TELECOM Digest Mon, 4 Apr 94 13:46:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 163 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New OTA Study on Wireless Technology (Todd LaPorte) Re: Alert! New CD-Rom Database a la Lotus: Household! (Les Reeves) Re: Alert! New CD-Rom Database a la Lotus: Household! (Scott Coleman) Re: Alert! New CD-Rom Database a la Lotus: Household! (Tarl Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? (Carl Moore) Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? (Rob Boudrie) Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? (H. Peter Anvin) Re: PC Pursuit Has Ended (Thomas M. Allebrandi) Re: PC Pursuit Has Ended (James Taranto) Request For Information on Voicemail Systems (Henry Sobel) Small Scale Voicemail Information Needed (Eric A. Litman) Can I Use my Cellular Phone in Turkey and Germany? (Yilmaz Cengeloglu) 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 GEnie. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers. To reach us: Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: ptownson@townson.com. ** 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 gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Todd LaPorte Date: Mon, 04 Apr 94 13:08:00 PDT Subject: New OTA Study: Wireless Technology and National Info Infrastructure We are pleased to announce that the Office of Technology Assessment+s study of the implications of wireless technologies for the National Information Infrastructure (NII) was formally approved by our Congressional Technology Assessment Board at its February 8th meeting. The texts of the request letters for the study, the press release from Representatives Brown and Boucher, and the proposal for the study, which outlines the issues we will be considering during the next 14 months, are all available via ftp at otabbs.ota.gov. Look in pub\wireless\ for these documents. Other study-related documents will be posted as they become available. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the problems and promises of integrating wireless technologies into the NII. Wireless technologies and systems--such as TV and radio broadcasting, new personal communications services, and many kinds of satellite communications -- will form an integral part of the NII, but the role they will play and the implications of their widespread adoption are not yet clear. In particular, integrating the many wireless and wireline systems that will comprise the NII will prove a difficult challenge for Federal, State, and local regulators. Many factors, including standards development, interconnection and pricing arrangements, and differing industry regulation, must be addressed before radio-based technologies and systems can become an effective part of the NII. This study will: identify and discuss the various wireless technologies that could contribute to the development of the NII, assess the barriers to greater or more efficient use of radio-based systems, and explore the economic, regulatory, and social implications of the convergence of wireline and wireless technologies in the NII. The study will also present policy options addressing relevant wireless/NII issues. Over the course of the study, we will try to talk to as many people as we can in order to understand the wide range of interests and concerns surrounding these complex and difficult issues. In addition, OTA will also conduct several (as yet undetermined) workshops that will address specific issues in more detail. These meetings will be announced as far in advance as possible. If you would like more information, please feel free to contact the study team at our project e-mail address, wireless@ota.gov. Any suggestions you may have for people we should talk to, or other sources of data and information will be greatly appreciated. David Wye, Todd La Porte, Alan Buzacott, Greg Wallace Wireless Project Team Telecommunications and Computing Technologies Program Office of Technology Assessment U.S. Congress (202) 228-6760 wireless@ota.gov ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Apr 1994 09:29:07 PDT From: Les Reeves Subject: Re: Alert! New CD-Rom Database a la Lotus: Household! Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] David S. Greenberg (mgreeny@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu) wrote: > If you recall, the only reason that Lotus dropped their moronic > Household CDROM was because they received 20,000 letters/calls > requesting removal from the database. Lotus LEARNED THE HARD WAY HOW > TO ALIENATE YOUR CUSTOMER BASE -- MAYBE THIS COMPANY NEEDS A GOOD KICK > IN THE *&*(& AS WELL... > TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The thing is, they *do* have the right > to see compiled listings -- as did Lotus or as does anyone else -- if they > wish to do so. If a telephone book containing alphabetical listings is > not illegal then neither is a consolidated listing of several telephone > books made into one. ...... > Why? Is it because the ease > and availability in obtaining the information has become greater? PAT] Pat is correct. The CD Rom has simply brought this well established list business within reach of anyone with a PC. The Direct Marketing Association will help you make sure your name is not used by direct marketers. It will not remove your name from lists, but it will attempt to alert all direct marketers who are members that you do not wish to receive unsolicited mail. As for the ProCD product, if you have moved in the last five years the information on the CD is probably wrong. This company's products are loaded with errors. If you are going to complain to them, ask them to improve their accuracy . Les lreeves@crl.com Atlanta,GA ------------------------------ From: genghis@ilces.ag.uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman) Subject: Re: Alert! New CD-Rom Database a la Lotus: Household! Date: 4 Apr 94 14:56:47 GMT Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana mgreeny@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (David S. Greenberg) writes: > Hi all, just thought I'd let everyone out there know that I just > received in my daily pile of junk mail yet another company (which > shall be named shortly ...) which has decided that they have the right > to sell ****YOUR**** name and address AND PHONE NUMBER on CD ROM! [...] > CALL NOW! Protect your right to privacy! Stop the abuse! > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The thing is, they *do* have the right > to see compiled listings -- as did Lotus or as does anyone else -- if they > wish to do so. [...] I think > what you will find in this case however is that the company in question > is merely a list seller. They specialize in lists for other companies to > purchase, and they are not going to be impressed very much one way or > the other by consumers, per se. I'd like to add to these points that the above company is by no means the first to offer residential listings on CD-ROM. Last summere at the American Library Association annual conference there was a CD-ROM reverse directory shown, and its booth drew quite a bit of attention. What this means is the chances are good that you can walk right into your public library and use, in addition to the standard printed cross directory, a CD-ROM version, as well. The reference room here at the University of Illinois has a CD-ROM workstation dedicated to searches on a reverse directory disc. In short, your campaign, even if successful, won't make much of a dent in the abuses telemarketing scum make of our telephones. The information will still be available from too many other sources, including Compu$erve (via their PHONE*FILE service) and the 900 number which you can call and punch in a phone number via DTMF tones and retrieve the directory information. On the bright side, however, you *can* protect yourself. Call your phone company and have your listing changed to "city only" - i.e. your listing appears as "John Doe, Anytown USA." As others have noted, you can also choose to be listed under an assumed name, provided it sounds reasonable. There are scads of call screening devices, some designed specifically to thwart telemarketers, coming on the market now. I use one which I designed myself based on a PC voice mail card and a computer CNID interface, but I've seen similar devices in such catalogs as Home Automation Labs. Using these techniques, I have managed to cut my junk calls down to near ZERO. One other glimmer of hope is that the data sources used by these CD-ROM producers may not always be up to date. I sometimes look up the "unknown" numbers which show up in my caller logs to see who's calling me. Much of the time the information simply isn't there. A friend of mine who actually owns some of these CD-ROM cross directories laments this fact. Unless the CD-ROM in question has as its source the telco's proprietary directory assistance data, there's a chance your information isn't there or is listed incorrectly. Scott Coleman tmkk@uiuc.edu President ASRE (American Society of Reverse Engineers) Ed Green Fan Club #005 ------------------------------ From: tarl@coyoacan.dmc.com Date: Sun, 3 Apr 94 22:04:00 EST Subject: Re: Alert! New CD-Rom Database a la Lotus: Household! In article , mgreeny@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu writes: > to sell ****YOUR**** name and address AND PHONE NUMBER on CD ROM! Not > only are they doing this for your home, but also for businesses as > well! The Lotus database was more than phone numbers. It included juicy little details like annual income, credit history and marital status. This new database sounds more like one large phone book, which is far less irritating. [and our Moderator follows:] > All of a sudden because the medium has changed (from great > big hardover books with several thousand pages each in several volumes) > to CD Rom the complaints become more vocal. Why? Is it because the ease > and availability in obtaining the information has become greater? PAT] Yup. As long as it took big money to get that kind of data on me, it didn't bother me too much. Exxon and IBM have better things to do than harrass me. When the price falls down to a couple of hundred dollars, the local Church of the Latter Rain can get that data on everyone in town and target accordingly. That bothers me. Tarl Neustaedter tarl@bostech.com [work] Ashland, MA, USA tarl@coyoacan.dmc.com [home] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But Tarl, where do you draw the line? I mean, you do like this information superhighway concept and the ease with which everyone can get whatever information they want don't you? Funny part is -- really it is not so funny -- when Clinton talks about the Information Superhighway, he is not talking about how easy it will be for every home in America to access the Grollier's Encyclopedia online at Compuserve or America OnLine. Certainly the ease of obtaining neutral third-party non-specific information will increase ... but so will the ease in obtaining information on anyone about anything. We as human beings can employ some ethical standards and say that normally there are certain inquiries we won't make about others without their permission or some definite reason for doing so combined with a 'need to know' ... but to the computer, its all just bits of data flowing down the wires. The computer doesn't care what you ask about. Superhighways are designed to make it easy to get from A to B ... and the church people have the same rights as everyone else. Public information is becoming easier and easier for the *public* to get their hands on ... and I can see where to some people it might get sort of scary. The time is going to come -- I think in the lifetimes of most of us -- when there are no hiding places left; no secrets are hidden; everyone's soiled underwear on display at the laundromat; when we no longer have privacy to count on to hide our peccadillos. Then the computer will have metamorphosed from being our trustworthy tool to being our master instead. When the church people aren't getting after you, the government will be or your ex-wife or your former husband, or your parents or your neighbors. Forget Grollier's Academic Encyclopedia or the Fruitcake Recipe Database ... now the real lookups are getting underway! Come one, come all, serve yourselves. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 10:15:10 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? When the timing belt went bust on my car on March 19, I waited 3 1/2 to 4 hours on the route 33 expressway in Northampton County, PA. No one stopped to inquire (at LEAST someone needed to contact police). Although it had gotten dark, I had to leave the car and walk 1 1/2 miles, along a shoulder that was VERY narrow in some places, to an exit ramp on my way to a phone. I was honked at twice or so, but still nobody made a move to stop me. ------------------------------ From: rboudrie@chpc.org (Rob Boudrie) Subject: Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? Date: 4 Apr 1994 10:32:08 -0500 Organization: Center for High Performance Computing of WPI In article howard@hal.com writes: > A friend suggested to me that, sometime in the future, almost everyone > will carry around a cellular phone almost all the time. She thinks > this will significantly reduce the amount of crime, because it will be > very easy to report a crime or other suspicious behavior that one > observes. I'm skeptical, but it seems like an interesting topic for > discussion. Or it can increase it ... A few months ago, someone in Framingham, MA was held up for their Motorola flip phone at (I think knife point). The agressor then demanded that the phone be unlocked before he would leave. ------------------------------ From: hpa@eecs.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin N9ITP) Subject: Re: Will Widespread Use of Cell Phones Reduce Crime? Reply-To: hpa@nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin) Organization: Northwestern University Electromagnetics Laboratory Date: Mon, 4 Apr 1994 00:21:10 GMT In article of comp.dcom.telecom, rs2510@ dice.nwscc.sea06.navy.mil (Rhett Salisbury) responds to TELECOM Digest Editor: >> Sorry Pat, this is the kind of crap that keeps things the way they >> are. If you are not willing to get involved you have no right to >> complain about how screwed up things are. We will not have an end to > -- good stuff deleted -- >> Back to the original question, will the proliferation of cell phones >> reduce crime? The answer is: no, but your use of one might. > In total agreement with Sean Slattery -- Pat should excercise a > certain measure of responsible judgment. When someone flippantly > tells an international community that not only we live in a extremely > dangerous country, but also that it is dangerous to become 'involved', > someone will be injured due to your inaction. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But it is true. Ask the few honest > people who work for the CTA. I see it happen over and over again. > And if you witness a crime and report it, you'll spend the next six > months or a year in court getting harassed by the defendant and his > attorney. My advice is don't get involved unless you like being a > martyr. Criminals are given so many rights, *you* will be made to be > the villian instead. PAT] How about asking the two brave young students in Evanston recently who stopped a rape and made a citizen's arrest on the perpetrator? They got a medal for it. America has problems largely *because* people don't get involved, and by saying "it is better not to", we are exacerbating the problem. Have some guts. hpa INTERNET: hpa@nwu.edu FINGER/TALK: hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu IBM MAIL: I0050052 at IBMMAIL HAM RADIO: N9ITP or SM4TKN FIDONET: 1:115/511 or 1:115/512 STORMNET: 181:294/101 Linux system administrator (3 systems on the net, one off) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Certainly, and that kind of thing (giving a medal) happens occassionally in Chicago also. I will never forget the instance a few years ago of the woman who slipped on the ice and fell in the Chicago River and the kid about fifteen years old who jumped in and pulled her to safety. The next day in a rather unusual twist to the news of the day the {Chicago Sun Times} put a large picture of him on the front page with a headline, " is a hero". Mayor Washington gave him a medal and recognition as well. Now if that kind of thing happened more often, I might agree with you. Citizen's arrests are very dangerous things to do however and I have simply seen too many cases where the police harrassed the person(s) who tried to stop the crime while doing nothing to the person who *did* commit the crime. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tom@MCS.COM (Thomas M. Allebrandi) Subject: Re: PC Pursuit Has Ended Date: 3 Apr 1994 17:30:05 -0600 Organization: MCSNet Subscriber Acct, Chicago's First Public-Access Internet! Steven H. Lichter (co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu) wrote: > PC Pursuit has now gone into The Information Highway history books. As > of 9:00 PM Pacific Time it went down; that was three hours earlier > then it was supposed to on 3/31/94. Many paid for a full month of > $30.00 for 30 hours and got cheated for at least three hours. The talk > among the many users of the service was Sprint killed the program by > not advertising a service that could have made money. PC Pursuit was originally intended as a way to make some money off of the unused network capacity that Sprint had after business hours. They were already providing remote outdial capabilities for thier business customers who went home at 5:00PM. Overnight, this gear sat their gathering dust. Enter PC Pursuit - $15.00 per month for unlimited use of the outdial network between 6:00PM and 7:00AM weekdays and all hours on weekends. The growth was incredible, it was not very long until the demand far outweighed the capacity. It got to the point that the costs of operating PC Pursuit at the level required by the demand was significantly greater than the costs of operating the daytime service for businesses. A way of making some extra money was turning into a full blown business entity. Sprint piddled around putting up with the complaints, made a lot of people mad, and then decided to meet the demand with significantly higher rates. That's when $30.00 for 30 hours was introduced. (There may have been a couple of steps before that, I don't recall.) This made a lot of people mad and there were massive defections. The problem was that there was no place to go and so people starting getting into other things like UUCP. I was using PC Pursuit in '87-'88 as a cheap way to get to Portal who at that time was $10.00/month. In 1988, $25.00/month for Internet Mail and USEnet news was a great deal. By the end of 1988, I had UUCP on my machine so I no longer needed Portal and hence no longer needed PC Pursuit. What exactly killed it in the end I canot say. But it would not surprise me that Sprint was simply tired of dealing with it. Tom [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I signed up with PC Pursuit about 1982 during the first week or so of its operation when they were using the 'dial us, we call you back' method of connecting callers to the network. At the time, no one really thought PCP would gain any real popularity. PAT] ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Re: PC Pursuit Has Ended Date: 4 Apr 1994 06:33:43 GMT Organization: The Bad Taranto In article , co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) wrote: (I am commenting only on the writer's signature): > Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS > (909) 359-5338 12/24/96/14.4 V32/V42bis Via PCP CACOL/12/24 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Huh? Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Steve, want to explain it? PAT] ------------------------------ From: eccobbs@crl.com (ECCO BBS) Subject: Request For Information on Voicemail Systems Date: 4 Apr 1994 10:55:45 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] We are a small software development shop looking for a good voicemail package that we can set up ourselves. We need about five lines and will be purchasing all the handsets and hardware. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Henry Sobel ------------------------------ From: elitman@proxima.com (Eric A. Litman) Subject: Small Ccale Voicemail Information Needed Date: 4 Apr 1994 11:32:18 -0500 Organization: Proxima, Inc. I'm interested in purachasing a voice mail system for my company. I've always been impressed by the features of the Octel line, but my last investigation (maybe five years ago) revealed only relatively high-end systems. Audix and its offspring are OK. What are some recommendations for a system which will need to support between ten and fifty users? I'm not at all familiar with costs or administrative features, only with the systems from a user's perspective. I appreciate any information -- vendors welcome. Eric Litman Proxima, Inc. vox: (703) 506.1661 Systems Engineer McLean, VA elitman+@proxima.com ------------------------------ From: cengelog@sunny.dab.ge.com (Yilmaz Cengeloglu) Subject: Can I Use my Cellular Phone in Turkey and Germany? Date: 4 Apr 1994 12:28:01 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway I use my cellular phone in FL, USA. I would like to know if I can use that phone in Turkey and/or Germany. If I can not use it, do you know any phone that is compatible with cellular system in Germany, Turkey and USA. Thanks in advance, cengelog@dab.ge.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #163 ****************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------