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
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 Sun, 15 May 2005 17:03:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 214
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
Microsoft, Sun, Pursue Gap-Bridging Product Plans (Lisa Minter)
EFFector 18.13: Action Alert - Protect Public Weather Data!! (M Solomon)
EFFector 18.14: Action Alert - Support DMCA Reform - (Monty Solomon)
Traveller Seeks Phone Advice (D. Dude)
Re: Vonage Changes 911 to Opt-Out (DevilsPGD)
Re: Vonage Changes 911 to Opt-Out (Lisa Hancock)
Re: Verizon FiOS (Steve Sobol)
Re: FAQ: How Real ID Will Affect You (DevilsPGD)
Re: Microsoft to Offer Anti-Virus Software, Service (P Thompson)
Re: Microsoft to Offer Anti-Virus Software, Service (Wolfgang Rupprecht)
Re: Will 911 Difficulties Derail VoIP? (Lisa Hancock)
Re: Jail For 'Robin Hoods' Who Cost Microsoft Millions (Henry Schaffer)
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Microsoft, Sun, Pursue Gap-Bridging Product Plans
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 14:14:04 -0500
PALO ALTO (Reuters) - Former bitter rivals Microsoft Corp. and Sun
Microsystems Inc. on Friday said they were nearly ready to release
products that help bridge the gap between their operating systems, a
result of their legal settlement more than a year ago.
Microsoft, the world's largest software company and Sun, a maker of
network computers, servers and software, in April 2004 agreed to
settle a years-long battle, with Microsoft paying $2 billion to Sun to
resolve the dispute in a 10-year technical collaboration
agreement. Sun had charged Microsoft with anti-competitive behavior.
The two companies announced new plans that would allow a Web-based
single sign-on between systems that use both Microsoft and Sun
software, potentially eliminating the need for multiple user names and
passwords for different computer systems and software programs.
"These are huge messages to our employees and to our customers that
we're working together," Sun Chief Executive Officer Scott McNealy
said in a joint news conference with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in
Palo Alto, California.
Microsoft and Sun will ultimately submit the new specifications to a
standards organization for finalization and for ratification as
industry standards.
Ballmer and McNealy also said the two are working together on systems
management software that will allow interoperability between their
operating systems and management software.
As part of that effort, the firms are collaborating on the development
of WS-Management, a Web services specification co-authored by
Microsoft, Intel Corp. and other companies that defines a single
protocol to meet systems management requirements spanning different
types of hardware, operating systems and applications.
"We've been hard at work, the two companies, for a year," said
Ballmer. "We're poised to leave the computer lab now and enter the
marketplace."
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.
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.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 02:23:03 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EFFector 18.13: Action Alert - Protect Public Weather Data!!
EFFector Vol. 18, No. 13 April 28, 2005 donna@eff.org
In the 329th Issue of EFFector:
* Action Alert - Protect Public Weather Data!
* Alert Update - National ID and Trademark Bills Still
Moving
* California Anti-RFID Bill Gains Momentum
* EFF Responds to Apple's Arguments in Online Journalism
Appeal
* Law Firm Shows Ignorance of the Law in Anonymous
Email Case
* BayFF Event: Explore the World of Anonymous Online
Communication, May 10
* MiniLinks (15): Breaking the Stupidity Pact
* Administrivia
http://www.eff.org/effector/18/13.php
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 02:24:02 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EFFector 18.14: Action Alert - Support DMCA Reform - Help Pass HR
EFFector Vol. 18, No. 14 May 5, 2005 donna@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424
In the 330th Issue of EFFector:
* Action Alert - Support DMCA Reform - Help Pass HR 1201!
* CA Alert - Keep RFIDs Out of California IDs!
* EFF Editorial: The Right Way to Fight Spyware
* EFF Announces New Activism Coordinator
* BayFF Event: Explore the World of Anonymous Online
Communication, May 10
* MiniLinks (10): Sensenbrenner Tells EU Not to Put RFIDs
in Passports
* Administrivia
http://www.eff.org/effector/18/14.php
------------------------------
From: D. Dude <xzzyxREMOVE@THIShotmail.com>
Subject: Traveller Seeks Phone Advice
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 11:58:23 GMT
Organization: Global Dial Pty Ltd
Hi, I'm planning on traveling to the US and Europe in the near future
so I'd appreciate some recommendations on which providers I should use
for cell service and phone/calling cards.
Pre-paid, since I assume I'm ineligible for credit, but I would
consider allowing a provider to directly bill a credit card number (if
they can be trusted). I don't have a SSN, or permanent US/European
address if that matters.
Services that require a minimum of pre-paid credit or offer wider
coverage would be better. My calls would be a mix of local and
long-distance including international. Having the option of toll-free
access for the calling card would probably be useful, if that is not a
given for US calling cards (it is not in Australia but we have larger
local call areas). I would expect that my cell usage would be fairly
low, limited mostly to receiving calls.
For the US, I'd like to have service in Hawaii, California, New York,
and the New England states. I'll pretty much be sticking to major
cities and the more touristed parts of these states.
I don't have a phone suitable for the US, so your recommendations for
a specific technology (CDMA, GSM etc) and a low cost handset (or
rental) would be welcome. WAP support would be plus if compatible with
the cheapest plans. A phone suitable for an elderly person with poor
eye-sight and dexterity, would be another plus, but not essential.
Offers for loaners or purchase of this phone would also be welcome.
For Europe, I'm planning on visiting the continent mainly to EU
states.
Thanks for any help,
D.
------------------------------
From: DevilsPGD <spamsucks@crazyhat.net>
Subject: Re: Vonage Changes 911 to Opt-Out
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 00:33:41 -0600
Organization: Disorganized
In message <telecom24.212.9@telecom-digest.org> Mark Peters
<mpeters@nospam.wideopenwest.com> wrote:
> A big problem is visitors, especially children who have been taught to
> dial 911 in case of an emergency. A device that looks like a phone and
> provides dial tone is expected to behave like a phone which includes
> 911. 911 should not be opt-in or opt-out. 911 should be there. E911 is
> the goal.
Agreed -- But how is the child better served if 911 connects them to a
call center which might not even be in the same state, and all they
know is that they're at dad's house?
Having 911 (or better, E911) for a fixed location VoIP device is
already being implemented by many/most carriers that sell a
non-portable solution.
However, making roaming 911 work is a challenge which won't be
overcome easily unless you can force users to enter a current valid
address whenever they move the VoIP device. It's virtually impossible
to get reliable GPS signals indoors, so it simply isn't feasible for
the device to do the trick itself. Cell phones at least have a fixed
location of the tower, which can give the call center a rough idea of
where the problem is, but VoIP doesn't even have that advantage.
I don't know about anybody else, but I'd rather have 911 return a
"Stop, this phone is not equipped to dial 911. Please use another
phone to dial 911" error message rather then have someone get routed
to a 911 call center that can't help them -- At least knowing that no
help is coming gives them a chance to obtain assistance elsewhere.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder how this scheme would work ...
any calls to 911 from a VOIP get intercepted by the broadband ISP
who is handling the connection. The IP address in use (and its
physical address) get transmitted 'like ANI' to the local police. The
'ANI-like' information passed along (from wherever) to the PSAP
identifies it as a VOIP from address (registered with the ISP for the
IP street address.) Am I correct in my assumption that most stationary
computers with broadband stay in the same place and they are almost
always on the same IP address as well? I know in my instance I have
been 24.xxx.xxx.xxx for however long, here at the same street
address, etc. Can't those two items (IP and street address) often as
not be matched? PAT]
------------------------------
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Vonage Changes 911 to Opt-Out
Date: 15 May 2005 11:33:40 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Mark Peters wrote:
> A big problem is visitors, especially children who have been taught
> to dial 911 in case of an emergency. A device that looks like a
> phone and provides dial tone is expected to behave like a phone
> which includes 911. 911 should not be opt-in or opt-out. 911 should
> be there. E911 is the goal.
It's not just children.
From reading messages in the newgroup, it appears that the
technocrats assume everybody out there is as tech-savy as they are.
The reality is that the vast majority of the people have no clue as to
what VOIP even is, let alone how it works or its limitations. To
expect another person to know the phone isn't 911 equipped is
ludicrous. The goal of 911 is to have a universal help number so a
stranger/outsider can get help quickly in an emergency.
------------------------------
From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: Verizon FiOS
Date: Sat, 14 May 2005 23:09:08 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com
William Cousert wrote:
> 6. 15/2 service costs $49.95 per month. 30/5 costs $199.95 per
> month. Twice the bandwidth, four times the price. Why such a big jump
> in price? Can you get two 15/2 packages and join them together
> (remember shotgun modems? You could have two 56k modems work as one)?
They probably figure 30/5 will be much more heavily used. They're
billing based on the average amount of bandwidth they expect to be
used, and I'm pretty sure they figure 30/5 will be used primarily be
really, really heavy users.
> 6a. Does the $199.95 package give you the right to run servers? Maybe
> that's the reason for the big increase?
I'm thinking it has to be.
> 8. Has anyone in this group made the jump from Comcast to FiOS? What
> do you think so far?
I'd like to get it. Keep in mind that, as a friend of mine who is a
retired telecomm guy pointed out, once you go FiOS, neither you nor
any future occupant of your home will be able to get copper from
Verizon. They disconnect the copper PERMANENTLY. You can request that
your POTS line not be disconnected, but you have to specifically
request it. And I doubt Verizon will give you the option if you don't.
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"
------------------------------
From: DevilsPGD <spamsucks@crazyhat.net>
Subject: Re: FAQ: How Real ID Will Affect You
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 00:33:42 -0600
Organization: Disorganized
In message <telecom24.212.8@telecom-digest.org> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
(Lisa Hancock) wrote:
> As all of us go through life, we have our share of problems. A bitter
> divorce or romance breakup. Fired from a job. Fight in a bar.
> Dispute with our landlord. Disputes with our neighbors. Thanks to
> modern LAWS all of these incidents are carefully tracked on our
> permanent record and may come back to haunt us. (And give our
> creditors an excuse to charge us more!) Sadly, controls are weak and
> inaccurate and malicious info can be added as well. As mentioned, we
> don't even know the companies who keep this stuff and we can't get at
> it.
Sure -- I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm willing to deal with the
resulting fallout if I get in a fight in a bar or with my landlord or
whatever.
What I'm not willing to deal with is the same fallout because somebody
else (with the same name) had one of the above issues happen.
In this respect, a universal ID is a good thing, names simply aren't
unique enough.
Whether the other issues are significant enough to be concerned about
or not is another question altogether, but in my opinion, the benefit
outweighs the risk right now.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 09:30:29 CDT
From: P Thompson <atrivo@nm.ru>
Subject: Re: Microsoft to Offer Anti-Virus Software, Service
On Sun, 15 May 2005, TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:
> From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Microsoft to Offer Anti-Virus Software, Service
> Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 00:18:11 -0500
> Microsoft Corp. , the world's largest software maker, unveiled on
> Thursday plans to launch a computer subscription service that would
> include anti-virus and security updates for personal computers.
Expect to see it hawked mercilessly by the M$ monopoly marketing
juggernaut.
Expect some security update or service pack for IE will reset your
home page to a page hawking the new service. Then another will place
an icon for a trial version on your desktop. Undoubtably MSN will
mention it on every page. The other vendors and consumer choice are
screwed.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Microsoft to Offer Anti-Virus Software, Service
From: wolfgang+gnus20050515T122844@dailyplanet.dontspam.wsrcc.com
Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 20:22:23 GMT
> Microsoft Corp. , the world's largest software maker, unveiled on
> Thursday plans to launch a computer subscription service that would
> include anti-virus and security updates for personal computers.
I supposed fixing the underlying security problems with their software
would be asking too much? I guess it is much more profitable to sell
cheese-cloth operating system software and then sell subscriptions to
fix-up software that deals with the after effects of the security
penetrations.
Thanks to Microsoft's shoddy software practices, I'm once again being
hammered with bounces from viruses running on MS-windows boxes. What
makes this one special? It seems that the latest virus is spewing out
neo-nazi rantings. Imagine my joy when I see that my email address
was being attached to such hate-mongering messages. Do I really need
the worry that someone unfamiliar with reading email headers got one
of these messages and thinks I really wrote it? Worse yet, what about
worrying about someone in the effected group showing up at my door
with a handful of their closest friends? I don't exactly keep my
contact details a secret.
It is a shame that the forgery victims of these messages can't all get
together and collectively sue the pants off of Mr Gates' company for
criminal negligence. I don't see how this is much different from the
Pinto case where the auto manufacturer saved a (very small) bit of
money by not cutting the ends of some bolts off. They knew quite well
that those bolts would puncture the fuel tank in the event of a
rear-end collision, but simply ignored the problem. How long has
Microsoft known about their virus problems and how stupid an idea it
is to allow a user to click on a program sent to them in the mail in
order to have it installed in their system. Why is this still not
fixed?
--
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/
------------------------------
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Will 911 Difficulties Derail VoIP?
Date: 15 May 2005 11:29:15 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
AES wrote:
> 1) It seems likely that in the not too distant future telephone
> service will be almost entirely provided by (or thru) VOIP. And,
> there seem to be real technical difficulties -- in particular serious
> "caller location identification" difficulties -- associated with
> providing 911 service to VOIP phones.
What time frame do you mean by "not too distant future"?
Why do you think all telephone service will go over VOIP?
To do so would require every home and business to have broadband
service and the capacity isn't out there to accomodate that.
Many areas are offered broadband, but if _everyone_ used it the trunks
would be flooded and unusuable; indeed, the cable company has some
capacity problems now. Remember, in many places you do not have a
private copper pair from your home/business to the central office --
but at some point your line goes into a modern day 'concentrator/
multiplexor' (or maybe even an old style one), and the consolidated
trunk only has limited capacity. If everyone were to have broadband,
more trunk capacity would be required.
Now the phone companies have been installing more capacity which is
how more people can get DSL with better speeds than the past, and
they're trying out "FIOS" (see other thread). But a broadband
connection, by definition, is "broad" and requires more capacity than
a POTS line.
There's also a heck of a lot of old or very old "drop lines" from the
telephone pole to the subscriber that might suffice for POTS calls but
not for broadband work. Who will pay to upgrade, esp when many
subscribers might not want broadband?
> Therefore I'm trying to envision a future situation (admittedly
> hypothetical at this point) in which telephone service will no longer
> necessarily be directly linked to 911 service ...
I strongly doubt that. Public policy has been completely the opposite
-- to provide universal 911 service and upgrade all services to
provide the enhanced features (911 originally not that sophisticated.)
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would think if it ever got that
critical (where 'everyone' went with VOIP instead of landline) the
VOIP administrators would develop the equivilent of the 'Erlang
tables' in an effort to develop the amount of capacity needed to keep
up with it. Telcos today, or anytime in the past, would never have
been able to keep up if _everyone_ wished to be connected _all_ the
time.
Telcos place their bets on the fact that at any typical time of
day/day of week, _maybe_ one or two percent of their subscribers are
actually using the phone. At 'busy hours' _maybe_ eight or ten percent
of the subscribers are on the phone, in a residential setting at
least, possibly fifteen percent in a business setting. If they develop
capactity to deal with their 'busy hour' they generally have it
made. Why do you feel VOIP would be any different? I cannot imagine
the _ratios_ would be much different than they are now. I understand
eight percent of a small handful is still much less than eight percent
of a nation-full, but I suspect as they need it, they will 'develop'
more capacity in the form of bandwidth. Telco engineers quite familiar
with Erlang can tell you, this is Tuesday, 10 AM, therefore there are
X persons using the phone and be rather accurate in their statement. I
am sure VOIP, as it matures will be the same way. PAT]
------------------------------
From: hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E Schaffer)
Subject: Re: Jail For 'Robin Hoods' Who Cost Microsoft Millions
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 19:04:50 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: North Carolina State University
In article <telecom24.202.3@telecom-digest.org>, Lisa Minter
<lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Robin Hood, according to legend, took from the rich and gave to
> the poor. Microsoft has been particularly hard hit from this,
> and has decided to strike back.
> http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050506/wr_nm/tech_internet_dc
The description given always says things like "The cost of their
activities run into very many millions in lost profit ... the losses
are incalculable,"
This is usually (always?) calculated by taking the list price of the
software, multiplying it by the maximum estimate of the total number
of copies that might have been distributed illegally and publishing
the result.
Of course, this usually (always?) seriously overstates the loss. The
estimate of the number of copies is usually taken as the top it might
have been -- i.e. the number distributed is usually considerably
lower. Furthermore, a lot of the copies distributed aren't used.
Additionally, even if it is used -- it shouldn't count unless the
person would have bought the software absent the illegal copy. (There
is *no* lost profit in a teenager's illegal CDROM copy of an expensive
piece of commercial software -- if the teen couldn't have afforded to
purchase that software.)
The overstatement of the loss continues with the use of the list price
of the software, because software is usually sold at a discount from
list. So to be honest (this isn't a consideration when one is trying
to get a lot of PR :-) the minimum sales price (or perhaps even the
average) should be used.
--
--henry schaffer
hes _AT_ ncsu _DOT_ edu
------------------------------
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