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TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Oct 2005 14:15:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 453 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AOL Boasts Anti-Phishing Protection (Reuters News Wire) U.S. FTC Sues New Hampshire Spyware Operation (Reuters News Wire) Texas Grants First State-Issued Cable Franchise (USTelecom dailyLead) Cell Phone 'Bill of Rights' Debated on Beacon Hill Today (Monty Solomon) Locked In Cell: How Cell Phone Early Termination Fees Hurt (Monty Solomon) Cellular-News for Wednesday 5th October 2005 (Cellular-News) Sept 2005 Consumer Reports -- Good Computer/Telecom Info (Lisa Hancock) Virus Checking, was: On Bluefrog (Danny Burstein) Re: Visitors Risk Being Shot in Florida (David B. Horvath, CCP) Re: Visitors Risk Being Shot in Florida (Eric Friedebach) 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: Reuters Newswire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: AOL Boasts Anti-Phishing Protection Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 12:24:19 -0500 America Online, the online division of Time Warner Inc., on Wednesday said it plans to step up protections against the illegal gathering of subscribers' sensitive data through fraudulent Web sites. AOL said it has struck partnerships with MarkMonitor Inc. and Cyveillance and expanded an agreement with Cyota Inc. to help prevent what's popularly known as "phishing." The companies will help AOL spot and block sites that mimic legitimate companies. AOL also plans to monitor for new phishing sites across the Web as well as track down suspicious links contributed by its subscribers. "The only difference between a phisher and a mugger is that a phisher uses a keyboard and not a gun," Tatiana Platt, AOL Chief Trust Officer, said in a statement. The move follow improvements AOL made in late September to block out programs that track user behavior, known as "spyware." 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. For more headlines and news reports, also go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html (also) http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: U.S. FTC Sues New Hampshire 'Spyware' Operation Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 12:25:38 -0500 U.S. regulators asked a court on Wednesday to shut down a maker of what they termed computer "spyware" that steers Internet users to fake search engines and tracks their movements online. Odysseus Marketing Inc. of New Hampshire said its free Kazanon software would allow users to share music anonymously over "peer to peer" networks to avoid prosecution from the recording industry. But the software doesn't work as advertised and the company's work should be halted, the Federal Trade Commission said in a complaint filed with a U.S. court in New Hampshire. The FTC said the software serves as a Trojan horse for other, unwanted programs that deliver "pop up" ads and track the user's online movements, the FTC said. Those infected with Odysseus' spyware have their search results corrupted as well, the FTC said. When they try to use a search engine like Yahoo or Google, they are steered to a look-alike page that prominently lists Odysseus clients in the results. Those who use an Odysseus software tool to remove the spyware only draw more unwanted programs on to their computers, the FTC said. Odysseus principal Walter Rines was not immediately available for comment. The U.S. House of Representatives voted in May to stiffen jail sentences and establish multimillion-dollar fines for spyware purveyors. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate. 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: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 13:12:30 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com> Subject: Texas Grants First State-Issued Cable Franchise USTelecom dailyLead October 5, 2005 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/vhBoatagCrcjldTIOH TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Texas grants first state-issued cable franchise BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Sprint Nextel sues Vonage * Covad snaps up NextWeb * Denmark's TDC gets another offer * Telefonica taps Nominum for DNS * Report: Rokr sales lukewarm USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Register by Oct. 15 for TELECOM '05 and save! TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * WiMAX holds promise, but obstacles remain * Study: SMS overflow could jam mobile phone networks * Alcatel announces "universal" optical metro switch REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Qwest adds BellSouth to Networx bid team Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/vhBoatagCrcjldTIOH Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 23:44:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Cell Phone 'Bill of Rights' Debated on Beacon Hill Today By Emelie Rutherford / Daily News Staff BOSTON -- While lawmakers want to help Massachusetts wireless customers dodge "dead zones" and unwanted contracts, the industry is balking at a proposed Cell Phone Users' Bill of Rights it said would lead to higher prices. Both sides will face off today over the legislation that would ban wireless carriers in Massachusetts from offering contracts for more than a year and from extending contracts without the customer's written permission. Additional protections include requiring the carriers to give customers 30 days to cancel their contracts without penalty, easy-to-understand bills, clear explanations of fees and precise coverage maps. Under the bill of rights state regulators also would monitor service quality, such as dead zones and signal strength, and handle billing disputes. If the bill of rights passes, Massachusetts would be the only state to have such a consumer protection system for cell phone users. http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=110722 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 03:00:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Locked In a Cell: How Cell Phone Early Termination Fees Hurt Customers Executive Summary http://masspirg.org/MA.asp?id2=18535 Press Release http://masspirg.org/MA.asp?id2=18541 Full Report http://masspirg.org/reports/lockedinacell05.pdf ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Wednesday 5th October 2005 Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 07:30:54 -0500 From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news.com> Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com Two Join Up for 3G Testing in Japan http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14282.php Cetecom and Telec have announced a strategic collaboration to provide the Japanese mobile communications industry with conformance testing resources on location for accessing global markets. The first phase of this coope... New Wireless 911 Contracts Signed http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14283.php Intrado has announced new contracts for wireless E9-1-1 solutions with WestLink Communications, Nex-Tech Wireless, Edge Wireless, Chariton Valley Wireless, Cellcom Inc. of Wisconsin, and Appalachian Wireless. Each of the... MTC Denies Staff Arrest Claims over Lebanese PM Assassination http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14284.php Last Tuesday, the Information Division of the Lebanese Interior Security Services visited the offices of the GSM network operator, MTC Touch in Beirut, as part of their investigation around the assassination of former Le... 3G Contract Signed in Andorra http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14285.php Motorola has signed a 3G contract with Andorran operator, Servei de Telecomunicacions d'Andorra (STA), for a UMTS network. The network deployment with Andorra's only network provider is planned to commence in October 200... Test Equipment Vendors Need to Keep Pace With Changing Standards - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14286.php Recovering from the dismal growth of 2002 and 2003, the European wireless communication test equipment market improved considerably in 2004 to record revenues of approximately US$572.8 million and is likely to grow at a ... Russian Operator Dropping Dollar Currency Tariffs http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14287.php The Russian operator, MegaFon-Moscow has decided to stop offering its tariffs in dollars and switch entirely over to the local currency, the Rubble. The switch will occur from January next year. Expecting the transfer, o... Crown Castle Considers Future of Australian Operations http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14288.php The wireless tower operator, Crown Castle International says that it has commenced an evaluation of strategic alternatives for its investment in Crown Castle Australia ("CC Australia"), which may directly or indirectly i... Dubai's Emaar Among 15 Cos Interested In Turkey's Telsim http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14277.php Dubai developer Emaar Properties (EMAAR.DI) is among the 15 firms that have applied for pre-qualification in the tender for the sale of Turkey's cell-phone operator Telsim, an Emaar spokesman said Tuesday. ... Ericsson To Expand Network For Vodafone In Fiji http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14278.php Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB L.M Ericsson (ERICY) Tuesday said it has signed a contract with Vodafone Group PLC (VOD) to expand its network in Fiji. ... MTN Applies For Prequalification In Tunisie Telecom Sale http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14279.php JOHANNESBURG--South African telecommunications company MTN Group (MTN.JO) said Tuesday it has applied for prequalification to bid for a stake in Tunisian incumbent Tunisie Telecom. ... EU Launches Web Site Detailing Mobile Phone Roaming Fees http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14280.php In an effort to increase transparency for mobile phone users, the European Commission Tuesday launched a Web site detailing the roaming charges customers pay while traveling abroad. ... Orange Adds 8 Mobile TV Channels In UK Including Cricket http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14281.php Orange, the mobile telecommunications unit of France Telecom SA (FTE), Tuesday said it has added eight new television channels to its mobile TV service, including live cricket coverage of the ICC Super Series games. ... ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Sept 2005 Consumer Reports - Good Computer/Telecom Info Date: 5 Oct 2005 07:07:10 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I recommend this issue. While tech-savy people probably know most of it, a lot of lay people do not. There is good information on protecting one's personal computer from spam, viruses, phishing, spyware; issues on legislature, and cell phone user issues. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com> Subject: Virus Checking, was: On Bluefrog Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 02:50:59 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC ( I originally wrote "virus chacking", with the second word being a manglement, so to speak, of "checking" and "whacking". Might be a good word...) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do the same thing here. Although I am .... [ snip ] ... > to examine, claim or destroy those items. Naturally I get between 75-100 > viruses most days, and about the same number of spams at my cableone.net > account. Little check boxes allow for deliver, destroy, ..... While filters for "spam" have a pretty serious risk/tradeoff of false positives, so simply sending all suspicious e-mail to the garbage is risky (but often done at of necessity...) many of the current anti-virus products are pretty good You might want to check with your various ISPs (or the e-mail clients you're using) to see if there's a simple "kill all viruses and executables" e-mail. That would help make your situation a bit more manageble. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 09:10:56 -0400 Subject: Re: Visitors Risk Being Shot in Florida From: David B. Horvath, CCP <dhorvath@notchur.biz> PAT -- As usual, please mung my email address; showing real name is fine. On Mon, 03 Oct 2005 21:31:16 -0700, PAT wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well no one I know ever accused Florida > legislators of being classmates in competition with Albert Einstein. > Yes, that is a new law in Florida. You may also recall that a few years > ago, there was an instance of some tourists from Germany getting their > rental car in Florida car-jacked, then they, themselves got shot > dead. There was a big stink about that case also, and the German > newspapers played it up. Probably the French newspapers (AFP) wanted > make French people aware of this new law in Florida also. PAT] While I might agree or disagree with you about the average IQ in the state govenment of Florida (depending on whether I was pro or anti Bush), they have passed some innovative laws regarding self-defense. They were one of the first states to pass a "shall-issue" concealed firearm permit law. Many states had concealed permit laws before but they were often at the whim of the issuing body (i.e., if you were friends with the mayor, you got one). Vermont has always allowed concealed carry (without permit) and most states have "open carry" laws (you can carry a gun so long as it is visible). After Florida got "shall-issue", a decent (10-20) percentage of the law-abiding population went through the process and got permits. The criminals quickly learned that they were risking their own lives trying to carjack or mug Florida residents. They looked for the next soft target which was tourists. Tourists are easy to identify by the stickers on their rental cars. Florida enacted a law forcing removal of the rental-car company stickers. They also now issue non-resident conceal carry permits as well as recognizing the permits issued by a number of other states. - David ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach <friedebach@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Visitors Risk Being Shot in Florida Date: 5 Oct 2005 10:08:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com PAT wrote: <SNIP> > You may also recall that a few years ago, there was an instance of > some tourists from Germany getting their rental car in Florida > car-jacked, then they, themselves got shot dead. There was a big > stink about that case also, and the German newspapers played it up. > Probably the French newspapers (AFP) wanted make French people aware > of this new law in Florida also. PAT] I believe that was not long after Florida passed a concealed carry law. Florida does not have front license plates, so many rental car companies would add a plate with their logo on it. This made it very easy for the criminals to spot their unarmed victims. TELECOM Topic: Its been three weeks since the last junk fax! Eric Friedebach /And now it's time for: Jaromir Weather/ ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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