Hacker Chronicles 2 (Alt)/The_Hacker_Chronicles_Volume_II-CD2.iso/td/td13_762.txt

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TELECOM Digest     Mon, 15 Nov 93 12:55:00 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 762

Inside This Issue:                        Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    Supreme Court Decision on Baby Bells Info Services (AP via William Sohl)
    AT&T at COMDEX (Andrew B. Myers)
    65 per Line or 65*per Line? (Paul Robinson)
    In the Matter of: Connecting to Kremvax.demos.su (Paul Robinson)
    Reverse Phone Directory News (Compuserve via Ray Normandeau)
    Videoconference System Questions (Hyeong-Kyo Kim)
    Minitel Questions (Michael Jansson)
    Synoptics 5000 Intelligent Hub (Alex Cena)
    Info on Old Key System Wanted (Caleb Hess)
    Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? (Paul Robinson)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (sohl,william h)
Subject: Supreme Court Decision on Baby Bells Info Services
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 16:22:53 GMT


Electronic Yellow Pages and Other Phone Information Services OK
By LAURIE ASSEO
Associated Press Writer

           WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Supreme Court today let the nation's
regional telephone companies continue offering information services
such as home education and electronic yellow pages.

           The court, without comment, rejected arguments by consumer
groups and information competitors that a lower court wrongly let the
seven "Baby Bell" companies enter the highly competitive market.

           Those groups say the regional Bells could gain a
monopolistic advantage through their ownership of the phone lines.

           The case stems from the 1982 court-supervised breakup of
American Telephone & Telegraph as the result of the federal
government's antitrust lawsuit.

           The breakup agreement approved by U.S. District Judge
Harold Greene stripped AT&T of its local phone companies and set up
the regional Bells.

           The agreement barred the seven companies from providing
information services by telephone. But in 1987, the Justice Department
reversed its position and backed their request to start offering
services such as home shopping, stock quotes and transmission of
medical records.

           Greene ruled against the regional companies. But the U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered him to
reconsider and base his ruling on whether he could be certain that
letting the regional Bells offer such services would harm competition.

           After the Supreme Court let the appeals court ruling stand,
Greene reluctantly lifted the ban in July 1991. He said the appeals
court ruling left him with no choice.

           The appeals court later ruled that Greene only had the authority
to decide whether the Justice Department's recommendation was
reasonable _ a standard under attack in the appeal acted on today.

           The growing information market and regulatory safeguards
are enough to keep the Bells from taking over, the appeals court said.
Their competitors _ including General Electric, AT&T, IBM and Sears _
are not pushovers, it added.

           In the appeal acted on today, the consumer and information
groups' lawyers said the ruling gives the Justice Department
"effective control over judicial decisions" on whether to approve any
settlement involving the government.

           "Courts do not lose their competence to determine competitive
impact when the government settles a case," the appeal said.

           Justice Department lawyers said the ruling does not require
automatic approval of antitrust agreements. But they said the federal
government, not a judge, should have the authority to decide whether
an agreement will promote competition "as long as it has a reasonable
basis for its prediction."

           The regional Bells' lawyers said the ban that kept them
from providing information services was obsolete, and that there has
been no evidence of harm to competition since they entered the market.

           "Investments have been made and fundamental changes in the
industry have occurred," they said. "There is no reason for
reversing course at this late date."

           The seven regional bells are Ameritech, Bell Atlantic,
BellSouth Corp., NYNEX Corp., Pacific Telesis Group, Southwestern Bell
and U S West Inc.

           The case is Consumer Federation of America vs. U.S., 93-318.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 10:41:53 EST
From: [e-mail] (Andrew B Myers [phone])
Subject: AT&T at COMDEX


AT&T SHOWS ITS WARES AT COMDEX FALL '93 COMPUTER TRADE SHOW

     BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- Eight AT&T business units plan to
showcase more than 25 products and services this week at the
nation's largest computer trade show.  The COMDEX Fall '93 show
begins today, Nov. 15, and continues through Friday, Nov. 19

     For copies of AT&T news releases, dial via modem to AT&T
News Online, a database containing more than 5,000 AT&T news
releases, the two most recent AT&T Annual Reports and the most
up-to-date AT&T Fact Book.  Set your software for 7 data bits,
1 stop bit, even parity, and dial 908-221-8088.  The system
autobauds up to 9600 bits per second.

     Following is a list of key AT&T exhibits and announcements
scheduled at COMDEX.

AT&T EASYLINK SERVICES

     Located at Booth No. L930, media contact Kevin Compton.  Key
displays from AT&T EasyLink include:
   o AT&T Mail.
   o Mobile messaging, LAN connectivity, fax solutions, forms
     solutions, information services.
AT&T EasyLink plans to announce:
   o How road warriors on Harleys or foot soldiers at the office
     use messaging to do business around town and around the
     world.

AT&T EO
     Located at Booth No. L2848, media contact Kevin Compton.
Key displays from AT&T EO include:
   o EO 440 and EO 880 Personal Communicators.
The major announcement from AT&T EO will be:
   o New applications and customer solutions for AT&T EO Personal
     Communiators.

AT&T GLOBAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
     Located in Booths No. L2348 and No. 1130, media contact Jo
Johnston.  AT&T GBCS displays will include:
   o Desktop and networked videoconferencing.
   o Passage Way(TM) Solution computer-telephone integration.
   o PhoneWriter(TM) desktop pen-based communicator.
AT&T GBCS stories expected to be announced include:
   o AT&T TeleMedia Personal Video System being shipped to
     customers.
   o AT&T PassageWay Solution provides computer-telephone
     integration.

AT&T MICROELECTRONICS
     Located in Booth No. L2348, media contacts Sam Gronner, Pat
Mallon, Terri Hodges.  Displays will include:
   o AVP(TM) Video Codec Chip Set.
   o DSP 3210/VCOS(R) Multimedia System.
   o Outrigger(TM) LAN/Fax/Modem PCMCIA chips.
   o 100 Mbps LANs.
   o New Hobbit(TM) chipsets.
   o DA400 Clock Distribution Chip.
AT&T Microelectronics plans to announce these stories:
   o Desktop visual communication arrives.
   o Multimedia DSPs and LANs.
   o V32.terbo modems shipping to end users.
   o PCMCIA modem/fax/LAN cards coming.
   o Clock chip for high performance CPUs.

AT&T NCR
     Located in Booth No. 1130, media contact Christine Imwale.
NCR displays will include:
   o Mobile computing.
   o Servers.
   o AT Bus products.
   o Telemedia Connection.
   o MicroChannel products.
AT&T NCR will announce these stories:
   o Telemedia customer announcements.
   o AT&T branded PC distrbution expands.
   o NCR and IBM provide LAN Manager for AIX.
   o New fax and data security software.
   o Price reductions on NCR 3360 series computers.

AT&T PARADYNE
     Located in Room No. LN102, media contact Garrick Case.  AT&T
Paradyne will display:
   o VoiceSpan(TM) multimedia modem.
AT&T Paradyne will announce:
   o Integration of data, fax and voice sets stage for new
     consumer multimedia products.

 AT&T SECURE COMMUNICATIONS
    Located in Booth No. 1130, media contact David Arneke.  AT&T
 Secure Communications will display the following:
   o PC security software.
   o Security for mobile computing.
 AT&T Secure Communications will have two announcements:
   o New software for data and fax security.
   o Broad range of data security solutions.

 AT&T MULTIMEDIA SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
   This unit, formerly known as AT&T Graphics Software
Solutions, will be represented by media relations representatives
Christine Colborne and Cherie Carter.  AT&T MSS will display the
following:
   o A variety of multimedia software applications for
     drawing, animation and presentation packages.
   o Multimedia packages for Windows and Windows-NT environments.
   o Illustration, animation and interactive multimedia authoring
     software including RIO, RIO Animator and Panorama for the
     high-end DOS market.
                            #   #   #

CONTACT:
Andrew Myers - AT&T Media Relations
908-221-2737 (office), 908-522-9485 (home)

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 10:11:38 EST
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: 65 per Line or 65*per Line?
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


Well, a misunderstanding is back again.

I originally had four telephone lines.  The application I was using
the fourth line for ended, so I had that line disconnected.  I now have
three phone lines.  They were all set up for unlimited service, which
is required under the current tariff schedules.  So I decided to
change them.  Being told that if I want to take a 65-call-per-month
allocation, then each line is metered for 65 calls and if I have two
lines, and use 66 on one line and 5 on the other, it will cause me to
be charged for one meter unit.

So I broke up my account and had someone else who lives here listed as
the "owner" of the primary phone line, set that to no call allocation
(meaning charge 9c per call) because that line is used almost
exclusively for incoming calls and set my computer and spare line to
65 calls per month each.  I didn't like being "split in half" but it's
the way the system is set up.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to order Caller-ID on my computer line
so that I can test the Caller-ID capability of my modem. (A report on
how the data stream looks and some things I discovered, will be made
later.) So then the clerk at the phone company told me that the number
of phone calls that can be made on an account without being charged is
65 times the number of lines assigned to that account, e.g. for an
account with three lines, there would be no message unit charge until
the account used more than 190 calls.

Finding out that this seemingly sane policy is what is supposed to be
in effect, I have my service set to put all of my lines back together.

I have finished the testing I wanted to do and have one more thing to
try so I called today to take Caller-ID off one line and put it on a
different one. Now I am told the original story -- that each line has
a limit of 65 calls whether or not the lines are billed to one party
or separately billed -- e.g. if I use 66 on one line and 5 on the
other, I will be charged for one message unit. The phone company clerk
tells me that each line is individually metered and it doesn't matter
whether the three lines are attached to one account or billed to three
different accounts.

I have gotten totally disgusted at this whipsaw effect.  I explained
to the clerk that I want her to get ahold of her supervisor and find
the tariff schedule and mail me a copy of the tariff.  I explained to
her that if what she is telling me is correct, then I need to reset my
phone service back the way I had it before.

She said she would call me back before mailing me a copy of the
tariff, so I will have a written exact statement.  If there is a
question of ambiguity about it, I'm going to push for a PUC analysis
as I'd prefer to be blended than separately charged.

I am going to get to the bottom of this once and for all.


Paul Robinson - [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 08:37:44 EST
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: In the Matter of: Connecting to Kremvax.demos.su
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


In TELECOM Digest recently there was mention that sites in the U.S.
cannot connect (due to U.S. Government pressures) with some sites
behind the former Iron Curtain.  One example of which is the site
kremvax.demos.su.  Evidence from this message implies it is not the
government doing this, it is someone else.

A writer [e-mail] (Chris Labatt-Simon) indicated that he got
through from his site (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
12181, according to the WHOIS database):

> 1  vccfr2 (128.113.75.254)  2 ms  2 ms  2 ms
> 2  psi1.rpi.edu (128.113.100.1)  27 ms  3 ms  3 ms
> 3  rpi.albany.pop.psi.net (38.145.34.1)  53 ms  9 ms  13 ms
> 4  core.net223.psi.net (38.1.2.6)  51 ms  66 ms  77 ms
> 5  Washington.DC.ALTER.NET (192.41.177.248)  172 ms  48 ms  30 ms
> 6  New-York.NY.ALTER.NET (137.39.128.2)  92 ms  420 ms  413 ms
> 7  Demos-gw.ALTER.NET (137.39.96.2)  707 ms  656 ms 733 ms  679 ms
> 8  kremvax.demos.su (192.91.186.200)  709 ms  733 ms  679 ms

Writer [e-mail] (David Jones) tried:

>  1  cyclops.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.185)  2  1 ms  1 ms
>  2  medusa.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.187)   2 ms  2 ms  2 ms
>  3  sand.gw.toronto.edu (128.100.1.224)  3 ms  3 ms  3 ms
>  4  utorgw.gw.utoronto.ca (128.100.96.19)  4 ms  4 ms  4 ms
>  5  Epsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.55.4)  71 ms  91 ms 82 ms
>  6  * Xpsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.53.1)  131 ms  128 ms
>  7  ENSS133.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (192.35.82.101)  201 ms  184 ms 174 ms
>  8  t3-1.Hartford-cnss49.t3.ans.net (140.222.49.2) 147 ms  165 ms
>  9  t3-3.Hartford-cnss48.t3.ans.net (140.222.48.4)  196 ms *  127
> 10  t3-2.Cleveland-cnss40.t3.ans.net (140.222.40.3)  96 ms  136
> 11  t3-2.Chicago-cnss24.t3.ans.net (140.222.24.3)  165
> 12  * t3-1.San-Francisco-cnss8.t3.ans.net (140.222.8.2)  330 ms *
> 13  t3-0.San-Francisco-cnss9.t3.ans.net (140.222.9.1)  183 ms  2s
> 14  t3-0.San-Francisco-cnss11.t3.ans.net (140.222.11.1)
> 15  * * *

I tried it from my full internet provider, Digital Express from site
access.digex.net (164.109.10.3):

 1  enss230.digex.net (164.109.1.1)  2 ms  1 ms  1 ms
 2  t1-3.Washington-DC-cnss59.t3.ans.net (140.222.59.3)  4 ms  4 ms  5 ms
 3  t3-3.Washington-DC-cnss58.t3.ans.net (140.222.58.4)  4 ms  6 ms  4 ms
 4  t3-3.Washington-DC-cnss56.t3.ans.net (140.222.56.4)  5 ms  4 ms  4 ms
 5  t3-0.New-York-cnss32.t3.ans.net (140.222.32.1)  10 ms  12 ms  10 ms
 6  t3-1.Cleveland-cnss40.t3.ans.net (140.222.40.2)  22 ms  21 ms  21 ms
 7  t3-2.Chicago-cnss24.t3.ans.net (140.222.24.3)  28 ms  29 ms  28 ms
 8  t3-1.San-Francisco-cnss8.t3.ans.net (140.222.8.2)  70 ms  70 ms  70 ms
 9  mf-0.San-Francisco-cnss11.t3.ans.net (140.222.8.195)  165 ms  71 ms
10  * * *
11  * * *

This confirms what has been inferred on the com-priv list <com-priv@
psi.com>:

Digital Express (and U of Toronto) connect to the U.S. Internet via
ANS CO+RE.  Rensaeler connects to the U.S. Internet via the Commercial
Internet Exchange (CIX) member ALTERNET, as apparently does Kremvax.

This appears to confirm what was implied before: that CIX members are
not connecting non-CIX member Internet sites to the CIX member portion
of the Internet.  Since they are a commercial installation, this is
their privelege to do; they are paying for the backbone, they can
decide to refuse connections from sites that aren't paying them for
access.

Sounds like the days when cities had two telephone companies and
larger sites had to have phones on both systems.


Paul Robinson - [e-mail]

------------------------------

Subject: Reverse Phone Directory News
From: [e-mail] (Ray Normandeau)
Date: 15 Nov 93 11:21:00 GMT
Organization: Invention Factory's BBS - New York City, NY - 212-274-8298v.32bis
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Ray Normandeau)


 From CompuServe: TRY PHONE*FILE WITHOUT SURCHARGES

Search Phone*File, CompuServe's online people directory, through
17-Nov and the $15 per hour connect-time surcharge is waived.

Phone*File allows you to access name and address information on more
than 75 million U.S. households. Use Phone*File to locate old friends
and update your mailing list before sending your holiday greetings.

To access Phone*File, a part of CompuServe's extended services, GO
PHONEFILE.

Phone*File is only available during certain hours:
Monday through Saturday 6:00 am to 2:30 am EST
Sunday 10 am to 8 pm EST

                        -----------------

It has been operating VEEEERY SLOWLY due to large amount of people now
accessing it.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Hyeong-Kyo Kim)
Subject: Videoconference System Questions
Organization: ETRI
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 09:05:21 GMT


Hi,

Where can I find material (books or papers) on video conference
systems?  Your help would be greatly appreciated.


Hyeong-Kyo Kim   Senior Member of Research Staff
Media Application Section, Human Interface Dept.

------------------------------

From: Michael Jansson <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 13:48:33 +0100
Subject: Minitel Questions


Hello, I saw in a message that you know things about Minitel.

Perhaps you could help me to find out if there is any termcap for the
MiniTel terminals that could be used on a Unix system?

I must admit that I have not much knowledge about MiniTel, but the way
it's been explained to me it is basically a terminal with a built in
modem and rather specialized graphics. It seems possible to use it as
a (rudimentary) terminal for a Unix system.

 Am I wrong? Thanks for your help / Jonas

PS. Please reply to me as [e-mail] - this is just were I look
for newsgroups that our system does not receive.


[Moderator's Note: Everything I know about Minitel is in the Telecom
Archives, accessible using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. You would log
in, then 'cd telecom-archives' and 'cd minitel'. To pull those files
be sure and set type 'I' since they are compressed. Email service
users would get them with the SENDPACK command.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 08:58:46 EST
From: Alex Cena <[e-mail]>
Subject: Synoptics 5000 Intelligent Hub


I am looking for organizations that have had a chance to evaluate
Synoptics' new 5000 intelligent hub.  The 5000 proposes a new wiring
scheme for networks.  That is, a migration from router-centric
networks to structured wiring networks based on MDF hubs.

Specifically, my questions are:

   The composition of your networks in terms of hubs and routers.

   What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of this strategy?

   How long will it take to make this migration?  Impact on router ports
   required within this new paradigm?

   Have you had an opportunity to evaluate other vendors MDF-based hubs?

Thank you very much in advance.


Alex M. Cena   Lehman Brothers   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 12:55:10 -0500
From: Caleb Hess <[e-mail]>
Subject: Info on Old Key System Wanted


I recently moved into a house that included a TIE EK-516B phone
system.  Can anyone provide technical details on this system, such as
how to upgrade it with features like autoredial?  Or is it a hopeless
relic, useful only as a room-to-room intercom?

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 08:46:43 EST
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions?
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


Bob Tykulsker <[e-mail]>, writes:

> I am having a new home built and would like to install the wiring
> now that I might need for future technologies.  What would you
> recommend? Cable, fiber, copper, etc. Any suggestions welcome.

Unless fiber is available in your area now, go with a large amount of
copper wire. Put your demarc in the basement, and run at least twisted
six-pair to each room, in star format, e.g. each room's wiring is
separate.  This allows you to have two phone lines and still have room
for two four-line circuits.  The difference in price between four pair
and six pair is probably negligible (less than 5c per foot, maybe even
the same price); I know the last time I checked the price of 25 pair
was about 10c a foot more than four pair. Count on the fact that the
amount of information being sent will require more wiring and more
circuits, not less.  Having too much wiring simply means a slight
extra expense since more than 5/8 of the cost of wiring is the wages
for the installer.

Let's say you end up using 200 feet of six-pair twisted at 40c a foot,
versus buying 200 feet of four-pair at 35c.  The cost for the extra
two pairs will have added an extra $10 to the cost. If you ever need
another line, it's going to cost a lot more than $10.  And don't
forget that the time taken for the install is going to be the same in
either case.

One possibility is to have "wire trap" capability; it's done in
buildings because people have to reinstall new equipment; almost never
have I seen it done in homes.  Here's what you do.  Run wiring through
specific holes in the walls or airspaces specifically set aside for
wiring.  At the base of the point where the wiring runs up and down
the wall from floor to floor, at floor level you put in a wall-jack or
a blank face plate.

Behind that face plate is the hole that leads down to the area where
the wire comes from.  Someone can drop a weighted string down the
hole, and reach the demarc, then pull new wire up through the hole.
Then run it from there to wherever it has to go.  In short, leaving a
straight-line accessible empty space sufficient to reach to the wire.
Another thing to do is to run the wire in a "trap box" behind the
baseboard; have each jack open into the trap box which means a stiff
line with a loop on it can be used to pull new wire through later on.
Note that this is used only for communications.  You can run a second
trap box, separated from it, to house the BX cable for the electric
sockets, so as to reduce RFI.

Also, in each room with a south-facing window, put a 220 plug for air
conditioning even if you have central air.  At some point someone may
want to use a single air conditioner without enabling the entire
system.  Also, put each room's wall sockets on separate breakers from
the lights, and if there is a room that a computer is going to go in,
pick a spot and put that wall socket on its own 10- or 15- amp socket,
or set up a group of sockets that will be used only for a computer and
put all of them on their own 30 amp socket, and make sure the sockets
for that purpose are marked as "for computer use" because the computer
may be drawing a lot more power.  Make sure those circuits have good
grounding, perhaps even put in grounded outlets specifically for the
computer outlets.

Oh yes; for the benefit of the future occupants, find the gas line and
permanently attach laminated red tags that say "GAS LINE - DO NOT USE
FOR GROUND."

Make sure the breaker box in the basement has an indicator as to what
each switch turns on and off.  There's nothing more frustrating than a
house with 30 breakers and a blank indicator that doesn't tell you
anything about what each switch turns on and off.

Also, put in cable-tv wire to each room in the house at the same time
and also run the wire to the roof with an outdoor weather insulated
terminator there and include a weatherized outdoor electrical socket
in case the dish or your antenna has an electric motor; this will
allow you to hook up your house to the TV antenna or satelite dish
much easier.  As a PS to this, if you will be putting a satellite dish
on your house, try to see if you can't get the house eaves created in
such a way that there is a flat place on the roof not visible from the
street; this will allow the dish to be more stable and prevent
complaints about your satellite dish (since the city doesn't get cable
license fees from private satellite dishes, they sometimes make
trouble even thought this is permitted under federal law.)


Paul Robinson - [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V13 #762
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