For your convenience in reading: Subject lines are printed in RED and
Moderator replies when issued appear in BROWN.
Previous Issue (just one)
TD Extra News
Add this Digest to your personal
or  
TELECOM Digest Tue, 15 Nov 2005 23:18:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 521 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson USA Wants Wiretap on Internet Calls Expanded (Jeremy Pelofsky) Negotiators Agree on Crime-Fighting Forum (Andrew Sullivan) Appeals Court Denies Stay on Internet Phone 911 Rule (Reuters News Wire) Chinese Immigrants Charged in Data Theft/Spy Case (Jeremiah Marquez) I2hub Latest P2P Site to Shut Down (Brooks Bolieky) Re: Comcast, Verizon Wage Licensing War/Towns in Cable Crossfire (K O'cann) 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: Jeremy Pelofsky <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: USA Wants Wiretap on Internet Calls Expanded Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 21:19:10 -0600 By Jeremy Pelofsky U.S. law enforcement authorities want expanded ability to tap any phone call between an Internet phone and a traditional phone if needed for an investigation, according to documents filed this week. The U.S. Justice Department urged communications regulators to require Internet phone companies to provide the ability to conduct surveillance on services that offer only outgoing calls or incoming calls to or from the traditional phone network. With the growth of high-speed Internet services, several companies like privately-held Vonage Holdings Corp. and Skype, which eBay Inc. recently bought, are now offering low-priced Internet telephone service as an alternative. There are approximately 3.6 million U.S. customers who have signed up for two-way Internet phone service, known as Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, according to a new survey by TeleGeography Research. The group projects 4.4 million U.S. subscribers by the end of the year and close to 20 million by 2010. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) passed by Congress in 1994 was aimed at preserving the ability of authorities to conduct court-ordered wiretaps as technology advanced. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission in August ruled that companies like Vonage must offer law enforcement authorities the ability to conduct surveillance on Internet phone services that can both make and receive calls to and from the traditional phone network. However, Skype offers independent one-way services, SkypeOut which permits outbound calls that can connect to the traditional phone network, and SkypeIn which receives calls from the phone network and gives the customer a phone number. COMMENTS FILED Without referring to Skype, the Justice Department asked that CALEA be extended to services that "enable customers to place calls to or receive calls from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)." The agency filed comments on Monday with the FCC, which is weighing how to apply the law to new communications services. Skype argued against applying the surveillance law beyond two-way Internet phone services, noting that the FCC decision was aimed at those that replace traditional phone service. "Many software-based VOIP products are used not to replace traditional telephony, but as a component of electronic messaging and other information services, which Congress clearly indicated was not covered by CALEA," Skype said. The FCC decision in August also extended the surveillance law to broadband Internet access, a move that raised concerns by educational institutions like Cornell University which said the agency overstepped its bounds. "If Cornell is not providing services for hire, it should be exempt from CALEA," the university said in comments to the FCC filed on Friday. "Congress expressly excluded 'private networks' from CALEA's reach." The FCC said in its order that private networks would not be subject to the wiretap requirements but those that are connected with a public network would have to comply with the law. 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: Andy Sullivan <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Negotiators Agree on Crime-Fighting Forum Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 16:33:24 -0600 By Andy Sullivan Negotiators agreed on Tuesday to set up a global forum to discuss online crime, but appeared unlikely to resolve a dispute about control of the Internet ahead of a U.N. technology summit. In talks before 50 heads of state arrive for the World Summit on the Information Society on Wednesday, negotiators said their work would likely lead to a crime-fighting forum that could help law enforcers track down online criminals who operate across borders. But they did not seem set to approve language that would force the United States to give up its exclusive oversight of the domain-name system that guides traffic across the Internet. The work proceeded slowly as negotiators debated whether to describe an Internet body as a "framework" or "mechanism" in one paragraph, before settling on "framework and mechanisms." "This was supposed to be a compromise text but now it has been changed and bruised beyond recognition," Ambassador Masood Kahn, the Pakistani diplomat who served as a referee, said after reviewing 12 different versions of another paragraph. The summit was launched two years ago to bridge the technology gap between rich and poor countries, but the U.S. control over the domain-name system has become a sticking point for countries like Iran and Brazil, who argue the system should be managed by the United Nations or some other global body. The United States says an international bureaucracy would stifle innovation and create uncertainty that could scare away investors, though it does not oppose an international forum to discuss crime and other online issues, as long as it does not have regulatory powers. While such a forum could be productive it must not be allowed to take on any formal powers that could usurp the United States' position, U.S. Assistant Commerce Secretary Michael Gallagher told Reuters. But the European Union will continue to push for more international control of the domain-name system in meetings after the summit next year, one EU official said. "Oversight is a taboo word for the United States," said the official, who declined to be named. The head of the International Telecommunications Union, the U.N. body sponsoring the summit, said the increased attention would ensure the United States runs the domain-name system responsibly even if no agreement was reached. "When we started this process seven years ago ... nobody knew that one country was managing everything. Now it is transparent, and you are discussing," ITU Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi told a news conference. (Additional reporting by Astrid Wendlandt) 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: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Appeals Court Denies Stay on Web Phone 911 Rule Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 16:35:59 -0600 A U.S. appeals court has refused to put on hold requirements that Internet telephone providers offer customers full 911 emergency call services by November 28, a provider said on Tuesday. The Federal Communications Commission in May ordered that companies like Vonage Holdings Corp., the biggest U.S. Internet phone company, ensure customers who dial 911 are connected to a dispatcher who receives the caller's location and phone number. Those requirements are due to take effect on November 28. But several smaller Internet phone companies argued that the deadline was unreasonable, noting that the wireless industry has had much longer to make full emergency 911 services available. "We will still proceed with our appeal and still believe that the FCC's E911 Order for VoIP Service Providers is arbitrary and capricious," said Jason Talley, president and chief executive of Nuvio Corp., an Internet phone provider. Nuvio was one of the companies who challenged the rules and sought an injunction against the FCC. Vonage was not involved in the lawsuit. Their request was turned down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The FCC recently clarified its decision and said companies did not have to cut off subscribers who did not have full 911 service, but said the carriers could not advertise or add customers in areas where full 911 service was not available. An FCC spokesman had no immediate comment. 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: Jeremiah Marquez <ap@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Chinese Immigrants Charged in Data Theft/Spy Case Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 21:14:58 -0600 By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer A Chinese-American engineer and two family members who allegedly conspired to steal sensitive information about Navy warships and smuggle it to China were indicted Tuesday on federal charges, authorities said. The grand jury indictment charges Chi Mak, 65, his wife and brother with acting as agents of a foreign government without prior notification to the U.S. attorney general, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Federal officials said Mak took computer disks from Anaheim defense contractor Power Paragon, where he was lead engineer on a sensitive research project involving propulsion systems for Navy warships. He and his wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, 62, then copied the information to CDs and delivered them to Tai Wang Mak, 56, who was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong on Oct. 28 with his wife, Fuk Heung Li, an FBI affidavit said. From there, the brother allegedly planned to travel to Guangzhou, China, to meet a contact. Ronald Kaye, Chi Mak's attorney, said he had not yet seen the indictment, but noted his client was presumed innocent. His brother's attorney, John Early, had no immediate comment. Chiu's attorney, Stanley Greenberg, said she was a loyal American citizen and suggested the charges might be trumped up. "In recent years the government has brought similar charges but when called to proof, those cases resulted in little or nothing," Greenberg said. "I believe this case will follow that same pattern." All four suspects were arrested on Oct. 28. Though Li was accused in an FBI affidavit of aiding the others, she was not indicted Tuesday. Chi Mak and his wife are naturalized U.S. citizens originally from China. Mak's brother is a Chinese national and director for the Phoenix North American Chinese Channel. The brother's wife also is a Chinese national. Although it is not alleged in the indictment, authorities have said they recovered restricted documents on the DDX Destroyer -- known as the "destroyer of the future" -- that had been produced by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, and that Chinese officials were eager to examine these documents. Also seized were documents on how to reconfigure a damaged ship after an attack, as well as two lists in Chinese that asked Chi Mak to get documents dealing with submarine torpedoes, electromagnetic artillery, early warning technology to detect incoming missiles and defenses against nuclear attack, prosecutors said. The case comes as China -- mindful of U.S. support for Taiwan -- is seeking to strengthen its naval capabilities so it can function in the open sea as opposed to hugging shallow coastal waters, prosecutors have said. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. 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. For more news from Associated Press please go to : http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Brooks Bolieki <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: I2hub Latest P2P Service to Shut Down Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 21:17:15 -0600 By Brooks Boliek I2hub, the superfast Internet service popular with college students, shut down Tuesday. Logging onto i2hub.com http://www.i2hub.com/ brought up a Web page with a ghostly image of a man walking away, with the words "Remember i2hub" superimposed over the image and "RIP 03.14.2005-11.14.05" written below it. I2hub was one of seven peer-to-peer services that received a cease-and-desist letter from the Recording Industry Association of America. RIAA had said they would make an 'example' for college students with I2hub. The service follows Grokster, which shut down after losing the Supreme Court case that decided P2P services could be held responsible for copyright theft that occurs on the services. It was unclear whether i2hub entered into a settlement agreement like the one reached this month in the Grokster suit. "We continue to be encouraged by the response of many of the illegal peer-to-peer sites to the Supreme Court's unanimous Grokster decision," an RIAA spokesperson said. "The message from the Court has been heard, and we look forward to working with services that will respect the laws protecting creators. Those who will not work with us will see what happens to them and their users." The music and movie industries have filed more than 600 infringement lawsuits at 39 universities against users of the service, which travels on the high-speed university network known as Internet2. CAMPUS CAMPAIGN Coincidentally, the Motion Picture Association of America on Tuesday asked college students to make a film about the problem. The association is sponsoring a nationwide anti-piracy public service announcement contest for college students. In a partnership with Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE), an international nonprofit that mobilizes university students to create economic opportunities, the MPAA hopes that getting students to create PSAs will help convince them to eschew copyright piracy. "The MPAA is committed to educating students, parents and all consumers to aggressively tackle the threat of piracy and stem the disturbing societal trend of illegal activity online by students of all ages," MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said. "That is why we have joined SIFE, partnering with some of our country's most creative, bright and energetic students to engage them in this discussion and enlist their help in the campaign on campuses." The winner of the contest, open to students at colleges that have a SIFE chapter, could pocket $3,000. Glickman estimates that U.S. copyright industries account for 12 percent of gross domestic product and employ more than 11 million workers. An interagency report last year estimated that counterfeit and pirated goods cost the U.S. economy $250 billion per year. Hard-goods piracy -- like DVDs -- cost the movie industry alone more than $3 billion per year. That money often finds its way into other illegal activities. On November 10, a fatal car chase in Virginia involving a convicted felon who was wanted on several criminal charges, including cocaine and meth possession, yielded hundreds of pirated CDs and DVDs in the man's trunk, MPAA field investigator Dennis Supik said. "A lot of people we were arresting had drug conviction backgrounds," Supik said. "Actually, what they said was: 'This is the new drug on the street."' In 2003, Interpol Secretary General Ron Noble said in testimony before the House International Relations Committee that the global trade in narcotics is estimated at $322 billion, while the global trade in counterfeit goods is estimated at $512 billion. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 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: Kinon O'cann <Yes.it's.me.Bowser@giganews.com> Subject: Re: Comcast, Verizon Wage Licensing War/Towns Caught in Crossfire Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 17:08:29 -0500 Comcast's best friend in this is Verizon. I had scheduled a move to FOIS, but cancelled when I learned that Verizon blocks many incoming ports, and although I can re-direct web and FTP traffic to other ports, that's a game I'd rather not play. Verizon can also block other ports, once they detect activity they don't like. I cancelled. I don't understand this behavior by Verizon at all. The relationship betwenn the customer and Verizon should be deadly simple: I pay for a connection, and then use it however I want (like I do now). Verizon limits speeds up and down, and that's their way of controlling network saturation. Then I learned they don't allow servers, either. What a joke. I pay for a connection, and they determine how I use it? No chance. Wake up, Verizon! FWIW, I only want to use web and FTP services to share digital pics with my family, and it's way more convenient than trying to constantly e-mail huge files. ------------------------------ 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 ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 #521 ****************************** | |