32 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
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The Telecom Digest for January 25, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 19 : "text" Format
====== 32 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.
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without the explicit written consent of the owner of
that address. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk
are definitely unwelcome.
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: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 20:22:57 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate
Message-ID: <eaae34e8-ed67-4871-8782-c99546ed9e11@googlegroups.com>
My encounter with ICE:
I volunteer with a non-profit group named Friends of Brazoria Wildlife
Refuges based in Brazoria, Texas. We support three National Wildlife
Refuges located along the Gulf Coast in Brazoria and Matagorda Counties.
We raise funds and do hands-on stuff like building boardwalks and
maintaining trails. I serve on the board and run the website.
http://refugefriends.org/
The three refuges are part of the Fish & Wildlife Service's Southwest
Region, based in Albuquerque. A few years ago, the southwest region
headquarters staff sponsored a two-day "Getting to Know You" meeting
in South Padre Island, Texas, a three-hour drive south of Brazoria
near the Mexican Border. FWS employees and Friends-group volunteers
were invited. Another Board Member, a guy named Phil, and I attended
the meeting. We drove down to South Padre in Phil's pickup truck.
On our way back -- driving north on US77 -- we were stopped at an ICE
control station. We were told to get out of the truck and sit on a
bench. Two or three ICE employees, with sniffing dogs, went around
the truck, inspected the interior of the vehicle and the truck bed.
Finally they told us that they had found some marijuana. Phil --
wisely, I think -- just said ok, didn't deny it and didn't confirm it.
They didn't show us whatever-it-was that they thought was marijuana.
At that point most of the employees went inside their little office
building, leaving one guy outside to guard us. Several minutes
later they came out and told us we were clear to leave. We got back
in the truck and continued home. Phil claimed to me that he had
never used marijuana, and I believe him.
To this day, we've never been able to figure out what was going on.
I can't imagine that Phil and I -- two elderly fat guys in Cabela's
shorts and Fish-and-Wildlife volunteer hats -- looked much like
drug runners. I guess they must have been running background
checks on us while we were sitting on that bench while the guy
with the gun kept a close eye on us.
Anyway, we got home safely. Your tax dollars at work.
Neal McLain
***** Moderator's Note *****
This is telecom related for two reasons:
1. The ICE personnel were able to check the truck and its occupants
out even though they were probably out-of-range of any public WiFi
or other "Internet" connectivity. "Two-way" radios help, but
they're nowhere near to having a portable data terminal that can
tell an officer in the field the VIN, the mileage at the last
inspection, or the last time the owner bought tires.
2. There's only so much that on-the-spot electronics can do: when
they said "we found marijuana", they were hoping that one of the
"suspects" would glance toward the truck. There is, as yet, no
machine that can check for that reaction at that moment.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: 23 Jan 2014 20:27:52 -0500
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Why T-Mobile wants Verizon's discarded 4G airwaves
Message-ID: <lbsfio$5es$1@panix2.panix.com>
T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net> wrote:
>kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net says...
>>
>> 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?
> 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.
Not at all. Every chunk of bandwidth that you buy is a chunk of
bandwidth that your competitors are unable to buy. It's a limited
resource and it's in every telecom company's best interest to tie up
as much of it as possible whether or not they have any use for it.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Date: 23 Jan 2014 10:24:09 GMT
From: rpw3@rpw3.org (Rob Warnock)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate
Message-ID: <52e0edc9$0$52822$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>
+---------------
| ***** Moderator's Note *****
| What is ICE doing questioning people who aren't crossing a border?
+---------------
As I understand it [mainly from reading the firestorm resulting
from this case]:
1. Federal law allows ICE, CBP, a few others additional powers
"near" a border, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception
...
The border search exception is a doctrine of United States criminal
law that allows searches and seizures at international borders and
their functional equivalent without a warrant or probable cause.
...
Despite federal law allowing certain federal agents to conduct
suspicionless search and seizures within 100 miles of the border,
the Supreme Court has clearly and repeatedly confirmed that the
border search exception applies only at international borders and
their functional equivalent (such as international airports).
2. One report claimed that Columbus, Ohio, is (just barely) within
that distance of the Canadian border. [But Google Maps says
it's ~120 mi to the border (in the middle of Lake Erie).]
3. ICE shares responsibility for copyright investigations and
enforcement, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement#Cyber_Crimes
and:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement#Cyber_Crimes_Section
Obviously it's a stretch, and legally on shakey grounds,
but I suspect that's the story they would be sticking to.
-Rob
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
Rob Warnock <rpw3@rpw3.org>
627 26th Avenue
http://rpw3.org/
San Mateo, CA 94403
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 15:12:49 -0800
From: Andrew Kaser <ak@europa.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Person Cell Phone Wipe by Employers
Message-ID: <09270A4F-6874-4C9A-A3B1-54DFBCB3F289@europa.com>
BYOD? Leaving a Job Can Mean Losing Pictures of Grandma
Some Companies Wipe Workers' Personal Cellphones Clean After They Leave
By Lauren Weber
Jan. 21, 2014 7:21 p.m. ET
As more companies allow, and even encourage, employees to use their
own devices for work activities, a troubling consequence has arisen
for some workers who have seen their entire device wiped clean. WSJ's
Lauren Weber joins digits. Photo: Andrew St. Clair for The Wall Street
Journal.
In early October, Michael Irvin stood up to leave a New York City
restaurant when he glanced at his iPhone and noticed it was powering
off. When he turned it back on again, all of his information--email
programs, contacts, family photos, apps and music he had
downloaded - had vanished.
The phone looked "like it came straight from the factory," said
Mr. Irvin, an independent health-care consultant.
Rest at:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304027204579335033824665964?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_careerjournal&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304027204579335033824665964.html%3Fmod%3DWSJ_hpp_sections_careerjournal
-or-
http://goo.gl/aB9xc1
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 13:47:08 -0500
From: Pete Cresswell <PeteCress@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Person Cell Phone Wipe by Employers
Message-ID: <k7d5e9ps3jqi6jor1n8v6t0v0843lt7pan@4ax.com>
Per Andrew Kaser:
>Some Companies Wipe Workers' Personal Cellphones Clean After They Leave
Can anybody describe how they do that? Seems like there would have to
be some sort of authentication/permission involved on the user's phone.
--
Pete Cresswell
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 16:28:52 -0500
From: Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate
Message-ID: <barmar-C93C64.16285223012014@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <lbq8ko$gff$1@reader1.panix.com>,
danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote:
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> I know that ICE is doing it: I just don't understand why. All their
> training is about catching lawbreakers at choke points: they're not
> equipped, in either equipment or attitude, to apprehend criminals whom
> are able to move their operations on a moment's notice.
The agents who are doing this are probably not the ones who were
trained in apprehending illegal immigrants.
My guess is that this came about as part of the consolidations that
occurred when Homeland Security was created after 9/11. When this
responsibility was transferred to ICE, I'll bet they also transferred
agents or trainers from the FBI.
--
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 08:02:53 -0800 (PST)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: More con artists using telemarketing for fraud
Message-ID: <238ac303-bd43-4e7b-842b-2b57e529cfad@googlegroups.com>
>From CBS News:
A growing number of con artists are going old school by trying to rip off
consumers over the phone, according to the National Consumers League. The
group, which tracks the nation's most common frauds, says in a new report more
than 36 percent of consumer complaints registered in 2013 involved
telemarketing fraud.
Overall, the nation's most prevalent scam remains a fake check con, which
involves "overpaying" for a product or service and asking the recipient to
refund the difference. By the time the victim realizes that the check used for
payment was bogus, the con artist has walked away with the consumer's money.
full article at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-6-us-scams/
P.S. I still get calls from Heather at "Credit Card Services".
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