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The Telecom Digest for June 30, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 158 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
France bids au revoir to the Minitel (John Levine)
Re: France bids au revoir to the Minitel (John Levine)
Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar (Monty Solomon)

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Date: 28 Jun 2012 18:07:35 -0000 From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: France bids au revoir to the Minitel Message-ID: <20120628180735.98528.qmail@joyce.lan> You know all that stuff that you thought people invented on the Internet, like online plane tickets or romantic chat? Surprise! It was invented in France in the 1980s on the Minitel, simple text terminals that were originally supposed to be (obTelecom:) an electronic phone book. But hardly anyone uses it any more, so it shuts down for good this weekend. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/world/europe/after-3-decades-in-france-minitels-days-are-numbered.html R's, John ***** Moderator's Note ***** The article says that farmers are reluctant to change to Internet-based machines, so I'm curious why they don't simply turn it into a BBS-type system. They've already got the terminals: why not just shrink Minitel to the agricultural market and keep it running? Bill Horne Moderator
Date: 29 Jun 2012 17:34:22 -0000 From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: France bids au revoir to the Minitel Message-ID: <20120629173422.69118.qmail@joyce.lan> >The article says that farmers are reluctant to change to >Internet-based machines, so I'm curious why they don't simply turn it >into a BBS-type system. They've already got the terminals: why not >just shrink Minitel to the agricultural market and keep it running? It's a 30 year old system with custom terminals, its own dedicated short phone numbers, and probably mainframes on the back end. The farmers will complain (a farmer who's not complaining is a farmer who's dead) but they'll figure something out. I do suspect there is a niche here for ruggedized netbooks or tablet computers that will work reliably in the barn when covered with mud and dust. R's, John
Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:19:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar Message-ID: <p062408a8cc125cfa1944@[10.0.1.6]> Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar by Martin C. Libicki RAND The protection of cyberspace, the information medium, has become a vital national interest because of its importance both to the economy and to military power. An attacker may tamper with networks to steal information for the money or to disrupt operations. Future wars are likely to be carried out, in part or perhaps entirely, in cyberspace. It might therefore seem obvious that maneuvering in cyberspace is like maneuvering in other media, but nothing would be more misleading. Cyberspace has its own laws; for instance, it is easy to hide identities and difficult to predict or even understand battle damage, and attacks deplete themselves quickly. Cyberwar is nothing so much as the manipulation of ambiguity. The author explores these topics in detail and uses the results to address such issues as the pros and cons of counterattack, the value of deterrence and vigilance, and other actions the United States and the U.S. Air Force can take to protect itself in the face of deliberate cyberattack. ... Libicki, Martin C.. Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2009. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG877 . Also available in print form.
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