and a refrigerator-sized electronics package made by IBM. Transmission was synchronous using a modified Fieldata code. All transmissions were encrypted. This was somewhat to the dismay of the materiel people, who had started out with the card transceivers in their Base Supply offices; the AUTODIN terminals had to be locked up in secure Base Communications buildings because of the encryption equipment. So the supply people had to carry their cards between buildings on the base. There were also a few magnetic tape AUTODIN terminals. This was in the days before IBMs tape format became a de facto standard of the industry; so the terminals had to be designed to read and write the kind of tapes appropriate to the kind of computer they were to be used with. AUTODIN provided both message switching (i.e. store-and-forward) and circuit switching a la Telex. The switching centers for AUTODIN used computers made by RCA, originally discrete-transistor machines contemporary with the RCA 301-501-601 line, later replaced by machines of RCAs Spectra 70 line. Having to replace all those original computers after only five years or so must have been terribly galling to old Western Union hands, as some of the company's own offices were still using teleprinters made by Morkrum-Kleinschmidt prior to 1930. [Note 2 by Jim Haynes] This system was Western Union's Plan 55, based on paper tape store and forward technology. The switching centers used a combination of electromechanical and vacuum-tube electronic technology. Cross-office transmission was at 200 wpm, requiring electronic transmitting and receiving distributors and parallel-input reperforators. Plan 55 was superseded by AUTODIN when the latter acquired Teletype as well as punched card capabilities. [3] Perhaps Western Union hoped to use Teleprinter Corp. to free itself from dependence on AT&Ts Teletype subsidiary. W.U. had made some previous efforts to build its own teletypewriters. As things turned out the Teleprinter product, MITE (Miniature Integrated Teleprinter Equipment), was popular with the military for its small size and weight but never achieved much of a commercial market. ------------------------------ And now, here as some bonus reading is an excerpt from Fortune Magazine a year earlier, in 1959: This is excerpted from {Fortune Magazine}, March 1959 - an excellent article with nice pictures, "Western Union, by Grace of FCC and AT&T". Many legends have blurred the history of Western Union. Contrary to widely held belief, for instance, the company was not founded by Samuel F. B. Morse, the portrait painter who invented the first telegraph. Initially, as a matter of fact, it didn't even use the Morse patents and, relatively speaking, it was a latecomer to the field. Morse did his pioneering work on the telegraph in the 1830's. By 1850 there were fifty telegraph companies operating between various cities in the U.S., most of them with licenses on the Morse patents. In 1846, Royal E. House of Vermont had come up with a device that permitted the electrical impulse to imprint letters and numbers on tape, eliminating the dot-dash symbols. The House printer became the basis for a new company financed and operated by a group of Rochester[3] investors headed by Hiram Sibley. This was the New York & Mississippi Valley Telegraph Co., formed to link upper New York State to St. Louis. But even as Sibley's plans began to unfold, the competition in the telegraph industry became chaotic. Some cities were being served by three competing patent systems. Meanwhile the war in rates was ruinous. Sibley had a simple solution: consolidate all the telegraph companies into one. New York & Mississippi Valley Telegraph was reincorporated as the Western Union Co., with licenses on both Morse and House patents, in New York State in 1856. Its avowed purpose was to bring together into one company all the telegraph firms then operating beyond the Hudson -- hence 'Western' Union. Western Union grew at a fantastic rate. The New York company gobbled up hundreds of competing telegraph companies, made exclusive, and advantageous, deals with the railroads, and reached all the way to the Pacific Coast. By 1866 it had a virtual monopoly. In the first ten years of its life its capital had grown from $500,000 to $41 million. -The war with the telephone- The company's first brush with the telephone came in 1877, when it imperiously declined an opportunity to buy the invention of Alexander Graham Bell for $100,000. Soon after, Western Union decided to enter the telephone field via the American Speaking Telephone Co., which would exploit voice-communication patents by Elisha Gray [1] and Thomas Edison. The Western Union system was quite as good as Bell's, and Western Union began to grow in the telephone field. But in 1878, Bell sued for patent infringement. As part of the settlement, reached the next year, Western Union agreed to stay out of the voice business and Bell agreed to stay out of the telegraph business. But Bell slipped out of the agreement when it formed, in 1885, a new company called the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. In 1909, AT&T won stock control of Western Union by purchasing the shares held by the estate of Jay Gould. Theodore Vail, a distant cousin of the Alfred Vail who had helped Morse start his telegraph line, was president of Bell at the time, and he planned to integrate the two companies. To begin with he had himself elected president of Western Union and began using it to promote the telephone by encouraging people to phone in their telegrams. Western Union had already developed a private-wire business with a volume of $3 million annually, and AT&T took this over, too, adding it to the small private-wire service it had developed on its own. In 1914, to avert government antitrust action, AT&T disposed of its Western Union holdings, but stayed in the private-wire business. After AT&T and Western Union parted, expansion of the telgraph system merely kept pace with the increase in population. By the Thirties the business was contracting. More and more Americans forsook telegrams for long-distance phone calls and air mail. Western Union was now bothered also by competition from the Postal Telegraph Service, a system formed in the 1880's. Postal had been taken over by Sosthenes Behn of IT&T in 1928, and thereafter fought Western Union hard. As if this were not enough, AT&T introduced in 1931 its TWX service, whereby subscribers could have direct telegraphic connection with each other through a central exchange. (AT&T invited Western Union to join it in the TWX network, and later even considered selling the system to Western Union, but Western Union couldn't pay the price.) In the early Thirties a debate began on whether there was enough telegraph business to support two telegraph companies -- meaning Western Union and Postal, but not AT&T, which most people thought of as a telephone service only. The debate was not resolved until 1943, when Congress authorized a merger of the two companies. An amendment to the same law authorized Western Union to buy the telegraphic services of AT&T -- but it did not make it mandatory for AT&T to sell. ---------------------------- The following material comes from a {Business Week} article of approximately ten years earlier than the {Fortune} article: Nov 19, 1949. Western Union's only all-telegraph competitor of recent years in the domestic field, Postal Telegraph, Inc. started in the 1880s. It competed with Western Union with indifferent success, but Western Union was prevented by law from buying its competitor. Finally, during the war, it became obvious that Postal couldn't go on. Operations for several years had been dependent on RFC [2] loans. So Congress finally permitted Western Union to absorb its competitor (BW - Aug. 7 '43, p102). Western Union was probably not too eager to acquire Postal in 1943. For one thing, Postal's facilities partly duplicated its own. Further it had (1) to take over Postal's $12.5-million debt to RFC, and (2) to guarantee jobs for most of Postal's staff for four years, despite its own heavy labor costs. However, Western Union didn't have much choice. Otherwise the government might have taken over Postal. Another competitor is the government-operated communications systems. The armed services and the State Department have their own networks of 'record' communications (any means of communication that produces a permanent record on paper) ..." [This seems like a silly remark to me, since the government-operated systems were based on private wires leased from the common carriers.] [Note 1 from Jim Haynes ] This is the Elisha Gray who lost the race to the Patent Office to Bell. I remember in the 50s or so there was a "Gray Telephone Pay Station Co.", making pay stations almost identical in appearance to the Bell phones, for the independent companies. I wonder if this is connected with the Gray Mfg. Co. that was listed as a Western Union affiliate in another article? [Note 2 from Jim Haynes ] RFC = Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a Depression-era government agency in the business of lending money to business firms to help them get back on their feet. [Note 3 from Jim Haynes ] I wonder if the late Larry Lippman, in clearing out the Western Union office there, was aware that Western Union was started in Rochester. ------------------------- *** 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 one instance, Business Week Magazine, 1958 and 1960; in the other, Fortune Magazine (Time/Life publications) 1959. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml --------------------------- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Indeed, Larry Lippman knew about this connection. I exchanged considerable email with him in 1990-91 when he had accepted the contract to clean out the old Western Union office in Rochester. I am very sorry I was unable to go and work with him on it; he invited me twice to do so but my health (at that time, an unrelated affair compared to my present brain aneurysm) prevented me from joining him. PAT] ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #265 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri May 28 22:25:52 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4T2PqI07779; Fri, 28 May 2004 22:25:52 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 22:25:52 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405290225.i4T2PqI07779@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 #266 TELECOM Digest Fri, 28 May 2004 22:25:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 266 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Global Crossing Outlines VoIP Regulatory Vision to FCC (VOIP News) Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (VOIP News) Re: California Adopts New Wireless Regulations (Lisa Hancock) Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? (Joseph) Modern Telecom Frustration (Lisa Hancock) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (xasdfg123456@yahoo.com) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Tony P.) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Steven J Sobol) Locating the Second Phone Line For DSL Installation (Laitkor) Porting Numbers Question (jimmy) Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: RCN Files Chapter 11 Restructuring Plan (Clarence Dold) Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? (xasdfg123456@yahoo.com) Phishing: The Latest, Very Dangerous, Spam Scam (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: VOIP News Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 14:08:13 -0400 Subject: Global Crossing Outlines VoIP Regulatory Vision to FCC Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-28-2004/0002183665&EDATE= Introduces REFORM agenda for a rationalized telecommunications environment FLORHAM PARK, N.J., May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBCE), a leading innovator in Voice over IP (VoIP) and other IP-enabled services, filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (Wireline Docket Number 04-36) in response to the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning the proper regulation of IP telephony. Global Crossing believes that the FCC's recent decision in the Free World Dialup docket compels it to treat all IP-enabled services as information services subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction. "The FCC has already concluded that IP-enabled services offered over pre-existing broadband services are not telecommunications or telecommunications services. Rather than engage in a case-by-case determination as to whether a broadband connection previously existed, the FCC must simply apply the same rules to all IP-enabled services" said John Legere, Global Crossing's chief executive officer. "As we state in our comments, the FCC must establish simple, uniform rules and put an end to the constant gamesmanship that currently plagues the industry." Global Crossing's comments offer a strategic vision for the categorization of IP-enabled services, the applicability of various rules and regulations, the public interest obligations of IP-enabled service providers, regulatory jurisdiction, and inter-carrier compensation. Global Crossing believes the FCC has the opportunity to set a new course for regulation and should do so in a comprehensive manner consistent with Global Crossing's REFORM agenda: Rationalize inter-carrier compensation. The FCC must establish a uniform inter-carrier compensation arrangement that not only recognizes that a "minute is a minute," but also that a "packet is a packet." All traffic exchanged between carriers, regardless of jurisdiction or type (voice, data or video) must be exchanged at a uniform rate to be negotiated between individual carriers without the distortion of past regulatory policies. The existing patchwork system of inter-carrier compensation invites arbitrage, distorts investment, and is a source of litigation within the industry. A unified inter-carrier compensation arrangement will eliminate this source of friction for the telecommunications industry. Establish a swift and efficient dispute resolution forum. The perpetual litigation surrounding FCC rulemaking efforts is one of the principal issues plaguing the telecommunications industry. The rulemaking process itself is becoming a barrier to entry as only the largest carriers can afford to participate. The FCC must establish a swift and efficient dispute resolution forum that allows carriers to quickly resolve disputes and keep their focus on delivering service to consumers. An arbitration procedure similar to that used in major league baseball whereby each party to a dispute puts forth its "best and final" offer would be ideal. Formulate clear and simple rules and regulations. Overly complex or vague rules simply invite litigation and fail to create the certainty and predictability necessary for a stable investment climate. The FCC's experience with unbundled network elements is the most recent example of this. FCC rules must be clear and unambiguous. Overhaul universal service. Any comprehensive reform effort must include an overhaul of the current universal service system, which is also a dysfunctional element for the industry. Appropriate modifications can be addressed in existing universal service proceedings currently before the Commission consistent with four guiding principles: * the universal service fund must be sized appropriately so that it only supports universal service objectives; * eligibility criteria must be refined so that the fund is not used as an earnings support mechanism for carriers; * source funding must be broad-based and competitively neutral; and * disbursements from the fund should be keyed to the removal of implicit subsidies embedded in the rates of recipients. Consideration must also be given to alternative universal service funding mechanisms. Redefine public interest obligations. Global Crossing supports the VON Coalition's efforts to work with the National Emergency Number Association ("NENA") to develop appropriate solutions for supporting 911/E911 services in an IP environment. However, the FCC needs to recognize that the greatest challenge for 911/E911 service is securing proper funding for the Public Safety Answering Points ("PSAPs"). The industry must explore new ways of working with local municipalities to bring the benefits of IP technology to the public safety sector. Maintain authority over essential bottleneck facilities While IP-enabled services hold great promise for bringing competitive choice to consumers, the FCC must continue to exercise authority over bottleneck facilities and continue to enforce appropriate interconnection and unbundling rules. "The overarching theme of our REFORM vision is that a few simple rules and safeguards will allow the industry to operate in a largely deregulated environment, " added John Legere, Global Crossing's chief executive officer. "Although we recognize the regulation of monopoly services, we strongly believe that the telecommunications industry and consumers would best be served by a free and open arena for IP-enabled services." To learn more about Global Crossing's REFORM vision, the full comments filed with the FCC can be found at http://www.fcc.gov. "As a leader in IP-services, we have a strong desire to create an industry that is allowed to grow and prosper without the cumbersome restrictions of regulation," Mr. Legere concluded. "By following the tenets of our REFORM vision, the FCC will simplify the regulatory landscape and steer the entire telecommunications industry into a new era of recovery and health." ABOUT GLOBAL CROSSING Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBCE) provides telecommunications solutions over the world's first integrated global IP-based network. Its core network connects more than 300 cities and 30 countries worldwide, and delivers services to more than 500 major cities, 50 countries and 6 continents around the globe. The company's global sales and support model matches the network footprint and, like the network, delivers a consistent customer experience worldwide. Global Crossing IP services are global in scale, linking the world's enterprises, governments and carriers with customers, employees and partners worldwide in a secure environment that is ideally suited for IP-based business applications, allowing e-commerce to thrive. The company offers a full range of managed data and voice products including Global Crossing IP VPN Service, Global Crossing Managed Services and Global Crossing VoIP services, to more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500, as well as 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs. Please visit http://www.globalcrossing.com (http://www.globalcrossing.com) for more information about Global Crossing. CONTACT GLOBAL CROSSING: Press Contacts Becky Yeamans +1 973-937-0155 PR@globalcrossing.com Catherine Berthier +1 212-412-4666 PR@globalcrossing.com Analysts/Investors Contact Mitch Burd + 1 800-836-0342 glbc@globalcrossing.com SOURCE Global Crossing Web Site: http://www.globalcrossing.com How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 14:54:08 -0400 Subject: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Comment: These so-called "consumer advocates" sound like they want to kill VoIP, not protect consumers. Hopefully the FCC will realize that "enhanced" 911 is currently IMPOSSIBLE due to the portability of VoIP devices (that is, you can plug one in anywhere there is a broadband connection, and the VoIP provider simply has no way of knowing where you are). Therefore any absolute requirement for enhanced 911 would have the effect of killing VoIP. I don't know what "consumers" these advocates purport to represent, but they sure do not represent me nor my views on the subject. I'd love to know where these people get their funding. http://www.nasuca.org/newsroom/PR%20nasuca%20-%20voip%20comments%20(2).doc Contact: Terry Etter of the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (614) 466-8574 Charlie Acquard, NASUCA Executive Director (301) 589-6313 CONSUMER ADVOCATES TELL FCC THAT VOIP TELEPHONE CUSTOMERS DESERVE PROTECTIONS SILVER SPRING, MD - May 28, 2004 - The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) today told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that all telephone customers deserve protections against poor service, regardless of the type of connection they use to make local and long-distance calls. NASUCA has filed comments in the FCC's investigation into whether and how to regulate 'Voice over Internet Protocol' (VoIP) service. The following statement can be attributed to Timothy Hay, President of NASUCA and Nevada's state consumer advocate: 'Telephone service is essential in our society. With an increasing number of households relying on broadband-based services as substitutes for more traditional telephone connections, it is vital that the FCC and state regulators ensure that all consumers are protected against poor service. In addition, VoIP services should be required to include enhanced 911 and be readily accessible to persons with disabilities. VoIP providers should also be required to contribute to and, if qualified, be eligible to receive the low-income and rural support that has helped thousands of consumers afford traditional telephone service.' NASUCA's comments are available on its website at www.nasuca.org. NASUCA is a non-profit, national organization of 43 state offices designated to represent consumers in state and federal utility proceedings. NASUCA regularly participates in proceedings before the FCC and other federal regulatory agencies. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) Subject: Re: California Adopts New Wireless Regulations Date: 28 May 2004 09:40:56 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote: > The regulation passed after an acrimonious debate about whether the > reforms represented enlightened regulation or ham-handed meddling into > the free market. Finding the balance between good and bad regulation is always tricky. There two sides to the argument which I'll explore: ANTI-REGULATION Industries have been destroyed by excessive regulation. What is supposed to be "for the public good" turns out to screw the public. Passenger railroad regulation is an example. The government ordered that many unneeded and money-losing trains be kept in service, and kept fares too low. As a result, the railroads sought to get rid of all passenger trains, even those that were still profitable. Inadequate revenue caused service quality to suffer. While the overall decline of passenger rail service was from numerous factors, government regulation hurt it badly. Oslin's Western Union history says the FCC was rough on WU: They were forced to take on inefficient Postal Telegraph and tremendous cost, allowed AT&T to have TWX against WU's Telex, etc. While the decline of WU was due to numerous factors (like the railroads), it appears government regulation didn't help here either. PRO-REGULATION Unfortunately, in the absence of regulation, companies can get greedy and take advantage of consumers. When payphone calls became unregulated, we've seen horrible price gouging for long distance calls. Cable TV is deregulated and rates have quickly climbed upward much faster than inflation. Banks have added on high service charges and high loan rates. Insurance companies have failed to keep adequate reserves for big losses and have failed. Wall Street brokers have cheated and committed outright fraud. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:52:47 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 23 May 2004 00:00:15 -0400, John R Levine wrote: > Cingular will sell me a Nokia 3100 "world" phone that works on GSM 1800, > but 360 days out of the year I'm in North America where my current phone > is just what I want and fits the car kit in my truck. > Can I easily rent a phone when I get there, either an empty one into which > I plug my SIM card, or one with its own card and a number I can use? Or > should I rent one here before I go? Or something else? I would seriously recommned *not* to rent a phone. Prices for phone rental are high and you can actually buy you a second-hand compatible phone to use with the service cheaper than renting a phone. The Nokia 3100 would be a wise choice. It's a good phone that will work on both GSM 850 and GSM 1900 in the US and will work on GSM 1800 in Europe and Asia. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Modern Telecom Frustration Date: 28 May 2004 11:03:38 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Why I question modern technology: My old high school web page had some stuff on it I was interested in buying, although they had no information about how to order. So, I sent an email to them. It bounced back, undeliverable. So much for keeping a web page up to date and accurate. (We didn't have web pages back then, but we were taught in computers that GIGO -- garbage in/garbage out, and we had to be sure no garbage went in -- that is, our data going in had to be right and edited.) So, I tried to call them. A very frustrating experience. Let me start off by saying high school was where I first learned to operate a switchboard -- we had a PBX 555 cord switchboard and a private intercom (Bogen?). In today's calling experience, obviously the stuff they taught me right there is no longer getting through. Call #1: After about 5 rings I got a series of beeps, clicks, and finally a disconnect. What frustrates me is we were taught to watch the signal to make sure the called party answered. If they were slow in answering, we were to go in an announced "still ringing". After a time we were to tell the caller "they don't seem to be answering, is there someone else or would you like to leave a message?" Call #2: No answer at the school at all. Call #3: No answer at the school at all. Call #4: Automatically transferred to a different school. (don't know why.) Put on hold for a long time, I hung up. Call #5: Automatically transferred to a different school. (don't know why.) Put on hold for a long time. Other school said I misdialed even though I dialed very carefully and their number is different. It appears the School District is on a Centrex now. I suspect either all phone lines were busy at the high school, or, no one answered and the system automatically forwarded the call. Anyway, I gave up for the day. Note -- all of these calls were long distance for me and I have to pay for them. ------------------------------ From: xasdfg123456@yahoo.com (xasdfg123456@yahoo.com) Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: 28 May 2004 12:08:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote in message news:: > My local telephone company (Verizon) and cable TV company (Comcast) > have been running an aggressive TV ad campaign pushing their > respecting high speed data services. Verizon is pushing DSL while > Comcast is pushing cable modem. Each says they're far superior > (faster data and more reliable) and cheaper than the other. > Any opinions on cable modems vs. DSL in today's world? A good resource for checking on DSL service in your area is dslreports.com. It is impossible to say which might be a better service for you, since DSL service and reliability is dependent on so many things. I have had pretty good luck with cable in my area, and it is overall cheaper than DSL service here. And they will often bundle cable modem service with TV service as well. But the down side for me is that cable providers often filter certain server ports and do not allow servers in their AUP, while most DSL providers allow you to run servers, provide static IPs, and will even usually provide additional IPs if you are willing to pay more. Setup is entirely different too, since if you choose a DSL provider that is not your local telco, they will have to make arrangements with the local carrier to install their equipment and check the line. And let's just say they don't always cooperate with each other. I went through a month of waiting for Covad DSL at an old house I rented, only to find that it had a DAML on the one line into the house and couldn't receive DSL. I ordered cable and it was connected in two days. Overall, I think DSL networks are admin'd better than cable networks (unless it's the phone company ;) ). I look at my firewall logs and on cable see all sorts of noisy local broadcasting and chatty multicasting that should be filtered out. AT&T was pretty good though (now on Charter and the transfer light never stops blinking). HTH. BR ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 19:15:23 GMT In article , barmar@alum.mit.edu says: > In article , Tony > P. wrote: >> Far as I know, you can't get consumer cable IP feed without >> subscribing to cable television. > That's not true with Comcast. They offer discounts if you purchase > multiple services, but they don't require you to. Try it some time. Around here you get basic cable along with the Internet service because there isn't any feasible way for them to filter it. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's interesting you say that about the problems with filtering one tier of service while allowing others. I asked at our local Cable One office if they used 'traps' on the line to prevent one kind of signal while allowing others. The woman said to me 'we used to do that (when we were owned by Time-Warner) but now it is all done on computer.' As an example she told me to watch her working on my account on her computer in the office. She typed a few things and turned on my internet service; typed something else and turned off (then back on again) my entire service. I do not know how they do it, but it seems much more effecient than those ugly traps that used to hang on all the poles in the area. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 00:19:30 GMT hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) posted on that vast internet thingie: > My local telephone company (Verizon) and cable TV company (Comcast) > have been running an aggressive TV ad campaign pushing their > respecting high speed data services. Verizon is pushing DSL while > Comcast is pushing cable modem. Each says they're far superior > (faster data and more reliable) and cheaper than the other. That so depends on how close you are to your phone company and how crowded your cable network is with heavy usage neighbors. Generally if higher upstream speed is important to you, then DSL (a business package). If not then cable tends to offer more speed per buck. This is true here, but is it true there? I dunno ... Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 19:34:53 -0500 Barry Margolin wrote: > That's not true with Comcast. They offer discounts if you purchase > multiple services, but they don't require you to. I think the same is true of Charter. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 ------------------------------ From: laitkor@gmail.com (Laitkor) Subject: Locating the Second Phone Line For DSL Installation Date: 28 May 2004 13:40:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I have ordered DSL on a second phone line. The phone company has activated the second line. Installing the DSL is no big deal. But trying to find out which pair of lines is the second line in the spagetti of wires in phone box is the issue. I live in a apartment complex so getting access to the NIC is not possible. I have thought about buying a tone generator to locate the wires which have any voltage in them. I don't know if thats possible. Any suggestions on how I should go about. Thanks, Jay [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When trying to trace, or 'ring down' a pair of wires in a spagetti nest of wires, *always* begin with known wires, which is the wires in your home. Attach your sounder or other noise-making source (such as a portable radio with leads from its speaker) to the known wires, then go to the next connection point in the house pairs and listen for it there. If the pair at that point (or somewhere under your control) is identified in some way by telco such as a numbered strip or a paper tag, etc then make note of that number or other ID. Make sure you can hear your sound at that point. At some point you are going to lose control of the wires, their identification or whatever clues you had from the phone man who was there before you. Try at that point (the most frustrating point usually) to hear your sound source. The battery in your sounder or other source puts out a small amount of current with the audio, which is all you will need, even if the pair is otherwise 'dry' or 'dark'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jimmy Subject: Porting Numbers Question Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 17:35:05 -0400 How long should my account be *established* before I attempt to port my numbers to another carrier. I just ordered some gold numbers from Verizon and I plan to port them to a different vendor as soon as I am allowed. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would suggest that out of courtesy to Verizon (if you feel like being courteous) you wait at least one full billing cycle. And I do not know what makes 'gold numbers' any different than any other telephone number, but you might want to assure yourself that the numbers *are* transportable and that you are not under some kind of contractual obligation to Verizon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 00:16:21 GMT Gordon S. Hlavenka posted on that vast internet thingie: >>> I'm planning on switching to Verizon DSL for my ISP. Talked to their >>> technical information person to ask who Verizon gets their Newsgroup >>> feed from. Her answer: "What's a newsgroup?" Is there someone using >>> Verizon DSL here who can answer this for me. > Steve replied: >> Try news.verizon.net > Steve, I don't think this answers the question. What about gnilink.net then? I believe the original question was whether they have news included rather than how they do it. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: dold@RCNXFilesX.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: RCN Files Chapter 11 Restructuring Plan Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 19:39:12 UTC Organization: a2i network Monty Solomon wrote: > PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) -- RCN Corp., a telecommunications upstart that > packages phone, Internet and cable service but has been shedding > assets and employees, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on > Thursday and said it has support from creditors for a restructuring > plan. That might explain why the RCN mirrors of freeware aren't online. A Cygwin update goes part way through and fails. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: xasdfg123456@yahoo.com (xasdfg123456@yahoo.com) Subject: Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? Date: 28 May 2004 11:32:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to a question: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because everyone in your building would > share the same T1. Some people, for various reasons, do not like to > share, either because they need the bandwidth or they have security > concerns, or maybe they are just greedy. Shared facilities are always > cheaper, if that's your only concern. PAT] Thank you for your reply. I am trying to figure out why my office was setup with a local T1 for phone connectivity. At ~$650/month + call charges it is a costly expense for our small office of 20 people. From what little documentation the previous admin here left, I see 12 trunks in operation: six lines for our Panasonic DBS and six other lines for other purposes (faxs, modems). Is this something that our local carrier would not be able to provide for us? Not all of these are necessary anymore. It just seems like it would be much less expensive (like hundreds) to use the lines already in the building. Help my little brain to understand. Thanks a lot! BR [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You may want to do a full audit of your telecom there, and also detirmine what you are paying for and the exact amount of the charges on each item, etc. Telco is notorious for overcharging on things, and $650 does seem like a hefty bill. Depending on how long the bill has been getting paid, you may well get a very nice refund. Let's start from the beginning, evaluating each item you are paying for, etc. Most companies, large or small (but especially the larger ones) are paying for stuff they do not even have. If you need professional help on this, get a consultant involved, give him a letter of agency so telco won't snub their nose at him when he begins to make things difficult for them, and see what you can accomplish. Let us know how it works out. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 11:40:52 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Phishing: Latest Spam/Scam; Very Dangerous This could be subtitled 'EMAIL THAT TRANSFERS YOUR MONEY TO RUSSIA'. In the good old days (a few months ago), most viruses deleted or changed files on an infected PC, sent out annoying email messages to many people, and took a long time to clean out of an infected computer. Today, the email may not contain a virus, but the web site it suggests you visit could infect your computer with software that can potentially transfer all of your money to Russia, and steal your identity. This story applies to Windows machines. You don't need to use email to get infected! These programs can be downloaded to your PC by just clicking a link on a web site you visit, or visiting a web site that you find on Google or some other search engine. Visit the site, and it automatically installs software on your PC that will log your keystrokes (like credit card numbers and passwords), and automatically email them to a crook somewhere. Phishing is just as bad. Pfishing (or Phishing) is when a crook tries to convince you to give him your login and password for your bank, ebay, Paypal, or some other web site that enables him to get access to your money by having your login information. They do this by sending you an email that says due to some event (security problem, etc.), you need to log into your account, and enter some information (also called 'baiting'). In an email, it will give you a link to click on that will take you to a very official looking web page. It looks official because they simply copied the graphics and wording off the genuine web site. A 12-year-old can do that. The scientific term for how they get you to give them this information is 'social engineering.' When you're done entering your information, they usually just send you to the real site, and you think everything is wonderful. Well, it is wonderful for the crook that's about to transfer a lot of your money to Bulgaria. There are many crooks in foreign countries targeting 'rich Americans' just this way. The Internet is international, and U.S. laws won't protect you at all. Like I said, you don't need email to get caught by this. By just visiting a site that looks perfectly honest, you can have your HOSTS files changed on your PC. That means every time you type in yahoo.com (or whatever), you're directed to the crook's site that looks like Yahoo. My mother called and said she got an email from her bank saying that her account would be turned off unless she entered some information. I had already warned her about this. When I asked her if she opened the email, she said she knew it might be dangerous, but she was curious so she went ahead and opened it, and went to the web site that it linked to. Holy Cow! Luckily, she's using a Mail Station from Earthlink that doesn't run Windows, so it can't get infected. Wheew. Besides for stealing your identity, it can take hours to clean the downloaded spyware or viruses from a PC, if it can be cleaned at all. Curiosity can lead to a lot of work for the guy who has to clean the viruses and spyware of a computer. Figure a couple of hours, minimum. You've heard about viruses, but trojans are now more popular than viruses and more dangerous to you. A trojan is a program that you somehow mistakenly download that's made to automatically run whenever you start your computer (without your knowledge). The writer of the trojan takes over control of your computer, in the background. While your PC might seem slower, you may not even notice it. In most cases the trojan hides itself so it doesn't show up in the Windows Task Manager (which normally lets you see and/or stop all running programs). The trojan may simply send your keystrokes or passwords to the author, or it may wait for commands to do bad stuff like contact a web site at a preprogrammed time in a DOS (Denial of Service) attack. A famous DOS attack brought down the White House web site a couple of years ago. There are ways to stay safe: Number 1 is NEVER click on a link in a SPAM email you receive, no matter how good a deal. It looks like a good deal just to get you to go to the web site, and get infected. Number 2 is NEVER respond to an email or a web site asking you to log in and change your password, or enter credit card information. If you're not sure, call or email the company to see what's going on. Number 3 is NEVER just click OK when a box pops up when you're browsing, asking if you want to download a program from 'XYZ Company.' If the company named is Microsoft or Macromedia (Flash), it's probably safe, but unless you're sure about what they're going to download to your PC, it's better to pass up whatever they're offering you on the web site. It might be a neat cartoon or something that you can't live without or it might be a virus or spyware. You have no way of knowing which. To check to see if you already have spy software on your PC, and then keep from getting it later, download the free Spybot Search & Destroy program from www.safer-networking.org This software is totally free (but they'll take donations), to both check your PC and clean it of spyware (not viruses). DON'T go to any other site to download it, or mistakenly put .com in the above address! It's .org. If you make a mistake by even one character, like 'safe-networking,' you'll go to the site of a company who's purposely looking to sell inferior stuff to people who put in the wrong address (the Internet is full of unsavory characters). Once you download and update Spybot, run it in regular mode (advanced, not easymode) and it will find most of the spyware on your system. Let it remove it, and then click on Immunize on the left panel. That will let you automatically block a bunch of bad programs from being downloaded to your PC. If someone tries to install bad software that this program knows about, a window will pop-up asking if you want to block the software. You can also tell Spybot to automatically block all of those downloads, without asking. Next, you'll also need another free program, called Ad Aware, at: www.lavasoftusa.com Update it after you install it, and run it to remove what's left of the spyware on your PC. Run both programs (and update them) at least once a week. Running them without updating them is a waste of time, and will give you a false sense of security. Even though both of these software packages are free, you should know that some of the free software on the Internet is put out by crooks, and you won't know which ones. You have to be very careful downloading any software from the Internet, because some of it also contains key loggers or other malicious software. The crooks actually create software which says it performs some useful function that you just can't live without, so they can get bad stuff onto your computer that runs in the background. You absolutely need virus scanning software. As I mentioned a couple of months ago, AVG has a good free version (www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php). We were using Trend Micro's PC-Cillin on all of our PCs, but when I called them to ask them a question about upgrading, I couldn't understand what the foreign person was saying because the connection was so bad (probably VoIP). I asked her what country she was in, and she said The Philippines. I've decided not to spend any money with companies who outsource, so I switched. In calling around, a friend recommended an anti-virus package he's been using for a couple of years. He said he's never gotten a virus using Command AntiVirus (he has gotten them with Panda, which he had previously used), which is only $24.95. I called Command, and was able to reach a live person who said she was in the US, and that all support for US customers is provided by technicians in the US (phone support costs extra). www.authentium.com Interestingly enough, my friend who recommended Command works for an accounting firm, in their IT department. The company he works for fired all of the people doing their customer's books in their office, after all the jobs were outsourced to India. I asked him if their customers knew, and he said 'not yet.' He did say that while he doesn't have much to do with accounting stuff, he hasn't heard of problems with the work they're doing in India. If you do get a virus, getting rid of it is often difficult, frustrating, and time consuming. You'll know you're infected because your anti-virus software says so, or because your PC slows down, locks up, or you get strange get errors. While anti-virus programs will get rid of viruses that aren't currently running, they generally only tell you the name of the virus if it's actually running on the PC (you can't delete a file that's in-use in Windows). You should have two small free programs that are absolutely necessary for getting rid of viruses and spyware. Download them before you get infected, because you may not be able to connect to the Internet after you're infected. First, download Process Explorer (www.sysinternals.com), which lets you see programs that are running, even if they're hiding themselves from the task manager. Once you find the name of the program in the list, Process Explorer lets you kill the process, so you or your anti-virus program can delete the files. Second, download HijackThis (www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html be sure to use the whole URL including the ~), which lets you view your Windows Registry, and delete items that are in the registry that you don't think belong there. These are both tools for someone who knows their way around Windows. A second uninfected PC with access to the Internet is often necessary, so you can look up removal instructions for the virus or spyware you're trying to get rid of. This isn't the same Internet as a year or two ago. I asked an Internet 'security expert,' who had been arrested for hacking in the past, what the crooks do with all those credit card numbers they get? Do they spend all day shopping at Wal-Mart? He said they sell them wholesale, to organized crime. Makes me look at spam a lot differently. ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #266 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat May 29 14:47:21 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4TIlLS14872; Sat, 29 May 2004 14:47:21 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 14:47:21 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405291847.i4TIlLS14872@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 #267 TELECOM Digest Sat, 29 May 2004 14:47:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 267 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Buffalo Spammer Headed for Prison (Marcus Jervis) Re: Phishing: Latest Spam/Scam; Very Dangerous (jdj) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (John Levine) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (Tony P.) Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? (Steven J Sobol) Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? (John Levine) Re: Modern Telecom Frustration (Tony P.) Antique Phone Parts Available (Rich Greenberg) Bell Canada Buys Canadian Assets of 360 Networks (Geoffrey Welch) Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (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: Marcus Jervis Subject: Buffalo Spammer Headed for Prison Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 05:06:31 +0000 'Buffalo Spammer' Is Sentenced To Prison for Junk-Mail Barrage BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A man who sent 850 million junk e-mails through accounts he opened with stolen identities was sentenced to prison Thursday after telling the judge the case against him was overblown and had no victims. "I obviously regret this whole involvement," Howard Carmack began before being sentenced to three-and-a-half to seven years in prison on charges including forgery, identity theft and falsifying business records. He went on to accuse Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of treating him unfairly, calling the case politically motivated. Mr. Carmack was the first person prosecuted by Mr. Spitzer's office under New York's identity theft statute. "I don't see any victims," Mr. Carmack said. "I'm having a heck of a time figuring out why you think everybody is unfair to you," Erie County Judge Michael D'Amico responded before imposing the maximum sentence. "You think it's OK to take somebody's identity and use it for whatever purpose you want," the judge said. "You caused a great deal of harm to a lot of people." Atlanta-based Internet service provider EarthLink Inc. said Mr. Carmack ran 343 illegal e-mail accounts under false names from 2002 until his arrest last May, and used them to send unsolicited e-mail ads for things like get-rich-quick schemes and sexual enhancers. A jury convicted Mr. Carmack March 31 of defrauding EarthLink and eight men from New York, Ohio and Washington, D.C., by either obtaining EarthLink accounts in their names or using their corporate e-mail addresses to sell products. EarthLink obtained a $16.4 million civil judgment against Mr. Carmack, 37 years old, last May in Atlanta and sought a criminal conviction and prison as further deterrents. Crimes like Mr. Carmack's are not uncommon but spammers can be elusive and difficult to stop. The case against Mr. Carmack took more than a year to crack as he hid behind stolen identities. "Before spammers send one more spam e-mail, we think they should remember that what happened to Howard Carmack can happen to them, the lengthy prison sentence by the state and the multimillion dollar civil judgment against him by EarthLink," said Karen Cashion, EarthLink's assistant general counsel. The ISP has yet to receive any payment from Mr. Carmack on the civil judgment, Ms. Cashion said. Spitzer spokesman Brad Maione said the case was important because it highlighted the threat of identity theft on the Internet, where criminals lure victims with fake Web sites and e-mails seeking bank account numbers and passwords. "As soon as you begin to take a look at one fraud scheme another seems to pop up very quickly," Mr. Maione said. Prosecutors estimated Mr. Carmack was making $60,000 to $70,000 annually before his arrest last May. Wayne Felle, Mr. Carmack's attorney, said he is appealing his client's conviction. Mr. Felle attributed Mr. Carmack's comments before sentencing to nerves and said they did not properly reflect his client's attitude. He said Mr. Carmack is sorry for his actions. Copyright 2004 Associated Press ------------------------------ From: jdj Subject: Re: Phishing: Latest Spam/Scam; Very Dangerous Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 23:43:55 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com It's not only crackers, spyware and trojans collecting your info from your computer, etc., trashers and divers are also reselling whatever personal and account info they find in the trash instead of using it themselves. And don't think you're safe just because the info you discovered was stolen from you has not been used in the past few years. "It hasn't been used yet" means just that and not "therefore it will never be used". ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 12:55:39 -0400 Organization: Primus Canada Lisa Hancock wrote: > Each says they're far superior (faster data and more reliable) and > cheaper than the other. Of course they do -- what kind of advertising campaign would it be if they didn't? > Any opinions on cable modems vs. DSL in today's world? I've dealt (both for myself and on behalf of others) with a couple of cable companies and several DSL companies and I've got to tell you that, once the basic requirements such as availability in the area and the quality of the cabling are met, your experience as a customer depends not on whether the media is cable or DSL, but on the design, implementation, and maintenance choices made by the service provider. They choose what bandwidth they make available to you, how they provision their network, how they connect it to the rest of the internet, how they provision and run their servers, etc. Some time ago Bell Canada's ISP, Sympatico, ran ads implying thet their DSL service was faster than the cable company (Rogers) because it was "never shared" -- but that is misleading, if not an outright lie, since DSL subscribers DO share connections past the DSLAM (or, in the case of the Nortel equipment, the line card drawer.) When people asked me if cable's shared medium made a difference, I'd tell them that it had as much effect as sharing a driveway has on your drive to work. (Bad analogy, though, since it might be very easy to get completely blocked in on a shared driveway.) Sympatico's network was better able to carry the traffic that its subscribers generated, leveraging both Bell Canada's extensive network -- built as much for their commercial customers as for their residential broadband subscribers - and their IP connectivity. Rogers, on the other hand, was not well served by their @Home membership, nor particularly by their arrangement with Teleglobe after @Home collapsed. Both companies had terrible reputations for their customer service. Aurora Cable, with a limited territory north of Toronto, was another story: perhaps because of their limited geographical coverage, they built a very robust network and provided excellent connectivity. I heard plenty of praise and not a single complaint about them. Similarly (though not to the same magnitude) before Shaw traded their Eastern operations to Rogers, their internet service had a better reputation than Rogers' did. The quality of the service depends on what the provider decides to invest in it, not on which media is used. Tony P. wrote: > Far as I know, you can't get consumer cable IP feed without > subscribing to cable television. Rogers Cablesystems charges you an extra $10/month for cable internet if you're not a cable television subscriber. Tony P. wrote: > Try it some time. Around here you get basic cable along with the Internet > service because there isn't any feasible way for them to filter it. If that is true, then I should cancel my Rogers analog cable service ($50/month) and my Primus Canada* DSL service ($35/month; would be more if I didn't own my own DSL modem) and subscribe to Rogers cable internet ($45/month plus $10/month since I'm not a cable subscriber) and -- as you say -- I'll get analog cable anyway, saving me at least $30/month (more if I take into account that the cable service includes modem rental or that dropping my DSL service permits me to switch my phone line from Bell Canada to Sprint Canada, which I currently can't do if I want to get DSL service on it.) Given that Rogers offers two independent add-on packages for their analog cable service(basic is channels 2 through 26, plus 59 through 74; one package is channels 27 through 42, and the other is channels 46 through 58), I doubt that they have any problem filtering out basic cable for internet-only customers. Shucks, $30/month isn't a fortune, but it would pay for a coffee a day ... * I should cancel my Primus Canada DSL service anyway: their USENET news server is absolutely terrible and, in the few weeks I've been their customer, I've had problems logging in to fetch my e-mail, problems connecting PPPoE sessions, and even problems dialing up as a workaround. Also, despite what looks like diverse IP connectivity by Primus Canada and through Primus USA, throughput is disappointing especially at peak times. Geoffrey Welsh [This space for rent] ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 2004 03:32:08 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Comment: These so-called "consumer advocates" sound like they want > to kill VoIP, not protect consumers. Hopefully the FCC will realize > that "enhanced" 911 is currently IMPOSSIBLE due to the portability > of VoIP devices Don't be silly. The vast majority of VoIP phones are plugged in one place and stay there. For the sort-of-911 on my Vonage phone, I tell them where the phone is, and they program their system to call the local 911 center if I dial 911. Yeah, now and then I take the phone with me on trips, but the other 99% of the time it's right where 911 thinks it is. I suppose it would be nice if there was a note displayed to the 911 operator to verify the phone's location if possible, but that's a tiny detail. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Organization: ATCC Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 05:04:06 GMT In article , VOIP News says: > Comment: These so-called "consumer advocates" sound like they want to > kill VoIP, not protect consumers. Hopefully the FCC will realize that > "enhanced" 911 is currently IMPOSSIBLE due to the portability of VoIP > devices (that is, you can plug one in anywhere there is a broadband > connection, and the VoIP provider simply has no way of knowing where > you are). Therefore any absolute requirement for enhanced 911 would > have the effect of killing VoIP. I don't know what "consumers" these > advocates purport to represent, but they sure do not represent me nor > my views on the subject. I'd love to know where these people get > their funding. E-911 is completely possible. The people just can't see the forest for the trees. If they can build GPS into a cell phone, they sure as hell can build it into a VOIP router and then send that info to a server that does a database dip, finds out the jurisdiction and send it to the PSAP. But stupidity rules, as usual. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 21:45:47 -0500 xasdfg123456@yahoo.com wrote: > From what little documentation the previous admin here left, I see 12 > trunks in operation: six lines for our Panasonic DBS and six other > lines for other purposes (faxs, modems). Is this something that our > local carrier would not be able to provide for us? Not all of these > are necessary anymore. It just seems like it would be much less > expensive (like hundreds) to use the lines already in the building. Well, twelve lines is half a T-1 worth of bandwidth. Are you using the other 768K of bandwidth for data? T-1s can carry up to 1,536KB/s of data, up to 24 voice lines, or a combination. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 2004 03:26:22 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I would seriously recommned *not* to rent a phone. Prices for phone > rental are high and you can actually buy you a second-hand compatible > phone to use with the service cheaper than renting a phone. So I discovered. Renting a phone costs $50/wk, so I just bought a used Moto GSM 900/1800/1900 for $48 on eBay, which should show up next week. Then I called up Cingular to turn on international roaming so I can use my SIM to pick up SMS messages in Switzerland, since I have my Vonage voicemail set to send notices with phone numbers to my SMS, and Cingular assures me that inbound SMS don't cost extra no matter where they're delivered. Then I can switch to a prepaid Swiss SIM to return the calls. But the Cingular rep told me that they couldn't turn on int'l roaming without knoing what phone I plan to use. This sounds wrong based on everything I know about GSM, but I guess I'll just have to wait until the Moto phone shows up to find out. If I have to call Cingular and give them the IMEI every time I move the SIM to the other phone, this makes their system considerably less useful. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Modern Telecom Frustration Organization: ATCC Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 05:01:54 GMT In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > Why I question modern technology: That's ok -- I used to work for the local AG's office. I tried calling a friend of mine there a week or two ago and got RNA. Hmmm ... punch up their state Centrex number and get through. Looks like the first line in the hunt group has a problem. They usually don't notice it during the day because call volume is such that it doesn't get chalked up to anything. But call late afternoon and you get RNA. I finally got hold of my friend on her cell phone. They're aware of the problem but neither they nor the specialists from state telecom can fix it. I told em' I'm on the state purchasing agreement, call me in and I'll fix it by putting a 600 ohm resistor across the trunk side (They're all loop-start lines!) and then put my test set on the main pair and dial from another pair and see if I hear the ring. If I do I know it's a bad circuit card, if I don't it's time to call Verizon and tell them to fix it. I told her I'd only charge em' $500 for their own damned stupidity. Frustrates the hell out of me. ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Antique Phone Parts Available Date: 29 May 2004 14:11:33 -0400 I am cleaning house and found a few items that may be of interest to telephone collectors: 1) 2 each 4 prong sockets and cover plates (for mounting on a wall box). 2) 2 each Adapters, 4 prong male to modular female. 3) Not sure exactly how to describe this. Its a cord and connector block for hard wireing a phone. Since a picture is worth 10,000 words (or so they say), See: http://www.panix.com/~richgr/cord.jpg All free to a good home except that if you are not close enough to pick up, I would appreciate the cost of the postage back. Rich Greenberg N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Bell Canada Buys Canadian Assets of 360networks Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 14:28:39 -0400 Organization: Primus Canada Patrick, please forgive me if this has been covered and I just haven't seen it because of my ISP's lousy USENET news server ... but I can't believe that there has been no mention of this deal. I'm certain that it will be a headliner in Monday's Telecom Update. On Wednesday May 26th, Bell Canada -- Canada's largest telephone company, incumbent carrier to nearly two thirds of the population, and part-owner of some smaller regional telephone companies -- announced that they were buying, for $CDN 275 million, the Canadian assets of 360networks, including CLEC GT Group Telecom, which 360 purchased soon after both emerged from bankruptcy protection. To make the deal palatable to Canada's Competition Bureau, Bell will sell some of 360/GT's retail business and bits of the network in eastern Canada, where Bell is already dominant, to Call-Net Enterprises, the Canadian company that owns Sprint Canada. http://www.bce.ca/en/news/releases/bce/2004/05/26/71251.html The deal serves many purposes for Bell Canada. The official explanation is twofold: (1) Although it has a dominating presence in eastern Canada, its battle with Telus -- which was formed by the merger of regional incumbent carriers in the West but which has been working its way into the larger Eastern markets -- has been heating up and the acquisition gives Bell Canada significant long-haul and municipal fiber, as well as retail customers, in the heart of Telus' territory. The fact that Montreal-based BCE, owner of Bell Canada, chose to hold their "annual and special meeting" and make the announcement in Vancouver symbolizes the escalation of Bell's muscling in on Telus' territory. (2) Bell, which is profitable, inherits $CDN 1.5 billion of 360networks' tax loss provisions, which 360 couldn't use for lack of profits to tax but Bell can use. Although 360 comes out $275 million ahead in cash, Bell is essentially being paid well over a billion dollars to take 360's Canadian operation off their hands. However, unofficially, the acquisition 'sends a message' to companies like Manitoba Telecom Services ("MTS") and SaskTel, who are attempting to a piece of Bell's profitable business in eastern Canada: although MTS is 22% owned by Bell Canada, it is trying to buy (Bell has filed an unjunction to block the deal) Allstream in order to make it a national player, and SaskTel, through its Navigata division, has been slowly pushing into Bell territory. The message, clearly, is that any smaller regional carrier looking to profit by taking a chip off Bell's gem had better be prepared to defend their own treasure against a powerful competitor. Geoffrey Welsh [This space for rent] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 13:54:39 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Or really, all the old Bell System; Illinois Bell was nothing special or different, but it is the one of which I had some knowledge, and the last chairman of AT&T prior to divestiture came out of Illinois Bell, and I had a very passing aquaintence with Charles Brown, from when we both lived in the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. Then he went on to live in Glencoe, a northern suburb as the president of Illinois Bell, before taking on the task of chairman at AT&T. That would have been the middle 1970's. How does the old song phrase it? "Things to painful to remember, we simply choose to forget" ... who wrote or popularized that song? Anyone remember? One incident I remember pretty well took place in the early 1960's, in an IBT central office called 'Chicago-Wabash', 65 East Congress Parkway, corner of Congress and Wabash Avenue, south end of downtown Chicago, an older, and 'original' part of the city, dating back to even before the great fire of 1871, and the central office building itself dating back to the teen years of the 20th century, entirely step by step, except for a 'newer' section which was crossbar. Not without good reason was it called the 'Wabash Cannonball', a person calling into or out of the WABash central office always got a lot of 'bangs' and 'pops' in his eardrum from the relays opening and closing as the switch trains would set up, travel their route around the office, and occassionally derail. And if weather-wise it was a hot, humid night in July or August when the windows were open (no air conditioning in those days; a/c was a relatively new invention which arrived in most business places only in the early to middle 1960's) -- well, when the windows were open on Wabash Avenue/Congress Parkway, the 'Wabash Cannonball' could be heard up to a block away by passersby walking down the sidewalk; extremely noisy; the din was just as bad as the Western Union public office a few blocks away; but at WUTCO, after a few seconds of silence while all the teletype machines were 'resting', only to have one machine wake-up with a soft whirr as the gears engaged and one or more of the machines started 'chattering' its news, Wabash CO was different. On one of the rare instances when there was no call being set up or taken down, the switches would sit there silently for a few seconds but then with no advance notice of course -- neither at WUTCO was there any advance notice -- all of a sudden BANG! the switches would move into action and a switch train would move out to wherever. During 'busy hour' times, the switches would be going constantly, since Wabash CO was a very busy downtown office. It was only late at night, or maybe a Saturday or Sunday evening during the summer when the occassional breaks of quiet could be heard off and on. This was the setting for the story I will tell you now. The office clerks there at Wabash CO were all gone over the weekend, especially on Saturday night. The repair clerk (the person you used to get when you dialed '611') was about the only person around, since '611' was manned 24/7, along with one 'frames tester' or guy to take care of the office in general. As you would probably expect, calls to '611' were few and far between late on Saturday nights in the downtown area, with stores and offices all closed, etc. But there was a sort of weird case there at Wabash. One subscriber (they did not know who he was) seemed to be fond of calling 611 and making obscene calls to the repair clerk. It went on for several months; on a regular basis; this sick puppy would always, at minute or two past 6 PM on Saturday night, always dial 611, talk nasty to the clerk and eventually hang up. I guess the guy figured there was no way to 'trace his call' so he would not get caught. It got to be quite a joke among the technicians; this one lady was always on duty Saturday evenings at 6 PM, and always got the brunt of the 'humor'. The one technician on duty would glance at his watch, note that "it is about time for your 'boy friend' to call"; they (clerk and technician) would both get a big laugh out of it, and they could almost set their watch by that call coming in. One Saturday night, the tech got a bright idea: let's catch the joker in the act. I'll tell you how we will do it. There are so few calls coming in to 611 early Saturday evening it won't be a problem. When your phone lights up for 611 I want you to put on your very best 'recorded message voice' and tell the caller, "Repair service has changed its number. The new number for repair service is '290'. Please hang up and dial two nine oh. Thank you, this is a recording." Then, click off. We are going to answer him tonight on the test board. Sure enough, at 6:02 PM repair buzzed and lit up; the lady sat down to take the call, and in her best recorded message voice said just what the tech had told her, "Repair service has changed its number. The new number is two nine oh. Please hang up and dial two nine oh. Thank you, this is a recording" ... Click! In a minute or less, the call arrived on the test board. "Get over here and get the board!" the technician told her. She hurried over and plugged in. The tech plugged in on the 'supervisors jack' next to her and listened silently. Sure enough it was their man, her 'boy friend' as the tech would tease her from time to time. Within seconds the caller started his sick puppy routine and the tech's eyes lit up as he quietly moved his fingers over to a couple of the keys on the test board. Then instantly, just as he flipped the keys and saw that the lock was in place he spoke up: ah, you son of a bitch, we finally caught you! Dead, very shocked silence for a couple of seconds, then a click as the caller disconnected. But not to worry ... when the technician flipped the keys he locked up the connection, stopped the tandem from collapsing, holding the caller in place, regardless of what he did with *his* phone. You used to be able to do that with 290 on the test board. When the guy did not pick up his receiver again, the tech, now more detirmined than ever started manually ringing the line. Three or four regular rings, then a prolonged ring, then three or four little dings, another long blast, etc. After about twenty minutes of this type of manual ringing, the line was finally answered by this little mousy man in a timid voice, 'hello?' The tech used the old Earnestine routine: 'have I reached the party with whom I am connected?' After a little stalling, "I was just walking past and answered the phone when I heard it ringing, I am just a janitor, call back on Monday when someone is here" and an equally adamant technician telling him "you are the person I need to speak with; tell me what your number is" the man finally told him his number (there was no caller ID back in the 1960's either). Tech said, "well, thank you, but I am not sure I can believe you on your number. Tell ya what I am going to do. Its about 7 PM and time for my supper break. I am going out to eat now and I will just leave the 'shoe' up on you until I get back from supper. When I do, then I will go in the frames and check to be certain you are telling the truth." Across the street and up a block from the c.o. was a Pixley and Ehlers Cafeteria. In the 1960's there were as many Pixley and Ehlers cafeterias downtown as there are McDonald's and Burger Kings today, almost every block or two. Pixley and Ehlers were places where office clerks ate during the day time; drunks and winos and other down and outters hung out all night. Always very wonderful meat loaf, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, etc. Steaming mugs of hot coffee. Everyone either loved P&E Cafeterias or they hated them, just like McD and BK places today, which took over the world about 1975 or so when P&E went out of business in Chicago. Tech comes back from his supper break about an hour later. He said he did walk in the frames, "and by golly, the man was telling the truth. The number he gave me earlier was correct." "What we did was tell the Business Office on Monday; they slapped his wrist is all, told him not to make obscene phone calls in the future. I know we never did hear any more about it from him or the Business Office." PAT ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #267 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun May 30 10:18:12 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4UEIC922794; Sun, 30 May 2004 10:18:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 10:18:12 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405301418.i4UEIC922794@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 #268 TELECOM Digest Sun, 30 May 2004 10:17:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 268 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Touching the Voip: a New Age For Phone Calls [UK] (VOIP News) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (Jack Decker) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (CharlesH) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (David) Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? (Joseph) Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? (Steven J Sobol) Broadvoice IP Phone Service (Killer Madness) Re: Comcast Sues San Jose in Franchise Dispute (Neal McLain) Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? (Daniel J McDonald) Re: Buffalo Spammer Headed for Prison (David Wolff) Re: The Strike Goes On (Michael Chance) EPIC Alert 11.10 (Monty Solomon) FCC Leads Telephone Access Talks - Sources (Monty Solomon) EFFector 17.19: Action Alert - Sink the PIRATE Act (Monty Solomon) 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: VOIP News Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 21:17:33 -0400 Subject: Touching the Voip: a New Age For Phone Calls [UK] Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.independent.co.uk/business/analysis_and_features/story.jsp?story=526261 Broadband users can talk to each other for nothing, says Clayton Hirst, but the landline isn't dead yet BT was rocked by a scam in the early 1990s. Fraudsters discovered that by jamming a bent paper clip in the slot of a public payphone, they could make a free call. In the few months before it cottoned on to the swindle, BT was conned out of thousands of pounds. Today, people don't need to tamper with a phone for a free call. They can, instead, talk for as long as they want free of charge thanks to a technology called voice over IP (Voip). Using a broadband internet connection, computer users can talk for free to other Voip subscribers, though they are charged for making calls to traditional fixed-line numbers. Until a few weeks ago, Voip was mainly the preserve of people with the necessary technical know-how. Making a call wasn't easy and it often took longer to set up the computer than it did to make a Voip call itself. But all that is changing. On Tuesday, a new company was unveiled offering Voip to the mass market. Called Gossip-tel, it came hard on the heels of a similar launch by Skype, founded by the people behind music website Kazaa. The more established players -- including BT, Thus, Wanadoo and Cable & Wireless -- are waiting in the wings with their own Voip offerings for domestic and business customers. [.....] More established firms, such as Level 3 of the US, are also eyeing the UK as a springboard to launch Voip in the rest of Europe. "This could be big. It is the number one product for us," says Jeff Tench, Level 3's European senior vice-president of voice services. "We are looking at growing this organically and through acquisition as we have a significant amount of cash. BT is not going to want voice over IP to happen. For them it is a threat." Full story at: http://news.independent.co.uk/business/analysis_and_features/story.jsp?story=526261 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 17:57:48 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Pat, please conceal my e-mail address. On 29 May 2004 03:32:08 -0000, John Levine wrote: > Don't be silly. The vast majority of VoIP phones are plugged in one > place and stay there. For the sort-of-911 on my Vonage phone, I tell > them where the phone is, and they program their system to call the > local 911 center if I dial 911. Yeah, now and then I take the phone > with me on trips, but the other 99% of the time it's right where 911 > thinks it is. I suppose it would be nice if there was a note > displayed to the 911 operator to verify the phone's location if > possible, but that's a tiny detail. John, I'm not being "silly" at all. Just because you (and probably a large number of VoIP users) don't move the VoIP adapter around much, that doesn't mean that no one does. The BroadbandReports.com VoIP Forum has had numerous posts from people who have taken their VoIP adapter with them on trips, and some people appear to have taken a VoIP adapter out of the country permanently (for example, someone will obtain service and then sent the adapter to parents/siblings/other relatives back in the "old country"). It always strikes me as odd that people who might want the Internet to remain at least somewhat anonymous nevertheless seem to think that there is a way to positively locate a VoIP device. I'm not saying you can't do it so it will work 75% or maybe even 90% of the time, but will a 10% failure rate (where emergency calls are sent to the wrong address) be acceptable to the public safety agencies that have to respond to 911 calls? Basically, there are two ways to do 911. One is the way you do it, where the user supplies the address data, and the VoIP company (or some third party used by the VoIP company) attempts to route the call to the 911 center based on that address. The problem there is that the VoIP provider may not have facilities in the same state, let alone the same LATA as the 911 center. *Current* technology requires E911 calls to come in on dedicated trunk lines from the customer's serving Central Office. Obviously, this is impossible in the case of a VoIP provider, unless you expect them to obtain direct wireline trunks to every 911 center in the country. Now, what I am hoping will happen is that the 911 centers will be flexible enough to accept calls via a broadband connection (which, by the way, would give them an alternate way to receive calls should there ever be a "Great Hinsdale Fire" situation in their serving C.O.). But note that this is not what the self-serving idiots at NASUCA want. If you read the full report that was linked (indirectly) from the press release, you may have seen this: Concerning VoIP, NASUCA makes the following recommendations: The Commission should extend enhanced 911 (E911) requirements to VoIP services. Protecting the lives, health and property of VoIP users outweighs any potential risk to the rapid deployment of VoIP providers that might occur by requiring E911 capability. Enhanced 911 provided over VoIP should conform with 911 network systems that are already in place, rather than vice versa. State and local authorities should not have to bear additional financial burdens to adapt the existing 911 systems to a new and untested IP technology for delivering 911 calls with callback and location information. VoIP providers must collect and remit local 911 surcharges to ensure continued funding for 911. Now that is all well and good but they might as well mandate that from now on, all automobiles must be capable of flying. I believe they know full well that no VoIP company could afford to stay in business if they had to obtain direct trunking to every 911 center. You could make automobiles fly, but few people could afford them. In theory, you could make VoIP use the "911 network systems that are already in place", but you will kill off probably 95% of the VoIP providers out there (unless some do what I think they will do -- more on that in a moment). *MAYBE* AT&T could conform to this requirement, but I doubt that VoicePulse, Vonage, Packet8, BroadVoice et. al. ever could. But even so, you still have the problem of what happens if the customer moves their VoIP device and doesn't tell their VoIP provider? The call would still get routed to the wrong 911 center. And there is one other problem with user-supplied data - the user, for whatever reason, might deliberately supply the wrong data. For example, an abusive person might deliberately supply incorrect address information so that if their spouse calls to report being battered, assistance would be deliberately mis-routed. Of course, Tony P. (and not a just few others) think that there's another way to do it ... On Sat, 29 May 2004 05:04:06 GMT, Tony P. wrote: > E-911 is completely possible. The people just can't see the forest for > the trees. > If they can build GPS into a cell phone, they sure as hell can build it > into a VOIP router and then send that info to a server that does a > database dip, finds out the jurisdiction and send it to the PSAP. > But stupidity rules, as usual. It's not a problem of not seeing the forest for the trees, it's a problem of not seeing the GPS satellites for the basement walls. Believe me, this idea (of using GPS) has been kicked around a lot on the aforementioned VoIP Forum, and it always seems to come back to one problem -- to work reliably, GPS needs to be able to see at least some of the GPS satellites. You say that they can build GPS into a cell phone, but how well does GPS work in places like subways or basements? But people might not notice that so much because chances are that if the GPS doesn't work, the phone won't work so well either. Also, I'm not sure that cell phones totally use GPS -- I think in some cases they triangulate their positions by measuring signal strengths relative to the cellular company towers that they can "hear." But a VoIP device would not be able to access a cell company's signals for location purposes. VoIP devices are used in completely different types of locations than cell phones. There are a lot of people who set up a "communications closet" in their basement -- basically a shelf where they have their cable modem, router, VoIP devices and anything else that can be run remotely from elsewhere in the house (Linux users often put a server or two down there!). Note that today's crop of VoIP adapters can work just fine in total darkness, several feet underground and surrounded by eight inches or so of poured concrete. How well do you think they are going to see a GPS satellite from there? You could place a VoIP adapter in a Faraday cage and it would work just fine for phone service, but it isn't going to receive any GPS signals! And please remember, folks, this is an INTERNET device. Those of you who still think that Internet users should have at least a modicum of privacy might want to think about the implications of having a device on your local network that might (if all the conditions are right) be capable of blabbing your precise location to anyone capable of hacking into it. Now, what I think is going to happen if the FCC comes up with some ridiculous requirements is that VoIP will simply move offshore. Vonage, for example, could simply close up shop in New Jersey, move to Canada, and run their operation from there (and continue to serve their Canadian customers, along with any U.S. Residents that could figure out how to obtain a Canadian mail forwarding address). You will see companies popping up in the Caribbean, or perhaps England, or anyplace where they're not going to have a problem terminating traffic to the United States at a reasonable wholesale rate. After all, look at how many years the U.S. has hosted "call back" services that have been used by people in international locations to get around high phone rates and ridiculous tariffs in their home countries. It should only be expected that if we impose onerous regulations on VoIP, turnabout will be fair play. Now I am going to offer an opinion that may offend a few of you, but I don't really care. It seems to me that NASUCA is comprised of a bunch of agencies that are comprised of people who are making their living by supposedly representing telephone "consumers." I believe that they fear VoIP for the same reason that some Public Utility Commission employees fear it, and that is because they see that it has the potential to totally replace wireline telephony, leaving them with nothing to regulate. Therefore, they want to either get VoIP squarely underneath the same onerous regulatory burden as the current telephone companies, or they want to kill it outright -- and they don't really care which, since either outcome would pretty much assure their continued employment, at least for the near future. I believe that these people, therefore, do NOT have the best interest of consumers at heart. They purport to represent consumers because that is their job, but if ever there is a conflict between a) doing what is best for consumers, or b) doing what they feel is necessary to preserve their jobs, they will pick b) every single time. Some of what they propose is not unreasonable, but some of it is very bad for the continued existence of VoIP, and you really should read their full comments before deciding who they are really representing here. You can find those by going to http://www.nasuca.org/ and clicking on "NASUCA's VOIP Comments", or use this direct link to the .doc file: http://www.nasuca.org/filings/VOIP%20Comments%205-28-04.doc (Note: If you cannot read a Microsoft Word file, you may be able to convert it using an online document conversion service. Here are a few that I'm aware of, although I have not attempted to use them on this particular document. If anyone knows of a better free conversion service, I'd like to know about it too:) http://www.gohtm.com/convert_pdf.asp http://wheel.compose.cs.cmu.edu:8001/cgi-bin/browse/objweb http://www.easysw.com/htmldoc/pdf-o-matic.php Please remember that the cellular telephone industry was around for two or three decades before they were expected to comply with E911, and they still haven't completely got it right. VoIP is a new technology and I'm not saying we can't come up with some way to make sure that most VoIP calls to 911 get routed to the correct 911 center most of the time. But, that's going to require technology that may not yet have been developed, and it may also require the 911 centers to actually invest in a little new technology. NASUCA just wants everything their way, and they don't care if it restricts customer choice or forces VoIP companies out of business. All I can say is, they do not represent me nor my views. ------------------------------ From: hoch@exemplary.invalid (CharlesH) Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Date: 29 May 2004 20:56:50 GMT Organization: http://newsguy.com In article , Tony P. wrote: > E-911 is completely possible. The people just can't see the forest for > the trees. > If they can build GPS into a cell phone, they sure as hell can build it > into a VOIP router and then send that info to a server that does a > database dip, finds out the jurisdiction and send it to the PSAP. Actually, it would be quite hard to put GPS into a VOIP router. Normal GPS receivers don't work indoors; they need to see the GPS satellites. The phones with GPS which do work indoors do so by working in close coordination with a physically nearby cell site, so they can get a location fix with the much weaker indoor signal and access to fewer satellites. And by knowing which cell site the phone is talking to, the location of the phone has been restricted to the few square miles covered by the cell site, making the location fix a lot easier. ------------------------------ From: David Reply-To: FlyLikeAnEagle@United.Com Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 05:09:43 GMT E911 has a certain infrastructure that could support phone portability. In practice, the data exchange practices used by the various telecom groups involved don't lend well to allowing the end customer to tell "the phone company" where their phone is located. Most of this is due to local regulatory practices (IMO) and a not so standard way of transferring the information throughout the system. It seems E911 is something most telco's would like to ignore if they could. The VoIP groups would probably like to stay in that camp if they can. David ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 20:16:32 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 29 May 2004 03:26:22 -0000, John Levine wrote: > But the Cingular rep told me that they couldn't turn on int'l roaming > without knoing what phone I plan to use. This sounds wrong based on > everything I know about GSM, but I guess I'll just have to wait until > the Moto phone shows up to find out. They may want the IMEI of the phone, but after you've given them the IMEI it won't make any difference what SIM you put in there if the handset is unlocked. You can change SIM cards as often as you like or is convenient for you. > If I have to call Cingular and give them the IMEI every time I move > the SIM to the other phone, this makes their system considerably less > useful. There's no real reason why cingular has to know the IMEI. It may be a "control" thing or it may just be cingular's ignorance on how GSM works. Considering that prior to the amalgam of cingular when the original GSM operations of Pac Bell Wireless and Bell South DCS which likely had their own real customer care rather than out of SBC in San Antonio who haven't had GSM that long so they may really not be well-versed in what GSM can and cannot do. They'd probably be surprised at the things you can do yourself with GSM star/hash (*#) codes that can be commonly found on the net! (conditional and unconditional diverting/caller ID modfications/ring duration before transfer to voicemail etc.) remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 00:07:30 -0500 John Levine wrote: >> I would seriously recommned *not* to rent a phone. Prices for phone >> rental are high and you can actually buy you a second-hand compatible >> phone to use with the service cheaper than renting a phone. > So I discovered. Renting a phone costs $50/wk, so I just bought a > used Moto GSM 900/1800/1900 for $48 on eBay, which should show up next > week. There's probably more than one "world phone" model made by Motorola. The one that I can think of is the L7089; perhaps that's the one you have. I believe there are some other manufacturers that make 900/1800/1900 phones -- perhaps SonyEricsson or Siemens do. But I use CDMA, so I couldn't quote chapter and verse on this point. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 ------------------------------ From: Killer Madness" Subject: Broadvoice IP Phone Service Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 22:53:35 -0400 I have been using Broadvoice for telephone service. I've had it three weeks and it's been pretty damn good. Although caller ID name is not coming through yet (the number is) I am told it's in the works and will be ready this summer. For $10/month for all the state calls I can make is worth it. Having a single line from Verizon and not making ANY calls on it would cost me $19. And if I were to make any calls on it, my god, they would charge me a small fortune. I will be gladly dumping Verizon very soon. It's easy for me to do since I do always have a cell phone for any backup situations. If my home electric goes out (which it barely does) I do have a cell phone. I am 33 years old and all my life I think the electric in any of the homes I've lived in the longest it has gone out was about 2 hours and that was storm related. So I don't need anyone telling me I won't have phone service for 2 hours of 33 years and this is why they wouldn't go for an IP phone service. Maybe where you live electricity is bad, but here in NJ it's too valuable to go out and the electric company loses millions every minute it's out. So they really try to keep it on ALL the time. My Internet service is very stable. I've had that for about 8 years and that's been out about a day in all the time since I've had it. Broadvoice does not have 911 service as of yet, but will during this summer also. Just my 2 cents for a new company I've tried and seems ok for now. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 17:41:04 -0500 From: Neal McLain Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: Re: Comcast Sues San Jose in Franchise Dispute On June 1, 2003, John Higdon wrote [22:489]: > Why Comcast, which operates a 30-year-old cable infrastructure in > San Jose, is nit-picking about issues in its franchise agreement is > beyond me. They don't even have a product to offer; there is > nothing to discuss. On June 1, 2003, I wrote [22.490]: > Well, the city government apparently thinks there's a lot to > discuss. Otherwise, why would this issue have come up in the first > place. The whole point of the "nit-picking" is that Comcast wants > to extend its franchise so that it can build a whole new network and > completely abandon that "30-year old infrastructure." On June 2, 2003, Higdon wrote [22:492]: > Uh huh. We have been hearing this for decades from the half-dozen > companies who have bought the system and then continue to milk the > revenue out of the sixties technology. Comcast is just the latest > in long line of empty promise providers. On June 3, 2003, I wrote [22:495]: > Well, I don't think either of us can predict the future. So here's > a suggestion: mark your calendar for June 4, 2004, and post an > update then on Comcast's progress. June 4, 2004 approaches. I look forward to John's progress report. Neal McLain nmclain@annsgarden.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Why Would I Want a Local T1? Organization: io.com From: djmcdona@fnord.io.com (Daniel J McDonald) Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 18:53:25 -0500 In article , xasdfg123456@yahoo.com wrote: > TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to a question: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because everyone in your building would >> share the same T1. Some people, for various reasons, do not like to >> share, either because they need the bandwidth or they have security >> concerns, or maybe they are just greedy. Shared facilities are always >> cheaper, if that's your only concern. PAT] > Thank you for your reply. I am trying to figure out why my office was > setup with a local T1 for phone connectivity. At ~$650/month + call > charges it is a costly expense for our small office of 20 people. > From what little documentation the previous admin here left, I see 12 > trunks in operation: six lines for our Panasonic DBS and six other > lines for other purposes (faxs, modems). Is this something that our > local carrier would not be able to provide for us? Not all of these > are necessary anymore. It just seems like it would be much less > expensive (like hundreds) to use the lines already in the building. Normally, B1 lines (analog trunk lines) are about $75/month, so 12 trunks would run about $900. That makes $650 for a DS1 carrier sound a lot better. Also, if you switched to B1 lines, your equipment would need to be changed out to support FXO cards instead of DS1, and that might take up more slots that you have available. But I agree that a complete audit of your phone bill, and probably a couple of competative bids, it probably worth your while. Daniel J McDonald CCIE # 2495, CNX Visit my website: http://www.austinnetworkdesign.com ------------------------------ From: dwolffxx@panix.com (David Wolff) Subject: Re: Buffalo Spammer Headed for Prison Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 00:08:20 UTC Organization: Public Access Networks Corp. In article , Marcus Jervis wrote: > 'Buffalo Spammer' Is Sentenced To Prison for Junk-Mail Barrage > BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A man who sent 850 million junk e-mails through > accounts he opened with stolen identities was sentenced to prison > Thursday after telling the judge the case against him was overblown > and had no victims. > "I obviously regret this whole involvement," Howard Carmack began > before being sentenced to three-and-a-half to seven years in prison on > charges including forgery, identity theft and falsifying business > records. Can we petition the court to *raise* his sentence? I'd like to request he be decapitated; he deserves a more sever(e) sentence. Death to spammers -- David (Remove "xx" to reply.) ------------------------------ From: Michael Chance Subject: Re: The Strike Goes On Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 00:34:00 GMT In article , kd1s@nospamplease.verizon.reallynospam.net says... >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, the workers can't have it both >> ways, either. Did it occur to you that much of the union excesses of >> the 1970-80's was partially responsible for the condition things are >> in today, with all the outsourcing of labor to India and such places? >> PAT] > But how does that account for those of us who have never been part of > a union, yet feel the effects of the outsourcing movement? Simple. Due to union-negotiated contracts, it's almost impossible to layoff union members except by attrition, and then only the lowest wage categories get eliminated (the higher ones remain, as a whole chain of folks are promoted to replace the retiring worker, leaving the lowest job in the change as the one to be attrited). Consequently, when companies with large numbers of union members look to contain expenses through payroll reductions, they look to the non-union, "employment at will" employees that are the first to go. If those positions still are required, then offshoring becomes a viable option. An interesting analysis for what may be happening with this and other similar union contract negotiations was made by columnist Rich Lowery back in January. You can read his column at: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/richlowry/rl20040101.shtml Michael Chance ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 22:38:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 11.10 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 11.10 May 29, 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.10.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] Freedom 2.0 Examines Distributed Democracy [2] Senator Leahy Receives EPIC Champion of Freedom Award [3] Italian Official Offers European Perspective on Privacy [4] Vint Cerf Discusses Privacy and the Internet [5] Oversight Groups Issue Reports on Government Data Mining [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: The Public Voice WSIS Sourcebook [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.10.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 23:49:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Leads Telephone Access Talks - Sources By Jeremy Pelofsky and Justin Hyde WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are this weekend leading high-stakes talks among telephone companies aimed at reaching deals for leasing the networks of dominant local telephone carriers, sources familiar with the talks said on Friday. A federal appeals court threw out Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules that had required the dominant local carriers to lease access to rivals at government-set rates, and that decision is set to take effect June 15. Dominant local carriers BellSouth Corp.(NYSE:BLS), Qwest Communications International Inc.(NYSE:Q), SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) have been locked in talks with AT&T Corp.(NYSE:T) and MCI Inc.(PK:MCIA), two long-distance carriers trying to expand their local service. So far, the talks have failed to produce any major deals. A few agreements have been reached between the Bells and smaller local carriers, but the two sides have been reluctant to compromise, trading accusations of stonewalling. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41719443 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 16:30:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.19: Action Alert - Sink the PIRATE Act EFFector Vol. 17, No. 19 May 27, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 291st Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert: Sink the PIRATE Act * FBI's "National Security Letters" Threaten Online Speech and Privacy * MiniLinks (13): Clear Channel Finds Another Way to Abuse Artists: Patents * Staff Calendar: 05.28.04 - Annalee Newitz speaks at BayCon 2004, San Jose, CA; 05.29.04 - Kevin Bankston speaks at the 13th Digital Be-In, San Francisco, CA * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/19.php ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #268 From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun May 30 23:48:44 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4V3mhm27482; Sun, 30 May 2004 23:48:44 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 23:48:44 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405310348.i4V3mhm27482@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 #269 TELECOM Digest Sun, 30 May 2004 23:49:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 269 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson A New 911? [was Consumer Advocates Tell FCC ... ] (AES/newspost) Wake-Me-Up From AT&T (Norm) Invitation to IPSI-2004 Montenegro and IPSI-2004 Stockholm (IPSI-2004) New Way to Clear up Static on Voip? (Eli Riles) Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VOIP Telephone (Charles B. Wilber) Now Playing "Hacker Hunter" (Jon Londono) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (John Levine) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (R Greenberg) Re: Buffalo Spammer Headed for Prison (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Buffalo Spammer Headed for Prison (Howard S. Wharton) 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: AES/newspost Subject: A New 911? [Was Consumer Advocates Tell FCC ... ] Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 17:21:07 -0700 In article , Jack Decker wrote: <-----much material snipped-----> > Please remember that the cellular telephone industry was around for > two or three decades before they were expected to comply with E911, > and they still haven't completely got it right. VoIP is a new > technology and I'm not saying we can't come up with some way to make > sure that most VoIP calls to 911 get routed to the correct 911 center > most of the time. But, that's going to require technology that may > not yet have been developed, and it may also require the 911 centers > to actually invest in a little new technology. NASUCA just wants > everything their way, and they don't care if it restricts customer > choice or forces VoIP companies out of business. All I can say is, > they do not represent me nor my views. Interesting comments, interesting problem (as per the old saying, "May you live in interesting times"). Would it make any sense in the (somewhat) long run to envision a world (or at least a U.S.) in which * Telephony in the current sense becomes converted totally to the Internet, and becomes just a minor part of the TCP/IP data that flows from everywhere to everywhere, from anyone's temporary broadband connection at home, office, or the local Starbucks to anyone else's broadband connection, wherever they are and however they make that broadband connection. (Sure seems to me that's going to happen, and rapidly, in any case.) * But, suppose the current local telco physical plant -- that is, the copper wires that come from current local telco offices to physical locations, like your home or office -- also remain in existence and in operation, but they no longer do any telephony or switching or person to person or point to point communications in the existing sense. * Rather, this plant, and its future extensions, are converted more or less totally into simple but vital safety, alarm, monitoring and signalling applications. In other words, * You continue to have (in most cases) *one pair* (maybe more) running (unshared) from your residence, office, etc, to the nearest local former telco office -- but the purpose of that wire is no longer telephony, or communications. * Rather, although these pairs may be (and in the near term mostly will be) the same pairs that already exist, they'll no longer be used or maintained by "the phone company" but by a new company or agency whose total business is to be a connection point and to provide a hard-wired link signalling link between your physical location and a variety of public safety and other local agencies and businesses. * One of the primary services on this pair in fact could be a "new 911" that's directly connected to emergency call buttons you have at various places around the house -- along with the emergency button that your elderly parent has on their wrist or pinned to their clothing, and maybe a link to the cordless phones on the VOIP box that's in your house (which has a physical connection to the pair so long as it is in your house). Punch the button, the local office sees the signal, and transmits the info about this (but does NOT make any kind of two-way connection) to the appropriate local agency. (Actually for 911, but not other services, maybe it does make a voice link.) * The local office of this new agency is of course connected in reliable fashion (though smart switches, and with appropriate battery backup) to the appropriate local police or public safety departments. * This "new 911" can in fact be an "extended 911" that's also hard-wired to the intelligent smoke and temperature detectors around your residence, while the local agency office is of course appropriately wired to the local fire department. Temp rises, smoke alarms go off, and the local agency lets the fire department know. * Your local power utility, working with and through this new local agency, can now read your electric and gas meters over this line -- meaning a simpler design for the smart meters, which no longer need to cope with the phone system -- and, incidentally, no way for the power company to get into your VOIP system or possibly your personal wifi system. * Through suitable arrangements set up jointly between you, this new local agency, and various commercial home security companies, these companies can offer you varied home security services and products with the signalling done over these wires. * Various broadcast notification services outward from govt agencies to residences might be set up this way -- hardwired analogies to fire sirens, or the "phone trees" that some communities maintain for things like fires, floods, or biochem attacks (and that of course failed to work in the recent Palo Alto mountain lion idiocy) * One of the attractive features of this system is of course that it can be self-powered, like the current phone system, so that it continues to work -- and the low-powered attached gadgets in your home continue to work -- even during power outages. * Since it's defined entirely by wires, not by switching, the central office knows for sure the geographical locations where any inputs are coming from -- with very little intelligence in the local office's computers, an alarm signal from your smoke detector can be passed on to to the right fire department despite municipal or "area code" boundaries. * Seems to me a system like this could be much less subject to polst-event overload failures if something big or widespread happens. So, how does this get paid for? Well, a) It won't cost that much. For most of the existing physical locations in an existing community, the telco wires are already in existence (and pretty long lived). Building them into new green-field residential subdivisions or apartment buildings will have minimal cost at the margin, especially since they can piggy back on the conduits and installation work for the fiber or coax or whatever will go into those locations. (Or, the signals can piggyback on the electrical power infrastructure -- or the wires can be aggregated close to groups of residences and transmitted in by a dedicated radio link.) b) The "local offices" envisioned here will of course just be not much more than a small but reliable unmanned "Unix box" (running of course anything but Windows) c) Make the fire detection part of the service effective enough and the savings on your fire insurance premiums will more than pay for it (or you'll find that without it, you can't get fire insurance). What's not to like about this? a) False alarm problems on the automated fire and security services? No more problem than at present, and can be coped with by various measures. b) What else? ------------------------------ From: Norm Subject: Wake-Me-Up From AT&T Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 11:44:01 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com The other morning I got a literal wakeup call from someone at AT&T long-distance about an overdue bill. After getting assurance, and because my credit-card# had recently changed, I provided the information -- then realized I *assumed* he was talking about the same phone number I was using. Nope, it was another phone number that I'd dropped AT&T as the long-distance telco on. Now I wanted to know wny there was a long-distance charge where AT&T wasn't the carrier. "Because your telco of choice couldn't handle the traffic and you're billed for the overflow and wouldn't you rather have AT&T? Why pay two long-distance telcos?" Really now! When I finally got to AT&T billing she sounded amazed -- "They actually told you that?" Oh, me. This is not your mothers telco. "The web has got me caught. I'd rather have the blues than what I've got." ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 22:36:46 +0200 From: IPSI-2004 Subject: Invitation to IPSI-2004 Montenegro and IPSI-2004 Stockholm, vip/code Dear Potential Speaker: This is an invitation for you to attend two IPSI BgD multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary conferences, one in Venice, and one in Prague, as follows: IPSI-2004 VENICE Venice, Italy (arrival: 10.11.2004. departure: 14.11.2004.) Deadlines: 15 June 2004 (abstract) + 1 August 2004 (full paper). IPSI-2004 PRAGUE Prague, Czeck Republic (arrival: 11.12.2004. departure: 14.12.2004.). Deadlines: 15 July 2004 (abstract) + 1 September 2004 (full papers) If you like to obtain more information on both conferences, please reply to this email. All IPSI BgD conferences are non-profit! They bring together the elite of the world science (so far, 7 times a Nobel Laureate was talking at the opening ceremony), and they take place in the leading hotels of the world. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Internet, Computer Science and Engineering, Management and Business Administration, Education, e-Medicine, Electrical Engineering, Bioengineering, Environment Protection, and e-Economy. Sincerely Yours, Prof. V. Milutinovic, Chairman PS -- If you plan to submit an abstract/paper, let us know immediately. If you are not able to attend now, but you like to be informed about the future IPSI BgD conferences, please let us know. If you do not like to receive future invitations, let us know, as well! ------------------------------ From: voipguy4321@yahoo.com (Eli Riles) Subject: New Way to Clear up Static on VOIP ? Date: 30 May 2004 15:08:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I saw these guys at Networld Interop a couple weeks ago and it appears that they have a very unique way to clear up static on a converged network without messing with routers or the topology of the network? Has anybody else heard of them or used this product? www.netequalizer.com Thanks Eli ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 22:16:17 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: The Efax Fax Police are After Me!!! Earlier I wrote: > I wouldn't worry about it. I've gotten this warning twice so far, each > time the warning was followed by another message telling me the account > had been closed -- yet my efax number continues to work just fine, > months later. Update: I just got my third such notice, and my eFax number now connects to a recording saying, "This number is not in use." So it took them 18 months, but apparently they've finally canned me. Interestingly, my SBC/Yahoo DSL homepage includes a link for a free eFax account; I clicked it and read _everything_, it says nothing about any limit on incoming faxes. So I'm using that one instead. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 2004 11:46:13 EDT From: Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC that VOIP ... Historical precedent does not come down on the side of Mr. Decker's argument if you consider auto emissions standards. Automobiles have been around for 100 years or so. Nevertheless, any new auto technology must meet current emissions standards before it can be sold in the U.S. This is true of domestically manufactured vehicles as well as imported vehicles. The mere fact that a new technology is involved (hydrogen fuel, pelletized fossil fuel, methane, vegetable-based fuels, etc.) does not exempt the vehicles from emissions standards, safety standards or any other standards to which motor vehicles traveling on our public roads must adhere. We do not see introduction of new auto engine technology being "expedited" by allowing manufacturers to disregard existing emissions standards. There is no "hands off" policy for hydrogen powered vehicles or for the new class of very fuel efficient diesel engines. They must conform to existing standards just like any other vehicle driven on our public thoroughfares. Only those vehicles which existed prior to the emissions standards are granted immunity or "grandfathered" by our laws. Arguments that "unreasonable" emissions standards would stunt the growth of new engine technology or prevent economically disadvantaged people from being able to afford them do not exempt them from those standards. Opinions expressed herein are solely mine and not necessarily those of my employer or anyone else. Charlie Wilber --- Jack Decker wrote: Please remember that the cellular telephone industry was around for two or three decades before they were expected to comply with E911, and they still haven't completely got it right. VoIP is a new technology and I'm not saying we can't come up with some way to make sure that most VoIP calls to 911 get routed to the correct 911 center most of the time. But, that's going to require technology that may not yet have been developed, and it may also require the 911 centers to actually invest in a little new technology. NASUCA just wants everything their way, and they don't care if it restricts customer choice or forces VoIP companies out of business. All I can say is, they do not represent me nor my views. --- end of quote --- ------------------------------ From: jcl20@msn.com (Jon Londono) Subject: Now Playing "Hacker Hunter Date: 30 May 2004 09:23:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Sci-Fi Horror presented in streaming video. 35 min. A roller-coaster ride spanning 900 years complete with surround sound and digital special effects. You'll need broadband and the RealOne Player to view. Movie trailer available at website. http://www.g-films.com ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 2004 16:24:48 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> Don't be silly. The vast majority of VoIP phones are plugged in one >> place and stay there. ... > John, I'm not being "silly" at all. Just because you (and probably a > large number of VoIP users) don't move the VoIP adapter around much, > that doesn't mean that no one does. Sigh. Had you actually read the message you were responding to, you would have noticed that I said that the vast majority of VoIP phones stay still, not that they all do. The ones that move would, I hope, have enough sense either to update their location when they do, or else not to register a location. There are a few wireline phone users who use radio phone patches and other stuff that let them make calls other than from the phone's nominal location, but nobody claims that we should therefore throw out all of E911. > It always strikes me as odd that people who might want the Internet to > remain at least somewhat anonymous nevertheless seem to think that > there is a way to positively locate a VoIP device. Had you actually read the message you were responding to, you would have noticed that I didn't say that. And I didn't mean it, either. > Now that is all well and good but they might as well mandate that > from now on, all automobiles must be capable of flying. I believe > they know full well that no VoIP company could afford to stay in > business if they had to obtain direct trunking to every 911 > center. ... Aha, now we get to the nub of the problem. VoIP is a service that only appears competitive with real telephones when it is coddled with special tax exemptions and it doesn't have to offer the reliability and service of real telephones. If VoIP had to compete head to head with real telephones, it would shrivel and die. I've rarely seen a VoIP advocate admit this so honestly. Thanks. By the way, it's not true. Cable providers can and do offer competently engineered VoIP service that's just as good as POTS, including E911, and still slightly cheaper than wireline, particularly if you use all of the features and bundled LD they include. > Now, what I think is going to happen if the FCC comes up with some > ridiculous requirements is that VoIP will simply move offshore. > Vonage, for example, could simply close up shop in New Jersey, move to > Canada, and run their operation from there (and continue to serve > their Canadian customers, along with any U.S. Residents that could > figure out how to obtain a Canadian mail forwarding address). Right, and they will thrive with the 2% of their customers that don't mind losing their local U.S. numbers. (In case you forgot, Vonage and other VoIP providers all depend on U.S. CLECs to provide connections to the U.S. local network.) Sheesh. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "A book is a sneeze." - E.B. White, on the writing of Charlotte's Web ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Date: 30 May 2004 13:07:20 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Jack Decker wrote: > "NASUCA's VOIP Comments", or use this direct link to the .doc file: > http://www.nasuca.org/filings/VOIP%20Comments%205-28-04.doc > (Note: If you cannot read a Microsoft Word file, you may be able to > convert it using an online document conversion service. Here are a > few that I'm aware of, although I have not attempted to use them on > this particular document. If anyone knows of a better free conversion > service, I'd like to know about it too:) This is less of a problem than you might think. Most of the newer crop of M$ Windows systems come standard with Wordpad, which is essentially a subset of word. Rich Greenberg N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Buffalo Spammer Headed for Prison Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 17:23:17 GMT dwolffxx@panix.com (David Wolff) posted on that vast internet thingie: > Can we petition the court to *raise* his sentence? I'd like to request > he be decapitated; he deserves a more sever(e) sentence. We can only hope that the spammer's new room mates (no pun intended?) "Big Bubba" and his associates were in their former occupations computer literate and victims of spam. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: Howard S. Wharton Subject: Re: Buffalo Spammer Headed for Prison Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 16:12:23 -0400 Organization: The University at Buffalo Mr. Carmack got what he deserved. His family also blamed the Attorney General for unfairly picking on him and that he is innocent. Even through that FBI found stolen ID's and credit card numbers on his machine at his mother's house. He was given 3 1/2 to 7 years and could be out after serving the minimum. This case almost was close to home. Back in March, my wife had jury duty and was picked for this case, but was not selected. Howard S. Wharton Fire Safety Technician Occupational and Environmental Safety Services State University of New York at Buffalo ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #269 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon May 31 12:32:09 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4VGW9O04018; Mon, 31 May 2004 12:32:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 12:32:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405311632.i4VGW9O04018@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 #270 TELECOM Digest Mon, 31 May 2004 12:32:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 270 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #435, May 31, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) Credit Card Phishing, was Re: Wake-Me-Up From AT&T (Danny Burstein) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Gary Novosielski) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (DevilsPGD) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (M. Sullivan) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (Jack Decker) Cable Poised to Offer Phone Service -- Just Not so Fast (VOIP News) 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, 31 May 2004 09:42:39 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #435, May 31, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 435: May 31, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell Buys 360/GT, Sells Part to Call-Net ** MTS-Allstream Deal in Court ** Nortel Names Manley to Board ** CRTC to Hold Another Expedited Hearing ** Telus Launches Wireless Home Networking ** Rogers Offers Five-Megabit Home Internet ** Directory Business in Turmoil ** Nortel Gets Export Support Waiver ** Rogers Seeks to Align Operating Units ** 2004 Price Cap Filings Approved ** Revised Bell High-Speed Metro Service Approved ** BCE Sued Again Over Teleglobe ** Horhota Joins Wi-LAN Board ** Does Telecom Policy Need an Overhaul? ============================================================ BELL BUYS 360/GT, SELLS PART TO CALL-NET: Bell Canada is buying all the Canadian assets of 360networks and its subsidiary, GT Group Telecom Services, for $275 million, and will immediately sell 360/GT's business customer accounts in Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces to Call-Net Telecommunications for about $12.5 million. ** The deal, expected to close in September, will give Bell West about 8,000 new customers in western Canada and fibre access to 200 Alberta and B.C. buildings it is not now connected to. ** Call-Net's 5,000 new customers will generate about $50 million in annual revenue, but it will pay Bell 70% of that for network and support services. In two years, Call-Net will have the option to buy a large part of the infrastructure that supports those customers. MTS-ALLSTREAM DEAL IN COURT: Today the Ontario Superior Court will hear Bell Canada's application for an injunction to block Manitoba Telecom's purchase of Allstream (see Telecom Update #434). Allstream has extended the deadline for the tender of shares in return for shares of MTS, originally May 27, to June 1. ** Allstream now says the deal will close in early June. NORTEL NAMES MANLEY TO BOARD: Nortel Networks has named former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley to its Board of Directors. Former CEO Frank Dunn has resigned from the Board. His replacement (appointed last month) is Manfred Bischoff, chairman of EADS, the European aerospace consortium. CRTC TO HOLD ANOTHER EXPEDITED HEARING: On June 28, a CRTC panel will hear three disputes under its new expedited process (see Telecom Update #420): ** MCI Canada's dispute with Bell Canada over CDNA rates. (See Telecom Update #433) ** EastLink's continuing battle with Aliant over the telco's Value Packages. (See Telecom Update #430) ** Bruce Municipal Telephone System's January 2003 complaint that Bruce Power is providing local telephone service to Ontario Power Generation. (See Telecom Update #367) www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/process/2004/jun28.htm TELUS LAUNCHES WIRELESS HOME NETWORKING: Telus now offers its B.C. and Alberta customers a Wireless LAN to connect up to five home computers to its high-speed Internet link, with access speeds up to 2.5 Mbps. Price: $8/month, plus $19.95- $149.95 for equipment, depending on contract length. ROGERS OFFERS FIVE-MEGABIT HOME INTERNET: Rogers Cable has launched Hi-Speed Internet Extreme, which provides Internet access at up to 5 Mbps (download) and 800 Kbps (upload), in Ontario and New Brunswick. The monthly fee is the same as for existing Hi-Speed service, but customers pay $99.95 for a new modem. DIRECTORY BUSINESS IN TURMOIL: Yellow Pages Group is raising $743 million to buy the 19% stake of New York buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts. Including the proceeds of previous sales, KKR has made a profit of about $1.6 billion on the $545 million it invested in Yellow Pages two years ago. ** According to published reports, Verizon Communications is looking for buyers for its Canadian telephone directory business, which it bought from Telus for $810 million three years ago. NORTEL GETS EXPORT SUPPORT WAIVER: Export Development Canada will continue financial support for Nortel export deals despite the company's failure to file a 2003 financial statement. Under the new waiver, which expires August 30, support will be considered on a case-by-case basis. (See Telecom Update #434) ROGERS SEEKS TO ALIGN OPERATING UNITS: Speaking at Rogers Communications' annual meeting, Ted Rogers said the holding company is going to play a more active role in managing its subsidiaries, to be better able to bundle TV, Internet, and mobile phone services. 2004 PRICE CAP FILINGS APPROVED: In a series of rulings on May 27, the CRTC approved various 2004 price changes filed by the major incumbent telcos under the price cap regime. www.crtc.gc.ca/ENG/whatsnew/2004/may27.htm REVISED BELL HIGH-SPEED METRO SERVICE APPROVED: CRTC Telecom Order 2004-17 approves revisions to Bell Canada's High Speed Metro service, adding 2.5 Gbps optical channels, on 1, 3, and 5-year contract terms. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2004/o2004-174.htm BCE SUED AGAIN OVER TELEGLOBE: Teleglobe Communications and its unsecured debtors have sued BCE and former Teleglobe officials over issues related to BCE's sale of the international carrier in 2002. (See Telecom Update #400) HORHOTA JOINS WI-LAN BOARD: George Horhota, co-founder of Suiteworks, which supplies teleworking services, has been named to the Board of Wi-LAN Inc. Earlier, Horhota held posts with Royal Bank, the CBTA, ACC, AT&T Canada, Cannect, and BCE Emergis. DOES TELECOM POLICY NEED AN OVERHAUL? The June Telemanagement, available to online subscribers on Tuesday June 1, features an exclusive interview with Bell Canada Executive VP Lawson Hunter on why Canada's biggest telco wants a telecom policy review, and an analysis of the issues by Lis and Ian Angus. Also in this issue: ** Implementing enterprise mobile data applications ** What's behind Telus's bid for Fido? ** VON Canada: Is VoIP really nearing the takeoff point? To become a Telemanagement subscriber -- including unlimited access to Telemanagement's extensive online content -- visit www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub-online.html. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2004 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Credit Card Phishing, was Re: Wake-Me-Up From AT&T Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 03:54:42 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Norm writes: > The other morning I got a literal wakeup call from someone at AT&T > long-distance about an overdue bill. After getting assurance, and > because my credit-card number had recently changed, I provided the > information -- then realized I *assumed* he was talking about the same > phone number I was using. Please, please, don't tell me the original poster gave out credit card info over the phone to an unidentified caller. I suggest that "Norm" contact his bank asap. Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 04:49:16 GMT Fred Atkinson wrote: > I'm not so sure that DSL is a cost effective alternative to > DSL. Umm, neither am I. In fact I'm not so sure it's an "alternative" at all. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 08:12:11 GMT In message <> John Levine did ramble: > Aha, now we get to the nub of the problem. VoIP is a service that > only appears competitive with real telephones when it is coddled with > special tax exemptions and it doesn't have to offer the reliability > and service of real telephones. If VoIP had to compete head to head > with real telephones, it would shrivel and die. I've rarely seen a > VoIP advocate admit this so honestly. Thanks. Head to head? There's a lot more to the difference between taxes, the fact that the user is required to provide the last mile (the broadband service) instead of a telco being required to maintain everything up to and sometimes including the demarc ... That alone should ensure a cheaper price. Will reliability suffer? Likely, there's of other factors involved, many of which are not set up to provide the uptime of a telco. > By the way, it's not true. Cable providers can and do offer > competently engineered VoIP service that's just as good as POTS, > including E911, and still slightly cheaper than wireline, particularly > if you use all of the features and bundled LD they include. Sure, but like with a telco, the cable provider controls the last mile. Without that, no one company can provide "as good as POTS" In message <> richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) did ramble: >> (Note: If you cannot read a Microsoft Word file, you may be able to >> convert it using an online document conversion service. Here are a >> few that I'm aware of, although I have not attempted to use them on >> this particular document. If anyone knows of a better free conversion >> service, I'd like to know about it too:) > This is less of a problem than you might think. Most of the newer > crop of M$ Windows systems come standard with Wordpad, which is > essentially a subset of word. It's extremely limited (try opening a file with an image, a table, or just about anything else beyond text) However, Microsoft does provide a free Word viewer that can handle most of the features of Word. If a job is worth doing, then get someone in to do it properly. ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 13:48:25 GMT In article , richgr@panix.com says: > In article , Jack Decker > wrote: >> "NASUCA's VOIP Comments", or use this direct link to the .doc file: >> http://www.nasuca.org/filings/VOIP%20Comments%205-28-04.doc >> (Note: If you cannot read a Microsoft Word file, you may be able to >> convert it using an online document conversion service. Here are a >> few that I'm aware of, although I have not attempted to use them on >> this particular document. If anyone knows of a better free conversion >> service, I'd like to know about it too:) > This is less of a problem than you might think. Most of the newer > crop of M$ Windows systems come standard with Wordpad, which is > essentially a subset of word. Actually, if you have a Windows system you can download a free Word Viewer program from Microsoft that will allow you to open and view any Word document, but not modify the document. Instructions at: Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 08:55:21 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers Pat, please conceal my e-mail address as usual. On 30 May 2004 11:46:13 EDT, Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) wrote: > Historical precedent does not come down on the side of Mr. Decker's > argument if you consider auto emissions standards. [Long explanation of auto emissions standards snipped] It seems to me that Mr. Wilber is reaching pretty far for an analogy here. The major difference I see is that auto emissions is something that affects everyone, not just the owner of the vehicle. In fact the vehicle owner often doesn't care if their vehicle is more "dirty" than the vehicles of others. On the other hand, if 911 service is not available on VoIP, that affects only the VoIP customer and his or her family, not the entire neighborhood (unless you are the sort of socialist that feels that everyone has some duty to have working 911 service in case their neighbors need to use it. My feeling on that is best stated by paraphrasing the snack cracker commercial: Get your own 911 service. And if you're worried that it won't be accessible during a house fire, then put an extension in a garage or storage shed. Don't expect your neighbors to provide your emergency phone service for you; they may not be home when you need it anyway). But another point might be that while all *automobiles* have to conform to the same emission standards, there are in fact different standards for automobiles, trucks (and by the way, don't SUV's fall into some truck-like classification, so that they don't have to conform to the same standards as automobiles?), motorcycles, etc. I take exception to categorizing VoIP in the same manner as traditional phone service. Others have made this point more eloquently than I in different forums, but basically VoIP is no more like traditional phone service than cellular is. Even so, and with all its limitations, it may be "good enough" for some users. If it isn't for you, then by all means don't use it. But to try and regulate it out of existence would be like car drivers trying to regulate motorcycles out of existence because only a minority of people ride them (and in today's "nanny state" atmosphere, I'm almost surprised that hasn't happened). Please remember, though, that when you advocate taking away the free choice of others, sooner or later the attitude that you can take away anything not enjoyed by the majority of people is going to turn around and bite you in the butt when they restrict some activity that you enjoy. Or, as I think is partly the case here, when they start restricting people's freedom of choice solely to protect entrenched corporations, the public's freedom of access to new technology is restricted and we all suffer. If you want to make analogies, I would compare the people wanting restrictions on VoIP to the people who want restrictions on the capabilities of PVR's (personal video recorders). If you are comfortable with denying new technology to the general public just to protect entrenched interests then we have a difference of opinion here, because I am certainly not comfortable with that. Furthermore we should remember that the United States is not the only country on the face of the earth, and when we give up technological advantage to protect entrenched interests, businesses in other countries will take the opportunity to move ahead of us. On 30 May 2004 16:24:48 -0000, John Levine wrote: > Sigh. Had you actually read the message you were responding to, you > would have noticed that I said that the vast majority of VoIP phones > stay still, not that they all do. The ones that move would, I hope, > have enough sense either to update their location when they do, or > else not to register a location. There are a few wireline phone users > who use radio phone patches and other stuff that let them make calls > other than from the phone's nominal location, but nobody claims that > we should therefore throw out all of E911. Okay, John, I think that the problem here is that you're not suggesting the same thing as what NASUCA is wanting. From reading their comments, I don't think a Vonage-like solution is what they are advocating at all, and in fact I do not think it would be acceptable to them. >> It always strikes me as odd that people who might want the Internet to >> remain at least somewhat anonymous nevertheless seem to think that >> there is a way to positively locate a VoIP device. > Had you actually read the message you were responding to, you would > have noticed that I didn't say that. And I didn't mean it, either. Great, I'm very glad to hear you say that. >> Now that is all well and good but they might as well mandate that >> from now on, all automobiles must be capable of flying. I believe >> they know full well that no VoIP company could afford to stay in >> business if they had to obtain direct trunking to every 911 >> center. > Aha, now we get to the nub of the problem. VoIP is a service that > only appears competitive with real telephones when it is coddled with > special tax exemptions and it doesn't have to offer the reliability > and service of real telephones. If VoIP had to compete head to head > with real telephones, it would shrivel and die. I've rarely seen a > VoIP advocate admit this so honestly. Thanks. See my comments above. I saw a message once that in effect said that Vonage has done the VoIP industry a great disservice by holding themselves out to be a "broadband telephone company." If VoIP companies were smart they'd try to put as much distance between themselves and wireline telephony as possible. I find it interesting that VoIP has been around since probably 1996 or thereabouts (give or take a year), and other than the original ACTA petition to have the FCC ban VoIP altogether (as if the FCC could have ever stopped it), nobody has made any attempt to regulate VoIP until devices came along that let a user plug in a regular phone and get dial tone. I'm sure that many of us at least tried using DialPad, the free service that let people make calls anywhere in the U.S. back when it was in operation, but because you had to use your computer as an interface no one seemed to care much. The Minnesota PUC was the first to try and regulate VoIP in the 21st century and the crux of their argument was based on appearance, the so-called "duck" test. I suspect that if VoIP had only been offered using wi-fi compatible handsets, we wouldn't even be having this discussion -- everyone would be comparing VoIP to cellular telephony (which I think is a more appropriate comparison anyway) and the expectations would be much lower. But because the VoIP companies dared to offer their service in a form that would be comfortable and familiar for the non-techie user, suddenly there is this hue and cry for regulation. > By the way, it's not true. Cable providers can and do offer > competently engineered VoIP service that's just as good as POTS, > including E911, and still slightly cheaper than wireline, > particularly if you use all of the features and bundled LD they > include. Cable providers can offer VoIP in a different way. Remember that they already have facilities in the area. They can probably run cable right to the local 911 center. If you are comfortable with saying that only the incumbent cable company should be allowed to offer VoIP (thereby restricting customer choice), then this is a valid point. But if you want to have access to VoIP providers anywhere in the world, then you have to realize that a VoIP company in New Jersey can't afford to have direct trunking to every little Podunk town's 911 center. I'm more than happy to concede the point that VoIP isn't "real" telephone service, if by "real" you mean "like wireline." It has limitations that wireline service doesn't have, but at the same time it permits features that wireline service doesn't offer. I simply don't feel that the lack of one particular feature, "enhanced" 911, should be sufficient to prohibit anyone from offering the service as-is. If you want to make some FTC rule that says that you can't use the words "telephone service" in advertising VoIP unless you clearly explain the differences, I'm fine with that (note, however, that we do use terms like "cellular telephone service" and that isn't wireline, either). >> Now, what I think is going to happen if the FCC comes up with some >> ridiculous requirements is that VoIP will simply move offshore. >> Vonage, for example, could simply close up shop in New Jersey, move >> to Canada, and run their operation from there (and continue to >> serve their Canadian customers, along with any U.S. Residents that >> could figure out how to obtain a Canadian mail forwarding address). >> Right, and they will thrive with the 2% of their customers that >> don't mind losing their local U.S. numbers. (In case you forgot, >> Vonage and other VoIP providers all depend on U.S. CLECs to >> provide connections to the U.S. local network.) Sheesh. Well, that comment opens a couple interesting questions. Do you really think that only 2% of customers would be interested in VoIP if they could only save money on outbound calls? And, would CLEC's be prohibited from providing U.S. phone number mapping to companies not located in the United States? What would make the situation really interesting would be if VoIP were perfectly legal and relatively unrestricted someplace in the NANP area. For example, if Canada allows VoIP companies to operate relatively unfettered compared to the United States, I think a lot of U.S. residents would be willing to have a Canadian phone number if they could save considerably on outgoing calls. I'm not suggesting everyone would be comfortable with that, but the uptake might be a little higher than 2%. Of course, I realize it's a bit of a stretch to imagine Canada NOT over-regulating some form of communications, given the heavy-handed ways of the CRTC, but maybe some Caribbean country in the NANP would be willing to host VoIP companies with few restrictions. On 30 May 2004 13:07:20 -0400, richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) wrote: >> (Note: If you cannot read a Microsoft Word file, you may be able to >> convert it using an online document conversion service. Here are a >> few that I'm aware of, although I have not attempted to use them on >> this particular document. If anyone knows of a better free conversion >> service, I'd like to know about it too:) > This is less of a problem than you might think. Most of the newer > crop of M$ Windows systems come standard with Wordpad, which is > essentially a subset of word. I realize that, but Wordpad won't always read a Word document (or won't display certain types of embedded images), and also not everyone uses a Windows-based system. I was thinking that maybe the Linux and Macintosh users might need some way to access these documents, but then again, perhaps they already have some way of dealing with .doc files? Jack ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 10:02:46 -0400 Subject: Cable Poised to Offer Phone Service -- Just Not so Fast Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040527/6238330s.htm By David Lieberman USA TODAY NEW YORK -- After years of big talk and tests, cable operators agree: They finally have the right technology and business plans to challenge phone companies with an array of low-priced local and long-distance services. The big surprise these days is that several operators, no strangers to hype, are warning consumers and investors not to expect too much, too soon. Comcast found itself in the uncomfortable position Wednesday of having to correct reports that it was committed to offering phone service via its cable lines to the 40 million homes in its service areas by 2006. "It depends on how our tests work out," Comcast's D'Arcy Rudnay said. "That's the key, key message." To be sure, all the major operators expect phone service to be one of their most attractive products. And all are ready to offer connections to some homes with fairly new technology that routes calls as Internet-like data over cable lines. "If you are a Cablevision subscriber, you're seeing it now," says Oppenheimer analyst Thomas Eagan. "If you're a Time Warner customer, you'll hear about it by the end of the year. And if you're a Cox and Comcast customer, you'll hear about it in 2005." Full story at: http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040527/6238330s.htm How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #270 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 1 15:09:09 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i51J99J16316; Tue, 1 Jun 2004 15:09:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 15:09:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406011909.i51J99J16316@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 #271 TELECOM Digest Tue, 1 Jun 2004 15:09:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 271 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Data Mining: Federal Efforts Cover a Wide Range of Uses (Monty Solomon) California PUC Gives Protections to Wireless Consumers (Monty Solomon) U.S. Lawmaker Seeks Hearings on Cellphone Directory (Monty Solomon) Pay Cablers Fear DVD Burn/HBO, Showtime Seek Limits on Digital (M Solomon) Many Wireless Networks Lack Security (Monty Solomon) U.S. Steps Up Push Against Online Casinos by Seizing Cash (Monty Solomon) Something Wiki This Way Comes (Monty Solomon) A&E "Ike before D-Day" Telecast (Telecom Note) (Lisa Hancock) Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Lisa Hancock) Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers (Wesrock) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Robert A. Fink, M. D.) Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? (Joseph) Re: Wake-Me-Up From AT&T (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Wake-Me-Up From AT&T (jdj) AT Commands? (jdj) Re: Have You Signed up for Directory Assistance Yet? (Michael A. Desmon) 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: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 11:11:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Data Mining: Federal Efforts Cover a Wide Range of Uses Excerpt from Recent GAO Reports and Testimony Data Mining: Federal Efforts Cover a Wide Range of Uses. GAO-04-548, May 4. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-548 Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04548high.pdf Both the government and the private sector are increasingly using "data mining"--that is, the application of database technology and techniques (such as statistical analysis and modeling) to uncover hidden patterns and subtle relationships in data and to infer rules that allow for the prediction of future results. As has been widely reported, many federal data mining efforts involve the use of personal information that is mined from databases maintained by public as well as private sector organizations. GAO was asked to survey data mining systems and activities in federal agencies. Specifically, GAO was asked to identify planned and operational federal data mining efforts and describe their characteristics. Federal agencies are using data mining for a variety of purposes, ranging from improving service or performance to analyzing and detecting terrorist patterns and activities. Our survey of 128 federal departments and agencies on their use of data mining shows that 52 agencies are using or are planning to use data mining. These departments and agencies reported 199 data mining efforts, of which 68 are planned and 131 are operational. Of the most common uses, the Department of Defense reported the largest number of efforts aimed at improving service or performance, managing human resources, and analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities. The Department of Education reported the largest number of efforts aimed at detecting fraud, waste, and abuse. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported the largest number of efforts aimed at analyzing scientific and research information. For detecting criminal activities or patterns, however, efforts are spread relatively evenly among the agencies that reported having such efforts. In addition, out of all 199 data mining efforts identified, 122 used personal information. For these efforts, the primary purposes were improving service or performance; detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; analyzing scientific and research information; managing human resources; detecting criminal activities or patterns; and analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities. Agencies also identified efforts to mine data from the private sector and data from other federal agencies, both of which could include personal information. Of 54 efforts to mine data from the private sector (such as credit reports or credit card transactions), 36 involve personal information. Of 77 efforts to mine data from other federal agencies, 46 involve personal information (including student loan application data, bank account numbers, credit card information, and taxpayer identification numbers). http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04548.pdf [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To mostly eliminate Data Mining and other similar spy tactics, you need to use software which looks for that sort of thing and destroys the cookies involved. One example is 'Ad-Aware', another is 'Spy-Bot Smash and Destroy' and a third is from Grisoft, it's AVG program. These three wonderful programs are all available on the net for free, and you would be amazed at the number of things they root out and offer to destroy or quarentine. I have AVG run nightly here, scanning my machines looking for trouble. AVG also looks through my kernel and shell on boot up, looking for things it does not like, while Ad-Aware examines all incoming files and cookies looking for things. Ad-Aware is forever blocking incoming spy cookies sent by Yahoo on behalf of 'Avenue A', allegedly an advertising service which rather than admit to spying piously claims it is 'trying to help focus advertising sent to me.' The internet sure has changed a lot in the past several months. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 23:06:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: [Calif] PUC Gives Protections to Wireless Consumers The compromise bill of rights upsets carriers and disappoints the governor and advocates. By James S. Granelli, Times Staff Writer A divided state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved the nation's first "bill of rights" to protect wireless and other telephone customers from deceptive marketing and billing. Concluding a four-year process, the PUC voted 3 to 2 on a compromise proposal meant to assuage the objections of the largely unfettered wireless industry. But it left consumer advocates dissatisfied, wireless companies upset and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger disappointed. Among other things, the rules provide a 30-day trial period allowing customers to test products and calling plans and to return them without paying penalties. The rules also require clearly organized billing, specific disclosures, and writing that is unambiguous and in a minimum 10-point type size. Deceptive, untrue and misleading marketing is prohibited. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-puc28may28,1,1798145.story http://www.freepress.net/news/article.php?id=3670 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 23:10:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Lawmaker Seeks Hearings on Cellphone Directory By Jube Shiver Jr., Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON - Citing unanswered privacy questions about a controversial directory being developed by the mobile phone industry, Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (R-Pa.) on Thursday called for congressional hearings into the matter. The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Assn. is assembling a cellphone directory that would list as many as 75% of the nation's 163 million mobile phone users. Privacy advocates worry that the directory will make mobile phone users vulnerable to telemarketers and e-mail spam. One carrier, Verizon Wireless, has refused to participate in the project. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pitts28may28,1,4582882.story http://www.freepress.net/news/article.php?id=3673 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 00:12:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Pay Cablers Fear DVD Burn / HBO, Showtime Seek Limits on Digital Starz! Has Different Point of View By John Motavalli An attempt by the cable, pay TV, consumer electronics and movie industries to reach a plug-and-play agreement with the Federal Communications Commission on consumer recording of rapidly growing on-demand programming is in tatters. A major split has developed that pits unlikely allies-the two largest pay TV services, HBO and Showtime-against the No. 3 pay TV operator, Starz! Encore, most cable operators and the consumer electronics industry. The term plug-and-play de-scribes the FCC's goal of allowing consumers to plug their cables directly into their digital TV sets without using a cable set-top box. To receive two-way services such as video-on-demand, pay-per-view or interactive program guides, consumers would still need a box, however, and that's where the trouble begins. In a statement last year, the FCC said it "encouraged the cable and consumer electronics industries to consult with interested parties and affected industries as the two-way negotiations progress." While home recording of a program one time for personal use has been legal since the 1980s, the issue has moved to the forefront again because in the digital age it is possible to make perfect copies every time. Now the emerging use of video-on-demand organizes content in a way that makes it even easier to access and in turn, record and copy. Existing rules allow a copy to be made once off pay TV. If the FCC does not make a new ruling, that applies to on-demand as well. While the FCC has left it to the industry to sort it out, absent an FCC ruling, the industry will not sort it out, insiders say; the consumer electronics manufacturers will not be forced to make equipment with the encoding mechanisms. Therefore the status quo will stand, with consumers being able to record on demand. Cable companies are already rolling out new set-top boxes that make it possible to record off pay TV or VOD with a digital video recorder or a VCR. The next generation of boxes is expected to also include the option to add a DVD burner, which would make permanent, perfect copies. http://www.tvweek.com/topstorys/053104pay.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 00:02:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Many Wireless Networks Lack Security By MATTHEW FORDAHL AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- With a laptop perched in the passenger seat of his Toyota 4Runner and a special antenna on the roof, Mike Outmesguine ventured off to sniff out wireless networks between Los Angeles and San Francisco. He got a big whiff of insecurity. While his 800-mile drive confirmed that the number of wireless networks is growing explosively, he also found that only a third used basic encryption -- a key security measure. In fact, in nearly 40 percent of the networks not a single change had been made to the gear's wide-open default settings. "They took it out of the box, powered it up, and it worked. And they left it alone," said Outmesguine, who owns a technical services company. He frequently goes out on such "wardrives" in search of insecure networks. And while Outmesguine says he doesn't try to break in, others aren't so benign. While Wi-Fi is hot, security is not. Even the makers of Wi-Fi routers, access points and other gadgets privately say that as many as 80 percent of home users don't bother to enable basic encryption or other protections against connection theft, eavesdropping and network invasion. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41729431 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 00:36:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Steps Up Push Against Online Casinos by Seizing Cash By MATT RICHTEL May 31, 2004 Federal law enforcement officials routinely seize money they suspect is connected to activities like money laundering, terrorism or drug smuggling. But in early April, United States marshals seized $3.2 million from Discovery Communications, the television and media company, in an aggressive effort to crack down on a new target, Internet gambling. The money initially belonged to Tropical Paradise, a Costa Rica-based Internet casino operation, which in October paid Discovery for television spots to advertise an online poker room, ParadisePoker.com. According to court documents, the government seized the money and told Discovery, which is based in Silver Spring, Md., that it could be party to an illegal activity by broadcasting such advertisements. Federal prosecutors contend that online gambling sites are illegal, but the offshore casinos fall outside their jurisdiction. So for nearly a year, the government has been trying to curb the sites' activities by investigating and pressuring American companies that provide services to offshore gambling sites on the theory that they are "aiding and abetting" the operations. Until now, the effort has largely involved seeking information from American companies, including major broadcasters, Web portals and industry consultants. The seizure of money significantly escalates the government's attack. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/technology/31gambling.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 01:57:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Something Wiki This Way Comes INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Something Wiki This Way Comes They're Web sites anyone can edit -- and they could transform Corporate America When software developer Nicholas Pisarro Jr. saw his first wiki late last year, he knew it was unlike any Web site he had ever seen. On the site, a free online encyclopedia called Wikipedia, thousands of volunteers had written a breathtaking 500,000 articles in 50 languages since 2001 -- all thanks to the defining feature of wikis. To contribute, all they had to do to was click on an "edit this page" button and start typing. Now, Pisarro has wikis transforming the way people work at the company he founded, software maker Aperture Technologies Inc. Two dozen of the Stamford (Conn.) company's 100 employees use them to brainstorm, track projects, write and edit documentation, and coordinate marketing. That has eliminated countless meetings, conference calls, and back-and-forth e-mails. Says Pisarro: "Wikis allow this collaboration much better than anything else, so we get things done faster." The amazing thing is that wikis work at all. Created in 1995 by Oregon programmer Ward Cunningham, who named them for the "Wiki-Wiki," or "quick" shuttle buses at Honolulu Airport, wikis are special Web sites on which anyone can post material without knowing arcane programming languages. Likewise, anyone can edit them. This can lead to mischief: Jokers have posted images of male anatomy on Wikipedia. But graffiti is usually gone within minutes, because the previous version of a page can be restored with a click. In sensitive corporate situations, access can be controlled, too. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_23/b3886138.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_23/b3886140.htm Wikis' Winning Ways Web sites that allow members to share info and collaborate are catching on fast. Here's a tour of key examples http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_23/b3886141.htm ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: A&E "Ike before D-Day" Telecast (Telecom Note) Date: 1 Jun 2004 09:36:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The cable channel A&E broadcast a drama of Eisenhower and his activities on getting ready for D-Day. I thought it was excellent -- it was historically accurate and underplayed. There was one little telecom prop error. When the order came to go, they showed someone manipulating the keys of a WE 555 switchboard. The operating was turning and tapping the talking key as if to send a signal which was not the function of this key (it was to talk on a cord circuit). Also, the 555 didn't come out until 1950. One vital characteristic about Ike was that he could take the tremendous pressure of his job. He put in 14-16 hour days, every day. While the telecase implied how hard he was working, I think it could've been emphasized more. While stories about D-Day emphasize the heroics of the beach landing and the flamboyant personalities of the generals, one vital aspect of the success was the attention paid to detail. We take for granted our computers, spreadsheets, email, faxes, easy telephone, comfortable offices, etc. None of that existed back then. D-Day was much, much more than landing men on a beach and moving inland. It was about softening up the defenses as much as possible (which required tremendous planning and coordination), planning the inland attack (again, tremendous detail about holding key bridges and the like), and keeping the men well supplied initially and afterward. All those men had to be fed. All the planes and ships had to be fueled. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Date: 1 Jun 2004 09:59:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > How does the old song phrase it? "Things to painful to remember, we simply > choose to forget" ... who wrote or popularized that song? Anyone remember? I don't know who wrote it, but Barbara Streisand popularized it in the movie, "The Way They Were", starring her and Robert Redford. She played a passionate communist activist. The song has remained very popular, but no remembers the movie. > a/c was a relatively new invention which arrived in most business > places only in the early to middle 1960's) Having reliable air conditioning was necessary for ESS. In the initial ESS prototype trial (Morris IL?), the switch itself was extremely reliable with almost no downtime. However, there was downtime in service due to a/c failures (per Bell Labs history). > Across the street and up a block from the c.o. was a Pixley > and Ehlers Cafeteria. In the 1960's there were as many Pixley and Ehlers > cafeterias downtown as there are McDonald's and Burger Kings today, > almost every block or two. Sounds just like the beloved Horn & Hardart restaurant chain in Philadelphia and New York. They were noted for the popular "Automat" machines that served food, but they also had waitress service and cafeterias. Changing times, consumer tastes, abusive behavior by the "down and out", and changed management all contributed to killing off the chain. I suspect every city had popular chains of quick eateries, some bare- bone lunch counters. Phila had a "Dewey's" and "White TOWER" (not White Castle) lunch counters as well as Linton's and a more upscale Stouffer's. Department stores downtown also had nice restaurants. Changing times and economics did most of them in. The New York branch of Horn & Hardart closed its restaurants and became a big Burger King franchiser instead. Sad from my point of view, but regretfully a better business decision. Woolworth's had big lunch counters in many of its stores. One of them was the focus of the early civil rights movement. The late comedian Alan King once asked if the organizers ever ate at one of them, and if so, why they were targeting them as a desirable place to integrate. I remember when the TV show "Saturday Night Live" did the satire of Greek run hamburger counters "Cheeburger! Cheeburger! Chip! No Coke, Pepsi!" While that was running, I happened to be having lunch in a real place like that, and the countermen said things just like on the show. When they said "No Coke, Pepsi!", all the strangers in line started giggling to each other--life imitates art. > Tech comes back from his supper break about an hour later. He said he > did walk in the frames, "and by golly, the man was telling the truth. > The number he gave me earlier was correct." "What we did was tell the > Business Office on Monday; they slapped his wrist is all, told him not > to make obscene phone calls in the future. I know we never did hear > any more about it from him or the Business Office." Today, the phone company has Call-Trace, *57, which traces a number even if marked private, and reports it to the call abuse bureau. But for reasons I don't understand, they do not publicize this function. I suspect people block their outgoing calls so it doesn't show up on caller-ID and then make abusive calls since they think they can't be caught. The phone company makes it tough to pursue abuse, they want a long pattern of calls (registered at $2 a pop-the fee to use *57) before they'll do anything. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not only did Woolworth have lunch counters but Walgreen had lunch counters also, and in a couple of larger cities at least (Chicago comes to mind) large cafeterias as well. There were two in Chicago; one at the State and Randolph location and one at the State and Madison location two blocks away. The two Woolworth stores downtown (also two or three blocks apart from each other had cafeterias instead of the lunch counters prevalent in the outlying Woolworth stores. Of course we also used to have *eighteen* movie theatres in the downtown area; the last time I was in Chicago there was only *one* theatre downtown, period. We had two Stouffer restaurants downtown also, both as you stated were more upscale eating/drinking places. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 20:09:13 EDT Subject: Re: Consumer Advocates Tell FCC That VoIP Telephone Customers In a message dated Mon, 31 May 2004 08:55:21 -0400, Jack Decker writes: > It seems to me that Mr. Wilber is reaching pretty far for an analogy > here. The major difference I see is that auto emissions is something > that affects everyone, not just the owner of the vehicle. In fact the > vehicle owner often doesn't care if their vehicle is more "dirty" than > the vehicles of others. On the other hand, if 911 service is not > available on VoIP, that affects only the VoIP customer and his or her > family, not the entire neighborhood (unless you are the sort of > socialist that feels that everyone has some duty to have working 911 > service in case their neighbors need to use it. Emergency responders have been very vocal in seeking automated 911 locations for cellphones because their job is made more effective and less bloody if they have an idea where the caller in located, especially as the cell caller may have no idea of his or her location or is insufficiently coherent to give it. Most of us expect landline telephones to give the location, even if the caller is incapacitated or hangs up. The one time I had occasion to call 911 (from my landline telephone) was when my car was on fire and I managed to get it to my driveway. The PSAP dispatcher read my address to me to confirm this was where the fire was at. In a message dated Mon, 31 May 2004 08:12:11 GMT, DevilsPGD writes: > Will reliability suffer? Likely, there's of other factors involved, > many of which are not set up to provide the uptime of a telco. I recall that when the first commercial Western Electric ESS went into service the objective was not more than one outage of not more than 15 minutes over a period of 20 years. The objective was not met when it was actually turned up for the public to use, of course, but it is indicative of the view -- at least at that time -- of telcos toward uptime (if that term was even in use then). Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Robert A. Fink, M. D. Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 10:54:52 -0700 Organization: Robert A. Fink, M. D., FACS, P. C. Reply-To: rafink@attglobal.net Gary Novosielski wrote: > Fred Atkinson wrote: >> I'm not so sure that DSL is a cost effective alternative to >> DSL. > Umm, neither am I. > In fact I'm not so sure it's an "alternative" at all. > Having just recently made the move to Broadband, I can tell you that it is worth it. I debated cable vs. DSL and finally decided on cable. The main reason for the choice (of cable) was the fact that our local DSL carrier (SBC/Yahoo) has some pretty nasty billing practices (they give you less than 25 days to pay your phone bill and then start hassling you over the phone). I set up Comcast cable, and through a simple wireless network, have all of our home computers connected, and all is working just fine. Best, Robert A. Fink, M.D., FACS, P. C. 2500 Milvia Street Suite 222 Berkeley, California 94704-2636 USA Telephone: 510-849-2555 FAX: 510-849-2557 "Ex Tristitia Virtus" ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Taking my Cell Phone to Switzerland? Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 11:10:31 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On Sun, 30 May 2004 00:07:30 -0500, Steven J Sobol wrote: > I believe there are some other manufacturers that make 900/1800/1900 > phones -- perhaps SonyEricsson or Siemens do. But I use CDMA, so I > couldn't quote chapter and verse on this point. All the major mobile phone manufacturers make "tri-band" phones that will work with 900/1800 and 1900 Mhz. Manufacturers who do include Sony-Ericsson, Siemens, Motorola, Nokia, Bosch and others. There are even some "quad band" devices out there as well. The Handspring Treo 600 and a Motorola model among others are quad-band and will do GSM 850/900/1800 and 1900. Some manufacturers make a "modified" world phone that will do 850/1800 and 1900. Those are really targeted at Central and South America where 1800 is also used. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Wake-Me-Up From AT&T Date: 31 May 2004 20:20:12 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Norm wrote: > The other morning I got a literal wakeup call from someone at AT&T > long-distance about an overdue bill. After getting assurance, and > because my credit-card# had recently changed, I provided the > information -- then realized I *assumed* he was talking about the same > phone number I was using. Nope, it was another phone number that I'd > dropped AT&T as the long-distance telco on. Now I wanted to know wny > there was a long-distance charge where AT&T wasn't the carrier. > "Because your telco of choice couldn't handle the traffic and you're > billed for the overflow and wouldn't you rather have AT&T? Why pay > two long-distance telcos?" Really now! When I finally got to AT&T > billing she sounded amazed -- "They actually told you that?" Oh, me. > This is not your mothers telco. Are you really sure it was AT&T? It's a common tactic of identity thieves to call and pretend to be someone you might have an account with to get credit card details from you. In this case a scam would be particularly easy, as all they'd need is your name and a phone number. What sort of authentication did you get from them? Rule-of-thumb: Never provide any financial or authentication data to someone who calls you. Always tell them that you'll call back, and use a number that's been officially published. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: jdj Subject: Re: Wake-Me-Up From AT&T Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 21:01:48 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On Sun, 30 May 2004 11:44:01 -0400, Norm wrote: > The other morning I got a literal wakeup call from someone at AT&T > long-distance about an overdue bill. More revenue enhancement techniques. They have been getting more aggressive about it since at least last October. Add that to slamming -- hard and soft, billing for calls not made, billing noncustomers, sending noncustomers to collection, etc., adn. It's called fraud in some places. Wonder why regulators have not noticed yet? ------------------------------ From: jdj Subject: AT| Commands Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 21:03:13 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Where can I find a list of "AT|" commands? ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Michael A. Desmon Subject: Re: Have You Signed up for Directory Assistance Yet? Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 16:43:06 -0400 On Wed, 26 May 2004 22:51:15 EDT, Pat wrote: > Sign up on our page for same at http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest. Oh, > you can also check on line from day to day to see how much of the service > you have used and what your monthly/quarterly bill is going to be. Let > me know how well it works for you. I own a VoIP provider and tested their DA service with a couple colleagues. Jon Spector went out of his way to set up a test account for us and I set my friends (who are in different states) loose to make some test calls. We all agreed that the service is great. The listings are accurate (and we gave them some really obscure ones) and the operators are quick, and we replaced our current DA provider with Easy411. With features like speed dialing available, it doesn't make sense to pay twice as much for the same service. I also use the service on my cell phone and have the number stored into the phone's phonebook as 411. I would definately recommend them and would be happy to speak with anybody privately if they're unsure or have questions at the email address below. Mike Desmon President Clearpath Communications mdesmon(at)clearpath1.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am glad the service appears to be good for you, and I hope more Digest readers will sign up for it. 65 cents per call is rather cheap (yes, I know, it was totally free for years and years, prior to Judge Greene doing his thing. But since we now have to pay *something* for DA, why not get it as inexpensive as possible. Part of divestiture was supposed to open DA for 'competition' as well as long distance and local service. The telcos have sort of grudgingly opened LD and local service after all these years, but just try asking your local telco when '411' will also be aliased to your choice of providers. They're going to hang on to that source of revenue as long as they can. For now, the best that can be offered is a ten digit number (877 EASY 411) to get the cheaper, non-rip off rates, and you have to presubscribe to the service at http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest subscribing up to five numbers you wish to have available, then use speed dialing into 877-EASY411 on your cell phone or other landline or VOIP phone to reach it. When you register your phone number(s) you also provide them with a credit card to charge once every month or so for the 65 cents times however many calls you made that month. It is *realtime* DA, and much better than just either the (usually free) web lookup sites or the (1.25 plus) live services Bell offers. PAT] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #271 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 1 23:06:44 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5236iF20293; Tue, 1 Jun 2004 23:06:44 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 23:06:44 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406020306.i5236iF20293@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 #272 TELECOM Digest Tue, 1 Jun 2004 23:07:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 272 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Internet Phone Calls Reach Dead Air When Dialing 9-1-1 Service (VOIP News) Report: Broadband VOIP Growing (VOIP News) Carrier ENUM Gains Ground (VOIP News) Will Providers Provide Equally? (VOIP News) Collector of Western Union/Edison Stock Tickers Wants Help (SECS) Word Documents Without MS Word (Julian Thomas) Employment Opportunity: Telecom Trainer (recruiter_it_20) Re: AT| Commands (Clarence Dold) Re: AT| Commands (Al Gillis) Re: 'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns (J Kelly) Re: Phishing: Latest Spam/Scam; Very Dangerous (Ray Normandeau) Special Offer From MIT For Father's Day (Technology Review 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: VOIP News Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 11:54:26 -0400 Subject: Internet Phone Calls Reach Dead Air When Dialing 9-1-1 Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1086090932246592.xml MIKE FRANCIS Consumers hear a lot from Internet phone services about low rates, call-waiting, virtual phone numbers and other features. But there is one thing they aren't likely to hear: Your phone may not connect to a 9-1-1 center, and if it does, the emergency dispatcher won't know where you are. "It's a huge public safety issue," said Jeff Johnson, chief of Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, which serves much of Washington County. Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VoIP as Internet telephone service is known, is a still-developing, much-hyped technology that essentially e-mails your spoken words via the Internet rather than through public phone lines. Full story at: http://oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1086090932246592.xml How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 11:56:10 -0400 Subject: Report: Broadband VOIP Growing Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.boardwatch.com/document.asp?doc_id=53662 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- With Vonage adding nearly 20k new lines a month and AT&T's CallVantage promising to have 1 million subscribers by end of 2005, the U.S. Broadband IP Telephony market will have strong growth over the next several years, according to In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com). The high-tech market research firm reports that, while there were only 144k subscribers at the end of 2003, lower service cost and compelling new communications features are driving service adoption. Full story at: http://www.boardwatch.com/document.asp?doc_id=53662 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 10:18:09 -0400 Subject: Carrier ENUM Gains Ground Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=53617 An industry is quietly forming around carriers' use of ENUM, a standard protocol for resolving phone numbers into IP addresses. Originally developed to link consumers' phone numbers to various IP services, the protocol is instead proving useful for interconnecting carriers' voice-over-IP (VOIP) networks. The so-called carrier ENUM business is poised to take off in parallel with VOIP services. That's because ENUM lets carriers interconnect VOIP networks directly and avoid access fees for transmitting calls over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) (see Cable Cadre Talks VOIP ). Consider the following hypothetical scenario. A user of Vonage Holdings Corp VOIP service calls a user of 8x8 Inc. VOIP service, and the call must travel over AT&T Corp. PSTN network to get from one VOIP network to the other. As a result, Vonage incurs a fee. But if 8x8 puts its customer's phone numbers in an ENUM registry, the call from Vonage can trigger a query to the registry, find the target phone number, and connect directly to 8x8's network without crossing the PSTN. Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=53617 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 13:23:42 -0400 Subject: Will Providers Provide Equally? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58685-2004May26.html By Jonathan Krim Among the many things the Internet does with incredible efficiency is breed conspiracy theories. So as the great network has evolved, concerns about whether the companies that control the Internet's pipes might one day discriminate among what Web sites you could see, or whose movies you could download, have often been dismissed as silly, impossible or both. The response from network owners, particularly the cable-television companies that provide increasing percentages of high-speed Internet connections, has always been: "Is there evidence that we've ever done this?" For the most part, no. But the concept of "network neutrality" has not just been a worry of the usual lineup of consumer groups and liberal Internet think tanks. In a controversial report issued early this month, Yankee analysts looked at one of today's hottest technologies, voice service over the Internet, also known as VoIP. Specifically, the analysts were pessimistic that the biggest VoIP player today, New Jersey-based Vonage Corp., could survive once the cable and telephone companies that provide most broadband Internet connections jump into the VoIP game, as they are beginning to do. Primarily, the analysts said, the Internet operators would effectively bundle VoIP with other offerings, making it hard for independents such as Vonage to compete. But the analysts also said this: "It may seem like a dodgy competitive tactic, but broadband network providers could slow down Vonage's service. As subscribers increase their use of latency sensitive and graphic rich ... traffic, broadband providers could give network precedence to their own revenue-generating services. Unless Vonage pays fees to the network provider, there is no reason the operator should not make the service a lower priority on the network." This is a bit chilling to Vonage chief executive Jeffrey Citron. "If that happens in this world, the value of the Internet would instantaneously be massively devalued," he said, because it could happen with any kind of content or application. Although Vonage has seen no actions to degrade its service in the United States, its engineers are suspicious about some complaints it has received from customers in Canada. Full story at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58685-2004May26.html (Free registration required) ------------------------------ From: SECS Subject: Collector of Western Union/Edison Stock Tickers Wants Help Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 11:53:21 -0400 Hello, I am a collector of Western Union's and Edison's stock tickers. Would you happen to know where I might find more information on them in the Western Union archives. Thanks for your help. Best regards, Pierre Blanc ------------------------------ From: Julian Thomas Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 15:05:09 -0400 Subject: Word Documents Without MS Word Jack said: > I realize that, but Wordpad won't always read a Word document (or won't > display certain types of embedded images), and also not everyone uses a > Windows-based system. I was thinking that maybe the Linux and Macintosh > users might need some way to access these documents, but then again, > perhaps they already have some way of dealing with .doc files? There are several alternatives. Open office is one, and Lotus Wordpro will also read Word documents. I think recent versions of WordPerfect may do this also. Julian Thomas: jt@jt-mj.net http://jt-mj.net In the beautiful Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York State! Boardmember of POSSI.org - Phoenix OS/2 Society, Inc http://www.possi.org With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead. -Request for Comments: 1925 IOOF ------------------------------ From: recruiter_it_20 Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 10:02:39 -0000 Subject: Employment Opportunity: Telecom Trainer! Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com Hi, We have openings for Corporate Trainer "Telecom Training" professionals with 5-8 years of experience, for one of our client "Software & Training Company" Based in Mumbai (www.tatainfotech.com). JOB SPECIFICATION: Experience: 5-8 years Edn. Qualification: BE or Btech in Electronics and Telecommunications Skills Required: THIS POSITION REQUIRES SOUND CONCEPTUAL AND THEOROTICAL KNOWLEDGE OF GSM and CDMA TECHNOLOGIES. Experience on OMC-R, BSC and XCDR software upgrades, OMC administration, reparenting of sites, database backups, BSS trouble shooting, site layouts, drawings. RF optimization, frequency planning, commissioning of BTS, BSC, XCDR, transcoder, installation team supervision, drive test analysis, datagen, CTP, COP, NHA, UNIX, new feature implementation, prepare ATP, traffic analysis, erlang calculations. System design, equipment planning, O&M of Motorola/any vendor equipment. Scope: The incumbent would be responsible for providing training internal and external applicants on wireless competencies. l. Addl. Information: Motorola Trainings like CP02, BSS08, BSS11, SYS02, SYS04, SYS11, or from any other major vendor Nokia/Ericsson/Motorola. SALARY will be best in the industry! If you meet the above requirement and are looking for a change do forward your latest resume and contact details in Microsoft word format as attachment at the earliest at info@rely-ongroup.com Incase you are not interested or do not fit the criteria please forward this to your friends who meet the requirement and would be interested in change. Treat this urgent! Best Regards, Rely-On Staffing Ph:-+91-11-51621060, 51621787 E-Mail: info@rely-ongroup.com ------------------------------ From: dold@ATXXComman.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: AT| Commands Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 22:11:40 UTC Organization: a2i network jdj wrote: > Where can I find a list of "AT|" commands? AT commands vary widely from one vendor to another once you get beyond the very old Hayes-AT command set. Did you literally mean AT| ? If so, that would be vendor specific. http://www.modemhelp.net/basicatcommand.shtml Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: AT Commands Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 19:26:20 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Try this: http://www.computerhope.com/atcom.htm jdj wrote in message news:telecom23.271.15@telecom-digest.org: > Where can I find a list of "AT|" commands? ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: 'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 18:22:42 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Fri, 28 May 2004 01:42:52 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > One influential proponent of the Pirate Act is urging precisely that. > "Tens of thousands of continuing civil enforcement actions might be > needed to generate the necessary deterrence," Sen. Orrin Hatch, > R-Utah, said when announcing his support for the bill. "I doubt that > any nongovernmental organization has the resources or moral authority > to pursue such a campaign." Orrin Hatch is a recording artist so in my opinion has a little conflict of interest in all of this. This is the same guy that wanted to destroy music downloaders machines last year. ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Phishing: Latest Spam/Scam; Very Dangerous Date: 1 Jun 2004 19:18:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com jdj wrote in message news:: > And don't think you're safe just because the info you discovered was > stolen from you has not been used in the past few years. "It hasn't > been used yet" means just that and not "therefore it will never be > used". Someone tried to use a credit card number that I had gotten years before but never activated. I had not even removed the sticker from it. ------------------------------ Subject: Special Gift Offer From MIT Reply-To: edeployments@technologyreview.com From: Technology Review Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 19:36:27 -0700 (PDT) Share the gift of knowledge... Give a graduation or Father's Day gift subscription to Technology Review and give indispensable knowledge about the technologies that will have an impact today and in the future. Only Technology Review: MIT's Magazine of Innovation can inspire, empower, and inform it's readers about what lies ahead in those areas of technology where change matters most -- information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Give a gift subscription today at the special low rate of just $25.00 for one year (12 issues) and share your enthusiasm for stayingon top of today's most important technologies. And, each gift recipient will also receive free unlimited access to www.technologyreview.com including 7 years of editorial archives! Ordering is easy and convenient, http://www.uptilt.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=5fo,6rys,pe5,fm6,g7ny,d1hq,l06z Technology Review respects the privacy of its readers. If you do not wish to receive further email notices, please follow this link and enter your email address: http://www.uptilt.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=5fo,6rys,pe5,70sk,cp9m,d1hq,l06z We will promptly remove your email address from further subscription notifications. Privacy Policy http://www.uptilt.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=5fo,6rys,pe5,he8u,l6hi,d1hq,l06z Technology Review, Inc. Attn: Customer Service One Main Street, 7th Floor Cambridge,MA 02142 ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #272 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jun 2 19:58:33 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i52NwWK01726; Wed, 2 Jun 2004 19:58:33 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 19:58:33 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406022358.i52NwWK01726@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 #273 TELECOM Digest Wed, 2 Jun 2004 19:57:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 273 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Wi-Fi TV Not Ready For Prime Time (Monty Solomon) Red-Flag Case Gets Green Light (Monty Solomon) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Barry Margolin) A Telephone For Recording/Publishing Conference Calls (Phil Earnhardt) International Dialing to the UK in 1978/79 (Keith) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Lisa Hancock) WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? (Lisa Hancock) Re: AT| Commands (jdj) Word Documents Without MS Word (Ron Chapman) Re: 'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns (Keith) VOIP on My Home Network (Bill) Jeff Pulver Pulls Few Punches - VoIP Pioneer Juggles Businesses (VOIP News) 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: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 09:48:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wi-Fi TV Not Ready for Prime Time By Elisa Batista For folks who have a tough time leaving their TV sets even to cook or use the bathroom, a few Japanese companies have come up with a way to let customers bring their tubes with them. Electronics makers Sony, Sharp and Casio have created flat-panel displays about the size of a thin spiral notebook that let consumers watch their TV shows wirelessly in any room in the house. The monitors receive their signals from a base station with a Wi-Fi transmitter. http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,63680,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 13:08:11 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Red-Flag Case Gets Green Light From Broadcasting & Cable, June 1, 2004 By Bill McConnell A Federal Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., won't delay the case determining the fate of the Federal Communications Commission's "broadcast flag," despite a request by the agency to slow down. A coalition of consumer activist groups and library associations have asked the court to strike down the FCC's mandate, which requires digital TV's and recording devices to honor codes producers can insert into programs to prevent retransmission over the Internet. The FCC asked the court to delay the case until the agency finished its own reconsideration of the rules. Broadcasters and Hollywood fought for the rules to protect high-definition movies and other digital content from unauthorized distribution. Opponents, however, say the restriction violates consumers' home recording rights and that the FCC has no jurisdiction to impose the rules. http://www.freepress.net/news/article.php?id=3709 ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Organization: Looking for work Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 00:46:53 -0400 In article , Robert A. Fink, M. D. wrote: > The main reason for the choice (of cable) was the fact that our local > DSL carrier (SBC/Yahoo) has some pretty nasty billing practices (they > give you less than 25 days to pay your phone bill and then start > hassling you over the phone). Expecting you to pay your bill on time is "nasty"? Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, its no more nasty than expecting telco to honor its self-stated commitments to do certain kinds of installs when they say they will, or correct billing errors when they promised they would. Its no more nasty than asking telco to substantiate some item on your bill and them responding they will 'have to order the paperwork (take your pick) 'from the warehouse' (or) 'from the long distance company who applied the item to your bill'. In either case, 45 days is the norm to get the paperwork. But when it comes time for you to pay the bill, by God, why would you need more time to audit your bill, etc? Telco thinks they are something really special, you know. They'll get around to supplying documention when they get around to it, but when they come up with the bill you had better drop everything and pay the bill. SBC took money out of my bank account twice one month, (having caught both the bank and me off guard), and when I called them about it the routine was 'well, we have to investigate it and see if what you say is true; if so, we will issue a check to you to pay it back, that might be 30-45 days. In the meantime, you just hang out there to dry.' No more nasty than telco can be at times, Barry. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: A Telephone For Recording/Publishing Conference Calls Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 12:22:58 -0600 Organization: http://newsguy.com I'd like to have a telephone with the following features: 1. A single-line telephone with: 2. A 2.5mm jack for headset. 3. The ability to record the conversation digitally by pushing a single button on the telephone. Capacity should nominally be an hour and could be extended by adding a digital memory card. 4. A USB interface to transfer the recordings to a PC or a MAC. The phone should appear as an external disk drive to the PC/MAC. The intent is to have a device that would be easy for non-technical types to capture a recording of the conversation with reasonably high fidelity and publish it on an intranet/internet or onto CDs. Does anyone make a device that does all of this? What can I piece together to do this inexpensively? TIA. --phil [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mike Sandman has the parts you need to cobble all this together. From the phone handset or base, you plug into the sound card on your computer, then treat the audio as you wish. Contact Mike at mike@sandman.com or look at his catalog on line at http://sandman.com or call his office at 630-980-7710. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: International Dialing to the UK in 1978/79 Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 15:59:27 -0400 At the end of Pink Floyd's "Young Lust", there are some in-band signaling MF tones which I've found to be: 3:13.101 480hz tone starts 3.13.881 MF toning starts Entire MF string is 'KP1' 0 4 4 8 3 1 'ST' This was an operator-assisted phone call that was recorded calling from the US to the UK circa 1978/1979. The is just that, much shorter in duration than the rest of the digits. 39ms vs 68ms. This might be where a portion of digits were deleted, etc. Plus, there is not the normal 50ms interdigit delay between the 1 and the 8. Anyone know what's happening here? Would this be a valid operator pattern for a call? It sure looks like they were trying to get the New York, NY, overseas sender with the "183", but I didn't know one could prefix the sender with the country code like this. It's quite possible that the song is missing some digits too, so perhaps it's really "KP1 0 4 4 1 x x x x 8 3 1 ST". Does anyone know what the correct number of digits for a phone number in the UK would be at this point? How long would the city codes be, local phone numbers, etc. (in 1978/79)? Thanks. Keith M ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Date: 2 Jun 2004 10:24:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not only did Woolworth have lunch counters > but Walgreen had lunch counters also, and in a couple of larger cities > at least (Chicago comes to mind) large cafeterias as well. I forgot to mention in my previous post about telephones in lunch counters. Normally it was standard to have at least one public phone in such places. In small ones, the phone doubled as the phone for the business, sometimes having an extension connected to it with a note on the phone to listen before inserting coins. Bigger busy lunch counters could have a battery of pay phones. But a big exception was the McDonald's fast food chain. Roy Kroc, its builder, forbid payphones at the McD's. The reason was that he didn't want kids hanging out at the outlets making/receiving phone calls on the pay phone. While Kroc wanted the business of the teenagers, he didn't want them hanging around and making trouble. His initial design was drive up, buy, drive away, no hanging around. The garish lighting and red/white tile was designed for that. Later on he added indoor seating but still no pay phones. Indeed, to this day I think it's unusual to find a pay phone inside a fast food outlet, though sometimes there's one not far on the street. Undesirable loitering was a factor that killed off many city cafeteria chains. A cafeteria could survive if perhaps one person in a corner sat around. But too many dishelved people took up too many tables and turned off too many prospective customers. I continued to eat at Horn & Hardart's, for example, but many people avoided them because the other customers were too seedy. Indeed, I'd get discouraged, too. Years ago, a soda fountain was a standard fixture of a drugstore. Our neighborhood drugstore had one, but closed it in the early 1960s to make room for other items. When I was little my father took me there for a chocolate soda. Indeed, the neighborhood drugstore soda fountain was the stuff of sweet Hollywood stories of the late 1940s -- boy meets girl at the soda fountain, young farm girl "discovered" in a Hollywood drugstore, etc. Another common fixture of old drugstores was a telephone booth. In cities, a lot of people didn't have phones and that booth was used for incoming and outgoing calls. Kids would pick up a nickel tip running to get someone who had a phone call. The above drugstore had such a booth until the drugstore closed altogether (around the 1980s). The phonebooth was nice -- it had a little seat and table under the phone, the light and fan went on when the door closed. You could control the fan with a switch by the phone. To keep her costs down, my mother would go to the drugstore to call her sister who lived in a town 60 miles away. My frugal mother thought tax wasn't charged on pay phone calls (although it was), and further, the need to put coins in kept her call to three minutes. In the 1960s, a 60 mile long distance call was 45 cents in coin, 40 cents from home (plus tax). (I always liked it when the quarter dropped and made the boing sound). My mother and her sister also wrote postcards to each other constantly. In more recent years, I noticed no more postcards and I asked my mother why she stopped. She explained that she had "5c a minute Sundays" and spent time liberally on the phone instead. Also by then my mother wasn't quite as frugal and didn't mind running up long distance charges to talk to her sister, daughter, granddaughter, or nieces in distant places. In the town where I live now, we had an independent drugstore that still had a soda fountain. The owner said it didn't make him money, but he did it for the town. Unfortunately, the owner ran afoul of the town's new historic preservation ordnance law. In essence*, the drugstore had to close, despite the historic value of the fountain and the niceness (IMHO) of having an independent (not chain) pharmacist. We have now have a CVS. [*Suffice it to say I learned by experience that historic preservation laws have many problems, but that is beyond the scope of the telecom newsgroup.] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here in Independence, Kansas, our downtown drugstore (DeFever-Osborne Rexall Drugs, 205 North Penn Street) has a soda fountain, but the menu is quite limited. Vanilla and chocolate ice cream creations of your choice, a few types of microwaved sandwiches, a single flavor of soup each day and chilli or similar. No payphone; that was removed several years ago. The woman who runs it (like a franchise part of the drugstore) closes promptly at 5 each weekday afternoon and noon on Saturdays. Still the marble- top counter, the original swivel stools to sit on, etc. Like all of our downtown area (since Walmart moved into town in 2000) it does not get a lot of use. A lot of pictures hanging on the walls from the 1920's when Independence used to be an oil town, and such personages as Harry Sinclair (Sinclair Oil) and Vivian Vance (old Hollywood movie star) were residents here. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: WW II Britain-U.S. telephone links? Date: 2 Jun 2004 10:33:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Prior to WW II, the U.S. and Britain had overseas telephone service by radio carrier. I'm not sure how reliable the circuits were at the time, according to the Bell System history they used both short-wave and long wave depending on time of day, sunspots, and other issues. Further, the circuits needed constant adjustment while in use. None the less, they were available to telephone users to make overseas calls. After the war broke out, how were the radio circuits utilized? Could private parties (such as businessmen) continue to make calls on them? Given the criticiality of shipping war goods to England, that was a vital link for business people. Were the circuits of value to the military and politicians due to being radio lines open to evesdropping? (IIRC, they developed some crude frequency shifters -- were they in use?) Could a U.S. serviceman in England theorectically call home on such lines, assuming he had the money to pay for it? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: During World War Two, the United States government nationalized the Western Electric Company; all of their output during those years went to the government as part of the war effort. Telephone instruments were rationed. Bell asked subscribers to 'consider' giving up extra extensions in their homes and offices in order that new subscribers without instruments at all could be served. All long distance circuits were also rationed, and top priority was given to military needs. In Chicago, for example, while '211' was used to reach the long distance operator (in those areas like downtown which had been converted to dial) '811' was reserved for 'priority long distance calling' (meaning military use for authorized governent use). And since during that 'good war' everyone felt inclined to do all they could for soldiers and sailors, they made their personal calls on '811' priority lines also. If there was an instance where all the circuits between A and B were in use, and an authorized military person needed to make a priority call, then the cord board operator was authorized to go in on an existing call, speak up to the parties and announce "priority call waiting, I need the circuit" and give the parties three to five seconds to terminate, although some operators just said 'priority, I need the line' and pulled the connection down with no other warning. But soldier/sailor military use was also on a rationed basis. The government entrusted AT&T to handle much of this. A very old newspaper advertisement from the Christian Science Monitor in 1943 explained it to the general public: At the top of the full page advertisement, a sailor with a phone to his ear; a smile on his face, then a symbol for electrical wires to a phone on the other side of the page, where a mother and father and children and grandma were all crowded around a phone, trying to listen as mother talked to her son, the sailor. In the center of top part of the page, a phone switchboard with an operator making the connection. The same ad was in the Atlantic Monthly, Harpers and other publications of those days. The text said, "As part of the War Effort, the Telephone Company is playing an important role; helping our soldiers and sailors stay in touch with their loved ones. AT&T is proud that the government has entrusted our operators to be part of the effort, by telling us some important, but secret information about troop movements. You generally receive at least two telephone calls from our operators. The first one is to announce that your loved one or family member will be calling on the phone at a certain time, at least several hours or perhaps a day later. This is so you can tell everyone to gather by the phone when that important call arrives, and have your line open and available. Then when *the* call arrives, please answer promptly, as the time allowed for each call is limited to a few minutes. *Do not* question our operator about the origin of the call or otherwise argue with her. She has been instructed to tell you nothing, and will not violate the trust the government has placed in her. Do not question your loved one about his location or exactly what he is doing. He will tell you everything he is allowed to say at this time of war. Don't risk getting him in trouble with his buddies or superior officers. He would love to tell you more, if only he was allowed to do so. Remember, just as our goverment will be listening to these phone calls, so will our enemies if they choose to do so. From your friends at the Telephone Company, AT&T and Associated Companies." Then was the bell-shaped symbol they used to use with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company notation. Then near the bottom of the page, a stern-faced Uncle Sam with his lips pursed, and fingers across his lips. Uncle Sam is saying 'Remember, Loose Lips Sink Ships! Cooperate entirely with the Operator when she brings our boys to the phone to speak with you.' PAT] ------------------------------ From: jdj Subject: Re: AT| Commands Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 10:50:00 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 22:11:40 +0000, dol wrote: > jdj wrote: >> Where can I find a list of "AT|" commands? [snip] > Did you literally mean AT| ? Yes. None of the typical modem info sites seem to have it. Most link to multitech, which chose not to publish the info. Search engines are useless as they ignore the "|". On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 19:26:20 -0700, Al Gillis wrote: > Try this: > http://www.computerhope.com/atcom.htm Sorry, nothing there. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Some search engines allow you to 'quote' the pipe or escape (back slash) the pipe to get it accepted literally as text. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 23:10:47 -0400 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Word Documents Without MS Word Jack said: > I realize that, but Wordpad won't always read a Word document (or won't > display certain types of embedded images), and also not everyone uses a > Windows-based system. I was thinking that maybe the Linux and Macintosh > users might need some way to access these documents, but then again, > perhaps they already have some way of dealing with .doc files? Macintosh users already have a program to read Word documents. It's called TextEdit. Macintosh users have a whole host of Postscript and PDF capabilities at their fingertips, too. A bunch of functionality is built into the Macintosh system. ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Re: 'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 08:54:17 -0400 Right, this guy is a kook all the way. Even the RIAA said, "blow up the users machines ... ummmm, that might be a little harsh" You know when the RIAA disagrees with an enforcement method, then you really know the senator is out of control. Perhaps the $157,000+ he has received from the TV/Movies/Music has influenced the type of bills he proposes? http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00009869&cycle=2004 Keith "J Kelly" wrote in message news:telecom23.272.10@telecom-digest.org: > Hatch is a recording artist so in my opinion has a little > conflict of interest in all of this. This is the same guy that wanted > to destroy music downloaders machines last year. ------------------------------ From: bill_airjunky@hotmail.com (Bill) Subject: VOIP on My Home Network Date: 1 Jun 2004 23:28:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I installed Vonage's VOIP on my home LAN tonite and have run into an issue. Currently my config looks like this: Scientific Atlanta cable modem -> Motorola VT1000V WAN port Motorola VT1000V PC port -> Netgear FVS318 LAN port Then I configured the cable companies' DNS servers in the setup on each PC, the VT1000V & the Netgear switch. I then use DHCP on the VT1000V & disable it on the FVS318. This config allows voice & data to work. The only issue is that the above config does not work with the Netgear's WAN port so it's VPN & Dynamic DNS features don't work. I tried connecting the VT1000V to one of the LAN ports on the FVS318 but the VT1000V never initializes correctly. I looked thru Motorola's website & they say that it should work to hook up the VT1000V to one of a switch's LAN port, although they don't list the FVS318 specifically. I suspect it's because this switch does not support VOIP. Any chance of anyone ever having done this? Or am I paving new ground here? Bill [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not think that will work. At least it did not for me. When I had my original Vonage setup, I had Vonage as just one of the ports on my NetGear (and before that, Linksys) router. When Vonage sent me the new Motorola MTA they said 'put it in front of the other stuff' which I did, just as you have done. But now we have in essence *two* firewalls out there; the NetGear router being one firewall (192.168.0.1) and the Motorola MTA (192.168.102.1) being the other one. My Motorola SurfBoard modem can be tinkered with from the address 192.168.100.1 . Notice how your NetGear router now has *two addresses*? 192.168.0.1 from on the LAN looking out to the world and 192.168.102.1 looking at it from the Motorola MTA (which the NetGear considers the 'outside world' in to your machines? You might try going into 192.168.102.1 (Motorola MTA) and the advanced settings and try changing the ports around a little there, also try and do something with the DMZ setting. But warning: if you tear down the Motorola MTA firewall with the DMZ setting there, you will never get it back! You will have to take one of your computers off of the NetGear and attach it directly to the Motorola MTA in order to 'uncheck' the DMZ box then go back and rebuild the NetGear firewall. Very messy. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 12:05:05 -0400 Subject: Jeff Pulver Pulls Few Punches - VoIP Pioneer Juggles Businesses Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2004/0604/06j.htm By Jeff Baumgartner, Editor Jeff Pulver's name has almost become synonymous with the VoIP movement. Whenever there's a major IP voice regulatory issue on the board, you can bet that he's right in the thick of it, protecting the interests of the small guy as well as his budding VoIP company, Free World Dialup (FWD). But FWD is just one of his interests. In fact, it would be impossible to fit everything he's doing onto one business card. Pulver, who owns a piece of Vonage and is the co-founder of the VON Coalition, is re-launching an Internet-based progressive rock radio station, owns a record label and serves as chairman of WHP Wireless. He estimates that he has 20 to 30 companies running at any given time. CED Editor Jeff Baumgartner caught up with Pulver to see what's next and what's ahead for one of VoIP's most fervent voices. An edited transcript follows. Full story at: http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2004/0604/06j.htm How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #273 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jun 3 10:29:50 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i53EToo08604; Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:29:50 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:29:50 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406031429.i53EToo08604@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 #274 TELECOM Digest Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:30:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 274 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson LAPD Suspect Saved by Nextel and a TV Video (Danny Burstein) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Felis Inferis) Re: International Dialing to the UK in 1978/79 (John Levine) Re: International Dialing to the UK in 1978/79 (David Quinton) Re: Red-Flag Case Gets Green Light (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Caller ID For Pocket PC (dspgeek) Re: AT| Commands (Clarence Dold) How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? (Tee) Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? (R. T. Wurth) Vonage Slashes Price of Net Telephony Kit (VOIP News) Cable TV Operators' VoIP Threatens Bells (VOIP News) New Global Telecom Deploys Kagoor Network's Session Border (VOIP News) Spam and Virii Continue Unabated, Getting Worse IMO (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: Danny Burstein Subject: LAPD Suspect Saved by Nextel and a TV Video Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 08:14:30 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC On the ABC-tv morning semi-news show, Good Morning America just now, Thurs 03-June-2004. Story of a guy on death row [a] in LA. Cops had an eyewitness ... [a] sounds a bit early for that given the event was just a year ago, but that's what they said. On 12-May-2003 a teenage girl was shot to death. She was a witness to an earlier murder. Detectives bust the alleged original murderer's brother, Juan Catalan, figuring he wasted the girl. His girlfriend claims he was with her at a Dodger game the same time, even has the ticket stubs, but that doesn't keep him out of jail. Especially since the LAPD has an eyewitness. His lawyer finds out HBO was shooting video for one of their TV shows ("curb your enthusiasm"). Convinces HBO to let him see the outtakes. And sure enough, his client is there. They play the tape in the courtroom and the judge kicks him loose. Ob telecom: the tape clip was about an hour off the murder, so wasn't an absolute defense. His lawyer also subpoened Nextel's cellular records, which showed Catalan' phone had made a call at the same time the murder took place, and it routed through the tower right outside the stadium. (I don't know if Nextel also had records of the more or less every ten minute location pings or if the lawyer knew about those. No mention on the tv interview). Ahhh ... a story in the LA Times. "The film had time codes showing that it was 9:10 p.m., about an hour before the shooting. And cellphone records showed that Catalan was still in the vicinity of Dodger Stadium at the time of the killing. "When (defense attorney) Melnik introduced that evidence, the judge dismissed the case and freed Catalan last January. "If he'd stayed home and watched the game on television, he'd have been in big trouble," Melnik said. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-curb3jun03,1,452216.story?coll=la-commun-los_angeles_metro _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I imagine police were just sick about it weren't they ... any time a minority person gets out of prison or off death row after police have already declared the person 'guilty' of whatever, it usually is very upsetting to them, when some 'liberal' judge decides to go by the facts in the case rather than popular opinion. I certainly hope Catalan sues police for a few million dollars, although they dont care; the taxpayers will pay it anyway. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Felis Inferis Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 18:12:54 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On 2 Jun 2004 10:24:47 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > But a big exception was the McDonald's fast food chain. Roy Kroc, its > builder, forbid payphones at the McD's. The reason was that he didn't > want kids hanging out at the outlets making/receiving phone calls on > the pay phone. While Kroc wanted the business of the teenagers, he > didn't want them hanging around and making trouble. His initial > design was drive up, buy, drive away, no hanging around. The garish > lighting and red/white tile was designed for that. Later on he added > indoor seating but still no pay phones. Indeed, to this day I think > it's unusual to find a pay phone inside a fast food outlet, though > sometimes there's one not far on the street. Here in Victoria, British Columbia, there are payphones on the premises, usually immediately outside the main entrance, at most McDonald's stores. Fake Caller ID now - ask us how! www.artofhacking.com ------------------------------ Date: 3 Jun 2004 03:10:13 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: International Dialing to the UK in 1978/79 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > It's quite possible that the song is missing some digits too, so > perhaps it's really "KP1 0 4 4 1 x x x x 8 3 1 ST". > Does anyone know what the correct number of digits for a phone number > in the UK would be at this point? How long would the city codes be, > local phone numbers, etc. (in 1978/79)? 44 was and is the UK, 1 was the city code for London, local number was seven digits. Since then they've renumbered a couple of times, so inner London is now 44 20 7xxx xxxx and outer London is 44 20 8xxx xxxx. The last seven digits are the same as they were. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "I shook hands with Senators Dole and Inouye," said Tom, disarmingly. ------------------------------ From: David Quinton Subject: Re: International Dialing to the UK in 1978/79 Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 10:37:26 +0100 On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 15:59:27 -0400, Keith wrote: > At the end of Pink Floyd's "Young Lust", there are some in-band > signaling MF tones which I've found to be: If you get nowhere here, suggest you try some of the old-timers in uk.telecom newsgroup. UK Computer stuff from Morgan Auctions. Bids start at 1. No reserve. Sign up NOW! Track a Mobile phone: . ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 23:27:26 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Red-Flag Case Gets Green Light > From Broadcasting & Cable, June 1, 2004 > By Bill McConnell > A Federal Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., won't delay the case > determining the fate of the Federal Communications Commission's > "broadcast flag," despite a request by the agency to slow down. > Opponents, however, say the restriction violates consumers' home > recording rights and that the FCC has no jurisdiction to impose the > rules. My objection to the Broadcast Flag is much more pragmatic: It's futile. What copy protection method for any consumer media has stood without being broken by someone? All they accomplish is to make entertainment devices more expensive and less entertaining. Meanwhile, the folks who want to make illegal copies of things continue to do so, they just have to wait an extra week for the "toolz" to come out. The business model used by the media conglomerates has become obsolete, and rather than adapt to the marketplace they are opting to legislate the status quo. This happens whenever there's rapid innovation. Look at what's happening as the traditional telcos confront VOIP and burgeoning cellphone usage -- tax this, prohibit that, require something else. All intended to make the new products less desirable. In the long run, it won't work. It never does. Remember when rectangular headlights first appeared on US cars? The auto manufacturers who didn't think of it tried to have non-round headlights declared illegal :-) Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: dspgeek@hotmail.com (dspgeek) Subject: Caller ID For Pocket PC Date: 2 Jun 2004 23:05:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I have seen some s/w utilities which gives the caller information like photo, etc on pocket pc. Can anyone tell me how the photos from the pocket pc (stored in some folder ) are associated with the contacts from the pocket Outlook? I am trying to write some code for it. Need your help. dspgeek dspgeek@hotmail.com ------------------------------ From: dold@ATXXComman.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: AT| Commands Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 06:09:30 UTC Organization: a2i network jdj wrote: >> Did you literally mean AT| ? > Yes. What brand of modem is it? What is the FCCID of the modem? Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: tee_earls@hotmail.com (Tee) Subject: How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? Date: 2 Jun 2004 23:14:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does anyone know how to determine from a area code / prefix which cellular company owns it? I realize with number portability now, this isn't 100% accurate, but I'm willing to take a chance. I'm specifically looking for 850-637-xxxx. The best I can find is that it's probably a cellular company in the Pensacola, FL area. Any ideas? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: rwurth@att.net (R. T. Wurth) Subject: Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 01:35:52 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > Prior to WW II, the U.S. and Britain had overseas telephone service by > radio carrier. I'm not sure how reliable the circuits were at the > time, according to the Bell System history they used both short-wave > and long wave depending on time of day, sunspots, and other issues. > Further, the circuits needed constant adjustment while in use. None > the less, they were available to telephone users to make overseas > calls. > After the war broke out, how were the radio circuits utilized? Could > private parties (such as businessmen) continue to make calls on them? > Given the criticiality of shipping war goods to England, that was a > vital link for business people. > Were the circuits of value to the military and politicians due to > being radio lines open to evesdropping? (IIRC, they developed some > crude frequency shifters -- were they in use?) One radio circuit was regularly used between Roosevelt and Churchill, and Bell Labs developed an encryption system called "Green Hornet." The name came about because the signals sounded like the theme song of the like-named radio show. It was rather innovative. They broke the voice into several frequency bands (ranges of tones), sampled the level in each band, and encoded the levels as digits (decimal, I think). These numbers were added (modulo 10, probably) to samples taken from phonograph recordings of random emissions of mercury arc tubes. Two copies were struck of each such recording, then the master was destroyed. One recording was shipped to England, the other to Washington. When the call was to be placed, technicians carefully synchronized the recordings, kept them in sync, and arranged to swap records every few minutes. Each record was destroyed after one use. The scrambled signals (voice + random noise, modulo X) were encoded into tones and transmitted. At the far end, the same random noise could be subtracted, yielding the original numbers, which then were converted back to voice. This is all from memory of old descriptions I've read, but I'm sure a look in some IEEE (or some pre-merger IRE/AIEE) literature or an old BSTJ comprehensive index for "Green Hornet" would have all the details. Rich Wurth / rwurth@att.net / Rumson, NJ USA ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 21:29:03 -0400 Subject: Vonage Slashes Price of Net Telephony Kit Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5224951.html By Ben Charny CNET News.com Feeling pressure as competition stiffens, Net phone service provider Vonage has lowered the price by $70 of a starter kit available at retail stores. The kit, which includes a Motorola phone adapter, is now $30 at Circuit City, Fry's and RadioShack after a $50 mail-in rebate, Vonage said Wednesday. The starter kit, which consists of an adapter and two months of free Vonage service, used to cost $100 at the same stores. As Vonage's subscriber numbers grow, it has a greater ability to pass on savings to its customers, according to company Vice President Matthew Deatrick. Vonage made a similar argument in mid-May, when it signed up its 150,000th subscriber, saying it had reached an "inflection point" that allowed it to lower the cost of monthly unlimited North American dialing from $35 to $30 a month. In-Stat/MDR senior analyst Daryl Schoolar believes that Vonage, the nation's largest provider of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is feeling pressure as major telephone companies including AT&T begin offering their own VoIP services. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5224951.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 08:49:04 -0400 Subject: Cable TV Operators' VoIP Threatens Bells Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.investors.com/editorial/tech01.asp?v=6/3 BY REINHARDT KRAUSE INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Emerging Internet phone services could cost local phone companies $5 billion to $7.4 billion in annual revenue by 2008, say recent, separate reports from two credit rating agencies and brokerage firm Sanford C. Bernstein. Voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, gives users a new option for getting phone service. Instead of the normal circuit-switch method, calls come via broadband phone or cable lines, using the Internet method of sending data, or voice, in packets. Startups such as privately held Vonage sell VoIP services that work over either speedy Internet-ready phone lines or cable lines. The VoIP leader, Vonage has signed up more than 155,000 customers. AT&T and other carriers also are offering VoIP. But the biggest long-term threat to local Bell revenue will come from cable TV system operators that offer VoIP as well as circuit-switched phone services, many analysts say. Full story at: http://www.investors.com/editorial/tech01.asp?v=6/3 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can still get a Vonage e-coupon if desired, allowing a free month of service on Vonage if you click on the link in the coupon to sign up. Ask me at ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 08:53:19 -0400 Subject: New Global Telecom Deploys Kagoor Network's Session Border Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-02-2004/0002185476&EDATE= New Global Telecom Deploys Kagoor Network's Session Border Controller for Hosted NAT Traversal and Network Protection VoiceFlow1000 Expedites Delivery of VoIP Services to Residential Customers SAN MATEO, Calif. and GOLDEN, Colo., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Kagoor Networks, a leading provider of session border control solutions, announced today that New Global Telecom (NGT), the leading U.S. provider of outsourced switching and network operations services, has deployed Kagoor's VoiceFlow 1000 Session Border Controller. NGT is deploying the VoiceFlow 1000 with the NAT (Network Address Translator) application to provide Hosted NAT Traversal, which is helping to expedite the delivery of VoIP to residential end-users through NGT's service provider customers. Without Hosted NAT Traversal, NGT was unable to economically and easily provide VoIP services to remotely located users. Hosted NAT traversal permits VoIP calls to securely travel across the Internet and through the NAT device on the customer site. The VoiceFlow 1000 solves the NAT Traversal problem and greatly simplifies the configuration of Internet Telephones behind NAT devices like cable and DSL modems. Kagoor also provides NGT with security by hiding details of its network behind the VoiceFlow 1000. "Kagoor helps New Global Telecom deliver the benefits of VoIP to our clients and, in turn, to their residential customers," said Perry Nelson, VP-VoIP Operations & Technology for New Global Telecom. "By enabling NAT traversal and optimizing handling of the signaling, Kagoor provides us with a simple and flexible solution that ensures efficiency of network transport." NGT's outsourced wholesale IP services suite -- 6DegreesIP -- offers a turnkey solution for service providers seeking entry into the VoIP marketplace. 6DegreesIP includes Hosted IP PBX and Class 5 feature services, end-customer support, network and facilities management, back office support as well as local and long-distance origination/termination in hundreds of U.S. cities. Using Kagoor's VoiceFlow solution, NGT's services can be delivered with minimal configuration to the customer VoIP endpoints (e.g., IP phones, analog devices, etc.) and without any changes to existing data firewall/NAT equipment at the customer site. "Our VoiceFlow NAT traversal solution is designed to meet the needs of providers of hosted VoIP services such as New Global Telecom," stated Opher Kahane, CEO and co-Founder of Kagoor Networks. "Kagoor is excited to be a key ingredient in NGT's innovative VoIP service delivery to the residential marketplace." The VoiceFlow 1000 series and the VoiceFlow 3000 series make up Kagoor's carrier family of session border controllers. VoiceFlow 1000 is a 1U, fast Ethernet packet processing device capable of handling up to 2,000 concurrent VoIP calls. It provides for simultaneous operation of multiple session border control applications. VoiceFlow is network transparent and handles all of the popular VoIP protocols including SIP, H.323, MGCP and others. VoiceFlow 1000 is ideal for VoIP service provider deployments and distributed carrier locations. SOURCE Kagoor Networks Web Site: http://www.kagoor.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 09:26:51 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Spam and Virii Continue Unabated, Getting Worse, IMO Have any of you noticed how, since around mid-May, the spam traffic has gotten worse than usual? I have to wonder if they are aiming for a nearly total-spam network? It will never, mathematically reach exactly 100 percent as long as at least a few (very few) pieces of legitimate email go out, but it can get in theory up to 99 plus percent spam and virii. Since about May 20, the ratio of spam and virii versus legitimate news items arriving in the Digest mailbox has been in excess of 90 percent. Unfortunatly I have to give at least a cursory examination to everything coming through. 'Cursory'= one or two seconds prior to accepting it. The Spam Assassin point score is presently set for three. It had been set for five; moving it down to three sent a lot more to the spam box (where I only check to see if I recognize the name before bashing it). Stuff in the 'legitimate' mail box I give my cursory exams to first. I guess I will set Spam Assassin down another notch of two, but then I feel sort of guilty when a *good, legitimate message* gets wasted because I do not recognize the sender name. The legitimate mailbox is empty at this point; but I feel certain at least one or two good items got killed accidentally. If you are not in this issue, yet have something that did not appear, please send it again with my apologies. PAT ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #274 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jun 4 01:48:57 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i545mu215998; Fri, 4 Jun 2004 01:48:57 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 01:48:57 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406040548.i545mu215998@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 #275 TELECOM Digest Fri, 4 Jun 2004 01:40:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 275 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Can Prints Lie? Yes, Man Finds to His Dismay (Monty Solomon) Re: Data Mining: Federal Efforts Cover a Wide Range of Uses (Monty Solomon) Just Like High-Definition TV, but With Higher Definition (Monty Solomon) GILC Alert v8i4 (Monty Solomon) Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company Owns Specific Prefix (J Kelly) Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company Owns Specific Prefix (R. Greenberg) Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company Owns Specific Prefix (Greg Monti) Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company Owns Specific Prefix (Justin Time) Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company Owns Specific Prefix (R Normandeau) Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company Owns Specific Prefix (Joseph) Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company Owns Specific Prefix (John Levine) Re: Spam on the Increase (David B. Horvath, CCP) Wireless Future (Mike) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Jim Haynes) Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? (Dennis Ritchie) Hi All From a VOIP Reader (John Vo) Xten Launches Free NAT and Firewall Traversal Solution (VOIP News) Wireline Phone Service Isn't ALWAYS Best in Emergencies! (VOIP News) Stalemate in the Phone Fight (VOIP News) 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: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 19:29:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Can Prints Lie? Yes, Man Finds to His Dismay By BENJAMIN WEISER In front of the immigration judge, the tall, muscular man began to weep. No, he had patiently tried to explain, he was not Leo Rosario, a drug dealer and a prime candidate for deportation. He was telling the truth. He was Rene Ramon Sanchez, an auto-body worker and merengue singer from the Bronx who bore not even a passing resemblance to Mr. Rosario, a complete stranger 12 years his junior and a half-foot shorter. "Why don't you get his photo then?" Mr. Sanchez cried out in Spanish, pounding a fist into his palm. "And compare my fingerprints with his?" The judge, Alan L. Page, had been told the prints were the same. "The general rule is, the prints don't lie," Judge Page had said earlier. "If you got the same prints that Leo Rosario has, you're Leo Rosario. And there's nothing I can do about it." So Mr. Sanchez, in late 2000, was sent back for another week in a grim detention center in Lower Manhattan, severed from his family and livelihood, because his fingerprints had been mistakenly placed on the official record of another man. Remarkably, this was not the first time Mr. Sanchez had paid for that mistake. He had been arrested three times for Mr. Rosario's crimes, and ultimately spent a total of two months in custody and was threatened with deportation before the mistake was traced and resolved in 2002. Mr. Sanchez's ordeal, unearthed from court records and interviews, amounts to a strange, sometimes absurd odyssey through a criminal justice system that made a single error and then compounded it time and again by failing to correct it. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/nyregion/31IDEN.html?ex=1401336000&en=6fc3c22e435936e1&ei=5007 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 19:13:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: Data Mining: Federal Efforts Cover a Wide Range of Uses Excerpt from ACLU Online: June 3, 2004 ACLU QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT ON DATA SURVEILLANCE OF AMERICANS A new report released by the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) just last week revealed that at least four programs used by the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security may be accessing and analyzing private-sector databases in ways that approach the "data surveillance" of ordinary citizens. "We always knew that the Pentagon's 'Total Information Awareness' program was not the only data-surveillance program out there, but it now appears possible that such activities are even more widespread than we imagined," said Barry Steinhardt, Director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program. The GAO's investigation uncovered 199 government uses of the statistical analysis techniques known as data-mining, 54 of which use private-sector data. Such information could include any data held in corporate or other private hands, including credit-card records and Internet logs. The ACLU is conducting an immediate inquiry to find out whether these programs are indeed threatening, or whether their use of information is benign. For the full text of the ACLU's press release on the GAO report, click here: http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=15860&c=130 The GAO report isn't the only recent revelation related to the government's use of "data-mining" of U.S. citizens. On May 20th, the ACLU released documents containing disturbing new revelations about the MATRIX (the Multistate Anti-TeRrorism Information eXchange) database surveillance program, including the fact that it was under the direct managerial control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and that Florida Governor Jeb Bush gave a personal briefing on the program to Vice President Dick Cheney. The MATRIX surveillance system combines information about individuals from government databases and private-sector data companies, and makes that data available for search by government officials to comb through the millions of files in a search for "anomalies" that may be indicative of terrorist or other criminal activity. To view the ACLU's White Paper, "The MATRIX: Total Information Awareness Reloaded," simply click on the link below: http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=15830&c=130 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 19:43:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Just Like High-Definition TV, but With Higher Definition WHAT'S NEXT By DOUGLAS HEINGARTNER HIGH-DEFINITION television may be only just beginning to catch on, but researchers at the Japanese national broadcaster NHK are already working on a successor. The format, called Ultra High Definition Video, or UHDV, has a resolution 16 times greater than plain-old HDTV, and its stated goal is to achieve a level of sensory immersion that approximates actually being there. At a picture size of 7,680 by 4,320 pixels -- that works out to 32 million pixels -- UHDV's resolution trounces even high-end digital still cameras. HDTV, by comparison, has about two million pixels, and normal TV about 200,000 (and only 480 lines of horizontal resolution versus 4,000 with UHDV). Add to that UHDV's beefed-up refresh rate of 60 frames per second (twice that of conventional video), projected onto a 450-inch diagonal screen with more than 20 channels of audio, and you've got an impressive home theater on your hands. Of course, UHDV's current dimensions make it impractical for most homes. The NHK researchers are investigating how to squeeze all those pixels onto smaller screens. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03next.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 18:42:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: GILC Alert v8i4 Welcome to the Global Internet Liberty Campaign Newsletter. Welcome to GILC Alert, the newsletter of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign. We are an international organization of groups working for cyber-liberties, who are determined to preserve civil liberties and human rights on the Internet. We hope you find this newsletter interesting, and we very much hope that you will avail yourselves of the action items in future issues. If you are a part of an organization that would be interested in joining GILC, please contact us at . If you are aware of threats to cyber-liberties that we may not know about, please contact the GILC members in your country, or contact GILC as a whole. Please feel free to redistribute this newsletter to appropriate forums. =============================================== Free expression [1] Jailed Vietnamese Net dissident on hunger strike [2] Controversial French digital economy bill in final phases [3] Shanghai cybercafe users face further restrictions [4] Net journalists detained in the Maldives [5] RIAA launches a further round of file-sharer lawsuits [6] Vietnam website blocking broader than previously thought [7] New Canadian copyright proposal might stifle Net speech [8] Google feature blocks many non-controversial websites [9] Japanese gov't plans crippling of digital TV [10] North Korean protestors start Internet radio service [11] New joint initiative to defend cyberliberties Privacy [12] European Union considers new data retention plan [13] Continued controversy over Google Gmail privacy flaws [14] Spyware problems may lead more U.S. legislation [15] Debate over U.S. spy-friendly Net tapping rules heats up [16] Microsoft belatedly releases several new security patches [17] Serious security flaw in vital Internet protocol system [18] Studies indicate Internet privacy awareness lags [19] U.S. Big Brother Awards for 2004 handed out [20] EFF Pioneer Awards winners announced http://www.gilc.org/alert/alert84.html http://www.hrea.org/lists/huridocs-tech/markup/msg01130.html ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 17:47:55 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On 2 Jun 2004 23:14:19 -0700, tee_earls@hotmail.com (Tee) wrote: > Does anyone know how to determine from a area code / prefix which > cellular company owns it? I realize with number portability now, this > isn't 100% accurate, but I'm willing to take a chance. I'm > specifically looking for 850-637-xxxx. The best I can find is that > it's probably a cellular company in the Pensacola, FL area. > Any ideas? > Thanks. http://www.telcodata.us AT&T WIRELESS SERVICES, INC Pensalcola, FL ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? Date: 3 Jun 2004 19:16:44 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? I use http://www.telcodata.us/telcodata/telco for such queries. For your exchange, it shows: 850-637 FL AT&T WIRELESS SERVICES, INC. 6010 PENSACOLA PNSCFLBLCM6 00/00/0000 Prefix Type: WIRELESS Switch Name: Switch Type: LATA: Pensacola FL (448) Tandem: Detailed Switch Info|CO Info (The cut/paste made a mess of the formatting. Several of these items are actually links to additional data.) Rich Greenberg N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Greg Monti Subject: Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 22:25:35 -0400 It's AT&T Wireless Services. To find this, I went to http://www.areacode-info.com then clicked on the tab for Plans, then the submenu for Local Calling Areas. Another resource with similar data: http://www.telcodata.us/ Click on Lookup by Areacode/Exchange. You are right that local number portability is not reflected in either of these databases. Individual numbers can be ported to other companies. The carrier listed, in this case AT&T Wireless, is the "incumbent" or "historical" owner of that prefix. Greg Monti, New York, New York, USA gmonti@mindspring.com ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? Date: 3 Jun 2004 13:03:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com 850-637 AS 6010 AT&T WIRELESS SERVICES, INC. PENSACOLA PNSCFLBLCM6 Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? Date: 3 Jun 2004 11:10:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com tee_earls@hotmail.com (Tee) wrote in message news:: > Does anyone know how to determine from a area code / prefix which > cellular company owns it? I realize with number portability now, this > isn't 100% accurate, but I'm willing to take a chance. I'm > specifically looking for 850-637-xxxx. The best I can find is that > it's probably a cellular company in the Pensacola, FL area. > Any ideas? > Thanks. According to: http://www.fonefinder.net/index.php It's AT&T WIRELESS SERVICES, INC. See https://www.onesuite.com/ Long distance at MAXIMUM 2.9 Cents Per Minute for USA calls and to Canada for 3.5CPM. If you don't use the 800# access, rate is even cheaper! It is basically a prepaid phone card but you can do away with the PIN for calls from home. Program it as a speed dial, you don't even have to remember their #. No monthly fee or minimum. There is a surchage for calls from payphones. If you use the promotion code "034720367" we both get some free miniutes. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 15:40:51 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom http://telcodata.us is one. www.nanpa.com is another. 850-637 Pensacola, FL that NPA/prefix is assigned to AT&T Wireless remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ Date: 4 Jun 2004 04:51:07 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: How to Tell Which Cellular Company "Owns" Specific Prefix? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Does anyone know how to determine from a area code / prefix which > cellular company owns it? I realize with number portability now, this > isn't 100% accurate, but I'm willing to take a chance. I'm > specifically looking for 850-637-xxxx. The best I can find is that > it's probably a cellular company in the Pensacola, FL area. NANPA has handy downloadable prefix files as plain text or Access MDB. To save you the trouble, 850-637 is AT&T Wireless (soon to be Cingular) in Pensacola. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "I dropped the toothpaste", said Tom, crestfallenly. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:51:06 -0400 Subject: Re: Possible_SPAM Spam on the Increase From: David B. Horvath, CCP Please remove my email address; you can leave my *name* though. On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 09:26:51 EDT, our esteemed moderator wrote: > Have any of you noticed how, since around mid-May, the spam > traffic has gotten worse than usual? I have to wonder if they > are aiming for a nearly total-spam network? Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one with that problem! > The Spam Assassin point score is presently set for > three. It had been set for five; moving it down to > three sent a lot more to the spam box (where I only > check to see if I recognize the name before bashing it). My ISP has it set at 6.5 which catches most. Unfortunately, it also catches a lot of important email like TELECOM! I set up a rule that acts as an exception to "move 'possible_spam' to spam mailbox' just for TELECOM. The following is from the latest digest: > X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.61 (1.212.2.1-2003-12-09-exp) > on [DELETED] > Content analysis details: (13.3 points, 6.5 required) > pts rule name description > ---- ---------------------- ------------------------------------------ -------- > 0.3 NO_REAL_NAME From: does not include a real name > 0.1 OACYS_SINGLE BODY: A single consonant surrounded by whitespace, minus some of the obvious FP's > 0.1 LG_4C_2V_3C BODY: Gibberish found? > 1.0 J_CHICKENPOX_12 BODY: {1}Letter - punctuation - {2}Letter > 1.0 J_CHICKENPOX_27 BODY: {2}Letter - punctuation - {7}Letter > 1.0 J_CHICKENPOX_42 BODY: {4}Letter - punctuation - {2}Letter > 3.0 OACYS_DOT_OBFUSC BODY: Obfuscating text using .'s (i.e. p.orn) > 1.0 J_CHICKENPOX_81 BODY: {8}Letter - punctuation - {1}Letter > 0.0 LINES_OF_YELLING BODY: A WHOLE LINE OF YELLING DETECTED > 0.0 MAILTO_TO_REMOVE URI: Includes a 'remove' email address > 1.0 FVGT_u_DOM_START_NUM URI: FVGT - domain name starts with numbers > 1.0 FVGT_u_DOM_END_NUM URI: FVGT - domain name ends with numbers > 2.4 FVGT_u_BZ_TLD URI: FVGT - Contains a URL in the BZ, TC, US or WS top-level domain > 1.4 FVGT_u_BIZ_SITE URI: FVGT - contains a URL in the BIZ top- level domain Just thought you'd like to know. - David ------------------------------ From: yared22311@yahoo.com (Mike) Subject: Wireless Future Date: 3 Jun 2004 12:36:59 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Fairfax resident Michael Kelley expects to be able to connect to the Internet through completely portable and mobile broadband access in one to two years. http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040602-094029-2609r.htm ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 21:15:13 GMT In article , Lisa Hancock wrote: > TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: >> How does the old song phrase it? "Things to painful to remember, we simply >> Across the street and up a block from the c.o. was a Pixley >> and Ehlers Cafeteria. In the 1960's there were as many Pixley and Ehlers > Sounds just like the beloved Horn & Hardart restaurant chain in > Philadelphia and New York. They were noted for the popular At least the Philadelphia chain has been memorialized in music. There's the song "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" containing the line "... won't pay the rental on your humble flat, or dinner at the Automat ..." And then there is the P.D.Q. Bach composition, "Concerto for Horn and Hardart". I don't believe Pixley & Ehlers has been so honored. I once did a study of cafeterias, using the Yellow Pages back when libraries held a lot of phone books. Cafeterias are big in Texas, or at least they were, with Austin having probably nine of them, in several chains and independents. The only one I found in California was in Bakersfield, which is a lot like Texas (hot and has oil). Eventually I saw a statement in the business press by an official of a cafeteria chain, to the effect that in the South the cafeteria is viewed as a nice place to take the family after church on Sunday, but in the North it is viewed as a gathering place for derelicts. -- jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ From: Dennis Ritchie Subject: Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 02:37:00 -0000 Organization: Bell Labs R. T. Wurth wrote in message news:telecom23.274.9@telecom-digest.org: > One radio circuit > was regularly used between Roosevelt and Churchill, and Bell Labs > developed an encryption system called "Green Hornet." The name > came about because the signals sounded like the theme song of the > like-named radio show. It was rather innovative. They broke the > voice into several frequency bands (ranges of tones), sampled the > level in each band, and encoded the levels as digits (decimal, I > think). > This is all from memory of old descriptions I've read, but I'm sure a > look in some IEEE (or some pre-merger IRE/AIEE) literature or an old > BSTJ comprehensive index for "Green Hornet" would have all the > details. A fairly complete account of this scheme (which was decidedly not open to the public or the GIs) is to be found at www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00019.cfm Wurth's memories seem correct. Search for SIGSALY under the www.nsa.gov home page. There are accounts (referenced in the above link) to the IEEE publication and other places. Dennis ------------------------------ From: John Vo Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 18:58:48 PDT Subject: Hi All From a VOIP News Reader Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com I am new to VOIP and new to this group. Hope to learn from you guys. Take care. John ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 11:50:32 -0400 Subject: Xten Launches Free NAT and Firewall Traversal Solution Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-02-2004/0002186199&EDATE= Xten Launches Free NAT and Firewall Traversal Solution for Standards-based Voice and Video over IP. SANTA CLARA, CA, June 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Xten Networks, Inc. (OTCBB:XNWK) has announced today the release of XTunnels as a free NAT (Network Address Translation), Firewall and Private Proxy traversal solution for SIP endpoints. VoIP softphones and hard phones incorporating XTunnels can now receive voice and video calls across NAT-enabled firewalls without adjusting or modifying anything on the private network, as is the case with Xten softphones today. "Our industry needed a solution to this problem for the benefit of all who are interested in the rapid expansion of Voice and Video over IP," said Erik Lagerway, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Xten, "All Xten softphones support XTunnels, which allows Service Provider, Carrier and MSO customers, interested in deploying Xten softphones, to do so without the additional capital outlay of an expensive NAT traversal solution." A very significant obstacle standing in the way of mainstream deployment of Voice and Video over IP today concerns security issues at the edge of the network. Prior to Xten's XTunnels solution, companies wanting to deploy VoIP in a secure network interconnected to an open network (the Internet) had to contemplate using solutions such as SBCs (Session Border Controllers) to achieve this. SBCs sometimes fail to solve the problem in scenarios where reverse UDP mapping is not enabled or turned off, which is the case in most corporate firewalls. Another solution would be to replace the local user firewall, which is costly and cumbersome for the end user or corporate network IT manager. XTunnels is the only free solution that solves almost all of the NAT and Firewall traversal problems plaguing standards-based VoIP today. For more information visit http://www.XTunnels.org About Xten Networks, Inc. Xten is a provider of award-winning, high-quality, carrier-grade SIP- based VoIP software and softphones. Xten's goal is to be the primary choice in SIP-based client-side audio and video IP communications software for Telecoms, Cable Providers and Internet Telephony Service Providers. Those who are interested in Xten products should visit sales.xten.com On the Web: http://www.xten.com For more information, please contact: Mark Bruk, CEO 408.876.4346 ext 4 mark@xten.com SOURCE Xten Networks Inc. How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 23:32:43 -0400 Subject: Wireline Phone Service Isn't ALWAYS Best in Emergencies! Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com The next time you hear some regulator or other uninformed person trying to get VoIP regulated out of existence because it doesn't yet support "enhanced" 911 or some such thing, you might want to send them a copy of this news from FastLine Mesh Networks, a wireless ISP in Louisiana and Texas. In some situations you really are better off with the new technologies rather than the old (especially if you have a good uninterruptable power supply). http://www.fastlineinternet.com/news.html June 2, 2004 A violent storm front swept across the Ark-La-Tex this morning, leaving a scene of devastation in it's wake. However, as a testimony to the advantages of wireless broadband -- not a single client was affected in Vivian, LA. According to Fastline representative Kenny Bain, "We had trees uprooted and power lines down, but none of our access points were affected. The lightning was so violent that it shook my house every time it struck!" Bain went on to say, "Of course, no one is immune to the effects of bad weather, but we faired much better than the telephone and cable companies did. There were poles that were snapped in two and wires all over the place in some parts of town." Many businesses reported no phone service and a few were still without electricity hours after the storms swept through. However, Fastline clients were able to use VoIP telephone service to send and receive calls as if nothing had happened. According to Bain, "This clearly demonstrates the advantages of the wireless mesh. Even if we would have lost our backbone connection in Vivian, we now have the option of pulling bandwidth from our sister network in Linden, Texas which is 21 miles away." The above text plus storm damage photos at: http://www.fastlineinternet.com/news.html Commentary (of sorts) on the above text here: http://www.newswireless.net/articles/040603-tornado.html Additional (slightly off-topic) comment: Many wireless Internet providers do not price their services competitively. This one, on the other hand, has just about the most reasonable pricing I've seen in a long time. If other wireless broadband companies would price their services in a similar manner, they'd have no shortage of customers AND the VoIP companies would have another way to get to customers in areas where neither cable broadband nor DSL are available. Check out the pricing here: http://www.fastlineinternet.com/services.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 00:01:52 -0400 Subject: Stalemate in the Phone Fight Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2004/tc2004064_7347_tc024.htm By Catherine Yang Long-distance carriers' inability to strike a local-access deal with the Baby Bells could claim an unlikely victim: President Bush While most Americans were grilling hot dogs over Memorial Day weekend, the CEOs of the nation's largest phone companies were holed up at a hotel in Washington. Convened by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, the chiefs of Verizon, SBC Corp., BellSouth Corp., and Qwest Communications faced off across the table with their counterparts from long-distance giants AT&T and MCI. Their task: to break a deadlock and reach agreements for the Baby Bells to lease their networks to the long-distance guys, which want to build out their own competitive local-calling business. After arduous negotiations, the group produced just one deal between the two weaker players of the bunch -- MCI and Qwest. "We're very disappointed that the Memorial Day weekend negotiations failed," says an AT&T spokesperson. "The only agreement that most of the Bell monopolies seemed interested in striking was one that increased prices substantially on consumers and small businesses immediately." The Bells may not agree with that characterization. But one thing's for sure: It's bad news for the Bush Administration, which during an already difficult election year had hoped to avoid getting sucked into one of the most intractable issues in telecom. The failure of the weekend phone summit seemed to dim the outlook for further agreements between the biggest Bells and the long-suffering long-distance carriers. TECH SOLUTIONS. The long-distance carriers have struggled for nearly a decade to make inroads in the local-calling market. Ironically, before it's all over, technology -- not regulators, negotiations, or court battles -- may be their best strategy for getting past the Baby Bells, as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies gain momentum, experts say. Full story at: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2004/tc2004064_7347_tc024.htm ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #275 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jun 4 17:23:38 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i54LNbw24241; Fri, 4 Jun 2004 17:23:38 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 17:23:38 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406042123.i54LNbw24241@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 #276 TELECOM Digest Fri, 4 Jun 2004 17:23:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 276 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Comedy Show Clears Man of Murder (TELECOM Digest Editor) When Software Fails to Stop Spam, It's Time to Bring In (Monty Solomon) Re: Just Like High-Definition TV, With Higher Definition (Phil Earnhardt) Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? (Jim Evans) Re: Hi All (Bruce Burke) E-911 Issues (gsteers@conversent.com) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Lisa Hancock) Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Claims to be Cellular Phone Dealer in Nigeria (Carl Moore) 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: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 01:01:53 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Comedy Show Clears Man of Murder In an earlier issue of the Digest, we touched briefly on a man cleared of a murder charge based on evidence from an unlikely source. Here is a follow up on that story. (forwarding over from alt.obituaries) > In "The Kentucky Wizard" writes: >>http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1913152&nav=5D7lNbVh LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Juan Catalan spent 5 1/2 months in jail for a murder of a teenage girl he says he didn't commit. And, the most unlikely of allies helped him produce a seemingly airtight alibi. HBO filmed scenes for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on May 12, 2003, at Dodger Stadium and captured Catalan in the background watching the game with his 6-year-old daughter. That night about 20 miles north in the San Fernando Valley, Martha Puebla, 16, was gunned down in front of her home as she talked with friends. Police arrested Catalan in August, alleging he killed Puebla because she testified against his brother in another case. Catalan maintained he was at the Dodgers game, watching them lose to the Atlanta Braves, 11-4. Thanks to a resourceful attorney and some timely filming, Catalan was released in January because a judge ruled there was no evidence to try him in the slaying. "To hear the words from the judge's mouth, I just broke down in tears," Catalan said Tuesday, a day after celebrating his 26th birthday. "It was the happiest moment in my life." Catalan has gone from utter despair to exhilaration over the past year. Once faced with being convicted and possibly sent to Death Row, Catalan has returned to some sense of normalcy -- raising his family and working with his father as a machinist. He had ticket stubs from the Dodgers game and testimony from his family as to his whereabouts on the night of the murder, Catalan said. But police still believed he was responsible for Puebla's murder. He asked for a lie detector test, but said he was refused. Police claimed to have an eyewitness who placed Catalan -- who lives only blocks away from Puebla's home -- at the murder scene. Defense attorney Todd Melnik went to work. He subpoenaed the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox Networks, which owned the team then, to scan videotape of the televised game and footage from its "Dodger Vision" cameras. Some of the videotapes showed where Catalan was sitting but Melnik couldn't make him out. Melnik later learned that HBO was at the stadium taping an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," a self-depreciating comedy starring "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David. The show was hardly about the crowd at the ballpark that night. It focused on David hiring a prostitute, not for sex but to be a passenger in his car so he could travel in the carpool lane and escape traffic on his way to the stadium. An HBO spokeswoman said it was the first time the show had been taped at Dodger Stadium and the footage of Catalan that Melnik was looking for had not made the final cut. "I got to one of the scenes, and there is my client sitting in a corner of the frame eating a hot dog with his daughter," Melnik said. "I nearly jumped out of my chair and said, 'There he is!"' The tapes had time codes that allowed Melnik to find out exactly when Catalan was at the ballpark. Melnik also obtained cell phone records that placed his client near the stadium about 20 minutes before the murder. The attorney said it would be impossible for Catalan to get out of the parking lot, change vehicles and clothing and play with his daughter as well as kill Puebla during that span. Melnik said there was plenty of evidence, especially the videotape, for dismissing the case against Catalan. "The videotape made for an incredible presentation in court," Melnik said. "No question it had extreme dramatic effect. It was a piece of the puzzle that helped me, visually, complete the picture for the judge." Puebla's murder remains unsolved and the case against Catalan's brother, who is accused of being the driver in a drive-by shooting, is still pending. Catalan has submitted a claim -- the first step before a lawsuit can be filed-- against the city of Los Angeles, alleging false imprisonment, misconduct and defamation of character. He said he feels compassion for Puebla's family but insists that he wasn't responsible for her death. Catalan said he has nightmares about being chased and his heart races when he sees a police squad car. But he knows without that little snippet of film, he may still be in jail. "Even though I had nothing to do with it, it made me look at life in completely different way," he said. "I went from the worst thing in my life to the best thing in my life." *** 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. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 04:25:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: When Software Fails to Stop Spam, It's Time to Bring In Detectives By SAUL HANSELL REDMOND, Wash. - Sterling McBride spends a lot of time waiting for spammers to make a mistake. They usually do. When he hunted down escaped prisoners for the United States Marshals Service, Mr. McBride learned the value of lying low until fugitives trip up, leaving small clues on their whereabouts. Now, as an investigator for Microsoft, Mr. McBride watches carefully for tidbits of data that link some of the two billion pieces of junk e-mail that Microsoft's Hotmail service receives each day with the people who send them. Once he finds an electronic key to the spammer's identity -- a real name, address or phone number - Mr. McBride uses all the tools of a regular detective: trailing suspects, subpoenaing their bank records and looking for disgruntled former associates to become informers. But first he must lift the cloak of anonymity provided by the Internet. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/technology/31spam.html ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Just Like High-Definition TV, but With Higher Definition Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 05:05:21 -0600 Organization: http://newsguy.com On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 19:43:05 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > At a picture size of 7,680 by 4,320 pixels -- that works out to 32 > million pixels -- UHDV's resolution trounces even high-end digital > still cameras. HDTV, by comparison, has about two million pixels, and > normal TV about 200,000 (and only 480 lines of horizontal resolution > versus 4,000 with UHDV). One comparison the reporter missed is to the Texas Instruments DLP system for cinemas ( www.dlp.com ). This is the digital projection system that George Lucas has been hyping and critics like Roger Ebert have been panning. Movies like "Star Wars Episode 1", "Star Wars Episode 2", and "Ice Age" were released on the DLP format. I was thoroughly unimpressed with this projection technique; there were lots of jaggies on the screen. AFAICT, the DLP system has a horizontal resolution of 2K, which would give it about 3.5 million pixels/frame. This is only marginally higher resolution than HDTV. The other comparison would be to the IMAX DMR technology. This system takes a 35mm film and does a computation-intensive frame-by-frame processing of the images to master a high-resolution release of the movie onto IMAX film. The third "Harry Potter" film is being released with this technology in about 50 IMAX theaters today. The DMR processing can produce stunning results. One of the first films to be re-released with this technology was "Apollo 13". If you recall, there are several scenes prominently featuring a black-and-white television in the middle of that film. The DMR image of that television cabinet was absolutely stunning. Scenes with a small depth-of-field have an amazing 3-D effect; they are sometimes so dramatic that I'm guessing that the DMR processing allows the technicians/artists doing to conversion to de-tune the effect. I have never heard estimates about the resolution of the DMR IMAX films. In general, I think it's a vastly superior technology to the TI DLP system. > Add to that UHDV's beefed-up refresh rate of 60 frames per second > (twice that of conventional video), projected onto a 450-inch diagonal > screen with more than 20 channels of audio, and you've got an > impressive home theater on your hands. > Of course, UHDV's current dimensions make it impractical for most > homes. The NHK researchers are investigating how to squeeze all those > pixels onto smaller screens. The numbers are way overkill for a home system. OTOH, this system could hold promise for commercial cinemas. Hollywood should embrace systems that deliver stunningly higher performance in theaters than people can see at home. At this point in time (and IMHO), the DLP system has failed to deliver on its promise. > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03next.html --phil ------------------------------ From: jim evans Subject: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 09:58:39 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com On my cell phone the only information I get about the caller is their phone number. Is there a way to tell which numbers are pay phone numbers. That is, callers who are calling from pay phones. jim [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most cell phones are a lot like one of my older caller-ID units, with just enough space or memory or what have you to allow a single line with a number, nothing more. On one of my newer units (a cordless phone fron Uniden with caller ID built into the handset) I get the whole story; the number and some attempt at the name, or 'wireless caller', etc. I think all you can do is attempt to correlate the data you recieve with a cross reference directory from the net or elsewhere. Any other ideas, anyone? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bruce Burke Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 08:36:41 -0600 Subject: Re: Hi, all Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com I am also new to VoIP but have many years of background in telecommunications. I am in the midst of developing a site / company to resell everyone's products and services. Currently I am seeking a variety of plans and products to resell through this portal. I am currently employed at a prepaid facilities based carrier. We develop prepaid phone cards for every domestic and international destination. I am also working with a new provider which is developing a marketing plan for VoIP Phones worldwide. Stay in touch www.telcomportal.com is soon to be a destination for all individuals and companies seeking services and opportunities concerning telecom. Bruce Burke John Vo [mailto:wither_27@yahoo.com] wrote on Thursday, June 03, 2004 to: voipnews@yahoogroups.com Subject: Hi all > I am new to VOIP and new to this group. Hope to learn from you guys. > Take care. > John ------------------------------ From: gsteers@conversent.com Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 11:19:42 -0400 Subject: E-911 Issues Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Good morning, Are there any known issues with E-911 and VoIP? If so, are we moving towards a resolution? Any information anyone might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, George Steers [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, there is an 'issue', or perhaps a pseudo-issue is more like it. The various flavors of 911 depend on a physical wire connection from the subscriber to the public safety place so that telco can identify the physical location of the subscriber for the benefit of the police. Cellular phones of course are lacking that physical wire connection, although by some wizardry of the cell phone carriers they are at least able to provide a phone number of the caller to police. In recent years, they have experimented rather successfully (using geo-locating equipment I think?) to provide police with the 'next best thing' to a physical wire pair which can be followed along, and police can locate the person to within a few feet of their actual location; as close mathematically as anyone cares to work it out. With VOIP, however, up until now, the carriers have been content to ask the cooperation of subscribers to fill in a template with their exact address and usually one other line the subscriber can use for identification or special advice to the public safety people, such as my own VOIP 911 entry: first my street address, Independence, KS, 67301, then an 'advice line' saying (in my case) 'older, handicapped person'. And the carrier (in my case Vonage) wisely informed me *do not use 911 until you recieve confirmation that it has been installed in the public safety database, and upon confirmation, do not test the status of 911 with unneccessary calls, and if you must test it, always announce to the answering person FIRST THING 'this is a test only' and vacate the line immediatly after getting confirmation.* Two days after I submitted my template to Vonage, they responded saying I had been put in the database. The same day, or the next day, I also received a letter in snail mail from the Independence Police Department, responding for the Montgomery County (KS) Sheriff's Department confirming I had been installed. Since I am a brain diseased imbicile, anyway, that was quite a chore for me, but somehow I did it and got installed. I suppose guys who wanted to be listed in the public safety base could do that as well, although not everyone wants such a listing. Some people would probably forego whatever 'benefits' came from a 911 trail to their doorstep in exchange for the privacy of not having one. But what about the miniscule percentage of users who take their Vonage or other TA box with them wheh they travel about the country AND want to be listed on a public safety database? Well, this can be resolved also, in an easy way, by the 'authorities' who seem to be in charge of all these things. They can require Vonage and other VOIP carriers to install in each new TA box from this time forward, the same kind of geo-locating equipment found in the little handheld units for same. And to avoid undue financial burden on the carriers or the customers, they might 'grandfather' existing TA boxes for one or two years from that point until a person might otherwise change carriers or change their service and have to get a new box anyway. Let's suggest a cutover date of 2006 and expect the holdout cellular carriers to be ready also by that time. What the geo-locating stuff would do is kick in when the VOIP detected a call out to 911; it would send a little data stream to the PSAP saying where you were located and your phone number, etc, then at the same time patch you in so you could give the details. Since we are only supposed to use 911 in *dire emergencies* (in other words, need police intervention here and now) then I assume the person would not mind geo-locating to notify authorities, etc. I imagine some guys would tamper with the geo-locating stuff from the beginning, to insure it was not reporting on them at other times, etc. That's the major issue I see with VOIP and E-911. Should, or should not police know the whereabouts of everyone? VOIP sort of restored a bit of our privacy to us, but certain spoilsports want to ruin that as well. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Date: 4 Jun 2004 09:48:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) wrote > Eventually I saw a statement in the business press by an official of a > cafeteria chain, to the effect that in the South the cafeteria is > viewed as a nice place to take the family after church on Sunday, but > in the North it is viewed as a gathering place for derelicts. -- A telecom angle on this discussion ... One of the factors to convert to dial was the cost of providing facilities for employees (the switchboard operators) in the building. In those days, that meant a cafeteria and retiring rooms. The phone company then had "matrons" who were a combination social worker and personnel officer to assist new hires, who were often young women (age 18 or even younger) away from home and in the "big city" for the first time. The space and expense for a cafeteria was significant and would be eliminated by going to dial. Bell System tableware from those places shows up for sale sometimes. I suspect in those days the phone company operated the cafeteria itself; though nowadays companies contract out employee cafeterias (if they still even have them) to a food service company. (One former Phila restaurant chain, Linton's, survives in that capacity). I suspect big Western Electric plants like Hawthorne and Kearny had huge food service operations. It should be noted that in the 1920s going to dial was not necessarily an economically preferable choice. Dial meant a huge capital outlay. Enough equipment had to be installed to accomodate peak periods, but that expensive equipment would be idle the rest of the day, whereas operators needed to be on duty only when needed. Many calls still needed operators even with dial. As to cafeterias ... Cafeterias were once popular as low-cost family restaurants in the north, but unfortunately the derelict problem, especially in large cities, helped kill them. Management indifference didn't help either, though it's tough to say which came first ("chicken or egg" kind of thing). As one who liked eating in cafeterias, I was disappointed at their closure and saw first hand how the derelict nuisance. When one is eating, it is quite unappetizing to see a filthy unkempt person mumbling in the corner; and sometimes the behavior was disruptive. Originally, one got their food and then paid the cashier. Derelicts would steal food or condiments. They would also foul restrooms. By the 1970s, equal access civil rights laws were passed and it was more difficult for managers to eject someone without facing a protest march or litigation, and harried managers didn't bother. The unpleasant atmosphere was definitely a factor in losing patronage (many people ceased patronizing cafeterias solely because of the delerict problem). There are some modern chains of cafeterias. We have one called "Old Country Buffet". The difference is that it's strictly pay in advance, not cheap, and all-you-can-eat. They're not bad. I miss the ability to select whatever I'm in the mood for, be it a single side vegatable or a big dinner. Cafeterias allowed completely free choice and I liked that. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We had two cafeteria/buffet places here in town for many years, a local place called 'Down Home' and another place called 'Sirloin Stockade' which is now gone. Sirloin Stockade also has a place in Bartlesville, OK I think, down the road about 30-40 miles. I loved that place; pay a flat fee when you go in the door then help yourself to whatever. Down Home is the same way, but you pay on the way out. I also love Eggberts, which is our local version of a pancake house type place, with various omlets and eggs and pancakes, waffles, etc. Sort of like Denny's if you know those places. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? Date: 4 Jun 2004 10:01:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock): > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: During World War Two, the United States > government nationalized the Western Electric Company; all of their > output during those years went to the government as part of the war I'm not sure if "nationalized" is the right word for this. While the government told the Bell System what it's service and sales priorities were to be, as it did most industries, it did not actually take over management or ownership. The government took over railroads in WW I and realized that was a mistake, it left business in private hands during WW II, under strict (and very complex and confusing) regulations. I'm sure exceptions were made for residential customers; that is, if a new war plant and town was built, key executives would get home telephone service. Back then, doctors had respect and would get telephone service and gasoline/tires. Things got sticky AFTER the war. People would grugingly accept sacrifice during the war, but after V-J day they wanted things NOW. It took several years for consumer goods to catch up with demand, including telephone service. Levittown PA was built with temporary street corner payphone kiosks since they couldn't provide homes with service. Telephone service requires not only the telephone sets themselves, but wire for the house, wire between the house and central office, and central office distributing, battery, and switching gear. ALL things had to be available to provide service and were in short supply for many years after the war ended, esp during the postwar home building boom. Some CO's were just physically too small to accomodate more gear and a new building was needed. Also, after the war people had more money and many people who previously couldn't afford a phone now could and wanted one, plus party line users wanted private lines. Further, new homes were built in the suburbs requiring more wire and possibly toll or message unit counters. All of this added to demand. > Telephone instruments were rationed. Bell asked subscribers to > 'consider' giving up extra extensions in their homes and offices in > order that new subscribers without instruments at all could be served. During the war, advertisements for the Bell System (as other companies) were to NOT use their service. "Keep the lines free for servicemen" "Limit your calls to 5 minutes". Many companies, including Bell, ran ads describing their contributions to the war effort. There'd be a painting of a battle, with a telephone or weapon featured, with the capture describing how it helped. Other ads talked about the future, when the servicemen would come home and how the company had wonderful new products coming out for the postwar world. (Cartoonist Bill Mauldin said servicemen didn't care for such ads). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Have you noticed how in previous wars (First and Second) Americans were asked to make sacrifices in things such as tires, gasoline, certain foods, etc for the war effort? But this time around, in the 'War on Terrorism' or the other all time favorite 'War on Crime' we are not being asked (or told perhaps) to sacrifice anything, except perhaps our basic liberties and freedom. If you are interested in reading a most informative article on where things are going under our present regime, I would refer you to the Village Voice Newspaper for two or three weeks ago and the feature article 'Landing Pad for Jesus' which discusses some highly confidential meetings President Bush had a few months ago with some Pentacostal ministers. Quite interesting. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 16:29:27 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: (Claims to Be) Cellular-Phone Dealer in Nigeria Three months ago, I forwarded a message which claimed to be from a cellular phone dealer in Nigeria. I have been notified of the name "BB Mobilez" (noticing the French-looking name and I noted 3 months ago that the message was from a French domain). That "BB Mobilez" name was not in my posting of 3 months ago. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #276 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jun 5 15:59:58 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i55Jxvg04236; Sat, 5 Jun 2004 15:59:58 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 15:59:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406051959.i55Jxvg04236@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 #277 TELECOM Digest Sat, 5 Jun 2004 16:00:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 277 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson More Memories of Illinois Bell (TELECOM Digest Editor) Another "We're the First" Press Release (VOIP News) QOS Tutorials - Free Access to Learn QOS (sitekeeper) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (J Kelly) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Daniel W. Johnson) Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? (John Levine) Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? (jim evans) Re: Just Like High-Definition TV, but With Higher Definition (jmeissen) Correction from an Editor's Note (Patrick Townson) EFFector 17.20: Don't Let Congress Take Away Your Rights (Monty Solomon) Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (Monty Solomon) Intellectual Property: Economic Arrangements Among Small (Monty Solomon) Your Radio Is Calling (Eric Friedebach) 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: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 15:16:15 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: More Memories of Illinois Bell You've all heard the expression that 'no good deed goes unpunished' or perhaps how things you do come back to bite you on the ass later in life. Or, what goes around, comes around. This story today is about a man by the name of Wally, who was a repair technician in what Illinois Bell used to call 'Night Plant'. In other words he was one of those guys who works during overnight hours, going out to **important, and critical** customers whose phone service is down, when it **really** matters to the community or at least the customer. For example, if telephones went down at a police station or fire station, or a customer with a 24 hour per day business with a switchboard had a fire, or whatever, and getting the phones back into service was very critical. Wally was one of the guys Illinois Bell would send out. He was allowed to keep his company truck at his house so that if there was a call from his office at 10 PM, he could go out to the location and deal with the problem. I do not know if telco still does that or not (responding to important customers during the night as needed) but at least Illinois Bell used to in the 1950-60's era. Wally said that during the April, 1968 riots in Chicago which destroyed most of the west side of the city (the occassion for rioting was the assassination of Martin Luther King; the Democrats and the riot they caused at their convention would not come for a few more months until August), he was assigned to work during much of that time. He said he and his partner (during the riot, the company insisted they work as partners, at least two men on the job) were driving around looking for damages to telco equipment on the streets, etc. Two white guys in a telco van driving around on the west side; wouldn't that be dangerous? Nah, he said, the rioters didn't hassle the utility workers; they knew the electric guys and the phone guys were just out there to do work, not to pick fights; they didn't bother us. Anyway, my experience was if you go out looking for trouble, you'll always find it; if you go out as a decent person, and treat people you meet with respect, they'll nearly always give you respect in turn, even though we were nearly all white guys; the ones accused of rioting at the MLK assassination were nearly all racial minorities. We stopped at this one liquor store on Lake Street. The guy's only telephone was a pay station; it had been completely torn off the wall and trashed on the sidewalk; the coin box was stolen of course. My partner and I took a new phone out of our truck and reinstalled it. Now, many of the guys I worked with; I won't say they were racist at all, but they had the attitude "fu-- the animals! Let it wait until tomorrow, let the day crew go out and work on it." But I happen to know that was the only pay phone for several blocks around, and many of the people who lived in the housing project on that block were too poor to have their own phone and they relied heavily on that pay phone. That's probably the reason the coin box was stolen; it was considered to be one of the better pay phones in the area for the company. That liquor store was also an Illinois State Lottery agent and the guy who ran the store also needed a phone. So we re-installed it and I made certain it was bolted so well that no one was ever going to trash it again. My partner finished a little last minute work on the phone, and it was around 10 PM, then I called our office to see if they had any more assignments for us. If not, I would have driven my partner back to his house and I would have gone home myself. Well, the office said they had gotten a call from the operator at Bethany Brethren Hospital, about two miles away. The poor lady was frantic because there had been a broken water pipe, some of the basement had gotten flooded and her switchboard had gone out. So my partner said let's go see what we can do for her. We pulled in the parking lot about twenty minutes later and went in to see her. The lady was so glad to see us; I thought she was going to kiss the ground we were walking on. She was 'absolutely certain' no one from Bell was going to come out there at midnight and fix her dead switchboard. We went down to the basement to look at the frames. The water had all gone down the sewer by then, and really only one section of cable had gotten pretty well soggy, but it was an important part of the installation, part of the operator's 'common talking path' to the various extensions, and outside lines, etc. First thing I did was take the first three of the outside trunk lines coming into the hospital and wired them straight across to the three extensions in the emergency room, so the first three calls into the hospital would get answered by the people in the emergency room. Then after some evaluation, I saw we could cut out and replace that bit of cable that was so drenched. It took around 30-45 minutes to tie the new cable into place and remove the old section. Presto, her board came back in service. Then I removed the jumpers that we had put there to route the first three trunk lines to the emergency room phones and went back upstairs. That poor lady was so thrilled that her board was going once again. She was so pleased in fact, that she got in her purse and was going to give us *her personal money* for the work we did. I told her, "hey, we don't do business like that; if you insist on a reward for us, then take my partner here down to the cafeteria and get him a cup of coffee. Take your time, and when you come back bring me a cup also. I will stay here and run the board while you are gone; I wanna clean it up a little anyway." I did not like the 'action' on the board; it sounded to me like the relay for the buzzer and lights needed to be adjusted a little, and a couple of the key switches were sort of difficult to flip on or off. So I sat there and cleaned up the board a little, adjusted the action on the buzzer, replaced a burned out bulb that was there, etc. She came back from the cafeteria in twenty minutes or so, had more coffee and a donut for each of us. We sat there another 15-20 minutes or so chatting and then decided we really had to go. I called my office from the switchboard and the dispatcher in the office had no more work for us -- it was a little past midnight now -- so I was going to drive my partner home before quitting for the night myself. We went out to the parking lot and you know what? Just guess! Some of those animals rioting had stolen every damn piece of equipment and supplies out of our truck, and then vandalized the truck while we were inside working. We went back inside and I called the office again and told them what had happened. The boss said "just stay inside there where you guys will be safe, some men are coming out to get you now." About 10 minutes later one of our trucks pulled in with some guys who worked out of Kedzie Bell, they hustled us both into the back of their truck then took off. But I guess even rioters have some code of conduct or sense of fair play. Before the night was over they had looted and set fire to every store in that area, smashed all the windows, etc. But they never laid a hand on Bethany Hospital, or the old people's home up the street, or the telephone company or the Western Union office. But they sure did a number on everything else around there. Of course Kedzie Bell had a bunch of security officers around all night so who knows why they were left alone at the phone company office. They looted Goldblatt's Furniture and Appliance store to the four walls then set fire to the remains. I guess we were lucky to get out of there alive with just our truck looted. ---------------------------------------------- Now fast forward twelve years or so to about 1980. Mayor Daley blustered about it and how 'all that neighborhood will be rebuilt, everything will look like new.' That was not done (following the Los Angeles riot in South Central in the nineties, did the city ever repair the area as they promised they would?) By the early 1980's the west side of Chicago was more dismal than ever. The few business places remaining took the hint and cleared out. No banks, no stores (except a few cut- rate liquor stores and Illinois State Lottery agents, mostly Korean immigrants who had moved in there in later years), no jobs, no money. With no jobs, no money, no place to live, people just survive the best they can. But they still get sick of course, and have to see doctors, especially when the pain from their illness forces them to go. The two hospitals in the area, Saint Anne's and Bethany Brethren both filed bankruptcy when their collections got to be so awful. But a group of religious leaders in Chicago decided they did not want to see still more vacant businesses around the area, so they decided to buy both hospitals out of bankruptcy with several million dollars to the creditors, and commit several million more dollars per year to keep them operating. The new organization was called 'Evangelical Health Care Corporation' with the 'Bethany Pavillion' and the 'St. Anne's Pavillion' parts to it. St. Anne's was turned into a specialized outpatient clinic; the surgery and in-patient stuff was to be handled at Bethany. Also, about 12 years later, in 1980, Wally had retired by that time, an old man. But he belonged to the Pioneers, an organization for senior employees of Illinois Bell, and went to their meetings on a regular basis. Now we hear some more from him: ------------------------------------------------ "I was down at the company one day; retirees were invited to a luncheon given for us in the Pioneers. The guest speaker they had that day was one of these young hot shots the company hires now days, kids who know all about computers and this new system the company started replacing the old way with. Its called 'Electronic Switching System' or ESS. This kid is a salesman for the company, selling this ESS equipment for customers. They don't put a switchboard on customer's premises any longer; they do not even need operators in the customer's business place! The company calls the new system Centrex, and they are trying to sell it to every business place. This kid was explaining the whole thing to us. After the lunch was over, we were leaving and this kid comes up to me. He had just started working for the company a month before I retired back in 1977 or so. He said, 'well Wally, you sold a Centrex system for me today'. I guess I looked sort of surprised by that and he started to explain." He said, "one account I have worked on now for a few months has been the inquiry made by Evangelical Health Care. They had asked about a Centrex system connecting them and St. Anne's and that other clinic they now have. They had all sorts of salesmen out there trying to get them signed up with lots of stuff. Some guy from Nortel, one from Panasonic; they all went there and pitched their electronic switchboard stuff. And its a major expenditure you know, they had a meeting of their executives and trustees and directors yesterday to make a final decision. I was there making a pitch for AT&T and Illinois Bell as were the guys from Mitel and Nortel. Then this one real old black lady stood up to speak. She was identified as Vice President - Telecom for Evangelical Health Care. She asked these guys point blank, 'if the equipment goes on the fritz at midnight who do we call to get it fixed?' The guys told about their warranties, etc then she spoke up again and said, 'Well when I used to be the night operator over at Bethany years ago and had the whole board go out one night, during the riots back in 1968, this guy named Wally came out that night a few minutes after I called Bell and reported it. Personally I think we should just stick with Bell's proposal since I really have to have assurance I can get repairs when I need it.' Wally, my jaw dropped open when she said that and recommended to the Trustees they go along with my proposal, which they did." Wally said his jaw dropped open also. "Can you imagine that woman calling me by name and remembering me being there 12 years earlier to work on her board?". Well yeah, because as the old saying goes, 'what goes around, comes around.' You never know when something you did for someone will come back to reward you. And that is our story from the past for this weekend in the Digest. Maybe it will serve as an encouragement for some customer service or sales people or technicians in the future. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 17:25:29 -0400 Subject: Another "We're the First" Press Release Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com I wish companies would stop issuing press releases claiming they are the first at something -- it always makes me wonder if I just imagined a major part of my lifetime. I don't know what this company is claiming to be first at, but they certainly aren't the first to offer a software VoIP client -- numerous companies have done that since way back in 1996. Nor are they the first to offer free calls to the PSTN -- DialPad did that for several months during the high-flying "dot-com" days, and more recently, Free World Dialup has offered free calls out to the PSTN to commemorate certain special days. They're not even the first to offer free numbers for incoming calls via VoIP (at least two different companies have offered to "map" PSTN numbers to Free World Dialup numbers in the not-very-distant past). But anyway, here's the press release. Should you decide to download their software, please make sure to take all the usual precautions to make sure that nothing is being installed on your system other than what you really want (it's a sad commentary on the Internet that you have to be careful about downloading free software, for fear of what might be riding along with it -- I hope nothing bad in this case, but I have not actually personally attempted to install or use this software. If you do, a review would be appreciated). http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=68224 The World's First Free Telephone Service Launches: StanaPhone Communications Unveils Easy-to-Use StanaPhone Using Voice Over IP Technology, StanaPhone Turns Any PC Into a Telephone NEW YORK CITY, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 06/04/2004 -- StanaPhone Communications today announced the launch of StanaPhone, the world's first free telephone service. StanaPhone uses Voice over IP (VoIP) technology, and works with standard personal computers running Windows 98, 2000 or XP coupled with a PC headset. Perfect for small businesses and consumers, StanaPhone requires no monthly fee or set up charges. Simple to activate, users can visit www.stanaphone.com to download the StanaPhone software and sign up for their free telephone number. By adding a standard PC headset that can be purchased at almost any consumer electronics store to their PC, users can make and receive free telephone calls to and from any phone number in the United States, Canada and a selection of other countries. StanaPhone's advancements in VoIP applications have enabled the Company to provide the same or better sound quality than a "land-lines" like a normal household phone. Michael Choupak, CEO of StanaPhone Communications, said, "Years ago, there were legitimate concerns about the sound quality of VoIP. Now, technologies are maturing to the point that industry analysts are predicting that up to 44 percent of the world's corporate telephone traffic may be IP-based by 2008. StanaPhone is already ahead of that curve, having worked extensively with some of the world's leading acoustic experts to ensure high-quality voice communications. Plus, unlike other VoIP services such as Vonage and Packet8, the convenience and flexibility of StanaPhone is free." Similar to popular e-mail accounts, such as Hotmail, subscribers who activate a StanaPhone telephone number can keep it as long as they use it regularly. If the number is idle (no calls made for 45 days), the number will expire and the account terminated. StanaPhone subscribers receive 100 free minutes of outgoing calls to regular and mobile telephone numbers per 30-days (each month). Other calls to and from StanaPhone are unlimited. StanaPhone's Account Manager feature enables users to view their account information online 24/7 and see how many calls have been made and the corresponding details. Choupak shared, "Because StanaPhone can be used on any PC, it's a great solution for everyone. A person visiting an Internet cafe anywhere in the world can log into his or her StanaPhone account and make calls. College students who want to phone home without incurring expensive long distance charges or having the hassle of carrying a telephone credit card can use StanaPhone. Home office workers can establish a dedicated telephone number through StanaPhone, enabling them to keep their home telephone line separate and private." Visit www.stanaphone.com and follow the simple software download instructions to activate StanaPhone. For additional information, please e-mail info@stanaphone.com. Note to editors: Trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners. MEDIA CONTACT: Jeanne Achille The Devon Group for StanaPhone 32-542-2000, ext. 11 jeanne@devonpr.com How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: sitekeeper@intersyncsolutions.com (sitekeeper) Subject: QOS Tutorials - Free Access to Learn QOS Date: 5 Jun 2004 03:58:30 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi All, We just put up a new tutorial site for QOS and VOIP. For QOS -- http://www.intersyncsolutions.com/pages/2/index.htm For VOIP -- http://www.intersyncsolutions.com/pages/1/index.htm For businesses and professionals who want to know more! Links, news, whitepapers, tutorials updated daily -- fresh content. Check it out & Tell and Friend! :-) ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Date: 4 Jun 2004 19:14:23 -0700 Organization: Newsguy News Service [http://newsguy.com] In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Lisa Hancock: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We had two cafeteria/buffet places here > in town for many years, a local place called 'Down Home' and another > place called 'Sirloin Stockade' which is now gone. PAT] I believe Sirloin Stockade is (was) a chain. I remember there being one across from my hotel when I was workign out of town about 6 years ago. If I recall correctly it was in Sioux City, Iowa. I often eat at an Old Country Buffet in Waterloo, Iowa. Not bad food, not cheap, but not too bad, my kids are young enough that they can eat for a buck or so, which helps. I don't think it costs us much more for four people to eat there than it does at Wendy's, and we get a lot better food (not that Wendy's is bad food, I quite like it). I guess I've drug this off topic a bit. ------------------------------ From: panoptes@iquest.net (Daniel W. Johnson) Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Date: 4 Jun 2004 21:10:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote in message news:: > There are some modern chains of cafeterias. We have one called "Old > Country Buffet". The difference is that it's strictly pay in advance, > not cheap, and all-you-can-eat. They're not bad. > I miss the ability to select whatever I'm in the mood for, be it a > single side vegatable or a big dinner. Cafeterias allowed completely > free choice and I liked that. We have some "Old Country Buffet" locations around Indianapolis. I'm not sure I'd call it a cafeteria, though. What you seem to want is more like a chain called "MCL Cafeteria", but Springfield, IL seems to be their only location west of Indiana. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Jun 2004 23:27:41 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I'm not sure if "nationalized" is the right word for this. While the > government told the Bell System what it's service and sales priorities > were to be, as it did most industries, it did not actually take over > management or ownership. The government took over railroads in WW I > and realized that was a mistake, it left business in private hands > during WW II, under strict (and very complex and confusing) > regulations. They nationalized the phone system in WW I, which was definitely a mistake, since what it meant in practice was that they turned around and subcontracted its operation back to Bell, but now the government was on the hook to pay all the bills. 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: jim evans Subject: Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 19:00:12 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 09:58:39 -0500, jim evans wrote: > On my cell phone the only information I get about the caller is their > phone number. Is there a way to tell which numbers are pay phone > numbers. That is, callers who are calling from pay phones. > jim > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most cell phones are a lot like one of > my older caller-ID units, with just enough space or memory or what > have you to allow a single line with a number, nothing more. On one > of my newer units (a cordless phone fron Uniden with caller ID built > into the handset) I get the whole story; the number and some attempt > at the name, or 'wireless caller', etc. I think all you can do is > attempt to correlate the data you recieve with a cross reference > directory from the net or elsewhere. Any other ideas, anyone? PAT] Seems like I read a long time ago that pay phone numbers has some unique characteristic. jim [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Frequently yes, but not always. In many communities pay phones had suffixes beginning with '9' as in xxx-9xxx. Or sometimes '8'. But that was not always the case. With older phones which have been around for many years that is still generally the case, but how does one know if EXChange-9503 is an older line or not with those characteristics. And someone here recently mentioned having a home phone years ago of the xxx-9xxx variety and frequently being questioned by an operator about whether or not it was a pay phone. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Just Like High-Definition TV, but With Higher Definition Date: 5 Jun 2004 01:24:16 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Phil Earnhardt wrote: > The numbers are way overkill for a home system. OTOH, this system > could hold promise for commercial cinemas. Hollywood should embrace > systems that deliver stunningly higher performance in theaters than > people can see at home. At this point in time (and IMHO), the DLP > system has failed to deliver on its promise. It's not the DLP technology that's at fault, it's the implementation. TI's DLP system scales easily, and requires nothing more than a few chips and lenses to achieve whatever resolution they want. The technology itself is quite elegant. If the theatre systems are only showing 2K pixels across, it's because that's how they designed the system and created the digital material. DLP would scale to whatever resolution they wanted. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 21:33:55 -0400 From: ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu Subject: Correction to URL I referred here a couple days ago to an article in the Village Voice I found interesting regards President Bush's foreign policy toward Israel and America. But I neglected to give the URL for people who wished to read about 'Jesus Landing Pad'. It is: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0420/perlstein.php ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 12:18:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.20: Don't Let Congress Take Away Your Rights EFFector Vol. 17, No. 20 June 4, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 292nd Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert: Don't Let Congress Take Away Your Rights - Demand PATRIOT Review! * Activism Update: National, State Victories Abound * Maryland Election Officials Under Fire From Voters: EFF Files Brief in Case Challenging the Use of Insecure Diebold E-Voting Machines * MiniLinks (12): Why Google Should Be Good on Privacy * Staff Calendar: 06.06.04 - Ren Bucholz speaks at Planet Interactive, San Francisco, CA; 06.10.04 - 06.13.04 - Lawrence Lessig and Wendy Seltzer speak at "Wizards of OS 3: The Future of the Digital Commons," Berlin, Germany * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/20.php ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 12:49:00 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam By John Leyden Four-fifths of spam now emanates from computers contaminated with Trojan horse infections, according to a study by network management firm Sandvine out this week. Trojans and worms with backdoor components such as Migmaf and SoBig have turned infected Windows PCs into drones in vast networks of compromised zombie PCs. Sandvine reckons junk mails created and routed by "spam Trojans" are clogging ISP mail servers, forcing unplanned network upgrades and stoking antagonism between large and small ISPs. Using its own technology, Sandvine was able to identify subscribers bypassing their home mail servers and contacting many mail servers within a short period of time -- a sure sign of spam Trojan activity -- over sustained periods. It also looked at SMTP error messages returned, which helps to clarify the total volume of spam within the service provider network. "After comparing those data points with the total volume of legitimate messages passing through the service provider's mail system, we are able to arrive at our percentage of 80 per cent," explained Sandvine spokesman Mark De Wolf. Sandvine's analysis, cross referenced with data from SORBS, to determine what IP space is assigned to residential subscriber pools of global service providers, shows most spam now originating from residential broadband networks. http://www.theregister.com/2004/06/04/trojan_spam_study/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 13:04:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Intellectual Property: Economic Arrangements Among Small Excerpt from Recent GAO Reports and Testimony Intellectual Property: Economic Arrangements Among Small Webcasters and Their Effect on Royalties. GAO-04-700, June 1. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-700 Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04700high.pdf Abstract The emergence of webcasting as a means of transmitting audio and video content over the Internet has led to concerns about copyright protection and the payment of royalties to those who own the recording copyrights. Arriving at an acceptable rate for calculating royalties has been particularly challenging. Under the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002, small commercial webcasters reached an agreement with copyright owners that included the option of paying royalties for the period of October 28, 1998, to December 31, 2004, on the basis of a percentage of their revenues, expenses, a combination of both, or a minimum fee rather than paying the royalty rates set by the Librarian of Congress. During debate on the act, copyright owners raised concerns that small webcasters might have arrangements with other parties, such as advertisers, that could produce revenues or expenses that might not be included in their royalty calculations. In this context, the Congress mandated that GAO, in consultation with the Register of Copyrights, prepare a report on the (1) economic arrangements between small webcasters and third parties and (2) effect of those arrangements on the royalties that small webcasters might owe copyright owners. Small webcasters have a variety of economic arrangements with third parties, the most common being agreements with bandwidth providers and advertisers. Almost all of the webcasters that we interviewed reported arrangements with bandwidth providers, and many reported arrangements with advertisers. Less commonly reported arrangements included those with merchandise suppliers and companies that help small webcasters manage or obtain advertising for their Web sites, such as by inserting ads on the Web site or into the webcast itself or selling advertising based on the aggregate audiences of multiple webcasters. Third-party economic arrangements have had a minimal effect to date on royalties owed by small webcasters to copyright owners. Of the 27 small webcasters we interviewed that had agreed to the terms of the small webcaster agreement and provided us with financial data, 19 reported revenue and expense estimates below the levels that would result in royalty payments greater than the minimum fee. We found limited evidence to suggest that small webcasters may not be reporting revenues and expenses as required by the small webcaster agreement. Specifically, 2 of the 13 small webcasters who reported receiving free or reduced-price items did not report the value of these items as revenue for calculating royalties. However, the data we obtained in our survey may not reflect conditions that could develop as the webcasting industry matures. According to industry analysts, revenues of small webcasters are likely to increase as they attract more listeners and advertisers rely more on the Internet to reach customers. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04700.pdf ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Your Radio Is Calling Date: 5 Jun 2004 11:23:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Arik Hesseldahl, 06.04.04, Forbes.com NEW YORK - Before the iPod, even before the Walkman personal stereo and the portable boom box, the transistor radio was one of the great electronic status symbols of young consumers. If you're of a certain age, you'll remember how the counterparts to today's owners of Apple Computer's. iPod music players could be picked out by the pocket-sized electronic box they held up to their ear. The first transistor radio was produced in 1954 through a joint venture between Texas Instruments and a company known as Industrial Development Engineering Associates. But a little Japanese maker called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo made it a cultural phenomenon. That company later changed its name to Sony . Aside from MP3 players, the mobile phone is probably the closest cultural equivalent to the transistor radios of old. A visit to any suburban mall on a Saturday afternoon proves that. Teenagers gab on their phones endlessly and are never caught without them. That's a point not lost on Nokia the world's largest maker of mobile phones. One often overlooked feature on several Nokia phones is the ability to receive FM radio signals, many of the company's phones have been equipped to receive FM radio signals. Nokia reckons that 77% its customers who use the simple radio feature tend to use it about once a week, and consider it important. Now the company wants to make the mobile phone the preferred way of listening to the radio and accessing related content. http://www.forbes.com/wireless/2004/06/04/cx_ah_0604radio.html Eric Friedebach /VoIP: prank calls to ex-girlfriends has never been cheaper/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Eric's comments about the first transistorized pocket radios reminds me of the one I had while in high school, 1956 or so. They only had AM signals of course, and you had to put this plug in your ear which looked like a hearing aid. People who did not know me, and some who did, would see me walking around with that plug in my ear, and say "Oh how unfortunate that at your young age you have to use a hearing aid. Are you mostly deaf or just a little bit 'hard of hearing'? PAT] ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #277 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jun 7 01:25:57 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i575PuQ22470; Mon, 7 Jun 2004 01:25:57 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 01:25:57 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406070525.i575PuQ22470@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 #278 TELECOM Digest Mon, 7 Jun 2004 01:26:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 278 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Web-Linked Cameras Let Parents Play Big Brother (Monty Solomon) TI Stands by Digital Cinema Strategy, Despite Sony (Monty Solomon) Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Monty Solomon) Whose Data Is It, Anyway? (Monty Solomon) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Jim Haynes) Re: Your Radio Is Calling (Eric Friedebach) Re: Your Radio Is Calling (Joseph) Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? (Henry) Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? (J Kelly) Re: Ringing Multiple Devices (was Re: Bye, Bye Ma Bell) (Daniel Rosenzweig) Public Copy Cost Unchanged (Lisa Hancock) Re: Spam and Virii Continue Unabated, Getting Worse, IMO (Rob Warnock) Free IP PBX Tutorial (ShaperSifter) Last Laugh! Funny Ebay Listing - Guy Trying to Buy a Green Card (Elly) 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: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 23:55:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Web-Linked Cameras Let Parents Play Big Brother By Doug Young TAIPEI, June 6 (Reuters) - Big Brother is getting a whole lot of little siblings. New surveillance cameras allow anyone with a broadband Internet connection to keep a 24-hour watch on nearly anything from anywhere. Want to monitor your house from the office? Connect one of the cameras to an Ethernet or wireless computer network at home, then navigate your browser to a Web site linked to an Internet address assigned to the camera. These Internet protocol (IP) cameras, made by companies including Cisco Systems Inc's (NASDAQ:CSCO) Linksys unit and Sweden's Axis Communications (SWED:AXIS), function as stand-alone servers that stream video over the Web. In Europe alone, IP cameras are expected to account for about 20 percent of a surveillance market forecast to be worth 376.5 million euros ($460 million) in annual sales by 2008, up from less than five percent today, according to IMS Research. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41810887 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 00:01:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TI Stands by Digital Cinema Strategy, Despite Sony LOS ANGELES, June 4 (Reuters) - Semiconductor maker Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN) will stick with its current strategies for making and selling microchips used for digital projection even as it faces new competition from Sony Corp. (TOKYO:6758), a top executive said on Friday. Texas Instruments was in Hollywood this week to show film industry executives, reporters and cinematographers a projection system it calls "DLP Cinema" that is based on a TI "2K" microchip. The Dallas-based company's presentation follows by one day a similar demonstration by Sony Electronics in which it showed a new Sony projector using its own "4K" chip it claims offers picture resolution and contrast superior to 2K technology. Sony's projectors are a new entry in the still-developing market for digital projection -- also known as digital cinema -- that has been dominated by Texas Instruments since its inception in the late 1990s. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41803063 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 01:00:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know By MARK GLASSMAN A NEW service promises to pull back the curtain on anyone hiding behind the common white lie "I never got your e-mail." Users of the service, DidTheyReadIt (didtheyreadit.com), can clandestinely track when and where their e-mail is read. The service, which has already drawn complaints from privacy advocates, offers a new and quiet way to harvest behavioral information about friends, colleagues and potential consumers. "There's a type of covert surveillance here," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit privacy advocacy group. "Just from a technology viewpoint, it's basically an evil service." E-mail programs like Eudora and Outlook have long offered an optional return-receipt feature, which prompts the recipient of a message to inform the sender that they have opened the message, and another service, Msgtag (www.msgtag.com), notifies users by e-mail when their outgoing messages have been opened. But DidTheyReadIt is the first such service to keep itself a secret from the recipient, as well as the first to report on where the message was read. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03spyy.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 02:05:00 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Whose Data Is It, Anyway? By JEFFREY SELINGO WHEN Tomm Purnell's uncle, Keith Cochran, died last year, Mr. Purnell's mother received two of Mr. Cochran's computers. One of them, a laptop, is password-protected, and even though Mr. Purnell considers himself somewhat of a computer geek, "the really obvious passwords," he said, like the names of Mr. Cochran's cats and combinations of his Social Security number, have failed. "I guess he assumed that whoever came in would figure it out," said Mr. Purnell, a physics student at Colorado State University. "I have no clue what's on there, but I'd like to find out." While terminally ill, Mr. Cochran, a programmer, left a full list of passwords for his work files with his employer, Mr. Purnell said. But he failed to do the same thing with the personal files, so they are now inaccessible. With home computers largely replacing filing cabinets as the secure storage place for financial records, tax returns and even sentimental pictures, the problem confronting Mr. Purnell may become more common. Since most people do not leave a list of passwords before they die, their relatives and lawyers must often figure out how to break into the computer themselves or hire someone to do it. Mr. Purnell said he intended to keep trying to unlock his uncle's laptop. But for some survivors, the effort of gaining access to a loved one's data is not worth the time. In many cases, they simply erase the hard drive and get rid of the computer without ever knowing what was on it. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03data.html ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Sat, 05 Jun 2004 19:24:28 GMT Teletype had several in-plant cafeterias. The food was good - the top executives ate there. Seems like I heard there was a competition among the various Western Electric operations, Teletype included, for the quality of the in-house cafeteria food. Teletype kept the R&D cafeteria open all morning. Some people would grab breakfast or coffee and a doughnut before the work day began; and then the various engineering groups would normally head to the cafeteria for midmorning coffee break. This had a marvelous effect on communication: if some engineer had discovered something interesting it would get handed around by word-of-mouth as the groups interacted during coffee breaks, and soon every engineer in the company would be aware of it. Another company I worked for had vending machines for coffee and sodas and kept the engineers in cubicles of three or four people each. There was almost no informal communication among the engineers, and the company suffered for it. So if I were a management consultant I would tell companies they must do something to get the technical staff out of their cubicles and mingling with one another. Delivering goodies to their cubicles is the worst thing you can do; put the goodies in a central place so they will have to get up and go to them and mingle with others while they are there. -- jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Re: Your Radio Is Calling Date: 5 Jun 2004 17:52:34 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com In TELECOM Digest V23 #277 TELECOM Digest Editor noted in reponse to an article I had contributed: [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Eric's comments about the first transistorized pocket radios reminds me of the one I had while in high school, 1956 or so. They only had AM signals of course, and you had to put this plug in your ear which looked like a hearing aid. People who did not know me, and some who did, would see me walking around with that plug in my ear, and say "Oh how unfortunate that at your young age you have to use a hearing aid. Are you mostly deaf or just a little bit 'hard of hearing'? PAT] Pat, just to clarify, the coments should be attributed to Arik Hesseldahl, the Forbes writer, not Eric (me). Also, I wonder what your response was to those who thought you were wearing a hearing aid? Me, being a smart-ass, would have said "Huh? Wadja say?". This brings to mind my little trick when I find myself in a large city that looks the other way at panhandling. Wear Walkman-style earphones. Just stick the plug in your front pocket if you don't have a radio. It works. Well, most of the time. One time a guy started following me around, yelling "Ten! Twenty! Fifty!". I don't think he meant cents, either. Eric Friedebach /VoIP: prank calls to ex-girlfriends has never been cheaper/ ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Your Radio Is Calling Date: Sat, 05 Jun 2004 18:27:05 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 5 Jun 2004 11:23:00 -0700, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Eric F: > People who did not know me, and some who did, would see me walking > around with that plug in my ear, and say "Oh how unfortunate that > at your young age you have to use a hearing aid. Are you mostly deaf > or just a little bit 'hard of hearing'? PAT I get that as an updated phenomenon. My mobile phone has Blue Tooth wireless handsfree. When I'm wearing the Bluetooth unit people ask me if I have a hearing aid! remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Sat, 05 Jun 2004 23:21:55 GMT Monty Solomon posted on that vast internet thingie: > Four-fifths of spam now emanates from computers contaminated with > Trojan horse infections, according to a study by network management > firm Sandvine out this week. Trojans and worms with backdoor > components such as Migmaf and SoBig have turned infected Windows PCs > into drones in vast networks of compromised zombie PCs. Spammers certainly are resourceful. I believe that it will never clean up until the ISPs who enable the foreign spam sites are held responsible for that which they enable. Most spam now points to a foreign website. All of these foreign websites have a US ISP who is enabling connectivity. You want to fix spam? Hold the ISPs like att.net, level3.net, gblx.net, and savvis.net and sprintlink.net etc responsible. Then when the foreign ISPs discover that their link to the USA has been cut, watch how fast they crack down on the spam websites. If there was a city in North Dakota where the ISP was enabling spam websites they would be cut in a New York minute, but if the spam site is in China or Russia or Brazil they somehow have immunity. Deal with the ISPs who are giving the foreign ISPs immunity and watch how fast they clean up their act. Why give foreign ISPs "carte blanche" to host spam sites that we would not allow domestic ISP. Hold the US ISPs responsible for what they are enabling and importing! Hold US ISPs RESPONSIBLE for that which they enable and import into the USA! Oh! Oh! but that would interfere with the internet!!! Hey, Not as much as spam and viruses are interfering with the internet!! Yes, when a spam site pops up in China, CUT CHINA!!! Yes, when a spam site pops up in Russia, CUT RUSSIA!! Watch how fast they clean up their act (and hey, maybe some spammer fingers will hit the ground as well)! Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Steve, how do you 'hold AT&T responsible' for anything they do? Ditto with Sprint? Wouldn't dealing with the innocent bystanders punished as a result be more of a hassle than dealing with the spam a few others generate? You know there would be a jillion letters daily from people wanting to know why *their* email had not gotten through. You rather deal with all that instead of the jillion pieces of spam you get instead? I mean, you know AT&T nor Sprint would ever give any sort of straight answer to *their subscribers* about what was going on. Are you in a position to drop a large number of emailers out of the loop? Essentially AT&T and Sprint would just wind up rebuilding the net and dropping *you and me* out of it. They are never going to compromise on anything. PAT] ------------------------------ From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry) Subject: Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 11:06:59 +0300 Organization: Elisa Internet customer > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > And someone here recently mentioned having > a home phone years ago of the xxx-9xxx variety and frequently being > questioned by an operator about whether or not it was a pay phone. PAT] I can add a sort-of 'me too' to this. My parents' phone number was xxx-9xxx. One day when my car broke down I had to call them collect from a payphone. I gave the operator the details and she asked me to wait. Then I heard her key in some code and I heard the robot voice come back and tell her "not coin". I think this must have been in the '70s some time, in Wisconsin. Cheers, Henry ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 17:50:00 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 19:00:12 -0500, jim evans wrote: > On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 09:58:39 -0500, jim evans > wrote: > On my cell phone the only information I get about the caller is > their phone number. Is there a way to tell which numbers are pay > phone numbers. That is, callers who are calling from pay phones. > jim > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most cell phones are a lot like one > of my older caller-ID units, with just enough space or memory or > what have you to allow a single line with a number, nothing > more. On one of my newer units (a cordless phone fron Uniden with > caller ID built into the handset) I get the whole story; the > number and some attempt at the name, or 'wireless caller', etc. I > think all you can do is attempt to correlate the data you recieve > with a cross reference directory from the net or elsewhere. Any > other ideas, anyone? PAT] > Seems like I read a long time ago that > pay phone numbers has some unique characteristic. > jim > TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Frequently yes, but not always. In > many communities pay phones had suffixes beginning with '9' as in > xxx-9xxx. Or sometimes '8'. But that was not always the case. With > older phones which have been around for many years that is still > generally the case, but how does one know if EXChange-9503 is an > older line or not with those characteristics. And someone here > recently mentioned having a home phone years ago of the xxx-9xxx > variety and frequently being questioned by an operator about > whether or not it was a pay phone. PAT] My home number is a xxx-9xxx number. That number was assigned to me about 7 years ago (actually three sequential numbers in that block as at that time I had a modem and fax line coming in). Never had anyone wonder if it was a payphone before, but it does occure to me that most payphone numbers I have seen start with 9, usually 99xx. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well years ago at least, Illinois Bell reserved the 99xx series for their own internal use such as 9900 was the business office (in each exchange), 9904 was the directory assistance supervisors private line, 9905 was the Group Chief Operator's private line, etc. 9915 and 9916 were the infamous loop arounds guys would use to avoid toll whenever possible. They were supposed to be for repair technicians working outside their territory to be able to reach the 'proper' 611 clerk. (611 went to various trouble desk clerks in various central offices.) To get the 611 the tech wanted, he would use a phone in the 'proper' exchange. Dialing EXChange 9915 would take 9916 off hook and re-dial 611. Then some smart aleck discovered that in the three or four seconds of dial tone in his ear before the extender kicked in and dialed 611 he instead could dial whatever he wanted. Quick fingers could easily punch out seven or ten digits before the auto-dialer on the extender would kick in and dial its 611 in vain to equipment which at that point was no longer listening. He would get his call instead of the 611 repair clerk getting an extended call from a technician. Same smart aleck failed to remember that the telephone company issues bills to itself on its own internal lines and that someone, somewhere has to review those bills and okay them internally for write off or whatever telephone company does with its own bills. Two or three months after this scam got underway, some underpaid flunky working out of the central office who had never before in his lifetime ever seen a single charge on the 9916 line (since it theoretically was only dialing 611 when a call to 9915 triggered it) suddenly started seeing mountains of calls to numbers around the world at high prices (please remember AT&T did not have any 'plans' in those days) originating on 9916. Since the flunky did not intend to take the blame for 'his people' making those calls in their idle time, he decided to tap the line and see what it all about. Smart aleck got careless also and instead of limiting calls to radio station contest lines or pay phones or hotel switchboards or other places where a trace would lead no where he made a call to his *mother*, so that when the toll fraud investigator called and asked 'mother' do you remember who you spoke with at (date and time), 'mother' was more than happy to say, "oh, you are referring to my son; such a good boy and so smart with telephones." That's all the toll fraud investigator needed to hear, and as 'they' say, the jig was up. Smart aleck came home from work the next day to find the fraud investigator sitting on his front porch to tell him "We found out about the 9915/9916 gag, and tomorrow at this time, you're gonna get cut, and I for one don't care if you ever are able to get service again or not." Smart aleck had to hire a lawyer who was at least a wee bit smarter than he was to go file an appeal before the Illinois Commerce Commission. And because the Commission (in those days at least) was as corrupt as the rest of the Illinois Democratic Machine led by Mayor Daley, the lawyer had to take about a thousand dollars cash to 'spread around' the Commission. It was an expensive lesson for the Smart Aleck to learn, and took about ten days to get his phone service turned back on. Soon thereafter, telco did away completely with the 9915/9916 loop arounds. PAT] ------------------------------ From: danr_18@yahoo.com (Daniel Rosenzweig) Subject: Re: Ringing Multiple Devices (was Re: Bye, Bye Ma Bell) Date: 6 Jun 2004 16:14:49 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Yep -- I currently have Callvantage ring my home phone and cellphone at the same time ... when the phone rings and I pick it up, it tells you that you have received a callvantage call.. so you press the '1' key and the call goes through. The press of the '1' key is needed, to make sure that a person picked up at one of the locations, instead of an answering machine. Especially needed if you tell it to call each number one after the other. ... No more waiting around the house for an important phonecall ... (from someone who doesn't have your cellphone number ... or for someone you don't want to give your cellphone number ...) Hank Karl wrote in message news:: > On Tue, 25 May 2004 20:00:29 GMT, joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) > wrote: >>> VoIP services have to compete on features. For example, AT&T's >>> CallVantage offers a 9-way conference bridge, and the ability to have >>> a call ring up to five devices. Both of these features can be done on >>> a landline, but I don't know of any providers who offer the multiple >>> ring capability. >> Do you mean up to five different numbers ring at once, as in, say, >> your CallVantage line, a landline, and a cellphone? THAT would be a >> wonderful feature. > According to http://www.usa.att.com/callvantage/what/features.jsp, > (click on the "locate me" option) the numbers can ring at once or in > sequence (your choice). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Vonage does the same thing. A call coming into your Vonage line can ring another phone (such as your cell phone) at the same time. So if you do not want to give out your cell phone number, give out your Vonage number instead. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Date: 5 Jun 2004 19:01:15 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I was at the library and used the public copying machine. It was 10 cents a copy. I realized this price is the same since I was a kid, back when a payphone call was a dime. Bus fares, now $2.00 were 35 cents. One example of improved technology holding its costs down. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Or maybe the Library trustees have dictated the price is to be kept low, by subsidizing it a little. I do not think you can 'blame' it all on technology. After all, telco has had lots of technological improvements in that time, as have busses, but look at their prices now. Here in Independence, KS at our crown jewel Riverside Park and Zoo, the 500 acre zoo has a lot of very exotic animals and Monkey Island, where a couple dozen simians live (on land, surrounded by a body of water in relative comfort for a bunch of monkeys) in a 'castle'. The minature train which takes people around the park complex only costs fifty cents per ride, and the carousel only costs one nickle -- five cents -- to ride and that has been the price since sometime in the 1920's, when a very wealthy citizen gave an endowment of several million dollars to the City of Independence specifically to the Riverside Park and Zoo with the condition it would ALWAYS be free and that the carousel would ALWAYS cost five cents. The endowment was to make sure the gentleman ALWAYS got his way, until at least a hundred years after his death, which occured about 1930. There is also a minature golf course, a swimming pool, and a softball stadium, and a band concert shell (ala Hollywood Bowl). All free or for a few cents in the case of the train ride, the minature golf and the carousel. The entire story of this fascinating crown jewel is at http://www.forpaz.com (forpaz = Friends of Riverside Park and Zoo). Unfortunatly, Ralph Mitchell was also a high-ranking member of the KKK back in the 1920's, but that rather embarassing fact is pretty much ignored these days, seventy years after his death. Now days, we just enjoy his precious gift to the City of Independence, even the black people in our integrated community. When I was a little tyke five years old my mother would bring me on the Interurban from Coffeyville to see the monkeys and ride the carousel, for of course, five cents. PAT] ------------------------------ From: shapershifter@hotmail.com (ShaperShifter) Subject: Free IP PBX Tutorial -- Whitepaper, PDF's Tutorials Date: 6 Jun 2004 22:14:20 -0700 Hi All, A good IP PBX tutorial on: http://www.intersyncsolutions.com/pages/3/index.htm good articles on IP PBX, links and whitepapers... Enjoy! ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Spam and Virii Continue Unabated, Getting Worse, IMO Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 19:18:16 PDT From: rpw3@rpw3.org (Rob Warnock) Pat, Read your recent lament re increased spam volumes. Indeed, traffic seems to be *way* up. Something the RISKS Digest editor has done that might be helpful to you is to request that submitters include a specific uncommon string in their "Subject:" headers, e.g. "[tcomdgst]", which your moderation approval script could strip out (so it doesn't get exposed in the list. [Obviously, you'd need to use some circumlocution in announcing the magic string, too, for the same reason.] Yes, this is ugly, but Peter Neumann [RISKS moderator] reports that it has helped significantly. -Rob PS: Clearly you also need to lightly/quickly scan submissions *not* containing the magic string, just in case newbies don't know about it, but it should be acceptable for those articles to be somewhat delayed, and it should certainly speed up the whole process. Rob Warnock 627 26th Avenue San Mateo, CA 94403 (650)572-2607 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sounds like a good idea. I will give it some very serious thought. Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bighaaa@hotmail.com (Elly) Subject: Last Laugh! Funny Ebay Listing - Guy Trying to Buy a Green Card Date: 5 Jun 2004 15:31:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Made me laugh ... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=302&item=6300129594 Elly ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #278 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jun 7 19:07:22 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i57N7LJ03251; Mon, 7 Jun 2004 19:07:22 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 19:07:22 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406072307.i57N7LJ03251@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 #279 TELECOM Digest Mon, 7 Jun 2004 19:07:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 279 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #436, June 7, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) Tapping Telephone Lines - 1970s (Lisa Hancock) Primus Offering Residential and Business VOIP Service (John Bartley) Reagan and Deregulation - Observations (Lisa Hancock) Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell (Tom Lynn) Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? (Lisa Hancock) Re: E-911 Issues (Suresh Ramachandran) Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (John McHarry) Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged (Tony P.) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Tony P.) Re: Spam and Virii Continue Unabated, Getting Worse, IMO (John David Galt) AVT/Captaris Call Express Administrators (John Bartley) 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, 07 Jun 2004 15:43:22 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #436, June 7, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 436: June 7, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** MTS Completes Allstream Acquisition ** Nortel: No News for Now ** Jean Monty Named Chair of Emergis ** CRTC Releases Three-Year Plan ** Bell to Expand Service in Eastern Quebec ** ITU Calls Meeting on Spam ** ITU Telecom 2006 Moves to Hong Kong ** Rogers Offers "Ultra-Lite" Internet Access ** MCI Adds Business LD ** McCaw Plans Broadband Wireless in U.S. ** Former Symbol Execs Charged with Fraud ** Telehop Expands to Prairies ** What's Behind Telus's Bid for Fido ============================================================ MTS COMPLETES ALLSTREAM ACQUISITION: Manitoba Telecom Services completed its acquisition of Allstream on Friday. All Allstream shares have been exchanged for MTS shares and cash, and Allstream is being delisted from the TSX and NASDAQ. ** Earlier in the week, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed Bell Canada's application for an interim injunction blocking the deal. Bell then said it would seek a permanent injunction and "substantial damages" and told MTS that it will assert a claim for unjust enrichment and an accounting. ** Bell Canada is suing Allstream for $150 million, accusing the carrier of conspiracy and inducing MTS to breach its obligations to Bell. ** The Competition Bureau is reviewing the deal, but its investigation may take three years to complete. NORTEL -- NO NEWS FOR NOW: In a June 2 submission to the Ontario Securities Commission, Nortel Networks said "there is significant work yet to be done" in its financial restatement process, and that its 2003 and 1Q 2004 results will not be available this month. JEAN MONTY NAMED CHAIR OF EMERGIS: Out with the new, in with the old! Former BCE CEO Jean Monty has been named chairperson of BCE Emergis. He replaces current BCE CEO Michael Sabia, who recently sold BCE's 64% stake in the e-commerce company. CRTC RELEASES THREE-YEAR PLAN: The CRTC has posted its schedule of planned activities and proceedings for April 2004 through March 2007. Plans for 2005 include telecom policy proceedings on: ** Wireless number portability ** Regulatory symmetry ** Forbearance for local service ** Implementation of a regulatory framework for VoIP www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/BACKGRND/plan2004.htm BELL TO EXPAND SERVICE IN EASTERN QUEBEC: Starting in January 2005, Bell Canada will offer local, long distance, and Internet service to businesses in Rimouski, Beauce, Baie-Comeau, and other centres in Telus (former QuebecTel) territory in Eastern Quebec. ITU CALLS MEETING ON SPAM: The International Telecommunication Union will hold a meeting in Geneva, July 7-9, on measures to counter spam. The meeting is part of preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society. www.itu.int ITU TELECOM 2006 MOVES TO HONG KONG: In a sharp break with tradition, the International Telecommunications Union has decided to move its next flagship conference and exposition, Telecom World 2006, to Hong Kong. In hotly competitive bidding, Hong Kong proposed costs 30%-50% below those quoted by Geneva. Telecom 2003 had 911 exhibitors from 51 countries, and over 14,000 daily visitors. www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2004/14.html ROGERS OFFERS "ULTRA-LITE" INTERNET ACCESS: Rogers Cable now offers a 64 Kbps (upload or download) Internet service in Ontario and New Brunswick for $19.95 a month. (See Telecom Update #320) MCI ADDS BUSINESS LD: MCI Canada (formerly UUNet) has launched Voice Solutions, a suite of business long distance, toll-free, and calling-card services delivered over the phone network. McCAW PLANS BROADBAND WIRELESS IN U.S.: Clearwire, a U.S. company owned by Craig McCaw, plans to launch wireless broadband Internet service in Florida and Minnesota this summer. The network will use the same technology that the Inukshuk/Allstream/NR joint venture has been deploying in Canada. ** McCaw owns NextNet, the company that makes the technology, and he recently invested $50 million in Inukshuk's parent company, Microcell. FORMER SYMBOL EXECS CHARGED WITH FRAUD: Seven former executives of Symbol Technologies, including the CEO and CFO, face criminal charges alleging that they fraudulently inflated the company's reported revenues by $200 million between 1999 and 2002. Symbol itself faces a civil suit filed by the SEC. ** New York-based Symbol is the leading developer of wireless IP phones for 802.11 networks. TELEHOP EXPANDS TO PRAIRIES: Telehop Communications has extended its business and residential dial-around and direct-access long distance service to Manitoba and Saskatchewan. WHAT'S BEHIND TELUS'S BID FOR FIDO: Ian Angus says that by making a $1.1 billion takeover bid for Microcell, "Telus is trying to buy spectrum it may not be allowed to keep, infrastructure and staff it doesn't need, and low-spending customers who may not stay." But there's a rational explanation, and it's revealed in the June issue of Telemanagement, available to subscribers now. Also in this issue: ** Implementing enterprise mobile data applications ** Does Canadian telecom policy need an overhaul? ** VON Canada: Is VoIP really nearing the takeoff point? Every month, Telemanagement subscribers receive exclusive in-depth analysis on the most important issues in business telecommunications. Subscribe now at Angus TeleManagement Group's website. www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub-online.html. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2004 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) Subject: Tapping Telephone Lines - 1970s Date: 7 Jun 2004 10:37:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Someone was telling me that the 'authorities' (local or fed) were tapping their telephone line in the 1970s. One spouse was active in the civil rights movement. She claimed she knew this because her phone line was frequently noisy and there was a phone co truck often parked outside their apt. It is my understanding that if "they" wanted to tap your phone line, they knew what they were doing and you wouldn't hear a thing. I recall a visit to a phone co C.O. in the main dist frame there were numerous cords running to the ceiling spliced into leads. The guide explained they were "test leads" and that they were used to test a phone line. I was surprised there were so many. I also presumed they could be used for wiretapping. Basically, the authorities would order the phoneco to set up a tap on such-and-such a line, and the phoneco people would do it or permit it to be done. So, hearing clicks/wrong numbers on your phone doesn't mean at all your phone is tapped. As to the phoneco truck outside, I suspect they were patronizing the deli underneath her apt for lunch. I also suspect the noise/wrong numbers she had was from being served by an old center city electro-mech switch and cabling, I know such switches were far from error free in those days and strange things happened from time to time. ------------------------------ From: John Bartley Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 11:29:14 -0800 Subject: Primus Offering Residential and Business VOIP Service http://www.lingo.com shows a $20/mo unlimited VOIP plan for residential users, with free calling to US, Canada, Western Europe plus on-net users who are elsewhere. Startup cost is $50 for the VOIP adapter and freight. Voicemail, PSAP access for 911 calls and number portability are offered among the raft of other features. The basic plan is $15/mo for 500 minutes of use. Charges for calling to overseas mobiles are not included. Their servers gacked before I could confirm the list, but it might include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Vatican City -- sadly, no mention of Qwghlm or the Dutchy of Grand Fenwick. There's a $80/mo unlimited use plan covering more nations (adding Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico City, Guadalajara, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.) Their servers are hammered pretty heavily night now, since the announcement appeared in the Wall Street Journal (the Slashdot of the dead tree set) today. Anyone using this? It does not (yet) serve Oregon, so I can't try it. The service locations next door in Washington are limited to major cities. The three free month offer for new customers does look appealing. There's also a $25 referral bonus. John Bartley K7AAY http://kiloseven.blogspot.com ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) Subject: Reagan and Deregulation -- Observations Date: 7 Jun 2004 10:10:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Some telecom observations on Reagan's passing. In newscaster David Brinkley's last book, he describes Ronald Reagan as a president who changed the long held view that govt regulation is a good thing, and more govt would solve social ills. This attitude originated in the New Deal, and was expanded by Johnson's Great Society. Reagan changed it, despite the kicking and screaming of opposition. One area that was impacted was regulation of utilities. Now we have considerable deregulation. It must be noted that efforts started under Carter before Reagan came in, but he continued the effort full steam. One result was a radical change in how telephone service was provided. Instead of a single granted monopoly company doing owning all equipment and providing service point to point, we have customers owning their own equipment and various companies competing to provide service. I submit the Reagan Administration bears credit or blame for this. I have very mixed feelings about this. First off, it is wrong to generalize "deregulation is always good". For some industries yes, but others no. With the benefit of hindsight, a lot of deregulation hurt the economy rather than helping it. It seems almost everyone connected with telecom feels they and the customers are better off today than in the past. Looking at the trials and tribulations -- and my monthly phone bill -- I'm not sure that's true. For certain sophisticated users -- those who have the time and knowledge to CONSTANTLY shop for up-to-date deals and make changes accordingly -- they have done better. I think many of us have done worse because the companies take advantage of us. People forget that the cost of providing phone service was on a downhill slide before 1983, and costs would've continued to do go down while service quality and features went up. Critics of Ma Bell tried to paint it as a company locked into SxS and black rotary phones in 1983, but that's not true. As to other aspects of the economy, I think deregulation allowed abuses like Enron/Arthur Andersen, the Savings & Loan scandals (though blame Carter for that, the laws passed on his watch), and other Wall Street messes. We have forgetten the reason Congress passed laws to regulate Wall Street back in the 1930s, and dishonest people are doing the same tricks done in the 1920s. ------------------------------ From: Tom Lynn Subject: Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 08:51:27 -0700 Organization: . Reply-To: tl@blarg.net Pat, One item in the story is problematic. The Illinois state lottery began in 1974. I know because I was just a wee lad living in Skokie, IL. at the time and the whole idea was fascinating. Was there another lottery previously? Tom Lynn http://www.tomlynn.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The story was first told to me by Wally about 1986 or so long after he had retired. If you say the lottery started in Illinois in 1974, I will assume you are correct and that Wally got the date a little wrong. And truth be told, I cannot remember whether or not 'Illinois State Lottery' was in the first part of his account from 1968 or the second part of his account from around 1976. He mentioned the lottery in talking to me, I may have assumed it was a 1968 thing. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? Date: 7 Jun 2004 09:59:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com jim evans wrote: > On my cell phone the only information I get about the caller is their > phone number. Is there a way to tell which numbers are pay phone > numbers. That is, callers who are calling from pay phones. AFAIK there is no way to tell that an incoming call is from a payphone, or any other kind of phone. As mentioned, pay phone numbers used to begin with 9, but that is no guarantee. I've seen pay phones beginning with 8 and many regular numbers begin with 9 (those people had trouble with collect calls in the old days, as others mentioned). It also must be noted that the name associated with a pay phone could be anything. From experience, some pay phone names are descriptive, but others are cryptic. Some payphones on public transit property give the name of the carrier but others don't. I would suggest cell phone users be very careful to whom they give their number out. Like email addresses, sooner or later they'll end up in some sales solicitor's directory. The laws against doing so don't help that much*. (*A phone in a nursing home is not supposed to get any soliciting calls, but my mother's phone sure did, causing considerable disturbance. We ended up pulling the phone out altogether as a result. My mother was not in a position to make a detailed call record, nor I the time to chase down an offender; and the solicitors know that and take advantage of it.) ------------------------------ From: suresh_r@cashette.com (Suresh Ramachandran) Subject: Re: E-911 Issues Date: 7 Jun 2004 10:00:37 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi George, Its nice piece of article that you have drafted. On the outset I feel: 1)When the Voip service is being offered and when the user is in another country, why would he want to use 911, because in each country it could be different. a)so where would the call be routed to? b)will the VoiP gateway provider take the responsibility of rounting it to the appropriate the callfoward to the respective country? 3) PRANKS: there will be some people who might make a prank call to 911 if the location database is goofed up esp when the dialup ADSL service and the VoIpgate way service providers are faaaar apart. People who genuinely would require a help from the 911 service would get affected by few pranksetrs. Effectively, I know privacy is getting affected, but when you look at children/aged/handicapped people staying at home and using these numbers for an emergency, I think is very very improtant for their security and safety. I would require that since it could be my family. Regards, Suresh [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To answer your questions as best I can, speaking about Vonage, in (1) calls to 911 are just routed to dead air until/unless the subscriber *presmably an adult* dictates to Vonage how he wants the calls to be handled, i.e. to the PSAP of record in his community. Whether or not there are PSAP data bases for other countries, I do not know. I presume if there are, the subscriber could tell Vonage where '911' should be aliased to in his case. I do not think Vonage sells their service to people outside the USA/Canada. although they are certainly free to take their MTA box out of the country on a trip. I would be interested to find out how often that is done in practice. In (1-a) the call is routed to dead air until the subscriber notifies them otherwise, which is why a responsible adult treats a VOIP phone like any piece of equipment under his care. In (1-b) VOIP companies make no claim, and often times are quick to point out that their phone service *cannot* be used for emergencies. If you, the subscriber, do as requested, then the VOIP can be used in emergency calls. Regards (3), regardless of the location of your ISP (being used), your call is sent through a computer at the VOIP wherever it may be. If the PSAP database is 'screwed up' as you put it, that is something that is really beyond the control of the VOIP carrier. All you can do is submit detailed information when you first establish the service amd hope the carrier does the rest. But, if geo-locating equipment was built into the VOIP box, and if people took seriously the rule to *only use 911 in a dire emergency when immediate police intervention was required* then it shouldn't matter if the police came to you from Independence, KS or from New York or New Delhi, wherever you were located. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam Organization: BellSouth Internet Group Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 17:49:26 -0400 SELLCOM Tech support wrote: > Yes, when a spam site pops up in China, CUT CHINA!!! > Yes, when a spam site pops up in Russia, CUT RUSSIA!! It is a nice daydream, but it isn't just that it won't be done that way, it would be technically "very difficult". The Internet was designed to be self healing. True, it appears to hub and spoke out of the US at present, but there are all sorts of other paths. If an ISP's, or a country's path through the US is cut, its traffic will automatically reroute to whoever is still connected that has the best path. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 05:41:26 GMT In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > I was at the library and used the public copying machine. It was > 10 cents a copy. > I realized this price is the same since I was a kid, back when a > payphone call was a dime. Bus fares, now $2.00 were 35 cents. I believe it's much the same fee structure at Providence Public Library. But that is unique about PPL is they aren't a city library but a private organization funded by city, state, and foundation money. Busses on the other hand have jumped from an odd zoning system to a flat rate $1.25 for the regular commuter lines, while the Providence Link started out at .50 a ride in 1999 and is now $1.00 a ride. > One example of improved technology holding its costs down. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Or maybe the Library trustees have > dictated the price is to be kept low, by subsidizing it a little. I > do not think you can 'blame' it all on technology. After all, telco > has had lots of technological improvements in that time, as have > busses, but look at their prices now. In the case of busses, look at the price of fuel. The diesel bus was a cruel joke perpetrated on many cities in the United States. The replacement of electric trolleys with those diesel behemoths meant transit companies were on the hook for both fuel and other consumables like tires, etc. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Chicago Transit Atrocity -- err -- Authority was sold quite a bill of goods by Detroit auto makers when they switched from streetcars and electric trolley busses to motorized busses fifty years ago. They were told every reason in the world why street cars and electric trollies were less effecient than the good old deisel gas fume, belching busses they wound up with. Pretty soon, they started believing those stories themselves, and began passing them on to the inquiring public. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 05:49:45 GMT In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By MARK GLASSMAN > A NEW service promises to pull back the curtain on anyone hiding > behind the common white lie "I never got your e-mail." Users of the > service, DidTheyReadIt (didtheyreadit.com), can clandestinely track > when and where their e-mail is read. > The service, which has already drawn complaints from privacy > advocates, offers a new and quiet way to harvest behavioral > information about friends, colleagues and potential consumers. > "There's a type of covert surveillance here," said Marc Rotenberg, > president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit > privacy advocacy group. "Just from a technology viewpoint, it's > basically an evil service." > E-mail programs like Eudora and Outlook have long offered an optional > return-receipt feature, which prompts the recipient of a message to > inform the sender that they have opened the message, and another > service, Msgtag (www.msgtag.com), notifies users by e-mail when their > outgoing messages have been opened. But DidTheyReadIt is the first > such service to keep itself a secret from the recipient, as well as > the first to report on where the message was read. > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03spyy.html Easy enough to defeat. Just put a new rule on the firewall that doesn't let it get back. Who would have thought it, or prevent viewing HTML in Eudora or Outlook -- that can be done too. ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: Spam and Virii Continue Unabated, Getting Worse, IMO Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 22:50:47 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society Rob Warnock wrote: > Read your recent lament re increased spam volumes. Indeed, traffic > seems to be *way* up. Something the RISKS Digest editor has done that > might be helpful to you is to request that submitters include a > specific uncommon string in their "Subject:" headers, > e.g. "[tcomdgst]", which your moderation approval script could strip > out (so it doesn't get exposed in the list. [Obviously, you'd need to > use some circumlocution in announcing the magic string, too, for the > same reason.] Better yet, require the string only the first time each person posts. soc.singles.moderated has used this method for years. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The problem with requiring things only the first time someone writes, are the spammers and virii writers who sit down and copy names out of the various Digests and then use *those names* to send the crap around. You have any idea how much spam and virii shows up here in my mail each day which (as an example) was sent by 'ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu'? Another good case is Monty Solomon. Some one or more s/v writers are doing a number on him right now. I get at least a dozen HUGE spams each day where the author attached Monty's name to it. And I suspect many of you have gotten s/v allegedly sent by me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Bartley Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 08:11:19 -0800 Subject: AVT/Captaris Call Express Administrators Folks who are using the Call Express automated attendant and voice mail system from Captaris (formerly AVT) are requested to contact me at johnbartley3 {at} yahoo {daht} com I'm trying to see if there's critical mass for a listserv, focused on informal self-support, for those folks not well served by their existing support structure. Thank you. John Bartley telecom admin USBC/DO Portland OR ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #279 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jun 7 20:54:59 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i580sxJ04326; Mon, 7 Jun 2004 20:54:59 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 20:54:59 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406080054.i580sxJ04326@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 #280 TELECOM Digest Mon, 7 Jun 2004 20:55:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 280 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Declan McCullagh: Why the FCC Should Die (VOIP News) Union Needs A Better Vision Of Telecom's Future (VOIP News) US Groups Lobby Over VoIP Regulation (VOIP News) Vonage CEO: States Will Hurt VoIP Start-Ups (VOIP News) Responses TO FCC Proceeding Clarify Battle Lines on VoIP (VOIP News) Enterprise Communications Association Urges FCC to Protect (VOIP News) Comcast Throws Its Weight Behind VoIP (VOIP News) Competing Against the Five Nines -- Supporting the VoIP (VOIP News) Frost & Sullivan Awards Voiceglo With Product Differentiation (VOIP News) PRIMUS Launches 'Lingo' High-Speed Internet Phone Service (VOIP News) Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged (Barry Margolin) Re: Just Like High-Definition TV, but With Higher Definition (Scott Dorsey) Detective Story: Information for Hire (Monty Solomon) Sonos Digital Music System (Monty Solomon) 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: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 13:08:17 -0400 Subject: Declan McCullagh: Why the FCC Should Die Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.com.com/Why+the+FCC+should+die/2010-1028_3-5226979.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news By Declan McCullagh It's time to abolish the Federal Communications Commission. The reason is simple. The venerable FCC, created in 1934, is no longer necessary. Its justification for existence was weak 70 years ago, but advances in technology since then have eliminated whatever arguments remained. Central planning didn't work for the Soviet Union, and it's not working for us. The FCC is now an agency that does more harm than good. Consider some examples of bureaucratic malfeasance that the FCC, with the complicity of the U.S. Congress, has committed. The FCC rejected long-distance telephone service competition in 1968, banned Americans from buying their own non-Bell telephones in 1956, dragged its feet in the 1970s when considering whether video telephones would be allowed and did not grant modern cellular telephone licenses until 1981--about four decades after Bell Labs invented the technology. Along the way, the FCC has preserved monopolistic practices that would have otherwise been illegal under antitrust law. These technologically backward decisions have cost Americans tens of billions of dollars. More recently, the FCC has experienced a string of embarrassing losses, when its grand telecommunications plans were repeatedly vetoed by the courts. A majority of the commissioners want to force local phone companies to pay government-mandated rates when long-distance providers like AT&T and MCI use their phone lines. A federal appeals court recently shot down that scheme and gave the Bush administration until June 15 to appeal to the Supreme Court. There's already talk about higher telephone bills becoming a campaign issue this fall. Meanwhile, the FCC is hard at work, trying to figure out how to muzzle Howard Stern and make a national example of Janet Jackson's right breast. Commissioners are planning how to order voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) companies to comply with arguably unlawful wiretapping requests from the FBI. There's already talk about higher telephone bills becoming a campaign issue this fall. In a sop to Hollywood, the FCC has decided that any device capable of receiving digital television signals must follow a complicated set of "broadcast flag" regulations. When those rules take effect in mid-2005, they will put some PC tuner card makers out of business. These signs warn of an agency that is overreaching. If the FCC had been in charge of overseeing the Internet, we'd likely be waiting for the Mosaic Web browser to receive preliminary approval from the Wireline Competition Bureau. Instead, the Internet has transformed from a research curiosity into a mainstay of the world's economy -- in less time than it took the FCC to approve the first cell phone licenses. Full story at: http://news.com.com/Why+the+FCC+should+die/2010-1028_3-5226979.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:46:55 -0400 Subject: Union Needs A Better Vision Of Telecom's Future Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.networkingpipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=21401342 Regulating VoIP won't save big telcos from having to move to an IP-based future. By Paul Kapustka When the Communications Workers of America union called for telecom regulations for Voice over IP earlier this week, it cited consumer protection as its motivating factor. But when you dig deeper into the issue, it's pretty clear who the union is really trying to protect -- big telco companies, who employ most of the union's members. It's an approach that is as short-sighted as it is predictable. And ultimately, it ignores the future -- and perhaps more jobs at better wages for its workers -- in favor of the status quo, a situation that is already getting worse by the day. With big telcos laying off people as fast as they can, CWA union members should be asking their leaders to support, not oppose, VoIP and other advanced IP services, since that is where the jobs of the future will be coming from. Full story at: http://www.networkingpipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=21401342 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:48:34 -0400 Subject: US Groups Lobby Over VoIP Regulation Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/03/us_voip_fcc/ By Tim Richardson An Internet telephony trade group has urged US authorities not to tie up the fledgling VoIP industry in red tape. The Voice on the Net (VON) coalition -- which includes AT&T, Intel, MCI, Microsoft and Skype among others -- has called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to apply traditional telephone regulations to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) warning that if it did, consumers would lose out. In a latest round of lobbying, VON urged the FCC to classify VoIP and other IP-enabled services as "unregulated information services" subject exclusively to federal jurisdiction. The FCC is currently looking at whether VoIP and other Internet enabled communications services should continue to be unregulated Internet services. VON believes policymakers should hold back from applying traditional telecom regulation that could stifle VoIP. Full story at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/03/us_voip_fcc/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:28:25 -0400 Subject: Vonage CEO: States Will Hurt VoIP Start-ups Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=7&releaseid=12300&magazinearticleid=199942&siteid=3 by Donny Jackson Telephony, Jun 7, 2004 State regulation could undermine efforts by new VoIP entrants to make business models work by wiping out venture capital funding in nascent providers, according to Jeffrey Citron, CEO of Vonage, currently the largest residential VoIP provider in the U.S. Speaking at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Citron said a recent decision by the New York State Public Utilities Commission declaring Vonage a telecom corporation proves that states will regulate VoIP providers unless prohibited by the FCC or Congress. New York made its ruling largely to ensure that the VoIP provider meets 911 standards. A federal court in Minnesota last year ruled that Vonage is an unregulated information service, but Citron said he does not want to fight such battles in all 50 states. While state litigation is costly, the Minnesota victory sparked $35 million in new funding for Vonage, Citron said. Such venture funding for other VoIP start-ups likely will disappear in the wake of the uncertainty created by the New York ruling, he said. Full story at: http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=7&releaseid=12300&magazinearticleid=199942&siteid=3 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:24:42 -0400 Subject: Responses to FCC Proceeding Clarify Battle Lines on VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=7&releaseid=12300&magazinearticleid=199941&siteid=3 by Donny Jackson Telephony, Jun 7, 2004 Comments filed with the FCC over the past several weeks in response to the commission's voice-over-IP rule-making clarified the lines of arguments various parties are expected to pursue vigorously before the FCC takes action sometime in the next year. Although the proceeding is designed to address all IP-enabled services, the focus of comments submitted clearly was on broadband-based VoIP, which is expected to hit a growth curve that hasn't been predicted for any technology since the dawn of DSL (see graphic). Almost all comments generally called for VoIP providers to be subject to light economic regulation but adhere to social policy goals such as universal service, E911 and surveillance access by law enforcement. But the manner in which these goals should be achieved differed significantly in comments, offering varying barriers of entry to newcomers. Full story at: http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=7&releaseid=12300&magazinearticleid=199941&siteid=3 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:13:10 -0400 Subject: Enterprise Communications Association Urges FCC to Protect Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-07-2004/0002188540&STORY&EDATE= Enterprise Communications Association Urges FCC to Protect Competition in VoIP Market by Ensuring Equal Access to ILEC Facilities WASHINGTON, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission on May 28, 2004, the Enterprise Communications Association (ECA) urged the FCC to minimize the potential for anticompetitive behavior in the market for voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and other Internet protocol (IP) services by requiring incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) to grant equal access to their broadband network facilities. ILECs remain the dominant providers of access facilities in most markets and represent a potential bottleneck to all potential VoIP competitors. Therefore, "if IP providers cannot obtain access to the network facilities needed to deliver services to their customers, all of the Commission's efforts to fashion a regulatory environment that otherwise encourages the development of IP services will be moot," ECA said. In a Notice for Proposed Rulemaking in the matter of IP-enabled services, the Commission is seeking comment on the appropriate regulatory scheme for VoIP and other IP services. ECA is the leading trade association promoting the growth of markets and effective sales channels for converged communications solutions deployed by enterprise businesses. ECA brings together a diverse membership base, including manufacturers, distributors, network service providers, sales channel companies, systems integrators, applications developers and consultants. ECA urged the FCC to require ILECs to adopt Comparably Efficient Interconnection plans for all IP-enabled services and disclose in a timely manner the network information that is relevant to the provision of IP-enabled services and the design of related equipment. To help customer premises equipment (CPE) manufacturers, channel partners and integrators that are driving innovation in IP-enabled services and applications to continue to flourish, ECA said the FCC should restrict the ability of ILECs to bundle the sale of CPE with their IP-enabled service offerings for a transition period. Finally, ECA recommended the FCC promote open systems principles for IP- enabled 911 solutions. ECA stated, "Because VoIP technology is just emerging from infancy, there is significant potential for the providers of local facilities to implement proprietary protocols, engage in preferential routing of 911 calls, or employ discriminatory data screening practices that favor their own VoIP systems and services over those of competitors. The potential for such preferential and discriminatory practices exists in VoIP communications generally; the consequences of such practices would be especially harmful -- not only to competition, but to the public safety, health and welfare -- if they are allowed to be pursued in the area of emergency communications." ABOUT ECA The Enterprise Communications Association (ECA) promotes the growth of healthy markets and effective sales channels for converged voice, video and data communications solutions deployed in the enterprise. ECA programs for executives and technical personnel map out how to profitably transform a voice or data distribution business to pursue convergence markets. For more information on ECA member service, visit the ECA web site at http://www.encomm.org. To view ECA's full comments before the FCC in the matter of IP-enabled services, visit http://www.encomm.org/fcc.htm. CONTACT: Mary Bradshaw Executive Director of the Enterprise Communications Association, +1-202-467-4868, or mary@encomm.org SOURCE Enterprise Communications Association Web Site: http://www.encomm.org ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 11:20:07 -0400 Subject: Comcast Throws Its Weight Behind VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.tvweek.com/technology/060704comcast.html Country's Biggest MSO to Begin Trials in Suburban Markets By Daisy Whitney When the big kid sits on the seesaw, all the weight teeters to that end. Such is Comcast's effect on the cable industry. The operator's formalization of its voice-over-Internet protocol plans late last month raises the questions of how VoIP fits into the cable fabric of the next three to five years, what Comcast's entrance means for the industry and what it means for consumers now that the country's biggest multiple system operator has bestowed its official blessing on VoIP. While Comcast's interest in VoIP was no secret, the operator had not outlined specific details of its plans until late May, when it said trials in suburban Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Springfield, Mass., would begin this year. The Philadelphia trial is an expansion of a test that began there in 2003. "We wanted to get through those trials and hone our provisioning, order-taking, installation, customer service functions," said Robert Smith, a Comcast spokesman. Comcast plans to announce an additional schedule of launches later this year as part of its plans to make 50 percent of its plant VoIP-ready by the end of this year and 90 percent ready by the end of next year. With Comcast's entrance, all the major cable operators are on board now, backing the new technology. Full story at: http://www.tvweek.com/technology/060704comcast.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:07:13 -0400 Subject: Competing Against the Five Nines -- Supporting the VoIP Experience Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.convergedigest.com/blueprint/ttp04/z3supportsoft1.asp?ID=138&ctgy=3 by James Morehead, Senior Director, Product Marketing SupportSoft Led by the North American cable companies (MSOs), VoIP telephony services are beginning to hit the mass market. In a May 2004 research report, Juniper Research claims that VoIP will account for over 12% of all telephony revenues by 2009, an indication that its revenue potential for providers is growing along with consumer desire for the service. Yet in order for VoIP to viably compete with traditional telephony services the good old telephone VoIP needs to ensure that it can stack up against the five nines of reliability that telephone users receive: they can count on their phone working for them 99.999% of the time. Service and support of the VoIP experience directly influences the widespread adoption among consumers and whether providers can profitably provide the service. With competitive pressures from carriers and satellite vendors, the MSOs have a significant revenue incentive to include telephony services as part of their strategy to lock-in customers with a triple play offering of digital video, broadband data and telephony. The MSOs are not alone, however. Knowing that their core access business is at stake, Telcos are also building VoIP offerings; some more quickly than others, such as AT&T with CallVantage. Their strategy is to provide a broader approach that is services rich to VoIP offerings than the MSOs and new entrants. New entrants such as Vonage are attempting to leverage the rapidly increasing growth of broadband Internet services by focusing on VoIP services, not the enabling network. The reason for all of these players to be aggressively pursuing this approach is that VoIP has a proven to be a cost advantage and can enable the rapid introduction of new value-added telephony services. However, critical to the long-term success of VoIP is not simply introducing a myriad of slick features or aggressive pricing, but rather the ability of the service provider to profitably manage the subscriber lifecycle. The VoIP provider will need to meet or exceed what has become the benchmark for voice telephony services, it is self-installable, auto-configured, and provides quality service at 99.999% reliability. Full story at: http://www.convergedigest.com/blueprint/ttp04/z3supportsoft1.asp?ID=138&ctgy=3 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 19:06:57 -0400 Subject: Frost & Sullivan Awards Voiceglo With Product Differentiation Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040607005950&newsLang=en Frost & Sullivan Awards Voiceglo with Product Differentiation Innovation Award for Global Leadership in Residential VoIP Services PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2004--Frost & Sullivan, a global leader in growth consulting, has selected Voiceglo (OTCBB:TGLO) for its 2004 Product Differentiation Innovation Award for outstanding achievement in the global Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) market in its recent analysis, "The North American Residential VoIP Market." Frost & Sullivan acknowledged Voiceglo's unique product innovation, the GloPhone (www.glophone.com), which has helped the company effectively compete in a highly commoditized market where most VoIP providers are lowering prices to gain market share. By offering cost-effective technology bundled with calling feature-enriched capabilities such as voice mail, call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, voice2email, buddy lists and many others, Voiceglo has successfully launched the Glophone, a VoIP offering unique within the industry. In a very short time, the Glophone has created high demand among consumers seeking a lower cost alternative to traditional phone service. Glophone is the ultimate hybrid service, providing global peer-to-peer VoIP calling, along with access to public switched telephone networks (PSTN), resulting in a very cost-effective phone service option. Moreover, while most other free or peer-to-peer services can be accessed only when both parties are online, the GloPhone makes it possible to place or receive calls from a landline or a cellular phone. Additionally, unlike other services that work only through high-speed broadband, Voiceglo's GloPhone also works with dial-up services. "Other services such as Skype and Free World Dialup, usually require the phone to be connected to a broadband interface, so the service is tied down to a physical connection," said Jon Arnold, VoIP Program Leader for Frost & Sullivan. "GloPhone, on the other hand, is a truly portable, Web-enabled browser service that can be accessed from any Internet-connected computer in the world." Another advantage of the GloPhone is that customers subscribing to the service are provided with a North American phone number. This is appealing to users from high tariff countries since international calls originating in North America receive very favorable caller rates. Also, calls made to North America are viewed as local calls. Voiceglo has also shown innovation with a very flexible range of payment options. As with other broadband VoIP providers, subscribers pay through the convenience of credit cards. However, Voiceglo does not require a North American billing address. Soon, the company will offer alternate payment methods such as PayPal, making their service available to those who do not use or have credit cards. The Frost & Sullivan award also recognizes the company's ability to cater to the economic capabilities of a wide range of end users. For example, GloPhone Blue, the most basic service offered, caters to customers who simply want to call other GloPhone customers worldwide for free. For mid-level users, Voiceglo offers the GloPhone Green and GloPhone Gold service plans, both notable for their cost efficiency, as users can make and receive calls in the U.S. and Canada for 3.9 cents per minute and can also utilize numerous bundled features. GloPhone Platinum is the most comprehensive of the offering and targets high-end users with unlimited service and a much wider range of features and services. GloPhone also supports numerous call management features that enable subscribers to handle their voice mail, initiate conferencing, forward calls to their landlines or cellular phones and locate other members in the online directory and buddy list. Voiceglo's Glophone service was introduced in mid-February 2004, but has made rapid gains in the VoIP market with a philosophy and business model that differentiates them radically from their competitors. It is the ultimate hybrid service, combining the allure of free, global peer-to-peer broadband or dial-up VoIP, along with PSTN access for very affordable calling to or from any conventional telephone or wireless phone, anywhere in the world. For its success in accelerating the global market growth of VoIP services through product differentiation, as well as affordability, and ease of use, Voiceglo has been selected as the recipient of the 2004 Frost & Sullivan Product Differentiation Innovation Award. Full story at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040607005950&newsLang=en ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 19:22:21 -0400 Subject: PRIMUS Launches 'Lingo' High-Speed Internet Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20040607005101&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view June 07, 2004 08:00 AM US Eastern Timezone MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2004-- "Lingo" Offers 3-Months Free, Unmatched $19.95 Monthly Rate For Unlimited Local and Long-Distance Calling in U.S., Plus Unlimited Calling to Canada and Western Europe Primus Telecommunications, Inc. ("PRIMUS") today eclipsed existing Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telecommunications companies in the United States by introducing "Lingo," a VOIP service that offers unmatched value and geographic coverage. Leveraging PRIMUS' global presence, and a VOIP network that reaches over 150 countries, the new Lingo service offers consumers free, unlimited calling to Western Europe - something no other broadband phone service provides. Lingo brings consumers with a broadband connection an alternative to their traditional U.S. telephone company -- at savings of up to 80 percent. Lingo is available free for a three-month period to consumers, and includes unlimited local and long-distance calling in the U.S., unlimited international calling to Canada and Western Europe, and over 25 popular calling features at no additional charge. Consumers can learn more about Lingo and sign up online for the service by visiting http://www.Lingo.com. The Lingo Offer After three-months free, the same Lingo service will cost $19.95 per month, and be offered on a month-to-month basis without extended contract requirements. The plan includes: -- Unlimited local and long-distance calls in the U.S., and unlimited international calls to Canada and Western Europe -- Very low rates to over 230 other top international locations -- The opportunity to keep your current phone number -- A free Lingo Analog Telephone Adapter ("ATA") -- Over 25 calling features at no charge -- Unlimited calls between Lingo customers "The Internet knows no geographical boundaries, so why should telephone services?" said John Melick, co-president of PRIMUS. "As a multi-national company, it is second nature for PRIMUS to provide quality, unlimited domestic and international calling opportunities at an inexpensive price. We are delighted to have Lingo customers join millions of residential and business customers served by the PRIMUS network here in the U.S., and around the globe." How It Works All that customers need for the Lingo high-speed Internet phone service is a broadband Internet connection -- either cable or digital subscriber line (DSL) -- an analog telephone adapter (ATA) provided by PRIMUS, and a standard telephone. Lingo customers may place calls and simultaneously use the same broadband connection with PCs and other devices. Other Lingo Calling Plans and Features Lingo offers a series of calling plans to meet the needs of residential and small/home-based businesses, ranging in price from $14.95 to $99.95 per month. All Lingo calling plans provide a variety of enhanced features at no additional charge, including: -- Online Web portal for customers to personalize their services, set features, and manage their account -- Do Not Disturb, Call Forwarding, Call Blocking, and Caller ID services -- Voicemail to email delivery -- "Distinctive Ring" tones for each number, so the customer may distinguish between one phone number and another -- "Simultaneous Ring," allowing important calls to be sent to several other telephone numbers at the same time (e.g., your cell phone) -- Emergency Calling Service -- Anonymous Call Rejection, Redial, *69 About PRIMUS PRIMUS is the principal U.S. subsidiary of Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated (Nasdaq:PRTL), a Fortune 1000(R) global telecommunications company with over $1.3 billion in annual revenue. Headquartered in McLean, VA, and founded in 1994, the company is among the largest international telecommunications concerns. PRIMUS owns and operates an extensive global network, including a VOIP "backbone" that reaches over 150 countries through 550 points-of-presence (POPs) throughout the world. The company offers voice, Internet, voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP), digital subscriber line (DSL), and other data services to corporate customers, small- and medium-sized businesses, residential customers, and other communications carriers located throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company first entered the VOIP market in 1999, and now carries more than one billion minutes of VOIP traffic. This year, Primus was the first communications company in Canada to roll out consumer broadband telephone services, and, in 2002, brought VOIP-based PC-to-phone service to the desktop through a partnership arrangement with Microsoft MSN(R) Messenger. Lingo is a trademark of PRIMUS. Microsoft Messenger and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. For more information about Lingo, visit: http://www.Lingo.com. Contacts PRIMUS Media & Industry Analyst Contact: Gerry A. Simone, 703-394-4519 gsimone@primustel.com or Investor Relations Contact: John F. DePodesta, 703-902-2800 IR@primustel.com Full press release at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20040607005101&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Organization: Looking for work Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 17:56:13 -0400 In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > I was at the library and used the public copying machine. It was > 10 cents a copy. > I realized this price is the same since I was a kid, back when a > payphone call was a dime. Bus fares, now $2.00 were 35 cents. I remember copying machines going up from a nickel to a dime when I was a kid, and I'm not yet eligible for Social Security. But I agree that it's remarkable that it has stayed the same for so long (around 30 years). Pat suggested that the towns may be subsidizing this, but lots of convenience stores, as well as chains like Staples and UPS Store, offer self-serve copying. I don't think they're still a dime, but they're not much more expensive either. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Just Like High-Definition TV, but With Higher Definition Date: 7 Jun 2004 18:55:23 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Phil Earnhardt wrote: > One comparison the reporter missed is to the Texas Instruments DLP > system for cinemas ( www.dlp.com ). This is the digital projection > system that George Lucas has been hyping and critics like Roger Ebert > have been panning. Movies like "Star Wars Episode 1", "Star Wars > Episode 2", and "Ice Age" were released on the DLP format. I was > thoroughly unimpressed with this projection technique; there were > lots of jaggies on the screen. AFAICT, the DLP system has a horizontal > resolution of 2K, which would give it about 3.5 million pixels/frame. > This is only marginally higher resolution than HDTV. This is substantially higher resolution than HDTV. Unfortunately, it's still not anywhere near enough resolution for theatre applications. What distresses me is not the poor resolution, though, but the poor grey scale. The total range of tones isn't really any better than conventional NTSC video, with very restricted shadows and highlights that blow out far too easily. It's nowhere near as good as I expect in a theatrical presentation. > The other comparison would be to the IMAX DMR technology. This system > takes a 35mm film and does a computation-intensive frame-by-frame > processing of the images to master a high-resolution release of the > movie onto IMAX film. The third "Harry Potter" film is being released > with this technology in about 50 IMAX theaters today. > The DMR processing can produce stunning results. One of the first > films to be re-released with this technology was "Apollo 13". If you > recall, there are several scenes prominently featuring a > black-and-white television in the middle of that film. The DMR image > of that television cabinet was absolutely stunning. Scenes with a > small depth-of-field have an amazing 3-D effect; they are sometimes so > dramatic that I'm guessing that the DMR processing allows the > technicians/artists doing to conversion to de-tune the effect. Frankly, the DMR stuff doesn't look any better than 35mm projection from a good EK print. Where it wins is that it can be much brighter (meaning it can be shown on a much larger screen and still get good shadow detail), and that the prints are comparatively easy to make. Making good prints directly off the camera negative is difficult and results in substantial wear to the original elements, so most prints in theatres are several generations down. Resolution in the original negative disappears after a couple generations of printer slip. The DMR prints make this much less of an issue because any number of internegs can be struck from the digital intermediate. Greyscale still isn't what it ought to be, though. > I have never heard estimates about the resolution of the DMR IMAX > films. In general, I think it's a vastly superior technology to the TI > DLP system. That's not saying all that much. >> Add to that UHDV's beefed-up refresh rate of 60 frames per second >> (twice that of conventional video), projected onto a 450-inch diagonal >> screen with more than 20 channels of audio, and you've got an >> impressive home theater on your hands. >> Of course, UHDV's current dimensions make it impractical for most >> homes. The NHK researchers are investigating how to squeeze all those >> pixels onto smaller screens. > The numbers are way overkill for a home system. OTOH, this system > could hold promise for commercial cinemas. Hollywood should embrace > systems that deliver stunningly higher performance in theaters than > people can see at home. At this point in time (and IMHO), the DLP > system has failed to deliver on its promise. I dunno, I run 35mm at home and even on a little 12 foot screen here, I can see _very_ clear differences between an archive EK print and a typical theatrical print. You can't have enough resolution or good enough grey scale for any application. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 02:46:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Detective Story: Information for Hire ONLINE SHOPPER By JAMES GORMAN IT was a hot day, but it was cold inside, cold as an unplugged computer at a San Jose server farm. I was at the keyboard, trying to find a telephone number for someone who worked in bioinformatics. Don't ask why. Then I saw them, lurking in the corner of the screen like a come-on for cheap pharmaceuticals or expensive credit cards or unclothed women, or unclothed men or, well, you know what I'm talking about. There are all those advertisements that you always wonder about but don't want to click on because you know that sooner or later the F.B.I. will vacuum data from every hard drive you ever used and tell the world that you were a regular visitor to the Victoria's Secret site but never bought a thing. Maybe because it was hot, or maybe because it was cold, or maybe because interviewing people about bioinformatics is not terrifically exciting, I figured I'd make an information buy, get some personal data on someone, just to pass the time. I wasn't going to start tracking down my old elementary school teachers, because they were nuns. You can't just plug Sister Kevin into a search engine and expect a whole lot. So I thought I'd pick someone better known, like, say, Brad Pitt. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03shop.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 18:45:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sonos Digital Music System Multi-Zone Digital Music System Renders the Traditional Black Stereo Rack Obsolete CARLSBAD, CALIF., June 7, 2004 - Digital music fans can now listen to rock in the garden, punk in the playroom and fusion in the bedroom, with the launch of the Sonos Digital Music System, which is previewing this week at the "D2: All Things Digital" conference in Carlsbad, Calif. The Sonos offering is the first and only multi-zone digital music system with a wireless, full-color LCD screen controller that lets consumers play all their digital music, all over their home, while controlling it all from the palm of their hand. The Sonos Digital Music System is comprised of two stylish components: the Sonos ZonePlayer, a networked audio player that distributes, plays and amplifies music in any "zone" in the home, and the Sonos Controller, a wireless handheld device with a full-color screen which allows the user to access, customize and control the music anywhere- from the bedroom to the backyard. The ZonePlayer delivers great sound in every room through a powerful and compact 50 Watts/channel amplifier with component-quality audio specifications. The ZonePlayer can access and play a wide variety of music formats, including MP3, WMA, AAC (MPEG4) and WAV, stored on a PC, Mac or Network Attached Storage (NAS), and comes bundled with customizable Internet Radio stations. Built-in wired and wireless capabilities provide the consumer flexibility of installation at no extra cost. The intuitive Controller, designed with a full-color LCD screen and touch-sensitive scroll wheel, provides consumers with simplicity - pick a zone, pick a song and hit play - unrestricted by line of sight. Consumers can play the same song synchronously in every room or play different songs in different rooms, queue-up favorites for the evening or rediscover their collection via random play; the options are virtually unlimited. The high resolution LCD shows what is playing in any zone at any time, including album art when available. Network set-up is simple as the system automatically configures a secure wireless mesh network that seamlessly links the consumer's existing digital music library to the ZonePlayers and Controllers. The systems modular design allows the user to decide upon the number of ZonePlayers and Controllers needed based upon lay-out of the home and personal needs. http://sonos.com/news_and_reviews/press_releases/2004/pr_0606_launch.htm ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #280 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 8 01:43:30 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i585hUH06724; Tue, 8 Jun 2004 01:43:30 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 01:43:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406080543.i585hUH06724@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 #281 TELECOM Digest Tue, 8 Jun 2004 01:43:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 281 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Sonos Digital Music System (Monty Solomon) Verizon's New 'SuperPages On the Go' Gives Cell Users Quick (Monty Solomon) Supermarkets Look to Automated Checkout (Monty Solomon) California Group Sues Wireless Companiess Over 'Locked' Phones (M Solomon) Apple Unveils AirPort Express for Mac & PC Users (Monty Solomon) Rhino Retro Club (Monty Solomon) Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (Barry Margolin) Dialpad Experiences? (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Re: Declan McCullagh: Why the FCC Should Die (Fred Goldstein) Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged (Tony P.) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Tony P.) Re: Tapping Telephone Lines - 1970s (Tony P.) Usenet Frustration (Lisa Hancock) Free IP PBX Tutorials, Whitepapers, PDF's -- Get IP PBX (Sitekeeper) Last Laugh! Pompous Circumstances (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 18:45:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sonos Digital Music System Multi-Zone Digital Music System Renders the Traditional Black Stereo Rack Obsolete CARLSBAD, CALIF., June 7, 2004 - Digital music fans can now listen to rock in the garden, punk in the playroom and fusion in the bedroom, with the launch of the Sonos Digital Music System, which is previewing this week at the "D2: All Things Digital" conference in Carlsbad, Calif. The Sonos offering is the first and only multi-zone digital music system with a wireless, full-color LCD screen controller that lets consumers play all their digital music, all over their home, while controlling it all from the palm of their hand. The Sonos Digital Music System is comprised of two stylish components: the Sonos ZonePlayer, a networked audio player that distributes, plays and amplifies music in any "zone" in the home, and the Sonos Controller, a wireless handheld device with a full-color screen which allows the user to access, customize and control the music anywhere- from the bedroom to the backyard. The ZonePlayer delivers great sound in every room through a powerful and compact 50 Watts/channel amplifier with component-quality audio specifications. The ZonePlayer can access and play a wide variety of music formats, including MP3, WMA, AAC (MPEG4) and WAV, stored on a PC, Mac or Network Attached Storage (NAS), and comes bundled with customizable Internet Radio stations. Built-in wired and wireless capabilities provide the consumer flexibility of installation at no extra cost. The intuitive Controller, designed with a full-color LCD screen and touch-sensitive scroll wheel, provides consumers with simplicity - pick a zone, pick a song and hit play - unrestricted by line of sight. Consumers can play the same song synchronously in every room or play different songs in different rooms, queue-up favorites for the evening or rediscover their collection via random play; the options are virtually unlimited. The high resolution LCD shows what is playing in any zone at any time, including album art when available. Network set-up is simple as the system automatically configures a secure wireless mesh network that seamlessly links the consumer's existing digital music library to the ZonePlayers and Controllers. The systems modular design allows the user to decide upon the number of ZonePlayers and Controllers needed based upon lay-out of the home and personal needs. http://sonos.com/news_and_reviews/press_releases/2004/pr_0606_launch.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 21:58:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon's New 'SuperPages On the Go' Gives Cell Users Quick Access Access to Driving Directions, Weather Reports, Movie Show-Times and Much More SAN DIEGO, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers can now quickly find the latest hit movie, where it's playing and when it's showing just by tapping a few keys on their mobile phones. The newest generation of Verizon's SuperPages On the Go finds everything from hot movies to cool weather forecasts anywhere in the United States. Maps and driving directions, directory information -- even Mobil Travel Guide restaurant and hotel reviews -- are available. "It's nationwide information in your pocket," said Pat Marshall, vice president -- marketing for Verizon Information Services. "Today's wireless users depend on their phone to be more than just a communications device. SuperPages On the Go revolutionizes the way consumers use their cell phones." Verizon unveiled its advanced version of SuperPages On the Go today at the annual BREW Developers Conference in San Diego. The new application is available on Verizon Wireless LG6000, 4600 and 4500 phones. Consumers can download Verizon SuperPages On the Go for $1.25 for daily use or $2.49 a month for unlimited usage -- about the cost of two directory assistance calls. Nationwide features include: -- White and yellow pages listings -- Reverse number lookup -- Weather reports and forecasts -- Mobil Travel Guide restaurant and hotel reviews -- Maps and driving directions -- Movie information, including show times, locations and feature highlights - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41823970 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 22:00:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Supermarkets Look to Automated Checkout By IRA DREYFUSS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supermarket checkout clerks are going the way of the bank teller _ available if you want one, avoidable if you don't. Self-checkout machines, which let customers scan, bag and pay for their own groceries, offer shoppers a chance to avoid the lines at the checkout stands. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41820013 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 22:02:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: California Group Sues Wireless Companies Over "Locked" Phones LOS ANGELES, June 7 (Reuters) - Claiming cell phone users are being unfairly denied the right to use existing handsets when they switch carriers, a California consumer group sued three of the nation's largest wireless companies on Monday. In a suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE) and T-Mobile USA were unfairly "locking" phones so that even if a customer changed their phone number to a different carrier, they could not continue to use the same phone. A spokeswoman for Cingular, a joint venture of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS), said the company had not reviewed the suit and could not comment. A spokesman for AT&T Wireless was not immediately available to comment. A spokesman for T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DE:DTEGn), said the company does not comment on litigation. In the lawsuit, the foundation said that because the companies all use the same wireless network standard, called GSM, customers should be able to use the same phone across those carriers' networks just by changing out an easily-replaced unit called a "SIM card" inside the phone. But the foundation said the carriers use techniques to lock the phones so that customers can not carry them from one service to another, except in certain circumstances. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41839422 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 21:47:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Unveils AirPort Express for Mac & PC Users World's First 802.11g Mobile Base Station Features AirTunes Music Networking CUPERTINO, Calif., June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today unveiled AirPort(R) Express, the world's first 802.11g mobile base station that can be plugged directly into the wall for wireless Internet connections and USB printing, or thrown into a laptop bag to bring wireless freedom to hotel rooms with broadband connections. Airport Express also features analog and digital audio outputs that can be connected to a stereo and AirTunes music networking software which works seamlessly with iTunes(R), giving users a simple and inexpensive way to wirelessly stream iTunes music on their Mac(R) or PC to any room in the house. AirPort Express features a single piece ultra- compact design weighing just 6.7 ounces, and will be available to Mac and PC users starting in July for just $129. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41827585 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 21:52:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Rhino Retro Club Rhino Records and Verizon Wireless Launch Rhino Retro Club New Subscription Service Offers Verizon Wireless Get It Now Subscribers Ringtones, Wallpaper and Content from Leading Catalog Music Label SAN DIEGO and BEDMINSTER, N.J., June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhino Records and Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless provider, today announced the debut of the Rhino Retro Club, a new service available exclusively to Verizon Wireless Get It Now(R) customers. Verizon Wireless customers with select Get It Now-enabled phones can now download the Rhino Retro Club application and access ringtones, wallpapers and other digital content from famous Rhino and Warner Music Group artists. Verizon Wireless customers of all ages now have access to their favorite oldies-but-goodies by downloading Rhino Retro Club onto their Get It Now- enabled wireless phones. Available through Verizon Wireless' Get It Now virtual store, the Rhino Retro Club connects its members to some of the greatest popular music of the past half-century. With plenty of titles to choose from, Rhino Retro Club offers customers the ability to browse through and choose songs from their favorite artists including, Aretha Franklin, The Doors, The B-52s, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Chicago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41827639 ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam Organization: Looking for work Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 21:46:48 -0400 In article , John McHarry wrote: > SELLCOM Tech support wrote: >> Yes, when a spam site pops up in China, CUT CHINA!!! >> Yes, when a spam site pops up in Russia, CUT RUSSIA!! > It is a nice daydream, but it isn't just that it won't be done that > way, it would be technically "very difficult". The Internet was > designed to be self healing. True, it appears to hub and spoke out of > the US at present, but there are all sorts of other paths. If an > ISP's, or a country's path through the US is cut, its traffic will > automatically reroute to whoever is still connected that has the best > path. If an ISP is filtering traffic, it doesn't matter what route it takes -- it should be filtered at all the borders. Or they can put the filter on their mail servers. Also, the Internet isn't quite as self-healing as you think. Most ISPs prohibit transit traffic except from their paying customers. The only routes they advertise are for their customers' networks, not networks that they can reach via another ISP. In an emergency they can adjust this (e.g. after 9/11, ISPs whose interconnects were still up were providing transit service for those who lost theirs in the attack), but normally this is how it works. It would be possible for a country to force their traffic to reroute manually, but if the ISP they're hijacking for this notices they'll just cut them off, and probably notify other ISPs that this is happening. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 01:55:48 GMT From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Subject: Dialpad Experiences? Organization: Excelsior Computer Services I'll be overseas soon, and I was thinking how convenient it would be to be able to make cheap phone calls back to the US over an Internet connection, because I expect I'll have access to the Internet, but my GSM phone won't always have service. (It will also be much cheaper, because even where I *do* have service, like at the airport, I'll be paying exorbitant roaming fees.) Well, not surprisingly, it turns out that a company already offers this: Dialpad. Has anyone here used Dialpad? Anything I should know before signing up? It looks great for what I need. Thanks. -Joel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 21:59:21 -0400 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: Declan McCullagh: Why the FCC Should Die Declan McCullagh wrote in CNET, quoted on the Digest, > It's time to abolish the Federal Communications Commission. > The reason is simple. The venerable FCC, created in 1934, is no longer > necessary. McCullagh's position is wrongheaded, and highly anticompetitive. His article actually cites Huber's book, which proposed converting existing radio station licenses into property, so that the licensee of an FM radio station instead ends up with chattel ownership of 200 kHz, to do what they want with it. It's a wingnut's fantasy, a huge transfer of public wealth (the radio spectrum) to private interests (licensees), with the current need to serve the "public interest" replaced by a total obeisance to shareholders' interests, in the name of doctrinaire laissez-faire capitalism. But it's the telecom area that really needs countering. Yes, the current FCC is profoundly broken. It's internally paralyzed, has a new internal organizational model that is certainly no serious improvement over the old one, and cannot express a thought clearly. It regulates by indirection, picking winners and losers privately and coming up with indirect ways to favor them. Its main beneficiaries are the lawyers who try to pick up after them. So one might think that the FCC's charter is broken, but that's not it at all. It's simply the leadership and the politics behind it; this FCC, much worse than its predecessor, is clearly led by a celebrity princeling who just doesn't get it. A change in leadership is necessary, not abolition. The reason is simply that the telecommunications industry *is* highly concentrated. The Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers have monopoly power. In the European Union, IIRC, a company with a 25% market share is suspected of having monopoly power, and scrutinized for abuses thereof. The USA is very, very loose on antitrust regulation, and the ILEC monopolies were granted legally, so the antitrust laws only (per the Trinko decision) apply to attempts to extend the monopolies into new areas. Demonopolization is entirely the province of the Telecom Act, not antitrust. And the Telecom Act puts the FCC in the lead. Without regulation, a monopoly will simply squash competitors. This is particularly true in telecom for two reasons. One is the "natural monopoly". This refers, properly (albeit not in popular use), to the case where a given industry has positive economies of scale and a dominant provider. The unit cost of the dominant provider is lower than that of a new competitor, so the economics of competition are dismal. Wireline local services, including cable, in particular are subject to this. Most of the cost is in passing homes, so a 10% market-share player's cost will be several times higher than a 70% market-share player's. Overbuilders thus tend to "win" only in niche markets where the incumbent's service is substandard and thus a new competitor is clearly superior. The other reason is the network effect: A network's value rises with the number of users that it reaches. Federal regulations, enforced by the FCC, require *interconnection* between networks. A CLEC with ten customers can interconnect as a peer with the incumbent. The incumbent, of course, has no interest in allowing this. The incumbent, absent regulation, would shut off interconnection to its competitors in a heartbeat. This wouldn't occur if the incumbent's market share were small, but it's necessary to force interconnection *until* the monopoly is broken, and the ex-monopoly has a pecuniary interest in retaining interconnection. The Internet has no dominant player, so everyone willingly interconnects. Worldcom wasn't allowed to buy Sprint, largely for that reason. (Thank the EU's "SuperMario" Monti for leading the opposition.) In an FCC-less fully-deregulated world, Verizon and SBC would not be so kind. They might deign to permit competitors to purchase access to their networks, as premium-priced customers rather than peers, if they thought it was profitable enough. That's hardly a way to get competition though. Remember, the only reason the public Internet exists is because the FCC, over the *strenuous* objections of the Bell System, overrode restrictions on "sharing" of leased lines. Before that, non-common-carrier networks (like the Internet) could not be run between customers. Leased lines, necessary for high-speed data, were limited to intra-company use. And the FCC, over the *strenuous* objections of ILECs nationwide, overrode restrictions on "foreign attachments", devices like modems, answering machines, telephone sets, and PBXs. Before 1970, you had to rent your phone from the telco, and if you had a dialup modem, it was $25/month to rent a 300-bps Model 103. And they had little incentive to come up with better ones. Competition in a formerly-monopolized industry is not the result of *deregulation*. It's the result of *reregulation* (a term more often seen in Europe), a changed regulatory paradigm that focuses on overcoming the impact of market dominance, and of making room for competitors. The current FCC does not seem to understand this very clearly, but that's not a reason to abolish regulation altogether and hand everything back to unregulated monopolies. And if anyone is foolish to think that "VoIP will solve it", they should note that without interconnection, it would have very few people to talk to, and without regulation, the monopolists who own the wires would have every right to take countermeasures to block its use. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 02:01:00 GMT In article , kd1s@nospamplease.verizon.reallynospam.net says: > In the case of busses, look at the price of fuel. The diesel bus was a > cruel joke perpetrated on many cities in the United States. The > replacement of electric trolleys with those diesel behemoths meant > transit companies were on the hook for both fuel and other consumables > like tires, etc. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Chicago Transit Atrocity -- err -- > Authority was sold quite a bill of goods by Detroit auto makers when > they switched from streetcars and electric trolley busses to motorized > busses fifty years ago. They were told every reason in the world why > street cars and electric trollies were less effecient than the good > old deisel gas fume, belching busses they wound up with. Pretty soon, > they started believing those stories themselves, and began passing > them on to the inquiring public. PAT] Interestingly Rhode Island Public Transit Authority used to be a complete joke pre-1997 or so. Then Beverly Scott took over as general manger and things started to happen. Busses that were past their 12 year prime were retired and new Nova and Orion busses were brought in. They were bought in 1998, 2000, 2001 and then nothing until this year as I'm starting to see 04xx busses on the roads now. And in 1999 they initiated the Providence Link trolleys. They run on CNG but other than the hours of about 6:30AM to 9:00AM and 3:00PM to 6:00PM they see very little ridership though now that they actually go to useful endpoints that's changing. But fuel costs are killing them. Meanwhile there are pictures all over Kennedy Plaza and downtown Providence showing the electric trolleys that used to run all over Providence and out to the then burbs (It was 1948 after all, and what are the burbs now were farm land.) To keep this telecom related -- if you go out to the CO's in those expansion areas you will always see the add on brick blocks for the a/c and other gear needed for the digital switches. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 02:02:22 GMT In article , kd1s@nospamplease.verizon.reallynospam.net says: > In article , monty@roscom.com > says: >> By MARK GLASSMAN >> A NEW service promises to pull back the curtain on anyone hiding >> behind the common white lie "I never got your e-mail." Users of the >> service, DidTheyReadIt (didtheyreadit.com), can clandestinely track >> when and where their e-mail is read. >> The service, which has already drawn complaints from privacy >> advocates, offers a new and quiet way to harvest behavioral >> information about friends, colleagues and potential consumers. >> "There's a type of covert surveillance here," said Marc Rotenberg, >> president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit >> privacy advocacy group. "Just from a technology viewpoint, it's >> basically an evil service." >> E-mail programs like Eudora and Outlook have long offered an optional >> return-receipt feature, which prompts the recipient of a message to >> inform the sender that they have opened the message, and another >> service, Msgtag (www.msgtag.com), notifies users by e-mail when their >> outgoing messages have been opened. But DidTheyReadIt is the first >> such service to keep itself a secret from the recipient, as well as >> the first to report on where the message was read. >> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03spyy.html > Easy enough to defeat. Just put a new rule on the firewall that > doesn't let it get back. Who would have thought it, or prevent viewing > HTML in Eudora or Outlook -- that can be done too. To follow up -- you can also put a host entry that points didtheyreadit.com to 127.0.0.1 -- that stops it too. Tony ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Tapping Telephone Lines - 1970s Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 03:03:30 GMT In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > Someone was telling me that the 'authorities' (local or fed) were > tapping their telephone line in the 1970s. One spouse was active in > the civil rights movement. > She claimed she knew this because her phone line was frequently noisy > and there was a phone co truck often parked outside their apt. > It is my understanding that if "they" wanted to tap your phone line, > they knew what they were doing and you wouldn't hear a thing. I > recall a visit to a phone co C.O. in the main dist frame there were > numerous cords running to the ceiling spliced into leads. The guide > explained they were "test leads" and that they were used to test a > phone line. I was surprised there were so many. I also presumed they > could be used for wiretapping. Basically, the authorities would order > the phoneco to set up a tap on such-and-such a line, and the phoneco > people would do it or permit it to be done. > So, hearing clicks/wrong numbers on your phone doesn't mean at all > your phone is tapped. As to the phoneco truck outside, I suspect they > were patronizing the deli underneath her apt for lunch. > I also suspect the noise/wrong numbers she had was from being served > by an old center city electro-mech switch and cabling, I know such > switches were far from error free in those days and strange things > happened from time to time. Back then they wouldn't tap at the location but at the CO, same as they do today. And pen-registers were a big deal -- those were installed at the CO too. Many times they'd extend the pair to the entity doing the tapping at their location. Made it easier to change tapes and what have you. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Usenet Frustration Date: 7 Jun 2004 20:22:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Using Usenet always takes a thick skin, a sense of humor, and a grain of salt. One must expect many posts will be "out there". I am discouraged tonight after reading some of trash, despite adding numerous names to my personal skip list. One thing disturbing is the vehement EXTREME political statements that people make, that color a substantive issue under discussion. People talking about photography manage to bring Bush into the discussion and blame him for all the world's ills. When Clinton was President, many discussions turned on him, and people either hated him or loved him, and flame wars erupted. Since I have a slow modem, it takes time even to skip headers. Now with Bush Jr and the war, there is equally vehement posts with filthy diatribes on both sides of the political aisle. I guess what really got me tonight was all the hate posts about Reagan's death. Now I didn't particularly care for Reagan and never voted for him, but having lost a member of my own family not too long ago, the "glad he's dead" posts and the volume of them do disturb me. ------------------------------ From: sitekeeper@intersyncsolutions.com (sitekeeper) Subject: Free IP PBX Tutorials, Whitepapers, PDFs -- Get IP PBX Smart Now Date: 7 Jun 2004 21:22:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com All, We have new and FREE resources on Internet Phone Technology. http://www.intersyncsolutions.com Become knowledgeable and familiar with IP Telephony. ALL FREE KNOWLEDGE TUTORIALS Great for: -Technology Professionals, Business Managers, IT Managers. -Businesses looking to implement IP Telephony Technology. Tell a friend! http://www.intersyncsolutions.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 00:44:43 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Last Laugh! Pompous Circumstances A peculiar television commercial lately has come from America On Line, and a program they have called 'UPromise'. To the strains of Sir Edward Elgar's march, a young lady walks on to a stage, and is making a speech. Her speech says, "my parents always told me if I found some place to go college, they would find some way to pay for it; so thanks, mom and dad." The camera focuses on mom and dad in the audience, who are beaming with pride. The audience applauds. "Oh, and thanks also to (name) and (name)." More applause. A man in the audience cranes his neck and waves his arm to get attention. The organist or whoever continues playing the march; the young lady looks at the man craning his neck and waving his arm and says "oh yes, you too, (name). Then her eyes fill with tears and she says "but most of all, thank you, Buddy", and the little stick figure AOL uses to promote its AOL Chat feature is shown with a big smile on his (its?) face also. Then a voice cuts in to say that "UPromise works with AOL and these other fine companies, (several are then named.)" I have never heard of UPromise; does anyone know how it works or what it does? I am aquainted with Edward Elgar's work however; my friend who is the municipal organist here says he can play it in his sleep, after doing it two or three times in one week, the past week; once for Independence High School, once for Independence College, and once for some other school which contracts his services. But who knows about UPromise? PAT] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #281 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 8 13:48:40 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i58Hmei14032; Tue, 8 Jun 2004 13:48:40 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 13:48:40 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406081748.i58Hmei14032@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 #282 TELECOM Digest Tue, 8 Jun 2004 13:48:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 282 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AirTunes Wireless Music Network (Monty Solomon) High-Definition Windows Media 9 (Monty Solomon) VeriSign Issues Quarterly Domain Report and Registrant Profile (M Solomon) First Quantum Cryptography Network Unveiled (Monty Solomon) Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (Scott Dorsey) Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (SELLCOM Tech support) A Good Telecommunication Dictionary on Line (Francesco Quartuccio) Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? (Scott Dorsey) Re: Web-Linked Cameras Let Parents Play Big Brother (SELLCOM Tech support) Cox Communications to Enter More VOIP Markets (VOIP News) Industry's First Global Solution for Multi-National Companies (VOIP News) New VoIP Player: Lingo (VOIP News) Last Laugh! Upromise, AOL Buddy and Grocery Rebates (A Friend) 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: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 08:50:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AirTunes Wireless Music Network AirTunes - iTunes unplugged http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/airtunes.html Unwire Your Home http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/unwireyourlivingroom.html AirPort Express http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/ Apple Unveils AirPort Express for Mac & PC Users http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jun/07airport.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 08:53:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: High-Definition Windows Media 9 Microsoft and STMicroelectronics Team to Enable High-Definition Windows Media 9 Content for Consumers on the Leading Set-Top Box and DVD Hardware Platforms - Jun 8, 2004 12:01 AM (PR Newswire) Agreements Enable Development of New Class of Integrated Circuits REDMOND, Wash. and GENEVA, June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced that the two companies are working together to develop a series of new integrated circuit components for manufacturers of consumer electronics products. These components will extend the reach of high-quality, secure Windows Media(R) 9 Series content, in both standard and high definition, to a wide range of popular devices such as set-top boxes and DVD players. Support of Windows Media 9 Series in products such as these means consumers will be able to easily enjoy the high audio and video quality that Windows Media provides. STMicroelectronics, one of the world's largest chip manufacturers and an acknowledged leader in delivering silicon solutions for digital set-top boxes, will supply these new components to consumer electronics manufacturers to enable fast market delivery of appliances such as set-top boxes, DVD players, digital video recorders (DVRs), Portable Media Centers, home-networking devices and more. The new STMicroelectronics integrated circuit components will support a range of Windows Media 9 Series technologies to help ensure the broadest possible range of applications. In addition to standard formats, this support includes the following audio and video technologies: * Windows Media Audio 9, which provides playback of high-quality two- channel audio with remarkable compression efficiency * Windows Media Audio 9 Professional, which delivers 5.1 or even 7.1 channels of discrete digital surround sound at bit rates as low as 128 kbps, and supports 24-bit resolution and 96 kHz sample rates to deliver better-than-CD quality sound * Windows Media Video 9 (including VC-9), which delivers high video quality at all bit rates and even supports high-definition video, with up to six times the resolution of DVD-video, at approximately one-third the bit rate of MPEG-2 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41841753 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 08:58:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: VeriSign Issues Quarterly Domain Report and Registrant Profile Data Reveal Domain Name Numbers, Utilization, and Renewal Rates Have Reached All-Time Highs MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today released the VeriSign Domain Report and VeriSign Domain Name Registrant Profile, highlighting key quarterly market data for domain name activity around the world. According to the report, more than 4.7 million new domain names were registered during the first quarter of 2004-the highest quarterly figure for new domain registrations in the history of the Internet. The profile reveals that more than 63 million domain names have now been registered, approximately one for every 100 people living in the world today. This number is greater than at any time in the Internet's history, surpassing even the heights that were seen during the Internet "bubble." Moreover, data reveal that the current base of domain names is being utilized more actively than ever before, as measured by renewal rates, look-up rates, and the percentage of domain names tied to live sites. As the operator of the global registry for .com and .net, as well as the provider of two of the root servers for the global domain name system, VeriSign has a unique view into the expansion and development of the Internet. The VeriSign Domain Report and the VeriSign Domain Name Registrant Profile ( http://www.verisign.com/domainbrief/ ) mark the second issue in VeriSign's quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief series. The series provides Internet users across the world with key statistical and analytical research on the domain name market. Each quarter, the Brief showcases a quarterly topic related to important Internet trends, and updates the Domain Report which provides key industry data. Findings in this quarter's Brief include both an increasingly strong rate of new registrations, and a growing stability and utilization within the existing domain name base. Highlights include: -- Overall Growth: New registrations, renewal rates, and the overall number of domain names under registration, all set records in the first quarter of 2004. Showing 21 percent growth over the first quarter of 2003, total domain name registrations surpassed 63 million domain names by the end of Q1. -- Increasing Utilization: In addition to being larger than at any point in history, the current domain name base is also being used more actively. Over 72 percent of today's domain names now resolve to a Web site, up from 55 percent at the height of the boom in December 2002. In addition, total domain name resolutions for .com and .net reached an average of 11 billion per day in the first quarter, indicating that the speculative purchase of domain names that fueled much of the growth in the late nineties has been replaced by real Web sites and e-mail boxes, to which real people are connecting. -- Increasing Globalization: Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) account for a growing portion of overall domain names, and currently represent 40 percent of all domain names registered in the world. The majority of ccTLDs are registered in Europe, including .de (Germany) and .uk (United Kingdom), which account for twelve percent and eight percent, respectively, of all domains registered in the world. In fact, .de accounts for more than 90 percent of all domains registered in Germany. Several countries around the world have already launched Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), also known as "multilingual" domains, which allow for the use of domain names written in non ASCII character sets. Other countries are planning to launch IDN capabilities this year. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41845612 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 09:08:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: First Quantum Cryptography Network Unveiled The first computer network in which communication is secured with quantum cryptography is up and running in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Chip Elliott, leader of the quantum engineering team at BBN Technologies in Cambridge, sent the first packets of data across the Quantum Net (Qnet) on Thursday. The project is funded by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Currently the network only consists of six servers, but they can be integrated with regular servers and clients on the internet. Qnet's creators say the implementation of more nodes in banks and credit card companies could make exchanging sensitive data over the internet more secure than it is with current cryptography systems. The data in Qnet flows through ordinary fibre optic cables and stretches the 10 kilometres from BBN to Harvard University. It is encrypted using keys determined by the exchange of a series of single, polarised photons. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995076 ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam Date: 8 Jun 2004 10:46:06 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) In article , John McHarry wrote: > SELLCOM Tech support wrote: >> Yes, when a spam site pops up in China, CUT CHINA!!! >> Yes, when a spam site pops up in Russia, CUT RUSSIA!! > It is a nice daydream, but it isn't just that it won't be done that > way, it would be technically "very difficult". The Internet was > designed to be self healing. True, it appears to hub and spoke out of > the US at present, but there are all sorts of other paths. If an > ISP's, or a country's path through the US is cut, its traffic will > automatically reroute to whoever is still connected that has the best > path. Yes, until the one remaining pipe to that location is totally overloaded and traffic ceases to flow at any reasonable rate. If the backbone MSPs refused to peer with chinanet or kornet, we would see a substantially reduced spam level. But if this was going to happen, it would have happened years ago. The reason that you see so much spam now is that the MSPs refused to take the problem seriously back in 1996 when it was manageable. I literally had the abuse guy from uunet telling me that there was no reason for him to take spamware vendor sites down because there was nothing wrong with that stuff, back in the late 90s. But they didn't take care of it when it was possible to deal with, and now it's totally out of hand. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does anyone remember how, back in the 1980's and even as late as 1995 the very idea of cutting off certain sites -- no questions asked, no votes taken, etc -- just unilateraly refuse to deal with them was considered completely 'unthinkable'? And now that it has become quite 'thinkable', now that even the anarchists are beginning to see some advantages to even a wee bit of government oversight and control, as Scott points out it has become a lost cause. I wonder sometimes if we are just marking time, hanging around until the bitter end. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:03:49 GMT John McHarry posted on that vast internet thingie: >> Yes, when a spam site pops up in China, CUT CHINA!!! >> Yes, when a spam site pops up in Russia, CUT RUSSIA!! > It is a nice daydream, but it isn't just that it won't be done that > way, it would be technically "very difficult". The Internet was > designed to be self healing. True, it appears to hub and spoke out of > the US at present, but there are all sorts of other paths. If an > ISP's, or a country's path through the US is cut, its traffic will > automatically reroute to whoever is still connected that has the best > path. Spam hosts in the US get cut quick enough. There are only a handful of ISPs who are enabling the foreign spam sites and I am confident that they are providing that connectivity for consideration. If the US ISPs were held legally responsible for that which they do, they would find a way to clean up their act real fast. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You have said that before, Steve, and I cannot help but wonder if some of those ISP enablers you mention would not just go on without the rest of us. I mean, you don't really punish AT&T or Sprint; they would just laugh at you and continue without you. PAT] ------------------------------ From: francescoq@katamail.com (Francesco Quartuccio) Subject: A Good Telecommunication Dictionary on Line Date: 8 Jun 2004 02:27:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, This is the first time that I approach the telecommunication "world". I'd like to know which are the best places on the web where it is possible to find a good description of telecomunication words, technology and architecture. Thanks all. Cheers, Francesco [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: (Getting out old rusted horn to give it a few toots) ... you might consider our online GLOSSARY here at the Telecom Archives http://telecom-digest.org , I say 'old and rusted' since it has been years since it was updated. Go in the general archives and look for the 'Glossary' files. There are four or five lists of them to pursue at your leisure. Another approach, to get just one or two terms defined is by using the Telecom Archives Email Information Service. *You must use a valid email address where you can get back stuff in the mail*. Send email to tel-archives@telecom-digest.org . The subject line does not matter. The first line of text must be the word REPLY your-valid-email-address. The second line of text must be the word GLOSSARY word-to-be-defined. Better still, to see a list of all the commands you can use with the email information service, send the same letter and use the word HELP as the command. Always use upper case commands; always begin flush at the left margin. Or use the command INFO for more information about the email information service. If anyone wants to write up a new glossary for modern times, I would gladly give you credit for it in the Digest. Maybe I should just print the HELP file here in the Digest sometime soon to refresh people's memories about how to use it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? Date: 8 Jun 2004 10:42:30 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Lisa Hancock wrote: > jim evans wrote: >> On my cell phone the only information I get about the caller is their >> phone number. Is there a way to tell which numbers are pay phone >> numbers. That is, callers who are calling from pay phones. > AFAIK there is no way to tell that an incoming call is from a payphone, > or any other kind of phone. If you are operating an 800 line, you will be charged a different rate for payphone calls and non-payphone calls. Surely the SS7 stuff warns you that this is going to be happening? --scott [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, Scott, it does not. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Web-Linked Cameras Let Parents Play Big Brother Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:08:32 GMT Monty Solomon posted on that vast internet thingie: > These Internet protocol (IP) cameras, made by companies including > Cisco Systems Inc's (NASDAQ:CSCO) Linksys unit and Sweden's Axis > Communications (SWED:AXIS), function as stand-alone servers that > stream video over the Web. Panasonic has a nice selection as well indoor and outdoor wired and wireless. We just added them to our product line. I couldn't believe it! A camera with a http server AND a smtp after pop email server built in! It is hard to keep up with all this stuff. They do think mighty highly of them though ... http://www.panasoniccamera.com Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:43:11 -0400 Subject: Cox Communications to Enter More VOIP Markets Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1608125,00.asp By Ellen Muraskin Add Atlanta-based Cox Communications -- the third biggest U.S. cable carrier, with 6.4 million basic cable subscribers -- to the list of carriers ramping up VOIP offerings. The difference here is that the IP voice expansion is a way to grow its total voice market, which is presently overwhelmingly circuit-based. Cox is planning to roll out VOIP services in U.S. markets not already served by its 7-year-old, circuit-switched Cox Digital Telephone telephony offering, expanding upon a promotional VOIP launch thus far limited to Roanoke, Va. According to Bobby Amirshahi, media relations at Cox, the residential service will be closely followed with a small-business VOIP package, aimed at Cox's high-speed Internet and data networking customers. The news comes as part of a customer win announcement from IP infrastructure vendor Nuera Communications Inc., of San Diego. Nuera BTX media gateways, now deployed by Cox in Roanoke, will be added to serve customers in additional areas. While many cable companies, such as Comcast and Cablevision, have entered the telephony market for the first time via VOIP, Cox has a pre-existing, circuit-switched telephony offering. The VOIP rollout will resemble Cox Digital Telephone very closely in both feature set and pricing, according to Amirshahi. This includes three-way calling and voice mail services, and a range of flat pricing plans, typically about 10 percent under those of incumbent telcos. Full story at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1608125,00.asp How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:45:42 -0400 Subject: Industry's First Global Solution for Multi-National Companies Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-08-2004/0002189279&EDATE= AT&T Announces Global VoIP Telework Trials Industry's First Global Solution for Multi-National Companies BEDMINSTER, N.J., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today announced it is conducting trials in Asia and Europe for a global VoIP telework service, targeted to multinational companies, that it expects to introduce in 2005. The service is designed to allow a business to provide its employees a suite of advanced calling features in the home or hotel environment using readily available broadband connections. Eventually, the service will afford remote workers secure, high-speed connections directly to their corporate offices. The trials are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The service is built upon the proven capabilities of AT&T CallVantage(SM) Service, launched in March of this year and currently being rolled-out across the United States. Today's announcement signals the industry's first business VoIP-enabled global telework solution using high-speed Internet connectivity. "Maximizing the value of a global IP networking environment and the productivity and mobility it can provide is one of the top priorities of large enterprises today," said Cathy Martine, AT&T's senior vice president for Internet Telephony, Consumer Marketing and Sales. "If the promise of IP can be harnessed with remotely deployed employees and combined with a robust portfolio of VoIP-enabled networking solutions, it will positively influence a business' Return On Investment model. This in turn should stimulate more demand." Trial participants will enjoy easy access to AT&T's advanced VoIP calling features. These include features such as Personal Conferencing, which will make it quick and easy for participants to establish impromptu conference calls with up to ten individuals. Voicemail with eFeatures will allow participants to hear their messages by phone or PC and forward them to anyone in the world via e-mail. Call Logs will allow participants to track and monitor their calling habits or move frequently called numbers into their personal Phone Book for click-to-dial access. Responding to customer demand, AT&T is VoIP-enabling its entire business portfolio, providing solutions to companies that are evolving their networks to deliver IP-based services and applications to their own customers, suppliers, employees and partners. AT&T is driving toward seamless internetworking among all the various elements required for IP-based business communications. And, AT&T is the only VoIP provider with interoperability agreements with the five leading equipment manufacturers -- Alcatel, Avaya, Cisco, Nortel Networks and Siemens -- which is critical to delivering integrated solutions. The company also is focused on delivering new business voice applications and services like IP-Centrex, call center applications and Telework solutions. These are especially critical for the rapidly growing international teleworking community. The service provides portability of features and significant cost savings compared to making calls from hotels or using mobile roaming service for traveling professionals, affinities and communities that have need to communicate frequently. "Today's announcement is the latest in a series of moves by AT&T as it continues to reaffirm its position as a networking leader committed to delivering high-value, integrated services, solutions and applications for business customers and consumers," said Martine Beginning in 1997, AT&T began actively using VoIP solutions to address the needs of multi-national corporations. This early adoption of IP has led the company to its current position as a leading provider of VoIP solutions over its MPLS (Multi-Protocol Labeled Services) -based global network. It delivers these services over any data network including ATM, Frame Relay and IP-VPN. AT&T was the first business VoIP service provider to offer voice quality backed by standards-based service level agreements. The company currently supports hundreds of business VoIP customers and over the last year alone has experienced a fourfold increase in the number of business customers using its VoIP services. About AT&T For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services. SOURCE AT&T Web Site: http://www.att.com Photo Notes: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATT ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:26:50 -0400 Subject: New VoIP Player: Lingo Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/45377 3 months free, then $20 a month A new VoIP offering dubbed Lingo from Primus Communications goes live this week, and promises users Unlimited Local and Long-Distance Calling in the US, Canada and Western Europe free for three months. After three months, the service is being offered for $19.95 a month; the feature set is currently being dissected by our veteran VoIP shoppers in our VoIP forum . While many analysts predict the death of smaller VoIP operations once the cable and bells launch VoIP, $20 a month is hard to beat provided the service doesn't stink -- Time Warner expects to charge $50 a month for VoIP to non-bundled customers when they launch their service this summer. [Comment: "provided the service doesn't stink" seems to be the operative phrase here. In one of the reader comments below this article, "unixbum" from Canada posted: "I had VoIP from Primus in Canada and I could not take the absence of competency as a company anymore and I cancelled. Will never go back to Primus even if it becomes free. The only thing that worked was the phone. They were billing me for calls to other primus VoIP numbers (Free), changing my plans (repeatedly) without telling me and that's just the start. Then when I cancelled they were to let my phone run for the remainder of the contract and they cut if off two days later. "Two of my friends got Primus VoIP. One had 3 VoIP gateways sent to him and they put his first phone number in the wrong province then they moved it to the correct province and city and then they cancelled the number on him. Then they assigned him a new number. "The other friend had two VoIP gateways sent to the wrong address before they sent it to the correct one. They started billing him for the calls that were being made by the gateways that they sent to the wrong address and he had not even made a phone call yet because he had not received any equipment. It was apparently quite hard to explain to the rep that if they send it to the wrong address he just might not get the unit. It might be useful to require a signature when they send out a gateway. "Just my $0.02. Avoid Primus." Of course, the above report came from Canada -- maybe things will be different in the United States, and maybe they won't. Unless I was something of a risk-taker, I think I'd wait and see what sort of reviews show up in the BroadbandReports.com VoIP forum before I jumped on this service. Also, they seem to have a very small pool of local ratecenters in which they can offer numbers, so unless you live in or near a major city the chances of getting a local phone number are not real high.] Article plus reader comments at: http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/45377 Additional thread on Lingo: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,10442660~mode=flat ------------------------------ Date: 8 Jun 2004 11:43:11 -0400 From: A Friend Subject: Last Laugh! Upromise, AOL Buddy amd Grocery Rebates Probably not for publication under my name: > I have never heard of UPromise; does anyone know how it works or what > it does? See www.upromise.com. It gives you small rebates on groceries and other stuff that go into a college savings account. After nearly two years, my account contains $2.39 so I'm glad my daughter isn't planning to go to college any time soon. R's, A Friend ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #282 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jun 9 15:24:16 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i59JOGf27993; Wed, 9 Jun 2004 15:24:16 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 15:24:16 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406091924.i59JOGf27993@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 #283 TELECOM Digest Wed, 9 Jun 2004 15:21:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 283 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Skype Plans Some Ins & Outs (VOIP News) UK: BT Announces Network Transformation Timetable (VOIP News) Vonage Exec Demos VoIP Over EV-DO Technology (VOIP News) Re: New VoIP Player: Lingo (Ash) Re: Primus Offering Residential and Business VOIP Service (John Bartley) Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (Scott Dorsey) Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? (John Levine) Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Broadvoice IP Phone Service (Me) Call Any USA REAL Telephone Number From Pulver Freeworld $10 (ucallvoip) Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell (Adam H. Kerman) Cell Phone With Timer? (John Qyindi) PluggedIn: Step Aside TiVo, Here Comes Freevo (Monty Solomon) SalemOpen.net Free Wifi Network Now Live (Monty Solomon) WiMax Better Fit For Rural U.S., Overseas - Study (Monty Solomon) TiVo Delivers New Service Enhancements for Series2 Subscribers (M Solomon) Best Buy and TiVo to Provide Subscribers 'New Music Tuesdays' (M Solomon) 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: VOIP News Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 11:56:17 -0400 Subject: Skype Plans Some Ins & Outs Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=54113 LONDON VON Europe 2004 Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom says his VOIP-for-free startup is moving ever closer to launching paid-for services, two of which will be called SkypeOut and SkypeIn. Sporting thick-rimmed retro black spectacles reminiscent of Michael Caine in his 60s heyday, Zennstrom told delegates at the VON Europe event that the Skype software would evolve from its current beta version this summer with the launch of Version 1. That would also be free, but users will be offered a pre-paid service called SkypeOut. That will allow Skype users to call PSTN users "at very competitive rates," says Zennstrom. It will be an additional service and generate revenues, but it won't be the core of our commercial plan. The move comes as at least one potential direct rival is due to launch an alternative service (see Will Popular Telephony Scare Skype? ). But what about allowing non-Skype users to call in? That's another cash generator, but SkypeIn will involve a great deal more work from many parties, he adds. Skype will charge its users to have a number that users of PSTN and other VOIP services can call, but a lot of interconnectivity issues between the different VOIP service providers will need to be cleared up before such a service would work seamlessly. Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=54113 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 12:06:19 -0400 Subject: UK: BT Announces Network Transformation Timetable Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.btplc.com/News/Pressreleasesandarticles/Corporatenewsreleases/2004/nr0444.htm Mass migration of customers from PSTN to IP based network to begin in 2006 Majority of customers' PSTN services on IP network by 2008 Trials of voice services on IP network and fibre to the premises announced Increase in customer choice, control and service flexibility BT today set out the timetable for the transformation of its UK networks. It announced a five year programme to underpin the next generation of converged, multimedia communications services. Mass migration of customers onto the new network will begin in 2006 with the majority due to be completed in 2008. BT's 21st century network (21CN) programme will create the enabling infrastructure for the growth of BT and the UK telecommunications industry. It is set to completely transform BT's networks, delivering increased customer choice and control. BT Wholesale chief executive Paul Reynolds said: "The 21CN programme will deliver our vision of a converged, multimedia world where our customers can access any communications service from any device, anywhere - and at broadband speed. "21CN will drive a radical simplification of BT's operations including significantly lower costs and the capability to launch new services to market faster than we can today. It will empower all our customers, giving them control, choice and flexibility like never before." The major elements of BT Group's overall strategy including ICT, mobility, broadband, netcentricity and portfolio transformation are underpinned by the 21CN initiative. Over the next five years 21CN will transform BT's business and its cost base, removing duplication across the current multiple service specific networks and creating a single multi-service network. Total capital spend on the 21CN transformation will be within the previously announced BT capital expenditure envelope of 3 billion per annum. From this year about two thirds of the annual spend is directed to 21CN and other new and intermediate technologies and this proportion is expected to increase. That investment in future infrastructure will enable BT to deliver growing cash savings which are expected to amount to 1 billion per annum by 2008/9. An early deliverable of this transformation is the first phase of the migration of services from the existing UK public switched telephone network (PSTN) to a multi-service internet protocol (IP) based network which will carry both voice and data services.* As a precursor to large scale migration of voice and other PSTN based services from 2006, the first stage will involve the bypass of the core PSTN network link between two major network nodes at Cambridge and Woolwich. An extension is planned later to Faraday exchange in London. An initial 1,000 customers served by local exchanges connected to Cambridge and Woolwich will trial end to end voice and data services over the core IP network link. Paul Reynolds said: "Today the 21CN vision starts to become reality. This is among the most important and ambitious infrastructure transformation programmes in communications anywhere in the world and will put Britain at the forefront of communications innovation. "But 21CN is more than a next generation network. It's about providing and supporting the next generation of services for all our customers; it's about supporting and generating revenues and profits for shareholders, and it's about supporting and delivering for the communications industry and the economy as a whole." In addition to making broadband available from exchanges serving 99.6 per cent of people by summer 2005, BT is aiming to have broadband dialtone available to most of its customers in the UK in five years time. Customers will be in control of their own services and will immediately be able to switch the line to broadband use themselves without requiring physical work at the exchange, whatever device they use to access the broadband network. BT also today announced trials to test the technical and commercial issues associated with the possible deployment of fibre optic cable in the UK local access network. These limited trials are looking particularly at the economics associated with providing services to new build and greenfield site developments.* BT is today formally launching the procurement process to select long term suppliers, which may not necessarily be those involved in the trials and early implementation stages. Contracts for the main rollout phases will be awarded following a formal competitive tendering process which will be concluded by the end of 2004. Note to editors: * For details of the trial migration of voice services onto an IP based network and the fibre to the premises trial see BT news release NR0445 issued today June 9, 2004. Full press release at: http://www.btplc.com/News/Pressreleasesandarticles/Corporatenewsreleases/2004/nr0444.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:57:08 -0400 Subject: Vonage Exec Demos VoIP Over EV-DO Technology Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18404 by Heather Forsgren Weaver WASHINGTON Wireless Voice over Internet Protocol is here with the advent of Qualcomm Inc.s CDMA2000 1x EV-DO service as deployed by Verizon Wireless, said Brooke Schulz, vice president of corporate communications for Vonage Corp. Schulz demonstrated a Vonage VoIP call via EV-DO technology, brand-named Broadband Access, Tuesday morning as part of a breakfast panel sponsored by the New Millennium Research Council. "There are a lot of misconceptions out there that wireless is too slow and that there is too much latency, but as you can see, it works just fine," said Schulz. In addition to VoIP services being used by advanced wireless networks and Wi-Fi, the Schulz example also showed that Vonage over EV-DO can be used to call mobile phones without a loss of call quality. Full story at: http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18404 ------------------------------ From: adr1n@yahoo.com (Ash) Subject: Re: New VoIP Player: Lingo Date: 9 Jun 2004 09:15:15 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com This service is not quite $19.95, there is an additional $4.95 fee for what they call the LINGO line. There are two phone numbers; one could have a Universal Line and a LINGO line. The Universal is optional. The LINGO, which under most cases would be in the area code one lives although not necessary, is required. And then of course, there is taxes. They do have a promotion for three months free without a contract. However, one has to pay $30ish for activation and equipment. I would love to hear from anyone who signed up comment on their service. It would be good to hear from people who used other VOIP services such as Vonage to compare the two. Thanks! ------------------------------ From: John Bartley Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:40:34 -0800 Subject: Re: Primus Offering Residential and Business VOIP Service Corrections regarding 'overseas' locations for this service follow. "Western Europe" (for the purposes of their $15/mo and $20/mo plans) is: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK & Vatican City. For the nations included in their $80/mp. plan, add the above to Argentina, Australia, the Czech Republic, Chile, China, Guadalajara, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico City, Moscow, St. Petersburg, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam Date: 8 Jun 2004 15:11:04 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Scott Dorsey wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does anyone remember how, back in the > 1980's and even as late as 1995 the very idea of cutting off certain > sites -- no questions asked, no votes taken, etc -- just unilateraly > refuse to deal with them was considered completely 'unthinkable'? Unthinkable? No, it was common. For God's sake, I had my uucp feed pulled completely for posting to usenet with my .signature too long. And of course there are example like AGIS ... much of AGIS's address space is _still_ unusable because it's still listed in router blocks around the world. Until huge amounts of money started pouring in, it was very common for misbehaving sites to have connectivity refused to them. It is only a very recent thing for MSPs to continue offering access to massively abusive customers. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So what you are saying is that the thing which VP Gore promoted, getting money into the net through various companies instead of just the universities as it had been wound up also bringing us most of the abuses we are now seeing these days. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 8 Jun 2004 23:19:52 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > If you are operating an 800 line, you will be charged a different rate for > payphone calls and non-payphone calls. Surely the SS7 stuff warns you > that this is going to be happening? If you get ANI, it includes a code that tells you what kind of line it is, with payphones having their own codes. Cell phones show CLID, so you can't tell. ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 20:12:23 EDT Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged In a message dated Mon, 07 Jun 2004 17:56:13 -0400, Barry Margolin < barmar@alum.mit.edu> writes: > Pat suggested that the towns may be subsidizing this, but lots of > convenience stores, as well as chains like Staples and UPS Store, > offer self-serve copying. I don't think they're still a dime, but > they're not much more expensive either. > Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu > Arlington, MA Oklahoma County Public Libraries have been charging 15 cents as long as I can remember. UPS Stores still charge a dime, unless they've gone up in the last few weeks. So does the self-service copying machine in Albertson's. Kinko's, I believe, has gone up to 7 or 8 cents. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: googlenews@myway.com (Me) Subject: Re: Broadvoice IP Phone Service Date: 8 Jun 2004 18:07:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have to agree with all of Killer's comments. I've only tried Broadvoice for one evening but fully expect I'll be cancelling my Verizon (POTS) line after I update my telephone number with everyone. If you have a fairly stable broadband connection and don't require 24/7 telephone access (even POTS companies can't guarantee 24/7 service), it can't hurt to try a VOIP service. I've tried Broadvoice and Vonage, and Broadvoice is the winner by a long shot (no noticeable delays and no crackling sounds). Either way, with VOIP you can easily cut your phone bill in half or more and get phone services you might not normally pay for, such as 3-way calling, call forwarding, voice mail, etc. Verizon can take my overpriced phone bill and shove it where the sun never shines. :-D Killer Madness" wrote in message news:: > I have been using Broadvoice for telephone service. I've had it three weeks > and it's been pretty damn good. Although caller ID name is not coming > through yet (the number is) I am told it's in the works and will be ready > this summer. For $10/month for all the state calls I can make is worth it. > Having a single line from Verizon and not making ANY calls on it would cost > me $19. And if I were to make any calls on it, my god, they would charge me > a small fortune. I will be gladly dumping Verizon very soon. It's easy for > me to do since I do always have a cell phone for any backup situations. If > my home electric goes out (which it barely does) I do have a cell > phone. > I am 33 years old and all my life I think the electric in any of the > homes I've lived in the longest it has gone out was about 2 hours and > that was storm related. So I don't need anyone telling me I won't have > phone service for 2 hours of 33 years and this is why they wouldn't go > for an IP phone service. Maybe where you live electricity is bad, but > here in NJ it's too valuable to go out and the electric company loses > millions every minute it's out. So they really try to keep it on ALL > the time. My Internet service is very stable. I've had that for about > 8 years and that's been out about a day in all the time since I've had > it. Broadvoice does not have 911 service as of yet, but will during > this summer also. Just my 2 cents for a new company I've tried and > seems ok for now. ------------------------------ From: ucallvoip@yahoo.com (ucallvoip@yahoo.com) Subject: Call Any USA REAL Telephone Number From Pulver Freeworld for $10 Date: 8 Jun 2004 18:42:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com You dreamed of it - now you can have it .06 per minute - call any telephone in the USA! $10 a month to RECEIVE calls with YOUR OWN REAL PHONE NUMBER! All via your Pulver freeworld account No gimmicks No hidden fees No extra monthly charges You are billed ONLY for the minutes you use and they roll to the next month if you don't use them. First month buy 650 minutes and they roll forever until you use them up. Pay by paypal, only. For $50, get a REAL telephone number ANYONE can call and 650 minutes! You must continue to pay $10 a month for the phone number. Recharge your minutes whenever you like! Email now! why wait! ucallvoip@yahoo.com This offer not endorsed by Pulver Freeworld. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am certain Jeff Pulver, who by his own admission does NOT run a telco and therefore is NOT subject to the rules of the game is pleased to see that someone else, whose offer he does NOT endorse, that someone else is willing to take the heat about the telco he does NOT operate. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Adam H. Kerman Subject: Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 03:50:31 -0000 Organization: Chinet - Public access since 1982 TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > ... The two hospitals in the area, Saint Anne's and Bethany Brethren > both filed bankruptcy when their collections got to be so awful. But a > group of religious leaders in Chicago decided they did not want to see > still more vacant businesses around the area, so they decided to buy > both hospitals out of bankruptcy with several million dollars to the > creditors, and commit several million more dollars per year to keep > them operating. The new organization was called 'Evangelical Health Care > Corporation' with the 'Bethany Pavillion' and the 'St. Anne's Pavillion' > parts to it. St. Anne's was turned into a specialized outpatient clinic; > the surgery and in-patient stuff was to be handled at Bethany. Patrick, the religious organization that bought the St. Anne's facility was Bethel New Life. Its founder, Mary Nelson, is retiring. The Trib wrote her up: http://www.chicagotribune.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=bethel+new+life&target=article ------------------------------ From: qjohnny2000@yahoo.com (John Qyindi) Subject: Cell Phone With Timer? Date: 9 Jun 2004 06:03:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Is there any cell phone that you can program to turn on at a certain time or at least not be in silent mode at a certain time ... I'm only suppose to get calls from work between certain hours but people ignore this so I want to program it in ... Problem is I only get calls halfway through the night when I'm sleeping so obviously can't turn on the ringer or turn on the phone then. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess I am a sound sleeper because I do not hear (or cannot get awake enough to answer) call phone calls during the night, and the call gets rolled over to voicemail on its own before I wake up/get cognizant enough to answer or deal with it. What I do however, on nights or other times when it really matters is to reach over to the phone and manually flip it into silent mode. Eventually, sooner or later, I remember and manually flip it back into ringing mode. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 19:15:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: PluggedIn: Step Aside TiVo, Here Comes Freevo By Daniel Sorid SAN FRANCISCO, June 8 (Reuters) - Tired of TiVo's monthly fees and eager for even more control over their television programs, computer enthusiasts are building TV recording devices out of personal computers and new software packages. The trend is perhaps a touch of bitter irony for TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO), whose personal video recorders started out as a disruptive technology for cable and satellite companies, by allowing users to digitally store their favorite shows and skip commercials. Getting the power of TiVo and updated TV listings without having to pay the monthly fee has apparently made such software quite attractive. At SnapStream Media, a maker of PC-based video recording software, business is growing 20 percent a month, the company said, while declining to disclose its number of users. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41854730 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 09:04:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SalemOpen.net Free Wifi Network Now Live http://www.salemopen.net/projects.html http://www.salemopen.net/projects_salembackg.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 09:17:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: WiMax Better Fit For Rural U.S., Overseas - Study NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - Businesses hoping to cash in on an emerging wireless technology known as WiMax should look to rural and overseas markets for high-speed Internet customers, according to a study released on Wednesday. In a joint study, Bear Stearns and telecommunications consultant The Management Network Group forecast that high costs and the availability of broadband Internet in metropolitan U.S. markets could diminish the success of WiMax. The nascent technology, which promises high-speed links over distances of 30 miles, is being hyped as the next big thing after its popular but shorter range cousin Wi-Fi. WiMax will provide wireless Internet on laptop computers at speeds similar to DSL or cable modem. It will be commercially available in 2005 but it is unclear if it will make money. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41866432 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 09:23:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Delivers New Service Enhancements for Series2 Subscribers, Introduces New Pricing for Multiple TiVo Households Home Media Capabilities and Other Features Now Available as part of Standard $12.95 A Month Subscription For First TiVo DVR, And $6.95 A Month For Additional Boxes NEW YORK, June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) today announced it has added new enhancements and capabilities to its service, including online scheduling and home media features. These features allow subscribers to enjoy their favorite TV programs and easily connect to all of their favorite content -- including music and photos -- simply by connecting their TiVo(R) Series2(TM) DVR to their home network. By continuously adding value through the TiVo service, the company is offering an unmatched set of features and capabilities that maintain both its prominent position in the marketplace and high level of customer satisfaction. In response to requests from subscribers, TiVo also announced today a new multi-service pricing plan that will allow subscribers to fully benefit from these new service features at a lower cost than ever. Under this new multi-service plan, service for the first TiVo service subscription in the home is the standard $12.95 per month, while each additional TiVo service subscription is just $6.95 per month.* This cuts almost in half the subscription fee for additional TiVo boxes. And, for a limited time, TiVo and participating retailers are offering a 10 percent discount on TiVo DVRs by lowering the purchase price to as little as $129, with mail-in rebate. As of today, TiVo Series2 subscribers can do more things the TiVo way -- easily and effortlessly. They can automatically use these new service features to schedule recordings from the Internet, move content between two or more TiVo boxes in the home, and enjoy digital music and photos in their full glory on the big screen or home stereo in the living room. Previously, these features were only available with purchase of the TiVo Home Media Option(TM). Beginning today, these features are included in the standard $12.95 subscription rate. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41869976 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 13:17:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Best Buy and TiVo to Provide Subscribers 'New Music Tuesdays' Each Week TiVo(R) Series2(TM) Subscribers Can Sample New Music From Best Buy's 'New Releases' NEW YORK, June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) and Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), the nation's leading specialty retailer of digital technology and entertainment products and services, have teamed up to deliver to TiVo Series2 subscribers new music from today's most popular artists. The first in a series of new music releases available to TiVo subscribers will be music from Universal Music Group. TiVo Series2 subscribers with a broadband connection can now take advantage of the home media features included in the service to stream select new music releases beginning today. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41874497 ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 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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If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #283 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jun 10 00:57:04 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5A4v3004122; Thu, 10 Jun 2004 00:57:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 00:57:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406100457.i5A4v3004122@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 #284 TELECOM Digest Thu, 10 Jun 2004 00:57:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 284 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon Wireless Extends Commanding Lead in Downloadable (Monty Solomon) Bell Canada, Microsoft Test Broadband TV (Monty Solomon) Nikon and TiVo Partner to Extend the Excitement of Digital (Monty Solomon) Cingular Patches Customer Security Glitches (Monty Solomon) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Ray Normandeau) Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (Paul Vader) Re: Cell Phone With Timer? (Joseph) Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged (Herb Stein) Dock-N-Talk -- Anyone Use This??? (Alex) Clearing the Way for Widespread Residential VoIP (VOIP News) Help File For Email Information Service (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 22:38:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Extends Commanding Lead in Downloadable Applications 70 Million Applications Downloaded, More Than 500 Unique Applications Available SAN DIEGO and BEDMINSTER, N.J., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- From the BREW Developers Conference in San Diego, Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless provider, announced today that total downloads on its Get It Now service have reached more than 70 million since its national launch in September 2002, up from a total of 8.5 million at last year's Conference. Get It Now currently contains a library of 520 applications, including games, productivity tools, information services, ringtones, wallpapers and more. The number of applications has grown dramatically, up from 115 applications at last year's BREW Developers Conference. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41877461 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 22:10:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bell Canada, Microsoft test broadband TV TORONTO, June 9 (Reuters) - Bell Canada has teamed up with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) to run trials on delivering television service over a broadband Internet connection, but no launch date has been set for the service, the BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) unit said on Wednesday. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41879068 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 22:44:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nikon and TiVo Partner to Extend the Excitement of Digital Photos Nikon and TiVo Partner to Extend the Excitement of Digital Photography Into the Living Room Professional Photography from Nikon's Portfolio of Award Winning Artist's Delivered to TiVo Series2 Subscribers With Home Network MELVILLE, N.Y., June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nikon (http://www.nikonusa.com), the world leader in photography, today announced a partnership with TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), to deliver professional photography images from world-renowned artists to all TiVo(R) Series2(TM) subscribers connected to a home network. Beginning today, TiVo Series2 subscribers can view images from Nikon's "Legends behind the Lens" through the home media features. The first in a series of artist's highlighted by Nikon will be Joe McNally, the award-winning photojournalist known for his incredible versatility, technical mastery and use of creative lighting to capture interesting and engaging photographs. Additionally, TiVo Series2 subscribers who buy a Nikon Coolpix digital camera this Fall will have an instant connection to TiVo home media features through Nikon's PictureProject(TM) Software. This new application will make it simple for anyone to easily publish their albums to their Home Theater or TV through TiVo. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41880967 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 22:46:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Patches Customer Security Glitches NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - Cingular Wireless, which is set to become the biggest U.S. mobile service when it buys AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) this year, said on Wednesday it was fixing security problems that exposed customer account details and could potentially have resulted in fraudulent credit card use. The glitches related to Internet and telephone services that let Cingular customers see their account balances and pay their phone bills by simply keying in their ZIP codes and telephone numbers, the company said. Cingular, a venture of BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS) and SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC), said it would change the services after the bugs were first revealed by a report on technology news Web site ZDNet.com on Tuesday. Cingular's future partner, AT&T Wireless, recently lost customers after its reputation was hurt by technical problems. Spokesman Tony Carter said Cingular changed the Internet payment service on Tuesday and expected to get rid of a similar telephone-based service by Wednesday night. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41883554 ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Date: 9 Jun 2004 12:39:39 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com J Kelly wrote in message news:: > I believe Sirloin Stockade is (was) a chain. I remember there being > one across from my hotel when I was workign out of town about 6 years > ago. If I recall correctly it was in Sioux City, Iowa. I often eat > at an Old Country Buffet in Waterloo, Iowa. Not bad food, not cheap, > but not too bad, my kids are young enough that they can eat for a buck > or so, which helps. Wife and I love Old Country Buffet. On bus tours we had eaten at a couple. Picked up a brochure and saw www listed. Found one in Staten Island and one on Long Island. We don't drive, so if a friend with car heads out to go shopping on Long Island we offer to treat him to lunch at OCB. There food is not overly salty or sugared unexceptedly, excpet for one recent taste of taco filling. You can get sugar-free desserts as we should be eating, but usually pick the ones with sugar. Lunch is quite reasonable although there are cheaper Indian food buffets on NYC. ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 19:50:40 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So what you are saying is that the > thing which VP Gore promoted, getting money into the net through various > companies instead of just the universities as it had been wound up > also bringing us most of the abuses we are now seeing these days. PAT] Duh? * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Cell Phone With Timer? Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 17:25:26 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 9 Jun 2004 06:03:16 -0700, qjohnny2000@yahoo.com (John Qyindi) wrote: > Is there any cell phone that you can program to turn on at a certain > time or at least not be in silent mode at a certain time ... I'm only > suppose to get calls from work between certain hours but people ignore > this so I want to program it in ... Problem is I only get calls halfway > through the night when I'm sleeping so obviously can't turn on the > ringer or turn on the phone then. I don't know of any that will turn on or off at a pre-determined time. However, many phones have timed "profiles" which is a feature I use if I'm somewhere and don't want to be disturbed but want my phone to become "normal" again at a certain time. To do that all I have to do is when the meeting starts access profiles on my phone and instruct the phone to go into whatever mode I want during that period. I can choose any of the profiles that I have configured on my phone such as vibrate only or silent and that timed profile will run out when I have preconfigured the phone to go back to "normal" profile. I have a Nokia 6310i, but I believe this timed profile feature is available on other phones from Nokia and other mobile phone manufacturers. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 21:42:55 -0500 wrote in message news:telecom23.283.8@telecom-digest.org: > In a message dated Mon, 07 Jun 2004 17:56:13 -0400, Barry Margolin < > barmar@alum.mit.edu> writes: >> Pat suggested that the towns may be subsidizing this, but lots of >> convenience stores, as well as chains like Staples and UPS Store, >> offer self-serve copying. I don't think they're still a dime, but >> they're not much more expensive either. >> Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu >> Arlington, MA > Oklahoma County Public Libraries have been charging 15 cents as > long as I can remember. > UPS Stores still charge a dime, unless they've gone up in the > last few weeks. So does the self-service copying machine in > Albertson's. > Kinko's, I believe, has gone up to 7 or 8 cents. > Wes Leatherock > wesrock@aol.com The local OfficeMax (St. Louis), self-service, is 7 cents single sided B/W and 14 cents double sided. Herb Stein herb@herbstein.com ------------------------------ From: alex@totallynerd.com (Alex) Subject: Dock-N-Talk -- Anyone Use This??? Date: 9 Jun 2004 14:36:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi all, I've been with SBC for my home phone since moving 18 months ago, and it seems to go down for some reason every 2-3 months due to problems on the phone company's end. Anyway, I'm seriously considering dropping my land line and moving to only cell phone, but I hate talking on my little Motorola V60 while at home. I ran across the Dock N Talk device, and I was wondering if anyone's using it? ANy problems or issues?? What about capabilities with the Motorola V60i? It looks like an awesome product if it does all they say it can - http://www.phonelabs.com/prd05.asp - but I often wonder if it CAN do all this, why isn't it at Best Buy, Circuit City, or the major electronic vendors. I've only found it at smaller web stores ... which sometimes makes me leery of a product's quality. Anyway, I'd love some comments on this product before spending $150 for it. Thanks and take care, Alex [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think they make the same thing in a different model for the Nokia 5100/6100 series phones which is the cellular phone I use. They work okay, and allow me to use any 'regular' style phone if that's more convenient. The $150 price tag sounds about right. The trouble with all those devices is there are such a huge variety of cellular phones out there, and new ones coming out all the time. If a company was going to make them for every style of handset on the market, they would go broke, since each style of handset has slightly different software and logic in it. I've suggested that the manufacturer make one standard 'Dock and Talk' device then use short little ribbon connectors to accomodate different style phones, etc, but I was told then they would also need different pin outs on the ribbon connectors. I would suggest if you are considering dropping SBC (as I have done) that you consider VOIP instead since it can also be wired around your entire house if you follow Jack Decker's instructions for same. Most folks these days cannot really afford to keep SBC, but they can use Vonage or some other VOIP easily enough. Use VOIP your main phone service around your house and then your cellphone as backup. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 17:57:20 -0400 Subject: Clearing the Way for Widespread Residential VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Comment: In one respect this article could be seen as a shameless promotional piece for Netrake's session controllers. However, it does provide some insights into the challenges of setting up a residential VoIP service. Just keep in mind as you read this that to some degree, it might be considered a form of advertising. http://www.convergedigest.com/blueprint/ttp04/z3netrake1.asp?ID=137&ctgy=3 by Micaela Giuhat, AVP Product Management Netrake VoIP will explode into widespread deployment across North American this year, changing the way telephone calls are made and received more radically than any technology that's been put into place in the last 100 years. At the same time, VoIP will bring cost efficiencies for carriers and new services and conveniences for consumers. The new technology will eventually dominate what has been and promises to continue to be for many years to come. This is thanks to the embedded infrastructure of existing telecommunications carriers a lucrative $80 billion annual voice services market. Because RBOCs and ILECs have a vested interest in maintaining existing infrastructure for switched telephony services, it's unlikely that VoIP will transform the way the phone industry runs overnight. It is, however, likely that VoIP's attractiveness for both carriers and consumers will drive large-scale residential deployments starting this year. In fact, it's already happening. Service providers like Vonage, Packet8 and Net2Phone are riding on broadband networks. Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) like Verizon and its brethren all have announced plans for VoIP migration in the near term. Interexchange Carriers (IXCs) like AT&T, Sprint and MCI are eyeing or entering the space. And, of course, cable operators are standing by to bring in their own versions of voice services running on their broadband networks. Even fixed broadband wireless providers and their cousins in the wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) space are eyeing voice services over IP networks. In short, while small in comparison to the existing telecommunications infrastructure, the residential VoIP audience will be a huge change compared to any competing voice technology that has happened in the last century. Let's first concede that VoIP technology is, to put it in technical terms, fully baked. After some initial start-up kinks, transmitting voice over broadband IP has become commonplace in the transport space, with carriers and service providers packetizing voice into data and carrying it across IP networks internationally to avoid the costs and difficulties of using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and to give end users lower charges primarily for long distance calls. Full story at: http://www.convergedigest.com/blueprint/ttp04/z3netrake1.asp?ID=137&ctgy=3 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Help File for Email Information Service Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 23:00:00 CST Some people have asked to see this recently. The Telecom-Archives Email Service ================================== [Last modified -- January 8, 1997] The Telecom Archives Email Service is a simple program to allow files to be fetched by email. It understands a small set of commands, which basically cause files to be sent in mail messages to an email address specified in the message (this does not have to be the sender of the message). Messages are sent to the Telecom Archives Email Service by emailing them to: archives@telecom-digest.org The subject does not matter. The message sent to the server should consist of a set of commands, one per line. Each command begins with a keyword, which should be all in the same case, though this can be either upper or lower case. The first command must be a REPLY command: the server will use this to determine the end of any introductory material and the start of the actual commands. Commands ======== The commands understood by the server are as follows. Some commands take a single argument, which is separated from the command name by a space. All other text on the command line is ignored. An exception to this is when the commands SEARCH or SUBMIT are used; see notes below. Commands can be upper/lower case, no difference, *but arguments which follow are case sensitive.* ==> And REPLY *always* comes first. <== AREACODE (no longer in service 6/2004) This command takes as its argument any one or more telephone area codes. An email message comes back to you giving the geographic location of the area code(s) entered. An example of a query sent to the archives would be AREACODE 312. BYE Another way to end your session; also see END and QUIT. CARRIER (no longer in service 6/2004) This command takes as its argument a three digit code such as 288. An email message comes back to you telling you what long distance carrier is assigned to 10xxx where x is the three digit code. Only one entry can be given at a time. Use this command repeatedly with additional three digit codes if more than one is being sought. DIRECTORY This is equivilent to 'info directory' (see below) and will get you in return mail a complete directory listing of all files in the Archives. Also see the INDEX command notes below. END (also BYE or QUIT) The remainder of the message will be ignored by the email service. This should be used to prevent signatures from being interpreted. FIND See the SEARCH command. This is an alternate to SEARCH for the purpose of searching the indexes to back issues of the Digest. GET See the SEND command. This is an alternate to SEND for the purpose of having archives files emailed to you. GLOSSARY This command takes as its argument an abbreviation, acronym or common phrase used in telecommunications. The argument is then examined against several of the acronym files available in the archives (/glossaries/acronyms), and results are reported back in email to you. If there is an abbreviation you don't know or a phrase you are unfamiliar with, this may help you. Just use the letters, not the dots (.) between them, i.e. MFJ - not M.F.J. HELP Sends this file. This is equivalent to "info help". HUMAN This should be used to obtain help; processing of your message will stop and the entire message will be sent to a human being. On the lines following this command, you may type in free-form whatever message or question you wish to relay. Your message will be for- warded to ptownson@telecom-digest.org INDEX Sends the list of all files in the Telecom Archives. This is equiv- alent to "info index". This searches recursively through all the sub-directories as well as the root telecom-archives directory. If you prefer a Unix style 'ls -lLRF' long listing of the archives, try 'info directory'. INFO This command takes an argument and causes files to be sent in reply, like the SEND command, but these files are about TELECOM Digest and the Archives itself, such as a list of all files in the database, and a list of what has changed in the last week. Unlike the SEND command, the argument is lowercased before use. If you include a argument, you get that file. If you just say 'info' and do not include an argument, then you get an index of available info files about TELECOM Digest and other things. PASSWORD This command takes an argument, consisting of the name of a "file group", a slash, and then a password; for example: "private/pswd". If the password is correct for that file group, then the files in the file group, and the index file for it, become available for request. Until the password is correctly specified, the file group is not available. Files for a file group all have names including the group name; for example, all files in the file group "private" have names beginning ".private/" (note the dot). The index for the group can be fetched with the command "info index.private" once the password requirement has been met. WARNING - accessing files with a password that has not been obtained in a legitimate manner may be an offense under the law. Access to restricted file sets other than via a legitimately obtained password is expressly forbidden. PUT This command allows you to send files to the Archives. It is included for compatibility with FTP. See the SUBMIT command shown below for instructions on its use. QUIT Also see BYE and END. This command ends the session. REPLY This takes an argument, which is the email address to which all replies should be sent. This *must* be the first command; the ser- ver uses it to determine the start of the commands to be executed. This may also occur elsewhere within the message; replies to subse- quent commands will be sent to the new address. SEARCH (or FIND) This command allows searching the indexes of back issues of TELECOM Digest. Indexes of author names and subject titles are available in one file for the years 1989 through 1991 and second file for the years 1992-1994, and a third for 1995-1997. For the convenience of FTP users, the files are split because of the huge size; for Email Service users, the files are all checked in the process of returning search results. The command will send back a list of all the lines in the author and subject indexes which match the "pattern" specified after the search command. In this pattern, certain characters have a special meaning; these are defined by the "grep" command on massis.lcs.mit.edu -- the computer providing the Telecom Archives Email Information Service -- but normally include: . matches any one character .* matches any sequence of characters a* matches zero or more "a"s [123] matches a single 1, 2, or 3 [0-9] matches a digit [0-9]* matches zero or more digits \. matches a dot Case of letters is ignored during searches. For example: "SEARCH [0-9]" will list every subject containing a digit. "SEARCH Ohio Bell" will list every subject containing "Ohio Bell", or "Ohio bell", etc. "SEARCH Ohio.*bell" will list every line containing "ohio" followed by "bell" somewhere on the same line. What you will get back is a listing of the articles in which your search string appeared as a subject or an author name. For more detailed help in using the SEARCH command, request the file 'search-hints', i.e. 'info search-hints'. Users who are very knowledgeable about the 'grep' command will recognize this as excerpts from the grep manual pages. It is also recommended you request 'back-issues' (info back-issues) to learn how to interpret the data returned by SEARCH, and use that data when ordering the full file referenced in the results. SEND (or GET) This takes an argument, which is the name of a file or set of files to be requested. All files in the Archives database whose name includes the argument will be sent in reply. Thus, if the archives included a package consisting of five files: software.dndlib.01 software.dndlib.02 software.dndlib.03 software.dndlib.04 software.dndlib.README then the whole package can be retrieved with the command: SEND software.dndlib whilst just part 3 can be retrieved with the command: SEND software.dndlib.03 It is legal, though not necessarily useful, to use commands like: SEND ware. SEND dli Take care to be specific enough that you do not get back a large number of files in which you have no interest; but if you want more than one file with the same common beginning name, you can use the abbreviated formats shown above. For compatibility with ftp, we allow the use of GET as an alternate to SEND. If the file is 60000 bytes or larger, the SEND command will automatically split it into parts, and then mail each part separately. Each part will begin with a marker line giving the part number and the number of lines in the part, and end with a marker line. You can set the acceptable file size larger if your email can accomodate larger files by using SPLITUNIT. See below for an explanation of the SPLITUNIT command. NOTE: The Email Service will limit you to five files per day/ request, although larger files may be mailed in several parts. We are required by MIT to avoid clogging/overloading their mail system. Chronic violators will be banned entirely! SENDPACK This command is identical to the SEND command, except that the files will be uuencoded and split into parts. This should be used for files which are marked as containing non-printable characters. Most files in our archives are textfiles; this command would be rarely used. You do need it for binary and executable files however. See note above on limits. You may request two sendpack mailings per day. Additional requests will be declined. SPLITUNIT An argument in the range 60000 through 999999 is required to use this. This command allows you to set the maximum size acceptable for the mail- ing of large files. For example, the various files with back issues of the Telecom Digest are so large that they must be broken into parts for mailing purposes; otherwise many users would be unable to receive them via email. The default size is 60,000 bytes, which is also the minimum. You can set this higher -- all the way to 999,999 bytes if desired -- if your mail system can handle files that large. By doing this, you don't have to put so many smaller files back together again as they arrive. For the largest of the back issues files -- over a million bytes -- setting SPLITUNIT to its maximum size will give you the convenience of having the file arrive in just two parts, rather than perhaps 50-75 parts as would be done with smaller splits. Consult the postmaster at your site if you are uncertain of the maximum size of email which can be received successfully. SUBMIT (or PUT) You can submit new files to the Telecom Archives with this command to the Email Service. This command takes an argument, which is a flag used to indicate the end of the file. For example, if the command "SUBMIT EOF" is used, the file is all the text following until a line consisting only of "EOF" (with no spaces). After that line, following lines should consist of a message to be sent to the administrator, and ending with a line consisting only of three dashes ("---"), again with no spaces. For example: SUBMIT End/of/text This is a two line file to be added to the infoserver. It contains only two lines. End/of/text Dear archivist, this isn't very important. --- # This is the next command A single request may contain several submissions. Submitted files are held in a private area for review before they are made avail- able for request by others. The server will send you a receipt for your file so you know it got here safely. Remember uuencoding and other requirements for transmission of binary files or executables as needed. Below the EOF, be sure to advise the *name* of the file, what it is about (or does), etc. For compatibility with ftp, we allow the use of PUT as an alternate to SUBMIT. >> If this command fails the remainder of your request is ignored. << TEST This command requires no argument. It simply returns to you a very short text file entitled 'test' so you can detirmine that your email and the Telecom Archives Information server are compatible. VERBOSE A description of the effect of each command will be sent back to you. You'll get a letter back showing what I thought you were trying to say or asking for. ---------------- Acknowlegements: This email server was constructed by our friend Clive Feather in England , to whom my grateful thanks are extended! Some features and modifications were constructed by myself. Additional notes: For subscriptions to the Digest, write: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org Send articles for submission to: editor@telecom-digest.org Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Moderator Telecom Archives Manager January 8, 1997 ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #284 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jun 10 17:36:34 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5ALaYE11841; Thu, 10 Jun 2004 17:36:34 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 17:36:34 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406102136.i5ALaYE11841@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 #285 TELECOM Digest Thu, 10 Jun 2004 17:35:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 285 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Clearing the Way for Widespread Residential VoIP (VOIP News) Nuvio Corporation Partners with 1TouchTone to Provide Branded (VOIP News) Voice Over WLAN Still a Joke That's Not Funny (VOIP News) End-to-End VOIP (Wolfgang S. Rupprecht) Secret Surfer Broken (Julian Thomas) Panasonic VA-208 Speed Dial Programming (Chip) Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged (William Robison) Re: Dock N Talk - Anyone Using? (Alex) 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: VOIP News Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 17:57:20 -0400 Subject: Clearing the Way for Widespread Residential VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Comment: In one respect this article could be seen as a shameless promotional piece for Netrake's session controllers. However, it does provide some insights into the challenges of setting up a residential VoIP service. Just keep in mind as you read this that to some degree, it might be considered a form of advertising. http://www.convergedigest.com/blueprint/ttp04/z3netrake1.asp?ID=137&ctgy=3 Clearing the Way for Widespread Residential VoIP by Micaela Giuhat, AVP Product Management Netrake VoIP will explode into widespread deployment across North American this year, changing the way telephone calls are made and received more radically than any technology that's been put into place in the last 100 years. At the same time, VoIP will bring cost efficiencies for carriers and new services and conveniences for consumers. The new technology will eventually dominate what has been and promises to continue to be for many years to come. This is thanks to the embedded infrastructure of existing telecommunications carriers a lucrative $80 billion annual voice services market. Because RBOCs and ILECs have a vested interest in maintaining existing infrastructure for switched telephony services, it's unlikely that VoIP will transform the way the phone industry runs overnight. It is, however, likely that VoIP's attractiveness for both carriers and consumers will drive large-scale residential deployments starting this year. In fact, it's already happening. Service providers like Vonage, Packet8 and Net2Phone are riding on broadband networks. Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) like Verizon and its brethren all have announced plans for VoIP migration in the near term. Interexchange Carriers (IXCs) like AT&T, Sprint and MCI are eyeing or entering the space. And, of course, cable operators are standing by to bring in their own versions of voice services running on their broadband networks. Even fixed broadband wireless providers and their cousins in the wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) space are eyeing voice services over IP networks. In short, while small in comparison to the existing telecommunications infrastructure, the residential VoIP audience will be a huge change compared to any competing voice technology that has happened in the last century. Let's first concede that VoIP technology is, to put it in technical terms, 'fully baked.' After some initial start-up kinks, transmitting voice over broadband IP has become commonplace in the transport space, with carriers and service providers packetizing voice into data and carrying it across IP networks internationally to avoid the costs and difficulties of using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and to give end users lower charges primarily for long distance calls. Full story at: http://www.convergedigest.com/blueprint/ttp04/z3netrake1.asp?ID=137&ctgy=3 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 11:45:12 -0400 Subject: Nuvio Corporation Partners with 1TouchTone to Provide Branded Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Comment: The concept of a "virtual VoIP" company is interesting, but perhaps it slices the pie too thin -- this company's rate for its residential Unlimited Local and Long Distance plan is among the highest I've seen (compared to other VoIP companies), and the calling area only seems to be the United States. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040610005224&newsLang=en Nuvio Corporation Partners with 1TouchTone to Provide Branded VoIP Offering KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 2004--Nuvio Corporation, a leading provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), today announced a private label agreement with 1TouchTone. Under the agreement, 1TouchTone's VoIP offering will be "Powered by Nuvio" with a branded Web site, private-label billing, referrals coordination, technology support and marketing materials for providing VoIP services to their customers. Nuvio's partner program gives broadband providers the ability to capitalize on the exploding VoIP market, offering services to the residential and small to medium-sized business spaces, without having to incur the delays and costs for development and maintenance of the technology. "1TouchTone was looking for a quick, easy way into the VoIP market," stated David Thiery, president of 1TouchTone. "Nuvio provided a complete package of service, marketing, and billing support that removed the need for us to develop our own network while providing a new revenue stream for our business." "Nuvio has a unique offering that is perfect for broadband providers," said Jason Talley, president and CEO of Nuvio Corporation. "Our service gives broadband companies the chance to quickly join the VoIP revolution and provide their customers complete Internet and telephony services from one source. Nuvio partners can literally begin offering VoIP overnight." About 1TouchTone Headquartered just outside of Detroit, Mi., 1TouchTone has been in the telecommunications and technology business since 1986. 1TouchTone initially offered IT hardware solutions. In 1992, communication services were first offered. By 1995, 1TouchTone was one of the largest paging wholesalers in the Midwest, and the company began offering cellular and wireless services. In 2001, 1TouchTone achieved Competitive Local Exchange Carrier status and was licensed to provide local dial tone services. In 2003, 1TouchTone entered the broadband communications market. About Nuvio Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Nuvio develops, licenses, and markets VoIP services to businesses, education, consumer and government customers through a growing network of private-label partners. In addition to consumer NuvioVoice products, Nuvio also has NuvioCentrex, a complete IP based Centrex application for businesses that replaces existing telephony infrastructure. For additional information about Nuvio Corporation, visit www.nuvio.com or call Toll Free 866-887-3479. Nuvio, NuvioVoice, NuvioCentrex and the Nuvio logo are trademarks of Nuvio Corporation. All other names and trademarks mentioned above are held by their respective owners and are hereby respectively acknowledged. Contacts Keating & Co. Jennifer Kamienski, 973-400-5403 jkamienski@keatingco.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 11:09:02 -0400 Subject: Voice Over WLAN Still a Joke That's Not Funny Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1609526,00.asp By Guy Kewney At the VON Europe show in London, columnist Guy Kewney finds that when it comes to real-time voice service, the technology has a long way to go. Voice over wireless LAN? Not this year. Or so was my experience this week at Jeff Pulver's VON Europe show here in London. It just so happened that before the show opened, I was on an assignment to test voice-over-IP (VOIP) telephony. So, I was pretty glad of the expertise I'd find at the event. Boy, was I disappointed! The technology for doing VOIP is established, pretty stable and in use. According to Sonus, roughly 10 percent of the world's wired phone networks are switched by IP switches—and a lot of those are owned by Sonus, of course. But watching people trying to do voice over WLAN in London, you'd never have guessed. Full story at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1609526,00.asp ------------------------------ Subject: End-to-End VOIP From: Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 18:12:17 GMT I just bought a pair of Grandstreams Budgettone 100's for $65 from Pulver for a cross-country test. Boy am I impressed. The test was between the SF, CA area to Northampton, MA. The most striking thing was how quiet the connection was. (Sort of like going from phonographs to well-recorded CD's.) The fact that the phone doesn't need any 2-wire to 4-wire hybrid can't hurt either. Lets hear it for true uni-directional talk paths without any transformers in the way to saturate and add other distortions and coloration. The raw ping times between the endpoints was noisy with delays bouncing around 125ms and a few outliers at twice that. round-trip min/avg/max/std-dev = 95.729/124.716/302.405/60.522 ms The talk delay wasn't much of an impediment once one got used to pausing a bit longer to allow the other side to get their packets in. The one feature of the phone that isn't usable at all over such a long delay is the speaker phone. Well, not unless you want to drive the other party totally stark-raving bonkers. The room acoustics will bounce their conversation back to them with what appears to be roughly 2x the above delays. I assume the speakerphone is meant for the times one is put on hold or something like that and one only needs to know when the other party returned to the phone. The fact that VOIP phone calls can be done without any middle-man and the fact that they don't cost anything above and beyond what one pays for an internet connection is going to be a strong driver for acceptance of this technology from the budget-minded crowd. I find the "save a few cents per minute" come-on of VOIP to PSTN companies uninteresting. I can pick up my POTS line if I want "telco quality" communication. What I find tantalizing about end-to-end VOIP is that the quality can be much higher. I'm already spoiled by the Grandstream's ulaw/8khz end to end. Even though this is still standard telco encoding, not sending a low-level microphone signal 15kft through 4 different 4/2-wire hybrids makes a big difference. I'm seriously thinking of sending all my relatives a Budgettone 100 for the holidays. This is one of those things like the fax machine, it is only useful to you if other folks have one too. Once critical mass is reached I expect to see an avalanche effect. I just wonder how long it will take for the sharp part of the curve to hit. Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/ VOIP: sip:429102@voip.wsrcc.com (or FWD-429102) ------------------------------ From: Julian Thomas Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 16:02:00 -0400 Subject: Secret Surfer Broken Throws up a cuss box that anon.cotse.com could not be found ... Julian Thomas: jt@jt-mj.net http://jt-mj.net In the beautiful Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York State! Boardmember of POSSI.org - Phoenix OS/2 Society, Inc http://www.possi.org -- -- Advanced design: Upper management doesn't understand it. ------------------------------ From: Chip Subject: Panasonic VA-208 speed dial programming Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 02:48:47 -0700 Organization: Wood Chipper Wannabe Anyone remember how to program speed dial in the old Panasonic va-208 phone system? I bought a system with 8 phones for $1 and it works great, but I can't figure out how to program the speed dial buttons. Thanks, Chip ------------------------------ From: William Robison Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Organization: Universitry of Iowa Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 13:56:25 GMT On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 20:12:23 EDT, wrote: > In a message dated Mon, 07 Jun 2004 17:56:13 -0400, Barry Margolin < > barmar@alum.mit.edu> writes: >> Pat suggested that the towns may be subsidizing this, but lots of >> convenience stores, as well as chains like Staples and UPS Store, >> offer self-serve copying. I don't think they're still a dime, but >> they're not much more expensive either. >> Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu >> Arlington, MA > Oklahoma County Public Libraries have been charging 15 cents as > long as I can remember. > UPS Stores still charge a dime, unless they've gone up in the > last few weeks. So does the self-service copying machine in > Albertson's. > Kinko's, I believe, has gone up to 7 or 8 cents. > Wes Leatherock > wesrock@aol.com Pat: Remember the Xerox 914 copier? This beast is the first Xerox I can remember here at where I now work. It showed up in the early 60's (grade school, for me). It was the size of a LARGE L shaped desk. I don't know what it cost, but couldn't have been at all cheap. (I did see the Xerox'd hand, but no other body parts) Now, I can go out and buy an ink-jet copier/priunter for $100 at Staples, Best Buy, Wal Mart, Office Max (and on and on). Granted supplies cost a small fortune (in the form of ink cartridges), but for a few hundred I can get a low duty cycle laser copier. It should be to the point that the major cost is the paper going into the machine, which is around a penny/page if you don't buy in bulk. Thinking back to the size and cost of the earlier machines, it's almost amazing that we could get copies for a dime back then. I don't know what paper cost in those days, but I'd wager that with the volume of "A" size paper that is produced these days drives, the price is below that of 35 years ago... (Isn't computer technology wonderful? Well, unless you need to get your car fixed these days :-) -Willy ------------------------------ From: alex@totallynerd.com (Alex) Subject: Re: Dock-N-Talk -- Anyone Use This??? Date: 10 Jun 2004 13:29:00 -0700 alex@totallynerd.com (Alex) wrote in message news: > Hi all, > I've been with SBC for my home phone since moving 18 months ago, and > it seems to go down for some reason every 2-3 months due to problems > on the phone company's end. Anyway, I'm seriously considering > dropping my land line and moving to only cell phone, but I hate > talking on my little Motorola V60 while at home. > I ran across the Dock N Talk device, and I was wondering if anyone's > using it? ANy problems or issues?? What about capabilities with the > Motorola V60i? It looks like an awesome product if it does all they > say it can - http://www.phonelabs.com/prd05.asp - but I often wonder > if it CAN do all this, why isn't it at Best Buy, Circuit City, or the > major electronic vendors. I've only found it at smaller web stores ... > which sometimes makes me leery of a product's quality. > Anyway, I'd love some comments on this product before spending $150 > for it. > Thanks and take care, > Alex > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think they make the same thing in a > different model for the Nokia 5100/6100 series phones which is the > cellular phone I use. They work okay, and allow me to use any 'regular' > style phone if that's more convenient. The $150 price tag sounds about > right. The trouble with all those devices is there are such a huge > variety of cellular phones out there, and new ones coming out all the > time. If a company was going to make them for every style of handset > on the market, they would go broke, since each style of handset has > slightly different software and logic in it. I've suggested that the > manufacturer make one standard 'Dock and Talk' device then use short > little ribbon connectors to accomodate different style phones, etc, > but I was told then they would also need different pin outs on the > ribbon connectors. > I would suggest if you are considering dropping SBC (as I have done) > that you consider VOIP instead since it can also be wired around > your entire house if you follow Jack Decker's instructions for same. > Most folks these days cannot really afford to keep SBC, but they can > use Vonage or some other VOIP easily enough. Use VOIP your main phone > service around your house and then your cellphone as backup. PAT] Hi Pat, The Dock and Talk unit supposedly comes with different cables for various phones, but the unit itself is the same. It has an impressive list of features, and I'm wondering if they all work with the Motorola V60i. If it works as I hope, then this'll be perfect for my needs. Pay for one phone and best of both worlds :) You and I have actually msged in the past about Vonage, but they're not in my area yet. I check weekly, but thus far the closest town is about 40 miles away -- and long distance from here. Time Warner is also getting a VoIP service starting soon, but I'm not sure what their rates will be like. I'll probably switch to it or Vonage if either get in my area soon. Thanks for the feedback, and take care, Alex [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Dock/Talk thing I have is expressly configured for Nokia 5100/6100 series phones; that is, the cradle in which the phone sits is just that wide, no more. The pin out on the bottom of the cradle matches with the pin out of the 5100/6100 series, and it appears to be 'idiot-proof' in the sense that you cannot mix up things by sitting the phone in wrong and frying something via the pins. Other phones just won't fit in the cradle. I took mine downtown the other day and stopped in to see the three cellular agent/dealers in town to ask about other units, etc. The Cingular Wireless agent has one that works on very new Nokia units as did US Cellular. The Cell One place had not even seen one of them. Regards Vonage, they have some odd policies it seems regarding placement of their services. The two service areas they have for the 620 area (which is the southern half of Kansas except for Wichita (316) are in a *tiny* little wide spot in the road called Winfield. KS which 'just happens to be' directly south of Wichita (but outside of 316 and barely into 620 by a few miles.)'620-402' is the exchange and DID numbers Southwestern Bell gave them although I understand the equipment is in Wichita (316) that Vonage uses for it. Winfield is about 60 miles west of here, on Highway 160, but straight south of Wichita. PAT] ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #285 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jun 11 14:28:04 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5BIS4O21924; Fri, 11 Jun 2004 14:28:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 14:28:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406111828.i5BIS4O21924@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 #286 TELECOM Digest Fri, 11 Jun 2004 14:26:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 286 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Supreme Court Asked to Uphold Phone Rules (Monty Solomon) Feds Say Vehicle Black Boxes Not Needed (Monty Solomon) FCC's Powell Seeks New Phone Line Access Rules (Monty Solomon) EPIC Alert 11.11 (Monty Solomon) EFFector 17.21: EFF Asks Public to Identify "Bad" Patents (Monty Solomon) Re: Cell Phone With Timer? (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Public Copying Cost Unchanged (Bill Ranck) Fujitsu's Base Station -- IMT--2000 (JL) Program to Send a Fax (nirmal) CLI via CSTA (Siemens HiPath 3000) (Matt Hall) Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails if Phone Taken Off Hook) (J Salmon) Vonage - Good Voice Quality, Crummy reliability? (John) BT Transforms Phone Network (VOIP News) VoIP All Smiles on FCC's Line-Sharing Move (VOIP News) Full-Duplex VoIP Speakerphone Controller Introduced (VOIP News) Review: VoicePulse VoIP Service (VOIP News) Decision Threatens Competitive Phone Rates (VOIP News) Rate Fight Masks Larger Phone Issue (VOIP News) First Looks: Sipura SPA-3000 (VOIP News) California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules (VOIP News) 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: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 23:11:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Supreme Court Asked to Uphold Phone Rules By JENNIFER C. KERR Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court was asked Thursday to temporarily block an appeals court decision that struck down phone competition regulations requiring regional carriers to share their networks with competitors at deep discounts. The Bush administration is not appealing its loss to the Supreme Court, but others unsatisfied with the ruling are, including the state of California, Michigan utility regulators and a national association of regulators. Their attorney told Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in court papers that the ruling prevents states from helping bring competition to local telephone service. The decision "jeopardizes the local telecommunications competition that has developed over the last decade," Washington lawyer James Bradford Ramsay told justices. Rehnquist will decide whether to put the lower court ruling on hold until the Supreme Court considers whether to hear the case. That would not happen until next fall. AT&T also asked the court to intervene and filed papers for a stay, said company spokeswoman Claudia Jones. Also Thursday, FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the agency will begin drafting new competition rules immediately to replace those set to expire Tuesday. "We may be able to finish not just interim rules but final rules this year," he said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41908941 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 23:21:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Feds Say Vehicle Black Boxes Not Needed By DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Data recorders that collect information on speed, seat belt use, braking and other factors shouldn't be required in vehicles, federal regulators said Thursday. Dr. Ricardo Martinez, former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, was among those pushing the agency to mandate the data recorders, saying they are essential for understanding what happens in a crash. But NHTSA said automakers are adding black boxes at a fast enough pace on their own. Approximately 15 percent of vehicles now on the road have the data recorders, and NHTSA says between 65 percent and 90 percent of 2004 vehicles have some sort of recording ability. Under a proposal released Thursday, NHTSA said it wants recorders to collect a standard set of data to help crash investigators. By September 2008, the agency wants recorders to collect up to 42 specific data elements, including the time it takes for air bags to deploy. NHTSA said the systems that control air bags already capture a great deal of that information, so the cost of standardizing the data will be minimal. Some automakers already have the recorders installed in most vehicles. General Motors Corp. began installing recorders in 1994, while Ford Motor Co. began installing them in 2001. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41903714 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 23:28:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC's Powell Seeks New Phone Line Access Rules By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's chairman said on Thursday he plans to draft new rules for leasing access to the local telephone carriers' networks after the Bush administration decided not to defend the old ones. The administration on Wednesday said it would not challenge an appeals court ruling that struck down FCC rules forcing the four big local carriers, known as the Baby Bells, to lease access to their networks at government-set rates. Chairman Michael Powell, who lost a bitter battle last year to reduce the network sharing requirements on the Bells, said he would seek new rules that would phase in any price increases and minimize consumer disruptions. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 22:53:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 11.11 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 11.11 June 10, 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.11.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] EPIC Sues Agencies for Passenger Data Disclosure Info [2] DHS and EU Council Reach Agreement on Airline Passenger Data [3] House Committee Suspends US-VISIT Contract [4] Business Coalition Seeks Change to Junk Fax Regulations [5] ICANN Calls for Comments on WHOIS Process [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: Credit Scores & Credit Reports [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.11.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 22:59:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.21: EFF Asks Public to Identify "Bad" Patents EFFector Vol. 17, No. 21 June 10, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 293rd Issue of EFFector: * EFF Asks Public to Identify "Bad" Patents in Patent Busting Contest * Pro-Consumer Privacy Bill Gets a Hearing: EFF Backs California Senate Bill Protecting Anonymous Speech Online * NGO Coalition Unites Against WIPO Broadcasting Treaty * MiniLinks (13): Big Content Wants Biometrics in Media Players * Staff Calendar: 06.10.04 - 06.13.04 - Lawrence Lessig and Wendy Seltzer speak at "Wizards of OS 3: The Future of the Digital Commons," Berlin, Germany; 06.12.04 - Jason Schultz speaks at LayerOne Technology Conference, Los Angeles, CA * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/21.php ------------------------------ From: ranck@vt.edu Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 18:09:32 UTC Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA William Robison wrote: > Remember the Xerox 914 copier? This beast is the first Xerox ... > ... don't know what it cost, but couldn't have been at all cheap. > Now, I can go out and buy an ink-jet copier/priunter for $100 at > Staples, Best Buy, Wal Mart, Office Max (and on and on). Granted > supplies cost a small fortune (in the form of ink cartridges), but for > a few hundred I can get a low duty cycle laser copier. > It should be to the point that the major cost is the paper going > into the machine, which is around a penny/page if you don't buy in > bulk. You'd be surprised. About 5 years ago we were in the process of moving our computer printing out of the computing center and over to the campus print shop. One aspect of that was to charge back to various users for the printing costs on the large laser printer. Users were somewhat astounded to learn that the price of printing single sided was the same as double sided. In other words, the cost of the toner and equipment maintenance, etc. simply overwhelmed the cost of paper. Places like Kinkos or our print shop who buy paper in large quantities get it pretty cheap. If I remember correctly the cost of paper was 2 tenths of a cent or so per sheet, while the other costs brought printing up to 3 or 4 cents per page image. So the paper was essentially not a factor at per-page prices. Toner and maintenance costs were the big factors. Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va. ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Cell Phone With Timer? Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 01:59:48 GMT In article , JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom says: > On 9 Jun 2004 06:03:16 -0700, qjohnny2000@yahoo.com (John Qyindi) > wrote: >> Is there any cell phone that you can program to turn on at a certain >> time or at least not be in silent mode at a certain time ... I'm only >> suppose to get calls from work between certain hours but people ignore >> this so I want to program it in ... Problem is I only get calls halfway >> through the night when I'm sleeping so obviously can't turn on the >> ringer or turn on the phone then. My Kyocera 7135 smartphone (Palm PDA/phone) has an option to turn on and off at specified times each day. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ From: ryugun2000@yahoo.com (JL) Subject: Fujitsu's Base Station - IMT -2000 Date: 10 Jun 2004 20:14:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I'd like to know what kind of RISC processor's are used in this BTS. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: bnsaty@hotmail.com (nirmal) Subject: Program to Send a Fax Date: 11 Jun 2004 00:02:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi , I need to write a program on Windows platform ( win 2k onwards) to send a fax . Can anyone please give me direction ( which API's to use etc) in this regard? Thanks in Advance. Nirmal ------------------------------ From: matt@autocab.com (Matt Hall) Subject: CLI via CSTA (Siemens HiPath 3000) Date: 11 Jun 2004 05:24:06 -0700 OK, this may be slightly OT here, but I can't find any other place to post to that would be any better. I am looking to implement a CLI system that can associate an phone extension number with the number of the call answered by that extension before or when the extension picked the call up. I am trying to get this working on a Siemens HiPath 3000 PBX, which I have been told will output the data using CSTA, however, I'm having trouble decoding the data that I am receiving. Has anyone else had any experience in decoding the ASN.1 encoded data, and recognising the semantics of the data once it has been decoded? I have so far been able to retrieve a valid message from the system, and parse out the data section. The data is ASN.1 coded, and I have been able to extract the individual data items, however, I'm finding it difficult to recognise the meanings of these strings. Any help appreciated! ------------------------------ From: usenet@sugarinthegourd.com (John Salmon) Subject: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails (Comes Back if Phone Off Hook) Date: 11 Jun 2004 06:32:50 -0700 Hello folks, I have Earthlink DSL over Verizon phone lines. My house is old and the internal phonelines may be part of the problem. My DSL connection cuts out quite regularly. DSL light on the modem goes from lit to dark or blinks slowly. The odd thing is that taking a phone off the hook causes the signal to reestablish within a few seconds. After a minute or so the phone can be put back on the hook, and the connection remains for anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. This is an intermittent problem which had disappeared for some time but now seems to have reappeared. Anyone have any ideas for troubleshooting? All phones in the house have filters attached -- there are no cable boxes, security systems, or anything else plugged into phone jacks. Thanks in advance, John ------------------------------ From: twohandsfree@hotmail.com (John) Subject: Vonage - Good Voice Quality, Crummy Reliability? Date: 10 Jun 2004 16:09:06 -0700 I just got my "Motorola Device" and connected to Vonage. Literally 10 minutes later, after a call or two, I experienced "network outages". These have lasted a couple of *HOURS*. During this time, recorded voice messages were garbled. What kind of service quality is this?? After reading complaints on various newsgroups, I learned that some people say this may be due to capacity issues (my suspicion too). If so, woe to those who rely on Vonage. It will be a LONG while before they have the cash or inclination to alleviate this. I think reviewers need to keep this in mind -- Voice quality is good (when it works), but reliability doesn't seem to be. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 14:30:10 -0400 Subject: BT Transforms Phone Network Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3791319.stm BT is planning to rebuild its phone network in the UK in a radical move that will cost billions. It could change the way people use their phones and allow most people with a BT phone line to plug into broadband using computers, mobiles or other devices. It could also mean that mobiles and fixed lines become interchangeable, with the same number and bill. BT plans to convert the majority of its customers to the new network by 2009. Undetectable Dubbed the 21st century network, the technical work requires a gradual closing down of the old Public Switched Telephone network (PSTN) to make way for an internet protocol (IP) network Full story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3791319.stm How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 20:09:47 -0400 Subject: VoIP All Smiles on FCC's Line-Sharing Move Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3366681 By Colin C. Haley The federal government's decision not to appeal a court ruling that tossed out line-sharing rules between Baby Bells and their start-up rivals is getting a thumbs up from a Voice over Internet Protocol (define) technology executive. "It's very encouraging that the [Federal Communications Commission] believes VoIP will provide sufficient competition to the [Baby Bells] that the old regulatory form is no longer required," said Dan Hoffman, president and CEO of M5, a provider of VoIP business service. "In a way, it's a great vote of support for the rapidly growing VoIP industry." In a major policy shift Wednesday, and a big win for Baby Bells such as Verizon, the Bush Administration decided not to appeal a lower court ruling that tossed out regulations forcing Baby Bells to provide discounted access to their lines for competitors. The move means the rule, from the 1996 Telecommunications Act, is expected to expire on June 15th -- provided no other groups (such as competitive local exchange carriers -- CLECs) are granted a stay. Analysts eventually expect to see a round of new negotiations among Baby Bells and rival providers that heretofore leased the Bells' lines at a discount. M5's Hoffman called on the commission to remember the important role VoIP will play in the new playing field, along with wireless, as an alternative to Baby Bell phone service -- especially as it considers future regulations on broadband telephony. Indeed, VoIP is rising in use at a time when the telecommunications industry expects traditional providers' rates to rise once the Bells are freed from the discount rules. The prospect could make VoIP's much cheaper rates look even more attractive. However, VoIP could be looking at higher rates and regulation too. For example, in addition to deciding what authority states may or may not have to levy fees on the service, the FCC is still looking to craft policies regarding 911 and law enforcement wire-tapping access on VoIP services. Full story at: http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3366681 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 21:23:44 -0400 Subject: Full-Duplex VoIP Speakerphone Controller Introduced Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040610005707&newsLang=en Full-Duplex VoIP Speakerphone Controller Introduced by Acoustic Technologies MESA, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 2004--Acoustic Technologies, a leading developer of high-quality communication solutions for telephony equipment, today introduced the ATH3003 VoIP full-duplex speakerphone integrated circuit for improved sound quality in VoIP applications. The ATH3003 provides full-duplex speakerphone operation with Acoustic Technologies' unique SoundClear(R) technology, dramatically improving voice quality in VoIP telephony applications. Signal integrity and superior sound quality are achieved through the SoundClear suite of technology and full-duplex control that dynamically monitors, detects and processes incoming voice, echo, and noise signal power levels. The unique echo cancellation technology is robust to VoIP delay and network imperfections. "The ATH3003 provides audio signal processing between the digital VoIP to analog user interface domains, bringing our unique SoundClear technology for improved voice quality to VoIP applications," said Sam Thomasson, Acoustic Technologies chief executive officer. "According to the tier-one VoIP phone vendors we are working with, the ATH3003 device provides high-quality full-duplex speakerphone performance with seamless interface to popular VoIP controllers." Features of the ATH3003 include 42dB acoustic echo cancellation, 30dB network echo cancellation, up to 12dB noise reduction, graphic equalizers, and sound enhancement. There is an integrated analog CODEC, microphone preamp, and speaker driver for interface to microphone and speaker. Also, the digital PCM interface provides an easy interface to VoIP controllers compatible with Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or USB, supporting both time-shared and dedicated PCM. To improve the sound quality and simplify phone system design, the device includes dual 10-band Graphic Equalizers, comfort noise, and DTMF generation. Handset and speakerphone call management and programmable ringer tone generation round out the sophisticated set of features on the ATH3003. The SoundClear-enabled ATH3003 is available for immediate sampling in a 48-pin LQFP package. The ATH3003 is tunable to specific VoIP phone casings and user preferences. Acoustic Technologies SoundClear products combine patented acoustic echo cancellation, bi-directional noise reduction, sound enhancement, and far-side anomaly reduction with sophisticated monitoring and control techniques to enable full-duplex speech and improved voice clarity. The full-duplex operation provides rich, clear, enhanced sound with no clipping or distortion. SoundClear optimizes speech intelligibility with full-duplex control that adaptively monitors, detects and processes incoming voice, echo, and noise signal power levels. About Acoustic Technologies Acoustic Technologies is a privately held company headquartered in Mesa, Ariz. Acoustic Technologies creates high-quality semiconductor and software solutions for leading telecom manufacturers worldwide. The SoundClear(R) brand of patented full-duplex communication and echo cancellation solutions is enabling significant advancements in telecommunications voice quality. SoundClear provides natural bi-directional communication in business speakerphones, mobile phones, VoIP telephones, hands-free car kits, Bluetooth accessories, and other speakerphone-enabled products. For additional information, the company can be reached directly at 480-507-4376, or via the Internet at www.acoustictech.com. SoundClear is a registered trademark of Acoustic Technologies Inc. eXcho is a trademark of Acoustic Technologies Inc. All other service marks and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Contacts Acoustic Technologies Inc., Mesa Jim Jacot, 480-507-4303 public-relations@acoustictech.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 01:17:13 -0400 Subject: Review: VoicePulse VoIP Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/network/voicepulse/ Reviewed by Travis Griggs on 06.10.2004 What is VoIP? When people ask "What in the world is VoIP?", I usually give them the easiest answer; a way to save a lot a money on your phone bill! VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. What does this mean you might ask? Instead of phone calls transmitting through the antique telephone system, the calls are routed over the internet. To accomplish this, VoicePulse provides a small adapter plugged in between the router and a standard telephone handset. You've probably heard of or have actually used a form of VoIP in the past few years. A few examples are DialPad, Net2Phone, and Yahoo Messenger. Originally these services may have been free but now they are not. The two major drawbacks these services had are: a headset tethered to your home computer and no local number for incoming calls. With today's VoIP service, you can use a standard household phone, receive incoming calls, have unlimited long distance, voicemails sent to email, and more. VoIP has made great strides in the past 2 years and brings much more to the table! Why do I need VoIP? To save some cash, of course! During the scope of this review, I surveyed several people about their phone usage. With a VoIP solution the users could save anywhere from twenty dollars a month to hundreds! On top of the savings you even get more features than the standard telephone service ever dreamed of offering. What is needed to reap the benefits of VoicePulse's VoIP service? * High-speed Internet connection -- usually cable or DSL. * Standard household cord/cordless phone plugged into the broadband telephone adapter. * A router which enables simultaneously web usage and phone conversations Enough technical talk, let's dig into VoicePulse's service. Full story at: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/network/voicepulse/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 04:35:28 -0400 Subject: Decision Threatens Competitive Phone Rates Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001953489_fccphone11.html By ELLEN SIMON The Associated Press NEW YORK The Bush administration's decision not to challenge a court ruling on wholesale telephone rates could hamper competition and make phone calls more expensive. It could even force some companies to quit the residential market. But when those rate increases will come -- or if they'll really come at all -- is open to debate. The telecommunications industry is already so roiled by technology-induced tumult -- including the proliferation of cellphones and Voice Over Internet Protocol -- that some analysts think regulation is hardly needed to keep prices down. FCC hastens spread of wireless Internet WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted rules to give phone companies easier access to airwaves and hasten the rollout of wireless high-speed Internet services. Full story at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001953489_fccphone11.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 08:54:16 PDT Subject: Rate Fight Masks Larger Phone Issue Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Wireless, other options growing By Jon Van Tribune staff reporter To many in the phone business, the battle over wholesale rates is a diversion from the real issue: Technology has already reshaped communications. Phone giants such as SBC Communications Inc. have been warring with rivals over control of traditional phone networks since 1996. But consumers are rapidly switching to wireless phones, the Internet and even cable television systems for communication, bypassing a century- old network. This week the Bush administration opted to move away from government- enforced competition that requires Bells like SBC to share their networks with rivals such as AT&T Corp. and MCI Inc., which now supply local phone service to 19 million customers nationwide. In response, Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said Thursday that his agency will write new rules to govern -- and probably phase out -- the network sharing provisions included in the landmark 1996 Telecommunications Act. Consumer advocates say this will lead to fewer choices and higher prices for traditional phone service. And long-distance providers have said they may be forced to exit that business. Yet new rules could also accelerate the technological shift, said Dwayne Goldsmith, a former Ameritech Corp. executive who now heads Inflexion Communications, a Detroit-based telecom start-up. "What this does is give the local phone companies the opportunity to strangle themselves in their own copper networks," said Goldsmith, whose firm just won a contract away from SBC to supply voice service to public schools in Detroit. "We can do a lot of stuff with wireless now that just wasn't possible five years ago," said Goldsmith. "A lot of companies like ours will be doing just that." Wireless phone firms continue to carry a growing portion of local and long-distance traffic because their rates are competitive and wireless features are far more enticing, said Albert Lin, an analyst with AmTech Research in San Francisco. For eight years the Bells and their rivals have battled over control of the old circuit-switched network, Lin said, and even though the Bells appear to have won that war, it is becoming irrelevant. "The real battle now is between circuit-switched networks and the Internet," he said. "There'll be a phase-out of network sharing, but during that time, the Bells have to worry about how many customers they'll lose to wireless, to cable operators and to start-ups that provide voice over the Internet" phone service. The FCC has signaled that it will not classify Internet telephony as a traditionally regulated service. Congress has extended a ban on taxing the Internet and the FCC has allocated new airwave spectrum for wireless Internet uses. "Going forward there'll be much more interesting and meaningful battles that have nothing to do with regulatory decision-making," Lin said. When Congress passed a new communications act in 1996, its intention was to promote competition, said Jim Andrew, a vice president of Adventis, a Boston-based telecom consultancy. "Competition has happened," he said. "It has developed in ways they didn't necessarily predict. We've got wireless and voice over broadband Internet. As more people get broadband, concerns about traditional networks become less relevant. The '96 act becomes less relevant." Andrew said the policy shift will certainly affect many consumers, especially those who do not have cell phones or broadband Internet connections. Copyright (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 11:58:33 -0400 Subject: First Looks: Sipura SPA-3000 Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.voxilla.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=70&mode=nested&order=0&thold=0 By DAMEON D. WELCH-ABERNATHY for VOXILLA.COM Sipura Technology is proving that, even in the world of VoIP, what comes inside the box is what really matters. Though the San Jose, CA, -based company's upcoming SPA-3000 VoIP telephone adaptor looks almost identical to its wildly successful predecessor, the SPA-2000, just a cursory look at the new device's configuration screen reveals that Sipura has raised the bar by several notches on the consumer end of the IP telephony world. Imagine being able to transparently use the most appropriate of several different VoIP providers based on the number you dial. Or being assured that emergency services are directed correctly because your 911 call is routed automatically over your PSTN line. Now imagine being able to pick up the phone in the US and getting dial tone in the UK. Or routing your cell phone while In your car over your VoIP account at home to make a cheap international call. Or having all your incoming calls automatically forwarded to your cell phone. The SPA-3000 does all this, and much more. In fact, the device has the capacity to perform many of the functions currently handled by dedicated PBXs costing thousands of dollars. Full story at: http://www.voxilla.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=70&mode=nested&order=0&thold=0 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 12:43:36 -0400 Subject: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-sbc10jun10,1,4839600.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business The firm is ordered to cease its practice of refusing to provide the service to people who switch phone carriers. By James S. Granelli, Times Staff Writer SBC Communications Inc. is violating California law by refusing to make its high-speed Internet service SBC-Yahoo DSL available to customers who switch their local voice service to rival carriers, according to a decision Wednesday. The ruling by a Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge states that SBC's refusal "is not just or reasonable" and that California's dominant local phone company must cease the practice. The decision becomes effective in 30 days unless any party files an appeal to the PUC, or a commissioner requests a review. Competitors have complained that SBC has unfairly maintained its control over local phone service partly by tying that to its DSL, or digital subscriber line, service. SBC executives, who have not yet seen the decision, insisted Wednesday that the company didn't have to provide its DSL service to customers who wanted to move their local phone service to a rival. Full story at: http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-sbc10jun10,1,4839600.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #286 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jun 12 13:05:50 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5CH5of02990; Sat, 12 Jun 2004 13:05:50 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 13:05:50 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406121705.i5CH5of02990@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 #287 TELECOM Digest Sat, 12 Jun 2004 13:06:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 287 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Stylish Linux-Based Residential Gateway Supports VoIP (VOIP News) VOIP Service Pulverized (VOIP News) Telus Mike Blackberry 7510 Fails WML Page (John Smith) Re: Feds Say Vehicle Black Boxes Not Needed (Tony P.) Determining Type of Connection (Justin Grenier) Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails (Jim Hopkins) Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails (Al Gillis) Re: Cell Phone With Timer? (DevilsPGD) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules (Frank) Last Laugh! Misc Xerox Story, was Re: Public Copy Cost (Danny Burstein) 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: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 19:58:09 -0400 Subject: Stylish Linux-Based Residential Gateway Supports VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9738448933.html i3 Micro Technology is shipping a new Linux-based residential gateway for broadband service providers wishing to extend VoIP (voice-over-IP) features to existing broadband customers. The VRG 321 includes a NAT router and firewall, with VoIP features that work in conjunction with i3 management and provisioning software. The "competitively priced" VRG 321 is the entry level model in i3's 300-series residential gateway line. It is intended for use with the company's i3 Centre Element Manager VoIP management and provisioning system. The VRG 321 connects to an analog touchtone phone or fax through its FXS RJ-11 port, and to a DSL or cable modem router through an Ethernet WAN port. It also includes an Ethernet LAN port, and network address translation (NAT, or IP masquerading) software enabling multiple home computers to share the same broadband connection. The Vood also includes a stateful, packet-inspecting firewall, with built-in quality-of-service (QoS) features to ensure excellent voice quality, according to i3. Additionally, the device includes a DHCP client and server, and supports pass-through IPSec, PPPoE, UPnP, and DMZ (de-militarized zone, for running home Internet servers on a separate network subnet). It supports remote secure webserver-based or SNMP management. It uses open standards including SIP (session initiation protocol), H.323v4/H.450/H.235 compression, and supports supplementary PSTN services. It also includes an address book and supports click-to-dial and call lists, with voice mail support optional. Full story at: http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9738448933.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 19:55:25 -0400 Subject: VOIP Service Pulverized Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=53927 Controversy has broken out over the launch of what's claimed to be the first commercial voice over IP (VOIP) service to use ENUM (electronic number mapping), a protocol that translates phone numbers into URLs, so that the Internet Domain Name Service (DNS) effectively becomes a global VOIP directory. A commercial service based on ENUM was launched last week by Sentiro, a U.K. company formerly known as Telesoft Ltd. (see Sentiro Launches Global ENUM Service ). But the move was today criticized as premature and counter-productive by VOIP pioneer Jeff Pulver, the founder of Free World Dialup (FWD) and numerous other VOIP ventures (see Pulver.com). "I'm quite surprised to hear someone's going ahead with a commercial service," Pulver told Light Reading, noting that a number of major political and administrative issues still need to be resolved beforehand. ENUM is still in the experimental phase, he says, and "going commercial might kill the experiment." One of Pulver's concerns is that Sentiro is using +87810 as the equivalent of a country code. The number enables Sentiro to operate across national boundaries as a global player, but the last time Pulver checked, the "universal personal telephone" code wasn't supposed to be used for commercial services, he says. It was created by the International Telecommunication Union last year and was meant to facilitate ENUM experiments, according to Pulver. At the time it was announced, both Pulver.com and Telesoft said they would offer services based on it (see VOIP Gets New Numbers ). Pulver says offering commercial services based on the +87810 "universal personal telephone" code would be dodgy if it's still experimental, because the ITU might rescind the code at a later date, leaving Sentiro customers marooned. Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=53927 ------------------------------ From: John Smith Subject: Telus Mike Blackberry 7510 Fails WML Page Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 19:08:15 GMT I am baffled ... On the Telus PCS network using a Blackberry 6750, I can access wml pages up to approx 9000 byte in size without trouble. On the Telus Mike network using a Mike enabled Blackberry 7510 I can only access pages under approx 2000 bytes. The error I get on the 7510 Blackberry is: An error occurred while fetching the requested page. I know WAP gateways have page size limits but I'm surprised telus's new Mike Blackberry offering can handle less than 1/4 what the 6750/PCS could. Here are the basic wml pages for testing: http://64.180.231.203/a.wml (approx 1000 bytes) http://64.180.231.203/b.wml (approx 2000 bytes) http://64.180.231.203/c.wml (approx 9000 bytes) Again, all three work fine on the 6750/PCS but only a.wml works on the 7510 Mike Blackberry. I should also mention that all three pages work on a Bell Mobility 6750 as well. Any thoughts, help much appreciated. John ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Feds Say Vehicle Black Boxes Not Needed Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 19:46:41 GMT In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press Writer > WASHINGTON (AP) -- Data recorders that collect information on speed, > seat belt use, braking and other factors shouldn't be required in > vehicles, federal regulators said Thursday. > Dr. Ricardo Martinez, former administrator of the National Highway > Traffic Safety Administration, was among those pushing the agency to > mandate the data recorders, saying they are essential for > understanding what happens in a crash. > But NHTSA said automakers are adding black boxes at a fast enough pace > on their own. Approximately 15 percent of vehicles now on the road > have the data recorders, and NHTSA says between 65 percent and 90 > percent of 2004 vehicles have some sort of recording ability. > Under a proposal released Thursday, NHTSA said it wants recorders to > collect a standard set of data to help crash investigators. By > September 2008, the agency wants recorders to collect up to 42 > specific data elements, including the time it takes for air bags to > deploy. > NHTSA said the systems that control air bags already capture a great > deal of that information, so the cost of standardizing the data will > be minimal. Some automakers already have the recorders installed in > most vehicles. General Motors Corp. began installing recorders in > 1994, while Ford Motor Co. began installing them in 2001. And how long will we have to wait for someone to re-chip those little data loggers so they always show 'acceptable' data. I see a niche market here. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 18:16:54 -0400 From: Justin Grenier Subject: Determining Type of Connection Greetings! My fiance received an obscene and harassing telephone call yesterday. Upon hitting *69, we came up with the source of the call. A reverse-lookup on the number produces no results, so we tried dialing the number. However, when we call this number, we are hearing some type of communications handshake on the other end. It's not a fax machine, as I have attempted to send a fax to it. I also tried connecting via HyperTerminal, but the handshake never completes there either. Can anyone point me in the proper direction for beginning to determine the type of communications device on the other end of the line so that I can further investigate the source of the obscene telephone call? I am especially concerned since the caller knew personal details about my fiance that means he knows what she looks like. We have reported the incident to the police and to the telephone company, but they have both been less than helpful. Thanks in advance for your assistance! Justin R. Grenier Applications Engineer Information Technology Berks County Intermediate Unit Post Office Box 16050 1111 Commons Boulevard Reading, Pennsylvania 19612-6050 (610) 987-8571 Facsimile: (610) 926-8223 jusgre@berksiu.org http://www.berksiu.org ------------------------------ From: Jim Hopkins Subject: Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 00:53:54 GMT On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 06:32:50 -0700, John Salmon wrote: > Hello folks, > I have Earthlink DSL over Verizon phone lines. My house is old and the > internal phonelines may be part of the problem. > My DSL connection cuts out quite regularly. DSL light on the modem goes > from lit to dark or blinks slowly. The odd thing is that taking a phone > off the hook causes the signal to reestablish within a few seconds. After > a minute or so the phone can be put back on the hook, and the connection > remains for anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. This is an > intermittent problem which had disappeared for some time but now seems to > have reappeared. > Anyone have any ideas for troubleshooting? All phones in the house have > filters attached -- there are no cable boxes, security systems, or > anything else plugged into phone jacks. > Thanks in advance, > John What it might be is a high resistance connection somewhere in the copper pair. Copper splices develop oxidation on the surface of the metal, much like the dark coating of an old penny. It's normally not a problem on voice lines because the -48V CO battery has enough potential to break the insulating layer of the oxide down. When I worked on data and voice special circuits in the 80's, we'd often have this problem. Usually as soon as you tested the pair for contiunuity, the testboard battery would break down the oxide layer and the circuit would be good again for a few hours or days. The solution was to simplex -48 V onto the two pairs at the CO and short the simplex leads together in the field. Sometimes it was done the other way with voltage in the field and a short at the CO. When I say "simplex" the voltage on, what I mean is that the equipment on each end had coils across the tip and ring. These coils had center taps. so you'd wire CO battery to one center tap, say on the transmit pair, and CO ground on the center tap of the other pair. Then you'd short the center taps together in the field. It was (still is) called "sealing current". What might be happening to you, John, is your pair has a high joint in it. As long as your phone is on hook, there's no potential difference between the two wires on each side of the joint, so the oxide layer can build up and eventually cause a high open. When you go off hook, then there's a 48V difference in potential which is enough to break down the oxide layer and fix the problem temporarily. If it usually comes back within a few hours, I'd try getting a roll of wire and directly wiring from your DSL modem to the box on the outside of the house. If you still experience the problem, that points to the telco's cable pair or (less likely but possible) CO wiring. If that fixes the problem it's the wirng in your house, in which case you should physically trace it out and carefully examine any splices or junctions you find. If it's the phone company's pair, good luck getting them to change it, but if you present this information and the results of your tests to them, who knows? Jim Hopkins ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 20:38:43 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Hi John, Your problem sounds pretty routine to aging commo dogs like myself ... The old wiring serving your home and, likely, your entire neighborhood has probably developed lots of corrosion in the numerous connection points that exist between the CO equipment serving your DSL and your home. If you could inventory your cable pair from start to finish you'd find several terminals, probably some splices and maybe an old connection to other homes along the way. Each of these has the potential to introduce high resistance connections to your DSL service, which draws very little current by itself. All that resistance impairs the DSL signal to the point that the "modem" can no longer distinguish the 1s from the 0s until the little green light flickers on and off and finally and goes out! When you pick up your telephone more current flows in the conductors of your connection to the central office. That increased current helps to reduce the effect the corrosion has on the DSL signal and things start working pretty good. Later, you hang up the phone, the line current is reduced and corrosion's ugly head pops up and starts causing trouble on your DSL again. (That very effect caused countless troubles in older analog data circuits. Finally some brilliant young guy figured it out and invented what became known as "sealing current". Sealing current "sealed up" many of those cable plant faults that added noise to data circuits and things worked great (without TelCo having to send a cable crew out to find what was wrong and then fix it). So that's what is probably wrong with your circuit. To much resistance caused by corrison imparing the DSL signal. Now -- how to get it fixed! That's a great question! I'm afraid you're in for a long uphill pull, trying to get some repair clerk to prepare a trouble ticket to "install sealing current" on your cable pair OR to move your circuit (telephone and DSL) to another good cable pair. Good luck, pal! Al John Salmon wrote in message news:telecom23.286.11@telecom-digest.org: > Hello folks, > I have Earthlink DSL over Verizon phone lines. My house is old and the > internal phonelines may be part of the problem. > My DSL connection cuts out quite regularly. DSL light on the modem > goes from lit to dark or blinks slowly. The odd thing is that taking a > phone off the hook causes the signal to reestablish within a few > seconds. After a minute or so the phone can be put back on the hook, > and the connection remains for anywhere from a few minutes to a few > hours. This is an intermittent problem which had disappeared for some > time but now seems to have reappeared. > Anyone have any ideas for troubleshooting? All phones in the house > have filters attached -- there are no cable boxes, security systems, > or anything else plugged into phone jacks. > Thanks in advance, > John ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Cell Phone With Timer? Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 02:45:14 GMT In message <> Michael D. Sullivan did ramble: >>> Is there any cell phone that you can program to turn on at a certain >>> time or at least not be in silent mode at a certain time ... I'm only >>> suppose to get calls from work between certain hours but people ignore >>> this so I want to program it in ... Problem is I only get calls halfway >>> through the night when I'm sleeping so obviously can't turn on the >>> ringer or turn on the phone then. > My Kyocera 7135 smartphone (Palm PDA/phone) has an option to turn on > and off at specified times each day. All of the Motorola iDEN phones (Nextel, TELUS Mike networks) which have calendars do. This is most of the business ones, but not all of the low end or the rugged units. The nice thing about standards, there is enough for everyone to have their own. ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 08:09:41 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications VOIP News wrote: > SBC executives, who have not yet seen the decision, insisted Wednesday > that the company didn't have to provide its DSL service to customers > who wanted to move their local phone service to a rival. The crooks never give up, do they. The fact they won't simply offer DSL without voice shows their true nature. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is precisely (one of) the problems I had with Southwestern Bell here in Independence. They tried to tell Prairie Stream I was 'not eligible' for transfer to that CLEC since I had 'DSL on my line'. My response to SWB was if it has to be all or nothing then you will wind up getting nothing, and I went down that day and changed over to cable internet. Right away they started getting after me with all kinds of special offers and bonuses to stick with them. Truth be told, I have not missed SWB/SBC at all. And since I got to keep my number, who cares. But here in Kansas, SBC may not have to get sued before they change their tune. Reason is, so many folks are splitting on their own from SBC to one of the CLECs. The Kansas Commission has said they do not have a lot of sympathy either way for SBC or Sprint (formerly United Telephone, our other dominant carrier). They seem to give a cold shoulder to whatever causes SBC and Sprint Local grief. If SBC had been gracious about this and allowed me to keep DSL without keeping their lousy phone service as well, then probably today I would have still had DSL. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Last Laugh! Misc Xerox Story, was Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 22:42:20 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC The snippets about the continuing cheapness (between $0.05 and $0.10 for the past two decades) of making paper copies, and the other recollections by TELECOM Digest readers of Xerox history reminded me of one of my favorites: From "My years with Xerox" by John Dressor ... all such mechanical ordeals were confronted and eventually conquered, but then we struck another snag. In the earliest models of the desk-size copier, papers occassionally became jammed around the drum. They were scorched. "What if this happens in the offices of custoners?" one engineer said as a worried group of us stood around a copier whose smoking had been extinguished with a dousing of carbon dioxide. The room still smelled of smoke. "It could cause the customer damage. On top of that, it might ruin the machine. We've got to do something about the danger." Of course, in time we engineered the hazard out of existence. But on this day, still sniffing smoke, Peter McColough and Don Clark suggested, "We'd better attach one of those little fire extinguishers to each machine. With instructions printed under it. It may save us a lot of trouble." Possibly we all acknowledged, at least in the secrecy of our minds, that a fire extinguisher should at this stage be an essential part of the copier's equipment. But one of the men who objected at the suggestion was a member of our public relations staff. He pressed a hand over his eyes as if to shut out the terrible vision of an extinguisher. "You can't do that." he protested. "It's like telling a potential customer that when he leases our machine he's inviting an office fire. Might as wll tell him the copier may at any instant explode. A fire extinguisher on that machine will cost you half its potential sales. You just CAN'T do it!" There wes a long silence. A dozen able, intelligent men stood scowling at the machine whose fire had created this dilemma. And then somebody - nobody remembers with certainty who it was - said in a tentative way, "Do we have to call it a fire extinguisher? Maybe if we gave it some other name, something less frightening ..." I cannot delay reporting the outcome of this discussion. When the early 914 copiers were ready for public inspection, each had clamped to its side a small instrument labeled: Scorch Eliminator. Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #287 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jun 13 18:28:03 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5DMS2I16468; Sun, 13 Jun 2004 18:28:03 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 18:28:03 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406132228.i5DMS2I16468@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 #288 TELECOM Digest Sun, 13 Jun 2004 18:28:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 288 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Health of U.S. Democracy Tied to New Model for Public Access (M Solomon) The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy (Monty Solomon) Apple Readies Next-Gen MPEG-4 Part 10 (Monty Solomon) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal (Steven J Sobol) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal (Robert Bonomi) Re: CLI via CSTA (Siemens HiPath 3000) (Mike Blake-Knox) Note to Unaware Long Distance Users (Steve H.) Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony For Impending Lawsuit (knowledge) Washington State Regulators Rule on LocalDial VoIP Service (VOIP News Making Phone Calls Over the Net (Brian) Last Laugh! Telecom Humor From the Comics (J. Mayson) 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: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 03:54:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Health of U.S. Democracy Tied to New Model for Public Access Report on "Information Commons" Released By Free Expression Policy Project New York, NY -- Today, the Free Expression Policy Project released The Information Commons , a groundbreaking report that links the vitality of 21st century democracy to the creation of online communities dedicated to producing and sharing information. Nancy Kranich, a former president of the American Library Association, is the report's author. http://www.brennancenter.org/presscenter/releases_2004/pressrelease_2004_0608b.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 04:02:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in Classroom by David Huffaker Abstract This paper explores the role of weblogs or "blogs" in classroom settings. Blogs, which resemble personal journals or diaries and provide an online venue where self-expression and creativity is encouraged and online communities are built, provide an excellent opportunity for educators to advance literacy through storytelling and dialogue. This paper explores the importance of literacy and storytelling in learning, and then juxtaposes these concepts with the features of blogs. The paper also reviews examples of blogs in practice. Contents Introduction The importance of literacy The art of storytelling Blogs in the classroom Examples of blogs in practice Conclusion http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_6/huffaker/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 04:14:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Readies Next-Gen MPEG-4 Part 10 By Michael Singer Apple Computer is currently testing new video compression software that will eventually improve its QuickTime Player. The company said the technology, known as MPEG-4 part 10 or H.264/AVC, is the next-generation video compression technology in the MPEG-4 standard. Already ratified by both the ITU and ISO MPEG, Frank Casanova, Apple Senior Director, QuickTime Product Marketing, told internetnews.com that the company is pole-positioning the improvements as the standard for video encoding for everything from 3G to High Definition (HD) broadcast. http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3366831 ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 12:06:55 -0500 TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > Truth be told, I have not missed SWB/SBC at all. Me neither. Out here in the desert, Verizon is my ILEC. I know others have had problems with them, but I haven't had any issues whatsoever (of course, I refuse to buy DSL from them, but still ...) I don't miss SBC either. 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. ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 04:30:55 +0000 In article , wrote: > VOIP News wrote: >> SBC executives, who have not yet seen the decision, insisted Wednesday >> that the company didn't have to provide its DSL service to customers >> who wanted to move their local phone service to a rival. > The crooks never give up, do they. The fact they won't simply offer > DSL without voice shows their true nature. While I "_really_ *DON'T* like" SBC's policy, the Calif. judge got things _wrong_. There *are* _legitimate_ reasons behind SBC's policy. 'Everybody knows' that there are two 'DSL' technologies -- ADSL, and SDSL. SDSL _requires_ a dedicated pair of wires, because the signalling extends into the 'voice' frequencies. ADSL runs on frequencies that _exclude_ the voice band. This means that ADSL can run on a dedicated pair, *OR* that it can run on a pair that is 'shared' with voice (POTS) services. Offering *only* 'shared line' ADSL services is a business decision, motivated by the cost -- and resource -- savings of doing so, vs. dedicated-line service. The 'cost' differential is in three figures, just on the 'initial install' of the service. Starting with the labor savings because there is no need for a 'site visit' by a telco installer, to verify the line and 'tag' it. Or to visit the 'multiples' to remove a prior connect on that pair. Trouble-shooting is a _whole_ lot easier/simpler, too. If the phone works, that eliminates about 99% of the possible problems. And, if the phone _doesn't_ work, then it's a 'regulated services' problem, and _that_ side of the house deals with it, *without* impacting the profitability of the 'non-regulated' side. (Note: one could have _great_ fun arguing that this is a disallowed 'cross-subsidy' of the unregulated operation by the regulated one. ) Then there is the issue of consumption of the 'physical plant' resources. The telco is _required_ to provide voice service to anyone who orders it. If they don't have any available pairs in the trunk cable, they must _install_ an additional cable, or a bigger one, or employ some sort of 'work-around', like a "pair gain" device. And this must be done *at*no*additional*cost* to the customer. *IF* as a result of selling DSL on 'dedicated pairs' (which _could_ have been used for voice services), they lack avail pairs for voice service, they would have to do that same "no cost to the customer" install of the extra trunk capacity -- to deliver the _required_ voice service. And they can't charge it back to the 'dedicated line' DSL customer(s) who were the proximate cause why sufficient physical plant resources were not available for the required voice service. A "simple" run of a new trunk cable is into five figures, _per_mile_. It takes a -long- time to recover that 'sunk cost'. For a 100-pair cable, it's something like 700 'pair years' of _gross_ local-loop revenues. That's all 100 pairs 'rented', for 7 years. or 50% utilization for 14 years. AND that assumes that none of the local service charge revenue goes towards central-office equipment, or maintenance. over that period. If the physical plant resources are 'tight', it is just "good business sense" to offer *only* shared-line DSL services. And in a _lot_ of territory, the physical plant _is_ stretched. The 'average number of phone lines' per household is *way* up from, say, the 1970s. (Second lines, 'teen' lines, fax lines, dedicated modem lines, etc., etc.) In a lot of territory, _only_ the use of "pair-gain" devices has prevented utter exhaustion of the installed plant. The simple fact is that there _are_ sound business reasons for an ILEC to offer _only_ shared-line ADSL service. Depending on the state of the physical plant in any area, they may even be _compelling_ ones. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is precisely (one of) the problems > I had with Southwestern Bell here in Independence. They tried to tell > Prairie Stream I was 'not eligible' for transfer to that CLEC since I > had 'DSL on my line'. Well, the -only- other thing they could have done was let the transfer happen, and *turn*off* the DSL, _WITHOUT_ANY_NOTICE_TO_YOU_. Would you have preferred that they had done that? When the ILEC 'leases' a pair to a CLEC, that CLEC gets _exclusive_ control of that pair. They can use it for _whatever_*THEY*_want_to_. That CLEC 'inherits' the 'right', if _they_ have the capability to do so, to offer THEIR OWN 'shared-line DSL' service. The ILEC leases the CLEC the _entire_ copper pair, not merely the 'voice band' of it. If some CLEC does _not_ offer such a service -- and while some CLECs _do_, some do *not* -- then that needs to be a factor in your choice of your LEC. It is _not_ fair to blame the ILEC for failing to pirate a signal onto wire where they have leased the *exclusive* use of that wire to a third party. The party that actually leased those wires would have grounds for an incredible lawsuit, were the ILEC to do so. > My response to SWB was if it has to be all or nothing then you will > wind up getting nothing, and I went down that day and changed over > to cable internet. Right away they started getting after me with all > kinds of special offers and bonuses to stick with them. Truth be > told, I have not missed SWB/SBC at all. And since I got to keep my > number, who cares. But here in Kansas, SBC may not have to get sued > before they change their tune. There _are_ valid technical issues involved. It is not ("entirely", nor even "mostly" -- and probably not even "incidentally") an anti-competitive practice. Hell, they aren't required to offer DSL _at_all_. If they choose to offer only limited forms of delivery, that _is_ their prerogative. > Reason is, so many folks are splitting on their own from SBC to one > of the CLECs. The Kansas Commission has said they do not have a lot > of sympathy either way for SBC or Sprint (formerly United Telephone, > our other dominant carrier). They seem to give a cold shoulder to > whatever causes SBC and Sprint Local grief. If SBC had been > gracious about this and allowed me to keep DSL without keeping their > lousy phone service as well, then probably today I would have still > had DSL. PAT] Review the above, and explain just *HOW* you think that they _could_ have done that. When they 'lease' that pair to the CLEC, the law *requires* that they give the CLEC _total_ control of that pair. They _cannot_ say "you can use this pair for voice, but we're going to continue to put a DSL signal on it." Next, tell me, _who's_fault_is_it_, when something breaks? Can you IMAGINE the finger-pointing that would go on? And since they both insist "it's not _our_ fault/problem" you _have_ to pay for the service you're not getting. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I will not comment on your reply to Frank, waiting for him to do so if he wishes. But regards your reply to me, you have several things wrong. My local telephone company, Prairie Stream Communications is a UNI-CLEC as Clarence Dold or Fred Goldstein explained. That is, they lease *everything* from Bell, including, as you pointed out the lines, over which they have full control; again as you noted. Thier 'parent company' is Terra World ( http://terraworld.net ) a highly successful ISP, albiet (originally) totally rural, with all the problems which seem to pass along to rural ISPs. From their beginning in 1996, Terra World struggled along. As Duane, the owner told me more than once, they had no illusions or misconceptions about getting rich in a rural environment. Duane lives three or four blocks down the street from me here in Independence. I've been to his home for dinner and seen him working on his front lawn a couple times. In 1998, Terra World expanded to several small or mid-sized towns around Kansas and Missouri with local 'dialup numbers' to get those customers as well. In 2001 their 'reach' included major cities like Chicago and New York, again with dialups local to those places so they could get customers from those cities. A few months ago I got a mailing piece from a long distance telephone aggragator (or broker) and one of the keys to lure me in was in essence "Do you want 56 K dialup for your modem for only 10.95 per month? If you join our telephone plan you can get the unlimited 56-K modem service for only 10.95". Calling on the pretense of being interested they told me "for zip code 67301 you would dial into *our* service at 714-0005". Gee whiz, one of Duane's local numbers for his ISP. I asked Duane later that day, 'do you also wholesale Terra World to pretend-ISP guys such as (name I have forgotten)?' "Oh sure", he said. "If guys get tired of TerraWorld for $21 per month, then they may decide to go to Carol's Web or one of the others for $15.00 per month; they all still go through me." Around 2001, Duane struck a deal with Southwestern Bell to resell their DSL wholesale. You could get phone service from SBC but buy your DSL from Terra World, a little bit cheaper than what SBC was selling it for. SBC didn't see any problems with that, *as long as they got to sell the phone service; Duane could have the enhanced, unregulated DSL side if he wanted.* But then in 2002, Duane decided to start a phone company also; it was called 'Prairie Stream Communications' and he sold an entire package for $25 per month while Bell was getting $50 or $60. He applied for permission from the Kansas Commission; it was granted originally just for Independence, then eventually anywhere in the state. Now, SBC took a closer look. His office and staff of *four employees* had been located on the second floor of the Independence Corporate office building (it was originally the Arco [nee Sinclair] Corporate offices when that company was in business. [Historical note: Terra World was physically in the second floor space that had been the Arco 'wire room' where the satellite stuff was serviced and Duane used the rooftop satellite stations for Terra World. When he started Prairie Stream Communications he had to get a bit more space and also easily accessible pairs, so he took over the basement space where all the building pairs terminated and hired five more employees. Now he has a total of *ten employees* I think. He is co-located in the Bell central office six blocks away at 6th and Maple Streets and runs his 'central office' remotely from terminals in the basement of the Arco Building.] Bell still allows Duane to resell their DSL (with them keeping the regulated phone side) **but they won't do it in reverse with him selling the phone service and they the DSL**, or him doing both phone and DSL. Duane pointed out to me once that "if a DSL customer of mine wants to get Prairie Stream as well, then I have to give him up on DSL but that's okay; I'd rather have him on Prairie Stream than as a DSL customer if it comes to that." Prairie Stream gets its operator services and directory assistance services from Southwestern Bell, and with number portabilty we get to keep our existing EDison-1 (620-331) phone numbers. His LD service comes from various carriers. Duane also said to me in sort of a sly voice, "I also use Bell to run my credit checks. (smirk). When I started Prairie Stream I would hand out phone numbers to people (thus the reason for the 620-714 exchange) but I got burned so often by non-payers now I insist that they have to have existing working service from Bell (this part of the state, United Telephone [Sprint] in the north part of state) before I will take them as a customer on Prairie Stream." He continued, "To hell with SBC and their almighty DSL service. When a customer of Prairie Stream wants 'DSL-like' service here in Independence, I refer them over to Mike Flood at Cable One [formerly Time-Warner] to get cable internet; of course I play it from both directions -- I still resell Bell DSL also for people who have chosen to stay on Bell for phone service as well." Duane concluded our latest talk by answering your question abouut who to turn to for repairs when there is a problem either with the voice or DSL sides of the line. **Whoever 'controls' the customer; that is, has the contracts and collects the bill is responsible for taking care of the problem.** "When a Prairie Stream customer dials 611, the '611' is aliased into a number at our tech support department. All the customer has to be able to do is succinctly describe the problem. We take it from there. It may involve our equipment or it may involve something of Bell/United, mainly some of the lines, etc. Our tech explains to the customer how to make sure if the problem is or is not his phone. But it is *our* customer and *our* reponsibility, as it would be if Bell's if they 'controlled' the customer. When I said in my earlier message that if Bell had allowed DSL without requiring phone service as well, I would have kept DSL (and ultimatly Bell would have profited) I meant to say if Bell had handed over the entire account to Prairie Stream rather than insisting the 'control' of the customer be split in confusing parts I would have kept DSL. And Prairie Stream is an excellent LOCAL phone company, if you consider things like a LOCAL business office (I walk over to the Arco Building, see the cashier and pay my bill each month; if I call them on 331-9000 I get a live answer within two or three rings, and very little time waiting on hold while they look something up); and if you consider the pricing ($24.95 per month for unlimited service and many features such as call-waiting, three-way, caller-ID and all that, and one hundred minutes per month of long distance in the package, then additional minutes at 2 cents each.) When I go over to pay my bill each month I am in and out in one or two minutes. Whether or not Bell chose to make a 'business decision' regards DSL or not, I will suggest they are so sluggish and wrapped up with internal politics, etc, it makes them miserable to do business with. I mean, ten or fifteen minutes in voicemail hell before you even reach someone who may or may not know what to do about your problem is really a bit much. Getting transfered around a few times and having to tell your story over and over each time is a bit much also. But Duane took a very realistic approach to it all: "When Prairie Stream gets to the point we have even one percent of the customers Bell has then of necessity you will see our service and response get bad also. I guar- entee it. I would be thrilled if we got to that point -- one percent -- even though we would lose the personalization we give now." PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mike Blake-Knox Subject: Re: CLI via CSTA (Siemens HiPath 3000) Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 10:55:52 EDT Organization: CompuServe Interactive Services Reply-To: mikebkdontspam@Intrex.net In article , Matt Hall wrote: > Has anyone else had any experience in decoding the ASN.1 encoded data, > and recognising the semantics of the data once it has been decoded? The reference on ASN.1 and BER that I've used is "Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1): The Tutorial and Reference" ISBN 1 871802 06 07. > I'm finding it difficult to recognise the meanings of these strings Do you have a Siemen's spec and/or the ECMA standard? If so, what kind of strings are you having problems with? Mike Blake-Knox ------------------------------ From: steve2470@yahoo.com (Steve H.) Subject: Note to Unaware Long Distance Users Date: 13 Jun 2004 09:18:31 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com A Cautionary tale: unless you know for a fact that you are getting "cheap" international long distance rates with MCI or your long distance carrier, do not make an international long distance phone call. I was charged up to $4.95 a minute by MCI and it was perfectly legal. Caveat Emptor. Steve ------------------------------ From: Subject: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 9:02:20 -0500 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not a telecom thing, but an interesting problem facing a man who needs help obtaining a personal injury lawsuit. Included here FYI and thoughts. PAT] Im Hotep telecom-request@xx.lcs.mit.edu, I'm a poor widows son rummaging around in a rubbish pile in Southeast Missouri looking for a non biased, righteous living, clear thinking medical doctor who is willing to testify in court to the possibility of a person developing a life threatening disease a few weeks after being struck broadside by a huge rotor rooter type van going nearly 60 miles per hour. I also need a sharp attorney who sees the potential of this case to help me prosecute it. The doctor should be well versed in endocrinology. The attorney in personal injury law. The female in the van admitted in the police report, that, they were looking down on the floor of the van and ran the red light. They made no efforts to stop. I was driving a brand new National rental car 2000 Grand Prix with about 50 miles on it, and making a left turn on two green left turn arrows. It happened on October 12 of 1999. My time to file a lawsuit runs out in October 12 of 2004 I have been told that I have a six digit or greater winnable lawsuit if I can make the link between the sudden onset of the disease that left me a fatality, and the car accident. I have physicals from 1996 showing I was OK. I have another VA physical from September 7, 1999 just six weeks before the accident showing I was playing with a full deck. I had just returned from a ten day vacation to N'awlins and the south. I was feeling great eating the best of foods down there, and drinking some excellent spirits. I was riding high. I am a 14 year Air Force veteran with an honorable discharge. I have a B.A. degree. I have never been involved with the criminal justice system, and I don't like drugs; not even legal ones. I only take one-a- day vitamins and aspirin. I need to find cases on-line where people have already won judgments in cases similar to the one I'm filing. Without making this link all the insurance company is willing to pay is $2,700 dollars to cover emergency room expenses. They won't pay me not even a nickel for all of the post traumatic stress, ??????s, sexual dysfunctions, major depression, dissolution of my marriage. To my mind that is not JUSTICE. The woman who struck me continues to raise her children and be happy with her husband. They probably don't even remember the accident, and she certainly doesn't know how it has ruined my life. I can no longer work. I'm afraid to drive now. Every time I see a Sport Utility Vehicle, or something bigger coming towards me on a two lane road, I begin to hyper ventilate and sweat. If I don't watch myself, I tend to steer to far to the right side of the road. Many times, I have actually left the road and nearly over corrected getting back on. I can never forget the horrible sound and the force of the impact of that person broad siding me. Remember, There but for the grace of the SUPREME BEING go you! Contact me at this email address if you have the expertise and are willing to be a part of a landmark case. If you know someone who is willing and able, then have them email me. Thank you for the manner and spirit you have shown in taking the time to read and consider this information. knowledgeNee@charterinternet.com So mote it be. Amicably Yours 1-212-561-5483 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 12:38:16 -0400 Subject: Washington State Regulators Rule on LocalDial VoIP Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001954423_bizbriefs12.html Business Digest SEATTLE Washington state regulators yesterday determined that Portland-based LocalDial, which offers Internet phone service, is a telecommunications company and must start paying access charges like any other phone company. The unanimous ruling marks the first time the state Utilities and Transportation Commission has squarely addressed issues involving voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. The decision was based on narrow facts, however, and does not represent a sweeping ruling in the emerging regulatory debate over VoIP service. In the case of LocalDial, which claims "tens of thousands" of customers nationwide, including about 10,000 in Washington state, calls begin with an ordinary phone connected to a local phone network. LocalDial then converts the calls into digital packets before reconverting them into voice as the signal rejoins the regular phone network. Full story at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001954423_bizbriefs12.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 18:07:26 GMT From: JustSomeGuy Subject: Make Phone Call Over Net? Organization: Shaw Residential Internet I'm looking for an API to make telephone calls via my ISP. I believe I may also need a ITSP. That should be easier to find but what is the standard I must follow in order to make a voice call via TCP/IP? TIA. Brian ------------------------------ From: jmayson@nyx.net Subject: Last Laugh! Telecom Humor From the Comic Pages Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 21:44:38 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com http://www.ucomics.com/nonsequitur/2004/06/11/ John Mayson Austin, Texas, USA ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #288 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jun 14 14:26:46 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5EIQkP27323; Mon, 14 Jun 2004 14:26:46 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 14:26:46 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406141826.i5EIQkP27323@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 #289 TELECOM Digest Mon, 14 Jun 2004 14:27:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 289 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #437, June 14, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit (Gene S. Berkowitz) Server Requirement For CT-Connect (Srini) Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails (John Salmon) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal (Rahul Dhesi) New Web Ads Follow Visitors Around (Monty Solomon) Skeptics Question Wi-Fi's Viability (Monty Solomon) Re: Note to Unaware Long Distance Users (Frank@nospam.biz) Re: Transatlantic Fibre Connections (AES/newspost) HBF Group, Inc. Announces I-911 Voice Over IP (VoIP) Solution (VOIP News) 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, 14 Jun 2004 11:02:53 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #437, June 14, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 437: June 14, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell to Offer IP Centrex ** Primus Launches Business VoIP Service ** MTS-Allstream Reorganizes Management ** Bell Seeks Cable TV Licences ** Telus Must File Tariff for Petro-Canada Contract ** ISP Tests Broadband over Powerline ** Cable Cuts Stop Phone Service to 250,000 ** RIM May Settle Patent Suit ** Business Line Rates Up in B.C., Alberta ** Bell, Microsoft Unveil Joint Portal ** Allstream Offers Mitel-Based Managed IP ** Rogers Raises $250 Million ** MTS Raises Funds for Allstream Purchase ** Bell Settles "Free Calls" Suit ** Bell Buys Infostream ** Certicom Finally in the Black ** Rogers Wireless Names President for West ** Is VoIP Really Nearing the Takeoff Point? ============================================================ BELL TO OFFER IP CENTREX: Telecom Update has learned that Bell Canada will announce an IP Centrex service today. We expect Bell West to offer it immediately, and Bell Canada to offer it in Ontario and Quebec when it receives CRTC approval. ** Bell filed a tariff for "Managed Internet Protocol Telephony" service on May 10, describing it as "compatible with" and "an IP alternative to" Centrex III. www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2004/b2_6813.htm PRIMUS LAUNCHES BUSINESS VoIP SERVICE: Primus Canada today launched two VoIP-based local telephone service packages for small and mid-sized businesses in 15 markets. TalkBroadband Pro ($27.95/month) provides basic phone service; TalkBroadband Enterprise ($29.95 per month) adds line hunting, conferencing, and other features. ** Primus has also launched an alliance program for interconnects and systems integrators who wish to connect PBXs or key systems to TalkBroadband. MTS-ALLSTREAM REORGANIZES MANAGEMENT: Following the acquisition of Allstream, Manitoba Telecom Services has announced a new management structure. Bill Fraser is now CEO, with Cheryl Barker (President, MTS Manitoba) and John A. MacDonald (President, Allstream) reporting directly to him. ** In Manitoba: Kelvin Sheppard is COO of MTS Communications, David Rourke heads MTS Media, and Randy Williams is General Manager of AAA Alarms. ** At Allstream: Tal Bevan is EVP Sales, Ron McKenzie is EVP Marketing, and Judy McLeod is EVP Customer Operations. ** MTS's e-Business subsidiary, Quanara, merges into Allstream ITS, headed by Dean Prevost. BELL SEEKS CABLE TV LICENCES: Bell Canada has filed applications for broadcast distribution licences covering 11 cities on Ontario and Quebec. The company plans to offer TV over its existing fibre/copper facilities, using VDSL. TELUS MUST FILE TARIFF FOR PETRO-CANADA CONTRACT: Responding to a complaint Call-Net filed last year (see Telecom Update #365), the CRTC has ruled that the services Telus provides Petro-Canada violate bundling rules. The telco has 60 days to file tariffs showing that the services cover costs, or discontinue them. ** The Commission dismissed Call-Net's complaints regarding Telus's services to three other business customers. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2004/dt2004-38.htm ISP TESTS BROADBAND OVER POWERLINE: Trytel, an Internet Services Provider owned by Telecom Ottawa, is testing technology developed by Toronto's Electrolinks Corporation that provides broadband communication over in-building electrical wires. A service trial in the Ramada Inn and Conference Centre in Cornwall, Ontario, will run until November. CABLE CUTS STOP PHONE SERVICE TO 250,000: A deliberate cable cut near St. John's eliminated phone service for about half of Aliant's customers in Newfoundland, beginning about 10:30 pm on June 8. Full service was restored by early Wednesday afternoon. Another cut in Nova Scotia affected about 5,000 customers. The RCMP is investigating. RIM MAY SETTLE PATENT SUIT: A report issued by Canaccord Capital last week speculates that Research In Motion may settle the patent infringement suit filed by NTP rather than continue with legal actions. The analyst says that RIM made a strong case in a U.S. federal appeals court last week, but that both sides are likely to decide that the financial risk of losing is too great. BUSINESS LINE RATES UP IN B.C., ALBERTA: On June 1, business multi-line service in B.C. and Alberta increased by 3.9% to 6%. The rate hikes were proposed in Telus's 2004 price cap filing and approved in CRTC Telecom Order 2004-172. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2004/o2004-172.htm BELL, MICROSOFT UNVEIL JOINT PORTAL: On June 9, Bell Canada and Microsoft Canada unveiled their joint website, Sympatico.MSN.ca, and announced new services, including mapping, video games, and children's content. A new $4.95/month Sympatico Mail option provides spam and virus filters and additional storage. ** Sympatico.MSN.ca is also being offered by Aliant. ALLSTREAM OFFERS MITEL-BASED MANAGED IP: Allstream has announced a managed Enterprise IP Telephony service that combines its IP Connectivity and Infrastructure Management with Mitel's 3300 IP-PBX platform. ROGERS RAISES $250 MILLION: In a "bought deal," Rogers Communications is issuing 9.5 million Class B Non-Voting shares, producing gross proceeds of about $250 million. MTS RAISES FUNDS FOR ALLSTREAM PURCHASE: Manitoba Telecom has raised $350 million in new debt to finance its purchase of Allstream, which closed June 4. BELL SETTLES "FREE CALLS" SUIT: Bell Canada will pay up to $10 million to settle a class action suit related to its First Rate long distance service. In the late nineties, the telco offered unlimited Canadian LD between 6 pm and 8 am, then put an 800-minute cap on the plan and changed the hours to 8 pm to 6 am. The suit said Bell did not give customers adequate notice of the change. ** Current Bell residential customers will receive a credit on their phone bills; past customers can apply to receive a prepaid phone card at www.bell.ca/classaction. BELL BUYS INFOSTREAM: Bell Canada has acquired Infostream Technologies, a Richmond Hill company that provides VoIP networks, storage area networks, and network management for enterprise customers. CERTICOM FINALLY IN THE BLACK: Mississauga-based Certicom, which supplies security software to makers of wireless devices, reports revenues of US$34.5 million for the year ending April 30, and net income of $17.2 million, its first- ever profit. ROGERS WIRELESS NAMES PRESIDENT FOR WEST: Darryl Levy, head of Rogers Wireless distribution, sales, and service for Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and northwest Ontario, now also fills this role for Alberta and B.C., with the title President, Western Canada. IS VoIP REALLY NEARING THE TAKEOFF POINT? It's widely believed that Voice over IP will disrupt the Canadian telecom industry. But how will it happen, and who will be disrupted? In the June issue of Telemanagement, Lis Angus and John Riddell analyze the views of industry leaders. Also in this issue: ** A Different Road to Call Centre Outsourcing ** Does Telecom Policy Need an Overhaul? ** Implementing Enterprise Mobile Data Applications To become a Telemanagement subscriber -- including unlimited access to Telemanagement's extensive online contentcall 800- 263-4415 ext 500 or visit www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub- online.html. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2004 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 21:40:11 -0400 In article , knowledge@charterinternet.com says: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not a telecom thing, but an interesting > problem facing a man who needs help obtaining a personal injury > lawsuit. Included here FYI and thoughts. PAT] > Im Hotep telecom-request@xx.lcs.mit.edu, > I'm a poor widows son rummaging around in a rubbish pile in Southeast > Missouri looking for a non biased, righteous living, clear thinking > medical doctor who is willing to testify in court to the possibility > of a person developing a life threatening disease a few weeks after > being struck broadside by a huge rotor rooter type van going nearly 60 > miles per hour. > I also need a sharp attorney who sees the potential of this case to > help me prosecute it. > The doctor should be well versed in endocrinology. The attorney in > personal injury law. > The female in the van admitted in the police report, that, they were > looking down on the floor of the van and ran the red light. They made > no efforts to stop. > I was driving a brand new National rental car 2000 Grand Prix with > about 50 miles on it, and making a left turn on two green left turn > arrows. > It happened on October 12 of 1999. My time to file a lawsuit runs out > in October 12 of 2004 > I have been told that I have a six digit or greater winnable lawsuit > if I can make the link between the sudden onset of the disease that > left me a fatality, and the car accident. > I have physicals from 1996 showing I was OK. I have another VA > physical from September 7, 1999 just six weeks before the accident > showing I was playing with a full deck. > I had just returned from a ten day vacation to N'awlins and the > south. I was feeling great eating the best of foods down there, and > drinking some excellent spirits. I was riding high. > I am a 14 year Air Force veteran with an honorable discharge. I have a > B.A. degree. I have never been involved with the criminal justice > system, and I don't like drugs; not even legal ones. I only take > one-a- day vitamins and aspirin. > I need to find cases on-line where people have already won judgments > in cases similar to the one I'm filing. > Without making this link all the insurance company is willing to pay > is $2,700 dollars to cover emergency room expenses. > They won't pay me not even a nickel for all of the post traumatic > stress, ??????s, sexual dysfunctions, major depression, dissolution of > my marriage. To my mind that is not JUSTICE. > The woman who struck me continues to raise her children and be happy > with her husband. They probably don't even remember the accident, and > she certainly doesn't know how it has ruined my life. > I can no longer work. I'm afraid to drive now. Every time I see a > Sport Utility Vehicle, or something bigger coming towards me on a two > lane road, I begin to hyper ventilate and sweat. If I don't watch > myself, I tend to steer to far to the right side of the road. Many > times, I have actually left the road and nearly over corrected getting > back on. > I can never forget the horrible sound and the force of the impact of > that person broad siding me. > Remember, There but for the grace of the SUPREME BEING go you! > Contact me at this email address if you have the expertise and are > willing to be a part of a landmark case. If you know someone who is > willing and able, then have them email me. > Thank you for the manner and spirit you have shown in taking the time to > read and consider this information. > knowledgeNee@charterinternet.com > So mote it be. > Amicably Yours > 1-212-561-5483 Pat, I'm pretty surprised that you saw this item fit to post. 1. If Poor Widows Son (PWS) has been told he has a "six digit or greater winnable lawsuit", there are plenty of lawyers, even around the rubbish piles of Missouri, who would take it on a contingency basis. 2. "knowledge@charterinternet.com" is bogus. Try searching for it in Google Groups. 3. "1-212-561-5483" is a Manhattan telephone number. Pretty high rent for a PWS. --Gene [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I think I did get taken. It was an odd message to say the least. But to address your specific points: (1) He may have been told he had a 'winnable case' but the lawyer did not really think so, or was not willing to expend the money and time to find out. (1-a) Missouri does not have 'rubbish piles' generally. There are a lot of very beautiful areas there such as the Ozarks. If you do not believe me, take a drive down Highway 54 from St. Louis south- west to Joplin. Exceptionally wonderful mountain range, etc. (2) I do not have the resources available to cross-check domain names versus their existenced. If a person says http://somewhere I just accept it as real. (3) Yes, I know that 212 is Manhattan, New York. It certainly is not Manhattan, KS (area 785 by Junction City, KS where I was located after first moving away from Chicago. (3-question) Has anyone yet called that 212 number to see what kind of a scam the person is running? If so, please report here. All things being equal I probably should have taken a few extra minutes to investigate that message further. PAT] ------------------------------ From: aone1504@yahoo.com (Srini) Subject: Server Requirement For CT-Connect Date: 14 Jun 2004 01:42:01 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Ours is a call center which receives about 5 lakh calls per day. I am exploring the option of CT-Connect for CTI functionality that includes screen pop. Can any one tell me what would be the sizing for the CTI server that runs CT-Connect, for this kind of call volume. (Specifically the server configuration and number of servers). Server could be either a Unix (Sun Solaris machine) or Windows 2000 advanced server. Thanks in advance, Srini ------------------------------ From: usenet@sugarinthegourd.com (John Salmon) Subject: Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails Date: 14 Jun 2004 06:36:33 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Thanks for the very helpful answer guys. I'm going to take a look at the wiring and splices inside the house & see what I can figure out. It's actually been working for a couple days straight now -- it seems to get worse as the weather gets hot. Don't know if that makes any sense or if it's just a coincidence. Best wishes, John ------------------------------ From: c.c.eiftj@California.usenet.us.com (Rahul Dhesi) Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 23:06:32 +0000 (UTC) Organization: a2i network bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) writes: [ about SBC disallowing transfer of voice service to a competitor while still continuing DSL service on the same line ] > When the ILEC 'leases' a pair to a CLEC, that CLEC gets _exclusive_ > control of that pair.... > ...The law > *requires* that they give the CLEC _total_ control of that pair. They > _cannot_ say "you can use this pair for voice, but we're going to > continue to put a DSL signal on it." Question: Does the law prohibit an ILEC, a CLEC, and an end-user customer, from entering into a three-party contract, with the consent of all three parties, such that the ILEC provides voice service on the line to the end-user customer, while the CLEC provides DSL service on the same line to that customer? If there is such a law, what is the rational basis for it? Rahul ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 19:10:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Web Ads Follow Visitors Around By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- ESPN and other Web sites, eyeing the successes search engines have had with ads based on keywords, are exploring a new form of targeting that's tied to their visitors' online habits. Though some privacy advocates find the practice creepy, Web sites say the technology lets them deliver ads that readers find more relevant. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41928884 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 19:11:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Skeptics Question Wi-Fi's Viability By ELLEN SIMON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Alas, wireless Internet may not be the technology sector's salvation after all. Small companies, some publicly traded, are burning cash trying to turn Wi-Fi into viable business. Some have already shut down. Faster than you can say "industry bubble," skeptics are asking whether wireless Internet connections will become similar to the wired Internet of the late 1990s _ hot but rarely profitable. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41928966 ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: Note to Unaware Long Distance Users Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 06:44:41 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Steve H. wrote: > A Cautionary tale: unless you know for a fact that you are getting > "cheap" international long distance rates with MCI or your long > distance carrier, do not make an international long distance phone > call. I was charged up to $4.95 a minute by MCI and it was perfectly > legal. Caveat Emptor. > Steve Now that I am comfortable with my Vonage Voip, I placed complete toll restriction on my SWB wireline phone (our "incoming" line, if you will). There is no way we can get sucked into one of those scams, plus no one can tap the juncture in our condo's ulitity room and make a toll call. (It has happened). ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Transatlantic Fibre Connections Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 07:53:13 -0700 [Cross-posted to comp.dcom.telecomm, from original thread on s.c.f] In article <2j5fcfFsaih1U1@uni-berlin.de>, David wrote: >> For anyone interested in fiber optics and telecom, the site >> http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/atlas.html >> is likely to be absolutely fascinating (though it may not answer the >> specific technical question posed above). > Thanks for this link, very interesting stuff > another link that may be of interest to the OP is > http://davidw.home.cern.ch/davidw/public/SubCables.html > This paper provides a simplified overview of sub sea cable up to > about 1998, Yes, well worth knowing about. As someone raised in an era when "long distance" was sufficiently expensive that my parents in Michigan would _write a letter_ to Uncle Harry in Oregon to tell him they'd be calling him next Sunday evening, I've always been curious to understand better: When I fire off a 20 MB PDF file to someone in Australia via the Internet, at zero apparent cost to me, (a) what would be a reasonable loaded cost (or price) for that transmission in today's Internet world? (b) What are the primary components of that cost? And (c) however minimal that cost may be, who's paying for it, and how? How do the various elements along the route of that message get paid for carrying it? ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 11:29:45 -0400 Subject: HBF Group, Inc. Announces I-911 Voice Over IP (VoIP) Solution Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/6/emw133584.htm HBF Group, Inc. Announces I-911 Voice Over IP (VoIP) Solution for VoIP Providers and the Emergency Services Industry i-911 addresses the deficiencies in other commercially VoIP 911 available solutions by providing a 911 emergency calling service that is deployable immediately , requires little or no change to the public safety answering points (PSAPs). i-911 offers a significant improvement over other VoIP solutions as it delivers accurate call back and location information from a 9-1-1 call in real-time. (PRWEB) June 14, 2004 -- HBF Group, Inc. Announces I-911™ Voice Over IP (VoIP) Solution for VoIP Providers and the Emergency Services Industry. i-911 addresses the deficiencies in other commercially VoIP 911 available solutions by providing a 911 emergency calling service that is deployable immediately , requires little or no change to the public safety answering points (PSAPs). i-911 offers a significant improvement over other VoIP solutions as it delivers accurate call back and location information from a 9-1-1 call in real-time. HBF Group, Inc., North America's first provider of E9-1-1 technologies, has developed a revolutionary VoIP solution in that it emulates the current wireline 911 environment with the delivery of accurate location information and call back number. i-911 is designed to be evolutionary as well with a design that will grow as the VoIP industry changes and matures as industry standards evolve. Until now, most commercially available solutions have calls being delivered to a 10 digit PSAP telephone number with no callback telephone number or location information. i-911 leverages the VoIP provider's data infrastructure and NENA's (National Emergency Number Association) XML standards to deliver both callback and location information. This affords PSAPs the ability to dispatch emergency services even in the event that an emergency call is disconnected or the caller can not speak. HBF believes that the VoIP 911 solutions deployed to date are an accident waiting to happen. The average consumer does not understand that their VoIP phone will not give location information to the 911 first responders. "With i-911, VoIP providers can deploy a 911 solution that provides its customers with the coverage and functionality that they expect," says Hank Johnson, CEO of HBF Group. "We are pleased to be able to offer this life saving technology to the VoIP industry." HBF will unveil and demonstrate its i-911 VoIP solution at the annual National Emergency Number Association, June 14th in Tampa FL. ABOUT HBF HBF Group, Inc. is the 911 technology leader providing cutting edge solutions to the 911 industry. HBF deployed the first state-wide 911 deployment in the United States as well as the first province-wide deployment in Canada. HBF is very active in the standards setting bodies of NENA and ESIF, particularly for VoIP and XML technologies. HBF Group, Inc. 700 Lavaca, Suite 1200 Austin, TX 78701 512.481.0911 Media Contact: Phyllis Williams 512.481.0911 www.hbfgroup.com ### How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is quite interesting that as I was editing this message the police/fire scanner started talking. The dispatcher and officers do not talk much over the radio, but when they do it is often times just administrative chatter, as in many towns. To announce it is an urgent matter, the dispatcher always begins by saying "I have a nine-one-one call!" EMTs needed at 514 South Second Street, a man is choking." EMT unit responds they are on the way, and a police officer says he will meet the EMT there to see what it is about. That address is only about two blocks from me; I was tempted to wander over there and observe it myself, but I decided against it. The interesting part, which re-affirmed my faith in Vonage was the dispatcher's next comment: (an officer had apparently asked the dispatcher to verify the address and phone number of the emergency caller); she replied "It was from the sheriff PSAP database; that new computer thing called 'Vonage', this is the first time we ever had one of those, let me know if it is a good call or flaky." Apparently it was 'good' since a few minutes later the EMT responds, "citizen had some food caught in his throat, we've cleared it but are taking him over to Mercy (Hospital) Emergency Room." My feeling is given enough time, Vonage and the other VOIP carriers will totally get their acts together and put traditional telephony to shame, financially, especially with their huge investment in outside plant (wires, etc) for which they are stuck and need to get paid for somehow. If you have not yet tried Vonage (as my favorite example of VOIP) then if you want to try it, I have e-coupons good for a month of free service. Just write ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu and ask for an e-coupon. PAT] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #289 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jun 14 18:55:34 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5EMtYf01721; Mon, 14 Jun 2004 18:55:34 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 18:55:34 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406142255.i5EMtYf01721@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 #290 TELECOM Digest Mon, 14 Jun 2004 18:55:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 290 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 8x8 Announces First Enhanced 911 (E911) Service for VOIP (VOIP News) VoIP over Power Line Set for Testing (VOIP News) Office Telephone System Recommendations (Mike McWhinney) British Telecom to End Circuit-Switched Network (The Old Bear) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal (John Levine) Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages (Charles B. Wilber) Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit (John Levine) Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit (Paul Vader) Update to Previous Posting on Norvergence (Dave Mitchell) 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: VOIP News Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 12:17:04 -0400 Subject: 8x8 Announces First Enhanced 911 (E911) Service for VOIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com The bad thing about this is that Packet8 charges extra for 911 service, and also, according to some discussion over the weekend on BroadbandReports.com, requires you to have a number in your geographic ratecenter. It's that last requirement that will be a sticking point for many -- after all, one of the reasons for moving to a VoIP service is to be able to get a number in a larger adjacent exchange. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-14-2004/0002192381&EDATE= 8x8 Announces First Enhanced 911 (E911) Service for Residential Voice Over IP (VoIP) TAMPA, Fla., June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGHT), the Packet8 broadband voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service provider, today announced at the annual meeting of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) the immediate availability of enhanced 911 (E911) services for subscribers to the Packet8 internet telephony service. Packet8 is the first VoIP residential telephone service to offer "real" E911 service which will automatically route calls and computer-based "screen pops" of caller information to emergency personnel at local Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Because the 911 call is routed as emergency traffic and is accompanied by E911 caller information, emergency personnel can ensure that callers receive the same kind of response that they are accustomed to receiving from legacy, switched telecommunications services provided by incumbent telephone carriers. The Packet8 E911 implementation will also eliminate unnecessary dialog for operators about callers' whereabouts, which is vital in cases where a caller may not be able to verbally communicate because of an emergency condition. Bryan Martin, 8x8's Chairman and CEO, will present an overview of Packet8's E911 service at NENA's annual meeting today in Tampa. As a signatory to the NENA statement of principles (available at http://www.nena.org/NENAVONVOIP%20press%20release%20FINAL%20112603.pdf), 8x8 has been working with its commercial partners and NENA to rapidly deploy E911 services to Packet8 subscribers. Until now, 911 services provided by other residential VoIP services have either not supported emergency services or have only utilized simple techniques to route 911 calls to non-emergency, 10-digit telephone numbers. These "10-digit dialing" techniques typically result in 911 calls being connected to a variety of locations including non-emergency or administrative lines of PSAPs, the "crime-not-in-progress" number of a police station, or, in some instances, invalid numbers. Packet8's E911 service, which is being deployed using VoIP building blocks provided by Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT), eliminates these issues, and delivers on the principles outlined in 8x8's prior agreements with NENA. "We applaud the efforts of 8x8 to develop and deploy its E911 solution," said Richard Taylor, NENA President. "As the organization dedicated to the advancement, development and improvement of emergency telephone services, we are pleased with 8x8's commitment and progress to E911. We look forward to future advancements to deliver this critical service to the public." The Packet8 E911 solution requires a subscriber to enter the physical address where they will locate the Packet8 terminal adaptor (the device that connects a regular phone to a Packet8 internet connection). The address is verified and the Packet8 phone number is specially provisioned so that it will support E911 protocols at the PSAP when an emergency call is made. When a consumer calls 911, the call is routed to the PSAP trunk lines as emergency traffic, and is terminated directly to the nearest emergency operator with caller information and location simultaneously appearing on the PSAP operator's computer screen. Packet8's E911 service is currently available in over 50 markets by signing up for Packet8's E911 service at http://www.packet8.net, and is expected to be available to approximately 65% of the US population later this year. "We are extremely pleased to announce the availability of true E911 services to our Packet8 customers," said Bryan R. Martin, 8x8's Chairman and CEO. "We will continue to work with our partners and NENA to further the reach of these services, as well as to improve the versatility of 911 services through direct IP connections including the availability of video, data and other rich media content during emergency communications." Packet8's E911 service is available today in select areas. To check the availability of E911 in a particular area, please visit http://www.packet8.net. Pricing for Packet8's E911 service includes a one-time provisioning fee of $9.95, and a recurring monthly surcharge of $3.00. About 8x8, Inc. 8x8, Inc. offers the Packet8 voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service and Packet8 Virtual Office (http://www.packet8.net). For additional company information, visit 8x8's web site at http://www.8x8.com. About Packet8 and Packet8 Virtual Office Packet8 enables anyone with high-speed access to the Internet to sign up for voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service at http://www.packet8.net. Customers can choose a direct-dial phone number from any of the more than 270 area codes and 2400 local prefixes offered by the service, and then use an 8x8-supplied terminal adapter to connect any telephone to a broadband internet connection and make or receive calls from a regular telephone number. For $19.95/month, Packet8 subscribers can make unlimited calls to any telephone number in the United States and Canada, and unlimited calls to any other Packet8 subscriber anywhere in the world. Calls to non-Packet8 numbers outside the United States and Canada are charged at the additional per-minute rates available at http://www.packet8.net/about/international.asp. All Packet8 accounts come with voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, call waiting caller ID, call forwarding, hold, line-alternate, 3-way conferencing, web access to account controls, and real-time online billing. Packet8 Virtual Office allows business users anywhere in the world to be part of a virtual PBX that includes auto attendants, conference bridges, extension-to-extension dialing, ring groups and a host of other business class PBX features, while still enjoying unlimited phone calls anywhere in the United States and Canada and the same low, per-minute international rates available in Packet8's residential plans. With Packet8 Virtual Office, each extension has its own direct dial telephone number which can be any telephone number on the Packet8 network, regardless of geographical location, and can make unlimited extension-to-extension calls anywhere in the world. About NENA NENA's mission is to foster the technological advancement, availability, and implementation of a universal emergency telephone number system. In carrying out its mission, NENA promotes research, planning, training and education. The protection of human life, the preservation of property and the maintenance of general community security are among NENA's objectives. NOTE: 8x8, the 8x8 logo, Packet8, the Packet8 logo and Packet8 Virtual Office are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE 8x8, Inc. Web Site: http://www.8x8.com http://www.packet8.net http://www.packet8.net/about/international.asp Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-14-2004/0002192381&EDATE= BroadbandReports.com thread: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,10486162~mode=flat ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 14:30:52 -0400 Subject: VoIP Over Power Line Set for Testing Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/105/8034 What better way to provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to millions of residences and businesses than to feed the technology directly to electrical outlets? Such an approach would make VoIP as easy, perhaps even easier, to access than standard telephone service. At least that's how Atlanta-based LecStar Telecom sees things. LecStar is preparing to test high-speed Internet access over power lines during a six-month field trial with an undisclosed regional electric utility. LecStar says it initially plans to offer 30 utility customers Broadband over Power Line (BPL) service, and approximately one in five customers also will receive phone service over BPL as part of a VoIP trial. LecStar will be one of the first local exchange carriers to offer VoIP over BPL service to customers in the U.S. Full story at: http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/105/8034 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: eljainc@ameritech.net (Mike McWhinney) Subject: Office Telephone System Recommendations Date: 14 Jun 2004 10:21:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, We are currently shopping around for a office telephone system. We do not need anything fancy (we have 4 lines, 8-10 phones). We're looking for something similar to the following: http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/communication_systems/adv_hybrid_sys.asp Is there any phone system better than this for within the same budget area (<$2000) We want a good phone system that is upgradeable/expand- able while remaining cost effective. Regards, Mike McWhinney ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 16:28:30 -0400 From: The Old Bear Subject: British Telecom to End Circuit-Switched Network in Favor of VOIP As summarized in NewsScan for June 11, 2004: BT TO SHUT DOWN 'CIRCUIT-SWITCHED' NETWORK IN FAVOR OF VOIP U.K. giant British Telecom will gradually shut down its traditional circuit-switched network and migrate over to technologies that route phone calls over the Internet. The change "will deliver our vision of a converged, multimedia world where our customers can access any communications service from any device, anywhere -- at broadband speed," says BT Wholesale CEO Paul Reynolds. The new system will enable each subscriber to have a single phone number for both mobile and fixed-line services, and will make possible such add-on features as family conference calls, video streaming and voice-activated phones. BT estimates that by the 2008-09 fiscal year, the new network could save it about 1 billion pounds annually. source: (AP 10 June 2004) http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040611/D834FNTO0.html ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 2004 20:49:12 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Question: Does the law prohibit an ILEC, a CLEC, and an end-user > customer, from entering into a three-party contract, with the consent > of all three parties, such that the ILEC provides voice service on the > line to the end-user customer, while the CLEC provides DSL service on > the same line to that customer? No, ILECs could do line splitting if they wanted to. The reason they don't is partly administrative, they'd have to invent some way to bill two different parties for the same line and figure out how to do the moves and changes and repairs. Mostly it's that the lord gave them the right to have 100% of the phone business so it'd be blasphemous to do so. R's, John ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 2004 15:52:34 EDT From: Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) Subject: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages Pat, You might want to be careful about repeating what you heard on the scanner to other parties. Newt Gingrich and others learned about some of the relevant state and federal statutes the hard way. Charlie Wilber Dartmouth College --- You wrote: > It was from the sheriff PSAP database; that new computer thing > called 'Vonage', this is the first time we ever had one of those, > let me know if it is a good call or flaky." Apparently it was > 'good' since a few minutes later the EMT responds, "citizen had some > food caught in his throat, we've cleared it but are taking him over > to Mercy (Hospital) Emergency Room." --- end of quote --- ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 2004 20:45:28 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> 1-212-561-5483 If you tell Google to search Usenet for that number, you find a copy of the same message in a spam report, and a different message last month from a guy who says he's in Missouri and is looking for a child he fathered 17 years ago. Most peculiar. http://groups.google.com/groups?q=212-561-5483 ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 21:09:57 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not a telecom thing, but an interesting > problem facing a man who needs help obtaining a personal injury > lawsuit. Included here FYI and thoughts. PAT] > I'm a poor widows son rummaging around in a rubbish pile in Southeast ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ooh fun! That's a Masonic password, or at least a paraphrase of one. > So mote it be. And this is a Mormon one, if I remember my Sherlock Holmes. As for the story, I find it sad and irritating at the same time. It's bad that the guy got hurt in an accident, but shopping around for a lawyer to try to tie a subsequent medical condition to an accident to make lots of cash is pretty repugnant. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So Paul, can you tell me a little more about these Masonic and Mormon passwords; why they exist and what is the meaning (of the passwords)? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Michaeli Subject: Update to Previous Posting on Norvergence Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 12:16:09 -0400 Dear Mr. Townson, Please update the following thread: http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/telecom-archives/TELECOM_Digest_O nline/0239.html with the text below. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. ------- Update requested -------- This is a follow-up to my previous posting regarding Norvergence. Since making that posting, Norvergence has taken the necessary steps to address my concerns and has resolved all of the open issues. I am completely satisfied with the results, and I appreciate their efforts in this matter. - Dave - MicroShop Systems [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wish all you people who have unkind and uncharitable things to say about that fine company Norvergence and their ethical marketing practices would recall a few things before you send messages here to the Digest. For one, assuming Norvergence does use you as an example in their litigation, which is quite likely, given their disposition to do same, you may have months and months or years of grief as a result. For next, consider the nature of the archives and Usenet in general: Let's say you have offended Norvergence. An example we shall use is you took a pillow, cut the end open, went over to a window somewhere and shook out all the feathers in the wind. All you have to do in your quest for forgiveness is go outside, find all the feathers and stuff them back in the pillow. Sounds easy, right? You are *never* going to collect all the feathers back. Think before you speak. PAT] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #290 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 15 02:31:51 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5F6VoN05651; Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:31:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:31:51 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406150631.i5F6VoN05651@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 #291 TELECOM Digest Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:32:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 291 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Reagan and the Digital Age (Patrick Townson) J2 Billing Mystery/ Scam? (Scott Perry) VoIP (Nitoy) Job Openings? (Chris Boone) Phone Giants are Projected to Dominate Internet Calls (Sufaud) Free Resources on VOIP (tekjockey) Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages (Mark Crispin) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal (John David Galt) Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit (Mark Atwood) Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell (Tom Lynn) Re: Server Requirement For CT-Connect (Chip G) 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: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 00:47:11 -0400 Subject: Reagan and the Digital Age From: Patrick Townson I deliberatly refrained from making any comments last week about President Reagan after he passed. Enough other people on the net were making comments and aside from sending a personal sympathy card in snailmail to Mrs. Reagan and their son Ronnie I let the matter go. But in a recent issue of Washington Times an article appeared which I want to share with you. PAT REAGAN ENABLED DIGITAL PROGRESS By Mark Kellner On Jan. 19, 1979, almost two years to the day before he became president, Ronald Reagan delivered a radio commentary about "the phone company," the old American Telephone & Telegraph combine that held all the elements of telephony in this country, from local service to long distance to equipment. Mr. Reagan noted that a federal antitrust suit against AT&T apparently ignored the relatively low cost of a coast-to-coast phone call: $1.30 a minute in 1979 versus $9.50 in the 1930s. Phone service, he said, was private and affordable, unlike his earlier experience with the family's Depression-era "party line" phone. "Today," he said then, according to the book "Reagan, In His Own Hand" (Free Press), "the miracles we already have are going to be topped by [the] video phone; there are recorder gadgets to take phone calls and messages when you are absent, and now they talk of electronic mail. If the cost differential continues at the present rate, it is possible the telephone may put the Post Office out of business within the next 10 or 20 years." Things unfolded a bit differently than Mr. Reagan envisioned. Video phones are by no means commonplace, but what did unfold owed a lot to Ronald Reagan, his political philosophy and his actions. During the 1980s, it was the Reagan administration that oversaw the divestiture of AT&T's local phone units. That began a wave of change in America's phone network that led to lower prices for phone service. Lower phone costs helped spur the growth of companies like CompuServe and America Online, paving the way for today's Internet. The Reagan White House was the first to use personal computers on a large scale, along with e-mail, the latter coming back to haunt some staffers during the Iran-Contra investigation. The first IBM PCs rolled off assembly lines in August 1981, eight months after Mr. Reagan's inaugural, and at a time when substantial tax cuts for individuals and businesses came along. Those cuts helped make PCs affordable. An improving economy also led many into software and hardware development and gave birth to companies that eventually dominated the field. There was also the public side of his involvement: In 1985, Mr. Reagan presented the National Medal of Technology to Apple Computer co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, for "their development and introduction of the personal computer." He also lauded data-processing pioneer Grace Murray Hopper on her promotion from captain to commodore in the U.S. Naval Reserve, hosting an Oval Office ceremony for her in 1983. Mr. Reagan didn't start a telecommunications revolution by himself, of course. In 1987, he named a then-36-year-old attorney, Dennis R. Patrick, to chair the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Patrick, his predecessor Mark Fowler, and FCC colleagues such as Patricia Diaz Dennis and James Quello were at the vanguard of regulating new services and markets, opening the field for hundreds of companies and thousands of workers. It wasn't the telephone, but rather the data that traveled over deregulated and divested telephone circuits, that challenged the postal monopoly and changed our lives. While the daily mail is still a part of American life, the digital revolution got a major push from the actions of a former radio commentator named Ronald Reagan. You may correspond in email with Mark Kellner at MarkKel@aol.com or visit www.kellner.us. The Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/technology/20040607-100647-8137r.htm) For more great articles, visit us at http://www.washingtontimes.com *** 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, News World Communications. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: scottperry@miraclevision.com (Scott Perry) Subject: J2 Billing Mystery/ Scam? Date: 14 Jun 2004 19:04:48 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Last March I requested cancellation of my J2 number via email, and still have a copy of the original email. One week later, my J2 account was not accessible, and I assumed all had gone as requested. A week after I requested cancellation a mysterious email from someone named James Pitt arrives at J2 requesting reconnection of my account. Now, 4 months and $60 later, J2 tells me that they cannot refund this. Go figure. Anyone else have trouble disconnecting from J2? Scott Perry ------------------------------ From: nitoy69@hotmail.com (Nitoy) Subject: VoIP Date: 14 Jun 2004 19:00:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does anyone know if the senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation sub-commitee hearings on S.2281 (to provide a clear and unambiguous structure for the jurisdictional and regulatory treatment for the offering or provision of voice-over-Internet-protocol applications)at 9:30 A.M. on June 16th will be broadcast (live or otherwise) on CSPAN and if so on which channel (1, 2, or 3)and if so when the airtimes are? P.S. Pat - Thank you for the most useful group on the net. ------------------------------ From: Chris Boone Subject: Job Openings? Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 01:47:20 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Anyone know of any good telecom job openings anywhere? (PBX, microwave, fiber, etc?) If so, please reply direct for more details. (Remove nospam from my address) Thanks. ------------------------------ From: sufaud@hotmail.com (Sufaud) Subject: Phone Giants Are Projected to Dominate Internet Calls Date: 14 Jun 2004 22:18:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com New York Times Phone Giants Are Projected to Dominate Internet Calls By KEN BELSON As much as 30 percent of homes in the United States and Britain could subscribe to Internet-based phone services in the next three years if major telecommunications companies offer services similar in price and quality to traditional phone connections, according to a new survey by Mercer Management Consulting. The findings, based on a poll of 1,000 consumers in the two countries to be released today, suggest that the market for low-priced Internet phone services will most likely be dominated by phone companies like AT&T and cable providers, and possibly local phone carriers, but not the new entrants that control much of the Internet market now. "The companies with existing relationships with consumers have huge advantages," said Martin Kon, a consultant at Mercer and the author of the survey. "It's an uphill battle for the upstarts with no customer base." While Internet calling, which sends voice calls as data packets over the Internet, is considerably cheaper than traditional calling, most consumers will not switch solely because of price, Mr. Kon said. Reception and service, he noted, would have to be comparable to what conventional connections offer. "People won't accept lower quality," Mr. Kon said. "I don't think Vonage or Skype," two young ventures that offer Internet calling, "will eat their lunch." "Love them or hate them," he said, "the local phone companies are perceived as having better quality." With nearly 200,000 subscribers, Vonage, which is based in Edison, N.J., is the market leader by a wide margin. But its share of the market has started to slip since AT&T introduced its Internet phone service, called CallVantage, in March. Cable companies including Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Cox have also entered the Internet phone market, and other telecommunications companies are preparing services as well. Vonage has worked to shake the perception that its service is only for technophiles and is unreliable and difficult to use. Consumers can use the service without having to install software on computers or buying special phones. The company sells the adaptors needed to access its service in 5,000 retail outlets. According to IDC, a market research firm, nearly 600,000 consumers in the United States are expected to subscribe to Internet calling services by the end of the year. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/14/technology/14voip.html *** 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, New York Times. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: tekjockey@gmail.com (tekjockey) Subject: Free Resources - Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, )and QofS (QOS) Date: 14 Jun 2004 22:34:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com All, A great site to FREE RESOURCES ON VOIP. http://www.intersyncsolutions.com -News and resources updated daily. -All free -Great for businesses looking to run voip and tech professionals. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 16:53:27 -0700 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Mon, 14 Jun 2004, Charles B. Wilber wrote: > You might want to be careful about repeating what you heard on the > scanner to other parties. Newt Gingrich and others learned about some > of the relevant state and federal statutes the hard way. How quickly the facts are forgotten/distorted. What Representative Newt Gingrich found out the hard way was the analog cellular conversations were not safe from eavesdropping, and that the laws against disclosing such conversations are toothless. Representative Jim McDermott, a far-Left Seattle Democrat (also known as "Baghdad Jim"), was given a tape of a cellular conversation of which Gingrich was a participant. McDermott proceeded to use this transcript for political advantage. Attempts to have McDermott prosecuted went nowhere. Laws don't apply to Democrats in Congress. The weak excuse was that since McDermott didn't actually record the tape, he was able to use it for any purpose he wanted. I'm sure that in another few years, it will become "common knowledge" that Gingrich was prosecuted for illegally listening in on cell phone converations. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 17:26:52 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society John Levine wrote: > No, ILECs could do line splitting if they wanted to. The reason they > don't is partly administrative, they'd have to invent some way to bill > two different parties for the same line and figure out how to do the > moves and changes and repairs. Mostly it's that the lord gave them the > right to have 100% of the phone business so it'd be blasphemous to do > so. It seems to me the only fair answer is to give each individual subscriber ownership of his "local loop" and let CLECs build their COs on its path. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 00:28:23 GMT pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) writes: > writes: >> I'm a poor widows son rummaging around in a rubbish pile in Southeast > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > Ooh fun! That's a Masonic password, or at least a paraphrase of one. >> So mote it be. > And this is a Mormon one, if I remember my Sherlock Holmes. Except that it's not. I've heard it uttered by neo-pagans, but it's not part of a Mormon rite, public or private, not even in paraphrase. Holmes "knows" about Mormons from what A.C.Doyle knew, and what ACD knew he learned from yellow press tabloids carried across the ocean, and those newspapers, when they got something correct, it was purely on accident. 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 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I can tell you about my 'Mormon Neighbors' as the frequent television commercials for literature from the LDS Church puts it. Two of my friends are the Mormon Missionaries who come calling on me every week or two, and have for several months; much longer than their rule book calls for if doing strictly proseletizing work. I enjoy chatting with them about my own Anglican or Episcopalian background and they enjoy the food I prepare for their supper each time they come around. You might say they 'witness' to me each time they come around and I 'witness' to them; but as one of the boys (all Missionaries are 19-20 year old guys and prefer to be known as 'Elders') said to me a few months ago, "oh, Mr. Townson, we like coming to see you since you do not slam the door in our faces and tell us we are going to burn in hell like so many Christians tell us around Indepen- dence, and because you always feed us supper and take time to chat with us." I must say LDS people have some peculiar ideas on a few things in their religion, and their temples seem to resemble Masonic meeting places with Egyptian symbolism, etc. And they do not seem terribly forthright in discussing some of the finer or higher points of their religion unless you ask them directly and *know what to ask*, in which case the Missionaries will discuss it, and they do not discuss the rituals in their temples in any event. Since their Missionary 'Tour of Duty' is two years, I've seen three or four of them ove the past two or three years, and I seriously think each time a new crop comes to town the old ones always tell the new ones, "be sure to get aquainted with Mr. Townson." I do sort of like the kids; super polite, super clean; always traveling through life on a first class ticket. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Lynn Subject: Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 19:17:05 -0700 Reply-To: tl@blarg.net No worries, Pat. What I enjoyed the most from the story is the recognition of how important a single pay telephone can be to a community. Especially in a day and age when the major players are divesting themselves of this cultural icon. Tom On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 08:51:27 -0700, Tom Lynn wrote: > Pat, > One item in the story is problematic. The Illinois state lottery > began in 1974. I know because I was just a wee lad living in Skokie, > IL. at the time and the whole idea was fascinating. Was there another > lottery previously? > Tom Lynn > http://www.tomlynn.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The story was first told to me by Wally > about 1986 or so long after he had retired. If you say the lottery > started in Illinois in 1974, I will assume you are correct and that Wally > got the date a little wrong. And truth be told, I cannot remember > whether or not 'Illinois State Lottery' was in the first part of his > account from 1968 or the second part of his account from around > 1976. He mentioned the lottery in talking to me, I may have assumed it > was a 1968 thing. PAT] Tom Lynn http://www.tomlynn.com ------------------------------ From: Chip G Subject: Re: Server Requirement For CT-Connect Organization: Comcast Online Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:43:23 GMT "Srini" wrote in message news:telecom23.289.3@telecom-digest.org: > Ours is a call center which receives about 5 lakh calls per day. I am > exploring the option of CT-Connect for CTI functionality that includes > screen pop. Can any one tell me what would be the sizing for the CTI > server that runs CT-Connect, for this kind of call volume. (Specifically > the server configuration and number of servers). Server could be either > a Unix (Sun Solaris machine) or Windows 2000 advanced server. > Thanks in advance, > Srini I know this sounds a little strange, but the specific switch to which you are integrating can make a difference. Some vendors CT links are much more efficienct than others. In general, with the horsepower available from most servers on the market today, you will probably be just fine with any enterprise class server you can buy new on the market ... assuming enough memory and hard drive. Memory is often a gotcha depending on the specific apps you intend to run. Always go big on RAM, it will stand you well. What switch are you integrating with? ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #291 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 15 20:56:40 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5G0udY15880; Tue, 15 Jun 2004 20:56:40 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 20:56:40 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406160056.i5G0udY15880@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 #292 TELECOM Digest Tue, 15 Jun 2004 20:56:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 292 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Acacia Sues TV Cos. in Patent Dispute (Monty Solomon) Feds Decline to Create 'Do-Not-Spam' List (Monty Solomon) Yahoo, Google, Others Disrupted by Internet Attack (Monty Solomon) SBC DSL Recent Changes and Soho Watchguard (tcnolan) FTC Punts on a "Do Not Call" List For Spam (Danny Burstein) VoIP Regulation Status (sophialeii@yahoo.com) VoIP (Charles Cryderman) Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages (Charles B. Wilber) Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Job Openings? (Chip G) Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell (Lisa Hancock) Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit (Paul Vader) Re: CLI via CSTA (Siemens HiPath 3000) (Matt Hall) Re: Office Telephone System Recommendations (SELLCOM Tech support) Typo: Letters Reversed (Carl Moore) Re: Ravings (Carl Moore) It May be Time to Answer Call of Voice Over Internet (VOIP News) 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: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:40:07 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Acacia Sues TV Cos. in Patent Dispute By GARY GENTILE AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A firm that says it holds the rights on technology needed to power video-on-demand services and streaming video over the Internet sued major cable and satellite TV companies Tuesday, alleging patent infringement. Acacia Media Technology Corp., a division of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Acacia Research Corp., alleges that nine companies are violating five of its patents, some of which date back to 1992, that describe a method of transmitting audio/visual content. The defendants include cable giants Comcast Corp., Cox Communications Inc. and Charter Communications Inc., as well as satellite providers DirecTV Group Inc. and Echostar Communications Corp. and some smaller companies. The complaint was filed Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco. Charter spokesman David Anderson said the company had yet to see the lawsuit but added, "We do not believe that Charter's services infringe any intellectual property rights that Acacia may have." Comcast spokeswoman Jenni Moyer said the company "vigorously disputes" the allegations. Other defendants said they couldn't comment because they hadn't seen the complaint or do not discuss pending litigation. The patents cover a method of transmitting content, such as movies or video clips, that is stored in a library, as opposed to images of live events. The patents describe a method of breaking the content up into blocks, placing time codes on them, compressing the size of the files, storing the chunks of data and then transmitting and receiving them. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41981814 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:41:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Feds Decline to Create 'Do-Not-Spam' List By TED BRIDIS AP Technology Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration said Tuesday it will not create a national do-not-spam registry to discourage unwanted e-mail, fearing it could backfire and become a target list for new victims. The Federal Trade Commission told Congress that senders of unwanted sales pitches might mine such a registry for names. Its chairman, Timothy Muris, quipped that consumers "will be spammed if we do a registry and spammed if we do not." The commission was obligated by lawmakers to consider the proposal under the "can spam" legislation that Bush signed in December, an idea patterned after the FTC's enormously successful do-not-call registry to limit telemarketing calls. But the FTC concluded that on the Internet, unlike within the highly regulated U.S. telephone network, regulators would be "largely powerless to identify those responsible for misusing the registry." Muris said that, given the risks of consumers adding their names to a do-not-spam registry, "I wouldn't put my e-mail address on such a list." Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the leading supporter in Congress for a no-spam registry, said the FTC's decision was disappointing. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41980833 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:42:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Yahoo, Google, Others Disrupted by Internet Attack NEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - A hacker attack on Internet services company Akamai Technologies Inc. disrupted access to large Web sites including those run by Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Google, and Microsoft for up to 2 hours early on Tuesday, according to Web tracker Keynote Systems Inc. Starting at about 0830 EDT/1130 GMT today, a major "Internet performance issue" was detected, according to Lloyd Taylor, vice president of technology and operations for Keynote (NASDAQ:KEYN), which tests and monitors Web sites. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41979595 ------------------------------ From: tcnolan@optonline.net (tcnolan) Subject: SBC DSL Recent Changes and Soho Watchguard Date: 15 Jun 2004 04:46:53 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi... On Friday SBC announced that it was making DNS Server changes and to "please make sure your DNS settings are "server assigned" or "use DHCP."" We are a small business and user a router/firewall to connect 10 pcs to the DSL line. As of yesterday, we could not stay connected to the internet for more than 1 hour at the most. If we reboot the firewall, everything is fine again for a while but eventually we lose connectivity again. We called SBC but they say the line is fine so it must be the firewall software. And SBC would not say what specific changes they made. We use Soho Watchguard 5.1. I assume something in the firewall settings needs to be changed because when we reboot the firewall, we can connect again. Is anyone familar with both SBC and Soho Watchguard that has any thoughts on what to look at in the firewall configuration? We called Soho also and they just recommend upgrading to their latest product. Thank you, Terry ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: FTC Punts on a "Do Not Call" List For Spam Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 14:33:36 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC New System to Verify Origins of E-Mail Must Emerge Before 'Do Not Spam' List Can Be Implemented, FTC Tells Congress "The Federal Trade Commission today told Congress that, at the present time, a National Do Not Email Registry would fail to reduce the amount of spam consumers receive, might increase it, and could not be enforced effectively. In a report filed in response to a statutory mandate, the FTC also said that anti-spam efforts should focus on creating a robust e-mail authentication system that would prevent spammers from hiding their tracks and thereby evading Internet service providers, anti-spam filters and law enforcement ... [ snippety snip ] http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/06/canspam2.htm _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: sophialeii@yahoo.com Subject: VoIP Regulation Status Date: 15 Jun 2004 14:23:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com What is the Voice over IP (VoIP) regulation policy in U.S? and in CA? I have heard that it may depend on the type of call scenarios. For example: 1. a PC phone to another PC phone 2. a PC phone through Internet to a regular phone (in PSTN) 3. a regular phone (in PSTN) through Interent to another regular phone (in PSTN) Does FCC regulate all of the above or just one or two of them? Thanks for your help in advance. Sophia ------------------------------ From: Charles Cryderman Subject: VoIP Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 11:19:00 -0400 Reader: nitoy69@hotmail.com (Nitoy) asked: "Does anyone know if the senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation sub-commitee hearings on S.2281 (to provide a clear and unambiguous structure for the jurisdictional and regulatory treatment for the offering or provision of voice-over-Internet-protocol applications)at 9:30 A.M. on June 16th will be broadcast (live or otherwise) on CSPAN and if so on which channel (1, 2, or 3)and if so when the airtimes are?" Yes they are, go to http://commerce.senate.gov/. It is being webcasted. Chip Cryderman ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jun 2004 09:12:20 EDT From: Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) Subject: Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages My point was simply that there are specific FCC regulations which apply to "interception" of radio, telephone and other traffic that is not intended for the person doing the intercepting. As a general rule, even if listening to such traffic is not a crime, relaying its contents to a third party is. I mentioned New Gingrich because his was a very high-profile case with which most Americans became familiar due to incessant media coverage. Speaker Gingrich did not violate any laws but he was seriously inconvenienced -- and his career was ended -- as a direct result of the actions of someone who did. I doubt that many people would remember the name of the man (and his wife) who "accidentally" heard Newt Gingrich's cellular phone call on their scanner while driving around in their car. Even if people don't remember the facts, they remember the severity with which the matter was treated. I could just as easily have mentioned Bill Clinton and taped telephone conversations. Charlie Wilber Dartmouth College --- Mark Crispin wrote: > You might want to be careful about repeating what you heard on the > scanner to other parties. Newt Gingrich and others learned about some > of the relevant state and federal statutes the hard way. How quickly the facts are forgotten/distorted. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages Date: 15 Jun 2004 20:17:57 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Mark Crispin wrote: > On Mon, 14 Jun 2004, Charles B. Wilber wrote: > Attempts to have McDermott prosecuted went nowhere. Laws don't apply > to Democrats in Congress. Now, now ... let's not single out the Democrats. Laws don't apply to Republicans, either, as Bush has shown us many times. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: Chip G Subject: Re: Job Openings? Organization: Comcast Online Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 17:40:33 GMT Chris Boone wrote in message news:telecom23.291.4@telecom-digest.org: > Anyone know of any good telecom job openings anywhere? (PBX, > microwave, fiber, etc?) If so, please reply direct for more details. > (Remove nospam from my address) > Thanks. There are quite a few jobs posted on various major players web sites (Avaya, Cisco, SBC, Cingular, AT&T, Sprint, etc.). I would suggest starting with those. I also find Monster to be a good source of leads. If you are really open to relocating at your own cost, I am confident that you will find a great job! It seems there just aren't enough good people willing to relocate for these types of jobs. I think very few companies are offering relocation assistance anymore (except for senior executive type jobs) but if you can get yourself to a place they need you and you have good credentials, then you will find something with no problem. Best wishes, Chip ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell Date: 15 Jun 2004 10:42:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > You've all heard the expression that 'no good deed goes unpunished' or > perhaps how things you do come back to bite you on the ass later in life. > ... In other words he was one of those guys who works > during overnight hours, going out to **important, and critical** customers > whose phone service is down, when it **really** matters to the community > or at least the customer. I wonder in this post-divesture deregulated age if such critical services would still be provided as described in your story. I tend to doubt it. We have too many little vendors and manufacturers who are way too small to accomodate the overhead of having "night people" on duty to keep things running in emergencies. Further, with competition, companies must be "lean and mean" which means no excess capacity or staff on standby not earning revenue. It was the same thing in the computer business when it was dominated by IBM. IBM had so many customers and was so big and profitable it could and would have backup personnel and equipment ready at all times to help customers out of a jam. Ironically, other industries that don't need to be so big, like banking and retail, have merged into a few giant nationwide firms eliminating competition. If you have a VISA/MC, there's a good chance it was issued by MBNA, a huge outfit that issues cards under other names. The recent big NE U.S. blackout apparently was initiated by problems in a troubled Ohio utility. I don't know about them, but I wonder if years ago, before deregulation, if they were a modest, but stable outfit. Also, deregulation allowed for electric power sharing which the national grid was not designed to accomodate and thus overloaded. And of course there was the California power debacle a few years ago. The real kicker is that all this deregulation hasn't saved me any money. My phone bills are higher than ever thanks to all the "fees" added on, and all the fine print in the contracts. (I did some comp- arison shopping recently, and they ALL pull the same garbage -- a low quoted rate in big bold type, but all sorts of exceptions/exclus- ions/extras in microfine print that greatly increase your bill). ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 14:07:55 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations John Levine writes: >>> 1-212-561-5483 > If you tell Google to search Usenet for that number, you find a copy > of the same message in a spam report, and a different message last > month from a guy who says he's in Missouri and is looking for a child > he fathered 17 years ago. Most peculiar. It appears to be the same guy. The old message is signed 'Charles Boyer', and the message that Pat forwarded is from someone with an email address of "clb6969". Also, there's two other versions of Pat's letter, one without the masonic handshakes. Wasn't Charles Boyer an actor? The name definitely sounds familiar. * > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So Paul, can you tell me a little more > about these Masonic and Mormon passwords; why they exist and what is > the meaning (of the passwords)? PAT] First off, I *wasn't* remembering my Sherlock Holmes properly. I was thinking of an exchange during Jefferson Hope's story in "A Study in Scarlet", but the password used there was not "So mote it be". That latter phrase is actually another masonic thing. The wiccan religion also uses it (in a similar manner to how christians use "amen"), but they probably inherited it from masonic rites, via Alister Crowley. But anyway ... "Will no one help the widow's son?" is a passphrase used by traveling Masons in trouble trying to make contact with a local lodge brother. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Charles Boyer (pronounced 'BOE-YAY'} was a long ago star of the silver screen, both in silent movies and in the early talkies. To Christians, the phrase 'Amen' is taken to mean 'so be it'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: matt@autocab.com (Matt Hall) Subject: Re: CLI via CSTA (Siemens HiPath 3000) Date: 15 Jun 2004 09:12:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi Mike, I do have the CSTA specification from Siemens, and I have managed to extract the basic structure of the messages, however, I am finding it difficult in recognising what each message means. I am relatively inexperienced in using ASN.1, so the specification from Siemens is less than clear to me. Additionally, I want to avoid using an ASN.1 compiler, as I am only after a small subset of all the messages output from the system, so implementing the full CSTA specification is overkill for my needs. All I am trying to do is extract the incoming phone number and the extension number that answers the call either before or when the call is answered. Thanks for your help! Matt Mike Blake-Knox wrote in message news:: > In article , Matt Hall wrote: >> Has anyone else had any experience in decoding the ASN.1 encoded data, >> and recognising the semantics of the data once it has been decoded? > The reference on ASN.1 and BER that I've used is "Abstract Syntax > Notation (ASN.1): The Tutorial and Reference" ISBN 1 871802 06 07. >> I'm finding it difficult to recognise the meanings of these strings > Do you have a Siemen's spec and/or the ECMA standard? If so, what kind of > strings are you having problems with? > Mike Blake-Knox ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Office Telephone System Recommendations Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 22:25:25 GMT eljainc@ameritech.net (Mike McWhinney) posted on that vast internet thingie: > We are currently shopping around for a office telephone system. We do > not need anything fancy (we have 4 lines, 8-10 phones). We're looking > for something similar to the following: You should check out the TMC ET4000 "epic phone". It would also allow you to easily add some cordless phones and music on hold. Two year warranty and feature rich. http://www.et4000.com Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 16:00:32 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Typo Error: Letters Reversed I noticed a case of KRPS and KPRS (notice 2 letters transposed) in an excerpt (V22 #156) where TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > My favorite station is KRPS in Pittsburg, Kansas at 89.9 FM, the > classical music station from NPR at Pittsburg State University. > Trouble is, Pittsburg is a *trip* from here, about 70-80 miles east, > next to Joplin, MO and that distance is a bit far for most FM > stations. I have a Bose radio/CD and when I put an external antenna on > it I can get KPRS. They also have a repeater-translator at 102.7 FM in > Bartlesville, OK but that one is run off the air by KIND the local > station at 102.9. They also have a repeater in Iola, Kansas but that > is farther away than even Joplin/Pittsburg, and the religion people > here in town (91.9 FM American Family Association) run Iola away. And > the PBS station in Tulsa is just to weak to come in here, and that is > about 90 miles straight south. KPRS has a stereo signal, but I do not > get stereo for it, just a mono signal, which seems to imply I am just > getting 'wisps' of it that happen to get here. I know if I had a good > rooftop antenna like many folks in town I could make the trip from > Pittsburg quite easily. PAT] You were commenting on: > Subject: Re: Radio Signals > From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) > Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 04:12:56 GMT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But things have improved here lately. The correct call sign is KRPS, at 89.9 FM, Pittsburg, KS and it does classical music almost all day except for repeating BBC during over- night hours. Now KRPS (local residents who do not care for classical music say that the call sign refers to KRaPpy Station is carried at no charge on cable as a free offering by CableOne, our cable service here. The classical music in Tulsa, OK is on 89.5 FM. CableOne has their tower over on Oak Street around 18th Street, and among their other equipment there is a crystal controlled radio set for 88.5 and 88.9 FM. High in the air, feeding right into the cable head end. The cable guy knows I listen to it, and he came over here one day with a 'cable/FM radio splitter' and put it on my (cable) line and attached the cable to the back of the Bose radio in place of the external antenna I had been using. Right away KRPS started screaming at me, and by George, even the 'stereo' indicator lighted up, something I had never seen it do on Pittsburg or Tulsa before. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 16:31:38 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Ravings In V22 #157 of the digest (late November 2002), I have some feedback about the Editor's Note. I remember reading of March 25 (not 21) being New Year's in Britian & its colonies (including the future U.S.) coming up to the year 1752. I VAGUELY recall that March 25 was the spring equinox but it drifted up to March 21 (due to pre-Julian errors?). The Gregorian calendar used March 21 or so as the spring equinox. In either case, you may have seen 11 Feb. 1731 as date of birth "old style" of George Washington. Memorial Day in the US is last (not 4th) Monday in May, so it will fall between May 25 and May 31 inclusive. Easter falls between March 22 and April 25 (not 15) inclusive. It was April 23 in 2000. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 11:12:10 -0400 Subject: It may be time to answer the call of Voice over Internet Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.suntimes.com/output/worktech/cst-fin-andy15.html BY ANDY IHNATKO People ask me why I hate telephones so much. "They're just so ... so ... analog!" I tell them, putting the same tone of revulsion in my voice that you'd normally use when talking about eating a member of one's own species. But now I may have to change my attitude, or at least come up with a new line. There's a new alternative to wireless and traditional landline technologies: the Voice over Internet Protocol. Before VoIP, you couldn't say "phone calls over the Internet" without using air quotes. For convenience and practical utility, it resembled a real phone call about as closely as a two-man horse costume resembled Seabiscuit. What makes VoIP technology so remarkable is the fact that it's not remarkable at all. You pick up your phone, you hear a dial tone, you dial a phone number, and a few seconds later, you're talking to your great-aunt Eunice in Omaha. When someone calls you, the phone rings and you pick it up. Full story at: http://www.suntimes.com/output/worktech/cst-fin-andy15.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ 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'. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #292 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jun 16 16:05:41 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5GK5fV24868; Wed, 16 Jun 2004 16:05:41 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 16:05:41 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406162005.i5GK5fV24868@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 #293 TELECOM Digest Wed, 16 Jun 2004 16:06:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 293 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson As VoIP Traffic Ramps, Global Crossing Among First (VOIP News) A Long, Hot Summer for VoIP? (VOIP News) Text of Jeff Pulver's Testimony on VoIP Regulatory (VOIP News) Re: It May be Time to Answer the Call of Voice Over Internet (Lisa Hancock) Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell (Tony P.) Re: Server Requirement For CT-Connect (Srini) Re: SBC DSL Recent Changes and Soho Watchguard (tcnolan) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal (Robert Bonomi) Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages (Robert Bonomi) Re: J2 Billing Mystery/ Scam? (Robert Bonomi) Re: Ravings (David Esan) Recent Norvergence News (barryb) Share Day for June (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: VOIP News Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:22:06 -0400 Subject: As VoIP Traffic Ramps, Global Crossing Among First Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-16-2004/0002194222&STORY&EDATE= As VoIP Traffic Ramps, Global Crossing Among First to Decommission Legacy Switch in Network Core * First switch to be decommissioned demonstrates Global Crossing's long-term commitment to the efficiencies of VoIP technology. * Global Crossing's Sonus-based VoIP network is fully interoperable with its legacy switches, providing a migration path towards a fully IP voice network. * VoIP network delivers improved carrier-class quality, reliability and security. FLORHAM PARK, N.J., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In response to steadily increasing usage of its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network, Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBCE) announced today that it has nearly completed decommissioning the first legacy time-division multiplexing (TDM) switch in the core of its network. By taking this step, Global Crossing expects to create optimum network efficiencies in its core multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network, while continuing to deliver carrier and enterprise customers reliable, IP voice services. "As a leader in IP-enabled services, we are one of the first telecommunications providers to decommission a legacy voice switch in favor of next-generation VoIP technology," said John Legere, Global Crossing's chief executive officer. "By migrating more of our traffic onto our VoIP network, we can further enhance our customers' experience while supporting continued growth in voice traffic." The company's first TDM switch being decommissioned is in Chicago, and the company plans to remove additional switches later this year and in 2005. "This is a significant accomplishment that paves the way for future TDM/VoIP traffic migration," said Dan Enright, Global Crossing's executive vice president, operations. "This initiative aligns directly with our overarching goal of providing all our voice applications over our IP backbone, while still offering complete interoperability at the core and edge of our VoIP network." Global Crossing took on this project as VoIP traffic traversing on its private backbone grew to as much as 2.4 billion minutes each month, or approximately 40 percent of its total voice traffic. Global Crossing's VoIP network is fully interoperable with its TDM backbone and enables carriers and enterprises to transition to a fully-converged all-IP voice network environment over a single connection at their own pace, without having to invest in expensive network equipment or infrastructure. As previously announced, Global Crossing built its VoIP network with infrastructure solutions from Sonus Networks. Using Global Crossing's private IP network, customers experience the quality, reliability and security that is not available from public Internet sources. "Today's announcement of Global Crossing de-commissioning their first TDM switch places them in the vanguard of next-generation voice service providers no longer investing in legacy technology," stated Kevin Mitchell, directing analyst at Infonetics Research. "Global Crossing's commitment to realizing the service potential and efficiencies of next-generation IP voice technology is demonstrated by its fast-paced migration towards a ubiquitous VoIP network." An early adopter of VoIP, Global Crossing was one of the first providers to deploy a global VoIP platform approximately four years ago. Today, Global Crossing's Carrier VoIP Service, introduced in September 2003, provides carrier IP interconnection, transport and call completion of packet-based voice traffic over Global Crossing's integrated IP and TDM platforms. Customers can call around the globe, utilizing Global Crossing's service network connecting 500 cities in 50 countries on 6 continents. Security is ensured since the VoIP traffic traverses the MPLS-based IP backbone, with additional firewall functionality provided by the session border controllers, connecting the VoIP platform to IP-VPN customers, extending voice services natively over IP. "Global Crossing continues to lead the way in transitioning customers to a VoIP network," said Hassan Ahmed, CEO and chairman, Sonus Networks. "We are proud to have worked with Global Crossing in helping them develop one of the largest operating VoIP networks in the world and look forward to building on our successful relationship." Global Crossing recently announced three new VoIP service offers exclusively for enterprises. Global Crossing Enterprise VoIP Service(TM) portfolio has expanded from Global Crossing VoIP On-net Transport(TM) to include Global Crossing VoIP Outbound(TM), Global Crossing VoIP Toll-Free(TM) and Global Crossing VoIP On-net Plus(TM). All enterprise VoIP services offer carrier-class quality, backed by end-to-end IP service level agreements (SLAs) for jitter, packet loss, availability, and latency, plus traditional voice metrics including call completion rates, post dial delay and answer success ratio. Global Crossing is scheduled to participate in several IP panels and will host an exclusive executive networking event at SUPERCOMM 2004, June 22-24, 2004. For more information on Global Crossing's SUPERCOMM participation, please visit: http://www.globalcrossing.net/promo/supercomm04/index.html. Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-16-2004/0002194222&STORY&EDATE= How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:13:14 -0400 Subject: A Long, Hot Summer for VoIP? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.com.com/A+long%2C+hot+summer+for+VoIP%3F/2010-7352_3-5235523.html By Kevin Werbach Will May 19, 2004, be a date that lives in infamy for proponents of VoIP? Two ominous developments took place on that day. The New York Public Service Commission declared Vonage to be a regulated telephone company. Meanwhile, several key companies pulled out of the inter-carrier compensation forum (ICF) that is attempting to negotiate a replacement for the outmoded access-charge regime. That brought the effort to the brink of collapse. These seemingly unrelated events illustrate the failings of the Federal Communications Commission's current piecemeal approach to VoIP, or voice over Internet Protocol. Though no one in Washington seems to want to make VoIP subject to legacy telecommunications regulations, we may be drifting in exactly that direction. Full story at: http://news.com.com/A+long%2C+hot+summer+for+VoIP%3F/2010-7352_3-5235523.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:52:44 -0400 Subject: Text of Jeff Pulver's Testimony on VoIP Regulatory Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Mr. Pulver's prepared oral remarks for panel 2 at the US Senate Commerce Committee Meeting on S. 2281, "The VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004", may be found here: http://192.246.69.231/jeff/personal/archives/000891.html His formal written testimony is also available as a .DOC format file: http://pulver.com/reports/16jun04-s2281-pulver-written.doc ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: It May be Time to Answer the Call of Voice Over Internet Date: 16 Jun 2004 11:14:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com VOIP News wrote: > http://www.suntimes.com/output/worktech/cst-fin-andy15.html > But now I may have to change my attitude, or at least come up with a > new line. There's a new alternative to wireless and traditional > landline technologies: the Voice over Internet Protocol. I read the full article and there remain very serious drawbacks: > First among them is cost. Vonage (www.vonage.com), the current VoIP > leader, will sell you a startup kit for $79, and after paying a modest > setup fee, you get unlimited local and national long-distance for a > flat rate of $29 a month with no contracts or commitments. That's even > cheaper than it sounds because there are no added costs. Digital voice > mail, CallerID, Call Forwarding and all those other features you'd > normally pay extra for are included (that's typical for VoIP > providers), and because the FCC is eager to push this technology > forward, VoIP is exempt from added federal taxes and tariffs. If I open a fruit stand in the parking lot of my local supermarket, I'll be able to undercut their prices. I won't be paying any of their overhead charges (like maintaining the parking lot itself), collecting govt sales taxes, govt licensing and inspection, not taking food stamps, etc. Eventually I'll have to pay my true costs, charge appropriate taxes, etc. The traditional phone companies carry many regulatory burdens, such as maintaining service to deadbeats, serving unprofitable areas, meeting service standards, etc. Should they fail, the newspapers and govt hit them hard. In contrast, the VOIP providers have no such obligations at all. Eventually this will catch up to them and their prices will go up or they'll go broke just like MCI did. > If your call has to be routed through a heavily trafficked part of > the Internet, you'll experience some small but annoying lags. A power > outage at your house knocks out your phone service as well (though > Vonage automatically re-routes your calls to a designated number > whenever it can't locate your phone adapter on the Internet). I don't know about you folks, but I'm always experiencing momentary lags in Internet response time, regardless of what terminal I'm using (home, work, library, etc.) When using the computer, often I have two screens up at the same time while so I pass the time waiting for an Internet screen to come through. That won't be practical in voice conversation. > 911 service is pretty scary, too. None of the Advanced 911 System's > features work with VoIP, so while your provider might be able to route > your call to a local response center, you'd still better hope that you > never experience an emergency in which you can't clearly state your > address. In our suburban area, 911 was handled by the county seat. Before the address database, we had to give the operator detailed information about our location; some people don't even know the suburban municipality they live in, esp if they're new since the postal name is more often used. We have adjacent boroughs and townships with the same name that add to confusion. Anyway, with advanced 911, those problems went away. I question whether the VOIP would even know where to route a 911 call. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: More Memories of Illinois Bell Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 01:08:00 GMT In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: >> You've all heard the expression that 'no good deed goes unpunished' or >> perhaps how things you do come back to bite you on the ass later in life. >> ... In other words he was one of those guys who works >> during overnight hours, going out to **important, and critical** customers >> whose phone service is down, when it **really** matters to the community >> or at least the customer. > I wonder in this post-divesture deregulated age if such critical > services would still be provided as described in your story. I tend > to doubt it. We have too many little vendors and manufacturers who > are way too small to accomodate the overhead of having "night people" > on duty to keep things running in emergencies. Further, with > competition, companies must be "lean and mean" which means no excess > capacity or staff on standby not earning revenue. Yes there are such arrangements. Public service agencies must have 24/7 access. When I was at the RI AG's office we had standing orders with Sprint, AT&T and Verizon to have staff on call for any issues we might run into. We were given pager and cell numbers for supervisors. And when we called we'd generally get resolution within an hour. I suspect the same services are available for big business too. Those who'll pay for it will receive all sorts of services not available to small business and residential customers. > It was the same thing in the computer business when it was dominated > by IBM. IBM had so many customers and was so big and profitable it > could and would have backup personnel and equipment ready at all times > to help customers out of a jam. Believe it or not, HP-Compaq still has 24/7 dial in for support. Granted, it's a bear to get through. One example is a time when I was trying to get POS software to dial out for credit card authorizations on a Compaq Deskpro. Using the DOS version of the POS product it worked fine, but as soon as I'd fire up the Windows version I couldn't connect. Called HP-Compaq and waded through menus and droids for several hours until at 2AM I finally got someone who knew what was going on. Seems the calls that the POS software (CouterPoint) used needed a special SoftPaq. So they pointed me to the location on the web where the update was located, I downloaded it and everything was fine. > Ironically, other industries that don't need to be so big, like > banking and retail, have merged into a few giant nationwide firms > eliminating competition. If you have a VISA/MC, there's a good chance > it was issued by MBNA, a huge outfit that issues cards under other > names. And the consumer ends up paying more in the end. In many cases all we really have is a duopoly (For instance, wired services in RI are provided by Verizon and Cox and when push comes to shove, those are your only two real choices.) or so few competitors that pricing doesn't move. > The recent big NE U.S. blackout apparently was initiated by problems > in a troubled Ohio utility. I don't know about them, but I wonder if > years ago, before deregulation, if they were a modest, but stable > outfit. Also, deregulation allowed for electric power sharing which > the national grid was not designed to accomodate and thus overloaded. > And of course there was the California power debacle a few years ago. Electric power sharing isn't the issue. Raping the consumer is. All these tapes coming out detailing what Enron execs were saying about the California power debacle are clear indicators it was a manufactured problem, not a problem that occurred because the systemm couldnt' handle it. People don't realize that big business has us over a barrel. We're also under the mistaken impression that the federal government derives it's power from the people. That hasn't been the case for nearly 60 years now. The federal government derives it's power from big business. > The real kicker is that all this deregulation hasn't saved me any > money. My phone bills are higher than ever thanks to all the "fees" > added on, and all the fine print in the contracts. (I did some comp- > arison shopping recently, and they ALL pull the same garbage -- a > low quoted rate in big bold type, but all sorts of exceptions/exclus- > ions/extras in microfine print that greatly increase your bill). Yes indeed. I recall my first phone, with the rental was $12.00 a month. That was in 1982. A basic line now is about $20 plus enough fees to hike the basic monthly service charge to near $35 or so. And I don't' rent the phone anymore. Damn it. ------------------------------ From: aone1504@yahoo.com (Srini) Subject: Re: Server Requirement For CT-Connect Date: 15 Jun 2004 23:36:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Chip G wrote in message news:... > "Srini" wrote in message > news:telecom23.289.3@telecom-digest.org: >> Ours is a call center which receives about 5 lakh calls per day. I am >> exploring the option of CT-Connect for CTI functionality that includes >> screen pop. Can any one tell me what would be the sizing for the CTI >> server that runs CT-Connect, for this kind of call volume. (Specifically >> the server configuration and number of servers). Server could be either >> a Unix (Sun Solaris machine) or Windows 2000 advanced server. >> Thanks in advance, >> Srini > I know this sounds a little strange, but the specific switch to which > you are integrating can make a difference. Some vendors CT links are > much more efficienct than others. In general, with the horsepower > available from most servers on the market today, you will probably be > just fine with any enterprise class server you can buy new on the > market ... assuming enough memory and hard drive. Memory is often a > gotcha depending on the specific apps you intend to run. Always go big > on RAM, it will stand you well. > What switch are you integrating with? Our switch is Avaya Multivantage. --srini ------------------------------ From: tcnolan@optonline.net (tcnolan) Subject: Re: SBC DSL Recent Changes and Soho Watchguard Date: 16 Jun 2004 03:59:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We found the issue. I was able to view the firewall log just when we lost connectivity again and saw this: NAT DYNAMIC Translation pool exhausted I finally got someone from critical support on the phone from Soho Watchguard and they knew right away it was a virus on our server. So nothing to do with the DSL line ... this time :-) tcnolan@optonline.net (tcnolan) wrote in message news:: > Hi... > On Friday SBC announced that it was making DNS Server changes and to > "please make sure your DNS settings are "server assigned" or "use > DHCP."" > We are a small business and user a router/firewall to connect 10 pcs > to the DSL line. > As of yesterday, we could not stay connected to the internet for more > than 1 hour at the most. If we reboot the firewall, everything is > fine again for a while but eventually we lose connectivity again. We > called SBC but they say the line is fine so it must be the firewall > software. > And SBC would not say what specific changes they made. > We use Soho Watchguard 5.1. I assume something in the firewall > settings needs to be changed because when we reboot the firewall, we > can connect again. > Is anyone familar with both SBC and Soho Watchguard that has any > thoughts on what to look at in the firewall configuration? > We called Soho also and they just recommend upgrading to their latest > product. > Thank you, > Terry ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 12:01:57 +0000 In article , Rahul Dhesi wrote: > bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) writes: > [ about SBC disallowing transfer of voice service to a competitor while > still continuing DSL service on the same line ] >> When the ILEC 'leases' a pair to a CLEC, that CLEC gets _exclusive_ >> control of that pair.... >> ...The law >> *requires* that they give the CLEC _total_ control of that pair. They >> _cannot_ say "you can use this pair for voice, but we're going to >> continue to put a DSL signal on it." > Question: Does the law prohibit an ILEC, a CLEC, and an end-user > customer, from entering into a three-party contract, with the consent > of all three parties, such that the ILEC provides voice service on the > line to the end-user customer, while the CLEC provides DSL service on > the same line to that customer? > If there is such a law, what is the rational basis for it? I dunno, but I doubt it. AFAIK, _every_ ILEC and CLEC will 'wholesale' their DSL transport to other ISPs. The law that forced ILECs to give CLECs access to the 'last mile' wiring does require that the CLEC get complete control of the pair. Thus, for a '3-way deal' like you propose, the ILEC would have to turn over complete control to the CLEC, then contract with the CLEC for DSL transport. *AND* the CLEC would have to have the appropriate split-out equipment in _their_ C.O. facilities. I'll point out that _if_ the CLEC had that equipment installed, then _they_ would probably be offering DSL themselves. In article , John David Galt wrote: > John Levine wrote: >> No, ILECs could do line splitting if they wanted to. The reason they >> don't is partly administrative, they'd have to invent some way to bill >> two different parties for the same line and figure out how to do the >> moves and changes and repairs. Mostly it's that the lord gave them the >> right to have 100% of the phone business so it'd be blasphemous to do >> so. > It seems to me the only fair answer is to give each individual subscriber > ownership of his "local loop" and let CLECs build their COs on its path. Are *you* prepared to go dig up the street 3 miles away from your house when the trunk cable gets a leak in it, and _your_ 'local loop' fails? Do _you_ have an easement for the right-of-way for "your" cable over all the private property (and municipal property) it passes through, between your property and the telco CO? In short, "don't be ridiculous", applies. Don't be ridiculous. ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 12:35:12 +0000 In article , Charles B. Wilber wrote: > Pat, > You might want to be careful about repeating what you heard on the > scanner to other parties. Newt Gingrich and others learned about some > of the relevant state and federal statutes the hard way. Governmental 'public service' and law-enforcement frequencies are specifically exempted from the privacy rules in _federal_ statutes. Listening to, and repeating what you heard on those channels is not a problem -- at the FEDERAL level, at least. Can't speak to the various state laws. > Charlie Wilber > Dartmouth College > --- You wrote: >> It was from the sheriff PSAP database; that new computer thing >> called 'Vonage', this is the first time we ever had one of those, >> let me know if it is a good call or flaky." Apparently it was >> 'good' since a few minutes later the EMT responds, "citizen had some >> food caught in his throat, we've cleared it but are taking him over >> to Mercy (Hospital) Emergency Room." > --- end of quote --- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was rather certain Charlie was in error on those laws **where police and fire radios were concerned**, simply because there are at least two or three web sites where you can listen to police calls from other cities, and no one gets after them for doing that. PAT] ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: J2 Billing Mystery/ Scam? From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 12:42:03 +0000 In article , Scott Perry wrote: > Last March I requested cancellation of my J2 number via email, and > still have a copy of the original email. One week later, my J2 > account was not accessible, and I assumed all had gone as requested. > A week after I requested cancellation a mysterious email from someone > named James Pitt arrives at J2 requesting reconnection of my account. > Now, 4 months and $60 later, J2 tells me that they cannot refund this. Probably correct. *IF* they were billing monthly. And you didn't contest the _first_ bill. ------------------------------ From: david_esan@hotmail.com (David Esan) Subject: Re: Ravings Date: 16 Jun 2004 07:46:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com 1. Canada and the US observe Thanksgiving on two different days because the holidays have different origins. The US Thanksgiving traces itself back to the Pilgrims choosing to give thanks for their harvest, imitating the Jewish holiday of Succoth. The Canadian Thanksgiving had its origins in the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) from a serious illness. See www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/jfa-ha/index_e.cfm for details on all Canadian holidays. I was surprised to see that Victoria Day is actually the celebration of the Queen's birthday. 2. PAT - You stated that "Pope Gregory declared that henceforth the more modern Anglicized Easter holiday would be celebrated by the church." Gregory XII was born in Italy. The schism between the Catholic and Anglican Churches occured during his lifetime -- Henry VIII was died in 1547. I doubt you could call his reform of the calendar Anglican. Especially since the Anglicans ignored it for nearly 200 years. 3. One of the other sources for the date of Easter was the Jewish holiday of Passover. Originally, Easter was on the first Sunday of that holiday, and, in fact, you will often find that the two holidays still coincide. IIRC, there is still some connection between Passover's date and the date of the Orthodox church's Easter celebration. However, in order to distance itself from Judaism, the early church chose to have its own calculations on when to have Easter, and so sometimes the two holidays don't coincide. 4. US Memorial Day never really had a fixed reason associated with that date, unlike Independance Day or Armistice Day. Moving the date around to create a 3 day weekend really isn't tampering with history. According to one web site I visited, Memorial Day wasn't even celebrated in the South until after WWI, since they had their own days to honor the Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. 5. Those who continued to celebrate New Year's at the end of March, when the rest of the country had moved to January, were called April Fools! ------------------------------ From: NarryB Subject: Recent News About Norvergence Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 12:37:07 -0500 I have had 5 calls today from various customers that Norvergence is completely down and when calling them you get a fast busy signal ... Barry ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For June Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 16:00:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #293 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jun 16 22:18:48 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5H2ImS00886; Wed, 16 Jun 2004 22:18:48 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 22:18:48 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406170218.i5H2ImS00886@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 #294 TELECOM Digest Wed, 16 Jun 2004 22:18:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 294 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Your Problems With Norvergence (Karen Kosoy) Norvergence Problems (pricepc.com) Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages (Charles B. Wilber) Emerging Telecom / Wireless / Security Technolgies (Subrahmanyam Arya) LEC in SLICs? (Nearly Blind) Re: Ravings (Nick Landsberg) Re: It May be Time to Answer the Call of Voice Over Internet (Jack Decker) Office Tour Photos (Steve Stone) Can I Buy an External NIC With Wi-Fi (Lani) PFIR Statement on Access to WHOIS Data (Monty Solomon) Share Day Message for June, 2004 (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: Karen Kosoy Subject: Re: Your Problems With Norvergence Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 20:26:45 -0400 Steve, Funny you should write today. I was hoping against hope that Norvergence would solve the problems, but as of today things have gone from bad to worse. Today, at noon, our long distance went out. I called a couple other Norvergence customers and they, too, reported the outage. Qwest, the carrier, advised that we go to our local carrier to get long distance and said that Norvergence is no longer providing long distance with them. Some folks are reporting their T-1 lies are out. I'm expecting the cell phones to go down, as well, so in preparation, we're thinking of setting up service elsewhere and leaving a message on our Norvergence cells so our customers can reach us. The dedicated phone number to Norvergence customer service gets a fast busy as if the service is down there too. If you dial the general number, you can get through, but the customer service people are no help. They say it is an outage and that service would be back by 7 PM. Well, it's 8:20 and still no service. There is no way Norvergence can arrange for another long distance carrier to take over, as I had to provide the pic code myself to my local phone company. Norvergence gives nothing but lip service and lies. Most of all, I'm upset at all the time I waste trying to get the Norvergence issues resolved. I would like to see them sued for fraud, but I want out of the contract, as I can't do business like this anymore. I would also like to see the principals criminally prosecuted. Karen Kosoy ------------------------------ From: galip@hotmail.com (pricepc.com) Subject: Norvergence Problems Date: 16 Jun 2004 13:01:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We have been a customer of Norvergence for a year now and had many problems. Now the worst problem ever, it looks like the company is going out of business. Today Qwest dropped all of their customers from the network. No Internet access no phone calls. Also last week accidentally I hit the button on my cell phone and get the billing information and Norvergence has $1.7 M past due balance to Sprint PCS. Any similar experiences or any ideas? Please let us know. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Jun 2004 17:14:45 EDT From: Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) Subject: Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages --- Robert Bonomi wrote: > Governmental 'public service' and law-enforcement frequencies are > specifically exempted from the privacy rules in _federal_ > statutes.Listening to, and repeating what you heard on those > channels is not a problem -- at the FEDERAL level, at least. --- PAT wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was rather certain Charlie was in > error on those laws **where police and fire radios were concerned**, > simply because there are at least two or three web sites where you can > listen to police calls from other cities, and no one gets after them > for doing that. PAT] Not exactly. From the U.S.C.: "Section 705 (47 USCA 605) states that it is unlawful to disclose the content of radio transmissions overheard unless they are amateur radio traffic, broadcasts to the public or distress calls. It is unlawful under this section to use traffic monitored for personal gain. This might include a tow truck operator going to accident calls heard over a scanner if a response has not been requested, or a taxicab driver jumping calls dispatched to other companies." However, an email reply from the FCC to a request for clarification of the statute from a private citizen gave a much more liberal interpretaion of the so-called "Right to Privacy" statute: From: "FCC FCCTSR17" To: Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 8:13 AM Subject: Re: FCC Consumer Center Response - Ref# 02777194 Mr. Nolen: Section 705 of the Communications Act generally does not prohibit the publication on the Internet of fire department and police department radio broadcasts. The interception of these radio communications is legal under the criminal wiretap statute, 18 U.S.C. 2510 et seq., to the extent the communications are readily accessible to the general public, which police and fire department radio communications generally are. Therefore, the rebroadcast of police and fire department radio communications that are obtained legally does not constitute a violation of section 705 of the Communications Act." Actually, 18 U.S.C. 2510 states the following: "It shall not be unlawful under this chapter or chapter 121 of this title for any person - (i) to intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured so that such electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public;" It does not, however, specifically mention disclosing or "publishing" that intercepted communication. Furthermore, the phrase "readily accessible to the general public" is open to interpretation. Police communications that are easily monitored by anyone with a simple scanner will become much less "readily accessible to the general public" if the police department switches to a trunked radio system. The nature of the communications remain identical but the interception of them becomes much more complicated, requiring more sophisticated equipment and additional expertise. Does this make interception of those communications an offense where it was not formerly an offense? In summary, while disclosing to another party any communications overheard on the radio that are not "amateur radio traffic, broadcasts to the public or distress calls" is specifically forbidden by federal statute, one FCC representative chose to interpret that statute very liberally. I suppose a different FCC representative could interpret it in a completely different manner. As always, the final interpretation of any statute in dispute rests with the courts. While that final interpretation "becomes" the statute for all practical purposes, as written the statute clearly forbids the *disclosure* of overheard radio transmissions that do not fall into the three clearly-defined categories previously mentioned. State statutes only serve to make the matter even more cloudy. Charlie Wilber Dartmouth College ------------------------------ From: avsrk@mailcity.com (Subrahmanyam Arya) Subject: Emerging Telecom / Wireless / Security Technolgies Date: 16 Jun 2004 14:20:56 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello Folks, Can anybody give a brief introduction to what are the current state of the art in telecom / networking / wireless / security . That is where is this industry heading towards / what is theh work still left to be done in terms of R & D . I like to here more specificall how mature is VOIP (voice over ip ) . How secure are our current wired / wireless networks , is there still scope for R & D in these areas . Are there any other emerging technlogies in these areas, something other than giga / terabit routing and optical networking . These are the beaten out buzz words . I want to know if there any other technolgies on the horizon towards which this industry is heading towards . Sorry if am my questions looks like newbie kind. Appreciate any response / links to info. Thanks in advance, subra ------------------------------ From: nearly_blind@yahoo.com (nearly blind) Subject: LEC in SLICs? Date: 16 Jun 2004 14:29:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Are there digital line echo cancellers in the slics for a typical local loop? If not, for the PSTN (not VoIP or cellular), where are the digitial LEC's located in the network? Are they switched in just for long distance calls? ------------------------------ From: Nick Landsberg Reply-To: hukolau@NOSPAM.att.net Subject: Re: Ravings Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 22:28:07 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet David Esan wrote: Just a comment on the date(s) for Easter, below: > 1. Canada and the US observe Thanksgiving on two different days > because the holidays have different origins. The US Thanksgiving > traces itself back to the Pilgrims choosing to give thanks for their > harvest, imitating the Jewish holiday of Succoth. The Canadian > Thanksgiving had its origins in the recovery of the Prince of Wales > (later Edward VII) from a serious illness. See > www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/jfa-ha/index_e.cfm for details on all > Canadian holidays. I was surprised to see that Victoria Day is > actually the celebration of the Queen's birthday. > 2. PAT - You stated that "Pope Gregory declared that henceforth the > more modern Anglicized Easter holiday would be celebrated by the > church." Gregory XII was born in Italy. The schism between the > Catholic and Anglican Churches occured during his lifetime -- Henry > VIII was died in 1547. I doubt you could call his reform of the > calendar Anglican. Especially since the Anglicans ignored it for > nearly 200 years. > 3. One of the other sources for the date of Easter was the Jewish > holiday of Passover. Originally, Easter was on the first Sunday of > that holiday, and, in fact, you will often find that the two holidays > still coincide. IIRC, there is still some connection between > Passover's date and the date of the Orthodox church's Easter > celebration. However, in order to distance itself from Judaism, the > early church chose to have its own calculations on when to have > Easter, and so sometimes the two holidays don't coincide. My understanding (which may be incomplete) is that the Catholic church (and Protestant denominations) compute Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (beginning of Spring, usually falls on March 21-23). The Orthodox Church has a different computation based on the date of Passover. Passover always falls on a full moon using the Hebrew lunar calendar. The Last Supper (by tradition a Thursday), was supposed to have been a passover "seder" (I hope I spelled that correctly). Thus, if the full moon happens on a Friday or Saturday, Orthodox Easter is delayed until the following week. In this case you get a 1 week difference in the celebration of the holiday. In the case where the date would be *prior* to March 23rd by the Julian Calendar, the holiday is deferred until the next full moon when you get either a 4 week or 5 week difference. This year, they happened to coincide. (At least this is my understanding of it. I may have missed a few of the details above.) > 4. US Memorial Day never really had a fixed reason associated with > that date, unlike Independance Day or Armistice Day. Moving the date > around to create a 3 day weekend really isn't tampering with history. > According to one web site I visited, Memorial Day wasn't even > celebrated in the South until after WWI, since they had their own days > to honor the Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. > 5. Those who continued to celebrate New Year's at the end of March, > when the rest of the country had moved to January, were called April > Fools! "It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious" - A. Bloch ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 18:43:10 -0400 From: Jack Decker VOIP News wrote: >> http://www.suntimes.com/output/worktech/cst-fin-andy15.html >> But now I may have to change my attitude, or at least come up with a >> new line. There's a new alternative to wireless and traditional >> landline technologies: the Voice over Internet Protocol. > I read the full article and there remain very serious drawbacks: >> First among them is cost. Vonage (www.vonage.com), the current VoIP >> leader, will sell you a startup kit for $79, and after paying a modest >> setup fee, you get unlimited local and national long-distance for a >> flat rate of $29 a month with no contracts or commitments. That's even >> cheaper than it sounds because there are no added costs. Digital voice >> mail, CallerID, Call Forwarding and all those other features you'd >> normally pay extra for are included (that's typical for VoIP >> providers), and because the FCC is eager to push this technology >> forward, VoIP is exempt from added federal taxes and tariffs. > If I open a fruit stand in the parking lot of my local supermarket, > I'll be able to undercut their prices. I won't be paying any of their > overhead charges (like maintaining the parking lot itself), collecting > govt sales taxes, govt licensing and inspection, not taking food > stamps, etc. Eventually I'll have to pay my true costs, charge > appropriate taxes, etc. And what, exactly, does this have to do with VoIP? Were you reading an article about UNE-P written by one of the pointy-heads at the Cato Institute (I'll get back to them in a moment) and decided that the same logic applies to VoIP? This comparison is so invalid that I can't even think of enough of a similarity to make the point that it's invalid. VoIP isn't camped in anyone's parking lot -- certainly not the ILEC's, and to the extent they use CLEC facilities, THEY PAY THE SAME AS ANY OTHER CUSTOMER. In other words, if the CLEC has to pay taxes, fees, etc, and passes that on to their customers, the VoIP company has to pay, and that gets passed along to their customers (though sometimes not as a separate item on the bill). > The traditional phone companies carry many regulatory burdens, such as > maintaining service to deadbeats, serving unprofitable areas, meeting > service standards, etc. Should they fail, the newspapers and govt hit > them hard. In contrast, the VOIP providers have no such obligations > at all. Neither do cell phone companies, for the most part. Should we abolish wireless phone service? Look, Lisa, no ILEC has to stay in business. Anytime they feel the regulatory burdens are too great, their stockholders are free to have the company go into the cookie-making business, or perhaps more relevant, the broadband business or even the VoIP business (and you just watch, they will do exactly that the minute they figure out that it gets them out from under some of the regulations you mentioned -- of course it will take them twenty years to do it and they will fight tooth and nail to keep everyone else out of the business in the meantime). By the way, what phone company do you think is required to provide service to deadbeats? As far as I know, all the ILEC's charge a hefty security deposit to anyone they think is a questionable credit risk, and they do shut off service for non-payment. > Eventually this will catch up to them and their prices will go up or > they'll go broke just like MCI did. Dream on. Even if that were to happen, and I doubt it will (although I'm sure a few companies that don't understand the competitive nature of the business won't last long -- every now and then you see an incredibly stupid offering from some new wannabe VoIP provider), that doesn't mean all those VoIP customers will ever go crawling back to the wireline phone companies. But honestly, VoIP just makes so much sense (for a number of reasons) that if you really think it is going away, you are living in a fantasy land. They said the same thing about MCI when it first stated out, and even with all of its troubles it's still around (whether it SHOULD be or not is another matter, but I won't touch that right now). >> If your call has to be routed through a heavily trafficked part of >> the Internet, you'll experience some small but annoying lags. A power >> outage at your house knocks out your phone service as well (though >> Vonage automatically re-routes your calls to a designated number >> whenever it can't locate your phone adapter on the Internet). > I don't know about you folks, but I'm always experiencing momentary > lags in Internet response time, regardless of what terminal I'm using > (home, work, library, etc.) When using the computer, often I have two > screens up at the same time while so I pass the time waiting for an > Internet screen to come through. That won't be practical in voice > conversation. I take it you've not spent too much time actually using VoIP on a good broadband connection. It works well enough. Is it perfect? No, but it's one heck of a lot better than listening to someone talk on a cell phone. I have a friend that talks to me from a VoIP line frequently; he's also called me from cell phone lines. I can tell you that even though every now and then there might be a few short (usually just a few milliseconds) dropouts in audio, it's FAR more "listenable" than the "flanging" and static I used to get from his cell phone. VoIP already IS practical, Lisa - both residential and business customers are using it every day. But admittedly, if you insist on having as close to absolute perfection as possible, you may want to stick with your ILEC for a while yet. Many of us aren't that picky. >> 911 service is pretty scary, too. None of the Advanced 911 System's >> features work with VoIP, so while your provider might be able to route >> your call to a local response center, you'd still better hope that you >> never experience an emergency in which you can't clearly state your >> address. > In our suburban area, 911 was handled by the county seat. Before the > address database, we had to give the operator detailed information > about our location; some people don't even know the suburban > municipality they live in, esp if they're new since the postal name is > more often used. We have adjacent boroughs and townships with the > same name that add to confusion. Anyway, with advanced 911, those > problems went away. I question whether the VOIP would even know where > to route a 911 call. All I will say at this point is that this issue IS being addressed, and what comes out of this could potentially be a BETTER grade of 911 service than we have now. You (and other interested readers) may wish to peruse the "IP PSAP 9-1-1 System Features and Capabilities - Operational Information Document (OID)" at http://www.nena.org/9-1-1OperPractices/OpsInfoDocs/NENAopsOIDipPSAP060404final.pdf (this is a .PDF file; you'll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader or equivalent to view it). Lisa, your whole problem is that you want to hold a technology that's less that two years old (in terms of any degree of actual use by residential consumers) to the same standards as a technology that's been around for over 100 years and that is getting rather long in the tooth. When the first telephones were installed, most people still rode via horsepower or steam engines, the airplane and communications through the airwaves were considered the stuff of science fiction, and nobody had a clue what the back side of the moon looked like. I'll bet it will take less than ten years for VoIP to work every bit as well as traditional telephony, and better in many ways, providing it isn't regulated to death (as you seem to be advocating). Anyway, I mentioned the Cato Institute above. There is a very good article that just came out on Tech Central Station that among other things, takes on one of the prognosticators at the Cato Institute (and in my opinion, it's high time someone did). It's entitled, "Not So Fast, Grave Diggers!" by James K. Glassman and it's an excellent read: http://www.techcentralstation.com/061604J.html ------------------------------ From: Steve Stone Subject: Office Tour Photos Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 00:32:50 GMT Here is a link to photos from a recent tour of a non Verizon suburban NYC telco office. I did not take these pictures. Another gentleman on the tour provided me with the photos. Steve http://www.citlink.net/~spfleck/sub2.htm ------------------------------ From: Lani_lani2000@hotmail.com (Lani) Subject: Can I Buy an External NIC With Wi-Fi Date: 16 Jun 2004 17:37:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have a D-Link Airplus G cardbus adapter for my notebook. 802.11g 2.4GHz ... Am I limiting my access with this card? also 802.11b compatible model # DWL-G630 It works fine at my job but will I be abe to use it anywhere else, like the places with Wi-Fi? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 18:11:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: PFIR Statement on Access to WHOIS Data http://www.pfir.org/statements/whois-access PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility PFIR Statement on Access to WHOIS Data June 16, 2004 We are extremely concerned that restricting non-bulk access to detailed WHOIS contact data could potentially have dramatic negative impacts on the security, stability, and reliability of the Internet. These concerns extend to "ad hoc" proxy registration and other obscuring techniques now being deployed by individual registrars, and to any changes proposed by ICANN or other authorities that would impact non-bulk access to WHOIS data. We are not addressing issues of WHOIS data accuracy in these comments, except to note that we believe that reasonable accuracy in this data is also crucial to Internet stability, security, and reliability. While it is true that privacy-related problems can and do occur in relation to WHOIS -- and we have a long history working to promote privacy issues -- it is also true that the domain name system was not designed as a means of obscuring responsible parties participating in the cooperative that is the Internet. The lack of formal centralized control over Internet operations (a situation that many would be loath to change even if it were technically possible to do so) means that in most cases of problems relating to Internet operations, site administrators are frequently on their own to track down often serious problems. Access to WHOIS data -- especially including contact telephone numbers but often physical addresses as well -- can be critical in such situations. http://www.pfir.org/statements/whois-access ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For June Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 22:00:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #294 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jun 17 15:23:52 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5HJNqP10554; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 15:23:52 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 15:23:52 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406171923.i5HJNqP10554@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 #295 TELECOM Digest Thu, 17 Jun 2004 15:22:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 295 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Senate Tangles Over VOIP Rules (VOIP News) Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages (Robert Bonomi) Re: Another "We're the First" Press Release (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged (Henry E Schaffer) Re: Can I Buy an External NIC With Wi-Fi (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Can I Buy an External NIC With Wi-Fi (Clarence Dold) Re: Ravings (Robert Bonomi) Disclaimer of Norvergence Message (Steve Lopes) 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: VOIP News Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 12:51:42 -0400 Subject: Senate Tangles Over VOIP Rules Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,63884,00.html?tw=wn_2polihead By Ryan Singel Senators grappled Wednesday over how to free Internet-based telephone calls from regulations while simultaneously protecting rural phone service, 911 funding and antiterrorist wiretaps. Internet telephony, known as voice over Internet protocol, which is rapidly growing in popularity, allows people to make calls using a computer and broadband connection by breaking the conversation into digital packets, just as an e-mail is sent. However, "connected VOIP applications" such as Vonage allow Internet-to-traditional-phone calls and can be substantially cheaper than regular phone service. Full story at: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,63884,00.html?tw=wn_2polihead How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Be Careful About Quoting Scanner Messages From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 16:55:43 +0000 In article , Charles B. Wilber wrote: >--- Robert Bonomi wrote: >> Governmental 'public service' and law-enforcement frequencies are >> specifically exempted from the privacy rules in _federal_ >> statutes. Listening to, and repeating what you heard on those >> channels is not a problem -- at the FEDERAL level, at least. > --- PAT wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was rather certain Charlie was in >> error on those laws **where police and fire radios were concerned**, >> simply because there are at least two or three web sites where you can >> listen to police calls from other cities, and no one gets after them >> for doing that. PAT] > Not exactly. Yes, *exactly*. 47 USC 605 says it is unlawful to disclose content *UNLESS* permitted by chapter 119 of title 18 USC. 18 USC 2511, which is part of chapter 119 says: "Sec. 2511. - Interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications prohibited . . . (2) . . . (g) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter or chapter 121 of this title for any person - (i) to intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured so that such electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public; (ii) to intercept any radio communication which is transmitted - (I) by any station for the use of the general public, or that relates to ships, aircraft, vehicles, or persons in distress; (II) by any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense, private land mobile, or public safety communications system, including police and fire, readily accessible to the general public; (III) by a station operating on an authorized frequency within the bands allocated to the amateur, citizens band, or general mobile radio services; or (IV) by any marine or aeronautical communications system; From the U.S.C.: > "Section 705 (47 USCA 605) states that it is unlawful to disclose the > content of radio transmissions overheard unless they are amateur radio > traffic, broadcasts to the public or distress calls. It is unlawful > under this section to use traffic monitored for personal gain. This > might include a tow truck operator going to accident calls heard over > a scanner if a response has not been requested, or a taxicab driver > jumping calls dispatched to other companies." Incomplete, *INACCURATE* statement. Verbatim quote of 47 USC 605 (taken from ): "Sec. 605. - Unauthorized publication or use of communications (a) Practices prohibited Except as authorized by chapter 119, title 18, no person receiving, assisting in receiving, transmitting, or assisting in transmitting, any interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio shall divulge or publish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning thereof, ....." NOTE WELL the 'exception' mentioned at the very start of the section. If the action _is_ authorized by 'chapter 119, title 18', then _none_ of 47 USC 605 applies. [[.. munch ..]] > In summary, while disclosing to another party any communications > overheard on the radio that are not "amateur radio traffic, broadcasts > to the public or distress calls" is specifically forbidden by federal > statute, one FCC representative chose to interpret that statute very > liberally. I suppose a different FCC representative could interpret it > in a completely different manner. The actual statute *IS* quite explicit. Intercepts _allowed_ by 18 USC 2510, etc. (chapter 119), are *not* a violation of 47 USC 605. 18 USC 2511 provides a significantly _larger_ list of 'not forbidden' categories, than what you claim. > As always, the final interpretation > of any statute in dispute rests with the courts. While that final > interpretation "becomes" the statute for all practical purposes, as > written the statute clearly forbids the *disclosure* of overheard > radio transmissions that do not fall into the three clearly-defined > categories previously mentioned. "Not exactly." The language of 18 USC 2511 has changed. The list of categories of 'not forbidden' is now larger. FWIW, it took me by surprise, when I came across the current language, several years ago. That said, 18 USC 2511 (2) (g) (ii) (II) _expressly_and_specifically_ authorizes interception of public-service and law-enforcement transmissions, as I previously stated. My _original_ understanding of the law, from amateur radio, and holding a commercial radiotelephone operators license in the early 1970s, was that the rules were even -more- restrictive than you indicate -- that *anything* other than 'broadcast' or 'ship/aircraft/etc in distress' communications were protected. A ham friend even had a tangle with the FBI over the issue -- they came calling one day, to inquire about some radio exchanges purportedly involving his call-sign at a particular date/time -- and he _was_ 'on the air' at that approximate time. First question was: 'was he on the air at that time?", to which he answered in the affirmative. Then they wanted to know "who he'd been talking to, and 'about what'". He respectfully pointed out that the 'Secrecy of Communications portion of the Communications Act of 1934' prevented him from answering in any detail. That he'd like to co-operate, but that his hands were tied. They *agreed* that he had a point. He went on to say that if they could be a little more specific, he'd answer as much as he could. They clarified that conversation had been heard between {his call-sign} and {other call-sign}, on such-and-such frequency, at roughly the time in question. With -that- information, my friend was able to say 'not me', and produced his log-book to show that he was operating on a completely different band at the time in question. End of story. > State statutes only serve to make the matter even more cloudy. _This_ I agree with, 100%. *Unless* you have a ham license. In which case you just claim that the equipment is part of your amateur station, and state laws are pre-empted. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 23:22:43 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Another "We're the First" Press Release voip news wrote: > http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=68224 > The World's First Free Telephone Service Launches: StanaPhone > Communications Unveils Easy-to-Use StanaPhone Using Voice Over IP > Technology, StanaPhone Turns Any PC Into a Telephone > http://www.stanaphone.com According to their homepage, "Stanaphone was downloaded 12746 times!" which is not that many downloads IMO. Anyway, I downloaded it and tried a couple of calls. Their website set one cookie, containing a nine-digit number. AdAware detects no spyware after installing the Stanaphone app. You can have your choice of any area code you want for your Stanaphone number, as long as it's 914 or 631 :-) Incoming and outgoing calls completed in about the same amount of time as PSTN calls. The audio quality was pretty awful, though. RX audio on the landline side was very low (with the PC mixer cranked all the way up) while on the PC side RX audio was low volume and cut out so much that it was generally impossible to tell what the other person was saying. I tried 4 calls, 3 dialed from the PC and one dialed from the PSTN. One of the PC-dialed calls was noticeably better, but still cut out very badly. So there's a quickie review of Stanaphone. Overall rather disappointing; Dialpad was better when it was new, and one would expect technology to have improved in the past couple of years. They are still in beta so we can hope for improvement. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E Schaffer) Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 14:42:48 UTC Organization: North Carolina State University In article , wrote: > William Robison wrote: > ... In other words, the cost > of the toner and equipment maintenance, etc. simply overwhelmed the > cost of paper. Places like Kinkos or our print shop who buy paper in > large quantities get it pretty cheap. > If I remember correctly the cost of paper was 2 tenths of a cent or so > per sheet, while the other costs brought printing up to 3 or 4 cents > per page image. So the paper was essentially not a factor at per-page > prices. Toner and maintenance costs were the big factors. Office Depot (for example) has their standard 20 lb copy paper at $3.35 per ream -> .67 cents/page. They don't show a quantity discount, but it would surely get down to the area of what Bill mentions. --henry schaffer hes _AT_ ncsu _DOT_ edu ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Can I Buy an External NIC With Wi-Fi Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 16:26:47 GMT Lani_lani2000@hotmail.com (Lani) posted on that vast internet thingie: > I have a D-Link Airplus G cardbus adapter for my notebook. 802.11g > 2.4GHz ... Am I limiting my access with this card? also 802.11b > compatible model # DWL-G630 > It works fine at my job but will I be abe to use it anywhere else, > like the places with Wi-Fi? It should work fine, but you will need to play with your software and have different configs for different environments. You also need some firewall like Zone Alarm or something like that if you are going to use public networks. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: dold@CanXIXBuyX.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Can I Buy an External NIC With Wi-Fi Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 16:47:51 UTC Organization: a2i network Lani wrote: > I have a D-Link Airplus G cardbus adapter for my notebook. 802.11g > 2.4GHz ... Am I limiting my access with this card? also 802.11b > compatible model # DWL-G630 > It works fine at my job but will I be abe to use it anywhere else, > like the places with Wi-Fi? alt.internet.wireless would be a good source for all comments about wireless. http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z1E552798 Generally, any major manufacturers WiFi cards will connect just fine at any of the public hotspots. They will almost certainly be 802.11b, and the interplay between vendors is good. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Ravings From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 17:15:15 +0000 In article , Nick Landsberg wrote: > David Esan wrote: > Just a comment on the date(s) for Easter, below: >> 1. Canada and the US observe Thanksgiving on two different days >> because the holidays have different origins. The US Thanksgiving >> traces itself back to the Pilgrims choosing to give thanks for their >> harvest, imitating the Jewish holiday of Succoth. The Canadian >> Thanksgiving had its origins in the recovery of the Prince of Wales >> (later Edward VII) from a serious illness. See >> www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/jfa-ha/index_e.cfm for details on all >> Canadian holidays. I was surprised to see that Victoria Day is >> actually the celebration of the Queen's birthday. >> 2. PAT - You stated that "Pope Gregory declared that henceforth the >> more modern Anglicized Easter holiday would be celebrated by the >> church." Gregory XII was born in Italy. The schism between the >> Catholic and Anglican Churches occured during his lifetime -- Henry >> VIII was died in 1547. I doubt you could call his reform of the >> calendar Anglican. Especially since the Anglicans ignored it for >> nearly 200 years. >> 3. One of the other sources for the date of Easter was the Jewish >> holiday of Passover. Originally, Easter was on the first Sunday of >> that holiday, and, in fact, you will often find that the two holidays >> still coincide. IIRC, there is still some connection between >> Passover's date and the date of the Orthodox church's Easter >> celebration. However, in order to distance itself from Judaism, the >> early church chose to have its own calculations on when to have >> Easter, and so sometimes the two holidays don't coincide. > My understanding (which may be incomplete) is that the Catholic > church (and Protestant denominations) compute Easter as the first > Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (beginning > of Spring, usually falls on March 21-23). Nope. it's -not- that simple. It started out 'defined' that way, but folks needed a way to _predict_ when Easter would be, in years 'forward from today'. The result: the Church does -not- use the 'astronomical' equinox/full-moon, but a 'calculated one', based on some stuff that goes _way_ back in history; All the way back to the 'Council of Nicaea', in 325 A.D. Thus, you have a 'liturgical' (for lack of a better word) new-moon, and the 'astronomical' one. And they do _not_ necessarily coincide. There are actually a whole series of religious holidays that date in that fashion -- they are called the "movable feasts". 'Movable', for the obvious reason. I know 'more about this than I really care to', because I once had to write some computer software that took Easter-related events into consideration. Calculating '*business* days between two (calendar) dates' can get *messy*. [[.. munch ..]] >> 5. Those who continued to celebrate New Year's at the end of March, >> when the rest of the country had moved to January, were called April >> Fools! > "It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so > ingenious" > - A. Bloch I prefer the formulation: "For every 'fool-proof' system, there exists a _sufficiently_determined_ _fool_ capable of breaking it." ------------------------------ From: Steve Lopes Subject: Disclaimer of Norvergence Message Recently Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 12:03:36 -0400 Apparently something happened to Norvergence yesterday. People are contacting me again. I do not know why, but I believe some is forwarding emails to you under my e-mail address. My problems with Norvergence are settled and I no longer want to be involved. If there was a post, can you please remove it. I no longer want current, past, or future postings posted. And I will clean out my e-mail as well. Steve Lopes [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Okay Steve, how about I just completely blacklist your name from any further postings **under that name** from TELECOM Digest? Some people are claiming Norvergence is completely shut down; that at least certain of their contractors/vendors have cut them off entirely, etc. Did you not get an auto-ack from me yesterday saying that 'your message has been recieved and is being edited for publication'? Why didn't you at that very time, at the speed of email send me a disclaimer on the spot saying 'NOT MINE, DO NOT PUBLISH' so I could have caught it before it was printed? PAT] ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #295 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jun 18 16:25:13 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5IKPDM26004; Fri, 18 Jun 2004 16:25:13 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 16:25:13 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406182025.i5IKPDM26004@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 #296 TELECOM Digest Fri, 18 Jun 2004 16:25:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 296 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NorVergence (Paul Dowdy) Norvergence Outage - Technical or Financial? (peter) Norvergence Working Here (Dan Pearlman) Re: Norvergence, etc ... (BarryB) Re: Disclaimer of Norvergence Message Recently (Alessandra Di Maggio) Re: Your Problems With Norvergence (Ken Lyle) EFFector 17.22: DirecTV to Narrow Anti-Piracy Campaign (Monty Solomon) U.S. Senate Panel Passes Satellite TV Measure (Monty Solomon) Wal-Mart Looks to Expand Radio Tagging (Monty Solomon) Wireless Networking (Josh Walrath) Re: Be Careful Quoting Scanner Messages (Charles B. Wilber) Dictaphone (Dan Lanciani) Re: Office Telephone System Recommendations (Jack Murphy) Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit (T. Sean Weintz) Re: VoIP Over Power Line Set for Testing (Mike Donnelly) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: NorVergence Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 07:38:54 -0500 From: Paul Dowdy I am considering the NorVergence solution and would like to see if there has been any discussion in your site about the company. Sounds very good, but I am a bit worried about the company's stability. Regards, Paul Dowdy Director of IT TPSC Inc. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Welcome to our little digest, Paul. Yes, We do have some Norvergence discussion here from time to time such as today. I'm sorry to say the news today is not very favorable but you will have to decide what you think is best after reviewing all these messages and the others in our archives. PAT] ------------------------------ From: pccm2468@yahoo.com (peter) Subject: Norvergence Outage - Technical or Financial? Date: 18 Jun 2004 03:56:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, Our T1 line went out on Tuesday night (June 15), so our phones and all internet services have been down since then. Today (June 18), all service is still down. We called Norvergence on Wednesday on their (973) number - their T1 lines were obviously out too. They told us that there was a technical problem, and every customer coast to coast was down, due to an "OC3 link going down". Stated that it should be back up by 7pm (June 16). It's now June 18, and our T1 lines are still down. So much for 99% uptime and redundant systems -- try 0% uptime (for the last 2.5 days) and no redundancy! Being a fairly small company, we can work around the phone problem with our redundant lines (at our cost). But having our T1 line down means services we provide that our customers rely on are down, and services that we use day to day are inaccessible. What I need to know is whether this problem is really a technical problem with Qwest as Norvergence are saying, or a financial problem where (for example) they can't pay their bill to Qwest. If it is purely technical, and they resolve it today, and prepare for similar problems in the future, then maybe we can continue to use their service. But it seems likely that there is more to this. Regards, Peter [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's what we are hearing, Peter, that there is a bit more to this than Norvergence is saying. Read on for more details from readers. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dan Pearlman Reply-To: DanielPearlman@Earthlink.net Subject: Norvergence Working Here Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 09:19:53 -0400 We have a Norvergence T1, LD and cell phones here in Miami. Our cell phones never went down but our LD and T1 did. They got it back up later that night. Qwest told me directly that they have recinded any remarks regarding NorV and that they are still partners with NorV and that it should not be a problem going forward. Let's hope, because outage = lost revenue. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Hmmm, now where I have I heard before about people making statements about Norvergence then wind up later making disclaimers, etc? At least I have no 'official statements' here in our archives from Qwest or I suppose they would be demanding I remove them also. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 10:48:52 -0400 From: BarryB Subject: Re: Norvergence, etc. This Tuesday June 15th Qwest disconnected all the Norvergence accounts: voice data toll free and internet for non payment: Norvergence owes Qwest $13,000,000 past due. All calls to customer service were told its a Qwest problem -- I have over 130 customers on Qwest and there hasn't been a glitch or hiccup in 2.5 years. -- I have heard there was a settlement and service was restored for another ten days ... This is an email I received from someone at QWEST regarding Norvergence: 1. Qwest turned them back on. They had to because, legally, they can't leave the customers with no carrier. I believe they have 2 weeks to pay or find a new backbone. 2. Rumor is they (Norvergence) may file bankruptcy today. ---- speak less - listen more | say less - do more ---- start less - finish more | correct less - prevent more ---- have less - be more | blame less - forgive more ---- The world's greatest opportunities always come disguised as a problem with no solution. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If Norvergence is into Qwest for thirteen million dollars I don't suppose a few more days will make any real difference. But regards your point number 1 above, Qwest was not leaving *its* customers with no carrier; *its* sole customer is Norvergence. It is Norvergence who left its customers hanging out to dry, wasn't it? And regards point 2 above, I am not going to say if/when that fine outstanding company may file for protection under bankruptcy. PAT] ------------------------------ From: shinecorp1@aol.com (Alessandra Di Maggio) Subject: Re: Disclaimer of Norvergence Message Recently Date: 18 Jun 2004 09:46:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am a former employee of Norvergence. I was hired in late 2003 as an "Insider Sales Rep" and fired in early March of 2004 along with a few hundred other employess (all on the same day!). People, PLEASE LISTEN UP: THE COMPANY IS A FRAUD !! In the six months I worked there, I became very close friends with all the top head honchos -- Including Scott Bufton. Top management views Norvergence clients as "suckers"- These words were pronounced to me by Mr. Scott Bufton. Don't get me wrong ... I earned alot of money at Norvergence ... I was making $6,000- $7,000 a month and I have no anger towards them ... I am not angry that I was fired ... I am now working for a very reputable telecom company with an equal salary. I just want to warn clients about signing up with Norvergence. Customer service reps are comprised of ex-convicts. Norvergence has a relationship with the city of Newark to put these ex cons to work (in exchange for alot of fringe benefits). I will continue to post more "insider secrets" on Norvergence. Let's see if this one is allowed to get posted first. Best, M. New York City Blacklisted name never again mentioned here in Digest wrote in message news:: > Apparently something happened to Norvergence yesterday. People are > contacting me again. I do not know why, but I believe some is forwarding > emails to you under my e-mail address. > My problems with Norvergence are settled and I no longer want to be > involved. If there was a post, can you please remove it. I no longer > want current, past, or future postings posted. And I will clean out my > e-mail as well. > (Blacklisted Name) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Okay Steve, how about I just completely > blacklist your name from any further postings **under that name** from > TELECOM Digest? Some people are claiming Norvergence is completely shut > down; that at least certain of their contractors/vendors have cut them > off entirely, etc. Did you not get an auto-ack from me yesterday > saying that 'your message has been recieved and is being edited for > publication'? Why didn't you at that very time, at the speed of email > send me a disclaimer on the spot saying 'NOT MINE, DO NOT PUBLISH' so > I could have caught it before it was printed? PAT] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, Alessandra DiMaggio, here is an important way you, or others at Norvergence can help me. You can say whatever you want here, that's fine. **But** -- I do not EVER go back and remove things from the archives, so if you wind up getting sued by Norvergence or someone else and then later they buy you off if you promise to clean up your act (like they did poor Steve; they sued his pants off then after he got them over a barrel they agreed to drop the suit and pay him money as long as he got rid of all his published commentary.) He could not comply (obviously) with that demand; I do not know if he ever did get the largesse they promised him for keeping his mouth shut in the future or not. Norvergence even said they were going to sue me, but did not do so, and Steve's lawyer also made demand on me. So **think** before you send something for publication here, as faxing these lawyers back and forth is a bore to me, and quite expensive as well. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ken Lyle Subject: Re: Your Problems With Norvergence Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 16:28:58 -0400 We got out of our contract. I can't go into specific details as to how over email. Our Lawyer is talking to other disgruntled customers, and said he can accept or decline anyone on a case by case basis. He's the person who got us out, thankfully. We couldn't have done it without him. 215-699-6000 Fred Horn I have a list of details that describe by date all of our experiences with Norvergence that I can supply to anyone who may need it. Ken 215-361-6999 X116 From: Blacklisted Name Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 8:07 PM To: TELECOM Digest Editor; Ken Lyle; keithmc27@netzero.com; Karen; Jeff Cohen; Dave Michaeli; Andy Grinstead; David O. Rodriguez Cc: Michael Bonnell Subject: Your Problems With Norvergence > I am forwarding this e-mail to a gentleman in Maryland who is working on > collecting everyone's experiences with Norvergence and presenting them to > the New Jersey State Attorney General and federal regulators for some > action. > Even if you have resolved your differences with Norvergence, I encourage > you to devote just a small portion of your time (less than 1 hour) to help > prevent what happened to you to happen to anyone else ever again. > I have devoted a lot of time to helping many of you with your Norvergence > issues. Let us help to prevent this from ever happening to some else ever > again. I am looking for nothing from Norvergence. I am just tired of seeing > them prey on small business owners like myself. > Help out a fellow business owner. > Blacklisted Name ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 18:25:40 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.22: DirecTV to Narrow Anti-Piracy Campaign EFFector Vol. 17, No. 22 June 16, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 294th Issue of EFFector: * DirecTV to Narrow Anti-Piracy Campaign * Court Rules DirecTV Must Prove More than Possession * MiniLinks (13): Roasting the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty * Staff Calendar: 06.24.04 - Wendy Seltzer speaks at Supernova 2004, Santa Clara, CA * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/22.php ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 02:20:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Senate Panel Passes Satellite TV Measure WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a measure that would likely lead to raising the royalty rates satellite television services like EchoStar Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) and DirecTV pay to carry some broadcast channels. In some markets where satellite providers do not offer a national television network affiliate or a local channel is not available, they import the signal from a big market like New York or Los Angeles, but have to pay a royalty. The measure calls for binding arbitration to adjust the fees the companies pay. The current rates have not changed in five years. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42031522 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 02:25:00 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wal-Mart Looks to Expand Radio Tagging BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. today said it hopes to expand use of its electronic product tracking system to its top 300 suppliers by January 2006. The company this week told suppliers its plans for increasing the number of distribution centers and Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores using radio frequency identification tags to facilitate better tracking of inventory. Wal-Mart initiated the electronic tracking program in June 2003, and said its pilot test with eight suppliers at its Sanger, Texas distribution center has been progressing as planned since starting up in April. The tags, bearing an EPC symbol, are being placed on outer packaging and pallets, but will soon expand to larger merchandise and electronics, such as bicycles and lawnmowers, Wal-Mart said. The company says with the system it can more easily judge when inventories need to be replenished. Currently about 140 suppliers are working to implement the tracking system by January 2005, with 6 distribution centers and 250 stores live by June 2005 and 13 distribution centers and up to 600 stores live by October 2005. Wal-Mart said it plans to have the remaining 160 suppliers using the technology beginning in January 2006. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42021735 ------------------------------ From: Josh Walrath Subject: Wireless Networking Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 23:52:28 -0500 Organization: Newsfeeds.com http://www.newsfeeds.com 100,000+ UNCENSORED Newsgroups. Does anyone know of any good sites to read articles/papers/journals about wireless networking? I'm looking for real world performance of wireless a vs. b vs. g or what the latest and greatest types of wifi security that is out there. Any sites or articles you can point me to would be a great help ... Josh ------------------------------ Date: 17 Jun 2004 17:25:58 EDT From: Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) Subject: Re: Quoting Scanner Messages I stand corrected. Excellent research by Mr. Bonomi. Just remember to check the statutes before you depend on them to protect you. They could change again and probably will. Charlie Wilber Dartmouth College > --- Robert Bonomi wrote: > Yes, *exactly*. > 47 USC 605 says it is unlawful to disclose content *UNLESS* permitted > by chapter 119 of title 18 USC. > --- end of quote --- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 04:56:39 EDT From: Dan Lanciani Subject: Dictaphone Anybody want a Dictaphone ("TIME-MASTER MODEL")? This was the old dictation machine that recorded on plastic belts. (I should be able to include some belts.) How about a Sears electro-mechanical adding machine? These are headed for the trash on Sunday... Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com ------------------------------ From: Jack Murphy Subject: Re: Office Telephone System Recommendations Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 02:35:44 GMT Mike McWhinney wrote: > Hello, > We are currently shopping around for a office telephone system. We do > not need anything fancy (we have 4 lines, 8-10 phones). We're looking > for something similar to the following: > Is there any phone system better than this for within the same budget > area (<$2000) We want a good phone system that is upgradeable/expand- > able while remaining cost effective. > Regards, > Mike McWhinney Hi Mike, We are in a similiar situation and have been looking hard at the BizFone System (http://www.bizfon.com/affordable.htm). It meets some of your mentioned requirements specifically upgradeable/expandable, and cost effective. We have not actually acquired this system yet, but due to the same reasons you mentioned we likely will go this route over the other choices available. Thanks, Jack Murphy Netsys-America, LLC http://www.netsys-direct.com ------------------------------ From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Need Expert Legal and Medical Testimony for Lawsuit Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 13:20:25 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Paul Vader wrote: > writes: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not a telecom thing, but an interesting >> problem facing a man who needs help obtaining a personal injury >> lawsuit. Included here FYI and thoughts. PAT] >> I'm a poor widows son rummaging around in a rubbish pile in Southeast > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Ooh fun! That's a Masonic password, or at least a paraphrase of one. >> So mote it be. > And this is a Mormon one, if I remember my Sherlock Holmes. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So Paul, can you tell me a little more > about these Masonic and Mormon passwords; why they exist and what is > the meaning (of the passwords)? PAT] Actually, both are used in freemasonry. T. Sean Weintz - T. Sean Weintz - T. Sean Weintz - T. Sean Weintz May be copied freely without the express permission of T. Sean Weintz. T. Sean Weintz could care less. T. Sean Weintz does reserve all rights. T. Sean Weintz - T. Sean Weintz - T. Sean Weintz - T. Sean Weintz [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well you may know that Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons back about 1827-30 was himself a rather highly placed Mason; I think maybe a 33rd degree Shriner-Mason. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 13:13:24 +0000 (GMT) From: Mike Donnelly Subject: Re: VoIP Over Power Line Set for Testing VOIP News wrote in news:telecom23.290.2@telecom-digest.org: > http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/105/8034 Horrible idea! What a monsterous source of pollution of the electromagnetic spectrum. Power lines are just not spectrum-friendly transmission lines for high speed data. Worst idea the White House and the FCC every pushed. Mike Donnelly ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #296 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jun 19 18:21:46 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5JMLjs06946; Sat, 19 Jun 2004 18:21:46 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 18:21:46 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406192221.i5JMLjs06946@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 #297 TELECOM Digest Sat, 19 Jun 2004 18:22:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 297 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Posting Norvergence to Your Threads (Franki Truth) NorVergence and How it Works (Franki Truth) Re: Norvergence Outage - Technical or Financial? (Peter) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Gary Breuckman) Re: Office Telephone System Recommendations (Carl Navarro) Re: VoIP Over Power Line Set for Testing (Kyler Laird) Strange 202 Number? (Ben) FCC in Action; A Movie For You to Watch on Computer (TELECOM Digest Editor) Last Laugh! How I Spent my Friday Night (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 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: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 20:25:48 EDT From: Franki Truth Subject: Posting Norvergence to Your Threads Dear Patrick Townson, I would like to know how I can post replies to your thread below. Being an ex employee of Norvergence in a high capacity I know a lot and am willing to share it all. [TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: You just send it in to the same address where you wrote just now. *Please make an effort to be in good taste.* Bear in mind this is a family-oriented Digest. And do not come back later like what's his name and demand retraction and editing of the archives. Your first submission is printed in the next message in this issue. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 21:46:57 EDT From: Franki Truth Subject: NorVergence and How it Works Some replies, consolidated, to earlier posters: 1. Paul Dowdy pdowdy@tpsc-arms.com Don't even think about signing. I worked as a SM for NY Market and I can not sleep at night knowing how many companies because of my "concept" training. This company is run by mobsters and they surely know how to scam. Just read the threads on this board or take a look at DSL reports http://www.dslreports.com/sitesearch?md5=468a1da2bfd1d2c7aee2ba54c597612d&s=fposts 2. pccm2468@yahoo.com (peter) Norvergence Outage - Technical or Financial It is 100% financial and here is how I know: In early 2004 Norvergence was suppose to receive 200 Million in venture capital money, from two investors. Well about five days before the papers were to be signed; they lost the 150 Million backer and went into a downward irrecoverable spin. First they lay off 500 ISR, and then they hired 100 or so back after they realized that they were in violation of WARN ACT (http://www.doleta.gov/programs/factsht/warn.htm). Then about a month or so later they had two quick layoffs and got rid off most of the Customer Service, Human Resources and some more ISRs. After another month or so, they invited a class full of SMs to training and fired all of them on the last day since they were going through corporate restructuring http://www.internalmemos.com/memos/memodetails.php?memo_id=2282 and another one by the company CEO/CMO http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,10462083~mode=flat 3. BarryB barryb@simlab.net Subject: Re: Norvergence, etc. I have sold for Qwest before and made a mistake of jumping for more money to Norvergence. Qwest can not turn off customers but apparently there is something in that contract that allows them. Now as far as 13 Mill I don't know (still have contacts in Qwest) but it's closer to a half of that, that is officially owed to Qwest. Now I also found out that one of Norvergence executives came up with a brilliant idea of telling customers that Qwest is having major outages all over US and its there fault. I also know that Qwest found that out and is planning a major lawsuit against Norvergence for slander. 4. TELECOM Digest Editor's Note, responding to Alessandra DiMaggio: Norvergence is currently suing at least one ex employee that I know of. Now not sure if this guy actually started a site or not www.norvergence-truth.com (currently is not working) but Jonathan Indyk told some of my friends who are still there that this person stole a credit card to register a site. Not sure how true this and that's why I will not post his name. I also found out that this person is currently selling his own car to pay for his legal bills. This came from straight up the management route since they saw him driving away with a for sale sign on his car from the court house. I hope to god that he has nothing to do with this site since Norvergence really has it out for him. 5. Ken Lyle : I have a list of many of NY/NJ customers if you contact me off the list I can provide it to you so your lawyer can contact them and possibly file a class action. 6. From: Blacklisted Name Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 8:07 PM To: TELECOM Digest Editor; Ken Lyle; keithmc27@netzero.com; Karen; Jeff Cohen; Dave Michaeli; Andy Grinstead; David O. Rodriguez Cc: Michael Bonnell Subject: Your Problems With Norvergence HOW DO WE CONTACT YOU? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To get in touch with Blacklisted Name, look about two or three issues back in our archives (around June 16-17 as I recall) for the message from slopes where he asks for yet another archives adjustment. Poor Steve Lopez, he insists his name was forged to the latest complaint about that fine, outstanding company, Norvergence. He would never say anything bad about Norvergence. He does not like getting sued by them and having to hire a mouthpiece. And not to worry about your credit card stealing buddy; he has nothing to do with *this* web site at least. Now what else do you have to tell us? PAT] ------------------------------ From: pccm2468@yahoo.com (peter) Subject: Re: Norvergence Outage - Technical or Financial? Date: 18 Jun 2004 19:13:22 -0700 A follow up -- our service is still out as at 10pm EST, June 18. It went out at 10pm EST, June 15. I have called NorVergence repeatedly over the last two days, and the service is always coming back "soon". For example, Thursday morning, they claimed "95% of the 100,000 customers were back up", and that everyone would be up some time between 3 and 7pm. Today, the message was similar "all customers except a handful" are back up. Finally, 4:30pm June 18, I was given a Qwest ticket number. I called Qwest, and they had been notified. The ticket number was valid. It had been raised just 90 minutes earlier, and a technician was looking into it. To NorVergence's benefit, Qwest did confirm that they did have been a major outage on the June 15/16. However, they said this had long ago been corrected. They have promised a credit for our line charges for this month. But I realize that their promises are somewhat hollow. We will see ... Regards, Peter pccm2468@yahoo.com (peter) wrote in message news:: > Hi, > Our T1 line went out on Tuesday night (June 15), so our phones and all > internet services have been down since then. Today (June 18), all > service is still down. ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 04:57:31 -0500 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , Tony P. wrote: > In article , monty@roscom.com says: >> outgoing messages have been opened. But DidTheyReadIt is the first such >> service to keep itself a secret from the recipient, as well as the >> first to report on where the message was read. > Easy enough to defeat. Just put a new rule on the firewall that doesn't > let it get back. Who would have thought it, or prevent viewing HTML in > Eudora or Outlook -- that can be done too. You can't defeat these new services, they don't work like that. They way they work is they hold the email on their server, and send the recipient a 'new' email that just contains a link to their server. When you open the link to read the mail, they know. But the only way to avoid notifying the sender is not to open the link, and then you don't get to read the mail. -- Gary Breuckman [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Can't you browse to the server holding the mail on your own (manually copy only the pertinite parts of the URL **less the cookie data** ) and get to it that way? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Office Telephone System Recommendations Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 13:02:40 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 02:35:44 GMT, Jack Murphy wrote: > Mike McWhinney wrote: >> Hello, >> We are currently shopping around for a office telephone system. We do >> not need anything fancy (we have 4 lines, 8-10 phones). We're looking >> for something similar to the following: >> Is there any phone system better than this for within the same budget >> area (<$2000) We want a good phone system that is upgradeable/expand- >> able while remaining cost effective. >> Regards, >> Mike McWhinney > Hi Mike, > We are in a similiar situation and have been looking hard at the > BizFone System (http://www.bizfon.com/affordable.htm). It meets some > of your mentioned requirements specifically upgradeable/expandable, > and cost effective. We have not actually acquired this system yet, but > due to the same reasons you mentioned we likely will go this route > over the other choices available. At $1900 retail for the base cabinet of 6x8, it's going to be tough to get 10 phones in a system for less than $2k :-) As a salesman, it's also going to be tough to convince a customer who starts with a 616 key system that a PBX is better when he didn't add any extra lines or phones. In a 6 line or less key system, there is no learning curve for a square system. Line 4 is line 4 on EVERY phone. There is no need to "Park" a call and pick it up by some convoluted key press sequence. Just for fun, let's take a couple of real world examples. An 8 phone Bizfon system is about $2700 with the funny 2-call display phones. An 8 phone multi-line 6x16 Panasonic system with all display phones is about $3000.00 with voice mail, or $2350 without. The 9th and 10th funny-phone in Bizfon will cost you another $2350 since you now have to expand the cabinet to a 12x16. In Panasonic about $340 since you already have a 6x16 system The Bizfon fits a very specific niche market. I'm sure that anyone can compare it to a <> and beat it on price, availability, and features. That's why so many people (don't) one a Bizfon. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ Subject: Re: VoIP Over Power Line Set for Testing From: Kyler Laird Organization: Insight Broadband Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 14:10:02 GMT Mike Donnelly writes: > Horrible idea! What a monsterous source of pollution of the > electromagnetic spectrum. Power lines are just not spectrum-friendly > transmission lines for high speed data. Indeed! It uses way too many shades of green. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/03/12/spectrum/print.html --kyler ------------------------------ From: Ben Subject: Strange 202 Number? Organization: BellSouth Internet Group Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 17:10:12 -0400 I received a call from a Washnigton, D.C. number, 202-700-0000. What would cause that number to show up on my CID? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well there can be numbers with four zeros and you see them now and then. For example, in Chicago, callers to police can dial 312-787-0000 which is what '911' aliases to if they know about the number, and do it in secret (use *67) as desired, where 911 won't allow that; and is chargeable; where 911 is of course auto-reverse-charged to the police and travels through a couple of sometimes inconvenient data bases on the way. So since '0000' is a legitimate (but sort of odd suffix), what about the '700' prefix? Also, admittedly odd, they do have central office codes like that sometimes. Have you checked the criss-cross listings on computer to see if the number actually exists? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 16:06:53 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Your FCC in Action I have a little movie you may be interested in seeing, or copying over to your own computer to show to your friends, etc. It is entitled 'Your FCC in Action' and shows your public servants as they track down a miscreant with a rogue transmitter. It sort of reminds me of the old Citizens Band radio days, except they now have newer vehicles and more modern equipment to use. The movie is only two and a half minutes long (greatly abridged; they often times spend an entire day or more driving around looking) but I did not want you to have to spend several hours or days downloading the .wmv file. Movies are terribly large and unweildy -- time consuming to download. http://fcc-in-action.us.tf If you decide to copy it over to your computer, don't forget copyright notices and ownership rights embedded in the picture. PAT ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: Last Laugh! How I Spent My Friday Night Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 16:00:00 EDT Friday night was very balmy, and pleasant here in Independence, so when Lisa Minter and two of her friends came by and said let's go out for drinks, I said okay, and off we went to a place I had never been before here in town called 'Austins' on West Main Street. Austin's is a rather elegantly designed night club/tavern designed for the younger set. The place was absolutely packed and very noisy. They have a dance floor area with strobe lights which blink so rapidly my eyes could not focus to it very well. The lights were blinking so rapidly it appeared to persons watching as if the kids dancing were actually frozen in place, not moving at all, only the lights blinking off and on so rapidly (several times per second.) Two bars, a 'main' one and a 'supplementary' one over by the dance area at the other end of the place. Probably three or four hundred people there, and their behavior led me to believe a sex orgy (? ?) was about to break out at any time. All those people, all that *loud* music, all that drinking, etc. Two bouncers at the front door checking ID from all coming in, etc. I am sure my friends had a good time, but after two or three drinks (vodka gimlets) I was rather dizzy (from the liquor, the constantly flashing strobe lights and my neurological shortcomings due to my brain aneurysm back in 1999-2000. And the bartender complained to me that 'until the road repairs get finished our business is *way down* ... Down? Geeze ... That whole six or eight block stretch of Main Street has been under repair for three months while the gas, telephone water and sewer people put in new stuff *and* the road gets widened. Traffic limited to one lane coming and going (a man with a sign stands at each end of the area waving cars through -- by the bridge at 18th Steet on the east and Walmart at the west directing traffic [you stop, let the other side go through, etc]). To get into Austin's one has to go down Maple Street and cut through an alley, no other way in or out it seems, for the duration, and with 300-400 young guys in there drinking, carousing, dancing and playing such god-awful loud music and the bartender complains 'our business is way down until they finish the street repairs.' I finally told Lisa and friends I really had to leave; I was beginning to get ill from it all. I went outside and the fresh breeze felt *so good* even if I did have to walk through the street repair work for several blocks to get to where I could call for the taxicab to come pick me up and drop me at home. I won't go back to Austin's any time soon; Sidecar, Wagon Wheel, Turbo's or Uncle Jack's are more my speed in my old age. That's how I spent my Friday night this week. Patrick T. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #297 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jun 20 21:18:59 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5L1IxT17582; Sun, 20 Jun 2004 21:18:59 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 21:18:59 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406210118.i5L1IxT17582@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 #298 TELECOM Digest Sun, 20 Jun 2004 21:19:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 298 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telus Has Fraudulently Forced Advertising on Our Company (Brian) Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Brian) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Gary Novosielski) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Gary Breuckman) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Tony P.) SIP Help Please? (JustSomeGuy) Internet Connection With WLL Link (jayant) Re: Telephony Software Recommendation (GD) Re: CLI via CSTA (Siemens HiPath 3000) (Phil McKerracher) Unable to Login in to Yahoo via N. Virginia Comcast (Mark) Help on Ancient Equipment? (Michael Muderick) Norvergence Questions (Franki Truth) Re: Strange 202 Number? (Tony P.) VoIP Available for Singapore? (J M) ITXC Founder Ready For New Role (VOIP News) 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: Brian Subject: Telus Has Fraudulently Forced Advertising on our Company Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 18:16:46 GMT http://www.thecomplaintstation.com/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi/Forum/Sub= topic/TopicID=3D2487/SubtopicID=3D00048454/firstrecord=3D0/finalrecord=3D= 14/ On September 12th, 2003 our Company cancelled our advertising with Telus, (Superpages). We have a copy of the cancellation. This was for the 2004 business year. We tried several times to cancel prior to this date, but kept getting excuses of why we couldn't. So we had to wait for the renewal date which was September 2003. At any rate, we finally got the advertising cancelled or so we thought. Last week (June2004), I being the owner of the company was reviewing our company phone bill, which I might add is a war and peace novel it is so big. I noticed in my review that we were still being billed for advertising. I immediately called in my office manager and enquired why. She was unable to explain it, she hadn't noticed it. So we have been getting charged 75.00/month for advertising since last September that we had cancelled. I subsequently contacted Telus, who advised I had to talk to Superpages.ca, who handles their advertising. I did, and had to spend a full week trying to weed through their hiarchy, until I finally got someone who had some authority. Today, June 11th, 2004, I spoke to an adverising manager who advised me that he has reviewed our account and that they would not cancel the advertising. I was flabbergasted. He advised that yes he saw our cancellation on file from September/2003 for the year 2004. But he also had on file a signature from one of my staff, authorizing advertising in August of 2002 for the 2003 business year. So he said that was sufficient authorization as far as he is concerned, to continue the advertising. This advertising is apparently on the internet and he has put us in several directories around the Province, which was the 2002 contract. That contract was only for the 2003 year, not the 2004 year. But this is what he said to me "If your business manager authorized it for 2003, then we felt that it was authorized for 2004." I of course blew my stack at him and told him to cancel this immediately and to reimburse our money. He refused. I explained that I am the CEO, and I might add, the owner of this company, and I wanted this cancelled. He again refused and said, no. Can you believe this???? Unreal. He refuse to give me anyone higher than him to talk to. I contacted Telus and they advised that they could do nothing because it was not their problem, they contract out their advertising to Superpages. I advised them maybe they do, but that Superpages bills through Telus on the Company phone bill and so I was holding them accountable. They said they will get back to me. I contacted the CRTC, who advised that there was nothing they could do, but suggested I contact a lawyer. Can you believe this. This is fraud, it is theft, it is outrageous. In order for me to cancel this advertising which was legitimately cancelled a year ago, I am now be forced to hire a lawyer and fight it in court. Telus is out of control. I wonder how many other companies this is happening to and are not even aware of it. ------------------------------ From: Brian Subject: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 18:22:29 GMT The following is a letter I sent Telus because they cut off my email in hope of forcing me to upgrade to a Business high speed ADSL account. I would like to know how many people are affected by their decision to force users to use only Telus SMTP servers. Brian, Vancouver --------------------------------------------- Barry Baptie, Executive Vice-President Technology & Operations Telus Corporation Barry.Baptie@telus.com Blair Miller, Director of Internet Services blair.miller@telus.com Peter Pereira, Vice President, Chief Information Officer Telus Corporation Peter.Pereira@telus.com June 17, 2004 Headline: Telus prevents residential clients from sending email by disallowing non-Telus SMTP servers Dear Mr. Baptie, I am writing you to expedite the resolution of an important problem your company has introduced to thousands of its residential high speed internet customers. This is much more than a technical issue and negatively affects thousands of Telus ADSL residential clients. In the name of fighting SPAM and beginning May 14, 2004, Telus modified its routers to disable customers' ability to use non-Telus SMTP servers to send mail. This was explained to me today by a Telus technical support worker, but only during my second call as the first technician I spoke to was not aware of this new Telus policy which has caused me to waste almost two days trying to fix the same email setup I used successfully for over one year on several computers. Like thousands of Telus residential ADSL customers, I prefer to send email using another mail server so that my email is seen to come from an organization other than Telus. My primary email address no longer works, except to receive messages. Needless to say, this is a major problem as this business email is among the several used by those who need to communicate with me and my employer. The fact is that only a very small number of internet users are responsible for SPAM and what Telus is doing is clearly profit-motived and aimed at forcing thousands of its high speed residential customers to pay substantially more for business accounts which do not enforce this rule. Telus through its adoption and enforcement of this new anti-residential client policy has already undoubtedly caused grief for thousands of British Columbians who over the last month have wasted time trying to determine why their email accounts no longer work. Similar to other telcoms' notorious actions forcing customers to opt-out of services they don't want to avoid paying for, Telus has without informing its customers pulled another 'fast one' in this recent attempt to force some of us to pay much more for services we do not need or want. Please let me know how you plan on resolving this most urgent matter, and when. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me Brian, but it is unclear to me how Telus, or any ISP you wish to use, is able to prevent you from logging into and using as desired, the mail service of any other ISP where you have an account and are otherwise authorized to use the service. What kind of a mailing client (such as Outlook Express to name a familiar one) are you using? Are you *certain* the POP and SMTP settings on that client (you use) are set correctly? If you are attempting to use ISP 'x' and your mail is failing, why didn't you call tech support at 'x' for assistance instead of Telus who would not normally be concerned with it? I've got a feeling your calls to Telus simply confused the issue more, and that the second tech person at Telus misunderstood what you were trying to say, and thought perhaps you were trying to use 'x' as an unauthorized relay. As an example: I have a personal account with cableone.net and I can either call into Cable One and use their mail service directly, or I can use my mail client (Outlook) with the proper settings for POP and SMTP. I also have (among others) an account with Terra World and can do the same thing: log into TerraWorld, go to mail, send and receive, or most of the time just use Outlook with a *second set of parameters* set up for TerraWorld. Ditto Compuserve, ditto massis.lcs.mit.edu . Now one day it started flaking out on TerraWorld. I could not pull mail from there for any reason or send mail through them. I did *not* call my ISP of record (Cable One) and ask them why ... I called TerraWorld tech support, naturally. As it turned out, Terra World had made a slight change in procedures which was that logins were changed from just 'screen name' (in my case 'ptownson') to 'screen name@terraworld.net' (or in my case, 'ptownson@terraworld.net'. ) No other parameters had changed except that very important one. So before you blame Telus for what may not be their problem (except lack of good communication with customers) why not first check with brand 'x' and ask them to walk you through the login procedures and see if it changed at all. And anyway, what currenty prevents you from logging into 'x' and using their mail service directly while you sort the mess out? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 20:20:40 GMT Well, if I get an e-mail telling me to click on a link, I'm not fool enough to do so. If I did, I would presume that absolutely ANYTHING, of which I might or might not approve, might be going on. So in fact the service would not work on me. Gary Gary Breuckman wrote: > You can't defeat these new services, they don't work like that. > They way they work is they hold the email on their server, and send > the recipient a 'new' email that just contains a link to their server. > When you open the link to read the mail, they know. > But the only way to avoid notifying the sender is not to open the link, > and then you don't get to read the mail. > -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 15:25:57 -0500 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , Gary Breuckman wrote: > You can't defeat these new services, they don't work like that. > They way they work is they hold the email on their server, and send the > recipient a 'new' email that just contains a link to their server. When > you open the link to read the mail, they know. > But the only way to avoid notifying the sender is not to open the link, > and then you don't get to read the mail. > -- Gary Breuckman > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Can't you browse to the server holding > the mail on your own (manually copy only the pertinite parts of the URL > **less the cookie data** ) and get to it that way? PAT] Well now, it wouldn't be very secure if you could do that, would it :) You can't just browse, you need a code, when they inform you of the mail for you, they give you a link with an active page, something like http://www.readmymail.com/read.asp&id=123456789abcdef The only way you can read a message is if you have a correct code, so you supply the code, they record that you've seen the message, and then they send you to a screen with the message on it. No code, you just see pages advertising their services. Take a look at http://www.readnotify.com/ The 'ensured' email works this way. -- Gary Breuckman [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Makes sense to me. You know, another obnoxious outfit like that at least once a day sends me a notice saying 'we have messages about you on our server. Click on this link to see what people have said.' And they take great pains to tell me that if their message to me (notifying me of things someone was saying) fell into a spam bucket, 'be sure to let the administrator of your spam bucket know of this error on his part, since our stuff is not spam.' And after a page and a half later of their spiel, they then conclude 'if you are not interested in reading what others have said about you, then click this remove link and we won't bother you again.' As Oscar Wilde once remarked, "I do not care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name correctly.". ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 00:51:43 GMT In article , puma@catbox.com says... > In article , Tony P. > wrote: >> In article , monty@roscom.com says: >>> outgoing messages have been opened. But DidTheyReadIt is the first such >>> service to keep itself a secret from the recipient, as well as the >>> first to report on where the message was read. >> Easy enough to defeat. Just put a new rule on the firewall that doesn't >> let it get back. Who would have thought it, or prevent viewing HTML in >> Eudora or Outlook -- that can be done too. > You can't defeat these new services, they don't work like that. > They way they work is they hold the email on their server, and send > the recipient a 'new' email that just contains a link to their server. > When you open the link to read the mail, they know. > But the only way to avoid notifying the sender is not to open the link, > and then you don't get to read the mail. Not true -- in the case of didtheyreadit.com they put a web bug in the message that 'phones home'. If you put an entry in your hosts files that points didtheyreadit.com to 127.0.0.1 it'll never get back. I tried several tests and not one of them managed to say I'd read the test messages on my main mail account. Yes, if you have to click a link to read the message it kind of defeats the whole purpose. I refuse to click a link to read an email message and anyone stupid enough to subscribe to such a service will find out very quickly how touchy users can be about email. > -- Gary Breuckman > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Can't you browse to the server holding > the mail on your own (manually copy only the pertinite parts of the > URL **less the cookie data** ) and get to it that way? PAT] Don't know, didtheyreadit.com doesn't work that way. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 22:12:33 GMT From: JustSomeGuy Subject: SIP Help Please? Organization: Shaw Residential Internet I'd like to make a test through iptel.org 5060. I believe the sip protocol is a bit like SMTP If there is someone here who wouldn't mind answering a few SIP questions.. Let me know? ------------------------------ From: pjayant@vsnl.com (jayant) Subject: Internet Connection With WLL Link Date: 19 Jun 2004 17:52:08 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Some of the I.S.P.s in India have just started providing 115 kbps fixed line Internet connections with WLL. The only Option provided is to take the LG Electronics Telephone Instrument which obviously incorporates a modem, provided by them. The Sales and Marketing people cannot specify what modem is there inside the instrument. Is this the common pracice all over the world? Or can one select the best available modem in the market? If YES, which is the best external modem for 115 kbps WLL link? Are there any reviews of modems of this type? Any references to the web-sites which provide information on WLL connections and the DOs and DON'Ts of it would be highly appreciated. P. Jayant ------------------------------ From: GD Subject: Re: Telephony Software Recommendation Organization: BellSouth Internet Group Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 22:30:06 -0400 On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 21:25:25 -0400, Larry Snider wrote: > I was wondering what kind of software would be best for the following > hardware configuration: > Alliance Server Rack > Dual PIII 550Mhz CPU Card > 54 Gb (3 x 18 Gb drives) > 1 Dialogic VFX/40ESC > 2 Dialogic D/41E > 1 Dialogic D/480SC-2T1 > 2 Dialogic MSI/240SC Global cards each with 2 SI/80SC Global daughterboards > 1 Dialogic DCB/SC Global > Larry > www.eSnider.net Not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but if you are looking to use the above as a PBX you should look into a software from Interactive Intelligence: http://www.inin.com/products/eic/eic.asp -Glenn ------------------------------ From: Phil McKerracher Subject: Re: CLI via CSTA (Siemens HiPath 3000) Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 13:50:29 GMT Organization: blueyonder (post doesn't reflect views of blueyonder) Matt Hall wrote in message news:telecom23.286.10@telecom-digest.org: > ... I am trying to get this working on a Siemens HiPath 3000 PBX, which I > have been told will output the data using CSTA, however, I'm having > trouble decoding the data that I am receiving. > Has anyone else had any experience in decoding the ASN.1 encoded data, > and recognising the semantics of the data once it has been decoded?... I had quite a bit of experience of this at my previous job. I don't have the HiPath spec any more, but if you e-mail me specific questions I may well be able to help. My e-mail address is valid. Phil McKerracher www.mckerracher.org ------------------------------ From: markstout@gmail.com (Mark) Subject: Unable to Login in to Yahoo via N. Virginia Comcast Date: 20 Jun 2004 16:32:24 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Starting sometime Saturday, I have not been able to login to Yahoo via Comcast High Speed Cable. Friends in other parts of the country can login to Yahoo. Any Comcast customers here in N. Virginia can confirm my problem? Thank you. ------------------------------ From: Michael Muderick Subject: Help on Ancient Equipment? Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 19:56:28 -0400 I just de-installed an Executone Equity II system. With it was a Candela TC 312 with remote access. It has some notes on the bottom about "burst" and a series of dip switches. It has 2 multi-pin jacks on the rear- one is the power supply. The other went to a couple of RJ 11's. Does anyone know what this box is and what it was used for? Any applicability in today's world other than a door stop? Any manuals out there>? TIA. BTW, the Equity II is available for an offer.=6 phones, 2 ksu's. Michael@muderick.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 20:23:41 EDT From: Franki Truth Subject: Norvergence Questions I would be willing to give all the information that I know. But unfortunately I don't have much juicy info. Ask away and I will be willing to share. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So anyone who wants to know The Truth about Norvergence can contact Franki Truth directly. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Strange 202 Number? Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 00:35:51 GMT In article , benj@bellsouth.net says: > I received a call from a Washington, D.C. number, 202-700-0000. What would > cause that number to show up on my CID? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well there can be numbers with four > zeros and you see them now and then. For example, in Chicago, callers > to police can dial 312-787-0000 which is what '911' aliases to if > they know about the number, and do it in secret (use *67) as desired, > where 911 won't allow that; and is chargeable; where 911 is of course > auto-reverse-charged to the police and travels through a couple of > sometimes inconvenient data bases on the way. > So since '0000' is a legitimate (but sort of odd suffix), what about > the '700' prefix? Also, admittedly odd, they do have central office > codes like that sometimes. Have you checked the criss-cross listings > on computer to see if the number actually exists? PAT] I was actually surprised to see a number come up as 401-301-xxxx. Apparently 301 is a valid exchange in RI now. So I wouldn't doubt a double 0 would also be in service. I'll have to look at the assigned database and check. ------------------------------ From: J M Subject: VoIP Available For Singapore? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 17:52:07 GMT Is VoIP service to consumers available in Singapore? TIA! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: VOIP is available anywhere there is high speed, broadband internet service. One caveat however, certain of the vendors, such as Vonage for example, only issue USA/Canadian numbers, and will only ship the TA device to a USA/Canadian address. But with that in mind, anywhere they can see your adapter out there, they'll authorize the adapter to give you a dial tone. So have someone in the USA get the adapter for you and remail it to you, along with the monthly bills. I'll even give you an e-coupon for a month of free service on Vonage if you wish. ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 15:09:02 -0400 Subject: [VoIP News] ITXC Founder Ready For New Role Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--businessexchange0620jun20,0,6371068.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire By ANDREW D. SMITH The Times of Trenton June 20, 2004, 11:18 AM EDT PLAINSBORO, N.J. -- When Tom Evslin founded ITXC in 1997, he bet the farm that most Americans would soon abandon traditional telephone companies and begin dialing their friends directly over the Internet. Evslin lost his bet, but he did not lose his company. In fact, despite his decision to found the business on a wildly inaccurate prediction, Evslin managed to build ITXC into one of the world's largest telecommunications wholesalers. Now that ITXC has come under new ownership -- Canada's Teleglobe Holdings bought the Plainsboro-based business for stock effective June 1 -- Evslin is looking back at his years as an entrepreneur and looking forward to his years as a philanthropist. He is also predicting a bright future for the remnants of his former company and pointing out -- with an audible note of satisfaction in his voice -- that folks are finally starting to ditch traditional phone companies and make calls over the Internet. Full story at: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--businessexchange0620jun20,0,6371068.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ 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: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 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 #298 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jun 21 03:43:41 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5L7he723195; Mon, 21 Jun 2004 03:43:41 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 03:43:41 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406210743.i5L7he723195@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 #299 TELECOM Digest Mon, 21 Jun 2004 03:44:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 299 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Danny Burstein) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Evan Ross) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Ed Clarke) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (jmeissen@) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Robert Bonomi) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Barry Margolin) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (AES/newspost) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Steven J Sobol) Re: Strange 202 Number? (Joseph) Re: SIP Help Please? (Steven J Sobol) Re: Telus Has Fraudulently Forced Advertising on our Company (Steven Sobol) Phone Receptionist to Email? (vjp2.at@at.BioStrategist.dot.dot.com) 1st Private, Manned Rocket Set for Launch (Monty Solomon) No Use Crying Over Spilled Billions (Monty Solomon) 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: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 01:24:39 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Brian writes: > The following is a letter I sent Telus because they cut off my email > in hope of forcing me to upgrade to a Business high speed ADSL > account. I would like to know how many people are affected by their > decision to force users to use only Telus SMTP servers. [ snip of yet another person who whines about a "port 25" block is destroying life as we know it ] First, get off your high horse. Telus is NOT preventing you from sending e-mail. The port 25 block is a very effective means of reducing spam. If it's inconveniencing you, then talk to the ISP whose SMTP server you're trying to use. You are, one would hope, a valid customer of theirs. Any clueful internet provider which provides remote smtp services has ways of letting their customers authnticate themselves and bypass port 25 restrictions. In fact, I work for one ... _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 21:46:02 -0400 From: Evan Ross Pat: Please mask my email address Brian/Pat, Sympatico did the same thing here a few years ago, blocking all SMTP access on Port 25, other than their servers. You should know that it does not matter which SMTP host you use to send your email. What is important is that your email application shows the correct From: address. The only way anyone could tell that you did not send it throught a given SMTP server is by looking at the headers. Your name will still show up correctly in the email. You can continue to use the POP3 server to receive email from your provider. If you had both Telus and ispx addresses, you would set them up as you had for POP3 but both outgoing SMTP servers would be set to Telus. If you really want to use the SMTP server, see if your provider can port-forward to a different port e.g. port 21. Most email clients (Outlook included) will allow you to specify an alternate port. ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: 21 Jun 2004 02:01:05 GMT Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc. Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org In article , Brian wrote: > In the name of fighting SPAM and beginning May 14, 2004, Telus > modified its routers to disable customers' ability to use non-Telus > SMTP servers to send mail. This was explained to me today by a Telus > technical support worker, but only during my second call as the first > technician I spoke to was not aware of this new Telus policy which has > caused me to waste almost two days trying to fix the same email setup > I used successfully for over one year on several computers. [snip] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me Brian, but it is unclear to > me how Telus, or any ISP you wish to use, is able to prevent you from > logging into and using as desired, the mail service of any other ISP > where you have an account and are otherwise authorized to use the > service. What kind of a mailing client (such as Outlook Express to [snip] You block port 25 outgoing at the router from anything except authorized SMTP servers. I do this for my own ISP to prevent spam. The "proper" way to contact an outside SMTP server is via the "submission" port (587) and to use SMTP AUTH on that port. You have to tell Outlook/Mozilla/Eudora to use the alternate port ( and TLS/SSL etc.). You're going to see more and more of this because of the spam that comes from "owned" personal computers. Thank your local spammer and cracker or virus writer for this loss of access to the raw SMTP port. Telus IS correct in blocking port 25; you should use an authorized alternate and TLS/SSL instead. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: 21 Jun 2004 04:44:51 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Brian wrote: > The following is a letter I sent Telus because they cut off my email > in hope of forcing me to upgrade to a Business high speed ADSL > account. [........] > In the name of fighting SPAM and beginning May 14, 2004, Telus > modified its routers to disable customers' ability to use non-Telus > SMTP servers to send mail. This was explained to me today by a Telus > technical support worker, but only during my second call as the first > technician I spoke to was not aware of this new Telus policy which has > caused me to waste almost two days trying to fix the same email setup > I used successfully for over one year on several computers. Take a deep breath, and calm down. Your anger is directed at the wrong people. If you're going to be angry, direct it at the spammers that force draconian measures like this. Telus is in no way stopping you from sending email, and nothing they've done would force you to upgrade your service. They merely require you to use THEIR mail servers if you want mail to go out via port 25 (SMTP). This is a very good thing to those of us who spend far too much time and effort fighting spam. > Like thousands of Telus residential ADSL customers, I prefer to send > email using another mail server so that my email is seen to come from > an organization other than Telus. My primary email address no longer > works, except to receive messages. Needless to say, this is a major > problem as this business email is among the several used by those who > need to communicate with me and my employer. This is not a problem to anyone but spammers. Why is it so important for the Received: header to not be telus.com (or whatever the domain is)? Your configuration doesn't work because you're too lazy to relay through the Telus server. If it's vitally important to relay through an outside server, then that server will have to provide a service listening on an alternate port, a trivial thing but requires cooperation from the outside party. If you have a good relationship with them, it shouldn't be a problem. > The fact is that only a very small number of internet users are > responsible for SPAM and what Telus is doing is clearly profit-motived > and aimed at forcing thousands of its high speed residential customers > to pay substantially more for business accounts which do not enforce > this rule. You, my friend, have your head stuck in a very dark place where you can't see without the aid of a glass bellybutton. It is currently estimated that 80% of all spam now originates from infected residential systems on broadband networks such as Telus. The only effective way to stem this tide is to do exactly what Telus did. > Telus through its adoption and enforcement of this new > anti-residential client policy has already undoubtedly caused grief > for thousands of British Columbians who over the last month have > wasted time trying to determine why their email accounts no longer > work. Not likely, as most users probably have their mail software configured properly to begin with. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me Brian, but it is unclear to > me how Telus, or any ISP you wish to use, is able to prevent you from > logging into and using as desired, the mail service of any other ISP > where you have an account and are otherwise authorized to use the > service. What kind of a mailing client (such as Outlook Express to > name a familiar one) are you using? He's not referring to receiving mail. He was/is configured to relay his outgoing email through a server that exists outside of the Telus network. Telus has simply instituted a policy of requiring outgoing email to use their mail servers, blocking attempts to connect to port 25 on other systems. Legitimate email will have no problem, but virus-based spam engines will be blocked because they make direct connections to their target addresses. This is a good thing. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was not referring to *receiving mail* either but sending it. I do happen to have a shell at a few sites, but that is not material. I am talking about using the existing mail programs at those sites. Seated at my computer, (through typing of course) I 'say' to my ISP Cableone.net "connect me to terraworld.net" and I get connected. If I said "connect me to terraworld.net port 25" I am not so sure they would do that. But I will take terraworld.net's front door. Now having connected to terraworld.net and properly logged myself in, I then say to terraworld.net "I want to send/receive email" and a handy-dandy little program comes up to let me do just that. Or massis, or AOL or Compuserve or ... let me count them all. Now I could see where an ISP might, if they chose, refuse to connect me to someISPsomwhere port 25, but are you suggesting the ISP (in this case it would be Telus I guess) sits there 'listening' all the time just so it can block me in the event I do something 'port 25-like' on that distant site, such as sending mail? "Oh, I heard him say 'port 25' to that ISP in Kansas somewhere, so I am blocking him cause he may be a spammer." This over-simplifies it a little, but I hope you understand me now. And just as I can ask cableone.net to connect me to Terraworld to use Terraworld's mail service (NOT a shell account, just Windows) I can also go to Terraworld and ask for connection to CableOne then use their Windows-based email service. Although my high-speed connection is through CableOne, I also maintain a 'regular' 56-K modem on the telephone line as well, and it goes to TerraWorld. I seldom use it of course. That redundancy is good to have available, especially when I used to use sbcglobal.net in the olden days. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Organization: We Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 05:53:20 +0000 In article , Brian wrote: > The following is a letter I sent Telus because they cut off my email > in hope of forcing me to upgrade to a Business high speed ADSL > account. I would like to know how many people are affected by their > decision to force users to use only Telus SMTP servers. > Brian, Vancouver > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me Brian, but it is unclear to > me how Telus, or any ISP you wish to use, is able to prevent you from > logging into and using as desired, the mail service of any other ISP > where you have an account and are otherwise authorized to use the > service. It is *simple* to to, technically. they simply install filters in their routers that drop any packets exiting their network, destined for 'port 25' (the standard port where a mail-server lives) where the _source_ address is not one of Telus's mail-servers. > What kind of a mailing client (such as Outlook Express to > name a familiar one) are you using? Are you *certain* the POP and SMTP > settings on that client (you use) are set correctly? If you are > attempting to use ISP 'x' and your mail is failing, why didn't you > call tech support at 'x' for assistance instead of Telus who would not > normally be concerned with it? I've got a feeling your calls to Telus > simply confused the issue more, and that the second tech person at > Telus misunderstood what you were trying to say, and thought perhaps > you were trying to use 'x' as an unauthorized relay. Your inability to comprehend the realities of the situation is showing. His current settings *were* working. He didn't change _anything_. His current settings _stopped_ working. Telus *DID* change something. > As an example: I have a personal account with cableone.net and I can > either call into Cable One and use their mail service directly, or I > can use my mail client (Outlook) with the proper settings for POP and > SMTP. I also have (among others) an account with Terra World and can > do the same thing: log into TerraWorld, go to mail, send and receive, > or most of the time just use Outlook with a *second set of parameters* > set up for TerraWorld. Ditto Compuserve, ditto massis.lcs.mit.edu . Immaterial, and irrelevant, to _his_ issue. > Now one day it started flaking out on TerraWorld. I could not pull > mail from there for any reason or send mail through them. I did > *not* call my ISP of record (Cable One) and ask them why ... I > called TerraWorld tech support, naturally. As it turned out, Terra > World had made a slight change in procedures which was that logins > were changed from just 'screen name' (in my case 'ptownson') to > 'screen name@terraworld.net' (or in my case, > 'ptownson@terraworld.net'. ) No other parameters had changed except > that very important one. So before you blame Telus for what may not > be their problem (except lack of good communication with customers) > why not first check with brand 'x' and ask them to walk you through > the login procedures and see if it changed at all. *WHY*?? Telus has _admitted_ that they made a change that blocked his access to 'port 25' on *any* mailserver outside of Telus's network. > And anyway, what currenty prevents you from logging into 'x' and > using their mail service directly while you sort the mess out? PAT] Do you suppose that it is just possible that he _doesn't_ have a 'shell' login on the mailserver he wants to use? Getting a 'command-line prompt' is a service that *very*few* providers offer any more. The *REAL* fix for his problem is simple. "Don't use 'port 25'" to contact the 'foreign' mailserver. This does require some co-ordination with the people that manage that server, The 'industry standard' alternative is 'port 587'. There _are_ numerous 'work arounds' for the "my ISP is blocking port 25 outbound" issue. They have one thing in common -- they all _work_. Most are 'set and forget', in any (even moderately) modern mail client. The original poster is bitching-and-moaning, because he's being slightly 'inconvenienced'. The world changed out from under him. And, he's actually going to have to _change_something_ to get the functionality he desires back. If he doesn't want to do _any_ work, he can simply pay Telus a bunch more money. If he doesn't want to pay any more money, he _will_ have to do some work. "How much" depends on 'how co-operative' the operator of the alternate mail-server he's trying to use is. Assuming that the mail-server operator is aware of the 'ISP blocking port 25' issue, and -has- any of at least half-a-dozen alternatives implemented, _implementing_ the appropriate work- around would take less than 1/4 the time it took the original poster to compose his tirade to Telus. But, then he'd lose the opportunity to climb up on his soapbox and pontificate about what an evil thing they're doing. And the satisfaction that goes with doing -that-. His 'priorities' would seem to be obvious. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me. Telus did not 'admit' any such thing; well one tech person (who may or may not have understood him correctly) did, but the other one did not. And I do not for the purposes of this discussion have a 'shell account'; I just connect directly to whichever ISP I wish to use and from there proceed to use the mail service there. If I dial into TerraWorld to use them then I also tell Outlook to make the outgoing mail 'originate' from Terra World, or if I connect through Cable One then to make the same piece of mail 'originate' from cableone.net . PAT] ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Organization: Looking for work Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 02:03:17 -0400 In article , Brian wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me Brian, but it is unclear to > me how Telus, or any ISP you wish to use, is able to prevent you from > logging into and using as desired, the mail service of any other ISP > where you have an account and are otherwise authorized to use the > service. Have you been living under a rock, Pat? It has become a frequent practice for ISPs to have packet filters that block their residential customers from connecting to port 25 on any address other than the ISP's SMTP server. This is done to prevent spammers and zombies from bypassing the ISP's server, which has throttles to prevent them from sending huge amounts of mail. Some ISPs, like Comcast, are doing this selectively -- if a customer has been identified as a source of spam, they are blocked. But it's more common to have a blanket filter across the network. If your ISP isn't doing this, you're lucky. But quite a few ISPs are doing it -- it's much less overhead than the staff necessary to follow up on spam complaints. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'll need to try this and see. When using Outlook for example, if I send outgoing mail through CableOne while claiming it originated from my account at TerraWorld, or the other way around, and see if Terra World will accept mail that Outlook says came from me at CableOne. Maybe it won't work. PAT] ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 19:17:05 -0700 In article , Gary Breuckman wrote: >> They way they work is they hold the email on their server, and send the >> recipient a 'new' email that just contains a link to their server. When >> you open the link to read the mail, they know. >> But the only way to avoid notifying the sender is not to open the link, >> and then you don't get to read the mail. Wonder what portion of the people who use this service are really aware that this is how it works -- if the recipient doesn't respond to the new email (and given my personal level of web paranoia I would certainly never respond to an email like that), do they really realize that their original email will *never* be delivered by the server? ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 00:58:56 -0500 Tony P. wrote: > Not true -- in the case of didtheyreadit.com they put a web bug in the > message that 'phones home'. If you put an entry in your hosts files that > points didtheyreadit.com to 127.0.0.1 it'll never get back. I tried > several tests and not one of them managed to say I'd read the test > messages on my main mail account. > Yes, if you have to click a link to read the message it kind of defeats > the whole purpose. I refuse to click a link to read an email message and > anyone stupid enough to subscribe to such a service will find out very > quickly how touchy users can be about email. All you have to do is use an email client like the one I use. Mozilla Thunderbird has 3 viewing modes for emails. Original HTML displays HTML emails (the type of emails that can contain web bugs) as they were meant to be displayed - as far as the sender's concerned. Plain HTML displays the emails with many features of HTML disabled. Plain Text displays them as text. I believe web bugs are disabled if you view the email as Plain HTML and I know for sure they are if you display them as Plain Text. So, there's a very simple way to avoid the web bugs. >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Can't you browse to the server holding >> the mail on your own (manually copy only the pertinite parts of the >> URL **less the cookie data** ) and get to it that way? PAT] Not really. Looking at the raw message, you may see HTML followed by plain text, or just HTML, and I mean the raw HTML codes, not the rendered message. :) Depends on how the mail was sent. Gary Novosielski wrote: > Well, if I get an e-mail telling me to click on a link, I'm not fool > enough to do so. If I did, I would presume that absolutely ANYTHING, of > which I might or might not approve, might be going on. Web bugs are usually displayed by creating an tag, which normally causes your email program to display an image - the tag points to some script sitting on a web server somewhere which logs a piece of info about you, and then (usually) displays a graphic so that you don't realize what happened... All you have to do is open the mail. 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: Joseph Subject: Re: Strange 202 Number? Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 20:41:26 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 00:35:51 GMT, Tony P. wrote: > I was actually surprised to see a number come up as 401-301-xxxx. > Apparently 301 is a valid exchange in RI now. So I wouldn't doubt a > double 0 would also be in service. I'll have to look at the assigned > database and check. 202-700 says there's no CLLI. As to N00 offices there are at least a couple in NPA 206. 206-200, 300 are Verizon Wireless office codes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: SIP Help Please? Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 00:55:01 -0500 JustSomeGuy wrote: > I'd like to make a test through iptel.org 5060. I believe the sip > protocol is a bit like SMTP If there is someone here who wouldn't mind > answering a few SIP questions.. Let me know? I might be able to. What are you using for your SIP connection? 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: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Telus Has Fraudulently Forced Advertising on our Company Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 01:08:09 -0500 Brian wrote: > This is fraud, it is theft, it is the way yellowpages-type advertising services operate (both those owned by phone companies and others). Consult a lawyer. Also find out if the company registering Superpages.ca got any clearance from Verizon. Verizon owns Superpages.com in the US, Superpages is the name for their online directory *and* their paper phone book, and I suspect that they may be able to do something if Dominion Directory Information Services is not authorized to use the name. IIRC, Superpages is a trademark of Verizon, and I know there is a treaty providing for protection of copyrights across country boundaries, and I suspect that the same might prove true for trademarks. A lawyer well versed in intellectual property issues can tell you for sure. Go after them for your money, but let the yellow-pages slimebags from Verizon go after the yellow-pages slimebags from Telus if it's possible. You may be able to cause Telus or their contractor, Dominion Directory Information Services, a lot of pain. The superpages.ca domain, according to WHOIS, is registered to: Admin-Postal: Dominion Directory Information Services Inc. O/A Superpages 4260 Still Creek Drive Burnaby BC V5C 6C6 Canada Admin-Phone: +604-268-4634 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: vjp2.at@at.BioStrategist.dot.dot.com Subject: Phone Receptionist to Email? Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 03:10:01 UTC Organization: Samani Marions Panyaught NYC-11357-3436-287-USA In Manhattan there are plenty of telephone receptionist/answering services but none of them transcribe to email (and the cheaper ones can't even pronounce your name right). I seem to remember there used to be some HQ-like service (telephone and mailbox and hourly office/confroom rental) that did this -- once I used to use an HQ-type service and we got all our messages on computer printout when we walked in, so why not just email them? I mean there are all sorts of possible twists on this -- you could even have a receptionist check your business email address to remove spam (and put messages in folders) manually. Your faxes could go to your email. You could even get your postal paper mail scanned and emailed. Depending on where you were and what equipment constraints you have, you could request low or high resolution or just OCR. All of this, of course, is part of the process of my mcimail.com account closing down and my asking what else is available. - = - Vasos-Peter John Panagiotopoulos II, Columbia'81+, Bio$trategist BachMozart ReaganQuayle EvrytanoKastorian http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Health Reform means abolishing FDR's insurance tax exemption] [To stop SPAM, Charge net-postage] [Abolish 16th (Inc Tx) Amendment] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 01:19:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 1st Private, Manned Rocket Set for Launch By JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press Writer MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) -- Aviation enthusiasts began gathering Sunday in the high desert in hopes of seeing the first flight into space by a privately developed, manned rocket. Thousands of people were expected to be watching early Monday when an exotic jet-engined airplane named White Knight was set to take off from Mojave Airport carrying the rocket-propelled SpaceShipOne. If SpaceShipOne is successful, designer Burt Rutan and his Scaled Composites development company will use the craft to make a run at the $10 million Ansari X Prize, a formal competition intended to spur commercial development of spaceflight. White Knight, carrying the rocket plane slung under its belly, was to scheduled for a 6:30 a.m. PDT takeoff, followed by a climb to 50,000 feet, where it would release SpaceShipOne about 7:30 a.m. SpaceShipOne's pilot, flying solo, would then ignite the rocket and pull up into an 80-second powered climb. After the rocket motor shuts down, the craft is to coast up to a target altitude of 62 miles above the Earth, then re-enter the atmosphere and glide for 15 to 20 minutes to a landing back at Mojave. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42062327 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 01:41:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: No Use Crying Over Spilled Billions By DAVID CARR WHEN he became chief executive and, a year later, chairman of Time Warner , Richard D. Parsons was dismissed as a politician who just happened to run the biggest media company in the world. His performance since then suggests that he has a few other skills, but it's the politician in him that has a gift for making an entrance. Appearing before a gathering of employees at the Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, Calif., two weeks ago, he walked to the edge of the stage, stretched his 6-foot-4-inch frame to full height and smiled demurely as applause several decibels past polite enveloped him. He wisecracked about the cheesy audiovisuals and quickly acknowledged various people in the audience. Two years earlier, shortly after he succeeded Gerald M. Levin as chief executive, he appeared before the same audience as the stock of AOL Time Warner, as the company was known then, was sinking toward a record low, making America Online's 2001 purchase of Time Warner one of the worst mergers in American business history. He escaped unscathed from that unhappy gathering, maybe only because of the absence of fruit markets on the film lot. This time, the road show had fewer bumps and even fewer hard questions. Mr. Parsons, a former banker and lawyer who loves jazz, projects a brand of corporate cool that seems unforced. Barry M. Meyer, who as the chief of Time Warner's Warner Brothers movie studio has shipped bags and bags of loot from the Harry Potter series to corporate headquarters in New York, introduced Mr. Parsons by playing a snippet of Johnny Nash's optimistic "I Can See Clearly Now," but reminded him that, two years earlier, "Yesterday," the Beatles' sung tale of regret, would have been appropriate. Mr. Parsons, 56, recalled the day. "When we were here in '02, Barry said that people were disappointed and somber," he said, then paused a beat for effect. "They were sullen, bordering on mutinous, is what they were." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/business/yourmoney/20time.html ------------------------------ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #299 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jun 21 16:28:00 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5LKRxE29928; Mon, 21 Jun 2004 16:28:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 16:28:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406212028.i5LKRxE29928@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 #300 TELECOM Digest Mon, 21 Jun 2004 16:28:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 300 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #438, June 21, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Robert Bonomi) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Nick Landsberg) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Danny Burstein) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Barry Margolin) NPA-N00 Numbers (was Strange 202 Number) (Neal McLain) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Paul Vader) Re: VoIP Regulation Status (Alex) Re: Telus Has Fraudulently Forced Advertising on our Company (Evan Ross) VoIP Awareness Still Low and Confusion Running High (VOIP News) 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, 21 Jun 2004 10:12:29 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #438, June 21, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 438: June 21, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell Offers $5 Long Distance Bundle ** Primus Enters Home Phone Business ** Telus Microcell Bid Closes Tomorrow ** VoIP Comments Submitted ** FTC Rejects "Do Not Spam" Registry ** Broadband to Reach 20 Rural Ontario Communities ** Ottawa Plaza Drops Fee for Wi-Fi ** BCE Completes Emergis Sale ** Nortel Spins Off Directory Info Business ** Allstream Intros Digital Ink ** E-Commerce Conference Rescheduled ** Telemanagement Conference Announces Major Sponsors ** Does Telecom Policy Need an Overhaul? ============================================================ BELL OFFERS $5 LONG DISTANCE BUNDLE: Consumers who sign 24- month contracts for two of Bell Canada's high-speed Internet, wireless, or television services can now add 1,000 minutes/month of long distance for $5 a month. Long distance calls can be made anytime to anywhere in Canada or the U.S.; after 1,000 minutes, calls are 5 cents/minute. PRIMUS ENTERS HOME PHONE BUSINESS: Primus Telecommunications has begun offering traditional circuit-switched home phone service in 14 markets from Halifax to Victoria, using Allstream as its underlying carrier. Basic service is $29.95/month; an Unlimited Bundle, including all calling features and unlimited Canada and U.S. LD, is $54.95/month. TELUS MICROCELL BID CLOSES TOMORROW: Microcell shareholders have until June 22 to accept Telus's offer to buy their shares for a total purchase price of $1.1 billion. Microcell's board has recommended against the offer; Telus won't buy the shares unless two-thirds are tendered. VoIP COMMENTS SUBMITTED: On June 18, over two dozen submissions were filed in the CRTC's VoIP proceeding (PN 2004-2, see Telecom Update #428). They should be posted on the CRTC website today. Highlights include: ** Many competitors support the CRTC's preliminary views: in particular, extending current local competition rules to VoIP. ** Bell, Aliant, SaskTel, and Telebec say they have no market power in VoIP, so none of their VoIP services should be regulated. Bell requests forbearance for the MIPS (IP Centrex) service for which it recently filed a tariff (see Telecom Update #437) ** Telus says its "access-independent" VoIP should not be regulated, but services tied to access should come under current rules. ** Most agree that VoIP providers should be required to support 9-1-1, services to the disabled, and privacy features, but they differ on the urgency and how strict the requirement should be. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2004/8663/c12_200402892.htm FTC REJECTS "DO NOT SPAM" REGISTRY: In a report to Congress, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission says that at the present time, a National Do Not E-mail Registry would not reduce spam and could not be enforced. The Commission believes that anti-spam efforts should focus on creating an e-mail authentication system to prevent spammers from hiding their tracks. www.ftc.gov/reports/dneregistry/report.pdf BROADBAND TO REACH 20 RURAL ONTARIO COMMUNITIES: With funding from the Ontario Government COBRA program and Bell Canada, infrastructure construction will begin this fall to extend high-speed Internet access to public institutions in the Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry and Prescott-Russell counties, as well as the Akwesasne First Nation. OTTAWA PLAZA DROPS FEE FOR WI-FI: The attempt to introduce fees for wireless Internet access in a downtown Ottawa shopping mall has failed. Announcing their decision to resume free service, BelNet and AirRoamer say that paid usage was "extremely low and not serving the objective of attracting Wireless Internet users to the World Exchange Plaza." BCE COMPLETES EMERGIS SALE: BCE Inc. has completed the transfer of its shares in BCE Emergis to purchasers of 66 million subscription receipts. As part of the deal, BCE Emergis has approved a special cash distribution of $1.45 per common share. NORTEL SPINS OFF DIRECTORY INFO BUSINESS: Nortel Networks has agreed to transfer part of its directory and operator services business to VoltDelta, in return for a stake in the New York-based company. About 160 Nortel employees will join VoltDelta. ALLSTREAM INTROS DIGITAL INK: Allstream has begun offering Digital Ink Solutions, a product that enables electronic data capture of handwritten information. Information entered on preprinted forms, using a "special ballpoint digital camera productivity pen," can be uploaded to a computer through a USB connection. E-COMMERCE CONFERENCE RESCHEDULED: "E-Commerce to e-Economy," an Industry Canada-sponsored conference originally scheduled for June 21-22 and postponed because of the federal elections, will now be held 27-28 September in Ottawa. www.e-economy.ca TELEMANAGEMENT CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES MAJOR SPONSORS: Avaya, Bell Canada, Cisco Systems, OneConnect, the United Telecom Council of Canada, and Telus have all agreed to be major sponsors of the Telemanagement Live! conference scheduled for October 20-21 in Toronto. ** The user-focused conference on business telecom and networking is being organized by Angus Dortmans Associates and PW Ritchie & Associates. For information, go to www.telemanagementlive.com. DOES TELECOM POLICY NEED AN OVERHAUL? The June Telemanagement features an exclusive interview with Bell Canada Executive VP Lawson Hunter on why Canada's biggest telco wants a telecom policy review, and an analysis of the issues by Lis and Ian Angus. Also in this issue: ** Implementing Enterprise Mobile Data Applications ** What's Behind Telus's Bid for Fido? ** Is VoIP Really Nearing the Takeoff Point? Telemanagement is available only by subscription: To become a subscriber -- including unlimited access to Telemanagement's extensive online content -- visit Angus TeleManagement Group's website or phone 800-263-4415 x500. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2004 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 11:38:46 +0000 In article , Barry Margolin wrote: > In article , Brian > wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me Brian, but it is unclear to >> me how Telus, or any ISP you wish to use, is able to prevent you from >> logging into and using as desired, the mail service of any other ISP >> where you have an account and are otherwise authorized to use the >> service. > Have you been living under a rock, Pat? > It has become a frequent practice for ISPs to have packet filters that > block their residential customers from connecting to port 25 on any > address other than the ISP's SMTP server. This is done to prevent > spammers and zombies from bypassing the ISP's server, which has > throttles to prevent them from sending huge amounts of mail. > Some ISPs, like Comcast, are doing this selectively -- if a customer has > been identified as a source of spam, they are blocked. But it's more > common to have a blanket filter across the network. > If your ISP isn't doing this, you're lucky. But quite a few ISPs are > doing it -- it's much less overhead than the staff necessary to follow > up on spam complaints. > Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu > Arlington, MA > *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'll need to try this and see. When > using Outlook for example, if I send outgoing mail through CableOne > while claiming it originated from my account at TerraWorld, or the > other way around, and see if Terra World will accept mail that Outlook > says came from me at CableOne. Maybe it won't work. PAT] You *STILL* don't get it. Try using TerraWorld's _outgoing_mail_server_ while connected via CableOne. Or, using CableOne's server while on the TerraWorld dial-in. *THAT* is the equivalent situation to what the original poster was bitching about. Only a very _few_ providers go so far as to 'require' that the 'From' address on the email belong to the provider's domain. The OP _does_ have valid reasons to bypass his ISP's mail-server. It =is= still possible for him to do so. He merely has to adapt to the changed times. His entire complaint can be summarized as 'The world has changed, and I don't like it'. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I just now tried this. I got onto Terra World and used Outlook to send outgoing spam to myself *making a claim that I was really at cableone*; Terraworld would not allow it. If I went into Outlook and changed my default (which usually is cableone) over to terraworld (in other words admitting to the recipient of the mail who I really was) then terraworld would accept the mail. Earlier I was using the mail client on Terraworld rather than my own client (Outlook) which I guess got me confused, since I was using the mail client on the ISP itself. When using *my mail client* (Outlook) then Terraworld would not accept anything from me unless I was Terraworld. When I shut down the dialup and went back to highspeed at cableone then again using *my mail client* (Outlook) the same thing happened. Cable One would only accept mail outbound from cableone and would not accept my claim that I was using TerraWorld. Using the mail clients on the ISPs (Terra or Cable) worked just fine, but I apparently forgot that my own client (Outlook) goes to whoever or whatever is controlling the computer at the moment, thus I approach either ISP as a third-party intruder and that I was not trying to use the mail clients on Terra or Cable but had introduced *my own mail client* into the picture, and that unless my own mail client was auth- orized i.e passwords and satisfactory parameters otherwise (per whatever Terra or Cable individually demanded) I would not get through. As long as I was on terraworld dial up and had my Outlook parameters correct I could send mail out through terraworld. As long as I was on CableOne high speed and had my Outlook parameters correct I could send mail through CableOne. This is all clear as mud to me, so I guess you are correct. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Nick Landsberg Reply-To: hukolau@NOSPAM.att.net Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 13:58:01 GMT Barry Margolin wrote: > In article , Brian > wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me Brian, but it is unclear to >> me how Telus, or any ISP you wish to use, is able to prevent you from >> logging into and using as desired, the mail service of any other ISP >> where you have an account and are otherwise authorized to use the >> service. > Have you been living under a rock, Pat? > It has become a frequent practice for ISPs to have packet filters that > block their residential customers from connecting to port 25 on any > address other than the ISP's SMTP server. This is done to prevent > spammers and zombies from bypassing the ISP's server, which has > throttles to prevent them from sending huge amounts of mail. > Some ISPs, like Comcast, are doing this selectively -- if a customer has > been identified as a source of spam, they are blocked. But it's more > common to have a blanket filter across the network. > If your ISP isn't doing this, you're lucky. But quite a few ISPs are > doing it -- it's much less overhead than the staff necessary to follow > up on spam complaints. As it turns out, my ISP (ATT-Worldnet), won't accept port 25 connections unless they originate on their network. When I got broadband (just last week) I kept my Worldnet account and phone lines as a backup, just as Pat does. When I tried to access my worldnet mail, send mail or read netnews over the broadband connection, I was blocked. Tech support directed me to a web page they have which lists different servers and ports than the standard ones. They also require a secure connection (SSL). Given some of the discussions upthread, I presume that this is also a SPAM-fighting measure. It may be (as other posters have noted), that the "far end" ISP the original poster had is also set up this way and that changing the ports to which mail is sent will solve the problem. > Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu > Arlington, MA > *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'll need to try this and see. When > using Outlook for example, if I send outgoing mail through CableOne > while claiming it originated from my account at TerraWorld, or the > other way around, and see if Terra World will accept mail that Outlook > says came from me at CableOne. Maybe it won't work. PAT] "It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious" - A. Bloch ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 07:53:30 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Explaining port 25 a bit more: When you hook up to a distant computer, you knock on its internet protocol address. Now, depending on what you're trying to do, your knock adds in which "extension" (or "port") you're trying to get to. If you give the command: telnet 123.456.789.111 your computer will hook up to the one at 123 ... and, since you're using default telnet, use port 23. NOTE that your system doesn't go "directly" there. It first has to get the electronic equivalent of a bus ticket from your local station (your local isp). Which will see which extension you're looking for and decide whether or not to pass you along. If you're trying to send smtp mail (historically), you'd be telnettng to port 25 of the distant machine. You'd then submit the e-mail and it would deliver it. HOWEVER, because of spam, a very hefty number of local ISPs will NOT allow you to get out of your local company if you're trying to get to port 25. So you can no longer hook up to that distant machine and drop the mail off. That's no big deal for 99% of legit e-mail. You have no "real" need to go out there. Instead, you submit it to your local ISP's mail server, and it takes the e-mail and relays it out. Now some folk do have that need. For example, if your local ISP runs a lousy mail server and is slow, or only lets you send pieces that are only 100k in size ... then you might need to bypass it. Or ... you may be telecommuting and need all your outgoing e-mail to be "from" your company, with no hint of the local ISP in it. In the old days that was no problem. With port 25 blocking, it's a bit trickier. An ISP may have provisions for "remote" customers to reach its mail servers, through ports other than the blocked 25, *and* to *authenticate* themselves and then send out. So far, at least, no one's sent out a virus that can control a computer well enough to mimic these requirements. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Organization: Looking for work Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 13:56:25 -0400 In article , bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excuse me. Telus did not 'admit' any > such thing; well one tech person (who may or may not have understood > him correctly) did, but the other one did not. And I do not for the > purposes of this discussion have a 'shell account'; I just connect > directly to whichever ISP I wish to use and from there proceed to use > the mail service there. If I dial into TerraWorld to use them then I > also tell Outlook to make the outgoing mail 'originate' from Terra > World, or if I connect through Cable One then to make the same > piece of mail 'originate' from cableone.net . PAT] But the OP's complaint is that he's connected through Telus but wants (for some reason he wasn't fully clear on) his email to *not* originate from the Telus SMTP server. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 10:10:48 -0500 From: Neal McLain Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: NPA-N00 numbers (was Strange 202 Number) Joseph wrote: > As to N00 offices there are at least a couple in NPA 206. > 206-200, 300 are Verizon Wireless office codes. There are numerous NPA-N00 codes, and several are landlines. There seems to be a heavy concentration in 847; I guess is no surprise given ICC's desperate efforts to forestall the inevitable overlay. Many NPA-N00 codes appear to be businesses: 201-200-2000 New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ 415-600-6000 California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 818-700-7000 Life Alert, Northridge, CA 847-400-3400 Pcnation.com, Northbrook, IL 847-600-2000 Shure Incorporated, Niles, IL 847-700-4000 United Airlines, Elk Grove Village, IL Neal McLain ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 16:21:57 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Makes sense to me. You know, another > obnoxious outfit like that at least once a day sends me a notice > saying 'we have messages about you on our server. Click on this link > to see what people have said.' Let me guess - "The Free Speech Store"? * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Something like that; something with 'speech' in its name. And they take great pains to remind you that what they are doing is perfectly legal, which I guess it is. What they do NOT say until you look further is that you are required to pay $19.95 to read what 'others have written about you'. I guess they assume (wrongly in my case at least) that everyone is so eager to listen to, refute and argue about what others say about them, that they will eagerly pay $19.95 to 'spy' on the conversation others are having about them. What a great twist it is on commercial spam. So much better than spending $19.95 per year reading some boring old Digest or getting a piece of software downloaded at you which may be fraught with worms and virii anyway. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Alex Subject: Re: VoIP Regulation Status Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 01:46:34 -0500 Organization: Webplus NEWS server Reply-To: Alex Sophia, I am looking for this subject too, but I have no answer ... May be FCC doesn't control VoIP traffic in US and Canada? wrote in message news:telecom23.292.6@telecom-digest.org: > What is the Voice over IP (VoIP) regulation policy in U.S? and in CA? > I have heard that it may depend on the type of call scenarios. > For example: > 1. a PC phone to another PC phone > 2. a PC phone through Internet to a regular phone (in PSTN) > 3. a regular phone (in PSTN) through Interent to another regular phone > (in PSTN) > Does FCC regulate all of the above or just one or two of them? > Thanks for your help in advance. > Sophia ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Telus Has Fraudulently Forced Advertising on our Company Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 07:15:21 -0400 From: Evan Ross SuperPages.ca is wholly owned by Verizon. From the DominionInfo.com site: For over 70 years, Dominion has been the official publisher of white and classified directories in British Columbia for SUPERPAGES(tm). On July 31, 2001, Verizon Information Services Inc., the largest directory publishing company in the world, acquired TELUS Advertising Services - the directory division of TELUS, and has now come together with Dominion in British Columbia to form one national directory publishing company called Dominion Information Services Inc. Evan Ross, Principal Dimensional Strategies Inc. 108A - 221 Dufferin St., Toronto, ON M6K 3J2 +1-416-538-6849 x203 http://www.dstrat.com Steven J Sobol wrote about Re: Telus Has Fraudulently Forced Advertising on our Company on Mon, 21 Jun 2004 01:08:09 -0500 > Brian wrote: > This is fraud, it is theft, > It is the way yellowpages-type advertising services operate (both > those owned by phone companies and others). > Consult a lawyer. Also find out if the company registering > Superpages.ca got any clearance from Verizon. Verizon owns > Superpages.com in the US, Superpages is the name for their online > directory *and* their paper phone book, and I suspect that they may be > able to do something if Dominion Directory Information Services is not > authorized to use the name. IIRC, Superpages is a trademark of > Verizon, and I know there is a treaty providing for protection of > copyrights across country boundaries, and I suspect that the same > might prove true for trademarks. A lawyer well versed in intellectual > property issues can tell you for sure. Go after them for your money, but let the yellow-pages slimebags from Verizon go after the yellow-pages slimebags from Telus if it's possible. You may be able to cause Telus or their contractor, Dominion Directory Information Services, a lot of pain. The superpages.ca domain, according to WHOIS, is registered to: Admin-Postal: Dominion Directory Information Services Inc. O/A Superpages 4260 Still Creek Drive Burnaby BC V5C 6C6 Canada Admin-Phone: +604-268-4634 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For a few years now and then, I have received an 'invoice' to pay for some 'directory' published in Nigeria -- of all places -- for Telecom Digest; the idea being didn't I want to let people in Nigeria know about my wonderful publication; they assumed I would and took the liberty of including a listing for me. I answered them once; told them to have the banker there who is holding the eighty million dollars in trust for me to deduct the advertising costs from the money he was holding, and if that failed, they should have their Witch Doctor get in touch with my Witch Doctor so it could all be settled in Tribal Council. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 11:28:36 -0400 Subject: VoIP? Awareness Still Low and Confusion Running High in the U.S. Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-21-2004/0002196538&EDATE= More than half of U.S. Internet users surveyed say they've never heard of VoIP, Ipsos-Insight study reveals NEW YORK, June 21 /PRNewswire/ - More than half (54%) of Internet users in the U.S. are still unaware of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), and among those who have heard of VoIP, the majority (56%) are confused about how the Internet-based telephone service really works, according to topline findings from a recent study conducted by Ipsos-Insight of more than 1,200 Internet users in the U.S. "These awareness levels are not surprising given that we are still in the early adoption phase for VoIP," said Lynne Bartos, Senior Vice President and head of Ipsos-Insight's Cable, Media & Entertainment Practice. "Still, it's clear consumers are confused, even among early adopters, in large part by the 'translation clutter' taking place in the marketplace. VoIP is also referred to as IP telephony, Internet telephony, Voice over the Internet (VOI), net phone, broadband phone, and by branded application names, like Vonage Digital Voice and OptimumVoice. The study reveals consumers are having a hard time visualizing the total VoIP package. On the positive side, the vast majority (73%) is aware that they can use their Internet connection as normal while making phone calls. But understanding levels about other VoIP advantages and limitations are mixed. Only about one-third (36%) of consumers believe that they can dial 911 with VoIP. Only 39% of those familiar with the service say they believe VoIP provides a reliable signal, even though all service providers claim their signals are reliable. Similarly, only 36% know that VoIP provides new features not available with standard phone service, and only 27% believe adding a phone line would be easy. "In this stage of the game, VoIP providers looking to enter the market need to start with the basics; that is, raise awareness levels, improve consumer understanding, and get consumers excited about the features and benefits of VoIP," said Bartos. To peruse the full release, please go to: http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=2284 For more information, please contact: Lynne Bartos Cable, Media, Entertainment Research Ipsos-Insight 312-665-0556 lynne.bartos@ipsos-na.com SOURCE Ipsos; Ipsos-Insight How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #300 ******************************