Date: 18 Aug 2000 06:15:12 -0400 Message-ID: <20000818101512.14401.qmail@xuxa.iecc.com> From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2000 #26 Reply-To: editor@telecom-digest.org Sender: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Errors-To: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 96d4365b310b0f6798398b94c96e1d0f Status: RO X-Status: Telecom Digest Friday, August 18 2000 Volume 2000 : Number 026 In this issue: Re: Strange Overseas LD charges to Vanuatu (Re: NO LD-carrier but overseas Re: Fwd: Re: E-Mail this story? Re: Strange Overseas LD charges to Vanuatu (Re: NO LD-carrier but overseas Reverse 800 Directories Re: Strange Overseas LD charges to Vanuatu (Re: NO LD-carrier but overseas Re: Reverse 800 Directories RE: Reverse 800 Directories Re: eFax beholden to spammers? Re: Strange Overseas LD charges to Vanuatu (Re: NO LD-carrier but overseas Re: Legal AT&T Wireless LD slam 8/17/00 ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES Key Voice and Dialogic problem Re: Reverse 800 Directories Music to My Ears But Not EMI's Hollywood Wins DVD-Copy Case Studios Score DeCSS Victory FBI Prepping Carnivore Data FCC Wiretap Order Overturned Re: Where have all the phone booths gone? Crankcalls.com On the news radio: vandals cut power lines by mistake UMTS-auction in Germany (first part finished) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 17 Aug 2000 06:56:54 -0400 From: jjc@pobox.com (Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter) Subject: Re: Strange Overseas LD charges to Vanuatu (Re: NO LD-carrier but overseas Both AT&T and Worldcom/MCI have both discontinued their 500 service. I received a letter from AT&T a few weeks ago stating that existing customers would be cut off in late September (I think). They also asked for you to provide a referral number where they can refer calls to. This met my concern that until November, my 500 number is still listed in phone books. droopy > The two biggest providers of 500 numbers are (or have been) > AT&T and MCI > (there have been other smaller carriers here and there too). > It doesn't > matter who your "main" LD carrier is (if you even have chosen > one), the > 500 number is going to be carried and billed by the LD-company > providing > that 500 service/number. - -- Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter jjc@pobox.com +1 218 837-6000 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 08:37:15 -0400 From: Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: E-Mail this story? Dave Garland wrote: > It was a dark and stormy night when Mike Pollock > first wrote: >> Posting the NYTimes article in a newsgroup for the purpose of discussion is >>> permitted. > So sayeth the NYT. For all practical purposes, the mailing list is > just an extension of the ng. > They're prohibiting spamming it, or posting it on your website. They also prohibit archiving, which is probably an automated feature of most mailing lists and some newsgroups. It's not clear who would be responsible for removing the text from the archive (presumably substituting a web link or reference). Still, they did explicitly say it was OK to post to a newsgroup as part of a discusssion. I say give them credit for an enlightened attitude, at least, though the archiving issue seems problematic. - -- ***************************************************************************** * Bill Ranck +1-540-231-3951 ranck@vt.edu * * Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Computing Center * ***************************************************************************** - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 13:13:50 -0400 From: scsmediafmp@aol.com (Steven Scharf) Subject: Re: Strange Overseas LD charges to Vanuatu (Re: NO LD-carrier but overseas You mean to tell us that a number you have spent money publizing is being sumarrily turned off with less then two months notice? I would be up in arms if this happened to me. That phone listing is worth a lot more then the change of phone books in November. It would put a seriuos crimp in my business if I used one. Steven Scharf SCS Media Services 57 East 11th Street, 9th Floor New York, New York 10003 212-822-8555 201-547-3510 Direct Phone and Fax (Please call first before faxing) SCSMedia@aol.com jjc@pobox.com (Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter) commented: Both AT&T and Worldcom/MCI have both discontinued their 500 service. I received a letter from AT&T a few weeks ago stating that existing customers would be cut off in late September (I think). They also asked for you to provide a referral number where they can refer calls to. This met my concern that until November, my 500 number is still listed in phone books. droopy - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 13:45:30 -0400 From: Louis Jahn Subject: Reverse 800 Directories Is there an easy way to locate who is the owner of an 800 number? With business's desire to use 800-vanity number access, there is often someone using a desired 800# but for non-vanity purposes; hence we may be able have them release it , if we knew who they are. Can anyone help on this problem? Lou Jahn Info Partners Corp 609-823-6602 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 14:39:15 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Strange Overseas LD charges to Vanuatu (Re: NO LD-carrier but overseas >You mean to tell us that a number you have spent money publizing is being >sumarrily turned off with less then two months notice? It's been clear for about two years that 500 service is going away. It's nearly useless anyway since every pay phone and PBX in the country blocks calls to 500 numbers for the same reason they block calls to 900 numbers. And 500 is obsolete -- these days you can either just eat the cost of the incoming call (7 cpm maybe) and use an 800 number, or else use a regular POTS number since most people now pay less to call anywhere in the US long distance than a 500 number used to cost. - -- 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 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 15:04:33 -0400 From: pete-weiss@psu.edu (Pete Weiss) Subject: Re: Reverse 800 Directories On 17 Aug 2000 13:45:30 -0400, Louis Jahn wrote: |Is there an easy way to locate who is the owner of an 800 number? +1 800 + 7d ? - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 17:30:42 -0400 From: "Judith Oppenheimer" Subject: RE: Reverse 800 Directories Because there was so much demand for this service with escalating activity in the staff-limited offices of RespOrgs large and small, in 1998 SNAC considered Issue 1772, "TOLL FREE NEGOTIATION/RESPORG RELEASE", introduced by Worldcom. Purpose, to organize the customer-search aspect (RespOrgs won't release the name of a customer, but some will contact the customer themselves to see if they are willing to "release" a number -- a time consuming and non-revenue producing task for them), and also to standardize the process of transferring toll free numbers from one customer to another. It was moving along rather nicely, until the Committee's legal advisers figured out that the "brokering" service they were standardizing couldn't be included in the Toll Free Guidelines because it violated FCC regs against brokering, buying and selling. And no amount of head-in-the-sand "but we don't *know* there's money involved" etc. could change the lawyers' minds, even though the RespOrgs insisted over and over that "its what our customers want." So all the activity went back into the shadows, where it remains, quietly quite active, today. Judith - -----Original Message----- From: owner-telecom@telecom-digest.org [mailto:owner-telecom@telecom-digest.org]On Behalf Of Louis Jahn Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2000 1:46 PM To: editor@telecom-digest.org Subject: Reverse 800 Directories Is there an easy way to locate who is the owner of an 800 number? With business's desire to use 800-vanity number access, there is often someone using a desired 800# but for non-vanity purposes; hence we may be able have them release it , if we knew who they are. Can anyone help on this problem? Lou Jahn Info Partners Corp 609-823-6602 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 18:48:59 -0400 From: jjc@pobox.com (Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter) Subject: Re: eFax beholden to spammers? I have probably taken things to an extreme, but in the last two years, I have added a layer of indirection between the caller and my voice and data services. The selection process was long and detailed, but I am satisfied with the results. I selected two telephone cooperatives, one in Minnesota (which provides the number listed below) and Montana. I selected them on price, service, responsiveness via email, accomodation of my unique requirements, and area code projected lifetime. I am now able to change service providers like fax and wireless with little problem. It has the side effect which might not be acceptable for some people, that calling me is long distance for many people. I have toll-free numbers for friends and family that point in similar ways, and I am not concerned about other people paying. droopy > Note that if your fax line is critical, prudence dictates > having a fallback > plan in case efax suddenly goes away. - -- Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter jjc@pobox.com +1 218 837-6000 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 19:25:50 -0400 From: jjc@pobox.com (Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter) Subject: Re: Strange Overseas LD charges to Vanuatu (Re: NO LD-carrier but overseas No, it is being cut off with over a years notice. They tried to cut if off with 2 months notice last year, but the FCC refused permission after it sparked a flurry of complaints. My main concern was not that it was going away (despite being advertised as a lifetime number), but that they had not provided sufficient notice. I had my 500 number listed in several phone books, including one that had just gone to press the week before they sent the original notice last year. That phone book will come out this November with my new number (unless the Verizon strike affects that). In general, I was not happy with the discontinuation of the "lifetime" number. But,as has been detail here numerous times before, the 500 service was fatally flawed, and I was beginning plans to phase it out anyway. droopy > You mean to tell us that a number you have spent money > publizing is being > sumarrily turned off with less then two months notice? I > would be up in arms > if this happened to me. That phone listing is worth a lot > more then the change > of phone books in November. - -- Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter jjc@pobox.com +1 218 837-6000 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 21:50:18 -0400 From: abuse@cabal.org.uk (Peter Corlett) Subject: Re: Legal AT&T Wireless LD slam Joey Lindstrom wrote: > [...] It's designed for landlines but works the same way: you dial a local > access number (or 1-800 number at a higher rate) and ANI identifies who > you are. That's a fairly common trick in the UK with mobile phones on tariffs that do not charge for 0800 numbers, typical one2one and Orange contracts. I've got an account with Telco whose access number is programmed into my Orange phone's memory. It used to be programmed into my wetware, but Orange used to bar the number every few days and I'd have to phone customer services (a call-gate on another 0800 number - the only useful call-gate I've found) to get a working access number. It all works rather well, although I never did work out why a call to another UK number just down the road got an American lady with "your call cannot be completed as dialled". Whoever they trombone via in the USA seems to play that message when the network is congested, when the destination is busy, or just when they feel like it. Normally, calls aren't tromboned, just those at 6:01pm... I don't tend to use this service much since Orange launched a new tariff about a year ago which include 50 minutes of free off-peak local and long-distance calling every evening, and 1p/min afterwards, which appears to be the cheapest call tariff by a fair margin for my call patterns. Calls outside this 1p/min (notably daytime and other mobile networks) have spectacuarly high prices - that's when Telco gets used. Oddly enough, since switching to that mobile tariff, Telco and BT's bills are now rather small, and Clueless and Witless's "service" got cancelled because they were incompetent. Telco's access number now seems to change about once a month, so it would seem that Orange probably don't see Telco as much of a threat any more. > You then dial the ten-digit number you want (overseas calls are also > permitted but you precede them with "999", then country code, then the > rest), and voila!, your call goes through. That 999 stuff looks a bit of a nasty kludge - why not use the NANP or ITU defined number space instead? - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 22:14:37 -0400 From: "Judith Oppenheimer" Subject: 8/17/00 ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* CONTENTS - - ENUM DEPLOYMENT IN NORTH AMERICA The operational issues are going to be nastier than the technical ones and more extensive for toll-free than for POTS numbers. - - SEEKING THE "UNIFORM" IN THE UNIFORM DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS The tonsil.com complainant claimed he had invented the word, and the arbitrator believed him. - - PROBLEMS BEING FACED BY OWNERS OF INCOMING 800 NETWORKS, PART II ** Second in a Series of Reports ** - - ICANN PUBLISHES NEW TLD SPECS Someone should explain to ICANN how this stuff works. - - ICANN SLAMMED FOR VENDOR BIAS - - COMMERCE DEPT SEEKS COMMENT ON .US ccTLD - - THE COUP THAT IS WIPO - - NSI ON THE DEFENSE - - HOW TO PROTECT YOUR SUCKS SITE FROM A LAWSUIT - - BARCELONA.COM RULING RAISING LEGITIMATE CONCERNS - - WIPO: BEHIND THE HYPE - - STATE OF THE INDUSTRY: DOMAIN NAME METRICS - - WIPO SPIN CYCLE ************************************************************************* CUSTOMER SERVICE NOTES: ICB HeadsUp Headlines did not go out yesterday due to server problems. August 16 and August 17 headlines are included in this edition. ICB Premium Service is on Summer Sale for $99 for a 12 month subscription, including access to all 'P' articles and Premium areas of the web site. (regular price $549) SUMMER'S ALMOST OVER - ACT NOW! - http://www.icbtollfree.com/order.cfm ICB is a popular research destination, with all content archived indefinitely. Find all ICB headlines, current and archived, at http://www.icbtollfree.com/icbheadlns.cfm. ************************************************************************ ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR August 16 & 17, 2000 P - ENUM DEPLOYMENT IN NORTH AMERICA North America is examined critically because its environment may be more complex than most and because current deregulation trends may drive other countries/regions in similar directions. In particular the current mechanisms for number administration and number portability in North America will require establishment of a new administrative function for managing the domain name entries for ported numbers. The operational issues are going to be nastier than the technical ones and more extensive for toll-free than for POTS numbers. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4339 F - SEEKING THE "UNIFORM" IN THE UNIFORM DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS Some arbitrators seem willing to have the wool pulled over their eyes: in tonsil.com, currently being appealed in the Virginia courts, the complainant claimed he had invented the word, and the arbitrator believed him. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4346 F - ICANN SLAMMED FOR VENDOR BIAS German independent candidate Lutz Donnerhacke said Icann's election process was counter-productive. "The five they have picked are very loyal to the current Icann board. They're already very deeply involved and could have been made directors without going through the election process," he said. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4344 P - COMMERCE DEPT SEEKS COMMENT ON .US ccTLD The .us domain is the country code top level domain ("ccTLD") of the Internet domain name system ("DNS") that corresponds to the United States. Network Solutions, Inc., is responsible for the administration of the .us top level domain ("usTLD") under its Cooperative Agreement with the Department of Commerce. Network Solutions has subcontracted administration of the usTLD to the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California ("USC/ISI" or the "usTLD Administrator"). CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4345 F - THE COUP THAT IS WIPO It has been almost forgotten that ICANN remains in charge of all domain names. But then with something as provenly inefficient as ICANN, WIPO, in Stalinist fashion has made up its own rules regarding famous people's names, places and trade names (as opposed to trademarks) and got away with it because of the backing by important folk. What we're looking at here is a coup by WIPO over every other body set up to run the Internet. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4348 F - NSI ON THE DEFENSE Competitors estimate that Network Solutions is keeping 1 million to 3 million expired names. ``We were using this strategy to recoup our losses,'' she said. ``The best analogy is to look at it as repossessing an asset.'' CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4341 F - HOW TO PROTECT YOUR SUCKS SITE FROM A LAWSUIT Legal experts give tips to avoid getting sued by the corporations you criticize, from trademark infringement and copyright violation to defamation. "If you want to say that 'Gap sucks,' that's your First Amendment right." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4340 ************************************************************************* **************************************************advertisements********* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. ************************************************************************* FT Telecom Conferences In its 20th year, this event will bring leading personalities in the telecomms industry to discuss opportunities and challenges which technological advancement, increased competition and restructuring will pose to the future of global telecommunications. Book before 1/09/00 to receive your 10% discount. www.ftconferences.com/dynamic/conferences/ftwt00.htm?bn=icb ************************************************************************* EVERY 3.6 SECONDS SOMEONE DIES FROM HUNGER http://www.hungersite.com/ ************************************************************************* Visit Global Telecom Domains(SM), 'The Best Names in Telecom' www.GlobalTelecomDomains.com ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR August 16 & 17, 2000 F - BARCELONA.COM RULING RAISING LEGITIMATE CONCERNS There are numerous major media companies -- Boston Globe newspaper (Boston.com) and Boulevards New Media (LosAngeles.com, Seattle.com, Albuquerque.com, and more) in the US, and TorStar/BCE (Toronto.com) and Southam Inc. (Canada.com) in Canada. -- literally around the world, that have based sites around geographic names. The prospect that they could lose those to the relevant governmental entity obviously ought to send a shiver down their spines. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4347 P - PROBLEMS BEING FACED BY OWNERS OF INCOMING 800 NETWORKS, PART II If the 800 network vendor has responsibility for the “physical network”, that vendor has major control over the subject company, and it is much more difficult to consider alternatives. Many companies surrender this responsibility simply because of the major effort and expense required to translate the logical to physical network, then to communicate these definitions to the 800 number vendor. These companies have no way of knowing whether or not area code splits are being implemented properly, whether or not area code/exchange additions/deletions are being installed, etc. ** Series by guest writer Bud Jay. ** CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4351 F - WIPO: BEHIND THE HYPE Could it be that ICANN's absolute inability to do the job it was set up to do could have anything to do with big companies wanting to impose their trademark on the Internet? CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4343 P - ICANN PUBLISHES NEW TLD SPECS "The introduction of the proposed TLD should not disrupt current operations, nor should it create alternate root systems, which threaten the existence of a globally unique public name space." (a) Is this an intent to restrain competition? (b) How do they think a TLD has any power to "create alternate root systems"? (c) Are new TLD operators to promise not allow reference by another root system? (d) How could a TLD operator prevent itself from being referenced by another root system? Someone should explain to ICANN how this stuff works. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4337 F - STATE OF THE INDUSTRY: DOMAIN NAME METRICS Whether bulk registrants are speculating or assembling corporate portfolios, they clearly drive the Internic registry. Their continued heavy participation in the domain name market may be vital to fueling the explosive growth in registrations forecast by NSI, especially if domain name registration is expected to generate revenue growth. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4338 F - WIPO SPIN CYCLE Said Gurry: "Whether or not there is a formal approach, there is no coercion. We can't make anybody do anything." "The advantage of the UDRP is that it's supposed to be the lowest common denominator of what you can find in every country's laws." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4342 ************************************************************************* **************************************************advertisements********* TelecomCareers.net - Cutting Edge Telecom Careers, #1 Telecom Job Site! http://TelecomCareers.net ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* ABOUT ICB ICB HeadsUp Headlines Daily Email is sent by request. Subscriptions are free to qualified applicants. Visit http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm to sign up. Please feel free to pass along a copy to a friend, within reason so long as the message is not modified or used unfavorably. To unsubscribe mailto:editor@icbtollfree.com, subject: unsubscribe. *************************** ADVERTISING INFORMATION *************************** For information on advertising in ICB HeadsUp Headlines emails, see http://www.icbtollfree.com/advertiz.cfm ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright © 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 23:27:28 -0400 From: "Derek J. Lambert" Subject: Key Voice and Dialogic problem (I am reposting this from home as I couldn't find my message on my news server here. Sorry if it's a repost) I am having a problem currently with our Key Voice voicemail system (Small Office WinNT) that I'm hoping someone might have some insight into. We've had _numerous_ problems with our original system vendor and have stopped doing business with them, so I'm looking for any help I can get at this point. A number of months ago I installed an additional Dialogic D/41H card in our system. It was working great up until this weekend, when I upgraded our system to version 10. Now it's giving me the following message in the log: 9-14-2000 13:32:03 INFO : Pausing to allow other services to start... 8-14-2000 13:33:03 INFO : Pause ended. 8-14-2000 13:33:20 ERROR: 6309 Board not configured for this program 8-14-2000 13:33:20 ERROR: Error 28 encountered during initialization. 8-14-2000 13:33:20 ERROR: 6101 Error 28 encountered during initialization I tried installing version 9 back on the system, and it gave me a similar message (it had something like "line = 5, ser = " on the end of the 6309 message). At this point I tried swapping the two boards, and got the same error (except with ver.9 the last part changed to "line = 1, ser = "). After checking in the ntrenew program I noticed that the "Verify boards" setting was at "Yes". I believe it was "No" before (I'm not absolutely sure though). It does list the maximum number of ports at 8. Is there something in the board that the software is looking for now? I purchased the board from a computer hardware vendor, and not from our phone hardware vendor - as it was about $1500 cheaper that way. Right now I have disabled the board in DCM to get the system to a useable state, but now we are hurting for ports. I asked one other person who works with these systems and they thought that the board were serialized. Is this something that Key Voice does to force the end user to buy hardware at an inflated price, or is there some undocumented installation step? Is this just looking for some setting in the eeprom of the card, and can I program it in the card with some kind of utility? ANY help would be so very much appreciated!!! I really don't want to buy another card and have to pay the premium (for what I'd consider nothing, considering that one not directly from Key Voice does and was working) - and then leave the current one unused and unusable Thanks! - -Derek - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 23:33:40 -0400 From: Coredump Subject: Re: Reverse 800 Directories On Thursday, August 17, 2000 1:46 PM Louis Jahn wrote: >Is there an easy way to locate who is the owner of an 800 number? > >With business's desire to use 800-vanity number access, there is often >someone using a desired 800# but for non-vanity purposes; hence we >may be able have them release it , if we knew who they are. > >Can anyone help on this problem? > >Lou Jahn >Info Partners Corp >609-823-6602 What's wrong with dialing up the number and asking whoever answers ? John - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 23:34:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Music to My Ears But Not EMI's August 17, 2000 Music to My Ears Š But Not EMI's The music publishing company sues the brilliantly annoying provider of tuneful cell-phone rings. By Warren Cohen These days, when Ralph Simon's cellular phone rings, it's probably beeping the tune of Darth Vader's "Imperial March." Simon is president of Global Music One, which owns YourMobile.com, a Web site that allows cellular users to customize the standard R2-D2-like chirping of a cellular phone with melodies of popular songs. The site has roughly 1,000 selections in a variety of categories, including current chart hits ("Thong Song"), TV theme songs ("The Simpsons"), phone puns ("Call Me"), national anthems and so on. Although the 4-month-old service is still in beta and currently only works with Nokia phones and certain wireless providers, it has become something of a cult phenomenon, transmitting more than 11 million "ring tones" to 2.6 million cell phones. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/1,1151,17781,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 23:36:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hollywood Wins DVD-Copy Case August 17, 2000 Hollywood Wins DVD-Copy Case A judge orders hacker site 2600.com to remove its link to code that descrambles DVDs. By Laura Rich The movie industry won its first Internet-related copyright fight Thursday, as U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered a permanent injunction against hacker site 2600.com for posting a contentious link to information on how to - illegally - descramble DVDs for playback on Linux operating systems. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/1,1151,17790,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 23:39:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Studios Score DeCSS Victory Studios Score DeCSS Victory by Declan McCullagh 11:40 a.m. Aug. 17, 2000 PDT LOS ANGELES -- A DVD-descrambling program is akin to a virulent Internet epidemic that must be eradicated, a federal judge said Thursday as he agreed with Hollywood that DVDs must be protected from decryption and copying. Comparing the DeCSS utility to a "common-source outbreak epidemic," U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said "there is little room for doubting that broad dissemination of DeCSS threatens ultimately to injure or destroy plaintiffs' ability to distribute their copyrighted products on DVDs, and, for that matter, undermine their ability to sell their products to the home video market in other forms." http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38287,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 23:42:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FBI Prepping Carnivore Data FBI Prepping Carnivore Data Reuters 8:25 a.m. Aug. 17, 2000 PDT The FBI is collecting material giving details of its Internet-wiretapping system known as Carnivore and will begin turning it over to a privacy protection group for review within about 45 days, the Justice Department says. A federal judge on August 2 gave the FBI 10 days to respond to a request for information on the software tool by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a public interest research group. The group demanded expedited access to the data under a provision of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,38273,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 23:45:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Wiretap Order Overturned FCC Wiretap Order Overturned by Oscar S. Cisneros 3:00 a.m. Aug. 17, 2000 PDT Privacy groups are cheering a federal appeals court decision that promises to curb the ability of law enforcement agencies to get access to Internet-style communications. The decision also reins in the hungry maw of the government's Carnivore monitoring system. Tuesday's ruling re-affirms in a digital context a long-held and constitutionally imposed restraint on the powers of law enforcement to monitor the contents of communications: that the "probable cause" standard must be met before a warrant is issued and a search can take place. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38258,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Aug 2000 23:47:16 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Where have all the phone booths gone? I have been working for the last several days at the University of Washington here in Seattle and in the Husky Union Building (the "HUB") they have about 10 *real* phone booths with the folding aluminum doors with safety glass inserts, stainless steel writing shelf and short stainless steel seat. They do not have ventilator fans. They are equipped with Nortel Millennium smart phones from USWest/Qwest. 17 Aug 2000 00:12:37 -0400 oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) wrote: >Roy Smith writes: > >>From: Roy Smith >>Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom >>Subject: Where have all the phone booths gone? >>Date: 10 Aug 2000 11:22:15 -0400 >>Organization: NYU School of Medicine, Educational Computing >>Lines: 18 >> >>The other day, I needed to make a phone call at work which required some >>privacy. I set off to find a phone in a phone booth where I could shut the door >>and use the phone. Could not find one. I checked out a few locations in the >>complex where I work where I seemed to remember phone booths, but they had all >>been converted to little alcoves with pay phones hung on the wall. >> >>The more I think about it, I can't remember the last time I saw an honest to >>goodness phone booth, with a seat, a door, a light that comes on when you close >>the door (and a fan even). A phone book, of course, would be too much to ask >>for, but I'd settle for a door that you could close. Do they still exist >>anywhere? > - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joseph Singer Seattle, Washington USA [ICQ pgr] +1 206 405 2052 [voice mail] +1 206 493 0706 [FAX] - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Aug 2000 00:43:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Crankcalls.com Crankcalls.com "Is Seymour Butts there?" A Web site lets you send automated voice messages to any phone number. - - - - - - - - - - - - - By Damien Cave Aug. 16, 2000 | Last Friday, I received my first crank call from the Internet. I picked up my phone at work and heard what I thought was unsolicited phone spam. http://www.salon.com/tech/log/2000/08/15/crankcall/ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Aug 2000 00:51:16 -0400 From: Robert Casey Subject: On the news radio: vandals cut power lines by mistake Heard on the news that in Verhsions(sp) service area, and related to that strike, some vandals by mistake cut some power cables and got seriously zapped. Appears they intended to cut phone lines. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Aug 2000 05:39:40 -0400 From: ckaschig@gmx.de (Chris Kaschig) Subject: UMTS-auction in Germany (first part finished) After 172 rounds of bidding the first part of the auction dealing with UMTS licences in Germany has been finished in round 173 by now (because none of the telcos was outbidding one other). So it lasts from Monday, 31st of July till Thursday, 17th of August. 6 Telcos resp. consortia were successfull (with two pairs of frequences each, called "little licences"), debitel Multimedia (Swisscom) has dropped out before. At least only T-Mobil and Mannesmann were bidding for a "big license" (three pairs). If they hadn't switched both to a little one (as the do today), one other would have had to sign off. It was mainly awaited that Group 3G is/was one of those "candidats", for it's the only bidder without *any* experiences within the German market. - - T-Mobil (Deutsche Telekom) 16.582.200.000 DM [8.478.344.000 EUR] - - VIAG Interkom (British Telecom, and minor Telenor) 16.517.000.000 DM [8.445.008.000 EUR] - - Mannesmann Mobilfunk (Vodafone) 16.473.800.000 DM [8.422.920.000 EUR] - - Group 3G (Sonera, Telefonica) 16.446.000.000 DM [8.408.706.000 EUR] - - E-Plus (KPN, Hutchison) 16.418.200.000 DM [8.394.492.000 EUR] - - MobilCom Multimedia (and France Telecom) 16.370.000.000 DM [8.369.848.000 EUR] sum: 98.807.200.000 DM [50.519.319.000 EUR] (about 45,684,620,000 USD) The whole amount is payable within 10 days (otherwise the telco wouldn't get its license at all). Starting tomorrow (Friday) the second (and last) part of the auction (with some additional smaller blocks of frequences). Only those six are admitted to bid again. http://umts.regtp.de (German-language, with webcam and actual results [live]) Chris (I apologize for my English ;-) - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2000 #26 *******************************