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TELECOM Digest Mon, 7 Nov 2005 19:23:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 507 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Internet Phone Customers May Get Cut Off (Reuters News Wire) EU Optomistic Over Plan For Wider Governance of Internet (Huw Jones) Grokster to Shut Down Almost Immediatly (Ted Bridis) Murdoch Hints at U.S. Broadband Service (USTelecom dailyLead) Re: Replacement for Siemens Gigaset (davidesan@gmail.com) Re: Verizon POTS (Joe) Re: An FBI Secret Letter and Order (Tom Betz) 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 News Wire <reuters@tekecom-digest.org> Subject: Internet Phone Customers May Get Cut Off Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 17:32:42 -0600 Roughly 750,000 of the estimated 2.5 million Internet telephone customers may have service turned off because providers cannot offer enhanced 911 service, according to a survey on Monday by Voice On the Net Coalition. The Federal Communications Commission ordered providers to suspend service by November 28 to customers who will not have enhanced 911 services, which includes providing dispatchers a caller's number and location. The agency's order followed several instances where Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) subscribers had trouble reaching help when they dialed 911 for help. In several cases, calls went to business lines instead of emergency dispatchers. Most of those who would have to be disconnected would have only basic 911 access, and are residential customers who use their service in multiple locations, the VON Coalition said. The group said hurdles facing VOIP providers to offer enhanced 911 service include accessing the necessary databases, the short time frame, and technological limits. The survey included a dozen VOIP providers like Vonage Holdings Corp. Nuvio Corp. and other VOIP providers last week filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking a stay of the FCC order while it challenges the requirements. The providers argued, among other things, that they had only 120 days to comply with the requirements, while other telecommunications services like wireless had much more time. The FCC has until Tuesday to respond. Last week FCC Chairman Kevin Martin defended the deadline. Many Internet phone services can be used anywhere there is a high-speed Internet connection, but such mobility forces callers to identify their current location for enhanced 911 service to work. Less than half of the dozen VOIP providers surveyed, 42 percent, said they would be able to provide enhanced 911 service to 100 percent of their customers with a primary fixed location, according to VON. 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: Huw Jones <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: EU Optimistic Over Plans for Wider Governance of Internet Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 17:31:35 -0600 By Huw Jones The European Commission hopes a meeting next week will come up with an agreement to allow governments more direct influence over the domain name system that guides traffic around the Internet. A U.N. report has put forward a more multi-national approach to running the Internet which serves a billion users worldwide, saying this would be more democratic and transparent, a view the 25-nation European Union shares. Day-to-day handling of domain names is done by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a California-based non-profit organization created by the U.S. Commerce Department. ICANN's _governments_ committee has only an advisory role. A final round of diplomatic talks on the report is due on Saturday ahead of the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis on November 16-18. Internet governance is seen by most users and countries outside the United States as being too heavily skewed in favor of America, though David Gross, the U.S. State Department ambassador who is heading the U.S. delegation in Tunis, told Reuters last month that it was the private sector that leads in running the Internet. The Commission said it has made much progress with its aims. "We are entering into the final phase of negotiations with quite an optimistic point of view," Jean-Francois Soupizet, deputy head of international relations at the Commission said. "We have already the elements for an agreement, notably a workable definition of Internet governance," Soupizet told a forum on convergence in the media. Software and Internet firms fear that wide government involvement will mean more regulation and taxes. Soupizet said the EU was against setting up a new U.N. mechanism to intervene in developing the Internet infrastructure, which the EU says should be left to current operators on a day-to-day basis. "Only when this is not working properly, then we could consider intervention. This point is now widely shared by all parties at WSIS ... and will be reflected in the Tunis agenda for action," Soupizet said. Some 80 to 90 percent of plan of action to be signed off in Tunis has already been agreed, he added. The U.N. report has raised hackles among U.S. politicians. "We cannot allow the U.N. to control the Internet," Republican senator Norm Coleman has said, "It has to be the United States only in control." Other politicians have called for the U.S. role in Internet governance to be maintained, with the Commerce Department still overseeing ICANN. Theresa Swinehart, a general manager at ICANN, made claims at the meeting that ICANN did not "run or control or govern the Internet, but coordinates," but many of the other participants strongly disagreed, claiming that ICANN deliberatly ignores certain safeguards which would help their users. Wider representation of countries and other interested parties is already emerging but was not perfect yet, she said. "The WSIS process needs to make sure it does not put at risk the 35 years to develop the Internet to date." Bernard Benhamou, director of Internet governance in the French Prime Minister's office, said more democratic governance of the Internet was needed as its power to intrude into people's lives increases, and the need to tackle civil liberties issues such as identity theft and spam. "ICANN only represents corporate America business interests", he added. 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: Ted Bridis <ap@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Grokster Downloading Service to Shut Down Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 17:34:07 -0600 By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer Grokster Ltd., which lost a Supreme Court fight over file-sharing software used for stealing songs and movies online, agreed Monday to shut down and pay $50 million to settle piracy complaints by Hollywood and the music industry. The surprise settlement permanently bans Grokster from participating, directly or indirectly, in the theft of copyrighted files and requires the company to stop giving away its software, according to court papers. Executives indicated plans to launch a legal, fee-based "Grokster 3G" service before year's end under a new parent company, believed to be Mashboxx of Virginia Beach, Va. Mashboxx, headed in part by former Grokster president Wayne Rosso, already has signed a licensing agreement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment. "It is time for a new beginning," Grokster said in a statement issued from its corporate headquarters in the West Indies. Grokster's Web site was changed Monday to say its existing file- sharing service was illegal and no longer available. "There are legal services for downloading music and movies," the message said. "This service is not one of them." The head of the Recording Industry Association of America, Mitch Bainwol, described the settlement as "a chapter that ends on a high note for the recording industry, the tech community and music fans and consumers everywhere." It was unclear whether Grokster can afford to pay the $50 million in damages required under the agreement. The head of the Motion Picture Association of America, Dan Glickman, said the entertainment industry will demand full payment unless Grokster satisfies all its obligations under the settlement. Grokster's brand will survive. The new fee-based version of its software will be available within 60 days, according to one executive involved in the deal. This executive spoke only on condition of anonymity because the sale of Grokster's assets is pending. Grokster's decision was not expected to affect Internet users who already run the company's file-sharing software to download music and movies online, nor was it expected to affect users of rival downloading services, such as eDonkey, Kazaa, BitTorrent and others. Glickman said Grokster will send anti-piracy messages to existing users, and the company is forbidden from maintaining its software or network. "Without those services, the system will degrade over time," Glickman said. Grokster lost an important Supreme Court ruling in June. Justices ruled that the entertainment industry can file piracy lawsuits against technology companies caught encouraging customers to steal music and movies over the Internet. The decision, which gave a green light for the federal case to advance in Los Angeles, significantly weakened lawsuit protections for companies that had blamed illegal behavior on their own customers rather than the technology that made such behavior possible. The court said Grokster and another firm, Streamcast Networks Inc., can be sued because they deliberately encouraged customers to download copyrighted files illegally so they could build a larger audience and sell more advertising. Writing for the court, Justice David H. Souter said the companies' "unlawful objective is unmistakable." "They're out of business," said Charles Baker, a lawyer for Streamcast. "It's over for them. There was a lack of desire to continue to fight this thing going forward." Baker said the settlement does not affect Streamcast, the co-defendant in the entertainment industry's lawsuit. The Supreme Court noted as evidence of bad conduct that Grokster and Streamcast made no effort to block illegal downloads, which the companies maintained wasn't possible. On the Net: Grokster Ltd.: http://www.grokster.com Recording Industry Association of America: http://www.riaa.org Motion Picture Association of America: http://www.mpaa.org 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. For more Associated Press headlines and stories, please check out: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html (audio report with stories; also http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 12:55:50 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com> Subject: Murdoch Hints at U.S. Broadband Service USTelecom dailyLead November 7, 2005 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/xCqkatagCwpfyVSuYY TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Murdoch hints at U.S. broadband service BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Google, Yahoo! enter mobile phone space * Terayon takes wraps off IPTV ad-insertion system * XO sells fixed-line business to Carl Icahn * NexTone plans expansion with $35M in new funds * Analysis: Sprint Nextel deal goes beyond quadruple play * Cablevision to sell faster Internet service USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Learn how to implement IP video HOT TOPICS * Report: DSL gaining fast on cable * Four MSOs announce deal with Sprint Nextel * Level 3 buys WilTel * Cable's push toward the quadruple play * BellSouth charts its own course TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Juniper unveils system for dynamic bandwidth allocation for IP services * BusinessWeek report: TV in 2005 REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Qualcomm sues Nokia over GSM patents * Damaged microwave networks hamper communications systems in Gulf Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/xCqkatagCwpfyVSuYY Other telecom news reports at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html ------------------------------ From: davidesan@gmail.com Subject: Re: Replacement for Siemens Gigaset Date: 7 Nov 2005 14:50:30 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I too have been looking for a new cordless system. I've been doing a lot of opinion reading and have discovered the following: 1. Lots of people like to complain, and most of the complaints seem fairly petty. Things like too small for my big face is worthless since we don't know if the user is normal sized, or is an offensive lineman for a professional football team. Bad reception can be caused by a bad installation (I put the base unit in the basement), or building construction. 2. When there are lot of similar complaints, you've got to believe there is an issue. 3. For every complaint or group of complaints you get one person telling you that this phone is the best phone that they have ever used. Are they real or are they a shill for the company? Is the good report really an outlier? This said some of the results that are helping narrow the search are: 1. Panasonic seems to have battery problems. The number of complaints on the Amazon site is huge and all are nearly identical. Batteries last only about 2 hours off the charger. Voice quality seems to be a big complaint. 2. Vtech seems to get generally high marks. 3. AT&T also seems to get high marks. 4. Motorola voice quality seems to be poor. 5. GE get high marks for battery and sound quality, but the caller menu is different for each extension, and is not alphabetized or easily searchable. Vtech and ATT seem to treat the menu of stored phone numbers like a good cellphone. Now for my questions: 1. Cellphones are available in 900 mhz, 2.4 Ghz, and 5.8 Ghz. I have read that the 2.4 Ghz phones can interfere with 802.11.x wireless routers. And I have read that there is no problem. Your thoughts or experiences? The 2.4 Ghz phones are about 1/2 the price of the 5.8 and I don't really want to pay for technology I don't need. 2. Any recommendations on brand? Thanks. PS: Uniden phones are uniformally disliked for poor quality sound in every review panel I've seen. There seems to be a correlation between cost and quality (what a surprise!). ------------------------------ From: Joe <Joe@NOSPAM.SPAM> Subject: Re: Verizon POTS Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Mon, 07 Nov 2005 19:59:58 GMT I get a dial tone. However, when I dial a number, I get a message saying to call Verizon if I want telephone service. <NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info> wrote in message news:telecom24.504.5@telecom-digest.org: > What happens if you plug in a phone? No install date given. Will call again later when I have time to be on hold and see. Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message news:telecom24.504.4@telecom-digest.org: > Joe wrote: >> How long does it take for Verizon to install POTS? > They installed it a week or so after I ordered it. I told them when I was > moving in. > Apple Valley, California. Former Continental Telephone/GTE territory. YMM > definitely V. > Did they give you an install date or a turnaround time when you placed the > order? > Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED > Company website: http://JustThe.net/ > Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ > E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz <spammers_lie@pobox.com> Subject: Re: An FBI Secret Letter and Order Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 22:06:31 UTC Organization: Anything Barton Gellman <washpost@teleco-digest.org> wrote in news:telecom24.506.1@telecom-digest.org: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Excerpts from a rather lengthy article > over the weekend in Washingon Post. See the newspaper's web site for > the entire article. http://washingtonpost.com And people think Joe > McCathy was bad news ... PAT] For a look at the Patriot Act from the point of view of one of its targets, see http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7624.shtml "An Enemy Of The State" by Doug Thompson. An excerpt: According to a printout from a computer controlled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice, I am an enemy of the state. The printout, shown to me recently by a friend who works for Justice, identifies me by a long, multi-digit number, lists my date of birth, place of birth, social security number and contains more than 100 pages documenting what the Bureau and the Bush Administration consider to be my threats to the security of the United States of America. It lists where I sent to school, the name and address of the first wife that I had been told was dead but who is alive and well and living in Montana, background information on my current wife and details on my service to my country that I haven't even revealed to my wife or my family. Although the file finds no criminal activity by me or members of my immediate family, it remains open because I am a "person of interest" who has "written and promoted opinions that are contrary to the government of the United States of America." And it will remain active because the government of the United States, under the far-reaching provisions of the USA Patriot Act, can compile and retain such information on any American citizen. That act gives the FBI the authority to collect intimate details about anyone, even those not suspected of any wrongdoing. We live in a very scary world. George Bush's War of Choice on Iraq is a totally unnecessary war. Every life lost, every limb lost, every disfigurement, every disability caused there is more blood on George W. Bush's hands, and on the hands of everyone who voted for George W. Bush. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That we do (live in a scary world). I expect to be totally gone in five or ten years, and I cannot say I will really miss it any, as things are going now. PAT] ------------------------------ 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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The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V24 #507 ****************************** | |