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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
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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]

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #507
******************************

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