Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id CAA15296; Sun, 23 May 1999 02:26:05 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 02:26:05 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199905230626.CAA15296@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V19 #95 TELECOM Digest Sun, 23 May 99 02:26:00 EDT Volume 19 : Issue 95 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Why Do RBOCs Form CLECs? (Brian G) Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? (Louis Raphael) Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? (Tom Heathcote) Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? (Ken Stox) Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? (David Isenberg) Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? (Dave) Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? (Clive Dawson) Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? (Ryan Shook) An Update on the WUTCO Clocks (Gary L. Spohn) Re: Help Needed Researching Polish Telecom (ahnon@my-dejanews.com) How to Find Nearest Fiber POP (Daniel J. Wentzel) Re: Strange Problem [too] (John Levine) Re: "Internet Pioneers" (John Levine) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: brian g Subject: Why Do RBOCs Form CLECs? Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 02:54:26 GMT I've seen articles stating how RBOCs are forming CLEC divisions to market advanced network services. Why wouldn't they just sell these sevices, such as public ATM, through the existing LEC group? bg ------------------------------ From: Louis Raphael Subject: Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? Organization: Societe pour la promotion du petoncle vert Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 06:23:35 GMT TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > It used to just be a grim joke: one day all Americans would be > issued numbers to use instead of names. Well, we are about half- > way there. So far, we are still permitted to have individual > names, but our social security numbers are rapidly becoming our > national ID numbers. I'm reading your post, having just finished signing and sealing about 80 letters (with more to come) to our [Canadian] legislators regarding some (Federal) inter-departmental committee's plan to introduce National ID cards. This happens a few months after the Quebec government tries to revive a plan to introduce provincial ID piecemeal, starting with the stocking of everyone's name, parents' name, picture (!) and address (!) and a (now) "voluntary" ID card. Essentially, a complete merging of the Medicare and Drivers' licenses data, with pictures retained. The federal plan is in the name of "preventing benefits fraud" (which would usually be paid by the provinces!), the provincial plan has the same (stated) aim, as well as "increased efficiency." It seems to me that, these days, everyone wants to number, catalogue, and file us away -- in the name of preventing benefits fraud (Canada) or in the name of terrorism prevention (US, as far as I can tell). All with very little public discussion, or even awareness. The *real* reasons for these plans don't require much paranoia to realize. The bureaucrats *want* to know what *you* are doing, and when you're doing it. They feel that *you're* a threat. With marginal tax rates over 50%, it isn't surprising, either :-(. > This not only expressly conflicts with what President Roosevelt > and the Social Security Administration promised us, but is just > one more step in the direction of total control of each person > by the government. It always starts small, and then gets bigger and bigger and bigger. These promises are always broken. In a way, those intrusions which develop slowly and are apparently voluntary (as if Canadian SINs, US SSNs or -- for many people -- drivers' licenses, really are) are worse than the more direct ones, which people realize the impact of more readily. Also, not only governments are guilty of this -- credit bureaus are among the worst offenders. The interesting thing is that (in Quebec), data collection by private organizations is highly regulated ... so much so that, if the Quebec gov't were to be considered a private organization, it's own plan would be illegal, in my opinion (IANAL). [snip] > I am told that a federal law recently passed allows for federal > takeover of birth certificates, death certificates and driver's > licenses. Under this law, even if you choose to not identify yourself > with your Social Security number, it still would have to be presented > when you wish to obtain a driver's license or any form of state > identification card. (Some states issue ID cards in lieu of driver's > licenses to people who request it.) Numbers will be issued to new > born babies immediatly as part of the process of issuing their birth > certificates. I understand that they've "mandated" (what a hateable word) the states do do things in certain ways, with the ever-present threat of withholding federal money. Essentially, the federal gov't of the US is taking over state jurisdictions by fiscal kidnapping, a creative technique that the framers of the US constitution probably didn't foresee, else they would have specifically forbidden it. This type of takeover I don't see as being so likely here in Canada: so long as the Quebec independence movement strong, the federal government has that much more incentive to stay out of provincial affairs. Indeed, provincial practices in such matters varies significantly. I doubt that I'm the only one who feels less human once he's referred to as a number. I must admit, from what I've seen and read about, this type of numbering is even more prevalent in the US than it is here (a lot of people here like to ask for SINs, but unless there are tax forms to be filled, they usually drop the issue if you leave it blank). To believe that there was once a time, within living memory, when people were taken at their word. Funny how they didn't tend to lie as often, isn't it? > But the best it seems, is yet to come. Starting October 2, 2000 you > will need to present your SSN to *board any airplane or purchase any > airplane ticket*, use *any government services* -- regardless if it > is a welfare program or you just want to call the police and report > some incident, although Medicare and welfare programs will definitly > require the number -- or to conduct any bank transactions. That's completely ridiculous. I've noticed (on trips to the US) that airlines are now requiring ID with name matching the name on the ticket, in order to board the plane (supposedly in the name of preventing terrorism?). The purpose is obviously to catalogue people's movements - any terrorist capable of building a bomb is certainly capable of getting fake ID, or of finding a way to steal someone's boarding pass (they check when you're getting the boarding pass, not when you're actually boarding). Obviously, the aim is to monitor citizens' movements in *general*, and not to prevent terrorism. > In these times, the phrase 'public servant' translates into 'public > master', and surely they must be in their glory about now. Maybe with > some effort, we can get Congress to repeal this law, but don't count > on it. George Orwell was only a few years off in his book '1984', when > Big Brother was just a teen-ager. Now he is coming of age. Once they know where you are, what you're doing, how much you're earning (and possibly what your fingerprints are, etc), they pretty much own you. Which is close to the current situation. Sometimes, I think that one of the reasons for increasing *random* violence among certain groups of our societies is because people increasingly feel like tracked animals, and are increasingly right about feeling that way. > October 2, 2000 is the date. Do mark your calendars! ^^^^ There are days when I hope that the y2k affair *isn't* hype, and that major computer systems will lose data in a major way. We'd probably be better off. Computers could have made our lives much better, but often I think that they will only serve to enslave us. The incompetence of bureaucrats seems to be the only thing which keeps our situation from being even worse. Notice my (randomly chosen) .sig - I think that it is quite appropriate for this post. Louis "Appeasers are those who would feed the crocodile in hopes that he would eat them last." -- Winston Churchill [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think if all the government computers (or at least a good number of them) go haywire on January 1 that will be a good thing. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tom@nospam.demon.co.uk (Tom Heathcote) Subject: Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 05:12:34 +0100 TELECOM Digest Editor wrote... > It used to just be a grim joke: one day all Americans would be > issued numbers to use instead of names. Well, we are about half- > way there. So far, we are still permitted to have individual > names, but our social security numbers are rapidly becoming our > national ID numbers. > In these times, the phrase 'public servant' translates into 'public > master', and surely they must be in their glory about now. Maybe with > some effort, we can get Congress to repeal this law, but don't count > on it. George Orwell was only a few years off in his book '1984', when > Big Brother was just a teen-ager. Now he is coming of age. How do (or will) these various organisations across the US (banks, educational institutions, state governments, and airlines) cope with people who (like myself) don't have a Social Security Number? Tom Heathcote TomHeathcoteemailcom [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Then you will have to get a number or the bank won't be able to work with you. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 May 1999 11:43:07 CDT From: stox@dcdkc.fnal.gov (Ken Stox) Subject: Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? In article , TELECOM Digest Editor writes: > In these times, the phrase 'public servant' translates into 'public > master', and surely they must be in their glory about now. Maybe with > some effort, we can get Congress to repeal this law, but don't count > on it. George Orwell was only a few years off in his book '1984', when > Big Brother was just a teen-ager. Now he is coming of age. > October 2, 2000 is the date. Do mark your calendars! Reminds me of an interesting poster I saw a couple of years back, it was a picture of an all seeing eye with the logo: NSA, 1984, We're behind schedule. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I saw something like that. It was a picture-poster of a person identified as 'Big Brother' and it was painted in such a way that no matter from which direction you looked at it, it appeared the eyes were looking right at you. If you walked a bit to the left or right, it appeared the eyes moved also and were always staring at you. The caption of course told us that 'Big Brother is watching you'. Where I saw it was in a public men's restroom in Chicago, taped up on the wall. When I went in the same place a couple weeks later, the poster was hanging there, but it had been defaced. Someone had used a pocket knife or some sharp tool to gouge out the eyes and a marking pen to scribble some obscenity on the face. The last time I was there, *most* of the original poster was there, but Big Brother's head had been cut off and was missing; in its place a computer generated picture of two heads sort of stemming from one neck; Clinton's face looking one way and Gore's face looking the other way. Out of Clinton's mouth was a bubble message saying "When I get impeached or run out of office I will get a job selling used cars." To which someone underneath had added the notation, 'why not try pimping or dealing drugs' ... Ah, isn't it fun to read "the people's view of the news" each day ... so much more interesting than the dry columns of the {New York Times} and certainly more truthful than any of Kay Graham's ragsheets such as {Washington Post} or News Weak. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 07:58:25 -0400 From: David Isenberg Organization: isen.com Subject: Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? PAT, I, too, am VERY concerned about the erosion of our freedom to travel. I can't get used to presenting goverment ID at the ticket counter -- something inside me grates. I am curious, though, about this Oct 2, 2000 thing. Is it a new law? An executive order? A court decision? Who set the date? If I knew more, I'd have more ammo when I raise a stink! David I [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My source was Kansas State Sentator Stan Clark, then later a newspaper from Kansas City, Missouri and one from Topeka, KS. According to Clark, it was slipped through on the tail end of some other legislation in April, apparently without much notice. There was to be an 18 month 'grace period' while various agencies, etc reprogram their computers and their employees, thus 18 months from then was October, 2000. October 1 is a Sunday, there- fore it commences on the first workday of that month. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 06:33:55 -0700 From: Dave Subject: Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? Our moderator wrote: > But the best it seems, is yet to come. Starting October 2, 2000 you > will need to present your SSN to *board any airplane or purchase any > airplane ticket*, use *any government services* -- regardless if it > is a welfare program or you just want to call the police and report > some incident, although Medicare and welfare programs will definitly > require the number -- or to conduct any bank transactions. This ought to significantly increase the number of Canadians living in the US; since Canadians don't need passports to be here and don't have Social Security numbers, I guess you, er, they could buy airline tickets and not have to supply an SSN. Or will the US Gov't require some ID number from our northern brethren (and sistren) as well? Dave Stott 2HELP Consulting Phone: (480) 831-7355 Fax: (480) 831-1176 Free: (888) 43-2HELP ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 10:28:52 CDT From: Clive Dawson Subject: Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? Hi Pat, Regarding your recent message in the Digest, "Do you Feel Like a Number?", would you know where I can find more info on the new federal law you mentioned? In particular, if there's a source for the stuff about Oct. 2, 2000, could you please pass it along? Many thanks, Clive Dawson P.S. Many thanks for your work involving the Internet Pioneers stuff! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are quite welcome. The references have been pouring in over there; the page with links now has about 35 main 'root' links and many of those have a large number of pages under them at their respective sites; some of it is incredible stuff .. how about almost all the RFCs ever issued, from number 1 in April, 1969 through a couple thousand, thirty years later. You can watch the internet get built. Also there is now an audio interview with Vint Cerf, a nixpub list from 1993, and a lot more. It is all available at http://internet-history.org .... regards sourcing on the day that Big Brother is appointed chairman of the board, see my notes above. That's all I have on it right now. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 17:27:11 EDT From: Ryan Shook Subject: Re: Do You Feel Like a Number? > But the best it seems, is yet to come. Starting October 2, 2000 you > will need to present your SSN to *board any airplane or purchase any > airplane ticket*, use *any government services* -- regardless if it > is a welfare program or you just want to call the police and report > some incident, although Medicare and welfare programs will definitly > require the number -- or to conduct any bank transactions. I find this hard to believe, please cite a reference. As for airplanes, what about non-American residents? A Canadian in the US on business who needs an emergency ticket can't be required to have a SSN. Ryan Shook Mechanical Engineering | RJShook@uwaterloo.ca Amateur (HAM) Radio Lic.:VE3 TKD | www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/u/rjshook E-Commerce: E-Caveat Emptor [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See above messages. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 19:28:39 -0400 From: Gary L. Spohn Organization: Spring-Ford Area School District Subject: An Update on the WUTCO Clocks Pat, Just an update and FYI on my Western Union clocks. I have a WUTCO clock operating now for over 16 straight months on the same two Duracell 'D' batteries. I think, in part, the longevity is that I have replaced the red lamp with an LED. I took the base from an old bayonet lamp and replaced the lamp with one of those 10mm red LEDs. I soldered the LED in line with a resistor to the base. The base was stabilzed by putting hot glue inside before putting the resistor and LED in place while still hot. Now, each hour when the clock is synchronized by a tone decoder set on KYW Philadelphia the red alert draws less than 20 ma rather than 200. gls [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am pleased to hear it is still working. I no longer have either of my clocks. I needed money and sold them both, but got a fair price. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ahnon@my-dejanews.com Subject: Re: Help Needed Researching Polish Telecom Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 15:18:49 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Share what you know. Learn what you don't. I will be in Poland this summer. I doubt I can get much in terms of numbers for you, but sometimes qualitative experience is just as important (I'm a telecom marketing person). Let me know the types of things you're looking to discover. However, for market plans and such, I'm sure they're available b/c they just privatized and had to let that stuff become available to support their offering. This doesn't help specifically, I know, but you could probably find out who their investment bank/advisers were through the information resources to which you likely have better access than I. I can tell you off the bat that there is simply not enough wireline infrastructure. As in most developing and Northern European countries, the telecom explosion is occurring through wireless. The central phone "store" in Cracow features ISDN as the newest product (last summer). Folks seem content having to go to a central place to make phone calls. Let me know through another post -- I get way too much spam to offer my email in any form. ------------------------------ From: wentzeldj@evolution.org (Daniel J. Wentzel) Subject: How to Find Nearest Fiber POP? Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 07:21:18 +0100 Organization: Deep Bends Hello all, I am living in Bavaria, Germany and want to know how do I determine where the nearest fiber optic POP is to me? I want to get an idea of the distance to pull dark fiber to my location. Danke, Dan Wentzel ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 01:37:17 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Strange Problem [too?] Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Last night, I had a need to call someone on a cellphone in the 408 > area code. I got the "a long distance company is required for this > call" intercept. ... The entire (408) area is within the same > service area (unlike the further south (831) which is split between > two service areas). Maybe, maybe not. When they split NPAs, it's not uncommon to leave existing cellular prefixes in the old NPA, so that cell customers don't have to reprogram their phones. When 908 split to 732 in New Jersey, for example, the landline prefixes in Lakewood and Toms River moved from 908 to 732, but the existing cell prefixes didn't. (New prefixes, both cell and landline, are in 732.) So it's quite possible that the rate center for this 408 cell number is in Salinas or somewhere that used to be in 408 and is indeed an inter-LATA call from where you are. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 01:37:27 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: "Internet Pioneers" >>> UUCP - (anyone update the maps lately?) >> Well, no, I don't think I updated them since 1991. However, UUCP >> is still alive, mainly as a leaf-node cheap transfer protocol (especially >> in countries where Internet access is not that cheap and where >> people still have some UNIX knowledge). UUCP will be around for a long time, since it's still one of the better ways to transfer mail over an intermittent dialup connection. But as Ed noted, what's going away is bang paths, and the sooner the better. There's no particular connection between an address with exclamation points in it and a uucp connection. In the early 1990s, my connection was a uucp dialup to a friend's system, but my e-mail addresses were all @iecc.cambridge.ma.us, since I'd arranged to register that domain (it still works) and had my neigbor's system set up as the MX host to receive the mail. Conversely, for several years after I had a full-time TCP/IP connection, you could still send me mail as iecc!johnl@world.std.com, even though the connection was all SMTP. The reason we put up with bang paths is that a lot of systems had lame little client programs like uupc that didn't handle non-bang addresses, and people didn't use MX addresses effectively, notably at uunet where for ages and ages they rewrote all the addresses of their uucp clients' mail into bang format, even when they had perfectly good non-bang MX addresses. These days, the cheapo client is linux with a full suite of mail applications, and everyone has an MX. So regardless of whether the connection is TCP/IP, uucp, or carrier pigeon, the mail addresses look the same, and no bangs need apply. 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 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V19 #95 *****************************