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Telephone Free Planet Issue 04
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|Vol. 1 No. 4 Telephone Free Planet Issue 4|
|TFP.nothing.org Season's greetings from TFP! Happy Chanukah!|
|Dandy Kwanzaa! December 19, 1997 Merry Christmas!|
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=-"I don't want gimmicks. I want a LD phone company I can count on." -Beavis-=
=-------A delightful medley of tastes and textures-------=
| Anti-Telcommunications Tampering Initiative..KungFuFox |
| Ethics in phreaking............................Seizure |
| Detecting and escaping from feds.............Keystroke |
| Using a payphone as a banking institution....KungFuFox |
| Hiding your shit...........................AgentOrange |
=------------------TFP Special Features------------------=
| Telco News...................................KungFuFox |
| Storytime with TFP..........Whoever bothered to submit |
=--------------------------------------------------------=
"Hola Ninos! Me llamo Matt Foley, y yo soy un Motivational Speaker!"
-Chris Farley
"Bell Atlantic has announced a new service that will allow anyone to
get the address to any listed phone number. Opponents say it is an
invasion of privacy. Proponents say it will help to invade people's
privacy." -Norm MacDonald
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| Telephone Free Planet - Contact information |
| TFP Email: tfp@tfp.nothing.org - TFP Site: http://tfp.nothing.org |
=-------------------------------------------------------------------=
Alpha dog : KungFuFox, mazer@cycat.com <-NOT Richard Simmons
Beta dog : Keystroke, keystroke@thepentagon.com <-drunk surgeon
Buncha names : digipimp, AlienPhreak, weatherman, REality, Scud-O,
shoelace, Dublisk, ec|ipse, overdub, Allah7, Discore, Seizure, and shamr0ck
During this limited time offer, if you send us articles, quotes, emails,
logs, phonecalls, news articles, and any other crap you come across, we will
give you absolutely nothing in return! 100% Guaranteed, American made nada!
Telephone Free Planet isn't your mom or dad. If you break the law because of
our influence, we aren't to be held liable for it. It's your problem. If you
want to reprint any of our worthless crap ask us at tfp@tfp.nothing.org.
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++++++++++The Telefone-Phree Republic of TFP!+++++++++++++++
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%$****%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****A%S&C$I*I*A$R%T****%:&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****h$a%t&r*e*d$o$n*a*l&o%g$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%$****%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%$****%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%$****%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%* &%** $%&& &***%&&%$
$%&&%****&% **$%&&%** $%****$%&& *%$ %**%&&%$
$%&&%****&% **$%&&%** $%****$%&& *%$$ %**%&&%$
$%&&%****&% **$%&&%** **$%&& *%$ &***%&&%$
$%&&%****&% **$%&&%** $%****$%&& &****%&&%$
$%&&%****&% **$%&&%** $%****$%&& *%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&% **$%&&%** $%****$%&& *%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&% **$%&&%** $%****$%&& *%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%$****%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%$****%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%$TelePhone***$%&&%***free$%****$%&planet*%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%$****%$$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$"Dammit Cartman! You have such a big$%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$Fat-ass, When you walk down the street&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$TFP says 'Godamn, that's a big fat-ass!"***%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%-Stan from S0uthPark%&****%&&%$
$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%****&%$$%****$%&&%$****%$$%&****%&&%$
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If any of the issues TFP has released will be called a POS, this is it. Our
worst issue ever. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. You
probably shouldn't. What a great Christmas present, huh? I guess we're kinda
supplimenting this issue with the New Year's Day release. Hey, how about that
spiffy ascii pic up there? In case you can't find the author's name imbedded
in it, Hatred on a Log made it. It's his fault if you don't like it.
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| Anti-Telcommunications Tampering Initiative - found by KungFuFox |
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Anti-Telecommunications Tampering Initiative (ATTI)
PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
NOT FOR USE OR DISCLOSURE OUTSIDE THE FOLLOWING
PACIFIC/NEVADA BELL, USWEST, SOUTHWESTERN BELL,
AMERITECH, BELL ATLANTIC, NYNEX, BELLSOUTH
WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION
Morristown, NJ October 12, 1997
SUBJECT
Anti-Telecommunications Tampering Initiative (ATTI).
REASON FOR ISSUANCE
To provide personnel of the RBOCs with information crucial to the
combattance of telecommunication related fraud and harassment.
EFFECTIVE / CRITICAL DATES
Effective immediately.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Current proficiency of telcommunication related fraud and harassment has
necessitated said initiative. This internal memo will outline and describe
currently 'popular' abuse tactics and methods to thwart attempts to utilize
such tactics. These anti-tampering methods are valid for all
telecommunications systems currently in place, as well as all supporting
equipment, personnel, and software. Current known profile of probable
tamperer: individuals are teen-aged males, no other information available.
Current tampering tactics and known counteractive solutions:
1) TACTIC: Calling local operator and asking for numbers to certain employee
accessable services, or possibly asking for passwords to switching equipment,
when in fact the person calling doesn't work for an RBOC.
SOLUTION: ALWAYS ask if they work for an RBOC before providing such
information. Example of technique:
"Sir/Ma'am, do you work for <enter your RBOC name here>?"
2) TACTIC: Gaining access to switching equipment by using popular passwords
such as 'GOD' and 'SEX'.
SOLUTION: NEVER change the default passwords that come with the switching
software. Changing the passwords has been known to greatly increase the
likelihood of a hacker break-in.
3) TACTIC: 'Dumpster diving' at COs for important documents such as phone
numbers, customer billing information, et cetera.
SOLUTION: (A) Put sign on all dumpsters with the phrase 'do not enter'.
The method behind use of such a deterrant is obvious.
(B) Write the words "not important" in red marker on the top of
all important documents (strange as it may seem, documents with
the words "not important" written on them are often overlooked).
(C) Place a heavy object, such as a sack of telephone books, on
top of the dumpster lid(s). 'Dumpster divers' don't waste their
time with dumpsters that present difficulty in opening.
4) TACTIC: Opening the back doors of unlocked RBOC owned vans, often operated
by linemen, and stealing telecommunications related equipment and documents
located immediately inside the vehicle.
SOLUTION: ALWAYS leave valuable equipment and documents near the front of
the van. Small time thieves seldomly will actually enter the vehicle to
retrieve such items.
5) TACTIC: Defrauding payphones of precious quarters by using the ACTS tones
in place of actual money, often by means of a device commonly referred to as
a 'redbox'. This method often requires the aid of a local operator to work on
local calls. The perpetrator will ask the operator for assisted dialing, then
attempt to use the tones when prompted to pay for the call.
SOLUTION: (A) When asked to have operator assisted dialing from a
payphone, always accuse the caller of using tones after they
pay for the call (ex: "I'm sorry sir/ma'am, you're not using
real coins, those are recorded tones"). If the caller hangs up,
screams in horror, or runs away from the phone without hanging
up, you will know they were not actually paying for the call. If
they are confused by your words, then you may say "Oops, sorry
about that. Please hold while I connect your call."
(B) Ask the caller if they intend to use a redbox. If they say
"yes", it is best to warn them that you are calling security,
and attempt to hold them against their will until the security
personnel arrives. If they deny that they are using a redbox or
are confused by your statement, you may assume they are
legitimately paying for the call.
QUESTIONS: Please direct all inquiries to the telcommunications abuse
department at the following email address: tfp@tfp.nothing.org
It is advised that this document be distributed to all employees of your CO,
including service operators, office managers, and linemen.
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| Ethics in phreaking - by Seizure |
=----------------------------------=
This article is writen for use in TFP all other use is prohibited..BLAH BLAH
BLAH...etc. The bottom line is: DON'T BE LAME AND COPY ME (like you mofos
that took shoelace's article and put your name on it...don't worry shoe,
we'll get the bastards).
Since the dawn of the phreak, and the birth of the bluebox, the phreaking
community has grown and changed a whole lot, but the main question I think we
have to ask ourselves is "have we grown for the better, or for the worse?"
Billions of years ago when the first phreaks stole fire from bellcore to find
out how it made smoke signals, I don't believe their purpose or intention was
to breed an army of Ma Bell rapists...I just think they said "Hey, this telco
thing neato, eh thog? Lets see how fire work", but the way we are heading
these days, the motto seems to be "lets steal from those who steal from us".
"What's wrong with that?", you may ask. To tell you the truth, I really don't
think our sole motive for phreaking should be to loot and plunder phone
companies. To beige box may be essential for communication and learning, but
the purpose of beige boxing shouldn't be to rack up a huge bill for the sake
of screwing Ma Bell.
As another example, the red box was discovered and ORIGANALLY used to say
"Hey check this out! The phone takes these tones to recognize the coins!",
but now even NON-phreaks use redboxes, and to avoid what? Paying a quarter to
call someone who lives a couple miles away? Just get on your bigwheel and
ride there if you can't pay for the call.
All I am saying is that we are starting to let shit get out of hand. That's
why, if you noticed, blue box tones are picked up so quickly now. Soon enough
the redbox tones will be deemed useless because someone wanted to call their
friend up the road.
I am not trying to preach to all of you, it's just that because of the abuse
of our 'privileged' access, that access will eventually be nonextistant. Now
the ethical phreak does what he does for the sake of knowledge, and hey, if a
few bucks are taken from Ma Bell, it is just for the sake of learning, but a
thief will always be a thief.
If you say "gee, lets see how I can profit (with money) today", you are just
as bad as the people running the phone companies who say that all the time,
and they can screw us ten times harder than we can them. That's where the
price hikes come from, that's where these devices that eliminate blue boxes
came from, and that's where the extinction of redboxing will come from.
You may agree or disagee with me, but look at what I've said. Is there any
doubt about my message? If you use all the water in a well, what happens? Its
goodness is all gone because of greed and abuse. So remember what Leonardo
Da Vinci said, "Use all things in Moderation." Just try to keep it in mind.
(c)1997-1998 "Seizure" is a registered trademark of Undernet's #Phreak.
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| A guide to detecting and escaping from federal agents - by Keystroke |
=----------------------------------------------------------------------=
A common and very obvious problem in the life of a hax0r/phreak is being
apprehended by the evil feds. Thanks to us nifty people at TFP this problem
has been nullified. Yes, we have developed a 5 step process to identifying
the evil fed! Just like you learned to stop drop and roll, you will learn to
identify and escape from evil fedz0r types! Read carefully, there will be a
quiz.
First off, the fed must be identified. Unfortunately, due to the evil
propoganda on TV, most evil hax0r types think that feds dress like normal
people. This is not true. Every single federal agent, by law (Section 8
paragraph 2, article 1 of the Fed Dressing Act [FDA]), must wear a trenchcoat
which extends below the ankles. Feds also wear nifty walkie-talkies in their
ears. But more on that later! The typical fed also wears dark glasses or is
sitting in a helicopter over your house.
Now you must identify what the fed is doing! Luckily, feds can only do two
things:
Spy on you.
Watch your neighbors undress.
It's extremely difficult to tell what he's doing, but we at TFP have
developed a way to find out! You'll need some fertilizer and loads of
explosives.
Step 1) Sprinkle fertilizer on your neighbor's garden. This should cause the
flowers and stuff to grow, thus blocking the windows to the house.
Step 2) Place explosives around house.
Step 3) Cause explosives to explode.
Now that your neighbor's house is gone, the fed has nothing to watch except
you. If he still stays that means he is watching you! If he leaves that means
that he was watching your neighbor and has moved on to another town,
preferrably one with less foilage.
If the fed is still there, we're gonna have to move on to step 3! You must
kill Mr. Fed. Here's the details:
Helicoptor Fed:
1) Goto China
2) Say you are Saddamn Hussien
3) Get free missles
4) Take missles home
5) Shoot Fed down
Fed standing by your window:
1) Verbally assult until he leaves
Fed 5 feet behind you with SWAT team:
1) Point you browser at tfp.nothing.org
2) Watch as feds die from fear of the lameness
Fed on the ircle:
1) Fire up 7th Sphere
Ok! Now that the fed isnt a fed anymore (cause dead feds arent feds), and the
government dosn't like fed killers, you're going to have to trick them into
thinking you're dead before they send more feds to apprehend you. Here's the
nitty-gritty:
1) Buy inflatable doll
2) Paint it green
Sorry thats it for now, we're not sure of the rest :( Dont worry though!
You'll know what to do with you're new toy as soon as we do!
Step 5: Hacking the Gibson
In a frutile attempt to kosherize murdering a fed, you must find a local
Gibson and hax0r it! Since hax0ring Gibsons is a talent you're born with,
we cant elaborate on this step no more!
BYE!
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| Using a payphone as a banking institution - KungFuFox, yet again |
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Having an ethical crisis that makes you think to yourself "Gosh darnit, I'm a
good guy, why would I want to utilize a phone company's services for anything
less than the amount they expect me to pay"? Well here's a twist on the
subject.
When you use a payphone, you deposit anywhere from twenty cents to several
dollars. Think of these deposits as deposits in a bank. Your generous loan of
personal wealth to the phone company will begin accruing interest. After all,
no loan should come without some benefit to the generous soul who loaned it,
right?
As these funds you have generously allowed the phone company to borrow are
being put to use building a better phone network and probably making it
harder for you to phreak, you should undoubtedly be entitled to withdraw some
or all funds, possibly closing your account. Don't feel as if you have to
keep an open account with any given phone company all the time. You may loan
and reclaim your funds whenever you choose. Feel free to have accounts with
several telephone companies at the same time, they certainly don't mind the
help.
On the subject of withdrawls, one may wonder exactly how a withdrawl is
transacted, seeing as you've been loaning your money to a collection network
that seems to have no plausable method of withdrawl. Not to worry, there are
ways, or this loan system would be incomplete. Every time you make a deposit
at any branch of this telco bank, you are credited with a certain amount of
withdrawable funds.
Other than being a telco AND a bank, this bank is special because you may
only withdraw from it in the currency of the telecommunications industry,
which is phone calls and various uses of telecom services. I will outline a
few common methods at your disposal for making withdrawls, keeping in mind
you have interest added on to the sum you deposited, which is a nice bonus.
The first of these methods, though more of a free service of the telco bank
than a withdrawl, makes use of a common ETF device known as the redbox. On
branches of the telco bank where redbox services are available, use of this
common device will permit access to telecom lines. Each time you use this
service, the telco bank will incur the costs necessary to provide this
service, thusly necessitating a withdrawl from your deposited funds.
Another common method of withdrawl makes use of the ETF device known as a
beigebox. Use of this device is permitted only at specially designed
withdrawl facilities, such as at TNIs and binding posts. Terminals at these
facilities are easily accessable to account holders who are aware of this
handy withdrawl feature. This method of withdrawl, as with the redbox method,
also allows access to telecom lines, and the cost to complete and maintain a
connection, along with the cost of the network infrastructure's maintenance,
are paid for by use of your deposited funds.
A very gracious service provided to informed customers of the telco bank is
known as a 'customer technology fair', and is worthy of further explanation.
Almost daily the telco bank sends out a fleet of vehicles specially equipped
with phones, line testing equipment, and documents. These items are special
offerings to customers of the bank, as an added benefit of doing business
with them. By choosing amongst the items available and keeping what you find
attractive you may learn more about the telecom industry, though the cost of
these items is withdrawn from your account. All in all I'd say this service
is well worth the cost to you.
As you can see, business with the telco bank can be valuable both for the
bank and for you, depending on your needs and their services. I suggest that
all persons interested in opening an account begin immediately so that these
benefits currently available to account holders can be yours! For those of
you uninformed customers who have already opened accounts with the telco
bank, I hope this information has proven valuable to you and you can now find
new ways to benefit from doing business with the telco bank!
Yeah, so what if this article contradicted seizure's article? I don't care
about continuity! This whole publication is a damned twilight zone!
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=-----------------------------------=
| Hiding your shit - by AgentOrange |
=-----------------------------------=
In issue 2 of TFP you may remember an article about what to say if your mom
finds your Beige box. Well if your mom is nosy enough to be going through
your shit then you should have killed her long ago, so go do that now...I can
wait...go on...real simple BANG BANG and that's all she wrote...shoo, go
on...well if you're not the type to kill then maybe you should hide your shit
better. Before I go into that MAKE SURE that you at least follow the simple
rules like don't hide your shit in a drawer, closet, under your mattress, or
anywhere your clothes/linens rest because then you may have a nasty
conversation like this...
<Mom> Jeremy I was in your room today and I found this phone with black wires
and a bell logo on it in you (closet, drawer, mattress) and...
<Phreak> ..Well what the FUCK were you doing in my room anyway BITCH?!?!?
<Mom> Well I was just trying to help you by putting away your laundry/making
your bed, but apparently you don't want my help and this..thing is why! What
the hell is it?! Some sort of device to screw bell and the neighbors out of
millions of dollars?!...
In this situation you really can't refute the mom's attack so you're
basically fucked! But there are safe places where you can store your shit. If
you have a vent in your room you can remove the cover and duct tape a shoebox
in there. If the vent comes from the ceiling more power to you 'cuz the box
will have a floor to rest on and the likelihood that the box will fall down
the vent and your parents will call a repairman to see what the hell is
blocking the air flow is less likely.
Another good place is if your bed has a box-spring under the mattress. On the
least conspicuous side of the bed you'll want to accidentally ram into the
box-spring with a butterfly knife, slitting the fabric so you can slide your
shit into it. Your mother will not be able to use the "making the bed" excuse
because this is below the mattress!
Of course we all know cut the middle of a book out, but a book will only hold
so much. At least with this method your mom's only option for rebuttle will
be "Well I was in you room going through your copy of the McGraw-Hill
Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms (4 in. thick!) and I found..."
well you get the idea.
My last method is a bit more complex but anyone can understand it. You need a
large (broken/stolen) boombox/stereo and your elite p|-|Ree><0r tools. Rip
open the stereo and rip out ALL the electronics which lurk within. Rig the
casing so you can open it at will to get your shit out. If you can keep some
of the electronic components in there like the radio then you can prove to
your mom that it works! So be carefull with your shit let me know what you
find by mailing me at <AgentOrange301@yahoo.com> Phreak out!
=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
=---------------------------------------------=
| Telco News - compiled & edited by KungFuFox |
=---------------------------------------------=
1: Telecom Freedom Fighters
2: Please Deposit $33 for the Next 15 Minutes
3: Bell Canada Expands Wireless Telephone Service Delivery
4: US LEC Files For Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Certification
5: Nortel Selected by 21st Century As Telephony Network Provider
6: Online Users Still Want Their Telephones
"What's your encore? Are you gonna pour sugar in my gas tank while
you anally rape my grandma?" -Dante, from the motion picture "Clerks"
"RADIO SHACK = ELITE PHREAK0RING BLACK MARKET PHREAK SUPPLEIR, DONUT
FUCK" -SkiTzO
=-----------------------------------------------------------=
Scans: Telecom Freedom Fighters
by Jacob Ward
24.Nov.97 -- Recently, full-page advertisements have appeared in upscale
Manhattan rags like the Village Voice and the New York Observer, showing a
picture of jubilant Germans celebrating on the shattered Berlin Wall. A
catchy revolutionary slogan accompanies the image: "Sooner or later, all
tyrannies crumble."
These ads are part of an underdog campaign launched by RCN Corporation, a
small Princeton, New Jersey-based company that's pumping its beleaguered fist
in the face of telecommunications giant Bell Atlantic. Armed with its own
network of coaxial cable, RCN is a bundled provider that offers packages of
phone, cable, and high-speed Internet service for roughly US$40 per month.
David McCourt, the tough-talking president and CEO of RCN, hopes his
company's low prices will enable it to take a bite out of Bell Atlantic's
market share in the lucrative Boston-to-Washington residential market with a
little help from the Federal Communications Commission.
On August 15, the behemoths Nynex and Bell Atlantic merged and a new telecom
giant was created. The $25.6 billion merger, the largest in US history,
transformed Bell Atlantic into the country's second-largest telephone service
provider, after AT&T. But to keep the 13-state Northeast market open to
competitors, the FCC required the new company to allow its rivals to rent
service capacity at a reasonable price.
RCN is not the first small residential phone provider to take on such
enormous competition. In Texas, TeleServe Inc. has been selling bundled
services in competition with local giants Southwestern Bell and GTE for
years. But several obstacles stand in RCN's way. The most obvious is that the
little company has only 60,000 subscribers. To justify the cost of stringing
its own coax wires to the front door, RCN must also find buildings with a
critical mass of new customers. McCourt himself is considered a wild card
although he has a shrewd reputation, he's seldom spent more than a few years
on any one venture before moving on to the next.
RCN's biggest headache awaits: The FCC conditions attached to Bell Atlantic's
merger expire in four years. But having established his reputation building
private telecommunications networks both in the US and the UK, McCourt seems
unintimidated by the long-shot odds. "We're encroaching on people who've been
in business a long time," he concedes. "But we have nowhere to go but up." It
may be wishful thinking, but in the meantime, vive la revolution.
=-----------------------------------------------------------=
Please Deposit $33 for the Next 15 Minutes
by Janelle Brown and Austin Bunn
3.Dec.97 -- Today's prison phone systems can recognize individual inmates
and track whom and when they call and what they say. It's not just the
punishers who want sophisticated telephone tools, either: Prisoners
themselves want the most basic telephone services that many Americans now
take for granted.
Now the twin demands of security and family communication in prisons
nationwide have given birth to tests of expensive systems, including voice
recognition and videoconferencing. But the problem with high tech is that
it's also high cost, and the question of who's paying the bill has made
modern prison phones a contentious issue with phone companies, activists, and
the FCC alike.
The visiting room in Missouri's Jefferson City Correctional Center recalls a
high school cafeteria: independent round tables, soda and candy vending
machines, and couples conversing quietly. To gain access to the room,
visitors must first pass an extended approval process, including jumping
through manifold bureaucratic hoops and completing a background check. Then,
under the eye of guards, inmates are given their only contact with their
loved ones, families, and lawyers in a strange traffic of privacies.
But in an air-conditioned, soundproof room down the hall, inmates can now
slip out of prison, if only virtually, straight into a booth at the local
Kinko's. Introduced in May, the Correction Connection Video Visitation
program, developed by Kinko's, Sprint, and the state of Missouri at three
separate correctional facilities, gives prisoners the ability to access their
kith and kin by videoconferencing with them over a dedicated 384 KBps line,
at 30 frames a second.
High tech, high cost
Though pricey at US$33.75 for 15 minutes, the service has distinct advantages
for both the inmates and staff. With three days notice and no paperwork, up
to five visitors can set up a meeting time, compared to three allowed in an
on-site contact visit. In terms of security, "obviously, during
videoconferencing there would be less chance for people to pass contraband,"
says Missouri corrections spokesman Tim Kniest.
Prison and telecom officials have lauded the system as a cheaper way for
families to keep in touch with distant inmate relatives. But the reality has
been that the videoconferencing is still too costly for many families, and
instead has been primarily used by lawyers who want to avoid long trips to
see inmate clients.
"It's not having overwhelming usage," says Tom Gibbons, national sales
manager for Inmate Services at Sprint - which translates into only five
inmates using the system in the past five months. "We always thought the
biggest usage for videoconferencing would be for prisoners out of state."
Sprint was hoping that Texas would be a good source for the service, with
their high out-of-state prisoner ratio; unfortunately, those prisoners were
removed from Texas jails when a video revealed the abuse that prison guards
in Brazoria, Texas, regularly showered on such inmates.
Regardless of videoconferencing's success, digital prison telephone systems
have been a boon for telephone companies and states alike. The systems are
set up by carriers like Sprint and AT&T, which license them from technology
companies like T-Netix and Gateway. Each prisoner is assigned an ID number
that's required to make outside calls. They are then allowed to call only a
pre-approved list of 10 phone numbers, and all calls are monitored, recorded,
and interrupted periodically with a recorded message that informs listeners
that the call is being made from a prison. All calls have to be made collect,
third-party calls are sometimes prevented, and no 800-numbers are allowed.
Another telephone system created by T-Netix, currently in beta at three
prisons in Colorado, is exploring the potential for voice-recognition
systems. Instead of using punchpad PIN numbers, the telephone uses an
algorithm called Speakeasy Verification to identify the voice of the inmate
before allowing him to use the telephone. The hope is that the system will
decrease telephone fraud.
"The difference is that if I have your PIN number, I'm you. Prisoners steal
PIN numbers all the time; it's like cigarettes, they use it for bartering,"
explains T-Netix VP of marketing Pat Flannery. "With voice verification, you
are your PIN number."
For whom the bill tolls
But the fancy systems come at a cost. The phone company that gets a state's
prison contract is the one which offers the "best commission rate" to the
state - Florida, for example, collects 57 percent of all money made on calls
from prisons. This becomes a "surcharge," raising the prices for the inmate
phone calls. Combined with the costs of installing and monitoring the
high-tech phone systems, you get jacked-up phone prices - families report
regularly paying $7.50 for a 15-minute local phone call, though it varies
from state to state.
Who's paying the bill? The prison inmates' families say it's them, and have
complained to both the states and the FCC about what they consider unfair
phone gouging. The FCC is currently investigating the interstate prison phone
system.
"We're being charged an exorbitant amount - you have to call collect, and the
state gets a kickback into the state general fund," says Edna Silvestri,
director of the Missouri chapter of the inmate advocacy group CURE, and wife
of an inmate. "My husband tries to keep my phone bill down because I can't
afford it, but my bill is still $100 a month."
Meanwhile, the phone companies complain that they're not making money, since
the state both regulates the phone pricing and takes a large chunk of profits
as a commission. They also claim that the cost issue is out of their hands -
the state lays out the system requirements, and competitiveness for the
contracts means that profit margins are tight.
Still, prison officials and phone companies point out that phone calls are
privilege, not a right, for inmates, so inmates shouldn't complain. They also
note that the telephone technology is in place because of the shenanigans
that go on regularly within prison systems. Inmates have been known to run
drug operations and internal contraband rings, organize jailbreaks, and even
record albums via prison pay phones - often via third-party lines conferenced
in by a legitimate number.
"That's the major thing prisons are trying to stop - prisoners coming into
the system and thinking it's just business as usual," says Gibbons of Sprint.
"All inmates must face restrictions because some inmates didn't follow the
rules."
(c)1993-97 Wired Ventures, Inc.
=-----------------------------------------------------------=
Bell Canada Expands Wireless Telephone Service Delivery Using Proximity
Solution From Nortel (Northern Telecom)
CHATHAM, Ont., Dec 3 /PRNewswire/ - Residents of this rural Ontario
community are getting a sneak peek at the future of communications in
Canada.
More than 100 previously party line (multiple users per line) telephone
service customers in Chatham now receive single party service from Bell
Canada using a Proximity fixed wireless access solution from Nortel (Northern
Telecom). The first telephone company in North America to offer commercial
service using Nortel's Proximity I, Bell Canada is pioneering this
wireline-equivalent technology as part of a proposed $CDN 200 million network
modernization announced earlier this year. "Bell Canada is committed to
providing our customers features and services like those currently available
in urban areas, no matter where they live," said Terry Mosey, vice president,
product management, Bell Canada.
"This technology allows us to upgrade services to all of our customers more
quickly," Mosey said. "This means providing the privacy and reliability of
single party service, Internet access, enhanced 911 capability, telebanking
and SmartTouch services like Call Display."
Nortel's Proximity family uses digital radio, rather than copper cable, to
connect customer homes and businesses to the public switched telephone
network, reducing the time and cost of network buildout and expansion.
Proximity I provides high-quality digital connections to small businesses or
residences for voice, fax, high-speed modems and enhanced services such as
Calling Number and Calling Name ID.
Bell Canada demonstrated the effectiveness, transparency and quality of
Nortel's Proximity I as a complement to copper in the local loop in trials
earlier this year with residential and business customers in Verona, Ontario
and Thetford Mines, Quebec.
Operating at 3.5 GHz, Bell Canada's Proximity I networks include radio base
stations, power and antenna equipment. Also included are 12-inch octagonal
Odish' antennas which mount on an exterior wall, chimney or existing
television antenna mast for each customer.
(c)PR Newswire.
=-----------------------------------------------------------=
US LEC Files For Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Certification In Florida
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- US LEC LLC, a competitive local
exchange carrier (CLEC), announced it has filed for CLEC certification in
Florida.
US LEC currently provides local, long distance, and enhanced services to
business customers in the BellSouth, GTE, and Sprint service areas of North
Carolina. Under a three-year multimillion-dollar contract, US LEC is
deploying the Lucent switch platform to support its business expansion into
additional southeastern cities throughout 1998 and 1999.
US LEC is certified in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and
Virginia. US LEC serves over 100 large and midsize business customers with
local and long distance services in North Carolina on the US LEC network.
(c)PR Newswire.
=-----------------------------------------------------------=
Nortel (Northern Telecom) Selected by 21st Century As Telephony Network
Provider
ANAHEIM, Calif., Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ - Today at the Western Cable Show,
Chicago-based competitive communications provider 21st Century announced
that it has selected Nortel (Northern Telecom) to provide the transport
backbone and telephony portion of its interactive broadband network in
Chicago. Under the terms of a three-year letter of intent valued at
approximately $US 40 million, Nortel will supply 21st Century with a full
suite of switching, transmission, and access solutions -- including its
DMS-500 Local/Long-Distance Switching System, AccessNode and AccessNode
Express platforms, and S/DMS TransportNode OC-48 and OC-12 systems.
21st Century, recently awarded one of the largest competitive cable
franchises in United States history, plans to offer residential and business
subscribers with a bundled package of voice, data, video and high-speed
Internet access services. 21st Century's initial service launch began in
November in the nation's second largest business and financial district,
which stretches along Chicago's lakefront from Hyde Park to Evanston. This
service area, also referred to as Area 1, contains over 300,000 residential
homes, 500,000 commercial/business outlets, and over 50,000 hotel rooms.
"We chose Nortel as our telephony and transport solutions provider based on
its established reputation as a leading supplier of end-to-end network
solutions," said Glenn Milligan, founder, CEO and president, 21st Century.
"Nortel has worked closely with us to build a system that will serve as a
model for other competitive telecommunications providers and show 21st
Century's commitment to providing our customers with a truly comprehensive
service offering."
Nortel's AccessNode and AccessNode Express are versatile, full-service access
vehicles which support multiple access mediums and bandwidth management for
both TDM and packet data networks. With Nortel's AccessNode product family, a
single integrated network element supports a full portfolio of business and
residential service, including POTS, Digital Centrex, ISDN, transparent LAN,
DS-1, DS-3, and high-speed copper access services.
Nortel's TransportNode portfolio offers reliable, cost-effective solutions
for all types of service transport applications. Nortel leads the worldwide
market in the deployment of high-capacity SONET systems. Nortel's OC-12 and
OC-48 transport systems support a bi-directional line-switched ring
architecture capable of re-routing signals within a ring in case of a fiber
cable cut or other service interruption -- offering carriers the reliability
that is so important in today's networks.
The Nortel DMS-500 Local/Long Distance switching system provides carriers the
ability to offer combined local- and long-distance telecommunications
services to customers through a single, cost-effective switching platform.
The DMS-500 switching system offers one of the most feature-rich customer
service portfolios in the industry.
As a competitive communications provider (CCP), 21st Century will have the
flexibility to offer businesses and residential customers a suite of voice,
video, and data services -- such as high-speed Internet access,
teleconferencing, local & long distance telephony services, cellular and
paging services, security, and other interactive services -- via a fiber
optic, two-way interactive broadband network.
(c)PR Newswire.
=-----------------------------------------------------------=
Online Users Still Want Their Telephones
12/08/97
By Mo Krochmal, TechWeb
NEW YORK -- Internet telephony has captured the attention of early adopters
of technology, but is not ready to replace plain old telephone service,
according to a survey of attendees at Internet World here on Monday.
Internet telephony is a 3-year-old technology that lets users make phone
calls over data networks, offering the promise of cheaper telephone
communications costs, but it is too much of a work in progress to convince
even the geekiest technology users to make the switch. The issues are
congestion, delays, and just generally poor quality and reliability.
Still, according to Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research, the United
States will spend $30 million on Internet telephony in 1998 with an expected
increase to $2 billion in 2004. Meantime, U.S. customers are paying $5
billion a year to foreign companies for international calls.
AT&T, MCI, GTE, and Sprint are paying attention to the young technology, and
so are some users.
Kenneth Paquette, a Vermont resident and an advisory programmer for IBM, was
one of the lone advocates of phone service from ISPs among the people
interviewed in the hallways of the Javits Center as Internet World was being
set up.
"They are more up front about the costs," Paquette said. "Telephone companies
have thousands of different rates, and you cannot get an apple-to-apple
comparison -- it's all apples to oranges."
Paquette said he spends from $1,500 to $2,000 per year on long distance costs
to keep in touch with family members scattered all over the northeastern
United States.
Stuart Greenfield, a technologist in the office of the Texas Comptroller of
Public Accounts in Austin, said at age 52, he is too old to change -- even
though he sees savings in the technology.
"We have offices all over the state," he said. "Why not make it Internet? The
downside would be that if the Net goes down, you have a real problem."
Thomas Wright, chief investment officer for Channel Entertainment
International in North Palm Beach, Fla., said he is staying with the phone
company right now, but would be interested if Internet telephony becomes more
cost-efficient.
"I never liked the idea that they broke up the telephone monopoly," said
Peter Fries, Webmaster for the Information Services Division of the City of
San Francisco. "I thought the telephone companies had it right," he said.
"They broke it up, prices went up, and service went down."
Maria Alejandra Godoy was enthusiastic about ISPs' handling telephone
services. "It fulfills my needs," said Godoy, an Internet engineer for
Emtelco, S.A., a telephone service provider in Bogota, Colombia.
Roy Hughes, a systems programmer for five years with Dell, in Round Rock,
Texas, said he likes the reliability of his telephone company, but is rankled
by the price of in-state calling using Southwestern Bell.
"I'm trying to get my friends to get hooked up on chat clients so we can
communicate," he said.
"I want it to be just like a telephone," said Kevin Mullet, a representative
for Netscape professional services. "It's not there yet," he said.
"I want my computer to be a computer and my phone to be a phone," said Larry
Chase, publisher of an Internet marketing newsletter. "I'm an old-fashioned
guy."
(c)CMP Media, 1997.
=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
=-------------------------------=
| Storytime with TFP |
| By whoever bothered to submit |
=-------------------------------=
Paranoia - by labassu
--------
Many years ago, in a town far far away, I had just found out that biege
boxing was not limited to just one phone line. A few weeks later I got my
equipment ready (mainly lots of alligator clips) and invited a friend to
come with me, this person being someone who had been (in my eyes) a person
who had more than enough years under his belt to be calm when stalking in the
night. I had already staked out the site many days before and had verified
that all lines were in working order so that all would be well :) We drove
half way there and walked the rest, us trying to look innocent at 3:00am
wearing nearly all black with 2 backpacks. I hooked up 5 lines with no
problem and filled them all with people to chat with. About 20 minutes into
the calls this car comes racing by going at least 60mph and comes to a
screeching halt around the building we are at (the building being a small L
shaped building with a drive-thru in the back), and drove right into the back
where we were! Our hearts were pounding, waiting for the moment to jump the
person and to flee. The head lights were shining right where we were! I had
beforehand placed 3 large garbage cans around the side where people could see
us... 4 seconds (a long time when your head is throbbing from a rush like
this) later, the car pulls out and takes off. Not sure what to make of it we
were just glad the car left. The scanner had not picked up anything about our
doings so we ASSUMED the guy/gal was just some unstable person and continued
messing with the lines (doing what you do when you are young and can't be
traced with 5 people on conference). Ten minutes later I jokingly said "now
watch, some cop car will come by and arrest us," and literally a few seconds
later we see red and blue lights flashing against the fence. The term 'almost
shit your pants' accurately described my emotional state. The cop car just
kept on going. I said goodbye to everyone and pulled the clips and we went
home. The End.
=-----------------------------------------------------------=
Benny the redbox - by KungFuFox
----------------
Kids like Benny don't come along often. You're lucky if you're friends with a
kid like him. He wasn't so great at being friendly, or being cool, but he was
the most popular kid around. If you're not even cool and you're popular,
you're special. Benny was special. He could fart like noone could. You'd have
to hear it to understand. It was like a little raygun when he farted like he
did. He knew it was different, everyone else did too. He never knew the way
he farted was so great when he was little, he thought it was just something
that made him different.
The day everything changed was two days before his 13th birthday. His mom had
been treating him real well that week, since it was so close to his birthday.
His dad didn't care, it was like any other week to him. His mom though, she
knew what Benny liked. He was a little fat, and anything sweet would make his
day. Every kid has a favorite cereal, and he did too. It was Count Chocula.
I could never understand his zest for that cereal, it got old after a couple
weeks of eating it daily, for me anyway. His mom normally wouldn't let him
have it because it had too many calories and she didn't want him gaining any
more weight than he already had, but this week was special, and she let him
eat it every day.
Most kid related cereals have stupid little promotional gimics like puzzles
or toys, and this cereal was no exception. A bat-shreik whistle was the
exclamation on the box. Free inside. Benny knew about it, and he knew he was
going to find it, all in good time. Most kids care more about the toy than
the cereal, but not Benny. He'd rather eat the cereal and get the toy when he
got to it. No rush, there was plenty of cereal between him and that toy to
eat through first.
He'd been digging through that cereal for three days before he came across
the whistle. He was nearly done with the box by then. He ate a big breakfast,
knowing he only had the luxury of this cereal for a short while. He wasn't
really that excited when he finally got the whistle, he just got finished
eating, and then examined it. It had one of those little metal bars in it
that'd rattle when you blew the whistle. Nothing special. A new trinket,
handy for getting adults mad at him in public. He put it in his pocket. Time
to go outside.
He lived in a town just outside of Newark, New Jersey called Hillside. There
wasn't anything really good to do in Hillside. Hop a bus to New York City,
that's where everything was, including the best arcades. He went to our
friend Nerky's house. Yeah, Nerky is a weird name, but that's what his name
was. Anyway, he got Nerky, told him he was taking a bus to NYC, and Nerky
came along. They came to my house next. My parents didn't care if I went to
NYC, so long as I went with friends and I called to tell them where I was
every few hours. That's how Benny's dad was too, just so long as Benny called
every once in a while, everything was ok with him. Nerky's parents were
weird, they never cared. He never even said where he went, he'd just leave.
We went to NYC almost every day we had off. Today was a Saturday, and the
city is always more interesting on Saturdays. Not that the bus rides aren't
interesting enough. Some weird people ride public transportation. Sometimes
there'd be hobos and bag ladies on the bus, just sitting there with all their
posessions on them. We brought enough money for the bus fare and an hour or
two's worth of video games. Most of the games were still a quarter back then,
but there were a few real new ones that cost fifty cents. We only played the
new ones when we had some money to waste, which we didn't that day.
We went to the same arcade we always went to, a place called Fratello's
Circus at the boardwalk on Coney Island. We played the same games we always
played, the racecar games and the pinball machines. They were the cheapest
and the games seemed to last the longest. We played away almost all of our
money in an hour, saving enough for bus fare back and a phonecall each for
Benny and I to our parents. Nerky was always slow going back, even though he
was pretty thin compared to me. Even more so compared to Benny. We'd just let
him walk his own pace, he'd get to the station eventually.
We only had to walk about 6 blocks to the station from the arcade. There was
a bank of payphones there. It seemed one of the payphones was always out of
service, but it was a different one every time. On this particular day, when
we got to the bus station and bought our bus tokens, Benny and I went to the
payphones to call our folks. As usual, Nerky was a ways behind us when we
bought the tokens, but he always found us eventually. A black guy in a green
suit was using one of the phones that day, so there was only one available.
Benny let me go first since it always took him some time to fish the money
out of his pockets. I called my mom and let her know where I was and that I'd
be home soon, and I hung up. Benny picked up the phone and dialed his house,
fishing in his pockets the whole time. He couldn't find a quarter. A recorded
voice said "please deposit 25 cents". I didn't have any money left either.
Nerky might've had some, but he wasn't there yet.
Benny pulled out the bat-shreik whistle and blew it as loud as he could,
hoping Nerky would appear. He farted one of those squeeky farts at the same
time. I guess the pressure of blowing on the whistle came out the other end
as well. "Thank you", the phone said. "Hey, the phone didn't need no money!
It's callin' anyway!" Benny said. I grabbed the phone, his dad picked up. I
handed it back to Benny, he told his dad about the same stuff I'd told my
mom. Nerky showed up right when Benny hung up. "Hey Nerky, the phone didn't
need no quarter to dial, it called anyway. And I didn't have no money!",
Benny said.
I started thinking, and I said to Benny, "call your folks back, and blow that
whistle when it asks you for your money". He did, and sure enough, when he
blew that whistle, he farted. "Thank you" said the recording. It turns out
Benny could fart a 1700Hz tone, and his butt cheeks vibrated about 15 times a
second when he farted. That little metal bar in the whistle rattled back and
forth about 15 times a second too, and blew a tone of about 2200Hz. Benny
could fart and whistle the exact ACTS tones for a quarter signal.
After that initial discovery, word gradually spread. By the end of the school
year he was the most popular kid in the school. He'd try it all the time, but
always giving his demonstrations away from the watchful eyes of the teachers
and the dean. He was warned by them, since they found out about his 'talent',
that he would get turned in to the phone company if he got caught doing it.
He did it anyway, he just never got caught for it.
It sure was funny to watch though. Sometimes he'd stick his butt right up
near the receiver to improve tone clarity. He was a walking redbox. He was a
natural born phreak. It was fate. Benny the redbox, that's what he was.
=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
I know you guys must have SOMETHING to bitch about, judging from the quality
of this issue. Please send TFP hatemail to tfp@tfp.nothing.org RIGHT NOW. Or
not. Geez. Until the 1st, or maybe the 31st, have fun, and happy holidays!
=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
