Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id JAA04568; Tue, 1 Apr 1997 09:04:44 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 1 Apr 1997 09:04:44 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199704011404.JAA04568@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #80 TELECOM Digest Tue, 1 Apr 97 09:04:00 EST Volume 17 : Issue 80 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Child Safety on the Internet" by Distefano (Rob Slade) Re: Ameritech Complaint (Dan A. Neumann) Re: 911 From Cellular Phone in Chicago (Stanley Cline) Re: Problems With Reverse Telephone Directories (Thomas Cain) Re: Problems With Reverse Telephone Directories (Richard Enteman) Re: ISP Offering Unlimited Access via 800/888 - How?? (Judith Oppenheimer) FCC Releases Staff Working Paper on Internet Policy (Monty Solomon) List of All *nn Features (x@net.com.org) Re: Modem to Modem Flow Control (David Clayton) Berkeley Spring Courses in Communications Tech (course@berkeley.edu) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 847-329-0571 Fax: 847-329-0572 ** Article submission address: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Our archives are located at hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu. The URL is: http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives They can also be accessed using anonymous ftp: ftp hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) A third method is the Telecom Email Information Service: Send a note to tel-archives@massis.lcs.mit.edu to receive a help file for using this method or write me and ask for a copy of the help file for the Telecom Archives. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* 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 twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 14:11:49 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Child Safety on the Internet" by Distefano BKCHSFIN.RVW 961128 "Child Safety on the Internet", Vince Distefano, 1997, 0-13-569468-X, U$34.95/C$48.93 %A Vince Distefano %C One Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 %D 1997 %G 0-13-569468-X %I Prentice Hall %O U$34.95/C$48.93 +1-201-236-7139 fax: 201-236-7131 beth_hespe@prenhall.com %P 296 %S Classroom Connect %T "Child Safety on the Internet" This volume contains a helpful and generally realistic set of resources. It talks primarily about the dangers, but does note that the risks are not as bad as some of the hype. The book does, for once, look at other "dangers" besides pornography, and has a reasonable chapter on netiquette. Online service protection options, content rating systems, and protective/support groups are discussed. In addition, there are suggestions and advice for "after the fact" detecting and policing. There are some gaps in the book. The fact that there are weaknesses, inaccuracies and misleading statements in the (now infamous) Rimm study/Time special is dismissed as "not important". The subtle censorship of Internet filter software is not discussed. (One of the filter programs on the accompanying CD-ROM blocks non-pornography or violence related terms which are germane only to discussions of certain political leanings. Filter developers will not even confirm the dictionary of words used, with some slight justification.) Most filter packages do not allow parents to tune or manage the terms to be included or excluded. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996 BKCHSFIN.RVW 961128 roberts@decus.ca rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@vanisl.decus.ca "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke http://www.netmind.com/~padgett/trial.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 12:47:34 -0600 From: dan@storz.com (Dan A. Neumann) Subject: Re: Ameritech Complaint Pat: The memo I faxed to the office of the Vice-President of Ameritech was seven printed pages long. I will try to present relivant information in a more condensed form: I will not detail all the MANY calls I was forced to make in order to establish temporary phone service at the old house, in order to have Ameritech active a "forward" message when the "old" number was called, etc. There were several problems in addition to the fact that we were without phone service for 29 days, and Ameritech's approach to all these problems were the same ... make excuses, ignore my requests, and ignore the information we provided. In late Dec. 1996, we were moving from one house to another existing house, about two miles apart. Since the second house had been inhabited, with phone service, only three months earlier, I expected the phone to be activated immediately. When I called, I was told "our computer shows that an inside service call will be necessary". When I pointed out that all the internal phone lines were already installed, they said "all we can do is go by what the computer says". AND I got the SAME answer when I gave them the new address: ### North XYZ Street. "Our computer says ### XYZ, but sometimes they don't match exactly". I then provided them with the name and phone number of the people who had just moved out of the house we bought, thinking this would "clear up" any ambiguity. Due to the holidays, the first appointment available was a week later, on a Friday afternoon. We sat around waiting for them for six hours, then called. We were told that the serviceman had been there, but he found a problem which would require support from their Engineering Dept.; no further information would be available until Monday. Monday, I called. NO information. Tuesday I called, and was told that no line connections were available; they would have to install a new line. If you would like a description of the DOZENS of calls I had to make during the following weeks, please let me know how to send you a private E-Mail. I will "spare" your readers these details. However, it should be noted that on at least one other occasion, I emphasized the address again and emphasized the fact that there had been phone service at that house only three months earlier. One day, my wife was told they were working on our lines that day. She happened to be home during the day, and told them that NO Ameritech trucks were in the area. 29 days after my first phone call, on a Saturday morning, an Ameritech repairman knocked on the door. My wife was home. He asked her if this was "The Neumanns at ### XYZ Street"; she said "yes". He told her that for the past couple weeks, Ameritech had been installing new lines for ### XYZ DRIVE. This is located in a subdivision 10 miles away, but for some reason, it is still considered part of the same town! He said that an entire crew, including engineers, had worked until 10 pm the previous night, in freezing temperatures! There is something basically wrong with the way Ameritech handles problems reported by customers. The most arrogant of the bunch appears to be the contact I made at the office of the Vice President. After I FAXed him a request for reimbursement of cell phone calls we were forced to make (my wife has to contact her customers each morning before leaving the house), he has failed to respond to my FAX and to "follow-up" phone calls. It appears the Illinois Commerce Commission is unwilling to do anything on my behalf, except they forwarded my original complaint to Ameritech. Even though the Utility Commission in Michigan or Wisconsin recently sued their phone provider on behalf of their customers who were without service for 24 HOURS, the I.C.C. seemed rather unconcerned about an Illinois resident who was without a phone for 29 DAYS. Do you have any further suggestions? Thanks!! Dan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, it still seems pretty incredible things could have gotten that far out of control. PAT] ------------------------------ From: roamer1@RemoveThis.pobox.com (Stanley Cline) Subject: Re: 911 From Cellular Phone in Chicago Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 14:04:22 GMT Reply-To: roamer1@RemoveThis.pobox.com On 28 Mar 1997 17:24:44 GMT, Hillary Gorman wrote: > this with some friends. There is a city just outside of > Philadelphia, PA, called Wyndmoor. There's a cellular tower there that > covers parts of > 911. Then, a former mayor of Philadelphia called 911 from his cell > phone in his car in his driveway in Chestnut Hill, and was apparently > very angry that his call didn't route to the Philadelphia 911. So they > changed it. In the Chattanooga area, there is a cell tower about 1/6 mile west of the Walker/Catoosa County, GA line. BellSouth Mobility was routing calls received by that cell site to the *Walker* County 911 center, even though it seems that more of *Catoosa* County was covered by the tower. The tower also is just outside the city of Fort Oglethorpe, which covers parts of BOTH counties. Needless to say, I complained to BellSouth -- that they should either a) route calls from that site to Catoosa County, or b) route them to Fort Oglethorpe for forwarding if out of city limits. I don't know what became of that. (It's not all that bad, though, because there have been various forwarding/mutual-aid agreements between the telcos, Walker County, and Catoosa County for years -- mainly because the city of Fort Oglethorpe straddles the county line, Fort Oglethorpe's volunteer fire department *also* covers most of rural Walker County [and at one time, even provided fire service in a few areas of TENNESSEE!], and that the sae ambulance service -- that of a public hospital -- serves areas in both counties.) Walker County had E-911 before Catoosa, *but* 911 would work from either county [the CO for western Catoosa is in Walker]; a Walker County 911 dispatcher could -- and still does -- route calls to Catoosa if needed. At one point, 911 calls from Catoosa would hop the state line to Chattanooga!) On a sectorized cell site, it _may_ be possible to determine jurisdiction from the sector the mobile is in (and route accordingly), but the Fort Oglethorpe site isn't sectorized. To make matters worse, there are numerous cell sites of both CellOne and BellSouth sitting within a mile or two of the Tennessee/Georgia line -- THAT results in repeated transfers if the cell site is in a different STATE than the caller. PCS may have less trouble with jurisdictional vs. cell-coverage boundaries, especially in urban areas where cells may be smaller. Stanley Cline (Roamer1 on IRC) ** GO BRAVES! GO VOLS! Unofficial MindSpring Fan ** mailto:scline@mindspring.com mailto:roamer1@pobox.com ** http://www.pobox.com/~roamer1/ From: line changed so I get NO SPAM! See http://www.vix.com/spam/ ------------------------------ From: tacain@spdmail.spd.dsccc.com (Thomas Cain) Subject: Re: Problems With Reverse Telephone Directories Date: 31 Mar 1997 14:32:35 GMT Organization: DSC Communications Corporation, Plano, Texas USA Jonathan I. Kamens (jik@cam.ov.com) wrote: > In article , reynolds@ece.vill.edu > (Jim Reynolds) writes: >> www.whowhere.com used to have a reverse look up as well, but dropped >> it due to pressue about privacy concerns. Personally, I don't see the >> problem. No new or previously unpublished data is now available, it's >> just organized differently (i.e. sorted by phone number instead of >> name). > Organizing data differently *can* be functionally equivalent to making > new data available. > If you're a stalker calling random phone numbers and seeing if > young-sounding women answer the phone, in the old days you'd have no > way of finding out the address associated with the phone number of such > an answeree. Now, you can look up their phone number, get their > address, and head right on over. > Similarly, if you meet someone in a bar and he/she gives you his/her > phone number, in the old days, you'd have to call him/her to meet > again. Now, if you're a not-so-upright kind of person, you can look up > the phone number and just show up. In 'the old days' I worked in a library; about 25 years ago. Back then you had to go to the great effort of looking up the phone number in the City Directory to get the associated name and address. So, the only thing that has changed is the addition of more efficient searching made possible by automation. Maybe the other thing that has changed is now more people are aware of this service. Tom Cain Voice: +1.972.477.8192 DSC Communications Corporation M/S 122 FAX: +1.972.519.3563 1000 Coit Road Plano, Texas 75075 Internet: tacain@spd.dsccc.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nothing ought to be made illegal simply because a computer makes the compilation of data easier than it had been the past. Cross-reference (or criss-cross) directories have been around for fifty years or more. In the past, very few people knew of their existence; thus we has privacy based on obscurity. The computer has simply made the job easier for legal or illegal purposes. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 20:42:27 PST From: Richard Enteman Subject: Re: Problems With Reverse Telephone Directories > I think you get the idea. There are *serious* > privacy and safety concerns with making it possible for anyone to > look up a phone number and get the name and address of the person > using that number. All this info is easily available on inexpensive CD and one can do reverse searches with them. Since one can buy these CD phone books for as little as $20 why not let the information on the net? Is the $20 price tag is going to stop stalkers? -r Get Your *Web-Based* Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ From: icb@juno.com (Judith Oppenheimer) Subject: Re: ISP Offering Unlimited Access via 800/888 - How?? Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 22:21:08 EST > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Could you give us a bit more detail > on exactly how the scam or ripoff functioned? PAT] Pat, again let me preface this by saying that I have, as yet, no documentation in hand, although I'm told it exists ... Nonetheless, I'm bringing the story out sans documentation - something I've never done - in order to warn other ISPs and subscribers from getting screwed. The larger ISP I mentioned has done a tremendous amount of investi- gation, including eventually visiting a local HQ of the company selling the flat-rate log-on 800 -- which address he said turned out to be an empty shack. He informed me as follows: The scam company simply procured toll-free numbers as needed from the carrier(s), at some basic 25 cent per minute rate - it didn't matter, since it had no intention of paying the bills. It then sold use of these numbers packaged as this revolutionary new flat-rate unlimited log-on to unsuspecting large and small ISPs, with bogus contracts and all. (The contracts generally require a $5,000 fee up front, plus $6 per subscriber per month.) So it collects all this start-up ISP money and routes the numbers -- for three months -- at which point the numbers are disconnected by the carrier for non-payment. The scam company defaults and hits the road, and sets up in new cities under different names. And does it again. Not exactly rocket science. BTW, at least one smaller ISP told me he might be able to stay in business, and not default with his subscribers, if he can find a five cents or less per minute 800 number to replace the bogus one. If anyone can help him, please let me know, and I'll pass the info along. Judith Oppenheimer ICB TOLL FREE NEWS - 800/888/global800 news, analysis, advice. http://www.icbtollfree.com, mailto:news-editor@icbtollfree.com Judith Oppenheimer - 800 The Expert, ph 212 684-7210, fx 212 684-2714 mailto:j.oppenheimer@worldnet.att.net, mailto:icb@juno.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 23:06:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Releases Staff Working Paper on Internet Policy Reply-To: monty@roscom.COM Begin forwarded message: Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 20:32:04 -0800 (PST) From: Phil Agre Subject: FCC Releases staff Working Paper on Internet policy =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). Send any replies to the original author, listed in the From: field below. You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the "redirect" command. For information on RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, send an empty message to rre-help@weber.ucsd.edu =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 12:44:40 -0600 From: Kevin Werbach Subject: FCC Releases staff Working Paper on Internet policy News Release -- March 27, 1997 DIGITAL TORNADO: THE INTERNET AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY FCC Staff Working Paper on Internet Policy The FCC's Office of Plans and Policy (OPP) today released a staff working paper analyzing the implications of the Internet for the FCC and telecommunications policy. OPP Working Paper No. 29, "Digital Tornado: The Internet and Telecommunications Policy," was written by Kevin Werbach, Counsel for New Technology Policy. OPP periodically issues working papers on emerging areas in communications; these papers represent individual views and are not an official statement by the FCC or any FCC commissioner. "Digital Tornado" represents the first comprehensive assessment of the questions the Internet poses for traditional communications policy. A central theme running through the paper is that the FCC, and other government agencies, should seek to limit regulation of Internet services. In framing his approach, Werbach states: "Because it is not tied to traditional models or regulatory environments, the Internet holds the potential to dramatically change the communications landscape. The Internet creates new forms of competition, valuable services for end users, and benefits to the economy. Government policy approaches toward the Internet should therefore start from two premises: avoid unnecessary regulation, and question the applicability of traditional rules." After providing an analytical framework to understand the forces driving Internet growth, and describing the Internet's development and architecture, the paper addresses three primary areas: CATEGORY DIFFICULTIES Policy and legal questions arising from the fact that Internet- based services do not fit easily into the existing classifications for communications services under federal law or FCC regulations. PRICING AND USAGE Policy questions arising from the economics of Internet access, including assertions by local telephone companies that current Internet pricing structures result in network congestion, and arguments by Internet service providers that telephone companies have not upgraded their networks to facilitate efficient transport of data services. AVAILABILITY OF BANDWIDTH Regulatory and technical issues affecting the deployment of technologies promising to enable high-speed Internet access to the home and to businesses, including the implications for the Internet of the FCC's role in promoting universal service. The paper is available on the FCC World Wide Web site, . The file is available for online viewing in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format at , or for downloading in WordPerfect format at . Copies may also be purchased from International Transcription Services, Inc., 1919 M Street, NW, Room 246, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 857-3800. -FCC- News media contact: Meribeth McCarrick or David Fiske at 202/418-0500. Office of Plans and Policy contact: Kevin Werbach at 202/418-1597. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 10:12:34 -0500 From: x@net.com.org Reply-To: heaven!Data@uunet.uu.net Organization: Spammers Create Unwanted Mail (SCUM) Subject: List of All *nn Features Is there a list somewhere that explains what all of the available *nn features are on typical phone systems. For instance, I know about *60, *67, *69, *57, *81. Is there something that lists what *1 - *99 is? ------------------------------ From: dcstar@acslink.aone.net.au (David Clayton) Subject: Re: Modem to Modem Flow Control Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 03:57:56 GMT Organization: Customer of Access One Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia Reply-To: dcstar@@acslink.aone.net.au Sheldon Laws contributed the following: > Paul C. Diem wrote: >> Can someone explain how modems implement flow control between each >> other? > The Clear to Send (CTS) signal tells the other modem that it is ready > to get data from the other modem. The Data Set Ready (DSR) signal > tells the other modem that it is going to send data. Or is this question about how modems actually do flow control between themselves, not the DTE equipment side stuff? Regards, David. **Remove the second "@" from the 'Reply To' (spam stopper!)** David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.aone.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ------------------------------ From: course@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: Berkeley Spring Courses in Communications Tech Date: 31 Mar 1997 22:52:06 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley UC Berkeley Extension Announces Spring Short Courses in Communications and Networking Technologies "SONET/ATM-Based Broadband Networks: Systems, Architectures, and Designs" ...with Professor H. Jonathan Chao, Polytechnic University, New York May 5-7, 1997 San Francisco "Simulation of an ATM-Based Network" ...with William E. Stephens and Christopher Ward, ATM Networking Group, David Sarnoff Research Center, Princeton May 21-23, 1997 San Francisco "Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM)" ...with Vijay K. Garg, Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs April 24-25, 1997 San Francisco "Applications of CDMA to Wireless Communications" ...with Vijay K. Garg and Joseph E. Wilkes, Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs May 19-20, 1997 San Francisco "Wireless and Personal Communications Systems" ...with Vijay K. Garg, Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs. May 21-23, 1997 San Francisco "High-Speed LAN Alternatives" ...with Rich Seifert, chairman and standards editor for the 802.3 Full Duplex/Flow Control Task Group. May 12-13, 1997 San Francisco Further information: mail to course@unx.berkeley.edu Please ask for "communications short courses" or specify the specific course(s) of interest to you, and enclose your postal address and/or fax number. You can also check our short courses web page at http://www.unex.berkeley.edu:4243/eng ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #80 *****************************