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TELECOM Digest Sat, 13 Aug 2005 04:15:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 365 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Florida Man Guilty of Stealing 1.5 Billion Data Files (Reuters News) Pirated Copies of Mac OS Available Now (Tom Krazit, IDG News Service) Appeals Court Ruling Revives Case of Intercepted E-Mail (Monty Solomon) Internet Phone Carriers Still Seeking 911 Replies (Monty Solomon) Verizon Web Site Flaw Allowed Record Access (Monty Solomon) TiVo Tests Internet Download Service (Monty Solomon) How Long Can a Telephone Extension Cord Be? (wylbur37) Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 (Bill Matern) Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 (Flatus Ohlfahrt) Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 (mc) Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 (Allen McIntosh) Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 (Colin) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Florida Man Guilty of Stealing 1.5 Billion Data Files Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:46:28 -0500 A Florida man who ran a bulk e-mail company was convicted on Friday of stealing more than 1.5 billion data files from Acxiom Corp. in what federal officials said was one of the largest recorded cases of data theft. Scott Levine, 46, of Boca Raton, Florida, will be sentenced January 6 after a U.S. district court jury found him guilty on 120 counts of theft by computer, two counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. Each theft count carries a possible sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine while each fraud counts could result in 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The obstruction count could bring a 20-year sentence and a $250,000 fine. Jurors acquitted Levine of money-laundering and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors said Levine, during a 16-month period that ended in August 2003, exploited a security weakness in Acxiom's system to steal the files, which he hoped to use to inflate the value of Snipermail.com Inc., his bulk email company, which is now out of business. Levine was primarily stealing street and e-mail addresses and credit card and checking account numbers. Millions of consumers had their data stolen but U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins said there apparently had been no cases of identity theft or related crimes. When Levine was indicted in July 2004, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Christopher Wray said the case "may be the largest intrusion of personal data ever." Acxiom, one of the world's largest creators of consumer databases, has said it has tightened security for its file transfer protocol server. Several former Snipermail employees testified against Levine under plea agreements. Levine's attorneys had argued he was the victim of an employee conspiracy to frame him for the data theft. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Tom Krazit IDG News Service <idg@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Pirated Version of Mac OS for PCs Available Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 01:46:34 -0500 Tom Krazit, IDG News Service Instructions on how to install Apple Computer's Mac OS X operating system on any PC with a chip from Intel or Advanced Micro Devices were posted to the Internet this week, and they could be found on several Web sites today. Apple announced in June that Mac OS X will run on Intel's x86 architecture chips starting in 2006. The Cupertino, California, company has been working on a version of Mac OS X for Intel's chips since 2000, even though Macs currently use PowerPC chips from IBM and Freescale Semiconductor. Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs told developers that a switch was necessary to take advantage of the low-power chips Intel is expected to release in the future. At the time, Apple executives insisted that Mac OS X would only run on x86 chips used in Apple-developed hardware. Intel PCs distributed to Apple developers with the x86 version of Mac OS X used a security chip to prevent developers from copying Mac OS to other Intel PCs, according to several reports this week from Mac enthusiast sites. Hacker Bypass However, several enterprising hackers have figured out ways to bypass the security chip and run the developer's version of MacOS for x86 on any x86-based PC, according to a posting on the Web page of The OSx86 Project. Posters on that site, as well as other sites within the Mac community, claim to have used the instructions to run Mac OS X on their Intel or AMD PCs, with some posting pictures and videos of x86 PCs booting Mac OS X. The process requires a copy of Mac OS X version 4 (Tiger), VMware's virtualization software, the PearPC emulator that can run operating systems written for PowerPC on any architecture, Apple's Darwin 8.0.1 software, an x86 processor that supports SSE2 (Streaming SIMD Extensions 2), and two files created by an independent developer that can be downloaded using the BitTorrent file-sharing system. As of Friday afternoon, detailed instructions were available in a wiki created by The OSx86 Project. Another site had posted instructions for installing Mac OS X without using VMware's software. Not Legal Users must be willing to download pirated software, as the two files have been modified to get around the security technology in the developer PCs, according to The OSx86 Project Web site. The site insists that The OSx86 Project does not support the use of illegal software but wishes to offer a forum for users interested in running Mac OS on x86 chips. Mac OS X users praise its user-friendly design and the scarcity of viruses developed for the operating system. Aside from a brief flirtation with licensing the operating system in the mid-1990s, Apple has maintained control over its operating system by restricting it to hardware made and developed by the company. However, there is a sizable group of PC users that like to build their own systems using hardware from Intel and AMD, and many users in that group have itched for a way to run Mac OS on these low-cost machines. Dell Chairman Michael Dell also expressed interest in selling a Mac OS X Dell PC after Jobs announced the switch to Intel's chips. An Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the issue. However, Apple has said many times since the June announcement that Mac OS X is designed to work only with Apple hardware whether that hardware uses PowerPC chips or x86 chips. Copyright 2005 PC World Communications, Inc. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, PC World Communications, Inc. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:46:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Appeals Court Ruling Revives Case of Intercepted E-Mail Businessman can be tried under wiretap statute By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff A federal appeals court in Boston said yesterday that a businessman charged with intercepting and reading his customers' e-mails can be tried under a federal wiretapping statute. The ruling is the latest twist in a four-year-old case that has been closely watched by Internet civil liberties groups around the country. Bradford Councilman is former vice president of Interloc Inc., a rare book dealer in Greenfield that offered a free e-mail service to customers. In 1998, Councilman allegedly began intercepting any e-mails sent to his customers by the Internet retailer Amazon.com. Councilman and his colleagues allegedly read the messages to see what Amazon was offering his customers, so that he could make attractive counter-offers. A grand jury indicted Councilman in 2001 for violating the federal wiretapping law. Councilman urged dismissal of the indictment, saying that the wiretap law did not apply because the e-mail was intercepted while it was stored in the memory of a computer, not when it was traveling across a network. A federal district court agreed and threw out the indictment. The US Justice Department, which had brought the case against Councilman, appealed the ruling. But a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Boston also rejected the charges. Last year, the Justice Department persuaded all seven appeals court judges to hear the case. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/08/12/appeals_court_ruling_revives_case_of_intercepted_e_mail/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:11:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Internet Phone Carriers Still Seeking 911 Replies By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some of the top U.S. Internet phone providers told U.S. regulators this week they are still trying to obtain acknowledgments from customers that they know the limitations of dialing 911 with their service. Some customers of Internet phone service, known as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), have had trouble getting help when dialing the emergency number 911, which prompted the Federal Communications Commission to order changes. Unlike traditional phone service, not all Internet phones provide 911 dispatchers with the location of callers, and some calls have been routed to administrative lines that are not always monitored. The FCC in May ordered companies to fix those issues by late November and, in the interim, to get acknowledgments from all customers that they understand those service limitations. Analysts estimate there are more than 2 million VOIP customers. Vonage Holdings Corp., the biggest U.S. Internet phone provider, said it has received acknowledgments from more than 90 percent of its customers but was unable to predict whether it would achieve the 100 percent goal by an August 29 deadline. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/08/12/internet_phone_carriers_still_seeking_911_replies/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:42:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Verizon Web Site Flaw Allowed Record Access NEW YORK --Verizon Wireless customers who signed up for online billing services were able to peek at some details of others' accounts due to a Web site programming error that was caught by a customer and fixed this week, a company spokesman said Thursday. The flaw allowed customers who punched in another user's phone number to see how many airtime minutes that person had used, as well as the number of free minutes they had remaining for the month, spokesman Tom Pica said. Snoopers could also learn what cell phone model a customer used. All users who registered to use the "My Account" system were affected by the glitch, which could have been in place for as long as five years, Pica told The Associated Press. It did not appear that anyone had taken advantage of the error to pry into individual accounts, he said. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/08/12/verizon_web_site_flaw_allowed_record_access/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 02:02:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: TiVo Tests Internet Download Service By Greg Sandoval, AP Technology Writer | August 12, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO --Add TiVo Inc. to the list of companies trying to wed the Internet to television. The digital recording company will soon allow customers to download TV shows to their set-top boxes via the Internet -- even before the shows air on TV. TiVo has struck a deal with the Independent Film Channel to transmit several of the cable channel's shows through a broadband connection as part of a trial program. Participating customers will begin receiving the shows next week, said TiVo spokesman Elliot Sloane. Sloan confirmed that TiVo sent messages to its customers -- later posted on the technology Web log Engadget.com -- offering to transmit three IFC shows beginning Aug. 19, before they aired on the cable channel. Content on demand has long been a holy grail for Internet and cable companies as they hunt for the next generation of television. No one yet has found a way to overcome the considerable technological hurdles, such as finding a speedy way to pump two-hour movies through broadband, or convince Hollywood that its content won't be pirated and that it can profit from Internet broadcasts. Still, Internet connections are picking up speed and moving closer to a reliable delivery method for broadcast-quality video. Should the day come that video is downloaded at the touch of a button, some stakeholders foresee a vast video universe of endless variety. TiVo has offered its 3.3 million customers a form of watch-what-they-want, when-they-want-it luxury since it launched in 1997, but the service remains restricted to broadcast schedules, and customers must program their set-top box to record shows. Right now, fans of the spy drama "Alias" must wait until weekly episodes are broadcast on ABC. Conceivably, an Internet broadcaster could strike a deal with a studio to offer customers a season's worth of shows at once. The question is, why would any studio with a hot show want to hand over its content to TiVo? http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/08/12/tivo_tests_internet_download_service/ ------------------------------ From: wylbur37 <wylbur37nospam@yahoo.com> Subject: How Long Can a Telephone Extension Cord Be? Date: 12 Aug 2005 16:35:54 -0700 Recently, at a Radio Shack store at the telephone accessories section, I noticed that telephone extension cords were available in lengths up to 25 feet (but I didn't notice any that were longer). Is that because 25 feet is the longest you can go before there's a significant loss of signal strength? And what about people who access the internet via 56K dial-up? For them, how long can the extension cord be and still have "clean" transmission for error-free downloads? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not know what the rule is -- if any -- regarding the length of cords, but I do not think it has to do with any signal degradation; after all, you might be _miles_ from the central office building, or in the case of a DSL connection, up to several thousand feet. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bill Matern <wtm@ncomm.com> Subject: Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 17:56:05 -0400 Organization: MV Communications, Inc. PAT, I had a similar problem before. A good lesson was learned by my kids about downloading stuff from web pages. It took me days to clean the mess up. The procedure that worked the best for me was using as many "free" spyware removes as possible: Spybot search and destroy and others. I needed three (don't remember the other two) before I got the mess cleaned up. I don't know if this will work for you or not, but it is worth a try. Good Luck, Bill TELECOM Digest Editor <ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu> wrote in message news:telecom0.0.1@telecom-digest.org: > This is an appeal to any Windows Internet Explorer person in our > readership who can help me: > Wednesday night/Thursday morning someone stuck me with a virus and the > end result was my Internet Explorer browser is gone. I cannot get the > browser to come up at all; clicking on the icon makes it sit for a few > seconds, then the screen flashes ONCE as though it was getting ready > to deliver the browser, but no such luck. I have cleared out the virus > but apparently a driver or two or a file is gone as well. > Not only that but I cannot even get any pages which would come via > that browser. Now my copy of Mozilla works just fine, its only that > Internet Explorer 6.0 wont come up (or anything that depends on it, > such as a link in email, etc.) > Using Mozilla I went to a download site (supposedly 'free downloads') > and paid for a password to download an entirely new copy of Internet > Explorer 6.0 and Outlook Express. Downloaded it, but still nothing ... > I am wondering if it is because my index page (I was using 'my yahoo' > as my home or starting page) somehow got wiped out. > The newly loaded thing produces the very same results: click on the > icon, it goes away for a couple seconds, comes back flashing once then > goes away. > Can you tell me WHERE to install a new 'index' page ('Documents and > Settings/Administrator/something? so I can try that method to clear > this up? Or got any other ideas? And where would I go to make mail > and all the other links default to mozilla rather than IE? > Microsoft tech support cannot help me because I have an OEM serial > number. So I am seeking tech support from the readership here. If > someone will send me email who can help, I will supply that person > with an 800 number to reach me at by phone so it will not cost them > anything to call me, and I will be right at the affected computer to > follow their instructions. Thanks very much! > PAT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The problem is now cured, and it was a thing about running one Spybot thing after another. I had found out earlier that all the facilities worked fine under a non-administrator account called 'ptownson', so I thought why not run the Spy Bot and AdAware and Grisoft AVG under that account also since all three of those things are at least partially dependent on IE 6.0 to run correctly anyway, which they were refusing to do under the admin account. By running them over and over, getting to the point of 'found and cured X files; could not cure Y files since they are locked, reboot and let (whoever) run first thing once again, while those files are still unlocked, etc. It took some doing, but then on one test of the results, presto, things were back to normal again. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Flatus Ohlfahrt <flatus@militaryretired.us> Subject: Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 Date: 12 Aug 2005 23:21:35 GMT Organization: USAF Ret On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 18:38:29 GMT, Paul W. Schleck wrote in news:telecom24.364.13@telecom-digest.org: > Pat, > I recall that one, or both, of these free Microsoft tools > has an option to return your copy of Internet Explorer to > its original factory settings: > Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer: > http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/mbsahome.msp > x > Microsoft Anti-Spyware (Beta) > http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/de > fault.mspx > The second tool installs itself as a startup utility, and > runs periodically to check for spyware, so make sure that > that's what you want. The current versions of both of > these tools may also require that you do Microsoft's > confirmation that you have a licensed copy of XP, so make > sure that you're comfortable with that, also. > I recall you mentioning using Spybot Search and Destroy, so > I'll assume you have run the current version already (in > Windows "Safe Mode" and from read-only media if you want to > be absolutely sure). > Paul W. Schleck > pschleck@novia.net > http://www.novia.net/~pschleck/ > Finger pschleck@novia.net for PGP Public Key I think I would be inclined to try this one: Microsoft® Windows® Malicious Software Removal Tool (KB890830) Here's a pointer to it: http://tinyurl.com/4hvpc Your caveats still apply. Flatus [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That 'malicious software removal tool was quite helpful also. Thanks for the mention of it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mc <mc_no_spam@uga.edu> Subject: Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 20:37:58 -0400 What I'd suggest is going to Disk Cleanup and removing Temporary Internet Files. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I did that also ... it is incredible how many files build up in the computer after just one or two days. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:44:18 -0400 From: Allen McIntosh <nospam@mouse-potato.com> Subject: Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 Reply-To: nospam@mouse-potato.com Have you done all the things recommended for recovery from a browser hijack? When this happened to me once, one of the symptoms was that IE wouldn't start. Unfortunately I don't usually do Windows, and I've forgotten what program I ran to fix it. Good luck. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just rub and scrub many times, using all the free anti-virus tools at your disposal. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 15:17:01 +1000 From: Colin <colin@sutton.wow.aust.com> Subject: Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > This is an appeal to any Windows Internet Explorer person in our > readership who can help me: > Wednesday night/Thursday morning someone stuck me with a virus and the > end result was my Internet Explorer browser is gone. Which virus? Usually a description of the virus will tell you which files and registry settings it corrupted. Regards, Colin [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It was something to do with www.coolweb and 180Search as I recall. I also took no chances and did a complete reload of service pack 2 of Internet Explorer 6.0. It sure was a nasty one, and what I get for allowing my nephew to peek at some 'unwholesome' web sites while he was sitting around with nothing to do Wednesday afternoon. In his case for sure, idle hands made a very good devil's workshop. But now that our business has been concluded, the funeral for his mother (my sister) has concluded, and Justin checked on employment and housing opportunities here; he is on his way back home to Florida as I clean up the mess he made of my computers. Poor Justin ... a Professor of Computer Science he won't be any time soon; but a very good hearted kid he is. I am going to run all three of those anti-virus tools I have (Grisoft, AdAware and Spybot Smash and Destroy one last time before I go to bed tonight, and I am going to begin normal operations here using the 'ptownson' account rather than the 'administrator' account in the future as well. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. 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. End of TELECOM Digest V24 #365 ****************************** | |