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The Telecom Digest for May 14, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 131 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Phone Number Tracking Terrorists (Gray, Charles)
Re: Phone Number Tracking Terrorists (David Clayton)
Re: Facebook's Gone Rogue; It's Time for an Open Alternative (Sam Spade)
Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail (Monty Solomon)
Re: Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail (Sam Spade)
Re: Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail (Steven)
Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect (Adam H. Kerman)
Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect (Adam H. Kerman)
Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect (danny burstein)
Re: Silicon Valley public transit losing all public AT&T pay phones (Justin Goldberg)
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Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 08:34:37 -0500
From: "Gray, Charles" <charles.gray@okstate.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Phone Number Tracking Terrorists
Message-ID: <18AC66D00A844644BF202001BCE0FE26039C32B20C@STWEXE3.ad.okstate.edu>
Some time back (dates have faded in memory) the "media" reported it as
great news that the US and its allies could track the location of
Osama bin Laden's cell phone, whereupon he stopped using one. IIRC
he gave his to one of his "associates" who subsequently got nailed by
a drone-launched weapon.
Was the "media" culpable in this case? Speaking as a veteran of 20
years in the US Army Signal Corps I definitely think this information
should have been supressed. I was involved in the capture of some
enemy radio equipment in Vietnam and learned some information that was
helpful to US Army intelligence, but we sure didn't go around telling
everybody what we were learning from it.
I still believe that in war, there are just some things that "the
public" doesn't need to know. There is still wisdom in the WW II
security poster that said "Loose lips sink ships".
Charles G. Gray
Senior Lecturer - Telecommunications
Oklahoma State University
Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 09:02:02 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Phone Number Tracking Terrorists
Message-ID: <pan.2010.05.13.23.01.59.562082@myrealbox.com>
On Wed, 12 May 2010 08:34:37 -0500, Gray, Charles wrote:
.......
> I still believe that in war, there are just some things that "the public"
> doesn't need to know. There is still wisdom in the WW II security poster
> that said "Loose lips sink ships".
>
The problem is (and always has been) that who decides what you don't
need to know?
There are always issues of what some people believe is benign information
versus those who think that even a tiny chance of something being used for
a purpose against their interests deserves suppression.
As an example of leaving things to governments or other authorities, my
government here is implementing a web site filter for the whole country,
and they decide what sites are on the banned list on (allegedly) benign
criteria - stopping kiddie porn etc.
It has been recently exposed that web sites that have things like
instructions for making gunpowder (something that has been well publicised
for hundreds of years) have been banned because "it could be used for an
illegal activity". People have pointed out that it is not illegal to make
or obtain something like gunpowder, just that you have to be licensed to
use it in this country, but that didn't seem to matter to the faceless
people deciding that it wasn't in the public interest to have this
information available.
The people running this filter are permitted to ban any site, and only if
the site is hosted in Australia is any sort of notification given to the
site owner - all others just disappear from access without anyone knowing
why!
In theory the "Loose lips sink ships" idea seems reasonable, and if done
in a responsible manner may well be worth the trade-off, but when is it
ever left at that responsible level before is is corrupted in one way or
another?
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
***** Modertor's Note *****
Do you think that a government should have the authority to ban
call-in sex lines?
Consider your answer carefully: the government's sword gets longer
every time you say "yes", and it has two edges ...
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 06:58:48 -0700
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Facebook's Gone Rogue; It's Time for an Open Alternative
Message-ID: <qfSdnb0RlMWFKXfWnZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d@giganews.com>
David Clayton wrote:
> You will able to decide if you want to communicate with this person based
> on things down to the colour of the toilet paper they buy - because that
> must be available in some linked database somewhere!
That's why my wife pays with cash at the grocery store. ;-)
***** Moderator's Note *****
That may not be an option in the future: a supermarket in my area has
found the information they gain from "Loyalty cards" so valuable that
I can get a discount of 20 cents per gallon at some gas stations by
letting them scan my supermarket card.
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 21:37:28 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail
Message-ID: <p062408d2c81108145421@[10.0.1.4]>
May 11, 2010 6:57 am US/Eastern
Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail
Joe Shortsleeve
QUINCY (WBZ)
Imagine police bursting into your home, handcuffing you, and then
locking you up for days for something you did not do.
The I-Team says that is exactly what happened to a Quincy man, and
WBZ's Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve says this man was set up by
someone using a popular technology.
The man does not want people to know his name, but he recounted that
cold winter night a year ago when he was making cupcakes in his
kitchen.
...
http://wbztv.com/local/man.arrested.innocent.2.1686484.html
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 06:47:26 -0700
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail
Message-ID: <8d2dnZnCTalzn3HWnZ2dnUVZ_uWdnZ2d@giganews.com>
Monty Solomon wrote:
> May 11, 2010 6:57 am US/Eastern
>
> Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail
>
> Joe Shortsleeve
>
> QUINCY (WBZ)
>
> Imagine police bursting into your home, handcuffing you, and then
> locking you up for days for something you did not do.
>
> The I-Team says that is exactly what happened to a Quincy man, and
> WBZ's Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve says this man was set up by
> someone using a popular technology.
>
> The man does not want people to know his name, but he recounted that
> cold winter night a year ago when he was making cupcakes in his
> kitchen.
>
> ...
>
> http://wbztv.com/local/man.arrested.innocent.2.1686484.html
>
This was a serious error by the FCC in their Caller ID proceedings in
1995. Had they put an absolute cap on the source of the CPIN message to
be only the originating end office, this guy would not have been a
victim of those low-lifes.
If I were the victim I would be speaking with an attorney about the
police's haste, and lack of understanding of how lousy Caller ID info
can be. Seems like they should have first put a trap on the women's
line, then looked at ANI before they went gestapo.
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 13:51:08 -0700
From: Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail
Message-ID: <hshont$d77$1@news.eternal-september.org>
Sam Spade wrote:
> Monty Solomon wrote:
>
>> May 11, 2010 6:57 am US/Eastern
>>
>> Caller ID Spoofing Puts Innocent Man In Jail
>>
>> Joe Shortsleeve
>>
>> QUINCY (WBZ)
>>
>> Imagine police bursting into your home, handcuffing you, and then
>> locking you up for days for something you did not do.
>>
>> The I-Team says that is exactly what happened to a Quincy man, and
>> WBZ's Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve says this man was set up by
>> someone using a popular technology.
>>
>> The man does not want people to know his name, but he recounted that
>> cold winter night a year ago when he was making cupcakes in his kitchen.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> http://wbztv.com/local/man.arrested.innocent.2.1686484.html
>>
>
> This was a serious error by the FCC in their Caller ID proceedings in
> 1995. Had they put an absolute cap on the source of the CPIN message to
> be only the originating end office, this guy would not have been a
> victim of those low-lifes.
>
> If I were the victim I would be speaking with an attorney about the
> police's haste, and lack of understanding of how lousy Caller ID info
> can be. Seems like they should have first put a trap on the women's
> line, then looked at ANI before they went gestapo.
>
The same could be said in the way that The Internet was set up, had some
changes had been made as the net aged we would not have the spam
problems we have now, or at least we would really know who the spammer was.
--
The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2010 I Kill Spammers, Inc., A Rot in Hell. Co.
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 03:04:24 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect
Message-ID: <hsd5ro$ek3$4@news.albasani.net>
Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> wrote:
>Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>I'll never believe anything in the media, fiction or nonfiction, is capable
>>of turning a good person into a bad person.
>I respect your belief system, but take strong exception to it.
With a well documented, peer-reviewed psychological study?
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 03:07:37 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect
Message-ID: <hsd61p$ek3$5@news.albasani.net>
John David Galt <jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us> wrote:
>On the other hand: It is widely rumored that the US government, fearing
>similar "inspiration", persuaded Hollywood to sit on the movie version of
>Tom Clancy's "The Sum of All Fears" until after 9/11 happened anyway. If
>this is true, I applaud both the government's request and Hollywood's
>cooperation with it (though I'd still refuse to go along with blaming the
>movie if Hollywood had disobeyed and the real attack had then occurred).
The plot of the movie "Executive Decision" is eerily similar to the events
of 9/11, although not identical. I've never heard it blamed for the
terrorist attack. After 9/11, it was shown fairly often on television.
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 12:37:32 +0000 (UTC)
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect
Message-ID: <hsgrqb$kpe$1@reader1.panix.com>
In <hsd61p$ek3$5@news.albasani.net> "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> writes:
>John David Galt <jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us> wrote:
>>On the other hand: It is widely rumored that the US government, fearing
>>similar "inspiration", persuaded Hollywood to sit on the movie version of
>>Tom Clancy's "The Sum of All Fears" until after 9/11 happened anyway. If
>>this is true, I applaud both the government's request and Hollywood's
>>cooperation with it (though I'd still refuse to go along with blaming the
>>movie if Hollywood had disobeyed and the real attack had then occurred).
>The plot of the movie "Executive Decision" is eerily similar to the events
>of 9/11, although not identical. I've never heard it blamed for the
>terrorist attack. After 9/11, it was shown fairly often on television.
And the very first episode of "The Lone Gunmen" [a], a spinoff
from "The X Files" following the exploits of the three somewhat
strange... technogeeks, had the plot device of a jetliner
about to crash into the WTC. Oh, and this aired in March, 2001.
No one ever claimed that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ever watched it...
[a] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243069/plotsummary
[b] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lone_Gunmen
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 20:05:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Justin Goldberg <justgold79@gmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Silicon Valley public transit losing all public AT&T pay phones
Message-ID: <77dbf763-2cce-42bc-a6b8-ea1eff0241cd@g21g2000yqk.googlegroups.com>
I just don't understand why no one ever thought of creating a voip
payphone.
***** Moderator's Note *****
It's been a long time since I has contact with the "PubCom" end of the
business, but I'd bet it's because the costs of maintaining the
instrument, collecting coin boxes, and paying pedestal rents
overshadow any gains to be had from changing the connection to VoIP.
Come to think of it, VoIP might be more expensive than POTS or
PubCom service: it requires an Internet connection.
Bill Horne
Moderator
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End of The Telecom Digest (10 messages)
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