TELECOM Digest     Sat, 23 Apr 2005 17:07:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 180

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Telecom Update (Canada) #478, April 22, 2005 (John Riddell)
    Lingo (Primus Telecommunications) Horror Story (Ed)
    For Sale: CATV Meters for Sale (WV Cable Guy)
    Brain Waves Used to Operate Computer (Lisa Minter)
    How We Made Our Own Carnivore (Lisa Minter)
    MARS Communications (zootwoman@gmail.com)
    Re: AOL to Block Identity Theft Sites (mc)
    Re: Getting Serious About the War on Spam (Fred Goldstein)
    Re: Study: Consumers Oppose Cell Phones in Flight (Dave Close)
    Re: SBC, Vonage Working on 911 Service Access Deal (DevilsPGD)
    Last Laugh! One Way to Get 911's Attention! (Patrick Townson)

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.  

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

Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #478, April 22, 2005
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 17:47:59 -0400
From: John Riddell <jriddell@angustel.ca>


************************************************************
TELECOM UPDATE
************************************************************

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

Number 478: April 22, 2005

Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous 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:

** Cellcos Promise Number Portability
** Telus Increases Pressure on Union
** CRTC RFP Seeks Deregulation Experts
** Committee Reviews Do-Not-Call Bill
** Unlimited Canada-U.S. Calling for $30
** Xplore Announces Satellite Internet Pricing
** Telehop Offers Wholesale LD
** March Networks Hit by Patent Suit
** Dragonwave Boosts Wireless Ethernet Power
** Microsoft Supports Wireless Instant Messaging
** Most Intercity Fibre Still Unlit
** Hamilton to Test Wi-Fi Hydro Meters
** SaskTel Adopts New Messaging Architecture
** Qwest Raises Bid for MCI
** Look Revenue Declines
** Avaya Sales Up 21%

CELLCOS PROMISE NUMBER PORTABILITY: Canada's major cellular companies
have agreed to let customers keep their numbers when they switch from
one wireless carrier to another or between landline and wireless
carriers. The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association says it
will contract with an independent consultant to develop a project plan
by September 1. No target date for implementation was announced.

** The wireless carriers, which have long opposed number
   portability, appear to be bowing to the inevitable: both
   the CRTC and the federal government have announced plans
   to move on the issue this year. (See Telecom Update #436)

TELUS INCREASES PRESSURE ON UNION: Saying it wants to "resolve the
impasse" between it and the Telecommunications Workers Union, Telus
this week increased the pressure on the union to settle their
five-year-old contract negotiations.

** On Monday, the telco announced a plan to implement "lockout
   measures" including freezing scheduled wage increases and
   suspending joint committees and grievance procedures, beginning
   next week. The TWU is asking the Federal Court of Appeal for an
   injunction against the move.

** On Thursday, Telus bypassed the union bargaining committee by
   releasing details of its latest contract proposal directly to
   employees. The telco says the offer would make its employees "among
   the best paid telecommunications team in Canada."

CRTC RFP SEEKS DEREGULATION EXPERTS: The CRTC has issued an RFP for a
team or consortium to provide economic, legal/analytic, and support
services to the Commission for an upcoming proceeding on deregulating
local phone service. The Commission expects to pay between $500,000
and $1 million.  The RFP is number CABB-5-0051 on the Merx public
tenders website; bids are due May 25.  www.merx.com

COMMITTEE REVIEWS DO-NOT-CALL BILL: The House of Commons Standing
Committee on Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology is
holding hearings on Bill 37, "An Act to amend the Telecommunications
Act," which would set the basis for a mandatory Do-Not-Call registry,
allowing the CRTC to fine violators. (See Telecom Update #462)

** This week's witnesses included CRTC Telecom Vice-Chair
   Richard French, as well as Mothers Against Drunk Driving
   and the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association.

UNLIMITED CANADA-U.S. CALLING FOR $30: BabyTel, a Montreal- based
provider of broadband IP-based phone service, has cut its price for
unlimited calling in Canada and the U.S. for from $45 to $29.95 a
month. The company also permits customers to have phones in multiple
locations working on the same number for an extra $4.95 a month.

XPLORE ANNOUNCES SATELLITE INTERNET PRICING: New Brunswick- based
Barrett Xplore has announced pricing for the wireless broadband
service it will begin offering across Canada in July, using Telesat's
new Anik F2 satellite. Monthly rates range from $59.99 for 512 Kbps
download and 128 Kbps upload to $199.99 a month for 2 Mbps download
and 500 Kbps upload.

TELEHOP OFFERS WHOLESALE LD: Telehop Communications now offers a
Reseller Program that includes international calling, billing, and
other services for long distance resellers.

MARCH NETWORKS HIT BY PATENT SUIT: Vigilos Inc, a Seattle-based
software maker, has sued March Networks for allegedly infringing on
two patents for surveillance products. March Networks, whose chairman
is Terry Matthews, is preparing an IPO that is expected to raise about
$75 million.

DRAGONWAVE BOOSTS WIRELESS ETHERNET POWER: Ottawa-based DragonWave
Inc. has introduced a new wireless Gigabit Ethernet product that it
says has 30% increased reach over the previous model.


MICROSOFT SUPPORTS WIRELESS INSTANT MESSAGING: Microsoft says its
Office Live Communications Server 2005 now supports Windows-based
mobile devices, enabling Instant Messaging and presence-based
applications for mobile workers.

MOST INTERCITY FIBRE STILL UNLIT: A new report from TeleGeography says
that despite huge traffic growth only 3% of the maximum possible
intercity bandwidth in Europe and the U.S. has been lit. Despite that,
carriers are running out of capacity on some routes, and face
expensive upgrades.

www.telegeography.com/products/ib/

HAMILTON TO TEST WI-FI HYDRO METERS: This year, Hamilton Utilities
will test 100 "smart meters," which will automatically report
customers' electricity usage via wireless LANs.

SASKTEL ADOPTS NEW MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE: SaskTel is deploying a
"next generation" platform developed by New Jersey-based uReach
Technologies, as the basis for wireline and wireless voice mail, as
well as for new IP-based messaging services.

QWEST RAISES BID FOR MCI: Qwest Communications has increased its offer
for MCI to $30 a share, 30% more than the rival offer from Verizon
that has been approved by MCI's board.  (See Telecom Update #476)

LOOK REVENUE DECLINES: Look Communications had revenue of $9.7 million
for the three months ended February 28, 15% less than for the
corresponding quarter a year ago. Look's subscriber base decreased 5%
from the previous quarter, reflecting mainly losses of dial-up
customers. Net loss: $2.4 million.

AVAYA SALES UP 21%: Avaya reports revenue of US$1.22 billion for the
three months ended March 31, a 21% increase over a year ago. Sales
declined 9% in the U.S. and increased 6% elsewhere in the Americas. IP
product sales rose 30%. Net income: $36 million.

HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE

E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca

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COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2005 Angus
TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further
information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please
e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500.

The information and data included has been obtained from
sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus
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.

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

From: Ed <poepauv@yahoo.com>
Subject: Lingo (Primus Telecommunications) Horror Story
Date: 22 Apr 2005 14:34:43 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Here's my VOIP phone story:

I signed up for Lingo on August 13, 2004.  They've never sent me
equipment and they've never let me quit.

Here's what has happened.  I've kept very careful records.

No equipment had been received by September 9, 2004.  So I called to
cancel.  I was put on hold by the "cancellation team."

Called numerous times to get through to the cancellation team.
Finally got through to someone named Michelle after days and days of
calling.  This was on September 17.

She put me on three way hold to see if she as an employee could get
through to the cancellation team.  She was not able to do so.

Michelle put a note in her file saying I had been trying to cancel for
weeks after she personally tried to get through to the cancellation
team 3 times.

By the time I spoke with Michelle, I had spoken to 7 different people
all with one objective in mind, to cancel.

Keep in mind that I never received equipment so I could not possibly
make VOIP phone calls.

On September 24, 2004, an employee called John tried to get me through
to the cancellation team.  He failed.

I finally got a phone call from the cancellation team on September 28,
2004.  Presumably this employee successfully cancelled me but this is
when the horror really started.

In early September, I wrote to my credit card company, MBNA, and
disputed the charge on my card.

The charge was 39.90 from August 14 and MBNA reversed it since I had
never received equipment, had since canceled, and could not possibly
make phone calls.

In total, Primus Telecommunications has charged my card a total of 4
times successfully.  In addition, it has made other unsuccessful
attempts as well.

Each time the charge on my card has been reversed by MBNA. So far,
Primus Telecommunications has received zero dollars from me and has in
turn given me zero telephone service.

Today, I received a letter saying I've got 10 days to pay Primus
Telecommunications 61.99 or they turn me over to a collection agency.

Here's an excerpt from the letter:

********** Start of Excerpt **********

Our records indicate that some of your invoices with our company have
still not been paid.  We want to give you a final opportunity to pay
your outstanding bills before we forward them to a collection agency.
If we do not hear from you in 10 business days, we will have no
alternative but to send your account to a collection service, which
may influence your credit rating or result in legal action.

************** End of Excerpt ***********

Any suggestions?  Do I call a lawyer or the local television station
to be interviewed?

What would you do if you were in my situation?

Ed


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is just my opinion, but I would
say don't worry about the collection agency unless you feel like 
giving them a hard time as well. Remember, an agressive debtor is the
best kind of debtor, and you are the 'debtor' in this situation. They
(collection agency) are hoping to make at least _some profit_ from 
this account which was placed with them by the VOIP company. Let them
see how unrealistic that idea is. Yeah, I would say call an attorney -- 
but don't file suit; let Lingo file the suit, which is doubtful, then
you _counter sue_ which is always better. That action alone will blow
them out of the water, if they are typical of most collection agencies,
which frankly expect their bluster alone will convince you to cooperate.
And if Lingo induced you to provide them with a credit card number but
then had no intention of supplying you with an adapter, which it
sounds like to me, that amounts to fraud. 

Do you have any tracking numbers from the shipment Lingo was supposed
to send you?  Insist that Lingo prove someone signed for the adapter,
and how many times did you say they have attempted to charge your
account? Three or four times? That's how many instances of attempted
fraud they have committed if they cannot ever prove where they sent
you the adapter.   PAT]
 
------------------------------

From: WV Cable Guy <pc_guru_eric@yahoo.com>
Subject: For Sale: CATV Meters for Sale
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 16:57:10 -0400


For sale:

1x Sadelco MiniMax 800 forward path meter, excellent condition.
$600 negotiable including domestic shipping.

1x Trilithic RSVP2 reverse path meter, also in excellent shape.
$300 negotiable including domestic shipping.

Contact Eric at eric@eccd.net .

No phone calls please.  This ad will not be monitored, so please do not 
reply to it.  Thank you.

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

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Using Brain Waves to Operate Computer
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 13:06:14 -0500


By Matthew Nagel, BBC Health
Republished from BBC Health

A paralysed man in the US has become the first person to benefit from
a brain chip that reads his mind.  Matthew Nagle, 25, was left
paralyzed from the neck down and confined to a wheelchair after a
knife attack in 2001.

The pioneering surgery at New England Sinai Hospital, Massachusetts,
last summer means he can now control everyday objects by thought
alone.

The brain chip reads his mind and sends the thoughts to a computer to
decipher.

Mind over matter

He can think his TV on and off, change channels and alter the volume
thanks to the technology and software linked to devices in his home.

Scientists have been working for some time to devise a way to enable
paralysed people to control devices with the brain.

Studies have shown that monkeys can control a computer with electrodes
implanted into their monkey brains.

Mr. Nagle's device, called BrainGate, consists of nearly 100 hair-thin
electrodes implanted a millimetre deep into part of the motor cortex
of his brain that controls movement.

Wires feed the information from the electrodes into a computer which
analyses the brain signals.

The signals are interpreted and translated into cursor movements,
offering the user an alternative way to control devices such as a
computer with thought.

Motor control

Professor John Donoghue, an expert on neuroscience at Brown
University, Rhode Island, is the scientist behind the device produced
by Cyberkinetics.

He said: "The computer screen is basically a TV remote control panel,
and in order to indicate a selection he merely has to pass the cursor
over an icon, and that's equivalent to a click when he goes over that
icon."

Mr. Nagle has also been able to use thought to move a prosthetic hand
and robotic arm to grab sweets from one person's hand and place them
into another.

Professor Donoghue hopes that ultimately implants such as this will
allow people with paralysis to regain the use of their limbs.

The long term aim is to design a package the size of a mobile phone
that will run on batteries, and to electrically stimulate the
patient's own muscles. This will be difficult.

The simple movements we took for granted involved complex electrical
signals which would be hard to replicate, Dr. Richard Apps, a
neurophysiologist from Bristol University, UK, told BBC News.

He said there were millions of neurones in the brain involved with
movement.  The brain chip taps into only a very small number of
these. But he said the work was extremely exciting.

"It's quite remarkable. They have taken research to the next stage to
have a clear benefit for a patient that otherwise would not be able to
move.

"It seems that they have cracked the crucial step and arguably the
most challenging step to get hand movements.

"Just to be able to grasp an object is a major step forward."

He said it might be possible to hone this further to achieve finer
movements of the hand.

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.

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

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: How We Made Our Own Carnivore
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 13:21:18 -0500


I assume you all know about the FBI and their 'Carnivore' program
which spies on people by sniffing their computer packets and uses
this ill-gotten information to get guys in trouble. Some fellows in
New York City developed their own Carnivore thing based on information
taken from FBI files. Don't ask me how they got into the FBI files.

http://rhizome.org/carnivore/How_We_Made_Our_Own_Carnivore.txt

If you like what they have to say, then you can build your own 
sniffer with this program. Just download the version which goes
with your operating system:

http://www.rhizome.org/carnivore/

We tried it here on Patrick's computer network and it is sitting here
right now sniffing at his weather station stuff and some email on
another computer. Of course, I presume you could also use this
Carnivore to spy on people and their credit card numbers or things
like that on the net, but why would you want to do something wrong
like steal credit card numbers and passwords?

If you administer a computer network at your school or company, I
don't see any reason why you couldn't use this in the routine course
of your duties at work, etc.  Just use this tool in an ethical and
honest way, as all guys do when they use their computers; the way the
government does its business.  Patrick said it should make a good
worthwhile project for readers this weekend.

Lisa M.

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

From: zootwoman@gmail.com
Subject: MARS Communications
Date: 23 Apr 2005 13:21:36 -0700


Has anyone does business with this Canadian company and were they happy
with them? Did your AirWave phones work as you expected?

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

From: mc <mc_no_spam@uga.edu>
Subject: Re: AOL to Block Identity Theft Sites
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 22:26:37 -0400
Organization: Speed Factory (http://www.speedfactory.net)


What I meant was block.

<a href="xxxxx">yyyyy</a>

WHERE BOTH xxxxx AND yyyyy ARE URLs but do not (even approximately)
match.  That is block HTML tags that tell you they are going to take
you to one address and actually take you to another, e.g.:

<a href="http://somephisher.blah.foo.cn">www.bankofamerica.com</a>


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suspect you could you Carnivore
sniffers, like the one Lisa talked about in the other message in this
issue to catch people when they are phishing like this.  PAT]

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

Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 23:40:25 -0400
From: Fred Goldstein <SeeSigForEmail@wn6.wn.net>
Subject: Re: Getting Serious About the War on Spam 


Pat replied to me,

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In other words, John Postel gave away
> something he did not really own, and attorney Sims went along with
> the scam.

No, Jon Postel really did run the Internet, on federal contract.  When
he was alive, it (naming and numbering) was his baby (via USC ISI, his
employer), and AFAIK nobody had a problem with him.  He was a
government-funded academic, a holdover from the good old
pre-commercial days when the net was run by network engineers rather
than financial engineers, and he had no personal pecuniary interests.
He just took pride in a job well done.  So nobody talked about a
succession plan.  Had he lived to a planned retirement, something
could have been planned.  But he died suddenly.

The "alleged" scam began with Joe Sims, who quickly came out of the
woodwork with ICANN, which nobody had heard of when Jon was alive.
Sims, per some reports, claimed to be following Jon's will.  It seemed
like a pretty obvious bluff, but since all that matters is whose root
servers the big ISPs point at, Joe managed to get critical mass behind
himself. This was during the boom, when money flowed freely, and Joe
got a lot of high-rate billable hours for his law firm out of the
deal.  That was probably what he was after!  (You can get rich off of
a non-profit organization.)

> Fred, you mention ICANN is essentially a 'paper tiger' with no real
> authority, but however they came to get their 'authority' from the
> United States Commerce Department, in any event they have it now,
> the 'authority', I mean.

Well, no -- the Commerce Department can't order ISPs to point their
root servers at ICANN's roots.  That's voluntary.  Commerce can thrown
money at them though, so they can find ever-more-exotic locations for
old-fashioned big meetings.  Heaven forbid they try to conduct more
business across that unreliable, newfangled Internet thingie!

> Do you agree with my assessment that ICANN
> is happy with the mess things are in now? They wouldn't want to
> change anything at all, would they?  I mean, was the construction of
> the contracts now used totally an accident?  I don't think it was.

I suspect they're quite happy.

> They could have said *something* about the ever present maliciousness
> and malfeasance if they had _really wanted to_, am I right?

If you mean spam and phishing, no.  That's simply not part of their
claimed area of authority, which is names (DNS) and numbers (mostly IP
addresses).  They don't deal directly with most ISPs, just with
registrars and registries. They've tried to impose some "intellectual
property" rules onto the national registrars (the two-letter ISO
country-code TLDs) but that has met with limited success -- they
haven't (that I know of) had a real big stare-down over a major
country domain's ownership.  A few spats with tinhorn governments,
perhaps, but they've exercised some restraint.

I think I've also answered Steve Sobol's questions at least indirectly.

  Fred Goldstein    k1io  fgoldstein "at" ionary.com
  ionary Consulting       http://www.ionary.com/ 

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

From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close)
Subject: Re: Study: Consumers Oppose Cell Phones in Flight
Date: 22 Apr 2005 22:58:58 -0700
Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California


Marcus Didius Falco <falco_marcus_didius@yahoo.co.uk> quotes
http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=3Ddocument&doc_id=3D1340004344

> Study: Consumers Oppose Cell Phones in Flight

Banning cell phones will not stop telephone conversations in flight,
at least so long as high-speed Internet access is available. Connexion
by Boeing has already reported many customers using Skype to make
phone calls via their laptop computers. There have also been a few
reports of customers using the same connection to participate in a
video conference.

Indeed, when Internet access is sold at a flat rate for an entire
flight, why would anyone pay a roaming charge to use a cell phone? It
would be roaming, you know, as the aircraft microcell is not owned by
a carrier, but operates as an agent for them.  

-- Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Greed is to the moralists of
the dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 left what sex is to the
moralists dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu of the right." - Cathy Young

Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA  "Politics is the business of getting
dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359    power and privilege without
dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu           possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke

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

From: DevilsPGD <ihatespam@crazyhat.net>
Subject: Re: SBC, Vonage Working on 911 Service Access Deal
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 05:06:39 -0600
Organization: Disorganized


In message <telecom24.179.12@telecom-digest.org> Tim@Backhome.org wrote:

> E-911 has one really invaluable feature known as called party trunk
> and line sezure.  No matter how briefly you're off-hook, once you dial
> 911 you cannot release the connection.  Only the call center can
> release the connection.

> I wonder if that is even technically possible via VoIP assuming
> unrestrained cooperation of the LEC that holds the marbles, so to
> speak?

Sure it's possible if you implement the feature into the hardware and
software.  As it is, it's likely fully not possible, although a
combination of rerouting all outbound calls to the E-911 operator and
immediately redialing the number (and letting it ring indefinitely,
without going to voicemail) would do the trick.

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

From: Patrick Townson <ptownson@cableone.net>
Subject: Last Laugh! One Way to Get 911's Attention
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:13:59 -0500


The Correct Way To Call The Police

George Phillips of New York City was going up to bed when his wife
told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed which she
could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go
turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing
things.

He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?" and he
said no. The dispatcher then switched him into a recorded message
saying that that all patrol officers were busy, and that he should
simply leave a message for them, then lock his door and an officer
would be along to take a report when available.

George said, "Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police
again.

"Hello I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people
in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now cause I've
just shot them all dead". Then he muttered "that will teach them to
come on my property ... " as he hung up the telephone.

Within five minutes five police cars, an Armed Response unit, a SWAT
team and two ambulances showed up at the Phillips residence.  Of
course, the police caught the burglars red handed.

One of the Policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd
shot them!"

George said, "I thought your recorded message said there was nobody
available to help me right now!"

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #180
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