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The Telecom Digest for Mon, 03 Apr 2017
Volume 36 : Issue 39 : "text" format

Table of contents
Re: FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbersScott Dorsey
Apple confirms iOS 10.3 fixes flaw that caused iPhones to repeatedly dial 911Monty Solomon
Re: Push for Internet Privacy Rules Moves to Statehouses HAncock4
Re: FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbersBill Horne
Russia trolls Democratic Party in epic April Fools Day Prank Bill Horne
Re: FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbersJohn Levine
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <obnum0$kpk$1@panix3.panix.com> Date: 1 Apr 2017 06:16:32 -0400 From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbers Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote: >FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbers > >The FCC in 2015 made it clear that voice service providers can offer >call blocking tools to customers, but commissioners said at the time >that more needed to be done about Caller ID spoofing. FCC Chairman >Ajit Pai has now scheduled a preliminary vote for March 23 on new >rules designed to solve the problem. And this, in short, is why having technical commissioners instead of a panel of lawyers is essential. Because you can make all the laws you want, but you can't necessarily make machines follow them. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Message-ID: <F7CFDFC6-6B56-4AD6-BFA6-1EDB74E41235@roscom.com> Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2017 12:55:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Apple confirms iOS 10.3 fixes flaw that caused iPhones to repeatedly dial 911 Earlier this week, Apple officially released iOS 10.3 to the public and included in it were a variety of fixes, some of which are continuing to surface. A new report from The Wall Street Journal highlights that iOS 10.3 fixes a flaw we initially covered back in October that caused iOS devices to repeatedly call 911 ... The flaw was discovered by an 18-year old who found a way to use Javascript to remotely cause iOS devices to open popup alerts, open apps, and make phone calls. In an effort to show the seriousness of the problem, he created a code that caused iPhones to dial 911 repeatedly. All in all, he ended up being arrested and charged with four counts of computer tampering after causing thousands of accidental 911 calls. https://9to5mac.com/2017/03/30/ios-flaw-repeatedly-dial-911/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <e418cff8-e40a-46ab-8724-b7772e699f8f@googlegroups.com> Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2017 12:59:27 -0700 (PDT) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Push for Internet Privacy Rules Moves to Statehouses On Monday, March 27, 2017 at 12:13:21 AM UTC-4, Monty Solomon wrote: > As Congress acts to roll back regulations limiting access to > consumer data, several states are considering laws that could have a > wide impact. In New Jersey, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg says she's planning to introduce legislation barring internet service providers from selling their customers' personal data without expressed written consent -- a response to action taken this week by Congress that's expected to be approved by President Donald Trump, as reported by NJ.COM. I hope this bill and similar bills in other states pass. Today, the Internet is an integral part of people's lives--it's almost impossible to function in today's society without it. Now, more than ever, privacy is critical. http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/04/nj_dems_will_seek_to_stop_trump_from_selling_your.html#incart_river_index ***** Moderator's Note ***** I recommend that Internet users who desire more privacy use the TOR browser instead of trusting lawmakers to act in their best interests. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170402204910.GA4254@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2017 16:49:10 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Re: FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbers On Sat, Apr 01, 2017 at 06:16:32AM -0400, Scott Dorsey wrote: > And this, in short, is why having technical commissioners instead of a > panel of lawyers is essential. > > Because you can make all the laws you want, but you can't necessarily > make machines follow them. I disagree: having "technical" commissioners can lead to a situation where a difuse oligopoly orders manufacturers to provide only the most profitable features in their switching equipment, and leave out things that might provide better service but wouldn't make as much money. In the past, "technical" commissioners have been misled by claims that the state-of-the-art didn't allow for improvements already in place in other countries, since the "state" of the art was being dictated by Ma Bell's accountants. When the FCC decided to implement LNP, it was lawyers who drafted the regulations, and those rules amounted to an order to "Just Do It" within one year, with no excuses allowed. Guess what? Ma Bell just did it. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170402211000.GA4501@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2017 17:10:01 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Russia trolls Democratic Party in epic April Fools Day Prank By Justin Haskins Russia is known for many things - communism, vodka and bizarre dancing, for starters - but one thing Russia is not well-known for is its sense of humor. Perhaps that's about to change. In what could go down as one of the most interesting April Fools' Day pranks of all time, the Russian Foreign Ministry posted on its Facebook page an audio file that supposedly showed the agency's new switchboard message. http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/04/01/russia-trolls-democratic-party-in-epic-april-fools-day-prank/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <obrsbi$1sc3$1@gal.iecc.com> Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2017 22:01:22 +0000 (UTC) From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> Subject: Re: FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbers >>Ajit Pai has now scheduled a preliminary vote for March 23 on new >>rules designed to solve the problem. > >And this, in short, is why having technical commissioners instead of a >panel of lawyers is essential. You might want to do some more reading before leaping to conclusions. The specific rules to be voted on allow carriers to block calls from invalid numbers, either ones that aren't possible under NANP rules, or are syntactically valid but not allocated, without needing a prior request from the customer. That seems pretty reasonable to me. It's certainly not going to solve the problem, but it nibbles around the edges. In the meantime, at last week's IETF meeting the slog toward signed SIP headers, which will make it possible to validate incoming call ID, continued. R's, John ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Mon, 03 Apr 2017

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