For your convenience in reading: Subject lines are printed in RED and Moderator replies when issued appear in BROWN.
Previous Issue (just one)
TD Extra News


TELECOM Digest     Sat, 26 Mar 2005 17:51:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 132

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Amazon.com Knows, Predicts Shopping Habits (Monty Solomon)
    Writer of Retracted Stories Faces Review (Monty Solomon)
    As File Sharing Nears High Court, Net Specialists Worry (Monty Solomon)
    Purloined Lives (Monty Solomon)
    FCC Extends 'Truth in Billing' Guidelines to Cellphones (Monty Solomon)
    Announcing EEPI - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative (M Solomon)
    TSA Work Sloppy, but Not Illegal (Monty Solomon)
    EFFector 18.7: Hearing Friday Could Determine Future (Monty Solomon)
    EFFector 18.8: Action Alert Best E-voting Bill Reintroduced (M Solomon)
    EFFector 18.9: Action Alert Stop the Trademark Act (Monty Solomon)
    EPIC Alert 12.06 (Monty Solomon)
    VOIP or PBX? (Smokey)
    Verizon FiOS Blocking Ports? (andyrankin@gmail.com)
    FCC: We Don't Need no Steenkin Line Sharing (Danny Burstein)
    Dealing With Vonage (David B. Horvath, CCP)
    Re: Our Telephonic Primacy (BobGoudreau)
    Re: Our Telephonic Primacy (AES)
    Re: Our Telephonic Primacy (Dave Garland)
    Re: What's Historic? (LB@notmine.com)
    Re: Texas Sues Vonage Over 911 Problem (John Levine)
    Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass (G Wollman)
    Re: New Long Range Cordless Phones? (Robert Bonomi)
    Re: CDR Collection (Carl Navarro)
    If You Work at RCN, Read This (Anonymous)

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; other stuff of interest.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:19:59 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Amazon.com Knows, Predicts Shopping Habits


By ALLISON LINN AP Business Writer

SEATTLE (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. has one potentially big advantage 
over its rival online retailers: It knows things about you that you 
may not know yourself.

Though plenty of companies have detailed systems for tracking customer
habits, critics and boosters alike say Amazon is the trailblazer,
having collected information longer and used it more proactively. It
even received a patent recently on technology aimed at tracking
information about the people for whom its customers buy gifts.

Amazon sees such data-gathering as the best way to keep customers
happy and loyal, a relationship-building technique that analysts
consider potentially crucial to besting other online competitors.

      - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47926794

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:21:24 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Writer of Retracted Stories Faces Review


By MARK JEWELL AP Business Writer

BOSTON (AP) -- A freelance journalist who authored two online news
articles that Technology Review magazine retracted over questions of
veracity is also facing review of stories she wrote for other
publications.

The journalist, Michelle Delio, is a 37-year-old New York City
freelance writer specializing in technology.

Delio said Friday that Technology Review's online version was correct 
in retracting the two stories because they were based on an anonymous 
source who misrepresented himself to her.

But she defended the rest of the work she has written over her 
15-year career as truthful.

WiredNews.com, for whom Delio has long been a contributor, published 
a note to readers citing this month's retractions by 
TechnologyReview.com and saying it had assigned a journalism 
professor to review articles written by Delio.

The online publication has not, however, removed any of the hundreds
of stories Delio has written for it, said Wired News' managing editor
Marty Cortinas.

Adam Penenberg, a New York University professor who also writes a 
media column for Wired News, was to do the review.

      - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47925733

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:40:17 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: As File Sharing Nears High Court, Net Specialists Worry


By JOHN MARKOFF

SAN DIEGO, March 16 - As the bitter debate over computer file sharing
heads toward the Supreme Court, the pro-technology camp is growing
increasingly anxious.

Some technologists warn that if the court decides in favor of the
music and recording industries after hearing arguments in the MGM
v. Grokster case on March 29, the ruling could also stifle a
proliferating set of new Internet-based services that have nothing to
do with the sharing of copyrighted music and movies at issue in the
court case.

Some of those innovations were on display here at the Emerging
Technologies Conference, attended by about 750 hardware and software
designers. The demonstrations included Flickr, a Canadian service that
has made it possible for Web loggers and surfers to easily share and
catalog millions of digital photographs.

And Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief of executive of Amazon.com,
demonstrated a set of new features in the company's A9 search engine
designed to make it extremely simple for Web users to share searches
specially tailored to mine everything from newspapers to yellow pages
to catalogs of electronics parts.

Software designers from iFabricate, a small company in Emeryville,
Calif., displayed a new Web service intended to make it simple for
home inventors to share instructions for complex do-it-yourself garage
construction projects.  Projects can be documented and shared with a
mixture of images, text, ingredient lists, computer-animated design
files and digital videos.

There was also a demonstration of Wikipedia, a volunteer-run online
encyclopedia effort that now has generated 1.5 million entries in 200
languages.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/17/technology/17soft.html?ex=1268715600&en=542d867283a2fb4c&ei=5090


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To read NY Times on line each day with
no login or registration requirements please check out our section
here  http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:43:16 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Purloined Lives


By GARY RIVLIN
March 17, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16 - The phone lines are seldom quiet for long at
the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center.  But lately they have
been ringing almost continually.

The calls come from people like Warren Lambert, who phoned on Feb. 18,
the same day he received a letter conveying alarming news from
ChoicePoint, a company that compiles data on millions of citizens. It
was only one of more than 140,000 such letters ChoicePoint has mailed
in recent weeks, informing people like Mr. Lambert that computer files
containing their names, addresses and Social Security numbers, among
other critical personal data, had been inadvertently sold to "several
individuals, posing as legitimate business customers."

Mr. Lambert, a 67-year-old retiree living in San Francisco, called the
identity theft hotline to ask not only what immediate steps he should
take but, more important, "what I'm going to be exposed to."

The immediate steps were clear, according to Jay Foley, who with his
wife, Linda, runs the ID theft counseling center from their home in
San Diego. Mr. Lambert needed to phone the three major credit
reporting agencies to find out if any credit cards or other accounts
had been opened in his name -- none had, so far -- and then place a
"fraud alert" on his accounts, to warn potential creditors not to open
additional accounts in Mr. Lambert's name without fuller verification.

But Mr. Lambert also needed to understand that the privacy breach
meant he now had something similar to an incurable virus -- a chronic
condition he would need to monitor for the rest of his life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/17/business/17private.html?ex=1268715600&en=ed495f886c4621c7&ei=5090

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:59:42 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: F.C.C. Extends 'Truth in Billing' Guidelines to Cellphones


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 11, 2005

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (AP) - Regulators voted Thursday to extend "truth
in billing" guidelines to cellphone bills in hopes of promoting
clearer, shorter statements devoid of confusing add-on fees.

All five members of the Federal Communications Commission gave their
support to a measure requiring cellphone bills to be "brief, clear,
nonmisleading and in plain language."  The guidelines already cover
bills for traditional phone service.

The F.C.C. said it was misleading to suggest that any fees in addition
to the base rate for cellphone service were caused by taxes or
government-mandated charges.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/11/business/11phone.html?ex=1268283600&en=42d7faeec224862d&ei=5090


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To read NY Times, USA Today and other
national news publications on line each day with no registration or
login requirements, go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 10:21:08 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Announcing EEPI - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative


                          Lauren Weinstein 
                         lauren@vortex.com
                           March 25, 2005

I'm pleased to announce "EEPI" ( http://www.eepi.org ), a new
initiative aimed at fostering cooperation in the areas of electronic
entertainment and its many related issues, problems, and impacts.

I've teamed with 30+ year recording industry veteran Thane Tierney in
this effort to find cooperative solutions to technical, legal, policy,
and other issues relating to the vast and growing range of electronic
technologies that are crucial to the entertainment industry, but that
also impact other industries, interest groups, individuals, and
society in major ways.

There are many interested parties, including record labels, film
studios, the RIAA, the MPAA, artists, consumers, intellectual freedom
advocates, broadcasters, manufacturers, legislators, regulators, and a
multitude of others.

The issues cover an enormous gamut from DVDs, CDs, and piracy issues
to multimedia cell phones, from digital video recorders to Internet
file sharing/P2P, from digital TV and the "broadcast flag" to the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and "fair use" controversies.

Working together, rather than fighting each other, perhaps we can all
find some broadly acceptable paths that will be of benefit to
everyone.

For more information, please see the EEPI Web site at:

   http://www.eepi.org


A moderated public discussion list and an EEPI announcement list 
are now available at the site.

Public participation is cordially invited.  Thank you very much.


--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lauren Weinstein was a charter
subscriber to TELECOM Digest, back in 1981, and was a regular
participant here for many years.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 10:27:36 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: TSA Work Sloppy, but Not Illegal


By Ryan Singel
02:00 AM Mar. 26, 2005 PT

Homeland Security officials failed to keep millions of airline
passenger records secure and repeatedly made false denials of their
involvement in data transfers to the media and Congress, but they did
not violate federal law, according to a report released Friday.

The report (.pdf) by acting Department of Homeland Security Inspector
General Richard Skinner found that the Transportation Security
Administration was involved in 14 different data transfers totaling
more than 20 million records in 2002 and 2003.

The report describes an array of data dumps from airlines to TSA
contractors and paints a picture of an agency unable to keep track of
its own operations, leading to false denials of data transfers to the
media and inaccurate sworn testimony to the Senate.

However, the department did not violate the Privacy Act, which 
prohibits secret databases on Americans, since the agency used the 
records in bulk and did not look up individuals by name, according to 
the report.

Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and American, Frontier, Continental
and America West airlines -- along with three airline record
processing firms, all secretly turned over data directly to the TSA
and government contractors.

The data included names, addresses, dates of birth, itineraries and
credit card numbers.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,67031,00.html

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:13:37 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EFFector 18.7: Hearing Friday Could Determine Future


EFFector  Vol. 18, No. 7  March 3, 2005  donna@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

In the 323rd Issue of EFFector:

 * Hearing Friday Could Determine the Future of Online 
   Journalists' Rights
 * Press Conference on Supreme Court File Sharing Case 
   Now Online
 * Keep RFIDs Out of California IDs
 * Support EFF - Bid on "Freedom to Connect" Pass on eBay!
 * CFP 2005: Panopticon - April 12-15
 * MiniLinks (14): European Commission Ignores Opposition 
   to Software Patents
 * Administrivia


http://www.eff.org/effector/18/07.php

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:15:48 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EFFector 18.8: Action Alert - Best E-voting Bill Reintroduced


EFFector  Vol. 18, No. 8  March 11, 2005  donna@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

In the 324th Issue of EFFector:

 
 * Action Alert: Best E-voting Bill Reintroduced - Lend
   Your Support!
 * EFF Giving and Activism Pages Improved
 * Court Crushes Online Journalists' Rights
 * WIPO Shutting Out Public Interest Organizations 
 * EFF to ITU: DRM Is Dangerous for Developing Countries
 * Slowly, Sunshine Creeping Into Texas E-voting Process
 * Grokster Send-off Party - You're Invited!
 * IP Attorneys: EFF Wants You
 * Staff Calendar: 03.16.05 - Fred von Lohmann speaks at
   "IP and Creativity: Redefining the Issue," Washington,
   DC
 * MiniLinks (16): Discontent in the Cult of Mac
 * Administrivia

http://www.eff.org/effector/18/08.php

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:14:52 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EFFector 18.9: Action Alert - Stop the Trademark Act from


EFFector  Vol. 18, No. 9  March 17, 2005  donna@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

In the 325th Issue of EFFector:

 * Action Alert: Stop the Trademark Act from Diluting Free 
   Speech!
 * Counting Down to Grokster with EFF
 * Grokster Send-off Party - March 24
 * CopyNight.org: Meet-up for Copyfighters - March 29
 * EFF Advises US Army on Soldiers' Email Legacy 
 * CFP 2005: Panopticon - April 12-15
 * MiniLinks (14): Apple Tightens DRM Noose
 * Administrivia

http://www.eff.org/effector/18/09.php

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:17:45 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EPIC Alert 12.06



========================================================================
                             E P I C  A l e r t
========================================================================
Volume 12.06                                              March 24, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             Published by the
                Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
                             Washington, D.C.

              http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.06.html

========================================================================
Table of Contents
========================================================================

[1] EPIC Calls for Regulation of Choicepoint; Coalition Demands Action
[2] Madrid Summit Urges Democratic Response to Threats of Terrorism
[3] Google's Gmail Subject of EPIC West Testimony in California Senate
[4] Transportation Biometric ID Raises Privacy Concerns; Review Urged
[5] EPIC Introduces EPIC FOIA Notes, 2005 FOIA Gallery
[6] News in Brief
[7] EPIC Bookstore: J.J. Luna's "How to Be Invisible"
[8] Upcoming Conferences and Events

http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.06.html

------------------------------

From: Smokey <mummy@gummy.com>
Subject: VOIP or PBX?
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 06:20:17 -0800
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com


Looks like we will be moving our company soon and growing a lot so I
have a need for a new system.

We currently have an old key (Meridian) system and a Call Pilot.  I
anticipate we will have some remote offices around the country and we
make heavy use of phones.

I would like something that will work well in this scenario and not
take rocket scientist to manage. Adds, removes, moves, should be
easy. We have a robust network with all Cisco switches, etc.  So any
ideas?

Thanks.

------------------------------

From: andyrankin@gmail.com
Subject: Verizon FiOS Blocking Ports?
Date: 26 Mar 2005 08:08:12 -0800


I'm very lucky to be in an area where Verizon's FiOS fiber to the
premises service is available.  I have the 15/2 Mbps service and it
works great.

I'm wondering if anyone knows if Verizon blocks are inbound ports (80,
etc.)?

Also, I'm using the Verizon provided DLink DI-604 router.  I'm not
having any luck getting the router to forward WAN traffic through to
specific machines on the LAN.  For example, I've tried passing traffic
on port 8080 to a linux box running Apache on that port and I think I
have the router configured properly but it doesn't seem to be letting
the traffic through.  I'm a bit of a novice so I'm not sure how to
determine if this is something Verizon's blocking before it gets to my
router or if I just haven't figured the router out yet.

------------------------------

From: Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
Subject: FCC: W Don't Need no Steenkin Line Sharing
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 13:53:18 -0500
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC


"The Commission has before it a petition for declaratory ruling filed
by BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.  (BellSouth) regarding issues
stemming from the Triennial Review Order. As explained below, because
the Commission's national unbundling rules in the Triennial Review
Order directly address the primary issue raised by BellSouth, we grant
BellSouth's petition to the extent described in this Order.

"Specifically, applying section 251(d)(3) of the Communications Act of
1934, as amended (the Act), we find that a state commission may not
require an incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC) to provide digital
subscriber line (DSL) service to an end user customer over the same
unbundled network element (UNE) loop facility that a competitive LEC
uses to provide voice services to that end user.

"For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that state decisions
that impose such an obligation are inconsistent with and substantially
prevent the implementation of the Act and the Commissions federal
unbundling rules and policies set forth in the Triennial Review Order
that implement sections 251(c) .....

rest at:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-78A1.txt [a]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-78A1.doc [b]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-78A1.pdf [c]

[a] messy ascii
[b] Word Doc
[c] PDF

(most FCC material is available in all three forms. URLs are identical
except for the trailing extension).

Further info on the main FCC page: http://www.fcc.gov

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 20:05:29 -0500
From: David B. Horvath, CCP <dhorvath@withheld on request>
Subject: Dealing with Vonage


PAT - please remove my email address -- too much SPAM.

I signed up with Vonage a while ago (taking advantage of PAT's offer).
I decided that I wasn't using it enough (plenty of minutes with free
LD on my cell) and tried to cancel.

I called on 3/18, sat on call for at least half an hour, got
transferred to regular customer service who could not take the
cancelation order. I was given a tracking ticket and a promise that
I'd get a call back in a day or two.  At the same time I also
requested cancellation using their web page.

I finally called again on 3/24, sat on hold for a while and finally
was connected to the "retention department".  It took about 5 minutes
(mostly on hold) to handle the actual cancellation. The clerk was very
helpful.  When I mentioned my 3/18 call, she told me that they had
over 3,000 tickets in queue waiting for calls back and that it was "a
staffing issue" (they need more people).

- David

David B. Horvath, CCP
Consultant, Author, International Lecturer, Adjunct Professor
Member: ICCP Educational Foundation Board and ICCP Test Council; Chair of 
LPR&GC CMP 

------------------------------

From: BobGoudreau@withheld on request
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:34:16 -0500
Subject: Re: Our Telephonic Primacy 


[As always, please block my email address=2E]

John Smith wrote:

>Dave Garland wrote (about infant mortality in Cuba):

>> It's true, but the US has far more heroic interventions among extremely
>> low birth weight and extremely premature infants than Cuba=2E  Which, of
>> course, are far more likely to die than normal births.  I suspect that
>> in Cuba, those get counted as miscarriages, not infants.

> Is this just a guess, or do you have reason to suspect that the
> medical definition of "birth" is different in Cuba?  Or perhaps it'
> the definition of "death"?

Actually, yes, he does have reason.  Many (perhaps most) other countries,
even developed ones, use a different standard than the US does in
distinguishing between live births and stillbirths.  Infant mortality
figures apply only to live births which subsequently die, so stillbirths
don't count. See http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110006161 for
more info.  For example, almost one-third of US infant deaths happened
to very premature babies (less than 1 kg) who wouldn't have even been
counted as live births in Switzerland.

> It seems to me, considering an equal number of premature births, that
> heroic intervention should produce a benefit in the statistics.

Only if they're counted as live births, not stillbirths.

Bob Goudreau
Cary, NC

------------------------------

From: AES <siegman@stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: Our Telephonic Primacy
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 20:10:34 -0800
Organization: Stanford University


In article <telecom24.131.15@telecom-digest.org>, John Smith
<user@example.net> wrote:

> Dave Garland wrote (about infant mortality in Cuba):

>> It's true, but the US has far more heroic interventions among extremely
>> low birth weight and extremely premature infants than Cuba.  Which, of
>> course, are far more likely to die than normal births.  I suspect that
>> in Cuba, those get counted as miscarriages, not infants.

> Is this just a guess, or do you have reason to suspect that the
> medical definition of "birth" is different in Cuba?  Or perhaps it's
> the definition of "death"?  It seems to me, considering an equal
> number of premature births, that heroic intervention should produce a
> benefit in the statistics.  If it doesn't, then why do it?  Or is
> there a higher percentage of premature births in the U.S.?

Demographics, specifically distribution of ages at which women
conceive and deliver, could be significantly different in the two
societies, and have an impact on the resulting statistics.  (But don't
ask me for specifics; I don't know them.)

------------------------------

From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com>
Subject: Re: Our Telephonic Primacy
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 00:19:46 -0600
Organization: Wizard Information


It was a dark and stormy night when John Smith <user@example.net> wrote:

> Is this just a guess, or do you have reason to suspect that the
> medical definition of "birth" is different in Cuba?

Yes, I suspect the definitions are different.  Shoulda given my source:

http://www.overpopulation.com/articles/2002/000019.html

None of which diminishes Cuba's tremendous successes in infant health.
But the statistics for the two countries are not directly comparable.
Which I think was Lisa's point, that you need to know all the details
in order to be able to judge statistical comparisons.

And, alas, none of which actually has much to do with telecom.  So
this will be my last post on the subject.

------------------------------

From: LB@notmine.com
Subject: Re: What's Historic?
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 07:29:52 -0500
Organization: Optimum Online


Wesrock@aol.com wrote:

>     This item forwarded from another list (and which apparently
> originated in a newspaper) calls Basking Ridge "historic."

>      To many of us 195 Broadway would be historic.  Basking Ridge was
> a johnny-come-lately and I remember the panic among Manhattan workers
> and how AT&T held driving lessons for employees from NYC.

> Wes Leatherock
> wesrock@aol.com

> Verizon to pay $125M for AT&T's 'Pagoda' Offspring to buy former
> telecom giant's HQ

> Tuesday, March 22, 2005
> BY GEORGE E. JORDAN
> Star-Ledger Staff

> Verizon has agreed to pay about $125 million for the sprawling Basking
> Ridge campus that once served as the historic headquarters of AT&T,
> according to five people with knowledge of the transaction.

> Verizon, the nation's biggest telephone company, eventually could move
> its operations center and up to 1,000 employees from Manhattan to the
> 10 interconnecting buildings in Somerset County, said the sources.

I think the "historic" appellation comes from the design.  It is a pretty
spectacular set of buildings.

LB

------------------------------

Date: 25 Mar 2005 23:59:50 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Texas Sues Vonage Over 911 Problem
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


> It's not just that.  To actually do the interconnection, Vonage would
> need to build some infrastructure: they'd need trunks into every LATA
> in which they offered 911.

But they already do.  The phone numbers they offer are all from
facility based CLECs.  I know that my number was on the Paetec switch
in Syracuse, in the same building with all the other CLEC switches and
probably the cell switches, too.

> It seems everyone pays a fee to support the PSAP except the VOIP
> people who claim their having to pay the fee would be
> anti-competitive "because they are not a phone company."  If it walks
> like a duck, looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, the obvious
> conclusion would be that it is what it puports to be - unless it is a
> VOIP provider. ...

Agreed.

> The VOIP carriers are using the telephone number assigned to the
> adapter for routing to the PSAP rather than the location of the
> router/gateway or whatever is the first unit to handle the call.

I see you've never tried VoIP service.  When I signed up for Vonage,
they told me fairly clearly that they needed to know my physical
address for 911 service, so I gave it to them.  Didn't ever try it,
and I'm not sure how informative a test would have been since the PSAP
for my house is the same one for the phone's rate center.  Same for
Lingo, where part of my account profile is my physical address,
separate from the billing address (my po box) and the address where
they shipped the adapter.

Collecting the address is a minor problem compared to the real
problem, most VoIP carriers, with the notable exception of Packet8,
won't pay for a real E911 connection to the PSAP.

> So let me get this straight. Local (and state) gov'ts pretend that a
> 911 PSAP (Public Safety Answering Position) isn't part of the standard
> functions of government, and therefore they get the telcos to pass
> through a separate "911 fee" (read tax).

Don't be silly.  Governments tax all sorts of stuff.  Since PSAPs are
uniquely useful to people who use phones, there's some logic in taxing
phones to support them.  I agree that the amount of 911 tax could be
better matched to the cost of the PSAPs.

> What's next? Perhaps the county will claim that libraries are
> special, so there needs to be a separate tax, excuse me, fee, on all
> book sales?

Don't be silly.  We have library districts for that.

R's,

John

------------------------------

From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman)
Subject: Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass System
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 21:48:44 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science


In article <telecom24.131.17@telecom-digest.org>,
Barry Margolin  <barmar@alum.mit.edu> wrote:

> Massachusetts doesn't give a discount for FastLane,

Actually, the Turnpike does.  The resident discounts on the harbor
tunnels now require Fast Lane (and have since it was introduced,
IIRC), and the two toll barriers on the Extension give a 25-cent
discount for Fast Lane customers.

> but last year they instituted a tax deduction if you use it enough to
> be considered a commuter (I think $150 or $250).

I believe it's actually written such that you don't have to use Fast
Lane, but you're unlikely to have saved all those receipts in any
other form.

-GAWollman

Garrett A. Wollman    | As the Constitution endures, persons in every
wollman@csail.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own
Opinions not those    | search for greater freedom.
of MIT or CSAIL.      | - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003)

------------------------------

From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
Subject: Re: New Long Range Cordless Phones?
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 14:13:49 -0000
Organization: Widgets, Inc.


In article <telecom24.131.12@telecom-digest.org>, Dave
<newsgroups@dave!!!christense!!n.o!!!r!!!g> wrote:

> If I set up another computer with Asterix running, this kludge isnt
> going to be terribly cost effective.  The rate for the additional
> electricity (38-43 cents per KWH) will negate the advantages.

> The other problems with sourcing VOIP from a provider in Alaska is
> that a) all high speed connections are metered and b) no VOIP carriers
> offer TN's in the 907 NPA, and being in a small rate center the odds
> of having a local TN are even less.

> Other then costs and time involved in getting a tech class ham
> license, can someone estimate what the costs and legalities involved
> in setting up a mobile radio system with a (pseudo-encrypted) PSTN
> gateway?  Then I could 'legally' do what these devices do.  The
> terrain is pretty open and flat and I have a barn that I could mount
> my equipment on which is above the treeline.  At least if i'm going to
> burn additional dead dinosaurs I can have a higher 'gee-whiz' factor.

There's a matter of finding an "available", legal, radio channel to
operate on.  Given that you're out in the boonies, this may not be a
problem.

You've got some recurring costs for license fees, etc. to the FCC.
There's an annual "regulatory" fee that will be maybe a couple of
bucks; might be as low as $0.40 or so.  (looks like between $.08 and
$0.26 per radio per year)

Then there's the license fee, itself; Looks like $55-$155. "depending"

I think that's good for 5 years.  "Renewals", for like period, same cost.

Then, there's the equipment cost.

Buying new, you'll spend beaucoup thousands.  On the used/surplus
market, you can probably find equipment in the low hundreds.

Transistorized gear uses a few tens of watts on standby. Maybe a couple 
of hundred when actually transmitting.

Good antennas make a *BIG* difference in range. They, cost, too.

The higher in the air you can get them, the better, of course.
Depending on _how_far_ up in the air, you may have to worry about
legal requirements for lighting, at night.  Those requirements are
*no* fun.  Aim for "just under" that 'lighting required' height.

The interconnect to the PSTN is fairly simple -- In the ham radio
community, it's called an "autopatch".  There are various kinds of
'access controls' possible, so that you, and nobody else, can enable
the telephone interface.

Generally, they let you *originate* calls from your radio, only.
Except for 'mobile phone' service, there are legal issues with a
transmitter going on because the phone rings.

"Pseudo encryption" is problematic.  The law requires you to announce
the station call-sign "in the clear" at the beginning/end of any
period of activity, and at stated intervals during activity.

Technically, minimal 'speech scrambling' is relatively trivial.  I'm
*NOT* sure about the legal issues.

Going the 'ham radio' route has its problems, too.  It's, legally,
*strictly* 'recreational'/'hobby' usage.  Something like calling a
pizza joint, to place a pick-up order, is technically illegal.  'In
the clear' transmission is required at all times.

> Or should I just say forget this idea and go back to Iridium?

I'd suggest trying a "better" roof antenna on the cell-phone.

Speculating -- you've got an 'omnidirectional' antenna, like a 'mag
mount' one for a car.  just mounted way up in the air.

A directional "beam" antenna, pointed at the cell tower, can make a *lot*
of difference.

> Tony P. wrote:

>>> I'm living in a rural Alaskan town and traditional cell service is 
>>> spotty to none, even with an old bag phone and roof antenna so I was 
>>> thinking that this could be an interesting approach to local mobile 
>>> phone service.

>> I highly doubt that it is legal in the U.S. However, modifying your
>> 802.11 gear and using say a PalmOS type machine with an 802.11 card
>> you could probably cobble together a VoIP solution that has a linear
>> range of 11 miles or so, depending on what type and pattern of
>> radiator you decide to use.

>> From what I've read about these units they operate in the amateur
>> radio band so I take sort of strong offense to that.

------------------------------

From: Carl Navarro <cnavarro@wcnet.org>
Subject: Re: CDR Collection
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 14:47:46 GMT
Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com


On 25 Mar 2005 09:28:45 -0800, Matt <mattmorgan64@msn.com> wrote:

> I have a NItsuka PBX (Not sure of mod # yet); from which I would like
> to pull incoming CDR records, for the purposes of parsing the phone
> number and bringing the customer up automatically in our customer
> system.

> The PBX has a PC attached to it, which I believe is used for voice
> mail.

> None of the phones have any sort of data port.

> Any idea where the most likely place for a port to obtain this data
> would be? Given the age of the thing, If there is a port at all, I'm
> guessing it will be a DB9 or 25 serial port.

You sort of answered your own question.  Pretending that you have an
Onyx, (black plastic cabinet, modular plugs for lines and amphenol for
stations), you ought to find a serial port on the AUX board ... if you
have one.

Carl Navarro

------------------------------

From: someone@netscape.net
Subject: If You Work at RCN Read This
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 17:00:00 EST


Mr. Townson, please remove my name.

I have been in this business for almost forty years, but yesterday
took the cake. I didn't think the bullshit could get any deeper than
it's been lately, but I was wrong.

If you work at RCN, and I hope you do and I hope you are high up, I've
got a bone to pick with you.

I work for a small clec -- never mind which one -- and we've been
doing ports to and from RCN for years. Used to be it was no big deal:
I could do it, my mates could do it, we all work together and it's a
small outfit but we do a good job.

But yesterday, I got handed the biggest blivot in the world. I called
up the guy we used to deal with at RCN and said we're porting a couple
of numbers out, they want it for next week, I guess you know the
routine. Like I said, it used to be no big deal -- you get customers
porting in, you got customers porting out, it's just business and no
big fuss, especially with it being mud season and lots of summer folks
getting ready to come back.

The guy I called said they got a new central department that handles
this now, and I have to call an 800 number. OK, I figure, they just
got out of bankrupcy so they probably contracted out some LNP stuff. I
figure they went to a gooey like Verizon has, which is a pain but it
works, and I make the call.

I get switched to someone who's name I won't say, but he tells me I
have to fill out a form and send it back and can he have my email to
send it to me. Sure, no problem, I give the email address and a few
minutes later I get the shock of my life.

When I get the email, it has a form attached to it that opens up in
Microsoft Excel. The first page is instructions, and I nearly crapped
my pants when I read this. Here's what it says:

"Put one letter in each box. YOU MUST HIT TAB AFTER EVERY LETTER"

Now, like I said, I have been in this business since the panel days,
and I have seen some stupid things, but four hours and forty minites
later I know that this takes the prize. Whoever set up this form used
ONE SPREADSHEET SQUARE for EACH LETTER OR NUMBER. Every goddamm time I
type two letters one after the other, I have to go back and erase, and
half the time I had about twenty things typed before I remembered to
look.

It took the best part of the afternoon, and my boss said we got to get
it down today and I had to type a letter and hit tab and type a number
and hit tab and type a letter and type a letter and oh shit goddamm it
again!

I had a plan for yesterday afternoon, and you screwed it up, RCN. I
was gonna pop a few and watch the wwf with my grandchild, but instead
I wound up halfway up a roof trying like hell not to slip and finding
my way with a flashlite because I was stuck in the office all damm day
and I have a guy out of service and it's that kind of a job.

RCN, you used to know what kind of job it is. You used to be pros. You
just went through a bankrupcy, so I can understand how you got a lot
of fresh faces in there, but this takes the prize.

Tell me RCN, since when does a company that just got out of bankrupcy
court have time to use a five thousand dollar computer to make a
carbon copy of a form that looks like it came out of my typewriter
while I was in the Navy? Hell, I learned to type on a Smith-Corona,
and I'm pretty good at it still, and I passed the po3 test four months
early because of it, but your form wasted my whole day.

Tell me, please, that whoever wasted my day and a lot of other guy's
days is getting called on the carpet.

I won't sign this. Just act like it came from all your old customers
who are calling me now.

------------------------------


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