312 lines
15 KiB
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312 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
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# <Tolmes News Service> #
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# ''''''''''''''''''''' #
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# > Written by Dr. Hugo P. Tolmes < #
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Issue Number: 16
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Release Date: December 23, 1987
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This first article comes from the December issue of Popular Communications
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(actually it's an editorial).
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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TITLE: The Celling of America
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FROM: Popular Communications
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DATE: December 1987
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The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) has been on the books
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for several months now and (as many folks expected) hasn't crimped anybody's
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monitoring activities because it it mostly unenforcable. It seems that there
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aren't any federal agencies particularly interesting in doing so. As
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previously analyzed, it was primarily a bit of window dressing fluf high
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pressured into existance by the cellular (CMT) industry in order to mislead
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cellular customers into thinking that CMT calls are assured of privacy by
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federal law. Still, what the law threatens for the future is unpleasant to
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think about.
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The CMT industry, flushed with success at learning how easy it was to
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dazzle our Congressional representatives with their baloney, has been
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attempting to extend the ECPA to ban the sale and manufacture of equipment
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that is capable of receiving CMT frequencies. Regency Electronics has been
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attempting to defuse those efforts by suggesting that equipment should still
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be made available for receiving those frequencies, but would carry a label
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stating that the ECPA forbids monitoring of certain frequencies.
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Radio Shack, as widely noted, brough out their sensational PRO-2004
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scanner minus the set's originally announced coverage of the 870 to 890 MHz
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CMT band. PRO-2004 owners have been able to easily restore those frequencies
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with a very simple modification (explained in our August issue). Reader Robin
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D. Colles of Battle Creek, MI was the first of several POP'-COMM readers to
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write to us saying that their newly-purchased PRO-2004's made it into factory
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sealed cartons with the CMT frequencies fully intact!
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Ed Jones, WB2DVL, of Somerset, NJ is a POP'COMM reader who regulary writes
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to politicians and industry leaders concerning relevant matters. A recent
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letter Jones received from an executive within the CMT industry provides one of
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the most interesting and informative insights yet obtained on industry
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attitudes and plans concering support for the ECPA, CMT privacy, etc.
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For starters, I raked for expressing outspoken anti-ECPA sentiments,
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stating "an editor with strong feelings on an issue has the advantage of a
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substantial private forum, and... complete control of printing opposing
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views." They added, "We find that it seldom paysys his ink by the barrel, even a nice guy and respected editor like Tom
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Kneitel." Curiously, they were complaining that I wouldn't print opposing
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views, then they said that it's not their policy to even bother offering
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opposing views. Figure that out!
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Strange, too, was their perception that I had "strong feelings" about the
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ECPA, because the CMT man followed that observation with the thought that
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maybe, down deep, I actually supported the ECPA because it's "hard to believe
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anyone would lobby for folks to listen in on his private or business phone
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calls or conversations with his wife or girlfriend...no matter how interesting
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those calls might be."
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The cynical inference that I expressed insincere opinions to appease my
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readers was, until now, about the only venal sin which I hadn't thus far been
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accused in my career. And anybody who wants to monitor my CMT calls is more
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than welcome to do so. The only conversations duller than my business calls
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are those to my wife an whatever girlfriends this fellow suspects I have.
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Furthermore, for the 25+ years I was writing prior to the development of
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CMT's, I always loudly advocated unrestricted monitoring access to all
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communications frequencies.
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The CMT industry man then went on to tell Jones how "it's frightening
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that the government might close down the airwaves," a concept that this
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fellow didn't endorse. Actually, he went so far as to note that his company
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"will lobby long and loudly for open airways in virtually all other services."
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The word "virtually" here does leave open the door for future modification of
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this policy. With scanners in the millions in the hands of the public for
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about twenty years now, it's difficult to think that any airwaves, at this
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point, could effectively be "closed down."
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Insofar as CMT's go, the industry memeber said that he considers
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"cellular phone service a unique case... The very technology of which makes
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cellular radio so appealing, makes it function almost exactly your home or
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office phone. That similarity creates an illusion that expectation of privacy
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found in no other radio service." This statement provides, in a nutshell, an
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international insight into the philosophies of the CMT industry.
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In view of the availiability of voice scramblers, it's hard to see how
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anybody can continue to insist that assuring the privacy of CMT calls becomes
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the responsibility of persons other than those using the CMT devices. Why
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should CMT users be so "unique" that they are entitled to more communications
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privacy than taxi drivers, tow truck operators, boaters, pizza delivery vans,
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Hams, CB'ers, or anybody else using two-way radio?
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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NOTA:
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The article has been edited but the major points concerning listening in on
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cellular phone calls has been printed.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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TITLE: Tales That Just Do Not Compute
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FROM: The Chicago Tribune
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DATE: November 24, 1987
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The story has many variation attributed to a computer
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user who is a friend of a friend, but "user friendly" has nothing to do
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with it. Quite the opposite.
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As the computer operator works, the Cookie Monster suddenly appears on
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his screen, with a message: "Gimme Cookie," "Want Cookie" or "Me Want
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Cookie." If the operator fials to respond by typing "cookie," the monster
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destroys his work.
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Jan Harold Brunvand, University of Utah professor of folklore and author
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of three books about urban legends- "The Mexican Pet" is the latest -has
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three computers and a raft of legends to go with them.
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In an alternate version, Richard Nixon pops up on the screen, with the
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message "Want Pardon." The operator types "pardon"- or else.
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Computer legends, Brunvand said the other day, speak to the operator's
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worst fear: that he'll lose all his data- programs, valuable records,
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everything.
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Killer programs are said to enter computers when hackers "download"-
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or take into their own computers -programs offered over telephone
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lines.
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The most fearsome is called the Trojan Horse, contained in a "utility"
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program, one that ostensibly organizes or catalogues existing programs or
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otherwise helps in managing stored data.
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When the hacker downloads the utility, instead of assisting him, a
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"secret, undetectable, unremovable program" eats away at his files,
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destroying them.
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"I think there probably have been some programs like that cooked up,"
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Brunvand said, "but I can find no evidence that it's actually been done,
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and isn't as though it couldn't be detected and destroyed."
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Not all computer myths entail disaster: "The 5 Yard Penalty," for
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example. "Without warning," Brunvand said, "a message appears on the screen:
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'You've just been penalized 5 yards,' and suddenly your printer comes to life
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and five yards of blank paper comes rolling out.
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"Yeah, I think you could hide a program like that somewhere. But again,
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it's not the end of the world. As soon as it happened, you could just go in
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and take the program out."
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Clarence Petersen
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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I'm sure we've all heard of programs like these. For more information on
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Trojan Horses, see earlier issues of Tolmes News Service (TNS).
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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In TNS #12, I presented an article on Blue Boxes. The article came out of
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Radio Electronics. I'd now like to take the opportunity to print some things
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out of the following issue. These are letters to the editor. The letters
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deal with the article on Blue Boxes.
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-For The Information on The Earlier Article See TNS Issue #12
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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* BLUE BOXES *
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Having just read Herb Friedman's article, "The Blue Box and Ma Bell,"
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(Radio-Electronics, November 1987) I am convinced that he knows very little about Automatic Message Accounting
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(AMA) in particular, and the phone company's use of it in general.
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For instance, customer billing tf electromechanical
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meters has been used since the turn of the century. The photographing of the
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meters started in the early 1920's. AMA came into being in 1948, as a natural
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adjunct to a new telephone switching system, namely Number Five Crossbar.
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(Number One Crossbar used the meters for billing at the time, as did other
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types of switching systems.) Thus, the introduction of AMA was evolutionary-
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not a direct result of customer complaints.
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The AMA system was not designed to record the details of local calls.
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It simply recorded the number of message units for message-rate
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subscribers, exactly as the electromechanical meters did. Flat-rate
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calls were by far the most numberous, and they didn't need to be recorded
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since there was no charge associated with them. (Subscribers served by AMA
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could have their billing complaints by being connected to a special circuit
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that forced the AMA to record local-call details.) Knowing that, it seems
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that Ma Bell was telling the truth when she said there was no detailed record
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on local calls.
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One AMA billing center handled the output of scores of AMA offices on
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a three-shift basis using electromechanical computers. To imply that
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sorting through millions of call records to trace criminal or obscene
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calls was a simple task shows a lack of familiarity with the system. Besides,
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most obscene calls are of local origin, and no record is generated.
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Finally, the mention of service observing and the reference to Senator
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Dodd had nothing to do with the Blue-Box story. It was Senator Long of
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Missouri who conducted the investigation to which the article referred.
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Ma Bell had many types of switching equipment and a variety of crossbar
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switching types. I have never seen detailed instructions or even a
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so-called manual. (Switching offices were described in documents known as
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"Bell System Practices.")
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RICHARD R. PLUM
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Bell Communications Research
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Red Bank, NJ 07701-7020
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<I will now print Herb Friedman's Reply -Hugo>
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The manual shown in Fig. 1 of the article is a Bell manual, and it
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details the AMA billing procedures- including detailed local calls.
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The Number Five Crossbar manual had the circuit and recommended monitoring
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procedure for operators.
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In the New York area, at least, the local office had the AMA. It
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wasn't handled by just one billing center.
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Senator Dodd handled the investigation of the Westchester
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County Fire Department telephone delay, at which subscriber monitoring was
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first mentioned in the media. -Herb Friedman
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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* FREEDOM OF PRESS *
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Thank you very much for your October 1987 cover story, "Build This
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Laser Listener." I strongly disagree with Mr. Mim's criticisms (Letters,
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November 1987.) The people have a right to know everything. Crooks have access
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to the information, so nothing is lost- and much is gained -by letting the
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rest of us know also. We gain the awareness of the existance of those
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devices, and how they are designed. Design details are critical because
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theow the device is used, how it looks, and what its
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capabilities and limitations are.
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It's refreshing to know that 200 years after the signing of out
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Constitution, you can still find freedom of the press alive and well in
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publications such as Radio-Electronics. You also provide an important service
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by helping to keep electronics a rewarding and fascinating profession
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and hobby, and by keeping the public informed about new technologies,
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products, and techniques. With the ever-increasing technological competition
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world-wide, and the slippage of our educational system, you do a
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tremendous service to our country.
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I also found "The Blue Box and Ma Bell" (Radio-Electronics November 1987)
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to be well-written and most informative. However, it has one glaring
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mistake- the Red Box, also described in the article, is the Black Box. The
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Red Box was used to generate tones that emulated those made by coins deposited
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in payphones to place free payphone calls. I would have like to see a little
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on Captain Crunch and others who "pioneered" boxing; more explanation
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on the effects of ESS, automatic tone monitoring and computerized billing
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on boxing; and at least a tabulation the many other phone color boxes.
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JOHN J. WILLIAMS
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Alamogordo, NM
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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Tolmes News Service (TNS) Issue #12 pointed out many of the errors in
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Herb Friedman's article. Mr. Plum and Mr. Williams (who runs ConsumerTronics)
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have helped to point out some of these errors. The mistake of calling a Black
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Box a Red Box was the most obvious one. One other error that hasn't been
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pointed out by anyone is the mistake of calling the 2600hz key a Key Pulse.
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For the entire article, see Tolmes News Service Issue #12. Thank you.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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*******************
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*TNS Quick /\/otes*
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*******************
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TNS QuickNotes:
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///////////////
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I'd like to announce that when there's space, I'll be making this section
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"TNS QuickNotes" a filler. I've come across a number of small news items
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lately and I'll be reporting them in this section.
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This will always occur at the end of an issue (but not every issue).
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All of the TNS Issues are availiable at these two bulletin boards:
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Executive Inn...................(915) 581-5145
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Pirate-80.......................(304) 744-2253
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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