TELECOM Digest Tue, 8 Feb 94 00:58:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 66 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson TeleStrategies Conference Announcement (Matthew Lucas) Campaign Against Clipper (Dave Banisar) Skeptical Inquirer: EMF Scare (Monty Solomon) VPN Services (Jeffrey Stone) Busy Call Return and Hunt Groups (David Leibold) Egghead Software Sells Bogus Phone Directory Software? (Alan Boritz) BCE (Bell Canada Parent) Posts Loss (David Leibold) The Hi-Tech Green Weenies (The Door Magazine via David Leibold) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 17:52:11 -0500 From: Matthew Lucas Subject: TeleStrategies Conference Announcement INTERNETcom '94 An Internet Commercialization Conference and Exposition Washington, DC March 21-23, 1994 *How to Market and Sell to 20 Million Internet Users *Entrepreneurial Opportunities Created by New Internet Policies *Leveraging Internet For a Competitive Advantage Tuesday, March 22, 1994 8:30-9:00 Registration 9:00-10:30 OVERVIEW Commercial traffic on the Internet is rapidly increasing. What is driving this growth? Where will new markets emerge? How large will they be? Who are the current and potential players? What business opportunities are being created? What commercial uses of the Internet are emerging? How will today's Internet culture change? What challenges must be met as commercialization efforts move forward? What is the role of the National Science Foundation? Gordon Cook, President, Cook Network Consultants Anthony Rutkowski, Vice President, Internet Society Bill Washburn, Executive Director Commercial Internet Exchange (CIX) 10:30-11:00 Coffee Break 11:00-12:00 SECURITY ISSUES Security is still a critical issue for anyone who wants to do business on the Internet. The speaker will address the threats, concerns and countermeasures that are important and discuss what security policies and procedures need to be established. Stephen Crocker, Vice President Trusted Information Systems, Inc. 12:00-1:30 Hosted Lunch and Exhibits 1:30-3:30 DESIGN AND DELIVERY OF INFORMATION SERVICES What does it take to design and deliver a successful information service? Who will the customers be, what do they want and how much will they pay? What impact will commercialization efforts have on the information service industry? What challenges lie ahead, including copyright and licensing issues? What business strategies should the information industry adopt? Jeff Crigler, Director, Business Information Services Mead Data Central Isabella Hinds, Manager, Professional Relations Copyright Clearance Center Robert Raisch, President, The Internet Company Richard Vancil, Vice President, Marketing, Individual Inc. 3:30-4:00 Coffee Break and Exhibits 4:00-4:30 HOW TO ADVERTISE EFFECTIVELY How can effective, nonintrusive advertising be accomplished on the Internet? What features of the Internet culture and etiquette are important to understand in order to be successful? Judith Axler Turner, a head of the working group on advertising for the Coalition for Networked Information 4:30-5:30 USING THE INTERNET FOR A COMPETITIVE EDGE How can business owners enhance their operations by using the Internet not only to offer a variety of information and document delivery services, but also to market and sell? The speakers will discuss the lessons learned in implementing and using Internet connectivity and explain how to identify business costs. Chris Vandenburg, Internetworking Product Manager Rockwell International Speaker to be Announced 5:30-6:30 Reception and Exhibits Wednesday, March 23, 1994 8:30-9:15 INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS What opportunities exist for providing Internet access? What will be driving growth over the next few years? What range of services can be provided? What are end users looking for? What does it take to be successful? Michael Ballard, Chief Operating Officer, UUNET Speaker to be Announced 9:15-10:00 NAVIGATION TOOLS What are the primary challenges to navigating on the Internet and what tools are currently available? Bruce Antelman, President, Information Express Kevin Oliveau, Engineer, WAIS, Inc. 10:00-10:30 Coffee Break and Exhibits 10:30-11:30 BILLING AND SETTLEMENT ISSUES The speakers will address the following topics: billing/accounting issues and Internet service provisioning; cost and rate structures; billing options available to information service providers; and an update on billing-related activities of the Internet Engineering Task Force. Taso Devetzis, Member Technical Staff, Bellcore Bob Doyle, Director, Marketing, Sprint 11:30-11:45 Coffee Break 11:45-12:30 INTERNET ACCESS VIA CABLE TV Cable companies are looking at advanced communications uses for today's cable TV systems. One such use is remote high-speed access. The speakers will describe a cable-based access method and provide an update on cable/Internet trials, including a distance education project. Gordon Cook, President, Cook Network Consultants - MODERATOR James Ginsburg, Senior Information Officer, Jones Intercable, Inc. Ed Moura, Vice President, Marketing and Sales Hybrid Networks, Inc. Pre-Conference Tutorial UNDERSTANDING INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES FOR NON-ENGINEERS AND STRATEGIC PLANNERS by Dr. Jerry Lucas and Invited Faculty Monday, March 21, 1994 * 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. This one-day tutorial is for the non-engineer, strategic planner, entrepreneur or anyone who has to understand the Internet in order to make business decisions about emerging commercial opportunities. This tutorial covers not only Internet technologies, economics and leading-edge opportunities, but also looks at operational issues such as addressing, network management and security from a business development perspective. 1. INTERNET OVERVIEW: What is the Internet? Who controls it? What can you do with it? Who pays for it? Who are the players domestically and internationally? What is the role of the NII and NREN? Why are the RBOCs, cable TV companies, IXCs and PDA vendors interested in Internet? Why all the attention to commercialization? 2. INTERNET ACCESS, NAVIGATION AND APPLICATIONS: How to find, share and sell information on the Internet. The basic application tools and navigation/search systems (FTP, TELNET, ARCHIE, GOPHER, WWW, WAIS, etc.). Access service providers (CIX, PSI, Sprint and others). Access options (dial-up, dedicated, frame relay, cable TV and wireless). New entrepreneurial developments. 3. INTERNET ADDRESSING: IP addressing. How to obtain addresses (Class A,B,and C). CIDR, Internet DNS and how to register. Setting up an E-mail server, bulletin board and directory service. New business opportunities. 4. INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES: Role of TCP/IP. MAC vs. PC products. LAN access (SLIP, PPP, frame relay, etc.) and WAN and ATM developments. IPX, DECNET and APPLETALK. Leading edge vendors and where their products are headed. 5. INTERNET MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY: Managing a commercial Internet service. SNMP management tools and products. Security concerns, encryption, authentication and Clipper Chip issues. Other operational concerns related to doing business on the Internet. WORKSHOP TRACK Monday, March 21, 1994 9:00-12:30 INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET What is the Internet? How does it work? How can it help me? How much does it cost to use? What are the rules and policies that govern the Internet? GETTING CONNECTED What does it take to get connected to the Internet? What choices are available? How much does it cost to get connected? What should I look for in a service provider? What problems can I expect and how can they be solved? 2:00-5:00 INFORMATION ACCESS AND DELIVERY How can I find out what electronic information is available on the Internet? Specifically, what information, catalogs, textual documents and databases are available and how can they be accessed? Tuesday, March 22, 1994 9:00-12:00 NAVIGATING THE INTERNET What tools are available for navigating through the Internet and searching for information? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these techniques? What is the outlook for the future? 2:00-5:00 ACCESS AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES Once your organization has been connected to the Internet, who should have access? What guidelines and policies should be set to maximize the benefits for everyone? What management and training issues will arise in this new environment? RAISING VENTURE CAPITAL FOR INTERNET ENTREPRENEURS What are venture capitalists looking for when they want to invest? How should you structure your business plan to make it attractive to investors? Wednesday, March 23, 1994 9:00-12:00 GOVERNMENT INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET What electronic information resources developed by and about the government are available on the Internet? DEMONSTRATIONS / EXHIBITS Live Demonstrations of: * Navigating Tools - Online Services * Internet-based Commercial Applications * Internet Access via Cable TV * Fax-on-Demand Exhibit Hours: Monday, March 21, 1994 12:00PM-7:00PM Tuesday, March 22, 1994 10:00AM-7:00PM Wednesday, March 23, 1994 10:00AM-2:00PM ----------------------------------------------------- CONFERENCE HOTEL: The conference will be held at the SHERATON CRYSTAL CITY HOTEL 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202, (703) 486-1111. CONFERENCE HOURS: Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Session hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Monday; 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday; and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR IMMEDIATE REGISTRATION CALL TELESTRATEGIES AT 703-734-7050 For exhibit information call JACKIE McGUIGAN at (703) 734-7050. ------------------------------ Organization: CPSR Washington Office From: Dave Banisar Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 22:28:08 EST Subject: Campaign Against Clipper CPSR ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN TO OPPOSE CLIPPER PROPOSAL contact: rotenberg@washofc.cpsr.org (202 544 9240) Washington, DC -- Following the White House decision on Friday to endorse a secret surveillance standard for the information highway, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) today announced a national campaign to oppose the government plan. The Clipper proposal, developed in secret by the National Security Agency, is a technical standard that will make it easier for government agents to wiretap the emerging data highway. Industry groups, professional associations and civil liberties organizations have expressed almost unanimous opposition to the plan since it was first proposed in April 1993. According to Marc Rotenberg, CPSR Washington director, the Administration made a major blunder with Clipper. "The public does not like Clipper and will not accept it. This proposal is fatally flawed." CPSR cited several problems with the Clipper plan: o The technical standard is subject to misuse and compromise. It would provide government agents with copies of the keys that protect electronic communications. "It is a nightmare for computer security," said CPSR Policy Analyst Dave Banisar. o The underlying technology was developed in secret by the NSA, an intelligence agency responsible for electronic eavesdropping, not privacy protection. Congressional investigations in the 1970s disclosed widespread NSA abuses, including the illegal interception of millions of cables sent by American citizens. o Computer security experts question the integrity of the technology. Clipper was developed in secret and its specifications are classified. CPSR has sued the government seeking public disclosure of the Clipper scheme. o NSA overstepped its legal authority in developing the standard. A 1987 law explicitly limits the intelligence agency's power to set standards for the nation's communications network. o There is no evidence to support law enforcement's claims that new technologies are hampering criminal investigations. CPSR recently forced the release of FBI documents that show no such problems. o The Administration ignored the overwhelming opposition of the general public. When the Commerce Department solicited public comments on the proposal last fall, hundreds of people opposed the plan while only a few expressed support. CPSR today announced four goals for its campaign to oppose the Clipper initiative: o First, to educate the public about the implications of the Clipper proposal. o Second, to encourage people to express their views on the Clipper proposal, particularly through the computer network. Toward that goal, CPSR has already begun an electronic petition on the Internet computer network urging the President to withdraw the Clipper proposal. In less than one week, the CPSR campaign has drawn thousands of electronic mail messages expressing concern about Clipper. To sign on, email clipper.petition@cpsr.org with the message "I oppose clipper" in the body of the text. o Third, to pursue litigation to force the public disclosure of documents concerning the Clipper proposal and to test the legality of the Department of Commerce's decision to endorse the plan. o Fourth, to examine alternative approaches to Clipper. Mr. Rotenberg said "We want the public to understand the full implications of this plan. Today it is only a few experts and industry groups that understand the proposal. But the consequences of Clipper will touch everyone. It will affect medical payments, cable television service, and everything in between. CPSR is a membership-based public interest organization. For more information about CPSR, send email to cpsr@cpsr.org or call 415 322 3778. For more information about Clipper, check the CPSR Internet library CPSR.ORG. FTP/WAIS/Gopher and listserv access are available. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 15:58:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Skeptical Inquirer: EMF Scare Reply-To: roscom!monty@Think.COM FYI. Newsgroups: alt.cellular From: aeldra@netcom.com (Patrick Kane) Subject: Skeptical Inquirer: EMF scare Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 15:38:10 GMT The recent cellular telephone cancer scare got America thinking about electromagnetic fields in the air around us. Do they cause cancer? Is at even *possible* that they could cause cancer? This quarter's Skeptical Inquirer examines the various claims and arguments on this convoluted issue. An excerpt follows: ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD CANCER SCARES BY SID DEUTSCH Do electromagnetic fields cause cancer? Those who claim that they do cause cancer seek ascientific explanation for the phenomenon. In this sense, it is not a paranormal claim, but it is a "fringe science" claim and is therefore a valid subject for the Skeptical Inquirer. Asingle example illustrates the importance of the subject (Fischetti 1993). In the United States, in 1993, 17,500 of us will develop brain cancer (according to the National Cancer Institute). About one out of 50 people use handheld cellular telephones. Statistically, therefore, 350 of the people who use these telephones will develop brain cancer. It is reasonable to estimate that 10 of these tumors will occur on the side of the head near where the telephone is held. On January 21, 1993, David Reynard of St. Petersburg, Florida, blamed his wife's use of a handheld cellular telephone for her death due to brain cancer. The media, ever eager to protect hapless citizens, exposed this hitherto unknown cause of cancer. In a few days, cellular-phone stock prices dropped by 17 percent, and the Cellular Telecommunication Industry Association has pledged to spend $15 million to $25 million in the next three to five years to study the issue. A great deal of research has been, and will be, done to determine safe limits of electromagnetic energy. I was personally involved in a project some 30 years ago in which the eyes of anesthetized rabbits were held against the open end of a microwave waveguide. Not surprisingly, when the microwave energy was sufficient to cause a sustained temperature rise to abnormal levels, the eyes were damaged (Rosenthal 1976). This, incidentally, illustrates one of the boundary conditions: If incident energy induces an appreciable temperature rise anywhere in the body, it is potentially dangerous. This is, of course, the microwave-oven effect. Bear in mind, however, that a seven-degree- Fahrenheit fever is one of the body's normal defense mechanisms. It happens that it is a relatively simple procedure to calculate and measure temperature rise in tissue. If it were only a matter of an artificial fever, however, there would be no controversy. The problem is that the David Reynards and their lawyers and many in the media maintain that cancer is somehow caused or aggravated by electromagnetic energy that is below the level of appreciable temperature rise. Fringe science resides in the word "somehow." ------------------ So begins this issue's featured article from Skeptical Inquirer magazine. This article and others from Skeptical Inquirer Magazine and additional publications are available free from The Electronic Newsstand, a service which collects articles, editorials, and table of contents from over 50 magazines and provides them to the Global Internet community. Access to The Electronic Newsstand is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week via Gopher, an information navigation and retrieval tech- nology from the University of Minnesota. For those without a local Gopher client program, The Electronic Newsstand provides a telnet account which will allow you to use a text based Gopher client to access our service. To access The Electronic Newsstand, via Local Gopher Client: Hostname: gopher.internet.com Port: 2100 via the Gopher Home Menu at U of Minn: Other Gopher and Information Servers/ North America/ USA/ General/ The Electronic Newsstand (tm) via Gopher Link Information: Name=The Electronic Newsstand Type=1 Port=2100 Path=1/ Host=gopher.internet.com via Telnet: Hostname: gopher.internet.com Loginname: enews Password: via World Wide Web: URL: gopher://gopher.inter.com/ If you have any suggestions on how we might improve this service, or need more information, please email staff@enews.com The Electronic Newsstand Staff ------------------------------ From: jstone@netcom.com (Jeffrey Stone) Subject: VPN Services Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 22:48:17 GMT Does anyone have any information comparing the VPN (virtual private network) services of the major interexchange carriers? Any references to documents or reports? Thanks, Jeffrey Stone stone@netcom.com info/mation 415.299.9444 ------------------------------ From: djcl@io.org Date: Tue, 8 Feb 94 00:29:22 -0500 Subject: Busy Call Return and Hunt Groups I have a busy call return feature on a phone line for the time being. When *66 is dialed after a call to a busy line, the service is supposed to give a special ring back (short-short-long?) when the line is no longer busy. *66 for a number that is not busy will ring the number (last called number redial). I tried this after getting a busy on a number that represents a hunt group of many incoming lines. The free line special ringing never seems to occur despite the many incoming lines that would connect and disconnect on a frequent basis. I eventually dialed again manuallly and getting through. I have attempted such a call return on a few occasions by now, and get similar results. When a *66 is dialed, there is a voice indication that I would be called back by special ring when the line is free; this is not a case of a DID/PBX where such call returns won't work (presumably because they are not connected directly to the telco CCS7 network). Does the busy call return (depending on the telco) only signal a free line if only a specific incoming line (such as the first line) of a hunt group becomes free, or should it signal the line is free when any one of the hunt group lines become free? David Leibold ------------------------------ Subject: Egghead Software Sells Bogus Phone Directory Software From: drharry!aboritz@uunet.UU.NET (Alan Boritz) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 94 00:12:46 EST Organization: Harry's Place BBS - Mahwah NJ - +1 201 934 0861 So, a friend of mine who lives in L.A. just bought a real computer with a built-in CD rom drive. He spotted a great little national phone directory on CD rom at Egghead Software, so he bought one. When he brought it home, he found that the access program for the database gave him an intriguing message about how he "bought" a record, after viewing a full address and phone record. It seems that the instructions INSIDE of the CD rom package explain that he didn't buy the whole database, but a only finite number of views of full database records (considerably less than the total number of records in the database). There was no indication on the OUTSIDE of the box about that restriction. There was also no indication that this product would have lengthy beg screens (this wasn't a shareware product at shareware prices). To make matters worse, the documentation warns the buyer against using the database for mailing lists, because they state that they've seeded it with phony records! I certainly hope that this doesn't represent how we can expect what we previously considered "respectable" software dealers to market "cheap" CD rom products for the masses. This kind of deceptive marketing could kill CD roms before they really get rolling. aboritz%drharry@uunet.uu.net or uunet!drharry!aboritz Harry's Place BBS (drharry.UUCP) - Mahwah NJ USA - +1-201-934-0861 ------------------------------ From: djcl@io.org Date: Mon, 7 Feb 94 00:21:06 -0500 Subject: BCE (Bell Canada parent) Posts Loss [from Bell News, Bell Canada, Bell Ontario, 7 Feb 94] Renewal underway -- First ever loss for our parent, BCE Losses to the tune of $815 million from discontinued operations in real estate and finance resulted in a net earnings loss of $656 million in 1993 for BCE Inc., our parent company. Montreal Trustco Inc. and BCE's interests in BF Realty Holdings Ltd. and Brookfield Development Corporation constitute the "discontinued" operations. For BCE shareholders, this translates into a net loss per common share of $2.44 for the year, compared with a net earnings per common share of $4.21 in 1992. For the fourth quarter alone, net loss per common share was $1.73 compared with net earnings of $1.65 per common share for the same period in 1992. Total revenues for the year were $19,827 million, compared with 1992 revenues of $19,572 million. BCE chairman and president, 'Red' Wilson, pointed out that 1993's earnings "reflect revenue and margin pressures and restructuring charges at Northern Telecom, as well as increased competition and lower returns at Bell. "They also reflect provisions for losses ont he proposed sale of non- telecommunications businesses." Calling 1993 "a year of transition for BCE," Wilson said it was "also a year of renewal." "Our businesses is telecommunications," he said, "and we intend to continue to build on our existing strengths ni Canada and abroad." Telecom group lower -- BCE's Canadian Telecom group contributed $749 million in 1993, compared with $945 million last year. The per-share contribution was $2.44, compared with $3.07 for 1992. The decrease for the year in the Canadian Telecom group is attributable to a lower contribution by Bell Canada and a special $70 million provision mainly related to the goodwill compenent of BCE's investment in Telesat Canada. Profit returns to Northern -- Northern Telecom made a negative contribution of $1.90 to BCE's earnings per common share for 1993 (including $2.04 per common share for special charges), compared with a contribution of $1.11 in 1992. Northern Telecom was back to profitability for the fourth quarter, with a contribution of $0.24, compared with $0.53 for the same period a year earlier. BCE's Telecom International group contributed $0.19 to BCE's consolidated earnings per share, compared with $0.07 in 1992. The fourth quarter contribution was $0.10, compared with $0.08 for the same period last year. Growth was mainly due to BCE Telecom International's 20 per cent interest in Mercury Communications Limited, acquired in December 1992. ------------------------------ From: djcl@io.org Date: Mon, 7 Feb 94 00:18:22 -0500 Subject: The Hi-Tech Green Weenies (from {The Door}) The Jan/Feb 1994 edition of {The Door} is out, and its "Loser of the Month" awards is a three-way tie with the theme: "The Technological Green Weenie". The first award winner is the East Coast Christian Connection, which offers a USD$1.95/min 900 number voice greeting exchange service. "'A new and exciting way for you to build new relationships, meet new friends, or just fellowship and share with someone who has the same beliefs as you'... uh *and* make it possible for the East Coast Christian Connection, Inc. to make a few bucks on the side." (Whatever happened to doing this sort of stuff in person?) The second award winner is the MARET counselling software package that makes its pitch to pastors: "Now when someone is in trouble, you can set your laptop on your knees and 'assess both individuals and relationships ... from a pastor's perspective,' for only $99 per module." Next release could be artificially intelligent enough to do its own counselling, one supposes. The third winner -- two out of three telecom-related green weenies isn't bad -- is In-Touch Systems which is a telemarketing-style autodialer that calls plenty of numbers in sequence. One application of this "teleministry" device: "Stay 'In-Touch' weekly with a word of encouragement and Bible reading from the pastor. (Pastor quote) "The response has been phenomenal, especially from my senior citizens. It's because they are lonely and a message from the pastor, even if it is recorded, is a blessing to them." The folks at {The Door}, having dispensed with their green weenie presentations, concludes: "technology in the hands of religious people is a very scary thing." ObWittenburg: {The Door}, originally {The Wittenburg Door} is a publication of California-based Youth Specialties. This 'zine is best described as a Mad Magazine for churches, though it contains interviews such as the one in the previous issue with the controversial EIB Network radio host Rush Limbaugh. David Leibold ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #66 *****************************