From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Oct 1 23:28:46 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id i923SkD13531; Fri, 1 Oct 2004 23:28:46 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 23:28:46 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200410020328.i923SkD13531@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #463 TELECOM Digest Fri, 1 Oct 2004 23:28:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 463 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Microsoft Vows Fight on Patent Rejection (Lisa Minter) Re: Voicepulse Disconnects Remote Computers When Phone is Used (jdj) Re: Wrong Address For 911 Caller a Tragic Ordeal (Tony P.) Re: Mount St. Helens Erupts After 18 Years (Clarence Dold) Re: Mount St. Helens Erupts After 18 Years (Marcus Jervis) Re: Lawsuit in Colorado Over Rerouted 911 (David) FCC Nears Cingular, AT&T Decision (Lisa Minter) Red Hat Buys Technology From Netscape (Lisa Minter) 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; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Lisa Minter Subject: Microsoft Vows Fight on Patent Rejection Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 15:41:41 EDT By ALLISON LINN, AP Business Writer SEATTLE - In a preliminary ruling, the government rejected Microsoft Corp.'s 1996 patent on technology for saving files on computers using easy-to-remember names. Microsoft vowed Thursday to appeal the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision, setting the stage for what could be long-running negotiations. The office could eventually decide to reject it outright, let it stand or change its scope. The patent covers technology widely used on computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system. In more recent years, it has also been used for naming files from devices that work with Windows, like digital cameras and portable music players. The patent is part of what Microsoft says is its implementation of a broader system used to store computer files, called File Allocation Table, or FAT. But Microsoft does not claim control over the entire FAT system. "We have some rights, but no one person has firm, strong control over all aspects of FAT," said David Kaefer, director of business development for Microsoft's intellectual property and licensing unit. Late last year, Microsoft began asking companies to buy licenses to use its implementations of the FAT system, including licensing the patent that was preliminarily rejected. The move raised concerns that the company would discriminate against those who develop open-source technology, restricting their ability to compete on the widely used Windows platform, said Daniel Ravicher, head of the Public Patent Foundation. His organization, backed by the open-source movement, asked that the patent be re-examined. Kaefer said Microsoft would grant the licenses to those who use open-source technology, albeit with slightly different terms. Greg Aharonian, a patent critic who runs the Internet Patent News Service, believes the patent will likely end up rejected given so much evidence the technology in question is widely used. "It's like getting a patent on cheesecake," he said. But he doesn't believe a rejection would have any major business or financial impact on the company because it doesn't pose a serious threat to cash cows like Windows or the Office business software. Nonetheless, in cases like this, where an outside group initiates the re-examination request, the most common outcome is that the patent is ultimately changed but not rejected outright, patent office spokeswoman Brigid Quinn said. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: jdj Subject: Re: Voicepulse Disconnects Remote Computers When Phone is Used Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 16:48:02 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 16:04:27 -0400, Chris Eilersen wrote: > Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening and what I can do to > fix it? Seems your phone may be hogging all the network bandwidth. It also sounds like a router firmware and/or a windows driver problem. It may also be a router config problem. Linksys may have updated the router firmware and windows drivers since you got your system. Linksys may also have FAQ or knowledgebase info on this. You might also ask Voicepulse whether they have heard of this before. Don't expect to talk to anyone at Linksys. Seems no one is home any more. If you do get someone there, then you will be one of the luckiest people around. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Wrong Address For 911 Caller a Tragic Ordeal Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 23:56:37 GMT In article , sacredpoet@sacredpoet.com says: > Tony P. wrote: >> This is going to force VoIP carriers to figure out how to deal with 911 >> routing in a big old hurry. >> For the life of me, I cannot understand why they just can't use GPS and >> then do a database dip to route to the correct entity. > How would you propose installing a GPS device that works in > determining the specific location of phone using Voice Over IP? With > wireless you have a transceiver that is either outdoors and can 'see' > GPS satellites, or is indoors but can be triangulated (we hope) from > cellular base stations with known fixed locations. With VoIP on the > other hand, I can plug the terminal into any number of ethernet ports, > but most are indoors where GPS signals can't reach. > E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. > Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. Suction cup mounted antenna in the nearest southwest facing window. Put solar cells on the thing to keep it charged and hell, use bluetooth or 802.11 for it to transmit it's location. Not hard at all. ------------------------------ From: dold@XReXXMount.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Mount St. Helens Erupts After 18 Years Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 22:40:00 UTC Organization: a2i network Lisa Minter wrote: > Mount St. Helens, the volcano that blew its top with cataclysmic force > in 1980, erupted for the first time in 18 years Friday, belching a > huge column of white steam and ash after days of rumblings. I drove to Mt. St. Helens in 1989. As you drive in last few miles, you see the mountain now and then, and then lose sight of it on the windy road.But you don't lose your sense of direction. Thousands of trees, like toothpicks, all point toward (or away from) the crater. Acres and acres of that was more impressive than the crater itself, where we weren't allowed to get very close. GPS: 46.19, -122.2 http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Quakes/uw10010614.htm Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For people who wish to see an absolutely breathtaking view of Mount St. Helens, I recommend taking a look at http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh which operates 24 hours per day snapping new pictures at five minute intervals. Very unfortunatly, during the Friday afternoon action, the servers were so overloaded it was very difficult to get through. After the immmediate action was over it was easier to reach the page. Be sure to clean your cache at least every five minutes unless your computer will do that automatically. For those of us who have been more provincial in recent years -- seldom getting more than a mile or two from our homes -- *good* web cams are the next best thing to being there in person. Oh, 35-40 years ago I traveled everywhere; would fly to New York City for a weekend of shopping, touring, etc, then a month or so later I'd be in San Francisco for several days at a time. I still remember quite well one trip I made (via San Franciso to Seattle, then onward to Vancouver and Victoria, BC, winding up in northern BC for a few days and riding in a rented car with a friend from northern BC back to Chicago traveling across southern Canada to Windsor, Ontario then dropping back into the USA at Detroit. Those good times are long over for me; now I must content myself with looking at the three thousand or so constantly changing images in the Web Cam Watcher software program. :( PAT] ------------------------------ From: Marcus Jervis Subject: Re: Mount St. Helens Erupts After 18 Years Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 23:05:51 +0000 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As this issue of the Digest was being > edited and getting ready for release, the thing everyone has been > expecting for several days finally happened: Mount St. Helens blew her > stack, spewing ashes and hot lava everywhere in the vicinity of > Vancouver, WA. The seismic activity in California over the past few > days was a good indicator something was about to happen. Officially, > I guess, the eruption started at 12:45 PM Pacific time, and lasted No, no no. There is no lava. Vancouver, WA, across the river from Portland, Oregon, is not covered with ash. The mountain shot off some steam for about 25 minutes. The mountain did not blow her stack. There was no lava flow during the big eruption in 1980, but lots of ash spread over downwind communities. At that time the bulk of the airborn ash landed to the southeast. University of Washington geophysicists have also said that there is no connection between the volcano activity and the seismic activity in California. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My note quoted the Associated Press article which Lisa Minter printed in full. Some of the related articles (which we did not print here) had geophysicists stating that much of the seismic activity *was* due to the volcano planning to erupt. The AP article used the phrase 'she blew her stack' and 'although mostly hot boiling water and steam, a little debris also shot out.' It was quite an exciting afternoon, if the amount of network congestion at volcanocams was any indicator. A local newspaper in the area talked about it some also today, and you may wish to read it: http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20040929/topstories/445.shtml PAT] ------------------------------ From: David Reply-To: FlyLikeAnEagle@United.Com Subject: Re: Lawsuit in Colorado Over Rerouted 911 Date: Sat, 02 Oct 2004 02:34:00 GMT Hello everyone, My comments are inline. On Fri, 1 Oct 2004 19:08:18 UTC, Rick Merrill wrote: > Carl Moore wrote: >> There are other readers more knowledgeable than I on this, but I have >> learned of a lawsuit (by a woman in the Denver area) over a wrong >> address for home telephone number. > My local E911 dispatcher acknowledges that CallVantage will not give > them the info needed to work with their equipment. In other words, > although the land lines have E911, and cell phones are supposed to > soon, VoIP does not have the capability and it is not on the > horizon. > Tony P. wrote: >>> >> This is going to force VoIP carriers to figure out how to deal with 911 >> routing in a big old hurry. I work on parts of the "911 problem". The VOIP Systems are not part of the PTSN (Public Telephone System) and claim they should not be regulated as phone companies. A few are growing up, but slowly. It's not a hard problem to solve. I've seen several good solutions and came up with another after reading this post. I'm not sure why CallVantage didn't know where the caller was; they did. It's always sad when the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Even in the cellular world, the problem wasn't that hard. Phones are starting to get GPS locations. It's a start. Even with GPS Phones, sometimes the 911 center has to call the cell company to get your location. The sad part of the 911 system is that it was built on incomplete and partial standards. That left the dozens of telephone providers to create their own solutions. Making a change to your landline's location during a move across town may take your provider a few minutes, days, or longer to actually make it to the 911 center. There isn't much agreement on what is an important update period. The Canadian system is a bit more reliable and requires an update period of a few hours nation wide. I've not heard how they handle the move request though, perhaps it still take a while to hit their national update system. >> For the life of me, I cannot understand why they just can't use GPS and >> then do a database dip to route to the correct entity. > You must be thinking cellphone. But a telephone adapter (TA) for VoIP > can be moved to another location, even across country, plugged into > broadband and it should work. THe USER must access the company > database and change their address. Even then it will not work the > same way that cell phones work (or will work). True, but there are ways to handle that most of the time. The networking people just need to get with the phone people and get a solution made. I don't think they are trying. I also read fairly often that those 911 Surcharges you pay on your monthly cell and landlines don't always get into funding the 911 system. I've never been thrilled with lawmakers creating taxes and then mis-spending the money. > But I certain agree that this problem needs to be solved and soon. - RM I agree. There are so many problems with the 911 system. At least it is there. Many countries are not working that hard, though a few may be doing better. David ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: FCC Nears Cingular, AT&T Decision Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 15:40:27 EDT by Ron Orol in Washington Federal Communications Commission member Kathleen Abernathy said Thursday, Sept. 30, that the agency will rule on Cingular Wireless LLC $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. in the next few weeks. Speaking to reporters, Abernathy said that while agency staff have yet to circulate a draft order among the commissioners, it would be "weeks, not months, before the FCC completes action on the merger. That suggests the companies remain on track to close the deal in October. Abernathy said FCC commissioners expect to receive a formal recommendation from the agency's wireless telecom bureau in the next few days, which they will then begin reviewing. "It's a very complex merger," she said. "We will need to take time to understand how the analysis was developed and what the conditions are." Observers do not expect the FCC to require Cingular to divest significant amounts of wireless spectrum or customers to win approval for the transaction. Separately, sources said Thursday that Cingular remains close to securing clearance of the transaction from the Department of Justice. All substantive disputes have been resolved, and the consent decree clearing the deal should be completed within days, they said At her FCC press conference, Abernathy said agency economists and lawyers are debating whether wireless and wire-line phones are becoming interchangeable, which would suggest that there is a broader telecommunications market rather than distinct wireless and wire line markets. But she did not say that the FCC intends to find a broader telecommunications market in its Cingular review. Most observers expect it will be several years before the agency makes this leap, which would widen the door to telecom industry consolidation. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Yahoo News. . For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Red Hat Buys Technology From Netscape Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 15:40:49 EDT SEATTLE (Reuters) - Linux said on Thursday that it had bought Netscape's computer user identification and management technology from America Online Inc., a unit of Time Warner Inc. Raleigh, North Carolina-based Red Hat, which provides update and support services for the Linux operating system, said it will integrate the assets from Netscape Security Solutions into its products in the next 6 to 12 months. The technology purchased by Red Hat for an undisclosed amount is used to manage user profiles in large corporate networks. Red Hat is focusing its efforts on selling more of its update and support services to large companies that are using Linux, a software operating system that can be copied and modified freely, unlike proprietary software such as Microsoft Corp.'s Windows. Netscape was bought by AOL which later merged with Time Warner. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance Reuters News Service and Yahoo News.. 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