159 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
159 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
The Teleputing Hotline
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The Worldwide Network Letter
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Volume 3 Number 83 -- October 23, 1990
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215 Winter Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30317
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FAX: 404-378-0794 Phone: 404-373-7634
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MCI:409-8960 GEnie: nb.atl CompuServe: 76200,3025
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Editor: Dana Blankenhorn
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European Editor: Steve Gold
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Associate Publisher: Lamont Wood
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Correspondent: Masayuki Miyazawa
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Sales Manager: Hiro Nakamura
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AUSTRALIA: Privacy Concerns Rising
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Paul Zucker writes for Newsbytes on a report from a New South
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Wales privacy committee that it is being starved of funding while
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the government ignores the erosion of personal privacy. It cites
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the proliferation of computerized police records, crime
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intelligence, tax and health recording systems, interdepartmental
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data-matching systems, financial institutions own databases and
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their obligations to report certain types of transactions, plus
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many other situations.
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Having read Paul's reports for some time, we note that Australia
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has been more aggressive than even the U.S. in using computer
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techniques to fight crime. Until now, the privacy problem has
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been ignored. It will be interesting to see the result if
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opposition politicians start using the privacy issue.
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EQUIFAX CHARGING CONSUMERS TO BE IN DATABASE
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Equifax, a U.S. leader in computerized credit reports, is testing
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a program called Buyer's Market. Consumers pay to choose the
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types of mailing lists they want to be on, and list those they
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want to be off. This is the first time the company has tried to
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become a consumer brand name. The program costs $10 per year, but
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the company promises at least $250 in discount coupons to
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members, for goods and services they want to buy. The first batch
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of coupons are enclosed in the survey form which is part of the
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program. Consumers who want to join Buyer's Market can call 1-
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800-BUYRMKT, or 1-800-289-7658.
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USSR: Private Communications Venture Launched
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3 Moscow men have formed an enterprise to promote citizen band
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(CB) radio in the USSR. CB was banned for years for security
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reasons. Now you can get a permit but no equipment is available.
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The new enterprise will develop and make antennas, transcievers
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and other equipment and participate in projects related to
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wireless data communication. "Current politics and economics
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trends in the USSR cause us to worry about our future but we
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still hope our business will survive," Peter Strezev told Kirill
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Tchashchin of Newsbytes.
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MCI OFFERS RESIDENTIAL 800 SERVICE
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Following the lead of US Sprint, MCI announced a residential
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toll-free service, called Personal 800 service. It becomes
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available October 22, and will allow consumers to route calls to
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their homes for a single per-minute rate, regardless of distance
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or the number of calls made. Personal 800 will be offered as an
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enhancement to MCI's PrimeTime calling plan. It costs $2 per
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month for calls on weeknights and weekends. All 800 calls made
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during plan hours are priced at $6.50 per hour, or 10.8 cents per
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minute. Personal 800 calls made during daytime hours are priced
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at 25 cents per minute, or $15 per hour. Consumers also get a
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PrimeTime 10% discount, which applies to all 800 calls made
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during non-plan hours.
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BRITISH NEWSPAPER REPORTS ATTEMPT OF COMPUTER BLACKMAIL
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The Independent, an English newspaper, reports on alleged
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blackmailing attempts using computer systems. The report said
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there have been demands of substantial sums of money made to 5
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banks, who were told that in exchange for the money, they'd learn
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how their high-tech security systems were penetrated. The article
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further stated that, since May 1990, unknown persons using
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computers "have gained access to the banks' central data systems
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and hatched fears they could cause chaos by planting false
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information or damaging computer programs." The story did not
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identify the banks, all of whom, the paper said, either denied
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they were victims or refused to comment.
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CAMBODIA OPENS SATELLITE SYSTEM
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Cambodia opened service from a satellite earth station in Phnom
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Penh. It's part of an agreement between Australia's OTC and the
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Directorate of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia, under
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which further improvements will be made in Cambodian telecom over
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10 years. Communications will be handled via the Intelsat
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satellite system to Australia, then routed over OTC's
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international network. Previously, limited amount of
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international communications was handled by the Soviet
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Intersputnik system. Initially, calls to and from Cambodia will
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be connected by switchboard operators, but a digital telephone
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exchange will likely be installed in Phnom Penh in November.
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Capacity will also be increased over the next 2 years with the
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installation of a larger earth station.
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MOSCOW: NEW EXCHANGE TO SET UP COMPUTER SYSTEM
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The Moscow Commodities and Raw Materials Exchange has decided to
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build a computer system to handle its transactions. One exchange
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official was quoted as saying, "We clearly understand that
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without an electronic communication system we will die in just
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months." A two-million-ruble contract was granted to Moscow-based
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Kurchatov Institute of Nuclear Energy. The system it creates is
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expected to be operational in three months. In the first stage
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the computer system will be available for use by Exchange members
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only. Further expansion plans call for the systems' public use,
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writes Kirill Tchashchin of Newsbytes.
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ONLINE FACTOIDS
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900 PRO-HELP, a computer support line running on a caller-paid
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900-number, added fax service. Its RapidFacts dispenses product,
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sales and other information by facsimile to prospects of Western
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Micro Market and Perceptive Solutions. Callers to the Value Page
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of Western Micro Market pay $9.95 for the call while Perspective
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Solutions callers are charged $4.95.
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DIP, designers of the Atari Portfolio, released the Pocket Mac, a
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communications module that links the Pocket PC to an Apple Mac.
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It costs UKP 60-83.
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EUROPE'S information technology market continues to grow twice as
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fast as that of the U.S., says Compaq Chairman Ben Rosen, and
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it's already a bigger market than North America. Rosen called the
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Australian market very slow.
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INFONET bought 67% of Osiware International. Its Hong Kong
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director predicted OSI will let Asia "leapfrog" Europe and the
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U.S. in data communications, as that region lacks proprietary
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messaging networks.
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PHOENIX TECHNOLOGIES announced a joint-development deal with
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Intel which will let laptops use Phoenix basic input-output
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systems with Intel chips. The company also adapted its VGA
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graphics software to work with flat screens.
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REFERENCE POINT delayed offering its international environmental
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database until next year, due to a network design change.
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CONTACT:
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900 Support, Al Viera, +503-684-2826
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DIP Systems, Peter Baldwin, +0483-301555
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Equifax, John Ford, +404-885-8309
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INEP, John Harris, +301-596-2740
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MCI, John Houser, +1-800-289-0073
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Moscow Commodities Exchange, Sergey Petrov, +7 095 924-7530
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Newsbytes, Wendy Woods, +415-500-7334
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New South Wales Privacy, John Stanton, +61-2-287 5760
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Osiware Asia, John Daly, +852 526 9308
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Phoenix, Michael Deutsch, +617-551-4184
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RC&C, Peter Strezev, +7 095 143-5671
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