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The Telecom Digest for July 12, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 169 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Carriers Band to Fight Cellphone Theft (HAncock4)
Paging Jim Haynes [nfp] (Telecom Digest Moderator)
Looking for a new RespOrg for my personal 888 number (Tad)
Slashdot item on robocall - FTC summit (Jim Haynes)
Re: Slashdot item on robocall - FTC summit (Bill Horne)

====== 30 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.
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Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:57:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Carriers Band to Fight Cellphone Theft 
Message-ID: <7acac525-6ebf-412c-8dad-88ecfde70213@g5g2000yqg.googlegroups.com>

On Jul 10, 2:20 pm, Monty Solomon <mo...@roscom.com> wrote:
> The nation's major wireless providers have agreed to a deal with the
> U.S. government to build a central database of stolen cellphones-part
> of a broad effort to tame an explosion of thefts nationwide.

I wonder how many cellphones are accidently lost by the owner, and of
those, how many are recovered.

Given their small size and frequent use, they seem to be an easy thing
to leave behind.

On several occassions I've found lost cellphones.  One was on the
sidewalk and I turned it in to the store it was in front of.  Another
was left on a bench at a train station and I gave it to the ticket
agent.  On trains, conductors routinely find phones left behind by
passengers.  (With that, I wonder if the railroad makes any effort to
find the owner of the phone, or just waits if the owner calls their
lost & found).

I once left my cell phone in a store, but was able to go back and they
had it.




Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:11:30 -0400
From: Telecom Digest Moderator <telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.remove-this.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Paging Jim Haynes [nfp]
Message-ID: <20120711221130.GA29249@telecom-digest.org>

Jim,

Please contact me offlist. TIA.

Bill

-- 
Bill Horne
Moderator




Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:45:44 -0700
From: Tad <tadc@europa.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Looking for a new RespOrg for my personal 888 number 
Message-ID: <CAJBGU0Qtx4sYPMtE=ge7P_Yi7pFyZzcXm9p8H8bFx8UvP_3qxw@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Bill and all.  I'm a reader and occasional contributor to the list from
years past, and I'm sad to say that as things developed in my life I lost
track of the digest and only now learned of Pat's serious health issues.
Even with all the resources available on the internet these days, it's
fantastic that a small group of knowledgeable folks are able to maintain
the tradition of the "old" internet.

But I digress.. the reason I'm emailing is to ask for advice regarding a
new carrier for my personal 888 number.  I secured this "vanity" number
back in the late 90s when they first opened the 888 code, and although it's
almost entirely unused (and unnecessary) these days, I still want to keep
it for old times sake.

The problem is that my existing carrier has instituted a $10 monthly fee...
so I'm looking for something more reasonable.  I know there are plenty of
sketchy sites that come up on Google, but I'm hoping for someone more in
touch with things to point me toward an affordable/reliable (in that
order!) carrier.

I hope this doesn't cross the line into prohibited commercialism, and if so
even a reference to another reliable resource would be appreciated.

Thanks very much!

***** Moderator's Note *****

It's not prohibited commercialism unless someone in your IP block just
happens to have a perfect solution...

Bill Horne
Moderator




Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:41:47 -0500
From: Jim Haynes <jhaynes@cavern.uark.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Slashdot item on robocall - FTC summit 
Message-ID: <slrnjvr7lr.28p.jhaynes@Frances.localdomain>

There's an item on slashdot today "FTC To Revisit Robocall Menace" that
will be of interest.  Includes a pointer to an item in Germany about a
woman who was fined for blowing a whistle into the phone, allegedly
damaging the hearing of a worker at a junk call company.  Someone noted
that required the allegedly injured person to identify herself and
presumably her company, so the woman should have sued the company for
harassment.




Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:09:37 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Slashdot item on robocall - FTC summit 
Message-ID: <20120712020937.GA3182@telecom.csail.mit.edu>

On Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 10:41:47AM -0500, Jim Haynes wrote:
> There's an item on slashdot today "FTC To Revisit Robocall Menace" that
> will be of interest.  Includes a pointer to an item in Germany about a
> woman who was fined for blowing a whistle into the phone, allegedly
> damaging the hearing of a worker at a junk call company.  Someone noted
> that required the allegedly injured person to identify herself and
> presumably her company, so the woman should have sued the company for
> harassment.

I checked the article, and it turns out that there are several stories
about the FTC and Robocalls on Slashdot. I'll have to start reading it again!

The one Jim cites is about the upcoming "summit" to address the robocall problem:

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/07/10/1638247/ftc-to-revisit-robocall-menace

There's also a story from June, about the FTC taking action against
SBN Peripherals for sending out as many as 27 calls per second:

http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/06/10/1546237/ftc-bombs-massive-robocall-operation

Another story from June details legal action against "auto warranty" salesmen:

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/06/15/232211/auto-warranty-robocall-scammers-busted

Last, a March story about the FTC's intention to target auto-warrenty hustlers:

http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/05/16/0010231/ftc-targets-massive-car-warranty-robocall-scheme

-or-

http://tinyurl.com/867nq6l

... all of which is good news, even if it did take an election year to
get the ftc moving.

Bill

-- 
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)






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