32 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981

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The Telecom Digest for August 3, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 127 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Barry Diller really is done with Aereo, takes write-down on company (Neal McLain)
New look for our online digest [nfp] (Telecom Digest Moderator)
Re: New look for our online digest [nfp] (Telecom Digest Moderator)
Congress Says Unlocking Cell Phones is Okay (Neal McLain)
History - productivity gains by the 608 (white) PBX cord switchboard? (hancock4.remove-this)

====== 32 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======

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Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2014 21:46:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Neal McLain <nmclain@remove-this.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Barry Diller really is done with Aereo, takes write-down on company Message-ID: <d2873b4b-287e-4f44-a32c-5c4ec17b4153@googlegroups.com> Barry Diller really is done with Aereo, takes write-down on company By Daniel Frankel, FierceCable, July 30, 2014 Aereo has pledged to fight on after its landmark Supreme Court defeat in late June, seeking to reclassify itself as a pay-TV operator and obtain a statutory license to retransmit broadcast TV signals. As for the company's primary investor, Barry Diller, it looks like he's done. As first reported by Re/code, the company Diller oversees, digital media conglomerate IAC Corp., filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that IAC is taking a write-down of $66.6 million. IAC didn't specify how much of this write-down is attributed to Aereo. But during IAC's second-quarter earnings report conference call Wednesday, July 30, company CFO Jeff Kip said Aereo's charge was the largest among the five companies the write-down involved. Diller certainly seemed resigned to Aereo's end on June 26, the day the SCOTUS verdict was announced, telling CNBC, "It's not a big [financial] loss for us, but I do believe blocking this technology is a big loss for consumers, and beyond that I only salute [Aereo founder and CEO] Chet Kanojia and his band of Aereo'lers for fighting the good fight. We did try, but it's over now." Continued: http://www.fiercecable.com/story/barry-diller-really-done-aereo-takes-write-down-company/2014-07-30?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal -or- http://tinyurl.com/ovxssbg Posted 08/01/14 Neal McLain
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 14:49:36 -0400 From: Telecom Digest Moderator <redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: New look for our online digest [nfp] Message-ID: <20140802184936.GA7436@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Dear reader, Please take a look at the current online issue of The Telecom Digest, which is at http://goo.gl/qJVRTB . I'd like to know how you feel about the revised format: to send feedback, please use the "Reply To" address, or leave the "[nfp]" tag in the subject line. I won't be disclosing your name or address, because I want frank, brutally honest opinions. ;-) Bill -- Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 23:48:57 -0400 From: Telecom Digest Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: New look for our online digest [nfp] Message-ID: <20140803034857.GA10322@telecom.csail.mit.edu> On Sat, Aug 02, 2014 at 02:49:36PM -0400, Telecom Digest Moderator wrote: > Dear reader, > Please take a look at the current online issue of The Telecom Digest, > which is at > > http://telecom.csail.mit.edu/archives/back.issues/recent.single.issues/latest-issue.html > . > I'd like to know how you feel about the revised format: please use > the "Reply To" address, or leave the "[nfp]" tag in the subject > line, since I won't be disclosing your [name or email address]. I owe the readers an apology: I'm sorry, but judging by the responses I've received from several readers, I seem to have created the impression that I was going to abandon the email and/or Usenet distribution channels we've always used, and switch to a web-only publication. That is NOT the case, and I never intended to imply that I would consider abandoning Usenet or email in favor of the web. The Telecom Digest will be distributed by email and Usenet as long as those channels are still available. What I am doing is sprucing up the online version of the digest, i.e., I'm giving a facelift to the website where copies of the digest have always been available for reading. The website is intended for those readers whom prefer web-based displays, or whom employ "web only" devices, or whom don't have access to Usenet, or whom use restricted corporate email systems that don't allow for personal emails. It get a copy of each day's digest edition, shortly after it's published to email subscribers, and that's the part I'm working to improve. I hope that's more clear. Bill P.S. Never mind the yellow-on-black. Non-starter, honest! -- Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 12:41:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Neal McLain <nmclain@remove-this.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Congress Says Unlocking Cell Phones is Okay Message-ID: <ebde7516-7d90-46ad-8d43-abb1bcee2867@googlegroups.com> By Mitchell Lazarus, CommLawBlog, July 29, 2014 You ask: why is this even a question? Thanks to action by Congress - something we don't get to say often, these days - it will soon once again be lawful to "unlock" your cell phone so as to use it with a different carrier. You ask: why is this even a question? Because of an earlier act of Congress - the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), to be specific - whose Section 1201(a)(1)(a) provides that: [n]o person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title. The software in a phone is a "work protected under this title." The locking software is a "technological measure that effectively controls access" to the phone. So to "circumvent" the software by unlocking it violates the DMCA. Even a first offense, if done "willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain," can draw a fine of up to $500,000 plus up to five years in the federal penitentiary. Continued: http://www.commlawblog.com/2014/07/articles/cellular/congress-says-unlocking-cell-phones-is-okay/ Update: Some Cell Phone Unlocking Now Officially Legal By FHH Law, CommLawBlog, August 2, 2014 We recently reported that Congress had passed a bill designed to overrule a 2013 decision by the Librarian of Congress which severely limited the ability of cell phone owners to "unlock" (legally, at least) the software in their phones in order to move from one network to another. That bill has now been signed into law by the President, a development which FCC Chairman Wheeler promptly applauded. Source: http://www.commlawblog.com/2014/08/articles/cellular/update-some-cell-phone-unlocking-now-officially-legal/ Wheeler's applause: http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0801/DOC-328624A1.pdf Neal McLain Posted 08/02/14
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 20:36:48 -0700 (PDT) From: hancock4.remove-this@and-this-too.bbs.cpcn.com To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: History - productivity gains by the 608 (white) PBX cord switchboard? Message-ID: <5d72290e-f431-4521-9c36-520a2e6fbe6f@googlegroups.com> Around 1960, the Bell Systen introduced its last cord PBX switchboard, the 608. The jackface and table were white, not black, and the key shelf was all pushbutton, not levers. It had several productivity features to aid operators. Among those: --automatic ringing: When the operator inserted the cord into the jack of the desired extension, ringing began automatically with an audible signal. This eliminated the need for the operator to keep throwing the ringing key in the proper cadence and to inform the caller of status. --separate awaiting-answer and disconnect supervisory signals: In older switchboards, the cord supervisory signal glowed if the extension was on hook. The operator had to track and be careful to distinguish between calls not answered, and, calls that were finished. In the 608, a steady light meant the call was done, while a slow blink meant it was awaiting answer. --automatic flashing recall: In older switchboards, an extension that needed to 'flash' the operator had to keep depressing the hookkswitch until she noticed the flashing signal and answered; it was easy to miss such a signal. In the 608, a single depression would generate a rapid blink of the supervisory signal. Question: Did the above features significantly improve operator productivity and extension service? Has anyone here operated a 608 board? The 608 could be found in both large and small installations. I recall seeing them in all the motels at a seashore resort. At the same time (1960s), the Bell System was working hard to enhance both key systems and dial PBXs. Cordless console switchboards, which became popular in the 1960s, improved operator productivity with all of the above plus fully automatic disconnection and certain other features, like camp-on. Key systems replaced the smaller PBX's, like the 507. In 1962, for instance, the Bell System announced a dial PBX specifically for motels, which included message registers to tally local calls made from a room, message-waiting signal lights for rooms, and remote answer if the desk clerk was away. *** Moderator's Note *** I always thought that "608" boards were assoicated with step PBX installations. Not so? Bill
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