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- TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Sep 93 11:03:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 660
-
- Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson
-
- FAQ on the Internet Multicasting Service (Mark Boolootian)
- Close-out Consumer Telephone Equipment From Heartland America (Nigel Allen)
- H & V Distance Computing Algorithm Wanted (Jimmy Gauvin)
- Information Wanted on Six-bit Code (Johan M. Karlsson)
- Old Phone Located; Good Home Wanted (Rich Greenberg)
- Tariff Rates for ISDN, T1, SMDS (John L. MacFarlane)
- Snail-Mail Revenge (Les Reeves)
- All Shook Up (Randy Gellens)
-
- ----------------------
- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively --
- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit
- public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA
- markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800
- service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined
- Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for
- the file 'products'.
-
- The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on
- any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail-
- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu.
- All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.
- nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom.
-
- Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are
- available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu.
- Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the
- Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there,
- where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not
- require the use of our products and services. The two are separate.
- All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi-
- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The
- Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles
- between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile
- mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and
- love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: booloo@framsparc.ocf.llnl.gov (Mark Boolootian)
- Subject: FAQ on the Internet Multicasting Service
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 12:07:29 PDT
-
-
- In October and November, the Internet Multicasting Service will be
- releasing a series of eight half-hour programs entitled "Hell's Bells:
- A Radio History of the Telephone." In the below FAQ, they claim the
- series "is one of the best radio programs we've ever heard."
-
- Everything you need to know about the IMS can be found below.
-
-
- FAQ for the Internet Multicasting Service
- =========================================
-
- Tired of that last subtle twist in "alt.ascii.the-letter-a"?
-
- Do you find that com-priv has the information content of a free
- real estate seminar at your local Holiday Inn?
-
- Looking for an alternative?
-
- You've found it in this FAQ about the Internet
- Multicasting Service!
-
- What's an FAQ?
-
- An exchange of information cleverly patterned as a Socratic
- dialogue.
-
- Huh? What's a Socratic dialogue?
-
- A set of Frequently Asked Questions and their answers.
- Socrates was a famous philosopher in ancient Greece.
-
- So what's with the dead Greek and what does that have to do with
- cyberspace?
-
- Just in case you are intimidated by modern computer
- technology, we want to put you at ease. Compared to a dead
- Greek, we're *all* Unix experts.
-
- Enough! What *is* the Internet Multicasting Service?
-
- We're the first station in cyberspace, a source of news and
- information for the Internet community. We run two
- channels: Internet Talk Radio is a science and technology
- channel and the Internet Town Hall is devoted to public
- affairs.
-
- The Internet Multicasting Service is a non-profit
- corporation located in the National Press Building. We're
- right next to all the other members of the press, like the
- Kansas City Star and the Arkansas Gazette. They're not too
- sure exactly what we do, but as long as the rent gets paid
- they leave us alone.
-
- "Station in cyberspace"? Get real!
-
- No, really. We run a "radio" station, publishing sound
- files which you listen to on your personal computer. You
- know that funny sound your Mac makes when you start it up,
- quacking like a duck or talking like Bart Simpson? Think of
- our programs as a very long version of that duck.
-
- Gee, aren't the files big?
-
- Well, our programming is published in a sound format called
- Pulse Code Modulation, which is 8000 samples per second with
- each sample being 8 bits. Those 8 bits are encoded with mu-
- law encoding (which is a logarithmic encoding that fits 14
- bits of information into 8 bits but you didn't want to know
- that).
-
- What this all means is that an hour of programming is 30
- Megabytes. We'll typically publish anywhere from 30 minutes
- to 90 minutes of programming per day.
-
- Oh my! Do you mean to tell me that you expect me to download 45
- megabytes of data? Are you nuts?
-
- Yes.
-
- Seriously, how do I get the files to my computer?
-
- The easiest way is to use your computer on the Internet. We
- put the files onto UUNET which acts as a main distribution
- point for large regional networks around the world, such as
- IIJ in Japan, NASA, EUnet in Europe, and many others.
-
- If you are a UUNET customer, you simply use anonymous ftp to
- ftp.uu.net. If you belong to some other network, you'll
- look for the files on your local file server.
-
- My regional server doesn't have the files. Is there some other
- way to find them?
-
- We maintain a list of known anonymous FTP sites around the
- world. There may be many others (do an Archie search on one
- of our file names and see if you recognize any of the
- servers). To get the known anonymous FTP sites list, send
- mail to:
-
- sites@radio.com
-
- What if I just found a new site which isn't on the list?
-
- Tell us about it! Send us mail at:
-
- sites-request@radio.com
-
- What if I'm not on the Internet. Can I get the files from
- CompuServe?
-
- Whew. That would be a bit tough! You're welcome to try and
- use an FTP to mail gateway, but this isn't something we'd
- want to do on our weekend.
-
- I'm on the Internet, but I dial into my interactive account on a
- 300 baud modem. Can I get the files?
-
- Sure. Just use Kermit, Xmodem, or something else. Of
- course, it will take approximately 222 hours to download a
- 1-hour program.
-
- What are you, a wise guy? I've got one of those whizbang fancy
- modems with 32bis and lots of features. How about that?
-
- That makes more sense.
-
- Is there a better way?
-
- Well, in the ideal world, your network manager on your
- neighborhood or corporate LAN sucks the files in every night
- and puts them on a file server on your local Ethernet. If
- you're connected at 10 million bits per second, a 30
- megabyte file doesn't seem quite as bad.
-
- We realize this makes it tough on the home user, but
- eventually we'll all have ISDN, cable TV, or some other
- miracle giving us decent bandwidth into the home. Until
- then, the Internet Multicasting Service is trying to figure
- out what it means to be a cyberstation. You can't please
- all the people all of the time, but we hope to address the
- information needs of at least part of the Internet.
-
- OK, we've got the files. Now, how do I display them on my
- screen?
-
- This is radio. You don't.
-
- No, I mean how do you see them?
-
- Ah, you mean "do you publish transcripts?" The answer is no
- and the reason is that would increase our production costs
- dramatically. However, that doesn't mean that we think that
- ASCII is unimportant. A real cyberstation needs to employ
- all data types and multiple distribution techniques. For
- our "radio" metaphor, however, we just do audio files.
-
- How do I play the files on my Sun?
-
- If you are running SunOS 4.1.3 or later, simply pick
- the AudioTool from your OpenWindows menu.
-
- Or, use the "play" command. You can usually find that
- in /usr/demo/SOUND (or any other place your demo
- directory has been placed).
-
- You can play the files directly, or use a tool like Xmosaic
- or Gopher.
-
- How do I play the files on my NeXT?
-
- The Sun .au format is almost identical to the NeXT .snd
- format. Use your standard sound playing utilities.
-
- Can I convert the files to other formats?
-
- Sure. Use the famous SoX program, available for Unix and
- DOS platforms from ftp.cwi.nl.
-
- How do I play the files on Ultrix?
-
- AudioFile was developed by DEC's Cambridge Research
- Laboratory. Supports a variety of audio devices, a
- programming API and library, and some core and
- contributed applications.
-
- AudioFile is available for anonymous FTP from:
- crl.dec.com:/pub/DEC/AF/AF2R@.tar.Z
-
- How do I play the files on my PC?
-
- The source files are in the Sun .au format, which is
- almost identical to the PC .wav format. If you use
- SOX, you can easily convert the files to a .wav file
- and play them using any of your standard sound
- utilities.
-
- Another approach is to bring the native files straight
- down (no conversion) and use PLANY. This clever little
- program will handle pretty much any sound format on a
- Soundblaster card. The software is widely mirrored, but
- one source is:
-
- ftp.uga.edu:/msdos/mirror/sound/plany12.zip
-
- How do I play your files on the Macintosh?
-
- The native sound format for the Mac is the .aiff
- format. You can convert the files to .aiff format using
- a variety of tools. You can convert the file on a Unix
- machine using the SoX program. Or, you can do the same
- thing on your Mac using UUTool.
-
- UUTool is available in the /util/compression directory
- on the host mac.archive.umich.edu. The files are also
- mirrored in the following places:
-
- wuarchive.wustl.edu:mirrors/archive.umich.edu/mac,
- src.doc.ic.ac.uk:packages/mac/umich,
- archie.au:micros/mac/umich.
-
- To play the files, you can use AudioShop. AudioShop
- distributes a demo version of their program that can
- play .aiff files. Simply load the file and play it.
- AudioShop does not require System 7 so should work on
- most Macintosh systems. (Provided that you have enough
- disk space. ;-)
-
- The AudioShop Demo is available in the
- mac/sound/soundutil directory on mac.archive.umich.edu
- and is also mirrored.
-
- But I wanna play the file on my Mac in the native format with
- my existing Internet tools. How do I do that?
-
- You really want lots of things! OK ... you want a
- u-law playing program. Mac Mosaic and the latest
- Turbogopher all have the ability to call the u-law
- playing program. You can find the package in the usual
- places, such as:
-
- mac.archive.umich.edu:
- /mac/sound/soundutil/ulaw1.4.cpt.hqx
-
- Are there other ways to play the files?
-
- Sure! Do whatever you want! Lots of neat things you can
- do. For example, its simple to download the program to your
- MAC Powerbook or Sparcbook and put the computer on the seat
- next to you on the ride home. Expensive radio, but where
- else would you hear such great programming?
-
- Lots of other things have been done. One guy spools the
- data into the company voicemail system. Several
- corporations run little automatic radio stations, either
- using IP multicasting (check out isi.edu:/mbone/faq.txt) or
- at the Ethernet level (look for the radio and tuner programs
- on ftp.cwi.nl).
-
- I want to be a scholar. How do I learn more about sound?
-
- The ultimate source for Sound is the AudioFormats FAQ
- maintained by the good people at CWI in the
- Netherlands. You can find lots of good stuff in:
-
- ftp.cwi.nl:/pub/audio/
-
- Why don't you publish the files in MAC format? How come you
- don't compress the files?
-
- Well, we could. But, think about this. In our first
- season, we published about 1.5 Gigabytes of files in four
- months. We think our steady-state rate is going to be about
- 300 Mbytes per week.
-
- If we publish in both the PCM and MAC formats, we would
- double (at least) the amount of data on the network. There
- is an old rule in networks which basically says that if you
- have to play with your data (e.g., fragment it), you should
- do so at the last possible hop.
-
- We want network managers to bring the files in and *then* do
- the conversions locally, publishing in whatever formats are
- appropriate for the next hop. If you have lots of MAC
- users, maybe you produce .aiff files. If you have lots of
- users using UUCP with 9600 bps modems, maybe you convert to
- GSM or some other low-volume format.
-
- Enough of this technical mumbo-jumbo. What can I hear?
-
- Our flagship show on Internet Talk Radio is "Geek of the
- Week" featuring in-depth interviews with members of the
- technical community. We've talked to all sorts of famous
- engineers about topics such as the next generation of
- TCP/IP, resource discovery protocols, network security, and
- how to put toasters on the Internet.
-
- Can I order audiocassettes of "Geek of the Week"?
-
- Of course. O'Reilly & Associates has issued their new
- ORAudio line of audiocassettes. Send mail to audio@ora.com
- and they'll tell you all about it. You can also get
- information from them through gopher space or through their
- whiz-bang, hypertext, multimedia magazine, the Global
- Network Navigator (info@gnn.com).
-
- Is "Geek of the Week" your only show?
-
- Au contraire. We also syndicate two radio shows from the
- public radio world. TechNation: Americans and Technology
- features great interviews by Dr. Moira Gunn, a former rocket
- scientist at NASA. SOUNDPRINT is an NPR show that features
- thoughtful looks at important topics.
-
- We also carry occasional specials. In October and November
- of 1993, for example, we're really pleased to carry "Hell's
- Bells: A Radio History of the Telephone." This series
- consists of 8 half-hour programs and is one of the best
- radio programs we've ever heard.
-
- What about the Internet Town Hall channel?
-
- We have our own broadcast booth in the National Press Club,
- joining C-SPAN and National Public Radio as the official
- licensees for the National Press Club Luncheon series.
- Speakers ranging from Miss Manners to Yassar Arafat to the
- Dalai Lama appear on this series.
-
- How do you pay for all this?
-
- We use a public radio-like model of short, tasteful
- acknowledgements for our underwriters.
-
- Underwriters? Don't you mean ads?
-
- Call them what you will.
-
- Are ads legal?
-
- You must be referring to the Appropriate Use Policy (AUP) on
- NSFNET or other networks. No problem! Turns out that the
- AUP is a rational thing and, since our radio shows feature
- informative, educational material, we fit right into the
- policies of government and research networks. Of course,
- Bart Simpson might not, but we're not a Fox affiliate. Yet.
-
- People actually pay to advertise on this?
-
- Don't be snide. We reach 100,000 people in 30 countries.
- If you're looking for a tasteful alternative to FooWorld, we
- actually have better demographics than most of the trade
- press!
-
- We've had quite good support so far. Sun Microsystems and
- O'Reilly & Associates started it off. (Thanks, guys!)
- UUNET Technologies and MFS Datanet are providing us with a
- 10 Mbps Internet feed. Beame & Whiteside provides us with
- TCP/IP software for our PC systems. Lots of other
- organizations are eager to support the first station in
- cyberspace. If you have excess money you want to dispose
- of, send mail to carl@radio.com.
-
- Are there any restrictions on what I can do with the files?
-
- Well, you can't take our ads out and put your own in and
- resell the files. We would not be pleased.
-
- Basically, we'll allow you to copy the files as many times
- as you want to as many people so long as:
-
- 1) money doesn't change hands; and
- 2) you don't alter the data.
-
- How do I get more information?
-
- To get this faq, send mail to:
-
- info@radio.com
-
- To subscribe to the announcements list, send mail to:
-
- announce-request@radio.com
-
- For a list of known FTP sites, send mail to:
-
- sites@radio.com
-
- To talk to a human, send mail to:
-
- questions@radio.com
-
- What else does the Internet Multicasting Service do?
-
- The radio station seems to be working out well, so we
- decided to work with Dr. Marshall T. Rose of Dover Beach
- Consulting to help start a new kind of telephone company.
- For more information, send mail to:
-
- tpc-faq@town.hall.org
-
- We also occasionally pull cheap stunts, like the time we
- linked up National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation:
- Science Friday to the Internet for an hour of live national
- radio. If you're on the announcements list, you'll hear
- about these special events as they occur.
-
- Can I start my own radio station?
-
- You bet! Next time you're in the National Press Building
- stop by for a tour. We'd be happy to show you our digital
- production facilities and studio and how we set up our 10
- Mbps link into the Internet. Since we're a non-profit,
- we're encouraging anybody else to get into the brand new
- field of desktop broadcasting.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 93 22:13:07 -0400
- From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen)
- Subject: Close-Out Consumer Telephone Equipment From Heartland America
- Organization: The National Capital FreeNet, Ottawa
-
-
- Readers in the U.S. may be interested in the cheap (and presumably
- discontinued) consumer telephones offered by Heartland America. A
- recent ad offers a 10-channel cordless phone for US $69, for example.
- To request a catalog, call 1-800-486-1549; to order, call
- 1-800-229-2901. The company will not ship to addresses outside the
- U.S., and I have had no dealings with it myself. The company sells a
- lot of non-telecom merchandise as well.
-
-
- Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ae446@freenet.carleton.ca
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: jimmy@cerberus.ulaval.ca (Jimmy Gauvin)
- Subject: H & V Distance Computing Algorithm Wanted
- Organization: Universite Laval
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 18:19:28 GMT
-
-
- Hi,
-
- Can somebody please tell me how to calculate the distance between two
- NPA-NXXs given their H & V coordinates?
-
-
- Thanks.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: johan@tts.lth.se (Johan M Karlsson)
- Subject: Information Wanted on Six-bit Code
- Date: 23 Sep 1993 11:06:18 GMT
- Organization: Communication Systems, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden
-
-
- I just wonder if anybody know anything about the Six-bit code called
- TTS, that was used by many newspapers in the 70's to receive stories
- from the wire services. Like what does the letters TTS stand for?
-
- Would be very happy for an answer!
-
-
- Johan
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg)
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 13:23:15 PDT
- Reply-To: richgr@netcom.com
- Subject: Old Phone Located; Good Home Wanted
-
-
- One of my hobbies is to cruise garage sales looking for telephones,
- recondition (usually just clean up) them, and resell them.
-
- One that I came across may be of interest to the readers of The Telcom
- Digest and c.d.t.
-
- Its a 500 phone, dated 1971, rotary dial, in PINK. Its working, and
- in good shape except for two minor cracks in the case that I will
- epoxy. Came with an extra long pink cord (with the plug cut off)
- which you may have with it, or I will put on a modular cord.
-
- Email if interested. I am in Los Angeles near LAX, and would prefer
- not to ship it.
-
-
- Rich Greenberg Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677
- N6LRT TinselTown, USA Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238
- I speak for myself only. Canines: Chinook & Husky
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: John.MacFarlane@software.com (John L. MacFarlane)
- Subject: Tariff Rates For ISDN, T1, SMDS
- Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 11:06:46 GMT
- Organization: Software.Com
-
-
- Hello all,
-
- Can anyone give me advise on where to find the tariff rates for local
- T1, ISDN and SMDS services? I realize these rates vary with location
- and I am also interested in this variance.
-
-
- My appreciation in advance,
-
- John MacFarlane John.MacFarlane@Software.Com
-
-
- [Moderator's Note: Have you asked your own telco what they charge for
- the services mentioned? PAT]
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 17:14:35 -0400 (EDT)
- From: LESREEVES@delphi.com
- Subject: Snail-Mail Revenge
-
-
- The U.S. Postal Service is trying to coerce businesses into using its
- Express Mail instead of private couriers, according to rivals in the
- parcel industry.
-
- During the past three years, the USPS has audited dozens of companies
- and fined them more than $500,000 in "back postage" fees for shipping
- "non-urgent" mail through services such as UPS and Federal Express.
-
- Under federal law, couriers can only be used to ship "urgent" mail,
- which the government defines as correspondence requiring an immediate
- response.
-
- So companies shipping out invoices or letters by private carrier for
- overnight or two-day delivery could be opening themselves up to an
- audit.
-
- "Postal inspectors are being used as marketing tools to lure
- businesses away from couriers," said Peter Farkas, counsel for the Air
- Courier Conference of America.
-
- The companies audited so far -- including:
-
- Equifax of Atlanta GA, and GTE Corp. of Stamford, Conn., are being
- charged fees for the amount that the postal service would have collected
- if the business materials had been sent by first-class mail.
-
- "What we are doing is totally covered by federal statute", says Paul
- Griffo, a spokesman for the US Postal Inspection Service.
-
- In 1974, Congress amended the 1872 law that gave the government a
- total monopoly on first-class mail by allowing private companies to
- transport urgent next-day packages, but it required the shippers to
- pay at least twice the Postal Service's first-class mail rate.
-
- Since then, the private courier business has become a grown into a $20
- billion-a-year market.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM
- Date: 23 SEP 93 10:08
- Subject: All Shook Up
-
-
- The Monday (9/20) edition of {The Los Angeles Times} notes that Andrew
- Cuomo, an assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Develipment,
- complained to aids that his desk occasionally trembled. A baffled
- building crew couldn't find a thing until superintendent Elaine
- Robinson opened a drawer and discovered Cuomo's pager, which vibrates
- when activiated, displaying a dozen unanswered calls.
-
-
- Randall Gellens . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . .randy@mv-oc.unisys.com
- A Series System Software . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
- Unisys Corporation. . . . . . . .|. . [Please forward bounce messages
- Mission Viejo, CA. . . . . . . . | . . . . .to: rgellens@mcimail.com]
- Opinions are personal;. .facts are suspect; . I speak only for myself
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of TELECOM Digest V13 #660
- ******************************
-
-
-
- ******************************************************************************
-
-
-
- From Packet: CHANNEL1
- Message # 191489 Area : 700 [Unlisted Conferenc
- From : Telecom Moderator 09-23-93 11:03
- To : Eliot Gelwan
- Subj : TELECOM Digest V13 #660
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- @FROM :TELECOM@DELTA.EECS.NWU.EDU
- · (Continued from last message)
- Organization: Universite Laval
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 18:19:28 GMT
-
-
- Hi,
-
- Can somebody please tell me how to calculate the distance between two
- NPA-NXXs given their H & V coordinates?
-
-
- Thanks.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: johan@tts.lth.se (Johan M Karlsson)
- Subject: Information Wanted on Six-bit Code
- Date: 23 Sep 1993 11:06:18 GMT
- Organization: Communication Systems, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden
-
-
- I just wonder if anybody know anything about the Six-bit code called
- TTS, that was used by many newspapers in the 70's to receive stories
- from the wire services. Like what does the letters TTS stand for?
-
- Would be very happy for an answer!
-
-
- Johan
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg)
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 13:23:15 PDT
- Reply-To: richgr@netcom.com
- Subject: Old Phone Located; Good Home Wanted
-
-
- One of my hobbies is to cruise garage sales looking for telephones,
- recondition (usually just clean up) them, and resell them.
-
- One that I came across may be of interest to the readers of The Telcom
- Digest and c.d.t.
-
- Its a 500 phone, dated 1971, rotary dial, in PINK. Its working, and
- in good shape except for two minor cracks in the case that I will
- epoxy. Came with an extra long pink cord (with the plug cut off)
- which you may have with it, or I will put on a modular cord.
-
- Email if interested. I am in Los Angeles near LAX, and would prefer
- not to ship it.
-
-
- Rich Greenberg Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677
- N6LRT TinselTown, USA Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238
- I speak for myself only. Canines: Chinook & Husky
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: John.MacFarlane@software.com (John L. MacFarlane)
- Subject: Tariff Rates For ISDN, T1, SMDS
- Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 11:06:46 GMT
- Organization: Software.Com
-
-
- Hello all,
-
- Can anyone give me advise on where to find the tariff rates for local
- T1, ISDN and SMDS services? I realize these rates vary with location
- and I am also interested in this variance.
-
-
- My appreciation in advance,
-
- John MacFarlane John.MacFarlane@Software.Com
-
-
- [Moderator's Note: Have you asked your own telco what they charge for
- the services mentioned? PAT]
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 17:14:35 -0400 (EDT)
- From: LESREEVES@delphi.com
- Subject: Snail-Mail Revenge
-
-
- The U.S. Postal Service is trying to coerce businesses into using its
- Express Mail instead of private couriers, according to rivals in the
- parcel industry.
-
- During the past three years, the USPS has audited dozens of companies
- and fined them more than $500,000 in "back postage" fees for shipping
- "non-urgent" mail through services such as UPS and Federal Express.
-
- Under federal law, couriers can only be used to ship "urgent" mail,
- which the government defines as correspondence requiring an immediate
- response.
-
- So companies shipping out invoices or letters by private carrier for
- overnight or two-day delivery could be opening themselves up to an
- audit.
-
- "Postal inspectors are being used as marketing tools to lure
- businesses away from couriers," said Peter Farkas, counsel for the Air
- Courier Conference of America.
-
- The companies audited so far -- including:
-
- Equifax of Atlanta GA, and GTE Corp. of Stamford, Conn., are being
- charged fees for the amount that the postal service would have collected
- if the business materials had been sent by first-class mail.
-
- "What we are doing is totally covered by federal statute", says Paul
- Griffo, a spokesman for the US Postal Inspection Service.
-
- In 1974, Congress amended the 1872 law that gave the government a
- total monopoly on first-class mail by allowing private companies to
- transport urgent next-day packages, but it required the shippers to
- pay at least twice the Postal Service's first-class mail rate.
-
- Since then, the private courier business has become a grown into a $20
- billion-a-year market.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM
- Date: 23 SEP 93 10:08
- Subject: All Shook Up
-
-
- The Monday (9/20) edition of {The Los Angeles Times} notes that Andrew
- Cuomo, an assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Develipment,
- complained to aids that his desk occasionally trembled. A baffled
- building crew couldn't find a thing until superintendent Elaine
- Robinson opened a drawer and discovered Cuomo's pager, which vibrates
- when activiated, displaying a dozen unanswered calls.
-
-
- Randall Gellens . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . .randy@mv-oc.unisys.com
- A Series System Software . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
- Unisys Corporation. . . . . . . .|. . [Please forward bounce messages
- Mission Viejo, CA. . . . . . . . | . . . . .to: rgellens@mcimail.com]
- Opinions are personal;. .facts are suspect; . I speak only for myself
-
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- End of TELECOM Digest V13 #660
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