Telecom-Request%usc-eclc@brl-bmd.UUCP (Telecom-Request@usc-eclc) (12/27/83)
TELECOM Digest Tuesday, 27 Dec 1983 Volume 3 : Issue 127
Today's Topics:
Describing how to commit toll-fraud
the law
UC long-distance network
Pseudo foreign exchange service in the Balto-Wash area
reply to you can't expect 1200 baud service
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Date: 24 Dec 1983 1833-EST
From: John R. Covert <RSX-DEV at DEC-MARLBORO>
Subject: Describing how to commit toll-fraud
Whether it's constitutional or not, there are laws on the books which
make it a felony to possess or disseminate plans or schemes to commit
interstate toll fraud.
Two examples come to mind: A Ham magazine (I've forgotten the name,
having been too lazy to learn the code, I never became a ham, but I
think it was QSL or 73) published schematics of a blue box many years
ago. They agreed to remove all copies of that issue from the
newstands and the charges were dropped.
Some of you may remember 8BBS. A few years ago this system was shut
down by the FBI, who seized the disks as evidence. Whether the SYSOP
was ever charged with a crime or whether the disks were just used as
evidence in the cases involving the users of the system I don't know,
but the SYSOP did lose his job.
You're right that simply violating the telephone company's tarrifs is
not a crime, it's only a breach of contract. But any device or scheme
for obtaining telephone service which deprives the telephone company
of their lawful charges is not just a violation of the tarrifs; it is
fraud and is illegal.
I know of one particularly disgusting case of someone who was using
someone elses INWATS and OUTWATS lines. The telephone company was
getting its money for the use of the lines, and the company wasn't
overly concerned about the situation, but the telephone company
pursuaded the U.S. District attorney to bring charges against the
person on five counts of interstate toll fraud, because the telephone
company had not gotten the lawful charge, the price of an regular toll
call from the point or origin to the destination.
The person was convicted and given a suspended sentence, but he lost
his job.
(I personally think he had a lousy lawyer.)
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Date: Sat, 24 Dec 83 20:30:37 PST
From: Theodore N. Vail <vail@UCLA-CS>
Subject: the law
Some comments on the comments on my last communication:
-------
I'm not certain Mr. Vail is aware, but he is rather
fortunate to still have his flat-rate FX service for
$48.00 per month.
------- I was neither complaining nor boasting, just stating what the
current costs are in a specific case, well known to me. As I noted,
if General and Pacific have their way, the rates will skyrocket.
There are some interesting schemes involving call-forwarding, etc.
which may limit the excessive costs, at least to modem users who only
call a few different numbers.
-------
[I'm sorry to disagree with you, but toll fraud is
indeed a federal crime, like failing to pay taxes.
--JSol]
------- We don't disagree. Fraud is a crime. I was referring to
publishing specs on blue boxes, methods of disguising them, etc., as
well as to what are often called "illegal extensions", etc.
ted vail
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Date: Sun, 25 Dec 83 23:45:00 PST
From: Theodore N. Vail <vail@UCLA-CS>
Subject: UC long-distance network
The UC system is planning to purchase it's own long-distance network.
It has prepared a 185 page RFP (request for proposal) for the system.
It was issued in October, 1983 and vendor responses, necessarily quite
lengthy, are due in March, 1984. As it is probably a typical example
of long-distance networks being prepared by large organizations, I'm
enclosing a few excerpts, mostly from the "Executive Summary".
"The University of California which is comprised of nine campuses
(Berkeley, Davids, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San
Francisco, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz) and three physically separate
medical centers (Sacramento, Irvine and San Diego) plans to implement
an intercampus telecommunications network which will accommodate
voice, data and video traffic.
"This network will utilize digital microwave, satellite technology,
and/or other broad band technologies as well as a digital tandem
switch function for purposes of voice and low speed data network
management and control. No specific technology is presumed or
preferred, but for purposes of describing the University's
specifications a terrestrial microwave system is assumed to link the
Northern campuses and the Southern campuses. A satellite backbone is
assumed to connect the two regional systems. Tandem switches in this
model provide the voice and low speed data switching functions. The
network will also be capable of supporting digitized video
transmission. Campuses will be connected to the intercampus network
either by utilization of campus owned switching facilities or by the
Telco central office or centrex currently serving that campus..."
There are two lengthy sections covering Performance Specifications.
As might be expected, the trivia is emphasized, while important data
specifications are barely mentioned and rather naively. For example,
the description of the printer connection for obtaining accounting
reports uses a lengthy paragraph to require both an RS 232C port,
stating all the standard date rates from 1200 baud up, and a magnetic
tape system which shall run at a "minimum of 125 inches per second at
6250 bits per inch". It doesn't, however state what actual
information shall be transmitted at that rate, nor does it restrict
nulls on the RS 232 connections, or limit inter-record gaps on the
tape. The only statement concerning error rates is for the required
56 kbps digital circuits which shall "perform at an error rate no
greater than a single bit, undetected error, among 10 to the 10th
power bits transmitted". There don't appear to be any limits to
detected errors, nor are methods of measuring the undetected error
given. I am reminded of a sign posted by the system programmer in a
computing lab I once used, which stated in large letters: "We have
never recorded an undetected error".
Of course the real protection is given by the fact that when all
specifications are considered, there are perhaps only half a dozen
companies in the world which can come close to meeting them, and their
equipment is well known. Bids are expected from NTI (Northern
Telecom), which has the inside track because of its large UCLA
installation, AT&T, Pacific Telesys, and possibly General Telephone
and NEC. There are potential dark horses, e.g. Rolm, as well as
various European Companies.
Proposals are due in March, 1984 and the vendor is expected to be
chosen by May, 1984. I'm betting on NTI.
I do have the complete RFP and will attempt to answer Telecom Reader's
questions (within reason) about it, if any.
ted vail
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Date: 26 Dec 1983 1351-EST
From: John R. Covert <RSX-DEV at DEC-MARLBORO>
Subject: Pseudo foreign exchange service in the Balto-Wash area
Don't be so quick to say good-bye to current services in the Baltimore
- Washington area. As soon as C&P announced that the current
"foreign-exchange" service would be terminated, it was taken to court.
It is being argued that "nothing has changed" so why should the rates
change?
The Balto-Wash area is full of exceptions and special cases. The
primary method of providing "FX" service in the Balto-Wash area is by
having an additional NXX in the local switching machine which is
defined in the tariffs as having the same rate center as NXXs in the
community which has the preferred calling area.
Thus, for a customer living in Columbia, Maryland, four service
offerings exist: Columbia Service, which includes the local area and
some of the DC suburbs, some of the Baltimore Suburbs, and downtown
Baltimore, Ellicott city service, which drops the DC suburbs, picks up
more Baltimore suburbs and more points east of Baltimore, Laurel
Service, which drops some of the Baltimore Suburbs but picks up
Washington, and Bowie-Glendale service, which drops all of the
Baltimore suburbs, is not even local to Columbia, and picks up the
entire Washington Metro area.
Subscribers to these services pay a flat "mileage" charge (even though
no real mileage is involved) which is extremely low and then pay the
local service charge as though they were really in the town their
logical FX is in (which is based on the number of telephones which can
be reached as a local call).
All of these services are provided out of the two central offices
located in the same building in Columbia! All of these services are
provided with specific NXXs which make the service two-way. And the
fact that two customers who happen to live next door to each other in
the center of Columbia can choose to be long distance to each other is
quite bizarre.
Customers served by the same C&P machine in Columbia are actually in
two different LATAs! Currently, when they dial a long distance call
the call does not even leave the machine. But since they are in
different LATAs, the service cannot be provided by C&P!
This is certainly a situation to watch! I doubt that the Maryland PUC
(or the legislature, which has gotten involved in telecommunications
in Maryland before, as well -- passing a law making directory
assistance charges illegal) will let people in Columbia lose their DC
service.
Columbia is sort of a "special" town, one of those model communities
built during the early sixties, and the choice of Baltimore and
Washington phone service was one of the issues involved in building
the town.
Another, unrelated, case of bizarreness in the DC area no longer
exists, but is interesting to recall. About seven years ago, a friend
served by the downtown Alexandria machine, which was, at the time, No.
1 XBar, became envious of his many friends with Custom Calling Service
in ESS exchanges. He started to investigate the cost of having FX
service brought into his home.
The startling result was that due to two flukes, he was able to get
service from downtown DC at a slightly lower price than local
Alexandria service. This was caused by (1) the presence of an
especially low FX rate for points in Alexandria which had been put in
primarily to serve government agencies at National Airport and (2) the
existence of a 25% local Alexandria tax on local service which did not
apply once he had the Washington service installed. After he had the
service for a few years, the preferential FX rate disappeared, and the
service was no longer economical.
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Date: Saturday, 24 December 1983 16:14 est
From: Kovalcik@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: reply to you can't expect 1200 baud service
I have this feeling that part of your problem may be the UDS modems. A
group at MIT bought several of them and has had lots of problems with
noise and lines that they just didn't work on at all. We replaced one
that didn't work at all with a Vadic 3400 series modem and it works
just fine. You get what you pay for. We have been trying to sell
them off and have had few interested parties and fewer takers.
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End of TELECOM Digest
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