30 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981

Add this Digest to your personal   or  

The Telecom Digest for September 24, 2011
Volume 30 : Issue 240 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Stingray Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash(Thad Floryan)
Re: Stingray Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash (Garrett Wollman)
Apple cuts French App Store's 'Jew Or Not Jew' App (Monty Solomon)
Re: mobile wifi hotspots, was Strange new at&t rumors (John Levine)
Re: mobile wifi hotspots, was Strange new at&t rumors (Gary)
Re: mobile wifi hotspots, was Strange new at&t rumors (John Levine)
Cell phone service to NYC subways (HAncock4)

====== 30 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Bill Horne 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 that person, or email address owner.
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without the explicit written consent of the owner of that address. 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, and other stuff of interest.


Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:40:00 -0700 From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Stingray Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash Message-ID: <4E7C1BB0.6000608@thadlabs.com> " For more than a year, federal authorities pursued a man they " called simply "the Hacker." Only after using a little known " cellphone-tracking device -- a stingray -- were they able to " zero in on a California home and make the arrest. " " Stingrays are designed to locate a mobile phone even when it's " not being used to make a call. The Federal Bureau of " Investigation considers the devices to be so critical that it has " a policy of deleting the data gathered in their use, mainly to " keep suspects in the dark about their capabilities, an FBI " official told The Wall Street Journal in response to inquiries. " " A stingray's role in nabbing the alleged "Hacker" - Daniel David " Rigmaiden - is shaping up as a possible test of the legal standards " for using these devices in investigations. The FBI says it " obtains appropriate court approval to use the device. " " Stingrays are one of several new technologies used by law " enforcement to track people's locations, often without a search " warrant. These techniques are driving a constitutional debate " about whether the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable " searches and seizures, but which was written before the digital " age, is keeping pace with the times. " " On Nov. 8, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether or " not police need a warrant before secretly installing a GPS device " on a suspect's car and tracking him for an extended period. In " both the Senate and House, new bills would require a warrant " before tracking a cellphone's location. article continues here: < http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904194604576583112723197574.html> ***** Moderator's Note ***** In both the Senate and House, new bills are (to be charitable) pointless. Either the right exists or it does not, and only the Supremes get to decide that. The Founding Fathers of the United States could not have imagined a world where the government is so afraid of its citizens that it feels the need to listen in to their most mundane conversations and to know where they are at every moment. The elites of the United States have become more afraid of ideas than of those who have them, but as has been said down through the ages, the pen is mightier than the sword - at least in the long term. Of course, "hackers" are bad: after all, they do something that is "illegal". Of course, seditious libel is bad: after all, it is "illegal". Thomas Paine would have seen this for what it is. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:32:14 +0000 (UTC) From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Stingray Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash Message-ID: <j5ifqu$bnn$1@grapevine.csail.mit.edu> Our Esteemed Moderator appended to article <4E7C1BB0.6000608@thadlabs.com>: >In both the Senate and House, new bills are (to be charitable) >pointless. Either the right exists or it does not, and only the >Supremes get to decide that. Nonsense. The right is to be free from "unreasonable" search and seizure. The legislature can change the meaning of "reasonable" by enacting a new law -- as, for example, they did with the Wiretap Act in 1967. -GAWollman -- Garrett A. Wollman | What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft wollman@bimajority.org| repeated, than the story of a large research program Opinions not shared by| that impaled itself upon a false central assumption my employers. | accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993 ***** Moderator's Note ***** IANALB - Laws can be revoked, watered down, ignored, selectively enforced, or misinterpreted, and sometimes they are just plain wrong. While it may be appropriate for the Congress to consider a bill that limits the ability of companies or individuals to gather and use electronic data, it is not, IMNSHO, a good idea to depend on it to define which of the actions of the government are constitutional. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:42:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Apple cuts French App Store's 'Jew Or Not Jew' App Message-ID: <p062408dfcaa1da88d36e@[10.0.1.8]> Apple cuts French App Store's 'Jew Or Not Jew' App September 14, 2011 SAN FRANCISCO-Apple Inc. has removed a mobile app, called "Jew or Not Jew?", from its online App Store in France. The app let users consult a database of celebrities and public figures to determine if they are Jewish or not. Its removal follows a complaint from a French anti-racism group that threatened to sue the iPhone and iPad maker. The app, "Juif ou pas Juif?" in French, was selling for 0.79 euro cents ($1.08) in France until it was cut on Wednesday. SOS Racisme had argued that the app violated France's strict laws banning the compiling of people's personal details without their consent. Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said the app did violate local law, so it was removed from the French App Store. It is still available outside France, however, and currently sells for $1.99 through Apple's U.S. App Store. Under the French penal code, stocking personal details including race, sexuality, political leanings or religious affiliation is punishable by five-year prison sentences and fines of up to euro300,000 ($411,870). ... http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/09/14/apple_cuts_french_app_stores_jew_or_not_jew_app/?page=full ***** Moderator's Note ***** First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. - Martin Niemöller Bill Horne Moderator
Date: 22 Sep 2011 23:58:25 -0000 From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: mobile wifi hotspots, was Strange new at&t rumors Message-ID: <20110922235825.54278.qmail@joyce.lan> >>Interesting -- care to divulge (i) its cost and (ii) the cost of the >>data service? I could well be an interested fellow-buyer. TIA! I got a Virgin Mobile mifi for $150 at Best Buy with a $50 rebate card for a net cost of $100 last month. It's a mobile hotspot. Your computer connects to it like to any other wifi hotspot, no software installation needed or even possible. Data service is prepaid, no contract. $10 for 100MB/10 days, $20 for 500 MB/month, $50 for unlimited MB/month. Carrier is Sprint; it works quite well if you can get a Sprint signal. It's about the size of a credit card and 1/4" thick, with a battery adequate for several hours of use between recharges. I'm definitely taking it with me on trips rather than pay for hotel wifi. R's, John ***** Moderator's Note ***** Hotels charge for WiFi? Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:05:27 -0400 From: "Gary" <bogus-email@hotmail.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: mobile wifi hotspots, was Strange new at&t rumors Message-ID: <j5il9t$t6h$1@dont-email.me> ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > Hotels charge for WiFi? Some do, some don't. It's a lot like local calls used to be - inexpensive hotels provide it free as a selling point while higher end hotels in big markets charge for it assuming their clients can pay for it. Thanks, -Gary
Date: 23 Sep 2011 18:00:22 -0000 From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: mobile wifi hotspots, was Strange new at&t rumors Message-ID: <20110923180022.50857.qmail@joyce.lan> >Hotels charge for WiFi? The expensive ones do, the cheap ones don't. Go figure. R's, John
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:02:36 -0700 (PDT) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Cell phone service to NYC subways Message-ID: <c9ec5d9f-fd2a-4477-bb15-6dec5f5b93ec@v18g2000yqj.googlegroups.com> As a subway rider, I am not thrilled with this. When a train comes in the station is very noisy, but between trains subway stations are actually rather peaceful and relaxing. "After years of promises (or threats?), officials are expected to bring cellphone service to a handful of subway stations next week as part of a pilot program that someday will extend to all of the system's 250-plus platforms." For full article please see: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/cellphone-service-coming-to-new-york-subways.html
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition 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 Bill Horne. 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. The Telecom Digest is moderated by Bill Horne.
Contact information: Bill Horne
Telecom Digest
43 Deerfield Road
Sharon MA 02067-2301
863-455-9426
bill at horne dot net
Subscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=subscribe telecom
Unsubscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=unsubscribe telecom
This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm-
unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and
published continuously since then.  Our archives are available for
your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list
on the internet in any category!

URL information: http://telecom-digest.org


Copyright (C) 2011 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.

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 The Telecom Digest (7 messages)

Return to Archives ** Older Issues