31 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
Add this Digest to your personal
or 
The Telecom Digest for May 13, 2013
Volume 32 : Issue 103 : "text" Format
====== 31 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
|
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Bill Horne 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 that person, or email address
owner.
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without the explicit written consent of the owner of
that address. 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, and other stuff of interest.
|
Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 16:39:43 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: The war for mobile messaging is on
Message-ID: <p06240800cdb5adccedde@[10.0.1.2]>
The war for mobile messaging is on
Start-up mobile messaging apps have surged, displacing traditional
SMS texts. Silicon Valley titans such as Google and Facebook want in
on the action.
May 11, 2013|By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times
SAN FRANCISCO - WhatsApp is one of Silicon Valley's most buzzed-about
companies, yet it actively avoids the spotlight, operating out of a
small office in Mountain View, Calif., with no sign on the building
entrance or on the office door.
Unlike most start-ups eager for media attention, WhatsApp Inc. says
it doesn't want or need it. Its popular mobile messaging app has
spread so quickly by word of mouth that in just four years it has
amassed hundreds of millions of users who collectively send as many
as 18 billion messages a day.
WhatsApp belongs to a new generation of messaging services that are
revolutionizing 20-year-old text messaging technology and escalating
the mobile messaging wars.
...
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/11/business/la-fi-mobile-messaging-20130512
Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 21:53:19 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Aurelius Files Suit to Block Clearwire-Sprint Deal
Message-ID: <20130513015318.GA23360@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
Aurelius Files Suit to Block Clearwire-Sprint Deal
By Nathalie Tadena
Hedge fund Aurelius Capital Management LP has filed a lawsuit against
Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), claiming the terms
of the companies' proposed $2.2 billion merger are unfair to
Clearwire's minority shareholders. Aurelius alleges Clearwire's board
and Sprint violated their fiduciary duties to the wireless- broadband
provider's minority shareholders and called the proposed tie-up a
"coercive freeze-out merger."
http://www.advfn.com/nyse/StockNews.asp?stocknews=VZ&article=57345750
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 22:39:41 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Verizon FiOS battery failures surprising Pennsylvania Customers
Message-ID: <20130513023941.GA30696@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
Verizon Fios Battery Failures Surprising North Hills Customers
Customers are responsible for the cost of new, back-up batteries
By Larissa Dudkiewicz
Verizon's motto says they "can save you a bundle." But more and more
customers with Verizon FIOS service say they are experiencing trouble
with the batteries in their control boxes, and having to buy
replacements, according to KDKA-TV.
Verizon customer Bob Gaertner of Ross Township told KDKA he noticed
the replace battery light on his FIOS control box [flashing], which meant
his backup battery was dead.
Lee Gierczynski of Verizon says the backup battery is crucial because
it provides up to 8-hours of backup power to voice service in case
there is a commercial power outage, KDKA reports.
But when Gaertner called Verizon to get a replacement battery, KDKA
says he was told his warranty was just for one year and that he was
solely responsible for the battery.
Verizon FIOS is available to about 450,000 households in western
Pennsylvania.
http://moon.patch.com/articles/verizon-fios-battery-failures-surprising-north-hills-customers-b0ebd842
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 22:46:33 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: ISPs fight for subscribers in piracy lawsuit
Message-ID: <20130513024633.GA31749@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
Reported by Mike E on Monday, May 13 2013 1:00 am
ISPs Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner, and Cox are fighting to protect user
privacy after being requested to release the identities of just over
1000 users in a piracy lawsuit. Among many concerns, the ISPs claim
that some they are asking for are innocent, and it would be unjust for
them to have to pay for anything.
Piracy has been a touchy subject for a long time now, and it has only
escalated since the introduction of BitTorrent. There have been many
lawsuits on individuals who have been found downloading music or
movies, and it.s here that the issue of privacy has become prominent.
The companies who are initiating the lawsuits require the identities
of the users before they begin charging them, and they usually try to
acquire them from the ISPs. Well, now ISPs Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner,
and Cox are fighting for user privacy by appealing a district court
decision that is asking that they reveal just over 1000 identities.
http://vr-zone.com/articles/isps-fight-for-innocent-subscribers-in-large-piracy-lawsuit/20099.html#ixzz2T8XRmcxy
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my email to write to me directly)
Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 22:05:07 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: The press realizes the FiOS party is over
Message-ID: <20130513020506.GA25976@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
We've been covering Verizon's decision to suspend FiOS deployment in
many neighborhoods for much of the last month, discussing how cities
like Alexandria, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland are more than a
little annoyed that they won't be getting upgraded from
last-generation DSL. The company is continuing builds in cities that
have signed franchise agreements, but ...
http://www.jagonline.org/2010/04/05/the-press-realizes-the-fios-party-is-over/
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 22:42:55 -0400
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: In Hours, Thieves Took $45 Million in A.T.M. Scheme
Message-ID: <MPG.2bfa1d3fc380f483989df0@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <kmjtpr$mj7$1@dont-email.me>, bogus-email@hotmail.com says...
>
> On 5/10/2013 1:21 AM, Monty Solomon wrote:
> >
> > In Hours, Thieves Took $45 Million in A.T.M. Scheme
> >
> > By MARC SANTORA
> > May 9, 2013
> ...
> > The operation included sophisticated computer experts operating in the
> > shadowy world of Internet hacking, manipulating financial information
> > with the stroke of a few keys, as well as common street criminals, who
> > used that information to loot the automated teller machines.
>
> What this article didn't say is that this theft was greatly aided by
> easily duplicated mag strip cards. Once the "sophisticated computer
> experts" had the compromised account numbers, it was really easy for the
> street thieves to create cards with this stolen account information on
> the mag stripe.
>
> If we were all using smart cards, it would be much harder (impossible?)
> to create duplicate cards.
>
> Maybe now the banks in the US will get serious about switching to smart
> cards.
>
> -Gary
We'll never see chip based cards in widespread use in the United States.
They'd have to replace the ENTIRE infrastructure that developed around
mag-stripe. I once saw a cost estimate to do just that and it was
billions of dollars.
And when it comes to security - the dollar wins.
Date: 13 May 2013 03:25:18 -0000
From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: In Hours, Thieves Took $45 Million in A.T.M. Scheme
Message-ID: <20130513032518.84935.qmail@joyce.lan>
>We'll never see chip based cards in widespread use in the United States.
>They'd have to replace the ENTIRE infrastructure
Master Card, Visa, and American Express have published their
transition schedule. In October 2015, most merchants will become
liable for fraudulent transactions if they don't have an EMV (chip
card) terminal. A few kinds of terminals, notably gas pumps, have
until 2017.
http://www.emv-connection.com/emv-migration-driven-by-payment-brand-milestones/
R's,
John
Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 22:33:16 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Will the data boom pay dividends?
Message-ID: <20130513023315.GA29815@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
Will the Data Boom Pay Dividends?
Consumer demand for digital broadband is growing quickly. When will
investors cash in on the boom?
By RICHARD SATRAN
For investors who want certainty in their portfolio - and that includes
virtually everyone - there is growing interest in the companies best
positioned to cash in on the boom in social media and mobile
computing: diversified media companies like AT&T and Verizon that
offer broadband in all forms.
Still, the perils of investing in technology have never been
better-illustrated than by Apple's slide over the past six
months. High-tech products, even those with transformative properties,
have a life cycle like the iPhone's apparent march toward middle age.
http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/mutual-funds/articles/2013/04/24/will-the-data-boom-pay-dividends
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom-
munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in
addition 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 Bill Horne. 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.
The Telecom Digest is moderated by Bill Horne.
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
Copyright (C) 2013 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.
Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.
Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing
your name to the mailing list.
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 The Telecom Digest (8 messages)
Return to Archives ** Older Issues