29 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
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The Telecom Digest for April 23, 2011
Volume 30 : Issue 105 : "text" Format
====== 29 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
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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: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:18:53 -0400
From: Curt Bramblett <CurtBramblett@cfl.rr.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Apple iPhone secretly records owners' every move
Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.2.20110422101145.0243c7c0@pop-server.cfl.rr.com>
On Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:10:21 +1000 David Clayton wrote:
> I don't know what is more surprising, the story or that people still
> believe that they actually have some privacy any more!
>
><snip>
> (From: The Guardian)
> "However, Apple can legitimately claim that it has permission to
> collect the data. Near the end of the 15,200-word terms and
> conditions for its iTunes program is an 86-word paragraph that says:
> "Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share
> precise location data, including the real-time geographic location
> of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected
> anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is
> used ... to improve location-based products and services."
What data is collected in this fashion that is not already available
to the providers? The provider knows "precise location data, including
the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device."
Does AT&T, and now Verizon, not share that info with Apple? Otherwise,
what could be the purpose of storing the same info on the user side?
Curt Bramblett
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:19:22 -0500
From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Apple iPhone secretly records owners' every move
Message-ID: <ios9qj$moi$1@dont-email.me>
On 4/22/2011 9:18 AM, Curt Bramblett wrote:
> What data is collected in this fashion that is not already
> available to the providers? The provider knows "precise location
> data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple
> computer or device." Does AT&T, and now Verizon, not share that
> info with Apple?
Perhaps, but as noted in this blog
https://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/3-major-issues-with-the-latest-
iphone-tracking-discovery/
by the Lead Engineer for Katana Forensics, the data is apparently
already being used for forensic examinations:
> In February of 2011, Sean [Morrissey, managing director of Katana
> Forensics] and I previewed Lantern 2.0 at the DoD Cyber Crimes
> Conference in Washington, DC including our geolocational features.
> Lantern 2.0 has been on the market for months now and performs the
> same functionality Mr. Warden’s utility does and much more. We
> correlate geolocational data embedded in images and third party
> application. We give you a geolocational timeline of events in list
> view showing much more than baseband logs within consolidated.db.
The manual for Lantern 2.0 can be downloaded from the Katana Forensics
website:
http://katanaforensics.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=2
Dave
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:14:45 -0400
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Apple iPhone secretly records owners' every move
Message-ID: <MPG.281babbba727534b989d2a@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <5.1.0.14.2.20110422101145.0243c7c0@pop-server.cfl.rr.com>,
CurtBramblett@cfl.rr.com says...
>
> On Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:10:21 +1000 David Clayton wrote:
>
> > I don't know what is more surprising, the story or that people still
> > believe that they actually have some privacy any more!
> >
> ><snip>
> > (From: The Guardian)
> > "However, Apple can legitimately claim that it has permission to
> > collect the data. Near the end of the 15,200-word terms and
> > conditions for its iTunes program is an 86-word paragraph that says:
> > "Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share
> > precise location data, including the real-time geographic location
> > of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected
> > anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is
> > used ... to improve location-based products and services."
>
> What data is collected in this fashion that is not already available
> to the providers? The provider knows "precise location data, including
> the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device."
> Does AT&T, and now Verizon, not share that info with Apple? Otherwise,
> what could be the purpose of storing the same info on the user side?
>
> Curt Bramblett
All you have to do is shut down all the location services. They're
nothing but a battery drain anyhow.
And it isn't just the iPhone but your Android phone might be doing it
too. It's why I shut off the GPS and Location Services on mine.
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:06:23 -0400
From: "Bob Goudreau" <BobGoudreau@nc.rr.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: When country codes become +1-NPA codes
Message-ID: <FF6465C3BF82473BA947880770EB58BB@meng.lab.emc.com>
Adam Kerman wote:
> John Mayson <john@mayson.us> wrote:
> >Since the mid-1990s a few areas, namely US territories in the Pacific
> >Ocean, joined the NANPA. I understand why they did this. The calls
> >became "domestic" for billing purposes.
> Changing the dialing plan didn't change anyone's billing. It certainly
> made it easier to scam a US telephone subscriber into dialing a number
> served by a foreign telephone exchange but not necessarily terminating
> in that country in order to jack up the bill.
Now hold on there. None of the areas that joined the NANP in the past 15
years are "foreign" to the US. They are all US territories in the Pacific:
Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas Islands. Sint Maarten's
admission the NANP will represent the first new non-American members since
NPA 809 was set up decades ago and eventually encompassed much of the
Caribbean.
When NPA 809 was broken up during the latter half of the 1990s, every
country/territory/colony ended up with its own separate area code instead of
all sharing 809. Unwary callers from the mainland could still end up dialing
an expensive foreign call without a leading "011", but they were already
able to do that anyway before the breakup with "1-809". At least now, every
area code goes to only a single country. Before the split, some 1-809 calls
were domestic (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands) and others were international
calls (to everywhere else). You couldn't tell where a 1-809-NXX-XXXX call
was headed or how much it cost just by looking at the 1-809 part; you had to
drill down to the 1-809-NXX level to make that determination.
...
> Mark Cuccia can tell us if this is the first telephony area not originally
> set up by the British that joined NANPA.
You're forgetting one of the original 809 Caribbean countries (and
ironically, the only one that still retains that code): the Dominican
Republic.
Bob Goudreau
Cary, NC
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:31:55 -0500
From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: When country codes become +1-NPA codes
Message-ID: <BANLkTinrOdeabSDDSAfW9yHx=D8EzhgO3A@mail.gmail.com>
Perhaps I'm remembering wrong or had bad information.
I thought one of the advantages of bringing our Pacific possessions
into the NANPA was the FCC no longer classified calls to those islands
as "international" which brought the cost of calling those islands
down.
I wasn't suggesting before military people aren't capable of figuring
out how to dial an international number. I was thinking more in terms
of civilians stateside trying to call someone in Guam prior to the
change. I know when I'm overseas I have to give very explicit dialing
instructions to friends and family because they've never dialed
international before and simply don't know how and sometimes still
mess it up. I can't say "Dial +60-17-467xxxx" because that's
meaningless to them. Even when I say "Dial 011-60-17-467xxxx" they
still get it wrong insisting on dialing "1" first or something.
John
--
John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:51:37 -0500
From: "Michael G. Koerner" <mgk920@dataex.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Porn Company Has Snatched Up Nearly 25% of 1-800 Numbers in U.S., Canada
Message-ID: <loKdnT6hjfSHLyzQnZ2dnUVZ_qadnZ2d@ntd.net>
On 2011.04.19 13:51:05, John Mayson wrote:
> http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/19/porn-company-amassing-1-800-numbers/
>
> NEW YORK - For years, teenagers across the U.S. could call a toll-free
> hotline if they had embarrassing questions about AIDS and safe sex.
> Dial the same number now and you get a recording of giggling women
> offering to talk dirty to you.
>
> "We both have big appetites for sex," they purr. "Pinch us and poke
> us. Spank us and tease us. We love it all. ... Enter your credit card
> number now."
>
> Those naughty misdials, and countless others like them, appear to be
> no accident.
>
> Records obtained by The Associated Press show that over the past 13
> years, a little-known Philadelphia company called PrimeTel
> Communications has quietly gained control over nearly a quarter of all
> the 1-800 numbers in the U.S. and Canada, often by grabbing them the
> moment they are relinquished by previous users. As of March, it
> administered more 800 numbers than any other company, including
> Verizon and AT&T.
>
> And many, if not most, of those 1.7 million numbers appear to be used
> for one thing: redirecting callers to a phone-sex service.
With the nationwide-local calling plans that the phone companies are nearly
all offering now, I would pretty much declare '1-800' (as well as '888',
'877', '855') services to be obsolete.
The marginal cost to me of a call to any number in the USA from my cell phone
is zero - and '1-800' services were started for businesses to make it as
easy and inexpensive as possible for their customers to call them, increasing
customer traffic and thus sales. With that no longer being an issue for most
customers, I'm seeing no reason why most businesses would retain them for much
longer.
--
___________________________________________ ____ _______________
Regards, | |\ ____
| | | | |\
Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again!
Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | |
___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:28:05 -0500
From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Porn Company Has Snatched Up Nearly 25% of 1-800 Numbers in U.S., Canada
Message-ID: <BANLkTik9bA93YbJpzc-8T79PETAYvethvQ@mail.gmail.com>
On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Michael G. Koerner <mgk920@dataex.com> wr
ote:
>
> The marginal cost to me of a call to any number in the USA from my
> cell phone is zero - and '1-800' services were started for
> businesses to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for their
> customers to call them, increasing customer traffic and thus
> sales. With that no longer being an issue for most customers, I'm
> seeing no reason why most businesses would retain them for much
> longer.
Walt Disney World famously used, and continues to use, a local (407
area code) number instead of a toll-free number even when calling long
distance was expensive. Today I very much see your point. The only
exception I can think of is demographics that haven't embraced the new
dialing plans. They will still expect a toll-free number.
John
--
John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:55:44 +0000 (UTC)
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: "toll free" numbers, was: Porn Company Has Snatched Up Nearly 25% of 1-800 Numbers in U.S., Canada
Message-ID: <iosq0g$197$1@reader1.panix.com>
> The marginal cost to me of a call to any number in the USA from my
> cell phone is zero - and '1-800' services were started for
> businesses to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for their
> customers to call them, increasing customer traffic and thus
> sales. With that no longer being an issue for most customers, I'm
> seeing no reason why most businesses would retain them for much
> longer.
If a business is looking for a more national presence rather
than being thought of as based in Lower Cupcake, then a
"toll free" number still makes sense. It's not the "free"
nature of it so much, but the non-geographical mapping.
For some businesses, of course, the cachet of a specific
locale works the other way. Just to make up an example,
law firms might want to "look like" they're homed in
midtown Manhattan or Chicago.
(and yes, we all know that "area codes" are fading out
as a geo-tag. But there's still plenty of there, there.)
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:39:21 -0500
From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: That pesky plus signs and mobile phones
Message-ID: <BANLkTimU5r1_rxw4fPP06fHr-i2k+SR0Lg@mail.gmail.com>
At home we have AT&T and recently had T-Mobile for our cell service.
I noticed on all phones, regardless of manufacturer, incoming SMS and
calls without names assigned displayed in the +1xxxyyyzzzz format.
Specifically the number is prefaced with the +1.
I have a Verizon phone at work. I only see xxx-yyy-zzzz. What's
more, I cannot call internationally by using the (+). The phone
doesn't recognize that. I have to use 011. My attempt to call
+60-4-yyy-zzzz resulted in a call to Vancouver.
Is this difference due to GSM versus CDMA?
--
John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:30:07 -0400
From: "Gary" <bogus-email@hotmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: That pesky plus signs and mobile phones
Message-ID: <iot6il$gp1$1@dont-email.me>
"John Mayson" wrote in message
news:BANLkTimU5r1_rxw4fPP06fHr-i2k+SR0Lg@mail.gmail.com...
>
> What's more, I cannot call internationally by using the (+).
> The phone doesn't recognize that. I have to use 011. My
> attempt to call +60-4-yyy-zzzz resulted in a call to Vancouver.
My understanding is that "+" means "dial the international access code
appropriate to your location, then this number." Thus, in the USA (if not
all of the NANPA), "+" translates to "011." If you're calling an
international number from a phone in China, "+" must be replaced with their
international dialing prefix (which appears to be "00").
Note that numbers starting with the "+" have the country code as the very
next digit(s), which is what follows the international prefix when dialing.
The NANPA is unique in that the country code, matches our internal long
distance prefix ("1"), further confusing people who are not used to
international dialing.
The intelligence of using the "+" notation is that it assumes the caller can
figure out the appropriate international prefix and dial it before dialing
the rest of the number. Before cellphones, you could not find a "+" on the
keypad (or dial, for that matter), so if you thought about it you might
actually try and figure out what it meant.
It appears you've run across one smart cellphone that lets you enter the "+"
character and it translates it as an international number. However, another
model appears to not have that feature, so translated "+604" as area code
604; so you got Vancouver instead of Malaysia.
Bottom line, it is best to know the international access code and dial it
directly and not rely on the phone translating "+" for you.
-Gary
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:49:16 -0400
From: "r.e.d." <red-nospam-99@mindspring.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Info about these cellular snoopers?
Message-ID: <A8KdnVNaYfUNPizQnZ2dnUVZ_gOdnZ2d@earthlink.com>
There is another (short) pdf document on the site about Bluetooth.
Basically someone needs to enable Bluetooth on the phone. Once so
enabled, it's not clear if the someone needs to explicitly enable
specific connection to the Cellebrite device. If not, then it looks
like truly surreptitious downloading can occur.
The copy-and-pasted contents of the Bluetooth document (not responsible for
their spelling errors):
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
Using the Bluetooth
On some phones, the UME-36PRO enables you to use Bluetooth instead of
data cables for the extraction process. When you choose Bluetooth for
the connectivity type, follow these instructions:
1. Phone Settings
On the mobile phone, you must enable the phone to connect via
Bluetooth, by turning Bluetooth capabilities on. In addition, you
must set the Bluetooth services to 'Visible' on the phone.
2. UME-36PRO Bluetooth Adapter
The UME-36PRO kit comes with a Bluetooth USB adapter, as shown below.
Insert the Bluetooth adapter in either of the two USB ports at the top
of the UME-36PRO, as shown below. Press to continue.
3. Identifying the Phone via Bluetooth
The UME-36PRO searches for visible Bluetooth devices within its
proximity, and provides a list of all devices that it finds. Select
the appropriate device from this list. Use the keys to move between
options. Press to continue.
The UME-36PRO then instructs you to enter "0000" in the phone to
complete the paring between the devices. Once doing this, all data
transfer between the UME-36PRO and the phone will be performed using
Bluetooth.
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
[Moderator snip]
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:50:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Amtel Apartment Entry Security Phone
Message-ID: <2ea9c6ee-5fbe-4c88-b6a4-defb5d9662fa@hg8g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>
On Apr 21, 2:57 pm, Michael <michael.muder...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In a recent building demolition I grabbed an Amtel Apartment entry
> type phone. . .
A history question if I may...
I once visited a New York City apartment building years ago (pre
divesture) where it appeared that the door entry system was provided
by the Bell System. The resident dialed (on their regular rotary
phone) a code to admit visitors. I only saw this in one building;
every other apt building I visited had a non Bell intercom system.
Would anyone know if this was a standard Bell System offering, or a
specialized service?
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:13:13 -0400
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: An intersting use for phone relays
Message-ID: <MPG.281bab5c487b2e0d989d29@news.eternal-september.org>
Check this out. I think it's an awesome use of discarded technology.
http://hackaday.com/2010/11/18/electromechanical-computer-built-from-relays/
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End of The Telecom Digest (13 Messages)
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