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Message Digest 
Volume 29 : Issue 80 : "text" Format

Messages in this Issue:
 Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access 
 Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal
 Re: Waiting for Verizon.. 
 Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal
 Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal
 Re: Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access 
 Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal
 Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal
 Re: Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access 
 Re: Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access 
 Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal
 Re: Walmart changing phone system after abuse
 Re: Waiting for Verizon.. 
 Re: Waiting for Verizon.. 
 Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal


====== 28 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 Patrick Townson 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 the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. 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: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:22:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access Message-ID: <p06240809c7ca198456d1@[10.0.1.4]> Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access Peter Parkes March 17, 2010 To celebrate the full launch of Skype Access, we're offering you free WiFi access at over 100,000 hotspots worldwide this weekend (20-21 March 2010). ... http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2010/03/free_wifi.html ***** Moderator's Note ***** Skype is, as I understand it, an outlier on the VoIP competition curve. Rather than resort to OEM solutions (Vonage), or purpose-built hardware (MagicJack), it let's users employ PC's for VoIP. To me, that implies that Skype has aimed at the "early adopter" market, but I'm not sure it's a viable business model in the long term. Opinions?
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:19:47 -0700 From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal Message-ID: <D33pn.66262$gF5.59185@newsfe13.iad> Rich Greenberg wrote: > In article <H1Uon.94717$K81.90365@newsfe18.iad>, > Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> wrote: > >>hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: >> >> >>> As an aside, I get calls from phones served by various PBXs. The >>> number that shows up is the outgoing trunk the PBX happened to select, >>> not the main number of the PBX nor the extension. I have no problem >>> with that. >> >> The few folks who call me from PBXes deliver the company's listed >> (primary) number. > > The PBX can supply the CID for the outgoing call. This is one way > to spoof the CID. My understanding is that the LEC expects the PBX to supply the CID because of the class of trunk that is provisioned for the PBX. Thus, the LEC is a party to any spoofing. ***** Moderator's Note ***** I don't think that's a valid analogy: after all, the LEC expects telephone users to be responsible, but accepts any number they dial. Does that mean a LEC is a party to crank calls? A customer using a tariffed service (which the LEC is required by law to provide) in a way that the tariff either proscribes or does not cover can hardly be blamed on a Common Carrier. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:47:53 -0400 From: tlvp <tPlOvUpBErLeLsEs@hotmail.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Waiting for Verizon.. Message-ID: <op.u9unl3c4itl47o@acer250.gateway.2wire.net> On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:38:18 -0400, <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote: > I am curious how long a car battery's charge does last to supply > power. On a warm day I left my parking lights on* and when I returned > to the car about 6 hours later the car started fine. So what's the > amp load of parking lights? Typical parking lights are rated 8-15 Watts, hence take an Ampere or so, plus or minus 30%, and a set of four will drain about 4 Amps. Over 6 hours, that'd be roughly 25 AH, which is "nothing" to a 300 AH-rated battery. > ... (I believe the headlights consume much more power). Right: a headlamp's low beam filament will consume about 7 A (or at least the one I have fed by a metered automotive battery charger, to illuminate my back yard at night, does); a high beam filament, more (and if your high beam filament is on in parallel with your low beam, you must add the two current draws together, effectively doubling it). A couple of those, *along with* the parking lights, dash lights, and whatever else always comes on when headlights come on, will drain some roughly 20 A *or more* -- over 8 hours, that'd make 160 AH or more, or enough to put a perceptible dent in a 300 AH-rated battery. > ... Of course the time will depend on temperature and > physical condition of the battery. Agreed. Cheers, -- tlvp -- Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:07:28 -0400 From: tlvp <tPlOvUpBErLeLsEs@hotmail.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal Message-ID: <op.u9uoiqx8itl47o@acer250.gateway.2wire.net> On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:35:16 -0400, John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> wrote: >> Second question: Do the U.S. gateway switches send the CPIN message >> to foreign countries (other than Canada, which is not really foreign >> from a telephony standpoint)? > > Yes. I get CLID on calls to and from the UK all the time. Interesting: here in former SNET land, inbound calls from Poland to our land-line never show any CLID, but inbound calls to our cell-phones always *do*. Cheers, -- tlvp -- Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:20:06 +1100 From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal Message-ID: <pan.2010.03.20.06.20.03.611536@myrealbox.com> On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:46:49 -0500, Robert Bonomi wrote: > In article <pan.2010.03.19.04.02.27.685564@myrealbox.com>, David Clayton > <dcstar@myrealbox.com> wrote: ....... >> I can quite understand CID inside a network with some controlled >> boundaries, but international as well? > > What issue(s) do you see? Not worried about having to stand on your head > to read ID info from the other hemisphere are you? GRIN It is basically asking if all the worldwide telephone networks talk to each other according to the standards - it seems from other answers that they do (makes the electronic wire taps easier, I suppose......) - - 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. ***** Moderator's Note ***** I've just realized that I don't remember how many digits the CLID field can carry. What's the limit? Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:38:33 -0700 From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access Message-ID: <J55pn.261831$OX4.74406@newsfe25.iad> Monty Solomon wrote: > Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access > > Peter Parkes > March 17, 2010 > > To celebrate the full launch of Skype Access, we're offering you free > WiFi access at over 100,000 hotspots worldwide this weekend (20-21 > March 2010). > > ... > > http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2010/03/free_wifi.html > > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > Skype is, as I understand it, an outlier on the VoIP competition > curve. Rather than resort to OEM solutions (Vonage), or purpose-built > hardware (MagicJack), it lets users employ PC's for VoIP. To me, that > implies that Skype has aimed at the "early adopter" market, but I'm > not sure it's a viable business model in the long term. Opinions? > I have a friend who lives in Japan who uses it to call the U.S. She was here recently and used my Vonage. She prefers my Vonage but doesn't want to deal with the issue of a telephone and the adapter. Plus, I guess Vonage costs more and she is counting her pennies.
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:17:18 -0700 From: Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal Message-ID: <ho2ou0$9h5$1@news.eternal-september.org> tlvp wrote: > On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:35:16 -0400, John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> wrote: > >>> Second question: Do the U.S. gateway switches send the CPIN message >>> to foreign countries (other than Canada, which is not really foreign >>> from a telephony standpoint)? >> >> Yes. I get CLID on calls to and from the UK all the time. > > Interesting: here in former SNET land, inbound calls from Poland to > our land-line never show any CLID, but inbound calls to our > cell-phones always *do*. > > Cheers, -- tlvp > -- > Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP > Sounds like Verizon is not getting the SS7 data. I have a problem like that with a friend from UC Riverside, his office phone does not show CID to my home phone with AT&T but comes through fine on my Sprint Cell phone. -- The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2010 I Kill Spammers, Inc., A Rot in Hell. Co.
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:36:28 -0700 From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal Message-ID: <MA8pn.53125$Dv7.44932@newsfe17.iad> Sam Spade wrote: > Rich Greenberg wrote: > >> In article <H1Uon.94717$K81.90365@newsfe18.iad>, >> Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> wrote: >> >>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: >>> >>> >>>> As an aside, I get calls from phones served by various PBXs. The >>>> number that shows up is the outgoing trunk the PBX happened to select, >>>> not the main number of the PBX nor the extension. I have no problem >>>> with that. >>> >>> >>> The few folks who call me from PBXes deliver the company's listed >>> (primary) number. >> >> >> The PBX can supply the CID for the outgoing call. This is one way >> to spoof the CID. > > > My understanding is that the LEC expects the PBX to supply the CID > because of the class of trunk that is provisioned for the PBX. Thus, > the LEC is a party to any spoofing. > > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > I don't think that's a valid analogy: after all, the LEC expects > telephone users to be responsible, but accepts any number they > dial. Does that mean a LEC is a party to crank calls? > A customer using a tariffed service (which the LEC is required by law > to provide) in a way that the tariff either proscribes or does not > cover can hardly be blamed on a Common Carrier. > > Bill Horne > Moderator > Some tariffs are a requirement of the regulator but some tariffs are initiated and filed by the carrier, then approved by the regulator. For example, so far as I know, most calling features are (were in the case of California) offered under LEC-initiated tariffs. I don't know which type of tariff the feature group trunk for PBXes is; regulator initiated or LEC initiated. I remember in my fighting days how Pacific Bell loved to hide behind tariffs of their creation, by stating, "Oh we must do what that tariff says because that is the law."
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:55:16 -0500 From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access Message-ID: <Oq2dnbJCps0vcjnWnZ2dnUVZ_jidnZ2d@posted.visi> The Esteemed Moderator wrote: > Skype is, as I understand it, an outlier on the VoIP competition > curve. Rather than resort to OEM solutions (Vonage), or purpose-built > hardware (MagicJack), it let's users employ PC's for VoIP. To me, that > implies that Skype has aimed at the "early adopter" market, but I'm > not sure it's a viable business model in the long term. Opinions? > Amongst my clients and acquaintances who have contacts in other countries, Skype is very popular. Not just individuals, but small organizations that have offices in other countries. And most of these are not people I'd call "early adopters", some of them have needed a little help getting it set up, even though it's very easy to set up. Not so much as a PC-to-telephone link, but as a PC-to-PC videophone link. Because if both ends have Skype, it doesn't cost anything. Which of course does leave the question of the business model. I'm not sure that any of the people that I know pay Skype for calls to non-Skype telephones. Skype Access is an interesting business idea. It is a micropayment plan that uses your Skype account to pay for access to wifi networks. Apparently there's software that takes care of logging on for you (logging onto networks can be difficult, sometimes people report to me that they never did get logged on). While they seem to have signed up a number of wifi networks, some of which are operated by telcos, it seems like there are more and more free access points (in the US, not sure about other countries). Competing against "free" is very difficult. Dave
Date: 20 Mar 2010 17:57:30 -0000 From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Worldwide weekend of free WiFi with Skype Access Message-ID: <20100320175730.74190.qmail@simone.iecc.com> >Skype is, as I understand it, an outlier on the VoIP competition >curve. Rather than resort to OEM solutions (Vonage), or purpose-built >hardware (MagicJack), it let's users employ PC's for VoIP. To me, that >implies that Skype has aimed at the "early adopter" market, but I'm >not sure it's a viable business model in the long term. Opinions? You can get Skype wifi phones that look similar to normal cordless phones. I know people who use them as their primary phones. R's, John
Date: 20 Mar 2010 17:55:59 -0000 From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal Message-ID: <20100320175559.73799.qmail@simone.iecc.com> >My understanding is that the LEC expects the PBX to supply the CID >because of the class of trunk that is provisioned for the PBX. Thus, >the LEC is a party to any spoofing. Except that the CO switch can be programmed to know what range of numbers is assigned to the PBX, and to substitute the main number if the CLID is out of range. Some telcos actually do that, some don't. R's, John
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:35:14 -0400 From: Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Walmart changing phone system after abuse Message-ID: <barmar-81E8EA.12351420032010@news.eternal-september.org> In article <b84507a8-c487-4a83-ac81-7b2b2af191fc@g26g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Recently, an unknown person used a Walmart store telephone to access > the P.A. system to broadcast offensive comments throughout the store. > Police and store officials are investigating. > > Walmart announced its changing its system to restrict access. Presumably the change is something modern like requiring a PIN to be entered. -- Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** *** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:36:08 -0500 From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (PV) To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Waiting for Verizon.. Message-ID: <5ZadnQJDOYrlZDnWnZ2dnUVZ_u2unZ2d@supernews.com> AES <siegman@stanford.edu> writes: >> A VRAD is an outside plant item that is used to operate the fiber part >> of AT&T's new broadband offering, which is called uverse. * > >Would it be a bit more accurate (though much more wordy) to say that a Well yeah, but I was answering in one sentence. * -- * PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something like corkscrews.
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:47:54 -0500 From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (PV) To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Waiting for Verizon.. Message-ID: <w7CdnbxIG4mnYTnWnZ2dnUVZ_rKdnZ2d@supernews.com> Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> writes: >Cars batteries will sulfate quickly when used outside their design >parameters such as a source of backup power. When that happens, the >batteries are essentially belly-up though there are newer desulfating >chargers that often can "kick" some "new" life into them for awhile. Exactly. >I have never been inside a CO but it's my understanding COs have large >volumes set aside for batteries to power the local PSTN when commercial >power is down due to storms, accidents, etc. It depends. The battery bank is mostly buffer to provide clean power and bridge the generator, but it does have a few hours of standby all by itself. >... would be the same type ideal for UPS systems. My >>GUESS<< is >that such batteries follow the design principles of deep-discharge >marine batteries and the batteries used for powered wheelchairs and >golf carts. Good guess, yep. Ask any CO engineer, and they'll tell you a story how at some point they vaporized some piece of equipment (socket wrenches are common) in some battery bank related mishap. Telecom Digest Moderator said: >I'm sorry, but I'm lost. I just can't get my head around it: I've seen >a car battery melt a screwdriver, and then after a quick jump-start it >was fine. If that isn't "rugged", I can't define it. My analogy of a sprinter vs. a marathon runner explains it, I think. A car battery can put out a LOT of current for a small amount of time, but doesn't have a lot of capacity to do it for very long, and is easily damaged if you work it too hard. Batteries, especially lead acid, can be engineered to tailor them exactly for what they're used for. Car batteries are designed from the ground up to give the starter motor a big jolt, and not much else [*]. Deep cycle batteries can't deliver the same current, but what current they can produce they can do for a long time, and they don't get wrecked as easily when drained. * [*] Of course, the few other things are important too, but they don't pull much current by comparison to cranking the engine. >I'd like to set up a ham radio station for "Field day" in June, and >claim the extra credit available for battery operation, so that's one >question, i.e., would a car battery work to power a ~5 amp load for >twelve hours? What voltage? Amps alone doesn't tell you the whole story. For your application, a small generator (rentable at most big-box hardware stores) would probably be a better choice. Or if your radio runs on 12v directly, a marine battery. >... I suppose it's like trying to explain why a car alternator >isn't the best candidate for a hand-cranked power source: intuition >always loses out to training. Car alternators are designed to be as cheap as possible and still get their job done, not for efficiency. * -- * PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something like corkscrews.
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:07:23 -0400 From: tlvp <tPlOvUpBErLeLsEs@hotmail.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Mississippi makes Caller ID spoofing illegal Message-ID: <op.u9vzql1eitl47o@acer250.gateway.2wire.net> On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:17:18 -0400, Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com> wrote: > tlvp wrote: >> ... here in former SNET land, inbound calls from Poland to >> our land-line never show any CLID, but inbound calls to our >> cell-phones always *do*. >> > Sounds like Verizon is not getting the SS7 data. I have a problem like > that with a friend from UC Riverside, his office phone does not show CID > to my home phone with AT&T but comes through fine on my Sprint Cell phone. Not Verizon here -- "former SNET land" means AT&T, just like for you. Think it's really "not getting the SS7 data"? or just not bothering to pass it along? And yes, our cellular carrier, like yours, is not AT&T (unlike yours, though, it's T-Mobile, not Sprint). Cheers, -- tlvp -- Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to Usenet, where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Bill Horne. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. The Telecom Digest is moderated by Bill Horne. Contact information: Bill Horne Telecom Digest 43 Deerfield Road Sharon MA 02067-2301 781-784-7287 bill at horne dot net Subscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=subscribe telecom Unsubscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=unsubscribe telecom This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Copyright (C) 2009 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
End of The Telecom Digest (15 messages)

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