From telecom-request@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Tue Sep 12 19:39:50 1995 by 1995 19:39:50 -0400 telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 14:20:07 -0500 1995 14:20:05 -0500 To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu TELECOM Digest Tue, 12 Sep 95 14:20:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 376 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC Warning on International Dial-a-Porn (Bob Keller) Cell One/NY Discontinues ATT 500 Service When ATT Takes Over! (Doug Reuben) Book Review: "MH & xmh: Email for Users and Programmers" (Rob Slade) Writers Wanted For PCSense Magazine (Roy Chartier) Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA (Terry Flanagan) A Very Taxing Situation: TAX-1040 (Washington Post via Carl Moore) 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. 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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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the text of a recent FCC Consumer Alert regarding international dial-a-porn: FCC CONSUMER ALERT Office of Public Affairs Public Service Division Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street NW Washington, D.C., 20554 202-418-0200/TT 202-418-2555 International Dial-a-Porn August 1995 Q. What is meant by "International Dial-a-Porn?" A. The term "International Dial-a-Porn" refers to indecent or obscene, recorded or live, conversations that are offered over the telephone on a commercial basis by information providers located in foreign countries. International Dial-a-Porn is one of a growing number of "information services." Other types of international information services include horoscopes, "psychic hotlines," work-at-home schemes and chat groups. The charges for such services appear on the customers' monthly local telephone bill as international long distance calls. There has been an increase in the number of such international calls, stemming in part to Congressional regulations tightening up on abuses in these services in the United States. Due to consumer complaints about fraudulent billing and the unauthorized use of their telephones to place such calls, Congress, in 1992, restricted the ability of information-service providers to use domestic pay-per-call ("900" or "976") telephone numbers in the provision of their services. As a result, many providers of such services moved their operations to points outside the United States. Q. Why is International Dial-a-Porn a problem? A. Because the blocks applied to prevent the use of domestic 900 and 976 calls for information services do not block international long distance calls, minors and other unauthorized users can use a subscriber's telephone line for access to an International Dial-a-Porn or other information service without the subscriber's knowledge or permission. Furthermore, because the charges for international information services are simply added to a telephone subscriber's bill, without a prior credit arrangement, and because they are based on substantial per-minute charges that are generally not disclosed in advance, a telephone subscriber can receive a bill for calls to information services that is unexpectedly large. Q. Are 800 telephone numbers used for access to international Dial-a- Porn services? A. Because calls to 800 numbers are widely understood by telephone users to be toll free, it is a violation of federal law for providers of Dial-a-Porn or other information services to offer service over an 800 number and then to charge a caller for service (unless the provider has entered into a prior arrangement with the caller to bill him or her separately for the service or to charge the service to the caller's credit card). An information provider is allowed to use 800 numbers to advertise its services. It is also allowed to advertise an 800 number and, when a caller dials the 800 number, direct the caller to hang up and place an international call that will be billed at international per-minute rates. Telephone subscribers should, when calling information services, beware of an unlawful practice engaged in by some information-service providers. That is, when a caller dials an advertised 800 number, the information-service provider will direct the customer, without hanging up, to dial additional numbers, often described as an "access code." Dialing such numbers often converts the call into an international, direct-dial long distance call that will be billed at relatively high international rates. Q. How do I recognize an international telephone number? A. It's not always easy to tell. Most international telephone numbers are preceded by the numbers 011. Telephone numbers in Canada and the Caribbean region, however, have area codes that make them look like U.S. telephone numbers. For example, calls to British Columbia, Canada start with the area code 604 and calls to the Caribbean begin with area code 809. Moreover, advertisements for Dial-a-Porn and other information services sometimes direct customers to dial a string of numbers that contains the 011 international call designator, disguised so as to hide the fact that the call is in fact an international call. For example, the number in the advertisement might be 1-0xxx-011-xx-xx- xxx-xxxx (where x is any digit). In this example, the first five digits,1-0xxx, are the access code of a U.S. international carrier and the 011 is the prefix to an international telephone number. Similarly, as more fully explained in the previous question, the use of an 800 telephone number to arrange access to an international Dial-a-Porn service could mislead customers into thinking that they are dialing a domestic telephone number. If you are unfamiliar with an area code advertised, we suggest that you look it up in your telephone book or ask a telephone operator whether the telephone number is an international one. Q. What should I do if I disagree with a telephone bill listing charges to international Dial-a-Porn numbers? A. You should first try to resolve your complaint with the local telephone company on whose bill the charge appears. In some cases, however, your local telephone company may refer you directly to the long distance company or to the company that provided the Dial-a-Porn or other information service. This is because the local company merely acts as a billing agent for the long distance company or the information-service provider and does not resolve their billing disputes. All of the major U.S. local telephone companies have agreed to work with subscribers, long distance companies and information-service providers during the first billing cycle (that is, the first billing period for which information-service charges appear on the local bill) to resolve subscriber complaints that they did not make the calls or that the calls were not authorized. They will seek to ensure that the Dial-a-Porn provider, rather than the subscriber, bears the cost of the disputed calls. Be aware, however, that not every local telephone company has agreed to this policy. If your local telephone company does not agree to participate, your refusal to pay disputed charges could result in its terminating your telephone service. If you are unable to persuade one of these companies to adjust the charges, and you feel that such refusal was unreasonable, you can file a written complaint with the FCC. Although the FCC cannot adjust your telephone bill, the FCC will investigate your complaint and determine whether any of the companies have violated the Communications Act or FCC regulations and whether to initiate an enforcement action. To file a complaint, simply send a letter describing your complaint, in your own words, to: Federal Communications Commission Common Carrier Bureau Informal Complaints and Inquiries Branch Enforcement Division Stop Code 1600A2 Washington, D.C. 20554 Your complaint letter should include your name and address, the telephone number or numbers involved with your complaint, the telephone number where you can be reached during the business day, the names of all companies involved with your complaint, and a copy of the bill(s) listing the charges that you are disputing. It will expedite processing of your complaint if you circle on the copy of the bill(s) all call charges that you are disputing. Q. What should I do if I believe that an advertisement for an international Dial- a-Porn or other information service was false or deceptive? A. The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") is responsible for preventing the distribution of false or deceptive advertisements in consumer products. If you feel that a company's advertisement was false or misleading, you should call your regional FTC office or write to: Federal Trade Commission Correspondence Branch Washington, D.C. 20580 While the FTC does not resolve individual disputes, your comments help in its law enforcement efforts. Additionally, you may wish to contact your state's consumer protection office, the consumer-protection division of your state's Attorney- General's office, or the office of your local District Attorney. You also may wish to contact the National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060. The National Fraud Information Center is a private, non-profit national consumer organization that will report your complaints to the appropriate federal or state governmental agency. Q. What can consumers do to protect against unauthorized access by minors to International Dial-a-Porn services? A. As a first step, you can, of course, instruct your children to refrain from making calls to International Dial-a-Porn or other information services that encourage long, expensive telephone calls. At present there is no way selectively to block the use of your telephone from being used to call International Dial-a-Porn or other international information services. You can, however, request your presubscribed long distance telephone company to block your telephone line so that it cannot be used to make calls directly to any international telephone number. Your presubscribed long distance company should generally make blocking of international calls available at no charge, but you should be aware that such a block will affect only international calls made using that presubscribed long distance company. It is possible for you or someone using your telephone to evade a blanket international call block by dialing the access code for one of the U.S. international long distance telephone companies and then using that company to dial the international telephone number. Q. What steps is the Commission taking to prevent unauthorized minors and other users from gaining access to international Dial-a-Porn or other information services? A. The FCC cannot prevent unauthorized use of a subscriber's telephone. It is the responsibility of telephone subscribers to control access to their own telephones. The FCC, however, has taken actions to deal with abuses by providers of international Dial-a-Porn. As a result of the recent increase in complaints about abuses by international Dial-a-Porn providers, the FCC is taking several steps to protect telephone subscribers who have been billed for international Dial-a-Porn calls they did not authorize. First, the FCC is working with local, long distance and foreign telephone companies to put in place procedures to resolve consumer billing disputes promptly and fairly. The FCC also has adopted rules to ensure that telephone companies comply with federal law in this area and will vigorously enforce them. Second, the FCC is writing to foreign countries that attract the highest number of Dial-a-Porn calls from the United States to ask for assistance in addressing abuses committed by providers located within their countries. Third, the FCC is educating consumers about international Dial-a-Porn and other information services so that they can take steps to prevent unauthorized use of their telephones by minors or others to gain access to such services. The FCC has also asked U.S. local and long distance telephone companies to do the same for their customers. - FCC - Bob Keller (KY3R) mailto:rjk@telcomlaw.com Law Office of Robert J. Keller, P.C. http://www.his.com/~rjk Federal Telecommunications Law Telephone 202.416.1670 ------------------------------ After recently abandoning the widely recognized "Cellular One" name and calling themselves "AT&T Wireless Services", Cell One/NY completed a number of dialing procedure changes which currently do not allow anyone on the CO/NY (00025) system to place 0-500 calls to AT&T's 500 service. ("B" Side NYNEX customers have no problem in completing 0-500 calls.) When AT&T introduced 500 service, most of the McCaw properties immediately accepted 0-500 calls, and in some cases, since AT&T *wisely* chose not to supervise (start "billing", sort of) 0-500 calls until the called party answered, no airtime charges where incurred. This had a number of benefits: -Those who called me on my 500 number from their carphones would NOT have to pay any airtime charges if I did not answer. Most 0+ calls on AT&T, including the older 0-700 service, DO immediately supervise, and thus, even if you never get connected to anyone, you pay an airtime charge. It is precisely because of this that I never use my AT&T card from my cellphone, and why I dropped my 700 number. (And let's not hear how "correct" this is or why we should all be billed airtime for calls to the AT&T "bong" tone; almost every other LD co's calling card service does NOT supervise until the called party answers. If AT&T doesn't want to help lower my airtime charges, why should I use their overpriced calling card service at $1 per shot when there are 17.5 cent per minute, 6-second billing, no surcharge calling cards out there which do NOT supervise until the call is answered?) -I could program my 500 number from my carphone for no charge, thus directing calls to my cellphone when I was in the car, and making it more likely that someone would call me. CO/NY benefited from this as my airtime usage went up as I was able to be easily reachable by the single number - my 500 number - that many people try to reach me on. As a result of "AT&T Wireless'" dialing changes, it seems that there is no way to dial 0-500 calls, and thus AT&T's 500 service is becomming increasingly useless. I contacted CO/NY, and they have been much less responsive on this issue than they normally are on others. This may be attributed to their lack of knowledge regarding the 500 service, but they even told me that OTHER CO/NY customers have been complaining about no longer being able to access AT&T's 500 service, and so far, nothing has been done, and they do not seem to consider it to even be a problem. It seems in many ways indicative of how AT&T's "right hand" doesn't know what it's "left hand" is doing. The premier McCaw/AT&T Wireless market on the eastern seaboard, which USED to readily accept 0-500 calls, for some reason, after the "conversion" to "AT&T Wireless", can no longer accept calls to AT&T's primary personal number service. This pathetic illustration of how a service *specifically* dsesigned for a highly mobile and telecom-literate subscriber base is not only unsupported, but also unavailable, is telling of the (seemingly poor) state of affairs at AT&T these days, and an issue which they should rapidly remedy. The mere fact that 0-500 dialing worked BEFORE they assumed control of CO/NY, and that right after they did 0-500 dialing stopped simply adds insult to injury. I hope that CO/NY's unresponsiveness in this situation is constrained to this instant case, and that in general, the AT&T takeover did not in any way reduce their spirit of service and responsiveness which has resulted in some (generally) positive posts by myself and other Digest readers in the past. If any other CO/NY subscribers or roamers on CO/NY's system have experienced similar difficlties, please let me know. Doug Reuben * dreuben@interpage.net * +1 (203) 499 - 5221 Interpage Network Services -- http://www.interpage.net, telnet interpage.net E-Mail Alpha/Numeric Local/Nationwide Paging, LinkAlert, EMail <-> Fax Svcs ------------------------------ Peek BKMH_XMH.RVW 950803 "MH & xmh: Email for Users & Programmers", Peek, 1995, 1-56592-093-7, U$34.95 %A Jerry Peek %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 1995 úÿ %G 1-56592-093-7 %I O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. %O U$34.95 800-528-9994 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 %O nuts@ora.com rick.brown@onlinesys.com %P 738 %T "MH & xmh: Email for Users & Programmers" Other than being terse, the UNIX mail command is not very UNIX-like. It combines a large number of functions into one program and, while it is possible to shell out between operations, the ability to perform specific tasks relies upon lengthy command line switch sequences, rather than being the default. MH is much more akin to the UNIX culture, with a variety of logical commands for specific operations which can be combined, as necessary, into shell script or programming routines. Thus, it would be understandable to see MH as, primarily, a programmer's toolkit. With the explosion in UNIX-based Internet providers, the MH commands would provide quick tie-ins to BBS front-end menus, or even such ambitious tasks as a fully tutorial, but fully functional, email "lesson". The perception of MH as only a development tool would, however, be unfortunate. As Peek's book very clearly shows, MH is fully viable alongside mail, though probably more demanding than elm or PINE. The tutorial section manages to give a clear picture of a basic mail system, in very short order. Peek has done an admirable job with this book. It manages to be not only a tutorial, but a solid technical reference as well. The material is approachable without ever becoming sappy; accurate without being pedantic; and, complete without being verbose. The content is *very* thoughtful: at one point a command is given which would invoke an editor, and the editor's exit command is given for those who might be unfamiliar with it. The UNIX system is assumed but knowledge is not, and any rational reader would be able to understand this work in full. This third edition adds material on MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) and multimedia. This book is recommended for those developing mail "front ends", for UNIX users wanting another (very functional) mail operation, or for technical writers wanting an excellent example of documentation. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994, 1995 BKMH_XMH.RVW 950803. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 RSlade@cyberstore.ca Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540- 94311-0 ------------------------------ PCSense Magazine is looking for writers. Writers wanted for articles and possibly a regular column to discuss topics relevant in this newsgroup. A technology background, strong writing skills and a strong knowledge of this field is required. If interested, please e-mail your resume and one writing sample in text format to the email address listed in the above header. Deadline for submissions is midnight, September 24th. Thank you for your interest. Roy Chartier Editor-in-Chief, PCSense Magazine ------------------------------ A recent post to this newsgroup stated that Bell Canada Calling Cards will not be validated by AT&T for calls to Canada from the US. This is not true. From most locations in the United States customers can reach Canada by dialing 302 plus the number they want to reach. In recent times, calling long distance from the US has been complicated by the many small telephone companies springing up in many states. Many of these smaller companies do not accept the Bell Canada Calling Card. Due to this, Bell has now instituted Canada Direct from the US. By dialing 1-800-555-1111 in circumstances such as this customers will be able to use their Bell Canada Calling Card to place their calls. There is no service charge for using Canada Direct. Calls are charged at Canadian rates on customers' Bell Canada Calling Card. Canada Direct can be accessed from most home, office or pay phones and, because the service is offered toll free to hotels internationally, expensive hotel surcharges can be avoided. We just wanted to set the record straight. ------------------------------ 8 April 1995 {Washington Post}, page H5 column 3 had this: IRS has toll-free number 1-800-TAX-1040, and some people in Washington DC have been misinterpreting the instruction (provided in the income-tax return booklet) "Do not dial 1-800 when dialing a local number." Specifically, they have been omitting the 1-800; this reaches 202-TAX-1040, which is being used by a tax service NOT AFFILIATED WITH I.R.S., and its owner was being driven crazy by such misdirected calls. The IRS, according to the article, insists its instruction is clear. The article does not say this, but 202-TAX-1040 is not being reached in this manner from Maryland and Virginia suburbs, because they have to use area code 202 to call DC even though it is local. I looked in an income-tax return booklet myself. I remembered (correctly) that the local numbers given for the IRS are given without an area code. For the Chicago area, it gives a seven digit number for Chicago and "1-312" plus the same number for the suburbs. What is the problem with this: Print all local numbers with an area code. Is there a problem with people figuring out it is a local call for them? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The 'local' IRS number here in the Chicago area is 312-435-1040. The reason I say 'local' in this way is because I called it once and the person who I spoke with was located in Kansas City, which is where tax documents for this area are processed. She said that yes, there were IRS people in Chicago, but 'sometimes we take calls here also from that area.' Most of 312-435 -- all of it for quite a few years -- was devoted to the Federal Court in Chicago. Although located on the upper floors of the federal building here (where most phones are 312- 353), the courts always had their own centrex on 312-435. And yes Carl, there is a problem for some people figuring out anything where phones are concerned. Just a couple days ago I heard yet another ignorant raving by someone on a radio talk show claiming that the new area code for our region (847) effective in January is 'just a plot by telco' to decrease the local toll-free calling area and increase the number of 'long distance calls' people have to make. I mean, they could have discussed the affect this will have on switchboards that are programmed incorrectly and the problems people may have getting through to one of the newer and unfamiliar area codes, but instead they were on that other tired, worn- out tangent. And now we have been advised that the deep-pockets on LaSalle Street downtown will not tolerate any new area codes for themselves. I reported here recently that the inner-city itself was to have the new area code 773 while outlying areas of the city would retain 312. But oh no ... it would be too much of an imposition to ask the Board of Trade, First National Bank, the Federal Reserve and the downtown department stores to change their code, so the other two million nine hundred thousand residents of Chicago will have to change theirs instead. They will get 773, so that American Express, et al don't have to risk getting any wrong numbers or possibly not getting calls intended for them. What makes this get really kinky, telephonically speaking, is that while on the south end of 'downtown' there is a fairly even breaking point from one central office to the next and you can more or less cross from one side of the street to the other and be in different area codes if you wish, the north side offices affected by the 312/773 split are not carved up quite as nicely. The boundaries go up and down little side streets with 'fingers' of the downtown exchanges extending northward to Fullerton Avenue (2400 north) in a couple cases and only to North Avenue (1600 north) in other cases. Here and there it stops at the river when working westward, while other times stopping its westward outreach at Halsted Street (800 west). So like it or not, the folks on the near north side of Chicago will have an overlay arrangement between 312/773 by default; by virtue of the geography involved. They are already howling, and the cut is not due for more than a year. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #376 ******************************