Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id NAA21142; Sun, 2 Nov 1997 13:41:52 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 13:41:52 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199711021841.NAA21142@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #299 TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Nov 97 13:40:35 EST Volume 17 : Issue 299 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Interpol on Computer Crime (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Switch Information Requested (PB Schechter) RISKS-L/comp.risks Defunct? (Rick DeMattia) Cyber Promotions is Back ... Check Your Filters (D. Metcalfe) Spamford Has an 800 Number (Rob McMillin) WECO 500 Schematic (Vaneen Parker) Siemens Euroset 221 S IWV / MWV (Friedhelm Jens) MCI Cuts Off 2/3 of ISP's Phone Lines (sewilco@fieldday.mn.org) Strange Tones Heard When Making Calls (Chris Telesca) NPA for Windows Update (Paul Cook) Newton Telecom Dictionary & Telecommunications Books (Victor Yue) Inuvik 4D Dialing (Joey Lindstrom) Telephone Meter Wanted (Lance Veitch) 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: * telecom-request@telecom-digest.org * 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: 847-727-5427 Fax: 773-539-4630 ** Article submission address: editor@telecom-digest.org ** Our archives are available for your review/research. The URL is: http://telecom-digest.org 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 archives@telecom-digest.org 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. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh Subject: Interpol on Computer Crime Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 05:09:25 +-5-30 Pat, In the context of FBI Director Louis Freeh's statements on computer crime, here's the Interpol take. -rishab [from American Reporter, the Internet's only daily newspaper, www.american-reporter.com] EXCLUSIVE: INTERPOL'S TOP INTERNET CRIMEFIGHTER SPEAKS OUT Rishab Aiyer Ghosh American Reporter Correspondent New Delhi, India NEW DELHI -- The impact of the Internet on crime-fighting may not be as great as some hope, Interpol's top expert on networked computer crimes has told the American Reporter. Hiroaki Takizawa says old-fashioned methods of seeking evidence and gathering information may remain the staple of crimefighters for a long time to come. Takizawa talked to the American Reporter at the 66th annual General Assembly of the worldwide crime-fighting organization Interpol in New Delhi last week, where one of the key topics of the conference was the impact of the Internet on global crime and enforcement. In an interview, the top Interpol expert on Internet and computer crimes, Hiroaki Takizawa, said despite the serious problems being posed by the Internet to police everywhere, traditional, off-line evidence gathering and investigation will remain the primary tools of law enforcement. Takizawa admitted that strong cryptography and anonymous email make illicit transactions difficult to monitor or trace through the Internet. Interpol, he said, is concerned at the spread of cryptography, but does not advocate legislation banning it. "What we concentrate on is the implementation of legislation, rather than legislation itself," said Takizawa, when asked if he favored a crypto ban. "Police need human and financial resources" to investigate crime using the Internet, feels Takizawa, more than unenforceable legislative bans. Do police make use of intercepted messages much, on a global scale? "Yes, I think so, yeah," said Takizawa. However, "we don't, we haven't had many cases" that relied on undecipherable messages as evidence. "I don't think the Interpol plays an important role so far as [legislation on] cryptography is concerned," says Takizawa. The Interpol cannot make binding treaties affecting national law -- "it is not really a policy developing organization," he said. Instead, it makes resolutions "from the police point of view" -- and its members then go home to lobby with their governments. It does not intend to make any resolutions on cryptography, though. Instead "[Interpol] will focus on training and coordination" so that police forces around the world "can develop practical solutions." As for changing the law, "the OECD has started discussion" on cryptography -- and has come to the conclusion that crypto bans are not a good approach. Interpol finds that an increasing amount of its work involves the Net or computers in one way or another, and has set up a team to figure out where police -- and the Interpol -- can have an effective role. Interpol divides digital crime into three areas: computer crime, which includes piracy, data-theft and time-theft (computer break-ins); computer-related crime, which is mainly bank fraud -- "what was a crime earlier with paper, but is now done with a computer," as Takizawa says, and pornography. The third, most recent area that "everyone's talking about now," Takizawa said, is what Interpol calls "network crime": the use of the Internet for transactions that are already illegal -- child pornography -- or aid illegal activity -- often involving the drug trade, customs evasion and money laundering. Takizawa finds that of these network crimes, child pornography and the use of the Internet as an accessory to child sex abuse -- on-line advertisements for Asian "sex tours" targeted at Westerners, for example -- is the easiest to tackle. Stopping the distribution of pornography itself is harder, though, thanks to the Internet -- "normally [pornography] was checked at the airport and confiscated by customs, now you just download it by computer" -- so Interpol doesn't even try, he says. "Interception [is] impossible," said Takizawa bluntly. Instead, Interpol uses the easily searched structure of the Net to trace material back to its off-line origins. Police aided by Interpol's global network locate brochures for sex tourism on the Net much more easily than if they were in print, and follow up with off-line investigations and arrests, he said. The cross-jurisdictional nature of the Net -- and the fact that countries disagree on precisely what activities are criminal -- is less of a problem for child pornography than money-laundering. Takizawa describes a recent case involving Germany and Japan: "from Germany we received information [on child pornography found online] pointing to Japan. Through Interpol we [passed] it on to Japan," where authorities traced the originators and made arrests. And what about money laundering? Doesn't the prospect of untraceable, anonymous global electronic commerce on the Internet scare Interpol? "Well, my counter-question is, have there been so many cases of ... [monetary] transactions using [the] Internet?" asks Takizawa. Perhaps not -- yet. But once you have some form of the digital currency required for any large-scale electronic commerce, what will Interpol do about money laundering? "We don't know," he admits. When cyberpayments are common, Takizawa adds, "we cannot tell you what's going to happen. Everybody wants to know that. If you can predict it perhaps you [will] get the Nobel prize!" For an organization sometimes represented as a global police force -- which Interpol is not -- being a coordinating body for 178 national law enforcement agencies worldwide -- Takizawa's depiction of its Internet policy is surprisingly tame. His view well may stem from a basic understanding of the nature of crime, which doesn't occur on the Internet so much as pass through it. However much criminals use the Net, says Takizawa, police will always "need more evidence outside the network." ---------------- Rishab Aiyer Ghosh is Editor of the New Delhi-based Indian Techonomist, a popular technology journal. ------------------------------ From: pb@Colorado.EDU (PB Schechter) Subject: Switch Information Requested Date: 31 Oct 1997 23:33:26 GMT Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado is currently looking for ways to "conserve" numbers in the 303 area code. One idea that has come up is the possibility of turning Central Office Codes from NXXs to XXXs. This would add about two million numbers, and is possible because Colorado is going to use an overlay in the 303 area, so ten digits will need to be dialed for all local calls. (Just to be perfectly clear: currently, a CO code can't begin with 0 or 1 because those initial digits are used to indicate operator and long distance calls, respectively. However, if local calls are all prefaced with the area code, the initial digit of a call to a number with a CO code beginning with 0 or 1 *will not be 0 or 1.*) Some people have claimed that this might "break" some switches (particularly, outside of the North American Numbering Plan). It seems to me that, once a switch sees that a call is going "somewhere else" (i.e., to a different area code), it won't even look at the remaining digits (or, if it does, it won't care what they are). However, I am not a switch expert. So, the request: (1) Does anyone know if there are any switches that would complain about a CO code beginning with a 0 or a 1, even if they dialed digit string does *not* begin with a 0 or a 1? (2) Does anyone know how I can find this out? Thanks in advance. PB Schechter PB.Schechter@dora.state.co.us ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Nov 1997 19:57:22 EST From: rad@railnet.nshore.org (Rick DeMattia) Subject: RISKS-L/comp.risks Defunct? Reply-To: rad@railnet.nshore.org (Rick DeMattia) Organization: Railnet BBS +1 440 786 0476 A question that is perhaps not totally irrelevant to the TELECOM Digest. I've read comp.risks for years and enjoyed it -- but have not received anything for several months. Does anyone know whether it's defunct? My newsfeed has received nothing, either, but I can't completely rule out news propogation problems (still uucp connected here ...). Rick DeMattia [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps Peter N. the moderator of the list or a regular reader will care to elaborate. I frankly do not know the answer. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dmet@flatoday.infi.net (D. Metcalfe) Subject: Cyber Promotions is Back ... Check Your Filters Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 05:04:58 GMT Organization: InfiNet Reply-To: dmet@flatoday.infi.net Full Headers so you can check your filters .... =============================================== Return-Path: Received: from relay.nevwest.com (root@[207.199.68.35]) by fh102.infi.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA20216 for ; Thu, 30 Oct 1997 17:53:58 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199710302253.RAA20216@fh102.infi.net> Received: from pleaseread.com (pleaseread.com [207.124.161.77] by relay.nevwest.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id RAA21346; Thu, 30 Oct 1997 17:55:27 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 17:55:27 -0500 (EST) From: cyberout@thehitman.com To: fulldatabase@thehitman.com Organization: Cyber Sender 7.0 Subject: STOCKS CRASH, BUT NOT IRT!!! X-UIDL: de471f60dc04b9dc737d029adc465b8c [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The garbage text has all been removed and just the information of interest has been left intact. PAT] (For example): IMPORTANT: If you wish to respond to the preceding message... visit: http://www.internetstockmarket.com/irt or CLICK HERE. Please DO NOT USE REPLY if you wish more information as none can be provided. (As another example): If you wish to be permanently removed from Cyber Promotions' e-mailing list, SIMPLY HIT REPLY and type "remove" in the subject field or message body. Your request will be processed by a computer program within 36 hours. If you have had trouble removing yourself ... or ... If you wish to remove up to 10 email addresses from Cyber Promotions' e-mailing list, simply send an email to manremove@cyberpromo.com and type the Internet-notated email addresses in the body of the message, each on its own line, with no extra comments. Your request will be processed by a computer program within 36 hours. (Still more): Send your exclusive advertisement to 3 million people! Call (215) 628-9780 for more info. ------------------------------ From: Rob McMillin Subject: Spamford Has an 800 Number Date: Sat, 01 Nov 1997 13:42:47 -0800 Organization: Syseca, Inc. Perhaps this is news. I reviewed the whois database at rs.internic.net, and it turned up a curious thing. One of Sanford Wallace's InterNICnames (sw3758) has an 800 number, 800-650-9110. This is unreachable from my area (El Lay). Could someone from Philadelphia tell me if this is still available in their area, and if so, who responds? Robert L. McMillin | Not the voice of Syseca, Inc. | rlm@syseca-us.com Personal: rlm@helen.surfcty.com | rlm@netcom.com Put 'rabbit' in your Subject: or my spam-schnauzer will eat your message. ------------------------------ From: Vaneen Parker Subject: WECO 500 Schematic Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 18:49:21 -0800 Organization: EarthLink Network, Inc. I am interested in modifying an old non-dial phone to use the components of a 500 set. The old phone did not have a dial but had a place to install one. I have obtained a dial that fits in mechanically. The dial has five terminal posts that are unlabled. I can manage figuring out the dial switch contacts. It has been a long time since I have worked on a dial set, however, and I can't remember how to connect the dial into the hybrid network and handset to mute the dial pulses. The set that I intend to modify has only a handset and hookswitch mounted in a metal base. It looks like it have been manufactured in the 30's or 40's, which I think was prior to dial tone (Please correct me if I am mistaken). I plan to put the network and a ringer in a separate box. Any suggestion criticism or help will be appreciated. Last of the green truck guys! ------------------------------ From: Friedhelm.Jens@t-online.de (Friedhelm Jens) Subject: Siemens Euroset 221 S IWV / MWV Date: 2 Nov 1997 09:36:10 GMT Organization: T-Online Ich habe folgendes Problem : Wie kann ich das oben genannte Telefon fest von Impulswahl auf Mehrfrequenzwahl umstellen ?? Und auch wieder zurck. Temporr ist bekannt ... :-)) Vielen Dank ..... [TELECOM Digest Editor's Query: Will someone please read the above and translate it for me? It appears he wants information about the model of telephone named in the subject line. PAT] ------------------------------ From: sewilco@fieldday.mn.org Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 10:58:32 -0600 Subject: MCI Cuts Off 2/3 of ISP's Phone Lines On October 31, 1997, the {Minneapolis Star Tribune} reported that an ISP has had most of its phone lines cut off by its telephone company. MCI has begun offering local telephone service to a limited area of the Minneapolis-St. Paul region in competition with US West. The previous Saturday, US Internet Corp completed the conversion to 384 MCI telephone lines. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, MCI told US Internet that it could not handle the volume and duration of Internet connections made by US Internet's customers. Service to 240 of the 384 lines was cut off at about 7 a.m. Thursday morning. US Internet now reports that its customers are getting busy signals. ------------------------------ From: ctelesca@pagesz.net (Chris Telesca) Subject: Strange Tones Heard When Making Calls Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 12:03:38 -0500 Organization: Pagesz.net Greetings! I have previously posted to this group about some problems I was having with my Remote-Access to Call-Forwarding feature from BellSouth. Since someone is apparently able to hack my PIN quite easily, I have to check my phone to make sure it's not being forwarded elsewhere by someone other than me. In my house we have two lines - my line rings in my office only, and the other line rings in several rooms including my office. So when I tie up my line by logging-in to my ISP to check my e-mail or port to the Net (like I'm doing now), I can use the other line through a Radio Shack Doufone Two-line controller. My line is line two, the other is line one. Line two has caller-id and *69 on it (flat-fee per month); line one had no caller-id, but does have *69 on a per-call basis (charge made per each use). I understand that Caller-ID sends out a signal between the first and second rings that caller hears over the phone, but that the CID box receives the signal before the call recipient actually hears his first ring (which is the second ring heard by the caller). Lately when I've been calling from line one to line two, I hear some sounds between the first and second rings: two faint modem tones (one hi-pitched, then one low-pitched), then what sounds like a faint brief burst of static. I hear them when I call from line one to line two, but not when I call from line two to line one. I don't hear these tones when I call other friends of mine who also have CID and *69 on their phones (when I call from either line one or line two), but none of these people are BellSouth customers. I was not aware of these sounds until just recently (over the past two weeks), but that doesn't mean they haven't been there longer. I was wondering if these noises are indicative of some special equipment the teleco might have placed on my line for testing purposes because I have been complaining about my RACF service? Any thoughts or suggestions out there? Chris Telesca ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Paul Cook Subject: NPA for Windows Update Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 11:08:49 -0800 No, Microsoft doesn't have its own area code ... yet. The latest release for the highly useful shareware, NPA for Windows is out. This is the 11 Oct 97 version, with many new prefixes and area codes since the July version. Download it from http://www.pcconsultant.com/~robert/pcc This program has location information for every exchange in the US and Canada, and with the area code and prefix you can find out the name location, whether it is a wireline or wireless prefix, the exact latitude and longitude, the probable zip code (including a ranking if you want it of multiple zip codes serving subscribers for that CO), and the distance between exchanges in miles. Paul Cook * pcook@proctorinc.com ph: 425-881-7000 Proctor & Associates, Redmond, WA fax: 425-885-3282 http://www.proctorinc.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For newer readers or for old-timers who do not remember much about him, Paul Cook has been a regular participant here for several years. His scripts are trustworthy and and quite useful. The best part is the price! PAT] ------------------------------ From: Victor Yue Subject: Newton Telecom Dictionary & Telecommunications Books Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 12:01:49 +0800 Hi, In Volume 17: Issue 295 of TELECOM Digest, Robert mentioned about the 13th edition of Harry Newton's "Newton Telecom Dictionary". I am interested in getting this updated Dictionary as well as other Telecommunications reference books. Could you advise some sources? Thank you and with best regards, Victor Yue Seong Swee 34 Upper Cross St #15-168 Singapore 050034 SINGAPORE Email: yuess@singnet.com.sg http://www.singnet.com.sg/~yuess Phone: +65 533-3177 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Victor, I think the best place to stock up might be right at the source which is the mail order book service Harry Newton operates in New York City. I think the name is Telecom Library. Newton, an Australian who migrated to the USA a number of years ago and promptly gave the first real compe- tition to {Telephony Magazine} in many years through his own publication {Teleconnect} has operated a highly regarded mail order telecom-related book service since the inception of his publication. He is a regular reader here so I hope he or his staff will respond to you soon with particulars. His dictionary is quite useful. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 31 Oct 97 04:06:36 -0700 Reply-To: Joey Lindstrom Subject: Inuvik 4D Dialing > Another interesting angle, though, would be local calls in Inuvik. > Presumably they can still have permissive dialing of the local > 979-xxxx or 777-xxxx numbers, assuming they have full toll alerting. > If you dial 777-xxxx, you must mean (867) 777-xxxx, since otherwise > you'd dial 1-403-777-xxxx; likewise, 979-xxxx must mean (403) > 979-xxxx, since otherwise you'd dial 1-819- or 1-867-979-xxxx. Then > again, Inuvik is small enough that they might have local 4D > dialing. As of four years ago, they did. A fellow I went to school with in 1993 came from there and I remember him mentioning that you needed to dial only the final four digits for all local calls. Whether or not this is still the case I do not know. From: The Desk Of Joey Lindstrom +1 403-606-3853 EMAIL: joey@lindstrom.com numanoid@ab.imag.net lindstrj@cadvision.com WEBB: http://www.ab.imag.net/worldwidewebb/ ------------------------------ From: Lance Veitch Subject: Telephone Meter - Wanted Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 13:56:27 +0200 Organization: ESKOM - Koeberg Power Station Hi, I am looking for a device that can meter telephone calls and give a printout/readout of each call made with its call_time/units/cost/ number_dialed. The unit pulse will be supplied from the exchange (post office) Any suggestions are welcome. Regards, Lance ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #299 ******************************