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The Telecom Digest for Thu, 23 Feb 2017
Volume 36 : Issue 20 : "text" format

Table of contents
The global network has become dangerously unstableMonty Solomon
What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?Monty Solomon
Subprime auto lender facing FTC inquiry over GPS-tracking kill switchesMonty Solomon
Confused By All These New Unlimited Mobile Data Plans? Here's what's upMonty Solomon
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <8090A46D-835F-4EB3-82A1-BAF428E214B7@roscom.com> Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2017 23:11:02 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: The global network has become dangerously unstable By Niall Ferguson The world today is like a giant network on the verge of a cataclysmic outage. The president of the United States tweets that his own intelligence agencies are illegally leaking classified information to The New York Times about his campaign's communications with the Russian government, but he insists that it's all "fake news." (Read that again, slowly.) https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/02/20/the-global-network-has-become-dangerously-unstable/HipA9St87H9GuzOuDj66BP/story.html ------------------------------ Message-ID: <2D25B493-28AE-4BC4-8627-40C678DEDF01@roscom.com> Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2017 18:40:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border? By Cyrus Farivar In recent days, there have been numerous media reports of a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee and American citizen who was forced to unlock his phone while returning to the United States at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. In that case, Sidd Bikkannavar wasn't sure what his rights were - he seemingly was unaware that there is a very broad exception to the Fourth Amendment at the border that allows officials to conduct warrantless searches. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/what-could-happen-if-you-refuse-to-unlock-your-phone-at-the-us-border/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <2264708A-953A-499A-BB13-5313D1CBB424@roscom.com> Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2017 17:14:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Subprime auto lender facing FTC inquiry over GPS-tracking kill switches The US Federal Trade Commission is investigating an auto lender that often requires subprime borrowers to have so-called GPS starter-interrupter devices enabled on purchased vehicles. The so-called kill switches, which can monitor a vehicle's constant whereabouts, also have the remote ability to shut a car off and to prevent a car from starting. This makes it easy for lenders to repossess the car for missed payments. But this modern-day version of the repo-man raises both safety and privacy concerns. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/subprime-auto-lender-facing-ftc-inquiry-over-gps-tracking-kill-switches/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <992301F1-8A68-4F20-AF32-66A378A1BB34@roscom.com> Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2017 19:10:34 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Confused By All These New Unlimited Mobile Data Plans? Here's what's up Confused By All These New Unlimited Mobile Data Plans? Here's What's Up by Kate Cox It's amazing what competition can do to a marketplace: In the span of a week, all four national wireless carriers have either introduced, enhanced, or dropped prices or restrictions on unlimited data offerings for mobile customers. But that's a lot of change all at once - so what does it mean for you, the actual subscriber? https://consumerist.com/2017/02/17/confused-by-all-these-new-unlimited-mobile-data-plans-heres-whats-up/ ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Thu, 23 Feb 2017

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