From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 22 15:34:40 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5MJYeo12092; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:34:40 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:34:40 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406221934.i5MJYeo12092@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 #301 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:35:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 301 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon Begins Deploying Packet Switches to Provide Local (VOIP News) Skype Linux Beta (VOIP News) A New Kind of States' Rights (VOIP News) The Quest For the Rural Full Monty (VOIP News) Pulver.com CRTC Comments Now Online (VOIP News) The 411 on VoIP (VOIP News) VoIP - SIP Suggestions (PDA Enthusiastic) Technical Question About VOIP (R.J. Phipps) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (jmeissen) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (DevilsPGD) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Barry Margolin) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Robert Bonomi) 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, 22 Jun 2004 12:08:04 -0400 Subject: Verizon Begins Deploying Packet Switches to Provide Local Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-22-2004/0002197838&EDATE= Installations in Six West Coast Communities Pave the Way for New Services and Greater Network Efficiencies Verizon Local Packet Switches Complement Previous Use of the Technology in Long-Distance Network NEW YORK, June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- In a first among major United States telecommunications companies, Verizon is deploying advanced packet-switching technology to serve local business and consumer lines. The program is under way in California and Washington state. The state-of-the-art technology will make Verizon's network more reliable, and the new switches pave the way for a broad array of new services for local businesses and consumers in the future. The new packet switches will replace existing technology known as circuit switches. Telecommunications switches are at the heart of Verizon's networks and direct voice traffic from the person making to the call to the person being called. Company technicians are currently installing packet-switching systems in five southern California communities: Temecula, Elsinore, Homeland, Baldwin Park and Azusa. Installation of a sixth packet switch is also under way in Mount Vernon, Wash. The six switches -- provided by Nortel Networks -- are expected to come on line later this year. Customers served by the new packet switches in California and Washington will continue to receive the same voice and data services at the same price, and customers will not be required to change equipment. "This is a major step forward in building our next-generation network," said Paul Lacouture, president of Verizon's Network Services Group. The new packet-switching systems - also known as softswitches -- are based on the same technology used to send data through the Internet. Until now, circuit-switching systems have been the standard for routing calls in telecom networks. Packet switch technology can be combined with innovative Internet service capabilities to provide a wide array of advanced services to customers in the future. For example, in the future, customers will be able to monitor their incoming and outgoing calls, keep a log of all calls, automatically route incoming calls to a cell phone or other locations, and manage all their calling and e-mail traffic on a personal computer. Today's announcement follows Verizon's launch in Keller, Texas, on May 19 of a program to build fiber-optic networks to connect homes and businesses to the network using a technology called fiber to the premises (FTTP). Verizon plans to deploy fiber systems to pass as many as 1 million homes and businesses this year. These two powerful new technologies are widely expected to provide even more advanced services that are far superior to those available from other telecommunications service providers, including cable TV networks. "We continue to transform our wireline network," Lacouture said. "Of course, we expect this transformed network to improve revenue growth for the company, but, also importantly, it will expand services for customers nationwide." Lacouture added that deployment of the new switches will change the way Verizon's network handles voice traffic. Today, a traditional voice call relies on a distinct circuit for the duration of the call or transmission. While that call is going on, that circuit cannot be used for anything else. In a packet-switching environment, the call is broken up into chunks -- or packets -- and transmitted over links that are also being used to transmit packets of data information such as Internet access, as well as many other calls. This sharing of the network for voice, data and video means the network can handle far more traffic. Verizon began deploying this advanced technology in its network in 1999, in the form of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateways to connect local customers with some long-distance networks. In 2002, Verizon began installing packet switches in parts of the company's inter-city network. A year later, Verizon deployed softswitches in segments of the company's long-distance network to carry national calls using VoIP technology. A Dow 30 company, Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services, with approximately $68 billion in annual revenues. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world, as measured by directory titles and circulation. Verizon's international presence includes wireline and wireless communications operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com. VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases. SOURCE Verizon Communications Web Site: http://www.verizon.com Company News On Call: Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/618232.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: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 11:57:35 -0400 Subject: Skype Linux Beta Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3095591 Skype Linux Beta; Skype P2P Internet Telephony Now Available to Millions of Linux Users Worldwide LUXEMBOURG (BUSINESS WIRE) June 21, 2004 Skype Technologies S.A., the Global P2P Internet Telephony Company that offers consumers the ability to make free superior quality voice calls using their Internet connections, today launched the first beta version of Skype for Linux. The software can be downloaded for free and is available immediately for download at www.skype.com. "We've had strong demand for a Linux version of Skype since debuting the Skype beta 10 months ago," said Niklas Zennstrom, Skypes CEO and co-founder. Skype will continue to innovate by offering new quality telephony options, and listen to our users in setting priorities. Full press release at: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3095591 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 13:48:28 -0400 Subject: A New Kind of States' Rights Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=7&releaseid=12344&magazinearticleid=201021&siteid=3 by Donny Jackson Telephony, Jun 21, 2004 For more than a century, most telecom regulation has come from the states. That changed somewhat with the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which granted the FCC greater powers. Still, states continued to play a key role in the voice-calling arena, particularly after the FCC released its Triennial Review Order last year. Key components of the TRO called for state commissions to oversee detailed studies of the telecom marketplace and determine where CLECs were impaired. The aggressive, nine-month timeline created mountains of work for state commission staff members, but the TRO represented a high watermark for state commissions' authority. It was short-lived. Today, state commissions' future role in regulating real-time voice calling is in doubt, and even its present role is in limbo. The future is in doubt because most believe voice over IP is the future of voice calling. For states, that's a problem, because the distributive networks used to carry VoIP calls cross state boundaries. With this in mind, most FCC commissioners have indicated they believe VoIP is inherently interstate, meaning it falls within the jurisdiction of the FCC, not the state commissions a sentiment echoed in two VoIP bills pending in Congress. Meanwhile, most carriers have told the FCC they do not want states to have any economic regulatory authority over VoIP. Full story at: http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=7&releaseid=12344&magazinearticleid=201021&siteid=3 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 13:54:25 -0400 Subject: The Quest For the Rural Full Monty Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=7&releaseid=12344&magazinearticleid=201028&siteid=3 by Donny Jackson Telephony, Jun 21, 2004 Several telecom officials pine for the FCC to pre-empt states, and many more seek economic deregulation of VoIP providers. But one former FCC official working as a lawyer for a group of disparate rural carriers has asked his former employer to deregulate his clients completely including legacy networks. "We're asking for it all [to be deregulated]," said David Irwin, attorney for America's Rural Coalition, or ARC. I like to call it the full monty. Detailed in ARC's comments filed in the FCC's IP services proceeding, Irwin's deregulatory request is based on the presence of intermodal competition from various platforms wireless, cable, independent VoIP operators and broadband over power lines. In addition, ARC notes that usage minutes and access have diminished as a result of indirect competition from technologies such as e-mail and instant messaging. Full story at: http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=7&releaseid=12344&magazinearticleid=201028&siteid=3 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 14:23:01 -0400 Subject: Pulver.com CRTC Comments Now Online Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com The comments that pulver.com filed last week with the CRTC (in Canada) are posted here: http://pulver.com/reports/pulverCRTC.pdf ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 14:47:46 -0400 Subject: The 411 on VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/34630.html By Leon Erlanger Most agree that a major transition to VoIP in the enterprise is inevitable, but in most companies it will probably be a gradual process of greenfield branch office rollouts, deploying IP where it brings the most benefit, replacing obsolete legacy equipment, and gradually upgrading the data network infrastructure. Ultimately, every enterprise will find its own unique path to VoIP. "Our branches had every type of phone system imaginable," says Stan Adams, SouthTrust's group vice president of voice and data. With 730 branches and 13,200 employees, SouthTrust, a regional bank based in Birmingham, Alabama, had been growing through acquisitions since 2000. "Dealing with all those maintenance programs was turning into a major management headache. We were about to upgrade all our branches to TIs and switched 100Mb anyway, so we decided to build a converged IP voice/data network that would let us manage all our voice and data services centrally from Birmingham." Now all of SouthTrust's sites are populated with IP-based phone handsets connected over the data network to a few Cisco CallManager IP PBX server clusters in Birmingham, which are in turn backed up by another CallManager cluster in Atlanta. "The CallManager clusters manage call setup, voice mail, and long distance for all our sites," Adams says. "The savings we've seen from centralized management are incredible. And now we can take advantage of cheaper high volume long distance rates and bypass long distance tolls on the branch WAN connections." Full story at: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/34630.html ------------------------------ From: support@mantragroup.com (PDA Enthusiastic) Subject: VoIP - SIP Suggestions Date: 22 Jun 2004 00:38:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, We are looking to write a SMALL client for VoIP which uses SIP. I have started reading a lot about it lately and would like to learn and start implementing stack. Can you give me some pointers where I can understand the SIP (after I look at the RFC) and some code samples which are VERY easy to understand? How easy is it to write the code for SIP and where can I find any developers documentation (as in how I can start from connecting to server, what messages I have to send etc.). Is there any free server I can test the client with which runs on windows. Thanks a ton. As an offtrack, we are looking for some C programmer who has some PT to work on the SIP stack that we are planning to develop in C for one of the embedded projects. Thanks, Mike ------------------------------ From: R.J. Phipps Subject: Technical Question About VOIP in Greece Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 17:47:59 -0400 Pat, A question that I am not clear about is the use of ISDN. Is this supported? I understand the app would work well on 90k synchronous connection. Could it be pulled off with say 192k ISDN? I believe that this is the closes to the bandwidth required that we will get while in Greece. Thanks again, R.J. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: 21 Jun 2004 17:30:22 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Digest Editor wrote: > 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. The term "connect" is a bit ambiguous the way you're using it. Since you have a broadband connection you're always connected in the network sense. There is no "connecting" that happens prior to using a mail application. When you launch whatever program you intend to use, it "connects to" one or more ports on some remote system. > 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." Yes. But not to any specific site in this case. The destination address and port number are part of the packet header, and often examined for routing purposes. In this case if the destination is outside their network and the port is 25 they reject the packet. > 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. With most mail applications you need to configure two mail hosts, one for receiving mail (typically using POP3 or IMAP), and another for sending email. While you can certainly have multiple mail accounts with different providers (and different hosts), typically you only configure a single host for handling all your outbound email. LookOut may be making the assumption now that those are the same, but that would be a dangerous assumption. Receiving and sending are independant. I don't know how M$ does it, since I try to avoid their stuff, but the Windows-based clients I've used lets me configure a host for outgoing mail, then, for each account, a host and protocol for dealing with the received mail for that account. AOL may be different. Since you use their proprietary interface you establish a "session", not unlike a VPN. I seriously doubt that their mail interface uses the standard protocols. In that case your outgoing mail probably wouldn't be going to port 25 on an AOL machine, so there would be no problem. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 22:08:02 GMT In message Barry Margolin wrote: > 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. There are a number of good reasons, SPF being one of them. News: CIVIL SERVANT STAYS AWAKE ALL SHIFT LONG "Man, I've really got to cut back on the caffeine" he says. ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Organization: Looking for work Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 21:11:08 -0400 In article , Nick Landsberg wrote: > 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. That's a separate issue. ISPs have to prevent their own servers from being used as open relays, so they only allow their customers to use them. Many ISPs now support SMTP authentication, and allow authenticated use from any address. This is useful when their customers are using public wireless access points (e.g. accessing the net from airports), since it's not easy for the users to know what to configure their SMTP server to in such environments. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 14:33:14 +0000 In article , Robert Bonomi wrote: [[.. munch ..]] > [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] Just for come clarification, there are about _four_ separate, but related issues involved in this kind of thing. 1) If the network operator runs separate mailservers for 'incoming' mail (i.e., mail _from_ the 'outside world') and 'outgoing' mail (from it's customers _to_ the outside world, it probably restricts access to the 'outgoing' server to IP addresses that _are_ on it's own network. 2) The 'inside' user at an ISP probably has to 'authenticate' himself to to that server, using the ID/password supplied by the ISP running the server. (makes tracking down spammers _really_ easy/simple ) 3) The network one is connected to may block 'port 25' access to 'foreign' servers, except from the 'official' mailservers for _that_ network. 4) (rare, and virtually *worthless*) the 'outgoing' mailserver may accept mail only if the _claimed_ sender domain matches the domain of the mail- server. If this is the -only- check for access, then all a spammer has to do is forge an address _in_the_mail-server's_domain_, and it will happily relay the mail. NOTE: *VIRTUALLY*EVERY* mail-server _will_ reject mail if -neither- the sender address or the recipient address are 'local' to the network on which the mail-server resides. (Otherwise _anybody_ -- including spammers -- could send mail through that system. This is the infamous 'open relay' issue.) So, you have to cope with 'which network you're directly connected to' (which may have required an id/password to access it), 'which mailserver you're trying to use' (by hostname and 'port'), 'which access-code is needed to access _that_ server' (which may, or *may*not* be the same as the id and password required to access the _network_ you're currently using, *AND*, last but not least, whether or not the network you are currently connected to "allows" contact to 'foreign' networks/servers on the port you use to contact that mailserver on a foreign network. Get _any_ of the above wrong, and the mail won't go out. Sometimes, even _reading_ your mail is a 'restricted-access' activity. On ATT/WorldNet, if you're _not_ on an att.com-owned IP address, you cannot access the regular POP server to _read_ mail. Although it works just fine if you *are* on an att.com address (one of their dial-ups, for example). (you _can_ get in, via an 'alternate port', with an SSL-encrypted connection; given that you have a mail client that supports POP-over-SSL.) ------------------------------ 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 #301 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 22 20:15:18 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5N0FHf14440; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 20:15:18 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 20:15:18 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406230015.i5N0FHf14440@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 #302 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Jun 2004 20:15:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 302 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Norvergence Problems (Robert White) Re: Norvergence Questions (Black Ninja) Re: NPA-N00 Numbers (was Strange 202 Number) (Sam Etler) Re: NPA-N00 Numbers (was Strange 202 Number) (Gary Novosielski) Re: NPA-N00 Numbers (was Strange 202 Number) (Patrick Lee Humphrey) Re: NPA-N00 Numbers (was Strange 202 Number) (Robert Bonomi) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Clarence Dold) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (jsw@ivgate.omahug.org) Re: 1st Private, Manned Rocket Set for Launch (Rob Warnock) Lucent Message Detail Recorders (PhoneMan) Converting Rate Center Name to City Name (Marcus Jervis) Flat Panel TV Prices Fall as Competition Heats Up (Monty Solomon) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Paul Vader) Call Progress Analysis in Intel Dialogic Card (Chandhru) Verizon FSK Voice Mail Indication (David) Mobile Device Developments 2004 (Elena Colle) 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: rwhite@lightship.com (Robert White) Subject: Re: Norvergence Problems Date: 21 Jun 2004 11:54:06 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com galip@hotmail.com (pricepc.com) wrote in message news:: > 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. If you know of anyone who needs new services due to this problem please forward them to me. My name is Robert White, I work for Lightship Telecom and my number is 781-684-1149. Thank you, Bob White ------------------------------ From: triple_des1544@yahoo.com (Black Ninja) Subject: Re: Norvergence Questions Date: 22 Jun 2004 00:17:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Franki Truth wrote in message news:: > 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. Franki Truth also wrote: > Being an ex employee of Norvergence in a high capacity I know a lot > and am willing to share it all. Which is it? You know a lot, or you don't have much juicy info? I feel that it may be the latter. Why don't you tell us all just one (1) thing that we don't already know. I know a lot too, and I can tell you if it is true or not. Personally, I think you are a full of sh*t ex-telemarketer. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 16:00:19 CDT From: Sam Etler Subject: Re: NPA-N00 Numbers (was Strange 202 Number) > There are numerous NPA-N00 codes, and several are landlines. I just wrote a quick script to analyze LERG6 and there seems to be 817 office codes in the format NPA-N00 as of the June LERG. I didn't bother to figure out the breakdown of code type (local service, mobile, etc). sam The trouble with the world is that it's always one drink behind. -- Humphrey Bogart ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: NPA-N00 numbers (was Strange 202 Number) Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 22:46:22 GMT Neal McLain wrote: > 201-200-2000 New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ That's interesting because, unless there are additional 201-200 numbers lower than 2000, that would mean that NJCU (formerly Jersey City State) has the "lowest" phone number in the world. At least it would show up first in a list of all the phone numbers in the world, sorted ascending on Country Code, Area (City) code, and Phone number, since 1 is the lowest country code, 201 is the lowest valid area code, and 200 is the lowest NXX code. Of course, it's possible someone has +1 201 200 0000, which would be the ultimate first-place winner. Would that make it the ultimate vanity number, like a license plate of "1" ? Of course I'm presuming the numbers would be left-aligned, rather than "decimal aligned" so that no other international numbers could be termed "lower" simply because they contained fewer than 10 digits. We are, after all dealing with strings of characters that all happen to be digits, not dealing with actual integer numbers. However ... That reminds me of a late night talk show host (probably Jack Paar, but possibly even Steve Allen) who one night called up the USSR trying to get then-Premier Nikita Khrushchev (widely considered to be an autocratic despot and certainly the ultimate authority in the country) to speak on the air. Naturally he was unsuccessful in reaching Khrushchev, but in the process of patiently holding and being transferred and talking to various low-level diplomats, operators, secretaries, and others, he did manage to get someone to tell him Khrushchev's number, which was "Kremlin 2". A minute later, after admitting defeat and hanging up, it occurred to him to wonder out loud: If Khrushchev is Kremlin 2, who the heck is Kremlin 1 ? (Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, he's probably only a dial-plan anomaly.) =Gary ------------------------------ Subject: Re: NPA-N00 numbers (was Strange 202 Number) From: Patrick Lee Humphrey Date: 21 Jun 2004 22:03:20 -0500 Neal McLain writes: > 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 713-500-xxxx: UT Houston Health Sciences Center (in the Texas Medical Center). Patrick "The Chief Instigator" Humphrey (patrick@io.com) Houston, Texas www.chiefinstigator.us.tt/aeros.php (TCI's 2003-04 Houston Aeros) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: NPA-N00 numbers (was Strange 202 Number) Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 14:48:17 In article , Neal McLain wrote: > 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. You mean the overlay that went into effect 2 years ago? > Many NPA-N00 codes appear to be businesses: Some are, some aren't. The proverbial 'it depends'. :) [Aside: many numbers in a _lot_ of prefixes belong to businesses] The N00 prefixes include a fair number of CLEC number-blocks. Basically, in territories where mandatory 11-digit inter-NPA dialing is in effect, almost all the N0X and N1X sequences were available for use as exchange prefixes. I've seen a number -- but I don't remember just where -- that was NPA-800-xxxx. That's got to be good for some confusion. :) > 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: dold@WhoXGotXth.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 20:44:25 UTC Organization: a2i network 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. Man, is that ever a popular IP address! On my system, it is the ip address of several well known web sites, like double-click, futuresite.register.com I think I might add didtheyreadit.com to keep my personal DNS tables up to date ;-) http://www.gmail.com The google mail service offers this note: "External images are not displayed. Display External Images?" Which would obviate this method if it were part of email that didn't have required graphics. Sometimes I load them, usually not. Every email that you send is routed through them so they can track the IP addresses of the recipient, I suppose. "ellen@aol.com you'd just send it to ellen@aol.com.didtheyreadit.com". Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 16:37:32 CDT From: jsw@ivgate.omahug.org Reply-To: jsw@ivgate.omahug.org > 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. I have been waiting for several weeks now for some moro^H^H^H^Hperson to send one of those bugged didtheyreadit messages to this account. The didtheyreadit people don't take into account that there are still a few of us who still use an admittedly lowtech mailer on a Real Computer. Yes, there are fewer and fewer everyday who do not use a peecee with a web-enabled mail reader. Oh sure, it will do mime and (most) all of the fancy stuff, but one thing out of many that it won't do is phone home to a web bug nest. I'm still holding my breath waiting for the opportunity to respond to said moro^H^H^H^Hperson to the effect that yes, I received the mail, but there's no way that tracking service knows about it. Good day JSW (still waiting >>HINT<<) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 1st Private, Manned Rocket Set for Launch Organization: Rob Warnock, Consulting Systems Architect From: rpw3@rpw3.org (Rob Warnock) Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 23:17:13 -0500 Monty Solomon wrote: > 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. BTW, just in case anyone cares, the flight *was* successful. (Yippee!) Also, in order to win the $10M Ansari X Prize, they have to make two successful flights [manned flight, altitude >100km] with the same spacecraft within two weeks. Rob Warnock 627 26th Avenue San Mateo, CA 94403 (650)572-2607 ------------------------------ From: PhoneMan Subject: Lucent Message Detail Recorders Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 09:39:04 GMT I have 3 Lucent MDR's and I am looking to for a refurber to sell them too. Any help is appreciated. I also have 3 PollCat Polling devices also. Thanks! joe@joescotti.com ------------------------------ From: Marcus Jervis Subject: Converting Rate Center Name to City Name Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 16:21:20 +0000 Can anyone post a method for converting rate center names to full city names? Is there a master list or a coding scheme? Example: LSAN DA 14 = Los Angeles (not necessarily a real example. one I just made up) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 16:41:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Flat Panel TV Prices Fall as Competition Heats U By Franklin Paul NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters) - Flat panel televisions will become more affordable during this year's holiday shopping season as more brands hit stores, but the pricey TVs still cost four times what most Americans pay for a monthly home mortgage. Analysts expect prices to drop 25-30 percent as high profit margins lure Motorola Inc. , Dell Inc. and other makers of products like computers and mobile phones into the market for flat panel plasma and liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42100784 ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 20:50:21 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations > [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's effortless really -- they tell their routers to not forward any port 25 traffic that goes outside of their system, or even better, transparently forwards it to their own mailservers. This is an increasingly common thing, so much so that most external mail vendors (such as the one I use, pobox.com), provide a mailserver running on a different port. A minute's work and you're fine again, while protecting the net from worm programs that start their own mailservers or take over your computer and send spam by bouncing it off of other unsecured machines. I think Brian is out of luck, and it's several years too late to complain about it now. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ From: chandhra_sekar@hotmail.com (Chandhru) Subject: Call Progress Analysis in Intel Dialogic Card Date: 22 Jun 2004 14:50:43 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I am trying to make a call progress analysis using my dialogic card. I have written a code which makes a ring and plays the file. but I am not able to analyse my calls using ATDX_CPTERM. I dont know where I am going wrong. please correct me. The code is going to CON_handler, but it is not recognised by ATDX_CPTERM().please correct *************************************************************** /* Call Analysis with user-specified parameters and synchronous mode. */ #include #include #include #include #include #include int AON_received = 0; long int AON_handler(unsigned long evhandle); long int CON_handler(unsigned long evhandle); main(){ int chdev, dti; int parm = 3; int mode = EV_SYNC; char dialstrg[11] = "2059783440"; int res; DX_CAP capp; DV_TPT tptplay; int retval; /* Open voice channel */ if ((chdev = dx_open("dxxxB1C4",NULL)) == -1) { printf("Error in channel open\n"); } /* Open dti time slot */ if((dti = dt_open("dtiB1T4",NULL)) == -1){ printf("Error in dti board open\n"); } /* Map voice and dti boards */ if(nr_scroute(chdev,SC_VOX,dti,SC_DTI,SC_FULLDUP)== -1 ){ printf("Error in nr_scroute"); return 0; }else{ printf("Mapped properly \n"); } /* Clear DX_CAPP structure */ dx_clrcap(&capp); capp.ca_nbrdna = 3; capp.ca_dtn_pres = 100; capp.ca_dtn_npres = 100; capp.ca_noanswer = 2000; capp.ca_intflg = 8; /* set on hook */ if((res = dt_settssigsim(dti, DTB_AOFF|DTB_BOFF))== -1){ printf("Error in dt_setssigsim %s\n",ATDV_ERRMSGP(dti)); } Sleep(500); /* set off hook */ if((res = dt_settssigsim(dti, DTB_AON|DTB_BON))== -1){ printf("Error in dt_setssigsim %s\n",ATDV_ERRMSGP(dti)); } if(dx_setevtmsk(chdev,DM_RINGS|DM_LCON|DM_SILOFF|DM_SILON|DM_WINK)== -1){ printf("Error in dx_setevtmsk"); } Sleep(500); if(dx_setsvmt(chdev, SV_VOLUMETBL,NULL, SV_SETDEFAULT) == -1){ printf("Error in dx_setsvmt()\n"); } if (dx_dial(chdev,dialstrg,&capp,EV_ASYNC) == -1) { printf("Error in dial\n"); } else{ printf("No error in Dial function \n"); } if(sr_enbhdlr(chdev, EV_ANYEVT,CON_handler)==-1){ printf("Unable to set CON_hanlder for device %s \n",ATDV_NAMEP(chdev)); } if((retval = sr_enbhdlr(dti, DTEV_SIG, AON_handler)) == -1){ printf("unable to set AON hadnler for device %s \n",ATDV_NAMEP(dti)); return (retval); } tptplay.tp_type = IO_EOT; tptplay.tp_termno = DX_MAXDTMF; tptplay.tp_length = 1; tptplay.tp_flags = TF_MAXDTMF; //Sleep(1500); while( AON_received == 0) { Sleep( 1 ); /* Sleep until we receive an incoming call */ } printf("BON_received %d\n",AON_received); if(dx_playwav(chdev, "c:\\temp\\ezpay.wav", &tptplay,EV_SYNC) == -1){ printf("Error playing file - %s \n", ATDV_ERRMSGP(chdev)); exit(1); } printf("Played audio file \n"); /* set on hook */ if((res = dt_settssigsim(dti, DTB_AOFF|DTB_BOFF))== -1){ printf("Error in dt_setssigsim %s\n",ATDV_ERRMSGP(dti)); } /* unMap voice and dti boards */ if(nr_scunroute(chdev,SC_VOX,dti,SC_DTI,SC_FULLDUP)== -1 ){ printf("Error in nr_scroute"); return 0; } dx_close(chdev); dt_close(dti); return 1; } long int AON_handler(unsigned long evhandle){ printf( "dx_handler() called, event is 0x%x\n", sr_getevttype(evhandle)); long int event = sr_getevttype(evhandle); int *datap = (int *)sr_getevtdatap(); short indx; if(event != DTEV_SIG){ printf("Unknown event %d received. Data = %d \n",event,*datap); return 0; } for(indx = 0; indx <4; indx++){ if(!(*datap &(0x1010 < Subject: Verizon FSK Voice Mail Indication Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 18:05:47 -0400 Has anyone successfully used an FSK voice mail indicator with Verizon CO voice mail? When one asks the Verizon sales office they say that they will try to turn it on, but they don't seem to know which COs support it. The exchange that I am interested in is 781-235-XXXX. Panasonic has a new portable phone with a nice LED in the antenna that is supposed to light from FSK signaling. Much better than stutter dial tone if it will work. David ------------------------------ Subject: Mobile Device Developments 2004 Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:06:06 +0100 From: Elena Colle Mobile Device Developments 2004 1-3 September 2004 Hilton Kensington, London FULL AGENDA BELOW ***************** Following up on the success off Mobile Device Developments 2003 visiongain B2B Conferences are please to announce the 2nd annual event examining the current state of the market for mobile devices (smartphones, phone-enabled PDA, communicators, 2.5G and 3G handsets), and the opportunities for growth both in market size and ARPU (average revenue per user). This event will yet again be the meeting point for Mobile Operators, Handset Manufacturers & Application Developers. Key themes include: *What features and applications are going to be tomorrow's standard *What brands are going to lead the market? *Which handsets/devices are revolutionising the mobile offer? *Developing features to boost customer use and ARPU *Adapting devices for all networks and standards of connectivity: *2G, 2.5G, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, VoIP, EDGE *Managing strategic alliances for maximum revenue for all players involved *Marketing new devices: market segmentation, pricing, promotional alliances Confirmed Speakers: -Eric Shadduck, Group Manager Mobile E-Mail and Messaging, International Business Marketing IM2, T-Mobile International -Marcos Eguillor, Handsets & Smart Cards Expert, Telefónica Móviles -Jukka Helin, Head of MediaLab, TeliaSonera -Cdric Nicolas, Mobile Multimedia and i-mode Expertise and Roadmap manager, Bouygues Telecom -Ed Candy, Technology Director, 3 UK -Alex Hum, Programme Head, New Human Interaction Technologies, Orange Group Research and Innovation -Thijs Altena, Marketing Business Markets, KPN Mobile -David Werezak, Vice President Marketing, Research in Motion -Myrddin Jones, Manager Business Display Group, Hitachi Europe Ltd -Mike Phillips, Director of Marketing Wireless & Broadband Systems, -Motorola/Freescale Semiconductors -Orly Nesher, Director of Marketing, Emblaze Mobile -John Williamson, Vice President Technology, Carrier Devices Testimonials from the event: 'Good event: well organised, good speakers, and good content', P.P., TIM 'Very compelling content, good variety of speakers with different angles', K.M., Belgacom Mobile 'Very interesting, very good networking opportunities', S.T., Alcatel 'Excellently prepared conference', G.W, Sun Microsystems 'Useful event - good range of topics and questions', N.H., TDK Systems This years event is planned to bigger and better with more attendees, more exhibitors and more opportunities to discuss, network and learn. Places at this event are strictly limited so BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW. To make a booking on this event, please contact me via phone or email. Book early to secure a place. - PRICING - Attend the: 2 Day conference with interactive workshop - ONLY GBP1600 plus VAT 2 Day conference - ONLY GBP1299 plus VAT Workshop only - ONLY GBP650 plus VAT - BOOKINGS - Booking is easy, simply contact Elena Colle on: Telephone: +44 (0)20 8767 6711 Fax: +44 (0)20 8767 5001 Terms and conditions apply - see below Email: mailto:elena.colle@visongain.com Please find below the conference agenda. To book your place at simply give me a quick ring or email me stating whether you require a single place or a group booking. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Regards, Elena Colle Account Manager Visiongain b2b Conferences Tel: +44 (0) 20 8767 6711 http://www.b2b-conferences.com mailto:elena.colle@visiongain.com ****AGENDA**** ----------------------------------- PRE-CONFERENCE INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP ----------------------------------- Developing devices and features for business customers Wednesday 1 st September 2004 Led by: Edward Belgeonne, Chief Executive Officer Destiny Wireless Plc. Schedule: The workshop will run from 10:00 until 16:00 with lunch and refreshments at appropriate intervals Workshop schedule This workshop is designed to provide participants with an in-depth look into how to develop and implement efficient strategies to market mobile devices to business customers. It will review how businesses use mobile devices, how they could develop a wireless strategy including new devices and features, and how to anticipate market demand. The event will enable participants to engage in a debate on the opportunities in targeting the business market and what products and features to develop to attract varied customer segments. Main topics of discussion: * Businesses' wireless needs: devices/handsets to suit different sectors * Developing partnerships between vendors, operators and enterprises to implement wireless strategies * Marketing new devices and features to business customers Benefits of attending: * Discuss the specific challenges of marketing for business customers * Anticipate business customers' needs in terms of wireless devices and features Edward Belgeonne is Chief Executive Officer of Destiny Wireless. ------------------------------------- DAY ONE - THURSDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2004 ------------------------------------- Conference Chair Alan Hadden President Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) 8:40 Registration and coffee 9:10 Opening remarks from the Chair DEVELOPING NEW DEVICES: STRATEGIES AND REQUIREMENTS 9:20 Optimising devices opportunities for the business market * Device segmentation from voice to data and what is in between * Features sets that sell devices and have an impact on their price points * Service and device bundles - the advantages and disadvantages * Services and revenue in the business market Eric Shadduck Group Manager Mobile E-Mail and Messaging International Business Marketing IM2 T-Mobile International 10:00 The role of devices in Telefonica Mviles' business strategy: the advantages of branded handsets * Determining the key features to develop a handset offer to suit end-users needs * Managing working partnerships with manufacturers to develop branded handsets * Adapting the offer to varied markets * Developing handsets to enable personalisation and interactivity Marcos Eguillor Handsets & Smart Cards Expert Telefónica Móviles 10:40 Coffee and discussion 11:00 Building a varied device offer to meet users needs * Update on the current trends and dynamics within the mobile device market * Analysing the segments of the device market, and how to combine features and functionality to meet differing user needs * Ensuring the usability of new handsets: how to make it work for business and entertainment users? * Developing successful partnerships with operators and software developers * Strategies for future devices: what features are going to lead the market and what devices will dominate? David Werezak Vice President Marketing Research in Motion 11:40 Challenges in software integration and testing for handset manufacturers * Issues in technology choices when developing new mobile devices * Interoperability and how it influences the development of applications * Technology solutions to enhance the usability and profitability of mobile devices Colin Aitken Vice President Marketing & General Manager Europe Sasken Communications 13:00 Lunch PERSONALISATION AND INTERACTIVITY 14:10 The importance of personalisation and interactivity for mobiles * Boosting revenues with personal and interactive offering * Key features to provide the right level of interaction and personalisation * Working with device manufacturers to develop the features Alex Hum Programme Head, New Human Interaction Technologies Orange Group Research and Innovation 14:50 Enabling key content and personalisation services * Balancing standardisation and differentiation/personalisation * The technology needed to allow a full range of applications, location services, e-payments, multimedia messaging and video * Designing the user interface: making the use of new services and applications more appealing to users * How can device designs lead to an increase of ARPU? Johan Lodenius Senior Vice President Europe Business Relations Qualcomm 15:20 Case Study: Orange Israel, Alpha P8 * Market need for a segmented customized device * Targeting the youth market with the Alpha P8 * Unique features in the Alpha P8 * Emphasis on usability for uptake of operator services * Understanding the market for customized operator devices Orly Nesher Director of Marketing Emblaze Mobile 15:50 Coffee and discussion 16:10 Enhancing mobile devices with successful displays * Review of the display market * Current and emerging display technologies for mobile devices * New display technologies for video and wide viewing * Review of display resolutions and sizes used in mobile devices * Display customisation Myrddin Jones General Manager, Display Products Group Hitachi Europe Ltd 16:40 Smart Card solutions to boost update of mobile data services * New solutions for multi-media services and devices * Removing the complexity for the end-user * The benefits for operators and handset manufacturers * Ensuring security for wireless applications Cyril Annarella EMEA Marketing Director - BU Telecom Gemplus 17:10 Close of Day One ----------------------------------- DAY TWO - FRIDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER 2004 ----------------------------------- 8:40 Registration and coffee 9:10 Opening remarks from the chair: Alan Hadden, President Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) 9:20 Challenging convention to deliver innovation in the mobile device offer * Using the latest technology to deliver innovative devices * Delivering a mobile offer to support operators' brand development * Striking the right balance between innovation, performance and usability * The importance of design, style and features in creating a range of devices Eric Pite Vice President Smartphones Sendo ADAPTING DEVICES TO NEW NETWORKS AND NEW CONTENT 10:00 Developing a handset offer to drive 3G services * 3UK's experience of working with manufacturers to develop suitable handsets * Determining the key requirements to design handsets according to the services offered * What features drive mobile usage and 3G services * Providing the right balance between new technology and usability * Future handset technologies for 3 and the relevance to customers Ed Candy Technology Director 3 UK 10:40 Coffee and discussion 11:00 Technology requirements for next generation devices * What are the new handset requirements for next generation services (3G, EDGE) and how to make the step from 2.5G? * Determining what drives market demand for enhanced data services and identifying the relevant handset requirements * The current choice of handsets for next generation services and their distinguishing features: are they living up to the expectations? Brian Dally Director Product Marketing, Client Software Openwave Systems 11:40 Streaming and Broadcasting Services for Mobile Handsets * How handset vendors, software vendors, network operators and service operators can all benefit from the introduction of mobile video services * Mobile streaming and broadcasting technology overview and requirements for GPRS/EDGE/W-CDMA/DVB-H networks & handsets * Streaming, downloading or broadcasting: which technology to use for different services? * Assessing the quality aspects in mobile video services * Mobile video broadcasting for DVB-H terminals: experiences from the Finnish trial * TeliaSonera's first commercial video services for cell phones Jukka Helin Head of MediaLab TeliaSonera 12:20 Lunch 13:40 Adapting to EDGE: developing handsets for a new technology and new services * Why Bouygues Telecom selected EDGE technology for its network * What services will be introduced with EDGE * What are the links with Bouygues Telecom's i-mode main offer? * How the EDGE handsets were designed with vendors * What is the evolution path from EDGE to 3G ? Cédric Nicolas Mobile Multimedia and i-mode Expertise and Roadmap manager Bouygues Telecom 14:20 Platforms solutions to enable mobile digital broadcasting (DVB-H) * Designing standards for the delivery of digital television and data services * What are the market enablers, who are are the key parties who will create the DVB-H market ? * What services and revenues can be expected from the development of mobile DVB? * The technology behind digital broadcasting to mobile handsets * Possible platform solutions for subscriber equipment Mike Phillips Director of Marketing Wireless & Broadband Systems Motorola/Freescale Semiconductors 15:00 Coffee and discussion 15:20 A new brand for a new generation of mobiles: i-mate(tm) * The I-mate offer: smartphones and pocket-PCs * Designing devices: usability and portability * Developing devices for next generation networks (3G, EDGE, Bluetooth) * Enabling wireless services with Windows Mobile * Accessories and features John Williamson Vice President Technology Carrier Devices 15:50 KPN's experience of handset developments for businesses * The fundamentals of building a successful relationship with vendors * Using devices to achieve differentiation in a competitive marketplace * Determining the key selling-point of a new device and developing it accordingly: mobile office, video content, gaming Thijs Altena, Marketing Business Markets KPN Mobile 16:20 Close of conference Terms & Conditions NB - Due to high demand, we do not 'reserve' or 'hold' places - a request for an invoice to be raised will be treated as an official booking and will be subject to the cancellation policy as outlined below. Cancellations/substitutions and name changes: All bookings carry a 50% liability after the booking has been made, by post fax, email or web. There will be no refunds for cancellations received on or after one month before the start of the conference (e.g. cancellation on or after 20th January for a conference starting on 20th February). If you decide to cancel after this date the full invoice remains payable. Conference notes, which are available on the day, will be sent to you. Unfortunately we are not able to transfer places between conferences and executive briefings. However if you are unable to attend the event you may make a substitution/name change at any time as long as we are informed in writing by e-mail, fax or post. Name changes and substitutions must be from the same company and are not transferable between companies or countries. Indemnity: visiongain Ltd reserve the right to change the conference/executive briefing content, timing, speakers or venue without notice. The event may be postponed or cancelled due to acts of terrorism, war, extreme weather conditions, industrial action, acts of God or any event beyond the control of visiongain Ltd. If such a situation arises we will endeavour to reschedule the event. However, visiongain Ltd cannot be held responsible for any cost, damage or expenses, which may be incurred by the customer as a consequence of the event being postponed or cancelled. We therefore strongly advise all customers to take out insurance to cover the cost of the registration, travel and expenses. ------------------------------ 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 #302 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jun 23 14:22:47 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5NIMlU24151; Wed, 23 Jun 2004 14:22:47 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 14:22:47 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406231822.i5NIMlU24151@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 #303 TELECOM Digest Wed, 23 Jun 2004 14:23:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 303 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson My Policy on Advertisement Messages (VOIP News) Powell: VOIP Regs 'Grave Mistake' (VOIP News) Packet8 Videophones Will Bring U.S. Military in Iraq Closer (VOIP News) Covad Readies VoIP Launch (VOIP News) VoIP At Supercomm Emerges As 'Next Big Thing' (VOIP News) International VoIP (Nitoy) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Tony P.) Re: NPA-N00 Numbers (was Strange 202 Number) (Neal McLain) Re: Norvergence Questions (Steven J Sobol) Re: Norvergence Working Here (Norvergence Survivor) Re: Converting Rate Center Name to City Name (Linc Madison) Telephony Card For SOHO CTI? (Fred) Last Laugh! Osama Bin Laden Dies; Goes to Heaven (Lisa Minter) 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, 23 Jun 2004 11:31:43 -0400 Subject: My Policy on Advertisement Messages Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Just so you know, I don't usually approve messages containing advertisements. However, since I just approved one from DORETEL Communications, Inc., I think I should probably state my policy. And that is this: I may, depending on my mood at the time, accept an ad message if it appears to offer something of genuine value. Now please understand, I don't check these companies out, so someone could certainly fool me, but what I look for is some indication that the company is a reliable business that actually believes in giving customers both value for their money and good customer service, and a message that is VERY relevant to the topic of the group. If that appears to be the case, I may run the announcement ONCE. If if the message appears the least bit flaky, or smells even a little bit like "spam" (and I don't mean the lunch meat), it will not be accepted. As an example, last night I got a message from someone that supposedly had immediate openings in VOIP Development and Testing. What "smelled" to me about it was that the sender was using a yahoo.com address (I know this is a Yahoo Group, but still ...) AND did not include ANY information whatsoever about the company they supposedly represented. There was not one single indication that this came from any sort of "real" VoIP-related company, and for all I knew it could be some outfit trying to harvest personal information (since they asked for updated resumes). So for me it's a pretty thin line and I usually tend to err on the side of NOT running anything that doesn't appear to be fully legitimate. As I say, don't infer from that that I in any way check these companies out, because I do not -- it's still caveat emptor. And also, if I start receiving more than about two or three commercial messages in the same week, I'll probably stop allowing any of them, so you need not fear that this will become an advertisement list. ======================================= [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The above came to me from Jack Decker, on the VOIP side of things here, but it applies to TELECOM Digest as well. The volume of advertising and out-and-out spam on the net these days -- some 'more legitimate looking' than others makes it almost impossible to check out. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 11:13:04 -0400 Subject: Powell: VOIP Regs 'Grave Mistake' Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=supercomm&doc_id=55022 CHICAGO Supercomm 2004 -- The states that are quickly trying to regulate VOIP services are making a 'grave mistake,' said Michael Powell, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in his keynote speech here at Supercomm. "There are some dozen states taking an aggressive stance with VOIP, and they are making a grave mistake," said Powell, contending that regulatory agencies should show restraint when considering newer packet-based services. "I don't really understand what the problem is," said Powell. "Is the problem that consumers are getting the services for a price less than the regulated price? Is it that they have control over their own services?" Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=supercomm&doc_id=55022 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, 23 Jun 2004 11:39:37 -0400 Subject: Packet8 Videophones Will Bring U.S. Military in Iraq Closer Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-23-2004/0002198476&STORY&EDATE= Packet8 Videophones Will Bring U.S. Military in Iraq Closer to Family Members at Home Veterans of Foreign Wars Arranges for Installation of New Consumer Videophone in VFW Family Assistance Centers Across the Country CHICAGO, SUPERCOMM 2004, June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGHT), the Packet8 broadband voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service provider, announced today that it has finalized arrangements with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to provide Packet8 Videophones to up to 28 VFW Family Assistance Centers in the U.S. and several locations in Iraq where American military personnel are presently stationed. The third generation "consumer friendly" videophone, introduced yesterday at the annual SUPERCOMM Show, will allow military personnel stationed in Iraq to see and hear their loved ones thousands of miles away by simply dialing a regular phone number and carrying on a face to face conversation. After months of planning and coordination on the part of 8x8 reseller NexGenesis Telemedia Networks, logistics of the arrangement with the VFW and other involved parties were recently solidified to the anticipation and enthusiasm of many individuals. In addition to managing the logistical arrangements, NexGenesis Telemedia Networks has established a charitable foundation to support the deployment of as many videophones as possible, as well as to generate funds for the VFW Military Family Emergency Fund, which provides emergency assistance to military families in need. "The VFW, with its newly-formed national Family Support Center network, is anxious to use the Packet8 Videophone to connect soldiers with their loved ones," said Bud Haney, Director of the VFW Military Assistance Program. "This is one instance where a picture will be worth much more than a thousand words." The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, an organization that, with its Auxiliaries, includes 2.6 million members in approximately 9,000 Posts worldwide, has a rich tradition in enhancing the lives of millions through its community service programs and special projects. Last month, the VFW announced the formation of Family Assistance Centers to expand the network of support services and emergency aid for family members of deployed service personnel. Packet8 Videophones will be installed at up to 28 designated Family Assistance Centers and made available for family and friends in the United States to communicate with military personnel in Iraq on a regular basis. "It gives 8x8 great pleasure to know that our efforts with the Packet8 Videophone will be meaningful to the military families who continue to sacrifice so much for our country, said Bryan Martin, 8x8 Chairman & CEO. "This is what videophone technology is all about, and we're excited that it will now be accessible to the general public." The plug-and-play Packet8 Videophone represents a technology and price breakthrough, transmitting high quality audio and crisp instant-on video communications over the Internet with the ease and convenience of regular telephone service. Previous videophone technology has been limited by bandwidth capabilities of the PSTN (public switched telephone network), which hampered the delivery of crisp real-time video images. Because it is based on SIP, an international Internet protocol standard, the new Packet8 DV326 Videophone achieves a level of technology and performance sophistication previously not possible. The Packet8 DV326 Desktop Videophone is available immediately online at http://www.packet8.net, and will soon be available at retail outlets for a suggested retail price of $299 after rebates. The Packet8 consumer video plan costs subscribers $29.95 per month and includes unlimited phone calls to any number in the United States and Canada, unlimited phone calls to any other Packet8 subscriber, either voice or video, anywhere in the world, and access to the same, low per-minute international rates as Packet8's voice subscribers for voice calls to non-Packet8 phone numbers outside the United States and Canada. Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-23-2004/0002198476&STORY&EDATE= [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The above is the 'advertising message' Jack Decker approved, and it appears okay to me. Anyway, its immediate application, to help the guys in Iraq is a fine service; IMO you cannot do too much for the guys over there. I only wish Dubya had stuck some of us old farts in Iraq as sacrifices instead of the kids, since he was (still is?) so detirmed to cause a war. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 07:28:50 -0400 Subject: Covad Readies VoIP Launch Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_covad_readies_voip/index.htm By Kevin Fitchard TelephonyOnline.com, Jun 22 2004 CHICAGO -- Less than a month after closing its acquisition of California voice-over-IP carrier GoBeam, Covad Communications is set to launch its nationwide packet telephony service. Covad officials at Supercomm 2004 today said Covad will be in 13 of its large markets by the end of the month and all 100 of Covad's MSAs by the end of the year. "We're pretty much ready to go on the East and West Coasts and Chicago," said Ed Mattix, senior vice president for communications and brand at Covad. "The network readiness is there. We're now in the process of training our 3000 sales channels and hiring some additional sales management staff. Aside from that we're set to launch." Full story at: http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_covad_readies_voip/index.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 22:04:31 -0400 Subject: VoIP At Supercomm Emerges As 'Next Big Thing' Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.telecomweb.com/news/1087936982.htm CHICAGO -- This year's Supercomm event has virtually removed all doubt as to what the "next big thing" in telecom is. Indeed, as discussion topics go, the single most popular issue at Supercomm 2004 is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Virtually every major player in the U.S. telecom industry is here this week, and all of them appear to have some sort of a hook into VoIP. A clear majority of the nearly 700 exhibitors at this year's show are pitching VoIP-related products and services. Full story at: http://www.telecomweb.com/news/1087936982.htm ------------------------------ From: nitoy69@hotmail.com (Nitoy) Subject: International VoIP Date: 23 Jun 2004 08:00:53 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have a question about the implementation of VoIP for international calls. From looking at the rate schedule for companies like Vonage it seems that once they get to the country of origin over the internet calls are connected via the PSTN from a PBX or similar switch and completed (perhaps over DOD trunks?) My question is how do they get away with it, since I can almost guarantee that this is considered bypass in most countries? The International Settlements Policy is a serious matter in developing countries since it is international accounting rates that subsidize most network buildouts to provide basic phone service to the populace. Pat - Thank you again for a resource more valuable than the network it rides! ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 01:54:38 GMT In article , jsw@ivgate.omahug.org says: >> 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. > I have been waiting for several weeks now for some moro^H^H^H^Hperson to > send one of those bugged didtheyreadit messages to this account. > The didtheyreadit people don't take into account that there are still a > few of us who still use an admittedly lowtech mailer on a Real > Computer. Yes, there are fewer and fewer everyday who do not use a > peecee with a web-enabled mail reader. They also don't take into account those of us who feel our privacy violated by return receipts on email, and who also have the technical savvy to defeat their start product by putting a one line entry in a hosts table. In article , dold@WhoXGotXth.usenet.us.com says: > 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. > Man, is that ever a popular IP address! On my system, it is the ip > address of several well known web sites, like double-click, > futuresite.register.com I think I might add didtheyreadit.com to keep > my personal DNS tables up to date ;-) > http://www.gmail.com The google mail service offers this note: > "External images are not displayed. Display External Images?" Which > would obviate this method if it were part of email that didn't have > required graphics. Sometimes I load them, usually not. > Every email that you send is routed through them so they can track the > IP addresses of the recipient, I suppose. "ellen@aol.com you'd just > send it to ellen@aol.com.didtheyreadit.com". > Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 127.0.0.1 is also known as localhost and local loop back. It's your machines way of checking it's own services. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 22:43:33 -0500 From: Neal McLain Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: Re: NPA-N00 Numbers (was Strange 202 Number) Gary Novosielski wrote: > Of course, it's possible someone has +1 201 200 0000, which > would be the ultimate first-place winner. Would that make it > the ultimate vanity number, like a license plate of "1" ? Someone does indeed have 201-200-0000; it's a fax number at NJCU. Google lists it as follows: "Dr. Shirley Williams Criminal Justice Department. Office: Professional 223 Phone: 201-200-4096 Fax: 201-200-0000 E-Mail: swilliams@njcu.edu. Office hours..." There was a thread about this on TD back in 1994. In TD 14:101, Dave Levenson (dave@westmark.com) wrote: > According to NJ Bell's automatic intercept service, the > number 201-200-0000 is 'being checked for trouble'. The > number 201-200-0001 has been disconnected. I didn't try any > others in that prefix." . My favorite low number belonged to the Number 1 Cab Company in Traverse City, Michigan (back before 1957, when Traverse City was still manual). Besides being its phone number, "1" was its business name and the unmistakable logo (a big red "1") on the doors of its cabs. Neal McLain ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence Questions Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 00:42:43 -0500 Black Ninja wrote: > Which is it? You know a lot, or you don't have much juicy info? I > feel that it may be the latter. Why don't you tell us all just one > (1) thing that we don't already know. I know a lot too, and I can > tell you if it is true or not. Personally, I think you are a full of > sh*t ex-telemarketer. Hey, all. Black Ninja is the jackass who replied to my post in alt.cellular re: Norvergence's cellular services and then alternately waffled and insulted me and a couple other posters when we pointed out the company's problems and solicited comments from him. He eventually stopped posting. Norvergence's problems are well-documented. I'm sure Mr. Ninja will dispute that, but the facts are out there. Surf on over to: http://tinyurl.com/2uckn and then click the Complete Thread link to view the sordid story. I think the proper term is "company shill." 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: norvsurvivor@yahoo.com (norVsurvivor) Subject: Re: Norvergence Working Here Date: 23 Jun 2004 10:28:21 -0700 Dan Pearlman wrote in message news:: > 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] Dan, Don't you think it would be a good idea to identify yourself as an employee of Norvergence? You are still the Market Vice-president (branch manager) in the Miami office aren't you? While we're at it, please explain how a Qwest problem created T-1 outages (Matix customers) and disruption of service to NorV customer with the SOHO solution (PIC'd lines) at the same time? Maybe NorV just didn't pay their invoice! Sign me, Glad to be gone! ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Converting Rate Center Name to City Name Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 00:14:33 -0700 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Marcus Jervis wrote: > Can anyone post a method for converting rate center names to full > city names? Is there a master list or a coding scheme? > Example: LSAN DA 14 = Los Angeles (not necessarily a real example. > one I just made up) Master list, yes; coding scheme, not really. In particular, there are rate centers whose names don't correspond exactly to any given city. The other issue is that the rate center name can have two forms, the full name and the truncated name which must be 10 characters or less. In cities like Los Angeles (LSAN) and San Francisco (SNFC) which have multiple rate centers, the truncated name often uses the four-letter abbreviation from the CLLI standards, which are maintained by (and trademarked by) Telcordia. Thus, you have rate centers like LSAN DA 14 (a real rate center, it turns out) and SNFC JUNPR (San Francisco - Juniper). (Since SF has only three rate centers, they get real names instead of just numbers.) It gets even a bit more complicated in billing, because if you place a long distance call to LSAN DA 14, that won't show up on your bill: you will see a call to LOSANGELES CA. Telcordia is the ultimate source for this sort of information. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Fred Subject: Telephony Card for SOHO CTI? Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 15:09:08 +0200 Organization: Guest of ProXad - France Hello, I just ordered CallerID on an analog line at the office. Instead of hooking a phone with an LCD, I was curious to see if I could install some interface (Digium TDM FXO?) with two plugs, one to connect it to the phone line, the other to a telephone, and have some application running on the PC that displays customer's infos while the phone is ringing. Just some basic CTI :-) Googling a bit, it appears that the market leaders for this kind of device are Intel/Dialogic, Digium, and Eicon. Could someone knowledgeable in the CTI business tell me if there are some solutions available for such basic needs (ie. I don't need to set up a full-fledged PBX)? Thank you, Fred ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 01:10:49 CDT Subject: Last Laugh! Osama bin Laden Dies; Goes to Heaven From: Lisa Minter After his death, Osama bin Laden went to heaven. There he was greeted by George Washington, who proceeded to slap him across his face and yell at him, "How dare you try to destroy the nation I helped conceive!" Patrick Henry appoached and punched Osama in the nose and shouted, "You wanted to end our liberties but you failed." James Madison entered, kicked Osama in the groin and said, "This is why I allowed our government to provide for the common defense!" Thomas Jefferson came in and proceeded to beat Osama many times with a long cane and said, "It was evil men like you that provided me the inspiration to pen the Declaration of Independence!" These beatings and thrashings continued as John Rudolph, James Monroe and 66 other early Americans came in and unleashed their anger on the Muslim terrorist leader. Some of them had a bucket of hot tar and bags of feathers, and started pouring the tar and feathers all over Osama. As Osama lay bleeding and writhing in unbearable pain, God appeared. Bin Laden wept and said to God, This is not what the teachers in our Mosques promised me! God replied, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you in heaven. What did you think I said?" ------------------------------ 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 #303 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jun 24 01:48:27 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5O5mRZ00652; Thu, 24 Jun 2004 01:48:27 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 01:48:27 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406240548.i5O5mRZ00652@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 #304 TELECOM Digest Thu, 24 Jun 2004 01:48:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 304 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Exciting News For One UNI-P CLEC's Customers (TELECOM Digest Editor) Panel: VoIP Savings Not Enough To Draw Customers (VOIP News) Vonage Chooses UTStarcom for Unified Messaging Services (VOIP News) Boingo Bets on VOIP (VOIP News) FCC Commissioners Say States Should Leave VoIP Alone (VOIP News) United States: Is State Excise Taxation of VOIP Services (VOIP News) Free VOIP Resource Site - H.323, MGCP, SIP, MEGACO, VOIP PBX (tekjockey) Re: My Policy on Advertisement Messages (Thomas Cawley) Lingo VoiP Phone and RCN Cable Modem (Brian E Williams) Re: International VoIP (John Levine) Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email (Henry Schaffer) EFFector 17.23: How Doesn't DRM Work? Let Us Count the Ways (Monty Solomon) Re: Norvergence Problems (Alderan) Re: Norvergence Working Here (Steven J Sobol) It's Better to Know - National HIV Testing Day is June 27 (Patrick Townson) Last Laugh! Ham Radio in Hell? (Fred, WB4AEJ) 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, 24 Jun 2004 00:26:12 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Exciting News For One UNI-P CLEC's Customers I was downtown today (4th Wednesday of each month is when my Social Security Disability Check arrives each month) getting some stuff at Sayers (Ace Hardware) and Radio Shack, across the street, when I ran into Duane, the owner/operator/manager of our local phone company Prairie Stream Communications. I was getting a supply of AAA batteries, Duane was getting a few small parts of some kind or another. We got to talking about the latest revolting development, that the courts have ruled in favor of Bell and setting the price for UNI-P guys to stay in business. Duane said "as usual, Southwestern Bell is being very outrageous in their demands. Sprint Local (United Tel in the northern part of Kansas) actually had the nerve to tell us and the government that *their* loops were going to cost $140 per month ... or about three to four times what we (or even *they*!) charge the end users. SBC heard that and said 'well that is what we will charge Prairie Stream also ...' " So I asked him does this mean Prairie Stream will go out of business soon? Duane said, "first of all, none of the telcos, Bell or United, is gonna make any changes until at least after the election. I guess Bush told them to lay low so people don't get even more angry with their telephone bills. His popularity is getting worse and worse with each passing day, he dare not offend even more people; that's why with a wink and a nod, and most people's short memory or grasp of phone- related matters they will largely forget about how Bell does business, etc. " So we are all set until December or January? Duane replied, "Even longer than that ... I am building a C.O. for Prairie Stream." When my eyes finished bulging out of my head, he continued, "A two thousand line switch for Independence, and the rural area. It should be installed before Christmas, maybe around December 1." I asked him how Bell would deal wih the co-location. Duane snorted, rolled his eyes and said, "they wanted fifteen thousand dollars merely to do an engineering survey of their building at 6th and Maple. That now mostly empty building with the switch stuff on the second floor and a empty first floor which used to be a very limited business office (one rep, two cashiers, etc). Before they would even talk about us co-locating there, they wanted that money up front to have their engineer come from San Antonio to decide if we could or not. But of course you know they would eventually decide we could, as long as we further agreed to pay them a few grand each month in 'rent' for a few square feet of floor space, coming and going as *they* wanted to allow us; heat and a/c as *they* thought it should be, etc. "So I just decided to not touch their stuff at all anymore, and bought a building next door to them, across the alley between Maple and Main Street. Got the whole building for only twenty thousand; a sort of old place we will have to do some fix up work on. My eyes bulged again, and I asked Duane, what about the local loops; the last mile of the wiring. He replied, "I told you we were not gonna touch their stuff any more at all, and I meant just that. I was at City Hall earlier this week, and got the necessary permit to excavate in the streets. We are gonna put fiber optic in the conduits all over town; probably work with the same contractors who did Cable One on some of that. The rural areas of southeast Kansas is where things are at for me. And a couple of the rural telephone cooperatives are thrilled to see me doing it." I think he named a couple of them, Totah? and another one will probably work along with him on it also; guys who have hated the Bell for years from before even I was born. He said his best estimate for a clean break from SBC was January 1, 2005, maybe by mid-month. I said it all sounded a bit far fetched; he said so was TerraWorld back in 1995 ... but I made that happen. Yes Duane, you did. Well, I certainly wish him a lot of luck. I think Southwestern Bell is just daring him go to ahead with his plans. He said that right after Prairie Stream first got up and running in 2002, "two or three management people from SBC came over to spy on us and see what we were doing as a UNI-P. They referred to it as a 'courtesy call' rather than 'spying' of course, and we all smiled at one another but they insisted they did not see how we were able to 'make it work'. "Once I get it going, I will also start selling my own DSL instead of reselling theirs or maybe I will continue reselling their DSL as well; why not?" was his concluding remarks. I surely wish him the best. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 20:11:04 -0400 Subject: Panel: VoIP Savings Not Enough To Draw Customers Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://cio-today.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Panel--VoIP-Savings-Not-Enough-To-Draw-Customers&story_id=25520 By Erika Morphy NewsFactor Network The barrier to widespread VoIP adoption used to be cost, but now it seems that lower prices are not enough to draw customers en masse -- more nifty applications will be needed, says a panel at the ongoing Supercomm 2003 conference. Lower costs have long been the holy grail for corporates willing to take a flyer on VoIP technology. But now that the price barrier has been broken, ingratitude apparently is setting in. The cheaper phone bills and lower maintenance costs finally possible with the current technology simply are not enough, says a panel at the ongoing Supercomm 2004 conference. In short, equipment manufacturers need to come up with sexier apps than currently on the market if they want the technology to gain traction in the marketplace, they say. Full story at: http://cio-today.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Panel--VoIP-Savings-Not-Enough-To-Draw-Customers&story_id=25520 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, 23 Jun 2004 20:14:11 -0400 Subject: Vonage Chooses UTStarcom for Unified Messaging Services Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-23-2004/0002198569&EDATE= UTStarcom's PCMS Platform to Provide Enhanced IP Communications Services for Vonage's Growing Customer Base in the US and Canada SUPERCOMM, CHICAGO, June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UTStarcom, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI), a global leader in IP access networking and services, today announced that it has signed a contract with Vonage, a leader in the broadband Internet telephony industry, to provide to Vonage its 8250 Personal Communications Management System (PCMS). With UTStarcom's PCMS platform, Vonage can now offer its growing consumer and small business customers advanced, cost-effective IP communication services bundled with its high-quality voice-over-IP (VoIP) service. Vonage will deploy UTStarcom's PCMS voice mail application, which enables customers to access voice messages either by phone, online, or via email. The company will initially offer the service to its customers in the United States and Canada and plans to expand the service globally in 2004. "Vonage chose UTStarcom's PCMS solution for its superior quality and overall product set, which offers flexible features that are compatible with our existing infrastructure," said Michael Tribolet, executive vice president of operations for Vonage. "UTStarcom's system will enable us to strengthen our market position in the VoIP industry, starting with a vastly improved voice mail platform. And with its global corporate stability, UTStarcom provides Vonage with the products, service, and support that will help to ensure that our customers will always have the best possible service." UTStarcom's PCMS platform also provides Vonage with a framework for deploying additional revenue-generating IP services in the future. An end-to- end VoIP solution, PCMS can support various applications, such as voice/fax messaging, Pre-Paid Calling Card, Any-Where Access, Call Monitor, and Call Handling. PCMS can deliver these services over wireline, wireless, or broadband access networks, creating a truly unified personal messaging portal and experience regardless of the access methodology used by the consumer. "UTStarcom's contract with Vonage, a leader in the VoIP industry, provides further opportunities for our IP products to be deployed in the growing small business market," said John Giarolo, vice president of sales in North America for UTStarcom, Inc. "UTStarcom's innovative PCMS service portfolio will enable Vonage to increase customer satisfaction and customer retention. We are committed to a long-term partnership as Vonage's broadband telephony needs expand." UTStarcom's PCMS Platform The UTStarcom 8250 Personal Communications Management System provides tools to migrate customers from a legacy voicemail platform. It offers service providers enhanced service portfolios and revenue-generating services with compelling new features such as Unified Messaging, voice/fax messaging, Pre- Paid Calling Card, Any-Where Access, Call Monitor, and Call Handling. The system complies with IMAP4, SIP, SS7, POP3, and SMTP protocols, and most all other network standards and can be configured as a complete voice mail system, a fully functional unified messaging platform or as a hybrid, containing elements of both systems. Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-23-2004/0002198569&EDATE= ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 20:26:14 -0400 Subject: Boingo Bets on VOIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=55114 CHICAGO Supercomm Hotspot startup Boingo Wireless Inc. is betting that wireless LAN will become a hot item for cellphones within the next couple of years and that it will be able to make seamless roaming between 802.11 and 3G networks a reality. Meeting with Unstrung today at the massive Supercomm tradeshow, Boingo's president David Hagan laid out his firm's strategy for allowing fast, unobtrusive transfers between WiFi and cellular networks in both consumer and corporate environments (see Voice Over 802.11: Talkin' Loud; Sayin' Something? for more on the voice-over-WLAN technology). Hagan reckons the demand for integration between separate wireless networks will be driven, in part, by wired and wireless carriers that want to cut costs by implementing VOIP on their networks. For carriers currently providing cable/DSL and other wireline services, VOIP is seen as a mechanism that will allow them to inexpensively offer voice services. "The broadband carriers love it," says Hagan. Full story at: http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=55114 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 20:36:55 -0400 Subject: FCC Commissioners say States Should Leave VoIP Alone Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_fcc_commissioners_say/index.htm By Donny Jackson CHICAGO--FCC Chairman Michael Powell and Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy yesterday reiterated their positions that state commissions should not regulate voice over IP, a technology both regulators indicated is an interstate service that should be under the FCC's jurisdiction. In his afternoon keynote question-and-answer session, Powell said he believes states like New York that are trying to apply traditional telecom regulations to VoIP providers are 'making a mistake, a very grave mistake' that potentially can harm consumers and the industry. Powell said government regulation is appropriate when there is a danger of market failure or a need to uphold certain core values, such as protecting consumers. Neither circumstance applies to VoIP, he said. Full story at: http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_fcc_commissioners_say/index.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 20:47:41 -0400 Subject: United States: Is State Excise Taxation of VOIP Services on Horizon Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_26845 United States: Is State Excise Taxation of VOIP Services on the Horizon? Helen E. Disenhaus Originally published 2nd Quarter 2004 Freedom from some state and local communications excise taxation soon may no longer be one of the advantages of Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) services. The New York State Public Service Commission (NY-PSC) has just issued a decision classifying Vonage Holdings Corporation, a provider of VOIP services that utilize the public Internet, as a "telephone corporation." While not a tax decision per se, this decision has tax implications for both service providers and end-users. Full story at: http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_26845 (Requires free registration) ------------------------------ From: tekjockey@gmail.com (tekjockey) Subject: Free VOIP Resource Site - H.323, MGCP, SIP, MEGACO, VOIP PBX, IP Date: 23 Jun 2004 20:06:48 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We've put on-line a FREE VOIP LEARNING SITE. http://www.intersyncsolutions.com -Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, MEGACO), QOS, IP PBX Technology -Resourceful and Quality links on IP CONVERGENCE TECHNOLOGY -NEWS, LINKS and RESOURCES updated DAILY to keep you informed. GREAT FOR: -TECH PROFESSIONALS looking to get ahead on on VOIP, QOS, IP PBX -Business Professionals looking for VOIP solutions. -Students learning VOIP technology. Tech moves FAST and this will help you get there! http://www.intersyncsolutions.com JUST PURE GOLD....BOOKMARK it and TELL a FRIEND! ENJOY! :-) ------------------------------ From: Thomas Cawley Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 09:24:52 -0700 Subject: Re: My Policy on Advertisement Messages Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Jack, It's all good info. I am updating our VoIP training material and I get a wealth of information from vendor, manufacturer and service provider web sites. Just keep up the great work and we'll filter out the noise! Thomas P. Cawley Applied Professional Training, Inc. Office: (800) 431-8488 Cell: (760)443-0899 Web: www.aptc.com ------------------------------ From: sorry_no_email@yahoo.com (BrianEWilliams) Subject: Lingo VoiP Phone and RCN Cable Modem Date: 23 Jun 2004 16:23:08 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I just ordered a Lingo VoiP phone which arrived on Monday. After two days, I still can't get it to work. I asked RCN if they block TFTP or ports 50, 60, or 69, and they said no. I have a cable modem with RCN, and Lingo thought the problem might be on RCN's end. Hooking up the Lingo box right after the cable modem, it first downloaded the firmware update, and all looks good. Lingo (Primus Telecom.) can see the MAC address hit their servers once, and that's it. No VoiP light and no joy. I will probably RMA the unit and cancel the service unless someone here has some suggestions. I am interested in Lingo because of their unlimited Western Europe calling from the US, so please don't suggest Vonage or any of the alternatives unless they also offer this for free with their $20 a month plan. Obviously Lingo is not ready for prime time, but it's only a matter of when, not if. The phone companies must be wetting their pants over this. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Jun 2004 18:50:44 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: International VoIP Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I have a question about the implementation of VoIP for international > calls. From looking at the rate schedule for companies like Vonage > it seems that once they get to the country of origin over the > internet calls are connected via the PSTN from a PBX or similar > switch and completed (perhaps over DOD trunks?) I think that in the US, at least, the VoIP carriers make deals with CLECs and the calls go out via the CLEC's switch. > My question is how do they get away with it, since I can almost > guarantee that this is considered bypass in most countries? That's the question you're not supposed to ask. The U.S. VoIP providers say they only provide service in the US and Canada, and most of them will only ship their equipment and bill to US addresses, but of course once you have the stuff, they can't control where you use it. A few countries such as Panama have tried to filter VoIP data, but I doubt that will be very effective. It's too easy to move the VoIP data around the filters. > The International Settlements Policy is a serious matter in > developing countries since it is international accounting rates that > subsidize most network buildouts to provide basic phone service to > the populace. I realize that's the theory, but there's an awful lot of countries where it's hard to see where all the settlement money went. The U.S. as a matter of policy has been trying to push settlement rates down so I doubt you'll find much sympathy from the U.S. end. 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: hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E Schaffer) Subject: Re: Telus Prevents Residential Clients From Sending Email Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 19:14:35 UTC Organization: North Carolina State University In article , Ed Clarke wrote: > 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. Our mail systems people analyzed a few hundred thousand mail messages which came from some ISPs which did not have this outside-port-25-blocking implemented. They divided the incoming mail into two categories 1) mail that came through the ISP's mail servers; 2) mail that originated at an "owned" PC but didn't come through the ISP's mail servers; and then analyzed them with one of the spam-block tools. There was very little spam (10% IIRC) in category #1. Category #2 was 90% spam. I can look up the details if that's important -- but the main message was that we would prefer every ISP to do this, as without this the ISP is basically unable to block compromised "owned" PCs ("zombies"). --henry schaffer hes _AT_ ncsu _DOT_ edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 18:06:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.23: How Doesn't DRM Work? Let Us Count the Ways EFFector Vol. 17, No. 23 June 23, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 295th Issue of EFFector: * How Doesn't DRM Work? Let Us Count the Ways * EFF Joins Coalition in Fight for Legal Uses of Digital Media * EFF Stands Up for Election Integrity in California E-Voting Lawsuit * RIAA Asks FCC to Lock Down Digital Radio Broadcasts * Let the Sun Set on PATRIOT 218 - "Foreign Intelligence Information" * EFF Seeks Dynamic, Motivated Membership Coordinator * MiniLinks (8): Induce Act = Hollings II? * Staff Calendar: 06.24.04 - Wendy Seltzer speaks at Supernova 2004, Santa Clara, CA; 06.28.04 - Cory Doctorow speaks at Tech Active, London, UK * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/23.php ------------------------------ From: nsillc@msn.com (Alderan) Subject: Re: Norvergence Problems Date: 23 Jun 2004 12:07:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Not much left to do. I'm waiting for the cellular phone service to be disconnected. We have to keep paying the lease for the magic box, find a new broadband and long distance provider, buy new cell phones service, inform customers and supplyers for the 3rd time that our cell phone numbers has been changed. I feel like an idiot. rwhite@lightship.com (Robert White) wrote in message news:: > galip@hotmail.com (pricepc.com) wrote in message > news:: >> 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. > If you know of anyone who needs new services due to this problem > please forward them to me. My name is Robert White, I work for > Lightship Telecom and my number is 781-684-1149. > Thank you, > Bob White ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence Working Here Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 14:15:39 -0500 norVsurvivor wrote: > Dan Pearlman wrote in message > news:: > Dan, > Don't you think it would be a good idea to identify yourself as an > employee of Norvergence? You are still the Market Vice-president > (branch manager) in the Miami office aren't you? While we're at it, > please explain how a Qwest problem created T-1 outages (Matix > customers) and disruption of service to NorV customer with the SOHO > solution (PIC'd lines) at the same time? Maybe NorV just didn't pay > their invoice! Why should he tell the truth? That's apparently not part of Norv's corporate culture. :) 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: Patrick Townson Subject: It's Better to Know - National HIV Testing Day is June 27 Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 21:01:06 -0500 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The following is a public service message presented to the entire internet community by comp.dcom.telecom and other participating news groups by the National Association of People With AIDS ( www.napwa.org ) PAT] National HIV Testing Day Sunday, June 27th is National HIV Testing Day. If you've never been tested, or if you've had unprotected sex or shared a needle since your last test, now is the time to get an HIV test. IT'S BETTER TO KNOW Take advantage of treatment and care options. Visit www.hivtest.org to find a testing location near you. National HIV Testing Day is a project of the National Association of People with AIDS. www.napwa.org ------------------------------ Reply-To: Fred, WB4AEJ From: Fred, WB4AEJ Subject: Last Laugh! Ham Radio in Hell? Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 14:40:53 -0400 A ham radio operator died. He was given the choice of going to heaven or to hell. He looked in heaven, but they had zoning ordinances against radio antennas. He looked in hell and met the devil. He asked the devil if they had ham radio in hell. The devil took him to the ham station showing him all the really neat ham gear that they had there. He then showed him all of the radio antennas. Between the antennas and equipment, one should be able to run every legal mode. The ham said that this was great so he'd choose to go to hell. After he'd gotten settled in, he went to the ham radio station. But none of the equipment would turn on. He asked the devil why none of the equipment worked. The devil replied, "That's the hell of it. We don't have any electricity." ------------------------------ 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 #304 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jun 24 18:52:15 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5OMqEe09973; Thu, 24 Jun 2004 18:52:15 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 18:52:15 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406242252.i5OMqEe09973@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 #305 TELECOM Digest Thu, 24 Jun 2004 18:52:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 305 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson H.264 Video Codec Adopted for Next Generation DVDs (Monty Solomon) Comdex Cancels November 2004 Convention (Monty Solomon) Telemarketers Draw 428,000 Complaints, FTC says (Monty Solomon) AOL Worker Sold Customer List For Spam, US Charges (Monty Solomon) More U.S. Airlines Gave Passenger Data, TSA Says (Monty Solomon) Caveat Lector: Beastie Boys Evil (Monty Solomon) iChat AV at 35,000 Feet (Monty Solomon) Re: Telephony Card for SOHO CTI? (Robert Bonomi) Re: VoIP At Supercomm Emerges As 'Next Big Thing' (David) Re: Exciting News For One UNI-P CLEC's Customers (Paul Vader) Cell Phone Reception Question (nick) Looking For Software Modem (Paul) RLT-Release Link Trunk versus RTP-Release To Pivot (Deepak Pant) Re: Lingo VoiP Phone and RCN Cable Modem (Brian E Williams) Z-Tel Forced to Streamline, Refocus (VOIP News) AT&T Slashes Forecast (VOIP News) Time Warner Exec Outlines Competitive Landscape (VOIP News) Teton Wireless Launches First (Well, Not Really) VoIP Service (VOIP News) Vonage(R) Releases Xten's X-PRO SoftPhone for Mac OS X (VOIP News) Jeff Pulver: "Big Brother" XTen Networks is WATCHING You (VOIP News) Canadians Have Been Slow to Adopt Internet Telephony (VOIP News) Oh Canada ... Oh Cable ... Oh Marketing (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, 24 Jun 2004 02:20:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: H.264 Video Codec Adopted for Next Generation DVDs MPEG Developed Video Codec Key to Future High Definition DVDs CUPERTINO, Calif., June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today announced that the DVD Forum has ratified the H.264 Advanced Video Codec (AVC) to be included in the next generation High Definition (HD) DVD format. The H.264/AVC codec was jointly developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and has been ratified into the MPEG-4 specification as the next-generation video codec. H.264/AVC is based on open standards and will ship in Apple's QuickTime(R) software in an upcoming release next year. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42120788 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 02:37:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comdex Cancels November 2004 Convention By MATTHEW FORDAHL AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The venerable Comdex convention, which for nearly 25 years showcased the latest and greatest in high tech in Las Vegas every November, is canceling this year's show after years of declining attendance and interest. Show organizer MediaLive International Inc. described the cancelation as a "postponement" and said Wednesday that it had formed an advisory board to reshape the troubled event. The company also said the next Las Vegas show would take place in November 2005. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42141026 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 02:40:22 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Telemarketers Draw 428,000 Complaints, FTC Says WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - Consumers who signed up for a government-run list designed to cut down on unwanted sales calls have lodged 429,000 complaints against telemarketers over the past year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday. FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said the low number of complaints showed that the National Do Not Call List has been a success since it was launched one year ago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42140226 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 02:43:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL Worker Sold Customer List for Spam, US Charges - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42133939 WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. investigators said on Wednesday they had arrested an America Online (NYSE:TWX) employee for stealing the Internet provider's customer list and selling it to a purveyor of "spam" e-mail. Jason Smathers of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, has been charged with stealing a list of 92 million AOL customer screen names and selling them to Internet marketer Sean Dunaway of Las Vegas, said David Kelley, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Dunaway, who has also been arrested, used the list to promote his online gambling operation and also sold the list to other spammers, Kelley said. An AOL spokesman said Smathers has been fired from the company. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 02:44:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: More U.S. Airlines Gave Passenger Data, TSA Says By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - More airlines than originally thought secretly provided passenger data for a U.S. government screening system in possible violation of privacy laws, the Bush administration said on Wednesday. Two big reservation systems also provided names, addresses, credit card numbers and other data, said the Transportation Security Administration's acting administrator, David Stone. America West (NYSE:AWA), Frontier Airlines , Continental Airlines , and the Sabre and Galileo International reservation systems gave passenger data to the TSA or companies working for the agency in 2002 and 2003, Stone said in a signed affidavit released at his Senate confirmation hearing to head the agency. JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU), American Airlines (NYSE:AMR) and Northwest Airlines (NASDAQ:NWAC) have previously disclosed that they also shared passenger records with government researchers, despite promises to keep them private. Delta Air Lines provided artificial passenger records but asked for them to be deleted five days later, Stone said. The TSA also ordered Delta to provide passenger records to the U.S. Secret Service during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, he said. Frontier Airlines had no immediate comment. None of the other airlines, and none of the reservation systems, were immediately available for comment. Under a 1974 privacy law, government agencies and contractors are required to notify the public when they collect personal information. Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), HNC Software Inc., International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), Infoglide and Ascent Technology collected passenger data to develop screening prototypes, but TSA officials determined that public notice was not needed, Stone said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42133123 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 02:59:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Caveat Lector: Beastie Boys Evil http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/366191 From: Dragos Ruiu Organization: All Terrain Ninjas Subject: Caveat Lector: Beastie Boys Evil Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 01:10:23 -0700 Well I truly regret actually purchasing a copy of the new Beastie Boys album to support them. It seems that Capitol Records has some sort of new copy protection system, that automatically, silently, installs "helpful" copy protection software on MacOS and Windows as soon as you insert the CD into default systems. I'm not sure exactly what it does yet, but I am sure regreting actually purchasing said media now ... they don't deserve my money if they choose to pull stupid stunts like this. Installing software without your permission sounds like viral malware behaviour to me. I certainly hope the AV companies put signatures into their products for this crap. They include some sort of uninstaller buried on there for Windows, but I see no such thing for MacOS. If anyone has disassembled the aforementioned malware already and can save us some time with instructions on how to remove it ... thanks in advance. caveat emptor, --dr http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/366191 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 14:33:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: iChat AV at 35,000 Feet It's a long flight from Munich to San Francisco, even non-stop. But recently two enterprising Apple product managers cut the distance dramatically with a few at-hand tools: iChat AV, iSight, 17-inch PowerBook G4, a Boeing 777 and an orbiting satellite. In what might have been the first in-air commercial videoconference, Apple product manager Kurt Knight, on the ground in Cupertino, hooked up over iChat AV with product line manager Eric Zelenka, returning to San Francisco from Munich, by leveraging Lufthansa's new wireless high-speed broadband connection service. http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2004/06/ichat_at_35k/ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Telephony Card for SOHO CTI? Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 08:53:12 +0000 In article , Fred wrote: > Hello, > I just ordered CallerID on an analog line at the office. Instead of > hooking a phone with an LCD, I was curious to see if I could install > some interface (Digium TDM FXO?) with two plugs, one to connect it to > the phone line, the other to a telephone, and have some application > running on the PC that displays customer's infos while the phone is > ringing. Just some basic CTI :-) > Googling a bit, it appears that the market leaders for this kind of > device are Intel/Dialogic, Digium, and Eicon. Could someone > knowledgeable in the CTI business tell me if there are some solutions > available for such basic needs (ie. I don't need to set up a > full-fledged PBX)? Just use *ANY* _modem_ with caller-id capability. Yeah, that's "too simple" --- but it works! ------------------------------ From: David Subject: Re: VoIP At Supercomm Emerges As 'Next Big Thing' Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 15:41:18 GMT VOIP News wrote in message news:telecom23.303.5@telecom-digest.org: > http://www.telecomweb.com/news/1087936982.htm > CHICAGO -- This year's Supercomm event has virtually removed all doubt > as to what the "next big thing" in telecom is. Indeed, as discussion > topics go, the single most popular issue at Supercomm 2004 is Voice > over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Virtually every major player in the > U.S. telecom industry is here this week, and all of them appear to > have some sort of a hook into VoIP. A clear majority of the nearly 700 > exhibitors at this year's show are pitching VoIP-related products > and services. > Full story at: > http://www.telecomweb.com/news/1087936982.htm I remember 10 years ago, over half of the papers at Supercom dealt with ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) as the next big thing. It was really Another Technical Mistake but quite a few people got Ph.D.s by researching it. I am not, however, saying this is true for VoIP. David ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Exciting News For One UNI-P CLEC's Customers Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 15:55:32 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations TELECOM Digest Editor writes: > We got to talking about the latest revolting development, that the > courts have ruled in favor of Bell and setting the price for UNI-P > guys to stay in business. Very revolting that a company should be able to charge what it actually *costs* to provision a service. Yes, we all know that Ma Bell stole your lollypop. Please move on. > or about three to four times what we (or even *they*!) charge the > end users. SBC heard that and said 'well that is what we will charge > Prairie Stream also ...' " So I asked him does this mean Prairie > Stream will go out of business soon? So you're saying that, based on a street conversation, that you know what SBC will be pricing their UNE-P services at? Nice trick that. > Duane said, "first of all, none of the telcos, Bell or United, is > gonna make any changes until at least after the election. I guess It's 18 months IIRC, and this was a stated-in-public part of the agreement on letting the Bad and Wrong rules lapse. No secret deal needed. Heck, it was even on the news! > my eyes finished bulging out of my head, he continued, "A two thousand > line switch for Independence, and the rural area. It should be > installed before Christmas, maybe around December 1." A whole 2000 lines? I can throw a rock out a window and hit a larger switch than that. > My eyes bulged again, and I asked Duane, what about the local loops; > the last mile of the wiring. He replied, "I told you we were not gonna > touch their stuff any more at all, and I meant just that. I was at > City Hall earlier this week, and got the necessary permit to excavate > in the streets. I'm sure this will work great for rural Kansas, but try getting the necessary permits and variances in a large city. Hey, I'm happy that Prarie Stream is transitioning themselves into a true LEC, that's pretty cool. But is it even slightly significant? No. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, it is not revolting that anyone can charge and collect for the actual costs of something. But it is rather odd and revolting when the same company (Sprint Local/United Tel) goes along for years with a substantially lower rate (which they claimed was a truthful accounting) then bingo, when the old arrangements are set to expire they suddenly have this massive inflation problem (despite a few more years of amortization) which raises them five or six times over what it had been, and they'll just barely be able to survive at that, we are told. It is also rather revolting when their sister in the cloth Southwestern Bell (oh, a hundred years ago they were fighting each other [the consortium of telephone co-ops who united to make United Telephone did so to avoid going with AT&T/Bell back then, so great was their dislike and hatred for the Bell]; now days United and Bell are like two peas in a pod) Bell, 're-examines' their accounting and by coincidence discovers their resale of their loops is going to have to have about the same price in order for them to make do.) Geeze, inflation is awful, isn't it? I wonder why that same 'rate of inflation' is not going to affect Duane all that much? My conversation was with the man who is the owner of Prairie Stream and the owner of TerraWorld, his remarks were based on recent meetings with the Kansas Commissioners in Topeka, the state capitol with a representative from SBC and a representative from Sprint Local in the discussion, as he pleaded his case for Prairie Stream. But yeah, it did take place on a street (actually in the entrance way of Radio Shack, and we chatted for 5-10 minutes, not just a few seconds.) Regards the size of the switch you may want to recall that SBC here has ten thousand lines for Independence, mostly and historically on 620-331. Most people in town recite their phone number as just four digits, the 331 being assumed. A few years ago there was some excitement when City Hall put in a centrex covering themselves and all municipal functions including schools, police, parks, library, etc and it was installed on 620-332. But the vast majority of 332 is given over to cellular phones otherwise. The Montgomery County Sheriff (Independence is the county seat and the jail is located here) is a special case with 330-1000 and his own centrex on that exchange. I think his are the only landlines on 330; a few cell phones are on that exchange also, including my own. I also I guess looked somewhat askance when Duane told me his new switch would have 2000 stations on it. He noted that "Independence has a population of a little under 9000 people; about 5000 working phone lines. If I could actually get 20-25 percent of the phone business in town, that would be great, and more than I would expect." You see Paul, our entire *county* has a population of only 25-30 thousand people, with 20 thousand of those people concentrated in Coffeyville, (12,000) and Independence, (8842 the last time I noted it). The other 5-6 thousand people are either in 'small' towns considered 'rural' to Independence such as Caney, 2000, Cherryvale, 2000, Neodesha, 1500, or the small places little more than wide spots on the road, Liberty, Dearing, Tyro, and Sycamore, maybe a thousand people between all four of them. So a two thousand station switch is quite ample for starters, although SBC does not like it one iota, I am sure. They don't really cotton to anyone who won't accept their rules and ways of doing things as Holy Writ. I mean, fifteen thousand for an 'engineering study' on a mostly vacant building they own here in town is really a bit much, and several thousand per month in rent after that. PAT] ------------------------------ From: flyerscrew05@aol.com (nick) Subject: Cell Phone Reception Question Date: 24 Jun 2004 10:03:59 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have been having a lot of trouble with my reception I get on my cell phone. How much does the actual phone have to do with reception? Is cell phone reception have more to deal with the carrier's network or does your phone model actually play a large enough part to make a difference. I got a new phone a couple months ago and I've been having lots of problems lately that I don't remember having with my old phone. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks. Nick ------------------------------ From: paul-mackenzie@email.com (Paul) Subject: Looking for Software Modem Date: 24 Jun 2004 13:10:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi guys, I am having real difficulties in finding good V92. modem which base on TMS320C6000 DSP. Can someone direct me to a software modem supplier? Thanks. Paul ------------------------------ From: deepakpant@hotmail.com (Deepak Pant) Subject: RLT-Release Link Trunk versus RTP-Release To Pivot Date: 24 Jun 2004 10:49:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Could someone point us to the documents or help explain the difference between RLT-Release Link Trunk and RTP-Release To Pivot. ------------------------------ From: sorry_no_email@yahoo.com (BrianEWilliams) Subject: Re: Lingo VoiP Phone and RCN Cable Modem Date: 24 Jun 2004 11:44:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Just RMA-ed the unit and stopped the service. Way too much work already on this. I'll just stick with my POTS for now. BTW, the $9.95 shipping charge is non-refundable, but I will dispute it with my credit card company on the basis that they shipped me something that doesn't work. sorry_no_email@yahoo.com (BrianEWilliams) wrote in message news:: > I just ordered a Lingo VoiP phone which arrived on Monday. After two > days, I still can't get it to work. I asked RCN if they block TFTP or > ports 50, 60, or 69, and they said no. I have a cable modem with RCN, > and Lingo thought the problem might be on RCN's end. > Hooking up the Lingo box right after the cable modem, it first > downloaded the firmware update, and all looks good. Lingo (Primus > Telecom.) can see the MAC address hit their servers once, and that's > it. No VoiP light and no joy. I will probably RMA the unit and > cancel the service unless someone here has some suggestions. > I am interested in Lingo because of their unlimited Western Europe > calling from the US, so please don't suggest Vonage or any of the > alternatives unless they also offer this for free with their $20 a > month plan. > Obviously Lingo is not ready for prime time, but it's only a matter of > when, not if. The phone companies must be wetting their pants over > this. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 09:53:31 -0400 Subject: Z-Tel Forced to Streamline, Refocus Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/24/Business/Z_Tel_forced_to_strea.shtml The alternative phone company plans to cut costs in response to likely rate hikes from larger carriers for leasing network access. By LOUIS HAU, Times Staff Writer Published June 24, 2004 TAMPA - Every business is buffeted now and then by external forces beyond its control. But consider the case of Z-Tel Technologies Inc. of Tampa. Until recently, Z-Tel's business was based mostly on selling local phone service and advanced calling features in most of the United States - primarily in New York, Georgia, Illinois and Michigan - directly to consumers and via marketing partners with instantly identifiable brand names, such as MCI, Sprint and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL subsidiary. "Well, that plan just got shot in the head," Smith said. "It's over and there's not much we can do about it." To compensate, Z-Tel is shifting its attention to providing Internet phone service, which doesn't require leasing as much phone-network access as its existing phone services do. The company is hoping to convert about a third of the approximately 225,000 customers that it directly serves and pick up some new customers, Smith said. He added that the company also hopes to eventually offer high-speed Internet access services to compete better with cable companies, which are increasingly launching their own local phone services, and phone companies, which are expanding their broadband and video offerings. Full story at: http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/24/Business/Z_Tel_forced_to_strea.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/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 10:02:36 -0400 Subject: AT&T Slashes Forecast Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20040623-000917-1700 BEDMINSTER, N.J. -(Dow Jones)- AT&T Corp. (T) cut its full-year revenue guidance below its own prior expectations as well as those of analysts, after the company said a regulatory decision forced it to pull service from seven states. AT&T decided to pull service from the seven states after the Federal Communications Commission and the Bush administration sided with regional Bell operating companies over the rates that AT&T and other Bell rivals must pay to use local phone networks. The long-distance company reaffirmed its commitment to an "aggressive" deployment of its plan for voice over Internet protocol. The plan, called AT&T CallVantage, is now offered in 46 major markets in 12 states. By the end of the third quarter, the company expects that AT&T CallVantage will be available in over 100 domestic markets, ahead of its goals. The company said higher marketing expenses associated with CallVantage will contribute to consumer operating margins in the low double digits in the second quarter. Full story at: http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20040623-000917-1700 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 11:06:05 -0400 Subject: Time Warner Exec Outlines Competitive Landscape Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_time_warner_exec/index.htm By Donny Jackson CHICAGO--Cable companies are poised to compete with telecom carriers and other communication providers in a marketplace that values bundled services provided over broadband connections, a Time Warner executive said today in a morning keynote. [Time Warner chairman Don] Logan said Time Warner's voice-over-IP trial in Portland, Maine, is progressing well, with the MSO capturing 10% of the voice customers in the market -- 85% of which are using VoIP as a primary-line substitute. Similar success with wider deployments would be key very beneficial to Time Warner. "Today, total telephone revenues are about $200 billion," he said. "For us, even a small share can be a real growth business." After his speech, Logan told reporters that Time Warner primarilyq is using 2004 to make sure the company has VoIP working well, with appropriate support personnel, in a manner that is scaleable. Logan said his company will more aggressively market VoIP in 2005 and 2006. Full story at: http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_time_warner_exec/index.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 10:37:04 -0400 Subject: Teton Wireless Launches First (Well, Not Really) VoIP Services Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com [Comment: I hate to break it to whoever wrote this press release, but Teton Wireless is NOT the first to offer VoIP services in Montana and Idaho. Packet8 has numbers there for incoming calls, and of course you could obtain service from any of the major VoIP providers if you didn't mind having an out-of-state phone number. People who write press releases have got to learn to do their research before making claims like this, let they wind up with egg on their faces.] http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-24-2004/0002199167&EDATE= Teton Wireless Launches First VoIP Services in Montana and Idaho Provider Makes 'Internet Phone' Available in Rural Markets IDAHO FALLS, Idaho, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Teton Wireless today announced the availability of the first VoIP (Voice Over I.P.) calling services for residents of Idaho and Montana. The Teton service, tagged "Internet Home Phone Service," enables anyone with a broadband Internet connection to make local and long distance calls over the Internet, without a local telephone service provider. A special adapter is required to connect a standard telephone to a broadband router. "Hooking up the Internet phone service is truly 'plug and play,'" stated Kari Alcala, Teton product manager for the new telephone service. "The Internet infrastructure is invisible to the end user, it's just like using any home phone. You even get local telephone numbers." "We're committed to providing high quality, low cost services to our customers in Idaho and Montana," said Teton Wireless CEO and Owner Willis "Gene" Twiner. "Most of the deployments of Internet voice services have been rolled out by very large cable providers in the major metropolitan areas. And a lot of cable companies are still evaluating their voice plans. We are excited to be making 'voice over IP' -- another state of the art technology solution -- available in our rural market areas." "Voice Over IP" generally means sending voice information in digital form in discrete packets over the Internet rather than via the traditional circuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). A major advantage of VoIP, also called Internet telephony, is that it avoids the tolls charged by ordinary telephone service. "Our customers are looking for one source for their television, Internet and phone services, just like customers in big cities. And they want to save money when they buy all these services from one provider," said Jessica Peters, Customer Service Manager for Teton Wireless. "We've got a 'triple play' solution now that is cost effective and widely available." "Adding voice to our existing video and Internet access services was simple to implement," according to Tom Carey, Teton Director of Engineering. "The privately licensed frequencies making up Teton's wireless network are very robust, and most IP applications work seamlessly over our infrastructure. The extremely low latency makes our delivery ideal for voice." Carey noted that Teton is also looking at delivering other applications over their Internet service in the future, including an expanded video package including pay per view movies, and expanded Internet service areas. "The Internet service changes how we compete," Carey observed. "We deliver a great big pipe right to your home. Because we're wireless, the service is nearly ubiquitous, you're not tied to any cable or DSL lines. And a lot of content can be carried on that pipe, just about anywhere." Orders are being accepted for the Internet phone service immediately. Pricing is $139 for the special telephone adapter, and the first month's service is free. Regular monthly rates are $29.99 for unlimited local and long distance calls to the United States and Canada. For additional information and to attend a demonstration of the new phone service on June 24, 2004, please contact Donna Nims at 208-529-8895. About Teton Wireless Teton Wireless is the leading provider of wireless broadband, video and voice services in the Mountain States and is a division of Teewinot Licensing. Incorporated in 1995, Teton Wireless owns and operates MMDS Internet and video operations serving over 25,000 customers in Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, and Pocatello, Idaho, and Missoula and Hamilton, Montana. Teton Wireless also owns MMDS licenses in Wyoming, Washington, and eastern Idaho. More information is available at the company's website, http://www.tetonwireless.com. For further information, please contact Donna Nims of Teton Wireless, +1-208-529-8895, dnims@tetonwireless.com. SOURCE Teton Wireless Web Site: http://www.tetonwireless.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 10:41:01 -0400 Subject: Vonage(R) Releases Xten's X-PRO SoftPhone for Mac OS X Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-24-2004/0002199300&EDATE= Vonage's cutting edge Voice over IP service now available for Mac users EDISON, N.J. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vonage, the leading broadband telephony provider in the U.S., and Xten Networks (OTC Bulletin Board: XNWK), publisher of the award winning X-PRO SoftPhone, announced today that Vonage and Xten have completed interoperability testing of an OEM version of Xten's X-PRO SIP SoftPhone for Mac-based Vonage subscribers. Mac users can now download the Vonage X-PRO for the Mac OS X SoftPhone to start making and receiving telephone calls immediately on their computers, while maintaining the same quality of service they have come to expect from Vonage. Road Warriors using the Vonage X-PRO SoftPhone for Mac OS X can access the Vonage service from almost any Internet connected personal computer. The Vonage X-PRO SoftPhone provides increased mobility of the Vonage service; this along with the feature-rich X-PRO's ease-of-use, make it a winning combination. "We are really excited to partner with Xten to offer our Mac-based customers the best soft phone on the market," said Michael Tribolet, Vonage's executive vice president of Operations. "This offering underscores our commitment to our customers who requested Mac availability for one of the most cutting edge applications, which is replete with great features and prices." "VoIP services have come a long way since the mid-nineties and to see them replacing circuit-switched primary line services marks a new era for the telephone," said Erik Lagerway, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Xten Networks, Inc. "Xten is proud to have Vonage as a customer and we are excited about the opportunities this new partnership will foster." About Vonage(R) Vonage is redefining communications by offering consumers and small businesses an affordable alternative to traditional telephone service. The fastest growing telephony company in North America, Vonage's service area encompasses more than 1900 active rate centers in over 125 North American markets. Vonage is sold directly through http://www.vonage.com and retail partners such as Amazon.com, RadioShack, Best Buy and Circuit City. Wholesale partners such as EarthLink, ARMSTRONG(R), Advanced Cable Communications and the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities resell the Vonage broadband phone service under their own unique brands. With more than 175,000 lines in service, Vonage continues to add more than 20,000 lines per month to its network. Over 5 million calls per week are made using Vonage, the easy-to-use, feature-rich, flat rate phone service. Vonage is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey. For more information about Vonage's products and services, please visit http://www.vonage.com or call 1-VONAGE-HELP. Vonage(R), Vonage Digital VoiceTM, Toll Free PlusSM and Virtual Phone Number(SM) are trademarks of Vonage Holdings Corp. About Xten(R) 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 . SOURCE Vonage; Xten Networks, Inc. Web Site: http://www.vonage.com http://www.xten.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 11:30:31 -0400 Subject: Jeff Pulver: "Big Brother" XTen Networks is WATCHING You Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from The Jeff Pulver Blog at http://192.246.69.231/jeff/personal/index.html June 24, 2004 One thing that I learned while I was at Supercomm was that each time someone launches their XTen FWD Client, Xten Networks gets a data notification of the event and they have an ability to track on a real-time basis every one of their mutual customers around the world. This was news to me and while on one hand it is pretty cool that this is possible, I had no idea that the FWD population that choose to use the Xten softphone was being "tracked" by the software publisher. I wonder how many other software/hardware vendors are tracking the use of their products/services on a real-time basis. Posted by jeff at 08:01 AM ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 09:56:00 -0400 Subject: Canadians Have Been Slow to Adopt Internet Telephony Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=9a558880-2bf2-4692-befc-4400c76a5e98 VoIP: What flavour would you like? Canadians have been slow to adopt Internet telephony but a sea change is coming Mark Evans According to a recent poll by Ipsos-Reid, Canadians have been slow to embrace Internet telephony and there appears to be little demand for the service among consumers. However, this has not stopped an increasing number of companies from jumping into the market. The playing field now includes Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc., Comwave Telecom Inc., Vonage Holdings Corp., Nicer Technologies Inc. and BabyTel. Telus Corp., AOL Canada Inc., Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. and Yak Communications Inc. plan to launch services later this year. Jon Arnold, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan, said the Canadian Internet telephony market will be slower to develop than in the United States because telephony service in Canada is high-quality and relatively inexpensive. Full story at: http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=9a558880-2bf2-4692-befc-4400c76a5e98 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 14:42:58 -0400 Subject: Oh Canada ... Oh Cable ... Oh Marketing Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from VoIP Watch at http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/ Depending on when you go there, the article may or may not be at the top of the page. June 24, 2004 Oh Canada ... Oh Cable ... Oh Marketing More viewpoints about the adoption, or slow progress VoIP will have in Canada is coming to light, this time from the National Post of Canada. While the stats have been beaten to death here and elsewhere, there is no faulting the reporter who clearly identified what VoIPWatch has been saying for a long time. Marketing and education about VoIP's product differentiation needs to be ratcheted up a few notches by the VoIP brands, and this applies to both USA and Canada, as well as in other countries each player will enter. [Interesting comments on VoIP marketing follow. Remember, you may have to scroll down the page a little to find this article, if anything has been added since I posted this.] Full article at: http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/ ------------------------------ 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 #305 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jun 25 15:22:06 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5PJM6420479; Fri, 25 Jun 2004 15:22:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 15:22:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406251922.i5PJM6420479@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 #306 TELECOM Digest Fri, 25 Jun 2004 15:22:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 306 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Norvergence in Financial Trouble (Barry B.) Re: Norvergence Questions (Black Ninja) Beastie Boys CD Installs Virus (Monty Solomon) Re: AOL Worker Sold Customer List For Spam, US Charges (Monty Solomon) EPIC Alert 11.12 (Monty Solomon) MCI Layoffs Looming (r8989) Peer to Peer/Point to Point VOIP (Jeroen) Re: Cell Phone Reception Question (Joseph) Re: Telephony Card for SOHO CTI? (Fred) Re: Verizon FSK Voice Mail Indication (SELLCOM Tech Support) VoIP Moves Continue: Qwest Enters Fray (VOIP News) Nortel Wants to Take VoIP to the Next Level (VOIP News) A Conversation With AT&T Labs Clayton Lockhart (VOIP News) Shaw Profits Surge; Links With Bell on VOIP (VOIP News) SH RISC/DSP SoC Does VoIP (VOIP News) Xten Phone Home - SIP FWD Client a Little Nosy? (VOIP News) Policy Makers Warned on VOIP Challenges to E-911 (VOIP News) Looking For a Security Engineer? (rwf) 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: BarryB Date: Thu, June 24 2004 9:25:00 PM Subject: Norvergence in Financial Trouble Norvergence article June 17 Star Ledger Page 58 Layoffs this week; financial problems; rumors that paychecks are bouncing. No way they can make it to the middle of July. Barry [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you know what 'they' say: When it comes to paying your bills you *always* pay the utilities and meet your payroll. Without employees and utilities you are out of business. You can always stall for time on the others; but not the utilities and not the payroll. You MUST take care of those. PAT] ------------------------------ From: triple_des1544@yahoo.com (Black Ninja) Subject: Re: Norvergence Questions Date: 24 Jun 2004 17:58:01 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Steven J Sobol wrote in message news:: > Black Ninja wrote: >> Which is it? You know a lot, or you don't have much juicy info? I >> feel that it may be the latter. Why don't you tell us all just one >> (1) thing that we don't already know. I know a lot too, and I can >> tell you if it is true or not. Personally, I think you are a full of >> sh*t ex-telemarketer. > Hey, all. Black Ninja is the jackass who replied to my post in > alt.cellular re: Norvergence's cellular services and then alternately > waffled and insulted me and a couple other posters when we pointed out > the company's problems and solicited comments from him. He eventually > stopped posting. > Norvergence's problems are well-documented. I'm sure Mr. Ninja will > dispute that, but the facts are out there. Surf on over to: > http://tinyurl.com/2uckn > and then click the Complete Thread link to view the sordid story. > I think the proper term is "company shill." And Sobol is the greasy jackhole that decided to post a totally incorrect response to a person's request for nuts and bolts info on a product -- just so that he could get his business email signature on the web. Get your facts straight and make a real contribution. Steven, let me help you out. Folks, if you are lucky enough to live in the oasis that we call "Apple Valley" (best damn tap water on earth and the meth aint half bad either), then please contact Mr. Steven "Never Heard of Norv Doing Cell Phones" Sobol for all of your web hosting needs. He's the man in the know. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 11:21:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: AOL Worker Sold Customer List For Spam, US Charges UNITED STATES v. JASON SMATHERS, SEAN DUNAWAY http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/cyberlaw/ussmthrs604acmp.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 11:13:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Beastie Boys CD Installs Virus By Thomas C Greene A new Beastie Boys' CD called "To the Five Boroughs" (Capitol Records), is raising hackles around the Web for reputedly infecting computers with a virus. According to a recent thread at BugTraq, an executable file is automatically and silently installed on the user's machine when the CD is loaded. The file is said to be a driver that prevents users from ripping the CD (and perhaps others), and attacks both Windows boxen and Macs. The infected CD is being distributed worldwide except in the USA and UK, which prevents us from giving a firsthand report. However, according to hearsay, we gather that the Windows version exploits the 'autorun' option, and that the Mac version affects the auto play option. On Windows, when a CD is loaded, a text file called autorun.inf is read, and any instructions within it are executed. In this case, the machine is instructed to install some manner of DRM driver that prevents copying. We haven't seen either the .inf file or any of the executables, so we can't say how or at what level it accomplishes this -- or if indeed it actually does accomplish this. But assuming that the unconfirmed reports are accurate, we have here a media company infecting users' machines silently with a file that affects a computer's functionality, without first obtaining informed consent: a likely violation of pretty much every jurisdiction's anti-hacking laws. It's possible to foresee criminal charges being brought at some point: after all, having a good reason for spreading malware has never been much of a defence in court. And a file that alters a computer's functioning without the owner's informed consent is the very definition of malware. Because this malware can be transferred from machine to machine on a removable disk, and requires user interaction to spread, it is, quite simply, a computer virus. (A worm, on the other hand, is distinguished by its ability to spread without user interaction.) http://www.theregister.com/2004/06/23/beastie_boy_cd_virus/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 13:37:21 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: AOL Worker Sold Customer List For Spam, US Charges Penis pill peddler stiffs AOL spam insider By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco Published Thursday 24th June 2004 00:32 GMT An AOL employee has been arrested and charged with conspiracy, after selling 92 million screen names to an Internet gambling operator in Las Vegas. 24-year-old Jason Smathers found out how to access what the charges describe as AOL's "highly secure database" when he was assigned another employee's laptop PC. All the instructions he needed were on the machine. Using his, er, AOL email account, Smathers got in touch with Sean Dunaway, who then sold the list onto spammers. Dunaway later boasted of using the list to boost his own Internet business and charged $52,000 for the full list, or $2000 for each letter of the alphabet, according to police charges. Smathers also gave himself away by using his new database privileges to first check on his own AOL account. The scam came to light when one of Dunaway's customers, whose job we learn, "is primarily the sending out of masses of unsolicited e-mail marketing herbal penile enlargement pills." This source, who isn't named, hopes to mitigate his participation in spamming. http://www.theregister.com/2004/06/24/aol_spam_insider/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 18:36:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 11.12 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 11.12 June 24, 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.12.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] Supreme Court Upholds Arrest for Refusal to Give Identification [2] EPIC Recommends Protections for Social Security Numbers [3] Info on PATRIOT Act Surveillance Authority Released [4] EPIC Proposes RFID Privacy Guidelines to the FTC [5] EPIC Opposes Ratification of Cybercrime Convention [6] Top TSA Official Admits Vast Collection of Air Passenger Data [7] News in Brief [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.12.html ------------------------------ From: rlm2174@yahoo.com (r8989) Subject: MCI Layoffs Date: 24 Jun 2004 21:59:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Has anyone seen anything on layoff this week? ------------------------------ From: muskjer@hetnet.nl (Jeroen) Subject: Peer to Peer/Point to Point VOIP Date: 25 Jun 2004 00:41:30 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Would anybody know how it is possible to connect a couple of branch offices with ip phones that will use ip for voice transfer and that are not connected to the PSTN with a gateway, like an intercom to get two sites connected. Regards, John ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Cell Phone Reception Question Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 07:13:46 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 24 Jun 2004 10:03:59 -0700, flyerscrew05@aol.com (nick) wrote: > I have been having a lot of trouble with my reception I get on my cell > phone. How much does the actual phone have to do with reception? Is > cell phone reception have more to deal with the carrier's network or > does your phone model actually play a large enough part to make a > difference. Which phone you use on a network can make all the difference in the world as far as holding a call and the useablility of the signal received. Some phones that have come out within the last few years have been notorious for bad RF reception such as the Ericsson T68i. That's not the only one, but it can make a big difference on how good your reception is. If you read mobile phone reviews that's one of the things that is often reviewed i.e. how well it picks up and holds on to signals. Also antenna design isn't always an indicator on which phone will have better RF reception. Some internal antenna designs on some phones will trump external antennas either the fixed type or the whip type. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Fred Subject: Re: Telephony Card for SOHO CTI? Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 17:20:19 +0200 Organization: Guest of ProXad - France On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 08:53:12 +0000, bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) wrote: > Yeah, that's "too simple" --- but it works! I wasn't looking specifically for a sophisticated solution, but I didn't know a modem could read caller ID info without answering a call. An 18E PCI modem did the trick. Thx for the tip. Fred. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Verizon FSK Voice Mail Indication Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 16:58:51 GMT David posted on that vast internet thingie: > Has anyone successfully used an FSK voice mail indicator with Verizon > CO voice mail? When one asks the Verizon sales office they say that > they will try to turn it on, but they don't seem to know which COs > support it. The exchange that I am interested in is 781-235-XXXX. > Panasonic has a new portable phone with a nice LED in the antenna that > is supposed to light from FSK signaling. Much better than stutter > dial tone if it will work. Just about each time I have needed to have Verizon VMWI turned on it has taken several calls. Sometimes a repair tech can go in and toggle it on. I am pretty sure they support it because a lot of people buy our TMC ET4000 phones to use with Verizon's products. 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: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 20:05:12 -0400 Subject: VoIP Moves Continue: Qwest Enters Fray Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.x-changemag.com/tdhotnews/46h24133929.html By Tara Seals Qwest Communications International Inc. this week says it will soon launch IP telephony-based local and long-distance bundles with broadband nationwide. The notice follows a VoIP announcement by Verizon Communications Inc. earlier in the week and others by incumbents and top interexchange carriers over the last six months. Qwest's VoIP service, dubbed OneFlex, targets businesses and will be available in mid-July in Boise, Idaho; Denver; Minneapolis; and Phoenix. The company plans to roll out OneFlex to 22 more metropolitan areas, ranging from Albuquerque, N.M. to Washington, D.C., by the end of 2004. The managed and hosted solution relies on Qwest’s national IP network and requires no CPE beyond IP phones. It allows self-service via a Web portal for conference calling, adds, moves and changes, voice mail setup and other features. It also provides some quality of service controls as long as the traffic stays on the Qwest network. Full story at: http://www.x-changemag.com/tdhotnews/46h24133929.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, 24 Jun 2004 20:13:37 -0400 Subject: Nortel Wants to Take VoIP to the Next Level Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.x-changemag.com/tdhotnews/46h24131256.html By Tara Seals Taking a page from open source initiatives, Nortel Networks announced a global strategy at SUPERCOMM to jumpstart mass market adoption of SIP-based multimedia by making it easy to for device manufacturers and other vendors to interoperate with its Multimedia Communication Server (MCS) 5100 and 5200 products. It hopes to add at least 40 vendors to its roster of those with certified compatible manufacturers. "There are not enough SIP clients out there to provide a choice to consumers," explains Thom Baker, product line manager at Nortel. "We want to seed the market with clients and devices, and interoperate with different products," the theory being that more available, interoperable devices will lead to cheaper manufacturing costs, more affordable clients and more end user adoption. "You should be able to walk into Best Buy or Wal-Mart and buy a SIP device," he adds. Full story at: http://www.x-changemag.com/tdhotnews/46h24131256.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 20:59:34 -0400 Subject: A Conversation With AT&T Labs Clayton Lockhart Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_conversation_att_labs/index.htm By Dan O'Shea CHICAGO--This spring, AT&T steered the voice-over-IP market into a new phase by launching its CallVantage VoIP service for the residential market. Though VoIP has matured gradually over the last few years, the service launch still represents a remarkable change in attitude and shift in strategy by the mother of all old-school telcos. Clayton Lockhart, vice president for global network planning and development at AT&T Labs, sat down with Telephony's Dan O'Shea at the Supercomm 2004 trade show Thursday morning to discuss how AT&T got to this market turning point and what to expect in the future. Full story at: http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_conversation_att_labs/index.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 11:28:09 -0400 Subject: Shaw Profits Surge; Links With Bell on VOIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1088158352925&call_pageid=968350072197&col=968705923364 CALGARY (CP) Cable TV giant Shaw Communications Inc. is reporting a third-quarter profit of $24.8 million, sharply reversing the $13-million loss a year earlier and teaming up with Bell Canada on coming Internet telephone services. In a third-straight profitable quarter, Shaw's net income in the period ended May 31 amounted to six cents a share, contrasting with a year-ago loss of 10 cents a share, the Calgary-based company said Friday. Service revenue rose 5.2 per cent to $532 million. Shaw said it plans to "decisively pursue" new business in the new voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) phone market. "We have selected Bell to provide wholesale services for our initial launch of residential telephone service," the company said in a release. "Bell will provide wholesale services, including interconnection to the public switched telephone network, and long-distance termination in order to enable Shaw to provide residential telephone service to its customers in Western Canada." Full story at: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1088158352925&call_pageid=968350072197&col=968705923364 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 11:30:18 -0400 Subject: SH RISC/DSP SoC Does VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6000469573.html Renesas has introduced a new SuperH embedded processor that supports Linux and is optimized for VoIP (voice over IP) applications. The SH7710 dual-core RISC/DSP chip can process VoIP with enough overhead to simultaneously run a firewall and security algorithms, according to Renesas. It targets VoIP ATAs (analog telephone adapters), routers, home gateway servers, and secure routers. Renesas says the SH7710 can encode or decode up to four channels of voice while simultaneously running an operating system, SIP (session initiation protocol), and other networking protocol stacks. A "complete set of VoIP middleware" for the chip is available for licensing to VoIP equipment OEMs, according to Renesas. The middleware is based on ITU-compliant CODECs including G.711, G.723.1, G.726, and G.729A, and the speech CODEC license includes patent indemnification that covers major countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. An echo canceller and an adaptive jitter buffer manager are also available. Full story at: http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6000469573.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 11:34:44 -0400 Subject: Xten Phone Home - SIP FWD Client a Little Nosy? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/46666 Free World Dial-Up's Jeff Pulver notes in our forums that SIP VoIP softphone provider Xten seems to be tracking user information when users launch their product. Each time a user launches the Xten Free World Dial-up client, the company receives: - the date and time the call was made - The license key - Software version number and build stamp - NAT IP Address According to a post from an apparent employee over at Jeff's blog , the company claims they aren't data mining, they simply "need to know how many active endpoints we have in the market not only for our purposes but also for our customers." They also claim the information is only collected the first time the client is run. Big deal? Depends who you ask and how paranoid they are. One thing to note; after a quick glance of the Xten license agreement, there seems to be no mention that this information would be shared with the parent company. Article plus reader comments at: http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/46666 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 13:59:06 -0400 Subject: Policy-Makers Warned on VoIPs Challenges to E911 Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18632 by HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER WASHINGTON Congressional staffers were told Thursday that Voice over Internet Protocol technology poses challenges to the enhanced 911 system. "VoIP brings new technical challenges and new players to the E911 system. The purpose of the briefing is to educate policy-makers on the implications of VoIP technology for public safety, homeland security and emergency communications, and provide more information on efforts by the public-safety community and industry to address these challenges," said Gregory Rohde, executive director of the E911 Institute. Full story at: http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18632 ------------------------------ From: rwf@loonybin.net Subject: Looking For a Security Engineer? Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 18:35:03 GMT Organization: Road Runner Looking for a security engineer? My website is http://www.loonybin.net/ and email rwf@loonybin.net Please feel free to contact me. Robert ------------------------------ 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 #306 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jun 27 15:49:54 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5RJnsX12145; Sun, 27 Jun 2004 15:49:54 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 15:49:54 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406271949.i5RJnsX12145@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 #307 TELECOM Digest Sun, 27 Jun 2004 15:49:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 307 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (VOIP News) Domain Registration Recommendations (SELLCOM Tech support) Cyberstalking Investigations (LVPI) No Ringtone When I am Called (Desk) DECT - Telephony (Desk) Re: Norvergence Questions (Steven J Sobol) Re: Peer to Peer/Point to Point VOIP (Chip G) Re: Looking For a Security Engineer? (John Levine) Re: Looking For a Security Engineer? (Rob Foehl) Re: Looking For a Security Engineer? (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Looking For a Security Engineer? (John R Levine) Web Virus May Be Stealing Financial Data (Monty Solomon) Public Service Announcement: June 27 is HIV Testing Day (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 10:05:35 -0400 Subject: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2004/06/27/News/244994.html By Wesley Brown Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Local phone service in Arkansas and the rest of the nation is nearing a big evolution, experts say, meaning that terms like WiFi, telephony and FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) will soon become part of our everyday language. However, it is Internet phone service, more commonly known as voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) technology, that many feel will have the biggest impact on the landscape of the $100-billion-a-year telecommunications industry over the next few years. "Clearly, VOIP is going to be very important over the next few years," said SBC Arkansas spokesman Ted Wagnon. "It is the most substantial technological advance in 100 years." SBC, which operates about 950,000 access lines in Arkansas, is betting on the new technology. On Tuesday, San-Antonio-based SBC Communications - parent company to SBC Arkansas - announced a $4 billion to $6 billion expansion plan over the next five years to install a fiber optic network offering high-speed Internet access, voice communications and television programming. SBC officials would not discuss details of the expansion plan. Full story at: http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2004/06/27/News/244994.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: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Domain Registration Recommendations Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 18:07:12 GMT I have received so much spam from buydomains.com / domaindiscover.com (delivered by their email server) after repeated notice to them that I am now looking for another registrar. It is our policy never to support spammers or spam enablers. After DAYS of reporting spam to them I get this garbage from them wanting me to FAX them copies of any spam so they can build a case. No one is *that* incompetent! Does anyone have any recommendations for dependable domain registrars that have stability, economy pricing etc, basic services, but do not knowingly support spammers? I have quite a few domains registered. 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: LasVegasPI@aol.com (LVPI) Subject: Cyberstalking Investigations Date: 26 Jun 2004 22:50:34 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'd like to introduce our service of identifying cyberstalkers. We can trace and identify the person behind almost any email address or Screen Name. Our sucess rate is over 85% and we can usually return the information in under 24 hours. If we cannot find the name, address and phone number there is no charge. If you are a victim of a cyberstalker, auction fraud or contemplating an online romance please visit our site or email us with your questions. http://emailrevealer.com/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, if your service of identifying the *true* name, address and telephone number of cyberpests is so good -- 85 percent positive success rate after all -- then why not contract your services to the several experienced sysadmins who search for spam senders and virii writers? Now that spam and virii equal about 80-85 percent of all traffic on the net (we are told), and the net is becoming increasingly useless, I imagine these guys would love to have your services. I know that I, for one, would love to know the true identity of people who send out that crap under my name. PAT] ------------------------------ From: desk.exp@skynet.be (Desk) Subject: No Ringtone When I am Called Date: 26 Jun 2004 02:05:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Situation: We have a PABX connected to the public network. This PABX is sending the information to the DECT's in the office. Problem: When we are called by our customers we do not hear a ringtone. The customer is calling us and he hears the phone going over, meaning that he thinks the phone is ringing, but on our site there is no ringtone. This means that we do not know that there is a phone call comming in. This problems happens sometimes. This makes it hard to investigate. What can I do? We changed already the complete installation, but the problem is not solved. ------------------------------ From: desk.exp@skynet.be (Desk) Subject: DECT - Telephony Date: 26 Jun 2004 02:00:20 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Situation: I have a PABX connected to the telephone network. This PABX is sending the incoming calls to my DECT's on my desk. Problem: When somebody calls we most of the time the handsets are ringing, but sometimes when I pick up the handset the conversation is disconnected immediately when I pick up the phone. We changed every component, but the problem is still there. What can be the reason for this disconnect? What do I need to investigate? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if your two problems described above, (1) phone 'rings' but you get no audible signal and (2) pick up a phone and the conversation in progress gets disconnected are somehow related. Are the two problems both on the same installation? Did you swap out the components after (1), or (2) or both? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence Questions Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 15:08:29 -0500 Black Ninja wrote: > Steven, let me help you out. Folks, if you are lucky enough to live > in the oasis that we call "Apple Valley" (best damn tap water on earth > and the meth aint half bad either), then please contact Mr. Steven > "Never Heard of Norv Doing Cell Phones" Sobol for all of your web > hosting needs. He's the man in the know. This is exactly what happened last time ... all I got was insults. No facts. 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: Chip G Subject: Re: Peer to Peer/Point to Point VOIP Organization: Comcast Online Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 01:19:23 GMT Jeroen wrote in message news:telecom23.306.8@telecom-digest.org... > Would anybody know how it is possible to connect a couple of branch > offices with ip phones that will use ip for voice transfer and that > are not connected to the PSTN with a gateway, like an intercom to get > two sites connected. > Regards, > John You could easily do this with the Asterisk PBX and a couple of IP Telephones. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jun 2004 01:17:18 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Looking For a Security Engineer? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA Hey, Pat, this is spam. I got lots of other copies of it. It's hard to imagine someone who thinks that spam is a good idea having a grasp of computer security. In article you write: > Looking for a security engineer? > My website is http://www.loonybin.net/ and email rwf@loonybin.net > Please feel free to contact me. > Robert ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 21:21:30 -0400 (EDT) From: Rob Foehl Subject: Re: Looking For a Security Engineer? John, This (and the presumably dozens of posts like it) are the result of a joe-job; I replaced my usual page with some more information on the matter. If you're able to retract/cancel/etc any of these posts, I would greatly appreciate it; I have close to 200 bounces from various places. I'll share the rest of the evidence I have, if you'd like; it's not posted publicly (yet). It has, however, been reported to the rr.com abuse department, and I'm hoping they'll be in touch with me ASAP, since their news server was used. -Rob On Fri, 26 Jun 2004, John Levine wrote: > Hey, Pat, this is spam. I got lots of other copies of it. > It's hard to imagine someone who thinks that spam is a good idea > having a grasp of computer security. > In article you write: >> Looking for a security engineer? >> My website is http://www.loonybin.net/ and email rwf@loonybin.net >> Please feel free to contact me. >> Robert ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 00:10:58 (EDT) From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Re: Looking For a Security Engineer? John, thanks for letting me know. I only got one copy of it or that would have tipped me off. But you are right of course. Silly me, I actually thought maybe I was helping the guy. PAT ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jun 2004 00:24:01 -0400 From: John R Levine Subject: Re: Looking For a Security Engineer? > John, thanks for letting me know. I only got one copy of it or that > would have tipped me off. But you are right of course. Silly me, I > actually thought maybe I was helping the guy. Turns out it's a joe job, he's not sending the spam, some dimwitted kiddie who's mad at him is. 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 Editor's Note: Well that just goes to show how little I know about anything. I suppose I should read the net more, and follow the politics and learn who is angry at whom about what, then those things would not get past me here. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 18:29:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Web Virus May Be Stealing Financial Data By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- A mysterious Internet virus being spread Friday by hundreds and possibly thousands of infected Web sites may be aimed at stealing credit card and other valuable information, security experts warned. The infection appears to take advantage of three separate flaws with Microsoft Corp. products. Microsoft said software updates to fix two of them had been released in April, but the third flaw was newly discovered and had no patch to fix it yet. Experts said the infection, detected by Microsoft on Thursday, was unusually broad but wasn't substantially interfering with Internet traffic. Security experts at Microsoft and elsewhere worked Friday to pin down how the infection spreads across Web sites. It appears to target at least one recent version of Microsoft software for operating Web sites -- called Internet Information Server. The infection makes subtle changes to the Web site so visitors get a piece of code that's designed to retrieve from a Russian Web site software that records a person's keystrokes and can send data back, experts say. Such software "Trojan horses" are routinely used to fish for credit card numbers, bank accounts, passwords and the like. Now that the code is out, other hackers are likely to adapt it to distribute software for spamming and for launching broad Internet attacks against popular Web sites, said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering at security company Symantec Corp. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42179860 ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: It's Better to Know - National HIV Testing Day is June 27 Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 15:00:00 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The following is a public service message presented to the entire internet community by comp.dcom.telecom and other participating news groups by the National Association of People With AIDS ( www.napwa.org ) PAT] National HIV Testing Day Sunday, June 27th is National HIV Testing Day. If you've never been tested, or if you've had unprotected sex or shared a needle since your last test, now is the time to get an HIV test. IT'S BETTER TO KNOW Take advantage of treatment and care options. Visit www.hivtest.org to find a testing location near you. National HIV Testing Day is a project of the National Association of People with AIDS. www.napwa.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. 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 #307 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jun 28 13:13:18 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5SHDIW21360; Mon, 28 Jun 2004 13:13:18 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 13:13:18 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406281713.i5SHDIW21360@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 #308 TELECOM Digest Mon, 28 Jun 2004 13:12:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 308 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson The Next Big Thing is Actually Ultrawide (Monty Solomon) Will Apple be Illegal? (Monty Solomon) Popular Camera Cellphones Raise Privacy Concerns in Vt. Schools (M Solomon) Is This a Legal System to Make Free Phone Calls (Kevin) Re: Office Telephone System Recommendations (Mike McWhinney) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Norvergence Questions (Black Ninja) What Happened to The "2 Way" Craze? (Proprclr) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (Steven J Sobol) Re: Peer to Peer/Point to Point VOIP (Wolfgang S. Rupprecht) Re: No Ringtone When I am Called (Ken Abrams) Broadvoice Takes The "Limits" Off "Unlimited" (VOIP News) Internet Phones Lighten Traffic and Wallets (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, 28 Jun 2004 02:04:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Next Big Thing is Actually Ultrawide The next big thing is actually ultrawide But technology hampered by regulatory hurdles, a clash over standards By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | June 25, 2004 The space shuttle videos looked almost better than the real thing. They were high-definition videos, on display earlier this month at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. And though there's nothing unusual these days about high-definition television, these two videos came from an unusual source -- a laptop computer in one corner of a medium-sized conference room. The laptop was plugged into a black box bearing two small antennas; similar boxes were plugged into the HDTV monitors. The result was a wireless network powerful enough to broadcast two different high-definition videos simultaneously, with enough leftover capacity to handle a third channel. Those black boxes were built by Freescale Semiconductor, a division of Motorola Corp. The microchips inside them can pump out 110 million bits of data per second -- twice as much as the fastest WiFi wireless networking equipment now on the market. And that's just the beginning. Before the year's out, Freescale will be making chips that run twice as fast; by next year, it plans to offer a slice of silicon that will broadcast wireless data at one billion bits per second. Freescale is one of the leaders in a new kind of digital technology called "ultrawideband" that's being described as the next big consumer wireless technology, thanks to its ability to pump out massive amounts of data. But even though some ultrawideband devices will come to market this year, the technology is still hobbled by regulatory challenges and a long-running clash between two incompatible ultrawideband systems. According to Bob Heile, the Attleboro physicist who leads a wireless standards-setting committee for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), "Right now, it's 10 percent technology and 90 percent politics." Most radio devices send out a signal over a narrow band of frequencies. For example, WiFi data networks use a small set of frequencies in the 2.4 gigahertz range. But ultrawideband works by broadcasting over a much larger chunk of the radio spectrum -- from 3.1 to 10.5 gigahertz -- all at the same time. As a result, even a low-powered ultrawideband radio signal can carry huge amounts of data. Ultrawideband technology has other powerful attributes. Because the signal can penetrate solid objects, police forces and armies use the technology in radar systems that can see through walls. The precise digital pulses of an ultrawideband radio make it possible to locate a transmitter with an accuracy of a few inches, so automakers are working on ultrawideband detectors that can spot oncoming cars and prevent collisions. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2004/06/25/the_next_big_thing_is_actually_ultrawide/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 02:58:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Will Apple be Illegal? EFF has mocked-up a complaint against Apple under the pending INDUCE Act. http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/001994.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 23:32:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Popular Camera Cellphones Raise Privacy Concerns in Vt. Schools Burlington's officials expected to OK new policy By Associated Press | June 27, 2004 BURLINGTON, Vt. -- School officials in Vermont's largest city are trying to put a lid on potential problems caused by the latest craze in new technology: tiny digital cameras built into cellphones. This past year, at least two students were disciplined for using the devices to take pictures of fellow students without permission. The school board is expected to approve tomorrow a policy clarifying that such behavior is forbidden. http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2004/06/27/popular_camera_cellphones_raise_privacy_concerns_in_vt_schools/ ------------------------------ From: vincent.mertens@tiscali.be (Kevin) Subject: Is This a Legal System to Make Free Phone Calls Date: 28 Jun 2004 05:42:34 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com System explain on http://www.webwizzard.nl/linkspel/?r=1814 ------------------------------ From: eljainc@ameritech.net (Mike McWhinney) Subject: Re: Office Telephone System Recommendations Date: 27 Jun 2004 20:37:01 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Carl Navarro wrote in message news:: > 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 [snip] We are not familiar with BizFone or the TMC/TMS name and are going with the Panasonic system that I had mentioned before. It is better I think to go with an established product with reliable support. I thought I saw one poster say that they had problems with Panasonic support, but it can't be too bad eh? We need a basic phone system, but good one. I think the KX-TA624 with 7 or 8 extensions and 4 lines (expansion card from 3 lines) should do. Anyone have any last minute horror stories with this particular phone system from Panasonic? Regards, Mike McWhinney ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 04:52:45 GMT SELLCOM Tech support posted on that vast internet thingie: > Does anyone have any recommendations for dependable domain registrars > that have stability, economy pricing etc, basic services, but do not > knowingly support spammers? I have quite a few domains registered. Thank you to all who emailed your suggestions. I truly appreciate your time and suggestions. It looks like we have decided to become a reseller ourselves. 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: triple_des1544@yahoo.com (Black Ninja) Subject: Re: Norvergence Questions Date: 27 Jun 2004 23:01:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Steven J Sobol wrote in message news:: > Black Ninja wrote: >> Steven, let me help you out. Folks, if you are lucky enough to live >> in the oasis that we call "Apple Valley" (best damn tap water on earth >> and the meth aint half bad either), then please contact Mr. Steven >> "Never Heard of Norv Doing Cell Phones" Sobol for all of your web >> hosting needs. He's the man in the know. > This is exactly what happened last time ... all I got was insults. No > facts. Suprised to see you still at it, Steve ... Mr. Sobol had no facts to offer in the first place, just regurgitated B.S. Please use his services for your webhosting needs ASAP so that he will not need to advertise as much on this board. ------------------------------ From: balanco01@yahoo.com (Proprclr) Subject: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: 28 Jun 2004 02:31:27 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Last year, it seemed like everybody was using the 2 way "walkie talkie" feature on Nextel phones (probaly others as well), and I would see a lot of "2 waying" going on on busses, in supermarkets, etc. For the past few months, there seems to have been a sharp decrease in people "2 waying", and I rarely see it anymore. I live in LA, so I see plenty of people using cellphones, but nobody seems to use the walkie talkie feature anymore. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie two way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of using a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was actually a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone which in addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type 'loudspeaker' type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 17:24:37 -0500 SELLCOM Tech support wrote: > I have received so much spam from buydomains.com / domaindiscover.com > (delivered by their email server) after repeated notice to them that I > am now looking for another registrar. It is our policy never to > support spammers or spam enablers. > After DAYS of reporting spam to them I get this garbage from them > wanting me to FAX them copies of any spam so they can build a case. > No one is *that* incompetent! > Does anyone have any recommendations for dependable domain registrars > that have stability, economy pricing etc, basic services, but do not > knowingly support spammers? I have quite a few domains registered. I resell GoDaddy/WildWestDomains. http://DomainNames.justthe.net/ or if you're looking to resell domain names to others, http://wildwestdomains.com. 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. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Peer to Peer/Point to Point VOIP From: wolfgang+gnus20040627T160145@dailyplanet.dontspam.wsrcc.com Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 23:10:44 GMT Chip G writes: > Jeroen wrote in message > news:telecom23.306.8@telecom-digest.org: >> Would anybody know how it is possible to connect a couple of branch >> offices with ip phones that will use ip for voice transfer and that >> are not connected to the PSTN with a gateway, like an intercom to get >> two sites connected. > You could easily do this with the Asterisk PBX and a couple of IP > Telephones. Or if you wanted to do a quick proof-of-concent test you could just pick up a pair of Grandstream Budgetone-100's for $65 each and use Pulver's Free-World-Dial server as the PBX. Thats what I did before I got my Asterisk up and running. (Asterisk was a bit of an uphill battle since I needed to get it running on Openbsd-current and then needed to figure out the config files.) Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/ New toy: Voice over ip phone. Sounds much better than an analog phone. http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/voip.html ------------------------------ From: Ken Abrams Subject: Re: No Ringtone When I am Called Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 01:57:53 GMT Desk wrote: > Situation: > We have a PABX connected to the public network. This PABX is sending > the information to the DECT's in the office. > Problem: > When we are called by our customers we do not hear a ringtone. It is the PABX that makes the phones ring (and also sends back the fake audible ring to the calling party). Your problem is "in-house". > What can I do? We changed already the complete installation, but the > problem is not solved. Exactly what do you mean by "complete installation" ? In any case, you should be beating on the supplier of your PABX and phones (assuming they both came from the same vendor). ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 16:16:56 -0400 Subject: Broadvoice Takes The "Limits" Off "Unlimited" Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.voxilla.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=71&mode=nested&order=0&thold=0 By DAMEON D. WELCH-ABERNATHY for VOXILLA.COM BroadVoice, a Lowell, MA-based residential/SoHo Voice over IP service provider, has become the first major broadband telephone company to share its configuration options for unlimited nationwide calling plans with its customers. The bold step allows customers to use Broadvoice's $19.95/mo. unlimited service with virtually any SIP-capable telephone device, including analog adaptors, IP phones and telephone exchange systems such as the popular open-source Asterisk PBX. Broadvoice CEO David Epstein says simple business factors prompted the company to allow open use of its unlimited services. "There are more than 2 million Cisco phones out there," said Epstein. "Why would I not want to serve that market, or the asterisk market, or the soft-phone market?" Epstein adds that allowing end users to provide their own device significantly reduces the company's customer acquisition costs. Full story at: http://www.voxilla.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=71&mode=nested&order=0&thold=0 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, 28 Jun 2004 08:15:37 -0400 Subject: Internet Phones Lighten Traffic and Wallets Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com [Comment: This story wins the award for the dumbest headline I've seen on a VoIP story!] http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/9030743.htm By John M. Moran Knight Ridder Newspapers HARTFORD, Conn. - Internet phone calling started out as a cheap way for computer nerds to avoid traditional long-distance rates. The calls were free, but sound quality was scratchy and both parties needed computers, speakers and microphones to complete the online voice connection. Now, roughly a decade later, phone calling using Internet technology has significantly improved and is quickly going mainstream -- threatening to rattle the multibillion-dollar telephone industry and to dramatically reshape personal and business communications. Just ask Tom Barberino Jr. of Meriden, Conn., who already has two Internet phones at home and even more at the office. Barberino began playing with Internet-based telephony -- sometimes called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VOIP for short -- a couple of years ago. Not only did VOIP slash his phone bill, Barberino said, but also it also gave him a raft of new features, such as detailed call logs and multiple phone numbers. Large telecommunications companies also are getting into the VOIP market, using their own sprawling private networks to carry voice calls in efficient, Internet-like fashion. Comcast Corp. is preparing to offer phone service to millions of households by the end of 2006, largely using VOIP. SBC Communications is offering VOIP services aimed at business customers. AT&T has been steadily expanding its VOIP service. And Cox Communications has issued a statement saying VOIP is "ready for prime time." Full story at: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/9030743.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. 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 #308 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 29 03:24:38 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5T7Obl27377; Tue, 29 Jun 2004 03:24:38 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 03:24:38 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406290724.i5T7Obl27377@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 #309 TELECOM Digest Tue, 29 Jun 2004 03:23:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 309 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #439, June 28, 2004 (John Riddell) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Matt Simpson) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Justin Time) Pizza... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID Info? (JV) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (Ray Normandeau) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Brad Houser) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (John R. Levine) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Joseph) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Gary Breuckman) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Leader: The Dirty Little Secret of VoIP (VOIP News) Qovia Readies Tool To Block VoIP Spam (VOIP News) EyeTV 500 HDTV Digital Video Recorder For the Mac (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 11:29:32 -0400 From: John Riddell Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #439, June 28, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 439: June 28, 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: ** Shaw Plans 2005 VoIP Launch ** Telus Bid for Microcell Extended ** 10% of Bell Staff Offered Early Retirement ** Bell Union Rejects Contract Offer ** Wi-LAN Sues Cisco for Patent Infringement ** 62 Million on U.S. Do Not Call List ** PrimeLine Destandardized, But Not Canceled ** Telus Appeals Labour Board Ruling ** Cities Want Emergency Access to 9-1-1 Databases ** Telus, Bell Block Some Overseas Calls ** AirIQ to Buy U.S. Telematics Company ** Telus Fast Dial-Up Offered in Quebec ** VoIP Startup Wholesales Long Distance ** VoIP Associations Merge ** Comdex Show Canceled ** Hennessy Confirmed in Top Job at CCTA ** Should VoIP Be Regulated? ============================================================ SHAW PLANS 2005 VoIP LAUNCH: Shaw Communications says it will launch IP-based residential telephone service in western Canada early in 2005. It will obtain wholesale VoIP services, including PSTN interconnection and long distance, from Bell Canada. Siemens will provide the softswitch platform. ** In the three months ended May 31 Shaw's subscriber base increased 2% (Internet), 1.5% (satellite), and 0.1% (basic cable). Consolidated service revenue for the quarter was 8.8% higher than last year. TELUS BID FOR MICROCELL EXTENDED: Telus has extended the deadline for its hostile takeover bid for Microcell to July 22, and has changed the conditions so that only a majority of shares (not two-thirds) must be tendered. ** By the original June 22 deadline, holders of only 14,877 of Microcell's Class A and Class B shares had accepted Telus's offer. Microcell has over 29,300,000 outstanding Class A and B shares. 10% OF BELL STAFF OFFERED EARLY RETIREMENT: As part of a program to cut yearly costs by $1 billion, Bell Canada has offered an early retirement package to about 4,500 of its 42,500 employees. A similar offer has been made to 2,300 unionized employees as part of current contract negotiations. (see next item) BELL UNION REJECTS CONTRACT OFFER: The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union has recommended rejection of Bell Canada's contract offer to 7,000 employees. A membership vote on whether to authorize strike action is currently underway: the results will be announced July 12. ** Bell Canada says its contract offer includes no change to job security provisions, a "wage settlement well aligned to the market," and enhanced benefits. WI-LAN SUES CISCO FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT: Calgary-based wireless broadband developer Wi-LAN is suing Cisco in the Federal Court of Canada for allegedly infringing Wi-LAN patents for OFDM technology. A previous Wi-LAN suit against Cisco was settled in 2001. 62 MILLION ON U.S. DO NOT CALL LIST: In the 12 months since the Do Not Call Registry was launched in the U.S., consumers have registered 62 million phone numbers and reported 428,000 possible violations. About 200 companies had more than 100 complaints filed against them. PRIMELINE DESTANDARDIZED, BUT NOT CANCELED: CRTC Telecom Order 2004-201 rejects Bell Canada's application to discontinue PrimeLine service entirely, until the telco demonstrates "that most PrimeLine subscribers have been smoothly and satisfactorily migrated from the service." Bell can destandardize the service, but only if it continues to allow existing customers to make changes to their calling schedules. (See Telecom Update #387, 399) www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2004/o2004-201.htm TELUS APPEALS LABOUR BOARD RULING: Tele-Mobile Company, which operates Telus Mobility, has asked the Federal Court of Appeal to stay and review the Canada Industrial Relations Board decision that added Telus Mobility employees in Central Canada to the Telecommunications Workers Union bargaining unit. Telus says the ruling violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canada Labour Code. (see Telecom Update #434) CITIES WANT EMERGENCY ACCESS TO 9-1-1 DATABASES: In a Part VII application submitted on June 14, several municipalities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and New Brunswick ask the CRTC to allow them to access the telcos' 9-1-1 databases to notify residents in case of emergency situations. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2004/8665/s62_200405888.htm TELUS, BELL BLOCK SOME OVERSEAS CALLS: Telus and Bell are moving to block calls to destinations frequently involved in "modem hijacking" scams. Beginning July 1, Telus will block customer-dialed calls to Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Nauru, and Sao Tome, and beginning August 1, Bell will block customer- dialed calls to Guinea-Bissau, Nauru, Sao Tome, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, and the Tokelau Islands. AIRIQ TO BUY U.S. TELEMATICS COMPANY: AirIQ, which provides asset tracking services, has agreed to buy California-based Aircept.com, for $23.8 million in cash and shares. Aircept has 43 employees and 80,000 subscribers. TELUS FAST DIAL-UP OFFERED IN QUEBEC: Telus's Turbo GT fast Internet dial-up service, which offers speeds up to 280 Kbps using technology from Slipstream Data, is now available in Quebec. VoIP STARTUP WHOLESALES LONG DISTANCE: Toronto-based Budget Minutes is offering a suite of Voice over IP services, including "click2talk" instant calling, to competitive long distance and phone card suppliers. VoIP ASSOCIATIONS MERGE: The International VoIP Council, an alliance of vendors and service providers including Bell Canada and Telus, has merged into the International Packet Communications Consortium (IPCC), another trade organization promoting VoIP adoption. www.packetcomm.org COMDEX SHOW CANCELED: Comdex 2004 has been canceled because of weak support from leading IT vendors. The Las Vegas show, whose attendance peaked in 2000 at 211,000, drew 45,000 participants last year. Its owner, MediaLive International, hopes to relaunch next year. HENNESSY CONFIRMED IN TOP JOB AT CCTA: Michael Hennessy has been appointed President and CEO of the Canadian Cable TV Association, after "acting" in the position for nine months (see Telecom Update #401). Prior to joining the CCTA in 1999, he held senior regulatory and policy positions at Bell Mobility and the CRTC. SHOULD VoIP BE REGULATED? The July-August Telemanagement, available to online subscribers tomorrow, features Lis Angus's review and analysis of the telecom industry's debate on CRTC proposals for regulation of Voice over IP phone service. Also in this issue: ** Planning for High Availability Networking ** Is There a Future for Frame Relay and ATM Networks? ** Key Issues for Telecom Disaster Recovery To become a Telemanagement subscriber -- including unlimited access to Telemanagement's extensive online content -- visit www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub-online.html or call 800-263-4415 ext 500. ============================================================ 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: news01@jmatt.net (Matt Simpson) Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Date: 28 Jun 2004 10:33:20 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com That's a crock. We are still a very long way from "Internet Phone Service For Every Home". Before that can happen, we need broadband in every home. And that's a long way off. The article keeps mentioning how some people have "few choices" of VOIP providers. It doesn't mention that many of us have zero choice of broadband providers, which is a prerequisite for VOIP. ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Date: 28 Jun 2004 10:53:48 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com VOIP News wrote in message news: http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2004/06/27/News/244994.html > By Wesley Brown > Arkansas News Bureau > LITTLE ROCK - Local phone service in Arkansas and the rest of the > nation is nearing a big evolution, experts say, meaning that terms > like WiFi, telephony and FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) will soon become > part of our everyday language. > However, it is Internet phone service, more commonly known as > voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) technology, that many feel will > have the biggest impact on the landscape of the $100-billion-a-year > telecommunications industry over the next few years. > "Clearly, VOIP is going to be very important over the next few years," > said SBC Arkansas spokesman Ted Wagnon. "It is the most substantial > technological advance in 100 years." > SBC, which operates about 950,000 access lines in Arkansas, is betting > on the new technology. On Tuesday, San-Antonio-based SBC > Communications - parent company to SBC Arkansas - announced a $4 > billion to $6 billion expansion plan over the next five years to > install a fiber optic network offering high-speed Internet access, > voice communications and television programming. SBC officials would > not discuss details of the expansion plan. > Full story at: > http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2004/06/27/News/244994.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/ And Fiber to the curb was to be the NEXT big things of the late 80's if I remember right. Have they solved the problem of who is going to pay for all that bandwidth? That's not to mention the cost of the local loop. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: cyberpizzaguy@hotmail.com (JV) Subject: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: 28 Jun 2004 10:56:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Ok, I did say Pizza to get your attention, but this question is related to Pizza. Just about everyone orders pizza for delivery ... right? Well on our side, getting pizza orders over the phone is big business. Problem is that sometimes crooks with ill intentions try to lure pizza drivers in to rob them, or worse. Many times they use a pay phone, and the prevelance of cell phones makes this a growing problem for me. My ultimate objective is to determine if the phone call is from a pay phone, cell phone, or land phone to help ensure the safety of the drivers. Though web searches I've read just enough about SS7 & ANI to make my head spin. I'm guessing this is possible because of what 911 can often do ... which is get a latitude/longitude from a cell phone to determine location. I'm not sure what security is around this rather personal information ... but I don't care about the values, just whether or not this is a cell phone. Based on some limited CallerID experience, it appears that no one solution may apply across the country. Is there a way I can tell if a call came from a land line, cell phone, or pay phone? .... Through data received from CallerID? .... Through data received via SS7? .... How big/$$$ a phone system would be needed to accomplish this? Thanks! Cyberpizzaguy [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Unfortunatly there is no way to do it within the reasonable limitations of what a pizza restaurant operator would want invest in a phone system. What you can do, and seems to work pretty well, but not perfectly, is begin to develop your own data base using caller ID, your computer-cash register system, etc. A call rings in and *your* database puts up certain details about the customer such as address, etc. Much of that data is compiled as you go along of course. In the early days of your database, you also rely heavily on criss-cross directories, telephone books, etc. Many times, a cellular phone will give the caller's 'name' as 'Wireless Caller' or a payphone may give the name of the phone's owner as customer. And don't hesitate to wait a couple minutes and dial back the number because 'the clerk who took your order may have gotten it wrong and I wanted to double check, etc'. It never hurts also to have your delivery person drop his money after each order rather than accumulate a lot of it in the course of the evening, **and publicize this fact with customers**, i.e. 'how much change will the delivery man need to bring with him; he never carries any extra money." Oh, and any time a call comes in with ID blocked have the phone company turn on 'privacy manager' so the call never even reaches you unless the person dials back with the ID unblocked. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 12:36:45 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com >> Does anyone have any recommendations for dependable domain registrars >> that have stability, economy pricing etc, basic services, but do not >> knowingly support spammers? I have quite a few domains registered. Although I've not had an unwanted email problems with BuyDomains, I recently switched over to http://www.1and1.com for my domain hosting. Their prices are very reasonable and they do web hosting inexpensively as well. The only negative I've seen so far is that their control panel is really sluggish. ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Date: 28 Jun 2004 13:14:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com SELLCOM Tech support wrote in message news:... > Does anyone have any recommendations for dependable domain registrars > that have stability, economy pricing etc, basic services, but do not > knowingly support spammers? I have quite a few domains registered. GoDaddy.com Read their anti-spam policy. They are serious. Domains start at $4.95 ------------------------------ From: Brad Houser Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 12:37:37 -0700 Organization: Intel Corporation PAT wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie > two way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of > using a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was > actually a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone > which in addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type > 'loudspeaker' type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? > PAT] Exactly. You select a name, push a button and the recipient (also a Nextel user) hears a beap and your voice. "Hey Joe, you got the invoice ready yet?" Conversations continue as one way "push to talk" snips. Don't know if you can easily switch to phone or if you have to redial as a regular call. They use different frequencies than other cell phones. You can also get groups to hear it at the same time. Good for construction and other similar applications. Mostly a Nextel thing, it is their major selling point for some. Sprint has started to offer it. Maybe others. Brad Houser ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: 28 Jun 2004 19:33:05 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Last year, it seemed like everybody was using the 2 way "walkie > talkie" feature on Nextel phones (probaly others as well), and I > would see a lot of "2 waying" going on on busses, in supermarkets, > etc. For the past few months, there seems to have been a sharp > decrease in people "2 waying", and I rarely see it anymore. I live in > LA, so I see plenty of people using cellphones, but nobody seems to > use the walkie talkie feature anymore. Nextel's walkie-talkie feature is still very popular, but not among the trendy crowd. Their main market is blue collar workers who use it many times a day to do things like talk from one end of a construction site to the other and say "we need 20 more 2x4s and a couple of pounds of nails," just like they used to do with CB walkie talkies. Nextel uses a scheme called IDEN which directly supports the direct connect feature in the radio protocol. I gather that other carriers are faking it with speed dial, but they don't get the very fast connection times that Nextel does. 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. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 17:37:33 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 28 Jun 2004 02:31:27 -0700, Telecom Digest Editor noted: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie > two way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of > using a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was > actually a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone > which in addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type > 'loudspeaker' type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? PAT] Here's some of the scoop: The digital two-way radio service uses a half-duplex signal. A normal cell phone call uses two separate frequencies, one to send and one to receive, for each call while a Direct Connect call uses only a single frequency. Direct Connect relies on the proven technology of Push To Talk (PTT), commonly used in dispatch radio systems. PTT requires the person speaking to press a button while talking and then release it when they are done. The listener then presses their button to respond. This way the system knows which direction the signal should be traveling in. To enable Direct Connect, Nextel configures your phone to use the dispatch call service to reach the person or persons you specify. This person (or group) must use Nextel's service also. When you make a Direct Connect call to someone, here's what happens: You hit the Direct Connect button, which is configured with the number(s) of the person (or group) you are calling. Your phone establishes a session with the Nextel iDEN-based network. The network determines that this is a dispatch call (Direct Connect) instead of an interconnect call (a normal cell phone call). The network then determines if it is a one-to-one or a group call. If it is a group call, the network duplicates the digital voice packets for each phone in the group. The network routes the packets to the phone (or phones) of the person (or group) you are calling. Their phone alerts them that they have a Direct Connect call. They answer the call by pressing the Talk button. Whoever is pushing the button, whether a one-to-one or group call, is the speaker. The call is completed and everyone disconnects. Full article: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question530.htm Other PTT implementations used by Verizon, AT&T Wireless and others do not use the same PTT technology and do not use SMR as Nextel does. Other non-Nextel services have a lot more latency than the Nextel implementation. iDen had direct connect in the design of the service from the outset. Other PTT schemes work differently. Here's how PTT works with Verizon Wireless: Motorola's V60p is a standard ultra-compact flip phone; the only visible difference is a small black PTT button on the left side. When you push the PTT button, you see the list of your PTT contacts. Using up and down arrow keys, you highlight the individual or group you want to call. Then you push and hold the PTT button, wait about two seconds for a beep that confirms the connection, and start talking. At the other end, everyone in your group hears a notification beep and then your voice. If the V60p is set in speakerphone mode -- recommended for PTT communication -- you'll be heard clearly even if the phone is clipped to a belt or purse strap. When you finish talking and remove your finger from the PTT button, everyone else hears another beep. The next person to press his or her PTT button gets to respond. Someone else in the group hitting the button a second later gets a busy signal beep and has to wait.>> http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6637702.htm [Personally, I find any kind of PTT service whether it's Nextel's or the competition extremely annoying. It's bad enough with people who do not know how to use a regular cell phone who insist on increasing their speaking volume threefold. All the squawks and beeps with direct connect phones is at best annoying.] As to the original poster's question other articles I found when looking up PTT I've found that while there may have been some initial interest in PTT services there's just not that much interest in it and it's really a specialized market which Nextel caters to (the trades for instance) that has interest in the direct connect feature. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 23:09:07 -0500 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , "Proprclr" wrote: > Last year, it seemed like everybody was using the 2 way "walkie talkie" > feature on Nextel phones (probaly others as well), and I would see a lot > of "2 waying" going on on busses, in supermarkets, etc. For the past > few months, there seems to have been a sharp decrease in people "2 > waying", and I rarely see it anymore. I live in LA, so I see plenty of > people using cellphones, but nobody seems to use the walkie talkie > feature anymore. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie two > way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of using > a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was actually > a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone which in > addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type 'loudspeaker' > type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? PAT] Nextel phones have two operating modes, one works just like a cell phone, you place a call have a normal conversation. The other mode works much like a radio -- you place a 'call' to the other unit (or to a group) and then use a press-to-talk key just like a radio. The other party responds in a like fashion. Once the call is dialed it appears much like a radio, but of course the traffic is not direct, it's sent to Nextel and back out. But it only occupies a channel when you transmit, so it's very efficient use of the channel space, and very practical when there is 'work' going on and you are only talking a small percentage of the time. As to why it's dropping -- normal cellular has gotten less expensive, and many carriers are offering unlimited 'mobile-to-mobile' calls to phones on the same carrier. -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: chsvideo@hotmail.com (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: 28 Jun 2004 21:52:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I think part of it is the novelty wearing off, the other part is people realized that the "DirectConnect"(r)-type feature can be more than twice as da*n annoying as a regular cell phone conversation. The fact that its half duplex doesn't help. (a) Novelty Wearing Off: There was a time when the 2Way features were being _heavily_ promoed-- people were extremely aware of the feature and no doubt a few people signed up as a result of this feature -- they used it for a while, became aware of the limitations (half-duplex, no cross-network stuff, etc.), and just kinda forgot about it. (b) More annoying than a tradidional cell phone. My employer (an agency of the State of California) provides me with Nextel cell/radio service. I love it for asking coworkers quick questions, etc. One must realize that it can be annoying. With a typical cell conversation you only hear one end of the conversation -- the person may be screaming at the top of their lungs but you only have to suffer through that side. With a radio conversation 99% of the time you hear both sides of the conversation (often with the volume up to 11 on a 1-10 scale). You also have that nice loud beep at the start and end of each transmission. (c) Half duplex. You don't realize how valuable full-duplex conversation is until you ask a co-worker a question and you suffer through a 5 minute rambling answer to a different question [Yes, I have discovered a way to kill a call, but its still not as convenient as just saying "No, what I really need to know is ..."]. I love my Nextel -- I really couldn't imagine having a job without one, in a campus environment ([bignum] acres) plus off-campus facilities an occassional national travel it's really handy ... Especially for those really short things like "Can you reset the MPIPC Server" or "Bring the screw gun back with you please"... But I keep my speaker volume fairly low and turn off the speaker in sensitive areas (i.e. when I walk into a classroom). To answer Pat's question ... I'm not entirely sure how Nextel's PTT service works, I believe it is unique [based on Motorola's iDEN] and I also beleive that at the beginning Nextel was a Commercial Radio service that happened to have a few bridges to the PSTN. I don't thing PTT and phone traffic are handled in the same channels -- I've had situations where PTT wouldn't work but phone service would I think I read somewhere that the others offering PTT services were using a VOIP-type implementation, but I really am curious myself. balanco01@yahoo.com (Proprclr) wrote in message news:: > Last year, it seemed like everybody was using the 2 way "walkie > talkie" feature on Nextel phones (probaly others as well), and I would > see a lot of "2 waying" going on on busses, in supermarkets, etc. For > the past few months, there seems to have been a sharp decrease in > people "2 waying", and I rarely see it anymore. I live in LA, > so I see plenty of people using cellphones, but nobody seems to use the > walkie talkie feature anymore. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie > two way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of > using a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was > actually a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone > which in addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type > 'loudspeaker' type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 00:44:08 -0400 Subject: Leader: The Dirty Little Secret of VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://networks.silicon.com/telecoms/0,39024659,39121732,00.htm by silicon.com How an industry standard can dampen competition The market for voice over IP -- the routing of phone calls over data networks -- is finally taking hold after many years of talk thanks in part to the emergence of a standard known as Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP. Or so say many industry experts. SIP enables communications between multiple users involving voice, video, instant messaging and other multimedia elements. At least that's the best we can explain it in plain English. Everyone we talk to tells us it's quite complex. The good thing about SIP, say the experts, is that it allows for interoperability. It provides a way for companies to know whether the software they buy from Vendor A will work with what they already have from Vendor B, and so on, and thus makes them more inclined to switch to VoIP than they were in the past. Hence the recent uptick in the use of the technology and the bullish predictions for the future. The bad thing about SIP is that it is such a complex standard. Because it's complex, it's very expensive to implement and support into a VoIP product. This naturally creates a high barrier to entry for smaller, cash-strapped players or even large players who don't want to invest huge sums to get in on VoIP. Full story at: http://networks.silicon.com/telecoms/0,39024659,39121732,00.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/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 00:47:59 -0400 Subject: Qovia Readies Tool To Block VoIP Spam Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040628S0009 By Antone Gonsalves, TechWeb News Qovia Inc. on Monday unveiled software that would block spam from entering the networks of corporations that have replaced traditional telephone systems with Internet telephony. The Frederick, Md., company said the anti-spam software would be available in the fourth quarter as a module for Qovia's VoIP Monitoring and Management System. Because voice over Internet protocol uses technology similar to email, it's vulnerable to the many of the same abuses, such as spam. To avoid overloading corporate mailboxes with junk voice mail, Qovia's technology would scan incoming traffic at the voice server, blocking spam before the calls are directed to recipients in the corporate network. Full story at: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040628S0009 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 18:45:11 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EyeTV 500 HDTV Digital Video Recorder for the Mac Elgato Unveils First HDTV Digital Video Recorder for the Mac; EyeTV 500 for ATSC Digital Terrestrial Television in the U.S. SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2004--Elgato Systems today announced the release of EyeTV 500, the first high-definition television (HDTV) solution for Mac OS X, specially designed for the thriving North American digital terrestrial television (DTV) market. EyeTV 500 allows users to watch, record, timeshift, edit and archive free over-the-air HDTV and digital standard-definition television (SDTV) on the Mac. EyeTV 500 is a FireWire(R)-powered, 100% digital, fully HD capable solution, based on Elgato's proven EyeTV 400 technology. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200406281946_BWR__BW5818 ------------------------------ 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 #309 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 1 00:06:27 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6146Re16578; Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:06:27 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:06:27 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407010406.i6146Re16578@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 #310 TELECOM Digest Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:07:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 310 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NYS Attorney General vs. AT&T Decent Not Great, Settlement (Danny Burstein) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Barry Margolin) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (T. Sean Weintz) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (DevilsPGD) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Keith) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? (Dorsey) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? (Gordon) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? (Justin) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? (Keith) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? (Tech) Internet Access With a 800 Number (Kevin) What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers (internist) Re: Popular Camera Cellphones Raise Privacy Concerns Schools (L. Hancock) For Sale: Telrad 8_16 Key bx (Earl Mon) Want to Buy: Used Cell Phones (Jerome Haden) Inet Domain Name, Help. (Ron Reaugh) Keyboard For Mobile and Palmtop Using Handwriting (chennakeshava_ramesh) Indian Telemarketing Shop Service-Monitoring Line? (John R. Covert) 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: NYS Attorney General vs. AT&T Decent, not Great, Settlement Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 23:55:56 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC "Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced a settlement that requires the state's leading long distance telephone company to issue refunds and credits to as many as 311,000 New Yorkers to correct improper billings. "As part of the settlement, AT&T Communications of New York will also reform its billing procedures, provide consumers with additional information on telephone services and pay $400,000 in penalties and costs." [snip] "The investigation began in January, after the Attorney General's office received hundreds of complaints from consumers who were billed for long distance telephone service that they neither requested nor used." [ snippety snip ] http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/jun/jun29a_04.html - I'm glad he forced them to proactively make all the refunds, but still disturbed that they've gotten no punishment ($400k is nothing) for, to quote Al Franken, LYING when they sent out bills. And there's no reimbursement to the customers who had to waste huge amounts of their time in arguing. - As I've said before, if you or I sent out hundreds of thousands of fake bills (and cheerfully cashed the 10 percent or so that came back with checks) we'd be guests over at Camp Fed. danny " was one of the people who wrote to his office " burstein _____________________________________________________ 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: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Organization: Looking for work Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:40:09 -0400 In article , johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote: > Nextel's walkie-talkie feature is still very popular, but not among > the trendy crowd. I wonder if this is due to the cancellation of Baywatch. They had lots of product placement in the last year or two of that show -- the lifeguards would use "Nextel" as a verb to refer to their use of the walkie-talkies to contact each other on the beach. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:54:00 -0400 From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Organization: VISI.com TELEECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Proprclr: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie > two way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of > using a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was > actually a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone > which in addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type > 'loudspeaker' type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? PAT] No. It does not work that way. It actually, from what I can see, seems to use some variation an instant messaging protocol or something similar -- all Nextel phones I have seen seem in fact to be IP phones. I know mine is. There is a different number than the phone number associated with the walkie talkie feature. Forget exactly what Nextel calls it. ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 07:43:03 GMT In message Joseph wrote: > [Personally, I find any kind of PTT service whether it's Nextel's or > the competition extremely annoying. It's bad enough with people who > do not know how to use a regular cell phone who insist on increasing > their speaking volume threefold. All the squawks and beeps with > direct connect phones is at best annoying.] This is a idiot at the controls, you can hit the "speaker" button and it uses the earpiece instead, beeps and all. Who is General Failure and why is he reading my disk? ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 11:55:32 -0400 Gary/Pat: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie two >> way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of using >> a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was actually >> a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone which in >> addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type 'loudspeaker' >> type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? PAT] > Once the call is dialed it appears much like a radio, but of course > the traffic is not direct, it's sent to Nextel and back out. But it > only occupies a channel when you transmit, so it's very efficient > use of the channel space, and very practical when there is 'work' > going on and you are only talking a small percentage of the time. This is absolutely true MOST of the time. Nextel has implemented something which I witnessed first hand a couple years ago. In the event you are close by (determined by the cell site), the tower instructs the radios to switch to a simplex radio frequency and then the two phones DO communicate directly via RF. This is done so that you don't tie up a channel unnecessarily. How do I know this? I saw two people communicate within the same room (one up an escalator, one below) using Nextel's phones. My frequency counter (which was strapped to my belt) didn't register normal cell frequencies when they talked, but frequencies in the business band neighborhood of 450mhz. I tuned my handheld radio to the frequency, and heard them talking. As soon as I heard the conversation, I of course realized this was illegal, and tuned away, of course. I'm not sure if its ONLY certain phones, or only certain areas(this was NYC), etc. Keith ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: 29 Jun 2004 15:44:08 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) JV wrote: > Is there a way I can tell if a call came from a land line, cell phone, > or pay phone? > .... Through data received from CallerID? No. > .... Through data received via SS7? Yes. > .... How big/$$$ a phone system would be needed to accomplish this? Not all that huge a system. A lot of small PBXes will let you do it. But, just having a CD-ROM phone database and using it to look the address up each time you get a call will get you 80% of the way there. I believe that when Pizza Hut first set their system up, they were taking caller-id data and using a combined database consisting of both a CD-ROM phone database and a database of customers and using that. If someone was not listed, the order entry folks would request name and address and put it into the database. This is handy because in addition the database can contain information about previous orders. If someone is suddenly ordering small pizzas when they used to order larges, you could offer them a particular promotion, for example. If someone is known to be a bad customer, with a history of problems, the order entry folks will know it. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:54:55 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? JV wrote: > My ultimate objective is to determine if the phone call is from a > pay phone, cell phone, or land phone to help ensure the safety of > the drivers. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Unfortunatly there is no way to do it > within the reasonable limitations of what a pizza restaurant operator > would want invest in a phone system. http://www.whitepages.com has a reverse directory that tells you if a number is a cellphone. I'm not sure how it handles payphones, unlisted, non-pub, etc. But it's a start. Perhaps you could hire a local hacker-type to write a screen-scraper that checks numbers at Whitepages.com? Or, do it the "right" way and see if the Whitepages people have an API you can write to. The first method is kludgy but cheap, the second is more elegant but may cost you a few licensing $$ ... Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: 30 Jun 2004 05:24:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com cyberpizzaguy@hotmail.com (JV) wrote in message news:: > Ok, I did say Pizza to get your attention, but this question is > related to Pizza. Just about everyone orders pizza for delivery ... > Thanks! > Cyberpizzaguy > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Unfortunatly there is no way to do it > within the reasonable limitations of what a pizza restaurant operator > would want invest in a phone system. What you can do, and seems to > work pretty well, but not perfectly, is begin to develop your own data > base using caller ID, your computer-cash register system, etc. A call > rings in and *your* database puts up certain details about the customer > such as address, etc. Much of that data is compiled as you go along > of course. In the early days of your database, you also rely heavily > on criss-cross directories, telephone books, etc. Many times, a > cellular phone will give the caller's 'name' as 'Wireless Caller' or > a payphone may give the name of the phone's owner as customer. And > don't hesitate to wait a couple minutes and dial back the number > because 'the clerk who took your order may have gotten it wrong and > I wanted to double check, etc'. It never hurts also to have your > delivery person drop his money after each order rather than accumulate > a lot of it in the course of the evening, **and publicize this fact > with customers**, i.e. 'how much change will the delivery man need to > bring with him; he never carries any extra money." Oh, and any time > a call comes in with ID blocked have the phone company turn on > 'privacy manager' so the call never even reaches you unless the person > dials back with the ID unblocked. PAT] Pat, All your responses are spot on -- except the last one. I sometimes use my cell phone to order things to be delivered and my cell has been configured since day one as "private." The not sending of my telephone number is a business choice for me. I am a consultant with a major city as my chief client. I give my cell phone number to only select people as 99 per cent of my business calls are directed to my desk phone where I have voice mail when I am out. The decision not to give out my cell phone number is based on something you often speak out on, common courtesy. Because my cell phone number is not widely known, when I am in meetings with my clients, they know if it goes off, it is probably pretty important. But if my cell phone number were widely known and it went off, then I am dismissed as someone who doesn't have the courtesy to give the proper amount of attention to my client as they feel they deserve with the billing rates they pay. And yes, there is such a thing as silent mode, but you still take the phone out to look and see if the caller deserves immediate attention. So, telling a business to reject private or unidentified calls affects them directly -- at the cash register. If I called my local pizza delivery place and they blocked my call, then I would just find another place to do business. Rodgers Platt [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just as you turn on ID blocking on a case by case basis using *67 (most places), you can turn off blocking on a case by case basis also, usually with *87 (?) or sometimes by using *67 again for that call. Try to be reasonable with those guys, can't you? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 10:11:11 -0400 PAT Wrote : > Oh, and any time a call comes in with ID blocked have the phone > company turn on 'privacy manager' so the call never even reaches you > unless the person dials back with the ID unblocked. PAT] Ummm. If I call a pizza shop from my blocked cell phone, like I did last Friday, and they reject my call, I'm calling a different pizza place. Pizza delivery places have gotten by just fine over how many years without CallerID? It's funny how both cell phone companies and regular phone companies are willing to give up your privacy, by default, automatically -- in turn for additional revenue for these add on services. Why is the default to have your number displayed? Why can't this be an opt-in program? (rhetorical question, of course) All my telephones lines have permanent line-blocking enabled. Getting to the OP's question: If the customer sets up an 800 number, is it possible for the telco to deliver ANI information via CallerID? 800 numbers are relatively inexpensive, so this might work. BTW, Pizza Hut for a long time had one of the most comprehensive reverse-lookup phone number databases in the world. They correlated information from a number of public sources, past customer calls, etc. My understanding was that they had a master database at some central location where they stored nationwide records. Keith [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The reason pizza delivery places got along fine without caller ID for many years is the same reason police got along fine without 911 for many years; they had to; there were no other options. That, and the fact that telco essentially re-invented the phone network in the late 1960's (with ESS, and its sophistication) which was necessitated in large part by how severely they were getting ripped off by an increasingly sophisticated public. Police grew weary off going somewhere on faith, based on bogus calls from the public (this was especially true of the Fire Department) and as soon as the same sophisticated public began to discover that pizza delivery men working in 'bad' neighborhoods were also easy pickings then things like Caller ID became good tools to use. And yes, a toll free 800 number is relatively inexpensive to use these days and 'identification-avoidance' is almost impossible to avoid. Not totally, but a mere *67 won't do it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 21:24:39 GMT cyberpizzaguy@hotmail.com (JV) posted on that vast internet thingie: > Ok, I did say Pizza to get your attention, but this question is > related to Pizza. Just about everyone orders pizza for delivery ... > right? Well on our side, getting pizza orders over the phone is big > business. Problem is that sometimes crooks with ill intentions try to > lure pizza drivers in to rob them, or worse. Many times they use a > pay phone, and the prevelance of cell phones makes this a growing > problem for me. My ultimate objective is to determine if the phone > call is from a pay phone, cell phone, or land phone to help ensure the > safety of the drivers. A good first step might be to not insist that your drivers be unarmed, especially if you live in a concealed carry state. If the criminals were not assured of easy unarmed marks, they might not have such a preference for the pizza man. We ordered our last pizza from a website. 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: vincent.mertens@tiscali.be (Kevin) Subject: Internet Access With a 800 Number Date: 29 Jun 2004 06:28:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Info on http://www.webwizzard.nl/linkspel/?r=1814 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not only are robberies of pizza delivery guys bad news; so is spam and virii. What would happen to the amount of spam if every ISP started using 800 numbers on their dialups and matching those logs with their other traffic logs, so they could hammer on the !absolute! senders of that crap. After all it came from YOUR account when YOU were on line to us, etc. The person could, I suppose, insist he had not been at the computer at that time, it must have been a virus-bot using my computer, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: internist9@yahoo.com (internist) Subject: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers Date: 29 Jun 2004 08:29:15 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I was just curious to know what happens to the phone numbers once a wireless plan expires or a customer terminates the contract. Are those assigned to some other customers later? And most importantly how much time does it take? This information will be useful to me as number portability act doesn't work with the same carrier. If my plan with Sprint expires and I have bought phones and numbers from another private company for the same carrier (needs new activation); can I let the current numbers expire and then maybe request them back? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Its like any other telco. If there is a number crunch, then they use the same numbers faster. But most carriers are happy to accomodate their *good* customers with number changes whenever possible. If you go to Sprint and say "I will sign this new contract for two years with you *if and only if* you will give me my old number (from earlier contract, etc)" I cannot imagine they would not accomodate you. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) Subject: Re: Popular Camera Cellphones Raise Privacy Concerns in Vt. Schools Date: 29 Jun 2004 12:16:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote > This past year, at least two students were disciplined for using the > devices to take pictures of fellow students without permission. The > school board is expected to approve tomorrow a policy clarifying that > such behavior is forbidden. A job testing center bans all cellphones from the test rooms because they have been used to take pictures of the exams. An episode on a current TV show dealt with a girl's embarassment when other girls took her picture in the locker room and shared it. I expect there will be more problems with this since lots of kids have picture cellphones and would love to catch their classmates in embarassing moments. Of course, I see no reason for kids to have cellphones while in school, and lots of reasons why they shouldn't. If a kid has to have a phone for after school use, he/she should put it away at the start of the day and not access it until the end of the day. (If a parent has a true emergency and needs to contact their kid -- which is very rare -- they can call the school office as was done in the past.) When I was in public school there were pay phones, but students were not allowed to use them without permission from the school, e.g., a urgent situation. I expect to see more restrictions on cell phone usage, from the disturbance making and receiving calls creates as well as privacy/dignity violations from taking secret pictures. I suspect many buildings will not allow cellphones to be brought into them for those reasons. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, camera cell phones are still relatively new and the pictures they take (and deliver elsewhere) are extremely crappy, IMO. Such tiny little pictures, grainy and poorly focused, etc. I've seen the ones over at the local Radio Shack store and also the Cingular Wireless store here. I cannot imagine spending money to get one presently. Maybe a lot of kids have money to burn on that sort of thing. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: For Sale: Telrad 8_16 Key bx From: Earl mon Organization: Comcast Online Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 21:34:14 GMT FS: Telrad 8_16 key bx Please review my Ebay auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11908&item= 5706508262&rd=1 or item number: 5706508262 Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Jerome Haden Subject: WTB: Used Cell Phones Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:53:00 -0500 We have numerous of our used computer customers asking us for new or refurbished cell phones. We currently have a need for 5,000++ Treo 180's or other similar models. We also have a customer looking for GSM gspr triband chips - or used phones to remove them from. Please send us your offers of: scrap cell phones used cell phones refurbished cell phones. All offers must be subject to physical inspection and samples must be available. Jerome Haden 504-454-7143 V.P. Sales & Marketing Computer Discounters Wholesale, Inc Computers Of Mexico 5416 Veterans Highway Metairie, LA. 70003 USA jerome@computersofmexico.com Chat: Yahoo: computersofmexico AOL: computerno MSN: jerome@computersofmexico.com www.computersofmexico.com ------------------------------ From: Ron Reaugh Subject: Inet Domain Name, Help. Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 20:40:43 GMT What exactly is a registerable Internet domain name and how does that relate to subdomains? For instance if one owns or is renting xyzabc.com then what exactly is jkl.xyzabc.com? I understand that the jkl is known as a subdomain. But is the complete entity jkl.xyzabc.com something that is independently registerable from xzyabc.com? OR if one owns xyzabc.com then does one own automatically all subdomains off xyzabc.com in Internet domain name space? I guess the question boils down to whether '.' is a special and non-registerable character below the TLD level and therefore the registerable domain name is that entity in the right most portion of the name including one and only one '.' which preceeds a valid TLD? ------------------------------ From: chennakeshava_ramesh@yahoo.co.in (chennakeshava_ramesh@yahoo.co.in) Subject: Keyboard For Mobile and Palmtop Using Handwriting Date: 30 Jun 2004 06:41:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi friends, I am developing models for keyboards for mobiles which can be used with palmtops also. I had posted early regarding the paper. But the problem was how to use it was not clear. So I have just added a small email video cliping in the form of exe file, which show the way the data can be entered into the mobile using handwriting. After seeing it is easy to understand the paper which I presented. I am working on developing the grid structure for the japanese characters and any body interested in developing such keyboards can join the group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/keyboarddevelopment which I have recently started to carry on research in this field. The .exe is present in zip format in my site www.hcr.freewebspace.com if unable to download you can download in the file section of the Yahoo group keyboarddevelopment at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/keyboarddevelopment If any problems or queries please mail me back at chennakeshava.ramesh@wipro.com or chennakeshava_ramesh@yahoo.co.in, so that I can correct it. Thanks, Regards, RAMESH (same as ramesh_jun24) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 16:28:15 -0400 (EDT) From: John R. Covert Subject: Indian Telemarketing Shop Service-Monitoring Line? There's an interesting number on the caller-id of my fax line. The call disconnected with no fax received. (866) 383-0986 If you call it back, you get a recording with a distinctive Indian accent saying, "Please dial the extension number which you want to monitor." Hmmmmm. /john ------------------------------ 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 #310 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 1 00:44:30 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i614iT717612; Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:44:30 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:44:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407010444.i614iT717612@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 #311 TELECOM Digest Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:44:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 311 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon Wireless TXT Traffic Alert Service (Monty Solomon) Linksys Adds 5-Port Switch to Its Wireless-G Ethernet Bridge (M Solomon) Linksys Introduces a 10/100 4-Port VPN Router for Small Business (Solomon) EFFector 17.24: Action Alert - The Induce Act: Innovation (Monty Solomon) Re: MCI Layoffs (Shadowday144) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Sin Nombre) Ted Forstmann's Naked Defense (Eric Friedebach) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (John Smith) Latest Norvergence News (Barry B.) Intrado Extends Presence in VoIP 9-1-1 Market (VOIP News) Voice Over Internet Challenges Telephone (VOIP News) Audits May Improve 911 Reliability (VOIP News) Vonage(R) Wins Preliminary Injunction Against New York PSC (VOIP News) Vonage Beats Back New York Ruling (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, 30 Jun 2004 23:29:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless TXT Traffic Alert Service Beat the Traffic this Fourth of July Weekend with Verizon Wireless' New TXT Traffic Alert Service Powered by Autodesk - Jun 30, 2004 08:28 AM (PR Newswire) Verizon Wireless Customers Get Free Personalized, Timely Traffic Information from July 2nd through July 6th BEDMINSTER, N.J. and SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless provider and operator of the nation's most reliable wireless network, today announced that its customers planning to hit the road this July 4th weekend can sign up to receive free TXT alerts about traffic conditions on their TXT Messaging-capable phones from Autodesk Location Services, a division of Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK). Travelers using the new Verizon Wireless TXT Traffic Alert Service can choose their preferred routes and designate which times of day they would like to receive traffic update alerts. With Verizon Wireless TXT Traffic Alert Service, customers can save time, gas costs, and frustration this holiday weekend by staying informed of changing traffic information. To register, Verizon Wireless customers simply login to http://www.vtext.com , Verizon Wireless' TXT Messaging companion Web site, and select which traffic alerts they wish to receive. The service is being offered at no cost to Verizon Wireless customers during the July 4th Holiday Weekend (July 2nd - July 6th, 2004). Beginning July 7th, 2004, Verizon Wireless customers can pay as they go for TXT Traffic Alerts, which are just $0.02 for each message received, or select from several bundled plans, including $2.99 per month for 100 messages, $4.99 per month for 250 messages and $9.99 per month for 1,000 messages sent or received. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42256789 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:26:33 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Linksys Adds 5-Port Switch to Its Wireless-G Ethernet Bridge Wireless-G Bridge With Integrated 5-port Switch Ideal for Small Businesses With Remote Network Environments IRVINE, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Linksys(R), a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., the leading provider of broadband, wireless and networking hardware for the consumer and Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) markets, today announced its Wireless-G Ethernet Bridge with 5-port Switch (WET54GS5). The Wireless Bridge with 5-port Switch provides high-speed cable-free bridging between remote networks within an office and connects wired devices to a wireless network. Equipped with enhanced security, easy to use Setup Wizard and a number of advanced features help provide the technology needed to network a small business simply and affordably. At the request of resellers and network installers, Linksys has developed the new wireless bridge with a switch to solve connectivity issues associated with multiple workgroup networks, offices not capable of being wired with Ethernet cables and connecting up to five wired devices to an 802.11b (wireless-B) or 802.11g (wireless-g) network from other areas in the office. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42255809 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:27:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Linksys Introduces a 10/100 4-Port VPN Router for Small Businesses IRVINE, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Linksys(R), a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., the leading provider of broadband, wireless and networking hardware for the consumer and Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) markets, today announced the immediate availability of its new 10/100 4-Port VPN Router (RV042). For a complete Internet-sharing network solution, the RV042 is ideal for small businesses with mobile employees. Situated at the heart of a small office network, the 10/100 4-port wired VPN router lets multiple office computers share an Internet connection, files and other resources on the network. This 10/100 4-port VPN Router features 30 VPN endpoints, SPI firewall, and dual Internet ports for load balancing and connection redundancy. The RV042 lets users connect a second Cable or DSL Internet line as a backup to ensure the connection will not be disconnected. Or, use both Internet ports at the same time, and let the router balance all the user requirements between them for maximum bandwidth efficiency. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42255830 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:29:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.24: Action Alert - The Induce Act: Innovation EFFector Vol. 17, No. 24 June 28, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 296th Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert - The Induce Act: Innovation Under Attack * Will the Inducing Infringement Act Kill the iPod? * EFF Partners with No Starch Press * MiniLinks (11): Interview with a DMCA Reformer * Staff Calendar: 07.30.04 - 08.01.04 - Kevin Bankston, Annalee Newitz, Seth Schoen, and Wendy Seltzer speak at Defcon 12, Las Vegas, NV * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/24.php ------------------------------ From: shadowday144@cs.com (Shadowday144) Subject: Re: MCI Layoffs Date: 29 Jun 2004 22:04:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com rlm2174@yahoo.com (r8989) wrote in message news:: > Has anyone seen anything on layoff this week? Not on MCI but I did see this on another telecom company. http://www.ssorg.com/jobloss/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:46:58 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off VOIP News wrote: >> http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2004/06/27/News/244994.html >> LITTLE ROCK - Local phone service in Arkansas and the rest of the >> nation is nearing a big evolution, experts say, meaning that terms >> like WiFi, telephony and FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) will soon become >> part of our everyday language. Justin Time wrote: > And Fiber to the curb was to be the NEXT big things of the late 80's > if I remember right. > Have they solved the problem of who is going to pay for all that > bandwidth? That's not to mention the cost of the local loop. My parents live in a very rural area of Arkansas (870-269-xxxx) -- the road in front of their house was just paved for the first time a few years ago and they're adjusting to their new "city water". While the trench was open to lay pipe for the water system, an extra conduit was dropped in and populated with fiber. So far the fiber is still dark, but it's right in their front yard as soon as somebody decides to light it up. OTOH I live in the Chicago suburbs and the nearest fiber is almost a mile away. My dad has 384Kbs DSL at the moment -- not too bad considering he's on top of a freakin' mountain in the Ozarks -- but it's a shame he can't tap that fiber. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: sin nombre Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 23:18:42 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 04:57:31 -0500, Gary Breuckman wrote: > 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] That method lets them tell if it has been read, but not by whom it has been read. A person could read the message URL through http proxy servers on 3 or 4 different continents. I'll bet that would confuse someone. ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Ted Forstmann's Naked Defense Date: 30 Jun 2004 10:33:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Daniel Fisher, 06.30.04, Forbes.com ROCKVILLE, CONN. - In a 1998 Forbes interview, dealmaker Theodore "Ted" Forstmann explained his investment philosophy: Avoid risky assets like junk bonds and never, ever get involved in a bidding war. "I would sooner take my pants off in public," said the founder of Forstmann, Little & Co. "I tell the seller, 'This is the deal. If you want it, say yes by 5 P.M.'" A different Ted Forstmann was on display during a four-week trial that concluded Tuesday in the central Connecticut town of Rockville. In a lawsuit filed in 2002, the state of Connecticut accused Forstmann and his firm of engaging in a sort of bait-and-switch, luring the state to invest $200 million based on the old strategy but pouring most of the money into risky, overpriced telecom ventures. http://www.forbes.com/services/2004/06/30/cz_df_0630forstmann.html Eric Friedebach /We Grill Kittens/ ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 21:21:23 GMT Thanks to everyone! We have ended up becoming a reseller ourselves http://www.wwwdomain.biz Now, to be fair to buydomains, they have revised their email system to prevent spam. I will admit their original concept was done with good intentions but technically flawed. It is rare to see a company react so FAST regarding a problem and revising a whole system. 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: John Smith Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Date: 30 Jun 2004 12:01:08 -0500 Reply-To: None On 28 Jun 2004 13:14:04 -0700, rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) wrote: > GoDaddy.com > Read their anti-spam policy. > They are serious. No they aren't. They're all talk and very little action. I've notified them of numerous major spammers (using domains registered through Go Daddy), using their proper reporting procedures. They have, in all cases, done exactly NOTHING. So, spammers can disregard all that marketing bullshit, and continue to get their cheap spamming domains at Go Daddy, without any serious fear that ANY action AT ALL will be taken. If someone is aware of a recent case where Go Daddy has actually taken action against one of their spamming registrants by canceling their domain, I'd like to hear about it. Secondly, since we're on the subject, Go Daddy has absolutely pathetic customer service. It wasn't always this way mind you, but their popularity and relentless pandering to the low-priced domain market has not been handled well by them internally. Bob Parsons may be a fine individual, but his company is now out of control, and infested with stupid loads and other incompetents. While they still DO answer the phone and their e-mails, resolving certain problems is another thing. In short, the Go Daddy of today sucks. I would stay way clear of them. Becoming a so-called "reseller" (JOKE) using Go Daddy's "Wild West Domains" would be a formula for misery. In the event of a problem, I would be put in between my customer and a non-responsive registrar. No thanks. > Domains start at $4.95 Price isn't everything. This will become clear to Go Daddy customers after the first time you have a problem there that needs resolution. My opinion only, based on personal experience. John Smith ------------------------------ From: "BarryB" Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 11:32 AM Subject: Latest Norvergence News Greetings: I was informed by Qwest that Norvergence agreed to pay $8,000,000 today in past due invoices; If they don't pay Qwest will disconnect all Norvergence T1 and long distance services PERMANENTLY by the end of the week.. There is another article today on News 12 NJ discussing Norvergence paychecks bouncing, and laid off employees not getting their final paychecks. I assume the Salzano brothers have their exit plans in place. Barry Bellin ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:54:25 -0400 Subject: Intrado Extends Presence in VoIP 9-1-1 Market Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040629005256&newsLang=en Intrado Extends Presence in VoIP 9-1-1 Market; Signs Agreement with Primus Telecommunications, Inc. for Intrado VoIP Emergency Calling Service LONGMONT, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2004-- Intrado Continues to Lead in U.S. VoIP 9-1-1 Deployments Intrado Inc. (Nasdaq:TRDO), North America's leading provider of 9-1-1 infrastructure systems and services, and experts in dynamic communications solutions, today announced an agreement to provide Primus Telecommunications, Inc. (PRIMUS) with 9-1-1 services for its VoIP subscribers. PRIMUS joins a growing list of providers using Intrado(R) VoIP Emergency Calling Service to provide their subscribers with access to critical 9-1-1 services. Full press release at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040629005256&newsLang=en 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, 29 Jun 2004 22:50:09 -0400 Subject: Voice Over Internet Challenges Telephone Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-voipjun27,0,3374606.story?coll=all-businesslocal-hed From The Morning Call -- June 27, 2004 Voice over Internet challenges telephone Agere taking part in technology's rollout. U.S. is slow to adopt. By Jeanne Bonner Of The Morning Call Experts have long predicted the death of traditional home telephone service, in large part because of the deployment of wireless services such as the cell phone. Plain old telephone service, as it is known in the industry, will die. But it turns out its executioner will more likely be Voice over Internet Protocol, rather than the cell phone. VoIP is finally beginning to gather steam in the United States. The technology uses a high-speed broadband Internet connection to make telephone calls. The calls travel at least part of the way on an Internet protocol network rather than the public switches that make up the telephone infrastructure. [..... snip .....] "It will probably be the biggest transformation in telecom in 100 years," said Verizon spokeswoman Briana Gowing. "There have been enhancements over the years but this is really shaking things up." This summer, Verizon will offer its digital subscriber line (DSL) customers a converter box with an adapter that will allow customers to make IP-based calls. The box converts the telephone's analog signals to digital. The adapter will connect a consumer's telephone with a computer modem that will send calls out over the Internet. Verizon has not said how much the box will cost. The company will be offering new VoIP calling plans with the boxes. Full story at: http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-voipjun27,0,3374606.story?coll=all-businesslocal-hed ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 07:33:07 -0400 Subject: Audits May Improve 911 Reliability Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from the Post-Crescent in Applerton, Wisconsin. First is an excerpt from the main article, then the text of a sidebar that summarizes the issue. This article may have implications for VoIP users because "Intrado Inc., the Longmont, Colo., company that subcontracts with SBC to manage 911 databases" [a quote from the article] is also the company that is used by some VoIP providers (such as Vonage and Primus) to offer 911 service to their customers. http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_16562601.shtml P-C inquiry shows oversight of phone databases lags By Duke Behnke Post-Crescent staff writer Neither the state nor area counties demand an audit of 911 databases to determine the accuracy of records used to dispatch emergency personnel, The Post-Crescent has learned. But, industry experts said, such a requirement may be the only feasible way to bring public accountability and oversight to a system managed by phone companies that carry no legal liability for the information. And one area sheriff said he wants to build an audit requirement into his county's contract with the phone company, after being told by The P-C of such arrangements elsewhere. "There is no liability requirement for the telephone companies on the part of these databases," said David Sleeter, first vice president of the Wisconsin chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), an industry advisory group. "There is no guarantee of accuracy and completeness. None." [Sidebar:] About the issue In light of two mix-ups in 911 dispatches this year in Winnebago County, The Post-Crescent began investigating area enhanced-911 emergency systems. In one of the incidents, involving the death of a Neenah man, paramedics mistakenly were sent to Menasha. Among other things, The P-C has found that: Mix-ups stem from incorrect data supplied to the county by the telephone company. Such data errors are discovered regularly in area counties. Regular audits of the data are not required. Full story at: http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_16562601.shtml ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:18:15 -0400 Subject: Vonage(R) Wins Preliminary Injunction Against New York PSC Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-30-2004/0002203167&EDATE= EDISON, N.J., June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Magistrate Judge Douglas F. Eaton, United States District Court (Southern District of New York) announced his intention to enjoin the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) from regulating Vonage as a telecommuni- cations carrier. The written order is expected shortly. The judge will consider the merits of a permanent injunction in January 2005. Reinforcing Minnesota District Judge Davis' October 2003 order enjoining a similar attempt by that state to regulate Vonage, the preliminary injunction will preclude the State of New York from asserting its jurisdiction over Vonage. "We are satisfied with the court's decision and believe this is a positive step forward for New Yorkers and the industry," said Jeffrey A. Citron, chairman and CEO of Vonage Holdings Corporation. "Vonage remains eager and committed to working with the states, Congress and the FCC to create a national framework for this emerging industry." Chairman Powell's clear leadership on this issue was instrumental in today's decision -- the court recognized the ongoing work of the IP-enabled NPRM and workshops furthering the national policy development. Vonage plans to continue to participate in the ongoing dialogue with the FCC and the states which brings clarity to the policies for VoIP services. Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-30-2004/0002203167&EDATE= ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:22:04 -0400 Subject: Vonage Beats Back New York Ruling Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5253841.html By Ben Charny CNET News.com The New York State Public Service Commission can no longer require Vonage to file for a telephone operator's license, possibly foreshadowing an important regulatory win for the Net phone industry. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Eaton's decision is temporary and he scheduled a January hearing to decide whether his ruling should become permanent. "I guess he did get the memo from Minnesota," a Vonage spokeswoman said Wednesday, referring to a U.S. District Court judge issuance of a similar order now under appeal. She said that Vonage never acted on the New York request, made in May. Judge Eaton made his decision from the bench during a regularly scheduled hearing. He's expected to put his order, and thoughts supporting it, in writing in the next few days. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5253841.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. 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 #311 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 1 16:43:54 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i61Khrg26909; Thu, 1 Jul 2004 16:43:54 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 16:43:54 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407012043.i61Khrg26909@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 #312 TELECOM Digest Thu, 1 Jul 2004 16:44:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 312 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NXTV Reaches 10,000 Hotel Rooms with IP-Based Entertainment (Monty Solomon) LG Mobile VX7000 Camera Phone (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless Launches Mobile Web 2.0 (Monty Solomon) The Weather Channel(R) Launches New Mobile Weather Service (Monty Solomon) Interception of E-Mail Raises Questions (Monty Solomon) Nextel Freqs, was Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Danny Burstein) Dialogic d21/h Board Driver Discs (Ace Ellis) MOS Calculation From Objective Data (Kalyan Sannedhi) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Ron Chapman) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Kalyan Sannedhi) Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers (Joseph) Re: Inet Domain Name, Help (Dave Garland) Re: Inet Domain Name, Help (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID? (B Margolin) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID? (S Dorsey) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (John Smith) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (Steven J Sobol) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (Richard Gozinia) 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, 1 Jul 2004 12:50:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: NXTV Reaches 10,000 Hotel Rooms with IP-Based Entertainment System NXTV Reaches 10,000 Hotel Rooms with IP-Based Entertainment System; Company Doubles Customer Base and Adds Orlando-Based Hotel Group LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 2004--NXTV, Inc. the leading provider of digital IP-based entertainment solutions to the upscale hotel market announced today that it has reached a significant milestone of over 10,000 hotel rooms either installed or under contract. This major development comes as the company also announces the successful completion of an Agreement with Rosen Hotels & Resorts to install the NXTV digital entertainment system in all seven of its Orlando, Florida based hotels. NXTV, an IP-based interactive television system, delivers digital video-on-demand with PVR features such as fast-forward, pause, rewind and 24-hour save capability, high-speed Internet connectivity for both TV and Laptop, video games, branded hotel portal services, and satellite TV programming via DirecTV featuring an interactive TV guide. The company is also currently beta-testing its IPTV product which allows FTG to be digitally delivered to the guest-room over the same IP network as video-on-demand and other digital services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42282085 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 12:51:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: LG Mobile VX7000 Camera Phone Mobile Web 2.0(SM)-Enabled LG VX7000 Features Improved Graphics and Easier Navigation BEDMINSTER, N.J. and SAN DIEGO, July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, operator of the nation's most reliable network, and LG Mobile Phones today announced the launch of the VX7000 camera phone. Available exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers, the VX7000 with its advanced features, such as a rotating lens, embedded flash and video messaging, helps capture all of life's moments as they happen. The VX7000's embedded VGA camera features bright LED flash, so mobile shutterbugs never miss a photo opportunity. With capability to capture video and still photography, the VX7000 gives users more freedom to record memories than ever before, and the rotating lens, flip image option and zoom control give photographers the chance to compose the perfect picture. Additional features like night mode, brightness adjustment, white balance adjustment, color effect adjustment and digital zoom capability, give customers the greatest flexibility with their photographs. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42283836 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 12:53:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Launches Mobile Web 2.0 Enhanced Features and Improved Design Improves Customer Experience BEDMINSTER, N.J. June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service provider, announced today the availability of Mobile Web 2.0 which allows customers to more easily access the latest news, tools and information content and read and send e-mail. Available for use on select phones, Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web 2.0 is packed with new features and enhancements, including new graphics, easier navigation, clickable headlines and premium content. The Mobile Web 2.0 home screen is VZW Today, which is an up-to-the-minute look at the news and hot stories that Verizon Wireless subscribers need to know. It also features several innovations, including a toolbar that allows customers to easily access the search tool, their favorites and bookmarks, or easily return to the homepage. Updated throughout the day, VZW Headlines stay current, providing the latest news and information that is just clicks away. From VZW Today, users can enter into various content categories in one click, including: * News -- Top national, business, world or political news * Weather -- Local and national weather forecasts and satellite images * Sports -- News, scores, standings and stories from the top professional and college sports * Entertainment -- Information about movies, music, TV, food and astrology * Business -- Business headlines, news and stock updates * E-mail -- Web-based e-mail services from the top Internet e-mail providers * More -- Shopping, travel, health, jokes and much more In addition to Verizon Wireless' content offering, customers can also access content from many branded content providers. Verizon Wireless customers can also access premium content that is available at an additional charge. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42284448 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 12:56:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Weather Channel(R) Launches New Mobile Weather Service The Weather Channel(R) Launches New Mobile Weather Service On Mobile Web 2.0 (SM) From Verizon Wireless BEDMINSTER, N.J. and ATLANTA, July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Planning outdoor activities this summer? Want to know the weekend weather forecast? Look no further than the new service from The Weather Channel Interactive on Verizon Wireless' new Mobile Web 2.0-enabled phones. Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service, and The Weather Channel (TWC), the nation's premiere provider of trusted weather information, announced today that weather information from The Weather Channel is available to subscribers of the newly launched Mobile Web 2.0 service. Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web 2.0 customers can receive current conditions and exclusive extended forecasts from The Weather Channel for 98,000 locations around the world -- from wherever they are. In addition to these important reports, customers can also view weather-related, regional news articles for the U.S., detailing the weather's impact on cities throughout the nation. The new application from The Weather Channel Interactive features vibrant graphics that more closely resemble those found on TWC's popular Web site, weather.com(R), which currently ranks as the most popular source of online weather information, the top news and information site and the tenth largest site on the Web according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Additionally, the enhanced application makes it even easier for customers to search for their favorite locations. Simply enter a zip code or city name or quickly browse through 18 major cities -- which are also identified by airport codes, making the search extremely convenient for business travelers. Regular travelers can also save their favorite locations in order to easily retrieve timely reports for their hometown, frequent business destination, weekend vacation spot and other cities of interest. Mobile Web 2.0 is self provisioning, eliminating the need for customers to call customer service or visit a Verizon Wireless store to sign up for the service. Customers simply register for Mobile Web 2.0 content right from their Mobile Web 2.0-capable wireless handsets. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42288929 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:23:33 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Interception of E-Mail Raises Questions By MARK JEWELL AP Business Writer BOSTON (AP) -- In an online eavesdropping case with potentially profound implications, a federal appeals court ruled it was acceptable for a company that offered e-mail service to surreptitiously track its subscribers' messages. A now-defunct online literary clearinghouse, Interloc Inc., made copies of the e-mails in 1998 so it could peruse messages sent to its subscribers by rival Amazon.com Inc. An Interloc executive was subsequently indicted on an illegal wiretapping charge. An advocacy group said Tuesday's ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opens the door to further interpretations of the federal Wiretap Act that could erode personal privacy rights. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42268927 ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Nextel Freqs, was Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 04:44:03 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Keith writes: >>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie two >>> way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of using >>> a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was actually >>> a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone which in >>> addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type 'loudspeaker' >>> type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? PAT] > This is absolutely true MOST of the time. Nextel has implemented > something which I witnessed first hand a couple years ago. > In the event you are close by (determined by the cell site), the tower > instructs the radios to switch to a simplex radio frequency and then > the two phones DO communicate directly via RF. This is done so that > you don't tie up a channel unnecessarily. > How do I know this? I saw two people communicate within the same room > (one up an escalator, one below) using Nextel's phones. My frequency > counter (which was strapped to my belt) didn't register normal cell > frequencies when they talked, but frequencies in the business band > neighborhood of 450mhz. I tuned my handheld radio to the frequency, > and heard them talking. It's barely possible you bumped into a Nextel test, but highly unlikely ... Keep in mind that Nextel does NOT use the "regular" cellular frequencies. The way they set up their network was that they went around the country and gobbled up ownership (or a lease) of all sorts of local "land mobile radio" channels. So, for example, they'd approach the owner of East Cupcake Trucking and Pizza and get permission to use, yes, his 464 mhz radio channel. They'd make a similar deal with North Cupcake Bar and Grill at 459 mhz. And dozens and hundreds and thousands of others. And not just in the 400 mhz range. They then took Motorola's iDen protocol and used it to let them put plenty of individual radio conversations on what had been a single use channel. The problem here is that their usable frequencies skipped all around the dial with lots of gaps in between. Which makes building the base stations a big pain (instead of a single design and single antenna arrangement, they have to customize each base), and causes lots and lots of other headaches. Many, many, headaches. Hence they've currently got a very big lobbying effort in front of the FCC to make a *major* change in huge amounts of frequenices, bumping plenty of current users, so as to give Nextel a contiguous nationwide swath of spectrum. (A related problem and complaint is that Nextel, since it's often right next to a police channel, causes interference with Public Safety Frequencies. There's a LOT more to that story, though). So yes indeed, you may have been picking up a valid Nextel radio<->base<->radio conversation. NOTE that in the near future they will, indeed, be marketing radios that have direct radio <-> radio capability. (Again, remember that at this point in time, ALL Nextel communication have to route back to a base station and be retransmitted). This is to meet the demands of the public safety folk who *need* the two people in the basement, for example -- out of range of a base station -- to converse with each other. These new models (some are out in test locations) have a very limited range when in direct radio <-> radio mode. As a side note: the purists (read nitpickers with too much spare time) claim that Nextel isn't a cellular phone system since they don't use cellular frequencies or standard cell phone protocols such as GSM. But to everyone who walks around in the real world, Nextel walks, waddles, quacks, and sh-ts like a duck. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: ace2@acesplaces.com (Ace Ellis) Subject: Dialogic d21/h Board Driver Discs Date: 1 Jul 2004 09:46:59 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Looking for the 3 set dos discs for Dialogic for msdos ver 4.02 Thanks if you can help. Ace Ellis ------------------------------ From: Kalyan Sannedhi Subject: MOS calculation from objective data Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 13:10:17 -0500 Dear all, Is there a way to calculate MOS from obejctive data such as delay, jitter, jitter standard deviation, packet loss, loss burst, etc? We would like like to get subjective scoring from the objective data for the voice quality. Any pointers in the right direction will be greatly appreciated. TIA ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 07:32:35 -0400 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? In article , Keith wrote: > In the event you are close by (determined by the cell site), the tower > instructs the radios to switch to a simplex radio frequency and then > the two phones DO communicate directly via RF. This is done so that > you don't tie up a channel unnecessarily. > How do I know this? I saw two people communicate within the same room > (one up an escalator, one below) using Nextel's phones. My frequency > counter (which was strapped to my belt) didn't register normal cell > frequencies when they talked, but frequencies in the business band > neighborhood of 450mhz. I tuned my handheld radio to the frequency, > and heard them talking. > As soon as I heard the conversation, I of course realized this was illegal, Is it? You're thinking of cell phone conversations. I haven't read the law word for word, so my immediate question here would be, is it in fact illegal for you to listen in on a Nextel "Direct Connect" conversation? Especially if it's as you describe above, and not using any part of the cellular system? One wonders if there isn't a loophole there whereby the Nextel stuff doesn't fit into the law ... ------------------------------ From: Kalyan Sannedhi Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 11:49:17 -0500 May be because almost every service provider is offering in-network calling for free. Proprclr wrote in message news:telecom23.308.8@telecom-digest.org: > Last year, it seemed like everybody was using the 2 way "walkie > talkie" feature on Nextel phones (probaly others as well), and I would > see a lot of "2 waying" going on on busses, in supermarkets, etc. For > the past few months, there seems to have been a sharp decrease in > people "2 waying", and I rarely see it anymore. I live in LA, > so I see plenty of people using cellphones, but nobody seems to use the > walkie talkie feature anymore. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie > two way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of > using a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was > actually a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone > which in addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type > 'loudspeaker' type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? > PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 07:49:05 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 29 Jun 2004 08:29:15 -0700, internist9@yahoo.com (internist) wrote: > I was just curious to know what happens to the phone numbers once a > wireless plan expires or a customer terminates the contract. Are those > assigned to some other customers later? And most importantly how much > time does it take? This information will be useful to me as number > portability act doesn't work with the same carrier. If my plan with > Sprint expires and I have bought phones and numbers from another private > company for the same carrier (needs new activation); can I let the > current numbers expire and then maybe request them back? Once a number is disconnected the number goes back to the company that originally had that numbering space allotted to them. Depending on whether they are running into a lack of numbering space the old number could remain unassigned for 90 to 180 days before it was reassigned. As far as getting an old number back to use with the same service the company *might* or might not do it for you depending on their policies. TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response: > If you go to Sprint and say "I will sign this new contract for two > years with you *if and only if* you will give me my old number (from > earlier contract, etc)" I cannot imagine they would not accomodate > you. PAT] Then again it may make a difference *how* valuable the old customer was. Do they do over $100 a month in charges or are they a $20 a month customer. That may make a difference. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Inet Domain Name, Help Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:36:09 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when Ron Reaugh wrote: > if one owns xyzabc.com then does one own automatically > all subdomains off xyzabc.com Yes. Most often they are used to differentiate between servers or services. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Inet Domain Name, Help Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 07:14:34 GMT Ron Reaugh posted on that vast internet thingie: > What exactly is a registerable Internet domain name and how does that > relate to subdomains? For instance if one owns or is renting > xyzabc.com then what exactly is jkl.xyzabc.com? I understand that the > jkl is known as a subdomain. But is the complete entity > jkl.xyzabc.com something that is independently registerable from > xzyabc.com? OR if one owns xyzabc.com then does one own automatically > all subdomains off xyzabc.com in Internet domain name space? I guess > the question boils down to whether '.' is a special and > non-registerable character below the TLD level and therefore the > registerable domain name is that entity in the right most portion of > the name including one and only one '.' which preceeds a valid TLD? Well if you own the domain then you can set up your dns how you want (assuming you have it hosted or parked etc). for example, I have wwwdomain.biz . Now it is generally automatic that a host will have www.wwwdomain.biz but I could add about any name I wanted. Say if I had five machines I wanted to use with my domain, assuming I had the static IPs (anyone else remember when they would give you a class C when you signed up for your 64k ISDN?) You could make bill.wwwdomain.biz and george.wwwdomain.biz or houston.wwwdomain.biz etc and etc.... generally I would only do that if I had a separate computer for each one. Also, usually mail.wwwdomain.biz would be the MX for email if you were doing that. The big question here is what exactly do you wish to do? and why? (if that is not inappropriate for me to ask). Steve at SELLCOM www.wwwdomain.biz (I can't believe that domain was available and just sitting there for the taking!) 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: Personally, Steve, I think you made a serious mistake getting a domain in the '.biz' area. Did you know for example, that Spam Assassin automatically gives a very bad, very high point score to any '.biz' name showing up anywhere in a text file? For example, my own Spam Assassin automatically will give me a negative score on this issue of the Digest when it goes out in the mail because of the references to '.biz' in your message, as incidental as the mention may have been. People whose mail otherwise runs close to falling in the spam bucket will lose this issue of the Digest as a result. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Organization: Looking for work Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 01:05:37 -0400 In article , Keith wrote: > BTW, Pizza Hut for a long time had one of the most comprehensive > reverse-lookup phone number databases in the world. They correlated > information from a number of public sources, past customer calls, etc. I thought it clever when I called one of my local taxi companies, and they knew the pick-up address without my having to tell them. They had a database of past customer calls, and correlated it with the CallerID. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Our taxicab company here in Independence does something similar. With caller-ID and a cross reference directory they match addresses and names on their customers (including me). PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: 1 Jul 2004 09:56:13 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Keith : >> Oh, and any time a call comes in with ID blocked have the phone >> company turn on 'privacy manager' so the call never even reaches you >> unless the person dials back with the ID unblocked. PAT] > Ummm. If I call a pizza shop from my blocked cell phone, like I did > last Friday, and they reject my call, I'm calling a different pizza > place. If you call a pizza shop through an 800 number with your blocked cell phone, they will not reject your call but get complete information about the source in spite of the blocking. Blocking caller ID does NOT DO ANYTHING about ANI. Since 800 service is billed to the receiver, the receiver needs to have detailed information for billing purposes anyway. Relying on caller-ID is foolish because it is so often blocked and is also often incorrect. Your chances of reliable data with ANI are much better although in the cases of calls from PBXes it may well give you the number of the outgoing PBX trunk rather than anything useful and your database may need to be set up to reflect this. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: John Smith Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Date: 1 Jul 2004 02:08:32 -0500 Reply-To: None On 28 Jun 2004 13:14:04 -0700, rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) wrote: > GoDaddy.com > Read their anti-spam policy. > They are serious. No they aren't. They're all talk and very little action. I've notified them of numerous major spammers (using domains registered through Go Daddy), using their proper reporting procedures. They have, in all cases, done exactly NOTHING. So, spammers can disregard all that marketing bullshit, and continue to get their cheap spamming domains at Go Daddy, without any serious fear that ANY action AT ALL will be taken. If someone is aware of a recent case where Go Daddy has actually taken action against one of their spamming registrants by canceling their domain, I'd like to hear about it. Secondly, since we're on the subject, Go Daddy has absolutely pathetic customer service. It wasn't always this way mind you, but their popularity and relentless pandering to the low-priced domain market has not been handled well by them internally. Bob Parsons may be a fine individual, but his company is now out of control, and infested with stupid loads and other incompetents. While they still DO answer the phone and their e-mails, resolving certain problems is another thing. In short, the Go Daddy of today sucks. I would stay way clear of them. Becoming a so-called "reseller" (JOKE) using Go Daddy's "Wild West Domains" would be a formula for misery. In the event of a problem, I would be put in between my customer and a non-responsive registrar. No thanks. > Domains start at $4.95 Price isn't everything. This will become clear to Go Daddy customers after the first time you have a problem there that needs resolution. My opinion only, based on personal experience ... John Smith ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:00:43 -0500 John Smith wrote: > marketing bullshit, and continue to get their cheap spamming domains > at Go Daddy, without any serious fear that ANY action AT ALL will be > taken. If someone is aware of a recent case where Go Daddy has > actually taken action against one of their spamming registrants by > canceling their domain, I'd like to hear about it. Google Groups should have plenty of evidence. Ben, GoDaddy's abuse dude, posts to NANAE and probably also NANAU, you can check there. They don't always act as fast as they should, and I attribute that to them being busy -- they register tons of domains. But they do a hell of a lot more to help curb abuse than any other registrar I can think of. > Secondly, since we're on the subject, Go Daddy has absolutely pathetic > customer service. It wasn't always this way mind you, but their > popularity and relentless pandering to the low-priced domain market has > not been handled well by them internally. Look, I'm obviously biased since I am a WildWestDomains reseller (WWD is GoDaddy's wholesale division) -- but I WOULD NOT be a WWD reseller if I hadn't been a satisfied GoDaddy retail customer first. I've never had problems with either side of the company. Perhaps you could relate some of your negative experiences with them. I'd be very interested in hearing them since as a reseller, I need to know where their weak points lie. (I already have a good handle on what most of their strong points are.) > Becoming a so-called "reseller" (JOKE) using Go Daddy's "Wild West > Domains" would be a formula for misery. In the event of a problem, I > would be put in between my customer and a non-responsive registrar. No > thanks. Post examples of this, please. I don't have trouble getting hold of them. I do generally call, rather than send email. > My opinion only, based on personal experience. And I definitely want to hear about some of your experiences. I've had no problems with either the retail side of the company OR the wholesale side. There are definitely some improvements I could suggest making, but you want non-responsive? Try Joker.com. I used to be a regular customer. They refuse to answer emails, and you can't even contact them without filling out an asinine form on their website. Call? Sure. Go ahead, if you speak German. I don't, and their offices are in Duesseldorf, Germany, anyhow, which makes it impractical to call from here in the USA unless you have good per-minute rates on international phone calls. I guess I feel the same about Joker as you do about GoDaddy ... 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: Richard Gozinia Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Date: 1 Jul 2004 14:25:49 -0500 Reply-To: No Address On Sun, 27 Jun 2004 18:07:12 GMT, SELLCOM Tech support wrote: > I have received so much spam from buydomains.com / domaindiscover.com > (delivered by their email server) after repeated notice to them that I > am now looking for another registrar. It is our policy never to > support spammers or spam enablers. You'll find that many spammers send e-mail to addresses obtained by illegally mining the domain registry. Your registrar has a limited ability to stop this sort of abuse, since the domain registrant information is necessarily public. Many registrars have implemented some sort of challenge/response scheme using non-machine readable characters for whois lookups, specifically to prevent spammers from using automated scripts to scrape whois info from the registry database. Obviously, spam originating from a registrar itself would be an indication of some sort of serious misconduct or downright incompetence. Most of us hate spamming and spammers (I would favor the death penalty), but expecting registrars to be the gate keeper for denial or cancellation of domains to spammers is fairly inappropriate and simply unworkable, and comes from a position of ignorance. The best way to minimize your spam problem for your registered domains is to get control of your e-mail. You simply cannot publish an e-mail address anywhere -- in the whois database, on a web site, or in a newsgroup like this one, without spammers eventually harvesting that address with automated tools for addition to a spammer's database. After that happens the incidence of spam mail sent to that address will grow geometrically, as the list is sold and shared and sold again amongst spam gangs. This is a fact of life in today's Internet. Get used to it. The best defense against this problem is technological, not legal. You will not get relief by pestering your domain registrar, because that is not where the problem or the solution lies. Rather, if you have proper control of your e-mail server, mailboxes, and e-mail aliases, you need not suffer any significant spam problem. Believe it. Some Specific Suggestions: 1) Use a quality hosting company, where Spam Assassin or similar, possibly in combination with Real Time Block Listing, is incorporated into their mail server, and where you have complete and simple web-based control over aliases, mailboxes, and spam-thresholds for your domain(s). In most cases you cannot do this properly if you're relying on adjunct e-mail services provided by your domain registrar. 2) Use unique, disposable (but functional) e-mail addresses for your domain's public whois entries (the Registrant, Administrative, Technical and Billing Contacts). The first time, perhaps after a few months, you receive a spam sent to this unique address, e.g. "domains-admin@sellcom.com", login to your registrar's site and change the e-mail address of record for the domain to something else e.g. "domains-admininstrator@sellcom.com". Then, at your host's mail configuration webpage, set all mail sent to the original (now fouled) address ("domains-admin") to be bounced or discarded. My experience is that this only needs to be done every few months or so, as it takes awhile for the new whois e-mail address to be acquired and used by the spam gangs. 3) Use Javascript to obscure e-mail addresses displayed on your web pages. I just went to your site and I see that "support@sellcom.com" is placed on the home page in the clear (and you posted it in this group). I hope you're not blaming your registrar for spam you receive at that address, because I bet you're getting tons of it. That's because the spammers' robots will continue to harvest it as long as it's posted in the clear, as it is now. This is plainly unnecessary. Use simple Javascript techniques to prevent this, since spammers' harvesting robots can't (yet?) cope with Javascript. Check out these URLs for more info on obfuscating your addresses: http://www.u.arizona.edu/~trw/spam/index.htm http://www.december14.net/ways/js/nospam.shtml 4) Consider using cgi forms on your site for visitors to send you e-mail -- the web form accepts their mail and delivers it to you at a published, or an unpublished address. These scripts are freely available on the web. Do a Google search on "free web form scripts" and see what you end up with. 5) Avoid posting your real addresses in Usenet Newsgroups, unless they're munged. > After DAYS of reporting spam to them I get this garbage from them > wanting me to FAX them copies of any spam so they can build a case. > No one is *that* incompetent! Now *that* is ridiculous. It sounds like they're merely blowing you off because they think you've become an annoyance, and apparently you have :). They should simply be honest and say that, as a domain registrar, they are in no position to be the world's spam police. Frankly, you're barking up the wrong tree. They're probably jerks, however, so you probably should transfer your domains elsewhere (to another domain registrar). Just accept the fact that all e-mail addresses in use will eventually become spam-fouled. When the level of spam infestation exceeds your mail setup's filtering effectiveness, you invent another address, and route the polluted address to a blackhole, bounce it, or route it to an autoresponder which automatically generates a reply advising your correspondents that the address has changed to whatever. This is a basic advantage domain owners have over the unwashed masses suffering with ISP addresses, who cannot easily or conveniently change addresses. You can define a destination for mail without a specific alias (a catch-all) or just bounce or discard mail unless an alias IS specifically defined (this stops incoming spam of the increasingly common "dictionary" flavor [webmaster@, contact@, info@, john@, joe@, etc.]). > Does anyone have any recommendations for dependable domain registrars > that have stability, economy pricing etc, basic services, but do not > knowingly support spammers? I have quite a few domains registered. Blaming the average registrar for a spam problem is like blaming your dry cleaner because your paperboy can't "porch it." The connection is virtually non-existent. It's a non-productive waste of your energy to chew on your registrar over "the spam problem," and it belies a profound misunderstanding of the sources of spam and how spammers operate. They will always be able to get domains from someone, here or abroad, no matter what. Direct your energy where it belongs: get control of your e-mail service. When you do, your spam problem will disappear, as mine has. DG ------------------------------ 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 #312 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 1 18:24:50 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i61MOod27787; Thu, 1 Jul 2004 18:24:50 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 18:24:50 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407012224.i61MOod27787@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 #313 TELECOM Digest Thu, 1 Jul 2004 18:25:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 313 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Norvergence Financial Problems (Ann Marie C) Norvergence News: Employees Not Paid! (Alessandra Di Maggio) Re: Latest Norvergence News (Steven J Sobol) Online Directory for Curacao? (Marcus Jervis) Utility Cuts Short BPL Trial that was Target of Amateur (Neal McLain) Re: Inet Domain Name, Help (Brad Houser) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID Info? (Keith) Re: Internet Access With a 800 Number (Steven J Sobol) Re: WTB: Used Cell Phones (Joseph) Re: Internet Access With a 800 Number (John Hines) Re: Driver Distraction (and Not Just Cell Phone) (Carl Moore) Tune In, Turn On, Skype Out (VOIP News) "Reverse Calling" - a Feature I Wish More Providers Would Offer (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: Ann Marie C Subject: Norvergence Financial Problems Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 16:36:32 -0400 I worked for Norvergence starting on June 1 through June 9 when I resigned. It seems that Norv is having financial problem because June 18 was paid day and all NorV checks BOUNCED. So far I have received no check or explanation what happen to my pay. Tomorrow July 2 is scheduled payday again; that means that NorV has to pay employees for 4 weeks. It seem like they have no money to pay employeee, so I figured that Qwest, Sprint, T-mobile would not be paid. NorV would will last to long, they are ripping customers off. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well AT&T and SBC both rip off customers also; very few telcos have their hands clean on this. But AT&T has been in business more than a century as has SBC and they are not closing down anytime soon at least. But remember the rule: First the payroll, then the utilities. Without meeting obligations to those two, you are out of businessm as I guess Norvrgence is starting to find out. PAT] ------------------------------ From: shinecorp1@aol.com (Alessandra Di Maggio) Subject: Norvergence News: Employees Not Paid ! Date: 1 Jul 2004 06:47:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello Everyone,. Check out this link: http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=112373# It is a television news report that talks about Norvergence not paying employees and bouncing checks to vendors and suppliers. I am sure glad I 'left' the company along with 500 others in March, 2004 ! BarryB wrote in message news:: > Greetings: > I was informed by Qwest that Norvergence agreed to pay > $8,000,000 today in past due invoices; If they don't pay Qwest will > disconnect all Norvergence T1 and long distance services PERMANENTLY > by the end of the week.. > There is another article today on News 12 NJ discussing > Norvergence paychecks bouncing, and laid off employees not getting > their final paychecks. > I assume the Salzano brothers have their exit plans in place. > Barry Bellin [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Was it the *current* payroll that was missed? I am told they still owe for the one from two week ago as well. I feel sorry for the poor guys who work there, since many guys live from one payday to the next, as I do with my social security disbility checks each month. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Latest Norvergence News Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:03:17 -0500 BarryB wrote: > Greetings: > I was informed by Qwest that Norvergence agreed to pay > $8,000,000 today in past due invoices; If they don't pay Qwest will > disconnect all Norvergence T1 and long distance > services PERMANENTLY by the end of the week.. Hm. I'd love to see the Norvergence shills spin this in a positive light. I don't think it's possible to do so, though. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/ Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED) Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids. ------------------------------ From: Marcus Jervis Subject: Online Directory For Curacao? Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 05:08:37 +0000 Can anyone recommend an online directory of residential listings for Curacao? I've seen www.whitepages.an, but it isn't working at the moment. Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 06:52:31 -0500 From: Neal McLain Subject: Utility Cuts Short BPL Trial that was Target From ARRL, 6/28/2004: NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 28, 2004--Alliant Energy has called an early end to its broadband over power line (BPL) pilot project in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The "evaluation system" went live March 30, and plans were for it to remain active until August or September. Alliant shut it down June 25. http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/28/2/?nc=1 ------------------------------ From: Brad Houser Subject: Re: Inet Domain Name, Help Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 13:25:07 -0700 Organization: Intel Corporation Ron Reaugh wrote in message news:telecom23.310.16@telecom-digest.org: > What exactly is a registerable Internet domain name and how does that > relate to subdomains? For instance if one owns or is renting > xyzabc.com then what exactly is jkl.xyzabc.com? I understand that the > jkl is known as a subdomain. But is the complete entity > jkl.xyzabc.com something that is independently registerable from > xzyabc.com? OR if one owns xyzabc.com then does one own automatically > all subdomains off xyzabc.com in Internet domain name space? I guess > the question boils down to whether '.' is a special and > non-registerable character below the TLD level and therefore the > registerable domain name is that entity in the right most portion of > the name including one and only one '.' which preceeds a valid TLD? Not exactly a telecom question, but as I understand it, and I may be wrong, you can choose to register subdomains if you want to. If you choose not to, you will need to provide your own DNS at your main domain server to map the traffic through to the correct IP address. If you register it, you can get the DNS servers on the internet to point to it. I think it is something you can wait and see depending on traffic, or if you don't want to be bothered with the overhead. Brad Houser ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 16:32:47 -0400 TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Keith by writing in news:telecom23.310.9@telecom-digest.org: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The reason pizza delivery places got > along fine without caller ID for many years is the same reason police > got along fine without 911 for many years; they had to; there were no > other options. Comparing the need of local emergency responders to the need of the local pizza business with which I choose to do business with doesn't hold water. I would gladly give up my name, phone number, and location on a 911 call. Ordering a pizza, calling the local hardware store, or calling the guy down the street to see how much he wants for his used Mustang is an entirely different idea. I prefer that my calls be anonymous unless I choose to identify myself. And just because this wonderful technology has enabled the automatic violation of my privacy, doesn't mean this is "progress". The ABILITY to transfer whatever information is progress. Advancement in technology does not give a free pass to abuse that technology in whatever methods a company deems appropriate or profitable. > That, and the fact that telco essentially re-invented the phone > network in the late 1960's (with ESS, and its sophistication) which > was necessitated in large part by how severely they were getting > ripped off by an increasingly sophisticated public. I think I could seriously argue that the only people getting ripped off in the 60's through the present is the end user, ie the customer. The various telephone companies of the world have not created multibillion dollar enterprises by keeping prices as low as possible. Of the books I've read (Freeman, Welch, Van Bosse, Thompson, Noll, BSTJ's, etc) which talk about the migration to ESS, although they all mention "fraudalent use" as a contributing factor -- I think that they would hardly consider fraud the large part of the reason. SELLCOM Tech support wrote in message news:telecom23.310.10@telecom-digest.org: > cyberpizzaguy@hotmail.com (JV) posted on that vast internet thingie: > A good first step might be to not insist that your drivers be unarmed, > especially if you live in a concealed carry state. If the criminals > were not assured of easy unarmed marks, they might not have such a > preference for the pizza man. Amen. Keith [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your one word response to Steve at Sellcom was very good **assuming the drivers have a lot of patience with customers who are otherwise disagreeable and cranky** and assuming the driver's are licensed and have had gun training. In response to your answer to my earlier note, I was not suggesting that pizza telephone clerks are equal to police and other emergency workers, but only that they share at least one problem in common: The general public is sometimes easily confused (at best) and sometimes (at worst) have more evil intentions in mind. You or I might be capable and willing to note that our house was on fire and without a lot of panic call the Fire Department and report same, then begin putting the fire out while waiting for their arrival. In Chicago, for example, during the 1970's -- prior to Caller ID and 911 -- it was not that uncommon for a call to come into Fire Department and a very nervous and upset person on the phone was screaming, "Help! Fire at 5702 Western Avenue!" then slamming down the phone and running off to safety without telling the firemen if it was 5702 *NORTH* Western or 5702 *SOUTH* Western, several miles apart. So the Fire Department would send firemen to each address (north and south) to leave nothing to chance; obviously one crew came back empty handed after a 'dry run'; maybe both crews would come back from a 'dry run' because it was not a citizen 'trying to be helpful' but a malicious and evil prank. The information you would 'gladly' give on a 911 call does not hold water, IMO either, since a large number of citizens are not as sophis- ticated as yourself. Anyway, we have had numerous discussions in this group over the years about whether or not one person has the 'right' to ring another's telephone and remain anonymous while doing do; some of us think no such right exists; it amounts to ringing a person's doorbell then covering up the person's peephole when he looks outside to see who is calling before answering the door. The fact that telco could do nothing about it for technical reasons for most a century has nothing to do with realities now days. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Internet Access With a 800 Number Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:02:09 -0500 TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Kevin : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not only are robberies of pizza > delivery guys bad news; so is spam and virii. What would happen to > the amount of spam if every ISP started using 800 numbers on their > dialups and matching those logs with their other traffic logs, so > they could hammer on the !absolute! senders of that crap. After all > it came from YOUR account when YOU were on line to us, etc. The > person could, I suppose, insist he had not been at the computer at > that time, it must have been a virus-bot using my computer, etc. PAT] The only thing 800 numbers buy you is ANI and the ability to let customers call you from anywhere without incurring long distance charges. ANI is available without getting an 800 number if your dialup lines run off PRI circuits or T's. 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: WTB: Used Cell Phones Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 08:09:52 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:53:00 -0500, Jerome Haden wrote: > We also have a customer looking for GSM gspr triband chips - or used > phones to remove them from. Used "gspr" (sic) chips aren't worth anything as any information that's relevant goes away as soon as the mobile operator takes down the service associated with the SIM. You evidently don't know a whole lot about GSM technology if you're referring to "gspr triband chips." Triband is determined by what kind of handset you have and if the handset is capable of using more than one frequency band. *GPRS* is a function that the mobile operator sets up in their system for users. There is no GPRS chip. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Internet Access With a 800 Number Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 08:34:12 -0500 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not only are robberies of pizza > delivery guys bad news; so is spam and virii. What would happen to > the amount of spam if every ISP started using 800 numbers on their > dialups and matching those logs with their other traffic logs, so > they could hammer on the !absolute! senders of that crap. Won't be but a drop in the bucket, compared to zombie machines on DSL or cable lines, that can send out HUGE volumes. > From http://arstechnica.com/news/posts/20040629-3945.html > After Comcast finally owned up to the massive amounts of spam > coming from their network, they decided to identify spammers and > zombie relays on their network and block port 25 traffic from those IP > addresses. Comcast's efforts are starting to pay off. They announced > the amount of spam from their network has dropped 35 percent since > they began port blocking and traffic estimates from SenderBase seem > to confirm the claims. Spam coming from Comcast subscribers who > were formerly on AT&T networks also seems to have decreased. > Kudos should go out to Comcast for helping put a dent into the spam > problem, but before they run around the web claiming they saved the > Internet from spam, they still have a long ways to go in cleaning up > their networks. SenderBase lists a handful of IP addresses that are > continually pumping out over one million emails a day, and many more > who are sending over 100,000 per day. Comcast attempts to notify > problem users before they begin blocking port 25 traffic and these > users may be caught in the middle of the process. Let's hope they > can speed up the process and stop the spam emanating from these IPs > soon. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 12:28:57 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Driver Distraction (and Not Just Cell Phone) Earlier this year, I wrote of a driver reaching down for gloves and (at the same time) drifting into my lane and causing minor sideswipe damage to the left side of a car I was driving. I have just come across a story dated 10 Oct. 2003 from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Although it's from Wisconsin, it's about an accident near South Bend, Indiana where a driver may have been using a laptop computer just before a sideswipe where one person was killed and 2 others (including the driver who was apparently using the laptop) critically injured. The accident apparently took place 9 Oct. (the previous day). The article also quotes a spokesman for AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: "We've heard of people shucking corn and playing a guitar while driving." ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 11:48:10 -0400 Subject: Tune In, Turn On, Skype Out Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.techcentralstation.com/070104F.html Tune In, Turn On, Skype Out By Kevin Werbach Published 07/01/2004 TCS Somewhere between Sweden, Estonia, and London, a small band of software developers is fomenting a revolution. Their product, Skype, has been downloaded fifteen million times worldwide in less than a year, without any marketing budget. It is provoking consternation among government officials. And it has large incumbents worried. If that sounds like the profile of peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing programs like Napster and Kazaa, it should. Not only is Skype a product of the same team that launched Kazaa, the most popular p2p file-sharing application, Skype is a p2p tool itself. Only, with a twist. Instead of sharing files, Skype shares voices. It is a voice over IP application. And in mid-June, with no fanfare, it blew a hole in the Federal Communications Commission's halting efforts to micro-manage the transition to a VOIP world. Skype's great step forward is called SkypeOut. A Skype user can now call any telephone subscriber in more than a hundred countries. Fees throughout the US and most of Europe and Asia are .012 Euros per minute, or about 1.5 cents. And Skype is global. There is no difference between domestic and international service: a call to New York from Japan is the same price as one from Philadelphia. Calls to other Skype users still cost exactly zero. SkypeOut's low rates for global dialing are a boon for users. SkypeOut also shows how quickly a company can innovate when it leverages the open Internet data platform. There is perhaps no clearer proof that voice telephony, which generates hundreds of billions of dollars a year for carriers, will eventually be seen as a feature of the Internet, rather than the reverse. Yet, there's a catch. SkypeOut creates new fissures in the FCC's shaky VOIP regulatory edifice. Full story at: http://www.techcentralstation.com/070104F.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, 01 Jul 2004 00:05:41 -0400 Subject: "Reverse Calling" - a Feature I Wish More Providers Would Offer Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com I saw a mention tonight on another mailing list of a Canadian company called TalkNet. TalkNet has a fairly unique feature in their service area, that as far as I know is not offered by any of the commercial VoIP providers in the United States. It's described this way on their page at http://www.talknet.ca/resiline.asp "Reverse Calling is a unique feature whereby a caller who is not a subscriber to our service may place a call to a subscriber and not incur a long distance charge. The non-subscriber would call one of our local access numbers and then enter the telephone number of the TalkNet subscriber. Our TalkNet service then processes the call by calling the valid subscriber and connecting the two parties." And they have local access numbers covering most of the non-rural parts of Ontario (see the list at http://www.talknet.ca/accessnumbers.asp In fact, about the only larger city in Ontario that I notice seems to be missing is Thunder Bay, way up in the northwestern part of the province. About the only thing I know of that is an equivalent in the U.S. are the Telesthetic access numbers in Michigan (see http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Telesthetic ), but those don't work with any of the major commercial VoIP providers. I don't know why commercial VoIP providers don't just set aside one number in each ratecenter they serve, and use them as access numbers to get to their customers, in the same way that TalkNet uses their access numbers. Seems like it would be a worthwhile feature to me! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you could avoid toll by calling a Vonage 'incoming port' number in your own community and then having the call relayed over Vonage (to name an example) network, then what would be the point of purchasing your own Vonage phone? If you want to call a Vonage customer, just dial their number. If you did not have broadband (to use a Vonage phone of your own) I can see where this might be helpful; but what would prevent people from dialing into their local 'port' for Vonage then dialing any number anywhere to save on tolls all over the world? 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 #313 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 2 03:03:42 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6273gS01843; Fri, 2 Jul 2004 03:03:42 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 03:03:42 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407020703.i6273gS01843@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 #314 TELECOM Digest Fri, 2 Jul 2004 03:04:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 314 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lost Satellite Carriage on G5-T7 (Neal McLain) Re: Interception of E-Mail Raises Questions (Barry Margolin) Re: What Happened to the "2-Way" Craze? (Chris Farrar) Re: Internet Access With a 800 Number (John Levine) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Inet Domain Name, Help (J Kelly) Re: Inet Domain Name, Help (Steven J Sobol) Re: New Wrinkle - Nigerian Scam (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: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 23:28:43 -0500 From: Neal McLain Subject: WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lost Satellite Carriage on G5-T7 In my post of May 24, 2004 (TD 23:255) , I noted that WFMT, WCPE, and YUSA were about to lose carriage on Galaxy 5, Transponder 7. They lost carriage at 6:05 PM EDT on June 30, 2004, when all five aural subcarriers fell silent. The backstory: Back in the late 1970s, when the cable industry began to use satellites to distribute television broadcast stations to cable systems, no broadcast station was permitted to uplink its own signal. Due to a quirk in the FCC policy at the time, only an independent third-party common carrier could do so. The first television station to be uplinked under this rule was Turner's WTCG (subsequently WTBS), carried by Tulsa-based common carrier Southern Satellite Systems. Shortly thereafter, United Video, another Tulsa-based carrier, started carrying WGN-TV. In 1979, United Video added FM radio station WFMT, "piggybacked" (as separate left-and-right aural subcarriers) on the WGN-TV signal. In subsequent years, it added WCPE (Wake Forest) and YUSA (Yesterday USA, a non-broadcast audio service). Since that time: - Tribune Company has split its programming operations into two separate signals: WGN-TV (the Chicago television station) and "WGN Superstation" (the satellite feed for cable TV and DBS companies). Although both WGNs carry a lot of the same programming, "WGN Superstation" is legally not a broadcast station; consequently Tribune can legally uplink the signal itself. - The owners of United Video have sold the company to Gemstar- TV Guide (the same company that publishes TV Guide). As a division within Gemstar, United Video was renamed UVTV. UVTV has continued to uplink WGN Superstation (on G5-T7) even though by now Tribune could opt to do so itself. UVTV also has continued to uplink radio signals WFMT, WCPE and YUSA on subcarriers of the WGN Superstation signal. - Gemstar-TV Guide sold UVTV to EchoStar in April, 2004. EchoStar, of course, owns Dish Network, which makes it one of the cable industry's least-favorite competitors (as in "don't feed the cable pig"). This situation puts Tribune in an awkward position: Tribune sells WGN Superstation to Dish Network as well as to all of Dish's competitors: cable TV companies, DirecTV, and VOOM. Understandably, Tribune probably doesn't want to be EchoStar's customer for uplinking service at the same time it's also selling WGN Superstation to EchoStar's competitors. The net result of all this is that Tribune has discontinued its relationship with UVTV. I believe it has built its own uplink facility, although it may have contracted with somebody else. In the process, it's providing two versions of WGN Superstation's signal: one digital and one analog. The two signals are transmitted over a single transponder (still G5-T7); these signals occupy the entire bandwidth, with no room for subcarriers. And that means there's no room for WFMT, WCPE, or YUSA. Furthermore, since Tribune is not a common carrier, it doesn't have any reason to carry any other signals anyway. For its part, UVTV, now that it's part of EchoStar, certainly isn't about to do anything that would benefit the cable TV industry! Furthermore, without the WGN Superstation signal, it may not have anything to piggyback aural subcarriers on anyway. So WFMT, WCPE, and YUSA have been forced to make other arrangements. As of July 2: WFMT has not arranged for any form of alternate satellite carriage, and it apparently doesn't intend to. It has announced informally (in e-mails and phone calls to distressed listeners) that it intends to resume internet streaming as a subscription service (it had discontinued streaming in October 2002 for cost reasons. ). But it still hasn't made any official announcement about its streaming plans or the proposed subscription fee. Its website is silent on the issue. WCPE has moved to Galaxy 5 Transponder 15 (HBO East), at the same subcarrier frequencies (5.58 and 6.12 MHz) . WCPE's internet stream remains unchanged (and free) at . YUSA (Yesterday USA) has moved to AMC-4 satellite, Transponder 6 (Ku-band) as an SCPC signal at 11.807 GHz . Neal McLain nmclain@annsgarden.com ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Interception of E-Mail Raises Questions Organization: Looking for work Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 22:56:16 -0400 In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > An advocacy group said Tuesday's ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court > of Appeals opens the door to further interpretations of the federal > Wiretap Act that could erode personal privacy rights. What I don't understand is why they prosecuted the company under the Wiretap Act. The court ruled that this wasn't wiretapping, because they analyzed the messages while they were stored on the server, not in transit. OK, but what about the Electronic Communication Privacy Act? I thought it protected the privacy of email. The provider is only allowed to read the mail as necessary to provide the service (e.g. for troubleshooting, or spam/virus filtering that the customer authorizes). Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I thought that those rules did not apply to a company monitoring its own servers and its own employees activities. ? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 21:19:52 -0400 From: Chris Farrar Reply-To: cfarrar@spamcop.net, cfarrar@attglobal.net Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2-Way" Craze? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that the 'walkie-talkie > two way feature' was not a Walkie-Talkie in the 'traditional' sense of > using a two-way radio as such (RF or radio frequency) signals but was > actually a speed dial type thing for one number on the cell phone > which in addition to being speed dialed was put on a handsfree type > 'loudspeaker' type thing? How did that Nextel feature actually work? PAT] Not really Pat. Nextel in the US, and Telus Mobility (Mike) in Canada operate iDEN networks. The Popular Science magazine did a "How does it work" story about Nextel's system a few issues ago. Basically, Nextel (or Telus/Mike) give you the hand held phone. To interface with the phone system, it has a dialable number in the North American Numbering Plan in the NXX-NXX-XXXX format. It also has a "private" number, in the form of AREA*NETWORK*UNIT. For instance, the company I work for has Mike "phones" in every vehicle. They have a dialable telephone number like any other phone. But to chat vehicle to vehicle, you only punch in the 4 digit vehicle number and push the PTT (push to talk) button on the side of the phone, just as you would with a traditional walkie-talkie or CB radio mike. To use the phone mode you dial a number and hit the send (not PTT) key, and to hang up you hit the end button (again, not the PTT key). Every time you release the PTT the call "drops" so if you are unit 1, and talking to unit 2, if 2 doesn't key the PTT to speak to you fast enough, unit 3 could talk to you while unit 2 gets a message along the lines of "User is busy in private" on his phone LCD. It is essentially a traditional walkie-talkie, but goes through a cellular switch and is half duplex (if the other party is talking, you can't, and vice versa) rather than a full duplex telephone connection. Otherwise it acts like a fancy Family Radio Service (FRS) walkie-talkie with much longer range. Also you can establish talkgroups, so instead of 1 to 1 communication, you can do 1 to as many as needed, like a conventional 2 way radio, and even set it up so a base or dispatch can do 1 to many, but all others can only do 1 to 1. Also selectable when you set up your plan is whether or not you want other groups to be able to call your units. For instance, if my "home" is Buffalo NY my phone number could be 716-555-1257 and my private number is 716*12345*1257. Anyone in my network group (12345) can call my unit by simply punching 1257 and hitting the PTT. But Jose's Widgets which has 716*54321*3456 can only reach my walkie talkie feature with my permission. If I allowed "interconnect" Joe would have to enter the entire sequence, including the stars (ie 716*12345*1257) and he could talk to me, not just the last 4 digits. He could save that in the directory on his phone, and cut out having to punch it in all the time, but if he as a different network group, you have to "dial" all the digits. He could still reach me as a telephone by dialing 716-555-1257, and I can't block that while I can block the walkie talkie feature. The last 4 digits of the private number don't have to be related to the phone number, ie 716-555-1257 could have a private number of 716*12345*1151, or 716*12345*1 On an aside, Nextel, Telus, and a few other companies recently signed a roaming agreement for the walkie talkie feature. Until early April 2004 if you had a Nextel phone and were in Canada, only the telephone part would work, the walkie talkie (Direct Connect) feature wouldn't. Likewise a Telus Mike unit would only Direct Connect in Canada and only operate in telephone mode in the USA. As of the middle of April 2004, users can Direct Connect to each other in different countries (Ie a Nextel user in Charleston South Carolina can Direct Connect to another Nextel user in Toronto Canada, or a Nextel user could Direct Connect from Vancouver BC to Toronto ON, or Mike from Montreal PQ to Los Angeles CA). I believe the other 2 countries involved are Argentina and Chile, but not positive. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Jul 2004 23:11:33 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Internet Access With a 800 Number Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > The only thing 800 numbers buy you is ANI and the ability to let > customers call you from anywhere without incurring long distance > charges. ANI is available without getting an 800 number if your dialup > lines run off PRI circuits or T's. ANI can also give you the ANI II digits that tells you what kind of line the call is from: http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/ani_ii_assignments.html As others have noted, lots of people make entirely legitimate pizza orders from mobile or coin phones, but at least it gives you a hint that you need a different callback number. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 20:47:56 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Richard Gozinia wrote: > 1) Use a quality hosting company, where Spam Assassin or similar, > possibly in combination with Real Time Block Listing, is incorporated > into their mail server. No, no, no, NO! I recently had a problem where my email provider blackholed a mailserver from which I receive a large amount of legitimate email. It took a week to get the block removed, and during that time email sent to me through the blackholed server was irretrievably lost. A couple of years ago email I sent to my father was dropped for about two weeks when my father's ISP blackholed my ISP's mailserver. I prefer to receive ALL my email -- spam included -- and filter it locally. That way, if a filter becomes "overly aggressive" for some reason it's under _my_ control, not that of some faceless dweeb who is only reachable when it suits him. The pipe that brings me email should be just that: a pipe. No filters, no blacklists, no tampering of any kind. 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: Domain Registration Recommendations Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 23:26:57 GMT Richard Gozinia posted on that vast internet thingie: > 3) Use Javascript to obscure e-mail addresses displayed on your web > pages. I just went to your site and I see that "support@sellcom.com" is > placed on the home page in the clear (and you posted it in this group). > I hope you're not blaming your registrar for spam you receive at that > address, because I bet you're getting tons of it. That's because the > spammers' robots will continue to harvest it as long as it's posted in > the clear, as it is now. This is plainly unnecessary. Use simple > Javascript techniques to prevent this, since spammers' harvesting robots > can't (yet?) cope with Javascript. Check out these URLs for more info on > obfuscating your addresses: I publish my email address and run filters etc and etc and when I have time just report the scum that manage to get through. The problem here was that buydomains had a scheme that involved publishing a temp email addy in the whois but auto-forwarding it on to me. Because of that I could not block the IP without blocking them (my registrar, not good to block, eh). Spammers just started harvesting and spamming the "temp" addys which were then auto-forwarded to the real email address. To their credit and honor buydomains has now modified their system to either not publish any email address for the domain or require manual web intervention in order to email the "temp" whois address. They, once they figured out what was going on acted extremely fast to fix the problem. This was far more complicated than I initially realized or said. 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: J Kelly Subject: Re: Inet Domain Name, Help. Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 20:49:19 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com If you own xyzabc.com then you automatically own all subdomains for that domain as well. The subdomains do not have to point to the same IP address, it all depends on how you set up the records in the DNS zone for the domain. On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 20:40:43 GMT, Ron Reaugh wrote: > What exactly is a registerable Internet domain name and how does that > relate to subdomains? For instance if one owns or is renting > xyzabc.com then what exactly is jkl.xyzabc.com? I understand that the > jkl is known as a subdomain. But is the complete entity > jkl.xyzabc.com something that is independently registerable from > xzyabc.com? OR if one owns xyzabc.com then does one own automatically > all subdomains off xyzabc.com in Internet domain name space? I guess > the question boils down to whether '.' is a special and > non-registerable character below the TLD level and therefore the > registerable domain name is that entity in the right most portion of > the name including one and only one '.' which preceeds a valid TLD? ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Inet Domain Name, Help Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 19:15:56 -0500 Brad Houser wrote: >> What exactly is a registerable Internet domain name and how does that >> relate to subdomains? For instance if one owns or is renting >> xyzabc.com then what exactly is jkl.xyzabc.com? A subdomain of xyzabc.com. :) When you register a domain, "glue" records are placed in the root nameservers (a group of servers that handle top-level references for domains like .com, etc.) saying "if you're looking for xyzabc.com, this is where to look." "This" normally refers to nameservers you or your ISP run, and if you wanted to set up, for example, www.xyzabc.com, whoever maintained those nameservers would have to set up a record ... normally that'd be you, or your ISP (one or the other, depending on who maintains the domain). Several domain registrars also provide other services like email accounts and web space. They generally also offer the use of their nameservers if you don't want to run your own or use your ISP's. >> jkl is known as a subdomain. But is the complete entity >> jkl.xyzabc.com something that is independently registerable from >> xzyabc.com? No ... >> OR if one owns xyzabc.com then does one own automatically >> all subdomains off xyzabc.com in Internet domain name space? Yes. >> I guess the question boils down to whether '.' is a special and >> non-registerable character below the TLD level and therefore the >> registerable domain name is that entity in the right most portion >> of the name including one and only one '.' which preceeds a valid >> TLD? Any given part of a domain name must not use the dot. Dots are only used to separate the top level from the second level, etc. (top level being "com" in this example, second being "xyzabc", third being "jkl") 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. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 16:56:31 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: New Wrinkle - Nigerian Scam Try going to the web site for the Netherlands embassy (at least in the U.S.). Among "headlines" is an entry for June 2, 2004 (only about a month ago) which answers inquiries received in the U.S. by the Netherlands embassy and consulates about those "Netherlands / lottery" emails. It points out some of what we call "red flags", and one of those is the use of a cell phone number to reach the supposed "official". In the case of the Netherlands, it's pointed out that such numbers start with "+31 6". Do you remember there being noise in opposition to use of special area codes in +1 for cell phones? Yes, I saw Paul Cook's message, and a "last laugh" response which pointed out the use of 31 September as a date in one of those "Netherlands / lottery" emails. Do any of those emails have a fax number in area code 413 in western Massachusetts? ------------------------------ 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 #314 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 2 13:44:55 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i62HitG07868; Fri, 2 Jul 2004 13:44:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 13:44:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407021744.i62HitG07868@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 #315 TELECOM Digest Fri, 2 Jul 2004 13:44:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 315 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Norvergence Shut Down (William Van Hefner) Norvergence Fires Everyone, Closes Doors (Barry B) Re: What Happened to the "2-Way" Craze? (DevilsPGD) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Keith) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Scott Dorsey) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID? (Keith) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID? (S Dorsey) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (John Schmerold) Re: WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lost Satellite Carriage on G5-T7 (Jim Haynes) Covad to Offer VoIP Service on Front Range (Jack Decker) 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: William Van Hefner Subject: Norvergence Shut Down Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 00:19:48 -0700 Newark, NJ, July 2, 2004 (TheDigest.Com) - Operations at Norvergence have come to a halt. Employees at Norvergence's headquarters in Newark, NJ were reportedly told by the CEO on Thursday that the company's investors had abandoned them and that the company's assets had been frozen. They were also told that they would not be receiving their paychecks and that the company would be filing for bankruptcy. The move comes after the carrier came under investigation earlier this week by the New Jersey Labor Department for allegedly bouncing employee paychecks. Over 1,300 employees at the company's Newark, NJ office were told that they must leave immediately, and were escorted out of the building by security. Newark police were called in to keep the peace, as employees poured out onto the streets with their belongings. If and when the company's bankruptcy petition is filed, we will make it available for free download via our website. William Van Hefner Editor - www.TheDigest.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I feel very sorry for the employees who worked there and wound up not getting paid their two final paychecks (mid-June and end-of-June.) I also feel sorry for the several customers who are now stuck with limited or no phone service and will be stuck in much litigation with the finance companies which bought the worthless paper from Norvergence. Its a bad scene all the way around. PAT] ------------------------------ From: BarryB Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2004 10:55 PM Subject: Norvergence Fires Everyone; Closes Doors Sorry for the news: This afternoon Norvergence fired every last employee, and told them no final pay, and no replacement for bounced checks. Your service will be terminated shortly since they did not pay their bill with QWEST or any of their cell phone providers. I can restore you long distance and toll free SAME DAY directly with QWEST - no contract - no minimum, no deposit, no activation or startup fees. Attached find disclosure and my card and brochure. Barry Bellin 201 833 4091 ---- 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: However, Barry's disclosure along with his business card and brochure were not enclosed in the mail I received. PAT] ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2-Way" Craze? Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 08:15:44 GMT In message Chris Farrar wrote: > On an aside, Nextel, Telus, and a few other companies recently signed > a roaming agreement for the walkie talkie feature. Until early April > 2004 if you had a Nextel phone and were in Canada, only the telephone > part would work, the walkie talkie (Direct Connect) feature wouldn't. > Likewise a Telus Mike unit would only Direct Connect in Canada and > only operate in telephone mode in the USA. As of the middle of April > 2004, users can Direct Connect to each other in different countries > (Ie a Nextel user in Charleston South Carolina can Direct Connect to > another Nextel user in Toronto Canada, or a Nextel user could Direct > Connect from Vancouver BC to Toronto ON, or Mike from Montreal PQ to > Los Angeles CA). I believe the other 2 countries involved are > Argentina and Chile, but not positive. It's also worth noting that although not officially advertised, TELUS and Nextel customers can DC each other too. I'm in Canada, on TELUS, and I was able to have a conversation with a Nextel subscriber in TX. Next on FOX, all new REALITY SHOW promises to be a hit: "STOP A BULLET WITH YOUR HEAD" ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 09:55:29 -0400 Ron Chapman wrote in message news:telecom23.312.9@telecom-digest.org: >> As soon as I heard the conversation, I of course realized this was >> illegal, > Is it? > You're thinking of cell phone conversations. I haven't read the law > word for word, so my immediate question here would be, is it in fact > illegal for you to listen in on a Nextel "Direct Connect" conversation? > Especially if it's as you describe above, and not using any part of > the cellular system? > One wonders if there isn't a loophole there whereby the Nextel stuff > doesn't fit into the law ... Good point. I was actually being a little facetious regarding the situation. I've seen the law before but I'm no lawyer. If you think about cordless phone calls, which are protected by a different law, they operate in a point to point manner(phone to base, analog FM, no repeaters, towers, etc), similar to Nextel's system, and they are protected. I suppose it depends if the judge considers Nextel's direct-connect to be a phone call or not. If the cordless phone and cell phone industries would have encrypted the conversations instead of lobbying congress to pass laws that make it illegal to listen to conversations, everyone would have been better served. Especially with unenforcable laws like these. I can sit at home and monitor cordless and cell phone calls all day long with zero threat of being caught. Then again, anyone who considers a cellphone anything BUT a radio transmitter that transmits on the open airwaves needs to reexamine how their stuff works. I would never say anything on a cellphone that I wouldn't say on a CB radio. Things have gotten better with digital cellphones, at least a $50 scanner from radio shack wouldn't help a would-be eavesdropper. Although I haven't looked, it wouldn't surprise me that someone has hacked together a way of decoding digital calls. Some of this is covered under the Electronics Communication Privacy Act (of 1986 IIRC) at: http://floridalawfirm.com/privacy.html The guys over at rec.radio.scanner have this discussion like three days a week. :) Keith ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: 2 Jul 2004 10:42:25 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Ron Chapman wrote: >Is it? > You're thinking of cell phone conversations. I haven't read the law > word for word, so my immediate question here would be, is it in fact > illegal for you to listen in on a Nextel "Direct Connect" conversation? > Especially if it's as you describe above, and not using any part of > the cellular system? Yes. Check out the ECPA, which makes it illegal to listen to damn near anything. Interpreted literally, it makes it illegal to listen to anything on a broadcast subcarrier, including FM stereo. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 09:18:53 -0400 Scott Dorsey wrote in message news:telecom23.312.15@telecom-digest.org: > If you call a pizza shop through an 800 number with your blocked cell > phone, they will not reject your call but get complete information > about the source in spite of the blocking. Blocking caller ID does > NOT DO ANYTHING about ANI. I'm trying really hard here not to just say, "Duh", but, I'll say "of course not." instead. That's why I suggested the pizza shop OP in question get an 800 number in an earlier post. No one answered my earlier question though: Is it possible to get ANI information from an 800 number delivered to a standard analog POTS line via CallerID by the telco? This wouldn't require a PBX (even a small one), and would keep the entire setup pretty simple. Keith ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: 2 Jul 2004 10:48:38 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Keith wrote: > I would gladly give up my name, phone number, and location on a 911 > call. Ordering a pizza, calling the local hardware store, or calling > the guy down the street to see how much he wants for his used Mustang > is an entirely different idea. I prefer that my calls be anonymous > unless I choose to identify myself. And just because this wonderful > technology has enabled the automatic violation of my privacy, doesn't > mean this is "progress". The ABILITY to transfer whatever information > is progress. Advancement in technology does not give a free pass to > abuse that technology in whatever methods a company deems appropriate > or profitable. That's fine. But if you don't give the pizza company your address and name, how can they know where to deliver the pizza? --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 10:39:42 -0500 From: John Schmerold Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Anybody but Network Solutions. I've had a couple of domains with them since near the beginning (it's hard to believe 1993 is near the beginning of anything as pervasive as the Internet). Everytime I have to deal with them, my blood boils, I have to exercise great restraint and remind myself the the girl on the other end is being paid minimum wage to deal with very very frustrated clients. Most recently, we had a client want to move their hosting to us, the old contact made me Technical contact, but I couldn't change the DNS records, I phoned Network Solutions, they said I'm the Technical Contact in Whois, but not a technical contact for management of the account. Good luck explaining that one to anyone, myself included. We've registered as a reseller with GoDaddy & have used Joker.com. I like Joker.com, but they moved to Switzerland from Germany and I worry a little bit about the stability of my domains, probably nothing to worry about, but I do ... Biggest hassle with GoDaddy is you can't just register a domain, you have to click thru a bunch of ads for web hosting etc, as a dealer we were able to disable all that junk and have. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lost Satellite Carriage on G5-T7 Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 16:27:14 GMT Rats! I was within days of getting a satellite dish set up so I could receive WFMT. jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:24:10 -0400 Subject: Covad to Offer VoIP Service on Front Range Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/technology/article/0,1299,DRMN_49_3006509,00.html By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News Another provider of Internet-based telephone calling is coming to the Front Range. Covad Communications Group Inc. plans to offer voice-over-Internet- protocol service next month to small- and medium-sized businesses from Boulder to Colorado Springs. Full story at: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/technology/article/0,1299,DRMN_49_3006509,00.html VoIP Watch blog comments on this story: http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/ 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. 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 #315 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jul 4 00:23:37 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i644Nbe21933; Sun, 4 Jul 2004 00:23:37 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2004 00:23:37 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407040423.i644Nbe21933@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 #316 TELECOM Digest Sun, 4 Jul 2004 00:23:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 316 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Norvergence Offices Raided by FBI (Alessandra Di Maggio) Cash For Former Norvergence Customer Referrals (Christine Collins) Re: Norvergence Shut Down (Steven J Sobol) Norvergence and Employee Insurance (EXECUTIVE2@aol.com) ANI->CNID, was Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone (Danny Burstein) Re: WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lost Satellite Carriage on G5-T7 (Robert Bonomi) Re: WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lost Satellite Carriage on G5-T7 (Neal McLain) Buy With A Wave Of A Phone (Eric Friedebach) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID (R Greenberg) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID (John D Galt) Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID (Novosielski) Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers (John Mayson) Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers (John David Galt) Re: Domain Registration Recommendations (Richard Gozinia) Re: Interception of E-Mail Raises Questions (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Inet Domain Name, Help. (delete the 'z' to get my real address) Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? (Joseph) United States: Communications Law Bulletin-June 2004 (VOIP News) DSL Prime for July 3, 2004 (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: shinecorp1@aol.com (Alessandra Di Maggio) Subject: Norbergence Offics Raided by FBI Date: 2 Jul 2004 11:24:43 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have spoken again to friends I know at Norvergence. Officially they are closed down. The offices in Newark were raided by the FBI on July 1, 2004 with allegations by the FBI of fraud and embezzlement. No one received any pay for four weeks. (One month, two paydays). When employees were notified they were all fired and not getting paid after the fourth week in a row, they began destroying office equipment and computers, and police were called. All Norvergence customers are totally cut off, unless they have made arrangements elswhere. Shinecorp1@aol.com Alessandra [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This scene reminds me the fiasco at the Diner's Club Credit Card office in 1962 when they were still owned by Alfred Bloomingdale's corporation and were located in New York City. The office had been getting increasingly more difficult to manage for a few years as the staff of about two thousand employees became increasingly diverse racially. Diners, in those days, had just come out of an all-manual system into the first year or two of computeriza- tion. Like Norvergence, Diners had a large number of ex-cons and/or parolees on the payroll; I guess the city and state of New York gave them a lot of tax breaks for doing so, etc. But there were problems, so severe in fact that Diners Club verged on bankruptcy more than once. Diner's management decided to make a sneaky move out of town, and (in general) get all new employees, trained in the new computerized system. And since 'everyone' knows that white poople in semi-rural areas work harder and cheaper than racially diverse people in an 'inner city area' like New York City, they decided the office would be relocated in Denver, Colorado, at the time, 40 years ago, still very much a 'country type' of small town, in an area outside of town called 'Tech Center'. It would be a whole new start for the company, and they really were hot to get out of New York City. In essence, *none*. of the employees were told about it, except a snall handful of supervisors and middle management people they intended to take along, and they were sworn to total secrecy. Diner's certainly did not intend to take along the vast assortment of riff-raff they had collected over the years in the form of posting/ledger clerks/bookeepers, etc; the vast majority of whom were either racially diverse or quite sympathetic to all the 'anti-everything' attitude of the Vietnam years. Comes the day before Thanksgiving that year (Wednesday) with the usual four day holiday (Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun) many USA workers get, and Diners management lined up everyone, handed out the turkeys, wished them all a happy Thanksgiving holiday and said, "Oh by the way, don't come back on Monday, cause we won't be here." Unlike Norvergence, Diners did give out final paychecks and a reasonable severence check to everyone, but still, the place went up for grabs. Some employees went around smashing stuff up, and several went two or three floors up to the 'computer center' (all *those* employees had been invited to relocate, and most of them did), broke the door down, took two computer workers *hostage*, took two big reels of tape, shredded it all into confetti and tossed it out the window from the 15th floor of the building there on Columbus Circle. The shredded confetti-like tapes consisted of invoices merchants had been paid for, but had not yet been billed to Diner's customers **and they had not yet been microfilmed (or backed up).** After the riot was over, police had arrested several hundred employees, freed the hostages, and cleared the place out. Very shocked management of Diner's Club wound up having to write off about three *million* dollars in recievables they could not reconstruct or bill for, even though Al Bloomingdale and others went out on Columbus Circle and picked up scraps of magnetic tape trying to put it all together again. It was close to a year later, located in Denver that Diner's finally realized the extent of the damage done by employees on the final day in New York City. And when the reality of the final write off that would have to be done hit them smack in the face, and many of Diners' *own creditors* were beginning to turn the screws on them for payment and many merchants had quit dealing with Diners because of how ineffecient they had become a year earlier in New York, Diners did decide to file bankruptcy. To their rescue came CNA Insurance, who bought into the action, and Amoco Oil who also bought a piece of the action and handed Diners a great deal: a list of a few million Amoco card holders who had been in 'phase 1' for a year or better, with no delinquencies in their oil company accounts. But because they are (or at least then were) not fools, Amoco said *we* will administer the whole thing and refer to it as 'Torch Club', and Diners, all you have to do is get your merchants (what there was left of them) to go along with it and accept 'Torch Club' cards like they would any Diner's Club card. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Solzano people come out of all this bright and shiny. They'll file bankruptcy, then Solzano will go sit down with his friends at Qwest and elsewhere, and start cutting some new deals. PAT] ------------------------------ From: christine.collins@atx.com (Christine Collins) Subject: Cash for Norvergence Customer Referrals Date: 2 Jul 2004 11:49:17 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com ATTENTION ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH NORVERGENCE:: WE ARE OFFERING COMMISSION TO ANYONE WHO CAN REFER BUSINESS CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE BEEN SCAMMED BY NORVERGENCE. PLEASE EMAIL ASAP: christine.collins@atx.com ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence Shut Down Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 17:10:34 -0500 William Van Hefner wrote: > The move comes after the carrier came under investigation earlier this > week by the New Jersey Labor Department for allegedly bouncing > employee paychecks. Over 1,300 employees at the company's Newark, NJ > office were told that they must leave immediately, and were escorted > out of the building by security. Newark police were called in to keep > the peace, as employees poured out onto the streets with their > belongings. > If and when the company's bankruptcy petition is filed, we will make > it available for free download via our website. Hey, Black Ninja. Any comments? This is all the customers' fault, right? 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: EXECUTIVE2@aol.com Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2004 18:17:45 EDT Subject: Norvergence and Insurance Pat, Please post so that other former employees are aware that they will have problems collecting on their insurance claims. According to Kelly at Comprehensive Benefits, they are only a TPA, Third Party Administrator. Qualcare is also a TPA, who submitted, the adjusted claims to Comprehnsive Benefits to mail checks to Doctor's. What you will soon discover is that Norvergence was self insured and is not an insurance company. Neither is Qualcare or Comprehensive Benefits. For all those that may seek further information under the Federal Law here is a link that me be beneficial: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/ go to the sub heading: Employer Bankruptcy: How Will It Affect Your Benefits? Comprehensive Benefits: http://www.comprehensive-benefit.com/ This information was supplied to me by the New Jersey Department of Insurance. Thank You and Good Luck to All. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: ANI->CNID, was Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 18:31:42 +0000 (UTC) Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Keith writes: > Is it possible to get ANI information from an 800 number delivered to > a standard analog POTS line via CallerID by the telco? This wouldn't > require a PBX (even a small one), and would keep the entire setup > pretty simple. Eyup. I get it, as we speak, courtesy of a tollfree number using KALL8 that's routed to my cellphone. Every single call coming to me shows the originating phone number. (I'm not 100% certain whether it's kicking me ANI or unblocked CNID. All the folk who've called me recently have been from places where the two are identical, or where I couldn't check back. The tollfree mechanism, though, makes it much more likely it's ANI). Kall8 info in at http://www.kall8.com. They're not the absolute cheapest, but their rates are competitive for moderate use. And they have a superb web interface which lets you change the destination number at the drop of a Kerry flip flop. Or a Bush six-pack. So you can route to the office until 5:45 pm, then kick it to your cellphone, (No connection to them except as a satisfied customer). _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lost Satellite Carriage on G5-T7 From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 18:45:34 +0000 In article , Neal McLain wrote: > In my post of May 24, 2004 (TD 23:255) , I > noted that WFMT, WCPE, and YUSA were about to lose carriage on Galaxy > 5, Transponder 7. They lost carriage at 6:05 PM EDT on June 30, 2004, > when all five aural subcarriers fell silent. > As of July 2: > WFMT has not arranged for any form of alternate satellite carriage, > and it apparently doesn't intend to. It has announced informally (in > e-mails and phone calls to distressed listeners) that it intends to > resume internet streaming as a subscription service (it had > discontinued streaming in October 2002 for cost reasons. > ). But it still hasn't > made any official announcement about its streaming plans or the > proposed subscription fee. Its website is silent on > the issue. WFMT has made official 'on-air' announcements that it will be offering an internet-based streaming subscription service. "Send an e-mail to 'streaming' AT 'wfmt.com'" and they'll send messages when more information is available. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 15:18:44 -0500 From: Neal McLain Subject: Re: WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lost Satellite Carriage on G5-T7 Jim Haynes (haynes@alumni.uark.edu) wrote: > Rats! I was within days of getting a satellite dish set up so I > could receive WFMT. Hey, check out WCPE. It's 100% classical with no advertising. It's also 100% listener-supported, but its fundraisers are relatively low-key. You'll be able to get it with your new dish: Galaxy 5, Transponder 15, subcarriers 5.58 and 6.12 MHz. . Disclosure (and rant): I have no connection with either WCPE or WFMT. I'm just a retired cable guy who spent his entire cable-TV career trying to convince marketing types that classical music is a salable product for a cable company. It's always amazed me that marketing pros who spend their careers trying to "position" video services don't apply the same logic to audio services. "Thirty channels of stereo music" is about as informative as "Thirty channels of color television." Now I keep hearing about how phone companies are building FTTH networks because "there's pent-up demand for an alternative to cable." Ok, fine. Am I supposed to believe that telco marketing guys know anything about classical music? Neal McLain [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When CableOne took over our service here in Independence more than a year ago, one thing they did was add classical music to their line up. We can get it three ways: Channel 938 on the cable box gets 24/7 classical music with a blank screen on the television set. Or with the cable plug in on my Bose radio I can tune in KRPS 89.9 FM from Pittsburg/Joplin or the station in Tulsa on 89.5 FMl both these are PBS stations with mostly classical music stuff. The lady in the office said to me "You won't need those two, since you can get it on channel 938." I suggested to her please leave it alone, I sort of preferred KPRS myself. A question to those of you who know about FM radio carried on cable: The tower is over on Oak Street, rather high. Exactly *how* to they get in FM radio stations? The man told me they have a crystal for 89.9 in a reciever there in the tower. Can they only get what they have crystals for or is *any* station on FM radio available over the cable (as far as improving its reception is concerned, etc?) PAT] ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Buy With A Wave Of A Phone Date: 3 Jul 2004 13:45:20 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Arik Hesseldahl, 07.01.04, Forbes.com NEW YORK - Somewhere in that long list of things that mobile phones were one day "supposed to become" was a replacement for the credit card. Sure, they're great for talking, storing personal calendars and address books. But their go-everywhere nature and ability to store data and communicate over the wireless networks, plus the ever-increasing smarts of the chips inside them, were also going to make them smart enough to handle the kinds of transactions usually classified as "impulse purchases." Sour Chhor wants to make it happen, and he's closer than you might expect. He's general manager of a group at Philips Electronics focused on developing a technology called near field communications (NFC) that is based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and could within a year start turning common mobile phones into the spendthrift's best friend. http://www.forbes.com/2004/07/01/cx_ah_0701rfid.html Eric Friedebach /Hey kids, never use a cigarette to light fireworks! Use a cigar - it stays lit longer./ ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: 2 Jul 2004 15:01:04 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Keith wrote: > No one answered my earlier question though: > Is it possible to get ANI information from an 800 number delivered to > a standard analog POTS line via CallerID by the telco? This wouldn't > require a PBX (even a small one), and would keep the entire setup > pretty simple. Yes, its possible and some IXCs do this (or used to). 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: John David Galt Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 17:12:54 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society Barry Margolin wrote: >> BTW, Pizza Hut for a long time had one of the most comprehensive >> reverse-lookup phone number databases in the world. They correlated >> information from a number of public sources, past customer calls, etc. I've run into a lot of businesses that do this, but find it a very mixed blessing. A lot of businesses -- including some that are in the business of selling lists of names to telemarketers -- still have my number listed in the name of a homeowner who had it before I moved here in 1997. Businesses I want to do business with, such as the local pizza place, are pretty good about changing their listings when I order from them (though I do have to remember to tell them, because they now assume by default that they already know, from my phone number, who and where I am; in my view this practice is a bug and not a feature). On the other hand, for six years I regularly got junk phone calls asking for that former homeowner, and usually the callers weren't inclined to tell me where they got his name/number so that I could contact the list seller and set its records straight. The do-not-call list, though, has finally put a stop to this nuisance, except for the charities. ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call From CallerID info? Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2004 04:50:00 GMT Keith wrote: > No one answered my earlier question though: > Is it possible to get ANI information from an 800 number delivered to > a standard analog POTS line via CallerID by the telco? This wouldn't > require a PBX (even a small one), and would keep the entire setup > pretty simple. Yes, it sure is. I have an 800 number with my LD carrier that rings to my regular POTS line. If someone calls the 800 number, it delivers complete CallerID Name and Number information to my phone, whether or not the caller dials *67 first. The same call dialed directly to the POTS number will show PRIVATE. Inbound rates are pretty standard, I think it's like 5.4¢/minute, but you will get bit for the extra quarter or so, if someone calls you from a pay phone. (If you're interested, e-mail me privately and I'll give you a referral code. If you sign up I get a few cents.) In any case, if you are dialing an 800 number, you pretty much can't block your identity. ------------------------------ From: John Mayson Subject: Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 22:53:13 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com > I was just curious to know what happens to the phone numbers once a > wireless plan expires or a customer terminates the contract. Are those > assigned to some other customers later? And most importantly how much > time does it take? This information will be useful to me as number > portability act doesn't work with the same carrier. If my plan with > Sprint expires and I have bought phones and numbers from another private > company for the same carrier (needs new activation); can I let the > current numbers expire and then maybe request them back? My company had issued me a cell phone, but took it away as part of cost cutting. Soon afterward (maybe 2 or 3 weeks) people told me when they called the number they got someone else who was quite irrate about receiving yet another call for me. It appeared they recycled the number fairly quickly. John Mayson Austin, Texas, USA ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 17:27:04 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society Joseph wrote: > Then again it may make a difference *how* valuable the old customer > was. Do they do over $100 a month in charges or are they a $20 a > month customer. That may make a difference. This selectivity based on the "value of the customer" goes both ways. After a bad experience with AT&T (who changed my contract terms in nasty ways, raised the price, and insisted on an annual contract for continued service) I cancelled my cellular service with them. I'm looking for a cell provider that offers all or most of these: - Low or no per-month charges (say $10 or less); the provider should make most of its money from a high per-minute rate instead. (I had the phone for a few, important calls, and never used as much as one tenth of the 2000 minutes/month that I had to pay for as part of AT&T's plan); - No insistence that I accept services I don't want (paging, text messaging, video, or Custom Calling type features); - Per-line caller-ID blocking and a promise that the number won't be included in cellular directories or sold to marketers; - No commitment longer than 90 days (especially if the provider is unwilling to commit in return that its plan and rates won't change); I have no problem with paying for the phone up front; and - No locking the phone so that I can't use it with multiple providers. (AT&T's is a pain to use in many locations because they program the handset so it will always insist on using an AT&T cell tower if it detects one, even if the signal is really horrible and a better signal is available from another provider.) I would like to see a good comparison site for cellular services similar to abelltolls.com for long distance services. ------------------------------ From: Richard Gozinia Subject: Re: Domain Registration Recommendations Date: 2 Jul 2004 13:52:07 -0500 Reply-To: No Address On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 20:47:56 -0500, Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: > Richard Gozinia wrote: >> 1) Use a quality hosting company, where Spam Assassin or similar, >> possibly in combination with Real Time Block Listing, is incorporated >> into their mail server. > No, no, no, NO! > I recently had a problem where my email provider blackholed a > mailserver from which I receive a large amount of legitimate email. > It took a week to get the block removed, and during that time email > sent to me through the blackholed server was irretrievably lost. A > couple of years ago email I sent to my father was dropped for about > two weeks when my father's ISP blackholed my ISP's mailserver. Horror stories notwithstanding, it's all in the implementation. I'll concede that most hosting companies don't do it right. Having said that, I have complete control over my mail. I lose no valid mail, I have maximum flexibility and I have almost no spam. > I prefer to receive ALL my email -- spam included -- and filter it > locally. That way, if a filter becomes "overly aggressive" for some > reason it's under _my_ control, not that of some faceless dweeb who is > only reachable when it suits him. Yes, many RTBL operators are defectives and malcontents. That's why the best service providers won't have anything to do with them. If your provider is good, you'll have none of these problems. The occasional borderline stuff can be tagged and processed by the client, if you wish. > The pipe that brings me email should be just that: a pipe. No > filters, no blacklists, no tampering of any kind. There's no reason to handle known spam locally. You seem to think that what I'm talking about is impossible. Keep thinking that, and enjoy swimming in your spam. DG ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Interception of E-Mail Raises Questions Date: 2 Jul 2004 20:01:20 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I thought that those rules did not > apply to a company monitoring its own servers and its own employees > activities. ? PAT] Apparently in this case the email belonged to subscribers, not employees. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: Walter Dnes (delete the 'z' my real address) Subject: Re: Inet Domain Name, Help. Date: 3 Jul 2004 00:00:05 GMT Reply-To: see_my_sig_at_bottom_of_message@waltdnes.org On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 20:40:43 GMT, Ron Reaugh, wrote: > What exactly is a registerable Internet domain name and how does that > relate to subdomains? For instance if one owns or is renting > xyzabc.com then what exactly is jkl.xyzabc.com? I understand that the > jkl is known as a subdomain. But is the complete entity > jkl.xyzabc.com something that is independently registerable from > xzyabc.com? OR if one owns xyzabc.com then does one own automatically > all subdomains off xyzabc.com in Internet domain name space? I guess > the question boils down to whether '.' is a special and > non-registerable character below the TLD level and therefore the > registerable domain name is that entity in the right most portion of > the name including one and only one '.' which preceeds a valid TLD? I hate to say this, but "it depends". In the old com/net/org/edu name space, the "owner" of abc.tld usually "owns" *.abc.tld. "Owns" may not be a 100% correct way to say it, which is why the quotes. Other TLDs (Top Level Domains) do things differently. In the UK, there are many 3rd-level domains. E.g. ".ac.uk" is the UK equivalant of the American ".edu", so you'll find British universities there. ".co.uk" is corporate (like ".com") in the UK. So the British Broadcasting Corporation is "bbc.co.uk". To further complicate matters, demon.co.uk sells *FOURTH LEVEL* domains. So "jane_smith.demon.co.uk" and "john_doe.demon.co.uk" could be totally different domains with their own separate nameservers and MX's. Walter Dnes; my email address is *ALMOST* like wzaltdnes@waltdnes.org Delete the "z" to get my real address. If that gets blocked, follow the instructions at the end of the 550 message. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: What Happened to the "2 Way" Craze? Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 18:05:23 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 09:55:29 -0400, Keith wrote: > If the cordless phone and cell phone industries would have encrypted > the conversations instead of lobbying congress to pass laws that make > it illegal to listen to conversations, everyone would have been better > served. And just what do you mean if? All digital mobile systems now have encryption. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 16:49:19 -0400 Subject: United States: Communications Law Bulletin-June 2004 Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_27039 The FCC, States, and the European Commission Further Consider the Regulation of VOIP Services As we reported in our March, 2004 edition, the FCC has initiated a comprehensive investigation into the appropriate regulatory framework for so-called IP-enabled services, including Voice-over-Internet- Protocol ("VOIP") services that offer an alternative to the traditional voice telephone call. That FCC rulemaking continues, with reply comments due to be filed on July 14. In the meantime, however, federal, state and international developments in VOIP regulations have not stood still. Federal Developments One of the regulatory issues facing many VOIP providers is their inability to obtain telephone numbers directly from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator ("NANPA"). Telecommunications carriers must have a state operating certificate in order to obtain numbering resources directly from the Pooling Administration ("PA") or the NANPA. Because VOIP providers typically are not state-certified, they have to acquire telephone numbers from local exchange carriers. Full article (VoIP related material begins about six paragraphs from the top) at: http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_27039 (Free registration required) 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: Sat, 03 Jul 2004 15:55:10 -0400 Subject: DSL Prime for July 3, 2004 Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.dslprime.com/News_Articles/news_articles.htm [Excerpt - read down to the last paragraph to find out why this is significant VoIP news:] Verizon says go, SBC says no. Verizon is dead serious about the million homes passed with fiber this year, and two million more next. Keiko Harvey made that clear in an extraordinary press conference in Chicago, flanked by Mark Wegleitner, her senior technical peer, Tom Tauke, their VP for policy, and her network lead. There's no fudge in the numbers, either. They are only counting homes with everything in place except the terminal and actual drop to the house. Verizon's current gear has 860 megahertz for video, and 19 meg for data, but they have active plans to raise that to the 100 meg symmetric of a true fiber build. (See Anton Wahlman's latest report.) SBC will not be running fiber, except to a very limited number of new developments. Instead, they are betting ADSL2+ (15/2) will, per Chris Rice "'future-proof' our network and meet customers bandwidth needs for decades to come." Whitacre believes "In short, our network will be faster and more capable than any other," (quoted by Telephony's Donny Jackson.) Essentially, SBC is betting that Comcast will not deliver for a decade a fraction of the capabilities Brian Roberts is promising, or that consumers won't care about higher speeds. 30 megabit cable modems are working well in Japan, and Roberts projects 70% video on demand/unicast/timeshift. DOCSIS 2.0, going into service already, outclasses SBC's future network, DOCSIS 3.0 is 200 meg down, 100 meg up. Cisco has sold cable equipment with that speed for delivery in 2005 to Korea and probably a trial in Comcast. Verizon instead is meeting the cable challenge with $billions of fiber to the home. Wegleitner explains, "I respect the people making other decisions, but I don't think the ADSL2+ video will be competitive with cable. It just doesn't have enough margin." Video Compression for 15 Meg Service Since HDTV is nominally 19 megabits, compression is crucial. 40-60% of American homes will have HD-TV in a few years, including the most profitable customers. SBC's release claims "The Microsoft TV IPTV platform would make it possible to deliver standard-and high-definition TV programming to multiple TV sets in the home over an FTTN network while leaving ample bandwidth available for super high-speed broadband and Voice over IP (VoIP) services." That's making some very aggressive assumptions, including HDTV at 5 or 6 meg and SDTV at well under 2 meg. However, today's state of the art MPEG4 .264 or Windows Media Player requires 8-10 meg for full HDTV, live. That means you can't get two, much less three or four, signals across. I spoke directly with the folks designing industry-leading encoders, and they are far from their eventual goal of 6 meg with only a small sacrifice in quality. I've also looked at 6 meg WMP pre-encoded. To my uneducated eye, it looks great - but not nearly as good as the full HDTV NHK was showing a few feet away. I don't know whether someone watching a football championship will care about the difference between "very good" and "even better," but I'd hate to be competing selling video whose quality doesn't match. Only six million have HD-TV today, but the forecasts of forty to sixty million before SBC finishes the 5,000 foot build are likely correct. Costs are plummeting, and programming becoming common. Intel and TI are happy to project how their chips will drive prices lower, fast. Not many will have two or three HD sets initially, however, and Microsoft and Scientific Atlanta are working on some multiplexing tricks that may help at the 15 meg level. That said, if the bandwidth is reserved for video QOS for SBC's chosen content, other programming won't be able to get through. That's definitely not "super high-speed broadband" - and a direct attack on Powell's Four Freedoms and the End to End Principle that has built the internet. Think of the political impact if Vonage suddenly stopped working on SBC DSL lines. Nobody's talking, but that's a side effect of some of the current means to squeeze through selected video channels. Full DSL Prime issue at: http://www.dslprime.com/News_Articles/news_articles.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. 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 #316 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jul 4 19:07:26 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i64N7Pr00608; Sun, 4 Jul 2004 19:07:26 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2004 19:07:26 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407042307.i64N7Pr00608@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 #317 TELECOM Digest Sun, 4 Jul 2004 19:07:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 317 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat (momo) Cable FM (was WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lose Satellite Carriage) (Neil Mmclain) E-Time System is Solutions Provider For Prepaid Wireless E-PIN (B Burke) Re: MOS Calculation From Objective Data (Hank Karl) Re: Norbergence Offics Raided by FBI (Lisa Hancock) Re: Norbergence Offics Raided by FBI (Billy Bob) Re: Norbergence Offics Raided by FBI (Black Ninja) General Observation re: Norvergence (Mark Crispin) 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: Momo Subject: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat Date: Sun, 04 Jul 2004 15:55:04 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com I clipped this from comp.risks and thought it might be worth discussion. Mo Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:48:23 -0400 From: "Dominey, Jack M, NEO" Subject: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat Following message forwarded by my boss. I wonder what they think of this at Coca Cola HQ? Subject: SCIF Security Advisory Security Managers: The Coca Cola Company has a summer game promotion running from 5/17 - 7/12/04 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that has the capability to compromise classified information. The company has intermixed approximately 120 Coca-Cola cans that actually contain GPS locators equipped with a SIM card, keypad and GPS chip transponder so it functions as a cell phone and GPS locator. The cans are concealed in specially marked 12, 18, 20, or 24 can multi-packs of Coca-Cola Classic, Vanilla Coke, Cherry Coke and Caffeine Free Coke. The hi-tech Coke "Unexpected Summer" promotion can has a button, microphone, and a tiny speaker on the outside of the can. Pressing the larger red button starts the game in process, thus activating the GPS signal and a cell phone used by the customer to call a special hotline. Consumers who find these cans, activate the technology, and call the hot line must agree to allow Coke "search teams" using the GPS tracker (accurate to within 50 feet), to surprise them anyplace, anytime within three weeks to deliver a valuable prize. In accordance with DIA, no specific policy for this promotion will be issued. However, DISA employees with access to SCIFs should take a common sense approach and if one of these cans are found inside a SCIF, they should treat it as they would any two-way electronic device in a SCIF and remove it immediately. Until such time as this sales promotion ends and all 120 cans are accounted for, Coca-Cola packages should be opened and inspected before taking them into any area marked as a" Restricted Area" or classified meetings/discussions, etc. are in progress or have the potential to occur at any time. Scott Addis, Chief, SSO, Defense Information Systems Agency RISKS submission from Jack Dominey, AT&T Network Disaster Recovery ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2004 08:10:21 -0600 From: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: Cable FM (was WFMT, WCPE, YUSA Lose Satellite Carriage) Pat wrote: > A question to those of you who know about FM radio carried on > cable: The tower is over on Oak Street, rather high. Exactly > *how* to they get in FM radio stations? The man told me they > have a crystal for 89.9 in a reciever there in the tower. Can > they only get what they have crystals for or is *any* station > on FM radio available over the cable (as far as improving its > reception is concerned, etc?) PAT] Apparently, CableOne uses "individually-processed" cable FM rather than "allband FM," so they have a separate FM processor for each station. They can only get what they have processors for. See and scroll down to THE RISE OF CABLE FM. The so-called "crystal" the man told you about is the FM processor. Although different manufacturers use different circuitry, the processor probably includes two crystal-controlled local oscillators (XCLO). Assuming that the output frequency equals the input frequency, one of the XCLOs (probably the output) is phase-locked to the other. Input ----> Mixer ----> IF ----> Mixer ----> Output Filter ^ strip ^ Filter | | XCLO - - - - - - - - XCLO Neal McLain nmclain@annsgarden.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for that explanation. I know that *prior to* CableOne moving into town we had Time Warner as our cable provider here. Being as we are, 100 miles southeast of Wichita, about 120 miles straight south of Topeka, 80 miles north of Tulsa, OK and 90 miles west of Pittsburg, KS/Joplin, MO (all cities with some semblance of television stations and radio signals) we had very little here other than our own KIND (1010 AM/102.7 FM) and Coffeyville's KGGF at 690 AM and their FM station to listen to. In other words, *vast* amounts of open space on the FM band. Then Time Warner moved into town and brought us 60 cable television channels, although Cox took over (and still maintains) Coffeyville. Many of the cable channels duplicated each other (in other words, the CBS affiliate on Wichita and the CBS affiliate in Topeka many times of day had the same programs on), but it was better than nothing. City of Independence insisted on, and received three or four of those channels for community use; i.e. a channel each for Independence High School, the City Hall channel for council meetings, and a channel for the college, plus a community service channel (channel 10). Time Warner spread out their offerings on the rest of the cable: all three major networks at least once or twice, Fox got a channel (cable channel three from the Fox affiliate in Tulsa, but *not* the Fox affiliate in Joplin, MO [although CBS/NBC/ABC each appear twice, once each from variously Tulsa, Joplin, Topeka, Wichita]) and a few other channels, including the 'Shopping' thing that seems to go on all the time, the idiots on the 'Christian' [i.e. right wing conservative] channel, Eternal Word Television channel, and a few movie channels, Disney, cartoons, and whatnot. As I said, better than nothing, and better than the very tall antennas some people had on their houses or in the back yard in order to get *TWO* snowy, grainy channels. Then a few years ago, some outfit moved in town with an FM radio station licensed to Dearing, Kansas (wide spot in the road south of us with population about 250 people) but studios in Coffeyville. Very loud, very raucus acid rock around the clock, 98.5 FM I think. All the kids love it; I hate it. Then Time Warner decided to sell their 'property' here, in the form of a trade off with Cable One. Time Warner got some town they liked better and Cable One got us. Same office on Penn Street downtown, same people working there, same techs, etc. I was walking around downtown one day and they were painting over the Time Warner sign outside with a new sign saying Cable One. And the lady who works in the office there told me "We will become Cable One as soon as the city council has their meeting tomorrow and gives us that franchise instead. Time Warner is on the way out." The Reporter newspaper the next day said that city council had issued a franchise to Cable One of Phoenix, AZ to take over cable service here. And the service has gotten increasingly better ever since. Cable One added a couple hundred new channels with HBO, ShowTime, all those formerly 'premium' offerings. Plus cable internet (TW kept saying "maybe, sometime"), plus a couple of PBS stations such as the one in Wichita and the one in Topeka at Washburne University, plus a 24/7 classical music channel (channel 938) with no commercials, plus 'cable radio' in the form of the two NPR stations in Tulsa, OK (89.5) and Pittsburg, KS. (89.9). The combination technical guy/installer/repairman had been driving around town inspecting the wires, traps, etc in an old van with a 'Cable One' sign on it covering up the old 'Time Warner' thing painted on it; about a month ago I saw him in a new 2004 Ford van which said 'Cable One', and had Cable One's new corporate design, etc. He is the person who told me "In the tower out in the field over on Oak Street we have 'crystals' to tune in 89.5 and 89.9" So, for a town of 8000 people in a county with all of 25,000 people we have *three* sources of classical music; better than many large cities is it not? PAT] ------------------------------ From: bruceb@etimesystem.com (Bruce Burke) Subject: E-Time System is a Solutions Provider for Prepaid Wireless E-PIN Date: 4 Jul 2004 08:44:05 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com E-Time System has launched its solution for e-pin delivery. Utilizing the E-Time System distributors and wholesalers can deliver pins for prepaid wireless recharges, prepaid phone cards and accept bill payments through retail and unmanned locations as well as turn-key websites. Deploying locations is simple as sending a url or exe to retailers with a dialup or broadband connection. The E-Time System allows distributors to sell products through the following devices: Cash Register Systems, Touch Screen or Keyboard Operated Kiosks (self-serve or semi-self serve) Nurit Credit Card Terminals, Retail Installed PC's (MS Windows, Mac, or Linux) and Private Labeled E-Commerce sites IE: www.prepaidstar.com. Distributors can deploy either a hosted solution or purchase a complete E-Time System. All variables of this system are private labeled. Distributors can deploy any or all of the retail solutions from one single point of administration. Interested parties should contact Bruce Burke (bruceb@etimesystem.com) or phone 1-866-414-8463 for more information visit the E-Time Website @ www.etimesystem.com ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: MOS Calculation From Objective Data Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2004 21:50:48 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ Yes. Check out the IETF's RFC-3611 (RTCP-XR) and ETSI TS 101329-5 Annex E. These specs are used in G.799.1 "Functionality and Interface Specifications for GSTN Transport Network Equipment for Interconnecting GSTN and IP Networks" (GSTN is General Switched Telephone Network) H.460.9 - H.323 metric calling out RFC 3611 metrics H.248.30 - Megaco spec calling out RFC 3611 SIP RTCP-XR "event" standard in progress, uses RFC 3611. SNMP MIB - work under way, uses RFC 3611. More information can be found at http://www.telchemy.com/support.html and at http://www.telchemy.com/news.html (see the conference presentations) If you'd like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me. On Thu, 1 Jul 2004 13:10:17 -0500, Kalyan Sannedhi wrote: > Dear all, > Is there a way to calculate MOS from obejctive data such as delay, > jitter, jitter standard deviation, packet loss, loss burst, etc? We > would like like to get subjective scoring from the objective data for > the voice quality. Any pointers in the right direction will be greatly > appreciated. > TIA Hank Karl Eastern Regional Manager +1 (203)207-0047 www.nine-9s.com Representing: http://www.telchemy.com/ VQmon VoIP Quality Monitoring Software for OEMs http://www.telesoft-intl.com/ ISDN, T1 RBS, E1 R2 CAS, Frame Relay, ML-PPP, X.25, ... http://www.agoralabs.com/ elemedia H.323, Video Codecs, Audio Codecs http://www.tntss.com/ dynamicsoft SIP stack ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Norvergence Offics Raided by FBI Date: 4 Jul 2004 10:41:08 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com shinecorp1@aol.com (Alessandra Di Maggio) wrote: > What exactly did Norvergence do in terms of products and services? > Did they own any real plant or just lease line capacity from others? > (I looked on their website but didn't understand it.) How long were they in business? Was Newark NJ their only location? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > Norvergence ... had a large number of ex-cons and/or > parolees on the payroll Could you elaborate on their hiring of ex-offenders? Was this by design or chance? (I'm not aware of any govt subsidized or encouraged programs to employ such people.) The failure to pay workers for two cycles and sudden bankruptcy is discouraging. A normal business tracks its cash flow in advance and doesn't bounce checks (isn't that illegal?) I wonder if Norv. had contracts with baby Bells for interconnect, and if the baby Bells will get screwed as a result. I sure hope not because means the ratepayers -- you and me -- will get screwed since we'll make it up by law. I understand that the baby Bells -- by law -- must interconnect anyone who shows up regardless of their credit worthiness or business integrity, which is why many consumers get burned on phony long distance charges from sleazy LD outfits. It bothers me a lot that since divesture -- which was supposed to create a free market -- the market isn't really free. Laws protect sleazy outfits to come in and fleece other companies and the public where in a true free market (knowledgeable customers!) this wouldn't happen. Pat, I wonder if this Norv. fits in that category. When the Penn Central railroad filed for bankruptcy -- at the time considered a terrible scandal but nothing by today's standards -- they still had cash and never missed a payroll nor bounced a check. They filed because they saw that they had bonds coming due soon and they did not have the cash to pay them off nor could get them rolled over. It was a mess, but still an orderly one, and the railroad kept rolling without a blink. > It wouldn't surprise me to see the Solzano people come out of all this > bright and shiny. They'll file bankruptcy, then Solzano will go sit > down with his friends at Qwest and elsewhere, and start cutting some > new deals. PAT] Who are the Solzano people? I thought I recently read Qwest no longer exists and was taken over by a RBOC. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mr. Solzano (grep for his name in earlier issues of the Digest and elsewhere on the net) had been forbidden by the FCC to engage in owning/operating any 'telecom company' for a few years because of other troubles he had with the way he maintained those other companies. In fact, at Norvergence I believe he was the 'real owner' with others (puppets) acting and speaking for him. In any event, about the time his 'probation' period (FCC oversight of his activities) ended a couple years ago, he started Norvergence with the 'Norvergence Solution' and a way to cut back on your telecom expenses. Readers who have more details on this, please write Lisa Hancock direct with the sordid story. The reason telephone divestiture never really worked was because the government *assumed* all Americans were sophisticated and would rush to learn about the workings of the telephone and the network 'once they had a chance to do so.' In actual practice, no one cares; most people just take the telephone to be another utility service and sort of boring at that. Is Qwest now out of business with some other telco running phone service in the New Jersey area? That's news to me ... also, regards the ex-offenders on the Norvergence payroll, most states give help (in the form of tax reductions, etc) to business places who hire these men and women to help them get rehabilitated. Maybe some reader could also touch bases with Lisa on this with details. The name of the program in effect in New Jersey was mentioned here once, I do not remember what it was. And Norvergence had sales offices around the country as Bill Justice tells us in the next message in this issue. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bill.justice@earthlink.net (billy bob) Subject: Re: Norbergence Offics Raided by FBI Date: 4 Jul 2004 12:31:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com shinecorp1@aol.com (Alessandra Di Maggio) wrote in message news:: > I have spoken again to friends I know at Norvergence. Officially they > are closed down. The offices in Newark were raided by the FBI on July > 1, 2004 with allegations by the FBI of fraud and embezzlement. No one > received any pay for four weeks. (One month, two paydays). When > employees were notified they were all fired and not getting paid after > the fourth week in a row, they began destroying office equipment and > computers, and police were called. All Norvergence customers are > totally cut off, unless they have made arrangements elswhere. > Shinecorp1@aol.com > > Alessandra > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This scene reminds me the fiasco at the > Diner's Club Credit Card office in 1962 when they were still owned by > Alfred Bloomingdale's corporation and were located in New York > City. The office had been getting increasingly more difficult to manage > for a few years as the staff of about two thousand employees became > increasingly diverse racially. Diners, in those days, had just come > out of an all-manual system into the first year or two of computeriza- > tion. Like Norvergence, Diners had a large number of ex-cons and/or > parolees on the payroll; I guess the city and state of New York gave > them a lot of tax breaks for doing so, etc. But there were problems, > so severe in fact that Diners Club verged on bankruptcy more than > once. > Diner's management decided to make a sneaky move out of town, and > (in general) get all new employees, trained in the new computerized > system. And since 'everyone' knows that white poople in semi-rural > areas work harder and cheaper than racially diverse people in an > 'inner city area' like New York City, they decided the office would be > relocated in Denver, Colorado, at the time, 40 years ago, still very > much a 'country type' of small town, in an area outside of town > called 'Tech Center'. It would be a whole new start for the company, > and they really were hot to get out of New York City. In essence, *none*. > of the employees were told about it, except a snall handful of supervisors > and middle management people they intended to take along, and they > were sworn to total secrecy. Diner's certainly did not intend to take > along the vast assortment of riff-raff they had collected over the years > in the form of posting/ledger clerks/bookeepers, etc; the vast majority > of whom were either racially diverse or quite sympathetic to all the > 'anti-everything' attitude of the Vietnam years. > Comes the day before Thanksgiving that year (Wednesday) with the usual > four day holiday (Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun) many USA workers get, and Diners > management lined up everyone, handed out the turkeys, wished them all > a happy Thanksgiving holiday and said, "Oh by the way, don't come back > on Monday, cause we won't be here." Unlike Norvergence, Diners did > give out final paychecks and a reasonable severence check to everyone, > but still, the place went up for grabs. Some employees went around > smashing stuff up, and several went two or three floors up to the > 'computer center' (all *those* employees had been invited to relocate, > and most of them did), broke the door down, took two computer workers > *hostage*, took two big reels of tape, shredded it all into confetti > and tossed it out the window from the 15th floor of the building there > on Columbus Circle. The shredded confetti-like tapes consisted of > invoices merchants had been paid for, but had not yet been billed to > Diner's customers **and they had not yet been microfilmed (or backed > up).** > After the riot was over, police had arrested several hundred > employees, freed the hostages, and cleared the place out. Very shocked > management of Diner's Club wound up having to write off about three > *million* dollars in recievables they could not reconstruct or bill > for, even though Al Bloomingdale and others went out on Columbus > Circle and picked up scraps of magnetic tape trying to put it all > together again. It was close to a year later, located in Denver that > Diner's finally realized the extent of the damage done by employees > on the final day in New York City. And when the reality of the final > write off that would have to be done hit them smack in the face, and > many of Diners' *own creditors* were beginning to turn the screws on > them for payment and many merchants had quit dealing with Diners > because of how ineffecient they had become a year earlier in New York, > Diners did decide to file bankruptcy. To their rescue came CNA Insurance, > who bought into the action, and Amoco Oil who also bought a piece of > the action and handed Diners a great deal: a list of a few million > Amoco card holders who had been in 'phase 1' for a year or better, > with no delinquencies in their oil company accounts. But because they > are (or at least then were) not fools, Amoco said *we* will administer > the whole thing and refer to it as 'Torch Club', and Diners, all you > have to do is get your merchants (what there was left of them) to go > along with it and accept 'Torch Club' cards like they would any > Diner's Club card. > It wouldn't surprise me to see the Solzano people come out of all this > bright and shiny. They'll file bankruptcy, then Solzano will go sit > down with his friends at Qwest and elsewhere, and start cutting some > new deals. PAT] Hi, I am a former SM From SD CA I Heard the FBI also arrested some of the upper management when they raided Norvergence. Have you heard any news about anyone getting arrested at Norvrgence. Any info you may have would be nice to know. Billy Bob San Diego, Ca ------------------------------ From: triple_des1544@yahoo.com (Black Ninja) Subject: Re: Norbergence Offics Raided by FBI Date: 4 Jul 2004 11:00:24 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com shinecorp1@aol.com (Alessandra Di Maggio) wrote in message news:: > I HAVE JUST SPOKEN TO FRIENDS I KNOW AT NORVERGENCE. THE OFFICIAL WORD > IS NORVERGENCE IS SHUT DOWN ! THE OFFICES IN NEWARK WERE RAIDED BY THE > FBI ON JULY 1ST , 2004 FOLLOWING ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD. NO ONE HAS BEEN > PAID IN 4 WEEKS ! EMPLOYEES BEGAN DESTROYING OFFICE EQUIPMENT & > COMPUTERS UPON BEING NOTIFIED THAT THEY WERE NOT GETTING PAID FOR THE > 4TH WEEK IN A ROW !!!! ALL NORVERGENCE CUSTOMERS ARE SCREWED !!!!!! > REMEMBER THAT SHINECORP1@AOL.COM WAS THE FIRST TO NOTIFY YOU ALL !!!! Good scoop, Alessandra, Too bad it's wrong. Labor board shut them down, not the FBI. Don't worry, everybody will remember that shinecorp1@aol.com told us this, if that will help you out in some way.(?) Steven J Sobol wrote in message news:: > William Van Hefner wrote: >> The move comes after the carrier came under investigation earlier this >> week by the New Jersey Labor Department for allegedly bouncing >> employee paychecks. Over 1,300 employees at the company's Newark, NJ >> office were told that they must leave immediately, and were escorted >> out of the building by security. Newark police were called in to keep >> the peace, as employees poured out onto the streets with their >> belongings. >> If and when the company's bankruptcy petition is filed, we will make >> it available for free download via our website. > Hey, Black Ninja. Any comments? This is all the customers' fault, right? > JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/ > Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.JAK.HOLE (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. Actually, yes, Loser, I do have a comment. Why would this be the customer's fault? Why would this be the employees' fault? If you think that this is anybody's fault other than the top brass, then you are sadly mistaken. There are a lot of hard working, honest folks that have spent years in telecom that are out of jobs because of these unscrupulous people at the top. This product worked, but the company prevented it from working the way it should by not paying the vendors, and hiring absolute idiots for a customer service dept. My second comment is that Norvergence has absolutely nothing to do with YOU. The only reason that you are posting now is because you got all butt-hurt when I slapped you down in another thread for chiming in with completely incorrect info. I see you post on other topics, and I don't jump in with lame jabs. But now you are on this hillarious quest for vengeance. Dude, get over it. Chalk it up as a lesson. Next time you'll get your facts straight before you post. If not, well, then expect the same. ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: General Observation re: Norvergence Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2004 09:31:35 -0700 Organization: University of Washington One of the leading earmarks of a scam is an organization that threatens litigation against ex-employees, disgruntled customers, etc. that publishes unfavorable information about the organization. Scams always have sleazy lawyers on the payroll whose sole function is to send threatening letters and at times file frivolous lawsuits. Reputable companies do not try to silence their critics. Reputable companies do not demand that unfavorable opinions about that company be quashed. -- 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: Thank you! You said all I could say. 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 #317 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 5 22:10:04 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i662A3J12918; Mon, 5 Jul 2004 22:10:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 22:10:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407060210.i662A3J12918@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 #318 TELECOM Digest Mon, 5 Jul 2004 22:10:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 318 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson High Court's Ruling Boosts Internet Filters (Monty Solomon) Software Has Some Seeing Red / Harvard Grad Gains Overnight (Monty Solomon) Home WiFi Setups Handle Music and Movies, Too/Industry Sees (Monty Solomon) ISOC Launches New ccTLD Workshops (Internet Society) Panasonic DBS Music-on-Hold (Christopher) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (ellis@no.spam) Re: ANI->CNID, was Re: Pizza; Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone (Stan Cline) Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat (John McHarry) Comment re Norvergence and Another re Telecom Digest (sin nombre) Norvergence (Elliott Taub) Re: Norvergence Offics Raided by FBI (Steven J Sobol) Can VoIP Survive Congress? (VOIP News) Anonymous Surfing No Longer Available (Anthrax 500) How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Own Software? (Lisa Minter) 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, 5 Jul 2004 16:26:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: High Court's Ruling Boosts Internet Filters By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | July 5, 2004 Last week's US Supreme Court decision to block a law that banned Internet materials deemed "harmful to minors" was reviled by social conservatives worried about the effects of pornography on children. But the ruling was good news for companies that make software to let parents filter out undesirable Internet sites. The court ruled 5-4 that while the government has an interest in protecting children from inappropriate materials, it must do so in a way that places the least constraint on the free speech rights of adults. The court held that the voluntary use of filtering software would often work better than a federal ban on indecent materials, because US law can't be applied to the many websites based in other countries. And filtering software affects only those who want protection, leaving others to view whatever they want. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/07/05/high_courts_ruling_boosts_internet_filters/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 16:25:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Software Has Some Seeing Red / Harvard Grad Gains Overnight Harvard grad gains overnight notoriety with e-mail tracking By Scott Kirsner | July 5, 2004 Depending on your perspective, Alastair Rampell is either a software prodigy -- a Gates-in-the-making -- or the Internet's version of Aldrich Ames, a devious double agent. At 23, the Harvard graduate achieved overnight notoriety in May with the release of his latest product, an e-mail monitoring service called DidTheyReadIt. After an initial story on the front of USA Today's business section, coverage followed on CNN, National Public Radio, and NBC's "Today Show." DidTheyReadIt allows users to track the e-mails they send, alerting them when a message is opened by its recipient -- and even reporting on how long the recipient looked at it, and offering a rough geographical guess about where he is located. The service is either subtle or surreptitious, depending on your point of view. It's nearly impossible to tell that an e-mail you've received is being tracked by DidTheyReadIt. Rampell says that in the service's first month, about 25,000 people have signed up to try it. (Fewer than 10 percent of those people eventually convert to paid users, shelling out $49.99 for a year's worth of e-mailing.) http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/07/05/software_has_some_seeing_red/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 16:27:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Home WiFi setups handle music and movies, too / Industry sees a Industry sees a new market beyond data By Keith Reed, Globe Staff | July 5, 2004 The most commonly used technology for wirelessly networking home computers, WiFi, is quickly being adopted for another, less work-related use: home entertainment. Traditional computer component and networking companies like Microsoft and Linksys are tweaking their product lines to include devices that beam music files and pictures all around the house. And electronics makers are increasingly including WiFi receivers in standard home appliances like televisions and stereos, giving consumers the ability to listen to any song or view any photo stored on the home computer from any room in the house. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/07/05/home_wifi_setups_handle_music_and_movies_too/ ------------------------------ From: Internet Society Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 10:46:38 +0200 Subject: ISOC Launches New ccTLD Workshops Geneva, Switzerland - July 5th, 2004 - The Internet Society (ISOC) recently held the first in a series of new workshops for country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) operators. The workshops, which continue ISOC's long tradition of delivering network training to developing countries, are being held in response to numerous requests for technical education as well as help with best practices relevant to running exemplary registry services. The first event, which took place at the RIPE NCC in Amsterdam from 19th to 22nd June, was sponsored by the Public Interest Registry (PIR) and brought together operators of ccTLDs in Burundi (.bi), Benin (.bj), Nepal (.np), Sri Lanka (.lk), Ghana (.gh), Thailand (.th) and Uruguay (.uy). Instructors included renowned experts from a wide range of organisations including ICANN and the University of Oregon's Network Startup Resource Center (a joint organiser of the workshop). "We recognise the important role ccTLD operators play in the development of the Internet. Our workshops are aimed at helping them get access to the knowledge and skills that they need to build up high quality infrastructure and services as well as a strong policy capability in their countries," said Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO of the Internet Society. "As the Internet continues to grow, ccTLDs are integral in shaping the global evolution. .ORG is supportive of this growth and PIR is proud to have sponsored the ISOC ccTLD workshop on best practices for an exemplary registry," said Edward G. Viltz, President and CEO of Public Interest Registry, managers of the .ORG gTLD. Starting with a review of DNS, attendees were taken through the steps required to build and scale their DNS infrastructure. Detailed examples were given of how to install BIND and how to build and maintain a zone file. The instructors went on to provide valuable tips on techniques and tools to help automate operations and hands-on exercises helped attendees get a grip on the practical aspects of building their registry operation. Participants had the opportunity to learn not only how to set up the required technical infrastructure, but also how to interact with bodies such as IANA and ICANN - the practical details of knowing who to talk to, where to find information and what information needs to be provided during registration or dispute handling processes being equally important to smooth registry operations. The workshop also provided an excellent forum for participants to exchange their own experiences and to work with the instructors to tackle their specific issues. The success of the event was due to the enthusiasm of all who participated and to the efforts of organiser Mirjam Kuehne (ISOC), instructors Lucy Lynch (University of Oregon), Joe Abley and Suzanne Woolf (ISC), Frederico Neves (Registro.br), Jaap Akkerhuis (SIDN), John Crain (IANA/ICANN), Olaf Kolkman (RIPE NCC) and Alain Aina (Technologies Reseaux & Solutions, Togo). Event hosting and administrative support was provided by the RIPE NCC and Michiel Leenaars of the ISOC Netherlands chapter. Materials presented at the workshop are available now at ISOC's Workshop Resource Centre (http://ws.edu.isoc.org). The ISOC ccTLD workshop series will continue with events in other parts of the world. ABOUT ISOC The Internet Society (http://www.isoc.org) is a not-for-profit membership organisation founded in 1991 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other Internet-related bodies who together play a critical role in ensuring that the Internet develops in a stable and open manner. For over 12 years ISOC has run international network training programs for developing countries and these have played a vital role in setting up the Internet connections and networks in virtually every country connecting to the Internet during this time. ABOUT PIR Public Interest Registry (http://www.pir.org) is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Internet Society to manage the .ORG domain. PIR's mission is to manage the .ORG domain in an exemplary manner while educating and empowering the global non-commercial community to more effectively utilize the Internet. PIR is based in Reston, Virginia. FOR FURTHER DETAILS Internet Society: http://www.isoc.org Peter Godwin Senior Program Manager E-mail: godwin@isoc.org Internet Society 4, rue des Falaises 1205 Geneva Switzerland ------------------------------ From: neomage23@hotmail.com (Christopher) Subject: Panasonic DBS Music-on-Hold Date: 5 Jul 2004 11:14:29 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, We have a Panasonic DBS 576HD, and our dealer wants an insane amount of money just to adjust the volume/fidelity of the music-on-hold/background music feature of our CPC-HL. Basically, it sounds kinda scratchy, like it our stereo volume needs to be turned down, but the DBS volume control needs to be turned up. Please help! Neo ------------------------------ From: ellis@no.spam Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 02:52:54 -0000 Organization: S.P.C.A.A. In article , Matt Simpson wrote: > That's a crock. We are still a very long way from "Internet Phone > Service For Every Home". Before that can happen, we need broadband in > every home. And that's a long way off. The bigger crock is the claim that VoIP is somehow superior to circuit switched service. The biggest "virtue" of VoIP is its ability to circumvent regulations and that has nothing to do with technology. ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: ANI->CNID, was Re: Pizza ... Can I Tell a Cell or Pay Phone Call Organization: Roamer1 Communications Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 06:32:40 GMT On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 18:31:42 UTC, Danny Burstein wrote: > (I'm not 100% certain whether it's kicking me ANI or unblocked > CNID. All the folk who've called me recently have been from places > where the two are identical, or where I couldn't check back. The > tollfree mechanism, though, makes it much more likely it's ANI). It *is* in fact ANI -- I've confirmed it more than once from cell phones and other lines where CNID and ANI don't match. SC (just another happy Kall8 customer) Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 22:05:11 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Momo wrote: > I clipped this from comp.risks and thought it might be worth > discussion. Mo > Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:48:23 -0400 > From: "Dominey, Jack M, NEO" > Subject: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat > Following message forwarded by my boss. I wonder what they think of > this at Coca Cola HQ? > Subject: SCIF Security Advisory > Security Managers: > The Coca Cola Company has a summer game promotion running from 5/17 - > 7/12/04 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that has the > capability to compromise classified information. They will probably call in Col. Bat Guano. ------------------------------ From: sin nombre Subject: Comment re Norvergence and Another re Telecom Digest Date: 4 Jul 2004 17:00:52 -0700 Organization: Newsguy News Service [http://newsguy.com] Re Norvergence: If they wrote NSF checks to employees, what do you suppose the odds are that they also wrote NSF checks for payroll tax deposits? I think this company will be providing work for many attorneys for many months, if not years. Re Telecom Digest: I've just read a post on the Norvergence topic which had little content other than to flame another poster. Pat, I trust your judgement; but that one getting through came as a surprise. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well sometimes I let those through because I want to give them enough rope to hang themselves with. Steve has been posting here for many years, and I trust his postings. Not necessarily so with his current antagonist. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 08:57:40 -0400 From: Elliott Taub Subject: Norvergence I am a telecommunications consultant, residing in NJ , in business for approx. 20 years. For a no cost or obligation assistance in restoring your phone service. Please call Elliott Taub 800-364-1066 ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence Offics Raided by FBI Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 12:04:26 -0500 Black Ninja wrote: > Actually, yes, Loser, I do have a comment. Why would this be the > customer's fault? It wouldn't. That's my point. Every time someone's slammed Norvergence you've come back with a reply like "But we have the best deals" or "The customer should have known that X was our policy". Problem is, no one believed you. > Why would this be the employees' fault? I'm certainly not blaming it on the employees. You missed the point. > think that this is anybody's fault other than the top brass, then you > are sadly mistaken. There are a lot of hard working, honest folks > that have spent years in telecom that are out of jobs because of these > unscrupulous people at the top. This product worked, but the company > prevented it from working the way it should by not paying the vendors, > and hiring absolute idiots for a customer service dept. Ha. This is the company you've been defending ... I posted the Google Groups link to the alt.cellular discussion on Norvergence where you insisted they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. It appears that you've done a 180 ... News flash: if customer service sucks, in all likelihood it didn't go downhill just in the last few weeks. So you were touting Norvergence's services knowing that their customer service was horrid -- I'll assume that you weren't aware of the vendors not being paid. Nice. > My second comment is that Norvergence has absolutely nothing to do > with YOU. The only reason that you are posting now is because you got > all butt-hurt when I slapped you down in another thread for chiming in > with completely incorrect info. But I was right, and now you're backpedaling. Norvergence WAS screwing its customers. There are plenty of examples offered by ACTUAL CUSTOMERS (well, ex-customers now). Read this newsgroup. You'll see some. > I see you post on other topics, and I don't jump in with lame jabs. > But now you are on this hillarious quest for vengeance. Dude, get > over it. Chalk it up as a lesson. Next time you'll get your facts > straight before you post. If not, well, then expect the same. I'm not on a quest for anything. I made a point, which you claimed was wrong. I don't care what the reason was; perhaps Norvergence hadn't planned on stealing money from its clients and not providing service, or jacking up prices on "proprietary" equipment. (I doubt it, but it's possible.) But even if the issue was sheer incompetence and nothing else, Norvergence still screwed its customers. If it wasn't outright fraud, it doesn't even matter (and a whole lot of things point to it being outright fraud). So then you jump in and start calling me all sorts of names. You still haven't identified yourself, Mr. Anonymous Troll. Evidence was posted that I was right and all you could do is insult me, since you didn't have any real arguments. Now it comes out that the company was taking money and not using the money to pay its bills, leaving its customers with no telecommunications... and you're STILL shooting off your mouth. How does it feel to be without a job, Norvergence ex-shill? Lisa Hancock wrote: > Who are the Solzano people? I thought I recently read Qwest no longer > exists and was taken over by a RBOC. Isn't Qwest itself an RBOC? > Is Qwest now out of business with some other telco running phone > service in the New Jersey area? Verizon is the RBOC in most of New Jersey. Former Bell Atlantic/NYNEX... 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: VOIP News Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 16:44:31 -0400 Subject: Can VoIP Survive Congress? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.com.com/2010-1028-5256334.html By Declan McCullagh Washington politicos are about to kick off what will be a long and exhausting process aimed at deciding the future of phone calls made over the Internet. On Wednesday, a House of Representatives panel will convene its first hearing devoted to considering how much of the thousands of pages of weighty telecommunications regulations should be imported to cover voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. The apt title of the hearing: "VoIP: Will the Technology Disrupt the Industry or Will Regulation Disrupt the Technology?" This is a process fraught with problems. For all the hype surrounding VoIP, it remains a fledgling industry that could be severely--perhaps even permanently -- harmed if Congress veers in the wrong direction. Full story at: http://news.com.com/2010-1028-5256334.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: Anthrax500@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 21:44:54 EDT Subject: Problem With Anonymous Surfing Tool I can't seem to get your anonymous surfing tool to work ... is it down? Thanks, Mark [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, it is down. It is no longer available. Sorry. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 20:00:00 I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know if he wrote all that code himself? Also, the Microsoft Company has grown a lot since those days, and how much does Bill Gates actually know about Windows, etc these days; that is, has personal knowledge of the various technical aspects of his products, or like many folks, are large parts of the code outside his personal ability to under- stand also? I am just wondering to what extent he has kept up in his personal knowledge of his products, etc. Anyone know? Lisa ------------------------------ 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 #318 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 6 15:59:57 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i66JxvJ23449; Tue, 6 Jul 2004 15:59:57 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 15:59:57 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407061959.i66JxvJ23449@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 #319 TELECOM Digest Tue, 6 Jul 2004 16:00:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 319 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson You've Got Mail (and Court Says Others Can Read It) (Monty Solomon) Voice Logic VP 206 Manual Addendum (Roger Jacobs) Entering the Push-to-Talk Market (Elena Colle) Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat (Al Gillis) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Jack Decker) Re: Software Has Some Seeing Red/Harvard Grad Gains Overnight (L Madison) Re: Comment re Norvergence and Another re Telecom Digest (Steven J Sobol) Re: Norvergence Offics Raided by FBI (Lisa Hancock) Norvergence - How do I Get Out (n-line@juno.com) Re: General Observation re: Norvergence (Jay Hennigan) Norvergence : Mob Affiliations? (Alessandra Di Maggio) Message Waiting Light Compatible IAD or Channel Bank? (Jay Hennigan) 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, 6 Jul 2004 01:17:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: You've Got Mail (and Court Says Others Can Read It) By SAUL HANSELL When everything is working right, an e-mail message appears to zip instantaneously from the sender to the recipient's inbox. But in reality, most messages make several momentary stops as they are processed by various computers en route to their destination. Those short stops may make no difference to the users, but they make an enormous difference to the privacy that e-mail is accorded under federal law. Last week a federal appeals court in Boston ruled that federal wiretap laws do not apply to e-mail messages if they are stored, even for a millisecond, on the computers of the Internet providers that process them -- meaning that it can be legal for the government or others to read such messages without a court order. The ruling was a surprise to many people, because in 1986 Congress specifically amended the wiretap laws to incorporate new technologies like e-mail. Some argue that the ruling's implications could affect emerging applications like Internet-based phone calls and Gmail, Google's new e-mail service, which shows advertising based on the content of a subscriber's e-mail messages. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/06/technology/06net.html ------------------------------ From: raj@lauhala.com (Roger Jacobs) Subject: Voice Logic VP 206 Manual Addendum Date: 6 Jul 2004 04:32:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I bought a VP 206 on eBay and was pretty confused until I found this very helpful manual addendum. It was in google cache and might not be around for long, so I have reposted it here: http://omnisphere.com/support-docs/voice-pro-manual-addendum.pdf ------------------------------ Subject: Entering the Push-to-Talk Market Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 14:50:36 +0100 From: Elena Colle ENTERING THE PUSH-TO-TALK MARKET Debating how to integrate Push-To-Talk services to the wireless offer 5th, 6th & 7th October 2004 Hilton Kensington, Central London The agenda is now complete - REQUEST YOUR BROCHURE TODAY SPEAKERS and TOPICS ARE LISTED BELOW Push-to-talk services look set to be the next 'killer app'. It has the potential to increase revenues both to attract new customers and as a value-added service for existing ones. This conference will gather representatives of the wireless industry to discuss the potential and challenges related to the deployment of PTT services. Over the two days participants will be able to engage in the debate on how best to integrate PTT services in operators' strategies by adopting innovative marketing strategies and revenue-enhancing models. BENEFITS OF ATTENDING: **Debate challenges in PTT deployment with industry leaders in an interactive event **Discuss the compatibility issues relating to pre-standardised PTT solutions **Determine marketing strategies to attract varied customer group **Understand how to integrate PTT services to the wireless offer CONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE: **Asko Nuutinen, Technology Specialist, Research and Development, Elisa **Charlie Henderson, Director, Push To Talk Over Cellular Group, EMEA Region, Motorola **Markku Savusalo, Director Push To Talk, Nokia **Dr. Eduard Scheiterer, Vice President Business Line Manager IMS/PoC, Siemens Mobile Networks **James Tagg, European Managing Director, Fastmobile **Niclas Medman, Senior Marketing Manager, Ericsson AB **Wade Vesey, Chief Marketing Officer, Sonim Technologies **Mark Horne, Managing Director, Mobile Tornado **Gopan Madathil, Director Strategic Marketing OSS Division, Agilent Technologies **Tony Cooper, Partner, Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group, Deloitte **Craig Farrill, Chief Executive Officer, Kodiak Networks WHO SHOULD/WILL ATTEND: - VP/Director Product Innovation - VP/Director Technology - Heads of Strategy and Business Development - Senior Product Manager - Director/Head of Voice Services - Director/Head of PTT Marketing - Director/Head of PTT Pricing - Director/Head of Messaging Products - Head of Standards - VP Sales & Marketing - Product Manager - PTT Engineer - Consultants ----------------------------------------------------------------- This event will also feature: Pre-conference Interactive Workshop ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pre-conference workshop, Tuesday 5th October Delivering information to a mobile workforce Led by Duncan Gerrard, APD Communications This workshop is designed to provide an in-depth look into business customers needs for mobile information management and how to offer them the best solutions to meet their requirements. It will include an overview of the current offer, and case studies on mobile information management plans implemented by organisations in the UK. The interactive format will provide the opportunity for all participants to discuss how to offer business customers the best mobile information solutions, and what PTT service providers can learn from existing solutions. Benefits of attending: * Understand working practices to deliver efficient mobile information management * Discuss innovative ways to deliver adapted mobile solutions to varied organisations Places at this event are limited, please call or email me now to secure your place - PRICING - Attend the: ** Conf. + pre conf. workshop GBP 1600.00 Plus VAT ** Conference only Fee: GBP 1299.00 Plus VAT ** Pre conference workshop only Fee: GBP 650.00 Plus VAT - BOOKINGS - Booking is easy, simply contact Elena Colle on: Telephone: +44 (0)20 8767 6711 Fax: +44 (0)20 8767 5001 Email: mailto:elena.colle@visiongain.com Terms and conditions apply - see below. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Regards, Elena Colle Account Manager Visiongain b2b Conferences Tel: +44 (0) 20 8767 6711 http://www.b2b-conferences.com +++++++++++ FULL AGENDA +++++++++++ DAY ONE Wednesday 6 th October 2004 8:50 Registration and coffee Conference Chair Tony Cooper Partner Deloitte 9:20 Opening address from the Chair PTT market overview: industry leaders, value chain and revenue opportunities * Historic of the Push To Talk offer: operators and services deployed in the original US market * The evolution from the US to Europe and how the markets differ * Revenue opportunities expected from PTT services Tony Cooper, Partner Deloitte SCHEDULING DEPLOYMENT OF PTT SERVICES: STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS TO ENTER THE MARKET 9:40 Implementing a PTT strategy with pre-standardised solutions * What is the experience of starting with pre-standard Push To Talk solution in GSM? * How to guarantee successful Push To Talk services to start in 2004 * How interoperability issues affect deployment of PTT services * The way forward to the OMA standard solution Markku Savusalo Director Push To Talk Nokia 10:20 How to deploy an IMS-based PoC solution for mass market adoption * What specific requirements does mass market imply and how to fulfil them? * Identifying the reasons to select a standard-based push to talk solution * Determining the keys to successfully introduce PTT over Cellular in a live network Niclas Medman, Senior Marketing Manager Ericsson 11:00 Coffee 11:20 Enabling revenue-enhancing PTT services with instant wireless voice systems and applications * Advanced voice systems with the Kodiak Real-Time Exchange (RTX) System * Technology solutions to enhance user experience and increase operators' revenues * Technology neutrality and interoperability * Benefits and challenges for operators, device manufacturers, OS vendors Craig Farrill, Chief Executive Officer Kodiak Networks 12:00 Analysing the role of the handset offer in PTT take off * Handset manufacturers' reactions to the risks of implementing PTT * Determining the handset features that are reasonable to implement and at what incremental unit cost * The PTT handset roadmap that make commercial sense to handset manufacturers? * Key top-level technical issues to drive PTT handset time-to-market Amir Rozenberg, PTT Product Manager TTPCom Ltd. 12:30 Lunch 13:40 A genuine multi-modal instant communication service: Elisa's trial of PTT * Enabling a complete service: instant messaging, picture messaging and voice communication in one application * Working with vendors to develop user-friendly and multi-standard compatible devices * Determining the right time to launch PTT services * Marketing strategies to maximise take-off Asko Nuutinen Technology Specialist Elisa Research & Development 14:20 From Trials to Commercials - A vendor perspective on Push to Talk * Benefits and challenges in developing an end-to-end PoC solution, from mobile phones, middleware, and applications up to the infrastructure * Expectations from the current PoC trials and results so far: how manageable is the solution and what are the perspectives in terms of product development * Developing solutions with operators worldwide: what are their needs and how to work with them to develop an adapted solution * Great expectations: are PTT services the biggest revenue-generator new product of 2004 and beyond? Dr. Eduard Scheiterer VP Business Line Manager IMS/PoC Siemens Mobile Networks 15:00 PANEL DISCUSSION Positioning PTT in the wireless offer * Defining the uses of PTT for varied customer segments * PTT's position vis-à-vis other services: SMS, Mobile Instant Messaging * Advantages and disadvantages of bundling PTT services with other wireless services Asko Nuutinen, Technology Specialist, Elisa R&D Niclas Medman, Senior Marketing Manager, Ericsson Markku Savusalo, Director Push To Talk, Nokia Dr. Eduard Scheiterer, VP Business Line Manager IMS/PoC,Siemens Mobile Networks 15:40 Coffee 16:00 Is there a need for regulatory intervention in PTT deployment? * Overview of Push To Talk services in Israel * The regulator's approach to the implementation of PTT standard and services * Working with industry players and standards bodies to assess regulatory needs * The regulator's approach to PTT pricing Dr Assaf Cohen, Senior Deputy Director General for Economics Israel Ministry of Communications 17:10 Close of Day One DAY TWO Thursday 7 th October 2004 8:40 Registration and coffee 9:10 Opening remarks from the chair: Tony Cooper, Partner, Deloitte INTEGRATING PTT TO THE WIRELESS SERVICES OFFER TO ENSURE REVENUES 9:20 Global trends and regional markets: offering PTT services in varied markets * Take up of PTT in the US and lessons to be learnt from the original market * Opportunities in Europe: what adjustments need to be made to adapt to the European market * Asia-Pacific: the challenges of the Chinese and Indian markets * How to build partnerships with operators and services providers globally James Tagg, European Managing Director Fastmobile 10:00 Identifying the economic, technology and market requirements to develop PTT services * Building partnerships with solutions providers to enable PTT functionality on GPRS/3G wireless devices and networks * Market shape and consumer behaviour aspects to take into account when devising and implementing a strategy to deploy PTT services * Strategies to maximise take off of PTT services? * How is PTT expected to be used and what revenues can it generate? Operator to be confirmed 10:40 Strategic choices in deploying PoC to ensure ROI * Planning the investment for PoC infrastructure and services * Building partnerships along the value chain * Determining the services to offer: applications, features, devices, pricing strategies for varied customer segments * Marketing PTT services: integrating them in the operators' wireless offer, building consumer awareness, determining usage to attract varied user groups Charlie Henderson Director, PTT Over Cellular Group, EMEA Region Motorola 11:10 Coffee 11:30 PTT services to enhance the Total Communications experience * A Push-to-Talk Solution supporting full interoperability across all networks * Complementing existing operators offerings by adding PTT as a complementary service * How PTT adds value with presence location and a visual interface * Targeting varied user segments to increase revenue Mark Horne, Managing Director Mobile Tornado 12:00 PTT and the battle for the mobilised enterprise * Push-to-talk: Blue collar or white collar application * Incorporating packet voice into the enterprise network * Extending enterprise instant messaging to voice * The impact of latency on successful PTT * PTT and VoIP: extending enterprise voice to the mobile network Andrew Gilbert, General Manager EMEA Flarion 12:30 Lunch 13:40 Requirements to maximise speed of take off for PTT services * Ensuring quality and usability to provide end-user satisfaction: QoS, call set up, latency * The role of the handset offer in take off of PTT: what is the current offer, what features are most likely to attract users to PTT * Determining the customer segments to target and providing an adapted service * Strategies to market PTT services to varied markets and segments * PTT in the future: market expectations, future technologies, new services and applications Wade Vesey, Chief Marketing Officer Sonim Technologies 14:20 Gaining and retaining customers by ensuring quality PTT network management * How can network management solutions help build customer confidence and ensure growth: monitoring, troubleshooting and call-quality testing of SIP-based P2T services * Helping operators provide best quality services: devising marketing and customer retention strategies with operators * Targeting potential consumer groups and varied uses for PTT: how to approach varied customer segments * Delivering applications to attract new customers: what aspects of PTT are attractive to what customers? Gopan Madathil, Director Strategic Marketing OSS Division Agilent Technologies 15:00 Coffee 15:15 Optimising the customer experience to provide quality PTT services * What do PTT users needs from their services and how to deliver it * The problems that can affect the customer experience and troubleshooting solutions: call setup time and latency * Delivering PTT functionality: - to Nextel's nationwide wireless network - to Verizon in their PTT service rolled out in 2003 Duncan Vardy, Head of Product Management Actix 15:45 Building Profitable and Effective Charging Models for Push-to-Talk * The options for charging for PTT and how these apply differently: - within different regions; - within prepaid; - within contract postpaid. * How PTT can be deployed with no upgrades with existing data billing and prepaid systems * What is needed to deliver the required session control, QoS, etc? Carol Politi, Vice President of Marketing and Co-Founder Megisto Systems 16:15 PANEL DISCUSSION: Marketing PTT services * Targeting potential consumer groups and varied uses for PTT * Combining PTT with multiple services: digital phone, text messaging, Internet access * What groups are more likely to be attracted and how to approach them: business, youth, leisure * Building strategic partnerships to offer advanced services * Efficient marketing strategies for rapid take off Charlie Henderson, Director, PoC Group, EMEA region, Motorola Gopan Madathil, Director Strategic Marketing OSS Division, Agilent Technologies James Tagg, European Managing Director, Fastmobile 16:45 Closing remarks by chairman Terms & Conditions NB - Due to high demand, we do not 'reserve' or 'hold' places - a request for an invoice to be raised will be treated as an official booking and will be subject to the cancellation policy as outlined below. Cancellations/substitutions and name changes: All bookings carry a 50% liability after the booking has been made, by post fax, email or web. There will be no refunds for cancellations received on or after one month before the start of the conference (e.g. cancellation on or after 20th January for a conference starting on 20th February). If you decide to cancel after this date the full invoice remains payable. Conference notes, which are available on the day, will be sent to you. Unfortunately we are not able to transfer places between conferences and executive briefings. However if you are unable to attend the event you may make a substitution/name change at any time as long as we are informed in writing by e-mail, fax or post. Name changes and substitutions must be from the same company and are not transferable between companies or countries. Indemnity: visiongain Ltd reserve the right to change the conference/executive briefing content, timing, speakers or venue without notice. The event may be postponed or cancelled due to acts of terrorism, war, extreme weather conditions, industrial action, acts of God or any event beyond the control of visiongain Ltd. If such a situation arises we will endeavour to reschedule the event. However, visiongain Ltd cannot be held responsible for any cost, damage or expenses, which may be incurred by the customer as a consequence of the event being postponed or cancelled. We therefore strongly advise all customers to take out insurance to cover the cost of the registration, travel and expenses. ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 19:34:14 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com John McHarry wrote in message news:telecom23.318.8@telecom-digest.org: > Momo wrote: >> I clipped this from comp.risks and thought it might be worth >> discussion. Mo >> Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:48:23 -0400 >> From: "Dominey, Jack M, NEO" >> Subject: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat >> Following message forwarded by my boss. I wonder what they think of >> this at Coca Cola HQ? >> Subject: SCIF Security Advisory >> Security Managers: >> The Coca Cola Company has a summer game promotion running from 5/17 - >> 7/12/04 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that has the >> capability to compromise classified information. > They will probably call in Col. Bat Guano. Good old Colonel Guano - "Peace is our Profession". He was always worried about his "precious bodily fluids" and how he withheld them from women! Years ago, as an Airman Last Class I recall seeing that movie in the Lackland AFB theatre. Being right in the middle of the nonsense we called Basic Training made it even more hilarious to us! Al ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 00:59:25 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Pat, please conceal my e-mail address as always. On Mon, 05 Jul 2004 02:52:54 -0000, ellis@no.spam wrote: > In article , Matt Simpson > wrote: >> That's a crock. We are still a very long way from "Internet Phone >> Service For Every Home". Before that can happen, we need broadband in >> every home. And that's a long way off. My abilities at predicting the future are generally not very good at all, but I would just remind Mr. Simpson that ten years ago people were saying the same thing about Internet access in every home. No, we still don't have Internet access in EVERY home (but then, there are probably still a few homes without running water!) but no one would say the Internet is insignificant anymore. At the same time, I grant the point: Some technology writers definitely need to keep the hype in check. > The bigger crock is the claim that VoIP is somehow superior to circuit > switched service. The biggest "virtue" of VoIP is its ability to > circumvent regulations and that has nothing to do with technology. I had to respond to this snarky comment. The biggest virtue of VoIP in my book is that it provides what our government more or less said they wanted back in 1996, which is telephone service that doesn't use or depend upon the facilities of the ILEC (on the subscriber's end). When VoIP is provided via cable modem or other broadband service that doesn't use the phone company's wires and cables, that's exactly what it provides, and that's what scares the big phone companies. Because, finally, customers are discovering ways to cut them out of the loop entirely. I mean, if you think about it, for years the phone companies pretty much had everyone over a barrel. If you really wanted to be a fully functioning member of society, especially starting in about the 1950's, you were expected to have a phone (I would submit that the same may nearly be true today with regard to Internet access). You still need a way to communicate with others, but for the first time in about half a century you can be without service from a traditional phone company and not be something of a social outcast. You can do that by using either a wireless phone, or a VoIP service in lieu of a standard phone line. The regulations in question probably never should have existed in the first place, because they set up the situation where phone companies think it is their God-given right to gouge the public, even to the point that they look upon fines as just a cost of doing business. So I would say that what is really happening is that VoIP is causing the old system of regulations to be examined and debated. If you are a traditional phone company, or have stock in one, you probably won't like that much, because those regulations have helped you make money and impede competition (in fact, if you're a big phone company, chances are your lawyers helped write some of those regulations). Furthermore, no VoIP company could actually "circumvent" regulations and get away with it for long -- that implies that they are doing something illegal. To be accurate, you should say that they are operating in a "grey area" where either the current regulations don't apply, or there is some doubt as to whether the regulations apply (and it will be up to the courts and the regulators to decide). Telecommunications law is very complex, and sometimes it's not so cut-and-dried what you can and cannot do. In such cases, some businesses will choose to risk getting slapped down by the courts, but hope that the courts will find in their favor. To make an analogy, it's like putting new paneling in your living room. Does your local city or township require that you get a building permit before doing so? Maybe yes, maybe no. Some people will check the regulations, decide they are vague, and do the job without getting the permit. Some will decide that they don't care; they'll do the job without the permit because the permit might not be required, but even if it is, they know there's only a very small chance they will ever be caught and fined. A few will march right down to city hall and request and pay for a permit, and then b*tch and moan and get on their moral high horse when they find out that a neighbor did a small remodeling job without a permit (IF they somehow find that out). A business has to be more careful what they do than a homeowner, because any disgruntled employee might blow the whistle (a few companies never seem to catch onto that fact until it's too late). So I would say that it's very unlikely that every VoIP company out there is circumventing regulations. Certainly, the major phone companies would like to put that spin on it (to buy them additional time to prepare their own VoIP offerings) but the VoIP companies would say that those regulations don't apply to them, thus they aren't circumventing anything. If a court later decides that the regulations do apply (and that ruling sticks through the appeal process) then the VoIP companies will have to deal with it. Personally, I hope it's the regulations that go away -- at least those that add all those extra charges to traditional phone bills. The Universal Service Charge particularly irks me -- this is just corporate welfare for second-tier telephone companies. Why should the ratepayers at Verizon or SBC have to pay extra so that the stockholders of CenturyTel or Frontier or other so-called "rural" companies get higher returns? ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Software Has Some Seeing Red / Harvard Grad Gains Overnight Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 00:07:00 -0700 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > DidTheyReadIt allows users to track the e-mails they send, alerting > them when a message is opened by its recipient -- and even reporting > on how long the recipient looked at it, and offering a rough > geographical guess about where he is located. The service is either > subtle or surreptitious, depending on your point of view. It's nearly > impossible to tell that an e-mail you've received is being tracked by > DidTheyReadIt. There's a gaping flaw in the business model. Very simply put, any e-mail client that cooperates with DidTheyReadIt is also vulnerable to all sorts of spam-tracking and viruses. There's nothing that DidTheyReadIt uses, that people with far worse intentions can't exploit. My e-mail client -- and the e-mail client of anyone with a lick of sense -- asks my permission before loading any content from the Internet. That includes tracking information. (I also make sure that my e-mail client will not auto-execute scripts or other content included with the e-mail message itself.) An e-mail client that automatically loads graphics from some unknown web site is an open invitation to mischief. And that's before we even get to the issue that many admins are null-routing DidTheyReadIt's servers as a matter of policy. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Comment re Norvergence and Another re Telecom Digest Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 21:23:36 -0500 sin nombre wrote: > Re Norvergence: If they wrote NSF checks to employees, what do you > suppose the odds are that they also wrote NSF checks for payroll tax > deposits? I think this company will be providing work for many > attorneys for many months, if not years. > Re Telecom Digest: I've just read a post on the Norvergence topic > which had little content other than to flame another poster. Pat, I > trust your judgement; but that one getting through came as a surprise. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well sometimes I let those through > because I want to give them enough rope to hang themselves with. Steve > has been posting here for many years, and I trust his postings. Not > necessarily so with his current antagonist. PAT] Won't happen again. I've said my peace, I apologize if I annoyed anyone, and it won't happen again. I was trying to stick to providing facts, and a few insults crept into that last post. 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: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Norvergence Offics Raided by FBI Date: 6 Jul 2004 06:58:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock): > Is Qwest now out of business with some other telco running phone > service in the New Jersey area? I misread the news notice. Apparently some of Qwest's wireless customers were sold, see the following from the Qwest website. http://www.qwest.com/about/media/pressroom/1,1720,1558_current,00.html I couldn't find any news articles about Norvergence. However, I did see a commercial site (login required) that says it has info: (I did not log on to it). http://www.telecomagent.org/norvergence.htm ------------------------------ From: n-line@juno.com Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 14:13:16 GMT Subject: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Well if all is true then Norvergence is out of business. One thing hasn't been addressed though ... what are the existing customers supposed to do now? We have signed lease agreements with banks for equipment that won't work when Quest turns off the lines again. How do we get out of those? Anyone have any ideas?? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest simply ignoring those fraud- ulent contracts the banks are holding. FREEZE ALL TELECOM PAYMENTS IMMEDIATLY. If the bank wants to sue, that's okay. They *should* be suing the remains of Norvergence, since Norvergence got the money illegally, through trickery and fraud. Of course the bank will choose to pick on the weaker party (yourself) because they assume they can twist your arm easier. You'll hear threats about how you will get sued, how your company credit will be ruined, etc, but pay no attention. The bank knows it will be almost futile to try and sue Novergence, so they will work on you instead if you let them, and sadly, many telecom managers, company executives will be bullied into compliance with the bank's demands for payment, etc. If the bank *does* choose to sue you (not at all certain, IMO) then your response should be to countersue the bank for harassment and for being a party to the same fraud as Norvergence. The bank after all *did* facilitate the fraud by paying Norvergence money, and they knew or should have known that Norvergence had a worthless scheme going on. The bank is equally (or more so) able to investigate the collateral being put up for the money the bank advanced to Norvergence, the 'collateral' in this case being the promises of satisfied customers able and willing to pay. If you recall, we had that one message in the Digest several months ago from the lady who said she worked for the bank (which had been approached by Norvergence to handle their paper) and she was investigating if the bank should get involved or not. Now myself, being sort of weary about lawsuits and Norvergence's eagnerness to file same, I just printed her message here and said nothing, or maybe just some generic, bland response, I do not remember. In any event, the bank could have chosen to investigate if they wished, prior to advancing money to Norvergence, or handing the company's credit paper. That's not your problem. You were deceived by a smooth talking salesman. Just ignore those invoices and let the bank deal with it as they must. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jay Hennigan Organization: Disgruntled Postal Workers Against Gun Control Subject: Re: General Observation re: Norvergence Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 10:39:51 -0700 On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 09:31:35 -0700, Mark Crispin wrote: > One of the leading earmarks of a scam is an organization that > threatens litigation against ex-employees, disgruntled customers, > etc. that publishes unfavorable information about the organization. > Scams always have sleazy lawyers on the payroll whose sole function is > to send threatening letters and at times file frivolous lawsuits. > Reputable companies do not try to silence their critics. Reputable > companies do not demand that unfavorable opinions about that company > be quashed. Heh. See: http://www.2600.com/news/view/article/322 ------------------------------ From: shinecorp1@aol.com (Alessandra Di Maggio) Subject: Norvergence : Mob Affiliations? Date: 6 Jul 2004 10:25:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com As you all know, I am a former employee of Norvergence. I worked there until early 2004. I saw right through them when I was hired, but I really needed to make some quick cash ... and did ( I was taking home over $7,000 a month- clean) . They (owners and management) were sleazy and unprofessional and I hated their guts ... I would never defend them under any circumstance ... but one thing I do want to clarify ... I have read on certain postings that Norvergence has ties with the Italian-American mob. I can absolutely assure everyone that there is nothing further from the truth. The Italian mob were very much made aware of Norvergence and of it's scamming operations ... but they had no desire to get involved. They knew the company was going to get busted by the Feds, sooner or later, and thus they decided not to take a "piece of the action". They wanted nothing to do with the company. How do I know this? This is first hand information. Believe it or not, the mob is smart, won't take stupid risks or associate with individuals who's fate is sealed. Salzano and Company are a bunch of money hungry corrupt capitalists. There is a very distinct difference. ------------------------------ From: Jay Hennigan Organization: Disgruntled Postal Workers Against Gun Control Subject: Message Waiting Light Compatible IAD or Channel Bank? Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 11:41:00 -0700 I'm looking for a device to interface with an IP-based PBX (Asterisk) that will connect to analog phones in a hotel/motel environment with message-waiting lights. These are neon lamps that are illuminated by increasing the on-hook voltage from a nominal 48 volts to 90 volts. Ideally an IAD that connects via ethernet and includes FXS interfaces, or a channel bank that I can use with a PRI interface to the asterisk box would be preferred. Has anyone done this, or can you suggest a vendor? Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Administration - jay@west.net WestNet: Connecting you to the planet. 805 884-6323 WB6RDV NetLojix Communications, Inc. - http://www.netlojix.com/ ------------------------------ 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 #319 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 6 18:55:12 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i66MtCX25411; Tue, 6 Jul 2004 18:55:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 18:55:12 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407062255.i66MtCX25411@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 #320 TELECOM Digest Tue, 6 Jul 2004 18:55:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 320 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Network Security Jumpstart", Matthew Strebe (Rob Slade) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Frank@nospam.biz) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Scott Dorsey) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Lisa Hancock) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Paul Vader) Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Monty Solomon) Philadelphia Marks 20 Years of Cell Phones (Carl Moore) Speakeasy Gets Naked - Set to Launch 'Onelink' Service (VOIP News) More Taxes Coming to VoIP Near You (VOIP News) Re: Norvergence - How do I Get Out (Steven J. Sobol) Re: Norvergence - How do I Get Out (Paul Vader) Refuge From Recent Telecom Changes (Christine Collins) Norvergence Sales Reps (Unlimited Calling) A Link of Interest (Dan Popescu) 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: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 09:25:13 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Network Security Jumpstart", Matthew Strebe BKNTSCJS.RVW 20030604 "Network Security Jumpstart", Matthew Strebe, 2002, 0-7821-4120-X, U$24.99/C$39.95/UK#18.99 %A Matthew Strebe mbs+jumpstart@connectic.net %C 1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA 94501 %D 2002 %G 0-7821-4120-X %I Sybex Computer Books %O U$24.99/C$39.95/UK#18.99 800-227-2346 info@sybex.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/078214120X/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/078214120X/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/078214120X/robsladesin03-20 %P 365 p. %T "Network Security Jumpstart" The introduction states that this book is suitable for anyone from the home user to the network administrator to the CEO. Which is a pretty tall order. Chapter one has a decent overview of why computers aren't secure, a scant computer security history, a few security concepts, and a fairly trivial set of "review" questions. There is a media level exposition on "hackers," in chapter two, a rough outline of intrusion procedures, and a list of specific attacks that I'm not sure the author fully understands. (Immediately following "Denial of Service" comes a separate entry for "Floods": flooding being a type of denial of service.) There is a terse introduction to cryptography, and not much more than chapter one gave us about authentication, in chapter three. The suggestions for policy creation, in chapter four, aren't bad for simple cases, but seriously understate the difficulty of establishing a full policy, even for home users. Chapter five describes firewalls (and seven tells a little bit more about using them at home). Chapter six makes the common mistake of assuming that all VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) are about confidentiality: some are merely about managing communications configurations. There is some correct and useful information about viruses in chapter eight, but it is unfortunately mixed in with a lot of garbage. Windows NT and its subsequent versions are *not* immune to viruses, although a rigorous set of file permissions can reduce your risk of file infectors (which are no longer a major category anyway). Signature scanners are *not* the only type of antiviral software. Viruses were *not* invented by accident, BRAIN *never* had an onscreen display and didn't infect program files, and neither Stoned nor Jerusalem (Friday the 13th is one variant) were based on BRAIN. Neither Stoned nor BRAIN relied on program sharing to propagate: data disks were quite sufficient. Viruses that only replicate are *not* benign (anybody ever have problems with Stoned? Melissa? Loveletter?), *will* be discovered, and scanning signatures *are* created. Fault tolerance, in chapter nine, is not quite business continuity planning (BCP), but does go beyond the usual UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) and backup recommendations. Although chapter ten lists a number of security mechanisms in Windows, a practical understanding of their use is not presented. The UNIX tools in eleven are described more usefully -- but they only relate to file permissions. The network security tools for UNIX are in twelve -- but are only enumerated. Chapter thirteen has good suggestions for Web server security -- but doesn't say how to implement them. A random collection of email security tools and threats makes up chapter fourteen. IDS (Intrusion Detection System) concepts are not explained very well in chapter fifteen: Strebe apparently doesn't understand that all forms use audit data of one type or another, and doesn't list the major distinctions between either the engine type or sensor location. Even given all the faults, one has to admit that Strebe has not done a bad job with his ambitious intent. Certainly home users and CEOs can find better explanations here than in many of the other works aimed at them, however much I might wish that the book as a whole was more accurate. And, yes, even the network administrators might find some helpful points in the more conceptual material at the beginning of the book: most of them could do with a better understanding of the need for policy. This work isn't great, by any means, but it can fulfill a need for a quick guide to network threats, for a variety of audiences. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004 BKNTSCJS.RVW 20030604 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. - Mark Twain http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 07:06:50 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications How would anyone know that? Lisa Minter wrote: > I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) > and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know > if he wrote all that code himself? Also, the Microsoft Company has > grown a lot since those days, and how much does Bill Gates actually > know about Windows, etc these days; that is, has personal knowledge > of the various technical aspects of his products, or like many folks, > are large parts of the code outside his personal ability to under- > stand also? I am just wondering to what extent he has kept up in his > personal knowledge of his products, etc. Anyone know? > Lisa [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: (Lisa says:) I would think it would be in his personal involvement in writing code, answering questions from customers, etc. But he does not do that, does he? PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 6 Jul 2004 10:15:12 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Lisa Minter wrote: > I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) > and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know > if he wrote all that code himself? Not all of it. Remember that Microsoft had over 120 ports of BASIC for different architectures, and while Gates was very tightly involved with all of this, it was not a job for a single human being. I remember calling Microsoft around 1978 or so and talking to Mr. Gates about why their HP 2101 BASIC wasn't any good. I was told basically that it wasn't a very good computer and it was HP's fault that their BASIC had bugs and they weren't going to do anything about it. That was the last Microsoft product I ever bought. > Also, the Microsoft Company has grown a lot since those days, and how > much does Bill Gates actually know about Windows, etc these days; > that is, has personal knowledge of the various technical aspects of > his products, or like many folks, are large parts of the code outside > his personal ability to understand also? I am just wondering to > what extent he has kept up in his personal knowledge of his products, > etc. Anyone know? The problem is that Windows has now grown to such an enormous size, with literally thousands of individual systems calls, that no one human being can be familiar with more than a small part of the internals. This, I might add, is a recipe for trouble. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 6 Jul 2004 08:39:53 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lisa Minter wrote > I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) > and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know > if he wrote all that code himself? There are a number of books in the library about the life of Gates and the history of Microsoft; I would recommend checking several of them for good information. I don't know when they formally adopted the name "Microsoft" or officially chartered the company. However, Gates started in the software business at a very young age (14-16) writing programs for local businesses back in a time when programming was still a new and unknown field. A lot of bright youngsters, the early computer geeks, were doing that in those days, using 10 char/sec Teletypewriters as I/O machines connected to BASIC timesharing services. What set Gates apart was his intensity. He knocked on lots of doors to get business, then would stay up all night programming. I knew a lot of bright kids in those days doing the same sort of thing, but none pushing it as hard as Gates did. AFAIK, Gates wrote the code himself and was a very smart programmer. IMHO what set Gates apart from others of those days was that Gates wanted to build a business. The kids I knew liked making money, but it was more for the programming fun itself and also feeling "grown up" by selling to businesses something other than cutting the grass. > Also, the Microsoft Company has grown a lot since those days, and > how much does Bill Gates actually know about Windows, etc these > days; that is, has personal knowledge of the various technical > aspects of his products, or like many folks, are large parts of the > code outside his personal ability to under- stand also? I am just > wondering to what extent he has kept up in his personal knowledge of > his products, etc. Anyone know? I would suspect the more recent biographies of Gates might have something or articles in mainstream publications may have something (ie Fortune Magazine, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc.) I have no actual data on what he does. But I suspect he is no longer involved in actual coding or very basic technical issues; he is too busy worrying about the future direction of the company. Obviously he uses his company's products in his everyday work and I'm sure pays very close attention to their functionality from the user's and competitive point of view. But I strongly doubt he pulls up a listing of actual program code other than perhaps curiousity. ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 15:47:30 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations Lisa Minter writes: > I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) > and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know > if he wrote all that code himself? The original Microsoft Basic (GWBASIC) was written by Bill Gates. Has he written anything else since then? It doesn't appear so. MSDOS was purchased for $50,000 from a hobbyist (who had no idea how bad the deal was for him), and by that time Microsoft had staff to get the real work done. Some day they might even get around to doing it. > Also, the Microsoft Company has grown a lot since those days, and how > much does Bill Gates actually know about Windows, Probably not very much. Ballmer runs the company these days. Bill is a figurehead. > stand also? I am just wondering to what extent he has kept up in his > personal knowledge of his products, etc. Anyone know? Based on his book, and some ridiculously clueless statements on spam, I'd say he hasn't done a good job of keeping current. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 15:20:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff | July 4, 2004 Like a Robin Hood of the Internet age, Carrie Russell of South Boston takes bandwidth from the rich (neighbors who have wireless high-speed Internet connections) and uses it herself to surf for free. "I don't think of it as stealing," Russell said. "They've left their network open. If they're going to leave it open, then it's there for the taking." The savings are substantial. High-speed Internet access typically costs $30 to $60 a month or more, depending on the speed and whether it's packaged with other services offered by the provider. Michael Oh, president and founder of Tech Superpowers, a Boston-based specialist on wireless networking, said it's difficult to tell how many people are piggybacking on or sharing the wireless high-speed Internet access of their neighbors. But he is convinced a lot of people are trying it in densely populated neighborhoods where wireless connections overlap. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/07/04/tap_into_neighbors_wifi_why_not_some_say/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 11:52:52 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Philadelphia Marks 20 Years of Cell Phones That is the title of a story on KYW news-radio web page. "Philadelphia joined the cellular telephone revolution exactly 20 years ago -- on July 6, 1984. It was on that date that Bell Atlantic Mobile got its cell tower license for the area, three months after the first cellular service was installed in Chicago." It also says that in 20 years, cell phone usership jumped from 100 to 100 million. However, a car phone was depicted in a 1960 TV episode (Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, the last episode before the divorce of Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz). ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 13:59:21 -0400 Subject: Speakeasy Gets Naked - Set to Launch 'Onelink' Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/47203 Written by Karl Bode Speakeasy will next week announce a new nationwide "naked DSL" product -- or dry DSL on a dedicated loop that doesn't require a local voice component. Dubbed OneLink DSL, the service will be nationally available for users who are attracted to the idea of ditching their landline to go VoIP or cell only. [.....] "We hear often from many consumers and businesses that they are tired of being tied to the phone company and are seeking superior service and new creative options from the broadband industry," says Speakeasy President and CEO Bruce Chatterley. "In fact, in a recent customer survey we learned that more than 30% of our existing customers use a cell phone as their primary voice line. These customers have a telephone line solely to get DSL service from Speakeasy. We have listened to these customers and are very excited to be the first national provider of this new product." Speakeasy hopes to appeal to those users looking to flee their local bell by announcing their own VoIP service this summer, which they hope to bundle with the OneLink service. While the 1.5Mbps/256kbps will be the only package available at first, the company will eventually deliver 1.5Mbps/768kbps, 6Mbps/768kbps on dedicated pairs as well. Full story plus reader comments at: http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/47203 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, 06 Jul 2004 14:17:53 -0400 Subject: More Taxes Coming to VoIP Near You Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2004Jun/gee20040706025869.htm Voice over IP (VoIP) phone service is becoming more popular thanks to companies like Vonage (see our review), and one of its major draws is its lower cost. Because the technology is newer, VoIP service companies can avoid some of the government taxes and regulation that add universal service fees, access charges, and more to your land-line phone service. But that situation may change soon as more and more U.S. legislators cast their eyes on VoIP and the new tax revenue targets it offers. For example, a telecommunications subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives is having a hearing tomorrow on how regulation would affect VoIP technology; AT&T, BellSouth, Vonage, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and others will be there to throw their hats in the ring. There are already bills floating in the House and Senate on VoIP regulation, and the latest Congressmen to throw a bill on the "make VoIP like regular phone service" bonfire are Representatives Rick Boucher (Democrat out of Virginia) and Cliff Stearns (Republican out of Florida). In short, they want to "declare that the service is an interstate service and subject it completely to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission." The Representatives' proposal is to let the FCC expand its oversight of telecommunications from regular land-line service to VoIP/Internet- based telephony, keeping the states out of the mix. The language of the bill has not been revealed yet, but it's expected to "set broad guidelines" directing the FCC to "apply universal service formulas to VoIP" but not saying how. The bill wouldn't let anyone set rates for VoIP offerings, but it would let the FCC levy the semi-mysterious "universal service" and "access" taxes/fees we see on our land-line invoices on our VoIP invoices as well. Universal service fees that local telecoms pay (and charge back to consumers) go to subsidize telecom services in low-income and rural areas and 'Net connections for libraries and schools; the access fees they charge subscribers and long-distance service providers (the long distance companies charge those back to us as well) cover the cost of sending long distance calls across the local networks. Full story at: http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2004Jun/gee20040706025869.htm ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 15:34:13 -0500 n-line@juno.com wrote: > Well if all is true then Norvergence is out of business. One thing > hasn't been addressed though ... what are the existing customers > supposed to do now? We have signed lease agreements with banks for > equipment that won't work when Quest turns off the lines again. How > do we get out of those? Anyone have any ideas?? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest simply ignoring those fraud- > ulent contracts the banks are holding. How are they fraudulent? It's not the bank's fault that Norvergence stole from Qwest. > FREEZE ALL TELECOM PAYMENTS > IMMEDIATLY. If the bank wants to sue, that's okay. They *should* be > suing the remains of Norvergence, since Norvergence got the money > illegally, through trickery and fraud. Of course the bank will choose > to pick on the weaker party (yourself) because they assume they can > twist your arm easier. The bank has no claim on Norvergence in this case and a lawsuit would fail. n-line's company has a claim on Norvergence, but the bank does not. > If the bank *does* choose to sue you (not at all certain, IMO) then > your response should be to countersue the bank for harassment and > for being a party to the same fraud as Norvergence. This is very, very bad advice. > The bank after all *did* facilitate the fraud by paying > Norvergence money, and they knew or should have known that > Norvergence had a worthless scheme going on. I'm not sure it was that obvious. > The bank is equally (or more so) able to investigate the collateral > being put up for the money the bank advanced to Norvergence, the > 'collateral' in this case being the promises of satisfied customers > able and willing to pay. If you recall, we had that one message in the > Digest several months ago from the lady who said she worked for the > bank (which had been approached by Norvergence to handle their paper) > and she was investigating if the bank should get involved or not. Is this the same bank? If the bank was actively investigating Norvergence, there might be some liability on their part -- maybe. > by a smooth talking salesman. Just ignore those invoices and let the > bank deal with it as they must. PAT] I'd suggest talking to a lawyer. I'm not at all convinced that Pat's advice is correct. 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. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice. With that being said, I still maintain that an agressive and litigous debtor is the best debtor in this case. **Do not** just give in to bank's demands for payment from you; they are hoping their bullying tactics will do the job. **If** it comes to the point of suit which is not at all certain, at the very least countersue, which will send many banks (and collection agencies) running for the hills. Maybe it was not a *deliberate* act (i.e. fraud) by the bank, but it was extremely careless of the bank not to completely investigate what they were being asked to finance. Either bank knew (was part of fraud) or **should have known** what was going on. At least one bank officer or employee took the trouble to investigate on the net (here in this Digest) what was known about the company they were being asked to finance. Why didn't others, or maybe they did and chose to ignore the warning signs; why bother to cover our backsides when there are always debtors we can stick it to instead? I mean, many small merchants cannot even get a Visa Merchant account, the bank says its not worth all the hassles to us with customers refusing to pay, no signature on file, etc; the merchant is mostly (or excusively) in a sex related business, etc. Yet bank is willing to carry the paper for a multi-year thousands of dollars deal *based on fraud* against end-users (regardless of who actually committed whatever part of the fraud) and in essence try to commit extortion against same end-users as needed to worm out of any liability on their part? Uh huh ... and there were warning signs from more than a year ago; when Norvergence started trying to go legal on getting messages about them removed from the net, etc. Another warning sign should have been that Norvergence wanted the bank to pay them a full five year's worth before even one year (or a few months) had been honored on the contract. So end-users are expected to be responsible for the mistakes idiots at the bank make? Although it is likely and probable that many end-users signed off on the obscene contract presented to them by the Norvergence sales rep under much pressure (remember the message we had here from the sales rep who said he was trained to always insist on speaking directly and only to the 'decision maker' in the company and keep the pressure up on that person [that person's personal knowledge of telecom, or the lack thereof not withstanding]?), I sincerely doubt that bank had that kind of pressure on them. If bank even began to consider the deal offered them by Norvergence, I am sure bank just told them 'cool your heels, we will get back to you' or words to that effect. So to those of you reading this who have pestered me on the phone or in email ('send me everything in your archives about Norvergence, etc') I would give this admittedly non-legal but hopefully useful self-help advice: FREEZE*ALL*PAYMENTS*TO*BANK*RELATIVE*TO*NORVERGENCE*IMMEDIATLY*. No more money, let bank sue if they wish, which I doubt. They *know* it was their fault. PAT] ----------------------------- From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 21:16:39 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to n-line@juno.com : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest simply ignoring those fraud- > ulent contracts the banks are holding. FREEZE ALL TELECOM PAYMENTS > IMMEDIATLY. If the bank wants to sue, that's okay. They *should* be No, it probably isn't. From what we've been told here, Norv is in no way a party to those loans. That was completely intentional, and we now see the reason for that. Most likey, the customers themselves are going to have to be the ones to sue the smoking crater where Norvergence once was. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The bank did *not* loan the end user any money. The bank loaned money to Norvergence, backed up by collateral offered by the end user: his promise to pay. Norvergence screwed the bank; the end user did not screw the bank! The bank did not investigate the loan request very well that Norvergence asked for. In any kind of a third party deal like this, the bank has a fiduciary obligation to investigate it fully before going along with it. A good rule of thumb in any lawsuit is sue the easiest target; the weakest link. I will suggest that is the bank in this case; they are the ones who got their pockets picked because of their carelessness. The bank is out the money they were deluded into paying to Norvergence. The end user only signed on in the deal under duress and high pressure tactics from the sales reps. The bank obviously thinks the easiest target is the end user; after all he fell for high pressure from the sales rep; maybe he will fall for high pressure tactics from us when we place him with an agency. I say no! I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice but I suggest end users turn the screws back on the bank, unless they wish to be on a bankruptcy creditor's commitee. I would let the bank fill that role (creditor's committee in a bankruptcy) instead. Oh, and any end-user who does find himself getting sued by bank, take note if bank is also on the creditor's committee in bankruptcy. They can't have it both ways: Either end user owes the money to the bank or Norvergence owes the money. Bank cannot have it both ways. In the meantime, FREEZE ALL ACCOUNTS PAYABLE TO BANK IN RE NORVERGENCE. PAT] ------------------------------ From: christine.collins@atx.com (Christine Collins) Subject: Refuge from Recent Telco Changes Date: 6 Jul 2004 15:08:17 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am communication consultant for a well known regional telecommunications company. ATX communications has been around for nearly 20 years and serves over 20,000 business customers. We have one of lowest customer attrition rates in the industry. The reason for my post is that it has come to my attention that are many companies that are failing to live up to their promises, projected savings, and business models in the telco industry. When these companies go under financially, drop product lines, or change their focus it leaves their customers with the awful burden of cleaning up the mess. I have been helping my clients see the big picture in respect to their voice, data, and infrastructure needs and I am willing to consult freely with companies who need immeadiate alternatives to their telco solutions. ATX has built a solid foundation since 1985 with an excellent management team that gives me the confidence that I can help companies with these changes. E-mail me to share ideas. christine.collins@atx.com ------------------------------ From: unlimitedcallingusa@yahoo.com (Unlimited Calling) Subject: Norvergence Sales Reps Date: 6 Jul 2004 13:49:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have been working with a company that offers a service similar to Norvergence and has been up an running for a year now with no problems. If there are any Norvergence sales reps with deals they want to close, this company will pay you at least as much as Norvergence paid you maybe more, as soon as the customer is installed. You can send your contact info or email directly at unlimitedcallingusa@yahoo.com for more info. Don't let your deals fall apart, get paid on them and deal with a reputable company. Thanks, Nic ------------------------------ From: Dan Popescu Subject: A Link of Interest Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 23:31:17 +0300 Hello, We have a telecom related website at www.longdistancephonedepot.com The site features quite a few consumer articles as well as a large selection of US domestic and international calling plans. We'd very much appreciate it if you would consider adding a link to this website. If you agree we will link back. Thanks for your time. Kind regards, Dan Popescu http://www.CallingBargains.com http://www.LongDistancePhoneDepot.com http://ld.net/?dpopescu webmaster@CallingBargains.com More phone calls for your money! -------------------------------- 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 #320 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 7 16:13:30 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i67KDUL07124; Wed, 7 Jul 2004 16:13:30 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 16:13:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407072013.i67KDUL07124@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 #321 TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Jul 2004 16:12:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 321 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Starbucks Builds Continued Success with T-Mobile HotSpot (Monty Solomon) VoIP Hacks Gut Caller I.D. (Monty Solomon) Nitke v. Ashcroft - Expert Witness Report (Monty Solomon) Us Like Spies / How Computer Users Ask to be Doomed to Viruses (Solomon) Linksys Launches New Line of High-Gain Antennas for Wi-Fi (M Solomon) Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat (John McHarry) Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat (Gene S. Berkowitz) Telephony Education (Pete Romfh) "Overseas Blackberry" Service: Free Trial Participants Needed (John A) A Strange Phone Call Yesterday Evening (John R. Covert) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Lisa Hancock) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Scott Dorsey) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Matt Simpson) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Tony P.) Re: Replay it Again, Sam (Carl Moore) Re: Philadelphia Marks 20 Years of Cell Phones (Scott Dorsey) 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, 6 Jul 2004 23:34:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Starbucks Builds Continued Success with T-Mobile HotSpot Starbucks Builds Continued Success with T-Mobile HotSpot -- the Nation's Largest Commercial Wi-Fi Network SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 6, 2004-- High-Speed Wireless Internet Service is Now Available in More Than 3,100 Starbucks Coffeehouses Nationwide as T-Mobile HotSpot Locations Are Added to Stores in Five States Finding a fast, convenient and reliable Wi-Fi Internet connection is now much easier for Starbucks customers in Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Wisconsin. Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX), T-Mobile USA, Inc. and HP (NYSE:HPQ) (Nasdaq:HPQ) have expanded their leadership role in offering consumers the ability to stay connected on-the-go. The T-Mobile HotSpot wireless broadband Internet service has been added to more than 110 Starbucks stores in these five states. With more than 3,100 Starbucks coffeehouses now offering Internet access nationwide, the Company continues to build on the success of T-Mobile HotSpot in its stores. Starbucks has extended the reach of the T-Mobile HotSpot service to new markets, and is providing customers with exclusive digital entertainment content found only by connecting at Starbucks. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42376117 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 13:27:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: VoIP Hacks Gut Caller I.D. Implementation quirks in Voice over IP are making it easy for hackers to spoof Caller I.D., and to unmask blocked numbers. By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus Jul 6 2004 1:54PM Caller I.D. isn't what it used to be. Hackers have discovered that the handy feature that tells you who's calling before you answer the phone is easily manipulated through weaknesses in Voice over IP (VoIP) programs and networks. They can make their phone calls appear to be from any number they want, and even pierce the veil of Caller I.D. blocking to unmask an anonymous phoner's unlisted number. At root, the issue is one of what happens to a nugget of authentication data when it leaves the tightly-regulated realm of traditional telephony, and passes into the unregulated domain of the Internet. On the old-fashioned phone network, Caller I.D. works this way: your local phone company or cell phone carrier sends your "Calling Party Number" (CPN) with every call, like a return address on an envelope. Transmitted along with your CPN is a privacy flag that tells the telephone switch at the receiving end of the call whether or not to share your number with the recipient: if you have blocking on your line, the phone company you're dialing into knows your number, but won't share it with the person you're calling. This arrangement relies on telephone equipment at both ends of the call being trusted: the phone switch providing you with dial tone promises not to lie about your number to other switches, and the switch on the receiving end promises not to reveal your number if you've asked that it be blocked. In the U.S. that trust is backed by FCC regulations that dictate precisely how telephone carriers handle CPNs, Caller I.D. and blocking. Most subscribers have come to take Caller I.D. for granted, and some financial institutions even use Caller I.D. to authenticate customers over the phone. http://securityfocus.com/news/9061 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 00:02:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nitke v. Ashcroft - Expert Witness Report UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK BARBARA NITKE, THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR SEXUAL FREEDOM, and THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR SEXUAL FREEDOM FOUNDATION, Plaintiffs, -against- 01 Civ. 11476 (RMB) JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Defendants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EXPERT REPORT OF SETH FINKELSTEIN November 10, 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Opinion of Witness with Basis and Reasons Therefore A provider of content via the Internet cannot reasonably be expected to know the location of readers, if the context is one in which location would lead to a denial of the ability to read the content. This is because material can be read on the Internet through many alternate geographic routes, where the content can intentionally be relayed through third-party intermediaries which act to mask and obscure location. Further, intrinsic inaccuracies such as changes in address assignment and proxying by such large providers as America Online (AOL) mean many users cannot be reliably located. ... http://sethf.com/nitke/ashcroft.php http://sethf.com/nitke/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 00:15:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Us Like Spies / How Computer Users Ask to be Doomed to Viruses By Clive Thompson The digital pests never seem to let up. For years we've dealt with worms and viruses, and now we've got spyware and adware invading our computers-hijacking browsers, popping up ads, and harvesting personal information. A recent study found that 90 percent of computers harbor this stuff, and spyware and adware are the No. 1 reason people call Dell tech support. We could be forgiven for wondering whether there's any light at the end of the tunnel. Will we ever halt these digital epidemics? Here's a dismal answer: No. These afflictions stem from a thorny cultural problem: The entire software industry has been designed around our computer illiteracy. That isn't an easy, or even a possible, thing to change. More than any other modern tool, computers are a total mystery to their users. Most people never open them up to fix them or to see how they work. Software is shrouded in particularly Delphic obscurity. When we want to install a new program, we just click on the installer, and presto, the elves arrive and magically scatter a zillion files all over our hard drives. Who cares how Microsoft Word works, as long as it does? http://slate.msn.com/id/2102856/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 11:01:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Linksys Launches New Line of High-Gain Antennas for Wi-Fi The Linksys High Gain Antennas Help Increase the Effective Range of Wireless-B or Wireless-G Networks IRVINE, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Linksys(R), a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., the leading provider of broadband, wireless and networking hardware for the consumer and Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) markets, today announced a line of high-gain antennas to be used with select Linksys Wireless-B and Wireless-G products. The high-gain antennas were developed to help increase the effective range of a Linksys home or small business wireless network. The antenna solutions include a pair of TNC Connector Antennas (HGA7T), a single SMA Connector Antenna (HGA7S) and Antenna Stands (AS1SMA and AS2TNC) for mounting the antennas to walls or ceilings. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42382691 ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 23:43:15 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Al Gillis wrote: > John McHarry wrote in message > news:telecom23.318.8@telecom-digest.org: >> They will probably call in Col. Bat Guano. > Good old Colonel Guano - "Peace is our Profession". He was always > worried about his "precious bodily fluids" and how he withheld them > from women! > Years ago, as an Airman Last Class I recall seeing that movie in the > Lackland AFB theatre. Being right in the middle of the nonsense we > called Basic Training made it even more hilarious to us! You are thinking of General Ripper. Colonel Guano is the one Mandrake told to shoot the lock off the Coke machine. ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 00:12:21 -0400 In article , alg@aracnet.com says: > John McHarry wrote in message > news:telecom23.318.8@telecom-digest.org: > Momo wrote: > >> I clipped this from comp.risks and thought it might be worth >> discussion. Mo >> Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:48:23 -0400 >> From: Dominey, Jack M, NEO >> Subject: Coca-Cola Cans as Security Threat >> Security Managers: >> The Coca Cola Company has a summer game promotion running from 5/17 - >> 7/12/04 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that has the >> capability to compromise classified information. >> They will probably call in Col. Bat Guano. > Good old Colonel Guano - "Peace is our Profession". He was always worried > about his "precious bodily fluids" and how he withheld them from women! No, that was Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper. Col. Guano was the one ordered to shoot the Coke machine because he didn't carry loose change into battle. "Gentlemen! We must not allow a mine shaft gap!" --General 'Buck' Turgidson --Gene ------------------------------ From: Pete Romfh Subject: Telephony Education Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 08:02:24 -0500 Organization: Not Organized I've been asked to develop a training process to cross train a group of data technicians to handle voice support as well. Obviously there's a series of product specific topics that will need to be covered but I'm looking around for on-line or PC-based education in basic telephony. I'm thinking they will need to learn some basic concepts, terminology, and the TLA's (three letter acronyms) we're all so fond of. They will be dealing with station side work and some basic PBX admin. There's no requirement for outside plant info other than an overview so they can communicate with facilities vendors. I'm open for suggestions on topics and sources. They can't spend the years most of us took to learn "Phone-Guy" stuff. How to I get them started down the right path? Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet. promfh at Texas dot net ------------------------------ From: johnambulance@hotmail.com (John A) Subject: "Overseas Blackberry" Service: Free Trial Participants Needed Date: 7 Jul 2004 08:01:10 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com What do non-GSM Blackberry users do when they travel abroad? I would really like to hear your experiences. Why? Because I have been asked to put together an "overseas Blackberry" service for my company. We will either be renting or selling overseas Blackberry handsets, at surprisingly low prices. I want to design the service around the needs of the customers, so I would like to hear your wishes. If you would like to be involved in a trial of the service, please let me know. (My email address is h_rockingham@yahoo.com). Henry International Development Director [A Major Overseas Phone Provider] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 12:48:29 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: A Strange Phone Call Yesterday Evening Phone rang yesterday evening: This is [a company I do business with, but how do I know it's them and not a scam] with an important message [about the product they sell] for a member of your household. If you are John Covert, please press "1". OK so far, so I press 1. We value your privacy. To be sure we are talking with John Covert, please enter the four digits of your birth year. No way. What's the next question going to be? Is this really the company it claims to be, or is it some new clever phishing scam? There was no way to break out of the question asking loop; the thing just repeatedly asked the question, and "operator", "help", "no", "0" on the keypad, etc., all simply got the question repeated. I called their customer service number, and asked the rep who answered if he was familiar with scams on the internet that appear to be from companies you might do business with that ask personal questions in order to engage in identity theft. He said he was. Then I told him that he would certainly understand why I was very concerned about a call claiming to be from them which asked personal questions. He said it was a new reminder system for re-ordering. I told him there was no way anyone could tell that the call is really coming from them, and that they really can't be asking questions like that. People should not get used to systems like this and start trusting them, because if they do, the phishers will show up right behind them. /john ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 04:05:01 GMT Monty Solomon posted on that vast internet thingie: > Michael Oh, president and founder of Tech Superpowers, a Boston-based > specialist on wireless networking, said it's difficult to tell how > many people are piggybacking on or sharing the wireless high-speed > Internet access of their neighbors. But he is convinced a lot of > people are trying it in densely populated neighborhoods where wireless > connections overlap. It is astounding how many people are running wide open wireless. I went to my car to check a power supply for my laptop and a wireless connection just popped up, and it wasn't mine. I went to a free WiFi coffee shop and had my choice of two free connections, one due to the kindness/wisdom of the coffee shop owner, the other probably some local business that was not aware that they were giving away free Internet. I think the limitation on range gives some people the feeling that if someone does use it that it is a neighbor so they don't really mind. 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: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 7 Jul 2004 07:30:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote > The problem is that Windows has now grown to such an enormous size, > with literally thousands of individual systems calls, that no one > human being can be familiar with more than a small part of the > internals. This, I might add, is a recipe for trouble. There are many computer systems, both internal operating systems as well as external application programming that are so huge that "no one can be familiar with more than a small part". It doesn't mean the systems are bad or have potential problems. If the system was developed carefully, following tried-and-true design techniques with thorough testing and debugging, using good dedicated people, and gradual rollout, it will run well. The problem is that way too many computer systems are rushed into service too fast, with inadequate design, buildup, and testing/debugging. Some managements like fancy development tools that actually hinder quality, not help it. Some managements hire bodies, not members of a team. "The bearing of a child takes nine months no matter how many women are assigned"; "adding more people to a late project only makes it more late" --Fred Brooks, developer of IBM's MVS. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 7 Jul 2004 10:49:58 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Paul Vader wrote: > Lisa Minter writes: >> I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) > and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know > if he wrote all that code himself? > The original Microsoft Basic (GWBASIC) was written by Bill > Gates. Has he written anything else since then? It doesn't appear > so. MSDOS was purchased for $50,000 from a hobbyist (who had no > idea how bad the deal was for him), and by that time Microsoft had > staff to get the real work done. Some day they might even get around > to doing it. GWBASIC was not the original Microsoft Basic. At the time the IBM PC came out, Microsoft had well over a hundred different versions of BASIC available, from a crude integer BASIC for the KIM-1 to Applesoft for the Apple ][, to a couple minicomputer versions. By the time they were asked by IBM to come up with an operating system and ROM BASIC for the PC, Microsoft was a very well-established company with a wide range of products. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: news01@jmatt.net (Matt Simpson) Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Date: 7 Jul 2004 10:31:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Jack Decker wrote in message news:: > for the first time in > about half a century you can be without service from a traditional > phone company and not be something of a social outcast. You can do > that by using either a wireless phone, or a VoIP service in lieu of a > standard phone line. Actually, I can't. Nobody will sell me broadband, so I can't use VoIP, and my cellphone can't find service near my house. > The regulations in question probably never should have existed in the > first place, because they set up the situation where phone companies > think it is their God-given right to gouge the public, even to the > point that they look upon fines as just a cost of doing business. I've got mixed feelings about regulations. I certainly have no love for the large telecomm companies. On the other hand, there's a good chance that I might not even have dial-up service if the telcos had not been regulated in the past. A law was recently passed in KY relieving BellSouth from having the state Public Service Commission regulate their broadband service. Now they're regulated only by the Feds. Is this good or bad? I honestly don't know. Will it improve my chances of being able to purchase broadband service in my lifetime? I honestly don't know. One major issue was BellSouth's reluctance to being required to give competitive services access to their network. Their argument was that they couldn't invest in providing DSL service if they had to wholesale it to other ISPs. Maybe true. But even without regulation, there's still no guarantee that they're going to make the service available. So what did the public get in exchange for freeing BellSouth from regulation? Not much ... I couldn't get DSL before, I still can't get it. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 00:49:41 GMT In article , ellis@no.spam says... > In article , Matt Simpson > wrote: >> That's a crock. We are still a very long way from "Internet Phone >> Service For Every Home". Before that can happen, we need broadband in >> every home. And that's a long way off. > The bigger crock is the claim that VoIP is somehow superior to circuit > switched service. The biggest "virtue" of VoIP is its ability to > circumvent regulations and that has nothing to do with technology. > Not to worry, the FCC is busy figured out how to tank VoIP services at > this very moment. They're planning to saddle them with the ridiculous > Universal Service fee for one thing. I'm sorry but if you want to live in the boonies, you damn well should be paying the price to string the cable out to your location. I shouldn't have to pay for it. And yes, I know USF pays for discounts for the elderly etc. But get a measured service line, in most places they're < $10 a month anyhow. While the FCC is at it, maybe it should look at all those bogus fees listed on our bills that approximately double the price of telephone service. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 10:37:42 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Replay it Again, Sam Responding to something in Dec. 2002: I guess that was also "fair use" in what I heard earlier regarding taping of TV programs via VCR. I guess "fair use" comes into play in the case of a program you are interested in but which has not been available for years (for example, I was YEARS late in seeing the I Love Lucy Christmas episode, which is not part of the "regular" 179-episode package). Also, there is my web site with music I selected, arranged, and transcribed myself, and among the criteria for what I choose for it is relative obscurity (for example, arranging based on children's records of 1950s vintage). The Beatles themselves headed toward writing their own material, as well as looking for obscure "B" sides, because of the problem of another group unwittingly performing songs the Beatles had planned on performing. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Philadelphia Marks 20 Years of Cell Phones Date: 7 Jul 2004 10:51:43 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Carl Moore wrote: > That is the title of a story on KYW news-radio web page. > "Philadelphia joined the cellular telephone revolution exactly 20 > years ago -- on July 6, 1984. It was on that date that Bell Atlantic > Mobile got its cell tower license for the area, three months after the > first cellular service was installed in Chicago." It also says that > in 20 years, cell phone usership jumped from 100 to 100 million. > However, a car phone was depicted in a 1960 TV episode (Lucy-Desi Comedy > Hour, the last episode before the divorce of Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz). That was IMTS, which was VERY MUCH not cellular. Something like fifteen possible simultaneous calls for a whole city, on low-band VHF. Very popular with doctors, real estate agents, and the like. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ 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 #321 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 7 18:52:16 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i67MqGH09098; Wed, 7 Jul 2004 18:52:16 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 18:52:16 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407072252.i67MqGH09098@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 #322 TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Jul 2004 18:52:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 322 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson VoIP Hacks Gut Caller I.D. (VOIP News) Adelphia to Drop Long-Distance (VOIP News) Gates and MS BASIC (JSW) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Tony P.) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Richard Shuford) SS7 Help (Jeff) Is There an Official Statement on NorVergence? (David O. Rodriguez) Norvergence Bankrupt (William Van Hefner) Re: Norvergence Sales Reps (Paul Vader) Re: Norvergence Sales Reps (J Kelly) Norvergence News Articles (Barry B.) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Robert Bonomi) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Black Ninja) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Justin Time) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Scott Dorsey) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Paul Vader) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Lisa Hancock) Re: Refuge from Recent Telco Changes (Hammond of Texas) NorVergence in Debt to Tune of $15 Million (Jack Decker) IRS Eyes Net Phone Taxes (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: VOIP News Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 21:19:29 -0400 Subject: VoIP Hacks Gut Caller I.D. Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com I'm quoting a bit more than I usually would out of this article to make a point: Neither Caller ID, nor Caller ID blocking can be completely trusted. There have doubtless been court cases that have turned on the receipt of a phone call that supposedly placed the caller at a given location at a given time -- well it turns out that if the caller is technically savvy, they can make themselves appear to be at any number. Telemarketers have played games with Caller ID for years (and they didn't need VoIP to do it), but now it appears anyone with sufficient technical knowledge can play all sorts of games with Caller ID. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9061 Implementation quirks in Voice over IP are making it easy for hackers to spoof Caller I.D., and to unmask blocked numbers. By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus Jul 6 2004 1:54PM Caller I.D. isn't what it used to be. Hackers have discovered that the handy feature that tells you who's calling before you answer the phone is easily manipulated through weaknesses in Voice over IP (VoIP) programs and networks. They can make their phone calls appear to be from any number they want, and even pierce the veil of Caller I.D. blocking to unmask an anonymous phoner's unlisted number. At root, the issue is one of what happens to a nugget of authenti- cation data when it leaves the tightly-regulated realm of traditional telephony, and passes into the unregulated domain of the Internet. On the old-fashioned phone network, Caller I.D. works this way: your local phone company or cell phone carrier sends your "Calling Party Number" (CPN) with every call, like a return address on an envelope. Transmitted along with your CPN is a privacy flag that tells the telephone switch at the receiving end of the call whether or not to share your number with the recipient: if you have blocking on your line, the phone company you're dialing into knows your number, but won't share it with the person you're calling. This arrangement relies on telephone equipment at both ends of the call being trusted: the phone switch providing you with dial tone promises not to lie about your number to other switches, and the switch on the receiving end promises not to reveal your number if you've asked that it be blocked. In the U.S. that trust is backed by FCC regulations that dictate precisely how telephone carriers handle CPNs, Caller I.D. and blocking. Most subscribers have come to take Caller I.D. for granted, and some financial institutions even use Caller I.D. to authenticate customers over the phone. Despite that, the system has long been open to manipulation. "A lot of times you can offer any number you want, and carriers won't validate that," says Lance James, chief security office of Secure Science Corporation. But in the past, the power to misrepresent your number came with a high price tag: you typically had to be a business able to pay the local phone company for a high-volume digital connection. On the other side of the equation, companies who pay for toll free numbers can often access an incoming caller's phone number even if it's blocked. Voice over IP networks, currently outside FCC regulation, place those capabilities in the hands of ordinary netizens. In a telephone interview with SecurityFocus, 21-year-old phone hacker "Lucky 225" demonstrated how he could spoof his Caller I.D. to appear to be phoning from the reporter's office. In another demonstration, the reporter phoned Lucky's associate "Natas" from a residential phone with Caller I.D. blocked. Natas was able to rattle off the unlisted phone number. Full story at: http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9061 Slashdot reader comments on this article may be found at: http://slashdot.org/articles/04/07/07/1357225.shtml?tid=126&tid=137&tid=172&tid=215&tid=95 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, 07 Jul 2004 12:48:09 -0400 Subject: Adelphia to Drop Long-Distance Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/business_04bea67ea0e6e1f2002c.html By Kristi Swartz, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Adelphia Cable is getting out of the traditional telephone business. The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved a request from Adelphia Telecommunications of Florida Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the nation's fifth-largest cable provider, to stop selling long-distance service. Adelphia began offering the service to consumers in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties in 1997, but decided late last year to work instead on Internet telephony, otherwise known as Voice-over Internet Protocol or VoIP, which allows people to make phone calls through their computers. Full story at: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/business_04bea67ea0e6e1f2002c.html ------------------------------ Subject: Gates and MS BASIC Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 09:22:52 CDT From: jsw@ivgate.omahug.org Reply-To: jsw@ivgate.omahug.org Not to show my age, but I do go back to the days when Microsoft's first products for the Altair/IMSAI came out. It was my impression that the first tape-based MS BASIC was indeed coded by Bill Gates himself, possibly assisted by Allen. It was my understanding that the first product where Gates was not the Primary Geek, was the 8080 BASCOM BASIC compiler, ca. 1981, which was developed by J. Gordon Letwin, who Microsoft had recently pirated from Heath. Letwin was also the primary architect of the original Microsoft OS/2 (yes, it was originally a MS product) but I lost track of him since then, which was over 10 years ago. I assume that much of his OS/2 code was reused in the W95 effort. It's my impression, but just a hunch, not verified, that Gates does keep aware of the technical details of the new products, but not at the hardcore nuts and bolts level. Once a hacker, always a hacker. ;-) Good day JSW ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 01:23:54 GMT In article , lisa_minter2001 @yahoo.com says: > I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) > and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know > if he wrote all that code himself? Also, the Microsoft Company has > grown a lot since those days, and how much does Bill Gates actually > know about Windows, etc these days; that is, has personal knowledge > of the various technical aspects of his products, or like many folks, > are large parts of the code outside his personal ability to under- > stand also? I am just wondering to what extent he has kept up in his > personal knowledge of his products, etc. Anyone know? No, he didn't write it all by himself. He did appropriate the original BASIC but I do believe he was involved in the development of MS-DOS and even development of the OS for the TRS-80 Model 1 and other products though the Tandy line. But does he have an active role today? I doubt it. There are too many products in the MS tree. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 01:22:25 EDT From: Richard S. Shuford Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? > Lisa Minter wrote: >> I know that Bill Gates started Microsoft, back in 1976, I think (?) >> and one of his first products was Microsoft Basic. Does anyone know >> if he wrote all that code himself? > Not all of it. Remember that Microsoft had over 120 ports of BASIC > for different architectures, and while Gates was very tightly involved > with all of this, it was not a job for a single human being. > I remember calling Microsoft around 1978 or so and talking to Mr. Gates > about why their HP 2101 BASIC wasn't any good. I was told basically that > it wasn't a very good computer and it was HP's fault that their BASIC > had bugs and they weren't going to do anything about it. That was the > last Microsoft product I ever bought. As a young man, Bill Gates wrote the BASIC interpreter for MITS, Inc. of Albuquerque, where Ed Roberts had put together the kit for the Altair 8800 computer -- the machine that triggered the personal-computer revolution. There are some dark rumors about how Gates obtained timesharing resources on a large computer system to complete this project. One interesting source places him in Albuquerque on December 13, 1977: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/gatesmug1.html Not long afterward, Gates returned to the Seattle area to team up with Paul Allen in a business venture called Microsoft. I believe some of the story was told by Stephen Levy in his book "Hackers". According to one of my friends, who worked for Radio Shack from 1977 to 1980, writing computer documentation, Bill Gates personally did some of the coding on the Advanced Color BASIC Interpreter which Microsoft produced under contract for the Radio Shack 6809-based TRS-80 Color Computer (the "Co-Co"). However, this was the last Microsoft project in which Mr. Gates participated as a software developer. (This took place before IBM knocked on his door looking for an alternative to CP/M-86.) Incidently, the GWBASIC interpreter of MS-DOS was pretty much just that Advanced Color BASIC, ported to the Intel processor and with a couple of extra language keywords. ...RSS ------------------------------ From: grymreap99@aol.com (Jeff) Subject: SS7 Help Date: 7 Jul 2004 12:59:49 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have been assigned a research project, and I am having a nearly impossible time completing it. I have been asked to find the differences in the SS7 networks in China, Japan, and the U.S. I was wondering if anyone had any insight into this, or knew of any resources I could use to find the answers to these questions. Thanks in advance for your help. ------------------------------ From: David O. Rodriguez Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 01:09:30 -0500 Subject: Is There an Official Statement on NorVergence Pat, I have been told, heard, and read many things about NorVergence's closure on July 1, 2004. However, NONE OF IT has been something 'Official' from a court, law enforcement agency, organization, or, from NorVergence itself. Is there a website or anything out there that you know of that says something officially stamped by a court or police agency or bank or even NorVergence? Have NorVergence's lawyers issued a statement? Please help. David ------------------------------ From: William Van Hefner Subject: Norvergence Bankrupt Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 09:06:27 -0700 Newark, NJ, July 7, 2004 (TheDigest.Com) - Norvergence is bankrupt, involuntarily. On July 2nd, three creditors of the company Popular Leasing USA, OFC Capital, and Partners Equity Capital filed an involuntary Chapter 11 Bankruptcy petition against the VOIP reseller. This move apparently came only minutes before its underlying provider Qwest was to serve the company with notice that it was terminating service to its customers for non-payment. In documents filed with the court, Qwest described Norvergence as being continually delinquent in paying their bills, nearly since the company's inception. Qwest claims that the New Jersey company owes it $18,442,550.53 in past due long distance bills, and that it has hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment on loan to them that it wants back. Qwest has filed (and been granted) an expedited hearing, and has made a motion to the court to terminate service to Norvergence's customers. In its filing, Qwest seems to indicate that its motion to disconnect the customers should be granted because Norvergence has no reasonable chance of surviving the bankruptcy. Without having seen any financial documents, that is hard to say. However, many of the indicators we have seen lead us to suspect that this case will be converted from a Chapter 11 (reorganization) to a Chapter 7 (liquidation) before this is all over. Strangely enough, in order to bolster its argument that Norvergence was headed for the scrap heap of telecom history, Qwest repeatedly quoted TheDigest.Com in bankruptcy documents. It also went on to state that Newark, New Jersey police were called to the company when unpaid employees threatened to "loot" Norvergence's offices of computers and office equipment. Norvergence had missed a $8.5 million payment to Qwest on June 30th, which prompted Qwest to deliberate serving notice to the company that it would terminate its services. Unfortunately, Qwest waited too long. Before it had a chance to notify Norvergence of its impending shut-off, other creditors filed the involuntary bankruptcy document, preventing Qwest from pulling the plug on thousands of Norvergence customers. Qwest claims that it is costing the company $166,000 for each day it continues providing Norvergence customers with "free" service. Norvergence is also under investigation by the New Jersey Department of Labor for allegedly bouncing paychecks. When it fired over 1,000 workers last week, the company told its employees that they would not be receiving their paychecks that day for the past two weeks work, nor would they be paid for any past due salaries owed. The company has blamed its financial problems on lack of funding from investors. Based upon past rulings, we find it unlikely that Qwest will be allowed to disconnect Norvergence customers anytime soon. The carrier would most likely need to convince the court that the case should be converted into a Chapter 7 filing first, and that will likely take some time. Still, Norvergence customers are quite obviously dialing on borrowed time, and should immediately begin looking for a new telecommunications provider. In our opinion, the odds of Norvergence successfully reorganizing are almost zero. To add insult to injury, most of Norvergence's customers are now stuck with multi-year leases on equipment supplied by the company, but whose debt was actually sold to outside financing companies. Technically, the customer owes a debt to the financing company, and not to Norvergence. Customers are still on the hook to pay the financing companies for years to come, even if no service of any kind is provided. We suspect that Norvergence made most of its revenues not from selling telecommunications services, but from the sale of equipment leases to finance companies instead. We have made all court documents from the Norvergence bankruptcy available for download at http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence/ William Van Hefner Editor - TheDigest.Com postmaster@thedigest.com http://www.thedigest.com/current/ ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Norvergence Sales Reps Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 15:05:17 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations > I have been working with a company that offers a service similar to > Norvergence and has been up an running for a year now with no > problems. Pat, do we have to see these messages? At least a couple of them (not *necessarily* this one) look like hooks for a reloader scam. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They are like buzzards flying around overhead are they not; waiting for the final gasp of life out of what remains of the Norvergence carcass so theyt can swoop down and begin picking the bones clean. One master scammer (Norvergence) is sure to encourage and prompt inexperienced scammers to follow. PAT] ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Norvergence Sales Reps Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 12:46:03 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On 6 Jul 2004 13:49:40 -0700, unlimitedcallingusa@yahoo.com (Unlimited Calling) wrote: > If there are any Norvergence sales reps with deals they want to close, > this company will pay you at least as much as Norvergence paid you > maybe more, as soon as the customer is installed. > You can send your contact info or email directly at > unlimitedcallingusa@yahoo.com for more info. > Don't let your deals fall apart, get paid on them and deal with a > reputable company. Pat- I'm not sure why a reputable company would be spamming here and using a yahoo.com email address. I'm even more baffled by why you allow this crap on the Digest. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because this is 'be kind to buzzards week' here at the Digest. I want to make sure the little guys get their food in the form of other suckers. As I noted in response to Paul Vader, all the spammer-buzzards are stirred up and flying around now, starting to eat the remains of the corporate carcass that was Norvergence. Its their nature; they don't know any better. PAT] ------------------------------ From: BarryB Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 9:41 AM Subject: Video News on Norvergence From Last Week A couple stories on Novergence from last week, including a short video from Channel 12 news. http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=112831 ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 06:09:43 +0000 In article , n-line@juno.com wrote: > Well if all is true then Norvergence is out of business. One thing > hasn't been addressed though ... what are the existing customers > supposed to do now? We have signed lease agreements with banks for > equipment that won't work when Quest turns off the lines again. How > do we get out of those? Anyone have any ideas?? > > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest simply ignoring those fraud- > ulent contracts the banks are holding. FREEZE ALL TELECOM PAYMENTS > IMMEDIATLY. If the bank wants to sue, that's okay. [[ more grossly inaccurate legal mis-advice snipped ]] You *really* shouldn't be practicing law without a license, especially when you don't know jack sh*t about what you speak. Unfortunately, the customers _are_ on the hook for the full price of the equipment contract. *REGARDLESS* of whether Norvergence is still in business *or*not*. The legal premise is "Holder in Due Course". The party to the note has recourse *ONLY* against the originator (Norvergence). When the originator sells the paper to a third party, *ONLY* the payment responsibilities are transferred. Any other issue _remains_ with the originator. Unfortunately, this means that those 'former' Norvergence customers are just SOL. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Freeze all accounts payable immediatly regards Norvergence leases, etc. Tell the bank to file suit immediatly against you if they wish, not to bother giving their good money to an agency. PAT] ------------------------------ From: triple_des1544@yahoo.com (Black Ninja) Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: 6 Jul 2004 22:53:15 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > Yet bank is willing to carry the paper for a multi-year > thousands of dollars deal *based on fraud* against end-users The solution that Norvergence was offering was not fraudulent. It was the poor management policies at the top that prevented it from working. The banks had no way of knowing that NorV would not pay the bills. > Another warning sign should have been that Norvergence wanted the bank > to pay them a full five year's worth before even one year (or a few > months) had been honored on the contract. Anybody that has ever purchased a new vehicle should understand this one. When you make out your check for the monthly payment, it is not to the dealership that you drove away from. It is to a BANK. You do not pay a dealership for a few months and then have a bank take over, the dealership will shop your deal around to various banks until they find one that will BUY the deal. At that point, the Dealership has removed itself from the financial end of that agreement. It is you, and the bank, whether your new car blows up or not. If it does blow up, then you fall back on the WARRANTY, which is again NOT provided by the dealership, but by the manufacturer. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The bank did *not* loan the end user > any money. The bank loaned money to Norvergence, backed up by collateral > offered by the end user: his promise to pay. The bank did not "loan" anybody anything. The bank BOUGHT the deal from Norvergence -- for a lesser amount to reap a profit. And to answer your question, Steven, it feels great to be without a job. It is a well deserved vacation. I had earned 6 figures by mid-year, I know that I did everything in my power to aid my customers. I am proud to say that I worked with some of the best, most honest, telecom sales people in the business. I am also very confident that these sales people would sell circles around the unscrupulous agents that tend to frequent these boards. You think that Norvergence was dirty? Tell me you've never heard of an agent stealing deals, or misquoting price. Telecom is not the clean white sheet that people are making it out to be, and Norvergence is not the only stain. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Freeze all accounts payable with regards to Norvergence. Advise bank to either go straight to collection agency or court as they wish. PAT] ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: 7 Jul 2004 05:21:20 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Steven J Sobol wrote in message news:: > n-line@juno.com wrote: >> Well if all is true then Norvergence is out of business. One thing >> hasn't been addressed though ... what are the existing customers >> supposed to do now? We have signed lease agreements with banks for >> equipment that won't work when Quest turns off the lines again. How >> do we get out of those? Anyone have any ideas?? >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest simply ignoring those fraud- >> ulent contracts the banks are holding. Sorry Pat, but you are all WRONG on this one. The bank purchased a contract between the customer and Norvergance for the lease of equipment. If the service goes away, the bank is not responsible, they have a contract between two parties for equipment. The equipment didn't go away, just the service for the equipment. That does not render the contract invalid or unenforceable. If they fail to pay the bank, then the bank has every right to sue and will win in court. Is it worth it to ruin yours, or your company's credit over a bad choice YOU made? This I know from personal experience. I have a friend who had a business that had to go Chapter 7 because of a similar arrangement with a copier. After almost $40,000 of lawyer fees he still had to pay the bank for the contract on a faulty copier the bank had purchased from the copier supplier. Rodgers Platt [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Freeze all accounts payable immediatly in reference to Norvergence. You mentioned your friend who wound up going straight chapter 7. If the bank wants to buy garbage that is bank's business, I guess. And I think it is just too damn bad that the so-called American 'system' of justice favors banks over small business people. In fact, I think the scale of justice is always tipped in favor of big business and the banks. Why does it seem to always take complete break downs in society (i.e. south central el lay in the early nineties; Chicago [twice!] in 1968; many other similar cases to demonstrate this?) PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: 7 Jul 2004 10:56:16 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) n-line@juno.com wrote: > Well if all is true then Norvergence is out of business. One thing > hasn't been addressed though ... what are the existing customers > supposed to do now? We have signed lease agreements with banks for > equipment that won't work when Quest turns off the lines again. How > do we get out of those? Anyone have any ideas?? I don't, and that is the whole evil in the situation. The bank is holding the note, rather than Norvergence, and the end user takes all the risk. I think you had best talk to a good contracts lawyer, but I suspect that unless something very dramatic happens as part of the bankruptcy settlement (assuming there even is a bankruptcy settlement) that you are going to continue to be liable for the ongoing lease of the box unless there is some clause in the contract specifically invalidating the lease if Norvergence is unable to meet their terms of service. You are going to need to have someone look your contract over very carefully. It's too late now to point out that you would have done better to have had someone look the contract over before signing it, of course. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Norvergence sales rep would not allow that! He insisted on talking to the 'decision maker' for the company and getting him to sign, then the bank sits there with a hurt look on its face saying well its not *our* fault. This should be a good lesson; *any* salesman who comes to your door asking to talk with the 'decision maker' should be unceremoniously kicked out then and there -- on his ass! At the very least, freeze all accounts payable relating to Norvergence until the lawyers have worked out a settlement. Advise bank you prefer to have them take it straight to court. PAT] ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 15:02:01 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The bank did *not* loan the end user > any money. You are completely wrong. Go back into the archives -- you can see that many people have said that the loan is between the Norv customer and the bank, and nobody else. Norvergence got the money, but they're not the ones liable for the debt. It's possible they're not even mentioned in the loan paperwork. Simply refusing to pay is a great way to destroy your company, as your other creditors will see the slow/no pay and freak out. It's an expensive lesson, but a clear one -- never take out a loan unless YOU are the one who pockets the money. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is important that you stress to your other creditors that you are *NOT* slow pay (and as needed, pay them early or on time.) Stress to your other creditors that this is purely a dispute between the various debtors of a charlatan bank and its charlatan customer Norvergence, and that you will pay the charlatans if a judge in court orders you to do so, not before. In fact, maybe a form letter to all creditors explaining it would be wise. Explain how it would appear that Norvergence conspired with the bank to do this. But be certain to freeze all accounts payable to bank in refer- ence to Norvergence in meantime. Chances are good charlatan bank will not sue anyway, IMO. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: 7 Jul 2004 12:59:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Steven J Sobol : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal > advice. With that being said, I still maintain that an agressive and > litigous debtor is the best debtor in this case. **Do not** just give > in to bank's demands for payment from you; they are hoping their > bullying tactics will do the job. **If** it comes to the point of suit > which is not at all certain, at the very least countersue, which will > send many banks (and collection agencies) running for the hills. I would tend to agree, but first I would review the contract very carefully with a good attorney. Other than that, I'm pessimistic. Without knowing the actual loan agreement, everything below is speculative. > Maybe it was not a *deliberate* act (i.e. fraud) by the bank, but it > was extremely careless of the bank not to completely investigate what > they were being asked to finance. Either bank knew (was part of fraud) > or **should have known** what was going on. I'm not sure if that's accurate, it depends on the terms of the loan and lease. In general, when a bank lends you money, you are responsible to pay it back, regardless of whatever you did with that money. For instance, if you buy some land and it turns out to be worthless or even a liability, the bank is not responsible, you are. Any prudent buyer of a lease should and would know about early termination options and quality guarantees, especially on a five year lease. Normal business contracts have termination clauses. > Another warning sign should have been that Norvergence wanted the bank > to pay them a full five year's worth before even one year (or a few > months) had been honored on the contract. So end-users are expected to > be responsible for the mistakes idiots at the bank make? Unless the bank was acting as Norv.'s agent or was certifying the reliability of the company, the end-customer is ultimately responsible to pay the loan. I strongly doubt a bank made any representation as to the fitness or applicability of the produce/service. When you take out a loan on something, the bank will check it out to see that it basically actually exists and has some value to it (that you're not buying thin air with their money). Clearly this company existed and was running. I doubt a bank goes beyond that; they certainly don't go poking around the switchroom. As best I can tell, the bank loaned the customer money, nor Norv. Every business takes a risk with every supplier and customer it deals with. If a customer or vendor screws a business and goes bankrupt, the business is stuck with the bill. The only recourse is to get in line at bankruptcy court. > Although it is likely and probable that many end-users signed off on > the obscene contract presented to them by the Norvergence sales rep > under much pressure. I have to ask why commercial customers were willing to sign under such pressure. To be frank, it's hard for me to be sympathetic with such commercial customers who'd were so anxious to save money they jumped on a too-good-to-be-true contract. Any business person should know whom they're dealing with, and dealing with a start-up entails extra risk. Going out of business is NOT unusual. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have to generally agree, Lisa. Why in the hell anyone would sign an open-ended contract like Norvergence sales reps handed out is beyond me. But, the bank, if it were not such a charlaton (and thought this would make money for them illegally) would have *also* gone over the contract with a fine tooth comb. Back in 1968-70 the door-to-door enyclopedia sales company was doing the same kind of thing. Not only were they completely abusing the guys working for them (housing them in fleabag motels, buying them a lousy hamburger for their one meal per day; abandoning the kids in strange places when they were through using them); they were also selling their paper to a few unscrupulous loan companies who were in effect 'loaning money' (just like the bank now) to the people who thought they were getting a good deal on a set of worthless books. The loan companies knew what was going on; I will suggest most of the banks Norvergence was dealing with also knew what was going on. Banks are not stupid; they **knew** who they were dealing with and how things would go. Look at bank's attitude toward someone who wants a lousy Visa Merchant account. Credit checks, a complete investigation, etc. all so that you can send them a few dollars now and then on a Visa transaction. The banks scrutinze those guys so carefully, and if internet is concerned, often as not refuse to do business. Are you gonna sit there and say in the case of Norvergence, bank did not do a very thorough, very comprehensive examination first? Yet still chose to do business with that bunch of crooks? Maybe they had cut a deal of some kind with Norvergence? Oh, hush my mouth! Did I just imply that maybe bank (at least some of them) were partners to the fraud? Be smart: freeze all accounts payable to Norvergence, invite bank to do some- thing about it if they wish. I do know in the 1968-70 encyclopedia door-to-door scandal, some of the 'loan companies' who 'loaned you money to buy that wonderful set of books for your kids' screamed bloody murder when the Court put them out of business. Take a list of Norvergence customers who have been scammed and see *which banks* were involved as middleman. Check the corporate relationships between those banks. You might be surprised to find many of them come from common ownership or management. But of course, Poor Put Upon Bank got cheated by the end user who followed the advice to FREEZE ALL ACCOUNTS PAYABLE TO NORVERGENCE. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 08:25:42 -0700 From: Hammond of Texas Subject: Re: Refuge from Recent Telco Changes > TX has built a solid foundation since 1985 with an > excellent management team that gives me the confidence that I can help > companies with these changes... ... By spamming usenet newsgroups. Yeah, that's a REAL confidence builder. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Poor buzzards; don't know any better than to pick over the carcasses in front of them. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 13:10:05 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: NorVergence in Debt to Tune of $15 Million Pat, please withhold my e-mail address. Just thought you would find this interesting: http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1089185452227510.xml Newark telecom files for Chap. 11 BY HENRY C. JACKSON Star-Ledger Staff NorVergence, a once-hot telecommunications provider, was forced into bankruptcy court by three creditors who say the Newark company was not paying its bills. The involuntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, filed late last week but posted online over the weekend, portrayed a company sinking under millions of dollars of debt. The move leaves approximately 10,000 customers, mostly small and mid-sized businesses who use NorVergence for telephone and Internet service, in limbo. And the news was no better for many of NorVergence's employees. They were sent home for good last week. When closely held NorVergence came to town in 2001, the company was touted as an important source of new jobs in Newark's troubled downtown area. NorVergence, at its most basic, bought whole telecommunications service and resold it. But layoffs and allegations of bounced checks and poor service have dogged the company. Full story at: http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1089185452227510.xml ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 12:12:21 -0400 Subject: IRS Eyes Net Phone Taxes Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5258809.html By Declan McCullagh CNET News.com A "temporary" tax created to pay for the Spanish-American War may result in higher fees for Internet telephone calls. The IRS and the Treasury Department have suggested that an existing federal excise tax on phone calls should be interpreted to apply to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, a move that promises to roil the fast-growing industry and follows similar attempts by state officials to tax or regulate the technology. In a notice published Friday, the IRS and Treasury Department said they are considering whether the 3 percent federal excise tax should be reinterpreted "to reflect changes in technology" used in "telephonic or telephonic quality communications." "They're looking at VoIP and any other potential technologies that are flying under the radar," said Glenn Richards, a partner at the law firm Shaw Pittman in Washington who represents VoIP companies. "Clearly they're trying to extend their jurisdiction to apply the excise tax to as many 'calls' as they can. It's got to be a revenue issue for them. If everyone starts migrating to new platforms, they're facing a decrease in excise taxes." Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5258809.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. 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 #322 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 8 17:06:37 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i68L6ak18991; Thu, 8 Jul 2004 17:06:37 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 17:06:37 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407082106.i68L6ak18991@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 #323 TELECOM Digest Thu, 8 Jul 2004 17:07:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 323 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson US FCC Wants Radio, TV to Keep Tapes of Shows (Monty Solomon) What TiVo Teaches Us (Monty Solomon) T-Mobile USA Views Highest Ranking in Customer Care; JD Power (Solomon) Verizon Wireless 'Beefs Up' Wireless Capacity Invests $2M (M. Solomon) California Online Privacy Protection Act (Monty Solomon) Testing a New SMS Application - Need Some Messages! (Simon Luttrell) Western Electric Test Gear Information Needed (Eagler) BAS Equipment Price (slo) Phone Phishing? (Ben) Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers (ranck@vt.edu) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (John R. Covert) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (AES/newspost) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Paul Vader) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Fred Goldstein) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Lisa Hancock) Last Laugh! What if This Was Your Daughter? (Lisa Minter) 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, 8 Jul 2004 01:11:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: US FCC Wants Radio, TV to Keep Tapes of Shows WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - U.S. communications regulators proposed on Wednesday that radio and television broadcasters keep recordings of their programming for a period of time to help the agency enforce federal indecency standards. The Federal Communications Commission proposed that stations keep recordings for shows that air between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and asked for comment on how long they should be required to retain them, possibly two to three months. The FCC has been cracking down on indecent antics on television and radio but one of the problems is filed complaints do not always include a transcript or tape of the show in question, making an investigation tougher. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42397985 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 01:32:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: What TiVo Teaches Us by Sam Whitmore How can you not admire TiVo, the Alviso, Calif.-based company that pioneered the use of digital video recorders (DVRs) and built a brand synonymous with the DVR category? Investors might not. Though it is currently cash-flow positive, TiVo (nasdaq: TIVO - news - people ) hasn't made a dime in five years. The company desperately needs a partner to sell DVR service directly to cable TV subscribers, but carriers Comcast (nasdaq: CMCSA - news - people ), Cox Communications (nyse: COX - news - people ), Charter Communications (nasdaq: CHTR - news - people ), Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ) and Adelphia Communications (otc: ADELQ - news - people ) all offer DVRs built by TiVo competitors. DirecTV (nyse: DTV - news - people ), which according to TiVo Chief Financial Officer Dave Courtney generates 900,000 of TiVo's 1.6 million subscribers, last month sold its 3.4 million TiVo shares and is gearing up to offer DVRs built by NDS Group (nasdaq: NNDS - news - people ), a TiVo archrival. TiVo's latest 10-Q statement spells out 36 material threats to the company. http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2004/07/06/0707whitmore.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 11:16:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: T-Mobile USA Views Highest Ranking in Customer Care by JD Power Confirmation that T-Mobile Customers Indeed do "Get More" BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 2004--The results of the 2004 Customer Care Performance Study released today by J.D. Power and Associates ranks T-Mobile USA highest among national carriers, by a significant margin. This independent top ranking for T-Mobile makes it clear when T-Mobile talks about offering "the best value in wireless" that means more minutes, more features and more service. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42407231 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 15:25:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless 'Beefs Up' Wireless Capacity, Invests $2 M Preparing for Democratic National Convention - Jul 8, 2004 02:01 PM (PR Newswire) FleetCenter Receives a Boost; Network COW Visits Downtown Boston WOBURN, Mass., July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- As Massachusetts plans for four days of street closings, traffic shifts and tightened security in the Boston area during the Democratic National Convention (DNC), Verizon Wireless has already invested nearly $2 million to enhance its network to handle the expected increase in wireless voice and data calls by Convention goers, tourists, the media and local residents. The company has increased wireless capacity inside the FleetCenter and the immediate surrounding area to accommodate expanded cell phone coverage on the DNC convention floor, local streets, hotels and restaurants. Verizon Wireless will also add a "Cell On Wheels," or COW -- a mobile cell site -- to provide increased capacity, especially in high wireless traffic areas. Additional capacity has also been added to the newly constructed Convention Center, the World Trade Center and Fenway Park, locations. where DNC events are currently being planned. Verizon Wireless invests more than $1 billion in its network every 90 days to provide customers with the most extensive wireless voice and data network in the United States. The volume of voice calls and data usage demands of DNC visitors, Massachusetts telecommuters and visiting media representatives, has Verizon Wireless planning for a very busy week in late July. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42414505 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 08:44:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: California Online Privacy Protection Act Excerpt from Piper Rudnick E-Commerce & Privacy Group @lert Vol. 4, No. 5 http://www.piperrudnick.com/db30/cgi-bin/pubs/E-Commerce%20Alert062504.pdf CALIFORNIA LAW REQUIRING WEB SITES AND ONLINE SERVICES TO POST A PRIVACY POLICY GOES INTO EFFECT JULY 1, 2004 Overview and Summary of Requirements On July 1, 2004, the first online privacy law in the country that applies to the collection of information from consumers over the age of 13 will take effect. The California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003, CAL. BUS. & PROF. CODE §§ 22575 et seq., ("Section 22575") is a privacy notice requirement law. It contains a generous safe harbor that gives companies 30 days to come into compliance if notified of failure to post a policy. The law also prohibits "negligently and materially" or "knowingly and willfully" failing to follow promises in a posted privacy policy. The California law will require operators of a commercial Web site or online service that collect through their Web site or online service personally identifiable information(1) from consumers(2) residing in California to conspicuously post their privacy policy on their Web site (or, in the case of an online service, to use any other "reasonably accessible means of making the privacy policy available to consumers"). The law exempts Internet service providers and similar entities that transmit or store personally identifiable information at the request of third parties. Because many Web sites and online services do not collect physical address information, and for that reason may be unaware that they are collecting personally identifiable information from California consumers, sites and services may be well advised to conform their privacy policies to the requirements of this new law. http://www.piperrudnick.com/db30/cgi-bin/pubs/E-Commerce%20Alert062504.pdf ------------------------------ From: simonluttrell@yahoo.com (Simon Luttrell) Subject: Testing a New SMS Application - Need Some Messages! Date: 8 Jul 2004 07:22:28 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I'm sitting out in sunny Bangkok and testing a new SMS application that will soon be launched on the US mobile networks. I need some inbound test messages!! Any abusive or rude message will do!:) Just send your text message to the SMS shortcode 62339. This should then get routed through to my Linux server. You will not get any reply from me and I won't harvest your numbers. (I really only need a few mobile phones to text me, not thousands!). I'll post back on here to thank anyone who helps me out. If you do send me a message can you post on this thread to let me know so I can check my logs? Cheers, Simon ------------------------------ From: Eagler Subject: Western Electric Test Gear Information Needed Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 01:01:12 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Tampa Bay Any help in identify this piece of test gear would be greatly appreciated. It is a J94730A 1A Fault Locator Test Set from Western Electric. Anyone know the age? How common are they? I can not locate anything on the web concerning this piece of gear. Here are some photos: http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault1.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault2.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault3.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault4.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault5.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault6.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault7.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault8.jpg http://www.pogbird.com/ebay/fault9.jpg Thanks for any info. Mike ------------------------------ From: slo Subject: BAS Equipment Price Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 11:24:00 +0800 Is there anybody that can tell me the price of RedBack SmartAge800 amd Unisphere BAS equipment And some Telecom or ISP's BAS equipment information and price ? Best Regards! slo You'd better forget Horizon if you want fly higher ! ------------------------------ From: tanstaafl69@yahoo.com (Ben) Subject: Phone Phishing? Date: 7 Jul 2004 16:52:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I've been getting some odd calls on my cell phone recently that go something like this: - When the call comes in, the Caller-ID shows only an area code, no number. - On answering the call, and automated voice announces it has a message for me. It does so saying my name in my voice, using the name announcement from my voicemail. - It then gives instructions on handling the call if answered by an operator. - Then is says "Press 2 if you are" and my name again. - At this point, it asks for my voicemail passcode to continue. I'm not about to give any information to anyone who hasn't identified themselves and their purpose. This is NOT my own voicemail calling me. I checked with the carrier, and it's not them either. Is this some sort of phone phishing scheme? Does anyone know? ------------------------------ From: ranck@vt.edu Subject: Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 18:39:56 UTC Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA John David Galt wrote: > I'm looking for a cell provider that offers all or most of these: > - Low or no per-month charges (say $10 or less); the provider > should make most of its money from a high per-minute rate instead. OK. > - No insistence that I accept services I don't want (paging, text > messaging, video, or Custom Calling type features); OK. > - Per-line caller-ID blocking and a promise that the number won't > be included in cellular directories or sold to marketers; Not sure about this one. I don't think I understand your requirement actually. > - No commitment longer than 90 days (especially if the provider is > unwilling to commit in return that its plan and rates won't change); > I have no problem with paying for the phone up front; and OK. > - No locking the phone so that I can't use it with multiple All the above, except as noted, sounds like Trac Fone to me. It's a pre-paid cell service that you basically can get for about $8/month plus time charges. You buy "units" which equate to minutes in your home area, and 2 units per minute when roaming. I have been looking into this myself recently, and will probably be getting one of their phones at WalMart in the next couple of days. You can also buy the pre-paid cards at WalMart and other big retailers. Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 18:10:21 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Tony P. wrote: > get a measured service line, in most places they're < $10 a month anyhow. Not in Massachusetts. In fact, once you include the $6.45 FCC Line charge and USF charge, not anywhere, unless local service is less than $3.00 per month. And I doubt that it is less than $3.00 per month anywhere. 1 Measured Residence Service $12.36 2 Verizon Local Calls 1.05 3 Surcharges and Taxes FCC Line Charge 6.45 Federal USF Surcharge .57 MA State and Local Tax .25 Federal Tax .61 Total $22.14 The 1.05 in local calls paid for 41 calls totalling 40 minutes at 0.0100 per call plus 0.0160 per minute, for $1.05 in usage. /john ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 15:50:38 -0700 In article , Tony P. wrote: > I'm sorry but if you want to live in the boonies, you damn well should > be paying the price to string the cable out to your location. I > shouldn't have to pay for it. I think I agree with you that there's some level of "out in the boonies" beyond which stringing cables (and other utilities) should be paid for by the remotely residing residents and not the rest of us. But at the same time, I also think that in urban and most surburban areas, a policy of requiring a service provider to serve everyone in an entire incorporated area, rather than just "skimming the cream" of the most easily accessible areas, is a reasonable and overall a socially desirable policy, as well as a fair quid pro quo for the use of public right of ways to reach any of these areas. I was trying to think of a reverse example to your original comment, which might apply to city folks rather than booneie dwellers. How about, "If you want to live in a developed community, you damn well should be paying the price to provide parking for all your car(s) off the streets. I shouldn't have to pay for paving areas for you to use as overnight or even as temporary parking." Fair enough? ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 21:05:52 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes: > GWBASIC was not the original Microsoft Basic. At the time the IBM PC You're right of course -- it was the first DOS basic. I'll be danged if I can come up with a name other than just "Microsoft Basic" - did the original one have any other name? * -- * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 20:05:02 -0400 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? I suspect that Bill has a pretty good handle on Microsoft's core product lines -- he is "Chairman and Chief Software Architect", after all, not President or CEO. Not that I expect him to be bashing much code. In those early days, BASIC was far and away the most popular small-computer language. Microsoft's first product was Altair BASIC. Released in 1975, it was sold by MITS Inc. of Albuquerque, where Bill went after the last term he spent at Harvard. I believe there were three authors: Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Monte Davidoff. Monte didn't stay with the company. I know he was involved because that summer, I went to work for a magazine publisher who had one of the early Altair 8800s. It sat on his shelf, lights blinking, but no real programs running. The Altair had a cassette interface to load code, and used an external Teletype or "TV Typewriter" terminal. We wanted to get it to do something, but it wasn't exactly obvious how. We did figure out how to read the BASIC (I forget if it was the 4K or 8K version) cassette into the system, and then look byte by byte at the beginning of the file. It was a copyright notice naming Microsoft (yes, the name was in use that early) and programmers Bill Gates and Monte Davidoff. So we phoned MITS and asked for Bill. He told us what to do (probably something with the sense switches on the front panel, like jump to a certain address and then hit the run switch, but I really don't remember), and indeed the interpreter did get running. So that was the one time I personally did speak to Bill Gates, who was just a young pisher like me at the time, and nobody had any idea that he would become, well, Bill Gates! Stories that have circulated since then suggest that Bill was working on the interpreter while still a student at Harvard, and that some of the code he claimed credit for was not, uh, entirely his. But I have no real knowledge of that. Given how quickly Altair BASIC came out, he and his friends probably were working on it it while still in school. Oh yes, one other interesting quote, from Hartmut Frommer's web page, where he has a set of documents on OS/2: " The FAT was invented by Bill Gates and Marc McDonald in 1977 as a method of managing disk space in the NCR version of standalone Microsoft's Disk BASIC. Tim Paterson, at that time an employee of Seattle Computer Products (SCP), was introduced to the FAT concept when his company shared a booth with Microsoft at the National Computer Conference in 1979. Paterson subsequently incorporated FATs into the file system of 86-DOS, an operating system for SCP s S-100 bus 8086 CPU boards. 86-DOS was eventually purchased by Micro-soft and became the starting point for MS-DOS Version 1.0, which was released for the original lBM PC in August 1981. " More recent reports deny Bill's personal involvement in FAT, though it would explain Microsoft's sticking with such a bad system for so long. He may have simply been given credit, the way songwriting credit is often given to people who had nothing to do with writing the song, but who do want royalties. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 8 Jul 2004 07:49:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Richard S. Shuford wrote: > There are some dark rumors about how Gates obtained timesharing > resources on a large computer system to complete this project. In one of the biographies it was mentioned that Gates was using his school's computer for commercial work when he was young. However, this was very common in those days for the kids to get little contracts and run them on their school's (high school or college) computer. Generally, the jobs were pretty small. Many were research for professors. In those days it seemed most of the computer enthusiasts were boys even though many early computer pioneer programmers (like Grace Hopper and many others) were women. Here's a little story: In those days (1970) the city had separate public academic high schools for boys and girls.* Each had a Teletype timesharing terminal for student use. The boys' school terminal was very busy since lots of boys wanted to use it, but the girls' school terminal didn't have much use. Some boys in the computer club got the idea to link up with girls' school for two reasons -- 1) to get some of their idle terminal time, and 2) have an opportunity to meet girls (esp important for an all-boys school). The boys went to the girls' school and suggested a link up. The teachers at the girls' school were ok with the idea; they didn't mind the social aspect, but were concerned about losing their computer time to the boys. Unfortunately, the teachers at the boys' school vetoed the idea and nothing ever came of it. *The courts ordered the boys' high school to go co-ed, which it did. The girls' high school remains all girls to this day. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 12:36:10 PDT From: Lisa Minter Subject: Last Laugh! What if You Had a Daughter Like This? A mother enters her daughter's bedroom and sees a letter over the bed. With the worst premonition, she reads it, with trembling hands: It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm telling you that I eloped with my new boyfriend. I found real passion and he is so nice, with all his piercing and tattoos and his big motorcycle. But not only that mom, I'm pregnant and Ahmed said that we will be very happy in his trailer in the woods. He wants to have many more children with me and that's one of my dreams. I've learned that marijuana doesn't hurt anyone and we'll be growing it for us and his friends, who are providing us with all the cocaine and ecstasy we may want. In the meantime, we'll pray for the science to find the AIDS cure, for Ahmed to get better, he deserves it. Don't worry Mom, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Some day I'll visit for you to know your grandchildren. Your daughter, Judith ------------------------------ 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 #323 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 8 18:19:12 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i68MJC620056; Thu, 8 Jul 2004 18:19:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 18:19:12 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407082219.i68MJC620056@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 #324 TELECOM Digest Thu, 8 Jul 2004 18:19:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 324 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Jeff Pulver on Yesterday's VoIP Hearing in Washington, D.C. (VOIP News) New Bill to Give Regulators VoIP oversight, Bells Connection (VOIP News) Legislators Scramble to Prevent VOIP Regulation (VOIP News) Feds Weigh Role in Net Telephony (VOIP News) Re: SS7 Help (Endeavor7) Re: Us Like Spies/How Computer Users Ask to be Doomed (Lisa Hancock) Destination Wi-Fi, by Rail, Bus or Boat (Monty Solomon) Re: "Overseas Blackberry" Service: Free Trial Participants (Joseph) Employment Opportunity: Telco Operations Support Systems Engineer (jobs) Re: Replay it Again, Sam (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: A Strange Phone Call Yesterday Evening (Steven J Sobol) Phone Scammer Put Away for Awhile (Thomas A. Horsley) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Tony P.) 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, 08 Jul 2004 11:17:10 -0400 Subject: Jeff Pulver on yesterday's VoIP Hearing in Washington, D.C. Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from "The Jeff Pulver Blog" at http://192.246.69.231/jeff/personal/index.html Recap: Today's VoIP Hearing in Washington, D.C. (July 7 entry) Jonathan Askin, General Counsel, pulver.com attended today's House Subcommittee Hearing on VoIP. Below is Jonathan's recap of the hearing: The Telecom Subcommittee of the House Commerce Committee held a hearing today on VoIP. It was, for the most part, a high level discussion on the need for Federal legislation. The panelists and Members did focus on some of the broad definitional, jurisdictional and regulatory issues raised by VoIP and the implications that VoIP has on traditional telecommunications. The House Hearing, however, did not delve into the specifics and level of detail that I witnessed at the Senate Hearing on the Sununu VoIP Bill on June 16. The Panelists were as follows: Jeff Carlisle, Senior Deputy Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC Jeffrey Citron, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Vonage Margaret Greene, President, Regulatory & External Affairs, BellSouth Michael Jensen, CEO, Great Plains Communications James Kirkland, General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Covad Communications Cathy Martine-Dolecki, Senior Vice President, AT&T Robert Nelson, Commissioner Michigan PSC and Chairman, Committee on Telecommunications, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Tom Rutledge, COO, Cablevision Ron Vidal, Group Vice President, Emerging Opportunities, Level 3 Communications. About 23 of the approximately 33 Members of the Committee (including the Chairmen and Ranking Members of both the full Commerce Committee and the Telecom Subcommittee) weighed in with opening statements and questions for the panelists. For those of you unfamiliar with the House Hearing process, this is a remarkable turnout for this sort of hearing -- a preliminary hearing without anything on which to vote. It was probably the first opportunity that the public has had to hear the varying views of most of the members of the House Telecom Subcommittee on VoIP. Some of the statements were pretty telling and it seems that we are in store for a very exciting time in DC over the next 1-4 years. Rep. Chip Pickering was a star. He beautifully laid out the case for immediate, narrowly-tailored Federal legislation that will clearly preempt state authority and send a clear signal to IP innovators that they are, broadly speaking, free to bring IP communications services to consumers without fear of excessive government interference. Pickering also noted the potential problem of international outsourcing if the US does not immediately and clearly embrace VoIP. Chairman Joe Barton (a possible "wild card" in my mind because he is relatively new to communications issues, having recently replaced Billy Tauzin as Chairman) weighed in VERY positively, echoing many of these same sentiments for immediate Federal preemption of state action and a very light Federal regulatory touch. Heather Wilson (R NM) revealed a keen knowledge of communications and technology and the need to ensure a hands-off approach, as did Jim Davis (D. FL). I suspect these two are the most likely co-spon sors of the Pickering Bill. A couple of the rural congressmen, most notably Lee Terry from Nebraska, expressed concerns about loss of revenue streams for rural telcos, echoing many of the sentiments of the panelist from Great Plains Communications. Jeff Carlisle of the FCC was particularly good, communicating the FCC's desired hands-off approach towards new technology. He indicated that the FCC was moving forward to ensure that IP communications can proceed relatively unregulated but indicated some desire to have Congress resolve some statutory, regulatory, and, in particular, definitional confusions and state more clearly the unregulated nature of IP communications and the FCC's authority to preempt state action. My sense is that the VoIP innovators have overwhelming support from many of the powerful players on the Committee, but it will be difficult to move legislation this year, given the impending election and the few days left this session. Having said that, Chairman Barton, Rep. Pickering and others seemed genuinely committed to try to move targeted VoIP legislation this term. As noted in a prior Blog, Reps. Stearns and Boucher introduced another IP communications bill yesterday. The bill, on the surface and based on press statements, seems quite similar in many respects to the Pickering (and Sununu Senate corollary) bill, but I think today's statements reveal some telling, and troubling, distinctions. Stearns and Boucher seem set on doing an entire rewrite of the Telecom Act, which they believe was flawed from the get-go, and, in particular, does not allow the Bells to compete on a level playing field with cable companies. Their bill also speaks of generally not regulating "Advanced Internet Communications Services." The Stearns-Boucher Bill, however, indicates that this is also the time to deregulate the underlying telecom transmission facilities used to provide IP-based communications services. The biggest problem I see with the Stearns-Boucher bill is that it probably gums up the works. I'm not saying we could have seen the House and Senate pass something akin to the Pickering or Sununu legislation, but having a second bill before the House Commerce Committee, will make many Congressmen pause and wonder which, if any, bill to support. As a result, there will probably be many months of prolonged debate and it becomes increasingly less likely to see any VoIP-specific legislation this term. Boucher and Stearns admitted this candidly, indicating that they would like to use their bill to form the basis of debate next Congress and to frame the debate for a much broader rewrite of the Telecom Act. In any event, I heard today that both bills will likely be referred to the House Judiciary Committee, because of the law enforcement implications. With a second committee having to weigh in, the prospects of timely legislation further dim. I hope to have the opportunity to testify as the legislation is reviewed by the Judiciary Committee. 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, 07 Jul 2004 21:57:38 -0400 Subject: New Bill to Give Regulators VoIP Oversight, Bells Connection Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18763 by Jeffrey Silva July 07, 2004 1:30 PM EST WASHINGTON New legislation introduced by Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.) would give federal regulators unfettered oversight of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol applications, while requiring service providers to compensate Bell telephone giants for connections and preserving existing social programs and emergency calling for consumers. The Advanced Internet Communications Services Act of 2004 outlines for the Federal Communications Commission procedures to promote investment and innovation in the deployment of advanced applications such as VoIP, while maintaining core public policies that impose limited obligations on AICS providers that offer voice communications. VoIP has the potential to cause disruption throughout the telecom industry, including the wireless sector. Full story at: http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18763 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 21:48:06 -0400 Subject: Legislators Scramble to Prevent VOIP Regulation Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1620830,00.asp By Caron Carlson WASHINGTON Lawmakers admit that they were caught by surprise by Voice-over-IP service and its capacity to radically disrupt the country's legacy telephone system. Still, the legislators are urging preemptory steps to ensure that state regulators can't impose legacy obligations that might drag the upcoming technology down. Proponents say the actions are needed to protect VOIP, which likely faces years of contentious debate before Congress can update telecommunications laws to address the emerging technology. In fact, preempting state regulation of VOIP is one of the very few matters not being vigorously disputed by the many diverse players in the industry here. With so much support behind a proposed preemption bill -- and with vast differences of opinion on how to address the many issues peripheral to VOIP -- several lawmakers are calling for passage of the bill this summer. "We should act this year," Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss., urged his colleagues on the telecommunications and Internet subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday. Warning that it will take a minimum of three years for Congress to pass a broad reform of telecom policy, Pickering said that VOIP technology will not wait. Full story at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1620830,00.asp ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 10:35:53 -0400 Subject: Feds Weigh Role in Net Telephony Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64131,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2 By Michael Grebb As Congress braces for a comprehensive overhaul of the 1996 Telecommunications Act next year, a House subcommittee on Wednesday debated whether it should first warm up its legislative chops on voice-over-IP telephony services. The hearing of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet highlighted the varied mix of VOIP providers, which include companies that sell only VOIP as well as some cable firms and other traditional telecommunications services. At issue is whether Congress should pre-empt state regulation of VOIP and, if so, how the federal government can devise safeguards to protect public safety and sustain social goals such as keeping telecom services affordable in rural areas. Full story at: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64131,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2 ------------------------------ From: Endeavor7 Subject: Re: SS7 Help Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 16:12:19 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net I'm assuming China and Japan use the ITU SS7 standard as a base with their own "flavor" overlaying it. In the U.S. we use ANSI SS7. So start with the ITU and ANSI SS7 standards for info about each. The differences between them is probably huge. For detailed info about the country specific differences, you need to locate the standards body in China and Japan that defined/wrote the flavor standard and published documents describing it. I know in Mexico the standards body was a government agency (i.e. their equivilent of the FCC). Hope this helps. Jeff wrote: > I have been assigned a research project, and I am having a nearly > impossible time completing it. I have been asked to find the > differences in the SS7 networks in China, Japan, and the U.S. I was > wondering if anyone had any insight into this, or knew of any > resources I could use to find the answers to these questions. > Thanks in advance for your help. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Us Like Spies / How Computer Users Ask to be Doomed to Viruses Date: 8 Jul 2004 11:00:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote: > The digital pests never seem to let up. > More than any other modern tool, computers are a total mystery to > their users. When I took driver's ed, we were taught what goes on under the hood and the function of various components. I certainly have no idea how to repair my automatic transmission, but at least I know what it is supposed to do and can be more alert for subtle malfunctions. I know the basic functionality of the car -- from the key allowing electrictity from the battery to turn the starter motor to turn the engine and fire the sparkplugs so the motor runs on its own, generating its own electricity to recharge the battery and fire the sparkplugs. I know that fuel in the tank is pumped to the motor and injected with air into the cylinders, ignited to burn on the power stroke. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me for a lay user to understand an equivalent amount of functionaltiy for how a computer works. That is, they should know that a program is a series of machine instructions that tells electronic circuits to do various things-- fetch and store things from memory, write things to the printer and screen, accept data from the keyboard, and read/write to/from floppy and hard disks. They should know the difference between the operating system and an application program. They should know that when starting up a program the machine instructions are recalled from disk, loaded into memory, and execution of the instructions begin. When we learn to drive, we also learn about car care and safety. It isn't unreasonable for computer users to know some basics about that as well, not just to protect themselves from viruses and hackers, but some basics on how those things work and are spread around. Geez, I couldn't differentiate between a bacteria, virus, or DNA strand, but I understand the basics of what they are. I know leaving milk out in the sun all day and then drinking it is not a good idea. A computer virus is not mysterious as many biological viruses are, but a known human creation. (It ought to be called sabotage.) I blame two reasons: 1) The design of the Internet, and 2) software that is too automated. 1) The Internet was originally a private network among qualified users and organizations. Such a population was unlikely to spread mischief and strict controls weren't necessary. However, when the Internet became public, legal and software controls that were necessary not there. Nothing should be allowed on a network without a secure 'from' identifier. "Anonymous" relay units should not have been allowed. The many open places that hackers and spammers take advantage of should not exist. IMHO, backers of the Internet allowed it to expand too fast before appropriate controls and safeguards could be adopted. 2) In traditional mainframe systems (ie IBM S/360 and successors), there is physical hardware protection to prevent an errant program from straying outside its assigned space, and operating system controls to prevent errant I/O access. As PCs grew more powerful, such protections should have been included in the basic design. Secondly, some of the high automation is unnecessary. For instance, upon receipt of an email, a user should explicity allow a program to start running and be aware of initiating such a program. Secondly, upon bringing up an application, the execution of a macro can wait until the user explicitly tells it to go. While these explicit commands won't stop all attacks, they will cut it down somewhat. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 15:59:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Destination Wi-Fi, by Rail, Bus or Boat By GLENN FLEISHMAN ABOARD THE KLICKITAT, on the Admiralty Inlet, Wash. THE Klickitat, a 1927 steel ferry boat plying waters between a 19th-century port and an island harbor, may seem a quaint way to travel -- and an unlikely place to get work done. But it may be headed for a new frontier in Internet access for commuters. The ship is the test bed for a plan to offer high-speed wireless Internet access on most Washington State ferry runs, serving tens of thousands of regular commuters. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/technology/circuits/08wifi.html Access on Metro-North or Amtrak Cars? Not So Fast BY GLENN FLEISHMAN WHILE the Northeast may offer the nation's largest concentration of commuter trains and buses, Wi-Fi is not available on most of them. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/technology/circuits/08york.html ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: "Overseas Blackberry" Service: Free Trial Participants Needed Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 06:52:21 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 7 Jul 2004 08:01:10 -0700, johnambulance@hotmail.com (John A) wrote: > What do non-GSM Blackberry users do when they travel abroad? I would > really like to hear your experiences. > Why? Because I have been asked to put together an "overseas > Blackberry" service for my company. We will either be renting or > selling overseas Blackberry handsets, at surprisingly low prices. I > want to design the service around the needs of the customers, so I > would like to hear your wishes. It seems to me that if one knows that they're going to be spending appreciable time overseas one would pick a service that already exists that can do the job. This already exists with GSM networks. If you really need connectivity in these countries you'll get a GSM account with one of the GSM operators and if you have a non-GSM service you'll just forward/divert calls to that non-GSM service to your GSM number. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: jobs Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 15:35:51 +0800 Subject: Employment Opportunity: Telco Operations Support Systems Engineer Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com We are now looking for very urgently for a well-experienced person on OSS (Operations Support Systems) for Telecom. Skill Set : OSS(Operations Support Systems) for Telco. OSS generally refers to systems that perform management, inventory, engineering, Planning and repair functions for Telecommunications Service networks. Job Location : Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Duration : 1 year -extendable Start Date : ASAP Interested, please send in your latest resume to jobs@technoforce.biz with the following details. 1) Your Expected Salary : 2) Earliest Joining date : These details will enable us in processing your candidature faster. ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Replay it Again, Sam Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 16:42:09 -0400 Organization: Primus Canada Carl Moore wrote: > Responding to something in Dec. 2002: I guess that was also "fair use" > in what I heard earlier regarding taping of TV programs via VCR. I > guess "fair use" comes into play in the case of a program you are > interested in but which has not been available for years (for example, > I was YEARS late in seeing the I Love Lucy Christmas episode, which is > not part of the "regular" 179-episode package). Now, this is not the idea that I had about "fair use"; I have always taken fair use to mean that I could, when reviewing a work or using it as an example of something I'm trying to illustrate, use a part of it (not in whole, unless the work is so small that any part which might be useful is materially the whole anyways) without paying royalties. Specifically, it is my impression that my inability to obtain a work legitimately does not mean that copyright is waived and I am entitled to obtain it any way I can. I hope that someone with specific knowledge in this area can correct either Carl or myself (or, likely, both.) I do not know what principle gave legitimacy to "time shifting" (if any; perhaps it is still technically a violation!) but I did scan the legal documents in the "BetaMax case" and the court's stated reasoning for declaring the VCR legitimate had nothing to do with legitimizing its common uses but the simple observation that there could be legitimate uses (e.g. taping educational shows meant for redistribution) and that the mere possibility of such legitimate uses, let alone their actual exercise, meant that the device was legitimate and its misuses did not change that. Geoffrey Welsh [This space for rent] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For a good discussion of 'fair use' you may wish to consult my advisors on same at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: A Strange Phone Call Yesterday Evening Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 16:11:12 -0500 John R. Covert wrote: > He said it was a new reminder system for re-ordering. I told him > there was no way anyone could tell that the call is really coming from > them, and that they really can't be asking questions like that. > People should not get used to systems like this and start trusting > them, because if they do, the phishers will show up right behind them. So who were the flaming idiots? Let me know so I can avoid doing business with them. -- 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. ------------------------------ Subject: Phone Scammer Put Away for Awhile From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 21:40:20 GMT From the Palm Beach Post today, they finally put one phone scammer away: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/south_county_04beb654a0e671ee007c.html That like probably got wrapped and busted, but hopefully you can put it back together :-). Try this one instead: http://tinyurl.com/3ar9e I'm not sure how long the Post keeps stories active, so maybe you'll want to cut and paste the whole thing. >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Organization: ATCC Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 22:52:07 GMT In article , support@sellcom.com says: > Monty Solomon posted on that vast internet thingie: >> Michael Oh, president and founder of Tech Superpowers, a Boston-based >> specialist on wireless networking, said it's difficult to tell how >> many people are piggybacking on or sharing the wireless high-speed >> Internet access of their neighbors. But he is convinced a lot of >> people are trying it in densely populated neighborhoods where wireless >> connections overlap. > It is astounding how many people are running wide open wireless. I > went to my car to check a power supply for my laptop and a wireless > connection just popped up, and it wasn't mine. > I went to a free WiFi coffee shop and had my choice of two free > connections, one due to the kindness/wisdom of the coffee shop owner, > the other probably some local business that was not aware that they > were giving away free Internet. > I think the limitation on range gives some people the feeling that if > someone does use it that it is a neighbor so they don't really mind. Yup ... I'm working for a government agency and the boss keeps a Linksys router running so he can connect via his Mac. It doesn't forward SMB packets which is good, but it does provide IP via DHCP. Granted, we're in the sub-basement of a building made of marble, steel and brick. The connection doesn't go far but he doesn't even bother turning on WEP or even hiding the SSID. I shake my head sometimes. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If no other laws exist against this sort of behavior (using someone else's WiFi without permission) do you think FCC regulations against intercepting radio signals not intended for yourself and using them to your benefit would apply? 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 #324 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 8 19:44:12 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i68NiCa20896; Thu, 8 Jul 2004 19:44:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 19:44:12 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407082344.i68NiCa20896@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 #325 TELECOM Digest Thu, 8 Jul 2004 19:44:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 325 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Scott Dorsey) Re: Is There an Official Statement on NorVergence (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Steven J Sobol) Get Out of Norvergence Deals (Franki Truth) Re: Norvergence Bankruptcy (Dan Pham) Re: Norvergence Bankruptcy (Steven J Sobol) Re: Norvergence Sales Reps (J Kelly) VoIP Could Avoid Usual Rules (VOIP News) Last Laugh! Time to Get Back to the Basics (Lisa Minter) 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: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 8 Jul 2004 17:39:35 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Paul Vader wrote: > kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes: >> GWBASIC was not the original Microsoft Basic. At the time the IBM PC > You're right of course -- it was the first DOS basic. I'll be danged > if I can come up with a name other than just "Microsoft Basic" - did > the original one have any other name? * I think the original one was probably the KIM-1 integer basic that he sold, many years before the PC. There might have been an even earlier one, though. There was an MBASIC sold for CP/M, and the BASIC-IN-ROM for the PC seemed to have been vaguely based on that. The original BASIC for the PC-DOS was basically a bunch of calls to the BASIC-IN-ROM which did most of the important stuff. And, of course, it would not run on any of the clones which did not have the same ROM set, which is why GWBASIC came along. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Is There an Official Statement on NorVergence Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 01:26:00 GMT In article , dor@writeme.com says: > Pat, > I have been told, heard, and read many things about NorVergence's > closure on July 1, 2004. However, NONE OF IT has been something > 'Official' from a court, law enforcement agency, organization, > or, from NorVergence itself. > Is there a website or anything out there that you know of that says > something officially stamped by a court or police agency or bank or > even NorVergence? Have NorVergence's lawyers issued a statement? > Please help. Google news has two stories on it: > Newark telecom files for Chap. 11 > NorVergence in debt to tune of $15 million > Wednesday, July 07, 2004 > by Henry C. Jackson > [Newark] Star-Ledger Staff > NorVergence, a once-hot telecommunications provider, was forced into > bankruptcy court by three creditors who say the Newark company was not > paying its bills. > The involuntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, filed > late last week but posted online over the weekend, portrayed a company > sinking under millions of dollars of debt. > The move leaves approximately 10,000 customers, mostly small and mid- > sized businesses who use NorVergence for telephone and Internet service, > in limbo. And the news was no better for many of NorVergence's > employees. They were sent home for good last week. > When closely held NorVergence came to town in 2001, the company was > touted as an important source of new jobs in Newark's troubled downtown > area. NorVergence, at its most basic, bought whole telecommunications > service and resold it. > But layoffs and allegations of bounced checks and poor service have > dogged the company. > NorVergence executives have declined to comment on the company's status. > But the filing confirmed speculation that circulated for weeks about the > company's precarious financial status. > The three companies named as creditors -- Popular Leasing USA, of > Ballwin, Mo.; OFC Capital, a division of ALFA Financial, of Roswell, > Ga.; and Partners Equity Capital, of Horsham, Pa. -- have accumulated a > debt of at least $11,625, the threshold needed to file an involuntary > petition for bankruptcy. > But court documents show NorVergence owes $15 million to another > creditor, Denver-based telephone giant Qwest Communications. A hearing > on that claim is scheduled for tomorrow in Newark. > "We have a wholesale relationship with NorVergence in which we provide > them with services, and we will continue to provide the company service > until the bankruptcy court allows us to discontinue service," said > Claire Mylott, a spokeswoman for Qwest. > "We believe that NorVergence has an obligation to pay all of its > outstanding obligations, including those to Qwest." > Under an involuntary bankruptcy petition, the targeted company has 30 > days to respond. If the company disputes the allegations by the > creditors, a trial will be scheduled. > NorVergence's problems apparently came to a head Thursday when, > according to several former employees, company Chief Executive Peter > Salzano announced the company had filed for bankruptcy. When Salzano > delivered the news to NorVergence's employees, he told many it would be > their last day of work at the company. The company declined to say how > many workers were let go. > Salzano was distressed as he moved through NorVergence's offices on 550 > Broad St. announcing the news, said Ernest Slyman, an employee of the > company since September. As he made the announcement, people grew upset, > Slyman said, and "there were a lot of demands, lots of shouting." > A man in a NorVergence polo shirt blocked the door to the company's > third-floor office on Thursday afternoon, refusing to comment. Former > employees poured out of the office, though some carried boxes filled > with sundry items from the office such as staplers and CD racks. These > former employees said they'd been told the company had filed for some > form of bankruptcy. > After working at NorVergence for three months, Quadriyyah Griffin, 25, > was fired Thursday. She had not been paid in two weeks. > "In a way, we saw it coming," she said. "But you didn't want to believe > it." > Dan Baldwin also saw signs that NorVergence was floundering. The founder > of telecomagent.org, a membership Web site that provides industry news > for telecom users, distributors and providers, Baldwin said he long > questioned NorVergence's business plan. > Under that plan, companies signed long-term leases for phone and > Internet services at locked-in rates, much like a fixed-rate mortgage on > a house. But this arrangement would have required a "miracle" to be > profitable, Baldwin said. NorVergence was betting that once a company > was locked in at a certain price, the going wholesale rate for phone and > Internet service would drop, giving NorVergence a profit, he said. That > did not happen, he said. > Still, creditors who provided NorVergence with services were not in a > position turn down new business, because the telecommunications industry > has been battered in recent years, he said. > "When the Golden Goose is knocking out golden eggs, and the ancillary > venders and the leasing companies are having a hard time making money, > the companies are going to put out their hands and turn a blind eye to > the fact that the golden eggs are somewhat stinky," Baldwin said. NorVergence Forced into Bankruptcy Associated Press (July 7, 2004) > NEWARK, N.J. - Telecommunications provider NorVergence has been forced > into bankruptcy court by three creditors who claim the Newark company > isn't paying its bills. > The three creditors - Popular Leasing USA, of Ballwin, Mo.; OFC Capital, > a division of ALFA Financial of Roswell, Ga.; and Partners Equity > Capital, of Horsham, Pa. - have debt with Norvergence of at least > $11,625, the threshold needed to file an involuntary bankruptcy > petition. > NorVergence owes another $15 million to Denver-based Qwest > Communications. > With an involuntary bankruptcy petition, the targeted company has 30 > days to respond. If the allegations of the creditors are disputed, a > trial is scheduled. > According to several former employees who spoke with The Star-Ledger of > Newark, NorVergence Chief Executive Officer Peter Salzano told workers > last week that the company had filed for bankruptcy. Most of the > company's 1,200 employees were then let go. > NorVergence has about 10,000 customers, mostly small and mid-sized > businesses. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Fair-use applies to these articles presented here by Mike Sullivan: *** 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 Newark Star-Ledger and Associated Press. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 19:47:06 -0500 TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Black Ninja : >> Yet bank is willing to carry the paper for a multi-year >> thousands of dollars deal *based on fraud* against end-users > The solution that Norvergence was offering was not fraudulent. It was > the poor management policies at the top that prevented it from > working. The banks had no way of knowing that NorV would not pay the > bills. I agree that the banks are not liable. I disagree that the solution that Norvergence was offering wasn't fraudulent. Norvergence's leaders didn't MISTAKENLY mismanage to the point that they owed, what, $8 million to a large LEC that they obviously had no intention of paying? > And to answer your question, Steven, it feels great to be without a > job. It is a well deserved vacation. I had earned 6 figures by > mid-year, I know that I did everything in my power to aid my > customers. Wow. I'm *really* impressed -- you're actually offering information instead of insults. > I am proud to say that I worked with some of the best, > most honest, telecom sales people in the business. I am also very > confident that these sales people would sell circles around the > unscrupulous agents that tend to frequent these boards. You think > that Norvergence was dirty? Tell me you've never heard of an agent > stealing deals, or misquoting price. Telecom is not the clean white > sheet that people are making it out to be, and Norvergence is not the > only stain. OK. First, let me say that I believe that the SALES REPS were probably on the level. Yes, you have some bad apples in any bunch, but most of the salesforce was probably out to make an honest buck. My problem with front-line sales and customer service reps is when they're presented information and then ignore it and parrot the company line. (Like you did.) And I understand how the industry is, it's full of bloodthirsty sharks. I used to run ISPs for a living. :) The ILECs are horrible. The CLECs aren't much better. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Freeze all accounts payable with > regards to Norvergence. Advise bank to either go straight to > collection agency or court as they wish. PAT] Pat, how about advising people to talk to their attorneys instead of giving them advice which will get them sued and will NOT relieve them of their debt to the banks? Please? Pat also wrote: > Look at bank's attitude toward someone who wants a lousy Visa Merchant > account. Credit checks, a complete investigation, etc. all so that > you can send them a few dollars now and then on a Visa transaction. I've never been asked for anything other than a credit check on a merchant app, and the reason they do a credit check is because the possibility exists that in a given months you may have more chargebacks than sales and end up owing the bank money. 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. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But obviously the 'probability' that *someone* would owe the bank a lot of money didn't seem to impress the bank where buying all of Norvergence's worthless paper was concerned did it? Either bank was an idiot or bank was a charlatan, pick one. Either way I don't think small businesses should have to carry the load. I still suggest investigating the ownership and/or management of the banks which were involved, looking for common ownership/managment, etc. The end-users did not select the 'bank which would lend them money', Norvergence chose who the small handful of banks would be. It is alledged there are about ten thousand Norvergence customers out there on the hook. I can assure you there are not an equal number of banks out there waiting for their money; probably a half dozen banks at most. Norvergence hand-picked them (the banks); I wonder why? It would really be hysterical if Salzano showed up on the board of directors of any of those banks, or some other executives of Norver- gence had associations with those banks, wouldn't it? Steve, would you still sit there and wimper about 'better pay your bills or you will get sued' if you found that to be the case? I will agree end-users should make inquiry of their attornies on this, **but until they get to that point, and their attorney instructs them otherwise in the matter** my suggestion is still to freeze all accounts payable regards Norvergence. It certainly won't hurt bank to sit and wait for their money awhile. And please! no discussion about how 'your credit will get ruined if you do not pay on time.' About two years ago, Walmart unilaterily declared that creditors would start getting paid in 45-60 days instead of 30 days as previously. Walmart does as they please with their vendors/creditors, why shouldn't you? Just freeze your accounts payable to Norvergence banks at least until the stench clears out a little, if it ever does. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 00:05:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Franki Truth Subject: Get Out of Norvergence Deals If anyone need to get out of Norvergence Deal and has signed it within the last 90 days. I am almost 100% sure that anything that happened within 90 days would be paid back to the bank and you would be able to get out. ------------------------------ From: csx130mph@yahoo.com (Dan Pham) Subject: Re: Norvergence Bankrupt Date: 8 Jul 2004 08:41:08 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Will any criminal charges be filed against Norvergence's executives? William Van Hefner wrote in message news:: > Newark, NJ, July 7, 2004 (TheDigest.Com) - Norvergence is bankrupt, > involuntarily. > On July 2nd, three creditors of the company Popular Leasing USA, OFC > Capital, and Partners Equity Capital filed an involuntary Chapter 11 > Bankruptcy petition against the VOIP reseller. This move apparently > came only minutes before its underlying provider Qwest was to serve > the company with notice that it was terminating service to its > customers for non-payment. > In documents filed with the court, Qwest described Norvergence as > being continually delinquent in paying their bills, nearly since the > company's inception. Qwest claims that the New Jersey company owes it > $18,442,550.53 in past due long distance bills, and that it has > hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment on loan to them > that it wants back. > Qwest has filed (and been granted) an expedited hearing, and has made > a motion to the court to terminate service to Norvergence's > customers. In its filing, Qwest seems to indicate that its motion to > disconnect the customers should be granted because Norvergence has no > reasonable chance of surviving the bankruptcy. Without having seen any > financial documents, that is hard to say. However, many of the > indicators we have seen lead us to suspect that this case will be > converted from a Chapter 11 (reorganization) to a Chapter 7 > (liquidation) before this is all over. > Strangely enough, in order to bolster its argument that Norvergence > was headed for the scrap heap of telecom history, Qwest repeatedly > quoted TheDigest.Com in bankruptcy documents. It also went on to state > that Newark, New Jersey police were called to the company when unpaid > employees threatened to "loot" Norvergence's offices of computers and > office equipment. > Norvergence had missed a $8.5 million payment to Qwest on June 30th, > which prompted Qwest to deliberate serving notice to the company that > it would terminate its services. Unfortunately, Qwest waited too > long. Before it had a chance to notify Norvergence of its impending > shut-off, other creditors filed the involuntary bankruptcy document, > preventing Qwest from pulling the plug on thousands of Norvergence > customers. Qwest claims that it is costing the company $166,000 for > each day it continues providing Norvergence customers with "free" > service. > Norvergence is also under investigation by the New Jersey Department > of Labor for allegedly bouncing paychecks. When it fired over 1,000 > workers last week, the company told its employees that they would not > be receiving their paychecks that day for the past two weeks work, nor > would they be paid for any past due salaries owed. The company has > blamed its financial problems on lack of funding from investors. > Based upon past rulings, we find it unlikely that Qwest will be > allowed to disconnect Norvergence customers anytime soon. The carrier > would most likely need to convince the court that the case should be > converted into a Chapter 7 filing first, and that will likely take > some time. Still, Norvergence customers are quite obviously dialing on > borrowed time, and should immediately begin looking for a new > telecommunications provider. In our opinion, the odds of Norvergence > successfully reorganizing are almost zero. > To add insult to injury, most of Norvergence's customers are now stuck > with multi-year leases on equipment supplied by the company, but whose > debt was actually sold to outside financing companies. Technically, > the customer owes a debt to the financing company, and not to > Norvergence. Customers are still on the hook to pay the financing > companies for years to come, even if no service of any kind is > provided. We suspect that Norvergence made most of its revenues not > from selling telecommunications services, but from the sale of > equipment leases to finance companies instead. > We have made all court documents from the Norvergence bankruptcy available > for download at http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence/ > William Van Hefner Editor - TheDigest.Com postmaster@thedigest.com > http://www.thedigest.com/current/ ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence Bankrupt Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 19:54:38 -0500 William Van Hefner wrote: > Qwest has filed (and been granted) an expedited hearing, and has made > a motion to the court to terminate service to Norvergence's > customers. In its filing, Qwest seems to indicate that its motion to > disconnect the customers should be granted because Norvergence has no > reasonable chance of surviving the bankruptcy. Without having seen any > financial documents, that is hard to say. However, many of the > indicators we have seen lead us to suspect that this case will be > converted from a Chapter 11 (reorganization) to a Chapter 7 > (liquidation) before this is all over. If Qwest had any brains (a LEC with brains? ha) they'd try to convince the court to allow them to take over the accounts and start providing service to the Norv ex-customers. After all, most of Norv's customers probably paid on time, or close to it. > customers. Qwest claims that it is costing the company $166,000 for > each day it continues providing Norvergence customers with "free" > service. Then WHY isn't Qwest's sales organization going after the Norv customers for contracts? Duh! 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: J Kelly Subject: Re: Norvergence Sales Reps Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 14:46:38 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 12:46:03 -0500, J Kelly wrote: > On 6 Jul 2004 13:49:40 -0700, unlimitedcallingusa@yahoo.com (Unlimited > Calling) wrote: >> If there are any Norvergence sales reps with deals they want to close, >> this company will pay you at least as much as Norvergence paid you >> maybe more, as soon as the customer is installed. >> You can send your contact info or email directly at >> unlimitedcallingusa@yahoo.com for more info. >> Don't let your deals fall apart, get paid on them and deal with a >> reputable company. > Pat- > I'm not sure why a reputable company would be spamming here and using > a yahoo.com email address. I'm even more baffled by why you allow > this crap on the Digest. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because this is 'be kind to buzzards > week' here at the Digest. I want to make sure the little guys get > their food in the form of other suckers. As I noted in response to > Paul Vader, all the spammer-buzzards are stirred up and flying around > now, starting to eat the remains of the corporate carcass that was > Norvergence. Its their nature; they don't know any better. PAT] But *you* know better than to turn the Digest into a place for spam. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are correct. The half dozen items I got today on this same topic (buzzards coming to pick at the Norvergence carcass with their wares and service offerings, etc) were all sent away; they have started to annoy me also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 22:13:46 -0400 Subject: VoIP Could Avoid Usual Rules Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116813,00.asp Congress considers keeping Internet telephony regulation to a minimum, to encourage the technology. Mark S. Sullivan, Medill News Service WASHINGTON -- Voice-over-IP services could escape many of the fees and regulations usually imposed on telecommunications services, under a Congressional proposal. VoIP and other Internet-based communications would be treated as an entirely new category of telecom service, under a bill announced Tuesday by members of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. "Our bill establishes Advanced Internet Communications Services as a unique form of services. That removes the debate that exists in the states and in the industry as to whether to classify AICS as an information service or a telecommunications service," says Representative Clifford Stearns (R-Florida), one of the bill's sponsors. Beyond hearings, however, action on the bill is unlikely to take place until the 109th Congress convenes next year. Full story at: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116813,00.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/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 12:39:18 PDT From: Lisa Minter Subject: Last Laugh! Time to Get Back to the Basics Rick, fresh out of accounting school, went to a interview for a good paying job. The company boss asked various questions about him and his education, but then asked him, "What is three times seven?" Rick replied it was twenty-two. After he left, he double-checked it on his calculator (he *knew* he should have taken it to the interview!) and realized he wouldn't get the job. About two weeks later, he got a letter that said he was hired for the job! He was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but was still very curious. The next day, he went in and asked why he got the job, even though he got such a simple question wrong. The boss shrugged and said, "Well, you were the closest." ------------------------------ 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 #325 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 9 14:49:33 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i69InXa01120; Fri, 9 Jul 2004 14:49:33 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 14:49:33 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407091849.i69InXa01120@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 #326 TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Jul 2004 14:49:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 326 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Administrivia : A Few Losses on Thursday (TELECOM Digest Editor) Driving While Distracted / Bill Would Limit Cellphone Chatter (Solomon) A Brief History of Wi-Fi (Monty Solomon) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Matt Simpson) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (William Warren) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (SELLCOM Tech support) Adaptive Filtering Limitations (fabrice) Re: Picking a Cell Service, was Re: What Happens (John R. Levine) Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers (David Esan) Re: US FCC Wants Radio, TV to Keep Tapes of Shows (Paul Vader) Re: T-Mobile USA Views Highest Rank in Customer Care (Hammond of Texas) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (Robert Bonomi) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Dave Garland) Re: Norvergence Bankrupt (DevilsPGD) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Dan Lanciani) Re: Is There an Official Statement on NorVergence (Scott Dorsey) Re: Norvergence Bankrupt (T. Seam Weintz) Re: Us Like Spies - Doomed to Viruses (T. Sean Weintz) VOIP Solution Consumer VOIP (Keith Bare) AT&T's VOIP Rollout Heats Up Price War (VOIP News) Re: Jeff Pulver on VoIP Hearing in Washington, D.C (Fred Goldstein) 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, 9 Jul 2004 01:32:52 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Administrivia : A Few Losses on Thursday As you may have noticed, there has been quite an increase in telecom mail in the past few days, and yesterday there were three issues of the Digest and enough to make a fourth issue. But three or four messages got mixed up in the spam bucket and trashed accidentally. What you see in the this mid-day issue on Friday clears out my queue totally so if you said something and it has not appeared here in the past four or five issues of the Digest between yesterday (Thursday) and now (Friday, 2:00 PM Eastern), you may presume it got lost and should be resubmitted and I hope you will accept my apologies for the loss. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 01:41:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Driving While Distracted / Bill Would Limit Cellphone Chatter By Elise Castelli, Globe Correspondent | July 8, 2004 When it comes to cellphone use, many drivers are like Ashby resident Bob Higgins-Steele: They know it can be dangerous, but they do it anyway. They dial their children. They call the office. They gab with friends. All while navigating traffic. "I know I shouldn't do it," Higgins-Steele said this week as he left a Charles Street parking garage. "I see a lot of people talking while they drive, and it can't all be about work." Massachusetts lawmakers are considering legislation that would force drivers like Higgins-Steele to use a headset if they use the phone while driving. If the bill passes, Massachusetts would be the third state in the nation to restrict drivers' cellphone use. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/07/08/driving_while_distracted/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 01:51:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Brief History of Wi-Fi CASE HISTORY From The Economist print edition Wireless networking: Few people have a kind word to say about telecoms regulators. But the success of Wi-Fi shows what can be achieved when regulators and technologists work together IT STANDS as perhaps the signal success of the computer industry in the last few years, a rare bright spot in a bubble-battered market: Wi-Fi, the short-range wireless broadband technology. Among geeks, it has inspired a mania unseen since the days of the internet boom. Tens of millions of Wi-Fi devices will be sold this year, including the majority of laptop computers. Analysts predict that 100m people will be using Wi-Fi by 2006. Homes, offices, colleges and schools around the world have installed Wi-Fi equipment to blanket their premises with wireless access to the internet. Wi-Fi access is available in a growing number of coffee-shops, airports and hotels too. Yet merely five years ago wireless networking was a niche technology. How did Wi-Fi get started, and become so successful, in the depths of a downturn? Wi-Fi seems even more remarkable when you look at its provenance: it was, in effect, spawned by an American government agency from an area of radio spectrum widely referred to as "the garbage bands". Technology entrepreneurs generally prefer governments to stay out of their way: funding basic research, perhaps, and then buying finished products when they emerge on the market. But in the case of Wi-Fi, the government seems actively to have guided innovation. "Wi-Fi is a creature of regulation, created more by lawyers than by engineers," asserts Mitchell Lazarus, an expert in telecoms regulation at Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, a law firm based in Arlington, Virginia. As a lawyer, Mr Lazarus might be expected to say that. But he was also educated as an electrical engineer-and besides, the facts seem to bear him out. http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?Story_id=2724397 ------------------------------ From: news01@jmatt.net (Matt Simpson) Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Date: 9 Jul 2004 05:56:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com SELLCOM Tech support wrote in message news:: > Monty Solomon posted on that vast internet thingie: > It is astounding how many people are running wide open wireless. I don't know which is more astounding: the number of people running wide open wireless without realizing it, or the number of people who know they're wide open and don't care. A while ago, I read a newspaper column, I forget where, but it was allegedly a "technical" column, meaning it was written by somebody that the newspaper was trying to pass off as a technical guru. He was raving about the benefits of free wireless. When he's on the road, he always looks for open nets, and doesn't feel guilty, because he's returning the favor by leaving his home wireless wide open so others can use it. He made it sound like it was some kind of wonderful exercise in communal computing; neighbor helping strangers. He didn't even mention all the possible problems. There's certainly a possibility for informed discussion about whether this is a good idea (sort of like leaving your house wide open in case somebody needs shelter, at the risk of being assaulted or robbed), but any such discussion should certainly mention the negatives, and some "technical columnist" was preaching its virtues as if there is no downside. ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Organization: Comcast Online Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 15:06:09 GMT Tony P. wrote in message news:telecom23.324.13@telecom-digest.org: > In article , support@sellcom.com > says: >> Monty Solomon posted on that vast internet thingie: >> It is astounding how many people are running wide open wireless. I >> went to my car to check a power supply for my laptop and a wireless >> connection just popped up, and it wasn't mine. >> I went to a free WiFi coffee shop and had my choice of two free >> connections, one due to the kindness/wisdom of the coffee shop owner, >> the other probably some local business that was not aware that they >> were giving away free Internet. >> I think the limitation on range gives some people the feeling that if >> someone does use it that it is a neighbor so they don't really mind. > Yup ... I'm working for a government agency and the boss keeps a Linksys > router running so he can connect via his Mac. It doesn't forward SMB > packets which is good, but it does provide IP via DHCP. Granted, we're > in the sub-basement of a building made of marble, steel and brick. The > connection doesn't go far but he doesn't even bother turning on WEP or > even hiding the SSID. > I shake my head sometimes. Well, not to play devil's advocate, but -- why? Think about it: the only thing the business owner gets by turning off SSID broadcast, restricting MAC addresses, and enabling WEP is a lot of headaches and maintenance and complaints from his employees. The default (open) installation works, the effort to restrict it and track the restrictions and deal with the complaints and accomodate visitors costs real money -- probably several times what the bandwidth costs - so why wouldn't a businessman make a common-sense decision to ignore the "problem"? For as long as I can remember, salesmen at major companies have routinely sent free parts to anyone that asks for a single item: the cost of accounting for "one time" sales is larger than the profit to be gained. In like manner, so long as his network has spare capacity, why should a businessman care if someone else is using his bandwidth?(1) It's like trying to condone off your section of the land in front of your house. Yes, you paid for it: but the cost and effort of errecting and maintaining a fence -- and suffering the inconvenience of having to walk around it yourself -- will almost always outweigh the "benefit" of having the neighbor's kids not cutting across your yard. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If no other laws exist against this > sort of behavior (using someone else's WiFi without permission) do > you think FCC regulations against intercepting radio signals not > intended for yourself and using them to your benefit would apply? PAT] Pat, IMNSHO the FCC has more important work to do. I don't think it's "illegal", and if it is it's on a par with stapling a yard sale sign to a light pole. FWIW. YMMV. Bill (1) Please don't raise the "security" banner: it's a red herring to me. Anyone who has substantial money to gain by eavesdropping on a corporate network will find other ways in, and that's what strong end-to-end encryption is for anyway. The only "security" to be gained by guarding a WiFi network is job security for the IT guys. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 16:27:17 GMT Tony P. posted on that vast internet thingie: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If no other laws exist against this > sort of behavior (using someone else's WiFi without permission) do > you think FCC regulations against intercepting radio signals not > intended for yourself and using them to your benefit would apply? PAT] Well, you're sitting in a park with your laptop. How do you know for sure that it is not just a neighborhood "thing" to provide free wi-fi to the park. More free wi-fi areas are popping up all the time. The person running the router is giving away service. 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: fab540@caramail.com (fabrice) Subject: Adaptive Filtering Limitations Date: 9 Jul 2004 07:32:30 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi all, I'm simulating a transmission under simulink. Here are the characterisics. emitter QPSK modulation Factor 2 oversampling channel Fir filter [1 0.2 1 0.2 0.3 0.5] case 1 filter [1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5] case 2 receiver adaptive filtering (LMS algorithm) In the first case my filter does estimate properly the channel wherease in the second case I recuperate a good constellation. My question is, are traditional adaptive filtering technics still working when the transmission channel superimpose several path with the same power as the main path. (case 1) Thanks for your help! Fabien ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Picking a Cell Service, was Re: What Happens Date: 9 Jul 2004 06:55:01 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> - No locking the phone so that I can't use it with multiple > All the above, except as noted, sounds like Trac Fone to me. It's a > pre-paid cell service that you basically can get for about $8/month > plus time charges. You buy "units" which equate to minutes in your > home area, and 2 units per minute when roaming. In the US, most phones are de-facto locked even if they're not officially locked. The Trac Fones I've seen are TDMA, and all of the TDMA phones have per-carrier microcode for preferrred networks and the like. CDMA phones have per-carrier code, too. Only GSM phones are really portable among carriers. My Voicestream GSM tri-band works great with a Swiss Orange SIM. 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: david_esan@hotmail.com (David Esan) Subject: Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers Date: 9 Jul 2004 07:03:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com ranck@vt.edu wrote in message news:: > All the above, except as noted, sounds like Trac Fone to me. It's a > pre-paid cell service that you basically can get for about $8/month > plus time charges. You buy "units" which equate to minutes in your > home area, and 2 units per minute when roaming. > I have been looking into this myself recently, and will probably be > getting one of their phones at WalMart in the next couple of days. > You can also buy the pre-paid cards at WalMart and other big > retailers. I was looking for a similar 'phone, and found one from Virgin Mobile. Cost is about $20 for 3 months, or less than $7/month, .25/minute at all times. The local Cingular people have one for $10/month, 10 cents per minute. Any other suggestions? Thoughts? Comments? ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: US FCC Wants Radio, TV to Keep Tapes of Shows Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 15:04:48 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations Monty Solomon writes: > WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - U.S. communications regulators proposed > on Wednesday that radio and television broadcasters keep recordings of > their programming for a period of time to help the agency enforce > federal indecency standards. If the FCC wants to play morality police, they should make their own damn tapes. * -- * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does FCC still require that all radio stations keep a log of all their programs for inspection by FCC on demand? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 17:18:14 -0700 From: Hammond of Texas Subject: Re: T-Mobile USA Views Highest Ranking in Customer Care by JD Power Monty Solomon wrote: > Confirmation that T-Mobile Customers Indeed do "Get More" > BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 2004--The results of the > 2004 Customer Care Performance Study released today by J.D. Power and > Associates ranks T-Mobile USA highest among national carriers, by a > significant margin. Yep, and by now, the T-Mobile bean counters are hard at work figuring out just how much they have *over*-spent on customer service expenses. ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 11:42:46 +0000 In article , John R. Covert wrote: > Tony P. wrote: >> get a measured service line, in most places they're < $10 a month anyhow. > Not in Massachusetts. In fact, once you include the $6.45 FCC Line > charge and USF charge, not anywhere, unless local service is less than > $3.00 per month. And I doubt that it is less than $3.00 per month > anywhere. > 1 Measured Residence Service $12.36 > 2 Verizon Local Calls 1.05 > 3 Surcharges and Taxes > FCC Line Charge 6.45 > Federal USF Surcharge .57 > MA State and Local Tax .25 > Federal Tax .61 > Total $22.14 > The 1.05 in local calls paid for 41 calls totalling 40 minutes > at 0.0100 per call plus 0.0160 per minute, for $1.05 in usage. > /john Things are relative. In Illinois: basic residential service: $ 5.61 FCC Access Charge 4.50 ------ $10.11 9-1-1 local govt 1.50 State infrastructure maint .05 State additional charges .01 Infrastructure maint credit .79CR Federal Universal Service Fee .39 Il Universal Service Fee .01 ------ $ 1.17 Taxes Federal at 3% .30 State at 7% .70 Municipal telecom tax .60 ------ $ 1.60 Local calls .75 ====== GRAND TOTAL $13.63 The 0.75 in local calls paid for 21 calls totalling 86 minutes at 0.03 to 0.05 (time-of-day sensitive) per call. All were within 8 mi. radius, so 0.00/minute. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 18:54:06 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) wrote: > You're right of course -- it was the first DOS basic. I'll be danged > if I can come up with a name other than just "Microsoft Basic" - did > the original one have any other name? * Nope. Sometimes it was referred to as MBASIC, to distinguish it from other flavors (like CBASIC, which IIRC compiled to intermediate p-code) that were sometimes available on the same machines. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My memory is a little hazy on this, but about 1977-79 when Apple introduced its ][ and ][+ computers, didn't they cut some deal with Microsoft to use Microsoft BASIC but rename *their* version of it Applesoft BASIC? The code and the command set and stuff was all identical to the Microsoft version, only the name was different, Applesoft instead of Microsoft. PAT] ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Norvergence Bankrupt Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 08:16:25 GMT In message csx130mph@yahoo.com (Dan Pham) wrote: > Will any criminal charges be filed against Norvergence's executives? Of course not, this is still corporate america. HAM AND EGGS: A day's work for a chicken; A lifetime commitment for a pig ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 04:08:30 EDT From: Dan Lanciani Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Is there any possibility that someone could post one of these contracts? Sometimes folks talk about lease payments and sometimes about loan payments. In the latter case it has been suggested alternately that the bank may have originated the loan with the customer (such that the paperwork might not even mention Norvergence) or that the bank became a holder in due course of (only) the revenue component of a contract between the customer and Norvergence. I am not a lawyer, but these all seem like very different scenarios. Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A 'lease' is different than a 'loan'. The door-do-door encyclopedia sales people arranged with various loan companies (well, really one under various corporate names) to 'loan' the money (which the buyer never saw) to pay the encyclopedia company for the books which were allegedly free except that the end-user agreed to pay for twenty years of 'annual updates' for the books. The 'updates' cost for twenty years was much higher than any set of encyclopedias could possibly cost. The Court pretty much squashed the scheme but did allow some of the scheme to continue with massive reforms to meet the law. Those reforms largely put the encyclopedia door-to-door sales company out of business, but the final straw came in the early nineties with computers, Google, etc. I'd not be surprised at all to find some connections between the late, great Norvergence and the handful of banks -- or really,loan companies -- which 'loaned the money to buy the equipment' to the end user with all sorts of fancy legal terms like 'holder in due course', etc. Thirty years ago, the 'loan companies' all screamed and squalled about how they had been cheated out of their money owed them as 'holders in due course' until the Court connected all the dots and drew a very ugly picture for them. I am NOT saying for certain that same scenario exists now, but in my old age I seem to recall having seen this part of the movie before. I would not have said this earlier, when the corporation 'Norvergence' was in business and there was a chance that some modicum of technical and customer service could have been rendered, no matter how half-assed it may have been. But now that there is no longer any phone service to be repaired nor any fiction of how that repair might be rendered, then my non-legal self-help advice remains: FREEZE ALL ACCOUNTS PAYABLE TO NORVERGENCE AT LEAST -- BARE MINIMUM -- UNTIL THE ATTORNIES HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO INVESIGATE IT ALL, UNLESS *YOUR COMPANY* HAS MONEY TO BE WASTED. MOST DO NOT. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Is There an Official Statement on NorVergence Date: 9 Jul 2004 10:16:34 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Michael D. Sullivan wrote: >> The move leaves approximately 10,000 customers, mostly small and mid- >> sized businesses who use NorVergence for telephone and Internet service, >> in limbo. And the news was no better for many of NorVergence's >> employees. They were sent home for good last week. Wait a minute ... Norvergence had over a thousand employees, and only 10,000 customers? Does this seem a bit excessive to you? --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 13:32:29 -0400 From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Norvergence Bankrupt Dan Pham wrote: > Will any criminal charges be filed against Norvergence's executives? > William Van Hefner wrote in message news:: No. Criminal charges WILL be filed against top-posters, however. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 13:42:36 -0400 From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Us Like Spies / How Computer Users Ask to be Doomed to Viruses Organization: VISI.com Lisa Hancock wrote: > When I took driver's ed, we were taught what goes on under the > hood and the function of various components. I certainly have no > idea how to repair my automatic transmission, but at least I know > what it is supposed to do and can be more alert for subtle malfunctions. > I know the basic functionality of the car -- from the key allowing > electricity from the battery to turn the starter motor to turn the > engine and fire the sparkplugs so the motor runs on its own, > generating its own electricity to recharge the battery and fire the > sparkplugs. I know that fuel in the tank is pumped to the motor and > injected with air into the cylinders, ignited to burn on the power > stroke. Then you seem to know more about how your car works than probably 70% of American drivers I'd say. > It doesn't seem unreasonable to me for a lay user to understand > an equivalent amount of functionaltiy for how a computer works. I think you are vastly underestimating just how mentally lazy the average computer user is. > That is, they should SHOULD. Ahh. yes tthey SHOULD. At least in my opinion. However most, if given an ultimatum that the had to learn before they could use an internet connected PC, would opt not to use one. > know that a program is a series of machine > instructions that tells electronic circuits to do various things-- > fetch and store things from memory, write things to the printer and > screen, accept data from the keyboard, and read/write to/from floppy > and hard disks. They should know the difference between the operating > system and an application program. They should know that when > starting up a program the machine instructions are recalled from disk, > loaded into memory, and execution of the instructions begin. > When we learn to drive, we also learn about car care and safety. It > isn't unreasonable for computer users to know some basics about that > as well, not just to protect themselves from viruses and hackers, but > some basics on how those things work and are spread around. > Geez, I couldn't differentiate between a bacteria, virus, or DNA > strand, but I understand the basics of what they are. I know leaving > milk out in the sun all day and then drinking it is not a good idea. > A computer virus is not mysterious as many biological viruses are, but > a known human creation. (It ought to be called sabotage.) > I blame two reasons: 1) The design of the Internet, and 2) software > that is too automated. Number 2 more so. But then again, #2 is what is driving the internet boom. > 1) The Internet was originally a private network among qualified > users and organizations. Such a population was unlikely to spread > mischief and strict controls weren't necessary. > However, when the Internet became public, legal and software controls > that were necessary not there. Nothing should be allowed on a network > without a secure 'from' identifier. "Anonymous" relay units should > not have been allowed. The many open places that hackers and spammers > take advantage of should not exist. The many open places hackers and spammers take advantage of are mostly unsecured PC's connected to cable modems by clueless newbies. > IMHO, backers of the Internet allowed it to expand too fast before > appropriate controls and safeguards could be adopted. > 2) In traditional mainframe systems (ie IBM S/360 and successors), > there is physical hardware protection to prevent an errant program > from straying outside its assigned space, and operating system > controls to prevent errant I/O access. As PCs grew more powerful, > such protections should have been included in the basic design. They are such controls in many OS'es. Just not in the consumer based windows systems. And it's the consumer market that needs them the most, ironically! > Secondly, some of the high automation is unnecessary. For instance, > upon receipt of an email, a user should explicity allow a program to > start running and be aware of initiating such a program. Secondly, > upon bringing up an application, the execution of a macro can wait > until the user explicitly tells it to go. While these explicit > commands won't stop all attacks, they will cut it down somewhat. I think you'd just have clueless users simply clicking "OK" to installing malware on their PC. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 08:56:20 PDT From: Keith bare Subject: The VOIP Solution Consumer VOIP Well, I am NOW reselling Voip for Packet8/Level3 http://www.VoipNuke.com Lets compare stories!! Skibare Have YOU talked on the Pack8/Level3 network???? 303 951 4992 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 11:05:28 -0400 Subject: AT&T's VOIP Rollout Heats Up Price War Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1620265,00.asp By Ellen Muraskin While the telecom giant's push into the market raises VOIP's street cred, its aggressive service pricing may drive startups over the edge, analysts say. AT&T announced June 30 that it is rolling out its consumer VOIP service in 10 more markets. The company also lowered the introductory price of the service to $19.99 a month, pitching it squarely against startup providers such as Vonage and BroadVoice. The AT&T brand gives a great boost to VOIP's credibility among consumers, said Jon Arnold, a VOIP market analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "The more people who have a choice of [using] AT&T [VOIP], the faster this market can grow," he said. "When you're the consumer and you're getting all these fliers and TV ads and pop-ups from all these VOIP offers, it creates confusion that makes average customers more likely to default to the name they know." If brand awareness matters more than technology or being first to market, as Arnold and many others believe, AT&T's VOIP service may have the best survival prospects for the long term. "The scary part is, they're discounting so quickly," Arnold said. "It's turning into a price game right off the bat. That kills the value proposition of what VOIP really is. Anybody can do cheap voice; that's just a commodity. The real power of IP is multimedia, data, and video, all that on your PC. That's the fun stuff." David Epstein, president of VOIP provider BroadVoice Inc., has more faith in the telecom consumer's and particularly the broadband consumer's willingness to try something new. "Don't underestimate today's broadband consumer," Epstein said. "People do not believe in a brand 'just because.' People are doing a ton of research with a few mouse clicks; people are talking to their peers." Epstein said he sees AT&T's efforts as a boon to the VOIP market as a whole. "The dollars spent by AT&T are a wonderful thing for the VOIP community," he said, "since it's driving people to the Internet where they research AT&T's offer and look for alternatives. Keep in mind that most of the folks looking for a VOIP service want to get away from Ma Bell, not run back to her." Full story at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1620265,00.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/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 19:43:06 -0400 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: Jeff Pulver on Yesterday's VoIP Hearing in Washington, D.C Jack "news" Decker quoted the Pulverblog thusly: > Stearns and Boucher seem set on doing an entire rewrite of the > Telecom Act, which they believe was flawed from the get-go, and, in > particular, does not allow the Bells to compete on a level playing > field with cable companies. Their bill also speaks of generally not > regulating "Advanced Internet Communications Services." > The Stearns-Boucher Bill, however, indicates that this is also the > time to deregulate the underlying telecom transmission facilities > used to provide IP-based communications services. The biggest > problem I see with the Stearns-Boucher bill is that it probably gums > up the works. Jeff Pulver is starting to get it. The Stearns-Boucher bill would be very, very bad. It would essentially put about 5000 ISPs out of business! You'd have a choice of exactly two ISPs, one being your cable company and the other being the ILEC. Full stop. A couple of years ago, Boucher (who is to be sure a good guy on copyright issues, but a very bad guy on telecom) introduced a bill that would have helped the Bells re-monopolize service. It didn't pass, though the Powell FCC and the DC Circuit Court have done far more damage than Boucher or even the Bell CEOs themselves could have dreamed possible at the time. Let's address the first quoted paragraph. Level playing field? Let's try again. The ILECs were granted a monopoly on common carriage, with a virtually guaranteed rate of return. They built the wires, promising to make them available to all users (common carriage) on a nondiscriminatory basis. When the RBOCs were created in 1984, in fact, the rules at the time explicitly prohibited them from providing any sort of information services, since that would be anticompetitive, too much risk of abusing their monopoly. In the early 1990s, in fact, NYNEX hosted its electronic yellow pages in France, presumably to get around that rule! Cable companies, on the other hand, got no guaranteed returns, and were never common carriers. In the 1990s, when the Internet caught on, the cable companies created cable modem service. Technically (note that this is the view of the FCC and some of the circuit courts, but not the Ninth Circuit), cable modem services are self-provisioned ISPs, not telecom service providers. They're the same as wireless ISPs who stick up access points on towers. This is the system that the Cable Act of 1992 and the Telecom Act of 1996 foresaw: LECs would remain common carriers, while cablecos would not be. The Bells are trying to have their cake and eat it too. They know that the cable companies are not common carriers, and aren't about to be. Instead, they want to get rid of their own common carriage obligations. Technically they're not de jure monopolies any more: Another company *could* legally hang new wires on the poles, or dig up the streets. It would in general be economic suicide, but not illegal. Given that cover of not *quite* a full monopoly, the Bells and other ILECs are asking to have their own common carriage obligations deleted, except with regard to voice-grade circuit-mode (TDM) telephone calls made on the "legacy" network ("old wires", not necessarily even applicable to newly-constructed houses). Without common carriage, other ISPs would not be able to purchase access services (between themselves and their subscribers) from the ILECs. So DSL would be ILEC-ISP only, full stop, unless the ILEC-ISP decided to enter into some kind of commercial contract with another ISP. Verizon last week suggested to the FCC *again* that this is their plan, to end common carriage and fixed-price ISP access, though they would entertain letting other ISPs share their networks on a revenue-sharing basis instead. (So competing ISPs who made such deals would have to open their books to the ILEC, or let the ILECs handle all of their collections, for a fee and a large majority percentage of the take. That would be the deal, take it or leave it, with no regulatory oversight.) And if you think that these telco DSL monopoly ISP services would allow you to use VoIP the way you can now, in order to bypass the telco's voice billing, then perhaps you should see invest in a bridge I know of, in New York. Or perhaps you think that guy with the big ears at Disneyland really is a mouse. Blocking VoIP is childs' play. Hell, blocking *any* protocol is childs' play. Layer 7 filters are on the market. I've seen boxes that allow the ISP to charge you *by the message* for SMTP/POP mail you exchange with your own ISP! Only competitive pressure prevents it now. And remember, an ISP has the right to filter content ... Even dial-up is in jeopardy: The ILECs are *still* trying to get the notorious "modem tax" to go ahead, by reclassifying ISP-bound calls as "switched access", rather than "exempt information access". (They already killed "local" status, which had required them to pay CLECs who carried the terminating half of such calls.) And that leads to the second paragraph. By definition, information service is provided over telecommunications. Layer 1, as it's generally known, is telecommunications. And when the ILECs provide it, it's common carriage, also technically known as telecommunications *service*. The ILECs do not like this. They want the raw wire itself to be regulated on the basis of the content. So if there's ISP service across the wire, then it is no longer eligible for common carrier treatment, because ISP service (content, not carriage) is itself unregulated. Get it? You are what you eat. Carry IP and become *not telecommunications service*. And if you're not telecommunications service, you're not regulated, and *not common carriage*, and thus *not available to independent ISPs.* You see? Become an ISP and lose your rights to the wire! Layers don't exist to an ILEC -- it's "beads on a string", layer 1 to 7 all together. SBC's Comments in the pending FCC VoIP docket (WC 04-36) apply this "beads on a string" methodology across the board, including VoIP. If the phone call has any contact with IP (e.g., the switch uses IP internally, the trunks use IP internally, or somebody whispers "eye pee" in the same telco's cafeteria), then the "beads on a string" theory applies and your home phone becomes an ISP service, whether you want it or not. No longer is the phone call regulated. They can charge whatever they want. They can charge tolls to dial up ISPs other than their own! (Discrimination is prohibited of common carriers, but permitted of ISPs.) All they have to do to get this status, by their proposal (hint: Reply Comments are still allowed, but please read past the first couple of dozen namby-pamby pages of SBC's Comment to get to the real meat), is to configure their loop carrier systems to use IP instead of ATM or TDM (GR-303, the current standard). It's all transparent. It's all on the market. The Stearns-Boucher bill would apparently legislate that kind of monopoly world. Note that the older Sununu VoIP bill does nothing of the sort; Sununu is really just prodding the FCC to behave rather sanely. Fred Goldstein k1io fgoldstein "at" ionary.com ionary Consulting http://www.ionary.com/ ------------------------------ 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 #326 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 10 16:56:35 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6AKuZ011482; Sat, 10 Jul 2004 16:56:35 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 16:56:35 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407102056.i6AKuZ011482@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 #327 TELECOM Digest Sat, 10 Jul 2004 16:56:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 327 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Mark Crispin) Merchant Accounts (was Re: Norvergence - Get Out) (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Motorola DCT6200/2005 USB Ethernet Firewire (tommy) SS7 Info (Alan Ponting) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Tony P.) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Phone Phishing? (David B. Horvath, CCP) Re: T-Mobile USA Views Highest Ranking in Customer Care (Joseph) Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers (Joseph) Re: US FCC Wants Radio, TV to Keep Tapes of Shows (Tony P.) Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? (Jack Decker) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Paul Vader) 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: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 12:13:05 -0700 Organization: University of Washington I think that there is a lesson to be learned from this. From what I've read, it appears that the Norvergence customers effectively purchased the equipment (at inflated prices) and paid for an extended period of service in advance, financing it through a bank. Worse, it seems that they actually sold the equipment to the bank and leased it back. My reaction: what part of "bad deal" is difficult to understand here? Presumably the equipment has some residual value; but since you don't have title, the best you can do is try to get out of the lease somehow and let the back reclaim the equipment. Even if you had title, you'd still be stuck for the difference between the purchase cost and the residual value. This is all the more reason to ensure that the purchase cost reflects actual market value. The money paid for service in advance is lost. Never, *ever* pay for long-term service in advance unless you are willing to lose the entire amount. Never, *ever*, finance a fee for long-term service in advance. There's a big difference between a "service commitment" in which you agree to maintain monthly service for a year, and buying a year of service with $x/month payments. Something tells me that people did not read their contracts carefully. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 00:22:08 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Merchant Accounts (was Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out) PAT commented: > Look at bank's attitude toward someone who wants a lousy Visa Merchant > account. Credit checks, a complete investigation, etc. all so that > you can send them a few dollars now and then on a Visa transaction. > The banks scrutinze those guys so carefully, and if internet is > concerned, often as not refuse to do business. I disagree with this. I've had a merchant account for a number of years, and I didn't have to go through any particular gyrations to get it. Decent terms, too: <1.7% for V/MC/Novus transactions. About double that for Amex and Diners Club. And no setup fees or recurring junk fees, either -- if I don't use the account it costs me zero. I did pay $20 for an imprinter, and later bought a used Verifone machine for $75. The bank programmed it for free. After a year or so the bank decided to get out of that business so I applied through a professional organization of which I was a member and got the same terms; all that changed was my merchant number. When I first got a merchant account I was a one-man shop, working out of my house, with no credit history and insignificant profits. Later for a few years I operated a retail storefront, in those days I ran a grand or two through the machine daily. Now I'm back to a one-man shop at home again and still no complaints about the merchant account, except that Amex started charging junk fees this year so I dropped them. I was leery of applying at first, because I assumed it was difficult. After all, there were so many businesses standing ready to "help" me get set up, for a nominal fee of course :-) They make it sound insanely difficult but I think that's just hype to get people to use their services. In the end I simply went to the local bank (an independent, not a national chain bank) where I had my business account and asked one of the tellers. She directed me to someone at a desk, and within a week I was running plastic. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: tommynospam@yahoo.com (tommy) Subject: Motorola DCT6200/2005 USB Ethernet Firewire Date: 10 Jul 2004 06:57:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does anyone have any information or a site that might explain how to use the USB, FIREWIRE, Ethernet, etc ports on the DCT6200? Thanks. ------------------------------ Subject: SS7 Info Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 16:57:54 -0400 From: Alan Ponting The US mostly uses ANSI based SS7 - refer to ANSI T1.111, T1.112, T1,113, and T1.114 series of specs ( www.ansi.org ) The rest of the world mostly uses ITU SS7 - refer to ITU-T Q.700 series of specs ( www.itu.int ) Beware, most of these specs are not free. Also look at the ETSI series of specs "ETS 300 008" and "ETS 300 009" - they are very similar to the ITI Q.700 series - and can be downloaded for free ( www.etsi.org ) There are differences in message layouts and field sizes, etc. And some countries add their own little variations, just for fun. You might also refer to Travis Russell's book "Signaling System #7" ISBN: 0071387722 Hope that helps, Alan Ponting (speaking for myself) > In Digest v23 #322 Jeff wrote: >> I have been assigned a research project, and I am having a nearly >> impossible time completing it. I have been asked to find the >> differences in the SS7 networks in China, Japan, and the U.S. I was >> wondering if anyone had any insight into this, or knew of any >> resources I could use to find the answers to these questions. >> Thanks in advance for your help. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 21:11:37 GMT In article , kd1s@nospamplease.verizon.reallynospam.net says... > In article , support@sellcom.com > says: >> Monty Solomon posted on that vast internet thingie: >>> Michael Oh, president and founder of Tech Superpowers, a Boston-based >>> specialist on wireless networking, said it's difficult to tell how >>> many people are piggybacking on or sharing the wireless high-speed >>> Internet access of their neighbors. But he is convinced a lot of >>> people are trying it in densely populated neighborhoods where wireless >>> connections overlap. >> It is astounding how many people are running wide open wireless. I >> went to my car to check a power supply for my laptop and a wireless >> connection just popped up, and it wasn't mine. >> I went to a free WiFi coffee shop and had my choice of two free >> connections, one due to the kindness/wisdom of the coffee shop owner, >> the other probably some local business that was not aware that they >> were giving away free Internet. >> I think the limitation on range gives some people the feeling that if >> someone does use it that it is a neighbor so they don't really mind. > Yup ... I'm working for a government agency and the boss keeps a Linksys > router running so he can connect via his Mac. It doesn't forward SMB > packets which is good, but it does provide IP via DHCP. Granted, we're > in the sub-basement of a building made of marble, steel and brick. The > connection doesn't go far but he doesn't even bother turning on WEP or > even hiding the SSID. > I shake my head sometimes. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If no other laws exist against this > sort of behavior (using someone else's WiFi without permission) do > you think FCC regulations against intercepting radio signals not > intended for yourself and using them to your benefit would apply? PAT] That's a good point. But then you have to ask yourself, how many people actually know enough to monitor their wireless routers. The answer is that very few of them want to know anything about it beyond setting it up and having it run. ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 20:06:27 -0400 Organization: Primus Canada William Warren wrote: > (1) Please don't raise the "security" banner: it's a red herring to > me. Anyone who has substantial money to gain by eavesdropping on a > corporate network will find other ways in, and that's what strong > end-to-end encryption is for anyway. The only "security" to be gained > by guarding a WiFi network is job security for the IT guys. A few months ago I read in the news that police had busted someone in a Toronto neighbourhood for downloading child pornography to a laptop in his car on a street via insecure wireless access points in the area. Unfortunately, in this case, the guy was busted not because anyone tracked down the IP address and scoured the neighbourhood for an 802.11b signal, but because a cop on patrol noticed a car moving slowly the wrong way down a one way street and, when he stopped the guy to check it out, he saw that the guy wasn't wearing any pants and that there was kiddie porn playing on a laptop on the passenger seat (I guess the guy didn't drive very well -- or notice street signs -- while looking at the passenger seat.) For now the real chances are slim that any grief might arrive at my door thanks to the unathorized misuse of my open wireless internet connection but I'd rather be safe than trying to convince the court that it wasn't me who set up a kiddie porn server on my internet connection. Geoffrey Welsh [This space for rent] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We had that report (naked man obtains kiddie porn while driving in car) here in the Digest several months ago. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 20:35:57 -0400 From: David B. Horvath, CCP Subject: Re: Phone Phishing? (PAT, please withhold email address. Name is OK). This reminds me of the ASPEN voice mail system "outcall notification". I had to live with notifications at home for too many years in the past. It was the way to be responsive to customer needs -- if someone called after I left for the day, I'd get the message at home in the evening. - David On 7 Jul 2004 16:52:07 -0700, tanstaafl69@yahoo.com (Ben) posted: > I've been getting some odd calls on my cell phone recently that go > something like this: > - When the call comes in, the Caller-ID shows only an area code, no > number. > - On answering the call, and automated voice announces it has a > message for me. It does so saying my name in my voice, using the name > announcement from my voicemail. > - It then gives instructions on handling the call if answered by an > operator. > - Then is says "Press 2 if you are" and my name again. > - At this point, it asks for my voicemail passcode to continue. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I had a very similar incident early this morning (4:25 AM Saturday). I did not get the call until I woke up later in the morning. I found a message waiting in cellphone voice mail with a Nebraska 402 number. The voicemail message was another voicemail 'outcall' thing; the outcall message told me there 'has been a call out'; employees should report for work, but first press '1' to notify the dispatcher. I identified the 402 number as a power company supervisor in Nebraska and called to tell him I had gotten the message. He told me that earlier today there had been some hassle there and they had to get a bunch of the guys in to work on it, at the power company. He asked for my number and said he would to find the error in their system and get it removed. Although I had seen his number on my cell phone call ID when I looked at the call ID on my landline phone, I saw it there also so I was able to conclude the call had come to landline first, then rolled over with 'ring but no answer after three rings' to my cell phone so I gave him my landline number. He located it in the directory or repertoire of the outcall machine and removed it (he said). And he said he was very grateful that I had reported it; it was not so much the wrong person getting a wrong number call at 4:25 AM that bothered him, but that the right person -- an emergency overnight employee at the power company had *not* gotten the call. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: T-Mobile USA Views Highest Ranking in Customer Care by JD Power Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 20:13:28 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 17:18:14 -0700, Hammond of Texas wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> Confirmation that T-Mobile Customers Indeed do "Get More" >> BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 2004--The results of the >> 2004 Customer Care Performance Study released today by J.D. Power and >> Associates ranks T-Mobile USA highest among national carriers, by a >> significant margin. > Yep, and by now, the T-Mobile bean counters are hard at work figuring > out just how much they have *over*-spent on customer service expenses. Care to explain *why* you believe the "bean counters" are hard at work figuring out how much they have over spent? Or are you just trying to make a dig at a company that has managed to get a good rating? BTW, nice email address!! remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: What Happens to Expired Wireless Numbers Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 20:22:25 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 9 Jul 2004 07:03:40 -0700, david_esan@hotmail.com (David Esan) wrote: > I was looking for a similar 'phone, and found one from Virgin Mobile. > Cost is about $20 for 3 months, or less than $7/month, .25/minute at > all times. > The local Cingular people have one for $10/month, 10 cents per minute. > Any other suggestions? Thoughts? Comments? I can go cheaper than that! I have prepaid service with Justalk http://www.phoneshark.com/showwirelesscard.cfm?f=11&t=11&p=9045 . The account is good for 180 days without having to refill. Divided by 6 it's about $1.50 per month. 22.5 cents/minute. Also includes a dedicated toll-free 1-866 number as they only have a limited number of local numbers in certain area codes. Provide a compatible used AT&T TDMA handset and you're home. I'm using a Nokia 6360 that I got from a friend, but any TDMA (IS-136) phone that has been on the AT&T Wireless network will work. You can also buy a phone from phoneshark (who runs justalk.) remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: US FCC Wants Radio, TV to Keep Tapes of Shows Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 21:54:35 GMT In article , pv+usenet@pobox.com says: > Monty Solomon writes: >> WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - U.S. communications regulators proposed >> on Wednesday that radio and television broadcasters keep recordings of >> their programming for a period of time to help the agency enforce >> federal indecency standards. > If the FCC wants to play morality police, they should make their own > damn tapes. > * -- * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and > something like corkscrews. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does FCC still require that all radio > stations keep a log of all their programs for inspection by FCC on > demand? PAT] With what has happened with the consolidation of radio ownership in this country they won't get too many tapes. It's why I very rarely listen to the FM band anymore, it's the same junk from station to station. It's either owned by Citadel or Clear Channel and the same content is played ad nauseam 24 hours a day. Hopefully congress will fix that little problem some day. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 18:21:53 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? Pat, please conceal my e-mail address. On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 13:32:29 -0400, T. Sean Weintz wrote: > Dan Pham wrote: >> Will any criminal charges be filed against Norvergence's executives? >> William Van Hefner wrote in message >> news:: > No. Criminal charges WILL be filed against top-posters, however. Pardon me for being clueless, but what the heck is a "top-poster"? I hope I'm not the only one who didn't get that. Jack [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A 'top poster' is someone who reprints the entire message (to which he is replying) at the top then prints his reply below that rather than putting his reply first and then follows up with a few pertinent tidbits of the message being replied to. Some people do not care for that posting procedure, having to read the entire (original) message twice. Now, some people say it is the other way around: The reply posted **on top** and then the entire original message repeated below. Either way, a good rule of thumb is **hold quoted text to a bare minimum.** I suggest keep at least 50 percent or more of the text in your reply as your *original* work and hold quoting to less than 50 percent, preferably 10 or 20 percent if possible without losing the context, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 22:53:53 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My memory is a little hazy on this, but > about 1977-79 when Apple introduced its ][ and ][+ computers, didn't > they cut some deal with Microsoft to use Microsoft BASIC but rename > *their* version of it Applesoft BASIC? The code and the command set Applesoft basic is definitely Microsoft basic with a few tweaks, yes. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ 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 #327 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 12 03:20:16 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6C7KFF24216; Mon, 12 Jul 2004 03:20:16 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 03:20:16 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407120720.i6C7KFF24216@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 #328 TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Jul 2004 03:19:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 328 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Rivals Line Up For Internet Phone Service Race (VOIP News) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Craig Macbride) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Daniel McDonald) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (clearmesupercom) Norvergence - Getting Out of a Matrix Contract (Mark Yamasaki) Re: US FCC Wants Radio, TV to Keep Tapes of Shows (Rich Greenberg) Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? (Rich Greenberg) Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? (John David Galt) Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? (Joseph) Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? (Jim Hopkins) 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: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 12:22:46 -0400 Subject: Rivals Line Up For Internet Phone Service Race Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/business/9131050.htm telecommunications By Urvaksh Karkaria The Journal Gazette As Gulliver stirs, the Lilliputians in the nascent Internet phone service business are bracing for a not-so-even showdown. Verizon Communications plans to invest about $3 billion over the next two years to beef up its broadband service, which will include launching nationwide phone service using Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. New York-based Verizon could be viewed as the powerful sea captain from the novel "Gulliver's Travels" as the company lumbers into the high-speed Internet phone business, attempting to fend off the cable competitors and Lilliputian startups snipping at its market share. "We're in the final stages of testing this," Verizon spokeswoman Bobbi Henson said. A national rollout of the service is expected to begin later this summer, but Henson remained mum on which cities might get the service first or when it would trickle down to the northeast Indiana market. This is Verizon's 'competitive counterpunch,' said Richard Heidemann Jr., telecommunications analyst with National City's Private Client Group in Cleveland. Full story at: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/business/9131050.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/ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say From: craig@f8d.com (Craig Macbride) Organization: Nyx Net, The Spirit of the Night Date: 11 Jul 2004 01:51:31 -0600 William Warren writes: > Think about it: the only thing the business owner gets by turning off > SSID broadcast, restricting MAC addresses, and enabling WEP is a lot > of headaches and maintenance and complaints from his employees. That depends on how much it might be abused. A single laptop could use the whole of the business's broadband bandwidth. Does the business owner want that possibility? If they are paying for bandwidth on their net connection, they might care about it being used up for that reason too. >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If no other laws exist against this >> sort of behavior (using someone else's WiFi without permission) do >> you think FCC regulations against intercepting radio signals not >> intended for yourself and using them to your benefit would apply? PAT] I really doubt it. If someone's system is set up to publish its ID, not encrypt the transmission, and gives out IP addresses to any machine it sees via DHCP, it's rather analogous to having a "Welcome" sign on your unlocked door and a robot which greets visitors as they come to the door. How can anyone possibly outlaw a situation in which the system is not only allowing access but is giving out IP addresses to all comers, especially when this is indistinguishable from what deliberately free wireless systems do? A much stickier legal area might be the situation if someone has their wireless network wide open but captures all traffic across it. How about if they just run a transparent web proxy? > (1) Please don't raise the "security" banner: it's a red herring to > me. Anyone who has substantial money to gain by eavesdropping on a > corporate network will find other ways in, and that's what strong > end-to-end encryption is for anyway. The only "security" to be gained > by guarding a WiFi network is job security for the IT guys. It's not a red herring in many places. Many businesses hook up their wireless AP to the inside of their network, so that their wireless laptops can share files, etc, with the rest of the internal network. Their firewalls are thus totally bypassed and some outsider connecting up can possibly cause enormous damage as a result. It's not just eavesdropping that can then be done for no cost, but quite possibly damage too. Even if the outsider doesn't intend damage, a worm-infected machine could infect the whole of the network inadvertently, having connected up to the "inside" of the network. Craig Macbride http://www.f8d.com I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying. - Woody Allen ------------------------------ Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Organization: io.com From: djmcdona@fnord.io.com (Daniel J McDonald) Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 21:10:48 -0500 In article , Paul Vader wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My memory is a little hazy on this, but >> about 1977-79 when Apple introduced its ][ and ][+ computers, didn't >> they cut some deal with Microsoft to use Microsoft BASIC but rename >> *their* version of it Applesoft BASIC? The code and the command set > Applesoft basic is definitely Microsoft basic with a few tweaks, yes. * Although, I remember losing a computer competition once, around 1982, because I was used to Microsoft Basic Version 9 on an Ohio Scientific platform, and we competed on Apples. I used a construct like A=A+(I=7) and Applesoft BASIC resolved that to a positive number, where the version of BASIC I was used to made that negative. Daniel J McDonald CCIE # 2495, CNX Visit my website: http://www.austinnetworkdesign.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I used to play silly little games like that when I had my first computer, which was an OSI (Ohio Scientific) C-1-P which was definitly not in vogue once Tandy came out with their model 1. A friend of mine came over one night with his Tandy model 1 and challenged me to a game: let's see whose is fastest. The contest we decided on was each of us write a program to begin with 1 and increment as we decided, searching for 'perfect numbers'. We each put our programs together then on signal we started our programs and went out for beer and pizza only to come back a couple hours later to see 'who was fastest'. Definition: a 'perfect number' is any number with no factors other than itself and '1'. '1' is perfect, as is '3' and '7'. What is the next one and the one after that, and maybe a few more? We had to write our programs so that the screen showed the 'control' number (or number presently being evaluated) the last perfect number found, etc, in the corner of the screen while in the background the computers did their number crunching, etc. We got back from eating a couple hours later with a couple pitchers of beer apiece in us and a couple of huge pizzas under our belt, and immediatly went to check out our computers (my OSI-C1P and his Tandy). I dunno for sure about his Tandy but my OSI had all of 8K ram and BASIC in ROM. This was 1976-77, around then. My machine had evaluated several million numbers; I was *way* ahead of him, by a million or two million control numbers. "Wow," he said, "that OSI really does crunch pretty fast." After looking at his code and showing him mine I said "its not the machine, it is how the code is written. To fetch new numbers for evaluation, you do not say 'number = number +1 you say number +2.' You only need to evaluate odd numbers, there never is an *even* perfect number; even numbers are always divisible by 2, and whatever else, so why bother to look any further, just move along, start odd and increment by 2, always staying odd. Furthermore, in your evaluation loop you not have to increment from 3 up to the number being evaluated looking for factors; you do not even have to increment from 3 up to halfway; just from 3 to the square root of the number being evaluated; if you have not found a factor by then, you are not gonna find one. The square root of a number becomes a progressively smaller per- centage or fractional part of the number under evaluation as the numbers get larger. So when I check (let's say) some nine digit number for its 'perfectability' I only need to check some miniscule number of possibilities, five hundred or so, then move along. That's why I am a hundred and something million ahead of you in my evaluations; its not the chipset in the OSI." By the way, at one point in those foolish times I found FIVE perfect numbers not including '1' or '3' or '7'. Does anyone know the next five such, or even the next three such? PAT] ------------------------------ From: clearmesupercommodore@mail.com Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 00:17:02 -0700 On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 18:54:06 -0500, Dave Garland wrote: > It was a dark and stormy night when pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) > wrote: >> You're right of course -- it was the first DOS basic. I'll be danged >> if I can come up with a name other than just "Microsoft Basic" - did >> the original one have any other name? * > Nope. Sometimes it was referred to as MBASIC, to distinguish it from > other flavors (like CBASIC, which IIRC compiled to intermediate > p-code) that were sometimes available on the same machines. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My memory is a little hazy on this, but > about 1977-79 when Apple introduced its ][ and ][+ computers, didn't > they cut some deal with Microsoft to use Microsoft BASIC but rename > *their* version of it Applesoft BASIC? The code and the command set > and stuff was all identical to the Microsoft version, only the name > was different, Applesoft instead of Microsoft. PAT] Pat: I think that a number of6502 and other 8-bit machines did this, bought the Basic and put it into Rom. Then calling it by the manufactures name, examples: Commodore Basic (Commodore 64/128) Apple Basic And I believe others did this also. Jeremy <> ------------------------------ From: Mark Yamasaki Subject: Norvergence -- Getting out of a Matrix Contract Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 16:48:15 -0700 Dear Mr. Townson, I work for a small freight forwarding company here in California. We were approached by Norvergence about a month ago. To make a long story short, since you probably have heard too much on this already, I want to know how I can close up any relations / contracts with Norvergence and more importantly sever any obligations to its equipment leasing "banks". Here is our current situation 1.Contract signed. ( I know, big mistake) 2.Matrix box delivered but not installed. Other than that, any of the other services or equipment HAS NOT been delivered. -T1 -Cell Phones -Telephone Equipment We did get one small bill but I told accounting not to pay it. I have read many of your comments on the posts and it seems I need to at the very least: 1.Return the "Matrix" box (How do I since it was delivered by a "technician"?); 2.Do not pay any invoices that we receive; What else should I do to make sure this problem goes away for good? What other precautions should I take to make sure our existing DID and POTS lines remain intact? I would appreciate any advice or any referrals. Best regards, Mark Yamasaki [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: First of all, today -- Monday -- get ahold of your telco and request a total freeze on all your lines and equipment from them without an express written order for changes from you. Follow this up with a written letter to your telco. Then I would suggest you continue your freeze on all accounts payable where Norvergence or their financing agents are concerned. I would also take your paperwork to your attorney and ask that person to nip this whole thing in the bud. Someone here the other day (I think person's name was Frankie Truth?) suggested deals made in the past ninety days could be rescinded without any hassles and I do not know about that, but your attorney might. I do know that there are some rules which pertain in bankruptcy about deals consumated in the past ninety days, and I also know in some states there are 'remorse' rules which apply when a solicitor comes to your door to make a sale; that is a certain number of days in which a contract can be cancelled simply because you wish to cancel. Better talk to your attorney regards 'buyer remorse' rules in your state; also what federal rules pertain to priority deals (deals in last 'X' number of days prior to bankruptcy). Put the Matrix box in some safe place (you do have the obligation to mitigate [or lessen] Norverg- ence's losses by returning their property) on request. But sit tight on your money, and in the unlikely event you are contacted then refer them to your attorney. Good luck! PAT] ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: US FCC Wants Radio, TV to Keep Tapes of Shows Date: 10 Jul 2004 17:02:42 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Tony P. wrote: > With what has happened with the consolidation of radio ownership in this > country they won't get too many tapes. > It's why I very rarely listen to the FM band anymore, it's the same > junk from station to station. It's either owned by Citadel or Clear > Channel and the same content is played ad nauseam 24 hours a day. > Hopefully congress will fix that little problem some day. Private enterprise already has. Try XM or Sirus. 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: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? Date: 10 Jul 2004 17:07:51 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A 'top poster' is someone who reprints > the entire message (to which he is replying) at the top then prints > his reply below that rather than putting his reply first and then > follows up with a few pertinent tidbits of the message being replied > to. Some people do not care for that posting procedure, having to > read the entire (original) message twice. Now, some people say it > is the other way around: The reply posted **on top** and then the > entire original message repeated below. Either way, a good rule of > thumb is **hold quoted text to a bare minimum.** I suggest keep at > least 50 percent or more of the text in your reply as your *original* > work and hold quoting to less than 50 percent, preferably 10 or 20 > percent if possible without losing the context, etc. PAT] No, you have it inverted Pat. Top posting is putting the new material at the top, followed by quoted material (and usually too much of that). Its harder to read because when reading from top to bottom as most of us do, the new material comes before the earlier material. But the worst lusers of all will quote many lines including sigs just to add a 1 line reply. Top or bottom, thats annoying. 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: John David Galt Subject: Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 17:02:48 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A 'top poster' is someone who reprints > the entire message (to which he is replying) at the top then prints > his reply below that rather than putting his reply first [snip] You have that exactly backwards. A top poster is someone who puts his reply above the quoted message he is replying to, rather than below as is standard on Usenet. This is discussed in the Jargon File at http://www.science.uva.nl/~mes/jargon/e/emailquotesandinclusionconventions.html The "death penalty" referred to is humor, explained at http://www.science.uva.nl/~mes/jargon/u/usenetdeathpenalty.html ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 18:01:27 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 18:21:53 -0400, Jack Decker wrote: > Pardon me for being clueless, but what the heck is a "top-poster"? I > hope I'm not the only one who didn't get that. A top poster is someone who puts their reply at the very beginning rather than replying line-by-line or replying after the original quoted message. Top posters can be likened to playing a game of Jeopardy in that their email style is that they give the reply and then the original question follows. Top posters can be maddening especially when they have the ugly habit of posting their reply and then simply dumping the *entire* original and sometimes even several previous messages and replies after their reply. Top posting wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that Microsoft with Outlook and Outlook Express has made it so easy for people to top post and *dump* that it becomes nearly impossible to get the gist of what they're referring to when they simply dump *everything* back at the original poster. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: Jim Hopkins Subject: Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 01:23:44 GMT > Now, some people say it is the other way around: The reply > posted **on top** and then the entire original message repeated below. You got it right the second time. Jim Hopkins [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Either way people choose to respond to the posts of others, I personaly think a courteous rule of thumb -- I mean, Usenet posters are courteous, considerate people are they not? -- is to follow what I think used to be called the 'fifty percent rule'; no more than fifty percent of the *total* text, not including header indicia (in other words the actual meat of the message) should be quoted text. Fifty percent or better should be *your* original or response text. And intersperse your reply comments with the original text in logical, orderly fashion. Trim everything you can without changing the context of the original message. And no HTML in text based messages. If people could only see how much of that HTML crap I throw out each day which gets sent here they would be amazed. It is not uncommon for me to get an 18 or 20-K single message which I trim down to 1-2 K of actual text for the Digest after the HTML is removed and other junk is removed. And my other complaint is the folks who cannot come up with the correct Re: subject line or who say "Re: (digest number)" with no other details obliging *me* to have to go pull that back issue in order to find the correct subject line in order to get it all to thread correctly. 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 #328 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 12 16:24:39 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6CKOd801252; Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:24:39 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:24:39 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407122024.i6CKOd801252@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 #329 TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:25:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 329 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available in 100 Major Markets (VOIP News) U.S. Rejects Net Phone Call Tax (VOIP News) Voice Pulse Appeals to Federal Regulators (VOIP News) Re: Indian Telemarketing Shop Service Monitoring Line (Stan Siegler) Definition Bandwidth Products (Tom Mishkiewicz) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Hammond of Texas) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Norvergence -- Getting out of a Matrix Contract (Hammond of Texas) Re: Norvergence -- Getting Out of a Matrix Contract (Paul Vader) Re: Norvergence -- Getting out of a Matrix Contract (Dave Garland) Will Headset From Nortel Office Phone Work With Cell Phone? (Lester) Power of the Net in Next Election (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 13:42:43 -0400 Subject: AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available in 100 Major Markets Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com [Comment: Bear in mind that once the introductory period is over, AT&T's service will cost you more per month than most other consumer VoIP services. You may wish to read the comments about CallVantage on the BroadbandReports.com VoIP forum .] http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-12-2004/0002208297&EDATE= Coast-to-Coast Rollout Expands to 28 New Markets and Seven Additional States $19.99 Promotion Offers Unlimited Calling and Advanced Features BEDMINSTER, N.J., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Achieving a key milestone in its deployment of residential Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service, AT&T today announced the availability of AT&T CallVantage(SM) Service in 100 markets nationwide with the addition of 28 new markets and seven additional states, offering those households a high-tech alternative for their personal communications needs. AT&T is expanding its service footprint in the metropolitan areas of Birmingham, Ala.; Bridgeport, Danbury, Hartford, New Haven, New London, Stamford and Waterbury, Conn.; Ann Arbor, Detroit and Flint, Mich.; Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Providence- Warwick, R.I.; Richmond, Va.; and Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine, Wis. In addition, the company today made service available to residents of Dover, Del.; New Bedford, Brockton, Fitchburg-Leominster, Lawrence, Lowell and Worcester, Mass.; and Pittsburgh and Reading, Pa. "Today's market entries place us in 29 states and Washington, D.C. -- that's 100 major markets in just 16 weeks since service introduction," said Cathy Martine, AT&T senior vice president for Internet Telephony, Consumer Marketing and Sales. "This demonstrates the velocity at which we're working to get IP technology into the hands of consumers. "AT&T already provides traditional residential local service to more than 4.3 million households nationwide, but AT&T CallVantage Service marks the beginning of an exciting new era in voice communications that gives customers a compelling new choice," she added. While VoIP is an exciting technology with great promise, it is not a complete substitute for traditional telephone service because it does not serve the needs of millions of Americans who cannot obtain or afford the high- speed Internet connection required for AT&T CallVantage Service. Though a growing number of households have access to these broadband connections through their cable or local telephone company, only about one in five subscribe nationally. According to data from TNS Telecoms, broadband penetration in the markets entered today range from a low of 15.9 percent in Alabama to a high of 24.3 percent in Connecticut. "VoIP applications might just be the 'value-add' that consumers are seeking to justify their investment in broadband," said Martine. "However, for the foreseeable future, this exciting new option will be reserved for those households fortunate enough to maintain a broadband connection." AT&T CallVantage Service is an innovative service that promises to transform the way people communicate. A core concept of the service, which is built on AT&T Labs patented technology, is the ability to quickly introduce new features and capabilities to the platform. "AT&T continues to lead the adoption of VoIP services by both businesses and consumers as it delivers the next generation of communications that our customers demand." said Martine. "Last month, we announced global telework trials in Asia and Europe for a service designed to allow multinationals the ability to provide their employees a suite of advanced calling features in the home or hotel environment. We expect to make it generally available next year. "And later this year, we expect to introduce a domestic telework solution targeted towards small office and home office users that leverages the AT&T CallVantage Service platform," she added. Broad array of features AT&T CallVantage 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; -- "Do Not Disturb," to receive calls only when wanted; -- "Locate Me," which rings up to five phones, all at once, or sequentially; -- "Voicemail with eFeatures," to listen to messages from any phone or PC and forward them to anyone on the Web; and -- "Personal Conferencing," to set up meetings with up to nine -- additional callers. In May, the company announced the first in an ongoing series of service innovations including the addition of an online, searchable "Phone Book." This new feature enables customers to store up to 250 names and phone numbers on their Personal Call Manager homepage with click-to-dial accessibility. The company also introduced a set of enhancements to simplify the management of calls and messages. These new capabilities were designed to enhance the customer experience and at no additional charge to the customer. More new features are planned for introduction later this year. All that is required for service is an easy-to-connect, plug-in telephone adapter (TA) provided by AT&T, a broadband Internet connection and regular telephone supplied by the customer. It is simple to use and easy for consumers to install -- typically in 10 minutes. AT&T CallVantage Service works with most cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband connections. The TA is compatible with most home computer networks and may be used in conjunction with various home network routers. 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. Promotional price extended The company has extended its special six-month introductory rate of $19.99 a month through August 31, 2004, and recently reduced the full retail price to $34.99 per month for all subscribers. The promotional rate includes a complete calling solution that provides unlimited local and long-distance domestic calling, including calls to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, discount rates for international calling, and a suite of advanced features that customers have never experienced before. "One thing that became absolutely apparent as we've entered market after market is that consumers appreciate the opportunity to test the VoIP waters with an introductory offer," said Martine. "We're very happy with the reception we've received to date and don't want to change a winning formula." As a special incentive, the company will offer AT&T CallVantage customers an opportunity to participate in its program that provides up to one month of free service (maximum of 12 months) for each referral and sale, where permissible by state law. To date, the service is generally available to consumers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Washington state. To learn more about AT&T CallVantage Service, consumers can visit http://www.CallVantage.com or call 1-866-816-3815, extension 70339. Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-12-2004/0002208297&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: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 12:56:18 -0400 Subject: U.S. Rejects Net Phone Call Tax Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11271~2267439,00.html By Ryan J. Donmoyer, Bloomberg News The Treasury Department said it doesn't plan to tax telephone calls made over the Internet after a lawmaker asked for a clarification of a notice the government issued last week. The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service said Friday the government will seek comment from telecommunications companies on whether telephone tax regulations first developed in 1965 need updating to keep pace with technological advances. "Nothing in the notice said anything about taxing" the technology known as voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP, Treasury Department spokeswoman Tara Bradshaw said. Full story at: http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11271~2267439,00.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:33:08 -0400 Subject: VoicePulse Appeals to Regulators for Federal Preemption on VOIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-12-2004/0002208607&EDATE= Company Executives Optimistic After Series of Meetings in Washington WASHINGTON, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- VoicePulse Inc. co-founder and CEO, Ravi Sakaria, concluded a series of meetings at the FCC and on Capitol Hill regarding the potential impact of regulating small Voice over IP service providers. Highlighting the portable nature of consumer VoIP service, Sakaria implored regulators to recognize consumer VoIP as an interstate service. Failing to do so, argued Sakaria, would allow individual states to subject VoIP carriers to common carrier regulation. "Burdening this emerging industry with interpreting and complying with 50 different sets of rules is something that small, innovative companies in this space just don't have the resources to do," said Sakaria. "Most of those companies would exit the industry or move outside the United States - either of which would be most unfortunate." Sakaria characterized the meetings as "productive and optimistic," and added, "it's clear that the folks at the FCC and members of Congress have put a lot of energy into understanding the powerful implications of VoIP technology as well as the importance of fostering growth of the industry." About VoicePulse VoicePulse is a New Jersey based communications company that uses its VoIP network to deliver advanced features and high-quality phone service to residential and small-business consumers. The company leads the industry in delivering innovative features and excellent customer service. For more information about VoicePulse, please visit http://www.voicepulse.com. VoicePulse is a trademark of VoicePulse Inc. http://www.voicepulse.com For more information, please contact: VoicePulse Inc. Rima Vaghasiya Phone: (732) 339-5100 rima@voicepulse.com SOURCE VoicePulse Inc. ------------------------------ From: sieler@allegro.com (Stan Sieler) Subject: Re: Indian Telemarketing Shop Service-Monitoring Line? Date: 12 Jul 2004 12:29:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com John R. Covert wrote in message news:: > There's an interesting number on the caller-id of my fax line. ... > (866) 383-0986 > If you call it back, you get a recording with a distinctive Indian > accent saying, "Please dial the extension number which you want to > monitor." I'm getting vspam calls on my cellphone for "Premier Financial Service" from that number ... despite asking to be put on their "don't call" list. When I call them back, I get the same message. Attempts at entering extension numbers have only resulted in their end hanging up on me :( ------------------------------ From: Tom Miskiewicz Subject: Definition Bandwidth Product Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:46:36 +0200 Organization: Global Access Telecommunications, Inc. Hi! Can someone familiar with the carrier terminology tell me please what are bandwidth products? Are Frame Realy and ATM bandwidth products? Thanks, Tom ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 08:20:48 -0700 From: Hammond of Texas Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say William Warren (the prototypical PHB) wrote: > Think about it: the only thing the business owner gets by turning off > SSID broadcast, restricting MAC addresses, and enabling WEP is a lot > of headaches and maintenance and complaints from his employees. The > default (open) installation works, the effort to restrict it and track > the restrictions and deal with the complaints and accomodate visitors > costs real money -- probably several times what the bandwidth costs - > so why wouldn't a businessman make a common-sense decision to ignore > the "problem"? Why? Oh ... probably because his idea of "common sense" completely discounts the very real, and potentially very serious issues that revolve around operating a completely unsecured AP. The cost to defend against lawsuit brought by someone suffering damages at the hands of the miscreant who used your wide-open AP will quickly outrun the cost of doing it right in the first place. Add to that the less tangible cost of damaged PR, etc. Planning on dropping the thing right into your LAN, like most "businessmen" do? What will it cost when that potential customer, "visiting" your site, manages to download your client lists, business strategy documents, trade secrets, etc. Furthermore, there are technological solutions to all of the objections raised above. Some are more elegant and transparent than others, but at any rate, they would allow any reasonable person to dismiss the "its too inconvenient to make it secure" complaint. A network administrator who installed and operated an unsecured AP on my network would get the sack in short order. ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 09:36:17 EDT Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? From an article in the June 2004 issue of Popular Communications magazine on computer-control of radios, especially scanners. The author of the article is Joe Cooper, whose e-mail address is given as : "BASIC was originally developed at Dartmouth College in 1964 and was first used on big mainframe computers. At that time the main programming language was FORTRAN, which was very complicated given the fact engineers and scientists originally designed it for their use." Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 08:02:01 -0700 From: Hammond of Texas Subject: Re: Norvergence -- Getting Out of a Matrix Contract Mark Yamasaki wrote: > Dear Mr. Townson, > I work for a small freight forwarding company here in California. We > were approached by Norvergence about a month ago. > To make a long story short, since you probably have heard too much on > this already, I want to know how I can close up any relations / > contracts with Norvergence and more importantly sever any obligations > to its equipment leasing "banks". > Here is our current situation > 1.Contract signed. ( I know, big mistake) Have they complied with the terms of the contract? Are your remedies, in the event of their failure, spelled out in the contract? ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:22:47 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations Mark Crispin writes: > From what I've read, it appears that the Norvergence customers > effectively purchased the equipment (at inflated prices) and paid for > an extended period of service in advance, financing it through a bank. > Worse, it seems that they actually sold the equipment to the bank and > leased it back. Kinda. The way I understand it, it's sort of like the "OEM rule" at online computer stores. For example, you can only buy OEM Windows if sold with a 'piece of computer equipment'. This is handled at some of these stores by bundling your order with an old BIOS ROM or a useless adapter cable, sold to you for a tiny extra charge. The deal with Norvergence is that they determined the value of five years of a customer's business, and then attached that value as a pricetag on this matrix box thing (the matrix box never even got used for anything in some cases). So, customer takes out a conventional business loan for the value of this piece of equipment, and then pays Norvergence with the loan's proceeds when approved. Norvergence has the whole 5 years in cash upfront, and the customer is paying off the loan on a massively overvalued, and possibly useless piece of gear. If they got through the whole 5 years it might have been a decent deal, but as it turns out nobody did. That may have been the plan all along, or maybe not -- we'll leave that for the courts to determine. I don't think you need my vote. The thing that amazes me is that Norvergence didn't make enough money to pay their bills doing this. They reported 10,000 customers, so even if you're taking a measly $5000 bucks from each one, that gives you $50 million to play with, and there were some reports here of people paying Norv a lot more than $5000 (hundreds of thousands in some cases). Somebody was lining their pockets with too much of the 'profits'. A charitable person would say that they didn't have a good long-term money manager. Other darker possibilities are equally or more likely. * -- * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Norvergence -- Getting out of a Matrix Contract Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 11:26:57 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when Mark Yamasaki wrote: > this already, I want to know how I can close up any relations / > contracts with Norvergence and more importantly sever any obligations > to its equipment leasing "banks". Talk to your lawyer TODAY. With all due respect to Pat, he's not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer, and even if we were, we wouldn't be *your* lawyer. Whatever it costs you to talk to your lawyer is nothing compared to what you may be on hook for if you don't. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I said the same thing to him. He should show his paperwork to an attorney, and while the attorney contemplates the whole thing he (and others similarly situated) should freeze all accounts payable to Norvergence. Release that money when your attorney advises you to do so, or a court orders you to do so, *not* when a bank or collection agency blusters at you. He won't 'get in trouble' on his credit or otherwise simply for referring those callers (I repeat, I doubt there will be any) to his attorney. PAT] ------------------------------ From: xlate102@yahoo.com (Lester) Subject: Will Headset From Nortel Office Phone Work With Cell Phone? Date: 12 Jul 2004 11:58:08 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have an extra Plantronics Polaris headset at work. Looks like it has a 4 pin connector. Is there a way I can modify it so I can use it with my Nokia cell phone? It looks much sturdier than most of the crap headsets they make specifically for Nokia. Thanks in advance. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You might check with Mike Sandman on this http://www.sandman.com . I bought from Mike an adapter socket for a Plantronics headset to use with my Nokia cell phone. He might have one to meet your specs also. Email to mike@sandman.com or check his catalog at http://www.sandman.com . The adapter plug I got cost around five or ten dollars. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Editor Subject: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:45:00 EDT This is *not* an invitation to turn the Digest into a political forum for the next election ... but ... I am wondering if you feel the net may well be a significant factor -- perhaps the biggest factor -- in the re-election or unseating of our resident president now in power at the November election? For example, there have been statements in some usenet news groups and other forums claiming Mr. Bush is planning secretly to re-instate the draft with the situation in Iraq being so tense (you know, the war that was declared over and won more than a year ago by the same president.) In response to the 'rumors' of draft re-instatement; President Bush in his weekly radio address recently declared it all a 'nasty lie designed to get me out of office' and he blamed it on 'certain elements on the net who have never liked American democracy, this Christian nation, etc, ad nauseum ...' Do any of you think the net is *that powerful* it can actually unseat the man in office? Just curious. 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 #329 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 13 22:48:15 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6E2mFA16618; Tue, 13 Jul 2004 22:48:15 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 22:48:15 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407140248.i6E2mFA16618@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 #330 TELECOM Digest Tue, 13 Jul 2004 22:48:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 330 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Bluetooth Security", Gehrmann/Persson/Smeets (Rob Slade) OneSetPrice Shut Down! (Mark Crispin) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Nick Landsberg) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Walt Howard) Re: Will Headset From Nortel Office Phone Work With Cell Phone? (Joseph) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (David Wilson) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Rob Warnock) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Scott Dorsey) EFFector 17.25: Action Alert - Call for PATRIOT Review, Not (M Solomon) EPIC Alert 11.13 (Monty Solomon) New Free Web Phone ! www.mpq.cc (taylortom100) Onvoy Invites Phone Companies to Jump on the Consumer VoIP (VOIP News) Zoom Into VoIP (VOIP News) Limited Listings (VOIP News) Jeff Pulver Looking For Beta Testers (VOIP News) Vonage(R) Activates 200,000th Line (VOIP News) Is Vonage Failing to Pay Affiliates? (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: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 12:42:42 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Bluetooth Security", Gehrmann/Persson/Smeets BKBLTSEC.RVW 20040622 "Bluetooth Security", Christian Gehrmann/Joakim Persson/Ben Smeets, 2004, 1-58053-504-6, U$79.00/C$114.95 %A Christian Gehrmann %A Joakim Persson %A Ben Smeets %C 685 Canton St., Norwood, MA 02062 %D 2004 %G 1-58053-504-6 %I Artech House/Horizon %O U$79.00/C$114.95 617-769-9750 artech@artech-house.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580535046/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580535046/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580535046/robsladesin03-20 %P 204 p. %T "Bluetooth Security" Part one presents the basics of Bluetooth security. Chapter one is an introduction to the Bluetooth protocol suite (mostly at the packet level), and also mentions a few security concepts (in a somewhat haphazard manner). The overview of Bluetooth security, in chapter two, could be clearer: some minutia (such as the bit lengths of various components of key generation) obscure the basic concepts, while other specifics (such as the algorithms used) are missing where they could support the text. Pairings and key management rely on a considerable amount of alphabet soup, making frequent references to the list of acronyms a necessity. The detailed descriptions make the explanations difficult, but would make cryptographic analysis possible for the determined reader. The algorithms are laid out in chapter four: although most are based on SAFER+ the greatest emphasis is given to the E(0) stream cipher. Chapter five looks at the encryption used in a broadcast to all members of a piconet. The discussion of security policy and access control, in chapter six, deals mostly with the services required, rather than provided. A lot of time is spent analysing cryptographic strength of the algorithms, in chapter seven, only to come to the conclusion that the greatest problem lies in pairing and tracking. Part two deals with Bluetooth security enhancements, still in development. Chapter eight discusses anonymity, in terms of varying the device address to avoid tracking, and the requirements for such a scenario. Improved key management, using asymmetric encryption or challenge-response type systems, is considered in chapter nine. Chapter ten deliberates on refinement of some standard Bluetooth applications. Bluetooth security is not well known, despite the proliferation of Bluetooth enabled devices. While this book has a number of shortcomings in terms of writing, the material provides an introduction to a number of important considerations. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004 BKBLTSEC.RVW 20040622 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me. - Alice Roosevelt Longworth http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: OneSetPrice Shut Down! Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:13:27 -0700 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing The Federal Trade Commission has shut down sleazy telemarketer OneSetPrice!! http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/07/nationalevent.htm Too bad their "house counsel" Gerald K. Burton (whose primary job function seemed to be to send threatening letters to people who complained about their illegal calls) isn't on the defendants list. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Nick Landsberg Reply-To: SPAMhukolautTRAP@SPAMattTRAP.net Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:02:59 GMT Editor wrote: > This is *not* an invitation to turn the Digest into a political forum > for the next election ... but ... I am wondering if you feel the net > may well be a significant factor -- perhaps the biggest factor -- in > the re-election or unseating of our resident president now in power at > the November election? For example, there have been statements in > some usenet news groups and other forums claiming Mr. Bush is planning > secretly to re-instate the draft with the situation in Iraq being so > tense (you know, the war that was declared over and won more than a > year ago by the same president.) In response to the 'rumors' of draft > re-instatement; President Bush in his weekly radio address recently > declared it all a 'nasty lie designed to get me out of office' and he > blamed it on 'certain elements on the net who have never liked > American democracy, this Christian nation, etc, ad nauseum ...' Do > any of you think the net is *that powerful* it can actually unseat the > man in office? Just curious. PAT] To answer your questions, pat, more or less in order. - No. I would not like this forum turned into a political forum (other than possibly the politics of stuff such as VOIP) - I do not feel that the net, or more specifically netnews, will be a significant factor. The reasons for this is that I believe that the vast majority of home internet users do not even know that "netnews" and the forums it presents, exist. Most folks acess the web via the major providers (AOL, MSN, Yahoo). I don't think I've ever seen a link on any of these pages to any of the "netnews" forum sites. How the various campaigns will use the net will definitely affect the outcome. But isn't that synonymous about how they use the media in general to affect the outcome? I would guess that they think of the net as yet another media outlet. NPL P.S. - Then again, given a fiasco such as Florida, a few votes either way could influence it. (By the way. Even though I am a Bush supporter, the quoted 537 vote difference is not really 537 votes. If 269 if the ballots have been counted the other way, the results would have been different. Assuming a Bush-Gore were the only choices. I shudder to think of how many recounts would have been ordered if the difference was one or two.) So, if in the next election, a "net" campaign can sway somewhere around 1,000 voters (for round numbers), it may play an impact. I doubt that anyone will be able to measure it, tho. "It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious" - A. Bloch [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: US Department of Homeland Security officials are giving very strong consideration to either *postponing or indefinitly cancelling the presidential election in November* following suggestions made by DeForest Soaries, Jr., chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission. The commission was established after the disputed 2000 presidential vote to help states deal with 'logistical problems' in administering their elections. Soaries, pastor of the 7000 member First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset is a Bush appointee, and after discussions with President Bush has come to the conclusion that al Qaeda terrorists are planning a large scale attack 'intended to disrupt the democratic process.' Pastor Soaries expressed much concern that no one had the legal authority to suspend or cancel a federal presidential election, and he has asked President Bush and Tom Ridge (of Homeland Security) to give him the authority to do so. See this week's NewsWeak magazine and Monday's CNN news http://www.cnn.com/2004/allpolitics/7/11/election.day.delay/index.html for details. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 22:50:49 MDT From: howard@ece.utah.edu (Walt Howard) > Do any of you think the net is *that powerful* it can actually > unseat the man in office? Well, moveon.org thought it could save Bill Clinton from the consequences of his sleaziness. Didn't work. Howard Dean thought he might wend his way to the Democratic nomination, by making much better use of the net than any of his competitors. Didn't work. The net and its users can help. I think they have derailed the Diebold e-voting machines, which were way too easy to hack. They can distribute news that various candidates would like to suppress. I certainly wish the net had more influence, if not power, because it's more libertarian than the general public and I'm libertarian myself. However, the majority of Americans are not that much influenced by what they see on the net, compared to what they get from elsewhere. Maybe in a dozen years the net authors will have that kind of influence. Not this time, IMHO. >>Walt [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I tend toward being libertarian myself and wish they stood even a chance in hell of getting elected, but that is so unrealistic in this country, where the Demopublicans and the Republicrats prevail. I will be interested however in seeing whether Pastor Soaries and his buddy Bush put their heads together and decide 'because of the risk of terrorism' to have the election in November called off, as per yesterday's CNN report and this week's Newsweak Magazine. Both of those news sources seem rather certain there will be some terrorist activities at the conventions later this month and next month. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Will Headset From Nortel Office Phone Work With Cell Phone? Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:56:36 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 12 Jul 2004 11:58:08 -0700, xlate102@yahoo.com (Lester) wrote: > I have an extra Plantronics Polaris headset at work. Looks like it > has a 4 pin connector. > Is there a way I can modify it so I can use it with my Nokia cell > phone? It looks much sturdier than most of the crap headsets they > make specifically for Nokia. It depends on which Nokia model you have. Some of the older ones such as in the 51XX/61XX/71XX lines had a "bar" connector for the headset while the 33XX, 82XX, 83XX had a mini plug with 4 metal connectors i.e. 3 rings with a tip with three rings dividing them as opposed to the normal 2.5 MM plugs which have 3 metal connectors with two rings seaparating them all. There are adapters available so that you can use non-standard plugs with the common 2.5 MM plugs. Do a google search "Nokia to 2.5MM" and you should find several hits. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? From: David Wilson Date: 13 Jul 2004 09:03:53 +1000 Organization: University of Wollongong > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I used to play silly little games like > that when I had my first computer, which was an OSI (Ohio Scientific) > C-1-P which was definitly not in vogue once Tandy came out with their > model 1. My first computer was also the C1P. 24x24 text display - very low res. > Definition: a 'perfect number' is any number > with no factors other than itself and '1'. '1' is perfect, as is > '3' and '7'. What is the next one and the one after that, and maybe > a few more? This sounds more like the definition of a 'prime number' and you are missing 2 and 5 from the list. See http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PerfectNumber.html for the definition of a perfect number (that series starts 6, 28, 496, 8128, ). David Wilson School of IT & CS, Uni of Wollongong, Australia [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are correct. It was "prime numbers" and not "perfect numbers", although we played both those games in the old days with OSI and Tandy Computers, writing programs to see who was fastest, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Organization: Rob Warnock, Consulting Systems Architect From: rpw3@rpw3.org (Rob Warnock) Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:26:23 -0500 As an annotation to what Daniel J McDonald wrote, PAT said: +--------------- | Definition: a 'perfect number' is any number with no factors other | than itself and '1'. '1' is perfect, as is '3' and '7'. +--------------- Uh ... I think you really meant "prime" there. A "perfect number" is something very different: a number which is equal to the sum of all of its factors (not including the number itself). The smallest perfect number is 6 (= 1 + 2 + 3), and the next few are 28, 496, 8128, and 33550336. See for more. Rob Warnock 627 26th Avenue San Mateo, CA 94403 (650)572-2607 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I did mean 'prime' and not 'perfect'; see my correction in the other message in this issue. Perfect numbers tend to alternate between a final digit of '8' or a final digit of '6' but I know the night we did that game the OSI was gasping for breath when it finally said '33550336' PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 13 Jul 2004 09:32:39 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) In article , wrote: > Pat: I think that a number of 6502 and other 8-bit machines did this, > bought the Basic and put it into Rom. Yes, as did the original IBM PC. You could run the ROM BASIC on it, or you could boot any number of operating systems from floppy, including MS-DOS, CP/M-86, or the UCSD P-System, all of which were available bundled with the machine. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:25:07 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.25: Action Alert - Call for PATRIOT Review, Not EFFector Vol. 17, No. 25 July 7, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 297th Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert - Call for PATRIOT Review, Not Expansion * Federal Court Rules in Favor of Paper Trail Reform in E-Voting * Support Verifiable Voting - Attend "The Computer Ate My Vote" on July 13th! * The Digital Television Liberation Project Starts Its Engines * EFF Announces Ten Most-Wanted Patents * Supreme Court Upholds Free Speech Rights in COPA Decision * Online Privacy "Eviscerated" by First Circuit Decision * Join EFF for Freedom Fest 2004 on August 4th - LinuxWorld Attendees Invited! * MiniLinks (17): The Law v. Email Privacy * Staff Calendar: 07.09.04 - 07.11.04 - Annalee Newitz and Wendy Seltzer speak at HOPE, New York, NY; 07.30.04 - 08.01.04 - Kevin Bankston, Annalee Newitz, Seth Schoen, and Wendy Seltzer speak at Defcon 12, Las Vegas, NV; 08.04.04 - EFF Holds Freedom Fest 2004, San Francisco, CA * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/25.php ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:25:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 11.13 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 11.13 July 12, 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.13.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] Supreme Court Upholds Block on Web Censorship Law [2] EPIC Calls for Suspension of Registered Traveler Program [3] Federal Court OKs Service Provider E-mail Interception [4] Judge Upholds Country's Strongest State Financial Privacy Law [5] Voter Identification Bills Introduced in Congress [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: Jennifer Government [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.13.html ------------------------------ From: taylortom100 Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 09:57:04 -0000 Subject: New Free Web Phone ! www.mpq.cc Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Hi to everybody and best greetings from Austria! The New English version of mpq.cc is now launched. In Europe more than 400,000 people are using this software for free phone calls including video and messaging. MPQ Webphone is free of charge and simple to use: download, install, and within a few minutes, reach friends and business partners via the MPQ network. Take a look. Best regards, Thomas ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 20:46:52 -0400 Subject: Onvoy Invites Phone Companies to Jump on the Consumer VoIP Wagon Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-12-2004/0002208719&EDATE= Minnesota-Based Firm Offers Innovative Way to Adopt 21st Century Telephony MINNEAPOLIS, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Onvoy, Inc., a Minneapolis-based provider of advanced telecommunications solutions, today announces a new wholesale product available to independent telephone companies: Bandwagon. This innovative product allows consumers to harness the power of broadband Internet connections to make local and long-distance telephone calls, with an easy-to-use and powerful Web interface to control phone service settings. Bandwagon provides a "killer application" to help phone companies increase the penetration of broadband connections throughout rural Minnesota, and allows them to expand their product portfolios with minimal capital or training investments. "Not since Onvoy helped bring long distance choice to Greater Minnesota through Centralized Equal Access has there been a product that will so clearly bolster independent telephone companies," says Paul Hoff, Vice President of Telecom Industry at Onvoy. "Bandwagon offers the latest in voice technology to phone companies of all sizes, and allows them to customize the service in any way they see fit. Pricing, bundling, minutes of use -- that's all decided by the phone companies. We'll even handle the back-office, upgrade and customer interface tasks. All of this in a neutrally-branded product that, to the end- user, looks as though it has been completely provided by the local phone company." Bandwagon maintains essential services such as CALEA and e911, is fully compliant with state and federal regulations, and leverages Onvoy's considerable experience in designing and implementing enterprise-class VoIP solutions. Bandwagon is currently being tested with several companies in Greater Minnesota, and will be available statewide this September. For more information, visit http://www.gobandwagon.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: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:58:52 -0400 Subject: Zoom Into VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3379211 By Colin C. Haley Anticipating the gradual decline of its dial-up modem business, Zoom Technologies is launching a Voice over Internet Protocol initiative. The firm's first product is a ADSL modem that can be bundled with the firm's new VoIP phone service. The offering is designed for out-of-the-box use and feature pay-as-you-go service as well as flat rate plans. Users can plug one or more phones into the box's ports to make VoIP calls or traditional calls, such as 911 dialing, local or toll-free dialing, or calls when the power fails. For VoIP calls, users hit "#" before the number. The device, which also ties in data features like a router, gateway, firewall, switch and USB port, will sell for about $100 through retailers, catalogs and online. It is compatible with Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems. "VoIP shouldn't be viewed as an add-on, but a basic part of a broadband connection," Terry Manning, Zoom's vice president of marketing, told internetnews.com. "That's why we chose to integrate it into an ADSL box." [Comment: I am unimpressed. What happens if you want more lines than Zoom's box can support? And, how many VoIP service providers will actually want to support this equipment, rather than the equipment they now know and trust? Sometimes too much integration is not a good thing. If anything I'd rather see VoIP adapters built into routers, so that they could be used with whatever broadband connection is available and so that VoIP traffic could still receive priority over other traffic transiting the router.] Full story at: http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3379211 Additional comments at: http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/48386 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:27:28 -0400 Subject: Limited listings Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1089705428265020.xml As Mobile, Web Usage Grow, Published Numbers Shrink BY JEFF MAY Star-Ledger Staff Getting in touch by phone has never been easier. Wireless customers can be reached anywhere there's a strong enough signal from a cell tower. People who use Internet-based phones can be rung up anywhere in the world, as long as they have access to a high-speed data connection. There's just one hitch: A caller has to know the right digits to dial, and that could become much trickier in the years to come. The problem is, most listings for wireless and broadband phones are not currently captured in traditional directories. That may not be a big deal now, but as more people rely on those alternative technologies for their primary home phone, the gaps in publicly accessible numbers will grow. We already have the Do Not Call registry, which is designed to foil telemarketers. This is another order of magnitude. Think of it as the "Cannot Call" list. "A published telephone number is an invitation for a total stranger to call you," said Jeff Pulver, a leading advocate of Internet-based phone service. "I don't mind missing phone calls that I don't want." Full story at: http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1089705428265020.xml ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:41:09 -0400 Subject: Jeff Pulver Looking For Beta Testers Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from The Jeff Pulver Blog at: http://192.246.69.231/jeff/personal/index.html Looking for IP Communication Visionaries We're looking for some beta testers for our new software client that combines exciting features of instant messaging, presence, VoIP and social networking running on top of the Free World Dialup network. If you have interest and time in the next few weeks we need your help. The pulver.com team has been working for a while on developing this client and we're ready to start bringing in technical visionaries to get an early look at what we've been working on and to provide us feedback. You can help set the direction for the next pulver.com innovation. If you have time to dedicate to join our beta test, please send me an email with your contact details to: jeff.pulver@gmail.com. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 16:32:17 -0400 Subject: Vonage(R) Activates 200,000th Line Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-13-2004/0002209431&EDATE= First Broadband Telephony Provider to Reach 200,000 Line Milestone EDISON, N.J., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Vonage, the leading broadband telephony provider, today announced the activation of 200,000 total lines on its network, doubling its subscriber-base in less than six months since reaching the 100,000 line mark. "Again, Vonage has set the benchmark, proving its value proposition to a marketplace starved for full-featured, cost-effective alternatives to the incumbent local exchange carriers," said Jeffrey A. Citron, chairman and CEO of Vonage Holdings Corporation. "We have consistently doubled our customer- base every six months and expect to exceed year end estimates by a wide margin." Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-13-2004/0002209431&EDATE= ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:43:52 -0400 Subject: Is Vonage Failing to Pay Affiliates? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com A thread on BroadbandReports.com suggests that Vonage may not be paying its affiliates in a timely manner. The thread in question is here: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,10754742~mode=flat ------------------------------ 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 #330 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 14 00:33:56 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6E4Xud17526; Wed, 14 Jul 2004 00:33:56 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 00:33:56 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407140433.i6E4Xud17526@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 #331 TELECOM Digest Wed, 14 Jul 2004 00:34:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 331 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (William Warren) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (charlie3) WTS: Cisco AS5300, AS5350, AS5400, AS54HPX, AS5850 (Shane Breen) Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? (T. Sean Weintz) Serious Flaws in Bluetooth Security Lead to Disclosure (Monty Solomon) Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software? (Lisa Hancock) Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (N. Rakeertu) Congressional Panel to Vote on Bill to Ban VoIP Taxes (VOIP News) Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off (charlie3) 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: William Warren Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Organization: Comcast Online Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 03:29:38 GMT Hammond of Texas (An Organ Grinder With A Chip On His Shoulder and A Monkey On His Back) wrote in message news:telecom23.329.6@telecom-digest.org: > William Warren (the prototypical PHB) wrote: >> Think about it: the only thing the business owner gets by turning off >> SSID broadcast, restricting MAC addresses, and enabling WEP is a lot >> of headaches and maintenance and complaints from his employees. The >> default (open) installation works, the effort to restrict it and track >> the restrictions and deal with the complaints and accomodate visitors >> costs real money -- probably several times what the bandwidth costs - >> so why wouldn't a businessman make a common-sense decision to ignore >> the "problem"? > Why? Oh ... probably because his idea of "common sense" completely > discounts the very real, and potentially very serious issues that > revolve around operating a completely unsecured AP. I meant "real" as in "real world", not "real" as in "You really need to come down from the Ivory Tower". The issues may be "potentially very serious" in Never-Never land, but even Peter Pan had to grow up. > The cost to defend against lawsuit brought by someone suffering > damages at the hands of the miscreant who used your wide-open AP > will quickly outrun the cost of doing it right in the first place. I don't care if it outruns the cost of building my own private fiber-optic network over transcontinental distances. Insurance covers nonsense lawsuits, and before you go yelling at that particular wolf, take a couse in business law 101: you may as well sue the phone company for allowing a crank call. > Add to that the less tangible cost of damaged PR, etc. It's not "less" tangible, it's not tangible, for the same reason that nobody blames a bank that gets robbed. Hell, Microsoft has been hacked, more than once, and nobody even raised an eyebrow. Get real. > Planning on dropping the thing right into your LAN, like most > "businessmen" do? What will it cost when that potential customer, > "visiting" your site, manages to download your client lists, > business strategy documents, trade secrets, etc. Lan, schman: encode the data on berilium plaques, bury it under a mountain, and hire a 24/7/365 team of ex secret service agents to guard it if you want -- you'll just waste a lot of money. I said before that "security" is a red herring to me. You, obviously, don't like fish, and (also obviously) have seen "Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross" too many times. But, what the hell, I'll give you a serious answer: every business with a customer list worth protecting has schill addresses on it that actually belong to a few of the senior sales staff. They get calls, that means someone bribed a clerk to get the list, and they take the obvious action of simply alerting the customers and the police. Had you ever actually been responsible for any tangible business asset, you'd know that nobody trusts cold callers anyway: business is about relationships, not secrets. > Furthermore, there are technological solutions to all of the > objections raised above. Some are more elegant and transparent than > others, but at any rate, they would allow any reasonable person to > dismiss the "its too inconvenient to make it secure" complaint. Ewww, I'm so ashamed: I'm not a "reasonable" person in your eyes. I've scheduled a moment of silence for my ego. .... OK, time's up. The "technological solutions" would mean changing our 802.11b cards in every machine that had them -- a cost of about $70/machine, even assuming you're not in a union environment -- and they wouldn't improve security anyway, since one stolen laptop or hacked pc or bribed clerk would deliver the encryption codes to those in need. I said before, and will now repeat: that's what strong end-to-end encryption is for, because otherwise the data leaks our at the weakest link, which is the people and not the machines. > A network administrator who installed and operated an unsecured AP on > my network would get the sack in short order. ... until the manager with a deadline to meet calls him up and says he's bringing in a trainer to do a boot camp on some new software, and he wants a war room set up with wifi running by tomorrow morning. The elegance and transparency of your job prospects will become quickly obvious to you if you spout any of that nonsense in an actual business with a schedule to meet and actual people in charge who only care if it works. And, since you choose to self-annoint yourself the expert, just which network is yours? Please, email me off-list and supply the details of your annual budget, the number of IT staff, the number of stations, and the number of nodes. (Starbucks and your mother's house don't count, sorry). You must have a lot of fun erecting endless rows of dominoes that fall over on your command. Have you won any records? Bill ------------------------------ From: charlie@cdsdetroit.com (charlie3) Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Date: 13 Jul 2004 20:01:10 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I think that people who manage networks for businesses have to be more careful because they are accountable to bosses and problems can cost money. There are people who intentionally leave their connections open and share for free with others. I am not aware this is illegal. I have my own cable modem connection and two WIFI radios to cover my property. I keep them moderately secure but only because there is no way to manage bandwidth sharing in a way I'd be willing to do. I would not tolerate a neighbor replacing my connection with his own paid account but I'd have no problem helping a person with a reduced amount of bandwidth for a temporary need. If I had software that could do this I'd use it and share my connection in that limited way. There is an unprotected radio nearby that my computer constantly logs onto on it's own. If i could locate the guy I'd ask him to secure his radio just to avoid the annoyance it causes. If an internet connection is important you aren't going to want to rely on what a neighbor might do. If I'm traveling and need to download my email I'll grab it through the first wireless connection my radio finds. Fortunately free connections are proliferating in coffee shops, parks land libraries. I don't think this will hurt the sale of private accounts in the long run and might promote them. ------------------------------ From: Shane Breen Subject: Want to Sell: Cisco AS5300, AS5350, AS5400, AS54HPX, AS5850 Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 23:39:17 -0400 Organization: Doretel.communications, Inc. DORETEL Communications, Inc. has the following Cisco to sell: I will work with you on the prices so please let me know where you need to be at to send me a PO:) These units can be Registered and Smart-neted. We have these in stock and ready to ship with 90 day warranty! AS535-2E1-60-AC AS535-2T1-48-AC AS535-4E1-120-AC AS535-4E1-108-AC AS535-4T1-96-AC AS535-8E1-216-AC AS535-8T1-192-AC AS5400-8E1-210-AC AS5400-8E1-240-AC=20 AS5400-8T1-192-AC=20 AS5400-16T1-384-AC AS5400-16E1-480-AC AS5400-CT3-648-AC AS54HPX- 16T1-384-AC AS54HPX-16E1-480-AC AS54HPX-CT3-648-AC We have the following used gear: AS5300-96-VOIP-A AS5300-120-VOIP-A AS5850's we have them coming in let me know the config you need. The right services, the right products, the right price ... from the people you trust. Please visit our website at: www.doretel.com **For all your Cisco AS5300/AS5350AS5400/AS54HPX & AS5850 visit www.doretel.com** Shane Breen Doretel Communications, Inc. Director Of Sales & Marketing Office: 404.808.4022 Fax: 404.521.4639 sbreen@doretel.com AIM: shanebreen2003 www.doretel.com ------------------------------ From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:45:34 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A 'top poster' is someone who reprints > the entire message (to which he is replying) at the top then prints > his reply below that rather than putting his reply first and then > follows up with a few pertinent tidbits of the message being replied > to. Some people do not care for that posting procedure, having to > read the entire (original) message twice. Now, some people say it > is the other way around: The reply posted **on top** and then the > entire original message repeated below. Either way, a good rule of > thumb is **hold quoted text to a bare minimum.** I suggest keep at > least 50 percent or more of the text in your reply as your *original* > work and hold quoting to less than 50 percent, preferably 10 or 20 > percent if possible without losing the context, etc. PAT] Actually a top poster is one who puts his reply at the top of the post, and has the quoted text he is replying to below it. It's a no-no in the internet etiquette RFC. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 15:17:22 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Serious Flaws in Bluetooth Security Lead to Disclosure of Data http://www.thebunker.net/release-bluestumbler.htm Summary In November 2003, Adam Laurie of A.L. Digital Ltd. discovered that there are serious flaws in the authentication and/or data transfer mechanisms on some Bluetooth enabled devices. Specifically, three vulnerabilities have been found: Firstly, confidential data can be obtained, anonymously, and without the owner's knowledge or consent, from some Bluetooth enabled mobile phones. This data includes, at least, the entire phonebook and calendar, and the phone's IMEI. Secondly, it has been found that the complete memory contents of some mobile phones can be accessed by a previously trusted ("paired") device that has since been removed from the trusted list. This data includes not only the phonebook and calendar, but media files such as pictures and text messages. In essence, the entire device can be "backed up" to an attacker's own system. Thirdly, access can be gained to the AT command set of the device, giving full access to the higher level commands and channels, such as data, voice and messaging. This third vulnerability was identified by Martin Herfurt, and they have since started working together on finding additional possible exploits resulting from this vulnerability. Finally, the current trend for "Bluejacking" is promoting an environment which puts consumer devices at greater risk from the above attacks. http://www.thebunker.net/release-bluestumbler.htm ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: How Much Does Bill Gates Know About His Software These Days? Date: 13 Jul 2004 13:30:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Wesrock@aol.com wrote > "BASIC was originally developed at Dartmouth College in 1964 and was > first used on big mainframe computers. At that time the main > programming language was FORTRAN, which was very complicated given the > fact engineers and scientists originally designed it for their use." I'm not sure I'd call FORTRAN "very complicated"; one didn't have to know all of it to do simple kinds of work. However, it was/is more complicated than BASIC. It should be noted that BASIC was developed as an interactive time-sharing language, in which users communicated to the computer with Teletype machines. FORTRAN was originally a batch language. It was much easier (and more fun) to enter and run a BASIC program on a Teletype than keypunching and submitting a batch FORTRAN job. However, if extensive printouts were required or if the program was long and complex, going batch was a better way to go. The work of most students, however, tended to be simple and adaptable to BASIC. When mini-computers and personal-computers came out, their manufacturers eventually included BASIC as a function; the IBM PC came with various versions of it. (I wonder if Windows 2000 even bothers to include QuickBASIC anymore; it certainly should for compatibility purposes.) Gates and Co. got involved at that point writing compilers/interpreters for PCs. Gates most certainly did not invent BASIC, although his later versions expanded beyond the 1970s timesharing versions; and of course his VisualBASIC went far beyond that. The PC versions had a big advantage over the Teletype: The screens were much faster and could do more things. Also, PCs had their own storage and was private as opposed to being on a shared mainframe. The biggest bonus was price. I remember when I first got a home PC, a 286, which cost less yet was faster than a Teletype. To run BASIC (included with MS-DOS) I didn't even need to be online and my printer was faster and of course I had the screen. I bought the QuickBASIC compiler and that made programs run fast. Later I bought the Professional BASIC compiler (which I never ended up using). I don't think commercial time sharing (such as General Electric's service) was that cheap. ------------------------------ From: nrackeertu@cliornuwta.mailexpire.com (N. Rakeertu) Subject: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: 13 Jul 2004 18:47:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com It seems to me that the key here is the relationship between the leasing companies and Norvergence. If the leasing companies knew that Norvergence was wildly inflating the value of the equipment (and it seems likely that they did) then I believe a case could be made that the leasing companies took the assigned leases subject to the defenses that the customers had against Norvergence. The customers have plenty of defenses against Norvergence, and would therefore probably not have to pay anything on the leases. I think that at some point in the proceedings the leasing companies HAD TO KNOW that Norvergence was selling the customers a pig in a poke. I think that the leasing companies had knowledge that the customers were very dissatisfied, and that Norvergence was, in many if not most cases, not fulfilling its end of the bargain. Thus I think it's arguable that the leasing companies were complicit in the Norvergence scam. Another factoid of much interest: the leasing companies routinely sent out notices to the customers that the equipment had be be insured for the capitalized value of the equipment, which ranged from $20,000 to over $30,000 depending on the deal. Yet the leasing companies must have known that the true value of the equipment was in most cases less than $5,000. Thus I think it might be argued that the leasing companies were guilty of attempted insurance fraud by requiring greatly excess insurance on equipment that they knew (or should have known) wasn't worth anywhere near what they leased it for. What needs to happen here, in my view, is that the customers of the various leasing companies (CIT, Popular, OFC Capital, Partners Equity Capital, et al) need to band together and file class action lawsuits against them. The Internet is a perfect vehicle for bringing these various groups together. Someone should start a portal where customers of the various sites can meet up and band together to defend themselves. Once assembled into groups, the customers could seek declaratory relief that the leases are unenforceable, and that the leasing companies took the assignments from Norvergence SUBJECT TO any defenses that the customer had against Norvergence. I really think that faced with such lawsuits the leasing companies would back off. I don't think they want to get into discovery on this one. I suspect that discovery would show a lot more complicity on the part of the leasing companies in the Norvergence fiasco than they would like to have made public. N. Rackeertu [TELECOm Digest Editor's Note: Have I been saying essentially this same thing since the Norvergence flap first started or was I talking only to a rock somewhere? Everytime I print here a message of mine saying 'freeze all accounts payable to Norvergence' I get all sorts of replies saying my advice is bad and how all the Norvergence customers will get sued and their credit ruined if they take my self-help advice which is such a crock of baloney I feel like making myself a sandwich or two. I do concede it makes sense to hand over all your paperwork to your lawyer, put the matrix box away safely where the company can get it back it they want it back (also unlikely) then put your money away and get on with your life otherwise. That 'holder in due course' routine is such a laugh in this instance. That's what the loan companies claimed in the encyclopedia door-to-door sales scam many years ago also; so let's all hold our breath until we turn blue in the face while we wait for the leasing companies (i.e. 'bank') to quit their blustering and bullying and acting-out and get down to the business of suing everyone and ruining their credit. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 22:36:12 -0400 Subject: Congressional Panel to Vote on Bill to Ban VoIP Taxes Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5268319.html By Declan McCullagh CNET News.com A U.S. Senate bill that would ban states from taxing and regulating Internet phone calls will face its first hurdle in a committee vote next week. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., said Tuesday that the Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a vote on his voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) bill on July 20 at 9:30 am. If approved by the committee, the bill -- which is moving forward at an unusually rapid pace -- would be sent to the full Senate for a floor vote that could take place this year. "It is a simple choice for members: vote to establish a clear legal regime based on technological innovation and consumer choice or vote in favor of multilayered regulation of VoIP that will let chaos reign," Sununu said in a statement. "Those who use e-mail and instant messaging should know, if members vote to regulate Internet applications such as VoIP, those technologies are next." Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5268319.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: charlie@cdsdetroit.com (charlie3) Subject: Re: Internet Phone Service For Every Home Not Far Off Date: 13 Jul 2004 21:12:24 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I just put a 15' mast on the roof of my remote rural farmhouse to get a landbased wireless broad band internet service from a 300' tower about 20 miles away. The performance is the equal of any other broadband service I've used including the Comcast cable connection I've used in the city for the past six years. I got Vonage VOIP phone service recenty and I'm happy with it. The Vonage box travels with me to and from the city and farmhouse. I works great in both places. I will shortly drop the POTS phone services in both locations. I would not have the confidence to do this except that I have a cell phone that works well in both places. VIOP phone is not as rock solid as the old fashioned phone but I cheerfully accept that for the other benefits. BTW, if Vonage can't communicate with my Vonage box for any reason incoming calls are automatically routed to my cell phone. The most important feature of Vonage for me is its ability to simultaneously ring my home and cell phones and allow me to answer with either one. With this arrangement no one needs my cell phone number. I never use cell phone minutes in th city or the farmhouse. Simultaneous ring is set and forget, unlike call forwarding. With this arrangement I need a lot fewer cell phone minutes. The $30 per month that Vonage costs buys 600 Verizon cell phone minutes, not enough to replace the Vonage phone. I saved enough money by dropping the farmhouse phone and the dialup service, I maintained for use at the farm, to pay for the wireless broad band connection. Dropping the city POTS phone saves enough to pay for the VONAGE VOIP phone and part of the cell phone. I have unlimited U.S. calling on the cell phone nights and weekends and 24/7 unlimited minutes on Vonage. I intend to stop paying for POTS service as soon as possible. Millions more people will do the same. If this happens as fast as it might there will be some spectacular telephone company failures. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And that would really break your heart, wouldn't it. I know I could not split from Southwestern Bell fast enough, and I would not have a landline phone at all these days (opting to use a cell phone and Vonage) if it were not that I like and am personally aquainted with the owner of our local telco, Prairie Stream, and like his personal service, so I keep my landline phone for that reason only. 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 #331 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 15 01:53:22 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6F5rMs29041; Thu, 15 Jul 2004 01:53:22 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 01:53:22 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407150553.i6F5rMs29041@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 #332 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Jul 2004 01:53:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 332 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Apple Ships New AirPort Express With AirTunes (Monty Solomon) Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (Paul Vader) Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (Lisa Hancock) Norvergence Question (Billy Wickline) Norvergence (Ron Hubbard) The Offline Wifi Hotspot Directory is Back (Riverwalk Mobile) Long Distance; How to Figure Out Best Current Promotion (Don Saklad) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (ranck@vt.edu) Re: DECT - Telephony (Desk) Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? (Matt Ackeret) Virtual PBX competitors (John Bartley) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Hammond of Texas) Last Thoughts: Why Does it Make a Difference? (Lisa Minter) 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, 14 Jul 2004 09:25:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Ships New AirPort Express With AirTunes Over 80,000 Pre-orders for World's First 802.11g Mobile Base Station CUPERTINO, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today announced it has begun shipping AirPort Express(TM), the world's first 802.11g mobile base station that features wireless Internet connections and USB printing that can be used at home or on the road to bring wireless freedom to hotel rooms with broadband connections. AirPort Express also features both analog and digital audio outputs that can be connected to a home stereo, and together with AirTunes(TM) music networking software gives users a simple and inexpensive way to wirelessly stream music from iTunes(R) on their Mac(R) or PC to any room in the house. Apple has received more than 80,000 pre-orders for AirPort Express, which was introduced last month. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42487099 ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 15:22:39 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations nrackeertu@cliornuwta.mailexpire.com (N. Rakeertu) writes: > It seems to me that the key here is the relationship between the > leasing companies and Norvergence. If the leasing companies knew that It's not a lease, at least no Norv customer has said it was. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) Subject: Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: 14 Jul 2004 13:34:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com nrackeertu@cliornuwta.mailexpire.com (N. Rakeertu) wrote > It seems to me that the key here is the relationship between the > leasing companies and Norvergence. If the leasing companies knew that > Norvergence was wildly inflating the value of the equipment (and it > seems likely that they did) Playing devil's advocate here -- wasn't the customer not only leasing a physical box, but also a service that was in essence paid in advance? Also, was the box and service the collateral for the lease, or was it the customer's own credit? I really think the issue hinges on the exit clauses, if any. What happens, for example, if a customer goes out of business (or business is greatly reduced) and no longer needs the service? Are they still stuck with the full lease? I would think a lease would also include performance clauses to protect the customer. If you lease a new car and three months into it the engine blows up, are you still responsible for the terms of the lease? > The customers have plenty of defenses against Norvergence Why would they? The company went broke. Companies do that all the time and anyone who is owed money (customer or creditor) has to get in line at bankruptcy court and file a claim. If you were to buy a new machine and the manufacturer goes broke, you as the customer are stuck if you need warranty repairs -- the manufacturer is gone and there is no one around to fix it for you. It is for these reasons that certain critical financial companies are protected by the government or insurace (including insurance companies themselves). Bank despositors are insured by the FDIC. Pensions are covered (in the past, if your employer went broke, your pension was gone). Sometimes industries cover for each other, such as honoring of airline tickets. But everyday business transactions are not so protected. You often hear sad tales of people who pay a big deposit and book a wedding hall only for the hall to go broke, leaving them no place to have their wedding and out all the money. It is for all these reasons that people must be careful with whom they do business with, especially when it involves a lot of money or a critical service (and telephones are a critical service). Sometimes even reputable long standing companies go broke. But usually such companies do so honorably with at least enough cash so that employees are paid and prepaid accounts are covered. When the Penn Central railroad went broke, employees continued to be paid and the trains never stopped running. It was primarily the investors who got burned (though some suppliers did as well.) Other troubled companies sell out on their own, selling their customer assets and obligations to a competitor so the customers continue to get served. > I think that at some point in the proceedings the leasing companies > HAD TO KNOW that Norvergence was selling the customers a pig in a > poke. But was it really doing that? Maybe the business model just failed. Maybe the company stole the money. In either case, the leasing companies wouldn't know that until too late. > Yet the leasing companies must have known that the true value of the > equipment was in most cases less than $5,000. Thus I think it might > be argued that the leasing companies were guilty of attempted > insurance fraud by requiring greatly excess insurance on equipment > that they knew (or should have known) wasn't worth anywhere near > what they leased it for. That is questionable. Insurance companies do not pay more than the actual value (either depreciated or replacement depending on your policy) regardless of how much you insure it for. If you buy a beat up old car for $500 and insure it as worth $100,000, you'll still only get $500 regardless of what you paid in premiums. Insurance companies always warn not to overinsure. > What needs to happen here, in my view, is that the customers of the > various leasing companies ... need to band together and file class > action lawsuits against them. It depends on the amount of individual losses. For some, the time, effort, aggravation, and legal fees wouldn't be worth it. For others, it might be a good idea, although there is a burden of proof. One must know the general leasing law to define the duties of the leasing companies as well as obviously the contract with the customer. In the event that actual fraud (intentional deception) is found, then the district attorney should be brought in. ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Billy Wickline Subject: Norvergence Question Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 10:02:33 -0700 Hello, I run the Accounting Department for a small business in San Diego. I realize the forum has been flooded with questions on this issue, but I have not seen this specific situation posted yet, and was wondering if anyone could offer their input. We signed the contract for ECD and whatnot on 6/23/04. Due to vacations and whatnot, the matrix box was not going to be installed until 7/7/04. Obviously, on the 5th we received a call stating that all "Unlimited Calling Circuitry was on hold for an indeterminable amount of time". Obviously, with the bankruptcy I don't feel like waiting around to figure out how long. Anyways, the equipment was never delivered, and from what I can tell they did not begin pulling our long distance carriers. I have advised the receiving people not to accept any shipments that look like they could be telephones, or coming from NorVergence. My thought process is that if we never accept the technology, we cannot rent it per the terms of the contract. Since we have not received any of the technology, are we "safer" than most companies already into the term? Any thoughtful input would be much appreciated. Should I tell the bank to stop automatic withdrawals from NorVergence? Can they legally charge me for equipment NEVER received or used? Thanks for your time ... Billy Wickline IT / Accounting Associate AES Due Diligence, Inc. 4909 Murphy Canyon Rd. Suite 301 San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: 858-569-0211 Fax: 858-569-0275 ------------------------------ From: Ron Hubbard Subject: Norvergence Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 16:21:29 -0500 Patrick, I saw your thread on-line and I am interested in seeing the article you spoke of. We are an Agency for SBC and have many customers locked into the scam that Norvergence was pulling off. We can take care of their dial tone, LD and wireless but I'm assisting several owners that are trying to piece together as much on them as possible to get out of the bank note. If you could forward the link (the one on the thread timed out) I would appreciate it. And if you have any other information that could help these small business owners we would appreciate it. Thanks, Ron Hubbard Southwestern Integrators CEO 210) 564-0022 Voice 210) 590-4676 Fax ron@southwesternintegrators.com ------------------------------ From: asnicholasjr@comcast.net (Riverwalk Mobile) Subject: The Offline Wifi Hotspot Directory is Back Date: 14 Jul 2004 20:44:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We've updated it and will begin delivering at no charge to registered subscribers (we don't sell or rent our list!) monthly again. Thousands of locations throughout North America listed ... able to access on your PC, laptop, Palm OS or PocketPC device. www.riverwalkmobile.com ------------------------------ From: Don Saklad Subject: Long Distance; How to Figure Best Current Promotion Offered Date: 15 Jul 2004 00:06:32 -0400 Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science For your Cambridge Massachusetts residential wall wired telephone line, what is the best current promotion offered for a long distance carrier? ------------------------------ From: ranck@vt.edu Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:56:14 UTC Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA Nick Landsberg wrote: > - No. I would not like this forum turned into a political forum (other > than possibly the politics of stuff such as VOIP) And, I agree. I get enough of that in other non-political fora. > How the various campaigns will use the net will definitely affect the > outcome. But isn't that synonymous about how they use the media in > general to affect the outcome? I would guess that they think of the > net as yet another media outlet. For most practical purposes of a politician the net *is* just another media outlet. It's a lot less controlable in some ways, but with experience the pols will learn to use it for their own agendas. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: US Department of Homeland Security > officials are giving very strong consideration to either *postponing > or indefinitly cancelling the presidential election in November* They have no legal standing to do so. I know they are asking to have a law passed to enable them, but they would need a Constitutional amendment to actually be able to do this. That certainly isn't going to happen. I doubt that Congress will even consider the idea in a serious way. > Bush has come to the conclusion that al Qaeda terrorists are planning > a large scale attack 'intended to disrupt the democratic process.' While I don't think Bush would exactly welcome such an attack close to the election, I do think something like that would almost guarantee his re-election. Al Qaeda don't seem to be the brightest bulbs on the tree, so they might actually believe that another upset like in Spain would occur. They would be wrong to believe that. Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va. ------------------------------ From: desk.exp@skynet.be (Desk) Subject: Re: DECT - Telephony Date: 14 Jul 2004 10:27:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com desk.exp@skynet.be (Desk) wrote in message news:: > Situation: > I have a PABX connected to the telephone network. This PABX is sending > the incoming calls to my DECT's on my desk. > Problem: > When somebody calls we most of the time the handsets are ringing, but > sometimes when I pick up the handset the conversation is disconnected > immediately when I pick up the phone. > We changed every component, but the problem is still there. > What can be the reason for this disconnect? What do I need to > investigate? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if your two problems described > above, (1) phone 'rings' but you get no audible signal and (2) pick up > a phone and the conversation in progress gets disconnected are somehow > related. Are the two problems both on the same installation? Did you > swap out the components after (1), or (2) or both? PAT] Indeed the problems are on the same installation. The components are swapped on both situations. ------------------------------ From: mattack@vax.hanford.org (Matt Ackeret) Subject: Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 20:46:10 UTC Organization: Apple Computer, Inc In article , Jack Decker wrote: > Pardon me for being clueless, but what the heck is a "top-poster"? I > hope I'm not the only one who didn't get that. > Jack > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A 'top poster' is someone who reprints > the entire message (to which he is replying) at the top then prints > his reply below that rather than putting his reply first and then > follows up with a few pertinent tidbits of the message being replied > to. You have it backwards. Top-posting is when someone puts their *reply* at the top, and quotes the entire message below. It makes replies much harder to read, because we read English top-down, and it just makes more sense to read the edited quotes for context, then the new content afterwards. If most people who insist on top-posting would simply _remove_ the original message, the problem would largely be solved, because most people who top-post are not directly responding to specific points in the original message anyway. top-posting: It's just a bad idea. ------------------------------ From: John Bartley Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 07:36:38 -0800 Subject: Virtual PBX Competitors Who are the major competitors to Virtual PBX, for folks who don't want to maintain their own phone switch? Anyone here have experience with the Virtual PBX service? Thank you kindly. John Bartley K7AAY Talk More, Pay Less with Net2Phone Direct(R), up to 1500 minutes free! http://www.net2phone.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?143 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 08:43:04 -0700 From: Hammond of Texas Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say William Warren wrote: > And, since you choose to self-annoint yourself the expert, just which > network is yours? Please, email me off-list and supply the details of > your annual budget, the number of IT staff, the number of stations, > and the number of nodes. (Starbucks and your mother's house don't > count, sorry). I'll summarize by saying that my resume includes the titles CIO and VP, which means that a big part of my job was convincing "real world businessmen" like you that security was a very real concern and that they ignored it at their peril. I've heard your mindless rationale before, ad nauseum. It still defies logic, and bespeaks a dangerous ignorance and/or a greed unique that of the compulsive gambler. ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Last Thought: Why Does it Matter? Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 22:39:58 -0500 I wanted to share with you one of my favorite stories of the boy on the beach with starfish. This comes from today's issue of Meridian Magazine, an online journal for LDS people and their friends. A well-known author was vacationing on a beautiful coast. One morning, very early, he was walking along the beach. In the distance he saw a lone figure dancing. Fascinated by this celebration of the dawn, he moved closer. It was then he realized that the young man was not dancing, but was picking objects up from the beach and tossing them out into the sea with a graceful movement. As he approached the young man, he saw that he was throwing starfish. "Why in the world are you throwing starfish into the water?" he asked. "If the starfish are still on the beach when the tide goes out and the sun rises higher in the sky, they will die," replied the young man as he continued tossing them out to sea. "That's ridiculous! There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. You can't really believe that what you're doing could possibly make a difference?" the observer countered. The young man picked up another starfish, paused thoughtfully, and remarked as he tossed it out into the waves, "It makes a difference to this one." *** 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, Meridian Magazine, an online daily publica- tion for LDS people and their friends. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ 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 #332 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 15 13:49:20 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6FHnKV06474; Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:49:20 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:49:20 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407151749.i6FHnKV06474@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 #333 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:49:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 333 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Newark Star-Ledger: Norvergence Service Could End Today (Isaiah Beard) Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (Isaiah Beard) Re: Norvergence Question (Lisa Hancock) Re: Norvergence Question (William Van Hefner) Re: Long Distance; How to Figure Best Current Promotion (Joseph) Re: Long Distance; How to Figure Best Current Promotion (Lisa Hancock) How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord (Don Saklad) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Charles Cryderman) Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say (Scott Dorsey) Frequency and Timeslot (Karthik) Diploma in Embedded Systems (Sagar Singh) Powell: FCC Forging Ahead on VOIP 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Newark Star-Ledger: Norvergence Service Could End Today Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 11:14:55 -0400 BY HENRY C. JACKSON Star-Ledger Staff Customers of NorVergence could be without telephone and Internet services as early as 5 p.m. today after the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which entails liquidation of the company. The Newark-based company, which resold telecommunications services, had been given until yesterday to show it had a plan in place to address mounting debts, including more than $15 million owed to Denver-based Qwest. NorVergence couldn't offer a plan for payment and instead appealed to Judge Rosemary Gambardella of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark for more time to restructure. Remainder of article can be found at: http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1089878219230891.xml e-mail address fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my address in order to reply. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 11:10:09 -0400 Organization: Posted via Forte APN, http://www.forteinc.com/apn/index.php Lisa Hancock wrote: > Playing devil's advocate here -- wasn't the customer not only > leasing a physical box, but also a service that was in essence > paid in advance? Unless someone posts the actual language of one of those contracts or reads to us from one, no one can really say. But the impression I got from the breakdown of charges from people in the past was the the box alone was leased, and service charges accrued monthly in addition to the leased box. > Also, was the box and service the collateral for the lease, or > was it the customer's own credit? In many cases, it's both. Much like when a car gets repossessed, if the value of the equipment has depreciated such that the resale value doesn't cover the balance of the lease or loan, you're on the hook for the remaining balance. Considering that the leases were made out for equipment that had a value WAAAAY below the amount of the lease from the outset, the lessee has a lot to be on the hook for. > I really think the issue hinges on the exit clauses, if any. What > happens, for example, if a customer goes out of business (or business > is greatly reduced) and no longer needs the service? Are they still > stuck with the full lease? Again, we won't know unless someone is willing to divulge the details of one of these contracts. > I would think a lease would also include performance clauses to > protect the customer. If you lease a new car and three months into > it the engine blows up, are you still responsible for the terms of > the lease? Well, auto leases tend to be backed by the manufacturer's warranty. If the engine blows up during the warranty period and it's through defect, then the car gets a new engine gratis, courtesy of the manufacturer. If the lessee dumped Nitrous into the engine and drag raced it, then the onus is on the lessee. It's an apples and oranges comparison here, because there really is no warranty against a company becoming insolvent. Further, I'm surprised that no one has yet pursued fraud charges against Norvergence. Norvergence, as far as anyone can tell, led customers (and possibly the banks, no one is sure) to believe that this "matrix" they were peddling was worth many thousands of dollars, when in fact it could be bought elsewhere for $500. And some have reported on here in the past that the box wasn't actually connected to *anything*, it just sat there while their services (none of which required a T1) were handled through other more pedestrian facilities. >> The customers have plenty of defenses against Norvergence > Why would they? The company went broke. Yes, but why? Norvergence was getting money UP FRONT for equipment that cost them a tiny fraction of the income they were receiving, ON TOP OF revenue for the services they were reselling. Where did all of this money go? If it was squandered illegally, you can bet a case can be had. > If you were to buy a new machine and the manufacturer goes broke, you > as the customer are stuck if you need warranty repairs -- the > manufacturer is gone and there is no one around to fix it for you. The difference is that these customers bought a machine that they were led to believe DID something for them, and cost a huge amount. When in fact, the machine sat idle in a number of cases, and even in the instances where it did do something, the machine was nearly worthless by comparison to the lease amount assigned to it. Proving you were defrauded can definitely help in his matter. >> I think that at some point in the proceedings the leasing companies >> HAD TO KNOW that Norvergence was selling the customers a pig in a >> poke. > But was it really doing that? YES! There's no denying it. If someone walked into your office promising grandiose things from this $15,000+ magic box that would revolutionize your office communications, and made such a good sell that you signed the papers, and then a week later someone dropped by, said "here's the big magic box!" and dropped a $40 linksys broadband router on your lap (and on top of that, NEVER HOOKED IT UP to anything), wouldn't you consider that a swindle? e-mail address fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my address in order to reply. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Norvergence Question Date: 15 Jul 2004 06:55:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Billy Wickline wrote > My thought process is that if we never accept the technology, we > cannot rent it per the terms of the contract. Since we have not > received any of the technology, are we "safer" than most companies > already into the term? I am not a lawyer. I suspect never have received the equipment puts you in a somewhat better position. But if your bank already paid Norv. even if you hadn't received anything yet, your bank still wants to be repaid for its loan/lease to you. Unfortunately, in a bankruptcy, even customers such as yourself can get screwed. I would suggest you call your corporate lawyer ASAP and review your contract with them. > Should I tell the bank to stop automatic withdrawals from > NorVergence? Again, I'm not a lawyer, but I certainly would do that. > Can they legally charge me for equipment NEVER received or used? > Thanks for your time ... IMHO, if your contract is direct with Norv they can't charge you. But if your contract is with a bank that loaned you the money, it's another story. Allow me to present another example: When someone contracts to buy a house, they are actually buying the land and everything attached to that land (which would be the house and any other improvements). If the house should burn down prior to the actual sale, the buyer is still obligated to buy the property even though there's no house on it. That's why buyers should get fire insurance on it as soon as they sign the contract. Now for this topic, buying a future service is a slightly different issue than buying a physical entity. That's why I keep wondering what the exit or non-performance clauses were on the contracts. I find it really hard to believe that the customers took on a contract without any such clauses. ------------------------------ From: William Van Hefner Subject: Re: Norvergence Question Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 04:35:53 -0700 > Reply-To: > From: Billy Wickline > Subject: Norvergence Question > Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 10:02:33 -0700 > Hello, > I run the Accounting Department for a small business in San > Diego. I realize the forum has been flooded with questions on this > issue, but I have not seen this specific situation posted yet, and was > wondering if anyone could offer their input. > We signed the contract for ECD and whatnot on 6/23/04. Due to > vacations and whatnot, the matrix box was not going to be installed > until 7/7/04. Obviously, on the 5th we received a call stating that > all "Unlimited Calling Circuitry was on hold for an indeterminable > amount of time". Obviously, with the bankruptcy I don't feel like > waiting around to figure out how long. > Anyways, the equipment was never delivered, and from what I can tell > they did not begin pulling our long distance carriers. I have advised > the receiving people not to accept any shipments that look like they > could be telephones, or coming from NorVergence. My thought process is > that if we never accept the technology, we cannot rent it per the > terms of the contract. Since we have not received any of the > technology, are we "safer" than most companies already into the term? > Any thoughtful input would be much appreciated. Should I tell the bank > to stop automatic withdrawals from NorVergence? Can they legally > charge me for equipment NEVER received or used? Thanks for your > time ... > Billy Wickline > IT / Accounting Associate > AES Due Diligence, Inc. > 4909 Murphy Canyon Rd. Suite 301 > San Diego, CA 92123 > Phone: 858-569-0211 > Fax: 858-569-0275 As long as the box is not installed at your premises, you should be free and clear. The Norvergence agreement that I have seen states, "The Rental Agreement is non-binding until you are approved for Unlimited Calling Facilities/Hardware and a MATRIX device is mounted in your phone closet". Unfortunately, the majority of Norvergence customers (the ones who were unfortunate enough to have the "MATRIX" box actually installed) are most likely stuck with their leases, as the contract they signed states quite clearly that the lease is completely independent of any services provided. They were extremely careful in the wording of their contract. There is no wiggle room. A few other "gotchas" that I noticed in the Norvergence contract ... Norvergence claims that the installation cost of Qwest's T-1 circuit is $10,000.00! If a customer defaults, or wants out of the contract, Norvergence is owed $10K. Early termination of the contract also results in a $4,700.00 "Service Platform Fee". This is in addition to owing them 100% of the cost of service extended to the end of the contract. Of course, termination still leaves you on the hook for the entire "MATRIX" box lease, as well. Accounts are also deemed in default if not paid within 10 days OF INVOICE. To put it mildly, the odds of being able to physically receive and pay Norvergence's bill within 10 days of it being printed are pitifully low, unless you happened to live extremely close to where they mailed the bill from, and sent each payment in via Federal Express. My question is, who would be foolish enough to sign such a contract??? I had always suspected that Norvergence was a scam from the beginning, as many of the readers of this newsgroup probably did. Anyone with due diligence who took any time at all to check up on this company, or even just examine the contract closely, should have known that this was a deal that was just too good to be true. While I am generally very sympathetic towards telecom consumers, this happens to be a case where people just plain should have known better. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. As of today, the Norvergence case has been converted from Chapter 11 (reorganization) into a Chapter 7 (liquidation). Barring a last minute stay, Qwest will most likely shut-off all Norvergence customers later this afternoon, as will their wireless providers. So, there may be approximately 10,000 small/medium business customers later today with no dialtone, 800 service, long distance, internet access, or wireless service and no hope of getting any of these services (except wireless) restored for at least 3-4 weeks (average RBOC provisioning time). Good luck ever getting your same local phone numbers, cellphone numbers, IP addresses or toll-free numbers again, either. And have fun with your "MATRIX device". I'm sure that it will make a fascinating conversation piece some day, but it won't be much good for anything else anytime soon. Look for tons of them coming to an eBay auction near you. If you'd like to see an example of the Norvergence contract, you can browse through http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence . I'd be more likely to sign my own death warrant than sign a contract like this. William Van Hefner Editor - http://www.thedigest.com ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Long Distance; How to Figure Best Current Promotion Offered Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 05:13:23 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 15 Jul 2004 00:06:32 -0400, Don Saklad wrote: > For your Cambridge Massachusetts residential wall wired telephone > line, what is the best current promotion offered for a long distance > carrier? You should go to a comparison site. A good site to go to for good comparisons is http://abtolls.com remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Long Distance; How to Figure Best Current Promotion Offered Date: 15 Jul 2004 08:01:48 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Don Saklad wrote > For your Cambridge Massachusetts residential wall wired telephone > line, what is the best current promotion offered for a long distance > carrier? That is an impossible question to answer for several reasons: 1) Offerings vary by community; there are regional carriers and plans. 2) Promotions are temporary. Whatever is good today will expire in a few months and you'll have to find another plan to keep savings. 3) Plans vary. Some plans have a $5 monthly fee ABOVE usage. 4) Your mileage, er calling, varies. A plan good for you is terrible for your next door neighbor. ------------------------------ From: Don Saklad Subject: How to untangle a curly telephone receiver cord. Date: 15 Jul 2004 11:15:49 -0400 Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone receiver to the base? ... There is a particular movement that does untangles when a telephone receiver cord gets curled in upon itself. ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 09:45:02 EDT Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election In a message dated Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:56:14 UTC Bill Ranck writes: > They have no legal standing to do so. I know they are asking to have > a law passed to enable them, but they would need a Constitutional > amendment to actually be able to do this. That certainly isn't going > to happen. I doubt that Congress will even consider the idea in a > serious way. As someone noted on another list, the Congress sets the dates for elections, not the Constitution, which says in Article II, Section 1: "The Congress may determine the time of chusing [sic] the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States." Note that both the date of the election, and the date on which the Electoral College will meet, are designated by Congress. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Charles Cryderman Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 09:35:20 -0400 Bill Ranck placed before us: > "For most practical purposes of a politician the net *is* just > another media outlet. It's a lot less controlable in some ways, but > with experience the pols will learn to use it for their own > agendas." I agree that politicians currently are to dense to figure out how to use the net for anything other then getting money and disseminating information. It is their supporters that are the concern. With the way the Lemmings from all groups reading things on the net and believing that what is posted is true. So much garbage and lies are being posted by the right and left. With the dummying down of the USA we should all be concerned. Case in point: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: US Department of Homeland Security > officials are giving very strong consideration to either *postponing > or indefinitly cancelling the presidential election in November)" This is something that is being attributed to a "un-named source". Well anyone could be a "un-named" source. It could have been a janitor hoping to make some money from a over zealous report. But then we all know that reports are very scrupulous and never would pay for a story. This is exactly the kind of information that the net permits. Then Mr. Ranck replies: > "They have no legal standing to do so. I know they are asking to > have a law passed to enable them, but they would need a > Constitutional amendment to actually be able to do this. That > certainly isn't going to happen. I doubt that Congress will even > consider the idea in a serious way." Well Bill I got bad news for you. The Constitution has nothing in it about holding elections. There are laws made by Congress and which Congress has the power to change or void. But a Constitutional amendment is not necessary. The only thing the Constitution specifies is that the "electors" cast their votes. Nothing about the people voting. Pat again: > "Bush has come to the conclusion that al Qaeda terrorists are planning a > large scale attack 'intended to disrupt the democratic process'." Pat, the President isn't the only one that thinks this. Many experts do so as well. I, in fact have no doubt that Al Qaeda has been planning something ever since we started to blow them away in Afghanistan for this years election. They know good and well that the liberals do not have the courage to send young men to combat. Bill replying to Pat: > "While I don't think Bush would exactly welcome such an attack close > to the election, I do think something like that would almost > guarantee his re-election. Al Qaeda don't seem to be the brightest > bulbs on the tree, so they might actually believe that another upset > like in Spain would occur. They would be wrong to believe that." This is very true. Another attack on the USA would galvanize the Bush camp as well as many that have no interest in politics but would be angered by outside influence. Chip Cryderman [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, the 'possibility of cancelling the election' report and the 'Bush thinks that terrorists will ...' report did not originate with me. Presumably 'good' sources (one more or less right wing [US News and World Report] and one more or less left wing [CNN]) came up with those in this week's issue and Monday's reports. I guess those two are the unnnamed sources this Lemming was referring to. You might want to ask CNN (which followed up on the reports in US News and World Report) about their 'unnamed sources' who was most recently identified as Pastor Soires, a Baptist minister who advises President Bush. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Tap Into Neighbors' WiFi? Why Not, Some Say Date: 15 Jul 2004 08:58:30 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Hammond of Texas wrote: > William Warren wrote: >> And, since you choose to self-annoint yourself the expert, just which >> network is yours? Please, email me off-list and supply the details of >> your annual budget, the number of IT staff, the number of stations, >> and the number of nodes. (Starbucks and your mother's house don't >> count, sorry). > I'll summarize by saying that my resume includes the titles CIO and > VP, which means that a big part of my job was convincing "real world > businessmen" like you that security was a very real concern and that > they ignored it at their peril. I've heard your mindless rationale > before, ad nauseum. It still defies logic, and bespeaks a dangerous > ignorance and/or a greed unique that of the compulsive gambler. As someone who is no CTO, but merely an admin running some mail servers, I can say that I have seen substantial amounts of spam traffic injected by bad guys, through open WiFi hubs. With the explosion in zombified Windows machines, though, it is getting hard to trace the original source of spam messages, so this may be increasing or decreasing in popularity. I can't tell. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: karthikveceee@softhome.net (Karthik) Subject: Frequency and Timeslot Date: 15 Jul 2004 07:14:37 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We say that each Frequency Channel is separated by 200KHz. So this is the effective Bandwidth.So 1/200KHz = 5 Microsec. This channel is divided into 8 Timeslots. So this 5 Microseconds must be equally divided for getting 8 Timeslots in that particular Frequency Channel. But if you see that 8 Timeslots constitutes one Frequency Channel, then as far as calculations go: 1 Timeslot = 0.577ms. Which means 8 Timeslots = 4.16ms. Can you justify how 5 Microsec can be divided so that we get a total time of 4.16ms? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 06:22:48 PDT From: Sagar Singh Subject: Diploma in Embedded Systems Diploma in Embedded Systems in Bangalore The Embedded Technology Sector is currently amongst the fastest growing sectors within the IT segment, and is likely to remain so for a long time to come. As a consequence, there is a rising demand in this field for professionals who can deliver on the challenging requirements in this field. The embedded software has immense scope for those choosing a career in this line due to its wide application and because the technology companies have to increase their range of products for survival. As a result, software companies and the telecommunication and electronics industries are heavily diversifying into it. The global embedded and telecom market today is worth one trillion dollars and will continue to grow at an exponential pace. In India itself, there are over 2500 companies now working across these embedded systems software arena. Diploma in Embedded Systems (A Course Designed by the Industry to serve the industry) Total Duration: 96 Working Days (4 months)(Evening / weekend batches are also available) Batch Starts : 19th July 2004. Contact: sanish@utltraining.com to know more about the Embedded Systems cou rse and also register for a free seminar on Embedded Systems. Call: 91-80-25212393 / 25254678 Email: sanish@utltraining.com Address: No. 32 CMH ROAD, (Above the Bata Show Room) Indirangar, Bangalore Course OverviewPreliminary Level (46 days)Introduction to Embedded and Real-Time Systems Introduction to Embedded Systems Introduction to Real-time Systems Basic Electronics Review Discrete Electronic Elements Linear Integrated Circuits Digital Principles and Logic Design Digital Electronic Basics Digital Building Blocks and VHDL Digital Integrated Circuit MCS-51 Architecture and C Programming MCS-51 Micro controller Architecture, Memory Organization and=20 Hardware Details Addressing Modes and Instruction Set Introduction to c Language and Keil IDE Program Flow Control and Looping I/O Port and Timer/Counter Programming and Function, Macro Pointers, Array and Structure Data Structure, Stack, Queue Memory Management Issues Serial Communication and Interrupt, Servicing Hardware Interrupt in C Real Time Programming The Embedded C Extension to C and Optimization Interfacing Techniques and Schematic Generation Interfacing Requirement Analysis and Semiconductor Memories Flash Memory Technology ADCs and DACs Sensors and Transducers DC Motors, LCD and Keyboard Debugging With Hardware Assisted Tools, ICE, JTAG, etc. and Remote Debugging Debugging Fundamentals and Remote Debugging Hardware Assisted Debugging, JTAG, BDM, Nexus, ICE Communication Communication Fundamentals, Embedded Networking and Introduction to Serial Bus, UART, SPI, I2c CAN, Firewire/IEEE 1394 USB IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Interface with Comparison of DP8390 and CS8900 TCP/IP Protocol Suit Rabbit 3000 Architecture and Dynamic C TCP/IP Programming with Rabbit Board Wireless Communication and RF Fundamentals, IR IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN Standards RTOS Fundamentals and CMX RTOS Introduction to Real Time Operating System Introduction to CMX, Scheduler and Task Manager Memory Management IPC, Timer and UART Management OS System calls Interrupt Handling Advance Programming (50 days) System Architecture and Design Overview Product Development Life CycleComputer Organization, Advanced C and GNU Too= ls Microprogramming and RISC Machines Clock, Data path and Control Unit Pipelining Memory Hierarchy and Parallel Processing Architectural Features for Efficient Programming and Non Portable Behavior = in C Language Introduction to Cygwin and Basic Commands GNU-X-Tools Utilities-as, ar, nm, ld etc. Compiler-gcc and Libraries Position Dependant and Independent Code, Linkers and Loaders, Memory Map and Linker Scripts Makefile Debugging with GDB Understanding File Formats LikeLF, Coff, PE etc.and analyzing them with GNU Utilities like readelf etc. PowerPC Architecture Overview and MPC850 Implementation PowerPC Architecture, MPC850 Overview and Memory Map Power PC Core Registers and Instruction MPC850 Exceptions Instruction and Data aches and Memory Management Unit System Interface unit and Memory Controller Communication processor Architecture and Register Serial Communication Controller and Serial Management Controller System Debugging and Testing Firmware Developments Firmware Architecture and Target System Specification (MPC850 Custom Board) Boot code Implementation Device Driver for UART Onboard Devices I/O Implementation Command Line Interface Design for Onboard Device I/O access In-System Programming with Flash Flash File System File/data Transfer protocols Debug Monitor Embedded Linux Introduction to Linux, Kernel Architecture and Boot Process Kernel Compilat= ion Data Structure and System Calls Linux Memory Management Linux Inter Process Communication, Semaphore, Pipes, Message, Queue, etc. File Systems Module Programming Cross Tools Building and Kernel Cross Compilation Root File System Creation Substituting Init and Running Application RT Linux Building RTLinux Image and Root File System Creation Architecture of RTLinux Task, Threads, POSIX Pthreads InterProcess Communication Predictable Device Driver Consideration All the best. Sagar ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 01:10:39 -0400 Subject: Powell: FCC Forging Ahead on VOIP Rules Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/07/14/HNpowellvoip_1.html Tax issues among those waiting attention By Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service July 14, 2004 STANFORD, California - Bills to clarify the regulation of VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives probably won't go up for consideration in Congress' current session, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hopes to make progress on the issue by the end of this year, FCC Chairman Michael Powell told Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists on Tuesday evening. The question whether VOIP should be treated as a telephone service or an information service has implications for taxation as well as issues such as 911 emergency call services and wiretapping. Senator John Sununu, [cq] a New Hampshire Republican, has introduced a bill in the Senate that would exempt VOIP from most regulation. A House bill sponsored by Representative Charles "Chip" Pickering Jr., a Mississippi Republican, has a similar aim. An FCC public comment period on VOIP closed Wednesday. The agency expects to look at the comments and make some decisions on the issue by the end of this year, though some aspects of VOIP regulation, such as how much a carrier must pay to terminate a call, may not be settled for years, FCC policy chief Robert Pepper said in an interview Wednesday. Full story at: http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/07/14/HNpowellvoip_1.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/ ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V23 #333 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 15 21:38:00 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6G1c0p09980; Thu, 15 Jul 2004 21:38:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 21:38:00 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407160138.i6G1c0p09980@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 #334 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Jul 2004 21:37:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 334 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon Wireless Offers Consumer Tips for Area Code Split (M Solomon) Cingular, AT&T Wireless Top Consumer Complaints (Monty Solomon) Verizon's New 411 System: Is It a Live Operator, or 'Darby'? (M Solomon) Microsoft Research DRM talk (Monty Solomon) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (ranck@vt.edu) Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord (Mark Atwood) Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord (Joseph) Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord (SELLCOM Tech) Re: Norvergence Question (no one) Re: Norvergence Question (Billy Wickline) Norvergence Bulletin Board (Sarai Rueda) Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (N. Rakeertu) Re: Virtual PBX Competitors (AFN) Re: Vonage(R) Activates 200,000th Line (AFN) Clearpath Communications and Easy411 Announce Partnership (VOIP News) AT&T Power Line Test May Aid Its VoIP Rollout (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, 15 Jul 2004 17:19:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless Offers Consumer Tips for Area Code Split Verizon Wireless Offers Consumer Tips for Area Code Split in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties to Ease Transition - Jul 15, 2004 01:00 PM (PR Newswire) Some California Wireless Users Must Take Steps to Help Ensure Their Service is Not Interrupted; Calls to and From Southern California Region are Affected IRVINE, Calif., July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless provider with 38 million customers, today announced tips for consumers and businesses that are affected by the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) decision to split the 909 area code into two area codes on July 17, 2004. To help ensure that their service isn't interrupted, wireless users need to know if their phone number, based on its prefix, has been slated by the CPUC to be changed to the new area code, 951, and whether or not their new phone number can be programmed on their phone using over-the-air technology. The 909 Area Code will be split generally along the San Bernardino/ Riverside County line resulting in a northern section, which keeps the 909 Area Code, and a southern section, which has been assigned the new area code, 951. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42521199 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:27:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular, AT&T Wireless Top Consumer Complaints NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters) - AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE) and Cingular Wireless, which plan to merge, drew the most complaints about their service in the second quarter, the Consumers Union advocacy group said on Wednesday. More than 70 of the 132 second-quarter complaints were about AT&T Wireless and Cingular, Consumers Union analyst Janee Briesemeister said. She added that many of the complaints were about how customers were billed, as well as about cell phone network quality or service. Complaints to the Consumers Union Escape Cell Hell Web site have roughly halved since the first quarter. In the first quarter, operators struggled with a rule change that let people keep their mobile number while switching to a new service. About 41 complaints were targeted at AT&T Wireless while 32 were about Cingular Wireless, a venture of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corp (NYSE:BLS), Briesemeister said. Sprint (NYSE:FON) and Deutsche Telekom AG's (DE:DTEGn) T-Mobile USA had 18 complaints each and Verizon Wireless had 15 complaints, while Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) had seven, according to Briesemeister. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42504244 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:28:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon's New 411 System: Is It a Live Operator, or Is It 'Darby'? Self-Service System Brings Latest Speech Recognition Tools to New York to Better Serve Customers NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The new voice on Verizon's 411 service is so expressive, and the listings "she" gives are so effectively researched, that New Yorkers are about to befriend Darby, the California voice-actress on the automated directory assistance system being introduced in New York this month. Verizon has enhanced its 411 directory assistance service, applying advanced speech-recognition and Internet technologies to give customers the kind of fast, accurate and automated information they are accustomed to getting in their own Internet data searches. The newest version of 411 begins in Manhattan and the outer boroughs today, and follows introduction of the service on Long Island and in Westchester, Syracuse, Albany, Buffalo and Binghamton in recent weeks. Because the automated system is so effective, many customers do not even realize that the voice they hear has been prerecorded, or that the listing they receive was researched instantaneously without human intervention. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42489639 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:25:21 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Research DRM talk by Cory Doctorow This talk was originally given to Microsoft's Research Group and other interested parties from within the company at their Redmond offices on June 17, 2004. http://craphound.com/msftdrm.txt ------------------------------ From: ranck@vt.edu Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:14:10 UTC Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA Charles Cryderman wrote: > Bill Ranck placed before us: >> "They have no legal standing to do so. I know they are asking to >> have a law passed to enable them, but they would need a >> Constitutional amendment to actually be able to do this. That >> certainly isn't going to happen. I doubt that Congress will even >> consider the idea in a serious way." > Well Bill I got bad news for you. The Constitution has nothing in it > about holding elections. There are laws made by Congress and which > Congress has the power to change or void. But a Constitutional > amendment is not necessary. The only thing the Constitution specifies > is that the "electors" cast their votes. Nothing about the people > voting. Yes, *Congress* can set the date of the choosing, and of the voting of the electors, not some appointed board or other group. I really can't see Congress delegating that authority. There is also the clause which says the term of the President and Vice President is 4 years. So that sort of limits how much even Congress could delay an election if they don't want to start a real Constituional crisis. Technically, the states get to choose electors in any manner the state's legislature wants. There is *no* requirement for a statewide popular vote at all, and indeed until some time in the late 1800's some state legislatures chose the electors for their state. The only requirements the Constitution places on the process is that the choice of electors must happen on the same day in all states, and that all the electors for all the states have to make their choice on the same day. Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: I believe the term of office is 4 years but any given person can serve up to two complete terms maximum. I believe this came about at the urging of Republicans in 1950 when President Truman was in office, because they (Republicans) were quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting *four* terms in office, even though he died about a year after getting elected the fourth time. Since normally any changes voted into law do not affect the incumbent but only his successors, Truman could have theoretically been around for many more years. So the Republicans got Eisenhower in office in 1952. He was an enormously popular president and the Republicans were sorry (in 1960) when he wound up having to leave office also because of those rules they (Republicans) had passed several years before. I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in office, under the new rules. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 23:27:23 GMT Don Saklad writes: > What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone > receiver to the base? ... > There is a particular movement that does untangles when a telephone > receiver cord gets curled in upon itself. Hold the base up in the air, with the receiver dangling. It will unwind itself. 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 ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:11:54 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On 15 Jul 2004 11:15:49 -0400, Don Saklad wrote: > What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone > receiver to the base? ... > There is a particular movement that does untangles when a telephone > receiver cord gets curled in upon itself. If the handset cord is modular simply remove the cord at the "pinch" plugs and let it untangle itself. If the cord has "back" curls you may have to undo that and bring it out to the end of the cord. If the cord has been very tightly tangled you may not be able to get it back to "normal" but you should be able to at least undo the tangles. If the handset cord is "hard wired" the only way that I've determined to do it is to just keep turning the handset til the curls are loosened. If you have "back" curls you'll have to do the same as with just the regular modular cord, but it will take a bit more work as you have to turn the whole cord including the handset. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 21:51:18 GMT Don Saklad posted on that vast internet thingie: > What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone > receiver to the base? ... > There is a particular movement that does untangles when a telephone > receiver cord gets curled in upon itself. Yes, you must hold the handset over your head and spin around in the opposite direction from which you normally pace when conversing. 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: no one Subject: Re: Norvergence Question Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:47:54 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 04:35:53 -0700, William Van Hefner wrote: > If you'd like to see an example of the Norvergence contract, you can > browse through http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence . I'd be more > likely to sign my own death warrant than sign a contract like this. > William Van Hefner > Editor - http://www.thedigest.com One of the licenses on the page Hefner refers to says that you can terminate the service (clause 7 of http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence/07122004-PelasEquipmentLeaseContract.pdf or http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/General_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf ) The SLA is at http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/ATM_Service_Level_Agreement.pdf and says "Customer may terminate the Affected Services without penalty if, in any single calendar month: (i) Network Downtime exists for at least ninety-six (96) hours in the aggregate; or (ii) any single event entitling Customer to credits under Network Availability exists for a period of at least thirty-six (36) consecutive hours." (there's some other good stuff in there). But that doesn't seem to terminate the equipment lease. See section 5 of http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/General_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf "NorVergence is not a party to any hardware rental or lease contract between customer and customer's financing bank. Hardware Rental or Lease Agreements between Customers and their Lenders are non-cancelable and not part of or affected by NorVergence Circuitry Services in any way." Some of the pricing is given in the documents on the page Hefner refers to above . The ones I saw show the lion's share of the fees going to the leasing company. ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Billy Wickline Subject: Re: Noververgence Question Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 14:33:25 -0700 Hi Pat, I wanted to post a follow up for everyone. I appreciate the feedback that everyone has given me. I think the company I work for will be okay, and further calls will not be necessary. Thanks again for all the advice, and I count our lucky stars that the box was never installed! ---Billy Wickline ------------------------------ From: Sarai Rueda Subject: Norvergence Bulletin Board Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 15:44:45 -0500 Share your experience with others at http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com All those victimized by Norvergence including long distance customers, past employees and others. The sole purpose of this bulletin board is to allow the victims to unite in order to release themselves from the malicious leasing contracts. Sarai Rueda sarai@affordabletours.com 866-265-2610 ext. 109 ------------------------------ From: nrackeertu@cliornuwta.mailexpire.com (N. Rakeertu) Subject: Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: 15 Jul 2004 10:58:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) wrote in message >> The customers have plenty of defenses against Norvergence > Why would they? The company went broke. Companies do that all the > time and anyone who is owed money (customer or creditor) has to get in > line at bankruptcy court and file a claim. Because Norvergence didn't perform on its agreement to provide the service for 5 years. So for instance if Norvergence had kept the equipment rental agrements instead of unloading them to the finance companies, the customers could argue that they didn't owe Norvergence anything because Norvergence hadn't performed on the service part of the deal. By assigning greatly inflated values to the equipment part of the deal, and assigning the equipment stream of income to a third party, Norvergence made it much harder for the customers to resist payment to the third party assignees (because these assignees supposedly take the assignment as purchasers for value with no actual knowledge of customer defenses against Norvergence). That is why it is so important for the customers to band together and take action on their own behalf. It's almost certain that the financing companies will try to enforce the leases even though Norvergence is BK, and it's up to the customers to defend themselves (or continue to pay for nearly worthless equipment and no phone service). NR:>> What needs to happen here, in my view, is that the customers of >> the various leasing companies ... need to band together and file >> class action lawsuits against them. JNL > It depends on the amount of individual losses. For some, the time, effort, aggravation, and legal fees wouldn't be worth it. Right. Individual losses, though substantial (most Norvergence customers are probably looking at over $25,000 in payments over five years, and some will owe much more than that) make it difficult to justify a lawsuit, and it will be expensive to get the right amount of discovery done to prove that the financing companies knew what was up, at least at some point. That's why the customers need to find each other and take action. If they don't, the financing companies will just pick them off one at a time and it will be difficult to resist. JNL > In the event that actual fraud (intentional deception) is found, > then the district attorney should be brought in. Good point. It looks like Norvergence wasn't paying its telecom bills, and I've read complaints from employees that they weren't being paid their commissions due, so all that money from selling rental contracts must have been going somewhere. I wonder where it all went? N. Rackeertu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Norvergence customers can find each other through a web site http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com set up for them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: AFN Subject: Re: Virtual PBX Competitors Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:20:48 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - West Punch in "virtual pbx" at google and see the sponsor ads on the right. John Bartley wrote in message news:telecom23.332.11@telecom-digest.org: > Who are the major competitors to Virtual PBX, for folks who don't want > to maintain their own phone switch? > Anyone here have experience with the Virtual PBX service? > Thank you kindly. > John Bartley K7AAY > Talk More, Pay Less with Net2Phone Direct(R), up to 1500 minutes free! > http://www.net2phone.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?143 ------------------------------ From: AFN Subject: Re: Vonage(R) Activates 200,000th Line Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:19:59 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - West Where are they getting most of their customers from? They're not a household name (yet). VOIP News wrote in message news:telecom23.330.16@telecom-digest.org: > http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-13-2004/0002209431&EDATE= ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 15:02:44 -0400 Subject: Clearpath Communications and Easy411 Announce Partnership to Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb141354.htm Clearpath Communications and Easy411 Announce Partnership to Provide Low-Cost Directory Assistance to VOIP Customers Clearpath Communications agreed today to provide the Easy411 service to its VOIP customers, and to resell the Easy411 mobile service to mobile phone users nationwide. Easy411 helps ease the sticker shock many consumers see on their monthly mobile phone bills, offering the same national Directory Assistance access provided by mobile phone carriers, but at up to half the cost -- only 65 cents per call. By comparison, mobile phone carriers charge up to $1.40 per call for Directory Assistance. BURLINGTON, MA (PRWEB) July 15, 2004 - Clearpath Communications of West Bloomfield, MI today announced that it would provide the Easy411 Directory Assistance service to its VOIP customers, and to resell the Easy411 mobile service to mobile phone users nationwide. Clearpath will be connecting calls via a SIP connection into Easy411's gateway, making the connection digital from end to end. Michael Desmon, the President of Clearpath Communications, announced the new arrangements by stating that "we were very impressed with Easy411's commitment to customer service and the high quality of their listings database. Since we're committed to VOIP it was important for us to find a DA provider who would accept an SIP connection, and Easy411 was able to meet this critical requirement." Easy411 Directory Assistance is powered by LSSi, Inc., one of the largest providers of Directory Assistance data in the world. LSSI's database of more than 150 million U.S. listings is updated every 24 hours, and serves more than two billion requests each year. It was the first telephone listings database to be certified as more than 98 percent accurate. "We're excited about the opportunity to work with a next-generation network company like Clearpath Communications," said Jon Spector, CEO, Easy411. "We also think this is a good opportunity for Clearpath's customers to start realizing 50 percent savings on their mobile phone calls to directory assistance." Calls to Easy411 are only 65 cents for two listings, whereas most of the major mobile carriers charge $1.25 or more per call. The Easy411 service can be accessed from any registered phone number by dialing 1-877-Easy411, or 1-877-327-9411. There's never a need to log in or provide a user name or password; the system recognizes registered callers automatically. Users can request up to two listings per call, or can ask for one 'reverse listing,' which supplies name and address based on the phone number given. About Clearpath Communications Clearpath Communications is an information technology and telecommunications consulting firm based in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The company provides objective professional guidance, process management and implementation project management services for a wide range of communications technology systems, services and infrastructure. Its core business revolves around network infrastructure services. Clearpath considers infrastructure to be the foundation elements of the overall IT environment -- the voice systems, network components and structured cabling systems that enable organizations to communicate with internal and external customers. Clearpath also markets wireless services to consumers and businesses nationwide. www.clearpath1.com About Easy411 Easy411 provides reduced-cost national Directory Assistance services, at up to a 50 percent discount as compared to major telephone carriers. Easy411 provides simple registration, never charges sign-up fees and requires no monthly minimum. Easy411 can be accessed by calling 1-877-Easy411, or by visiting www.Easy411.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: I want to mention that TELECOM Digest is also a reseller of Easy411, and profits each time you use the service. To sign up so that TELECOM Digest earns money on this program, use the sign up form at http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest or from the link on our home page at http://telecom-digest.org, and you can enroll various phone numbers you normally would use to get directory assistance. And the money would really help me! Thanks! PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:03:11 -0400 Subject: AT&T Power Line Test May Aid Its VoIP Rollout Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040715S0005 By W. David Gardner, TechWeb News AT&T has begun testing broadband over power lines (BPL) in hopes the nascent technology will give it a means to circumvent the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) and cable companies. In announcing a test of BPL with Pacific Gas and Electric, AT&T said, however, that the technology is still a few years away from implementation. AT&T and Pacific Gas reported Wednesday that about 100 residents in Menlo Park, Calif., will use the BPL technology in a test. Full story at: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040715S0005 ------------------------------ 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 #334 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 16 16:14:34 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6GKEXx19374; Fri, 16 Jul 2004 16:14:34 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 16:14:34 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407162014.i6GKEXx19374@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 #335 TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Jul 2004 16:13:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 335 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Wireless to Launch 3G Service Next Week - Source (Monty Solomon) Microsoft Wins $4 Million Judgment Against Spammer (Monty Solomon) Microsoft's Xbox Live Service Reaches 1 Million Users (Monty Solomon) In-Cabin Mobile Phone Use Test Flight (Monty Solomon) Living the Broadband Life (Monty Solomon) GIS Project on Telecom Infrastructure (Ann Z. Li) Payphone Ringer Troubleshooting (Tad) Re: Norvergence Bulletin Board (Isaiah Beard) Re: Norvergence Bulletin Board (Paul Vader) Re: Norvergence Bulletin Board (T. Sean Weintz) Norvergence Customers: Anyone Shut Off Yet? (Isaiah Beard) Norvergence Scam (Jenipher & Jim Free) Norvergence PBX (Jim Jacobs) Re: Norvergence Question (Lisa Hancock) Norvergence: Number Disconnected (Isaiah Beard) Alcatel Knowledge Base [OmniPCX / Enterprise] (Simon Templar) Re: Vonage(R) Activates 200,000th Line (DevilsPGD) Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord (David Quinton) The History of Telepassport (Dan Mayer) Internet Connection (CodeMonkey74) 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, 15 Jul 2004 23:11:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless to Launch 3G Service Next Week - Source CHICAGO, July 15 (Reuters) - AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE), the third-largest U.S. mobile operator, on Thursday said it was on track to launch a high-speed Internet service for mobile phones this year, and sources close to the matter said the roll-out would begin in four markets early next week. AT&T Wireless will launch its third-generation or "3G" mobile phone service capable of transmitting e-mail, pictures, and video at high speed in four cities -- San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix and Detroit, the sources told Reuters. The company will offer the data service at a fixed all-you-can-use rate of about $25 a month to consumers and $80 a month to corporate customers, one of the sources said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42530751 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 23:09:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Wins $4 Million Judgment Against Spammer SEATTLE, July 15 (Reuters) - A federal judge in California awarded Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) $4 million after finding that a California man and his company had sent spam, or unsolicited e-mail, to users of its MSN and Hotmail services to get them to download a toolbar onto their computer desktops. Judge Manuel Real of the U.S. Central District Court of California found that Daniel Khoshnood and Pointcom Inc. had violated several laws against using deceptive e-mail and Web addresses, ordering the defendants to pay damages, attorneys fees and cease any activity that purports to be official communication from Microsoft. Calls to an address listed for Khoshnood in Canoga Park and Woodland Hills, California, were not answered. The judgment was handed down last week and disclosed by Microsoft on Thursday. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42532497 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 23:13:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft's Xbox Live Service Reaches 1 Million Users SEATTLE, July 15 (Reuters) - Xbox Live, the online service that allows players of Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox video game machine to compete against each other over the Internet, reached 1 million users, the world's largest software maker said on Thursday. Microsoft said in a statement that it reached the 1 million mark for Xbox Live users three times faster than other subscription services, such as Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO). Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, which launched its Xbox video game console in 2001 to compete against Sony Corp.'s (TOKYO:6758) PlayStation game machines, has long touted the Internet capability of its $149 Xbox as an advantage over its larger rival. Sony's $149 PlayStation 2 now comes with an ethernet adapter for connecting to the Internet, although previously the connector was an add-one. Microsoft launched its Xbox Live service in 2002. Microsoft said more than 100 game titles can be played over Xbox Live, and it expects to see about 150 titles by the end of this year. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42521292 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 23:16:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: In-Cabin Mobile Phone Use Test Flight American Airlines and QUALCOMM Complete Test Flight to Evaluate In-Cabin Mobile Phone Use - Proof-of-Concept Event Highlights Safe and Reliable Mobile Phone Technology Using CDMA on a Commercial Aircraft - FORT WORTH, Texas and SAN DIEGO, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, and American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, today successfully demonstrated in-cabin voice communications using commercially available CDMA mobile phones on a commercial American Airlines aircraft. Through the use of an in-cabin third-generation (3G) "picocell" network, passengers on the test flight were able to place and receive calls as if they were on the ground. The proof-of-concept demonstration flight originated out of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. During the approximate two-hour flight, passengers were able to place and receive phone calls and text messages on their mobile phones. Passengers included members of the media and government representatives. A small in-cabin CDMA cellular base station on the plane, that uses standard cellular communications, was connected to the worldwide terrestrial phone network by an air-to-ground Globalstar satellite link. The information gathered during this proof-of-concept demonstration flight will be used to further research into the quality, convenience and safety of communications with personal CDMA mobile phones carried by passengers on a commercial aircraft. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42525106 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 01:43:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Living the Broadband Life By KATIE HAFNER San Diego DEBRA GIBB has had a high-speed Internet connection in her home longer than anyone she knows. In late 1996, when Time Warner Cable began trials here for its cable modem service, Ms. Gibb leapt at the chance to become one of the first residential broadband users in the nation. She was beta tester No. 6 in San Diego, she said. Since then, Ms. Gibb, 47, her husband, Tom, 46, and their teenage twin sons have been in the vanguard of the broadband way of life that now defines this city of 1.2 million people. Like many San Diegans, the Gibb family use the Net for the same things people elsewhere do -- e-mail, shopping, games, trip planning. But they do more of it. Broadband, with its "always on" connection, is so ingrained here that residents can't imagine life without it. For them, the Internet is like hot and cold running water -- available 24 hours a day with a flick of the wrist. San Diego was one of the first cities in the nation to get residential high-speed Internet connections, and some 55 percent of households with Internet access have high-speed cable modem or D.S.L. service -- a higher percentage than in any other metropolitan area in the country, according to a survey by comScore Networks, a market research firm. Next in line, according to comScore, are Boston, where 53 percent of wired households have high-speed connections, and New York, with 51 percent. San Diego and other cities with such heavy broadband use serve as signposts for what other cities might come to expect in a future when such service is an omnipresent and vital part of daily life. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/15/technology/circuits/15broa.html ------------------------------ Reply-To: Ann Z. Li From: Ann Z. Li Subject: GIS Project on Telecom Infrastructure Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 22:18:11 -0400 I am in the midst of a GIS project on telecom infrastructure in NJ and would appreciate any advice/help on getting antenna & tower siting data for my mapping, network and spatial analysis. Thanks in advance, Ann Li Intelligence Engineering LLC ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:11:33 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Payphone ringer troubleshooting From: Tad Hello all, and greetings to Pat. Please remove my email address from this post for spam supression purposes. I have an Automatic Electric manufactured coin station of a fairly modern vintage(it has the "loud" button next to the keypad if that helps date it). It is branded GTE. Some time ago, the ringer completely ceased to function. All other functions of the phone seem intact. Does anybody have any troubleshooting tips for identifying and perhaps repairing the problem with the ringer? Schematics perhaps? I'm faily well versed with the use of a VOM/DMM for troubleshooting. Thanks for any tips. Tad ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Norvergence Bulletin Board Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 23:29:55 -0400 Organization: Posted via Forte APN, http://www.forteinc.com/apn/index.php Sarai Rueda wrote: > Share your experience with others at > http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com > All those victimized by Norvergence including long distance customers, > past employees and others. Tried the link; it's coming up 404. e-mail address fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my address in order to reply. ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Norvergence Bulletin Board Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 15:42:23 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations Sarai Rueda writes: > Share your experience with others at > http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com Doesn't work, and if I was an ex-Norvergence customer, I wouldn't use it if it did work. * P.S. Is it "be kind to vultures" day again? * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since Sarai did not **appear** to be selling any telecom 'services' and **seemed** to be offering a useful way for Norvergece customers to consider banding together as needed I let it past. You know, or should know I do not have the time or resources to personally investigate every peddler or vulture passing through here each day. Several hundred daily are so *obvious* I kill those but no way I can personally go check every link that comes in. And to add insult to injury Paul, in the next issue today after this one I am gonna be making my own monthly pitch, I hope I can count on you to participate in Share Day this month. PAT] ------------------------------ From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Norvergence Bulletin Board Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 12:29:29 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Sarai Rueda wrote: > Share your experience with others at > http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com Um, that page comes up 404. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Norvergence Customers: Anyone Shut Off Yet? Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 08:22:43 -0400 Organization: Posted via Forte APN, http://www.forteinc.com/apn/index.php Yesterday at 5:00 p.m. was the supposed deadline for cutting of dialtone to Norvergence customers. Are there any Norvergence customers on here? What are the status of your services? Interestingly, news searches on Google have just about ceased yielding useful news info, as companies are now flooding the PR wire with their own advertisements about how they want to "help" Norvergence customers. Sadly, I've heard of none of these companies, so who knows how long THEY'RE going to be around: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=ascii&q=norvergence&btnG=Search+News And not surprisingly, Norvergence's flashy annoying website is still active and hawking their "Tomorrow Calling" service, as if nothing ever happened. The customer service number is useless however: no one to answer the phone, no messages accepted in the voicemail recording going out. e-mail address fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my address in order to reply. ------------------------------ From: Jenipher & Jim Free Subject: Norvergence Scam Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 09:02:45 -0400 Why not just not pay the leasing company, then when they sue, ask (in court) why they funded a lease when the equipment was not fully installed? I am in the phone business and when I sell a phone system to a client that is using a 3rd party lease (such as ours) the leasing company does not pay me until the customer assures them that the equipment is installed and working!! ------------------------------ From: Jim Jacobs Subject: Norvergence PBX Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 09:16:56 -0400 We got the phone system installed by Norvergence but we never got the final hookup to the T1 as we were waiting for the T1 to be installed. I Paid $1500 up front and I figure that at least I have the PBX phone system that I can use. My lease was in house with Norvergence and I'm guessing that if they're not in business they can't collect on the lease. I do need to find an installers manual for the PBX, so if anyone can help give me an email at myloanexpert@yahoo.com. Thanks, JIM ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) Subject: Re: Norvergence Question Date: 16 Jul 2004 10:27:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com William Van Hefner wrote: > Accounts are also deemed in default if not paid within 10 days > OF INVOICE. Normally in the business world there is a 30 day window to pay invoices. > My question is, who would be foolish enough to sign such a contract??? Yes, I'd like to know that as well. I can't understand how anyone in business would enter into a contract without reviewing such basics as terms of payment, exit clause, penalty clause, performance, etc., especially for something as mission critical as telephone service; but for any other service or product as well. Jeez, the future isn't predictable. What happens if your company or a location downsizes and you don't need the contracted capacity? What happens if you don't like the service? And dealing with a start-up company is always risky for lots of reasons. By the way, does this Qwest actually own physical cable and switchgear, or is just a reseller as well? ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Norvergence: Number Disconnected Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 13:35:49 -0400 Organization: Posted via Forte APN, http://www.forteinc.com/apn/index.php Well, Norvergence now appears to be completely off the telco map. Calls to their customer service line (866-744-6678) reports an "all circuits busy" message, except calls originating from Sprint circuits which come back with the message "We are unable to complete your call at this time, please try again later. Message One. Fifty-Four. Twelve." As I doubt that the lines are being tied up just so that people can hear a recording about their financial woes, I'm guessing the circuits are "busy" because there's no circuit to connect TO. e-mail address fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my address in order to reply. ------------------------------ From: le_prelude@yahoo.fr (Simon Templar) Subject: Alcatel Knowledge base [OmniPCX / Enterprise] Date: 15 Jul 2004 21:29:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi All, Just a quick note to tell you that I just set up an Alcatel Knowledge Base for OmniPCX and Enterprise products. http://www.gadot.net/alcatel Enjoy ! ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Vonage(R) Activates 200,000th Line Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 04:40:50 GMT In message AFN wrote: > Where are they getting most of their customers from? They're not a > household name (yet). Referrals, most likely. 1989 - The movie "Batman," notches $100 million in 10 days, proving once and for all that the public can't get enough of men in tights. ------------------------------ From: David Quinton Subject: Re: How to Untangle a Curly Telephone Receiver Cord Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 08:31:24 +0100 On 15 Jul 2004 11:15:49 -0400, Don Saklad wrote: > What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone > receiver to the base? ... IME - gravity is your friend. Raise the base up high and let the handset dangle on the cord and untwist itself. -- UK Computer stuff from Morgan Auctions. Bids start at £1. No reserve. Sign up NOW! Track a Mobile phone: . ------------------------------ From: Dan Mayer Subject: The History of Telepassport Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 07:59:26 -0400 Patrick, I'm interested in the history of international callback; the Telepassport system is a prime early example according to http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Electronic/Telepassport_Internation al_13242.htm and other sources. That source (declaring service availability) is dated July 1993. Do you recall when the system was actually designed, and how long it took to implement from concept to reality? Was it based on some earlier descriptions of similar concepts? Thanks! Dan Mayer. ------------------------------ From: codemonkey74@yahoo.com (CodeMonkey74) Subject: Internet Connection Date: 16 Jul 2004 10:01:56 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I saw this posted on another forum and thought it was a pretty hot deal. I'm looking for a good deal on high-speed internet. My son found a deal on-line at http://specials.comcastoffers.com with $19.95 for the first six months, $50 cash back, and a free modem. ------------------------------ 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 #335 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 16 18:01:37 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6GM1bM20577; Fri, 16 Jul 2004 18:01:37 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 18:01:37 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407162201.i6GM1bM20577@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 #336 TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Jul 2004 18:01:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 336 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Government Oversight and Protecting VoIP (VOIP News) Fortune Magazine Article on Jeffrey Citron (VOIP News) IRS Denies VoIP Tax Plan Claims (VOIP News) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (David Esan) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Linc Madison) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Paul A Lee) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Daniel W. Johnson) The Net and Politics (Charles Cryderman) Re: Getting Out of Norvergence Contracts (Londa Raymer) Share Day for July, 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: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 10:10:58 -0400 Subject: Government Oversight and Protecting VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.technewsworld.com/story/35147.html INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: By Sonia Arrison TechNewsWorld Sununu's bill, called the VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act, would put an end to this state meddling, although it would still force VoIP firms that connect to the public phone network to "contribute, directly or indirectly," to universal service. Of course, state regulators aren't the only ones targeting VoIP. The Senate Commerce Committee will soon vote on a bill to bar states from meddling with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows the Internet to be used like a telephone. The bill by Sen. John Sununu (R-New Hampshire) is one of many reactions to a growing movement from states and other pro-regulatory types to control VoIP. [.....] Public Utility Commissions in a number of states, including California, New York and Minnesota, are working to milk the new service for as much as they can get, but in the process there is a serious risk they will strangle VoIP before it can create the telecommunications revolution everyone is expecting. Sununu's bill, called the VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act, would put an end to this state meddling, although it would still force VoIP firms that connect to the public phone network to "contribute, directly or indirectly," to universal service. Of course, state regulators aren't the only ones targeting VoIP. Full story at: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/35147.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, 16 Jul 2004 11:18:44 -0400 Subject: Fortune Magazine Article on Jeffrey Citron Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/technology/articles/1,15114,594529,00.html DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY Talk Gets Cheaper Jeffrey Citron's last venture got him banished from trading stocks. Now he's getting aggressive in a hot new industry -- routing phone calls over the Internet. By Julia Boorstin If Jeffrey Citron feels tarnished by his recent legal problems -- he did, after all, pay a staggering $22.5 million settlement to the SEC just last year -- he isn't letting on. He's brashly holding forth, seated at a makeshift conference table, which is covered by a cheap white tablecloth. The topic: his latest brainstorm-turned-business called Vonage. The 33-year-old Citron, who never went to college, is so wound up that h e jumps to the next idea before he finishes the last one. "Right?" he'll ask repeatedly, trying to confirm that his point is understood before he nails the next one. He's so energetic he'll simply stand up mid-sentence, unable to stay still. "My involvement in any company is very emotional," he says, hours before he flies in his private jet to congressional meetings about potential industry regulation. "I commit every bit of energy and resources I can afford." Surely he has ample reserves of both. Since 2002 he's invested more than $30 million of his own money -- collected from two earlier ventures that were acquired -- to start Vonage (pronounced VOH-nij), an upstart in the newly crowded field of Internet-based phone companies. This service allows residential and small-business users to make phone calls that are routed primarily over the Internet at cheaper rates than conventional phone service. Full story at: http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/technology/articles/1,15114,594529,00.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, 16 Jul 2004 11:49:16 -0400 Subject: IRS Denies VoIP Tax Plan Claims Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3382131 By Roy Mark The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department strongly denied Thursday they are considering an excise tax on Internet telephone calls or any other IP-based services. On July 1, the IRS published in the Federal Register a request for public comments on changes in the telecommunications industry since 1965, when the tax code was last updated to define telecommunications services. Based on those definitions, the IRS currently imposes a 3 percent excise tax on telecom services. The notice prompted a media account saying the IRS was planning on taxing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. A week later, the story was referenced at a U.S. House hearing on possible VoIP regulations. "Nothing in the notice said anything about taxing VoIP, and that is not under consideration by Treasury and the IRS," Treasury spokesperson Terra Bradshaw told internetnews.com. "Any report to the contrary is simply incorrect." Full story at: http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3382131 ------------------------------ From: david_esan@hotmail.com (David Esan) Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: 16 Jul 2004 07:37:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: I believe > the term of office is 4 years but any given person can serve up to > two complete terms maximum. I believe this came about at the urging > of Republicans in 1950 when President Truman was in office, because > they (Republicans) were quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting > *four* terms in office, even though he died about a year after getting > elected the fourth time. Since normally any changes voted into law > do not affect the incumbent but only his successors, Truman could > have theoretically been around for many more years. So the Republicans > got Eisenhower in office in 1952. He was an enormously popular > president and the Republicans were sorry (in 1960) when he wound up > having to leave office also because of those rules they (Republicans) > had passed several years before. > I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in > office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) > term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they > would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) > his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* > would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in > office, under the new rules. PAT] Oy, are you wrong. The amendment states that a person can only be elected to the presidency twice. It then continues that a person who takes over for a president, and is president for more than 2 years before the election, is ineligible for a second election. In other words, one can serve a year (November 22, 1963 to January 1965), and be re-elected in November 1964 and November 1968. Johnson removed himself from the election after the strong showing of Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire primary. Johnson then watched the Democratic coalition fall apart, as Bobby Kennedy declared for the presidency, and threatened to split the party, and allow the Republicans to win the election. He declared that he would not run again, leaving the nomination open, and leading to the chaos of Chicago 1968, and the election of Nixon. ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 11:13:10 EDT Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election In a message dated Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:14:10 UTC Bill Ranck writes: > Yes, *Congress* can set the date of the choosing, and of the voting of > the electors, not some appointed board or other group. I really can't > see Congress delegating that authority. Nor is there any basis for thinking the Congress would have the power to delegate such authority. > There is also the clause > which says the term of the President and Vice President is 4 years. > So that sort of limits how much even Congress could delay an election > if they don't want to start a real Constituional crisis. The 20th Amendment provides that the Presodent's term of office ends at noon on January 20. That is constitutional, not statutory, so Congress could not change it. (Incidentally, this change did apply to the incumbent, FDR, and so shortened his first time by the number of days between January 20 and March 4, the old date.) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: I believe > the term of office is 4 years but any given person can serve up to > two complete terms maximum. I believe this came about at the urging > of Republicans in 1950 when President Truman was in office, because > they (Republicans) were quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting > *four* terms in office, even though he died about a year after getting > elected the fourth time. It had always been traditional for presidents to serve only two terms until FDR got elected four times. I don't recall any feeling that it was the Republicans specifically want the two-term limitations; many in both parties through two terms was enough. "Normally" presidents had served only two terms before FDR. The 22nd amendment (the two-term amendment) specifically says it does not apply to a president in office at the time. > I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in > office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) > term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they > would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) > his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* > would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in > office, under the new rules. PAT] The 22nd Amendment specifically covers the situation, with two years of the previous term being the dividing line. The "extra time left over from Kennedy" was from Nov. 22, 1963 to January 20, 1965, less than two years, so he was entitled to run for two full terms. I don't know who the "they" are who would not have let him run for a second full term, since this is covered in the constitutional amendment, not statutory law. Johnson chose not to run for a second full term, probably mainly because the hostility of the opposition to the Vietnam war led him to think he would have great difficulty winning. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 10:35:25 -0700 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , wrote: > Charles Cryderman wrote: >> Well Bill I got bad news for you. The Constitution has nothing in >> it about holding elections. There are laws made by Congress and >> which Congress has the power to change or void. But a >> Constitutional amendment is not necessary. The only thing the >> Constitution specifies is that the "electors" cast their votes. >> Nothing about the people voting. The selection of electors isn't the only thing on the ballot in November. There's also a little thing called Congress, so you might want to check Article I, Section 4. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: I believe > the term of office is 4 years but any given person can serve up to > two complete terms maximum. The actual limit is 2-1/2 terms. Specifically, no person can be elected three times, and any person who has served more than two years without being elected as President (i.e., a Vice President or other officer of the government who becomes President by succession) can be elected to only one additional term. Thus, since LBJ had served less than two years of JFK's term, he was eligible to run again in 1968. His decision not to run was based on his own lack of popularity at the time, not on any legal limit. On the other hand, Gerald Ford served more than two years of Nixon's second term; about 29 months, to be exact. Thus, Ford was eligible for only one full elected term. That part is in the 22nd Amendment, which was ratified in 1951. Technically, Truman could have run again, since the 22nd didn't apply retroactively ("this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress"), but Truman abided by the clear desire of the people and did not run in 1952. Incidentally, the "unnamed source" for the story about the plan to postpone the elections was DeForest Soaries, the head of the Election Assistance Commission, which was created by Congress to ensure that we have a smooth election without the disruption and uncertainty we had in 2000. That's hardly what I call an "unnamed source," especially since Soaries' plan is that the EAC be given the authority to postpone the election. (I don't care that an "unnamed source" leaked Soaries' letter to Tom Ridge; the fact remains that the letter is authentic and signed, and the discussion is real.) Clearly, the United States needs to think about contingency plans in case we do have a terrorist attack on or near Election Day. Here's just one scenario: suppose it's late in the day on November 2nd. The polls have closed everywhere except the west coast. Suddenly we have a major terrorist attack in Los Angeles, with thousands dead and maybe thousands more injured or missing. What do we do? Clearly, the California election cannot be completed on schedule. However, the Constitution *does* say that the electors shall be chosen on the same day throughout the United States. Does that mean that the election in Maine has to be tossed out and subjected to a re-vote, since California will have to re-vote? For that matter, do we suspend the election if the attack happens five minutes before the polls close? What about 45 minutes? Two hours? What's the limit? Do we still count the original absentee ballots if we have a re-vote? How do we ensure that partisan interests don't influence the decision to suspend the election? That last bit is a key element: any plan for creating even a possibility of postponing the election on a national basis, must be completely non-partisan. I would say that every single political party or campaign that has even just one candidate on the ballot in one Congressional district, must have a seat in the discussions, and any decision to postpone the election should be made by a 2/3 majority (maybe even 3/4), with the Democrats and Republicans both having veto power. If the election is postponed with any narrower mandate than that, the suspicions of the people will be impossible to quell. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have heard many complaints over the years about the different time zones also causing problems for west coast voters. i.e. having the winner of the election announced before the polls had even closed on the west coast. A solution was proposed which would mostly alleviate that problem at least; change the hours the polls were open so that everyone would be voting 'at the same time'; in other words, voting is usually a 12 hour period, frequently 6 AM to 6 PM, local time. The idea presented was, use the central time zone as the 'base', having central open and close at 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM Central; Eastern would be 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM; Mountain would be 6:30 to 6:30; Pacific would be 5:30 to 5:30. All of these on local time. In other words, all at the same instant. Some would be inconvenienced by starting a bit later and closing a bit later, while others would start and close a bit earlier, all of them getting the same 12 hour window. Alaska and Hawaii would be an exception, with voting on *Monday night* for three or four hours, and again on Tuesday from sometime 6 or 7 AM through early afternoon. Pacific Territories would vote on *Monday* for a 12 hour period noon through midnight more or less. Since the media seems to prefer the east coast as their source of news in these things, they could do their reports when the polls in New York closed at 8:30 PM Eastern, after California had just closed, and possibly 30 minutes to an hour before the polls closed in Alaska and Hawaii. A nice, tidy way of doing it. PAT] ------------------------------ Organization: Rite Aid Corporation From: Paul A Lee Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 10:14:50 -0400 Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In TELECOM Digest V23 #334, our esteemed Editor noted (in part): > I believe the term of office is 4 years but any given person > can serve up to two complete terms maximum. ... From Amendment 22 of the U.S. Constitution: "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once." > I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his > term in office, the Democrats were going to run him for a > second (complete) term (recall, he finished the final year of > Kennedy's term) but they would not let him do that, since if > he *had* won (instead of Nixon) his two complete terms *plus > the extra time left over from Kennedy* would have run him > past the statuatory length of time allowed in office, under > the new rules. No, Johnson _would_ have been eligible to run for a second term, since he had only served about 14 months of the term to which Kennedy was elected. It was in 1968 that Johnson made his famous "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term ..." address. Rereading Amendment 22 got me to thinking: It looks like it would be quite possible for one person to serve more than two terms as President. Let's suppose Smith is elected as President and Jones as Vice President. Two years and one day into his term, Smith resigns, dies, or is otherwise removed from office. Jones succeeds Smith as President. According to Amendment 22, Jones is still eligible to be elected twice to the office of President, since he served less than two years of Smith's term. If Jones is elected twice, he will serve a total of 10 years minus 1 day as President. Take it one step farther: After serving as President for one day short of 10 years, Jones runs for Vice President again, on a ticket with Brown. I didn't find anything in a quick search of the Constitution that would prohibit that. Brown and Jones are elected. One week into his term as President, Brown keels over from a massive pulmonary embolism. Jones becomes President again, for another nearly four years. Nothing in the Constitution to prevent that, as far as I can see. There doesn't appear to be anything in the Constitution to prohibit one person from serving as President for quite some time, with a little conniving. Paul A Lee Sr Telecom Engineer Rite Aid Corporation HL-IS-COM (Telecomm) V: +1 717 730-8355 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 F: +1 717 975-3789 P.O. Box 3165, Harrisburg, PA 17105-3165 W: +1 717 805-6208 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think he is eligible to serve as Vice President under President Brown since there is always the possibility Brown *could* be impeached (after a week in office!), be murdered by the Secret Service, or otherwise become incapacitated as you suggest, and with the consitutional prohibition against one person serving as president more than 2.5 terms, it would be necessary for him to recuse or resign the position immediatly. PAT] ------------------------------ From: panoptes@iquest.net (Daniel W. Johnson) Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: 16 Jul 2004 01:12:36 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: Okay. > I believe the term of office is 4 years but any given person can > serve up to two complete terms maximum. Any given person can be elected to the office no more than twice. Or no more than once if they've filled the office for more than two years of someone else's term. http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html > I believe this came about at the urging of Republicans in 1950 when > President Truman was in office, because they (Republicans) were > quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting *four* terms in office, > even though he died about a year after getting elected the fourth > time. The twenty-second amendment passed Congress in 1947, although it did take four more years to be ratified. > Since normally any changes voted into law do not affect the > incumbent but only his successors, Truman could have theoretically > been around for many more years. The amendment had an explicit exception for the term in which it took effect, but not for any later elections. If it had taken a couple more years to be ratified and allowed Truman to run and be elected in 1952, he would have been able to finish out that term, but that would have been it. > So the Republicans got Eisenhower in office in 1952. He was an > enormously popular president and the Republicans were sorry (in > 1960) when he wound up having to leave office also because of those > rules they (Republicans) had passed several years before. Since Truman had served more than two years of Roosevelt's term and then been elected to the office once, he was ineligible. This is why the Democrats didn't nominate him in 1952. > I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in > office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) > term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they > would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) > his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* > would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in > office, under the new rules. PAT] No. He had served less than two years of Kennedy's term, so there was nothing in the Constitution to keep him from actually being elected twice. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And who sets up the rules for when the conventions are held? I had heard the party seeking office always had theirs first and the party in office always had theirs last. Is that correct? It is happening that way this time at least. And those poor people who live in the condominium across the street from Madison Square Garden are certainly getting pushed around by the Republicans. A memorandum given to the residents of the apartment building by the security officers for the convention have told them they have to stay in their apartments for the entire convention except being allowed to come and go from work and then *only* go outside with proper ID and that they will not be allowed to carry in any packages to their homes (i.e. groceries, etc) during the convention or for a couple days before it begins, nor have any visitors in their homes that week. See this week's Village Voice for the complete oppressive memorandum from the secret security police to residents. I wonder why the Republicans simply did not evict them all, drive them out of their homes for good and get it over with. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Charles Cryderman Subject: The Net and Politics Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 08:32:00 -0400 Pat, I commented about how the net is going to be used by the supporters of the President and Senator Kerry. How they will use it to provide garbage to the voters and that many Lemmings will believe what they read on the net as being true. Well I got a real life example for you. This is from the group Fact Check. They are going over every add on TV, radio and the net debunking the trash that is considered "political advertising. I recommend everyone to sign up for their e-mail alerts. You'd be surprise how many false ads are being presented to us and the gall of them. Fact Check does permit the sleaze advertisers to prove the claims, but you wouldn't be surprised at how poorly they are able to. Chip Cryderman See: http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docid=218 Summary An Internet ad by the anti-Bush group MoveOn PAC paints Cheney as a fear-monger and Edwards as a candidate of compassion, trust and hope. It uses snippets from speeches by each of the candidates, artfully edited and enhanced with music and sound effects that play on emotions. Opinions will differ on whether this ad is misleading or not. Viewers not paying close attention could get the false idea that Cheney was predicting "the end of America" when in fact he was quoting an al Qaeda operative -- and scornfully at that. What we offer here is added context to show what was left out of the ad, and our observations on some of the persuasion techniques used by all political admakers to influence what viewers will think and feel about what they are seeing. Analysis MoveOn PAC announced July 13 it was asking its 2 million members to e-mail a new 60-second Internet ad to their friends, and to post it on websites. Painting a Picture MoveOn PAC's news release describes the ad's intent: MoveOn PAC: Using stark video images set to music and footage of the candidates themselves, the ad paints a picture of Edwards' commitment to an America that lifts people up and unites its citizenry in compassion and trust. Dick Cheney, on the other hand, is shown promoting a climate of fear . (Emphasis added) Is the picture accurate? How do the "stark images" and the added music comport with reality? Let's dissect some of the techniques being used here. Editing Cheney The raw material for this ad comes from two much longer speeches given by the two candidates. Edwards spoke at a campaign event at Largo, MD Feb 20 (when he was still running against Kerry for the nomination, by the way), and Cheney was speaking to the conservative Heritage Foundation way back on Oct 10, 2003. One dubious bit of editing comes at the end of the ad, where Cheney seems to be chanting "the beginning of the end of America, the beginning of the end of America." How's that for fear-mongering? However, Cheney did not repeat that phrase for emphasis as the ad does. He said it only once. The repetitive editing is a clever persuasion technique that turns the phrase into a mantra, subtly giving it more weight than Cheney did himself. More importantly, Cheney himself was not predicting the "beginning of the end of America" -- he was quoting an al Qaeda member. To be sure, the ad does flash the words "quoting al Qaeda" on screen, but anyone who misses that disclaimer would get the impression that the words were a gloomy prediction by Cheney. Here's the way Cheney really said it: Cheney: Since 9/11, we've learned much more about what these enemies intend for us. One member of al Qaeda said 9/11 was the "beginning of the end of America." And we know to a certainty that terrorists are doing everything they can to gain even deadlier means of striking us. From the training manuals we found in the caves of Afghanistan to the interrogations of terrorists that we've captured, we have learned of their ambitions to develop or acquire chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. And if terrorists ever do acquire that capability -- on their own or with help from a terror regime -- they will use it without the slightest constraint of reason or morality. Of course, reasonable people could still see that as a message of fear, and many do. On the other hand, Cheney's main point in that speech was that America had been made safer: Cheney: Today we do not face this prospect. There are terrorists in Iraq, yet there is no dictator to protect them, and we are dealing with them one by one. Terrorists have gathered in that country and there they will be defeated. We are fighting this evil in Iraq so we do not have to fight it on the streets of our own cities. No sense of that message was in the ad, of course. Editing Edwards The ad also edits Edwards' words to leave out any hint of negativity. Just before Edwards talks about "building America," for example, he paints a dark picture of present-day reality: Edwards: Just think about it for a minute. In a country of our wealth and our prosperity, to have children going to bed hungry, to have children who don't have the clothes to keep them warm, to have millions of Americans who work full-time, every single day, working for minimum wage to support their families and living in poverty -- it's wrong. This is what you and I are going to do about it together: We're going to build an America where we say no to kids going to bed hungry; no to the kids not having the clothes to keep them warm; and no forever to any American working full-time and living in poverty. Not in our America. Not in the America you and I will build together. We can do this. Music and Effects For those who might otherwise miss the point, the ad cues the viewer by placing the words "compassion," "trust" and "hope" on screen as Edwards speaks, and "FEAR" in pulsating capital letters as Cheney speaks. Behind Edwards' words the ad's soundtrack lays "subtle uplifting music" (as MoveOn PAC's news release describes it), and behind Cheney's words we hear the sound of an "ominous heartbeat." And as Cheney is made to chant "the beginning of the end of America" his image turns from full color to shades of red, signifying (we suppose) blood -- or at least something evil. We're neither disputing nor endorsing this ad's description of Edwards as a man with an inspirational message, and Cheney as man spreading fear. That's for voters to decide. What we are saying is that watching this ad is a far cry from watching what Edwards and Cheney said, directly and unedited. In the real world, the audiences heard the whole thing -- and without music, sound effects or graphics inserted by somebody telling them what they should think about what they were hearing. The same can be said for nearly all political advertising. Voters should know that its aim is to persuade, not necessarily to inform. And they should also be aware that even when words and images are accurate, they can be manipulated, edited and enhanced to create a desired impression. Sources Moveon PAC, "Voters Urged to Support Edwards' Message of Hope and Trust Over Cheney's Message of Fear," news release , 13 July 2004. Vice President Richard Cheney, " Remarks by the Vice President to the Heritage Foundation ," Washington, DC, 10 Oct 2003. U.S. Sen. John Edwards, Prince George's Community College, Largo, Maryland, 20 Feb 2004. ------------------------------ From: londa.raymer@raymerbook.com (Londa Raymer) Subject: Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: 16 Jul 2004 13:18:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com nrackeertu@cliornuwta.mailexpire.com (N. Rakeertu) wrote in message news:: > hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Jeff nor Lisa) wrote in message: >>> The customers have plenty of defenses against Norvergence >> Why would they? The company went broke. Companies do that all the >> time and anyone who is owed money (customer or creditor) has to get in >> line at bankruptcy court and file a claim. > Because Norvergence didn't perform on its agreement to provide the > service for 5 years. So for instance if Norvergence had kept the > equipment rental agrements instead of unloading them to the finance > companies, the customers could argue that they didn't owe Norvergence > anything because Norvergence hadn't performed on the service part of > the deal. By assigning greatly inflated values to the equipment part > of the deal, and assigning the equipment stream of income to a third > party, Norvergence made it much harder for the customers to resist > payment to the third party assignees (because these assignees > supposedly take the assignment as purchasers for value with no actual > knowledge of customer defenses against Norvergence). That is why it is > so important for the customers to band together and take action on > their own behalf. It's almost certain that the financing companies > will try to enforce the leases even though Norvergence is BK, and it's > up to the customers to defend themselves (or continue to pay for > nearly worthless equipment and no phone service). > NR:>> What needs to happen here, in my view, is that the customers of > >> the various leasing companies ... need to band together and file > >> class action lawsuits against them. > JNL > It depends on the amount of individual losses. For some, the > time, effort, aggravation, and legal fees wouldn't be worth it. > Right. Individual losses, though substantial (most Norvergence > customers are probably looking at over $25,000 in payments over five > years, and some will owe much more than that) make it difficult to > justify a lawsuit, and it will be expensive to get the right amount of > discovery done to prove that the financing companies knew what was up, > at least at some point. That's why the customers need to find each > other and take action. If they don't, the financing companies will > just pick them off one at a time and it will be difficult to resist. > JNL > In the event that actual fraud (intentional deception) is found, > then the district attorney should be brought in. > Good point. It looks like Norvergence wasn't paying its telecom bills, > and I've read complaints from employees that they weren't being paid > their commissions due, so all that money from selling rental contracts > must have been going somewhere. I wonder where it all went? > N. Rackeertu > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Norvergence customers can find each > other through a web site http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com set > up for them. PAT] The link doesn't work!!! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So I found out from several readers today. I had *thought* maybe it was going to be a useful way for Norvergece customers to communicate with each other. Silly me! PAT] ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For July, 2004 Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 17:00:00 CDT 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. Especially you Norvergence customers I have tried to help here in the past couple months or so. Maybe a gift of one month's worth of what you saved being warned about Norvergence. It would work great here. 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 #336 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 17 02:50:49 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6H6omI24870; Sat, 17 Jul 2004 02:50:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 02:50:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407170650.i6H6omI24870@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 #337 TELECOM Digest Sat, 17 Jul 2004 02:50:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 337 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Daniel W. Johnson) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Robert Bonomi) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Daniel W. Johnson) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Robert Bonomi) Re: Norvergence Question (Steven J Sobol) Re: Norvergence Question (Robert Bonomi) Norvergence Contract (martial-longarm@comcast.net) Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (Dave Garland) Re: Virtual PBX Competitors (John Bartley) Review: AirPort Express (Monty Solomon) Re: Payphone Ringer Troubleshooting (Tony P.) Re: Curly Telephone Receiver Cords Untangled (Charles Patterson) Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? (Ernie Klein) Share Day for July, 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: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 15:33:49 -0500 From: Daniel W. Johnson Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: Okay. > I believe the term of office is 4 years but any given person can > serve up to two complete terms maximum. Under Amendment XXII, a person can be elected to the office of the President no more than twice, or no more than once if they've served more than two years of someone else's term. http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html > I believe this came about at the urging of Republicans in 1950 when > President Truman was in office, because they (Republicans) were > quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting *four* terms in > office, even though he died about a year after getting elected the > fourth time. The amendment passed Congress in 1947, but it took about four years to be ratified after that. > Since normally any changes voted into law do not affect the > incumbent but only his successors, Truman could have theoretically > been around for many more years. So the Republicans got Eisenhower > in office in 1952. He was an enormously popular president and the > Republicans were sorry (in 1960) when he wound up having to leave > office also because of those rules they (Republicans) had passed > several years before. The amendment had an explicit exception for the term in which it took effect, but not for any later elections. Since Truman had served more than two years of Roosevelt's term and then been elected once, he was not eligible in 1952 and the Democrats didn't bother to nominate him. (If the amendment had taken a couple more years to be ratified and he had been re-elected in the meantime, the exception would have allowed him to finish the final term.) > I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in > office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) > term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they > would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) > his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* > would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in > office, under the new rules. PAT] Since he served less than two years of Kennedy's term, the amendment would not have kept him from being elected a second time in 1968. Daniel W. Johnson panoptes@iquest.net http://members.iquest.net/~panoptes/ 039 53 36 N / 086 11 55 W ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 01:46:34 +0000 In article , Daniel W. Johnson wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: > Okay. >> I believe the term of office is 4 years but any given person can >> serve up to two complete terms maximum. > Any given person can be elected to the office no more than twice. Or > no more than once if they've filled the office for more than two years > of someone else's term. >http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html >> I believe this came about at the urging of Republicans in 1950 when >> President Truman was in office, because they (Republicans) were >> quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting *four* terms in office, >> even though he died about a year after getting elected the fourth >> time. > The twenty-second amendment passed Congress in 1947, although it did > take four more years to be ratified. >> Since normally any changes voted into law do not affect the >> incumbent but only his successors, Truman could have theoretically >> been around for many more years. > The amendment had an explicit exception for the term in which it took > effect, but not for any later elections. If it had taken a couple > more years to be ratified and allowed Truman to run and be elected in > 1952, he would have been able to finish out that term, but that would > have been it. >> So the Republicans got Eisenhower in office in 1952. He was an >> enormously popular president and the Republicans were sorry (in >> 1960) when he wound up having to leave office also because of those >> rules they (Republicans) had passed several years before. > Since Truman had served more than two years of Roosevelt's term and > then been elected to the office once, he was ineligible. This is why > the Democrats didn't nominate him in 1952. >> I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in >> office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) >> term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they >> would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) >> his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* >> would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in >> office, under the new rules. PAT] > No. He had served less than two years of Kennedy's term, so there was > nothing in the Constitution to keep him from actually being elected > twice. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And who sets up the rules for when the > conventions are held? I had heard the party seeking office always had > theirs first and the party in office always had theirs last. Is that > correct? It's bullsh*t. pure and simple. Each party chooses _when_ and *where* it will hold it's national convention. Due to the size of the event and the _length_ of time the facilities are needed, sites and dates are selected _several_ years in advance. almost assuredly at least 5 years in advance, probably closer to 10. > It is happening that way this time at least. So what? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 21:05:00 -0500 From: Daniel W. Johnson Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election In article , Linc Madison wrote: > That part is in the 22nd Amendment, which was ratified in 1951. > Technically, Truman could have run again, since the 22nd didn't apply > retroactively ("this article shall not apply to any person holding the > office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress"), > but Truman abided by the clear desire of the people and did not run in > 1952. My bad; I only noticed the second part of that sentence ("... and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.") Because of the seven-year deadline for the ratification of that amendment, the second part would seem to be rather difficult to apply to anyone other than the person holding the office of President when the article was proposed. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And who sets up the rules for when the > conventions are held? I had heard the party seeking office always had > theirs first and the party in office always had theirs last. Is that > correct? It is happening that way this time at least. The scheduling of the Republican National Convention is handled by the Republican Party. The scheduling of the Democratic National Convention is handled by the Democratic Party. The scheduling of the World Science Fiction Convention is handled by the World Science Fiction Society. And so on. I found a list at http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781449.html , and it does look like the habit has been as you describe since 1932 (when the Republican Herbert Hoover was president but the Democratic convention was two weeks after the Republican convention). Actually, it looks like the Democratic Convention was after the Republican one each time from 1892 through 1952. > And those poor people who live in the condominium across the street > from Madison Square Garden are certainly getting pushed around by the > Republicans. A memorandum given to the residents of the apartment > building by the security officers for the convention have told them > they have to stay in their apartments for the entire convention except > being allowed to come and go from work and then *only* go outside with > proper ID and that they will not be allowed to carry in any packages > to their homes (i.e. groceries, etc) during the convention or for a > couple days before it begins, nor have any visitors in their homes > that week. See this week's Village Voice for the complete oppressive > memorandum from the secret security police to residents. I wonder why > the Republicans simply did not evict them all, drive them out of their > homes for good and get it over with. PAT] The memo I found at the Village Voice's website (http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0428/memo.php) was somewhat less draconian than your description. Nothing about being allowed to come and go only for work, nothing about a restriction on carrying in packages, nothing about a prohibition on visitors. Lots of stuff that resembles the consequences of planned road work (or the Indianapolis 500). Is the harsher memo you describe somewhere else on that site? Daniel W. Johnson panoptes@iquest.net http://members.iquest.net/~panoptes/ 039 53 36 N / 086 11 55 W ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 02:47:09 +0000 In article , > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I tend toward being libertarian > myself and wish they stood even a chance in hell of getting elected, > but that is so unrealistic in this country, where the Demopublicans > and the Republicrats prevail. I will be interested however in seeing > whether Pastor Soaries and his buddy Bush put their heads together > and decide 'because of the risk of terrorism' to have the election > in November called off, as per yesterday's CNN report and this week's > Newsweak Magazine. Not-so-clever use of "intellectually dishonest" language. You want people to belive that CNN and Newsweak (sic) reported that 'those people' are contemplating calling off the election. When, *IN*ACTUAL*FACT*, what is being reported is concern over the likelihood of terrorist activities coinciding with certain other events. WITH NOT ONE WORD about potentially 'calling off the election'. Of course, you've never let facts get your the way before, why start now? > Both of those news sources seem rather certain there will be some > terrorist activities at the conventions later this month and next > month. PAT] There is, quite simply, *NO*CHANCE* of the entire November elections being 'called off', or even 'postponed'. To move the date of the election for _FEDERAL_ offices (and *only* federal offices) a literal 'Act of Congress' would be required. Then there is the matter of the elections for _STATE_ and local offices. This would require additional, state-level, legislation in *each* of the 50 states. Where many of the legislatures have _already_ adjourned for the year. In any state where the legislature has adjourned, the Governor thereof would have to call the legislature back for a 'special session', _and_ the appropriate legislation would have to be introduced and passed, *AND* it would have to bear an 'effective date' in advance of the legal 'notice date' requirements for the current election. The last point introduces a whole raft of _additional_ complications -- in many states statutes _cannot_ take effect until the year after they are passed. And, of course, any attempt to move the date of the election past January 3 would introduce a constitutional crisis of (literally) unimaginable magnitude.. It is in the Constitution that the term of elected Federal officials expire on that date. *REGARDLESS* of whether a successor has been elected or not. Provision is made for the State Governor to 'appoint' someone to fill a vacancy in the House or Senate, *but*, in most cases, the governorship is _also_ vacant, for the same reason, at the same time. Ditto for the state legislatures. Legally you'd have *only* the 2/3 of the Senate who's terms were not of the current 'class'. *HOW* you then fill the vacant offices is _not_ a simple question. the missing US Senators can be appointed by a sitting state governor -- *if* there is one; his term _may_well_ have expired as well. To fill the U.S. House seats, a State _election_ is required -- called for by that state's Governor -- again, *IF* there is one. Filling gubernatorial and/or legislative vacancies at the _state_ level is even messier. And probably has to be dealt with _first_. So you *have* a Governor, to act on the Federal vacancies. > Charles Cryderman wrote: >> Bill Ranck placed before us: >>> "They have no legal standing to do so. I know they are asking to >>> have a law passed to enable them, but they would need a >>> Constitutional amendment to actually be able to do this. That >>> certainly isn't going to happen. I doubt that Congress will even >>> consider the idea in a serious way." >> Well Bill I got bad news for you. The Constitution has nothing in it >> about holding elections. There are laws made by Congress and which >> Congress has the power to change or void. But a Constitutional >> amendment is not necessary. The only thing the Constitution specifies >> is that the "electors" cast their votes. Nothing about the people >> voting. > Yes, *Congress* can set the date of the choosing, and of the voting of > the electors, not some appointed board or other group. I really can't > see Congress delegating that authority. There is also the clause > which says the term of the President and Vice President is 4 years. > So that sort of limits how much even Congress could delay an election >if they don't want to start a real Constituional crisis. > Technically, the states get to choose electors in any manner the > state's legislature wants. There is *no* requirement for a statewide > popular vote at all, and indeed until some time in the late 1800's > some state legislatures chose the electors for their state. The only > requirements the Constitution places on the process is that the choice > of electors must happen on the same day in all states, and that all > the electors for all the states have to make their choice on the same > day. > Bill Ranck > Blacksburg, Va. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: I believe > the term of office is 4 years but any given person can serve up to > two complete terms maximum. I believe this came about at the urging Your 'belief' bears no relation to the facts. > of Republicans in 1950 when President Truman was in office, because > they (Republicans) were quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting > *four* terms in office, even though he died about a year after getting > elected the fourth time. Since normally any changes voted into law > do not affect the incumbent but only his successors, Truman could > have theoretically been around for many more years. FALSE TO FACT. such changes do not affect the _current_term_ of the sitting official. It can make it illegal for them to run for re-election _again_, even though they -first- were elected into office when such a restriction was not in effect. > So the Republicans > got Eisenhower in office in 1952. He was an enormously popular > president and the Republicans were sorry (in 1960) when he wound up > having to leave office also because of those rules they (Republicans) > had passed several years before. > I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in > office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) > term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they > would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) > his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* > would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in > office, under the new rules. PAT] Again, your 'belief' bears no relation to the facts. Johnson *was* eligible to run, and could have served a full second term. He served less than 1/2 of Kennedy's term. As such he was eleigble for election _twice_. If he had served _more_ than 1/2 of a term, as an "unelected" president, then he would only have been eligible for election _once_. LBJ *chose* not to run in 1968 -- because his political advisors told him he had *zero* chance of winning. That it didn't matter *who* ran against him,_any_ opponent would defeat him in 'landslide' proprortions. 'Viet Nam' was a millstone of insurmountable proportions. He simply decided _not_ to be remembered for all posterity as a 'loser'. LBJ made a public announcement of his _decision_ *not* to run for re-election. I don't remember if the actual announcement was carried 'live' on TV, but clips from it were *all*over* the news broadcasts, at the time. He had face-saving mendacities about why he chose not to run for re-election, but the political fact was that he was un-electable. In article , Paul A Lee wrote: > In TELECOM Digest V23 #334, our esteemed Editor noted (in part): >> I believe the term of office is 4 years but any given person >> can serve up to two complete terms maximum. ... > From Amendment 22 of the U.S. Constitution: > "No person shall be elected to the office of the President > more than twice, and no person who has held the office of > President, or acted as President, for more than two years > of a term to which some other person was elected President > shall be elected to the office of President more than once." > [[.. munch ..]] > Rereading Amendment 22 got me to thinking: It looks like it would be > quite possible for one person to serve more than two terms as > President. > Let's suppose Smith is elected as President and Jones as Vice > President. Two years and one day into his term, Smith resigns, dies, > or is otherwise removed from office. Jones succeeds Smith as > President. > According to Amendment 22, Jones is still eligible to be elected twice > to the office of President, since he served less than two years of > Smith's term. If Jones is elected twice, he will serve a total of 10 > years minus 1 day as President. > Take it one step farther: After serving as President for one day short > of 10 years, Jones runs for Vice President again, on a ticket with > Brown. I didn't find anything in a quick search of the Constitution > that would prohibit that. Bzzzzt! You didn't look very hard. The last part of Amend XII reads: "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." > Brown and Jones are elected. One week into his term as President, > Brown keels over from a massive pulmonary embolism. Jones becomes > President again, for another nearly four years. Nothing in the > Constitution to prevent that, as far as I can see. Sure there is. Jones is *ineligible* to be vice-president. See above. > There doesn't appear to be anything in the Constitution to prohibit > one person from serving as President for quite some time, with a > little conniving. There IS *one* 'loophole' in the rules, as currently written. A person can run for Vice-President, and be elected to _that_ office an indefinite number of times -- *as*long*as* he is 'eligible' for the office of President. He *is* 'eligible' if he has not: (a) been elected President twice -or- (b) (1) Been elected President once *and* (2) Served as president for more than 2 years of a term to which some other person was elected President. Thus, if he runs for, and is elected as, Vice-President every four years, and the sitting President resigns after 'two years and a day', the process _can_ be repeated in perpetuity. > Paul A Lee Sr Telecom Engineer > Rite Aid Corporation HL-IS-COM (Telecomm) V: +1 717 730-8355 > 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 F: +1 717 975-3789 > P.O. Box 3165, Harrisburg, PA 17105-3165 W: +1 717 805-6208 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think he is eligible to serve > as Vice President under President Brown since there is always the > possibility Brown *could* be impeached (after a week in office!), > be murdered by the Secret Service, or otherwise become incapacitated > as you suggest, and with the consitutional prohibition against one > person serving as president more than 2.5 terms, That is _not_ what the Constitution actually says. see above. > it would be necessary > for him to recuse or resign the position immediatly. Nope. Per Amend XII, since he is 'not eligible' for the office of the President, he is not eligible for the Vice-Presidency. End of story. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Norvergence Question Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 15:27:37 -0500 Jeff nor Lisa wrote: > William Van Hefner wrote: >> Accounts are also deemed in default if not paid within 10 days >> OF INVOICE. > Normally in the business world there is a 30 day window to pay > invoices. No, it depend specifically upon the credit terms offered. I do "due upon receipt", which is 0 days. My father usually does "2% 10 Net 30%" which means due in thirty days with a 2% discount if you pay in ten. There may be some industry-wide standards in specific industries, but there are no credit terms which could be considered universal. 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: Norvergence Question From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 01:34:02 +0000 In article , Jeff nor Lisa wrote: > William Van Hefner wrote: >> Accounts are also deemed in default if not paid within 10 days >> OF INVOICE. > Normally in the business world there is a 30 day window to pay > invoices. *UNLESS* the contract terms specify otherwise. e.g. see practically _any_ real-estate lease. "Net 10" invoicing is not the norm, I'll agree. But it is -not- an incredible rarity, either. It's typical for small job-shop printing, and for minor plumbing/electrical/HVAC work. I've seen, more than once, invoices where the terms were: "2% 5 days, net 10, 1.5$/month thereafter" >> My question is, who would be foolish enough to sign such a contract??? > Yes, I'd like to know that as well. I can't understand how anyone in > business would enter into a contract without reviewing such basics as > terms of payment, exit clause, penalty clause, performance, etc., > especially for something as mission critical as telephone service; but > for any other service or product as well. > Jeez, the future isn't predictable. What happens if your company or a > location downsizes and you don't need the contracted capacity? What > happens if you don't like the service? And dealing with a start-up > company is always risky for lots of reasons. > By the way, does this Qwest actually own physical cable and > switchgear, or is just a reseller as well? Qwest is the current name for the former Northwestern Bell Telephone Company. ILEC for 14 states in the upper-Midwest and Northwest US. They've also been a national "alternative long-distance carrier" for several years. Does -that- answer your question? ------------------------------ From: martial-longarm@comcast.net Subject: Norvergence Contract Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 01:21:24 +0000 This company has been a pain in my ass from just about day one! Enough so to compel me to send a six page letter to my states Attorney General back in April. One of my many complaints was my Rental Agreement with Norvergence, that overnight turned into a five year lease with a company called Information Leasing Corp. My rental agreement, and that is just what Norvergence called it, states that they would be the rentor. Yet I never paid them a dime, it was sold before my first payment was due. The front of this agreement states that it was written in simple and easy to understand language. However, the back-side of this agreement is in very fine print, a lot of it. At the bottom is place for the person who signed the front to put his initials, thus confirming he has read the fine print. I never saw this side of the agreement, but someone put my initials there for me, and it's as plane as day that it is not my hand-writing. This rental agreement also says that this "Matrix SOHO" is not to be used for personal or home use, yet they installed in my home! They put it there because they gave me a line of bull that DSL was not available in my area, when in fact it was. Also, it not the magic Matrix SOHO box that they claimed would work woundrs, it's a damm Adtran router.If this is not doing something wrong then what the hell is. Furthermore, I was always under the impression that renting and leasing were two different things, aren't they? Lastly, the only thing I can find out about the leasing company, (Information Leasing Corp) is that they have been involved in law-suites for the same type as we now will have when we don't pay our lease payments, and yes, they have won. Thomas Hines Custom Crete Warehouse 203-773-9980 ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 00:05:28 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when londa.raymer@raymerbook.com (Londa Raymer) wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Norvergence customers can find each >> other through a web site http://www.norvergence-cit-fraud.com >> set (of the google cached version) to be at >> http://www.telecombb.com, another domain that does not seem to >> exist. Curious. Some other online links: http://www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff98090.htm http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/July%202004/07-08-04.htm#nor (which suggests that some of the leasing companies were created by Norvergence) http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/norvergence (Yahoo group) ------------------------------ From: John Bartley Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:16:05 -0800 Subject: Re: Virtual PBX Competitors > John Bartley wrote in message > news:telecom23.332.11@telecom-digest.org: >> Who are the major competitors to Virtual PBX, for folks who don't want >> to maintain their own phone switch? >> Anyone here have experience with the Virtual PBX service? >> Thank you kindly. >> John Bartley K7AAY On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:20:48 GMT, AFN wrote: > Punch in "virtual pbx" at google and see the sponsor ads on the right. Is there perhaps someone here who might credit me for having *already* done so, and who has some on-topic information regarding Virtual PBX providers? Especially, experience with specific providers? Thank you to all the on-topic responders. _______________________________________________ Talk More, Pay Less with Net2Phone Direct(R), up to 1500 minutes free! http://www.net2phone.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?143 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 18:32:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Review: AirPort Express Exclusive: Apple AirPort Express with AirTunes By Jeremy Horwitz If Apple's iTunes music management software had only one major failing up until today, it would have been an obvious one: you could only hear your iTunes library through a computer. And if that computer wasn't in the same room with a nice pair of speakers - say, the large ones used in your home entertainment center - the only ways you could enjoy your digital music collection would be on a computer, or on an iPod. Effective today, that restriction has ended. With the release of AirPort Express, the third PC- and Mac-compatible device released by Apple Computer in the last two years, and related new software called AirTunes, your digital music library is now free to roam to speakers anywhere in your house, regardless of whether a computer or docked iPod is connected to them. At the same height but twice the thickness and .75" wider than an iPod mini, the AirPort Express is a small but powerful wireless base station that can serve print jobs and music through dedicated USB and digital/analog 3.5" ports. Prominently mentioned on the box, Apple's AirTunes software actually integrates almost invisibly with iTunes (versions 4.6 and later), adding a quick switch button that toggles between your computer's speakers and those connected to the Express station, wherever it is. Since iPodlounge is primarily concerned with AirPort Express' music-related capabilities, we will not go into extended detail on its other functionality. But we do have some opinions on our initial experiences with its software that may be of interest to potential buyers. http://www.ipodlounge.com/reviews_more.php?id=4459_0_6_0_M ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Payphone Ringer Troubleshooting Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 22:43:32 GMT In article , tadc@withheld says: > Hello all, and greetings to Pat. Please remove my email address from > this post for spam supression purposes. > I have an Automatic Electric manufactured coin station of a fairly > modern vintage(it has the "loud" button next to the keypad if that > helps date it). It is branded GTE. > Some time ago, the ringer completely ceased to function. All other > functions of the phone seem intact. > Does anybody have any troubleshooting tips for identifying and perhaps > repairing the problem with the ringer? Schematics perhaps? I'm faily > well versed with the use of a VOM/DMM for troubleshooting. > Thanks for any tips. There's usually a 47uf capacitor across the ringer that dries out with age. Or it may not even be there -- they take it out sometime to stop the ringer from working but still register as a device. I'd check that first. ------------------------------ From: charles@telephonesecurity.com (Charles Patterson) Subject: Re: Curly Telephone Receiver Cords Untangled Date: 16 Jul 2004 14:29:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com >> What is the trick to untangling a curly cord from the telephone >> receiver to the base? ... >> There is a particular movement that does untangles when a telephone >> receiver cord gets curled in upon itself. I actually studied one user whose cord was always tangled so tightly that she regularly had only about 6 inches of stretch left in it. The cause was this: the phone was on the left side of her desk, she would answer with her left hand, transfer the handset to her right hand to talk, then pass it back to the left hand to hang up. In that return to the left hand she put one full twist on it. Choices were 1. move the phone, 2. stop using two hands, 3. use a handset twister adapter that always fail anyway, 4. periodic manual untwisting or cord replacements. Now the real mystery question: Handset cords that seem to have that one single twist where the curls seem to fold back on themselves... If there were two twists, one could meet the other and cancel each other out, but that single twist- those that have seen it have undoubtedly pondered it, the only thing I can see to do it is to work it slowly out to the end. But the cord never seems the same after that... what causes that lone phantom twist, and can it ever be restored to the original curl? My only theory is that it may have something to do with the conductors inside the cord shifting around... charles ------------------------------ From: Ernie Klein Subject: Re: Death Penalty Applies to Top Posters? Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 19:33:28 -0700 Organization: Not very organized In article , Jack Decker wrote: > Pardon me for being clueless, but what the heck is a "top-poster"? I > hope I'm not the only one who didn't get that. > Jack A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail? No, not mine - stole it from somewhere. -Ernie- "There are only two kinds of computer users -- those who have suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure, and those who will." Have you done your backup today? ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For July, 2004 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 2:00:00 EDT 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. Especially those of you in the past few months who have saved much money by not getting involved in the Norvergence scam. I suggest one month of the money you would have had to spend if you had gotten involved with it. 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 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 #337 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 17 14:18:35 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6HIIZe29526; Sat, 17 Jul 2004 14:18:35 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 14:18:35 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407171818.i6HIIZe29526@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 #338 TELECOM Digest Sat, 17 Jul 2004 14:18:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 338 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Tune In, Turn On, Skype Out (baracooda) Call Adtran (Jamie Karczewski) TelePort Platinum Fax/Modem, and Converting ADB to USB? (AES/newspost) From Ray and Rita to Industry Professional (Ray Normandeau & R Frazier) DSL Steel or Copper (rud) Problems with Vonage and Bellsouth/PPPoE (Richard Thomas) Cord Untangling (Michael Muderick) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Linc Madison) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (ranck@vt.edu) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Charles Cryderman) Re: Norvergence Question (Bart) For Techs Sake: VoIP: Reality Amidst the Hype (VOIP News) Share Day for July, 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: wayne.chiang@gmail.com (baracooda) Subject: Re: Tune In, Turn On, Skype Out Date: 16 Jul 2004 16:13:24 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have a Deskoid Robotic PC design that is ideal for Skype. Check it out at http://funkycoldamoeba.blogspot.com . I need partners to co-develop this idea, if anybody is interested, let me know. VOIP News wrote in message news:: > http://www.techcentralstation.com/070104F.html > Tune In, Turn On, Skype Out > By Kevin Werbach Published 07/01/2004 TCS > Somewhere between Sweden, Estonia, and London, a small band of software > developers is fomenting a revolution. Their product, Skype, > has been downloaded fifteen million times worldwide in less than a > year, without any marketing budget. It is provoking consternation > among government officials. And it has large incumbents worried. > If that sounds like the profile of peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing > programs like Napster and Kazaa, it should. Not only is Skype a > product of the same team that launched Kazaa, the most popular p2p > file-sharing application, Skype is a p2p tool itself. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 20:01:56 -0400 From: jamie karczewski Subject: Call Adtran I am a Norvergence T1 customer stuck between a rock and a matrix box. Today I spent literally 9 hours on the phone and I finally got somewhere. I transferred all voice lines to AT&T, getting DSL as a temp. solution but having the Matrix remain. Listen closely. I spoke to a Project Manager at Adtran; the manufacturer of the Total Access 850 a.k.a the NORVERGENCE MATRIX box. If you look at your contract's fine print area you will find a clause detailing the fact that NORVERGENCE declines responsibility of the Matrix box warranty to the customer and it reads in detail how they are not responsible in some way for the equipment. I called the number found at the bottom of this page http://www.crm.adtran.com/cgi-bin/submit_ticket.pl?route_to=Post+sales+support and was asked to open a ticket window. I then spoke in detail about my Matrix box without mentioning until the end that I "acquired" the equipment through Norv. I then was connected to a Project Manager and another supervisor to speak in detail about the machine and what they were legally allowed to discuss with me given the current situation. I asked him to speak so I could read between the lines and was told that in order to continue service through another ISP one would have to have the company contact Adtran in order to continue the service. I obtained a difficulty level as a 3 with 10 being very difficult. Adtran is currently designing software to easily crossover to another ISP. There is hope for Norvergence customers and if anyone would like the contact info I'd gladly provide. Call Adtran and see what they say www.adtran.com ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: TelePort Platinum Fax/Modem, and Converting ADB to USB? Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:21:17 -0700 Shutting down an older Power Mac 8600 the other day freed up a 1995 Global Village/TelePort Platinum External Fax/Modem. It's not a bad modem -- only 28K but I only intermittently need modem or fax these days -- and I'd think about converting to a newer Mac because of its special pass-through capability. That is, you run a normal phone connection _through_ this modem -- i.e., you run the phone cord from the wall plug to an input jack on the modem, and another phone cord from an output jack on the modem to your combined phone/answering machine. The modem camps across the line but lets phone calls go through to the phone. When either you or the answering machine answers a call the modem does nothing unless it hears an incoming fax whistle, in which case it automatically disconnects the pass-through to the phone, grabs the line, wakes up the Mac, and receives the fax. It also of course also allows the computer to dial outgoing fax or modem connections. The problem is, it connects to the Mac via an ADB cable, which we don't got no more. So: 1) Anyone know of a comparable currently available external pass-through modem with USB connectivity? 2) Anyone know if this unit is likely to work using an ADB/USB adaptor (if such exists) with currently available fax software? 3) Lacking satisfaction on any of the above, anyone want to make a modest bid on this gadget, with manual and (maybe) software diskette (which I haven't found yet)? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 18:00:41 PDT From: Ray Normandeau & Rita Frazier Subject: From Ray and Rita to Industry Professional FYI: Smart Beep will be discontinuing service in September! If you are one of the many currently satisfied SB customers you will surely be disappointed; but you may wish to plan ahead. If in doubt ask Smart Beep. Unlike internet hoaxes, we are NOT asking you to forward this to all your friends. Rather, keep this secret to yourself as a reward for being one of the many faithful readers at http://www.RayRita.us This foreknowledge may give you a leg up in the industry. Ray and Rita ------------------------------ From: ruddager99@hotmail.com (rud) Subject: DSL Steel or Copper Date: 17 Jul 2004 10:20:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does anyone know if you can use steel communication wire to run a DSL line? The cable is Belden LL7874/E108998/9504. I've got a brand new 500' spool of the stuff and DSL being installed in the area (finally!) Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Richard Thomas Subject: Problems With Vonage and Bellsouth/PPPoE Organization: BellSouth Internet Group Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 00:08:58 -0500 Has this been an issue for anyone else? I have a home network that usually connects through Bellsouth DSL via a Linux firewall and the PPPoE client.Everything usually runs snappy and fine. Two days ago, I obtained and installed the Vonage Motorola VT1000 appliance. I disabled the PPPoE stuff and started DHCP and rewrote my NAT/firewall rules and everything seemed kind-of OK. There was some funky stuff but it was past bedtime. The next day (yesterday) I tried SSHing in from work but had forgotten to reconfigure ddclient (oops) so had no idea of the IP. Today I had that set up OK and connected with SSH fine. Problem was, whenever I did anything that produced rapid network activity (even ls or ifconfig), the connection would just hang (not disconnect but just stop). I could open new connections fine but they would also fall prey. note that it seemed OK to sit there banging away on the enter key, I could scroll through pages and pages that way, just stuff that produced output quickly seemed to cause the problem. So I got home tonight and try reading some news. The client (Agent) connects then hangs. Some packet sniffing reveals that some data (the article numbers) starts being returned to the client and then stops. Similar symptoms to the above. Ok, so maybe it's my NAT/firewall rules? Well, I take my '98 box off the network and plug it directly into the back of the Vonage box. Renew the IP and I'm out to the net. Except the problem is still occuring with connections to the news server (did I mention that some websites seem slow to load and some images aren't loading?). Well, I've been on goose chases before where I made a minor change to software and spent hours chasing it down only to find out that Bellsouth coincidently had some network problems. So I take the Vonage box out, reconfigure my Linux box for PPPoE and wahay, we're back to regular snappy internet access and no agro from the Bellsouth nntp server. Anyone know if I have a faulty appliance? Is this a known problem? Should I just stick the appliance behind my firewall and if so, does anyone have a link to a good guide on how best to do this? Thanks Rich An animal so poor in spirit that he won't even fight on his own behalf is already an evolutionary dead end; the best he can do for his breed is crawl off and die, and not pass on his defective genes. --R.A.Heinlein ------------------------------ From: Michael Muderick Subject: Cord Untangling Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 06:41:20 -0400 After untangling the cord, I have come across a successful method of restoration. Wrap the cord coil by coil around a piece of iron rod of proper diameter. PUsh it very tightly around the rod. Then put the rod in the oven (not microwave-it's iron) for about 15 minutes. It sort of reforms the coils and when you pull the rod out, it seems to be better. I also use dishwashing liquid to clean really ratty cords. I now have a box of 100's (what a time waster!) if anyone needs one. MOstly blacks, ivory and brown. Some restored , some not. Michael@muderick.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 08:41:28 -0700 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Robert Bonomi wrote: > In article , >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I tend toward being >> libertarian myself and wish they stood even a chance in hell of >> getting elected, but that is so unrealistic in this country, where >> the Demopublicans and the Republicrats prevail. I will be >> interested however in seeing whether Pastor Soaries and his buddy >> Bush put their heads together and decide 'because of the risk of >> terrorism' to have the election in November called off, as per > Not-so-clever use of "intellectually dishonest" language. You want > people to belive that CNN and Newsweak (sic) reported that 'those > people' are contemplating calling off the election. > When, *IN*ACTUAL*FACT*, what is being reported is concern over the > likelihood of terrorist activities coinciding with certain other > events. > WITH NOT ONE WORD about potentially 'calling off the election'. > Of course, you've never let facts get your the way before, why start > now? "Not one word" about potentially calling off the election -- and YOU're talking about someone ELSE not letting facts get in their way?? >> Both of those news sources seem rather certain there will be some >> terrorist activities at the conventions later this month and next >> month. PAT] > There is, quite simply, *NO*CHANCE* of the entire November elections > being 'called off', or even 'postponed'. > To move the date of the election for _FEDERAL_ offices (and *only* > federal offices) a literal 'Act of Congress' would be required. Which is EXACTLY what DeForest Soaries, the head of the federal Election Assistance Commission, asked Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to put forward. To quote Newsweek: "Ridge's department last week asked the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to analyze what legal steps would be needed to permit the postponement of the election were an attack to take place. ... Soaries, a Bush appointee who two years ago was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for Congress, wants Ridge to seek emergency legislation from Congress empowering his agency to make such a call." Now what exactly was that about "not one word about calling off the election"?? > Then there is the matter of the elections for _STATE_ and local > offices. This would require additional, state-level, legislation in > *each* of the 50 states. Yes, but, with enabling legislation from Congress, the federal government can set the date for federal elections. It happens as a matter of custom that state elections are held on the same day, but it is only a matter of custom. Suppose that an attack happens late in the day on the west coast, after polls in the east have closed. It would be possible for the federal government to postpone the Congressional and Presidential elections, while letting states choose whether or not to let their state and local election results stand. > And, of course, any attempt to move the date of the election past > January 3 would introduce a constitutional crisis of (literally) > unimaginable magnitude. It is in the Constitution that the term of > elected Federal officials expire on that date. *REGARDLESS* of > whether a successor has been elected or not. Provision is made for > the State Governor to 'appoint' someone to fill a vacancy in the > House or Senate, *but*, in most cases, the governorship is _also_ > vacant, for the same reason, at the same time. Not true, on several levels. First of all, the governor cannot appoint anyone to the House of Representatives, only to the Senate. No one can serve in the House of Representatives without having been elected. "When vacancies happen in the Representation from any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill the vacancy." Second, it is not true that most governorships will be vacant if the election is not held by January 3rd. Many states elect their governors at the midterm election, deliberately to avoid competition for the voters' attention. For the same reason, the mayor of San Francisco is elected to a four-year term, but always in an odd-numbered year. Thus, the governor of California and the mayor of San Francisco are in office until the elections in 2006 and 2007, respectively, regardless of what happens with the 2004 election. In fact, only 11 states will elect governors this year: DE, IN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NH, UT, VT, WA, and WV. >> [PAT:] Since normally any changes voted into law do not affect the >> incumbent but only his successors, Truman could have theoretically >> been around for many more years. > FALSE TO FACT. such changes do not affect the _current_term_ of the > sitting official. It can make it illegal for them to run for > re-election _again_, even though they -first- were elected into > office when such a restriction was not in effect. Turns out, you're both wrong! While it is *possible* to write a law that makes it illegal for an officeholder to run for further re-election -- as has been done with many term limit laws -- the fact is that the 22nd Amendment specifically exempted Harry Truman. In theory, Truman could've run for a third or fourth term. >> Take it one step farther: After serving as President for one day >> short of 10 years, Jones runs for Vice President again, on a ticket >> with Brown. I didn't find anything in a quick search of the >> Constitution that would prohibit that. > Bzzzzt! You didn't look very hard. > The last part of Amend XII reads: > "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of > President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of > the United States." Well, it actually isn't quite that simple. The 22nd says that a person may not be *elected* more than twice. Being constitutionally ineligible to be *elected* is not quite exactly the same thing as being constitutionally ineligible to *serve*. The latter standard remains as in Article II, Section 1: a natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, residing in the United States for at least 14 years. >> Brown and Jones are elected. One week into his term as President, >> Brown keels over from a massive pulmonary embolism. Jones becomes >> President again, for another nearly four years. Nothing in the >> Constitution to prevent that, as far as I can see. > Sure there is. Jones is *ineligible* to be vice-president. See above. But is Jones ineligible to be Speaker of the House? How about Secretary of State? See the 25th Amendment. Henry Kissinger can't become President under any circumstances without another amendment. However, theoretically, Bill Clinton could be elected VP and then become President. He could also become Speaker or President Pro Tem or Secretary of State, and be elevated by succession from there. >> There doesn't appear to be anything in the Constitution to prohibit >> one person from serving as President for quite some time, with a >> little conniving. > There IS *one* 'loophole' in the rules, as currently written. > A person can run for Vice-President, and be elected to _that_ office > an indefinite number of times -- *as*long*as* he is 'eligible' for > the office of President. He *is* 'eligible' if he has not: > (a) been elected President twice > -or- > (b) (1) Been elected President once > *and* > (2) Served as president for more than 2 years of a term to which > some other person was elected President. > Thus, if he runs for, and is elected as, Vice-President every four > years, and the sitting President resigns after 'two years and a day', > the process _can_ be repeated in perpetuity. Your reasoning has a couple of flaws. If a Vice President gets different shills to take the top slot on the ballot each time (using each one no more than twice), the elected President can resign on Inauguration Day each time, leaving the repeat President in place with only the briefest of interruptions. In any case, even if our fictional repeat VP-turned-Prez were to wait for 2y+1d into each term, its not clear that the "two years of a term to which some other person was elected President" clock gets reset each time. I would argue that such a person would, after having served a cumulative total of more than two years of terms to which other people were elected, be eligible only once to be elected President in his or her own name. He or she would still be eligible to one elected term, though, even if the cumulative term of unelected service exceeded 10 years. Of course, it's all academic, since the political reality is that anyone who tried to pull such a scheme would be driven off the political stage in a metaphorical hearse. In article , Robert Bonomi wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And who sets up the rules for when >> the conventions are held? I had heard the party seeking office >> always had theirs first and the party in office always had theirs >> last. Is that correct? > It's bullsh*t. pure and simple. > Each party chooses _when_ and *where* it will hold it's national > convention. True. > Due to the size of the event and the _length_ of time the facilities > are needed, sites and dates are selected _several_ years in advance. > almost assuredly at least 5 years in advance, probably closer to 10. Not true. The time and place of the Democratic convention were decided in December 2002. The Republicans picked their convention site and dates in January 2003. The conventions are planned more than a year in advance, but far less than 5 years. The *bids* for the conventions might be prepared 5 years in advance, though. Factoid: Over 10,000 NYPD officers will be protecting the Republican convention site. That's more people than we have looking for bin Laden. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: ranck@vt.edu Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:03:28 UTC Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Correct me if I am wrong: I believe > the term of office is 4 years but any given person can serve up to > two complete terms maximum. I believe this came about at the urging > of Republicans in 1950 when President Truman was in office, because > they (Republicans) were quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting > *four* terms in office, even though he died about a year after getting True, but it took a Constitutional amendment to make this change. It is Amendment XXII. The term is still 4 years and they pretty much *have* to have an election (using the Electoral College) to select a President every four years. They can't just postpone it indefiniately. There are some situations where Congress itself has to choose the President, but the wording all says there must be a new term starting every 4 years. > I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term in > office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second (complete) > term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's term) but they > would not let him do that, since if he *had* won (instead of Nixon) > his two complete terms *plus the extra time left over from Kennedy* > would have run him past the statuatory length of time allowed in > office, under the new rules. PAT] I don't think so. Amendment XXII allows for 2 full elected terms as president and up to 24 months finishing up for someone else who has died or left office. If Johson had served more than 2 years of Kennedy's term, then he would have been ineligible for a second term of his own. Still, there is a limitation where if you serve more than half of someone elses term you can't get 2 full terms of your own. Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va. ------------------------------ From: Charles Cryderman Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:24:42 -0400 Our Esteemed Moderator commented: > "Correct me if I am wrong: I believe the term of office is 4 years > but any given person can serve up to two complete terms maximum. I > believe this came about at the urging of Republicans in 1950 when > President Truman was in office, because they (Republicans) were > quite annoyed at President Roosevelt getting *four* terms in office, > even though he died about a year after getting elected the fourth > time. Since normally any changes voted into law do not affect the > incumbent but only his successors, Truman could have theoretically > been around for many more years. So the Republicans got Eisenhower > in office in 1952. He was an enormously popular president and the > Republicans were sorry (in 1960) when he wound up having to leave > office also because of those rules they (Republicans) had passed > several years before. > I do believe in 1968 when President Johnson was finishing his term > in office, the Democrats were going to run him for a second > (complete) term (recall, he finished the final year of Kennedy's > term) but they would not let him do that, since if he *had* won > (instead of Nixon) his two complete terms *plus the extra time left > over from Kennedy* would have run him past the statuatory length of > time allowed in office, under the new rules. PAT] In 1951 the 22nd amendment to the Constitution was added. Unless you wish for me to quote the whole thing I will summarize it. You can not be elected to the office of President more then twice. Also no person who has held the office as President or has acted as President for more then two years of a term which someone else was elected President can be elected more then once. There is also an exception for the current office holder at the time is was enacted (Truman). As to President Johnson, he could have ran for another term but choose not to himself. The democratic leadership was POed by it but he knew that because of his actions in Vietnam he'd be a liability. Also, to run for President you have to be fully qualified for office. That is why, to the horror of many Clintonites, he could not run for another term. I had heard many on talk radio saying asking "Why can't he run and then resign after two years?" For some reason those hosting these radio shows would never come right out and say, "Because, he is not eligible to be President." I love the Constitution and keep a copy at my side. Chip Cryderman ------------------------------ From: Bart Subject: Re: Norvergence Question Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 10:07:13 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: spam@icpage.com On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:47:54 -0400, no one wrote: > On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 04:35:53 -0700, William Van Hefner > wrote: >> If you'd like to see an example of the Norvergence contract, you can >> browse through http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence . I'd be more >> likely to sign my own death warrant than sign a contract like this. >> William Van Hefner >> Editor - http://www.thedigest.com > One of the licenses on the page Hefner refers to says that you can > terminate the service (clause 7 of > http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence/07122004-PelasEquipmentLeaseContract.pdf > or http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/General_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf ) > The SLA is at > http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/ATM_Service_Level_Agreement.pdf and > says "Customer may terminate the Affected Services without penalty if, > in any single calendar month: (i) Network Downtime exists for at least > ninety-six (96) hours in the aggregate; or (ii) any single event > entitling Customer to credits under Network Availability exists for a > period of at least thirty-six (36) consecutive hours." (there's some > other good stuff in there). > But that doesn't seem to terminate the equipment lease. See section 5 > of http://www.norvergence.com/PDFs/General_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf > "NorVergence is not a party to any hardware rental or lease contract > between customer and customer's financing bank. Hardware Rental or > Lease Agreements between Customers and their Lenders are > non-cancelable and not part of or affected by NorVergence Circuitry > Services in any way." > Some of the pricing is given in the documents on the page Hefner > refers to above . The ones > I saw show the lion's share of the fees going to the leasing company. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:10:45 -0400 Subject: For Techs Sake: VoIP: Reality Amidst the Hype Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/1_1/telecom-it-infrastructure/24051-1.html By Gary Arlen Special to Washington Technology Despite the growing trend to pronounce the 'Voice over Internet Protocol' acronym as a nasally 'voip,' purists still prefer to enunciate the letters V-O-I-P when they abbreviate the emerging technology. However they say it, 'VoIP' discussions almost always are accompanied by the term 'hype' which almost rhymes, if you pronounce both of those four-letter words with a combination Cockney and New Joisey accent. VoIP has been deemed one of the most significant technology trends confronting government IT managers (Washington Technology, June 7). Yet after two years of the aforementioned hype, the Commerce Department is the only sizeable federal agency to acknowledge a widespread VoIP deployment. Vendors such as Cisco Systems Inc. and Avaya Inc. which offer significantly different approaches in their VoIP solutions acknowledge that most of their installations in government offices are still largely trials numbering dozens (sometimes up to 100) stations. They keep hoping that these trials will roll into wider-scale deployments. The Defense Department's recent certification of VoIP as an authorized solution has encouraged Internet telephony advocates. Full story at: http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/1_1/telecom-it-infrastructure/24051-1.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: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For July, 2004 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 14:00:00 EDT 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. In particular, those readers who have benefitted in the past few months after reading here about the Norvergence scandal are requested to participate, perhaps with a donation equal to one month's savings on a Norvrgence Matrix box you avoided contracting for. 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 #338 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jul 18 01:36:38 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6I5acT03701; Sun, 18 Jul 2004 01:36:38 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 01:36:38 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407180536.i6I5acT03701@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 #339 TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Jul 2004 01:36:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 339 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Norvergence Fraud Forum (Bart) Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (Lisa Hancock) Re: Problems With Vonage and Bellsouth/PPPoE (John McHarry) Re: Problems With Vonage and Bellsouth/PPPoE Semi-Resolved (Rich Thomas) Re: Problems With Vonage and Bellsouth/PPPoE (John R. Levine) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Henry) The Political Convention in 1904 - Teddy Roosevelt (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bart Subject: Norvergence Fraud Forum Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 11:40:39 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: spam@icpage.com I've created this forum to provide a common place for Norvergence Customers to share their experience with others. You will find the board up and running as http://www.b87.com . This is a non-commercial board to help users of Norvergence find answers. Registration required to post or reply to keep the "vultures" away. If you have been victimized by Norvergence, past employee or have any information to share, please join us at http://www.b87.com. The sole purpose of this bulletin board is help the victims help themselves. Bart@b87.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not wishing to be deceived twice in a two week period on the same issue -- Norvergence -- I *did* try this URL before publishing this message. It *is* a good board, and robo-moderated; that is, you have to register prior to *any* posting. There are four or five different 'departments' or categories there; one dealing with former employees, another dealing with the fraud aspects, etc. So you *can* trust http://www.b87.com I think. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts Date: 17 Jul 2004 18:57:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Isaiah Beard wrote [some excellent points] > It's an apples and oranges comparison here, because there really is no > warranty against a company becoming insolvent. If an automaker went bankrupt, its warranty would be worthless. Though other makers might buy it up with worthwhile assets through the court which is the case in many bankruptcies so end customers don't get screwed; however it is not a guarantee. > Further, I'm surprised that no one has yet pursued fraud charges > against Norvergence. Norvergence, as far as anyone can tell, led > customers (and possibly the banks, no one is sure) to believe that > this "matrix" they were peddling was worth many thousands of dollars, > when in fact it could be bought elsewhere for $500. And some have > reported on here in the past that the box wasn't actually connected to > *anything*, it just sat there while their services (none of which > required a T1) were handled through other more pedestrian facilities. I don't think the actual value of any box has any relevance. It's the total package that matters. At work, I can buy a bottle of water for $1, or go to the drinking fountain and get the same thing (IMHO) for free. I can go to a fancy restaurant and get a little spaghetti for $22 or a plain place and get a heaping plate for $4. There is no fraud in either case. Businesses DO go broke. Every customer and vendor takes a chance when dealing with any business, most hopefully will honor their committ- ments, but bankruptcies and sudden shutdowns do occur. Bad or foolish business decisions are not fraud. That's why in contracts such as this exit clauses are very important. Suppose they were still in business but the service quality was poor? > Yes, but why? Norvergence was getting money UP FRONT for equipment > that cost them a tiny fraction of the income they were receiving, ON > TOP OF revenue for the services they were reselling. Where did all of > this money go? If it was squandered illegally, you can bet a case can > be had. It would have to be proven that the money was indeed squandered illegally. I have a funny feeling that the mgmt knew what they were doing and it will be hard to prove that case. We'll have to see. Unfortunately, since Reagan business oversight and SEC rules have declined. Presidents since Reagan haven't felt the need to restore it. Well, they did get Martha S. for "lying". > The difference is that these customers bought a machine that they were > led to believe DID something for them, and cost a huge amount. I bought a new car. Unlike the ads, I do not hot young folks fawning around me, nor am I driving alone on beautiful roads (unless the NJ Tpk in a jammup counts). If this box was totally air space, you might have a point. But as long as it actually performed a function, and apparently it did, the price isn't relevent, anymore than a Hollywood star paying $1,000 for a pair of beach flipflops available down the street for $1. > YES! There's no denying it. If someone walked into your office > promising grandiose things from this $15,000+ magic box that would > revolutionize your office communications, and made such a good sell > that you signed the papers, and then a week later someone dropped by, > said "here's the big magic box!" and dropped a $40 linksys broadband > router on your lap (and on top of that, NEVER HOOKED IT UP to > anything), wouldn't you consider that a swindle? I consider any contract without an exit clause to be a swindle. I consider anything grossly overpriced to be a swindle. But there is a big difference between my opinion and what constitutes legal fraud. Did I get swindled by the car ads? Are SUV owners swindled by ads showing the SUV on top of mountains? Like $1,000 beach shoes or $25 spagh dinners, if you got the product, you got what you asked for. IF the unit was NEVER HOOKED IT, you have a case since the unit had no function. But if the unit works, and you merely overpaid, that's your problem. I am sorry for Norv customers who got burned in this, but as business people, they should've known more of what they were getting into. The cost of the contract should have been compared to other bids. The exit clause options should've been clear. The lease terms should've been clear. Geez, the first question in anyone's mind should've been "if this doesn't work out, what happens to the lease?" and a contract with fine print should've been reviewed first by their attorney. If the company significantly mispresented the service quality, functions, and costs, then it is fraudulent. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Problems With Vonage and Bellsouth/PPPoE Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 21:24:03 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Richard Thomas wrote: > Has this been an issue for anyone else? > I have a home network that usually connects through Bellsouth DSL via > a Linux firewall and the PPPoE client.Everything usually runs snappy > and fine. > Two days ago, I obtained and installed the Vonage Motorola VT1000 > appliance. I disabled the PPPoE stuff and started DHCP and rewrote my > NAT/firewall rules and everything seemed kind-of OK. I used to have BS DSL. One useful thing I found out is that when you run PPPoE, the DSL interface they supply acts simply as a modem. If you run DHCP, the router function includes some firewalling you can neither see nor control. This breaks traceroute. What else it breaks, I know not, but I used it that way for a couple years with no problems other than the traceroute one. I would try going back to PPPoE and using the Linux box to NAT the Vonage device. You could also use ethereal or tcpdump to sniff out what is going on. ------------------------------ From: Richard Thomas Subject: Re: Problems With Vonage and Bellsouth/PPPoE Semi-Resolved Organization: BellSouth Internet Service Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 17:17:01 -0500 I found that by disabling the DMZ option, my connection started working reasonably again. Problem is, this means that I can only forward up to 10 ports incoming. Now, as it happens, this *is* enough for me at the moment (Port 22 is the main concern) but I still don't like the idea of being limited like that. Anyone have any more info? An animal so poor in spirit that he won't even fight on his own behalf is already an evolutionary dead end; the best he can do for his breed is crawl off and die, and not pass on his defective genes. --R.A.Heinlein ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Problems With Vonage and Bellsouth/PPPoE Date: 17 Jul 2004 15:34:22 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Anyone know if I have a faulty appliance? Is this a known problem? > Should I just stick the appliance behind my firewall and if so, does > anyone have a link to a good guide on how best to do this? If your ISP uses PPPoE, I'm astonished that you could set up a connection using DHCP at all. Why didn't you follow the instructions on page 9 of the installation guide that tell you how to configure the Motorola box for PPPoE? Or alternatively, put it behind your router, and see the note on page 16 about the ports that it uses. ------------------------------ From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry) Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 23:53:45 +0300 Organization: Elisa Internet customer wrote: > "Normally" presidents had served only two terms before FDR. Not exactly. But let's look at the whole picture, both pre- and post-FDR. Of the 42 incumbents prior to the present one (counting Cleveland as two), the _most frequent_ reason for 'end of service' is that the president was voted out after one term! This happened in ten cases. Eight men died in office and one resigned. Three were constitutionally barred from continuing by the 22nd Amendment. That leaves 20 who _could have_ run again but for whatever reason did not. (Whether it was their choice or that of the power-brokers in their party is beyond the scope of this little summary.) Eight of those 20 men were vice-presidents who assumed office on the death of their predecessor. Four of those eight--interestingly, the first four chronologically--completed the term they 'inherited' and did not run for a term of their own. The next four chronologically completed the term they inherited and then ran for and won a term of their own, after which they stepped down. G.R. Ford, who was thrust into not only the presidency but the vice-presidency as well, is the only one of the mid-term replacements who was rejected by the voters when he sought a term of his own. That leaves 12 (before the advent of the 22nd Amendment) who were elected, served their time and left, Seven of these served for two terms. (Chronologically, they were five of the first seven presidents; the other two were Grant and Wilson {who was debilitated).) Of the five who served one full term and then stepped down, one was Cleveland, who had served a previous term and been kicked out by the voters. Cheers, Henry [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And out of the last 20 elections, since 1924, or 80 years, 10 of the winners have been Democrats and 8 have been Republicans. Over 90 years, or 22 elections, the score is about even. Grover Cleveland (first time around) was the first president to have telephone service in the White House, and Theodore Roosevelt's 12 year old son Teddy operated the White House switchboard while the 'girl' went to lunch. The switchboard in those days was right outside Roosevelt's office because he wished to be notified immediatly of an important message arriving by telephone. PAT] ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 23:00:00 EDT For most of our nation's lifetime -- especially in the 1860 to 1968 time frame, presidential political conventions were held in Chicago. The reason was (take your pick) -1- the city of Chicago and state of Illinois politics were so corrupted, the national guys felt right at home and welcomed by their brothers of the cloth or -2- Chicago was the place where all the railroad trains terminated, and it was an ideal place for the national conventions before aircraft travel became common. The correct answer of course is -2-, Chicago was the center of our nation and very convenient for folks to get to. Usually the Republican and Democratic conventions would be a couple weeks apart. The earliest conventions were downtown at the Central Music Hall, which stood where Marshall Field's store is located at State and Randolph Streets. Beginning in the early years of the 20th century the conventions migrated south to 15th Street at the Chicago Colliseum, then in the 1930-40's to the old Chicago Stadium, on the west side, which became famous for the number of presidential candidates who were nominated, made speeches and were frequently elected. That one block of West Madison Street -- now a dreadful slum area -- is famous for that one fact: A dozen or so presidential candidates were nominated there, made speeches, etc. The original 'smoke filled room' where a certain candidate was handed the nomination once was the old (now gone) LaSalle Hotel, LaSalle and Madison Streets. After the Democrats had their riot in 1968, replete with televised coverage of the ugly events along Michigan Avenue downtown that Wednesday night, and the police presence downtown all day the next day Thursday gassing everyone walking around and using their batons indiscriminatly on everyone who tried to hide from the gas, all the politicians got scared and decided to not return to Chicago for about thirty years. I've got a hunch -- just a hunch -- that the Republican convention this time around will be as much of a 'riot' as the Democratic one in 1968 was. War protestors and people dissatisfied in general with Mr. Bush will hold their own 'convention' around Madison Square Garden just as happened in Chicago downtown that hot Wednesday night in August in 1968. And more than likely, police will write them all off as 'terrorists' just as Chicago police considered everyone an 'anti-war protestor' in 1968 as they cracked heads open assembly line style as they gassed them and dragged them off to Cook County Jail. Many thousands of gentle people whose crime was they disagreed with those in power. Like Chicago that year, where the convention was held <-- one place and the protestors were beaten up several miles away --> so as to keep the conventioneer's virgin eyes clean of the scene, in New York, the 'designated and authorized spot' for protestors will be miles away, so that Bush and the other delegates don't have to observe them or grasp the fact that there are many Americans who do not agree with them. They'll be known as the 'terrorists' this time around. But in 1904, a hundred years ago, things were different when Theodore Roosevelt was nominated at Chicago Colliseum. On the stage sat the band, the song leader, the master of ceremonies and of course, Mr. Roosevelt. There were precisely *two* pieces of music which every one stood to sing as the participants walked onto the stage: (1) "Onward Christian Soldiers" as everyone entered, and (2) "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as everyone recessed. (Sorry about that; that is how political conventions used to be in those days.) The band sat on the stage and played vigorously for each song, and of course much flag waving by the room full of delegates. The first row of seats and the area in front of the stage were reserved for the most important people there: the stenographers, the telegraph operators and the telephone operator. The delegates got to sit behind the ladies and gentlemen who communicated the whole thing to the rest of the world. In those long ago days before tape recording equipment, etc it was up to stenographers to copy it all down. *They* of course got priority since they had to hear it all correctly. Speeches were made, Roosevelt was nominated, and made his acceptance speech. Then the master of ceremonies declared that "as we close our convention, Mr. Zundel will lead us as we rise to sing 'Battle Hymn of the Republic' then following our dismissal, Mr. Roosevelt will linger at the steps leading from the stage so that delegates who wish to do so may personally greet him or ask questions." Mr. Zundel began to lead the singing and Mr. Roosevelt studied his program through the owl-shaped style eye glasses he wore. Then something must have crossed his mind, because he looked over his glasses at the stenographers and telegraphers who filled the first row of seats, and decided to visit with them and made his way down the stairs from the stage. He approached the ladies, sort of courteously acknowleged them and began greeting them. The stenographers as a group stood to acknowledge him also and shook hands with him. They represented various newspapers and magazines, etc which would print his entire acceptance speech in their next issues, etc. Then his attention went to the nearby telephone operator with a switchboard and he must have been curious about how telephones worked or what they did, because the operator explained that the overflow crowd of people who had not been able to get in the coleseum to hear him speak were all at the Central Music Hall downtown where his voice could be heard over loudspeakers "at the very same time you are speaking here, Mr. Roosevelt, citizens at the Music Hall, about two miles away are hearing you." Then the telegraph operators rose to greet him, and he apparently asked them something about their work and how their devices operated also, which they demonstrated for him. By this point, the singing of 'Battle Hymn' was concluding and the master of ceremonies walked over to him and motioned for him to stand in a certain place where the delegates and members of the public fortunate enough to get a seat could come by and speak to him as they filed out. Mr. Roosevelt must have been suitably impressed by all the 'fancy' equipment there that history states he was the first president to install a switchboard in the White House, and he insisted that it be located right outside his office, where the 'girl' could bring him any messages received promptly. Earlier telephones in the White House had been single line magneto crank instruments. 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 #339 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jul 19 15:10:26 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6JJAQW20400; Mon, 19 Jul 2004 15:10:26 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 15:10:26 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407191910.i6JJAQW20400@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 #340 TELECOM Digest Mon, 19 Jul 2004 15:10:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 340 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Companies Brace for Microsoft Update (Monty Solomon) Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network (Monty Solomon) Physicist May Shoot Holes in Black Hole Theory (Monty Solomon) How Public Opinion Polls Define and Circumscribe Privacy (Monty Solomon) California Man Charged With Hacking Government Web Sites (Lisa Minter) Lingo v. Packet8 (Sean Darcy) Re: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago (Frank@nospam.biz) Re: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago (Ed Clarke) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Dave Close) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Daniel W. Johnson) Thoughts About Vonage e-Coupon (Fahad Khan) Re: Curly Telephone Receiver Cords Untangled (Phil McKerracher) Re: Congressional Panel to Vote on Bill to Ban VoIP Taxes (Dave Close) Re: Norvergence Question (Tom Hudson) Re: Getting out of Norvergence Contracts (Isaiah Beard) Re: Norvergence Contract (Fred Goldstein) Former ISOC Board Member Tarek Kamel Named as Egypt's (Internet Society) 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, 18 Jul 2004 16:00:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Companies Brace for Microsoft Update By ALLISON LINN AP Business Writer SEATTLE (AP) -- As a vice president at security software leader Symantec Corp., Matthew Moynahan applauds Microsoft Corp.'s effort to make its Windows operating system safer from attack. But Moynahan is not so excited about the flood of help-desk calls almost certain to come when Microsoft releases a comprehensive security overhaul of Windows XP next month. His company's Norton antivirus software runs on about 100 million desktop computers. To make the new Microsoft system work smoothly with Norton, customers will need to download a Norton update. The company is already bracing for the change, working with its customer support staff and making plans to increase phone support. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42565412 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 11:01:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network Verizon Poised to Deliver First Set of Services to Customers Over Its Fiber-to-the-Premises Network 'Verizon Fios' Initially Will Offer Three High-Speed Data Options Including Speeds 10 Times Faster Than Current Consumer Broadband Services and Prices as Low as $34.95 Additional Fiber Deployments Under Way in California and Florida NEW YORK, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon customers in Keller, Texas, soon will be the first to receive groundbreaking high-speed Internet services over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. The company is raising the bar on consumer broadband today by introducing data speeds of up to 30 megabits-per-second (Mbps) in Keller later this summer and in other markets later this year. Prices start at $34.95 per month. The company also announced additional fiber deployments that are under way in California and Florida. The new suite of fiber-optic services will be called Verizon Fios(sm) (FYE-ose). FTTP technology utilizes fiber-optic connections -- instead of copper wire -- directly into homes and businesses to enable a broad array of voice, data and video applications. Fios consists of three consumer Internet access services. At 30 Mbps, the fastest data service is ten times faster than consumer broadband speeds typically available today. Entry and mid-level services at speeds of 5 Mbps and 15 Mbps also beat the speeds and prices of today's consumer broadband. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42575405 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 23:57:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Physicist May Shoot Holes in Own Black Hole Theory Hawking set to speak at Ireland conference By Carolyn Johnson, Globe Correspondent | July 17, 2004 The world of physics is abuzz with news that celebrity physicist Stephen Hawking -- widely regarded as this generation's Einstein -- will appear at a conference next week to offer a solution to a longstanding paradox about black holes, possibly refuting his own three-decades-old theory. His presentation next week at a conference in Ireland could have repercussions for scientists' understanding of the most basic physical laws that govern the universe. It may also settle a bet, sending a set of encyclopedias to a rival physicist. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/07/17/physicist_may_shoot_holes_in_own_black_hole_theory/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 01:16:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: How Public Opinion Polls Define and Circumscribe Online Privacy by Kim Bartel Sheehan Abstract The advent of new communications technologies and the integration of such technologies into individuals' lives have resulted in major changes to society. Responding to such privacy concerns is of key interest to legislators, policy-makers, and business leaders as these groups seek to balance consumer privacy needs with the realities of this new society. These groups, and others, use public opinion polls and surveys to measure the current climate of opinion among citizens. This study examines the language of 43 opinion polls and surveys dealing with privacy and the Internet to understand how these polls define and assess online privacy. Results suggest that polls treat the complex construction of privacy in an overly simplistic way. Additionally, pollsters present many poll questions in a way that may lead survey respondents to express stronger negative feelings about privacy than really exist. Contents Introduction The role of privacy and privacy polls in society Results of analysis Assessment of privacy polls Conclusions http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_7/sheehan/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 21:10:28 EDT From: Lisa Minter Subject: California Man Charged with Hacking Government Web Sites SAN FRANCISCO - A 20-year-old California man has been charged with hacking government computers, including two agencies within the Defense Department, and defacing government Web sites, the U.S. attorney's office said on Friday. Robert Lyttle, of Pleasant Hill, California, was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury for hacking government computers in April 2002, the United States Attorney's Office in Northern California said. Lyttle is accused of unlawfully accessing computer systems of the Department of Defense Logistic Information Service and Office of Health Affairs and NASA Ames Research Center. The charges against Lyttle carry penalties that include prison time of up 10 years and fines of up to $250,000, the U.S. attorney's office said. Lyttle is scheduled to appear before a United States Magistrate Judge in Oakland on July 19 to be arraigned on the charges. Lyttle could not be reached for comment. The prosecution is being overseen by the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property unit of the United States Attorney's Office and is the result of an investigation by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and NASA's Office of Inspector General. ------------------------------ From: seandarcy@hotmail.com (sean darcy) Subject: Lingo v. Packet8 Date: 18 Jul 2004 18:19:10 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'm trying to decide between Packet8 and Lingo. My criteria are 1. voice quality. 2. voice quality and 3. small adapter I can take with me in briefcase. I'd appreciate any comments on your experience with either. Sean ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 18:19:47 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications I realize you dislike Bush a lot, and so do I. Nonetheless, this is a far more passive country than 30-35 years ago. I don't see any anti-war movement doing much of anything in NYC during the Duba Convention. ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago Date: 18 Jul 2004 11:54:45 GMT Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc. Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org In article , TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > I've got a hunch -- just a hunch -- that the Republican convention > this time around will be as much of a 'riot' as the Democratic > one in 1968 was. War protestors and people dissatisfied in general > with Mr. Bush will hold their own 'convention' around Madison > Square Garden just as happened in Chicago downtown that hot > Wednesday night in August in 1968. And more than likely, police > will write them all off as 'terrorists' just as Chicago police > considered everyone an 'anti-war protestor' in 1968 as they > cracked heads open assembly line style as they gassed them and > dragged them off to Cook County Jail. I have a suspicion that it's going to be worse than that. Madison Square Garden (round by the way) is directly on top of Penn Station -- the terminus for the Long Island Raiload. They are planning to close ALL THE DAMN EXITS EXCEPT FOR TWO on a building the size of a midtown city block. It's the commuters that the police should fear. Seventh and eighth avenues go by there -- major north-south routes -- which will be tied up tight. Add truckers to the terrorist list ... and the biggest post office I've ever seen is right across the street on Eighth Avenue. The big Macy's is on the other side across Seventh. Smart protest organizers should gather at the train stations on Long Island to hand out flyers, rude tee-shirts and anti-Bush signs. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I did not think until now that anything could have worse than the riot at the Democratic convention in 1968, with open warfare; open hand to hand combat, weapons, gas attacks, etc on the streets of downtown Chicago (Michigan Avenue and Jackson Boulevard) but you may be right about 2004 Republicans. I was trying to have dinner with three friends at the Conrad Hilton Hotel dining room that Wednesday night when several large chunks of concrete went through the plate glass window over looking Grant Park and the next thing I knew, police were swinging their clubs at everyone and every- thing. We barely got out of the way; the tear gas fumes were really overpowering. By coincidence just before the concrete came sailing though the window, my one friend had commented on how 'at our office today, the supervisors sent everyone home at noon. Suggested that everyone get out of the downtown area promptly.' Almost all the offices and stores closed up early that day; sent all the clerks and workers home early, expecting there was going to be an awful mess before it was over. All the television stations had been covering the convention of course, but then Walter Cronkite asked the camera people to focus on downtown Chicago; the people running through the streets trying to get away from tear gas and police batons and the helicopters flying overhead as police dropped more tear gas, etc. Cronkite said, "what you see now is a better commentary on how the people feel about this convention than anything I could say." Television covered the 'war on Michigan Avenue' quite extensively that evening, but paused to go back to the convention still in progress when Cronkite announced that "Mayor Daley is making an announcement," whereupon Mayor Daley made his famous pronouncement about Senator Ribicoff, referring to Ribicoff as 'that Jew Bastard' and how the disorder in the streets downtown 'is the fault of the Jews; they started it, our police officers will finish it.' Most of the people in the convention hall were shocked at Daley's outburst, and too embarassed for him to say much. That was the first Mayor Daley, his son would not ascend to the office for another twenty years more or less. People went back to work on Thursday (those who were able to get through the mobs of rioters and not too afraid to be there). I remember going out to lunch Thursday with a black lady who was afraid to go by herself, seeing all the police lining the streets below, still swinging their batons and chanting 'kill, kill, kill' as people walked (actually hurried) past where the main riot scene had been the night before. In an official report issued by Governor Dan Walker's office few months later, the governor called it 'a riot caused by Chicago Police', and Mayor Daley promptly pronounced Governor Walker a "trouble maker" also. Do you think this summer in New York will be as bad? PAT] ------------------------------ From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close) Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: 18 Jul 2004 18:36:19 -0700 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Wesrock@aol.com writes: > As someone noted on another list, the Congress sets the dates for > elections, not the Constitution, which says in Article II, Section 1: > "The Congress may determine the time of > chusing [sic] the Electors, and the Day > on which they shall give their Votes; > which Day shall be the same throughout > the United States." > Note that both the date of the election, and the date on which the > Electoral College will meet, are designated by Congress. A quibble. In most or all States, electors are not directly chosen. The State legislature must actually elect the electors at some time after the election, and it may be that date to which the above sentence refers. If that interpretation held, it might be possible to hold elections on different dates in various States, so long as the official confirmation of the results occurred at the same time everywhere. No where that I know actually lists the electors on the ballot. That lists the persons those electors are committed to support, leading many to believe erroneously that there is such a thing as a popular vote. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA +1 714 434 7359 dave@compata.com dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu "Political campaigns are the graveyard of real ideas and the birthplace of empty promises." -- Teresa Heinz Kerry Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ From: panoptes@iquest.net (Daniel W. Johnson) Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: 17 Jul 2004 22:12:27 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Linc Madison wrote in message news:: > However, theoretically, Bill Clinton could be elected VP and then > become President. I think that in this particular case, the last sentence of the twelfth amendment might come into play. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 06:08:41 -0500 From: Withheld Subject: Vonage e-Coupon [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The letter which follows is one I got from a reader asking for a Vonage e-coupon recently. PAT] Hey can I get a coupon to use with Vonage for a free month. I think they're giving me the first month for free anyway ... I was wondering if I can get another one ... thanks ... [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I sent the man an e-coupon but I do not think Vonage will honor it. Here is why: you can go to various stores and get a Vonage adapter these days and part of the deal is Vonage gives you a rebate coupon which amounts to a month of free service after you bought the box. Basically, you buy a Vonage box and a month of service, then you get a free month. Either I (and/or other recommenders) get the commission, or Vonage keeps the commission for itself (like an in-house sale). To get the sale credited to *me* you have to click on the link I include in the email I send (which commits you to getting a Vonage box from me.) I do not think they will give two months free. If you want *me* to get the credit, then use *my* e-coupon unless you want two boxes (one bought in a store and one via my e-coupon) and you then get *two* months free. Most people do not want two boxes however. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Phil McKerracher Subject: Re: Curly Telephone Receiver Cords Untangled Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 13:10:22 GMT Organization: blueyonder (post doesn't reflect views of blueyonder) Charles Patterson wrote in message news:telecom23.337.12@telecom-digest.org: > ... what causes that lone phantom twist, and can it ever be restored > to the original curl? The "lone phantom twist" is the point where anticlockwise twists in the cord meet clockwise twists. It gradually works its way up the cord as the proportion of twists changes, by one turn each time the phone is used. The cord can be restored by rotating the handset as many times as the phone has been used, in the opposite direction. If it's a fairly new cord that hasn't lost much elasticity (due to evaporation of the plasticiser) the restoral will be pretty good. Phil McKerracher www.mckerracher.org ------------------------------ From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close) Subject: Re: Congressional Panel to Vote on Bill to Ban VoIP Taxes Date: 18 Jul 2004 18:39:23 -0700 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California VOIP News writes: > A U.S. Senate bill that would ban states from taxing and regulating > Internet phone calls will face its first hurdle in a committee vote > next week. If something similar is not adopted, we could be left with the worst of both situations. VoIP could be taxed as a phone service to support "universal" phone service, AND phone service could be taxed partly to support cheaper Internet access for some customers. Ah, the messy web we weave when we try to make social policy with subsidies. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ From: Tom Hudson Subject: Re: Norvergence Question Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 00:47:11 -0500 (please withhold address) First of all, I'd like to say how much I appreciate this forum. I found this group after receiving a heavy call from Norvergence this spring. Since then, I had the opportunity to laugh them off the phone two more times. The banks and leasing companies I have had the pleasure to deal with insist on both a verbal and written statement from me that I have recieved the services/equipment, that I am satisfied and that I authorize the funds to be released before the bank will ever cut a check to the vendor. Of course, I've always used independent financial services that did not have ties to the vendor. Tom Hudson > My thought process is that if we never accept the technology, we > cannot rent it per the terms of the contract. Since we have not > received any of the technology, are we "safer" than most companies > already into the term? I am not a lawyer. I suspect never have received the equipment puts you in a somewhat better position. But if your bank already paid Norv. even if you hadn't received anything yet, your bank still wants to be repaid for its loan/lease to you. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good luck to them in getting the money back from Norvergence. People keep talkign about the 'loan' from the bank, as if I had asked the bank for anything at all. Keep a freeze on your accounts payable regards Norvergence until your lawyer or a judge tell you otherwise. And thanks for your kind words regards the value of this forum to you in your work. If you wish to do so, a gift to the Digest in the amount of one month's savings on the bogus Norvergence lease would be appreciated. Send to Patrick Townson/Telecom PO Box 50, Independence, KS 67301. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Getting Out of Norvergence Contracts Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:23:34 -0400 Organization: Posted via Forte APN, http://www.forteinc.com/apn/index.php Lisa Hancock wrote: >> Further, I'm surprised that no one has yet pursued fraud charges >> against Norvergence. Norvergence, as far as anyone can tell, led >> customers (and possibly the banks, no one is sure) to believe that >> this "matrix" they were peddling was worth many thousands of dollars, >> when in fact it could be bought elsewhere for $500. > I don't think the actual value of any box has any relevance. I strongly disagree. If the bank and/or the lessee were led to believe that the value of the box was $14,500 more than its true value, then the terms of the lease were misrepresented. > It's the total package that matters. If that were true, then one could argue that the lease cannot be fulfilled, since you're no longer getting the "total package," don't you think? > At work, I can buy a bottle of water for > $1, or go to the drinking fountain and get the same thing (IMHO) for > free. I can go to a fancy restaurant and get a little spaghetti for > $22 or a plain place and get a heaping plate for $4. There is no > fraud in either case. True, but the situation is still different. You do not go to a vending machine and sign a contract that says "this plastic water bottle has a value of $1.00, for which you must pay us over time," and then one-third of the way through your drinking the water, someone comes by and says "sorry, that water company went bankrupt," empties the remaining contents of the bottle, and then seeks to collect the full value of the contract, even though the true cost of the plastic bottle is maybe 10 cents. In a sophisticated eating establishment, the markup of the food is justified in the service and ambiance offered to you, and a promise (in some cases) the the chef will improve upon plain old food using special culinary techniques. This you pay for in full (plus tip) only after the product and services have been rendered. You do not sign a contract with the restaurant stating the the cost of the spaghetti is $22.00 for which you must pay in installments, and then halfway through preparing your meal the lights are shut off, the cooks are all let go, and you're left in the dark with half-cooked spaghetti in cold water ... the true value of which you discover later was maybe $2.00 at best, assuming they bought gourmet food items. Nor do you have a bank calling you later demanding their $22.00 for that half-cooked, inedible spaghetti you bought. > Businesses DO go broke. Yes, they do. And the more amicable ones usually leave you with a product that was reasonably priced and still has some value to you. In Norvergence's case, it's been documented here time and time again that customers were lied to, told they needed this magic expensive box when in fact they didn't necessarily need it, and are now on the hook for something they could have bought for much cheaper assuming they would EVER have a need for using it. > Every customer and vendor takes a chance when > dealing with any business, most hopefully will honor their committ- > ments, but bankruptcies and sudden shutdowns do occur. Bad or foolish > business decisions are not fraud. No, they're not. But when you are not permitted to make a WISE decision because you were fed misleading information, you being to have a case for fraud. >> The difference is that these customers bought a machine that they were >> led to believe DID something for them, and cost a huge amount. > I bought a new car. Unlike the ads, I do not hot young folks fawning > around me, nor am I driving alone on beautiful roads (unless the NJ > Tpk in a jammup counts). But, you still have a car. It transports you to a number of places, which is the reasonably intended purpose of a car. Did you sign a written contract that says "Ford/GM/Toyota/Etc guarantees that this car is a babe magnet and has a unique instant traffic elimination feature?" No, you didn't. The ad you saw was a suggestion that people who hang out with beautiful people and drive on uncongested, beautiful roads are the people who will buy this beautiful car, and if you're that type of person, then you should get one too. Were you told that you would be taking delivery of a Lexus, and instead got a Kia Rio which requires only a special type of gas that is no longer available? If Norvergence had an automotive division, I would bet that is what would happen. >> YES! There's no denying it. If someone walked into your office >> promising grandiose things from this $15,000+ magic box that would >> revolutionize your office communications, and made such a good sell >> that you signed the papers, and then a week later someone dropped by, >> said "here's the big magic box!" and dropped a $40 linksys broadband >> router on your lap (and on top of that, NEVER HOOKED IT UP to >> anything), wouldn't you consider that a swindle? > I consider any contract without an exit clause to be a swindle. I > consider anything grossly overpriced to be a swindle. Then by your own standards, this was a swindle. So why are we arguing? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 22:51:06 -0400 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: Norvergence Contract martial-longarm noted in V23:337: > One of my many complaints was my Rental Agreement with Norvergence, > that overnight turned into a five year lease with a company called > Information Leasing Corp. > Lastly, the only thing I can find out about the leasing > company, (Information Leasing Corp) is that they have been involved in > law-suites for the same type as we now will have when we don't pay our > lease payments, and yes, they have won. From Information Leasing Corp's (ilcinc.com) web site: Information Leasing Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Provident Bank. The Provident Bank is the main subsidiary of Provident Financial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PFGI), a bank holding company located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Provident provides a diverse line of banking and financial products and services regionally; selected business activities are also conducted nationally. Okay, there's your deep-pocketed publicly-traded bank. They were mentioned in the first case that Google picked up, where indeed ILC won. In that case and no doubt many others like it, ILC held the paper on ATMs that were placed in stores by a company that went defunct after basically lying to the storekeepers about the deal. ILC's own paper, however, contained the terms in plain language, and passed the court's muster. > At the bottom is place for the person who signed the front to put > his initials, thus confirming he has read the fine print. I never > saw this side of the agreement, but someone put my initials there > for me, and it's as plane as day that it is not my hand-writing. I Am Not A Lawyer, but I have a sneaking suspicion that having somebody else sign for you, to paraphrase Chrysler, changes everything. Check with a lawyer. But if you didn't sign the paper and Norvergence forged your name to it, then it's possible that your liability transfers elsewhere. This could get interesting. And I wonder what PFGI's directors and stockholders will think of their involvement in the Norvergence scheme, which is likely to hurt their bottom line. "You factored what leases for how much?!" ------------------------------ From: Internet Society Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 11:04:23 +0200 Subject: Former ISOC Board Member Tarek Kamel Named Named as Minister of Communications and Technology Geneva, Switzerland - July 19th, 2004 - The Internet Society (ISOC) is pleased to congratulate Dr. Tarek Kamel on his recent appointment as Minister of Communications and Information Technology in the cabinet of the new Egyptian government. Dr. Kamel is a former member of the Internet Society Board of Trustees, a former ISOC Vice President of Chapters, and a co-founder of the Internet Society of Egypt (the Egyptian ISOC chapter). "Tarek Kamel is one of the Internet Society's most dedicated and talented members. During his long-standing involvement with ISOC he has been extremely active in encouraging the development of the Internet in his country and throughout the African continent. We are delighted with his latest appointment and are certain that Egypt will continue to benefit greatly from his vision and commitment to extending the Internet's reach -- we wish him much success in this new position," said Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO of the Internet Society. As an early graduate of ISOC's Network Training Workshops, Dr. Kamel went on to organise technical training workshops in Africa. His extensive experience includes membership of the AfriNIC board and the management of the main Egyptian Internet gateway, servicing over 40 commercial ISPs and hundreds of government organisations. He also worked on liberalisation issues such as obtaining a tax reduction for ISPs as well as setting up a government/private sector partnership to serve the Egyptian Internet community. His work in developing countries has also included participation in the establishment of community centers to bring the Internet to remote areas of Egypt as well as the organisation of African symposia during the Internet Society's annual INET conferences. Dr. Kamel is an Associate Professor at Egypt's Electronics Research Institute (ERI). He holds a PhD in Computer Networks from the Technical University of Munich. ABOUT ISOC The Internet Society (http://www.isoc.org) is a not-for-profit membership organisation founded in 1991 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other Internet-related bodies who together play a critical role in ensuring that the Internet develops in a stable and open manner. For over 12 years ISOC has run international network training programs for developing countries and these have played a vital role in setting up the Internet connections and networks in virtually every country connecting to the Internet during this time. FOR FURTHER DETAILS Internet Society: http://www.isoc.org Peter Godwin Senior Program Manager E-mail: godwin@isoc.org Internet Society 4, rue des Falaises 1205 Geneva Switzerland ------------------------------ 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 #340 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 20 01:05:38 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6K55bn25125; Tue, 20 Jul 2004 01:05:38 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 01:05:38 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407200505.i6K55bn25125@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 #341 TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Jul 2004 01:03:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 341 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson VoIP: The Next Household Word? (VOIP News) Vonage(R) Names Bill Rainey President of Vonage Canada (VOIP News) VoIP Options Answer the Call (VOIP News) NYS AG Spitzer Settles With "optinrealbig.com" Spammer (Danny Burstein) Re: Payphone Ringer Troubleshooting (Scott Dorsey) Re: Norvergence Contract (DevilsPGD) NorVergence & the Calif Public Utilities Commission (David O. Rodriguez) Re: Lingo v. Packet8 (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago (SunGard BSR) 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, 19 Jul 2004 13:09:09 -0400 Subject: VoIP: The Next Household Word? Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61314-2004Jul19.html By Cynthia L. Webb washingtonpost.com Staff Writer More companies and consumers, especially in urban areas, are tapping into VoIP. That's shorthand for "voice over Internet Protocol," which is nothing more than industry lingo for a simple but extraordinary concept: using the Internet to make telephone calls. Using the Internet instead of the telephone network has its perks, but there are still plenty of stumbling blocks keeping it from becoming the de facto way of making phone calls. The San Jose Mercury News produced a series on the VoIP phenomenon that looks into all these facets. Here, according to the Merc, are some of the advantages: "Software applications can be added to phones, turning them into mini-computers for such tasks as tracking inventory or looking up a number on the company directory. It also offers potential big savings by allowing companies to change the way they manage their phone systems." And some more: "In addition to voice mail, call waiting and caller identification, Internet phone customers can retrieve voice mail online as e-mail. They also can arrange conference calls with point-and-click ease on their computers and sometimes even pick their area code. Allen Long, president of Long and Associates consulting firm in Castro Valley, said today's Internet phone price savings may shrink, especially if authorities decide to regulate the service. Federal and state regulators are weighing whether to treat the technology as a phone rather than information service. If it's a phone service, the government may require payment of access charges and universal service fees." Full story at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61314-2004Jul19.html (Free registration required) 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, 19 Jul 2004 12:39:01 -0400 Subject: Vonage(R) Names Bill Rainey President of Vonage Canada Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-19-2004/0002212515&STORY&EDATE= EDISON, N.J., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Vonage, the leading broadband phone company, today appointed C. William (Bill) Rainey, President of Vonage Canada, a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp. effective immediately. In the newly created position, Rainey will report directly to Jeffrey A. Citron, Chairman and CEO of Vonage Holdings Corp. Mr. Rainey's responsibilities will encompass the development, execution and expansion of Vonage's Canadian service offerings. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040719/NYM015 ) Prior to joining Vonage Canada, Mr. Rainey capitalized on his 20 years of experience in technology, finance and communications as Senior Vice President Commercial Services, Group Telecom (GT), which was acquired in May by Bell Canada. Mr. Rainey was in executive and management roles with Telus, Canada's second largest telecommunications company for six years and with Royal Trust/Royal Bank for five years. He began his career with Xerox Canada, spending 10 years in sales and marketing there. "To manage Vonage's growth in Canada, it's paramount that we build a world class management team with local knowledge and we are very excited to welcome Bill to lead our Canadian team," said Jeffrey A. Citron, Chairman and CEO of Vonage. "His solid telecommunications and management background will prove indispensable as Vonage accelerates its international expansion." Mr. Rainey will oversee all Vonage Canada business units including finance, operations, marketing, product development, sales, customer service, communications and administration. Mr. Rainey holds a B.S.C. from the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, a certificate of management from the University of Calgary's graduate studies program and has completed the executive and finance programs at Queens University in Kingston. Mr. Rainey lives with his wife and two children in Oakville, Ontario. Full press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-19-2004/0002212515&STORY&EDATE= ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 13:02:47 -0400 Subject: VoIP Options Answer the Call Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56841-2004Jul17.html By Rob Pegoraro Sunday, July 18, 2004; Page F07 If the Internet can be your bookshelf, your radio and your TV, why can't it be your phone as well? It's been able to be that for years, actually. But until recently, sending and receiving phone calls online were pastimes best left to techies who could reel off their computers' numeric Internet Protocol addresses from memory -- you couldn't simply plug a regular phone into the Internet. Now you can. Naturally, it comes at a price, but the fees charged by most "voice over Internet Protocol" ("VoIP" for short) services fall far below those of land-line phone service. And unlike land-line phone service, you can find real choice in the VoIP market. Companies act as though they actually need to win over their customers, competing to offer the best bundle of services for the lowest price. Full story at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56841-2004Jul17.html (Free registration required) ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: NYS AG Spitzer Settles With "optinrealbig.com" Spammer Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 18:36:43 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC I'm not elated about the low cost to the spammer, but at least it's something: "State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced the settlement of a lawsuit against email marketer Scott Richter and his company, OptInRealBig.com, LLC. The suit alleged that unsolicited emails, or spam, sent on defendants' behalf contained falsified headers, falsified routing information, and deceptive subject lines, and were illegally routed through a worldwide network of more than 500 vulnerable computers." http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/jul/jul19a_04.html _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Payphone Ringer Troubleshooting Date: 19 Jul 2004 18:47:15 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Tad wrote: > I have an Automatic Electric manufactured coin station of a fairly > modern vintage(it has the "loud" button next to the keypad if that > helps date it). It is branded GTE. > Some time ago, the ringer completely ceased to function. All other > functions of the phone seem intact. Check the blocking capacitor on the ringer. They often fail. Also make sure there is good DC continuity across the ringer itself and that the ringer coil is not open. > Does anybody have any troubleshooting tips for identifying and perhaps > repairing the problem with the ringer? Schematics perhaps? I'm faily > well versed with the use of a VOM/DMM for troubleshooting. You need the book "Old-Time Telephones" by Meyer, which has all you need to work on Fortress phones. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Norvergence Contract Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 21:12:03 GMT In message Fred Goldstein wrote: >> At the bottom is place for the person who signed the front to put >> his initials, thus confirming he has read the fine print. I never >> saw this side of the agreement, but someone put my initials there >> for me, and it's as plane as day that it is not my hand-writing. > I Am Not A Lawyer, but I have a sneaking suspicion that having > somebody else sign for you, to paraphrase Chrysler, changes > everything. Check with a lawyer. But if you didn't sign the paper > and Norvergence forged your name to it, then it's possible that your > liability transfers elsewhere. This could get interesting. The question, though, is proof. do not creep a coconut -- NANAE ------------------------------ From: David O. Rodriguez Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 20:59:41 -0500 Subject: NorVergence and the California Public Utilities Commission Pat, The following is an e-mail sent to me by Mr. Duane Filer, an Investigator for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). I reported NorVergence's practices to the CPUC in person on mid November of 2003. Unfortunately, it seems to have sat somewhere within the CPUC until I decided to follow up with them in June of 2004. Then came July 1, 2004, and it was simply too late for them to do anything about it. It's best to read the bottom e-mail first. The attachment is enclosed. I hope you can read it as well. David From: Filer, Duane To: 'dor@writeme.com and NJ.com' Subject: RE: Check out this page on NJ.com Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 17:06:15 -0700 Mr. Rodriguez, Attached is an email I sent today to CPUC staff about Norvergence - it outlines about all we tell anycustomers who call us...rest assured, should any of the Norvergence execs try to start a company and do business again in California- we have requirements in place to check the "fitness" of companies applying for a certificate in California- and hopefully we can eliminate the bad companies before they get started. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. You would make a good investigator! -----Original Message----- From: dor@writeme.com and NJ.com [mailto:dor@writeme.com] Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 1:09 PM To: DAF@cpuc.ca.gov Subject: Check out this page on NJ.com Dear Mr. Duane Filer: http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1089878219230891.xml?starledger?btel David O. Rodriguez says: Mr. Filer, In a little less than one hour from when I send this e-mail to you, all NorVergence customers in California may lose their telephone service. Is there anything that can legally be done to stop the outage and/or to prosecute NorVergence's executives? David Norvergence, Inc. Gone belly up! I guess this is the best we can tell any customers that might call CAB: Norvergence filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy -- it has laid-off (fired) it's workers and gone out of business. Customers will need to obtain a new long distance carrier ... if they go on the internet and type in Norvergence in Google -- they will see websites of various carriers offering their services to Norvergence customers (one such website is www. t1price.net ) Unfortunately, we can't help them with any money they've lost for purchasing the 'matrix box' ... if they are leasing, we don't think legally they have to continue paying. The 'matrix box' is not compatible with any other long distance company -- so it is only good as a conversation piece :) (sorry about that.) Since Norvergence is broke, and we will be pulling their CPC&N customers should seek legal counsel if they have any further questions. I don't know what else to say ... If we hear of any class action suits or anything; we will let everyone know. If Norvergence is in fact bankrupt, they're not going to be able to hold people to the terms of a contract that they aren't delivering their end of the bargain on. These people should cease payment on their leases. As for what recourse they might have, I don't think we can offer them much. From: Filer, Duane Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 2:40 PM Subject: Norvergence, Inc. (U-6798) - Gone Belly up! An ex-employee of this IEC company, based in Newark, NJ (and has a CPCN in California), walked in our office late last month and gave us a horror story of how this company was ripping people off by offering a 'matrix box' that was suppose to eliminate all per-minute charges for local and long distance charges ... customers were leasing these boxes thru 5-year contracts; thing is, many of the boxes never worked, were never delivered, etc ... but the company that billed for them stated the signed contracts were valid -- and the customers would continue to owe the balance of the 5 year leased contracts ... before I could even begin to investigate, on 7/7 banks forced Norvergence to file involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy ... among other debts, they owe Qwest 13 million dollars!!! They fired all their staff and closed their offices -- but at least customers still had service. Then yesterday, they completely fell apart and were forced to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and as of last nite -- ALL THE PHONE LINES WERE DISCONNECTED. See the attached articles. Norvergence customers, about 10,000 nationwide and primarily small businesses -- are now left to migrate to other IEC's for service ... see the attached articles I got off the web. Now my question, CAB was aware I was gathering any CAB complaints to review...we only had 7 ... but now, California customers are starting to call CAB consultants and me ... the 'matrix boxes' the customers have either purchased or are still being charged for are worthless -- they are not compatable ... customers want to know if they have any recourse. I would assume they would have to get in line in bankruptcy court ... but the company is broke ... the ex-workers last pay checks bounced, etc ... What should CAB or any other staff being called tell any callers?? I don't thing there is anything we can do ... do they have any recourse? Do they need attornies? Help ... [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: However we did have a note here last week from a former customer of Norvergence who stated he spent several hours recently on the phone with technical people at Adtran (apparently the makers of the 'Norvergence Matrix box') who told him the matrix box was not *totally* useless, as Mr. Filer stated in one of his memos to Mr. Rodriguez. Apparently Norvergence boxes have their software locked up and a 'simple' unlocking procedure allows the box to be used with other carriers, much the same way that Vonage telephone adapters can be reprogrammed for other VOIP carriers **if -- and only if -- you know perfectly well what you are doing and promise not to have a complete hissy fit when the whole thing blows up in your face.** In other words, not 'totally useless' with other carriers but I would strongly suggest if you want to go that way, you get professional help from the Adtran people. And in the meantime, freeze all accounts payable to the outfits handling Norergence paper unless and until your attorney tells you otherwise. Do not fall for that old, stale, 'holder in due course' routine the lender/leasor tries to hand you. Your attorney needs to decide that. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Lingo v. Packet8 Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 17:38:36 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com seandarcy@hotmail.com (sean darcy) wrote: > I'm trying to decide between Packet8 and Lingo. My criteria are 1. > voice quality. 2. voice quality and 3. small adapter I can take with > me in briefcase. > I'd appreciate any comments on your experience with either. Can't speak to Lingo, as I have not tried it. My experience with Packet8 was good. I would grade the voice quality as better than cellular, not quite toll quality. That was over a 1500/384 DSL line - speed and latency will affect the connection quality. As with cell to cell calls, the multiple compression/decompression steps involved with calls to non-wireline devices. Packet8 does not support fax or data calls at this time. I have read reviews that suggest the AT&T service has very good quality, but have no direct experience to support that claim. Despite recent price reductions, AT&T is still more expensive. The Packet8 box is quite small -- about the size of an old external modem. It would certainly fit in a slim briefcase. A Google search on Packet8 should find earlier discussions that appeared here a few months back. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The Convention in 1904, One Hundred Years Ago Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 16:14:39 -0400 From: Carpenter, J > I have a suspicion that it's going to be worse than that. Madison > Square Garden (round by the way) is directly on top of Penn Station > -- the terminus for the Long Island Railroad. They are planning to > close ALL THE DAMN > EXITS EXCEPT FOR TWO on a building the size of a > midtown city block. In Boston, where the Democratic Convention is being held, I'm sure many commuters wish this is all they were doing. Fleet Center, where the convention will be, sits on top of North Station. For the week of the convention, they are closing the station completely. Commuters who take the train in will instead have to take busses from outlying stations where the trains will have their last stop. The subway stations that also stop in the Fleet Center area are also being closed completely. To make matters worse, Interstate 93 (the major north/south artery that was just buried as part of the "big dig") passes underground within several tens of feet from the Fleet Center. The Interstate is being closed completely during convention hours. To avoid clogging local streets, traffic is being detoured approximately 15 miles north and south of Boston. Finally, helicopter traffic is being banned, so all traffic reports will have to rely on fixed cameras and the drivers themselves. Anyone who can is avoiding Boston next week, either by taking vacation or working from home. Those who can't are working earlier hours or sleeping at the office. I think even the Mayor has advised people to avoid the city if they can. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Isn't it really bizzarre that an event like a political convention -- allegedly a democratic process -- and a 'public' event is totally closed to the general public? The Libertarian Party had their convention two weeks ago; anyone could go who wished to attend. Their electors (for the Electoral College) were appointed, their candidates chosen, etc. In years gone past, even with my libertarian leanings, I never voted for the Libertarian candidate; I knew it would be a wasted vote, and instead voted for the Demopublican or Republicratic candidate who was the least offensive to me, hoping that (least offensive of the bunch) person would get elected. I mentioned to someone the other day that I intended to vote for the Libertarian party candidate this time -- in other words, do the right thing this time around based on my conscience rather than expedience. She screamed at me and mocked me and said, "Well *thank you* for your vote assuring Bushitler gets re-elected." And she may be right, but at least I will vote as my conscience tells me is right for the first time in many years. 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 #341 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 20 14:52:06 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6KIq5s03035; Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:52:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:52:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407201852.i6KIq5s03035@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 #342 TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:52:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 342 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson CNET Takes PSTN's Side on VoIP (VOIP News) Covad Releases White Paper on Future of VOIP (VOIP News) WE 302 Troubleshooter Wanted (Michael Muderick) Re: NYS AG Spitzer Settles With Spammer (Scott Dorsey) Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network (Don W. McCollough) Re: Congressional Panel to Vote on Bill to Ban VOIP Taxes (Dave Close) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Dave Close) Re: Getting Out of Norvergence Contracts (Dave Huizenga) BellSouth Map From 1995 (kclagg) Re: Lingo vs. Packet8 (Wolfgang S. Rupprecht) ATT Wireless Launches Commericial 3-G Service (Monty Solomon) 3-G UMTS Service in United States (Monty Solomon) Motorola and ATT Wireless Bring 3-G to North America (Monty Solomon) Changing The Channel On TV Viewing (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: Jack Decker Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:20:54 -0400 Subject: CNET Takes PSTN's Side on VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from the VoIP Watch blog at http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/ . I saw the referenced story but did not post about it here because I also felt it was wildly slanted and inaccurate in many respects. So, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who felt this way about that particular piece of not-so-great journalism: http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/2004/07/cnet_takes_pstn.html July 19, 2004 CNET Takes PSTN's Side on VoIP UPDATED--I don't know what it is with the folks at CNET, but it seems their thoroughness is somewhat lacking these days. The most recent CNET account about VoIP leaves lots of holes and really fails to tell the facts correctly. First, all PVRs are not Tivo's and thus some, like Reply have broadband access to the program and channel guides. While the report did not mention Replay, the claim that people with TIVO's can't update their guides may not be 100 percent accurate. The RJ-11 connects to an internal modem. Since a modem is able to dial a phone, and the telephone adapters work to convert analog to digital, then it may be able to work. Second, the issue of not being listed in the phone book. My mom has been unlisted for years and still has credit, gets deliveries. I've been unpublished, with only my town listed. I have no problem getting deliveries and my mail goes to a different address and has since I arrived in San Diego County. Lastly, the issue of power failures. Sure a PSTN line won't be effected, but saying BPL (broadband over power lines) will not be affected is hilarious. A power failure effects the grid, not the house. Maybe if the reporter was talking about a blown fuse or breaker, but that's minor and not a brown out or black out. One of the six cannons of PR from my mentor, Sy Roseman, was always know the facts, because some reporters never let facts get in the way of a good story. I think that happened here, and candidly, I'm surprised, because Ben Charney is usually on the mark. Maybe he was edited poorly. UPDATE--SEEMS THE SLASHDOT CROWD -- agrees with me. Boy did CNET get roasted http://slashdot.org/articles/04/07/19/1240204.shtml?tid=126&tid=95&tid=1 July 19, 2004 in VoIP 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, 20 Jul 2004 10:56:47 -0400 Subject: Covad Releases White Paper on Future of VOIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040720005320&newsLang=en Covad Releases White Paper on Future of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol --VoIP-- Service Offerings SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2004-- Moving Forward, Business-Quality Services Offered by Facilities-Based Providers Well-Positioned to Succeed Covad Communications Group, Inc. (OTCBB:COVD), a leading nationwide provider of integrated voice and data communications, today released a white paper that reviews the current status of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and compares offerings from the industry's main sectors. The paper, the first in a series, concludes that facilities-based competitive providers are best positioned to take advantage of VoIP because of their proprietary networks and minimal investments in legacy networks. "Virtual providers, meaning those providers who do not own and manage their own networks, have helped to get VoIP on the map," said Charles Hoffman, president and chief executive officer of Covad. "Facilities-based providers like Covad who own and manage their own networks can control the quality of voice traffic over it. Covad is especially well-positioned to succeed in the small and medium-sized business category by offering a true replacement for local phone company service that includes other innovative features." VoIP is a telephony term for a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using Internet Protocol (IP). This means sending voice information in digital form in electronic packets rather than in the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN). With Voice over IP -- businesses are given the ability to manage calls at the IP layer which enables productivity enhancing features and services never before available at affordable prices. According to a report from research firm In-Stat/MDR, by 2007 the U.S. VoIP market is forecast to grow to more than five million subscribers, a five-fold increase over 2002 levels. The Internet Protocol-PBX market, which has just under 100,000 lines today, is expected to grow to more than 1.7 million lines by 2007, according to Forrester Research. Covad acquired VoIP provider GoBeam earlier this year to leapfrog the industry in the small-business segment. IDC senior telecommunications analyst William Stofega said at the time of the GoBeam announcement: "Covad's national network is a perfect fit for GoBeam's distribution model and enables Covad to transition from a broadband provider to a national integrated communications provider." The white paper highlights several areas where VoIP is especially likely to thrive, such as the distributed enterprise space, which consist of restaurant franchises or retail stores that have multiple locations. A VoIP provider can easily set up a large "virtual" telephone network at competitive pricing with features beyond those currently available. For example, calls between locations can be treated as internal intercom calls and dialed as a four-digit extension. Covad is currently network ready for VoIP in 17 markets on the east and west coasts and will be reaching more than 100 of the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas MSAs in 35 states by year end. Full press release at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040720005320&newsLang=en ------------------------------ From: Michael Muderick Subject: WE 302 Troubleshoot Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 04:18:10 -0400 I just picked up a nice 302 phone. But there is no specific model stamped anywhere. What's curious is the variety of dates on the pieces from 40 to 54. So it was probably a refurbish. Further, it has an f4 handset. I had never seen this. It uses the same elements as the G handsets with plastic adapting rings and a 3 wire cloth covered coil cord. Now for the question. I can't break dialtone. I get low level side tone when I pick it up but it doesn't break dial tone. Could it be wired for party line? Might the condenser or transformer be bad? Also, the lugs at the end of the line cord don't have the "U" shape piece. Were they broken off by someone or is this indicative of some special model. TIA for any answers. Michael@muderick.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As best as I can recall (it has been years since I had that style of phone in daily use) they all had the 'U' shaped lugs at the end of each wire for ease of connection. *Someone* broke/cut them off for some reason. There was a type of 302 which functioned as the mouth/earpiece for a payphone. And most all those 302 phones had a 'side ringer' or box on the wall with the bell to ring for incoming calls. So, if its not too late, you might want to go to wherever the phone was liberated and look for the side ringer box (or coin deposit box -- much the same difference) and look for some capacitors, etc, and check the wiring there also. If you want to rig the 302 to work as it stands now, make sure one side of the phone pair travels through the dial on the phone (the little 'finger-like' metal contacts inside the phone) which connect and disconnect very rapidly as the dial is spun. That rapid connection and disconnection of the little 'fingers' is what breaks the dial tone. And I definitly would swap out the mouth and earpiece; they do go bad after several years of little or no use. DO NOT hold the earpiece close to your head until you add the necessary pieces to cut back on the noise heard when you spin the dial and cut the dial tone. The clicks tend to be quite noisy and 'pop' in your ear. Back in the 1960's a phone man gave me one of these as a gift when I expressed some interest in them. The one he gave me had a brown *straight* (not curly) *cloth-covered* cord from the base to the handset and from the base to the nearby side ringer. It was solid metal, not the plastic/hard rubber/various colors with plastic dials in use in the 1960's. I asked him if he wanted any money for it, he said most 'telephone men' considered them to be 'crap'. The relatively big, huge receiver/mouthpiece was the heaviest part of all. On the bottom of the phone a message was stamped in the metal base saying 'Property of WECO, July, 1931'. He did not have the side-ringer to go with it, so when I hooked it up it had to be as an 'extension' on a line with another phone on it (which had a bell inside it.) PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: NYS AG Spitzer Settles With "optinrealbig.com" Spammer Date: 20 Jul 2004 14:38:31 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) In article , Danny Burstein wrote: > I'm not elated about the low cost to the spammer, but at least it's > something: > "State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced the settlement > of a lawsuit against email marketer Scott Richter and his company, > OptInRealBig.com, LLC. The suit alleged that unsolicited emails, or > spam, sent on defendants' behalf contained falsified headers, > falsified routing information, and deceptive subject lines, and were > illegally routed through a worldwide network of more than 500 > vulnerable computers." > http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/jul/jul19a_04.html Something? This is nothing. Why is this man not being locked in jail for God's sake? Between he and Richter, they are probably responsible for 50% of the total incoming mail I see on my servers. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: letters@softhome.net (Don W. McCollough) Subject: Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network Date: 20 Jul 2004 08:45:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote in message news:: > Verizon Poised to Deliver First Set of Services to Customers Over > Its Fiber-to-the-Premises Network > 'Verizon Fios' Initially Will Offer Three High-Speed Data Options > Including Speeds 10 Times Faster Than Current Consumer Broadband > Services and Prices as Low as $34.95 > Additional Fiber Deployments Under Way in California and Florida > NEW YORK, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon customers in Keller, Texas, > soon will be the first to receive groundbreaking high-speed Internet > services over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. The > company is raising the bar on consumer broadband today by introducing > data speeds of up to 30 megabits-per-second (Mbps) in Keller later > this summer and in other markets later this year. Prices start at > $34.95 per month. > The company also announced additional fiber deployments that are under > way in California and Florida. > The new suite of fiber-optic services will be called Verizon Fios(sm) > (FYE-ose). FTTP technology utilizes fiber-optic connections -- > instead of copper wire -- directly into homes and businesses to enable > a broad array of voice, data and video applications. > Fios consists of three consumer Internet access services. At 30 Mbps, > the fastest data service is ten times faster than consumer broadband > speeds typically available today. Entry and mid-level services at > speeds of 5 Mbps and 15 Mbps also beat the speeds and prices of > today's consumer broadband. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42575405 Wow! Cheap too. Watch out, P2P applications. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 20:47:58 -0700 From: Dave Close Subject: Re: Congressional Panel to Vote on Bill to Ban VoIP Taxes Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California VOIP News writes: > A U.S. Senate bill that would ban states from taxing and regulating > Internet phone calls will face its first hurdle in a committee vote > next week. If something similar is not adopted, we could be left with the worst of both situations. VoIP could be taxed as a phone service to support "universal" phone service, AND phone service could be taxed partly to support cheaper Internet access for some customers. Ah, the messy web we weave when we try to make social policy with subsidies. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA +1 714 434 7359 dave@compata.com dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu "Political campaigns are the graveyard of real ideas and the birthplace of empty promises." -- Teresa Heinz Kerry ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 20:47:54 -0700 From: Dave Close Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Wesrock@aol.com writes: > As someone noted on another list, the Congress sets the dates for > elections, not the Constitution, which says in Article II, Section 1: > "The Congress may determine the time of > chusing [sic] the Electors, and the Day > on which they shall give their Votes; > which Day shall be the same throughout > the United States." > Note that both the date of the election, and the date on which the > Electoral College will meet, are designated by Congress. A quibble. In most or all States, electors are not directly chosen. The State legislature must actually elect the electors at some time after the election, and it may be that date to which the above sentence refers. If that interpretation held, it might be possible to hold elections on different dates in various States, so long as the official confirmation of the results occurred at the same time everywhere. No where that I know actually lists the electors on the ballot. That lists the persons those electors are committed to support, leading many to believe erroneously that there is such a thing as a popular vote. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA +1 714 434 7359 dave@compata.com dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu "Political campaigns are the graveyard of real ideas and the birthplace of empty promises." -- Teresa Heinz Kerry ------------------------------ From: Dave Huizenga Subject: Re: Getting Out of Norvergence Contracts Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 07:54:32 -0500 Has anyone taken the time to review section 2a of the Uniform Commercial Code regarding leases. I am not an attorney but there may be some answers in this section. Here is a link: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/bc.toc.htm Dave Huizenga ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 12:50:57 CDT Subject: Bell South Map From: kclagg@iesi.com Just curious if you might be able to tell me where I can get a telcom map for Atlanta GA. and all surrounding suburbs showing me the prefixes assigned in 1995? ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Lingo v. Packet8 From: Wolfgang S. Rupprecht Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 17:00:33 GMT > My experience with Packet8 was good. I would grade the voice quality > as better than cellular, not quite toll quality. Are there any VOIP termination services that will simply pass on your PCM-ulaw without screwing with it? I just bought an FXO (sipura-3000) so that I can make calls to the PSTN from my VOIP phones, but it would be nice to not have a digital-analog-digital conversion step just to get the digital signal from my phone to the RT 1k cable feet down the street. Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/ New toy: Voice over ip phone. Sounds much better than an analog phone. http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/voip.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:35:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Launches Commercial 3G Services Powered by Nortel AT&T Wireless Launches Commercial 3G Services Powered by Nortel Networks; North America's First UMTS Networks Will Offer High Speed, Advanced Wireless Services DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2004--AT&T Wireless Services (NYSE:AWE) and Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT) have launched North America's first commercial UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) wireless networks, including the first to operate at the 1900 MHz radio frequency -- a requirement for North America. These networks -- launched in Detroit, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle -- allow AT&T Wireless to increase capacity for voice and data traffic, reduce costs and increase data speeds for delivery of sophisticated new mobile services. Using Nortel Networks core and radio access UMTS wireless solutions, they will also provide AT&T Wireless subscribers and enterprise customers in these four markets with high speed VPN (Virtual Private Network) access, multimedia audio and video applications, and advanced location-based and m-Commerce features. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42602881 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:37:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Delivers 3G UMTS Service in The United States Working with NTT DoCoMo, Company Launches Commercial 3G Service in Four Cities Provides Streaming Video Services Gives Businesses High-Speed Mobile Data Access SEATTLE, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) today began offering customers in Detroit, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle broadband mobile wireless services with its launch of the first commercially available true 3G UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) network in the United States. The company said it is also deploying UMTS technology in Dallas and San Diego, and expects to offer service in these markets before the end of this year. AT&T Wireless said its wireless broadband service turns these markets into "metropolitan hotspots," offering customers continuous, high-speed wireless connections. Customers can now use a handset, PDA or laptop to receive streaming audio and video services; create and share video clips; experience richer and more visually compelling content; and connect to critical business information, in most areas throughout these cities. The company also noted that it launched commercial service in these four cities in fulfillment of NTT DoCoMo's shareholder rights agreement. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42602512 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:40:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola and AT&T Wireless Bringing 3G/UMTS to North America Motorola and AT&T Wireless Bringing 3G/UMTS to North America - Jul 20, 2004 11:57 AM (PR Newswire) Consumers Gain Mobile Broadband Capabilities -- Video Streaming*, High-Resolution Imagery and Rich Data Experiences -- via New A845 Handset Network Launch Expands Motorola Lead in 3G/UMTS LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT), a global leader in wireless communications, and AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) today announced the availability of the Motorola A845 on North America's first 3G/UMTS network. The launch of AT&T Wireless' network and the availability of the model A845 makes mobile broadband a reality in the United States. Delivering higher speeds than ever before, the AT&T Wireless 3G/UMTS network paired with the Motorola A845 brings consumers richer data experiences including video streaming*, video capture and playback, MP3 downloading and multi-media messaging. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42603232 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:09:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Changing The Channel On TV Viewing Lisa DiCarlo, 07.19.04, 3:00 PM ET NEW YORK - On an early spring evening in 1998, supermarket shoppers were rushing through the aisles, grabbing items and racing to the checkout, impatiently tapping their toes and checking their watches. Why? They had to be home for the series finale of Seinfeld. Today, of course, we are not slaves to network TV schedules. Today, about 5% of Americans don't view network programming on the network's schedule. Instead they watch it on digital video recorders, or DVRs, like TiVo on their terms; whatever they want, whenever they want. By 2007, nearly one-third of Americans will watch TV this way. That's why DVRs and video-on-demand services represent the most profound changes to the television industry since the advent of cable. http://www.forbes.com/home/services/2004/07/19/cx_ld_0719ondemand.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. 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 #342 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jul 21 14:22:27 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6LIMRc14458; Wed, 21 Jul 2004 14:22:27 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 14:22:27 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407211822.i6LIMRc14458@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 #343 TELECOM Digest Wed, 21 Jul 2004 14:22:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 343 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Motorola, Nextel Say GPS Hampered on Some Phones (Monty Solomon) Motorola and Nextel Joint Statement Regarding A-GPS Services (M Solomon) Reviewing the GN 6110 Bluetooth Headset (John R. Covert) Voice Addition for Conferencing (hitesh) Wireless Tower Suppliers (Tristan Hunt) Re: NYS AG Spitzer Settles With optinrealbig.com Spammer (Scott Dorsey) Re: DSL Steel or Copper (Paul A Lee) Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network (Tony P.) Re: Lingo v. Packet8 (Mark Atwood) Re: NorVergence and the California Public Utilities Commission (Frank) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (John David Galt) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Paul Vader) Re: TelePort Platinum Fax/Modem, and Converting ADB to USB? (Paul Vader) 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, 21 Jul 2004 00:58:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola, Nextel Say GPS Hampered on Some Phones Motorola, Nextel say GPS hampered on some phones - Jul 20, 2004 08:29 PM (Reuters) NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) - A software glitch is hampering the use of global positioning satellite services in some Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT) cellular phone models using Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) service, the companies said on Tuesday. In a joint statement, cell-phone maker Motorola and wireless service provider Nextel said eight phone models are affected by the glitch, and that engineers are working to fix the problem. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42616627 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 00:59:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola and Nextel Joint Statement Regarding A-GPS Services PLANTATION, Fla. & RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2004--Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT) and Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) issued a statement today announcing they are aware of a software issue affecting assisted global positioning satellite location (A-GPS) services for the Motorola i205, i305, i530, i710, i730, i733, i736 and i830 iDEN(R) phones. Engineers from Motorola and Nextel are working to determine the root cause and design a permanent fix to remedy the situation. For customers using the Motorola i58 and i88 iDEN phones, the A-GPS commercial location services capabilities are fully functional. A-GPS utilizes a combination of satellite, network and software technology to identify the approximate latitude and longitude of the wireless phone. Nextel's customers use A-GPS for such purposes as locating fleets of vehicles as they travel or downloading real time weather updates. Additionally, Nextel's Motorola iDEN phones continue to be fully operational with regard to other services -- cellular phone calls, Nextel Direct Connect(R) calls, wireless data such as text messaging and SMS, voice mail, Caller ID, etc. Nextel's 911 service continues to be available throughout the country, transmitting the caller's callback number and nearest cell site to those Public Safety Answering Points -- or 911 -- call centers. Nextel has temporarily disabled the transmission of the A-GPS enabled location information for E911 Phase II location services until a permanent solution to the software issue is available. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42615842 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 03:45:31 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Reviewing the GN 6110 Bluetooth Headset Theoretically nice, terrible in practice. I received my 6110 Monday. Tuesday I tried very hard to convince myself to keep it. I even drove with it to GN Netcom's HQ and talked in person to their customer service people and repair department. Sadly, the unit does not perform well at all in my home environment, or in GN Netcom's lobby, or in my office. Its first problem is low volume when connected to a standard WECo 2500 phone. Even with all the controls cranked to their maximum settings, the volume is marginal at best, and not usable if the person at the other end is not very loud. GN Netcom's reply was that the unit was not designed to operate with standard phones, but only with "modern" electronic phones "all of which have a volume control". The claim was that the FCC(!) limits the dB level they can put into your ear, and since you can't turn the volume up on a standard 2500 set, it's just not going to be very loud. I really liked the device, and still considered keeping it, but the other problem prevented that. There is a significant buzz on transmit, which bothers some people more than others. Some might just think it's background noise, but of course it's not. This noise was present when paired with the base station through my 2500 phone, when the base station was connected to an electronic phone we tried in Netcom's lobby, and is also present when using it with a D-Link Bluetooth DBT-120 and both a PowerMac G3 and a Titanium G4. As much as I like the look and feel, I'll be returning it to Amazon in the morning. John Covert ------------------------------ From: hitesh@ossi.co.in (hitesh) Subject: Voice Addition For Conferencing Date: 21 Jul 2004 03:17:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I want to add voice signals for the purpose of conferencing any device perfoming that? I also wanted to know how conferencing is achieved over local lines of PBX or over the telephone lines distant apart. Thanks in advance. Regards, hitesh ------------------------------ From: tristanhunt777@hotmail.com (Tristan Hunt) Subject: Wireless Tower Suppliers Date: 20 Jul 2004 20:44:37 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Can anyone point me in the direction of any manufacturers/suppliers of mobile phone / wireless telecommunications towers (of the galvanized steel variety) located in China or another Far East country? I figured with all the towers that have sprung up across China in the past 10 years, someone has to be achieving economies of scale there. The project is physically located in the Eastern Hemisphere, and reliability with respect to timing & quality as well as low costs are our primary concern. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: NYS AG Spitzer Settles With "optinrealbig.com" Spammer Date: 20 Jul 2004 15:13:23 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) A correction in something I wrote here: in article , Scott Dorsey wrote: > In article , Danny Burstein > wrote: >> I'm not elated about the low cost to the spammer, but at least it's >> something: >> "State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced the settlement >> of a lawsuit against email marketer Scott Richter and his company, >> OptInRealBig.com, LLC. The suit alleged that unsolicited emails, or >> spam, sent on defendants' behalf contained falsified headers, >> falsified routing information, and deceptive subject lines, and were >> illegally routed through a worldwide network of more than 500 >> vulnerable computers." >> http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/jul/jul19a_04.html > Something? This is nothing. Why is this man not being locked in jail > for God's sake? Between he and Richter, they are probably responsible > for 50% of the total incoming mail I see on my servers. Err ... between he and RALSKY, sorry. Brain jammed. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Organization: Rite Aid Corporation From: Paul A Lee Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 16:55:43 -0400 Subject: Re: DSL Steel or Copper Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com In TELECOM Digest V23 #338, ruddager99@hotmail.com (rud) wrote (in part): > Does anyone know if you can use steel communication wire to > run a DSL line? The cable is Belden LL7874/E108998/9504. I've > got a brand new 500' spool of the stuff ... Not likely it's steel. About the only places you'll find steel wire in communication, control, or electronic cables are as a messenger (supporting) wire or cable, or as a copper-clad center conductor in some coaxial constructions. The Belden part number appears to be 9504. That's a 4-pair computer communications cable with tinned copper conductors. Could you be mistaking the tinned, stranded copper conductors for steel wires? If it is Belden 9504, it would probably serve your purpose for inside wiring. It's vinyl insulated and jacketed, so I wouldn't use it outside, either above ground or buried. The jacket won't stand up to ultraviolet exposure or underground moisture. The conductors are stranded, so you may not get consistent and reliable results in insulation displacement connections [IDC], such as 66 or 110 type IDC terminations. If you're going to be using standard telecommunications wiring components with IDC terminations, you may save yourself some problems down the line by using compatible cable. You can get 500 feet of CAT 5E 4-pair at Home Depot or Lowes for about $40. You really only need CAT 3 for DSL -- that should be even cheaper. Paul A Lee Sr Telecom Engineer Rite Aid Corporation HL-IS-COM (Telecomm) V: +1 717 730-8355 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 F: +1 717 975-3789 P.O. Box 3165, Harrisburg, PA 17105-3165 W: +1 717 805-6208 ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 21:41:46 GMT In article , letters@softhome.net says: > Monty Solomon wrote in message > news:: >> Verizon Poised to Deliver First Set of Services to Customers Over >> Its Fiber-to-the-Premises Network >> 'Verizon Fios' Initially Will Offer Three High-Speed Data Options >> Including Speeds 10 Times Faster Than Current Consumer Broadband >> Services and Prices as Low as $34.95 >> Additional Fiber Deployments Under Way in California and Florida >> NEW YORK, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon customers in Keller, Texas, >> soon will be the first to receive groundbreaking high-speed Internet >> services over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. The >> company is raising the bar on consumer broadband today by introducing >> data speeds of up to 30 megabits-per-second (Mbps) in Keller later >> this summer and in other markets later this year. Prices start at >> $34.95 per month. >> The company also announced additional fiber deployments that are under >> way in California and Florida. >> The new suite of fiber-optic services will be called Verizon Fios(sm) >> (FYE-ose). FTTP technology utilizes fiber-optic connections -- >> instead of copper wire -- directly into homes and businesses to enable >> a broad array of voice, data and video applications. >> Fios consists of three consumer Internet access services. At 30 Mbps, >> the fastest data service is ten times faster than consumer broadband >> speeds typically available today. Entry and mid-level services at >> speeds of 5 Mbps and 15 Mbps also beat the speeds and prices of >> today's consumer broadband. >> - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42575405 > Wow! Cheap too. Watch out, P2P applications. Who knows when we'll ever see it here in the northeast. We got all digital switching in the 80's. I guess that was Bell's gift to us. The product is a cable killer though. It will be anywhere from 5 to 10 times faster than what cable purports to offer. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Lingo v. Packet8 From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 21:39:27 GMT Wolfgang S. Rupprecht writes: >> My experience with Packet8 was good. I would grade the voice quality >> as better than cellular, not quite toll quality. > Are there any VOIP termination services that will simply pass on your > PCM-ulaw without screwing with it? Broadvoice 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 ------------------------------ From: Frank@Nospam.com Subject: Re: NorVergence and the California Public Utilities Commission Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 18:23:35 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications The California PUC has a mandate far, far beyond its resources, as is typical with California State Government. So, the liberal Commission members and staff pick and choose their pets to persue. ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 22:25:06 -0700 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society Dave Close wrote: > No where that I know actually lists the electors on the ballot. That > lists the persons those electors are committed to support, leading > many to believe erroneously that there is such a thing as a popular > vote. What that means is that there *is* a popular vote -- but a deceptive one, since the winning candidate of those listed on a state's popular-vote ballots may not actually receive the electoral votes the majority thought they were giving him. (Even if state legislators do not tamper with the appointment of electors, the electors are free to vote for whom they please. State laws requiring them to vote as pledged were struck down in 1972 when one Republican elector voted for the Libertarians.) ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 16:16:38 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations telecom-news@yahoogroups.com writes: > Let's suppose Smith is elected as President and Jones as Vice > President. Two years and one day into his term, Smith resigns, dies, > or is otherwise removed from office. Jones succeeds Smith as > President. A further clarification in that amendment states that no person ineligible for the presidency is eligible to be vice-president either, for exactly this reason. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: TelePort Platinum Fax/Modem, and Converting ADB to USB? Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 16:50:11 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations AES/newspost writes: > The problem is, it connects to the Mac via an ADB cable, which we > don't got no more. So: Are you sure the modem goes through ADB? A serial port (also absent by default from modern macs) is FAR more likely. Geethree.com sells a conversion kit that turns the built-in modem port on a mac into an old-school serial port, including the necessary extension so that comm programs will handle it correctly. > 2) Anyone know if this unit is likely to work using an ADB/USB adaptor > (if such exists) with currently available fax software? Belkin and Griffin both sell ADB/USB adapters, to my complete startlement. To think that with a heavy sigh, I threw out a couple of beloved old Saratoga keyboards just last week. I'm going to have to check out one of those Matias keyboards that uses the wonderful old keyswitches. > 3) Lacking satisfaction on any of the above, anyone want to make a > modest bid on this gadget, with manual and (maybe) software diskette > (which I haven't found yet)? I can't imagine you're going to get more than it costs to ship. Faxing is built into modern macs, and while the passthrough is indeed nice, needing an external box and an adapter to make it work doesn't seem worth it. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ 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 #343 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 22 01:00:06 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6M505P19609; Thu, 22 Jul 2004 01:00:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 01:00:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407220500.i6M505P19609@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 #344 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Jul 2004 01:00:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 344 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Board Mulls Phasing Out Consumer Service - WSJ (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless Reports Second Qtr Net Income $0.02 Per Share (M Solomon) Phone For Noisy Environment (J Kelly) Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? (jjk2c) Data Radios (Yantrik) Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network (Mark Atwood) Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out (Brian Folks) PointOne Provides Enhanced Network Access to 20,000 SIPphone (VOIP News) Senate Panel Sets VoIP Vote (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, 21 Jul 2004 18:38:48 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Board Mulls Phasing Out Consumer Service - WSJ NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - AT&T Corp.'s (NYSE:T) board is considering phasing out local and long-distance phone service to U.S. consumers, a potential watershed for a company that until 20 years ago had a virtual monopoly on the country's phone service, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. AT&T's current management team, led by Chairman and Chief Executive David Dorman, has apparently reached a consensus that the company's future lies entirely with corporate and business customers, the Journal said. The board of directors at AT&T was expected to discuss the possible move at a meeting that began Tuesday night and is to continue on Wednesday, the newspaper said, citing unspecified people familiar with the matter. Any such plan could be modified, or rejected altogether, the Journal said. AT&T would not cut off its existing 35 million residential customers under such a plan. Instead, it would cease marketing residential phone service to consumers. Without advertising and the barrage of telephone and mail solicitations to consumers, those customers would fall off significantly over time, according to the Journal. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42618839 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 18:39:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Reports Second Quarter Net Income of $0.02 Per Share Delivers $1.1 Billion in OIBDA REDMOND, Wash., July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) today said its second quarter 2004 services revenue grew 3.3 percent from the first quarter to $3.871 billion, driven primarily by a reduction in promotional incentives, and strong growth in wireless data revenues, which were partially offset by declines in monthly recurring charges. Year-over-year, services revenue declined 1.7 percent from $3.939 billion in the year-ago quarter. Net income per share for the quarter was $0.02, an increase from a net loss per share of $0.02 in the first quarter of 2004, but a decline from $0.08 per share reported for the year-ago quarter. The increase in net income over the first quarter was due primarily to higher operating income and net equity earnings from investments. Second quarter OIBDA (defined as operating income before depreciation and amortization) was $1.134 billion (see Attachment A), a 17.4 percent increase from first quarter OIBDA of $966 million and a 4.4 percent decrease from the year-ago quarter's $1.186 billion. OIBDA margin increased 350 basis points sequentially, to 29.3 percent compared to 25.8 percent in the first quarter (See Attachment B). Year-over-year second quarter OIBDA margin declined 80 basis points from 30.1 percent. The sequential increase in both metrics was driven by a number of positive factors, including higher services revenue, a lower provision for bad debt and lower network and toll expenses, partially offset by higher customer acquisition expenses. Net subscriber additions were 15,000, a significant turnaround of more than 380,000 customers from the first quarter of 2004. Second quarter churn was 3.4 percent, a 30 basis point improvement over the first quarter's 3.7 percent. The sequential improvement in churn was driven by customer retention efforts and marked quality and coverage improvements in the company's GSM network and the launch of GSM America, an aggressive new national flagship offer that eliminates roaming charges for many customers. Churn increased when compared to 2.2 percent in the second quarter of 2003. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42622882 ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Phone for Noisy Environment Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 13:36:39 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com Can anyone recommend a GOOD quality phone for use in a noisy environment? Most phones sold today are total pieces of crap. Requirements are a volume control for the earpiece, be able to withstand a reasonable amount of abuse (dropping the handset, etc, not purposely abusing it), works with a POTS line, and hopefully costs less than $50. Don't need speaker phone, memory dialing, etc, but some of that might be nice, as would be noise cancelling. This is used in an area that has a lot of very large fans and motors running making a lot of noise. Even the 'office area' in this facility has a lot of noise and I'm half deaf besides. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: jjk2c@netzero.com (jjk2c) Subject: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? Date: 21 Jul 2004 17:12:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I will be moving to southern Illinois soon. It is my understanding that my new local phone provider is Verizon. Does anyone know if the phone service have been deregulated there yet? I really don't want to go with Verizon unless I have to. The reason being is that from their website it appears I have two options: 1) For like $15.00 a month, I can get phone service, but every local call is like a half cent a minute. That sounds crazy to me. 2) The next step up is like $42.00 a month, but that comes with all the bells and whistles like call forwarding and call waiting deluxe and all sorts of other stuff I don't need nor do I want. I have looked at SBC and AT&Ts websites and they all have plans with basic unlimited local calling for like $25.00 a month which I think is pretty reasonable. When I try to sign up with either of these two companies by their websites, I get that phone service is available. However, neither one is able to verify my address on their website so that I can set up service. So that leads me back to my original question. Does anyone know if I am going to be stuck with Verizon, or do I have any other options? I have Verizon for my cell phone, and I think they are pretty good for a cell phone, but I think their local service is just a little bit ridiculous. Thanks for any information anyone may have. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In large parts of Illinois, the telco of record is SBC (formerly Ameritech, prior to that Illinois Bell). Far south Illinois is a bit more sketchy, with a variety of rural telephone companies, etc. Would you mind saying *which* town in southern Illinois you are going to be locating to and perhaps someone can tell you who the telco of record is there. You also mentioned SBC and AT&T as possible choices. Have you tried using those two companies contact numbers (as shown on the web sites) and had one of the humans (at either company) verify the address, service plans, etc? PAT] ------------------------------ From: yantrikcommunications@yahoo.com (Yantrik) Subject: Data Radios Date: 21 Jul 2004 20:34:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We are looking for information on the Point-to-Point radios in the data rates of 64-768 KBPS & 1xE1-4xE1 in different frequency bands. Can someone suggest such products with the company contact details. Thanks! ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 21:53:18 GMT In article , kd1s@nospamplease.verizon.reallynospam.net says... > In article , letters@softhome.net > says: >>> Verizon Poised to Deliver First Set of Services to Customers Over >>> Its Fiber-to-the-Premises Network >>> 'Verizon Fios' Initially Will Offer Three High-Speed Data Options >>> Including Speeds 10 Times Faster Than Current Consumer Broadband >>> Services and Prices as Low as $34.95 >>> Additional Fiber Deployments Under Way in California and Florida [snip] >> Wow! Cheap too. Watch out, P2P applications. > Who knows when we'll ever see it here in the northeast. We got all > digital switching in the 80's. I guess that was Bell's gift to us. My neighborhood in Bethesda, Md. will probably get FIOS this year. The fiber cabling was completed about a month ago. Termination box is one door down the street. > The product is a cable killer though. It will be anywhere from 5 to 10 > times faster than what cable purports to offer. I may well switch from Verizon DSL to the fiber network. No way I'd go to Comcast as long as there's an alternative or two. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 21:20:08 GMT Tony P. writes: > The product is a cable killer though. It will be anywhere from 5 to 10 > times faster than what cable purports to offer. There are cable companies (such as SureWest) that are using the same tech. There are already cities in the US where the local cableco has either abandoned the existing coax, or it was never installed in the first place, who are running F2P *already*. Plus the big MSOs are looking at the same thing. The economics of it are such that it's probable that in a few years, all new cable installs will be glass, all upgrades of existing plant will be to glass, and the existing coax will be either abandoned or replaced piecemeal. It wont kill the MSOs, just like it wont kill the ILECs. They will just end up truely being in exactly the same business, providing exactly the same service, pretty much exactly the same way. 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 ------------------------------ From: Brian Folks Subject: Re: Norvergence - How Do I Get Out" Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 18:00:38 -0700 Go to the Federal Trade Commission web site and do a search for Leasecomm. That case seams very similar to the Norvergence scam. http://www.ftc.gov/ Also, if you are an ex-NorV customer I urge you to file a complaint against NorV AND your leasing company. These leasing firms are complicit in this fraud. Brian Folks Re: > Well if all is true then Norvergence is out of business. One thing > hasn't been addressed though ... what are the existing customers > supposed to do now? We have signed lease agreements with banks for > equipment that won't work when Quest turns off the lines again. How > do we get out of those? Anyone have any ideas?? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest simply ignoring those fraud- > ulent contracts the banks are holding. FREEZE ALL TELECOM PAYMENTS > IMMEDIATLY. If the bank wants to sue, that's okay. They *should* be > suing the remains of Norvergence, since Norvergence got the money > illegally, through trickery and fraud. Of course the bank will choose > to pick on the weaker party (yourself) because they assume they can > twist your arm easier. You'll hear threats about how you will get > sued, how your company credit will be ruined, etc, but pay no attention. > The bank knows it will be almost futile to try and sue Novergence, > so they will work on you instead if you let them, and sadly, many telecom > managers, company executives will be bullied into compliance with the > bank's demands for payment, etc. > If the bank *does* choose to sue you (not at all certain, IMO) then > your response should be to countersue the bank for harassment and > for being a party to the same fraud as Norvergence. The bank after all > *did* facilitate the fraud by paying Norvergence money, and they knew > or should have known that Norvergence had a worthless scheme going > on. The bank is equally (or more so) able to investigate the collateral > being put up for the money the bank advanced to Norvergence, the > 'collateral' in this case being the promises of satisfied customers > able and willing to pay. If you recall, we had that one message in the > Digest several months ago from the lady who said she worked for the > bank (which had been approached by Norvergence to handle their paper) > and she was investigating if the bank should get involved or not. > Now myself, being sort of weary about lawsuits and Norvergence's > eagnerness to file same, I just printed her message here and said > nothing, or maybe just some generic, bland response, I do not remember. > In any event, the bank could have chosen to investigate if they > wished, prior to advancing money to Norvergence, or handing the > company's credit paper. That's not your problem. You were deceived > by a smooth talking salesman. Just ignore those invoices and let the > bank deal with it as they must. PAT] Brian Folks ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 17:39:50 -0400 Subject: PointOne Provides Enhanced Network Access to 20,000 SIPphone Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-21-2004/0002214576&STORY&EDATE= Global Bridge & IM Connect Allows PSTN Callers to Reach SIPphone.com Customers AUSTIN, Texas, and SAN DIEGO, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- PointOne, operator of the largest Voice over IP network in North America, today announced that it is providing the SIPphone, Inc. (http://www.sipphone.com ) network with local inbound access from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Using PointOne's advanced communications network, full two-way interaction between the 100-year-old PSTN and the new IP-based SIPphone service is now possible. SIPphone, Inc., a company from MP3.com and Lindows ( http://www.lindows.com ) founder Michael Robertson, is a leader in Internet calling, providing its customers with a no-monthly-fee service to connect to other SIP-based phones. SIPphone previously enabled its customers to call PSTN numbers. Now PSTN users in 18 major markets will be able to dial into local numbers to make connections to SIPphone users who may be anywhere in the world, utilizing the IM Connect -- Instant Messenger Connect -- function of the PointOne Global Bridge(TM) network. "PointOne moves SIPphone customers one step closer to throwing out their old, expensive phones," said Michael Robertson, CEO of SIPphone. "In the coming weeks we are also gearing up to provide a service in conjunction with PointOne that will allow customers to have dedicated phone numbers that they can take with them as they travel and connect from any broadband connection anywhere in the world." "SIPphone understands the disruptive power that IP communications brings and provides users with competitive choices never before possible," said Sam Shiffman, executive vice president for PointOne. "Enabling dispersed communities to communicate is just one of the great promises this new technology offers." IM Connect is technology with similarities to PointOne's StarPoint IP(TM) service, which allows cable broadband users to make IP voice calls worldwide over both IP networks and the PSTN. This gives users the opportunity to access new and exciting VoIP enhanced services in the highest quality manner. SIPphone is a service based on SIP, the most popular Voice over IP (VoIP) standard, which enables two or more people to make phone calls to each other using the Internet to carry the call. Utilizing SIPphone adapters, consumers can connect any telephone to the Internet for free calling to other SIPphone users and for low-cost international calling. About SIPphone, Inc. SIPphone ( http://www.sipphone.com ) is the leader in Internet calling. With no monthly fees, no setup fees and SIP adapters for standard phones starting under $75, anyone around the world with broadband access can now enjoy the benefits of free worldwide calling, clear digital calls, free voicemail, free conference calling and zero configurations devices based on SIPphone's Plug-N-Dial standard. SIPphone's service uses an inexpensive device that sits between your broadband Internet connection and your standard phone that enable phone calls via a regular phone. SIPphone was founded by Michael Robertson, who also founded MP3.com (digital music) and Lindows (digital delivery of software). SIPphone is based in San Diego, California. About PointOne Established in April 1998, PointOne is the largest VoIP network in North America utilizing all next-generation technology with over 75% on-net coverage in the U.S., designed from the ground up to provide 100% IP based applications and services. Utilizing the industry's leading IP technologies, along with proprietary patented applications and processes; PointOne offers high-quality, QoS IP communication services. Ranked #1 vendor in performance and reliability by the largest carriers and service providers in the U.S.; PointOne is a privately held company headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, contact us at +1.512.735.1200, or visit us at http://www.pointone.com . IM Connect - Access Numbers: Atlanta 678-918-5026 Atlantic City 609-840-8027 Baltimore 410-372-4173 Chicago 708-437-9040 Connecticut 860-256-4170 Dallas 469-449-2560 Fort Worth 817-886-2285 Daytona Beach 386-267-2650 Houston 832-631-1597 Los Angeles 323-908-4167 Miami 786-206-4270 New York 347-427-9019 N. New Jersey 973-494-5586 S. New Jersey 609-873-8119 Philadelphia 610-879-1419 San Francisco 415-354-1083 Seattle 206-219-5789 Washington, DC 202-742-5739 For Information Contact: Steve Braasch 512-735-1200 sbraasch@pointone.com SOURCE PointOne Web Site: http://www.pointone.com http://www.sipphone.com http://www.lindows.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: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 17:59:19 -0400 Subject: Senate Panel Sets VoIP Vote Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3384471 By Roy Mark U.S. Sen. John Sununu expects a number of challenges to his legislation exempting Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services from state regulations and taxes when the bill goes before the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday morning. "There's no question there are lot of members that are working at different languages for amendments," the New Hampshire Republican told internetnews.com on the eve of the first ever congressional vote on VoIP. While both the Senate and the House of Representatives have held a number of hearings on VoIP and other IP-enabled services, Thursday morning's markup session is the first time either chamber has scheduled an actual vote to consider moving legislation on for a full-floor vote. "There's been a host of amendments filed, so now the question is working through with members on their language, seeing if there is agreement or compromise," Sununu said. Full story at: http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3384471 ------------------------------ 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 #344 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 22 16:24:18 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6MKOIj27129; Thu, 22 Jul 2004 16:24:18 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 16:24:18 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407222024.i6MKOIj27129@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 #345 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Jul 2004 16:23:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 345 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon to Introduce Internet-Based Phone Services Across US (VOIP News) Verizon's Net Phone Service Takes Wing (VOIP News) Verizon Rings in Next Generation of Voice Services (VOIP News) Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill (VOIP News) Sprint Canada (Call-Net) Launches Broadband Phone Service (VOIP News) Internet Phone Revolution is Upon Us (VOIP News) AT&T to Stop Marketing Traditional Service (VOIP News) Broadband Internet Phone Company, VoIP2Save.com Announcement (VOIP News) Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged (PeterReid@columbia.edu) 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, 22 Jul 2004 02:38:12 -0400 Subject: Verizon to Introduce Internet-Based Phone Services Across U.S. Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/183093_verizon22.html By KEN BELSON THE NEW YORK TIMES Verizon Communications, the nation's biggest telephone company, will announce today that it is introducing Internet-based phone service to customers across the nation, according to executives close to the plan. Verizon is the latest and largest player to offer the technology, which divides voice calls into packets of data and sends them over high-speed Internet lines. The service can be significantly cheaper than traditional phone calls because sellers of the service do not typically have to pay access charges and other fees related to telephone transmission. In the last year, the service has been introduced by several phone companies, including AT&T, some cable providers and startup companies such as Vonage. Most regional Bell companies have been hesitant to offer Internet phone service because it undercuts their main business of connecting calls over copper wires. They have also argued -- rightly, many analysts say -- that Internet calls are inferior in quality and reliability to traditional phone calls. Yet the phone companies are under pressure to enter the market because cable providers are starting to package that service with their high-speed data and video services. A company such as Vonage, meanwhile, has captured more than 200,000 customers, many of whom have abandoned their traditional phone lines. Verizon wants to use its size to grab a nationwide consumer audience, including the tens of millions of homes currently without the high-speed Internet connections needed to make the service work. [Comment: Unfortunately, you'll know that this is service from a traditional phone company the moment you look at the price - $34.95 a month for unlimited local and long-distance calls within the United States if you also subscribe to Verizon DSL, or $39.95 per month if you get your broadband access from anyone else, according to the article. The latter could be considered something of a bargain if Verizon would provide VoIP-only "drops" to homes that don't want any type of Internet access, but somehow I doubt that will happen anytimes soon. But at least the "brand name snobs" will be able to get their VoIP from a big telephone company, while many current VoIP users will probably laugh at Verizon's VoIP offering.] Full story at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/183093_verizon22.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, 22 Jul 2004 13:09:55 -0400 Subject: Verizon's Net Phone Service Takes Wing Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.com.com/Verizon's+Net+phone+service+takes+wing/2100-7352_3-5279108.html By Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com Verizon Communications on Thursday began offering VoiceWing, its long-awaited broadband phone service expected to challenge AT&T, Vonage and other top providers of Internet phone calls. The unlimited local and long-distance service, available nationwide, costs about the industry average: $35 for the first six months, then goes up to $40 a month, the carrier said. If a Verizon DSL subscriber signs up, VoiceWing costs $30 a month for the first six months, then $35 a month, according to Verizon. Full story at: http://news.com.com/Verizon's+Net+phone+service+takes+wing/2100-7352_3-5279108.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 11:12:36 -0400 Subject: Verizon Rings in Next Generation of Voice Services Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is the official Verizon press release. I still feel there are much better deals out there from existing VoIP companies, so unless you are one of those people who simply must pay a premium price just to have a well-known brand name, I would look seriously at what the other VoIP companies are offering (that applies even moreso if you make any international calls, including calls to Canada). http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-22-2004/0002215922&STORY&EDATE= Verizon Rings in Next Generation of Voice Services With VoiceWing Broadband Phone Service Verizon Beats the Competition With Most Extensive Commercial Launch of Residential Voice-Over-IP in America, Offering It Nationally With Area Codes Covering 139 Markets in 33 States and the District of Columbia NEW YORK, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable-modem broadband users across America now can take advantage of the latest in voice communications technology from Verizon. Starting today, VoiceWing, Verizon's voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) broadband phone service, is available nationally in the largest initial commercial offering of a residential VoIP service in America. Because VoiceWing is provided over the Internet, customers can choose a phone number from an extensive list of area codes in 139 markets in 33 states and the District of Columbia. VoiceWing subscribers can make calls over any broadband Internet connection and manage their calls from any computer with Internet access -- regardless of where it is located. The service also provides a variety of advanced call-management features such as enhanced call- forwarding and call logs that itemize all calling activity. "We recognize that along with cost savings, customers want the enhanced features that new technologies bring," said Bob Ingalls, president of Verizon's Retail Markets group. "Our wide range of features makes managing calls simple and convenient." VoiceWing Pricing, Availability and Features VoiceWing allows consumers to make unlimited local and long-distance phone calls within the United States and certain territories and to benefit from low per-minute international calling rates. VoiceWing is priced at $39.95 per month; however, discounts are available. For instance, subscribers to Verizon Online DSL can get VoiceWing for $34.95 a month. Those subscribers can also benefit from an introductory price of $29.95 a month for the first six months if they order VoiceWing by Oct. 31. Users of other broadband services will get an introductory price of $34.95 for the first six months of service if they order VoiceWing by Oct. 31. Verizon provides VoiceWing subscribers with an adapter that allows them to use their own telephone with their DSL or cable modem connection to make VoiceWing calls. There is a one-time set-up fee of $39.95, and a one-time shipping and handling charge for shipping the adapter. Verizon offers customers a 30-day money-back guarantee on its VoiceWing service. VoiceWing is available to customers anywhere in the continental United States and can be purchased at http://www.verizon.com/voicewing or by calling 1-800-270-5369. One attractive feature of VoiceWing is that customers can choose their own area code. It doesn't have to be the area code where customers live. VoiceWing telephone numbers are available today with a variety of area codes from the following states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and in the District of Columbia. VoiceWing provides customers not only traditional services such as voice mail, caller ID and call waiting, but also advanced features that give them unprecedented control of their communications by accessing a special Web page called the Personal Account Manager. The features include: * Call Logs - Itemize all calling activity. Call Logs list the caller name, telephone number (if available), date, time-of-day, location and duration of every incoming and outgoing call made. Users can easily transfer contact information directly into their VoiceWing Personal Address Book. * Voice Mail - Allows customers to view and play their messages by clicking on the "new voice mail messages" link on the home page. Messages can be stored for up to 14 days. * Click-to-Dial - Automatically dials any telephone number, including numbers saved in the Call Logs or Address Book. By clicking on a "hyperlink" phone number, VoiceWing will dial the number. When dialing is complete, the customer's VoiceWing phone will ring, indicating the user should pick up the handset. * Speed Dial 10 - Lets users enter or change speed-dial shortcuts on their VoiceWing phones or on their computers. * Enhanced Call Forwarding - Directs calls to another telephone number anytime. By saving Call Forwarding settings on a customer's Personal Account Manager, VoiceWing calls can quickly be re-directed to another number. * Feature Scheduling - Allows users to schedule call forwarding or a call back for a specific date and time of day. * Personal Address Book - Stores information about a user's most frequent contacts directly on the Personal Account Manager. The Click to Dial feature can then be used with the Address Book. * Alternate Telephone Number - Customers can make every call they get from out-of-town family and friends a local call by choosing an alternate Telephone Number in their family and friends' area code. The Alternate Telephone Number is routed directly to the customer's primary VoiceWing number. There is a monthly charge for Alternate Telephone Numbers. "VoiceWing is a critical part of Verizon's broadband leadership strategy," Ingalls said. "It will bring us new broadband and voice services customers, and it will give our existing customers new ways to get the most from their broadband connections. Our pricing and features meet or beat our competition, and our availability is one of the best in the industry. With VoiceWing, we are embracing the future, and we will continue to introduce a steady stream of new products that puts the power of broadband to work for our customers." VoiceWing is provided through Verizon Long Distance. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 13:20:04 -0400 Subject: Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18936 by Heather Forsgren Weaver WASHINGTON The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday morning gutted a bill that attempted to pre-empt states from imposing access charges and universal service fees on Voice over Internet Protocol services. Additionally, the committee added a 911 obligation to VoIP services in an amendment offered by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Congressional E911 Caucus. The Burns amendment imposed an E911 obligation that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), incoming chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said was more stringent than what is imposed on the telecommunications industry at large. [Comment: This is what you get when you have legislators that don't understand technology. They might as well impose a 200 mile-per-gallon fuel consumption limit on new cars; E911 on VoIP is about as achieveable. I guess we can only hope that this bill in its present form doesn't pass, or that the Burns amendment somehow gets thrown out or watered down before it passes into law.] Full story at: http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18936 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What is wrong with using a GSM type device which is built into the 'adapter box' which, when a call is made to 911, broadcasts its whereabouts to the 911 dispatcher? PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 11:55:08 -0400 Subject: Sprint Canada (Call-Net) launches broadband phone service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-22-2004/0002215866&EDATE= Sprint Canada (Call-Net) launches broadband phone service First competitive local exchange carrier to launch VOIP; 911 capable, highly reliable, available to residential consumers and small office/home offices. TORONTO, July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Sprint Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Call-Net Enterprises Inc., a leading provider of telecommunication services to households and businesses, today launched Sprint Canada Internet Phone Service(TM), its broadband phone service for households and small/home offices. Starting at just $19.95 per month, Sprint Canada Internet Phone Service (IPS) uses voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology to transmit local and long distance calls over high speed Internet networks and Sprint Canada's national local service network. The service is supported by the Company's state-of-the-industry back office systems. "Sprint Canada is pleased to offer Canada's first competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) compliant broadband phone service," said Bill Linton, chief executive officer, Sprint Canada. "While consumer awareness and take-up of voice over IP service is low, our research shows that consumers are more comfortable adopting a new technology from a trusted telecommunications company like Sprint Canada. Our approach is to continue to evolve our voice over IP product as the market matures and to use the service to grow our off-net consumer business." Sprint Canada Internet Phone Service works with any residential high speed Internet service, including light services offered by telephone digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable. The starter package includes a VOIP gateway, one telephone number and line that can travel with the customer wherever they can access high speed Internet service, an integrated four-port 100 megabits per second (mbps) Ethernet router and firewall. The service works with a regular telephone handset and customers can keep their existing phone number in serviceable areas or add a new one and select their preferred area code and exchange. Sprint Canada provides the Internet protocol gateway at a cost of $75 including four months of basic service. The service is easy to install, and works right out of the box. The service is available as a standalone product and includes all standard home phone features such as operator services, 911, 411, and 711. Call waiting, call display and voice mail are also available. IPS is also available as part of bundled package with local home phone service and Fido(R) wireless service. "This service is ideal for parents sending their children to university, as a second household or small business line, for residential customers with a second home, or for heavy long distance users," added Linton. To order the service, consumers and small businesses can call 1-800-298-6939 or visit http://www.sprint.ca. Sprint Canada was one of the first companies to offer competitive telecommunication services to Canadian consumers and businesses in 1986. It launched its local home and business service in 1999, expanding the number of markets in 2001. It remains Canada's only competitive national telecommunications company offering local telephone service to both homes and businesses in most major markets. As of March 2004, Sprint Canada had more than 300,000 local home phone lines and business line equivalents in service. Full press release (including list of features and comparison with other VoIP providers) at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-22-2004/0002215866&EDATE= ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 02:43:41 -0400 Subject: Internet Phone Revolution is Upon Us Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0407/22/technology-219446.htm By Christopher Stern / The Washington Post In November, Andy Abramson, of San Diego, took his new Internet phone on a two-week business trip to Europe. He spent 18 hours calling friends and clients in Canada, Italy, France and the United States, an international dialing spree that would normally have set him back hundreds of dollars. But all that talking cost him just $13. For William Ashton, who supervises the municipal phone system for Herndon, Va., the town's new Internet phone network has made work a lot easier. Ashton used to dread requests to move a phone or add a line. The process took several days, including a visit by an outside contractor who spent hours rearranging telephone wires in a closet and cost $400 or more. I was in the business of saying no, Ashton said. Since last year when the new system was installed, Ashton has managed the entire phone network from his desktop computer. He can add lines with the click of a mouse. When town employees move to a new office, they unplug their phones and carry them to their new desks. Their phone calls follow automatically. Daniel Sternoff, of New York, canceled his Verizon basic home phone service after signing up with a broadband phone company in January. Sternoff's wife often calls her family in Israel, and he estimates he has cut his monthly phone bill from $150 or $200 to $50 or $75. Abramson and Sternoff and the Town of Herndon aren't just saving money; they're at the cutting edge of the biggest change in telephone technology since government-sanctioned monopolies knitted the nation together decades ago with copper wire. Full story at: http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0407/22/technology-219446.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 11:49:35 -0400 Subject: AT&T to Stop Marketing Traditional Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5528-2004Jul22.html By Ellen Simon The Associated Press Thursday, July 22, 2004; 10:26 AM NEW YORK -- AT&T Corp., the nation's largest long-distance company, said Thursday it would stop seeking new customers for its traditional consumer long-distance service, once the bedrock of the company known as Ma Bell. Instead, AT&T will bet its future on providing telecom and data services to business, currently 75 percent of its revenue, and selling residential customers new technologies, such as phone service over the Internet. The company will continue to serve its existing residential customers but will no longer pour roughly $1 billion a year into winning new ones, AT&T said as it reported sharply lower profits for the second quarter. Full story at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5528-2004Jul22.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 11:02:34 -0400 Subject: Broadband Internet Phone Company, VoIP2Save.com Announcement Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/7/emw142344.htm Broadband Internet Phone Company, VoIP2Save.com Announces Full Phone Number Portability "VoIP2Save.com" becomes first broadband internet phone company to offer total internet phone number portability to customers. VoIP2Save accuses rivals of holding customer phone numbers hostage because they cannot switch their phone numbers to other carriers. (PRWEB) July 21, 2004 -- The Providence Telephone Company, which operates the broadband internet telephone service, VoIP2Save.com became the first internet phone company to offer customers full telephone number portability. "No other internet telephone company, to this date, has offered total number portability. We are the first," said Bob Blanchard, the president of the company. "It does not matter if a customer transfers an existing phone number to us, or we assign a telephone number to the customer. If and when they leave, they take their phone number with them. In 2003, a federal law mandated customers of cellular telephone service be allowed to keep their phone number if they decided to switch carriers. Internet phone companies were not covered by the law." VoIP2Save.com surveyed many other internet phone companies, including Vonage, Packet8, Voice Glo, Lingo and I-Connect It found that none of the companies allowed customers to keep a phone number the company assigned to them, if the customer decided to switch to another phone company. Blanchard accused the companies of "holding a customer hostage, forcing a customer to stay with a telephone company or face the hassle of getting a brand new phone number with another phone company. It's just like the bad old days of cellular," he concluded. Blanchard urged his competitors to "make it very clear to customers, either on the main page of their web site, or during the sign-up process, that if they decide to switch to another phone company they cannot take their newly assigned phone numbers with them. Right now the companies either bury that information in the middle of their legal disclosure pages, or simply don't reveal it at all," Blanchard said. "Make it very clear to customers. If we give you a phone number, we own it, not you. Phone number portability is something consumers demand. I think many will be very unhappy to learn their internet telephone number cannot be transferred to another company" he concluded. All of the companies surveyed did have a set of conditions which, if met, would let customers keep their phone number, if they previously established that phone number at another phone company. But none of the companies surveyed allowed portability for phone numbers it assigns. VoIP2Save.com can offer full number portability for all phone numbers because "VoIP2Save.com" is associated with RNK Telecom, a fully regulated and taxed telephone company. (CLEC) RNK has invested millions of dollars in special equipment to handle internet telephone traffic. RNK owns all the phone numbers it provides and therefore provides full number portability. Blanchard said, "some internet phone companies lease blocks of phone numbers from other phone companies. As a result they cannot offer ownership of telephone numbers to customers because the companies don't own the numbers to begin with. There is a possibility that if suddenly an internet phone company goes out of business and it is not backed by a regulated phone company, consumers would be left with no dial tone or no way to quickly transfer their numbers to maintain phone service," he warned. VoIP2Save.com, operates in Metro New York City, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine. It offers unlimited worldwide calling for $24.95 a month, which is currently the lowest rate in the internet telephone industry. To place an internet phone call a caller needs a broadband connection plus an internet phone or adapter. Bob Blanchard, the president of "VoIP2Save.com", is a former journalist and three time Emmy Award winner in the field of consumer protection reporting. The company web site is http://www.VoIP2Save.com Contact: Media Relations Providence Telephone Company 401-526-2000 http://www.VoIP2Save.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:24:38 GMT From: PeterReid@columbia.edu Subject: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged Organization: Shaw Residential Internet Osama Bin Ladin was found hanged by two CNN journalists early Wedensday evening. As evidence they took several photos, some of which I have included here. As yet, this information has not hit the headlines due to Bush wanting confirmation of his identity but the journalists have released some early photos over the internet. http://www.theparadise.x-y.net/OsamaFoundDead.zip [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why does this remind me of all the stories about Adolph Hitler committing suicide in 1945 as USA troops closed in on him and then a couple years later, around 1947 or so the rumors about Hitler escaping and being seen in Brazil and other South American countries. Of course no one has ever been able to prove it true, nor have any if the people who saw him in Brazil ever been identified either. I wonder if this Osama Bin Laden story -- which came to me several times today, reminiscent of spam -- will now be spread forever. Anyone want to see if that 'OsamaFound Dead.zip' link is in fact some virus in waiting? 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 #345 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jul 22 17:36:56 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6MLaun28119; Thu, 22 Jul 2004 17:36:56 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 17:36:56 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407222136.i6MLaun28119@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 #346 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Jul 2004 17:36:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 346 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Norvergence/Adtran Magic Box Costs $2,297.40 (William Van Hefner) Meridian Norstar - Caller ID Install For Only One Line (Rich) Conference Bridge, Conference Over SONET (hitesh) Re: Wireless Tower Suppliers (Jack Adams) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Robert Bonomi) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Linc Madison) Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged (David Horvath) Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network (Steven J Sobol) Re: Motorola and AT&T Wireless Bringing 3G/UMTS to North America (Paul) Re: AT&T Wireless Delivers 3G UMTS Service in The United States (Paul) Re: Phone for Noisy Environment (Justin Time) Last Laugh! Let Diety Sort it Out (David Wolff) 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: William Van Hefner Subject: Norvergence/Adtran Magic Box Costs $2,297.40 Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 08:57:54 -0700 The Norvergence saga is in low gear right now, while bankruptcy proceedings have been rescheduled for Monday the 26th of July. Some of the interesting developments I have noticed this past week include the fact that Norvergence's own attornies have filed to be released from their duties. That's pretty bad, when even your own lawyers abandon you. There was also a VERY interesting document submitted to the court from Adtran, manufacturers of Norvergence's magic "Matrix device". Although the document is a very bad reproduction, from what I have been able to make of it, it seems that the Norvergence Matrix device had a wholesale value of approximately $2,297.40. That's a far cry from the $15,000 to $25,000 that customers were reportedly asked to pay for it. There is no mention of what the Norvergence "SOHO" box cost. I'd be shocked if that thing had a wholesale value of over $100 though. You can download the Adtran filing and other court documents at http://www.thedigest.com/docs/norvergence/ . I'm trying to keep this archive as up to date as possible, and upload new docs several times per week. Pretty much every document from the bankruptcy case is there, with the exception of some useless stuff like proof of service statements and such. William Van Hefner Editor - WWW.TheDigest.Com postmaster@thedigest.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Did the attornies give a reason for thier request to be dismissed? I imagine one reason was they were unable to interview "Mr. Green" as attornies sometimes refer to their fee. No fee paid, i.e. 'no interview with Mr. Green' and they ask to withdraw. Often times also, in a bankruptcy case, the attorney asks to be declared a priority (or administrative creditor) so that he himself does not have to get in line with the other creditors to pick through the remains. I cannot imagine any other aspect of Norvergence's behavior was so henious that a lawyer somewhere would not want to handle it. Not getting the fee paid would be a problem however in a straight chapter 7. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rich@virtuallearning.net (Rich) Subject: Meridian Norstar - Caller ID Install For Only One Line Date: 22 Jul 2004 08:59:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, I have eight(8) lines coming into my Meridian phone system. The 8th line is going directly to a phone set bypassing the Vmail and the Autoattendant. The user of the phone set wants Caller ID. I have called the BELL and had them install it on the line. However, I can't seem to get Call ID/Call Display to work on the set. I have used Feature 811 but it only shows me the name of the line that the incoming call is using. I don't know how to set the Call ID/Call Display in the Admin Console for Meridian. Can anyone help me out? Thanks, Rich ------------------------------ From: hitesh@ossi.co.in (hitesh) Subject: Conference Bridge, Conference Over SONET Date: 21 Jul 2004 05:14:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, Can anyone tell me how a conference bridge works? I want to establish a conference call using orderwire byte of the SONET frame, any idea?? How to do it? Also any devices for such application? I want to set up a conference call over SONET/SDH network using the "section orederwire byte(E1)". In order to do that it is required to add two voice siganls a)incoming voice of all other nodes (conferee) b)outgoing voice at that node. So, I wanted to know how the digital conference bridges work. a) how is the echo cancellation done? b) how overflow is avoided during the addition? c) are there any small bridges available? and their details? Or any info over the matter. Thanks, Warm regards, hitesh ------------------------------ From: adamsjac@telcordia.com (Jack Adams) Subject: Re: Wireless Tower Suppliers Date: 22 Jul 2004 13:50:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com For starters, you might try: http://www.pcia.com/ Since it's an industry infrastructure association, I'd begin there. However, I'm not sure about Asia PAC. http://www.antennasystems.com/towers.html Is typical of the domestic companies supplying structures. tristanhunt777@hotmail.com (Tristan Hunt) wrote in message news:: > Can anyone point me in the direction of any manufacturers/suppliers of > mobile phone / wireless telecommunications towers (of the galvanized > steel variety) located in China or another Far East country? > I figured with all the towers that have sprung up across China in the > past 10 years, someone has to be achieving economies of scale there. > The project is physically located in the Eastern Hemisphere, and > reliability with respect to timing & quality as well as low costs are > our primary concern. Thanks. ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:44:26 +0000 In article , Dave Close wrote: > Wesrock@aol.com writes: >> As someone noted on another list, the Congress sets the dates for >> elections, not the Constitution, which says in Article II, Section 1: >> "The Congress may determine the time of >> chusing [sic] the Electors, and the Day >> on which they shall give their Votes; >> which Day shall be the same throughout >> the United States." >> Note that both the date of the election, and the date on which the >> Electoral College will meet, are designated by Congress. > A quibble. In most or all States, electors are not directly > chosen. The State legislature must actually elect the electors at some > time after the election, In most, if not every, State, the legislature has, *long*before* November, _adjourned_ until January. The electors are certified directly by the election commission, and the tally is confirmed by the Secretary of State, just like the results for any other office on the ballot. > and it may be that date to which the above sentence refers. If that > interpretation held, Since Federal Statute _expressly_ sets the date of the 'general election' for members of the House, Senate, and electors for President, > it might be possible to hold elections on different dates in various > States, so long as the official confirmation of the results occurred > at the same time everywhere. > No where that I know actually lists the electors on the ballot. That > lists the persons those electors are committed to support, leading > many to believe erroneously that there is such a thing as a popular > vote. Try reading the _fine_print_ on the ballot. In the jurisdictions I am familiar with -- which is, admittedly, _not_ every one -- the ballot line reads something close to: 'Elector for Richard M. Nixon/Spiro T. Agnew, John Q. Smith'. With 'elector for' and the actual person's name being in type about 1/2 the size (or less) of that of the Candidates. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 13:56:17 -0700 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Daniel W. Johnson wrote: > Linc Madison wrote in message > news:: >> However, theoretically, Bill Clinton could be elected VP and then >> become President. > I think that in this particular case, the last sentence of the twelfth > amendment might come into play. Thank you for conveniently ignoring the fact that I already dealt with that exact point in the very same post you are responding to. The Twelfth Amendment says, "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." Bill Clinton is ineligible to be *ELECTED* President again, courtesy of the Twenty-Second Amendment. However, he is *NOT* ineligible to *SERVE* as President. Those criteria remain as in Article II, Section 1. Bill Clinton is a natural-born citizen over the age of 35, and has resided in the United States for 14 years. The 22nd is very specific in only excluding certain people from being *ELECTED* President. Bill Clinton could serve as President if he is elevated to the office by succession from the office of Vice-President, Speaker of the House, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, or Secretary of one of the cabinet departments. Of course, it's all a purely theoretical discussion, since it doesn't have a chance of ever actually happening. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 16:48:02 -0400 Subject: Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged From: David B. Horvath, CCP Reply-To: dhorvath@cobs.com On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:24:38 GMT, PeterReid@columbia.edu posted: > http://www.theparadise.x-y.net/OsamaFoundDead.zip > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why does this remind me of all the > stories about Adolph Hitler committing suicide in 1945 as USA > troops closed in on him and then a couple years later, around 1947 > or so the rumors about Hitler escaping and being seen in Brazil > and other South American countries. Of course no one has ever been > able to prove it true, nor have any if the people who saw him in > Brazil ever been identified either. I wonder if this Osama Bin Laden > story -- which came to me several times today, reminiscent of spam -- > will now be spread forever. Anyone want to see if that 'OsamaFound > Dead.zip' link is in fact some virus in waiting? PAT] The .zip contains a .exe (no .jpg, or .gif or .bmp or ...). I got rid of the .zip without running the .exe. Unless proven otherwise. I assume that this is a virus. Please don't publish my email address (too much spam); name is fine. - David ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? Date: 22 Jul 2004 08:10:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com jjk2c@netzero.com (jjk2c) wrote: > I will be moving to southern Illinois soon. It is my understanding > that my new local phone provider is Verizon. Does anyone know if the > phone service have been deregulated there yet? Verizon is way too big to make generalizations about. As Pat said, you have to be more specific. Also Verizon includes former 'independent' GTE customers. I suspect that is the arrangement where you're going since it's not SBC (Illinois Bell). Much local service today is under the same rates/rules it's been for many years with just minor modifications. As to choosing a carrier and a calling plan (most carriers have multiple plans), it depends on your individual calling patterns. For myself, for example, I have a very traditional plan that is not cheap; but for my particular situation, the new super plans (ie nationwide unlimited service) would end up costing me more. > However, neither one is able to verify my address on their website so > that I can set up service. I would strongly recommend you talk to _all_ carriers directly rather than using their websites. Websites are imperfect. Sadly, today you may need to make multiple phone calls to be certain you have the correct information. > So that leads me back to my original question. Does anyone know if I > am going to be stuck with Verizon, or do I have any other options? I > have Verizon for my cell phone, and I think they are pretty good for a > cell phone, but I think their local service is just a little bit > ridiculous. You also will have check the cell phone rules in your new location; the plans may be different. Again, the best plan depends on your own calling situation. As to your question of deregulation, that varies by state. In my state, Verizon has deregulated some premium services and I think business service, though basic residential remains regulated. All I know is when they got deregulated, the prices shot UP. Return call (*69) went from 25c to 75c. Call Waiting went from $3.00 to $4.50. Payphones went from 20c to 50c. Toll calls from payphones, even with a calling call are like $25. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 00:51:45 -0500 Mark Atwood wrote: > Plus the big MSOs are looking at the same thing. The economics of it > are such that it's probable that in a few years, all new cable > installs will be glass, all upgrades of existing plant will be to > glass, and the existing coax will be either abandoned or replaced > piecemeal. I'm paying $39.95 per month for 3MB down/256K up Charter Pipeline cable Internet right now. (And getting those speeds, too, as I live in a relatively unpopulated area.) You'd better believe the cable companies are going to be doing the same thing. I mean, come on, cable operators were laying fiber for residential customers long before phone companies were. :) > It wont kill the MSOs, just like it wont kill the ILECs. They will > just end up truely being in exactly the same business, providing > exactly the same service, pretty much exactly the same way. Yeah, well ... all other things being equal I'd rather be a cable customer than a telco customer any day. Telcos are stupid AND malicious. Cable companies are usually just stupid. 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: Paul Subject: Re: Motorola and AT&T Wireless Bringing 3G/UMTS to North America Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 11:45:55 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Can someone clarify, isn't UMTS the EDGE technology ATTWS has already rolled out? I thought EDGE currently is only about 115Kbps and might max out practically speaking at 230Kbps if they allocate enough "slots" per user at the tower (which has been debated may not happen for a long time for various technical and business reasons) When I did research on this a couple months ago, from what I read about EDGE on ATT's own customer forums, the initial implementation does not sound good (slow and buggy). And I sure don't consider 115K exactly "broadband"... -- Paul Monty Solomon wrote in message news:telecom23.342.13@telecom-digest.org.: > Motorola and AT&T Wireless Bringing 3G/UMTS to North America > - Jul 20, 2004 11:57 AM (PR Newswire) > Consumers Gain Mobile Broadband Capabilities -- Video Streaming*, > High-Resolution Imagery and Rich Data Experiences -- via New A845 Handset > Network Launch Expands Motorola Lead in 3G/UMTS > LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. > (NYSE:MOT), a global leader in wireless communications, and AT&T > Wireless (NYSE:AWE) today announced the availability of the Motorola > A845 on North America's first 3G/UMTS network. The launch of AT&T > Wireless' network and the availability of the model A845 makes mobile > broadband a reality in the United States. Delivering higher speeds > than ever before, the AT&T Wireless 3G/UMTS network paired with the > Motorola A845 brings consumers richer data experiences including video > streaming*, video capture and playback, MP3 downloading and > multi-media messaging. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42603232 ------------------------------ From: Paul Subject: Re: AT&T Wireless Delivers 3G UMTS Service in The United States Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 12:45:19 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com For those that are interested, ATTWS customer forum, and thread on UMTS is located here: http://forums.attwireless.com/attws/board?board.id=umts The "sticky" message at the top of the thread re "UMTS launches today" explains the offering more in depth. -- Paul "Monty Solomon" wrote in message news:telecom23.342.12@telecom-digest.org... > Working with NTT DoCoMo, Company Launches Commercial 3G Service in > Four Cities Provides Streaming Video Services > > Gives Businesses High-Speed Mobile Data Access > > SEATTLE, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) > today began offering customers in Detroit, Phoenix, San Francisco and > Seattle broadband mobile wireless services with its launch of the > first commercially available true 3G UMTS (Universal Mobile > Telecommunications System) network in the United States. The company > said it is also deploying UMTS technology in Dallas and San Diego, and > expects to offer service in these markets before the end of this year. > > AT&T Wireless said its wireless broadband service turns these markets > into "metropolitan hotspots," offering customers continuous, > high-speed wireless connections. Customers can now use a handset, PDA > or laptop to receive streaming audio and video services; create and > share video clips; experience richer and more visually compelling > content; and connect to critical business information, in most areas > throughout these cities. The company also noted that it launched > commercial service in these four cities in fulfillment of NTT DoCoMo's > shareholder rights agreement. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42602512 ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Phone for Noisy Environment Date: 22 Jul 2004 12:27:01 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com J Kelly wrote in message news:: > Can anyone recommend a GOOD quality phone for use in a noisy > environment? Most phones sold today are total pieces of crap. > Requirements are a volume control for the earpiece, be able to > withstand a reasonable amount of abuse (dropping the handset, etc, not > purposely abusing it), works with a POTS line, and hopefully costs > less than $50. Don't need speaker phone, memory dialing, etc, but > some of that might be nice, as would be noise cancelling. This is > used in an area that has a lot of very large fans and motors running > making a lot of noise. Even the 'office area' in this facility has a > lot of noise and I'm half deaf besides. > Thanks. The best answer for you is a headset. Lots of cabled headsets are available that will work in your price range, but you will probably want one with a noise-cancelling microphone if the noise level is such that can be heard over a normal phone. The Plantronics line is probably the best known, and its available from a great many distributors. Some of the headsets have volume controls, some are in-the-ear and some are over the ear. How much do you want to spend? ------------------------------ From: dwolffxx@panix.com (David Wolff) Subject: Re: NYS AG Spitzer Settles With "optinrealbig.com" Spammer Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 18:35:20 UTC Organization: Public Access Networks Corp. In article , Scott Dorsey wrote: > A correction in something I wrote here: in article > , Scott Dorsey > wrote: >> In article , Danny Burstein >> wrote: [snip] >> Something? This is nothing. Why is this man not being locked in jail >> for God's sake? Between he and Richter, they are probably responsible >> for 50% of the total incoming mail I see on my servers. > Err ... between he and RALSKY, sorry. Brain jammed. Who cares. Decapitate them all. Let sort them out. Death to spammers -- David ------------------------------ 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 #346 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jul 23 21:18:34 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6O1IYa10652; Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:18:34 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:18:34 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407240118.i6O1IYa10652@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 #347 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:18:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 347 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson TiVo Takes On Hollywood - Again / The DVR Service Risks (Monty Solomon) AirPort Express Review (Monty Solomon) TiVo's Plans Lead to Fight On Copyrights (Monty Solomon) RCN Announces Mass Deployment of Digital Video Recorder (Monty Solomon) EPIC Alert 11.14 (Monty Solomon) EFFector 17.26: Action Alert - Induce Act Hearing Rescheduled (Solomon) Apple's Pocket-Size Base Station (Monty Solomon) Laptops at the FleetCenter at Risk of Breaches, Attack (Monty Solomon) Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged (Bart Fisher) Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged (Ray) Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged (Paul Vader) Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged (Linc Madison) Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? (jjk2c) Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? (Carl Navarro) Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? (Justin Time) Re: Phone for Noisy Environment (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Conference Bridge, Conference Over SONET (Julian Macassey) 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, 22 Jul 2004 22:17:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Takes On Hollywood - Again / The DVR service risks The DVR service risks alienating the industry it needs most. By Phillip Swann Washington, D.C. (July 22) -- Four years ago, TiVo was a four-letter word in Hollywood -- in more ways than one. The Digital Video Recorder service, which enables users to fast-forward past commercials, petrified entertainment officials who envisioned that the device would wipe out their advertising divisions. Their concerns were hardly softened when TiVo ran a TV commercial showing a DVR representative throwing a network executive out of the window of an office building. TiVo's message was clear: Network execs, your days are numbered. However, TiVo's executive team soon realized that their decision to market 'ad-skipping' was suicidal. Without the support of Hollywood -- and the advertising dollars of the networks and the studios -- the DVR service would be solely dependent on subscription revenue. And with subs climbing slowly, the strategy would eventually put TiVo out of business. So, TiVo set out to mend fences in Tinseltown, playing down the ad-skipping feature and making promises that it would help entertainment companies deliver advertising messages in exciting new ways, such as video pop-up ads and e-mail downloads. The new approach started to pay off a few years ago when entertainment companies started to advertise with TiVo's service. Primetime network shows such as Will & Grace began name-dropping TiVo in episodes. Suddenly, the DVR service was a new star in Hollywood. But now it appears that TiVo has wiped out four years of hard work with one action. TiVo wants to permit subscribers to transfer recorded shows to other devices, including laptops and PCs, so they could watch them anywhere. The "video to go" concept has prompted Hollywood studios and the National Football League to say the new service could violate their copyrights by sending the programs in a digital form, which are more easily copied and possibly distributed over the Internet. The studios and the NFL have filed protests with the Federal Communications Commission. http://tvpredictions.com/tivohollywood072204.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 22:29:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AirPort Express Review by Eric Bangeman Introduction What do your home stereo, wireless network, and USB printer have to do with one another? Everything, according to Apple and its new AirPort Express. Before Apple was all about music, it was all about wireless. Back in late 1999, Apple released its original AirPort Base Station based on the 802.11b specification. It was one of the first consumer wireless access points to ship, and Apple marketed the base station and AirPort cards as the perfect way to free yourself from the tyranny of Ethernet cables and hubs. The original AirPort was followed by the unfortunately-named AirPort Extreme, which updated the Apple logo on the front of the base station from white to metallic, the status LEDs from green to white, and the innards from 802.11b to 802.11g and its maximum 54Mbps throughput. At the same time, Apple was working the music angle. iTunes went from version 1.0 to a full-featured music player that allowed you to purchase music online and share it with other computers on the network. However, there was a gap between the computer and the home stereo. There was no easy way to play the music you purchased from the iTunes Music Store on your home stereo. Third-party products existed to stream music from a PC to a stereo, but many of them cannot handle AAC, and none of them are capable of streaming Apple's FairPlay DRMed AACs. The AirPort Express is the product from Apple that is meant to tie the two together. It is a fully-capable, mobile 802.11g wireless access point that can also stream music from iTunes to your home stereo. In addition, it can extend the range of an AirPort Base Station and support print jobs over the network to a USB printer. http://arstechnica.com/reviews/004/airportexpress/airportexpress-1.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 23:13:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo's Plans Lead to Fight On Copyrights Technology Would Allow Transfer of Programs By Jonathan Krim Washington Post Staff Writer Hollywood studios and the National Football League are seeking to block the maker of the popular TiVo television recorder from expanding its service so that users could watch copies of shows and movies on devices outside their homes. In filings with the Federal Communications Commission, the organizations say the new technology could compromise the copyrights of shows that broadcasters send over the airwaves in digital form, which offers much higher sound and video quality than what viewers typically get today. The organizations fear that computer enthusiasts would capture those programs and begin trading them online in the same way that millions of music files are shared daily, which record companies have said has cut into their profit. TiVo Inc. insists its system will not allow such mass Internet distribution. The battle is one of several being waged in federal agencies and on Capitol Hill this summer, as content companies such as the movie and music companies seek to keep control of copyrighted works that increasingly can be digitally stored, copied, manipulated and distributed by users. In turn, several public advocacy groups and technology companies warn that the content companies are trying to revoke long-standing consumer rights to "fair use" of artistic works. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4042-2004Jul21 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 23:21:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RCN Announces Mass Deployment of Digital Video Recorder Service Fully Integrated Service Delivers Convenience for Customers, Including HDTV Capability PRINCETON, N.J., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RCN Corporation today announced the launch of its Digital Video Recorder (DVR) service. DVRs will allow RCN customers to digitally record their favorite TV programs and watch them on their own schedule. Programming content is recorded to a hard drive within the digital set-top box, which can store up to 50 hours of standard definition content. DVRs are currently available in Boston and New York, and are expected to be available in all RCN markets by October 1, 2004. RCN's DVR set-top box has advanced capability to deliver HDTV content when connected to a High Definition television and can record between 7 to 10 hours of HDTV programming on the box's hard drive. Premium bundled customers can add DVR service to their bundles for less than $11.95 per month, including HD availability. In addition to recording and replay, RCN's DVRs also allow customers to pause and rewind live programming, an especially valuable feature for sports fans wishing to get a second look at key plays during sporting events. The interactive programming guide will enable RCN customers to control the DVR's functionality, enabling them to record an entire season of their favorite show. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200407201813_PRN__PHTU036 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 23:50:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 11.14 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 11.14 July 22, 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.14.html ====================================================================== Table of Contents ====================================================================== [1] Ridge Declares CAPPS II Dead; Questions Remain [2] 9/11 Commission Releases Final Report [3] EPIC Testifies in Favor of RFID Privacy [4] Appeals Court Urged to Reverse Ruling on PATRIOT Records [5] EPIC Files Suit for Defense Data Mining Records [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: Privacy in the 21st Century [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_11.14.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 23:51:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.26: Action Alert - Induce Act Hearing Rescheduled EFFector Vol. 17, No. 26 July 15, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 298th Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert: Induce Act Hearing Rescheduled - Keep Up the Pressure! * CAPPS II Cancelled: Department of Homeland Security Puts Stake in the Heart of Passenger-Profiling System * Citizens Unite for "Computer Ate My Vote" E-Voting Rallies * The DoJ Report on PATRIOT: Style, Not Substance * Audible (Not So) Magic * Join EFF for Freedom Fest 2004 on August 4th - LinuxWorld Attendees Invited! * MiniLinks (19): Breaking Down Councilman * Staff Calendar: 07.23.04 - Wendy Seltzer speaks at BlogOn, Berkeley, CA; 07.26.04 - 07.28.04 - Wendy Seltzer speaks at PFIR's "Preventing the Internet Meltdown"; 07.30.04 - 08.01.04 - Kevin Bankston, Annalee Newitz, Seth Schoen, and Wendy Seltzer speak at Defcon 12, Las Vegas, NV; 08.04.04 - EFF Holds Freedom Fest 2004, San Francisco, CA * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/17/26.php ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 00:43:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple's Pocket-Size Base Station STATE OF THE ART By DAVID POGUE IN his weekly "60 Minutes" commentary a couple of years ago, the inimitable Andy Rooney groused about the number of cables in our lives. "Look behind the television set in your living room. It's a rat's nest of electrical cords," he said. "All different -- no two the same. If Thomas Edison was so smart, how come he didn't come up with one cord that fits everything?" Of course, it wouldn't be very hard for Mr. Rooney to answer his own question. To find out why cords are designed to fit only specific connectors, all he'd have to do is plug his headphones into an electrical outlet, just once. A slightly less painful approach might be for Mr. Rooney to look into Apple, a company with an official corporate disgust for cables. Apple was the first computer company to offer built-in Wi-Fi wireless antennas (also known as 802.11 -- or, as Apple more charmingly calls it, AirPort). Apple was also the first company to offer built-in Bluetooth, a short-range wireless technology designed to eliminate the cords between computers, printers and other gadgets. And when a cable can't be eliminated, Apple goes to ridiculous extremes to at least make it good-looking and color-coordinated. Last week, Apple introduced yet another way to eliminate wires from your life. It introduced the AirPort Express, a $130 something-or-other for both Windows PC's and Macs. There's no single pithy term or phrase for this invention; it has more tricks up its sleeve than David Blaine. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/22/technology/circuits/22state.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 17:02:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Laptops at the FleetCenter at Risk of Breaches, Attack By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | July 22, 2004 The Democratic National Convention will attract thousands of visitors armed with laptop computers that feature wireless Internet access. And that could be a formula for disaster, according to a Boston data security firm that recently ran a vulnerability test in the area around the FleetCenter. Michael Maggio, the president of Newbury Networks Inc., said that unless proper precautions are taken, computer vandals will be able to tap into these laptops by using wireless transmitters located outside of the FleetCenter. The attackers could then use the compromised laptops to gain access to the computer network used to run the convention. The vandals could obtain sensitive information related to the campaign of presidential candidate John Kerry. Or they could unleash an attack that would bring down the network and throw the convention into chaos. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/07/22/laptops_at_the_fleetcenter_at_risk_of_breaches_attack/ ------------------------------ From: Bart Fisher Subject: Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 11:03:41 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Yep, This is a Trojan Virus - avoid the temptation to download and view. Bart On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:24:38 GMT, PeterReid@columbia.edu wrote: > Osama Bin Ladin was found hanged by two CNN journalists early > Wednesday evening. As evidence they took several photos, some of > which I have included here. As yet, this information has not hit the > headlines due to Bush wanting confirmation of his identity but the > journalists have released some early photos over the internet. > http://www.theparadise.x-y.net/OsamaFoundDead.zip > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why does this remind me of all the > stories about Adolph Hitler committing suicide in 1945 as USA > troops closed in on him and then a couple years later, around 1947 > or so the rumors about Hitler escaping and being seen in Brazil > and other South American countries. Of course no one has ever been > able to prove it true, nor have any if the people who saw him in > Brazil ever been identified either. I wonder if this Osama Bin Laden > story -- which came to me several times today, reminiscent of spam -- > will now be spread forever. Anyone want to see if that 'OsamaFound > Dead.zip' link is in fact some virus in waiting? PAT] ------------------------------ From: rayj00@yahoo.com (Ray) Subject: Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged Date: 23 Jul 2004 16:46:49 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com It does contain a virus ... beware ... David B. Horvath, CCP wrote in message news:... > On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:24:38 GMT, PeterReid@columbia.edu posted: >> http://www.theparadise.x-y.net/OsamaFoundDead.zip >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why does this remind me of all the >> stories about Adolph Hitler committing suicide in 1945 as USA >> troops closed in on him and then a couple years later, around 1947 >> or so the rumors about Hitler escaping and being seen in Brazil >> and other South American countries. Of course no one has ever been >> able to prove it true, nor have any if the people who saw him in >> Brazil ever been identified either. I wonder if this Osama Bin Laden >> story -- which came to me several times today, reminiscent of spam -- >> will now be spread forever. Anyone want to see if that 'OsamaFound >> Dead.zip' link is in fact some virus in waiting? PAT] > The .zip contains a .exe (no .jpg, or .gif or .bmp or ...). I got rid > of the .zip without running the .exe. Unless proven otherwise. I assume > that this is a virus. > Please don't publish my email address (too much spam); name is fine. > - David ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 22:16:59 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why does this remind me of all the > Brazil ever been identified either. I wonder if this Osama Bin Laden > story -- which came to me several times today, reminiscent of spam -- > will now be spread forever. Anyone want to see if that 'OsamaFound > Dead.zip' link is in fact some virus in waiting? PAT] It's someone seeding a virus. It's not even the first time this hook has been tried -- I remember "Osama captured" virus emails from several months ago. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Okay, so the message announcing same is the makings of a virus; nothing new there, along with the dozen or so more copies of it I got today. But was Osama found hanged or not, or is that something we are never to know. I know regards Hitler there are still people questioning that one now sixty years later also. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:14:55 -0700 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , wrote: > Osama Bin Ladin was found hanged by two CNN journalists early > Wedensday evening. As evidence they took several photos, some of > which I have included here. As yet, this information has not hit the > headlines due to Bush wanting confirmation of his identity but the > journalists have released some early photos over the internet. > http://www.theparadise . x-y . net/O s a m aFoundDead.zip I haven't checked the file myself, but a report in uk.telecom indicates that the file contains the "HackArmy" (a.k.a. "HacArmy") virus. I have not been able to corroborate that report on any of the major anti-virus web sites, but I would certainly treat the file with EXTREME caution. In particular, if you choose to download it at all, please be sure to get the very latest version of virus definitions for your anti-virus software first! Incidentally, the host on which the file is offered above is located in Korea. That in itself doesn't necessarily mean that it's malware, but it is certainly additional reason for circumspection. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder, Linc ... If I were to start a message going around on the net saying that Mr. Hitler was in fact alive in Brazil, had been seen going door to door selling encyclopedia books, and that CNN had tapes of it but was sitting on it waiting for Dubya to give imprimateur to releasing the story to the unwashed masses before they reported it, how many viruses do you suppose I could foist off? I wouldn't dare sign my name to it; everyone knows I am a cracked pot. Could I use your name for the message, Linc? PAT] ------------------------------ From: jjk2c@netzero.com (jjk2c) Subject: Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? Date: 22 Jul 2004 15:28:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Town is Carbondale Illinois. I know Verizon is the local provider. I called SBC and AT&T both today and spoke with someone. Neither one is available there. It looks like I am probably stuck with Verizon and an unfair plan of either $15.00 for local phone service and it will cost me for each call or $42.00 for a bunch of stuff I don't need! jjk2c@netzero.com (jjk2c) wrote in message news:: > I will be moving to southern Illinois soon. It is my understanding > that my new local phone provider is Verizon. Does anyone know if the > phone service have been deregulated there yet? > I really don't want to go with Verizon unless I have to. The reason > being is that from their website it appears I have two options: > 1) For like $15.00 a month, I can get phone service, but every local > call is like a half cent a minute. That sounds crazy to me. > 2) The next step up is like $42.00 a month, but that comes with all > the bells and whistles like call forwarding and call waiting deluxe > and all sorts of other stuff I don't need nor do I want. > I have looked at SBC and AT&Ts websites and they all have plans with > basic unlimited local calling for like $25.00 a month which I think is > pretty reasonable. When I try to sign up with either of these two > companies by their websites, I get that phone service is available. > However, neither one is able to verify my address on their website so > that I can set up service. > So that leads me back to my original question. Does anyone know if I > am going to be stuck with Verizon, or do I have any other options? I > have Verizon for my cell phone, and I think they are pretty good for a > cell phone, but I think their local service is just a little bit > ridiculous. > Thanks for any information anyone may have. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In large parts of Illinois, the telco > of record is SBC (formerly Ameritech, prior to that Illinois Bell). > Far south Illinois is a bit more sketchy, with a variety of rural > telephone companies, etc. Would you mind saying *which* town in > southern Illinois you are going to be locating to and perhaps someone > can tell you who the telco of record is there. You also mentioned > SBC and AT&T as possible choices. Have you tried using those two > companies contact numbers (as shown on the web sites) and had one > of the humans (at either company) verify the address, service plans, > etc? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 07:22:08 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com On 21 Jul 2004 17:12:52 -0700, jjk2c@netzero.com (jjk2c) wrote: > I will be moving to southern Illinois soon. It is my understanding > that my new local phone provider is Verizon. Does anyone know if the > phone service have been deregulated there yet? > I really don't want to go with Verizon unless I have to. The reason > being is that from their website it appears I have two options: > 1) For like $15.00 a month, I can get phone service, but every local > call is like a half cent a minute. That sounds crazy to me. > 2) The next step up is like $42.00 a month, but that comes with all > the bells and whistles like call forwarding and call waiting deluxe > and all sorts of other stuff I don't need nor do I want. I wouldn't wish option 1 on my worst enemy! USS (usage sensitive service) can be a real surprise when you get the bill every month. Our Verizon North residential bills don't come anywhere near that in Ohio. You might find that there's actually a plan that happens to be $16.95 less than the $42. My base residential service is about $23 which includes the $6.50 interstate access charge. Of course, Distinctive Ring, CF, 3 Way calling and Name and number CID pushes that rate up to $36, but that's still less than $42 and Distinctive ring is relatively expensive. If you do a Google search for GTE Illinois local rate plan, you will find some other Competive Local Exchange Carriers to call and see if they have a rate plan for your town. Prepare to be overwhelmed with rate filings and the like. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? Date: 22 Jul 2004 12:30:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com jjk2c@netzero.com (jjk2c) wrote in message news:: > I will be moving to southern Illinois soon. It is my understanding > that my new local phone provider is Verizon. Does anyone know if the > phone service have been deregulated there yet? > I really don't want to go with Verizon unless I have to. The reason > being is that from their website it appears I have two options: > 1) For like $15.00 a month, I can get phone service, but every local > call is like a half cent a minute. That sounds crazy to me. > 2) The next step up is like $42.00 a month, but that comes with all > the bells and whistles like call forwarding and call waiting deluxe > and all sorts of other stuff I don't need nor do I want. > I have looked at SBC and AT&Ts websites and they all have plans with > basic unlimited local calling for like $25.00 a month which I think is > pretty reasonable. When I try to sign up with either of these two > companies by their websites, I get that phone service is available. > However, neither one is able to verify my address on their website so > that I can set up service. > So that leads me back to my original question. Does anyone know if I > am going to be stuck with Verizon, or do I have any other options? I > have Verizon for my cell phone, and I think they are pretty good for a > cell phone, but I think their local service is just a little bit > ridiculous. > Thanks for any information anyone may have. Sheesh!! Call them. Local phone service is like buying a car. You pay for all the options. If you don't want all the bells and whistles, just tell them and the bill goes down accordingly. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Phone for Noisy Environment Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 17:22:44 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com J Kelly wrote: > Can anyone recommend a GOOD quality phone for use in a noisy > environment? Most phones sold today are total pieces of crap. > Requirements are a volume control for the earpiece, be able to > withstand a reasonable amount of abuse (dropping the handset, etc, not > purposely abusing it), works with a POTS line, and hopefully costs > less than $50. Don't need speaker phone, memory dialing, etc, but > some of that might be nice, as would be noise cancelling. This is > used in an area that has a lot of very large fans and motors running > making a lot of noise. Even the 'office area' in this facility has a > lot of noise and I'm half deaf besides. Back in the days of TPC ("The Phone Company"), you could get something called a "Confidencer" that was a replacement screw on transmitter for standard handsets. It worked very well by reducing the sidetone (ie noise) from the area you were in. Standard phones and TPC have gone the way of the Dodo bird, so I have no idea where you would go now. ------------------------------ From: Julian Macassey Subject: Re: Conference Bridge, Conference Over SONET Organization: People of bad intent Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 00:15:54 -0500 On 21 Jul 2004 05:14:11 -0700, hitesh wrote: > Can anyone tell me how a conference bridge works? Simply they are large banks of hybrids. But modern ones are all digital. > I want to establish a conference call using orderwire > byte of the SONET frame, any idea?? How to do it? Also any devices > for such application? There are T1/E1 bridges out there. Check Google. > a) how is the echo cancellation done? DSP. > b) how overflow is avoided during the addition? Dunno if it is a problem. > c) are there any small bridges available? and their details? Most PBX manufacturers sell an adjunct bridge. Besides bridges sold as stand alone units. "The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom." - Justice William O. Douglas ------------------------------ 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 #347 ****************************** Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:04:02 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #348 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Jul 2004 22:04:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 348 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Retreats From Residential Phone Market (VOIP News) Senate Panel Embraces State VoIP Taxes (VOIP News) Internet Phone Service Has a Nice Ring - New Technology May (VOIP News) Venture Capital: Investors Set to Place Bets on Telecom(!) (VOIP News) High-Speed Hopes For AT&T (VOI News) Re: Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill (anonfwd774@withheld on request) VOIP-Based IVR Broadcasting?? (bingoo) Re: Anyone Local to These Scum? (No Spam) Re: Lingo v. Packet8 (Wolfgang S. Rupprecht) Telcordia for $ale? (Jack Adams) Re: TelePort Platinum Fax/Modem, and Converting ADB to USB? (AES) Re: Bell South Map (Jack Adams) Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged (Hammond of Texas) Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged (Fritz Whittington) Re: RCN Announces Mass Deployment, etc. (Sin Nombre) 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, 22 Jul 2004 17:33:06 -0400 Subject: AT&T Retreats From Residential Phone Market Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=V1J2WVUDUXQUUCRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=5749493 By Justin Hyde WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - AT&T Corp. said on Thursday it will no longer compete for traditional residential customers, a historic retreat that the once-dominant "Ma Bell" blamed on changing government regulations and consumer demands. The move by the largest U.S. long-distance telephone company, which traces its heritage back to Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of the telephone, will likely mean billions of dollars in lost revenue and deeper job cuts. It may also pave the way for AT&T's corporate descendants, such as Verizon Communications Inc. and SBC Communica- tions Inc., to win back millions of customers. AT&T Chairman and Chief Executive David Dorman said the decision stemmed from changes in federal policy that govern how the Baby Bells allow competitors to lease their phone lines and offer local phone service. New rules are expected to allow the Bells to raise the rates they charge competitors. AT&T has loudly complained that the Bells were unwilling to negotiate fair terms for new access deals. Dorman said with more that 40 percent of U.S. consumers buying bundles of local, long-distance and other services, AT&T could not market its consumer long-distance service as a stand-alone product, and would focus on business services instead. "Without pro-competitive, commercial arrangements, there are simply too many risk factors for AT&T to base our future with reluctant participants in a regulated environment that has been constantly in flux," Dorman told analysts. Dorman said AT&T would still offer service to current residential customers and to those who sign up for AT&T unsolicited. He also said the company would continue rolling out its Internet phone service to customers with high-speed Internet access. Full story at: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=V1J2WVUDUXQUUCRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=5749493 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, 22 Jul 2004 17:48:49 -0400 Subject: Senate Panel Embraces State VoIP Taxes Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5280118.html By Declan McCullagh CNET News.com A key U.S. Senate committee approved legislation that would authorize state governments to impose hefty taxes on Internet phone services. The Senate Committee on Commerce on Thursday rewrote a bill that originally was intended to shield the fledging voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) industry from state regulation. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., had intended his legislation to reserve that authority to the Federal Communications Commission. His bill initially said that no state or local government "may enact or enforce any law, rule" or regulation that targets VoIP services. But in an unexpected twist, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., persuaded the committee to adopt an amendment that permitted states to regulate VoIP services in two ways: levying taxes to pay for universal service and for compensating traditional telephone companies for the use of their phone lines through so-called access charges. VoIP lobbyists claim that those fees are already being paid directly or indirectly. A white paper released last month by the VON (Voice on the Net) Coalition, which includes Net2Phone, Pulver.com, Microsoft and Intel, says "phone companies are already fully compensated for their costs when Internet phone calls are terminated on their networks" and that universal service charges are also covered. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5280118.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 04:28:51 -0400 Subject: Internet Phone Service Has a Nice Ring - New Technology May Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/183279_voip23.html Internet phone service has a nice ring New technology may spark telecom revolution By JOHN COOK SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Fed up with a phone bill that exceeded $60 per month, Scott Forbes decided to try something different when he moved into a new Redmond home earlier this year. The 29-year-old compliance manager skipped the traditional residential phone line in favor of a new technology that routes calls over the Internet. Now paying about $20 per month for an Internet-based telephone service that includes voice mail, call forwarding and 500 long-distance minutes, Forbes roams his home with a portable phone talking with friends and family in California, Connecticut and New York. Plugged into an adapter that connects to a cable Internet modem, the cordless phone produces a dial tone and ring like any other phone. The voice quality is clear, interruptions are minimal, and 911 service -- an important feature for the father of an 8-year-old -- worked well on a recent test. "I haven't had any trouble," said Forbes, who subscribes to the service through telecommunications startup Vonage. "I was a bit skeptical at first whether it was worth it, whether I was going to save money, and whether the call was going to go through. But we have been very happy." An early adopter of Internet phone calling, Forbes is at the cusp of technological revolution that some believe will transform the telecommunications business. He is not alone. Full story at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/183279_voip23.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 04:34:13 -0400 Subject: Venture Capital: Investors Set to Place Bets on a Telecom(!) Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/183245_vc23.html By JOHN COOK SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER It has been a long time since venture capitalists got excited about anything in the telecommunications sector. But after years of inactivity, the tide may finally be turning as investors look to place bets on a new technology that allows phone calls to be made over the Internet. Dubbed Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP, the technology has some venture capitalists reaching for their pocketbooks again. "This is a disruptive technological change; I know that sounds cliched," said Madrona Venture Group's Greg Gottesman. "But I think this is the biggest thing that is happening in communications." Madrona recently co-led a $15.7 million investment in World Wide Packets, a Spokane company whose fiber-optic technology allows municipalities to deliver voice, video and data over the Internet at superfast speeds. Telecommunications could use a boost. Once garnering 17 percent of all venture capital dollars, the sector slipped in recent years as investors reacted to a meltdown that is often described as "nuclear winter." Last year, just 11 percent of venture capital dollars went to telecom startups. Voice over Internet Protocol could reverse that trend. According to a report issued this week by the Yankee Group, the number of Internet telephony companies receiving venture financing increased by 50 percent last year. Full story at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/183245_vc23.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 13:15:37 -0400 Subject: High-Speed Hopes For AT&T Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5281277.html By Ben Charny CNET News.com AT&T's slow road back into the residential phone market will be tied to broadband's march across the United States. As the number of high-speed homes rises, so does the chance that Ma Bell will once again choose to throw its considerable weight fully behind CallVantage, a broadband phone service now considered AT&T's ticket back to the residential phone market. On Thursday, AT&T announced its decision to stop pursuing new residential customers for traditional local and long-distance service. So 125 years after creating the phone industry, Ma Bell will no longer be a viable competitor in the residential market. Instead, the company will focus almost exclusively on its business customers, which already generate 75 percent of its revenue. Some would consider CallVantage a perfect solution to AT&T's problems, which arose because it can no longer lease traditional landlines from competitors at cheap, government-set rates. As a result, selling old-fashioned phone service will become too expensive a prospect for any company that doesn't have its own residential phone network, the carrier said Thursday. The four regional Baby Bells are expected to increase, by about $10, how much they charge the likes of AT&T, MCI and Sprint to lease a phone line. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5281277.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 11:25:57 -0400 From: anonfwd774@withheld at request Subject: Re: Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill Pat, please conceal my e-mail address. You wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What is wrong with using a GSM type > device which is built into the 'adapter box' which, when a call is > made to 911, broadcasts its whereabouts to the 911 dispatcher? PAT] I'm not sure what you mean by GSM -- did you mean to say GPS? If so, what's wrong with that is the fact that the vast majority of VoIP equipment is installed in places where it has no view of satellites. People THINK that cell phones use GPS technology for location purposes and therefore VoIP could do the same. But most cell phone location is accomplished by triangulation of signal strength between cell towers. I won't debate the accuracy of that (this was another case where lawmakers basically said "make it work" without realizing that it would be impossible to make such a system anything close to 100% accurate), but in any case, VoIP companies would not have access to cell phone towers. Actually the only reason this is a problem at all is because some of the people who run the emergency services (and the organizations that represent them) don't trust people to type in their own address properly. Yet under the current level of technology, typing in one's own address would produce far more accurate results than any sort of automatic location scheme. Somewhere along the line the government has taken the position that people should never have to be responsible for their own actions (except when it comes to things like paying taxes, or showing up for jury duty, or any other thing the government requires people to do) and therefore it's unacceptable that people should actually have to provide correct address information so that 911 would work. And the other problem is that the 911 center operators don't want to have to spend a dime to upgrade their equipment so they can receive communications via the Internet. I suppose it's never occurred to them that someone may have a heart attack while clutching a text-messaging device, and maybe there should be some way for that device to contact the 911 center. But they are still of the mindset that everyone ought to have a landline phone, or that VoIP should provide the equivalent of landline service. In other words, they want to hobble technology to meet their requirements, rather than adapting to be able to receive communications from users of newer technologies. Of course the incumbent landline phone companies push this as hard as they can, because they'd love to keep everyone tethered to their expensive service. In a perfect world, 911 centers would be required to have some way to receive communications from people using non-traditional forms of communication, and people who subscribe to VoIP service would enter their own address and that would be good enough (of course this assumes there is a way to map that address to the correct 911 center, but that's a problem even with the traditional phone system). The other thing to ask yourself is, do you really want some potentially hackable device sitting on your Internet connection that can reveal your current geographic location? As someone commented the other day, there are certain organizations with four-letter acronyms ending in "AA" that would probably love to be able to poll an IP address and get the user's exact geographic location in real time. Think about who else might want location information -- the law of unintended consequences could easily rear its ugly head here! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My bad ... I meant to say 'GPS', not 'GSM'. I had *thought* there were statistics saying most VOIP service stayed in one place. Yes, you can take it when you travel, but how often does that actually happen? Won't, in actual practice, people submitting their data to a common data base (as I did with Vonage for example) generally be accurate information? Would the number of people who erroneously enter their information be offset by the number of government employees (maintaining 'traditional' 911 data bases) who likewise make mistakes in their entries? Perhaps the VOIP databases would even be more 'pure' than the traditional ones since people tend to proofread their own entries pretty well, especially if it is done like Vonage and the City of Independence did in my case. Both of them (Vonage and City) sent me a letter confirming my entry **exactly as I had given it**, so not only did I make the original entry on line and was prompted repeatedly to insure the accuracy of same, I had to do it again when Vonage responded to me and City of Independence responded to me. ('Read this over, is it correct?'). Yes, if there was a wholesale conversion, there would be mistakes. I do think *that* -- database checking and GPS validation (when same was possible) -- should cover most instances. The problem is, Jack, police insistence on being the answering service for the entire world. For the better part of a century we got along with no '911' at all; I can understand why police wanted a good, reliable way to identify callers and their locations, so telco came up with 911 to make that happen. But now even 911 is not enough in many cities. 911 was (is?) supposed to be intended for *dire* emergencies only, when *immediate* police intervention is needed. So many people use 911 for everything under the sun, every complaint they have. Car was stolen yesterday; you discover some vandalism which was done over the weekend? Call 911, even though it is not a life or death emergency. You've been spying on your neighbors and think the police should know about them? Call 911. Police are often times among the biggest abusers of 911 by insisting you use that number for every rinky-dink thing you want to talk about with them. And now that 911 has gotten so overloaded in big cities that police have to sometimes answer by putting you in a recorded message queue to wait, they decided to invent '311' as well. Chicago (and New York, what other communities?) use 311 (identical to 911 in terms of features) when you want to complain about other problems; hopefully 311 takes some of the pressure off of 911 in terms of call volume. If police would return to the intended purpose of 911 (dire emergencies to respond to now) and their administrative 7-D for everything else they would not have such problems. And somehow, Jack, the notion that someone with a dire-need help now-emergency AND they are out of site of a satellite AND are victimized by a faulty database (or are traveling) AND have no other phone or radio at their disposal seems a bit far-fetched to me. And you suggest 'hackers' or other malcontents may get your data by snooping on your TA box also seems far-fetched to me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: box11@udyog.com (bingoo) Subject: VOIP-Based IVR Broadcasting?? Date: 23 Jul 2004 14:52:49 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We are currently using an IVR application to dial numbers and play a recorded message thru a dial-up telephone line. We are looking for a VoIP solution by which our PC/software (connected to DSL/T1 line) could dial a telephone number through a VoIP gateway and, when connected, play the recorded message. Any suggestion for this? Thanks! --B11 ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: No Spam Subject: Re: Anyone Local to These Scum? Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 17:45:40 +0200 > I receive about a dozen spams a day from an outfit calling itself > "InfoSource Group" advertising the "2004 American Medical Directory". > They seem to be incredibly persistent; I've observed (and reported) > them using dozens of different cable-modem ISP accounts, mostly on > Comcast. Nope, not local by FAR :-) But: K Rosin 5 Offord Cr Aurora, ON L4G 3G8 (905) 751-0919 --- performing WHOIS on "www.national-directories.com", please wait... --- contacting server whois.melbourneit.com --- smart whois on "national-directories.com" Domain Name.......... national-directories.com Creation Date........ 2001-12-01 Registration Date.... 2001-12-01 Expiry Date.......... 2008-12-01 Organisation Name.... National Directories Organisation Address. 4410 Massachusetts Ave NW, #201 Organisation Address. Organisation Address. Washington Organisation Address. 20016-5572 Organisation Address. DC Organisation Address. UNITED STATES Admin Name........... Barbara Caldwell Admin Address........ 4410 Massachusetts Ave NW, #201 Admin Address........ Admin Address........ Washington Admin Address........ 20016-5572 Admin Address........ DC Admin Address........ UNITED STATES Admin Email.......... arenakay@msn.com Admin Phone.......... +905.751-0919 Admin Fax............ +905.751-0199 Tech Name............ Barbara Caldwell Tech Address......... 4410 Massachusetts Ave NW, #201 Tech Address......... Tech Address......... Washington Tech Address......... 20016-5572 Tech Address......... DC Tech Address......... UNITED STATES Tech Email........... arenakay@msn.com Tech Phone........... +905.751-0919 Tech Fax............. +905.751-0199 Name Server.......... NS10.VWH1.NET Name Server.......... NS11.VWH1.NET ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Lingo v. Packet8 From: wolfgang+gnus20040723T114019@dailyplanet.dontspam.wsrcc.com Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 18:50:20 GMT Mark Atwood writes: > Wolfgang S. Rupprecht writes: >>> My experience with Packet8 was good. I would grade the voice quality >>> as better than cellular, not quite toll quality. >> Are there any VOIP termination services that will simply pass on your >> PCM-ulaw without screwing with it? > Broadvoice I just tried signing up with broadvoice but their mail bounced because they didn't bother assigning a proper name to their sending computer. So far I'm not impressed with their attention to detail. If they can't even get little things like that right, what sort of uptime and billing issues am I going to face? Jul 23 11:35:20 bonnet postfix/smtpd[7100]: NOQUEUE: reject: RCPT from unknown[147.135.0.7]: 554 Client host rejected: cannot find your hostname, [147.135.0.7]; from= to= proto=ESMTP helo= (That in addition to the fact that their signup form said that my address XXX+broadvoice@wsrcc.com was invalid. Ahem. I beg to differ. It is a perfectly valid address and quite a number of people use "plus-ed addresses" to help organize their mailboxes.) Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/ New toy: Voice over ip phone. Sounds much better than an analog phone. http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/voip.html ------------------------------ From: adamsjac@telcordia.com (Jack Adams) Subject: Telcordia for $ale? Date: 23 Jul 2004 11:08:13 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Telcordia Technologies is being shopped around to potential strategic buyers by J.P. Morgan, the company's advisor, according to a report on The Deal.com this morning. A Telcordia spokeswoman said the company can't comment on speculation and rumor. Telcordia, a subsidiary of privately held Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), does approximately $1 billion in revenue annually supporting operations support systems for major carriers primarily in the U.S. Full article at: http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_telcordia_block/index.htm ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: TelePort Platinum Fax/Modem, and Converting ADB to USB? Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 14:51:55 -0700 In article , pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) wrote: > AES/newspost writes: >> The problem is, it connects to the Mac via an ADB cable, which we >> don't got no more. So: > Are you sure the modem goes through ADB? A serial port (also absent by > default from modern macs) is FAR more likely. Geethree.com sells a > conversion kit that turns the built-in modem port on a mac into an > old-school serial port, including the necessary extension so that comm > programs will handle it correctly. >> 3) Lacking satisfaction on any of the above, anyone want to make a >> modest bid on this gadget, with manual and (maybe) software diskette >> (which I haven't found yet)? > I can't imagine you're going to get more than it costs to ship. Faxing > is built into modern macs, and while the passthrough is indeed nice, > needing an external box and an adapter to make it work doesn't seem > worth it. * You're right, it's serial, not ADB, and despite the pass-through capability (which is _really_ nice in practice), it's probably not worth trying to set it up on my iBook. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: adamsjac@telcordia.com (Jack Adams) Subject: Re: Bell South Map Date: 22 Jul 2004 14:16:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com A couple of resources that might help: The North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) may have the historical maps you are looking for at: http://www.nanpa.com/index.html or at least you can ask them about it. Make sure you visit David Massey's Bell System Memorial site at: http://www.nanpa.com/index.html for some truly obscure memorabilia. If you're a phone phreak like I am, you'll definately need his set of CDs with all sorts of good stuff! kclagg@iesi.com wrote in message news:: > Just curious if you might be able to tell me where I can get a > telcom map for Atlanta GA. and all surrounding suburbs showing me > the prefixes assigned in 1995? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 09:18:05 -0700 From: Hammond of Texas Subject: Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged PeterReid@columbia.edu wrote: > http://www.theparadise.x-y.net/OsamaFoundDead.zip > will now be spread forever. Anyone want to see if that 'OsamaFound > Dead.zip' link is in fact some virus in waiting? PAT] Of course it is. This can be safely verified (using the proper procedures) by anyone curious enough to check. I don't know what's more amazing/frightening; that there are spam-tards out there that think this ploy will work, or that there are users out there that prove that it will work. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Anyone who thinks up an *original* subject line ('Osama Hanged' is a good one) will always find people who are willing to let common sense go and open the attachment. The several hundred spams I give cursory review to each day usually get bashed unread (assuming Spam Assassin did not catch them), but the 'new' and/or 'original' subject lines I have never seen before *have* to be examined each day; otherwise good (as in valid) messages could get tossed out. 'Osama Hanged' was one such example, **the first time I saw it*. But the next seventy-five times it showed up in the telecom mailbox yesterday was a good tip off. I am **so glad** I do this Digest using a Unix work station instead of Windows; Unix seems to be relatively immune to all that crap. On my Windows based machines at home not only do I have two hardware firewalls in place and one software firewall in place (Zone Alarm) and also scan everything in sight daily with AVG/Grisoft and AdAware and SpyBot, I still wind up getting one or two viruses each week. Simply amazing ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: Fritz Whittington Subject: Re: Truth or Fiction? Osama Found Hanged Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 01:24:09 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:24:38 GMT, PeterReid@columbia.edu posted: >> http://www.theparadise.x-y.net/OsamaFoundDead.zip >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why does this remind me of all the >> stories about Adolph Hitler committing suicide in 1945 as USA >> troops closed in on him and then a couple years later, around 1947 >> or so the rumors about Hitler escaping and being seen in Brazil >> and other South American countries. Of course no one has ever been >> able to prove it true, nor have any if the people who saw him in >> Brazil ever been identified either. I wonder if this Osama Bin Laden >> story -- which came to me several times today, reminiscent of spam -- >> will now be spread forever. Anyone want to see if that 'OsamaFound >> Dead.zip' link is in fact some virus in waiting? PAT] It's a Trojan called Hackarmy-H. See http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=100723 for all the details if you wish. ------------------------------ From: sin nombre Subject: Re: RCN Announces Mass Deployment of Digital Video Recorder Service Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 01:49:12 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 23:21:50 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > Fully Integrated Service Delivers Convenience for Customers, > Including HDTV Capability > http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200407201813_PRN__PHTU036 --snip-- Interesting. Historical note: RCN Files Chapter 11 Restructuring Plan Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 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 ------------------------------ 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 #348 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jul 24 17:49:44 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6OLnia18700; Sat, 24 Jul 2004 17:49:44 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 17:49:44 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407242149.i6OLnia18700@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 #349 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Jul 2004 17:50:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 349 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson More on 1970s British Numbering (Paul Coxwell) Maximum HLR/MSC/VLRs in a PLMN (qazmlp) Help - Please (News Feed) Phone Card Inquiry (Bill) Re: VOIP-Based IVR Broadcasting?? (Steven J Sobol) Re: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? (Steven J Sobol) Re: Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill (anonfwd774@withheld on request) 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: Paul Coxwell Subject: More on 1970s British Numbering Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 15:08:38 +0100 There was a topic in the Digest recently about numbering in the U.K. during the 1978/79 period. I thought a little more background on this might be of interest. At that time, the British network had a combination of variable-length local numbers, STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialing) codes, and local routing codes. The British system had been very step-by-step oriented, with town and village offices having been arranged with number lengths dependent upon the number of subscribers served and the anticipated growth. Many small villages were served by a step UAX (Unit Automatic eXchange) and had 3-digit local numbers. These had generally been assigned starting in the 2xx range and extended upward as needed, although even into the early 1980s it was not uncommon to find tiny offices which had only 2xx and 3xx numbers, and maybe a few in the 4xx range. These village UAXs generally served only a very small area each. Larger exchanges in the 1970s had 4-, 5-, and 6-digit numbering, often with a mixture of number lengths within the same office. A typical small town might have started out with 4-digit numbers, then as needs grew extra number ranges were added which were 5- or 6-digits. It was very common to see towns with older 4-digit numbers in the 2xxx, 3xxx, and 4xxx ranges and newer 5-digit numbers in the 5xxxx, 6xxxx, and 7xxxx ranges. Over the years as demand grew, many towns changed the old 4-digit numbers to 5- or 6-digits by adding one or two digits to the front. For example, 2xxx and 3xxx numbers may have been converted to 72xxx and 73xxx, then after a suitable period new 5- or 6-digit numbers could be assigned to the 2 and 3 levels. The six largest urban areas -- London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Manchester -- used 7-digit local numbering which had been in place for many years. These are the only areas served by SxS switches which used directors,. all other step offices being non-director (i.e. each train of dial pulses stepped a switch directly, although to accommodate the numbering schemes many of the non-director exchanges made quite heavy use of digit-absorbing selectors). The six director areas had previously used a 3L-4N numbering format, although by the 1970s letters had been dropped and all-figure numbering adopted. (Note that British dials had assigned the letter "O" to the digit 0, leaving just "MN" on 6, so for example the old London number ACOrn 1234 was 220-1234, not 226-1234 as it would be in North America). Subscriber Trunk Dialing, the British equivalent of DDD, did not start to be implemented until the late 1950s, but local routing codes were already in use at that time to allow callers to reach nearby exchanges without going through an operator. These local routing codes were still heavily used in the 1970s. Many of the small village UAX offices mentioned above were linked to the nearest town as a dependent exchange, all calls in and out of the village being routed via that town (which became known as the GSC, or Group Switching Center). The typical arrangement put trunks to the GSC from a village UAX on the 9 level of the first selector, so subscribers on the UAX were told that they could dial the town as 9 plus the number. (This was also convenient in that it allowed easy routing of 999 emergency calls, which were handled by operators at the GSC, the village UAX offices being unmanned.) >From the GSC, trunks to each village UAX were generally a 2-digit routing code, often 8x, but sometimes 5x or some other combination if the 8 level had already been occupied. So subscribers in town could reach any of the village UAX lines with a 2-digit routing code plus the local 3-digit number. Subscribers on one village UAX could normally reach another UAX by dialing through the GSC, e.g. 98x plus the 3-digit number. Neighboring small towns were also fitted with direct-dial trunks in many areas, and quite often a single-digit routing code was assigned. Subscribers in town A might have been instructed to dial 6 plus the 4-digit number to reach town B, for example. In a few cases, there was sufficient traffic between two neighboring village UAXs to warrant direct trunks, and a similar arrangement was used (e.g. dial 7 plus the 3-digit number). If the trunk group got busied-out, those "in the know" could dial through the GSC with the appropriate 9+ routing, of course, as the incoming selector at GSC still had to allow access to the outgoing trunks for reaching the other dependent exchanges. When STD came along, it was decided to use 0 as the access prefix, although many people in Britain mistakenly consider the leading zero to be part of the area code itself due to way that numbers are written. Before STD, dialing 0 reached a local operator, just as in North America. London was allocated the shortest possible code, 1 (I'm omitting the zero STD prefix in all the following). The other five director cities with 7-digit numbering were allocated n1 codes, as follows: 21 Birmingham, 31 Edinburgh, 41 Glasgow, 51 Liverpool, 61 Manchester. It's notable that the codes assigned correspond to the appropriate first letter of the cities in question (e.g. B1 = 21 = Birmingham), but I don't believe that these particualr STD codes were ever listed as anything but all figures. (Note too that in the original plan 71, 81, and 91 were left spare, hence the use of 71 and 81 when London was split into two areas in the 1990s and the later assignment of 91 to the Newcastle area when it went to 7-digit numbering.) But back to the original STD plan ... Many people today often look at the STD lists and assume that the numbers were allocated completely at random, but they were not. All areas outside of the six cities listed above were assigned a 3-digit STD code, with letters in the first two places. For example, the town of Truro was assigned 872, listed originally as 0TR2. Letters were dropped from STD codes by the late 1960s, so that became just 0872 (now 01872, of course). Codes changed and assigned in the last 35 years or so used any conveniently spare numbers, but you can still see the original assignments in a large proportion of British area codes. By the way, the original plan allowed for area codes starting with zero (that's a zero AFTER the initial access prefix of zero, i.e. dialed as 00xx), but those codes were changed after letters were dropped, so the first digit of the area code itself became effectively an "n" digit, i.e. any digit 2 through 9. Once STD was implemented, subscribers could reach numbers in most towns by dialing the 0 access prefix, the STD code of 3-digits, followed by the local 4-, 5-, or 6-digit number. Calls to those tiny village UAX offices were treated exactly like a call to its parent GSC as far as the STD system was concerned. Direct dialing to such an exchange involved the use of both the STD code and a local routing code. Taking Truro that I mentioned as an example, there was a tiny UAX in the village of Zelah a couple of miles away. It's local routing from Truro used the code 54, so to call Zelah from elsewhere in the country the dialed sequence was 0 access prefix plus 872 code for the Truro GSC, plus 54 local routing, plus the 3-digit local Zelah number. The G.P.O. (General Post Office) who ran the telephone network at that time suggested the following preferred ways for writing numbers on stationery. The six director areas were to be written as all figures thus: 01-222 1234, 021-222 1234 etc. Other numbers were to be shown with both the exchange name and the STD code, e.g. Truro (0872) 2345 Subscribers on those small dependent exchanges were to write the local routing code as if it were part of the STD code, e.g. Zelah (0872-54) 234. The way in which local callers were instructed to use local routing codes rather than STD codes was perhaps confusing to many people. Another complication was that a neighboring GSC with its own STD code was often still a local call, and subscribers were told to dial a different local code, rather than the full STD code. For example, next door to 872 was another GSC with the STD code 326 (Falmouth). But because a local routing was already in place, callers from Truro were told not to dial 0326 but to use 91 plus the local number. (And a subscriber on a village UAX which homed on Truro would dial through using 991 plus the Falmouth number). Thus the listed STD code was always to be used when calling from a different part of the country, but anyone in the immediate local area would often be told to dial something quite different. So, to get back to the original question which prompted this, from an international perspective, dialing into the U.K. in the 1978/79 period would have been as follows: +44 1 plus 7 digits (London) +44 n1 plus 7 digits (five other major cities) +44 nxx plus 4, 5, or 6 digits (everywhere else) Regards, Paul Coxwell Norfolk, England. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My thanks to Paul Coxwell for this very interesting and comprehensive report on 1970's British dialing. This report will be filed in our archives in the history section, for further rereference as needed. PAT] ------------------------------ From: qazmlp1209@rediffmail.com (qazmlp) Subject: Maximum HLR/MSC/VLRs in a PLMN Date: 24 Jul 2004 08:00:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Does the GSM standard has a say about the maximum HLR/MSC/VLRs that can possibly exist in a PLMN network? What about the practical case? ------------------------------ From: mjs2032@rochester.rr.com Subject: Help - Please Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 02:42:09 -0400 Patrick, It seems that I don't understand the rules for posting to comp.dcom.telecom. I'm keenly interested in the E9-1-1 vs VoIP discussion and recently posted a response regarding that subject. Since it didn't make the cut I can only assume that either the content didn't pass the credibility test or that my anti-spam measures were too restrictive to meet the group requirements. Can you point me to the FAQs or otherwise advise me on what I need to do to join this important discussion. TIA Mike Sutter ENP - Ctek Inc Aka Mike_The_bike PO 141 Piffard, NY 14533-0141 USA +1.585.746.2032 mike@ctekproducts.com www.ctekproducts.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have a couple of questions, Mike. Did you receive an auto-reply from me within a minute or two after you sent your message? If you did NOT receive an auto-ack then there is a good possibility your message never reached me OR it did get here and fell into my Spam Assassin file (auto-acks are not sent out on those.) If you did NOT get an auto-ack, because my incoming mail filters thought there was a strong possibility the message was spam then try resending it after attempting to clean it up a little. I do go through the spam bucket looking for obvious mistakes (for instance, a name I recognize as a regular poster here; a thread in progress with a 'Re:' subject line I've seen before, etc. When I now and then see those things, I issue a very short, simple manual ack back to the person to try to comfort them a little, since they took the time to compose the message and send it in. I am not like some moderators who just arrogantly toss out what they do not want to use. But there are times -- out of self defense more than anything else -- that I see a spam mail folder with 500 new items (only 500 new items? well, yeah cause I had previously checked the file just an hour or two earlier; if I don't check it for a full day, *then* you should see it) then I spend maybe 1-2 seconds reviewing the message sent by and subject lines for each item (a screen full -- 20 such lines -- gets all of *maybe 30 seconds between calling them up onto screen and then deleting them in clusters of the 20 on display* and moving the next 20 into view). It is EXTREMELY important to stick to the 'proper' subject header, have a 'reasonable' looking name, and a message length (according to the byte counter in Unix) of one to four or five K. That basically means do not use HTML (huge consumption byte-wise). If I see -- in this cursory review -- a Unix byte count of thirty or forty thousand bytes -- and Spam Assassin also thought it was spam, then I don't go further. I just bash them as fast as I can, twenty or thirty seconds per screen full, twenty messages per screen. The 'good' messages I find in this cursory review I pull out as I go through zapping the rest (almost all of them). Lisa Minter sits here usually each day two or three times and zaps spam also on the same formula. If you *did* get an auto-ack but the message still did not appear here then a couple things may have happened. First of all, I have my Spam Assassin set sort of low; I'd rather throw out a couple dozen spams/viruses rather than risk losing a good message. Ergo, a lot of spam which I would rather not answer at all, gets an auto-ack also. You got an auto-ack for this inquiry did you not? I found your inquiry in my regular mail, not the spam box. Using the same criteria as above, I scan through it all deleting the obvious spam and viruses. About 99.9 percent of what Spam Assassin catches is in fact spam. About 85 percent of what hits the real mailbox is also spam. Spammers are getting smarter, to say the least. Now and again, 'good' mail in the 'good' mailbox gets trashed by accident. I can recover/reconstruct most of that, or at least write to the person and ask their help in replacing the message. So did you or did you NOT get the initial auto-ack from me on the message about which you are inquiring? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bill Subject: Phone Card Inquiry Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 13:50:53 +0200 Organization: Tiscali I'm looking for a prepaid phone card to call from the US to Europe. Without any payphone surcharges. What would you recommend? ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: VOIP-Based IVR Broadcasting?? Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:28:51 -0500 bingoo wrote: > We are currently using an IVR application to dial numbers and play a > recorded message thru a dial-up telephone line. > We are looking for a VoIP solution by which our PC/software (connected > to DSL/T1 line) could dial a telephone number through a VoIP gateway > and, when connected, play the recorded message. Asterisk can do this. I'd use Asterisk, but there are probably a number of other IP-based PBXen that can do it just as easily. 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: Verizon as Local Telephone Provider?? Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:30:32 -0500 Carl Navarro wrote: > Our Verizon North residential bills don't come anywhere near that in > Ohio. Ohio seems to have the lowest, rock-bottom cheapest tarriffs of any US state. That point was driven home when I examined some of the differences between POTS pricing here in California and compared them to the pricing structure I was used to before I moved here from Cleveland. 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 01:17:49 -0400 From: anonfwd774@witheld at request Subject: Re: Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill Pat, please withhold my e-mail address again. I guess there was one thing in my last message I should have explained a bit better -- the problem with any satellite-based service is that the equipment has to be able to see the satellite or satellites. Now by "see", I mean "clear line of sight." Ask any installer for Dish Network or DirecTV what happens when a branch with just a few leaves grows out into the path of the satellite dish. If a few leaves can stop a signal, imagine what a house wall or a basement wall will do. Most VoIP adapters are placed inside the house, and usually in places that don't see a lot of sunlight. One person I know has his in a utility closet in his basement, behind about 8-10 inches of poured concrete. I am quite sure that no satellite signal is going to penetrate there! I'm not really sure how handheld GPS receivers work and I've never owned one, but I'm guessing they don't work too well inside buildings! Perhaps someone who actually owns one could comment on that. Cell phone signals are inhibited by building walls (especially certain types of building materials), but not to the extent that satellite signals are. Even so, you've probably been in situations where you've had to move close to a window or step outside to use a cell phone. As for dismissing the notion that someone may want to snoop on a VoIP adapter, I'm sure that at one time people thought that no one would ever try to send a virus through e-mail, or try to induce people to go to a web site that would download a keystroke logger to their system. I really hope you are right, that it would not be worth anyone's time to try to hack into the box to obtain your location, but given the history of the Internet that is not the way I'd bet. ------------------------------ 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 #349 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jul 25 18:14:04 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6PME4m27855; Sun, 25 Jul 2004 18:14:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 18:14:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407252214.i6PME4m27855@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 #350 TELECOM Digest Sun, 25 Jul 2004 18:13:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 350 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Huge Phone Bill for France Telecom (Paul Coxwell) AOL Spam Federal Case (Ray Normandeau) Free Wifi Hotspot Directory (Riverwalk Mobile) Area Code Unavailable For Vonage (arjay) Re: Area code unavailable for Vonage (vidman99-ggltest@yahoo.com) Re: Phone Card Inquiry (John R. Levine) Re: Phone Card Inquiry (Ray Normandeau) Re: Phone Card Inquiry (Robert Bonomi) Re: Phone Card Inquiry (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill (Mike_The_Bike) Re: Phone for Noisy Environment (Phil Earnhardt) In Regards to Help - Please (Mike Sutter) "My Beef With Big Media / How Government Protects Big Media (M Solomon) Hot-Button Issue (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: Paul Coxwell Subject: Huge Phone Bill For France Telecom Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 11:23:55 +0100 http://www.ukip.org/abc_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=919 Brussels finds itself on another collision course with Paris after it ruled yesterday that France Telecom must repay up to 1.1 billion euros gained in illegal state aid. After a year-long investigation, the Commission decided that the company must pay back between 800 million euro and 1.1 billion euro in taxes on which it was granted breaks by the French government between 1994 and 2002. These tax breaks were intended to help out the company, which had run up huge debts while bidding for licences to run third generation mobile technology, but constitute illegal state aid, Brussels decided. After interest, the actual amount owed by France Telecom could be as much as 1.7 billion euro according to Spanish paper Cinco Dias and would be one of the highest repayment demands ever issued by the European authorities. Competition commissioner Mario Monti said that the decision was "an important step forward in giving coherence and completeness to state aid in the EU". Battle rejoined But the ruling will again bring Brussels into conflict with French authorities, which immediately expressed regret at the judgment, saying it would use "all appeal possibilities", according to Reuters France. The judgment comes after a long battle over engineering giant Alstom, which resulted in a compromise solution. And France Telecom itself also vowed to appeal against the ruling, describing it as "without economic or legal foundation". However, the company was spared nine billion granted by the French government to bail out France Telecom during a financial crisis suffered by the company in 2003. ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: AOL Spam Federal Case Date: 24 Jul 2004 23:04:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Was YOUR Email addy sold? To read all about how it was done, see: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0623042aol1.html ------------------------------ From: asnicholasjr@comcast.net (Riverwalk Mobile) Subject: Free Wifi Hotspot Directory Date: 24 Jul 2004 18:16:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Our FREE monthly directory is the best way to find a WiFI Hotspots when you are offline looking to go online. We support a variety of formats able to be read on Palm OS, PocketPC and of course Laptops. www.riverwalkmobile.com ------------------------------ From: vidman99-ggltest@yahoo.com (arjay) Subject: Area Code Unavailable For Vonage Date: 24 Jul 2004 19:19:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com My area code is not available for Vonage. I can choose another, but I assume that anyone who calls from within my own area code will be charged for long distance. Is that correct? I have been unable to get an answer from Vonage. TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Anyone who calls you, either within your area code or outside your area code will pay to call you accoding to the rules of their own telco. In general, the answer to your question would be 'yes'. But, as I pointed out to you in email, among the various 'virtual numbers' you can get from Vonage, you can also get a 'virtual 800 number', so the people who call you don't wind up paying for anything. Virtual numbers from Vonage cost about $5 per month; I have my Kansas area 620 number, a Chicago area 773 number, and a 'virtual toll free' area 888 number. I think for the $5 per month on the virtual toll free number, Vonage gives me many minutes of use at no additional charge, then about 5 cents a minute after the allotment is used. Since Vonage allows the minutes to be spread over all the various virtual numbers (although all my outgoing minutes are on the area 620 number) I personally never wind up spending anything extra each month. So you tell everyone who is not in the local calling area *of the number which is assigned to you* to call in on your toll- free number. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 22:12:53 -0700 (PDT) From: Subject: Re: Area code unavailable for Vonage [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Arjay (above) then wrote me again and said what his main concerns were. PAT] Thanks, Pat. If I decide to do it I will ask for the coupon. You might as well make something out of it. My other real concern is 911 service. I have some health problems and I am not yet satisfied that the 911 service will be adequate. I will do more research, unless you have some good answers already. Thanks again for your excellent help. Richard [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I further explained to arjay that when I installed my Vonage phone, my first order of business was to get established on the 911 database. Within two or three days, I got a letter in snail mail from Vonage **addressed exactly as I had given it to them** saying 'please make sure you installed yourself correctly and let us know if any errors.' I think the day after that I got a letter from City of Independence Police Department asking me the same thing. Of course, this is a small town; the dispatchers know every nook and cranny, who is at every address, etc and I would not comment on larger places, but it seems to work fine here. PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Phone Card Inquiry Date: 24 Jul 2004 22:01:43 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I'm looking for a prepaid phone card to call from the US to Europe. > Without any payphone surcharges. What would you recommend? I would be amazed if you could find a card without payphone surcharges unless the rates were already high enough to include the surcharge in the first minute. The actual surcharge paid to the payphone owner is on the order of 29c, so that's what the surcharge to you should be. There's a bazillion different phone cards, and the answer depends on whether you expect to be mostly calling one country or a range of countries. Personally, I use Cognigen's Cognicall card which isn't prepaid, they bill you every month on your credit card, but the rates are reasonable and there's no monthly mininum or other nonsense. You can find it at http://ld.net 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: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Phone Card Inquiry Date: 24 Jul 2004 19:14:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Bill wrote in message news:: > I'm looking for a prepaid phone card to call from the US to Europe. > Without any payphone surcharges. What would you recommend? With https://www.onesuite.com/ there is no payphone surcharge if you don't use the 800 number access. But you will have to drop the normal coin[s] to dial a local dial-up number. It is basically a prepaid phone card but you can do away with the PIN for calls from home [if you always use the same payphone]. Program it as a speed dial, you don't even have to remember their #. No monthly fee or minimum. If you use the promotion code "034720367" we both get some free miniutes. We have it programmed into our cell phones for international calls. ------------------------------ Organization: Robert Bonomi Consulting Subject: Re: Phone Card Inquiry From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 09:37:15 +0000 In article , Bill wrote: > I'm looking for a prepaid phone card to call from the US to Europe. > Without any payphone surcharges. What would you recommend? Such an animal probably *doesn't* exist. =UNLESS= they have _local_ (i.e., _non_ toll-free access numbers in the area(s) you'd be calling _from_) And, since you didn't specify _where_ you would be calling from, nobody can tell if there's anything like that in your area. The reason: For *EVERY* call to a 'toll free' number from a pay-phone, the toll-free number operator must pay the pay-phone operator something in the range of 25-35 cents (I don't have the exact figure off the top of my head), for the 'use' of the pay-phone for that call. Either the card issuer (a) charges a surcharge for those pay-phone originated calls that incur the extra costs, or (b) builds recovery of those costs into the charges for *every* call. Guess which one lets them advertise lower rates? The card issuer surcharge for pay-phone calls =is= more than the pass-thru cost, because they have to pay the pay-phone operator _even_if_ the call doesn't complete to the far end. And for 'wrong numbers', and for calls where the calling-card number is entered wrong, and for calls where the calling card doesn't have enough money on it to place the call, etc. etc. Plus the additional administrative overhead of tracking the pay-phone billings. ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Phone Card Inquiry Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 20:27:55 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Bill wrote: > I'm looking for a prepaid phone card to call from the US to Europe. > Without any payphone surcharges. What would you recommend? Don't call from a pay phone. Any reasonably priced phone card will charge enough minutes as a surcharge to cover the roughly 60 cents that the phone owner collects. If the card doesn't collect a pay phone surcharge, the per minute rates won't be competitive. ------------------------------ From: Mike_The_Bike Subject: Re: Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill Reply-To: DaGroup@syrcnyrdrs-03.nyroc.rr.com Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 05:27:10 GMT Organization: Road Runner On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 13:20:04 -0400, VOIP News wrote: > http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18936 > by Heather Forsgren Weaver > WASHINGTON The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday morning gutted a > bill that attempted to pre-empt states from imposing access charges > and universal service fees on Voice over Internet Protocol services. > Additionally, the committee added a 911 obligation to VoIP services in > an amendment offered by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the > Congressional E911 Caucus. The Burns amendment imposed an E911 > obligation that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), incoming chair of the > Senate Commerce Committee, said was more stringent than what is > imposed on the telecommunications industry at large. > [Comment: This is what you get when you have legislators that don't > understand technology. They might as well impose a 200 > mile-per-gallon fuel consumption limit on new cars; E911 on VoIP is > about as achieveable. I guess we can only hope that this bill in its > present form doesn't pass, or that the Burns amendment somehow gets > thrown out or watered down before it passes into law.] > Full story at: > http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18936 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What is wrong with using a GSM type > device which is built into the 'adapter box' which, when a call is > made to 911, broadcasts its whereabouts to the 911 dispatcher? PAT] Sorry to disagree with the original author's comment but ... First a level set. What I'm discussing here are VoIP services where the CPE is assigned a phone number and is capable of terminating a VoIP call on the PSTN. Vonage would be an example of this type of service. Computer to computer "calls" are probably an intractable problem. I'm also going to set aside VoIP roaming for the time being although it is a problem that can probably be solved. Most if not all of the technology bits needed to make 9-1-1 work with a VoIP network are available. VoIP networks routinely terminate calls in the PSTN and they can be made to routinely terminate 9-1-1 calls there as well. What are missing in a spectacular fashion are the operational processes needed to do this on a national scale and the commercial processes that will fund all of this activity. Subscriber information needs to be gathered and scrubbed and scrubbed. Then there are many databases to be updated including those in the incumbents Selective Routing tandem switches. IMHO 9-1-1 for VoIP networks can be made to work with a minimal amount of upheaval but it will require some kind of a national overlord to standardize the processes and put the funding mechanisms in place. 9-1-1 for the PSTN probably wouldn't have happened had it not been largely designed by WECO in the bad, bad days before Judge Harold Greene. And so, if Americans want 9-1-1 on their VoIP service (only an assumption on my part) someone is going to have to herd the cats and figure out how to collect the pennies to pay for it. ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Phone for Noisy Environment Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 23:09:27 -0600 Organization: http://newsguy.com On 22 Jul 2004 12:27:01 -0700, a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) wrote: > The best answer for you is a headset. Lots of cabled headsets are > available that will work in your price range, but you will probably > want one with a noise-cancelling microphone if the noise level is such > that can be heard over a normal phone. I just noticed that there's a new headset option out there (new to me, anyhow). Etymotic Research is a well-known manufacturer to the high-fidelity community of in-the-ear headphones. Their ER-4 headphones provide somewhere between 33dB and 44dB of passive noise exclusion (presuming you have them correctly inserted). The famous quote about the ER-4 headphones goes something like "...not only could I hear the cellist breathing through his nose, but I could tell that he had recently clipped his nose hairs." These are superb high-fidelity headphones to use in noisy environments. They definitely take some time to get used to, but I think they're worth it. You can also get your local audiologist to make custom earmolds for Etymotics. Etymotic now sells a mobile headphone headset with the same passive NR properties of their headphones. You can see a picture/description at http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/etycom-ts.asp . The only thing this headset (earset?) doesn't cover is the noise you'll pick up from your other ear. However, Etymotic also sells earplugs which provide more-or-less flat attenuation across the entire audio spectrum. http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.asp If you've never experienced flat-attenuation earplugs, you will probably be plesantly surprised by these guys. The main warning: the seals of the plugs are uncomfortable for most when they first use them and may be intolerable for some. Again, if you really like the concept but can't tolerate the fit, they sell a slightly different product that will work with custom earmolds. I really like my Etymotics. I have the ER-4s and earplugs. phil ------------------------------ From: mjs2032@rochester.rr.com Subject: In Regards to Help - Please (Mike Sutter) Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 01:56:33 -0400 Patrick, Thank you for your response by way of the news group. Unfortunately it seems that I'm only getting through by using your email address given on www.telecom-digest.org . I did not get the Auto-Ack so I'm guessing that my posting is just going into the ether. I used to post sporadically a few years back and it seems that I remember that there was a special TO: address required. I've been out of circulation for a while but now find myself back in the telecom space. Tonight I resent the same post that I sent out a couple of days ago. Again, I did not get the auto-ack. I'm using Forte Agent V1.93 as a news reader and I'm using the 'Post Follow Up Message' as a response command. The pertinent information from the response is: Posted to comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Senate Committee Guts VoIP Bill From: Mike_The_Bike Reply-To: DaGroup Thanks, Mike Sutter ENP - Ctek Inc Aka Mike_The_bike [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I observe a couple things. For one, when your messages reach me, they always seem to have a ton of HTML junk on the end; at least 100-150 lines of it to be chopped away. Also, maybe your news reading client does not know how to deal with reply messages. Maybe your news reading client thinks it is to reply with HTML ? In other words, your original message in ASCII text was immediatly followed by a repeat of itself in HTML. If you could stop doing that, I would be grateful. Try this experiment: send me a one or two line note purely in ASCII text, using some mail client, Outlook Express or whatever. Use my various addresses: ptownson@telecom-digest.org (or) editor@telecom-digest.org (or) ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (or) ptownson@massis.csail.mit.edu You *should* get back an auto-ack for each test message. If you do get back an auto-ack then the problem would seem to be in the news client you are using. And your news reading/replying client should have telecom as a moderated group, flagged to send mail to me. There is no 'www' in front of telecom-digest, although it should not matter, and there is no 'editor' mailbox account at the massis site which DOES matter. Try all that and let me know. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 00:05:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: My Beef With Big Media / How Government Protects Big Media By Ted Turner In the late 1960s, when Turner Communications was a business of billboards and radio stations and I was spending much of my energy ocean racing, a UHF-TV station came up for sale in Atlanta. It was losing $50,000 a month and its programs were viewed by fewer than 5 percent of the market. I acquired it. When I moved to buy a second station in Charlotte--this one worse than the first--my accountant quit in protest, and the company's board vetoed the deal. So I mortgaged my house and bought it myself. The Atlanta purchase turned into the Superstation; the Charlotte purchase -- when I sold it 10 years later -- gave me the capital to launch CNN. Both purchases played a role in revolutionizing television. Both required a streak of independence and a taste for risk. And neither could happen today. In the current climate of consolidation, independent broadcasters simply don't survive for long. That's why we haven't seen a new generation of people like me or even Rupert Murdoch -- independent television upstarts who challenge the big boys and force the whole industry to compete and change. It's not that there aren't entrepreneurs eager to make their names and fortunes in broadcasting if given the chance. If nothing else, the 1990s dot-com boom showed that the spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and well in America, with plenty of investors willing to put real money into new media ventures. The difference is that Washington has changed the rules of the game. When I was getting into the television business, lawmakers and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took seriously the commission's mandate to promote diversity, localism, and competition in the media marketplace. They wanted to make sure that the big, established networks--CBS, ABC, NBC -- wouldn't forever dominate what the American public could watch on TV. They wanted independent producers to thrive. They wanted more people to be able to own TV stations. They believed in the value of competition. So when the FCC received a glut of applications for new television stations after World War II, the agency set aside dozens of channels on the new UHF spectrum so independents could get a foothold in television. That helped me get my start 35 years ago. Congress also passed a law in 1962 requiring that TVs be equipped to receive both UHF and VHF channels. That's how I was able to compete as a UHF station, although it was never easy. (I used to tell potential advertisers that our UHF viewers were smarter than the rest, because you had to be a genius just to figure out how to tune us in.) And in 1972, the FCC ruled that cable TV operators could import distant signals. That's how we were able to beam our Atlanta station to homes throughout the South. Five years later, with the help of an RCA satellite, we were sending our signal across the nation, and the Superstation was born. That was then. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 00:28:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hot-Button Issue With the FCC issuing fines in record numbers to everyone from Howard Stern to Bubba the Love Sponge, the "dump" button, like this one at WEEI, has taken on newfound importance because it allows for a 10-second delay to censor out naughty words. Never mind %!*$ or #%*@ -- even the word "effin' " is off-limits. But is this the government's job? By Charles P. Pierce, Globe Staff | July 18, 2004 http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2004/07/18/hot_button_issue/ ------------------------------ 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 #350 ******************************