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TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:33:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 302 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Protecting Your Good Name from Identity Theft (Lisa Minter) Use of IP Telephony Surged in Sweden in 2004 (Lisa Minter) Michigan and Utah Launch Email Registries (Lisa Minter) Digital Move Will Blank 80 Million TV Sets (Lisa Minter) Vodafone, Microsoft Forge Wireless Message Deal (Telecom dailyLead USTA) Re: Cellular Jamming? Think Again. (mc) Re: Western Union History (Jim Haynes) Re: Using Comcast to Host Web Site (Rob Stampfli) 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: Protecting Your Good Name From Identity Theft Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 23:29:35 -0500 By Linda Stern WASHINGTON (Reuters) - By now you know that 40 million credit card account numbers are flying around the underground economy. They were set free when hackers implanted a virus in the computers operated by CardSystems, a Tucson-based credit card processing firm, and they were actually let loose way before consumers were let in on the breach recently. It was the latest in a series of security flubs from companies including ChoicePoint, which collects and supplies financial data, DSW Shoe Warehouse and others. It revealed that consumers could not only lose their financial identities, they could be in the dark about it. It took almost a month from the time CardSystems said they discovered the breach until the public was made aware. Somebody could be using your credit card right now, and how would you know it? "This news is just the tip of the iceberg," said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a California-based consumer information and advocacy organization. Yet Givens and others do not believe consumers should panic. Instead, they should seek to maintain that careful balance between recognizing the possibility of identity theft without overreacting and denying themselves the convenience of credit card shopping. "Consumers should not at this time be canceling card accounts as a preventive measure," said Givens. Here's how to protect yourself without going back to a cash-only lifestyle: -- Don't panic and don't stop using your credit card or shopping online. Credit cards come with two levels of protection: Federal law prohibits consumers from losing more than $50 to theft or fraud, and the card issuers step in and cover that $50. If your card number does get stolen, you won't be out any money. Your issuer can give you a new number. -- Don't wait to get your statement to see if your card is being used. If you haven't already set your credit card accounts up for online and phone access, do so. Then you can go online between statement dates and check to make sure nobody else is posting charges to your account. -- Look for small, inconsequential charges. Most credit card thieves test the card with a small purchase to see if it works. -- Control your own paperwork. Most credit card thefts do not occur when techies figure out how to hack your card company. They occur when retail employees or shoppers pull carbons out of trash cans or find payment stubs and the like. Keep control of your receipts and keep control of your cards. If you lose the actual plastic card, check to make sure that you aren't being charged for gasoline you didn't buy. Many card thieves make their first purchase a pay-at-the-pump gasoline buy; that way if the card gets rejected they can hop in their car and leave without talking to a cashier. -- Consider giving up your debit card. Those debit cards which look like VISAs and MasterCards and do not require a pin number, can be dangerous. That's because they draw directly from your checking account. And while the banks that issue them tend to guarantee that they will indemnify you from fraud and will replace any lost money within hours, it can still take some time to clear up the account. While it does, you can be bouncing rent checks, car payments and anything else that comes out of your checking account. "I've talked to people where the institution doesn't believe them and the funds take a month," says Givens. "Frankly, I don't advise using debit cards." If you have good credit and financial discipline, you can just use a credit card for your everyday purchases and then pay that off once a month from your checking account. -- Check your credit report. Unless you live in the Northeast, you can already get one free credit report a year. On September 1, even Northeasterners will be eligible. Find it at http://www.annualcreditreport.com. If someone has used your card, it might show up in extra inquiries or mistakes in your credit report. -- Read your mail. At least one California lawyer, Ira Rothken, is trying to make a class-action suit out of the recent security breach. If you are a member of a class that has been wronged, you should receive notification. Even if you're not in a position to join a suit, you might get notification from your bank about security breaches or new procedures. Linda Stern is a freelance writer. Any opinions in the column are solely those of Ms. Stern. You can e-mail her at lindastern@aol.com 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. ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com> Subject: Use of IP Telephony Surged in Sweden in 2004 Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 23:31:00 -0500 The number of people making phone calls via the Internet more than doubled in Sweden in 2004, the country's telecoms regulator said on Wednesday. Its report on the telecommunications market for last year said 80,800 people had Internet Protocol phone call subscriptions, compared with 38,400 in 2003. "Not all telephone clients are linked to networks which offer IP-based calling, but the potential client base is rising as more operators are starting to offer IP-based phoning," the PTS regulator said. It said broadband operator Bredbandsbolaget, recently bought by Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL), had most IP telephony clients. At the end of 2004, there were 25 operators offering IP calls, versus 10 to 15 at the end of the previous year. Nordic giant TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST) has said that IP telephony is one of the challenges it has to deal with in its home markets. 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. ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com> Subject: Michigan and Utah Launch Email Registries Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 23:34:16 -0500 By DAVID EGGERT, Associated Press Writer Two states are on the verge of trying to block porn and other inappropriate messages sent to children through e-mail, but critics question how the laws will be enforced and predict they could have unintended consequences. Michigan and Utah have until Friday to create and operate registries of e-mail addresses similar to "do-not-call" lists. Businesses will have to buy copies of the registries and face prison time and fines if they send e-mail to any addresses that parents submit. The registries also can include instant-message addresses, cell phones and pager numbers. Parry Aftab, an Internet safety expert with WiredSafety.org, said the laws were well-intentioned but flawed. "Anytime anyone starts collecting lists of children, it's subject to hacking and misuse," Aftab said. "The last thing I want is anyone to have a large database of children." As with other Internet laws, critics say the registries probably won't have much effect -- largely because anti-spam laws have been difficult to enforce. Spam often originates from outside the country and from other states. The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Safety, which runs conferences and other programs on e-mail marketing, is concerned that commercial e-mailers don't know about the laws. "We've talked with several top-tier e-mail marketing firms and e-mail service providers and they were all just stunned to learn that they need to start scrubbing their mailing lists against these registries next month or face criminal sanctions," said Anne Mitchell, the group's president. 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. ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com> Subject: Digital Move Will Blank up to 80 Million TV Sets Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 23:36:43 -0500 Consumer advocates on Wednesday warned that up to 80 million television sets could go dark after a transition to digital broadcast signals and said the government should help owners get special converter boxes. About 15 percent of U.S. households rely on over-the-air television signals, and about 39 percent of households have at least one television that is not connected to satellite or cable television service, according to a survey by Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission are trying to speed the broadcast industry's transition from analog signals to digital ones to free up valuable spectrum. Lawmakers are considering legislation that would set Jan. 1, 2009, as the deadline for finishing the switch. "The first rule Congress must abide by is do no harm to consumers," said Gene Kimmelman, public policy director for Consumers Union. "We can only support a hard date transition if the costs are not borne by consumers who have done nothing wrong and just want their TVs to work." He suggested that the government should subsidize converter boxes for most of those television sets, potentially costing more than $3.5 billion. Industry estimates put the cost of converter boxes at about $50 each. The Consumer Electronics Association has projected a smaller number of television sets -- 33.6 million -- would be affected by the switch. "The (consumer groups') survey appears to assume that any TV not connected to cable or satellite is connected to a broadcast antenna," said Michael Petricone, CEA vice president for technology policy. He said millions of sets are used only for video games and movies. Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives put off a hearing until later this summer to consider digital television legislation, in part because of a dispute over a subsidy plan for aiding homes that rely only on over-the-air broadcasts. Most expect a subsidy program would be funded with the proceeds of auctioning off the old analog broadcast airwaves. 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: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 13:29:01 EDT From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com> Subject: Vodafone, Microsoft forge wireless messaging deal Telecom dailyLead from USTA June 30, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=22761&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Vodafone, Microsoft forge wireless messaging deal BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Motorola sets sights on Japan * Nortel shareholders express frustration at meeting * Report: Today's customers want control over communications experience * Phone, cable company spots spur ad growth USTA SPOTLIGHT * Order Today! Newton's Telecom Dictionary -- 21st Edition EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Nextel tests wireless broadband REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Transition to new Internet protocol lags * Lawrence Lessig: Grokster decision "a pretty significant defeat" Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=22761&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ From: mc <mc_no_spam@uga.edu> Subject: Re: Cellular Jamming? Think Again. Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 01:08:03 -0400 Organization: Speed Factory (http://www.speedfactory.net) > The law should be modestly amended to declare those using cellphones > in theaters, churches, and other places of public assembly outlaws > subject to pummeling by the inconvenienced other inmates of such > assembly. Exception might be made for surviving, on duty, emergency > personnel. ;^) Here I think there is a market for cell phone *detectors*. Cell phones transmit every few minutes even when you're not making or receiving a call, in order to keep the tower apprised of where they are. "Turn off your cell phone" could have more teeth if equipment were in use to detect cell phones that were still turned on. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Western Union History Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 19:17:36 GMT In article <telecom24.300.14@telecom-digest.org>, <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote: > hard. But I wish I knew more about their microwave system -- what it > did for them and what it didn't. The Telecom archives contain Western Union Technical Review, which gives pretty good coverage of their microwave system, its beginnings, and its eventual expanse. jhhaynes at earthlink dot net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And readers can also check out the 23 year run of Western Union Technical Review. The entire collection is on file in our archives http://telecom-digest.org/archives PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Using Comcast to Host Web Site From: restamp@hotmail.com (Rob Stampfli) Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 21:07:44 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com In article <telecom24.300.15@telecom-digest.org>, William Warren <william_warren_nonoise@comcast.net> wrote: > Comcast has been blocking port 80 (HTTP) for a while now, and they've > recently started blocking port 25 (SMTP) as well. IMNSHO, it's only a > matter of time before they start blocking all syn packets and charging > extra for ANY incoming connection, but for now you can do it with some > workarounds. With cable's relatively limited upload speed, I can readily understand blocking inbound port 80, where the traffic distribution is highly skewed towards outbound packets. But why inbound port 25? It can't be to prevent spam from infected PCs since they don't use it. Inbound port 25 can only be used to receive mail and one could argue that whether you receive your mail via SMTP (port 25), or POP or IMAP or otherwise, the bits have to eventually flow in one way or another. So, why block port 25? The only answer I can come up with is "just for spite". For that matter, the whole concept of "no servers" has always seemed flawed to me: Technically, sshd and telnetd are servers. Does Comcast really desire to have a policy of preventing one from contacting a home machine when they are travelling? Rob Stampfli ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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