Date: 6 Sep 2000 06:15:13 -0400 Message-ID: <20000906101513.10292.qmail@xuxa.iecc.com> From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2000 #44 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: 31ef0b53d11dcf8d8f66569018527a3d Status: RO X-Status: Telecom Digest Wednesday, September 6 2000 Volume 2000 : Number 044 In this issue: Re: slight possibility, was: Re: Caller ID and answer supervision? 9/5/00 ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES 'Opting In': A Privacy Paradox Bell Atlantic redefines 24x7 service An Open Letter to Jeff Bezos Amazon Hoses Us All wanted: anglophonic customer service contact at airtel spain (preferably with e-mail) Re: Bell Atlantic redefines 24x7 service ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 Sep 2000 21:07:17 -0400 From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson) Subject: Re: slight possibility, was: Re: Caller ID and answer supervision? dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) writes: > In <00902.011535.1x9.rnr.w165w@krypton.rain.com> shadow@krypton.rain.com > (Leonard Erickson) writes: > >>richw@webcom.com (Rich Wales) writes: > >>> Can answer supervision be triggered by caller ID, even if no person >>> or answering machine ever picks up the line at the receiving end? > >>No. > > Not entirely correct. There's one possibility which is rare, but > legit. I'll describe it at the end. > >>> This all sounds very fishy to me. Any comments? > >>The company is likely not *using* supervision. Instead, they charge as >>soon as the call has lasted for more than some number of seconds (30, >>45 or 60). A lot of the sleazier outfits have pulled this stunt for >>*years*. > > That's the strangest mipselling I've heard of lately for 'lots of the > cellular carriers'. "A difference which makes no difference is no difference." :-) > Anyway, getting to the legit, rare, possibility which probably doesn't > apply here, but does exist: > > There are quite a few combined answering machine/fax switch > units) or, for that matter, external fax/modem/voice "switches") > which could cause this. > > These units work by _picking up_ the ringing phone line > (i.e. "answering" it), and feeding back a fake ringing sound. > > While doing this, they're "listening" to the line to see if > a fax calling tone (the "beep", "wait three or or secs", then > another "beep") is present. If so, then they'll activate > a fax amchine. If not, they'll kick the call to the phones > and start ringing them, or will direct the call to an > answering machine. > > Note that part about "picking up" or "answering" the line. You, as the > calle,r will often not realize this has happened since you're hearing the > fake ring the box is pushing back at you. However, once this has happened, > the call has been "supervised" and is considered answered. Which is why I pay for distinctive ring and bought a decoder box. The box is just for the phone, the modem can recognize the different ring patterns on its own. - -- Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow) shadow@krypton.rain.com <--preferred leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com <--last resort - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 22:03:39 -0400 From: "Judith Oppenheimer" Subject: 9/5/00 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 1 800 CAR CLUB ICANN ELECTION TAMPERING? FRENCH NEWSPAPER LE MONDE WINS UDRP NY TIMES SEEKS END TO DOMAIN DISPUTE NEW ICANN RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT 'SPECIAL' BOARD MEETING CHINESE DOT COMS ON AUCTION COUNTRY OF TUVALU, HOME OF .TV DOMAIN, TO JOIN THE UN 'BODACIOUS TATAS' IS ... NEW GEOGRAPHIC NAME RULING OBF RFI ISSUED DOMAIN OWNERS FIGHTING TO KEEP NAMES A DOT ORG BY THE SAME NAME, DOES NOT A DOT COM MAKE UDRP ANOMALY: GRANTING BENEFIT OF DOUBT NSI CNRP PILOT IS ONLINE ICANN AND U.S. AGREE TO EXTEND AGREEMENTS WEBER WALKS; E-TAILER KEEPS "WEBERGRILLS.COM" ICANN ELECTION UPDATE NIIF ASKS ADVERTISERS & BROADCASTERS FOR MASS CAMPAIGN NOTICE CAN SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS HIJACK THE ICANN ELECTION? ************************************************************************* CUSTOMER SERVICE NOTES: 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) LAST WEEK - SALE ENDS FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH! 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. ************************************************************************ TARGET YOUR CUSTOMERS - ADVERTISE ON ICB HEADS UP HEADLINES Advertise your products and services to Telecom and Internet Vendors, Professionals & End Users in ICB's HeadsUp Headline emails, which go out daily to ICB Toll Free News' member list and Telecom Digest's subscriber list, and weekly to inter800.com's (The Internet 800 Directory) member list, totaling over 108,000 impressions/month. Cost is .0375 cents/impression, and space is limited. Place your ad by Monday, September 11th for a $550.00 discount on your first months' placement. Order by email to editor@icbtollfree.com. ************************************************************************ 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 September 5, 2000 P - 1 800 CAR CLUB Very few of the more than 200 million cars on American roads today are equipped with global positioning systems or wireless Internet access, but 100 million Americans have cellular telephones. "Help, I'm Lost" is accessible from any telephone by dialing 1-800-CAR-CLUB. The service is free for members of Carclub.com, and available to non-members for a fee of $2.95. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4411 F - ICANN ELECTION TAMPERING? ICANN staff, in what looks a lot like election tampering, has decided to keep member "activation" and nomination open until Sept. 8. ICANN CFO Andrew McLaughlin said in a statement that "we would like to see a greater percentage of the applicants get activated to participate in the member- nomination process." But if more members become active without realizing that a separate step is needed to help an independent candidate get on the ballot, Auerbach (an advocate of ICANN reform) could slip below 2 percent, which seems to be ICANN's desired result. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4410 P - FRENCH NEWSPAPER LE MONDE WINS UDRP Fremy argued that "concerning the phrase itself -- 'the world' -- its generic character prevents any exclusive appropriation," according to the ruling. He said he planned to open an information portal on the site, but had been prevented from doing so by lack of funding. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4409 F - NY TIMES SEEKS END TO DOMAIN DISPUTE Earlier this month, a panel of judges with the US Court of Appeals in California scolded the Augusta National golf club, saying there was evidence the famed host of the Masters golf tournament had attempted such a tactic to keep a small company named Bancroft & Masters Inc. from using the domain Masters.com. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4408 P - NEW ICANN RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT 'SPECIAL' BOARD MEETING At its meeting on 30 August 2000, the ICANN Board of Directors adopted resolutions pertaining to Agreements with United States Government, and payment approval of a Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue legal invoice for $110,670.96, which appears to be solely attributable to the Afternic litigation, which was dismissed on July 7th, just days after it was filed. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4407 F - CHINESE DOT COMS ON AUCTION Foreign companies will be able to bid on equal footing with domestic buyers for domain names, technologies, Web content and dot-com companies. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4406 P - COUNTRY OF TUVALU, HOME OF .TV DOMAIN, TO JOIN THE UN Tuvalu, an island nation in the South Pacific which made news earlier this year for licensing its country code Internet address to California's dotTV for $50 million, will formally be inducted into the United Nations on September 5. The only country admitted to the United Nations this year, Tuvalu is using a portion of the funds generated from the sale of its .tv address to pay for the yearly U.N. fees. "Rarely does the Internet have such a direct economic impact on developing nations," said Lou Kerner, CEO of dotTV. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4412 P - 'BODACIOUS TATAS' IS ... (a) American slang for "large female breasts" (b) An audacious Transportation Aviation Test And Support (c) the title of a pornographic movie distributed in the United States (d) associated with the goods and services of "internationally famous mark", the "House of Tata" of India. WIPO says (d), of course. Yea, right. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4419 P - NEW GEOGRAPHIC NAME RULING A WIPO arbitrator has rejected an attempt by the community of St. Moritz to obtain stmoritz.com from the owner, who is using the domain as a portal about St. Moritz. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4405 ************************************************************************* **************************************************advertisements********* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. ************************************************************************* Are you a local or regional business that advertises in newspapers, direct mail, on radio or tv? 1 800 BRAND IT shared use marketing programs can help your sales skyrocket! http://www.1800BrandIt.com ************************************************************************* 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 September 5, 2000 P - OBF RFI ISSUED Existing database content, formats, and access methods, without significant change, will not fully support the information needed to resolve problems resulting from the onset of local competition and the loss of geographic significance and company specificity for telephone numbers. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4421 F - DOMAIN OWNERS FIGHTING TO KEEP NAMES WIPO's quick and cheap arbitration system for settling disputes over who has the right to names ending in .com, .net and .org is destroying the Internet. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4420 P - A DOT ORG BY THE SAME NAME, DOES NOT A DOT COM MAKE Pueblo.org is clearly different, because the top level domain, .org, is not the same as the .com domain that would normally be associated with a supermarket. Moreover, the Judge discusses in some detail the 1997 IAHC plan to create 7 new gTLDs, which he said were designed to permit more than one firm to use the same name in different gTLDs. The decision itself should be useful for those applying for new TLDs, who are faced with questions regarding how they will address trademark concerns. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4418 F - UDRP ANOMALY: GRANTING BENEFIT OF DOUBT While other UDRP arbitrators have used confusing contact information or the lack of a functioning site to help fashion decisions in favor of complainants, Harris said he would accept at face value Holt's explanation of the US address for his international Web operations and documentation that suggested the Webmaster might actually be planning an ink-jet service business. While Harris agreed that the domain in dispute met the UDRP's first test of being confusingly similar with a trademark owned by a complainant, he said: "There are insufficient grounds to doubt Mr. Holt's version of the facts, and consequently ... EasyJet has failed to fulfill the necessary second leg of the requirements in the rules, namely showing that Mr. Holt has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4417 F - NSI CNRP PILOT IS ONLINE The pilot includes a service that has been seeded with data from the over 8 million domain-names found in Network Solutions' registrar domain-name database. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4416 P - ICANN AND U.S. AGREE TO EXTEND AGREEMENTS ICANN announced yesterday that its agreements with the United States Government will be extended for up to one year. Also included in the agreed extensions are two subsidiary agreements: a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce for enhancements to the root-nameserver system and a contract for operation of the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA). CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4414 P - WEBER WALKS; E-TAILER KEEPS "WEBERGRILLS.COM" Weber-Stephen's withdrawal of its federal case comes three months after losing a similar case against Armitage Hardware before the World Intellectual Property Organization. For both cases, winning law firm: Competition Law Group. Losing law firm: Baker & MacKenzie. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4413 F - ICANN ELECTION UPDATE The Member Nominations phase of the ICANN elections ends this Friday (September 8). With just a few days left, we can begin to see some likely nominations and some electoral trends. Analysis courtesy of the CyberFederalist. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4424 P - NIIF ASKS ADVERTISERS & BROADCASTERS FOR MASS CAMPAIGN NOTICE A significant network reliability concern to the telecommunications industry is the impact of Media Stimulated Mass Calling (MSMC) Events when telecommunications providers are not advised of them in advance. MSMC events occur when the public is motivated by the media to place calls to a specific number (Call-ins, give-aways, contests etc.). The impact of unknown MSMC events on the telecommunications network could range from minor inconveniences to major network outages. The sponsor of the event could be adversely impacted by telecommunications network congestion resulting from an unanticipated MSMC event. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4423 F - CAN SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS HIJACK THE ICANN ELECTION? A German hacker group looks set to win a seat on the board of domain name regulator ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, possibly confirming fears that the controversial election procedure could be hijacked by special interest groups. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=4422 ************************************************************************* **************************************************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 ************************************************************************* Free Timely Time Management Tips to increase your personal productivity and give you more time and balance for your personal life. Subscribe now at: http://www.topica.com/lists/timemanagement ************************************************************************* 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: 5 Sep 2000 22:20:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Opting In': A Privacy Paradox 'Opting In': A Privacy Paradox By John Schwartz Washington Post Staff Writer Monday , September 4, 2000 ; H01 Some big computer out there knows all about Joan Schram. Its massive memory has stored the birth dates of family members and friends, the fact that she drives a Ford Explorer, and the names and birth dates of her American shorthair cat and rare Brazilian fila dog. And she's thrilled about it. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63843-2000Sep1.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 2000 00:13:57 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Bell Atlantic redefines 24x7 service Now I realize that Bell Atlantic / Verizon just settled a strike about a week ago and has a backlog of work orders, but this is a bid ridiculous: This afternoon a high truck took down an overhead drop across a major street near where I live. I saw cars trying to steer around the wire which was hanging down into one lane. I stopped, identified that it was a telco (not power!) line, and pulled it down from the tree branch it was caught on and rolled it up in a coil by the side of the road. I then tried to call Verizon repair service at 1-617-555-1611. First try: busy signal. Second try: call allocator... press 1 if this is a new call, press 2 to check on an existing repair order, etc. Start by entering the number you are reporting... press 0 at any time to speak to representative. Well, I had no phone number to report, just a downed wire, so I pressed 0. And got a busy signal. Hung up, tried again. Pressed 0, got a message saying to please hold while my call is transferred, then -- do you beleive this -- a recording which said "We are unable to take your call. Bell Atlantic repair service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call back at another time." I made two more attempts, all with the same result. Figured they don't care if they have a cable down. I'm just glad it wasn't a pole. Cheers, The Old Bear - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 2000 01:18:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: An Open Letter to Jeff Bezos An Open Letter to Jeff Bezos Hello! Earth to Bezos! What the hell are you doing? You've built a great brand, created a great preference information system, and combined that information with other users' behavior in helping loyal customers find new products. You've taken the rarely heard customer's voice and incorporated it into the site, allowing customers to make better buying decisions. The result? The dot-com poster-child that the rest of us mere mortals can only aspire to. And now you're throwing it all away. http://www.clickz.com/cgi-bin/gt/article.html?article=2354 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 2000 01:21:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Amazon Hoses Us All Amazon Hoses Us All Amazon.com's latest privacy directive is not just a direct assault on privacy, but a direct assault on the industry and its attempts to maintain self-regulation. When you type "www.amazon.com" into the address line on-screen, any personal information Amazon might then collect on you becomes the site's property, to do with as it wishes. The FTC has already moved against policies similar to Amazon's. It's not just customers who are being hosed by this new policy, it's the whole industry. http://www.clickz.com/cgi-bin/gt/article.html?article=2353 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 2000 03:13:58 -0400 From: henry mensch Subject: wanted: anglophonic customer service contact at airtel spain (preferably with e-mail) i'm trying to resolve some issues with my airtel (spain) formula gsm service and i'm not getting much help with the online forms at their website http://www.airtel.es/ (all the replies i receive from here instruct me to dial numbers on my GSM phone that won't get me anywhere since i'm in north america where there's no GSM service) ... a referral to someone at airtel spain who can use e-mail and help with some service issues (in english, or in spanish) would be appreciated. thanks! - -- # henry mensch / / http://www.verve.org/henry/ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 2000 05:17:44 -0400 From: Roy Smith Subject: Re: Bell Atlantic redefines 24x7 service oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) wrote: > I made two more attempts, all with the same result. > Figured they don't care if they have a cable down. I'm > just glad it wasn't a pole. If you really want to get hold of somebody at any large company, you need to call an office which is a high corporate priority for them. For Verizon, repairs would be a poor choice. Try mergers and acquisitions; it's probably better staffed. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2000 #44 *******************************