telecom@ucbvax.ARPA (11/06/84)
From: Jon Solomon (the Moderator) <Telecom-Request@BBNCCA>
TELECOM Digest Mon, 5 Nov 84 21:00:51 EST Volume 4 : Issue 113
Today's Topics:
Pay phones: the new enemy
Pen register
Touch Tone (well, Touch Calling) Intercept
The L.A. BBS Credit Card Case
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Date: Sun 4 Nov 84 20:56:18-PST
From: Jim Lewinson <a.Jiml@SU-GSB-WHY.ARPA>
Subject: Pay phones: the new enemy
To: Telecom@BBNCCA.ARPA
Date: Wed 31 Oct 84 09:42:35-PST
From: Andrei Broder <Broder@SU-SCORE.ARPA>
To: su-bboards@SU-SCORE.ARPA
Man Loses Fight With Pay Telephone
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- Police responding to reports of a stabbing
found instead a bleeding 20-year-old man who lost a confrontation
with a pay telephone, authorities said.
According to police, Richard A. Anderson had tried to call a
friend from a pay phone and when the call went unanswered angrily
tried to jerk the receiver out of the phone.
Police said Anderson just managed to stretch the wire webbing that
covers the telephone cord. The receiver stayed put. So Anderson again
vented his anger -- this time by throwing the receiver, police said.
But when the receiver reached the end of its cord, it snapped
back and the cord wrapped around Anderson's neck.
The sharp edges of the wire webbing dug into Anderson's skin,
cutting him. When Anderson struggled to free himself, the webbing cut
deeper.
``Once we got out what had happened,'' said one police officer,
``it was, `Be real. This did not happen.'''
Anderson was treated at University Hospitals and released.
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Date: 5 November 1984 12:12-EST
From: "Marvin A. Sirbu, Jr." <SIRBU @ MIT-MC>
Subject: Pen register
To: TELECOM @ BBNCCA
Devices to log all the numbers you dial from your phone (whether rotary
or touch tone) are called pen registers. Currently any law enforcement
agency can ask the telephone company to install such a pen register on
your line, which they will normally do; a search warrent is NOT
required. A Supreme Court case in 1979 (Smith v Maryland) determined
that the requirement for a search warrent before law enforcement
agencies could tap your phone only applied to the CONTENTS of the call,
but not to the dialing of the call in the first place (traffic
analysis). This differs from the applicable law for First Class Postal
Mail where a search warrent is requried before the post office will
record the return addresses of anybody who sends you a letter.
Note that the reasoning in the Supreme Court case would not cover
recording of touch tones sent DURING the call. This could be
interpreted as interception of the content. However, other
intepretations of the wiretapping statutes (noted recently in TELECOM),
suggest that only ORAL communications protected. Thus recording of
touch tones might be held unprotected by the need for a search warrent
for wiretapping.
I believe that legislation has been considered in the Committees on the
Judiciary which would apply Postal Service type standards to the use of
pen registers on your telephone line, thus overturning Smith v.
Maryland. Write your Congressman.
Marvin Sirbu
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From: Christopher A Kent <cak@Purdue.ARPA>
Date: 5 Nov 1984 1549-EST (Monday)
To: TELECOM@BBNCCA.ARPA
Subject: Touch Tone (well, Touch Calling) Intercept
Speaking of odd equipment dealing with Touch Tone...
When I moved last May, I decided not to pay for Touch Calling through
GTE any more; my phone has switchable pulse/tone dialing, so I was
happy to save myself a couple of $$ a month. I figured I could dial the
local access number on pulse and switch to tone when I needed it.
Well, when I moved in, I tried dialing with tone, just for grins. I got
an awful, ugly tone burst back from the CO, so I hung up, and dialed
with pulse. Then, when I had connected to the access number, I switch
to tone and proceeded to try to dial. I got the same ugly tone burst.
Apparently they have something on the line that is monitoring for DTMF
frequencies at all times, and bitches at me when it hears them... most
annoying. I can't dial through a secondary PBX, or anything. Do I have
a right to complain about this?
So far, I've just been dialing from the office, but I may have to break
down and get tone service again (and pay the bogus installation fee,
ugh).
Cheers,
chris
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Date: Mon, 5-Nov-84 15:00:12 PST
From: Lauren Weinstein <vortex!lauren@RAND-UNIX.ARPA>
Subject: The L.A. BBS Credit Card Case
To: TELECOM@MC
While not saying anything one way or another about the guilt or
innocence in this case, there are two interesting points about this
case that are only occasionally mentioned (this info gleaned
from messages on other lists):
1) The TPC Credit Card number involved was apparently owned by a person
for whom the BBS operator used to work, a position that he may have
left under other than "ideal" circumstances.
2) The message in question was on the BBS for quite a long time
(weeks? months?) and was not just present for a short time.
The defense lawyer has explanations for both of these events, of course,
so one shouldn't say anything about guilt, but they are interesting
tidbits nonetheless which certainly serve to complicate the situation.
--Lauren--
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End of TELECOM Digest
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