Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id TAA07822; Mon, 10 May 1999 19:05:17 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 19:05:17 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199905102305.TAA07822@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V19 #78 TELECOM Digest Mon, 10 May 99 19:05:00 EDT Volume 19 : Issue 78 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #182, May 10, 1999 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Area Code For Wireless Urged (Art Kamlet) Re: Area Code For Wireless Urged (John R. Levine) Internet Problem!!! (Peter Neidhardt) Question About T1 Robbed-Bit Protocol (wsemenov@my-dejanews.com) Telecom Engineering Student Needs Help (Jacob Thakadu) Re: The Day the Telephone Company Burned Down (Herb Stein) Re: Mother's Day Phone and Internet Traffic (Christopher Wolf) Telecom Portal Updated (Fred@mac-addict.com) Re: Which Cellular Provider Allows US-European Connectivity (Dave Farber) Re: Malicious Hacker Steals Hotmail Passwords (Ryan Tucker) Last Laugh! FCC Goes Ooops. (Paul MacArthur) 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 765 Junction City, KS 66441-0765 Phone: 415-520-9905 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 11:41:26 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #182, May 10, 1999 ************************************************************ * * * TELECOM UPDATE * * Angus TeleManagement's Weekly Telecom Newsbulletin * * http://www.angustel.ca * * Number 182: May 10, 1999 * * * * Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by * * generous financial support from: * * * * AT&T Canada ............... http://www.attcanada.com/ * * Bell Canada ............... http://www.bell.ca/ * * Lucent Technologies ....... http://www.lucent.ca/ * * MetroNet Communications ... http://www.metronet.ca/ * * Sprint Canada ............. http://www.sprintcanada.ca/ * * Telus Communications....... http://www.telus.com/ * * TigerTel Services ......... http://www.citydial.com/ * * * ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** SaskTel Joins Bell Camp ** Bell Strike Settled ** BCT.Telus Becomes Telus ** Teleglobe Plans New Global Network ** Telemarketers Fined $1 Million for Fraud ** Manufacturing Snafu Hits Newbridge ** Amtelecom Up for Sale ** Court Sustains Look's Exclusive Apartment Access ** AT&T Canada Reveals $113 Million Loss ** Nortel Announces 1.6 Terabit Tranmission ** Tigertel, Contour Join Forces ** Mitel Announces IP PBX Strategy ** Rogers Offers Multi-Computer Internet Access ** AT&T Buys U.S. Cable Giant, Allies With Microsoft ** Microcell, Royal Bank Join for Wireless Banking ** Videotron Sells U.S. Wireless Cable Holdings ** Lockheed Martin Plans Broadband Satellite Network ** President Resigns at PsiNet ** NBTel Introduces Internet VPN ** Phonettix in Merger Discussions ** MTT Phone Book Sparks Controversy ** First Quarter Results Island Tel Manitoba Telecom Systems ** Y2K in Canadian Telecom SASKTEL JOINS BELL CAMP: SaskTel, the last remaining unaligned telco, has signed a three-year alliance with Bell Canada. SaskTel will distribute Bell Nexxia services in Saskatchewan. BELL STRIKE SETTLED: The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union bargaining committee is recommending acceptance of a tentative agreement with Bell Canada. The union says the deal includes "significant improvements" in job security, salaries, and benefits. BCT.TELUS BECOMES TELUS: BCT Telus Communications will operate nationally under the brand name TELUS, and its official head office will be in Vancouver. The company is expected to reveal details of its national strategy at its annual meeting on Tuesday May 11. TELEGLOBE PLANS NEW GLOBAL NETWORK: Teleglobe says it will spend US$5 Billion over the next five years to build what it calls "the world's first globally integrated Internet, voice, data, and video network." GlobeSystem, which will have direct access in 160 cities worldwide, will increase Teleglobe's network capacity more than 180-fold. TELEMARKETERS FINED $1 MILLION FOR FRAUD: A Quebec court has levied a $1 Million fine against American Family Publishers, a Montreal-based company convicted of telemarketing fraud. This is the largest fine ever imposed in Canada for this offense. (See Telecom Update #175) MANUFACTURING SNAFU HITS NEWBRIDGE: Newbridge Networks has warned that manufacturing problems prevented them from filling many orders received in the quarter ended May 2. Earnings for the quarter will fall 30%-40% below analysts' previous estimates. AMTELECOM UP FOR SALE: Aylmer-based Amtelecom Group, one of Ontario's more active independent telcos, is putting the company's businesses up for sale. Amtelecom's Board says that growth was blocked by limited access to capital. COURT SUSTAINS LOOK'S EXCLUSIVE APARTMENT ACCESS: A judge has given Rogers Cablesystems 60 days to wind up service in three Toronto apartment buildings whose owner has granted exclusive access to wireless cable distributor Look Communications. AT&T CANADA REVEALS $113 MILLION LOSS: An AT&T Canada circular to MetroNet shareholders reveals that the company lost $113 Million in 1998, a year in which it had earlier predicted it would be profitable. Revenue increased 13% to $1.07 Billion. NORTEL ANNOUNCES 1.6 TERABIT TRANSMISSION: Nortel Networks has introduced a technology that transmits over 160 parallel channels on a single fiber, making total capacity 1.6 terabits (trillion bits) per second. MCI WorldCom will begin a technical trial in the fourth quarter. TIGERTEL, CONTOUR JOIN FORCES: TigerTel Services, which provides long distance, call center, and messaging, is merging with Contour Telecom Management, which outsources corporate telecom services. TigerTel will own 80% of the merged entity. MITEL ANNOUNCES IP PBX STRATEGY: Mitel says its "No Compromise IP Telephony Strategy" will deliver IP-based products with all of the capabilities of current PBXs. The company plans to introduce IP Ethernet phones for its SX-2000 for Windows NT system in the first quarter of 2000. An IP version of the SX-2000 is scheduled for early in 2001. ROGERS OFFERS MULTI-COMPUTER INTERNET ACCESS: Rogers Cablesystems now permits two or three computers on a home network to simultaneously access its high-speed Internet service. Price: $9.95/month for each additional computer. ** Rogers has also formed a joint venture with Excite to supply Excite's Internet search engine and Internet content in a "localized format." AT&T BUYS U.S. CABLE GIANT, ALLIES WITH MICROSOFT: AT&T Corp. will buy U.S. cableco MediaOne for more than US$50 Billion. The deal makes AT&T the largest cable company in the U.S. ** Microsoft has agreed to buy $5 Billion in AT&T securities, convertible to a 3% stake in the company. AT&T will buy up to 5 million more Microsoft digital set-top boxes as well as other Microsoft software. MICROCELL, ROYAL BANK JOIN FOR WIRELESS BANKING: Microcell Solutions and Royal Bank say they will allow Fido customers to access Royal's banking services from wireless handsets by the end of the year. VIDEOTRON SELLS U.S. WIRELESS CABLE HOLDINGS: Groupe Videotron has sold its wireless cable (MMDS) operations in the U.S. to Sprint Corp. for US$180 Million. The deal will give Sprint access to another 6.4 million homes. LOCKHEED MARTIN PLANS BROADBAND SATELLITE NETWORK: Lockheed Martin has formed a US$3.6-Billion joint venture with TRW Inc. and Telecom Italia to build Astrolink, a satellite system that will transmit broadband Internet and multimedia services. Service is to begin in 2003. PRESIDENT RESIGNS AT PSINET: Nadir Desai, President of PsiNet in Canada and Senior VP of the parent company, has left the Internet provider to become CEO of American Gem, a Toronto-based company that aims to set up an Internet brokerage. NBTEL INTRODUCES INTERNET VPN: NBTel has launched Internet VPN, a virtual private network service offering worldwide remote access via the Internet. ** The New Brunswick telco has also adopted video streaming technology from PixStream to supply video via ADSL. PHONETTIX IN MERGER DISCUSSIONS: Responding to a query from the Toronto Stock Exchange, call center outsourcer Phonettix Intelecom says it is in merger discussions with another company, but "there is no assurance these negotiations will be successful." MTT PHONE BOOK SPARKS CONTROVERSY: Cooperation between the Atlantic phone companies was not advanced by the front cover of MTT's 1999 phone book, which displayed a map of Canada's Atlantic coastline that omitted Newfoundland and PEI. "We are by no means insignificant," said the Deputy Speaker of PEI's legislature. FIRST QUARTER RESULTS: ** Island Tel: Net income increased 8% over last year to $2.3 Million. Revenues rose 4% to $20.8 Million. Long distance revenue fell 10%. ** Manitoba Telecom Systems: Net income rose 11.1% to $26.1 Million. Revenues edged up 1.6% to $175 Million. Y2K IN CANADIAN TELECOM: With the new millennium just a few months away, what dangers remain for business users of telecom services in Canada? Gerry Blackwell's four-part study of the readiness of carriers, vendors, and business customers, originally published in Telemanagement, is now posted on the Telemanagement Web site. http://www.angustel.ca/reports/r-Y2K-i.html ** To subscribe to Telemanagement call 1-800-263-4415, ext 225 or visit http://www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm.html. HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca/update/up.html 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to majordomo@angustel.ca. The text of the message should contain only the two words: subscribe update To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to majordomo@angustel.ca. The text of the message should say only: unsubscribe update [Your e-mail address] COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER: All contents copyright 1999 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 225. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: kamlet@infinet.com (Art Kamlet) Subject: Re: Area Code For Wireless Urged Date: 10 May 1999 13:57:56 -0400 Organization: InfiNet Reply-To: kamlet@infinet.com In article , L. Winson wrote: > The question is who will pay to modify all the existing switchgear, > tamden routers, and billing centers to accomodate more flexibility > in number assignments? The newcomers obviously want the baby Bells > to do it, and the baby Bells obviously don't. I don't think they should. The way number pooling and local number portability standards seem to be moving, most of this argument changes. And the argument being made about who furnishes the local loop is irrelevant in a number pooling and LNP environment. If I am a business customer who has had my phone number -- especially my NPA -- for ages and the XYZ company wants me to switch to them, I am going to insist on keeping the same number. Ane most of the politicians seem to agree, and so the additional expenses for SS7 node machines that track LNPed numbers. This is true regardless of who furnishes the local loop. Once we move from NANP and towards IP addressing, or even IP+ (greater than 32 bit IP addressing- not sure if there is an agreed upon name for it yet) and billing systems get to understand IP addressing, switching systems will already be there to accommodate them. Not in the next 5 years, I'll bet. I can't beleive how long it is taking just to get the industry to implement workable LNP. Anyone want to guess if there are more than 3 SCPs dedicated to supplying LNP numbers yet? And this is at least 5 years after the initial agreements? Perhaps the telephone companies waited until they could collect LNP fees from their customers before even buying their first LNP SCP? And what about number pooling? As far as I know there isn't a single working N-P database machine anywhere. So Little Billy's Telephone Company will continue to glom 10,000 numbers at a time, and big companies will shed their tears over these Little Billys and continue to stall on N-P. If a major phone company has implemented N-P in their network, I will take back everything I just said about N-P, but I'm not aware of any that have. Maybe the companies are waiting to be allowed to collect N-P fees from their customers before implementing N-P? Art Kamlet Columbus, Ohio kamlet@infinet.com ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Area Code For Wireless Urged Date: 10 May 1999 11:53:31 -0400 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA L. Winson wrote: > Some people argue the Bells, having enjoyed monopoly protection, are > morally obligated to do so. I don't see it that way at all. While > the Bells had a monopoly, they also were tightly regulated and they > didn't get any benefits. Of course they got benefits. They got a guaranteed rate of return on their investment, and the ability to set prices to get that rate of return, regardless of what the market price would have been. This is a huge subsidy. The theory behind resale is that the reseller bears the cost of marketing and support, so the price they pay to the ILEC is discounted to reflect that. I agree that in practice it's not working out very well, in part because the Bells have done their best to sabotage it. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: peterneidhardt@ica.net (Peter Neidhardt) Subject: Problem With Netscape Browser Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 07:21:11 GMT I am using a Pentium 200 with Windows 95 and a 33.6 modem with a dial-up PPP connection to my provider. My problem is this: About a month ago Netscape stop working on my computer. I could receive and send email through the browser but nothing would happen when i inputted an address and hit return. Netscape did nothing. I could use telnet, ftp and other internet fuctions through my computer but not Nestcaoe version 4.5. I took it into my provider and they tooled around for 60 minutes not knowing what was the problem. They installed Explorer 4.0 which worked fully but Netscape continued not to work, even if I re-installed it and an older version. Any ideas what is wrong? Everything work with respects to the Internet but not Netscape. Thanks in advance, peterneidhardt@ica.net ------------------------------ From: wsemenov@my-dejanews.com Subject: Question About T1 Robbed-Bit Protocol Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 09:57:47 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Share what you know. Learn what you don't. Hi! Can anybody help me? Where in I-net I can find specification of wink robbed-bit T1 signalling protocol? Thanks in advance, ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 11:29:41 +0200 From: Jacob Thakadu Subject: Telecom Engineering Student Needs Help I am a part time student of Witwatersrand University in South Africa. I am doing advanced engineering studies in Telecommunications. The courses are block released after three weeks , i.e. we attend for one week after which we are given a take-home exam which we can discuss with any person. We hand in the exam after two weeks. My problem is that I am very far from the University (about 500 km) and there are no technical resources I can use around ( e.g libraries [ the ones around are for general purpose], personnels etc). Do you know of any discussion groups that I can E mail to. Please give any help you can. Regards, Jacob Thakadu JMM Thakadu Engineer Eskom Bloemfontein Tel : +27 51 404 2944 Fax : +27 51 404 2002 Email : THAKADJ@ESKOM.CO.ZA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: comp.dcom.telecom.tech, alt.dcom.telecom, and any of the *.dcom.telecom.* newsgroups would be a good place to start your inquiry. PAT] ------------------------------ From: herb@herbstein.com (Herb Stein) Subject: Re: The Day the Telephone Company Burned Down Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 17:16:52 GMT Organization: newsread.com ISP News Reading Service (http://www.newsread.com) I can't say as I recall the Brooklyn fire in '87 but I do recall the 2nd Avenue fire in Manhattan. Both it and the Hinsdale fire were major disasters. However, my recollection is that the 2nd Avenue fire happened prior to divesture (Jan. 1, '84) and the (now) former Bell system was able to marshall resources in a way that was impossible four + years after divesture. Western Electric CO switches coming out of manufacturing for delivery to other parts of the Bell system were diverted to Manhattan. The same thing happened with other hardware and equipment. CO technicians were loaned from other Bell Systems companies to help with the cleaning and restoration. It's what we in Southwestern Bell did for years on a smaller scale every time a hurricane destroyed plant in Houston. I'm sure that, although I'm now retired, the same thing is happening with Oklahoma City. You just don't get the same kind of prompt, efficient cooperation from competitors. I'd find it difficult to pick a "most serious" disaster. I'm sure by various different measures, each would qualify. Much more important is "What did we learn from them?" and "What are we now doing differently to prevent another one?" Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group herb@herbstein.com 314 215-3584 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Even four years after divestiture, there were still enough fond memories of the old days along with 'friends helping friends' that Illinois Bell did pretty well in marshalling the ranks to get help in Hinsdale. The new switch they obtained from Western Electric was one that WE diverted to it although it was intended for another telco. It was about 95 percent built, and WE literally finished building it on its way to Hinsdale. A particularly sad sight was when the new switch arrived over the weekend with a team from WE Co. to help the IBT guys get it in place. The old switch was hauled out first, and left sitting in the alley behind the office at 120 North Lincoln, sort of the way one leaves a bunch of scrap metal laying out in back for the junk man to get and carry off to a dump, a recycling plant or wherever he can get the most money for it. Later in the day, the WE guys were out there looking at it, pulling out little pieces here and there. Parts they wanted, they would take and put in a cardboard box they were carrying with them. They would look at something they pulled out of the innards, have a discussion about it, or sometimes just a cursory examination, then toss it in the garbage dumpster. Some of it went in their cardboard box and went back with them to wherever. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 10:49:01 CDT From: Christopher Wolf Subject: Re: Mother's Day Phone and Internet Traffic John Fricks wrote: > I remember that Mother's Day typically shows a major peak in AMA data > records as people make long distance calls to Mom. > My observation -- unscientific -- is that the opposite is true for > Usenet postings. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sunday was a rather slow day in my > mailbox and at the telecom web site http://telecom-digest.org ... > each got about half as much traffic as usual. You may have made a > valid observation. PAT] So what can we gather from this? How about: Mothers, on Sunday busy talking to all their children, actually make up most of the usenet and/or TELECOM postings. -W ------------------------------ From: Fred@mac-addict.com (Fred) Subject: Telecom Portal Updated Organization: fred Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 19:04:27 GMT The Telecom Career Center, located at http://www.telecomcareercenter.com/, is proud to announce the upgrading of its telecommunications portal and career resource site. TCC is a community committed to helping individuals gain employment, knowledge, professional development and advancement in today's telecommunications industry. Pat Montani, President of TCC said, "The Telecom Career Center is unique. There's nothing on the web that encompasses the resources and networking ability that we provide. TCC is becoming THE centralized spot for telecommunications resources on the Internet." The Telecom Career Center is a multifaceted site, encompassing the fields Telecom Career Resources, Education & Training, Finance & Investment, Mentoring and Products & Services, to name a few. Each category in the portal has an associated discussion group so that those in the telecommunications industry can gather together in common areas. Daily, targeted telecommunications news feeds are under development. The Telecom Career Center is head-officed in British Columbia, Canada. To contact TCC please call Pat Montani at 604-932-0939 or e-mail tccsales@telecomcareercenter.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 08:16:30 -0400 From: Dave Farber Subject: Re: Which Cellular Provider Allows US and European Connectivity At 04:07 AM 5/10/99 -0400, John Starta wrote: > Bosch makes the World 718 phone > (http://www.bosch.de/uc/eg/english/produkte/) which is capable of > operating on GSM 900 and 1900 bands. The latter is in use by a number of > PCS providers here in the states. (There's also the Iridium phone which > operates "everywhere" using satellites.) > Finding service is going to be a challenge; everyone I've approached has > said no thanks. Let me know if you have better luck. Omnipoint's SIM card works fine in the Bosch in Sweden, Singapore and Hong Kong and they claim most other places. They require a positive action to enable it but there is no fee for turning it on. ATT also offers a CellCard service for $45 per year that does roughly the same for ATT subscribers. Dave ------------------------------ From: rtucker+from+199905@katan.ttgcitn.com (Ryan Tucker) Subject: Re: Malicious Hacker Steals Hotmail Passwords Date: 10 May 1999 10:04:21 GMT Organization: TTGCITN Communications, Des Moines IA and Rochester NY Reply-To: rtucker+replyto+199905@katan.ttgcitn.com In , Monty Solomon spewed: > Hotmail password-stealing exploits are no longer the sole province of > bug-hunting, ethical hackers. > Microsoft's MSN Hotmail said it has implemented a patch to thwart a > JavaScript exploit that snared the passwords of about ten users. > Although Hotmail has faced numerous similar exploits in the past, they > were merely demonstrations crafted by security-minded programmers > anxious to expose security holes before they were exploited for real. And now, for the REST of the story ... See http://www.netspace.org/lsv-archive/bugtraq.html, specifically April 1999 week 4 (javascript hotmail password trap) and May 1999 week 1 (hotmail claims vulnerability patched, so here it is). Anyway, stuff like this is amazingly common for Hotmail. I'm surprised news.com makes it sound like something incredibly new and interesting :-) If you aren't subscribed to Bugtraq, and you're interested in this sort of stuff, you might want to subscribe. If you're relying on the vendor or the media to report security problems to you ... :) Ryan Tucker http://www.ttgcitn.com/~rtucker/ President, TTGCITN Communications Box 92425, Rochester NY 14692-0425 Please keep public threads public -- e-mail responses will be ignored. ------------------------------ From: Rtf_PJM@shsu.edu (Paul MacArthur) Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 12:48:17 -0500 Subject: Last Laugh! FCC Goes Ooops The following three messages came courtesy of the FCC -- interesting since they fine radio stations for indecency ... [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I refuse to print that item. To summarize, first there were at least ten screens of email addresses as one person passed it along to a hundred others; each of them in turn sending it on and adding their own notes, etc. You know the routine. Pornographic spam is bad enough without having each would-be mailing list maintainer send it out with everyone's name listed in the 'To:' line and all the people who saw it before him listed in the headers above that. Then twenty minutes later, when you get all the way to the bottom, a few lines of the latest sixth grade, twelve-year-old boy's humor. A very anti-Catholic story, this version had a bus load of Nuns die in a crash, all get to heaven at once where they are requested to make a final Confession and do penance. As to be expected in any story like this, the Confession always has to do with some sexual indiscretion or another, most typically involving that unsightly, shameful, never to be touched or looked at if you can possibly help it part of the anatomy which is unique to males. The penance of course involves Holy Water, and how it is to be used in a cleansing ritual. When *I* was in sixth grade it was not a bus load of Nuns dying in a crash, it was various women who went to Confession; all with just one variation after another on the type of 'sin' they committed in- volving some man and his 'thing' ... there are variations on variations of the story. In the past it was always females who had made physical contact with one or more men; let's make them religious sisters if you want to add a bit of shock value to it. Now in the more enlight- ened times in which we live, variations on the story have gay guys finding themselves in the same predicament: a Confession regarding a sexual act has been given, penance has been prescribed by the priest -- a penace which always involves using Holy Water for cleansing -- and regardless of the gender or occupation of the several persons making their confession, as this long line of people waits their turn to rinse their hands or other appropriate body parts in the Holy Water, someone at the end of the line invariably rushes forward and insists on being first, 'since I have to gargle with that water before the rest of you have gotten it filthy.' Ah, where would we be if we had no shame regarding our sexual and bathroom activities ... I told you it was pretty gross ... anyway, some joker slipped it into the queue going out to a mailing list maintained by the FCC ... (really!) ... their version of the story was not quite as genteel as I must make my telling in this family- oriented Digest I send out ... now, a thousand email addresses later, numerous header diagnostics and prefacing remarks removed, and the penance for the nuns, and the strenuous objection of the one who was told to gargle comes this reply from someone at FCC who appar- ently moderates the list as a sideline: Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 14:18:24 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: digest@info.fcc.gov Originator: digest@info.fcc.gov Sender: digest@info.fcc.gov Precedence: bulk From: Stacey Mesa To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Earlier Email X-Comment: FCC Daily Digest Mailing List Status: > Please excuse the interruption. > An email inadvertently went out under my name earlier this afternoon to the > digest list server. I want to apologize for this email. > Stacey Mesa Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 16:25:39 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: digest@info.fcc.gov Originator: digest@info.fcc.gov Sender: digest@info.fcc.gov Precedence: bulk From: Joy Howell To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Inappropriate e-mail X-Comment: FCC Daily Digest Mailing List Status: > It has come to our attention that a highly offensive joke was inadvertently > transmitted earlier today to the Daily Digest subscribers. While > accidental, the transmission was completely inappropriate and inexcusable. > Appropriate disciplinary action is being taken. In the meantime, we offer > our profuse apologies to our Daily Digest subscribers. Joy Howell Director Office of Public Affairs ----------------------------------------------- So can I levy a fine on them??? Paul MacArthur [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can levy yourself down to your bank and send your annual donation to TELECOM Digest at this time is what you can do. Yes, it is that time of the month again when I humbly ask that friends of the Digest turn their stocks and bonds, their endowment accounts and their credit card information over to me, along with making me a co-signer on their checking accounts, in order that I might continue to live in the style to which I am accustomed. If that, you feel is too much, then twenty dollars per year per reader is fine, and I will be grateful. TELECOM Digest, POB-765, JCKS 66441-0765. Anyone remember the night back in the early 1960's when a rock and roll disk jockey for station WLS in Chicago made a very slightly off- color remark over the air and the FCC cut the station off the air five or ten minutes later for the rest of the night? And the next day, and for about two weeks, WLS was required by the FCC to play a pre-recorded announcement apologizing for their indiscretion and inviting listeners to write to the FCC about any further punishment recommended for the station? Maybe Joy Howell should be required to do penance by publishing her apology daily for the next month. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V19 #78 *****************************