32 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
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The Telecom Digest for August 3, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 127 : "text" Format
====== 32 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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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
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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.
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Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2014 21:46:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain@remove-this.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Barry Diller really is done with Aereo, takes write-down on company
Message-ID: <d2873b4b-287e-4f44-a32c-5c4ec17b4153@googlegroups.com>
Barry Diller really is done with Aereo, takes write-down on company
By Daniel Frankel, FierceCable, July 30, 2014
Aereo has pledged to fight on after its landmark Supreme Court defeat in late
June, seeking to reclassify itself as a pay-TV operator and obtain a statutory
license to retransmit broadcast TV signals.
As for the company's primary investor, Barry Diller, it looks like he's done.
As first reported by Re/code, the company Diller oversees, digital media
conglomerate IAC Corp., filed documents with the Securities and Exchange
Commission indicating that IAC is taking a write-down of $66.6 million.
IAC didn't specify how much of this write-down is attributed to Aereo. But
during IAC's second-quarter earnings report conference call Wednesday, July
30, company CFO Jeff Kip said Aereo's charge was the largest among the five
companies the write-down involved.
Diller certainly seemed resigned to Aereo's end on June 26, the day the SCOTUS
verdict was announced, telling CNBC, "It's not a big [financial] loss for us,
but I do believe blocking this technology is a big loss for consumers, and
beyond that I only salute [Aereo founder and CEO] Chet Kanojia and his band of
Aereo'lers for fighting the good fight. We did try, but it's over now."
Continued:
http://www.fiercecable.com/story/barry-diller-really-done-aereo-takes-write-down-company/2014-07-30?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/ovxssbg
Posted 08/01/14
Neal McLain
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 14:49:36 -0400
From: Telecom Digest Moderator <redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: New look for our online digest [nfp]
Message-ID: <20140802184936.GA7436@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
Dear reader,
Please take a look at the current online issue of The Telecom Digest,
which is at
http://goo.gl/qJVRTB
.
I'd like to know how you feel about the revised format: to send
feedback, please use the "Reply To" address, or leave the "[nfp]" tag
in the subject line.
I won't be disclosing your name or address, because I want frank,
brutally honest opinions. ;-)
Bill
--
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 23:48:57 -0400
From: Telecom Digest Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: New look for our online digest [nfp]
Message-ID: <20140803034857.GA10322@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
On Sat, Aug 02, 2014 at 02:49:36PM -0400, Telecom Digest Moderator wrote:
> Dear reader,
> Please take a look at the current online issue of The Telecom Digest,
> which is at
>
> http://telecom.csail.mit.edu/archives/back.issues/recent.single.issues/latest-issue.html
> .
> I'd like to know how you feel about the revised format: please use
> the "Reply To" address, or leave the "[nfp]" tag in the subject
> line, since I won't be disclosing your [name or email address].
I owe the readers an apology: I'm sorry, but judging by the responses
I've received from several readers, I seem to have created the
impression that I was going to abandon the email and/or Usenet
distribution channels we've always used, and switch to a web-only
publication.
That is NOT the case, and I never intended to imply that I would
consider abandoning Usenet or email in favor of the web. The Telecom
Digest will be distributed by email and Usenet as long as those
channels are still available.
What I am doing is sprucing up the online version of the digest,
i.e., I'm giving a facelift to the website where copies of the digest
have always been available for reading. The website is intended for
those readers whom prefer web-based displays, or whom employ "web only"
devices, or whom don't have access to Usenet, or whom use restricted
corporate email systems that don't allow for personal emails. It get a
copy of each day's digest edition, shortly after it's published to
email subscribers, and that's the part I'm working to improve.
I hope that's more clear.
Bill
P.S. Never mind the yellow-on-black. Non-starter, honest!
--
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 12:41:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain@remove-this.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Congress Says Unlocking Cell Phones is Okay
Message-ID: <ebde7516-7d90-46ad-8d43-abb1bcee2867@googlegroups.com>
By Mitchell Lazarus, CommLawBlog, July 29, 2014
You ask: why is this even a question?
Thanks to action by Congress - something we don't get to say often, these days
- it will soon once again be lawful to "unlock" your cell phone so as to use
it with a different carrier.
You ask: why is this even a question?
Because of an earlier act of Congress - the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA), to be specific - whose Section 1201(a)(1)(a) provides that:
[n]o person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls
access to a work protected under this title.
The software in a phone is a "work protected under this title." The locking
software is a "technological measure that effectively controls access" to the
phone. So to "circumvent" the software by unlocking it violates the DMCA. Even
a first offense, if done "willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage
or private financial gain," can draw a fine of up to $500,000 plus up to five
years in the federal penitentiary.
Continued:
http://www.commlawblog.com/2014/07/articles/cellular/congress-says-unlocking-cell-phones-is-okay/
Update: Some Cell Phone Unlocking Now Officially Legal
By FHH Law, CommLawBlog, August 2, 2014
We recently reported that Congress had passed a bill designed to overrule a
2013 decision by the Librarian of Congress which severely limited the ability
of cell phone owners to "unlock" (legally, at least) the software in their
phones in order to move from one network to another. That bill has now been
signed into law by the President, a development which FCC Chairman Wheeler
promptly applauded.
Source:
http://www.commlawblog.com/2014/08/articles/cellular/update-some-cell-phone-unlocking-now-officially-legal/
Wheeler's applause:
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0801/DOC-328624A1.pdf
Neal McLain
Posted 08/02/14
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 20:36:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4.remove-this@and-this-too.bbs.cpcn.com
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: History - productivity gains by the 608 (white) PBX cord switchboard?
Message-ID: <5d72290e-f431-4521-9c36-520a2e6fbe6f@googlegroups.com>
Around 1960, the Bell Systen introduced its last cord PBX switchboard,
the 608. The jackface and table were white, not black, and the key
shelf was all pushbutton, not levers.
It had several productivity features to aid operators. Among those:
--automatic ringing: When the operator inserted the cord into the jack
of the desired extension, ringing began automatically with an audible
signal. This eliminated the need for the operator to keep throwing
the ringing key in the proper cadence and to inform the caller of
status.
--separate awaiting-answer and disconnect supervisory signals: In
older switchboards, the cord supervisory signal glowed if the
extension was on hook. The operator had to track and be careful to
distinguish between calls not answered, and, calls that were finished.
In the 608, a steady light meant the call was done, while a slow blink
meant it was awaiting answer.
--automatic flashing recall: In older switchboards, an extension that
needed to 'flash' the operator had to keep depressing the hookkswitch
until she noticed the flashing signal and answered; it was easy to
miss such a signal. In the 608, a single depression would generate a
rapid blink of the supervisory signal.
Question: Did the above features significantly improve operator
productivity and extension service? Has anyone here operated a 608
board?
The 608 could be found in both large and small installations. I
recall seeing them in all the motels at a seashore resort.
At the same time (1960s), the Bell System was working hard to enhance
both key systems and dial PBXs. Cordless console switchboards, which
became popular in the 1960s, improved operator productivity with all
of the above plus fully automatic disconnection and certain other
features, like camp-on. Key systems replaced the smaller PBX's, like
the 507. In 1962, for instance, the Bell System announced a dial PBX
specifically for motels, which included message registers to tally
local calls made from a room, message-waiting signal lights for rooms,
and remote answer if the desk clerk was away.
*** Moderator's Note ***
I always thought that "608" boards were assoicated with step PBX
installations. Not so?
Bill
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom-
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