Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id BAA14464; Sun, 9 May 1999 01:01:35 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 9 May 1999 01:01:35 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199905090501.BAA14464@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V19 #75 TELECOM Digest Sun, 9 May 99 01:01:00 EDT Volume 19 : Issue 75 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Stop the Madness! Close Libraries; Arrest Librarians (Babu Mengelepouti) Re: The End of Privacy (Mike Riddle) 24-Hour 4.8c Long Distance (Paul Robinson) UK Opportunity (vertexsolution@my-dejanews.com) Re: Imminent Exhaustion of the NANP Should be a Wake-up Call! (Arthur Ross) Re: Area Code For Wireless Urged (John David Galt) Re: 90# "Feature" on Your Phone? (Art Kamlet) Moderator Ahead of His Time, as Usual (Dale Neiburg) Re: Forcing MCI to Change Advertising (Rob McMillin) Re: Last Laugh! No Sex, Please - We're Saudi Arabian (Danny Burstein) Re: Last Laugh! No Sex, Please - We're Saudi Arabian (Craig Macbride) Correction: Website Authors (Eric B. Morson) 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 networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, and other forums. It is also gatewayed 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 Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copywrited. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occassional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 18:43:23 -0700 From: Babu Mengelepouti Reply-To: dialtone@vcn.bc.ca Organization: US Secret Service Subject: Stop the Madness! Close all Libraries, Arrest all Librarians hahahahahahhahahahahah -- passed on, from wherever on the net -- Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 21:51:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Cancer Omega To: DC Stuff Subject: Stop the Madness! http://www.citypaper.com/columns/framecyb.htm Stop the Madness! Joab Jackson It's not clear yet that either of the two Littleton, Colo., students who unleashed their anger by firing on classmates and teachers ... were encouraged by any racist hate sites on the Web. But there were indications that racism, hate, and the Internet played a role in their crimes. -"Internet Gives Youths Path To Hate Groups," The Sun, April 22. A foul influence has cropped up in our society, ladies and gentlemen. It's a place that offers easy accessibility to violence and racist- fueled speech, where grotesque ideologies and over-the-top hate language flow freely. Don't believe me? I did a sample expedition. Within 30 minutes of searching, I came across these items: a piece of writing describing a 12-year-old girl tied to a bed and injected with drugs to keep her sedated for multiple rapes; graphic photos of Nanking citizens killed or horribly tortured during the Japanese aggression against China in World War II; a vivid depiction of two blood-drenched women in a fight (one is wielding a cleaver); and perhaps most disturbingly, Hitler's anti-Semitic Mein Kampf-in its entirety! I suspect most of you know where I found this material. But in case you've lived underneath a rock for the past few years, I'll clue you in: a library. A public library not three miles from my home. It's not clear yet that either of the two Littleton, Colo., students who unleashed their anger by firing on classmates and teachers were encouraged by any racist hate material they found in their local library. But there were indications that racism, hate, and libraries played a role in their crimes. The frightening fact is that any teenager can just walk into the nearest branch of your government-funded public library and have access to a wide range of material, some of it clearly unsuitable for little minds. The barrier of entry is very low. Even those who can't afford a computer to access the Internet can freely check out a book filled with violence or hate speech! With no supervision! According to a pro-book lobbying group called the American Library Association, there are more than 120,000 libraries in the U.S. This should strike fear into the hearts of every concerned adult. Just think: Computer-catalogue-savvy kids in search of outlets for anger and adolescent rebellion can find them on the book shelves-and reference-desk personnel are eager to help them. Once upon a time, scholars sought out libraries to find volumes otherwise unattainable. In this way, such services performed a legitimate function. Nowadays, book superstores are on almost every corner, rendering the act of burrowing into the stacks a quaint, outdated custom. Not that libraries today attract crowds so scholarly. The sad truth is most of their patrons have spent more time watching television than rigorously pursuing academic disciplines. How can they be trusted to handle responsibly the material they find? Can we be sure that every reader will achieve the contextual distance needed to understand the violence in a Dean Koontz novel or, for that matter, the perverted sexual mores espoused in Nicholson Baker's latest? Of course, most who read something like Mein Kampf don't buy into its absurd arguments. But a few do. What's the answer? Unfortunately, doing away with libraries altogether may be politically infeasible (though outright elimination certainly would solve another huge problem associated with these "book lenders": piracy. Not only do libraries allow patrons to easily duplicate whatever pleases them on conveniently located "copying machines," but every time a book is checked out, the publishing industry loses a sale. In this way, untold millions in royalties slip away each year. Cash-poor authors are forced to teach, write advertising copy, or hang out in seedy bars drinking cheap beer with wanton floozies.) If we can't shut down libraries, we can work toward good stop-gap solutions. How about holding librarians legally responsible for the actions their books cause when they are loaned out? Is this too much to ask? How about requiring libraries to remove books we find indecent? Or at least restricting such materials to an "adults-only" section of the library? Here is where we can all do our part. Each and every one of us can pressure our elected officials to pass legislation that will make our libraries safe for children. Let me tell you a scary story: When I was 15 years old, I went to the local library and, with no parental supervision, came across a copy of The Satanic Bible, written by Anton LaVey. Curious, I checked it out and took it home. Just like that! Although reading the book didn't send me on a shooting spree, it might have if I'd also had access to a trench coat, firearms, blood-spurting video games, and hate-filled German industrial music. Let's stop this chain of madness before it's too late. Ask not what libraries can do to you, but ask what you can do to the libraries. ---------------------- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the answer is very simple. The Frightened Mothers in the USA need to work to get the libraries all closed down, or at least severely regulated. Children should never be allowed to go to the library by themselves; you never know what sort of person the reference desk clerk is likely to be; they may actually help your child find books like those described in the article above. Furthermore, never allow your child sit in his room listening to the radio. The radio should be out in the main part of the house where all can use it together as a family activity. You never know when your child left alone like that may curiously tune the radio and hear Bill Clinton speaking about his rationalizations for throwing bombs at people in other countries. Then the first thing you know, your child is going to want to experiment with the things that man told him about and he is going to be throwing bombs at his school or planting one under his teacher's desk. At least if the radio is in the main room in the house, Frightened Mothers can turn it off when that man is on the air. But the main thing is, we have to get those libraries closed down as soon as possible, and personally hold the librarians responsible for each and every sentence in each and every book, the same as the fine people who run our government would be more than happy to do with the internet and the ISPs. They're just hoping you do not see the comp- arison is all. ----------------------- A little bit related: did you see the editorial cartoon in the papers the other day? Background is several television sets. One has a picture of an airplane dropping a bomb. Next television has a picture of two kids throwing bombs at a school which is blazing with fire as all the teachers are running away trying to escape. Still another television has a picture of a man beating his wife; others show a child with an axe busily hacking away at someone we presume is his mother; another shows a police officer beating someone to death while other police are watching and cheering him on ... etc. In the foreground, a man with a striped suit and top hat, who looks suspiciously like Uncle Sugar, our favorite public serpent, and as he looks at the ground, averting his eyes in humiliation, a bubble message next to him says, "My name is Sam, I am a Violence-aholic ... ". The caption at the bottom says, "The first step to recovery is when you admit you have a problem and ask others to help you." But those who have a problem and need help seldom ask for it until the day comes they are laying in a gutter on the street in their own waste and they have no where else to go but up ... and the USA has a short distance to go yet before it hits rock bottom. Maybe Y2K will provide the finishing touches; the icing on the cake so to speak. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mike Riddle Subject: Re: The End of Privacy Date: 7 May 1999 11:40:04 -0500 Organization: Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish & Short Reply-To: mriddle@oasis.novia.net Monty Solomon wrote: > REMEMBER, they are always watching you. Use cash when you can. Do > not give your phone number, social-security number or address, unless > you absolutely have to. Do not fill in questionnaires or respond to > telemarketers. Demand that credit and data-marketing firms produce all > information they have on you, correct errors and remove you from > marketing lists. Check your medical records often. If you suspect a > government agency has a file on you, demand to see it. Block caller ID > on your phone, and keep your number unlisted. > Never use electronic toll-booths on roads. Never leave your mobile > phone on-your movements can be traced. Do not use store credit or > discount cards. If you must use the Internet, encrypt your e-mail, > reject all "cookies" and never give your real name when registering at > websites. Better still, use somebody else's computer. At work, assume > that calls, voice mail, e-mail and computer use are all monitored. > http://www.economist.com/editorial/freeforall/1-5-99/index_ld5357row.html May 6, 1999, in Bernstein v. DoJ, the Ninth Circ. affirmed the District Court's ruling that (in a nutshell) computer source code is a form of speech, and that the Commerce Dep't's Export Administration Regulations (aka EAR) are an unconstitutional prior restraint of cryptography speech. I expect that a few here may have already dissected the Opinion, others may not care, but I thought that the Opinion, available at http://jya.com/bernstein-9th.htm Or from the 9th Court of Appeals: http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov/web/newopinions.nsf/f606ac175e010d64882566eb0065 8118/febd2452a8a4d79b8825676900685b71?OpenDocument contains a rather interesting judicial commentary on privacy as we delve ever deeper in to the computer age: "Second, we note that the government' s efforts to regulate and control the spread of knowledge relating to encryption may implicate more than the First Amendment rights of cryptographers. In this increasingly electronic age, we are all required in our everyday lives to rely on modern technology to communicate with one another. This reliance on electronic communication, however, has brought with it a dramatic diminution in our ability to communicate privately. Cellular phones are subject to monitoring, email is easily intercepted, and transactions over the internet are often less than secure. Something as commonplace as furnishing our credit card number, social security number, or bank account number puts each of us at risk. Moreover, when we employ electronic methods of communication, we often leave electronic "fingerprints" behind, fingerprints that can be traced back to us. Whether we are surveilled by our government, by criminals, or by our neighbors, it is fair to say that never has our ability to shield our affairs from prying eyes been at such a low ebb. The availability and use of secure encryption may offer an opportunity to reclaim some portion of the privacy we have lost. Government efforts to control encryption thus may well implicate not only the First Amendment rights of cryptographers intent on pushing the boundaries of their science, but also the constitutional rights of each of us as potential recipients of encryption' s bounty. Viewed from this perspective, the government' s efforts to retard progress in cryptography may implicate the Fourth Amendment, as well as the right to speak anonymously, see McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm' n, 115 S. Ct. 1511, 1524 (1995), the right against compelled speech, see Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, 714 (1977), and the right to informational privacy, see Whalen v. Roe, 429 U.S. 589, 599-600 (1977). While we leave for another day the resolution of these difficult issues, it is important to point out that Bernstein's is a suit not merely concerning a small group of scientists laboring in an esoteric field, but also touches on the public interest broadly defined." ------------------------------ From: rfc1394a@aol.com (Paul Cook) Date: 08 May 1999 04:57:24 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: 24-Hour 4.8c Long Distance I often wondered why someone didn't do something like set up the old system of dialing a local number, handing you a dial tone and having you punch in a pin code and then the number you wanted to call. My thought was that the rate for such calls should be cheaper since there would be no "equal access" or 800 fee. And perhaps there would be a calling card that wouldn't rip people off either by charging enormous rates for connections or whatever miscellaneous call surcharges are imposed. Well, I found out someone had done such a thing in my area. I live in the Washington, DC regional area and a local company sells calling cards at the rate of roughly 4.8c per minute. I don't know what the call setup charge is but it's probably 25c if anything. They do charge 35c if you call their 800 number from a pay phone. They may also have the typical 25c per month service fee once the card has been used at all. In any case, I bought a $10 card from the company and was satisfied with it, enough that I bought a $25 card. From Washington DC and vicinity to Denver on a weekday is probably at least 10 and more likely 14c. So, you would expect to get perhaps, 4 hours. So, when I first used it because I wanted to call someone in Colorado, I dialed the local number, then the pin code and the 303 area code number. And I hear the announcement. "On this call, you can talk for, TEN hours and SIXTEEN minutes." ------------------------------ From: vertexsolution@my-dejanews.com Subject: Employment Opportunity in UK Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 10:53:35 GMT Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion We are looking for Expert telecomm's C or C++ Software Engineers (three years experience). As a senior Software Engineer (C, C++) you will work at either embedded or front end level. You will be working within the field of high speed data. The company is small enough to maintain a very high tech approach yet large enough to offer good employee support. Please contact me for further information, or check our web site www.vertex-solutions.co.uk for more info. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 18:23:14 -0700 From: Arthur Ross Subject: Re: Imminent Exhaustion of the NANP Should be a Wake-up Call! Linc - Indeed, I see you are correct, although it does take some kind of prize for irrationality. Something that you ALWAYS have to dial could have been omitted entirely without any loss of information. About the only rational basis I can think of for this is that it gives something that can be used from behind PBXs, unchanged, where the initial zero DOES serve some purpose. Some of my acquaintances who currently live in the Sophia Antipolis (Cte d'Azur) area tell me that the scheme I described was indeed the way it USED to work up until a few years, except that there was only one zone (Paris, 01) and all the rest of the country was zone-less -- eight digits was enough. Only the French could come up with something this strange, I guess -- vive la France! -- Best regards, -- Arthur PS: I REALLY DO believe that somehow, somewhere, some raving lunatic entrepreneur will do something that WILL do away with the need for numeric addressing. The world is a really interesting place these days, telecom-wise! -- Dr. Arthur Ross 2325 East Orangewood Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85020-4730 Phone: 602-371-9708 Fax : 602-336-7074 ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society Subject: Re: Area Code For Wireless Urged Date: Sun, 09 May 1999 02:25:21 GMT > BY DEBORAH KONG > Mercury News Staff Writer > Fed up with the constant stream of new area codes, Californians have > repeatedly asked why state regulators can't just establish a separate > area code for wireless phones and pagers. > The answer: The federal government wouldn't allow it. As I recall, the federal government's problem was that forcing users of wireless phones, but not wired phones, to move to a new area code was "discrimination." To my knowledge, the question of whether you can create a new all-wireless NPA *without* forcing anyone to use it has never been addressed. I for one would change to use such an NPA if it were offered. It would have several advantages, especially if it overlays a large area such as all of California or even all of the US. 1) I would know that I'll never have to change codes again (until the length of numbers increases, anyway). 2) Anyone calling this NPA would know they are calling a cellular. Thus we could ban junk calls and make it stick. 3) Calls to the cellular NPA would go immediately to a cellular carrier, who would be responsible to forward it over their own network to the cellular user. Thus there would never be long distance charges for calling a cellular; roamer access numbers would become unnecessary. (If calling-party-pays cellular services exist, they would be an exception to this, and so should have their own separate NPA.) Comments? John David Galt ------------------------------ From: kamlet@infinet.com (Art Kamlet) Subject: Re: 90# "Feature" on Your Phone? Date: 8 May 1999 21:02:30 -0400 Organization: InfiNet Reply-To: kamlet@infinet.com In article , Terry Kennedy wrote: > Telecom Digest Editor noted: >> Have you ever heard the >> intercept message which says, "the number you have dialed can only be >> reached from within the subscriber's premises". Some very large centrex >> systems have certain extensions just used internally between various >> departments, with no need for calls from outside and no desire to have >> the line busy with an outside call. So somehow, the switch is able to >> tell where it is getting the call from, and if it is not another exten- >> sion on the same switch, off it goes for treatment and return to caller. >> But the clever part is disallowing a call-transfer to that extension >> from a phone that has an outside call on it. For example, lines to computers. They are accessable only by dialing an access number which prompts for login/passwd or even more, and then switches the call to this unreachable-from-the-outside line. > Another reason for that is to negotiate away the "FCC Subscriber > Line Charge" -- if the line is in fact not connected to the PSTN, then > you can apply for a waiver of the SLC for the line. Not necessarily, The line may very well have dial-out capability. Art Kamlet Columbus, Ohio kamlet@infinet.com ------------------------------ From: Dale Neiburg Subject: Moderator Ahead of his Time, as Usual Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 13:04:52 -0400 In TELECOM Digest Volume 19:Issue 68, America's Moderator wrote: [snip!] > I was interviewed on National Public Radio one night > in 1968 when we were having the worst of the riots -- that year! -- in > Chicago. Pat, you were even farther ahead of your time than usual :) . National Public Radio didn't exist until 1971. Dale Neiburg ** NPR Satellite Operations ** 202-414-2640 I'm the guy...who put the "fun" in "dysfunctional"! [America's Editor Note: You are right. The station was WBEZ in Chicago which was at the time owned by the Chicago Board of Education and which became an affiliate of NPR a few years later. At that time, WBEZ had an agreement with WFMT (another Chicago station) to broadcast some 'national' programs which 'FMT did not want but WBEZ was happy to have. That particular night, I think there had been nine or ten major riots in the USA all at the same time in various cities around the USA from the night before; all the military troops were gearing up to have another big night of it. Some radio station on the west coast -- the Pacifica organization comes to mind -- got a large number of radio stations on a link together including WFMT in Chicago. WBEZ tapped the feed to 'FMT as well. All the stations were telling people to please stay in their houses and try to get through the night in peace. The west coast station said they had heard that in Chicago the Army had put some tanks on the street. I answered and said the military conveyances were in the parking lot at the Museum of Science and Industry, more or less across the street from where I lived. The next day a friend of mine said he had heard me 'last night on the radio, on station KOA out of Denver ...' I was confused because although I sometimes in those days called a talk show on KOA hosted by a fellow named Bob Barker I had not done so the night before. KOA was such a powerhouse that on a good night they boomed in quite well in Chicago a thousand miles away. Then I realized he meant that KOA had been on the national feed the night before when all the radio stations were trying to get everyone to stay calm, even though it seemed like the government was about to crush everyone who kept on objecting to the war, with no regrets at all I suspect. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Rob McMillin Subject: Re: Forcing MCI to Change Advertising Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 16:18:08 -0700 Organization: Netus Internetworking PAT wrote: > Want to hear something REALLY hysterical? Sprint is now mailing out > its bills in certain parts of the country (the bills issued by their > office in Tyler, Texas) with a slogan on the front of the envelope > saying 'Celebrating 100 years of service' ... yes, you read that > correctly ... Sprint is claiming to be one hundred years in business. Yeah... I suspect that this is from their ownership of, say, United Telecom, or some other little podunk outfit they bought. Robert L. McMillin | Not the voice of Syseca, Inc. | rlm@syseca-us.com Personal: rlm@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! No Sex, Please, We're Saudi Arabian Date: 8 May 1999 17:38:19 -0400 In Mike Pollock writes: > RIYADH - (Reuters) Saudi Arabia has restricted dialling to more than > 50 phone-sex services and was using a new technology to identify and > disconnect pornographic calls, a Saudi official said. [snip] > Jehani said tracing the numbers of phone-sex services was a time- > consuming and complicated task, but added that it was worth it to > protect Saudi youth. And naturally, the Saudi censors, in the name of protecting their youth, have had to clench their teeth and painfully, and painstakenly, dial up each and every one of these sex-lines. Repeatedly. After all, you wouldn't want them to make a mistake and leave any of them accessable. Some sacrifices are more than a person should be asked to bear. danny 'double pity for the ones who have to watch video monitors' burstein Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Last Laugh! No Sex Please - We're Saudi Arabian From: craig@glasswings.com.au (Craig Macbride) Organization: Nyx Public Access Internet Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 07:24:25 GMT Majdi Abuelbassal writes: > I know such a measure (taken by the Saudi Arabia telecom authority) > would not agree with the US traditional culture current norms. It also doesn't agree with the idea of freedom. > you have to remember that this is a difference culture. Does that mean that witty titles should not be put on articles about the politicians in that culture inflicting their will on private activities? > Sex and Porno business is not tolerated in those communities It's always amusing to see comments like this. Why is there such an enormous and highly profitable demand for these phone "services" in Saudi Arabia then? If everyone agreed with your view, there would be no need to block those numbers whereas, from what I have read, there have been numerous Saudis running up significant phone bills. > and authorities are obligated to protect the society Anything that involves inflicting a politician's will on private citizens in their own home is not an obligation of any authorities except dictatorships with no regard for basic civil rights. Whether that is Saudi Arabia's phone blocking or the laws of some US states against certain sexual practices, it deserves ridicule _at best_. Our moderator's story of jokes being aimed at a prominant figure of a particular race for no reason of his doing is quite different to jokes being aimed at figures in a particular race because they are doing something morally abhorent. Of course, if you do not believe in personal freedom and self-determination, then it may be morally fine by you, but also makes even the simplest conversation on such topics meaningless, lacking any common ground. Craig Macbride --------------------http://amarok.glasswings.com.au/~craig--------------- "It's a sense of humour like mine, Carla, that makes me proud to be ashamed of myself." - Captain Kremmen ------------------------------ From: Eric@AreaCode-Info.com (Eric B. Morson) Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 08:38:55 -0400 Subject: Correction: Website Authors John David Galt wrote: > All NXX codes will be converted to 4 digits by adding a 9 as the second > digit. That is ABC will become A9BC. This will provide almost 8000 new > area codes (A[0-8]BC). > Linc Madison proposed that plan and has been talking it up on his > areacode-info.com site to try to get people behind it. FYI: http://www.LincMad.com is operated by Linc Madison http://AreaCode-Info.com is operated by Eric B. Morson & John Cropper Eric B. Morson Co-Webmaster AreaCode-Info.com (203) 348-3258 EMail: Eric@AreaCode-Info.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V19 #75 *****************************