TELECOM Digest     Fri, 8 Apr 2005 18:20:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 152

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    More Spam! We Reach the 80 Percent Mark Here! (Lisa Minter)
    More Spam! Monday Morning Blues of an Office Worker (Lisa Minter)
    More Spam! It Really is Very Profitable (Lisa Minter)
    More Spam! Get Ready For Spam on Your VOIP/Cell Phone (Lisa Minter)
    More Spam! Judge Sentences Spammer to Nine Years (Lisa Minter)
    More Spam! Users To Blame For This Mess (Lisa Minter)
    More Spam! Spam Ain't Dead Yet, Not by a Long Shot (Lisa Minter)
    Telecom Update (Canada) #476 April 8, 2005 (John Riddell)    
    Spammer Gets 9 Year Prison Sentence (Chris Farrar)
    Simultaneous Ring Problem With Cell Phone (Nathan Anderson)

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: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 15:02:02 EDT
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: More Spam! We Reach the 80 Percent Mark Here!


I have gathered up several articles dealing with the heartbreak of
spam, and share several items with you today in this special report.
I know PAT said maybe to respond to the bird whose email was published a
couple days ago complaining that we here do not exercise enough
'editorial control over what goes out' we would simply open the gate
and let it _all_ flow out in a flood at you, but Patrick decided
against that. So, here are a few items hopefully of interest.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

Lisa Minter

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

Date: Fri, 08 Apr 2005 14:21:15 -0400
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Monday Morning Blues of an Office Worker 


This link, is from http://www.HamptonRoads.com and 
http://www.PilotOnline.com about an office worker who found 624 items
of spam in her inbox when she came to work on Monday morning. It could
have been written here, except one of us usually flushes the toilet
once or twice daily. The most I have ever seen was 310 in a single
afternoon. 

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=83188&ran=77296

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

Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 14:18:06 EDT
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Spam is Really Very Profitable


For Spammers, Worm Turns a Profit

By Brian Krebs

For the first two weeks of October 2004, relentless waves of Internet
t raffic swamped the Web site of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Harta
Instruments, one of six companies worldwide that manufacture devices
used to detect a vir us linked to genital warts and cervical cancer.

John Lee, the company's owner, initially suspected a digital attack
bent on destroying his mostly Internet-based business. Lee later
learned that the flood of Web traffic came from more than 300,000
computers seeking softwar e updates at his site. The computers had
been infected with the latest vers ion of the "Bagle" worm, one of
last year's most prolific and insidious Int ernet viruses.

The debilitating attacks have ceased now that his Web site is
operating under a new name, but Lee still fumes over the incident,
which he says cost his company tens of thousands of dollars in lost
sales.

"I don't know who was behind all of this, but they need to be caught
and then shot," Lee grumbled.

Barring a careless misstep by the virus author or authors, the
prospects for any repercussions appear dim. The worm that targeted
Lee's site was the 44th version of Bagle unleashed in 2004, a year in
which teams of virus wri ters forged new alliances with junk e-mail
artists to convert millions of home PCs into remote-controlled
"zombies" used to fuel spam and phishing attacks.

As a result of those alliances, junk e-mail and phishing attacks --
online scams that lure victims into giving up confidential
information -- far out numbered legitimate e-mail communications last
year. Roughly three-quarters of all e-mail in 2004 was spam or
fraud-related, according to Postini, a Redwood City, Calif.-based
anti-spam firm.

Rent-a-Zombie

Bagle was just one of countless e-mail worms unleashed onto the
Internet in 2004, but the attack on Lee's site offered security
experts a rare glimps e into the thriving economic and operational
ties between Internet criminals and virus writers.

In many ways, the Bagle virus is no different from other e-mail worms:
it seizes control of a recipient's PC after they click on an e-mail
attachment that harbors the virus.

But Bagle also has outpaced its brethren in other areas. It would
become one of 2004's most successful "multi-stage" viruses, in that
it was designed to lie dormant for several days after infection, then
instruct its host to download software updates from a pre-defined list
of more than 130 Web sites. Bagle also was the first high-profile
worm to disable the protective firewall that Microsoft Corp. enables
in all distributions of Service Pack 2, a software security upgrade
made available to Windows XP users in August.

Symantec Corp., an Internet security firm based in Cupertino, Calif.,
intentionally infected some of its computers with the Bagle virus in
order to monitor the worm's progress. In a 28-page report published in
December, the company found that some of the PCs downloaded software
that forced them to forward e-mails used in a pair of elaborate
phishing scams targeting customers of SunTrust Banks.

Other Bagle-infected PCs were used to spew junk e-mail. One piece of
spam hawked cheap generic prescription drugs. Another advertised
popular software titles -- including computer-security and anti-virus
programs -- at fire-sale prices. Experts say most software sold
through spam is pirated, and much of it is itself laced with viruses.

Alfred Huger, senior director of security response at Symantec, said
most of the infected computers were seeded with additional software
over a period of several weeks. "That kind of activity suggests that
the people behind the Bagle worm are either running a vast criminal
enterprise or they are loaning out their network" of infected PCs to
other scam artists and spammers , Huger said.

It is common for attackers to sell or rent access to PCs they have
compromised, according to Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer
for the SANS Internet Storm Center. In certain little-known
underground chat rooms, a hacked computer in the United States can be
rented for pennies per week.

However, hijacked PCs in some foreign countries often fetch a higher
value because they are considered harder for authorities to shutter,
Ullrich added. "We've seen the asking price go as high as $25 for a
single compromised home system."

Recycling the Victim

One reason Bagle and hundreds of other so-called "mass-mailer" worms
are so prevalent is that virus authors typically reuse machines they
have infected to help spawn future incarnations of their
creations. Last year, hackers released new Bagle versions roughly
once a week, each time using thousands of hijacked computers to
"seed" the Internet with initial copies of the virus.

Harta's Lee and many others responsible for maintaining the Web sites
listed in Bagle's code acknowledged having inadvertently infected one
or more of their personal or work computers with earlier versions of
Bagle in the weeks leading up to the attacks on their sites.

The attackers likely located the victims' Web sites by using one of
Bagle' s built-in capabilities: eavesdropping on an infected
computer's Internet c onnection for usernames and passwords that
victims use to read e-mail, log in to bank sites or administer Web
sites.

Anthony Flanagan, a real estate development planner in San Francisco,
owns a laptop that was infected with the Bagle worm in early
September. Two weeks later his site buckled under the traffic of
Bagle-infected PCs trying to download software that attackers had
planted on his site and laptop.

Flanagan's Internet service provider quickly pulled the plug on his
Web site because it was crashing other sites operating on the same
server. Flanagan said his site normally receives four or five
visitors in a busy week, but when his ISP cut him off, the site was
choking on more than 120 hits per second.

"I didn't know I was infected, or that it was even possible for the
virus to make its way over to my Web site," he said.

Still, experts say many of the sites listed in Bagle's internal code
never hosted any of the phishing or spamming software and were
probably used as decoys to throw anti-virus researchers off their
trail. Nevertheless, those sites were just as affected by the deluge
of traffic from Bagle victims.

The Web site for Union Hospital in Elkton, Md., appears to have been
one such decoy. Hospital officials directed inquiries about the
incident to the site's Internet service provider, Hunt Valley,
Md.-based System Source.

System Source co-owner Robert Roswell said the hospital's Web address,
www.uhcc.com, received thousands of hits per second at the height of
the attack, cutting off public access to the site for more than 24
hours. Roswell declined to say how much the attack cost, but said the
company "put an enormous amount of defensive energy into keeping the
site alive."

"Let's just say we blew through about 10 years' worth of service contracts
defending the hospital from this attack," he said.

No Relief in Sight

For the first three weeks of 2005, anti-virus companies saw only minor
outbreaks of mass-mailing worms. But on Jan. 26, virus authors
unleashed a major outbreak with several new versions of the Bagle
worm. Within 24 hours, the amount of spam generated by Bagle-infected
PCs increased from 140,000 junk e-mails to more than 1 million a day,
according to Symantec, which recently acquired anti-spam company
Brightmail.

Experts say there are precious few signs that e-mail worms or the spam
and scams they facilitate will fade away in the near future. The
instructions for creating custom versions of Bagle and many of today's
most successful e-mail worms now are freely available online.

Virus authors also will continue to exploit weaknesses in commercial
anti- virus software, most of which must be constantly updated with
new "definitions" to be able to detect the latest viruses and
worms. This allows the virus writers to stay a step ahead by
releasing slightly different versions of their creations just hours
apart.

At the beginning of 2004, anti-virus companies took an average of 12
hours to release new definitions following a viral outbreak,
according to MessageLabs, a British anti-spam company. By December
2004, that window of opportunity had shrunk by less than two hours,
MessageLabs said.

Still, the biggest contributor to the future success of such viruses
will continue to be new, inexperienced Internet users, thousands of
whom venture forth each day worldwide, said Mikko Hypponen, director
of anti-virus research at F-Secure Corp. in Helsinki.

"There are new users coming online all the time who know nothing about
the risks of owning a computer and getting on the Internet," Hypponen
said. "We're going to be fighting these e-mail worms for quite some
time."

Copyright 2004 The Washington Post Company

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily
media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . Hundreds of new articles daily.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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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
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For more information go to:
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------------------------------

Date: 08 Apr 2005 11:14:27 -0700
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: More Spam!  Get Ready for Spam on Your Net Phone


It was hardly the big conversation topic at the VON conference in San
Jose last week, where companies big and small were pitching their
Voice over Internet Protocol technology and products. But when
conversations at the show turned to security issues, the SPIT started
flying. Not literally, of course.

Jeffrey Citron, chairman and chief executive of Vonage, took questions
after his keynote speech and was asked how he plans to address
security issues with VoIP. Clearly, he wasn't going to share his
security strategy so early.

"The great thing about security is that you don't have to tell
everyone what you're doing," he responded. "But we understand that
SPIT is an issue."

The issue is not only the potential for more telemarketing calls but
also voicemail spam -- the thousands of unsolicited voice messages
that a spammer could send to VoIP voicemail boxes with a simple
click. So far, it's not a major problem. But as VoIP grows over the
next few years, you can expect that 'spitters' will be ready.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily
media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . Hundreds of new articles daily.

*** 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, Associated Press. 

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For those folks not yet familiar with
the term 'SPIT', it is spam pushed over internet telephones, and it 
helps if you understand something about internet telephones and how
they work. If I understand correctly, computers which act as switches
for internet telephony have 'mailboxes' just like the email box you
use for incoming/outgoing email. A piece of voicemail (or 'email')
gets put in your slot, something triggers it to ring your net phone
and the 'email' gets delivered to you, much like when you are using
a Unix computer as I have here, new incoming 'email' triggers a 
message on my screen saying 'you have new mail'. Just as I can deliver
this Digest en-masse to many readers using an 'exploder' style 
address, I presume spammers can use an 'exploder' address to send
a single peice of 'email' to hundreds or thousands of users. And your
voicemail box holds those pieces of 'email' which cannot get delivered
right now because you are busy on some other 'email'. I am surprised
the spammers (or Spitters) are not busy using them already to deliver
their trash.  PAT]

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

Date: 08 Apr 2005 11:13:25 -0700
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: More Spam! Sometimes One Gets Caught: Judge Sentences Spammer


By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer

LEESBURG, Va. - A Virginia judge sentenced a spammer to nine years in
prison Friday in the nation's first felony prosecution for sending
junk e-mail, though the sentence was postponed while the case is
appealed.

Loudoun County Circuit Judge Thomas Horne said that because the law
targeting bulk e-mail distribution is new and raises constitutional
questions, it was appropriate to defer the prison time until appeals
courts rule.

A jury had recommended the nine-year prison term after convicting
Jeremy Jaynes of pumping out at least 10 million e-mails a day with
the help of 16 high-speed lines, the kind of Internet capacity a
1,000-employee company would need.

Jaynes, of Raleigh, N.C., told the judge that regardless of how the
appeal turns out, "I can guarantee the court I will not be involved in
the e-mail marketing business again."

The prosecutor, Lisa Hicks-Thomas, said she was pleased with the
sentence and confident that the law would be upheld on appeal.

"We're satisfied that the court upheld what 12 citizens of Virginia
determined was an appropriate sentence; nine years in prison,"
Hicks-Thomas said.

Defense attorney David Oblon argued in court that nine years was far
too long given that Jaynes was charged as an out-of-state resident
with violating a Virginia law that had taken effect just two weeks
before.

"We have no doubt that we will win on appeal," Oblon said outside
court. "Therefore any sentence is somewhat moot. Still, the sentence
is not what we recommended and we're disappointed."

Jaynes declined to talk to reporters. He remains under $1 million
bond.

Though Oblon has never disputed that his client was a bulk e-mail
distributor, he argued during the trial that the law was poorly
crafted and that prosecutors never proved the e-mail was
unsolicited. He also has said the law is an unconstitutional
infringement of free speech.

Under Virginia law, sending unsolicited bulk e-mail itself is not a
crime unless the sender masks his identity. Prosecutors brought the
case in Virginia because it is home to America Online Inc., the
leading Internet service provider.

Prosecutors have described Jaynes as among the top 10 spammers in the
world at the time of his arrest, using the name "Gaven Stubberfield"
and other aliases to peddle junk products and pornography. Prosecutors
say he grossed up to $750,000 per month.

The jury also convicted Jaynes's sister, Jessica DeGroot of Raleigh,
but recommended only a $7,500 fine. Her conviction was later
dismissed by the judge. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski of Cary,
N.C., was acquitted of all charges.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

*** 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, The Associated Press. 

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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

Date: 08 Apr 2005 11:22:30 -0700
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: More Spam!  Users To Blame For This Mess


We have met the enemy and he is us.

So says the Radicati Group, which Wednesday released preliminary
results of a survey showing that it's bad behavior on the part of
users -- us, in other words -- driving the spam and virus threat.

And you thought it was spammers and hackers.

"Frankly, it surprised us that users are still responding to 'spam'
and opening 'unsolicited' mail," said Sarah Radicati, the chief
executive of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based market research firm which
conduced the online poll.

According to Radicati's survey, 31 percent of those polled have
clicked on embedded links within spam at one time or another.

"Clicking on embedded links helps spammers determine 'live' accounts,
which encourages repeated spam attacks," said Radicati. And
enterprises can be compromised by a single miscreant. When an active
account with a domain is identified, organizations are at greater risk
of follow-up directory harvest attacks.

Eighteen percent of users admitted that they'd clicked on the
"unsubscribe" link in spam, another behavior that's exploited by
spammers, who then know the address, and perhaps the entire domain,
are active and so potential targets for follow-on spam campaigns. Even
worse, spammers sell and trade lists with virus writers eager to
accumulate bots, so by telling a spammer they're "live," users
increase their risk of later receiving worms and viruses.

But the most stunning statistic, said Radicati, was the last: more
than 10 percent of the respondents have purchased products advertised
in spam.

"With the near-zero cost of sending out huge volumes of spam, the fact
that more than one in ten users are purchasing products is clearly
continuing to drive the economics of spam," said Radicati.

"Although one person's spam may be another person's information," she
said, "it's clear that education isn't working. Either the spam
product offers are just too good to pass up, or users still have an
enormous lack of awareness of the danger of clicking on e-mailed
links."

Companies need to do a much better job, she said, of educating their
employees. "They're not," Radicati said. "They may say 'don't do this'
and 'never do that,' but there's simply not much formal training."

Our continued bad habits, she said, explains why e-mail security
threats -- spam, worms, phishing -- continue to explode.

"Anti-spam technology routinely achieves 90 percent plus catch-rates,
yet no technology in the world can protect an organization if users
exercise bad e-mail behavior."

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily
media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . Hundreds of new articles daily.

*** 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, The Associated Press.

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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

Date: 08 Apr 2005 11:25:42 -0700
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: More Spam! It Ain't Dead Yet


by Lance Ulanoff - PC Magazine

In the past few weeks, I have heard reports that spam is finally
dying. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of its death have been
greatly exaggerated.

The reality at least according to companies tracking and
stopping/catching spam for other major corporations and an
unscientific survey of my own readers is that spam remains a major
problem for both companies and individuals. Roughly 80-85 percent of
the world's e-mail is spam. Thanks to the innovative technologies
provided by McAfee, MailFrontier, FrontBridge, MessageLabs, and
others, we're seeing less of it on our desktops and in our
in-boxes. But we need to face facts. Spam hasn't disappeared. It's
just being corralled briskly into holding pens for you and your
company to evaluate, ignore, and eventually delete. On the whole,
however, it still costs companies millions of dollars to manage spam.

The CAN-SPAM Act has not been the panacea the U.S. government planned
and has done little to stem the flow of spam onto desktops and
corporate servers. More than a year after its passage, some companies,
like enterprise antispam provider MX Logic, estimate that as little as
13 percent of spam mail complies with the law (by allowing recipients
to opt out of getting any more spam from the same sender), down from a
16 percent compliance rate in September 2004. 

Perhaps the biggest development in the war against spam occurred late
last year in a Virginia courtroom, when jurors voted to convict Jeremy
Jaynes and his sister Jessica DeGroot for sending bulk e-mails under
false e-mail addresses. These were no small-time mom-and-pop felons
who did a little black-hat business. Jaynes and DeGroot were listed as
number eight on the spam watchdog group Spamhaus's list of most-wanted
spam purveyors. The conviction is potentially very good news. But the
ruling did have its share of oddities.

The trial took place in Virginia, but that's not where the spammers
are from; it's simply where the servers they used were located. More
interestingly, the jury seemed torn over the severity of DeGroot's and
Jaynes's crime, recommending a nine-year prison term and just
$7,500 in fines. I'd say they got that part backwards. I don't
know what putting these kinds of criminals behind bars will do. Better
to bar them from buying and using computers and the Internet for five
to ten years. 

Likewise, spam-catching costs corporations around the world millions
of dollars each year in software, servers, and other resources. So,
$7,500 is little more than a nod toward the spammers' real fiscal
responsibilities. If Jaynes did, as prosecutors charged, make $24
million from his enterprise, he should be fined at least that much. In
Germany, they're now promising hefty fines for spammers. The
U.S. government should hurry up and do the same.

Still, the judicial victory should embolden prosecutors to go after
other spammers on Spamhaus's list. Oddly, I have yet to hear about
another spammer going to trial or jail, or even being arrested.

I guess the next logical step is for companies to go after spammers
themselves with civil lawsuits. In theory, some major corporations
should be suing Jaynes and DeGroot. They should work with state and
federal officials to time those civil suits to hit at the same time
the spammers face criminal charges. It could be a hugely effective
one-two punch.

On the other hand, if those who believe spam is dying are right, we
can sit back, do nothing and let CAN-SPAM take its course. With a 13
percent compliance rate, those death throes should continue for
another 50 or 60 years.

Copyright 2005 Ziff Davis Inc.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

*** 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, Ziff-Davis.

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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

Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #476, April 8, 2005
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 15:32:50 -0400
From: John Riddell <jriddell@angustel.ca>


************************************************************

TELECOM UPDATE

************************************************************

published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group
http://www.angustel.ca

Number 476: April 8, 2005

Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous=20
financial support from:

** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com
** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/
** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca
** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/
** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca
** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/
** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca
** UTC CANADA: www.canada.utc.org/

************************************************************
IN THIS ISSUE:

** VoIP Providers Given 90 Days to Implement 9-1-1
** CRTC Promises VoIP Decision by May 12
** Ottawa Sees No Need to Rewrite Telecom Act
** Union to Vote on Entourage Offer
** Resellers Can Now Use Bell Third-Party VoIP
** Bell Forms Small-Business IT Services Division
** Shaw to Increase Internet Access Speeds
** Telus to Extend High-Speed Access in Rural B.C.
** MCI Rejects Qwest Bid But Talks Continue
** RIM Adds 470,000 Subscribers
** Telecom Conference Calls for Papers

VoIP PROVIDERS GIVEN 90 DAYS TO IMPLEMENT 9-1-1: The CRTC says that
9-1-1 service is not optional in Canada. Telecom Decision 2005-21
orders all providers of IP-based local telephone service to implement
at least Basic 9-1-1 service by July 3.

** Basic 9-1-1 routes emergency calls to the correct Public
   Safety Answering Point (PSAP). Enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) also
   delivers the caller's location, and gives the PSAP control
   of the call.

** Providers of fixed (non-nomadic) IP-based phone services,
   with a local number within the caller's PSAP serving area,
   must implement full 9-1-1/E911 service where it is
   available from the incumbent phone company.

** If the IP service uses "non-native" phone numbers, or is
   used nomadically, providers must implement an interim
   solution. The CRTC expresses a preference for solutions
   that route 9-1-1 calls to an intermediate call centre for
   screening and routing to the correct PSAP.

** IP telephony providers must obtain customers' express
   consent to 9-1-1 limitations, and must provide ongoing
   notification including warning stickers for customer phone
   sets.

** The CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) has
   been given deadlines for recommending permanent solutions.

   www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-21.htm

CRTC PROMISES VoIP DECISION BY MAY 12: This week the Canadian
Cable Television Association, Quebecor, and Cogeco all wrote
to the CRTC challenging Bell Canada's new "Digital Voice" IP
telephony service, describing it as in violation of the
Commission's rules and the Telecom Act. In response, the
Commission says it will issue its final VoIP decision by May
12 and will rule on these three applications after that. (See
Telecom Update #475)

OTTAWA SEES NO NEED TO REWRITE TELECOM ACT: Responding to
recommendations made last year by the Standing Committee on Canadian
Heritage, the federal Cabinet says it doesn't believe it is necessary
to rewrite or combine the Telecommunications, Broadcasting, or CRTC
Acts. The government also rejects the Committee's recommendation to
create a unified Department of Communications responsible for telecom,
broadcasting, and cultural industries.

** The Cabinet response also says it "is not prepared to
   modify foreign ownership limits on broadcasting or
   content," but that it expects that the pending telecom
   review "may be helpful in shedding new light on this
   important issue."

www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/ri-bpi/index_e.cfm

UNION TO VOTE ON ENTOURAGE OFFER: Bell Canada and Entourage Technology
Solutions have given their striking employees what they say is a
"final offer" to settle the contract dispute.  The Communication,
Energy, and Paperworkers Union has recommended rejection of the
proposal in Ontario and acceptance in Quebec.

RESELLERS CAN NOW USE BELL THIRD-PARTY VoIP: CRTC Telecom
Order 2005-123 allows any registered service provider (not
just carriers) to use Bell Canada's Internet Voice Access
Service to connect a retail VoIP offering to the public
switched telephone network. Providers must comply with the
Commission's customer privacy rules. (see Telecom Update
#455)

    www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2005/o2005-123.htm

BELL FORMS SMALL-BUSINESS IT SERVICES DIVISION: Bell Canada
has completed its purchase of Nexxlink Technologies. (See
Telecom Update #466) It plans to merge Nexxlink and Charon
Systems, another recently acquired IT company, in a new
division, Bell Business Solutions, which will provide IT
services to small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.

SHAW TO INCREASE INTERNET ACCESS SPEEDS: Shaw Communications plans to
increase download speed of its High-Speed Internet service to 5 Mbps
from 3 Mbps in seven cities of western Canada. High-Speed Xtreme
download speed will be increased to 7 Mbps.

TELUS TO EXTEND HIGH-SPEED ACCESS IN RURAL B.C.: Telus has
promised the B.C. government to spend $110 million by the end
of 2006 to extend high-speed Internet access to 119 rural
communities in the province. That will leave 32 communities
unserved by high-speed access, which the government proposes
to provide through a separate satellite initiative.

** The B.C. government also agreed to buy $245 million worth
   of telecom services from Telus over four years.

MCI REJECTS QWEST BID BUT TALKS CONTINUE: MCI has rejected Qwest's
acquisition bid of $27.50 a share, terming it "not superior" to
Verizon's rival bid of $23.10. MCI/Qwest talks are continuing
today. (See Telecom Update #475)

RIM ADDS 470,000 SUBSCRIBERS: Research In Motion added 470,000
BlackBerry subscribers in the last three months of 2004, bringing its
total to 2.5 million. Revenue of US$405 million was up 11% on the
quarter and 92% on the year. RIM took a $294-million fourth-quarter
charge to resolve its patent dispute with NTP; RIM's net loss was $2.6
million.

TELECOM CONFERENCE CALLS FOR PAPERS: Telemanagement Live, Canada's
premier business telecom and networking event, is asking for proposals
for workshops and tutorials during its October 17-19 conference in
Toronto. Submissions are due by May 6; 
go to www.telemanagementlive.com/callforclarity.html.

HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE

E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca
FAX:    905-686-2655
MAIL:   TELECOM UPDATE=20
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The information and data included has been obtained from
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TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations
whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy.
Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available
information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on
the subject matter is required, the services of a competent
professional should be obtained.

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

Date: Fri,  8 Apr 2005 16:33:49 -0400
From: Chris Farrar <cfarrar@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Spammer Gets 9 Years


North Carolina spammer gets nine years; Sentence postponed while
appeal is heard. Jeremy Jaynes was among the top 10 spammers in the
world when arrested, prosecutors say.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LEESBURG, Va. A man convicted in the U.S.'s first felony prosecution
for illegal spamming was sentenced to nine years in prison today, but
the judge postponed the sentence while the case is appealed.

Loudoun County Circuit Judge Thomas Horne said that because the law
targeting bulk e-mail distribution is new and raises constitutional
questions, it was appropriate to defer the prison time until appeals
courts rule.

Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., was convicted in November for using
false Internet addresses to send mass e-mail ads through an AOL server
in Loudoun. A jury had recommended the nine-year prison term.

Prosecutors said Jaynes used the Internet to peddle sham products and
services such as a 'FedEx refund processor.'

Virginia, where AOL is based, prosecuted the case under a law that
took effect in 2003 barring people from sending bulk e-mail that is
unsolicited and masks its origin.

Jaynes told the judge that regardless of how the appeal turns out, "I
can guarantee the court I will not be involved in the e-mail marketing
business again."

Lisa Hicks-Thomas, the prosecutor, said she was pleased with the
ruling and confident that the law would be upheld on appeal.

"We're satisfied that the court upheld what 12 citizens of Virginia
determined was an appropriate sentence =97 nine years in prison,"
said Hicks-Thomas.

Defense attorney David Oblon argued that nine years was far too long
given that Jaynes was charged as an out-of-state resident with
violating a Virginia law that had taken effect just two weeks before.

Prosecutors have said Jaynes was among the top 10 spammers in the
world at the time of his arrest, using the name "Gaven Stubberfield"
and other aliases to peddle junk products and pornography.

The jury had also convicted Jaynes' sister, Jessica DeGroot of
Raleigh, but recommended only a $7,500 fine. Her conviction was later
dismissed by the judge. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski of Cary,
N.C., was acquitted of all charges.

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

From: Nathan Anderson <nathan@anderson-net.com>
Subject: Simultaneous Ring Problem With Cell
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 21:17:08 -0700
Organization: First Step Internet (www.fsr.net)
Reply-To: Nathan Anderson <nathan@anderson-net.com>


(I posted a much more detailed version of this note earlier describing
exactly what I want to accomplish, why I want to do it, what I had
already tried, etc., but apparently it was too much information and
thus it was rejected.  Clarifications will have to come in the form of
replies.)

I have "simultaneous ring" call forwarding at home.  I want to use
this feature to forward to my cell phone which does not have
voicemail.  If I don't answer my home phone or my cell while it's on,
then it goes to my home voicemail.  However, if my cell phone is off
or out of range, then my cell phone company "answers" the "simulring"
call with a message stating that I am not available.  This happens
before my home voicemail has a chance to kick in.

What's the best way to avoid the latter situation so that if my cell
phone is off, my home voicemail gets the call?  My cellular provider
is willing to work with me and entertain suggestions from me, so if
anyone has any creative solution, I'm all ears.  Apparently, they
cannot turn off the message on an account-by-account basis (or so they
think).

Thanks,

 Nathan Anderson           <mailto:nathan@anderson-net.com>
 <xri:=nathan.anderson>      <http://www.anderson-net.com/>

   "You can't appreciate Shakespeare until you've read him in
   the original Klingon."
     -- General Chang, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I will tell you how I handle the same
problem here: Instead of simultaneous ring, my home phone is set
up for 'transfer on busy/no answer' to my cell phone. If I do not
answer my home phone (or am already on a conversation) then the
incoming call forwards (after 3-4 rings) to my cellular phone, then
the cellular phone 'transfers on busy/no answer' to voicemail. That
way, if I am out, or not in the area, my home phone rings 3-4 times,
switches to the cellular which rings 4-5 times, _then_ it goes to
voicemail. In other words, your voicemail has to be at the end of
the line (after the cell phone) and not in the middle (attached to
Inland) as you have it now. Do not let anything 'get in the way' of
the voicemail (such as the phone is out of area/not turned on' message
people are getting now). 

And I would not do it on simultaneous ring simply because there is too
great a risk of callers getting the inappropriate response they are
getting now. I would say do it on 'transfer on busy/no answer' so the
only time the cell phone gets the call is if the landline goes
unanswered, which is what you would want anyway. And if your voicemail
is on the Inland line, it is always going to jump in and intercept
calls whether you want to or not. Have the voicemail on the cell phone
line, so you in effect get 'two chances' to answer the call (once on
home line, and once on cellular) before the call is lost. And if you
are out of the area, or the cell phone is unable to get the call, then
voicemail will get it rather than the messages people are getting now
from it. In your original message which I have here, I think you said
the cell phone was timing out with inappropriate responses, busy
signals, etc after a certain period of time. Unless you have some
objection to the voicemail from your cellular carrier, I would use
that one to insure there was always some appropriate response if you
did not get the call for some reason.  PAT]

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #152
******************************