From telecom-request@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Wed May 3 13:01:14 1995 1995 13:01:14 -0400 telecomlist-outbound; Wed, 3 May 1995 09:27:39 -0500 1995 09:27:36 -0500 To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu TELECOM Digest Wed, 3 May 95 09:26:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 220 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson U.S. Federal Suggestion Box in Cyberspace (Donald E. Kimberlin) Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Lee Winson) Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Richard M. Weil) Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Butch Lcroan) Looking For a Home For Listserver (Christopher Zguris) Reach Out and Defibrillate Someone (Dave Leibold) Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (Art Walker) Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone? (Scott Brenner) SMR Frequencies (Manuel Maese) Need New Voice Board or Lines Amps! (72164.3302@compuserve.com) Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here (gnuz@rjones.oz.net) Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here (Steve Cogorno) Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here (stufroed@acs.eku.edu) Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here (John Nagle) Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (John Lundgren) Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Shalom Septimus) 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 public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************ * * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent- * * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************ * Additionally, 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. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- During the two weeks from May 1 through May 14, the U.S. federal government will have its first "National Electronic Open Meeting," with the intention of it being a suggestion box in cyberspace. The program is supposed to be open for remarks or suggstions from anyone to any U.S. federal branch. Experts ffrom various government departments are supposed to host five different electronic fora, and a variety of access means will be provided. One of the accss means will be via computers at 362 libraries, schools, offices and stores around the nation. To find the location nearest you, telephone (800) 881-6842. Kinko's Copy Centers will also provide computer access at 114 of its locations. To find which Kinko's nearest you has access, telephone (800) 254-6567. Persons with Internet access or gateway access via online services like AOL, Prodigy, CompuServe, ATTMail, MCIMail or other gatewayed services can send messages to info@meeting.fedworld.gov. And those with Web browsers can address http://meeting.fedworld.gov. Government officials say they want to hear what the public wants and how it wants to interact with government officials in the information age. Messages received are to be analyzed and a report is planned for later this year. ------------------------------ As to the false number reported by Nynex from a bomb threat -- Given the criticality of accuracy in this situation, any "call trace" reports should obviously be checked very carefully before release to police, then double checked. All systems involved in this should be thoroughly debugged and tested extensively. The innocent party deserves to win the lawsuit big time. ------------------------------ Pat said in a recent issue that the man that was mistakenly arrested for phoning in a bomb threat after the OK blast is suing the police for misconduct and suing NYNEX "on the grounds that the company filed a false report in the matter and did so 'with wanton disregard for the accuracy of their report.' He says the president's apology is insuffi- cient ... " I heard yesterday that the phone company has offered to pay for this young man's college education as compensation for the obvious mistake. ------------------------------ JohnWPan@aol.com wrote: > Immediately in the wake of the Oklahoma bomb, a bomb threat was made, > among many in the nation, to the Boston federal building. The call > was traced. A young man was arrested. Subsequently, however, NYNEX > realized that the tracer interchanged two digits of the purported > origin of the call. The president of NYNEX personally apologized to > that unfortunate man, who was released after one day in jail. The > real perpetrator of the call was not found. Source: CBS radio. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As a followup to this story, I am told > now the person is suing law enforcement officials for false arrest and > suing NYNEX on the grounds that the company filed a false report in the > matter and did so 'with wanton disregard for the accuracy of their > report.' He says the president's apology is insufficient, because of > the abuse and rough treatment he alleges he received at the hands of law > enforcement officers during the time he was in custody, which would > not have happened, he contends, had NYNEX properly supervised its > employees who conducted the trace. He further alleges that the law > enforcement officers involved committed official misconduct and acted > in bad faith by not further investigating the matter when NYNEX later > produced a 'corrected' version of the report showing the telephone number > originating the call in question, instead continuing to hold him in > 'unnecessary custody' several additional hours to be vindictive. PAT] God Bless AMERICA!! The police state we live deserves that this man's rights be upheld I wish him the best of luck in court. I know NYNEX made a mistake and that is unfortunate but it is interesting that the police tried to ignore they did anything wrong by keeping him in jail even after NYBEX corrected the report? Anyone ever seen " In the name of the father " ? They were kept in jail for 15 years to coverup for a police mistake. I doubt if justice we be done but I wish him the best in his quest. The real question is what happened to the responsible party ... nothing? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here in Cook County (Chicago) Illinois, a judge can order you released from jail, or you can put up the needed bond money to get out and the jail bureaucrats will still sit on thier tails for up to 24-48 hours before taking any action. And the best part is the person who comes to bail you out has to sit in the waiting area all that time with cash or money order. They do it deliberatly, to let the arrested persons and their friends/families know they are just scum. There is a class action suit against the Sheriff of Cook County now for the atrocious condition of their computer system which seems to keep spitting up the same old warrants over and over again. In the NYNEX case the fellow contends his initial attempts to get the matter corrected were rebuffed, met with scorn and the usual run-around, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Hello to all. I'm looking for a site to carry a mailing list that deals with current events (CURRENT). Last week CURRENT was abruptly shut down (we were using listproc-service donated by a university). From the private email I've received from other list members, many people are upset about the demise of CURRENT. The list was very focused, with very little noise, and served as a forum for people all over the globe to express different opinions on a wide variety of topics. At this point, I don't know what to do. I've contacted several other listowners, and Netcom (my other provider), but so far I've come up empty. People want the list, and I'm more than happy to put in the time dealing with the adminstrative side (as I've been doing), but I need a site that has some sort of automated list software. Any help would be appreciated by me and the other subscribers. Christopher Zguris czguris@mcimail.com czguris@ix.netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Chris originally wrote me and asked if I knew of any sites where the mailing list could be operated. I checked with the sysadmin here to see if it would be possible to take on still one more here, but this machine is awfully overloaded at present. If some other site could be of assistance, I'm sure Chris would like to hear from you with your requirements, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ An Associated Press report (carried in {The Toronto Star} 1 May 1995) mentioned studies (by a surgeon from Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami FL, and a heart pacemaker expert from the Mayo Clinic) that indicated digital cellular phones could cause some "inhibition of the pacemaker function" in some test cases. Analog phones were tested, but the news report implies these did not cause any noticeable pacemaker problems. There appeared to be no effects when the cell phones were in a normal talking position (receiver to ear). The problems appeared to occur when the cell phone antenna was close to the "pulse generator" of the pacemaker, often installed in the collarbone area. Any interferences found in these tests were not reported to be harmful, however. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ In article TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > I told him I would post his note ... now it's lost. :( His intention is > to edit his .login file to 'setenv NNTP open.server.somewhere', and pull > the news that way. Any help will be appreciated. Unfortunately, "open" NNTP servers are all but extinct. Art Walker, Somewhere In Iowa walker@mnscorp.com alt.sex/alt.binaries.pictures.erotica/alt.sex.bestiality, etc. At best, the regulars of these groups are failed phone sex customers... - SPY, Jul/Aug 94, Page 85 ------------------------------ I'd like to find out if there's a way to have the calls direct-dialed from my parents' home phone billed to *my* home phone number. Right now, they're using my calling card number for selected calls. But they show up on my AT&T Universal bill. I'd rather have them on my AT&T long distance bill (I get a separate bill from AT&T; my LEC doesn't handle LD billing anymore). I also want to avoid the ~$1 surcharge for using the calling card. If you know a way to do this, please send some e-mail to me at "sbrenner@attmail.com" a T d H v A a N n K c S e Scott D. Brenner sbrenner@attmail.com ------------------------------ Hello all: I'm interested in gathering information pertaining the frequencies that are allocated for SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio, abroad called TRS, Trunkated Radio System, or PAMR/PMR) in different countries. The areas I am most interested in are South and Central America and Asia (all of it!) and Australia/New Zealand, although any information would be greatly appreciated. The idea is to pinpoint exactly at what range is SMR/TRS allocated or is planned to be allocated. 800s MHz or 900s is a little to broad of a range, so I want to find out if, for example, the governments of Brazil, China or Australia have allocated SMR/TRS systems within 865-880 MHz or is it 815-825 MHz. Speaking of those countries, those are part of some countries in which I am more urgently interested than others. If you have any information (or, hey, similar information regarding cellular systems), or an idea of where exactly could I start looking, please e- mail me at mmaese@geotek.com Thank you very much for your help! Manolo Maese ------------------------------ Hi, I am using Dialogic Boards with an AMX/81, who's conference feature is plagued by a drop in gain. I need one of the following from you if you have for sale: - 4 or 8 line NewVoice/c Board(s); or - Copy of Parity's VOS software; - Someone who know's the C++ as well as Ram Research's DAX to help me program a .DLL for the MSI/C. If you can help me, please do!! ------------------------------ > Any other central offices you know of set up to sense when a coin > box is full and return that kind of message to the user? As soon > as that message is played out the phone goes 'click click' and the > dial tone is restarted. If they know the box is full, why not > just come and empty it? That happens in Seattle from time to time. And, I was told by a pal who does nothing but maintain phones that they usually drive a route hitting certain payphones for service, cleaning, emtpying, and the like. They don't make a special run to empty one phone, since the cost of having someone drive to a phone to empty it would cost more than the cashbox contains. But if you complain loudly enough ... It's possible that the phone has a faulty cash box sensor, or that someone is making a lot of international phone calls from it, paying with silver instead of plastic. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest Editor said: > about half the time it won't accept money. And this is another > curious thing; readers can tell me if this exists in your community > or not: when a payphone is full of money here, somehow it is noted > in the central office because if you pick up the phone, get dial > tone and deposit your 25 cents, the money comes back out immediatly úÿ > and you get a recorded message saying 'sorry, this phone cannot > accept coins right now, however you can place your call with a > credit card, collect, third party, etc ..'. This is *not* due to We don't get any messages like that in PacBell territory, but I have had several phone refuse my coins because the collection box was full. THe last time this happened, I called the operator and said "Hello operator, I believe the coin box on this phone is full." And she said "What's your point?" I could have smacked her. Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ > I don't like a feature on the Bell payphones here in Skokie, and it > seems to cause no end of confusion for many other people as well. > It seems that when you call from a payphone in Skokie (708-673 and > 708-674) after it rings two or three times, a recorded message comes > on the line saying 'your party does not answer' and inviting you > to leave a message 'for delivery at a later time' by pressing the > keys on the phone, for an additional fee of course. The ones I used in Washington DC offered that "Service" also. > Now should the caller actually answer, then of course the recording > cuts off immediatly and you proceed with your call, however there > are lots of foreign speaking people in Skokie -- mostly from Russia > or the Ukraine -- and not being all that familiar with the phone > system anyway, they think they are hearing a recording saying that > the number is not in service. That happened when I first got my answering machine ... it basically said the number and to leave a message. One of my wife's relative's kept calling from South America and hanging up. Unfortunately they were of course charged for the call. > credit card, collect, third party, etc ..'. This is *not* due to > any overnight restrictions on payphones such as 'no coins after > dark' in the War on Drugs, etc. When I have called repair to complain I assume then in the areas where 'no coins after...' anyone using a payphone is assumed to be a buyer or seller? > Any other central offices you know of set up to sense when a coin > box is full and return that kind of message to the user? As soon > as that message is played out the phone goes 'click click' and the > dial tone is restarted. If they know the box is full, why not > just come and empty it? Is this Ameritech area? They are implementing some sort of intelligent non operator asisted payphone monitoring network. I guess they have some sort of cost/benefit analysis and refuse to empty it more often. The only payphone I use lately is a Bellsouth phone and I call straight to home 30 miles away. Its expensive. But always takes quarters. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest Editor writes: > Another source of annoyance with payphones here is how seldom they > seem to have their coin boxes emptied. There is one payphone which > is otherwise quite convenient when I need to use one, but I think > about half the time it won't accept money. And this is another > curious thing; readers can tell me if this exists in your community > or not: when a payphone is full of money here, somehow it is noted > in the central office because if you pick up the phone, get dial > tone and deposit your 25 cents, the money comes back out immediatly The COINS retrofit has been around for some years. There's an electronics module that replaces part of the coin mechanism and keeps track of the phone's coin traffic. This can be queried remotely. The info is used to schedule coin box servicing (your local telco seems to be having problems with this) and to keep the coin-box service people honest. John Nagle ------------------------------ Randall Rathbun (randall@coyote.csusm.edu) wrote: > What came as a surprise totally to us, was the response of our local > telco when asked to remedy the situation. Here's what we're told > (quoted) "We don't have a way to stop this ... we don't have a way of > trapping ... you have to have a trap in place ... you have to have your > security give us a signed statement ... you have to have a case number > assigned to you from the county sheriff's department." I'm not sure whether, by CA, you mean California or Canada. But here in Pac Bell CA, we got essentially the same reply, and it is a matter of laws and can't be changed. But the law also says that the advertiser must have a human on the line ask first if the person wants to hear the message. A fully automated 'Junk Dialer' is illegal. That's why, on all the messages that I have received, the advertiser _never_ gives out a phone number os something traceable, but asks you to give _your_ number at the beep. > In other words, it is just about impossible to even deal with this > type of annoying or harassment call due to the complicated, extended > and time-consuming legal procedures. The local telco representative > added "We've had this thing happen to us, hopefully yours' will stop > today" and they acknowledged that a carefully placed roving call would > go through virtually impossible to stop. They said they had to have > two matches on the same number before they could initiate law > enforcement activity in their offensive call bureau. > A simple question comes to mind, don't roving calls only hit the > number once and then move on? > In other words, knowledgeable offensive callers can dial with almost > complete impunity and automated dialers are "impossible" to stop. In California, since CallerID is not yet legal, the offending number would not be readily available. But Pac Bell offers a service, for a monthly fee, where a line can have the call trace added. It allows the person to dial a number, *something, that locks in the offending number so that law enforcement agencies can access it. > What particularly irks this writer, with extensive knowledge and > experience of telecommunications, is that he and a local CO technician > can trace and lock down these type of calls within 10-15 seconds after > they come in. The local CO technician can even remotely login to other > telco sites and trace the call and positively identify its source > within a minute or at the most two. In other words, it IS possible to > stop these types of calls. But it's not legal, because of privacy issues. > Why can't we do something about this growing problem? Have the telco > carriers formulated new procedures to handle this growing problem? All > the hardware is already in place to deal with this situation. With the > advent of the computer autdialers and increasing mechanization during > the 90's, this type of thing will only increase. Certainly abuse will > only increase once people realize that nothing really will ever be > done. > Can't we stop this type of thing, rather than throw up our hands and > say "oh well, there's nothing we can do about it"? Your comment is > appreciated. It's not a matter of technology, it's a matter of sociological lag. The laws and prevailing attitudes haven't kept up with technology. There was a law recently enacted that outlaws junk FAX advertising, so maybe this will happen with phones. The option of tracing obnoxious calls so that LEAs can access the phone number seems like the best option in your case. Maybe the feature would only have to be added to a few of the lines, not all. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ In article , Clive D.W. Feather wrote: > I compared my country codes list with my list of ISO recognised > countries and territories. The shared uses of codes I found were: > 672 Shared by 5 territories under Australian control Specifically, which? My list has only Cocos/Keeling Is, (6722), Norfolk Is. (6723) and Christmas Is. (6724). What are the other 2? Or are Cocos and Keeling two seperate territories, and I'm only missing one? > Oops, almost forgot. Apart from the 31 cases I listed before, there are > eight territories with no international code that I know of: > Western Sahara According to the Moroccan Consulate in New York, the Western Sahara is dialable using the same code as Morocco (212) and city code 8. Also you left out Easter Island (Chilean territory, but not apparently covered under the Chilean code 56). > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you are referring to the United States > Trust Territory in the South Pacific Ocean as the 'minor outlying islands' > you mention above, I think some of those have gone into 'area code' 808 > which serves Hawaii and Midway Island. Also, I think the 'country code' > for Guam is going to become an 'area code' in the near future, still > serving Guam and perhaps nearby places. PAT] I haven't found any code for Wake Island, either. Is this in +1(808) as well? J.Alan Septimus V111G9BQ@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu septimus@acsu.buffalo.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #220 ******************************