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The Telecom Digest for January 17, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 11 : "text" Format
====== 32 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
|
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
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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.
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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:01:54 -0500
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: How to torment telemarketers (LA Times)
Message-ID: <MPG.2d4123b7bbf71f9f989f2f@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <g7ubd9dtgst9v3pc5ocnjo4h0ss4usicsk@4ax.com>,
PeteCress@invalid.telecom-digest.org says...
>
> Per bernieS:
> >If even a small fraction of victims fought
> >back this way, "Rachel" would be out of business in a month.
>
> I would also opine that Rachel would be dead meat if the enforcement
> people moved her up in their priority list. Imagine somebody calling
> government agency phones and threatening high-ranking politicians.....
> How long would that last? I'd bet less than a week... maybe less than
> 24 hours if it were the right threat against the right person.
>
> Rachel can hide behind all the VOIP skips and offshore boiler rooms in
> the world - but sooner or later she must get down and dirty to accept
> money and I'd think credit card transactions can be traced with speed
> and certainty..... I think it's just a matter of man hours,
> determination, and creativity.
>
> OTOH, I'm guessing there's a whole lot worse things going on 24-7 than
> some bottom feeder interrupting my dinner.
>
> ---
> Pete Cresswell
>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> The question isn't whether credit cards can be traced, but to whom
> that trail would lead. Nothing goes on this long, with so little
> attention from the government, unless those responsible are spreading
> some of the profits around Washington.
>
> Bill Horne
> Moderator
I would contend that it hits several PSTN switches in the chain - and
ultimately you'd narrow down the VoIP provider who would then provide
the IP range of the offending calls.
>From there it's a simple matter of tracking down who owns the
IP address(es).
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:00:38 -0500
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: How to torment telemarketers (LA Times)
Message-ID: <MPG.2d41236ea28486eb989f2e@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <r5Bn5.A.AfE.-9V1SB@telecom>, bernies@netaxs.com says...
>
> The air-horn-blasting technique recommended by the retired police
> detective obviously wouldn't work nearly as well as suggested, because
> the PSTN's dynamic range of is intentionally capped at a small
> fraction of that of human hearing. But some of the other techniques
> in this article are pretty clever.
Yes - there's about what 4Khz of bandwidth. It's pretty amazing that we
got 56kbit service over that in the day. Got to love Quadrature
Amplitude [modulation].
That being said - on a cell phone go and get the app called Blocker. I
know it's available for Android and maybe IOS. It blocks all private and
unknown calls plus you can configure pattern based blocking. So let's
say Rachel from Card Services calls from 854-222-2300 through 854-222-
2800. On Blocker you can just put in 854-222-2 and tell it to block
everything starting with that sequence.
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 22:56:44 -0500
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Why T-Mobile wants Verizon's discarded 4G airwaves
Message-ID: <MPG.2d41227ee21dbe18989f2d@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <MPG.2d3e6bd1f8add282989f2c@news.eternal-september.org>,
kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net says...
>
> In article <laveoc$tou$1@dont-email.me>, bill@horneQRM.net says...
> >
> > by Kevin Fitchard JAN. 6, 2014
> >
> > Verizon has owned these 700 MHz licenses for six years but never found a
> > use for them. One's man trash is another's treasure. By buying these
> > licenses T-Mobile can build an LTE network more like Verizon's.
> >
> >
> > http://gigaom.com/2014/01/06/why-t-mobile-wants-verizons-discarded-4g-airwaves/
> >
>
> T-Mobile already has an LTE network - they bought MetroPCS. I'm a Metro
> customer - 4G phone and all.
>
> So I doubt they'll be able to use the spectrum either.
>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> So, why did they buy it?
>
> Bill Horne
> Moderator
Probably just corporate stupidity at it's finest. Look at it this way,
once you get past say 150 people in corporation it becomes more and more
difficult for one unit to know what another is doing.
I've experienced that when I worked for a certain verticalized computer
company that bought the InfoSec company I worked for at the time.
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:57:22 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: NCTA pushes Congress to stop forcing subscribers to buy basic cable
Message-ID: <b5625f7a-b40a-43ec-8991-0916c751bc27@googlegroups.com>
By Steve Donohue, FierceCable, January 16, 2014
| Cable subscribers shouldn't be forced to buy basic-cable
| programming packages containing local broadcast channels, National
| Cable & Telecommunications Association CEO Michael Powell said at a
| House Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing on
| Wednesday.
|
| Powell's stance is noteworthy, considering Comcast, NCTA's largest
| member, relies on basic cable distribution for its NBC owned-and-
| operated TV stations.
|
| "It should be an extraordinary circumstance in which the government
| tells the consumer you have to buy a television package as a
| prerequisite of buying more of what you want, which is essentially
| what the rule does," Powell testified, according to a report from
| TVNewsCheck.
|
| Pay TV distributors such as DirecTV have blamed increased
| retransmission-consent fees that broadcasters are demanding on rate
| hikes it has announced for its programming packages. The satellite
| TV provider, which dropped The Weather Channel earlier this week
| after failing to agree to terms of a new contract, has said that it
| wanted to reduce the license fee it pays TWC in order to cover the
| costs for increased retrans fees.
|
| In October, Comcast began testing a low-cost bundle of services
| that included broadband and HBO. But while the MSO isn't requiring
| subscribers to take expanded basic packages that include networks
| such as USA Network and Discovery Channel, its bundle does include
| broadcast basic programming.
Continued:
http://www.fiercecable.com/story/ncta-pushes-congress-stop-forcing-subscribers-buy-basic-cable-packages/2014-01-16
Before becoming CEO of the NCTA, Michael Powell served as an FCC
Commissioner (1997-2001 and as FCC Chairman (2001-05). He is the
son of General Colin Powell.
Neal McLain
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 19:09:49 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Net Neutrality 2014: D.C. Circuit Tosses Most of the FCC's "Open Internet" Rules
Message-ID: <799e882c-b3b9-4a63-9096-d60697ae20b5@googlegroups.com>
By Paul J. Feldman, CommLawBlog, January 16, 2014
| Court affirms FCC's authority to engage in some Internet
| regulation, but FCC faces complex choices on next moves.
|
| In the war over how, if at all, the Internet will be regulated, a
| major battle has been decided. Both sides can claim victory to some
| degree, but no knockout punch was landed: the war wages on.
|
| The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has struck
| down the core "anti-blocking" and "anti-discrimination" elements of
| the FCC's Open Internet rules. At the same time, the Court agreed
| with a crucial aspect of the FCC's strategy: the Court held that
| the FCC does have the authority to regulate Internet traffic
| management under Section 706 of the Communications Act. While that
| affords the Commission at least a ray of hope going forward, how
| the FCC might utilize that authority remains to be seen.
Continued:
http://www.commlawblog.com/2014/01/articles/internet/net-neutrality-2014-dc-circuit-tosses-most-of-the-fccs-open-internet-rules
***** Moderator's Note *****
Does this mean that NetFlix will have to pay a tithe to my ISP?
Bill Horne
Moderator
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