💾 Archived View for clemat.is › saccophore › library › ezines › textfiles › ezines › TFP › tfp04.txt captured on 2021-12-04 at 18:04:22.

View Raw

More Information

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

     =------------------------------------------------------------------=
     |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!|
     =------------------------------------------------------------------=
=-"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

=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
    =-------------------------------------------------------------------=
    |            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.

=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=

         ++++++++++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.

=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=                 
     =------------------------------------------------------------------=
     | Anti-Telcommunications Tampering Initiative - found by KungFuFox | 
     =------------------------------------------------------------------=

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.

=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
                     =----------------------------------=
                     | 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.

=----------------------------------------------------------------------------= 
   =----------------------------------------------------------------------=
   | 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!

=----------------------------------------------------------------------------= 
     =------------------------------------------------------------------=
     | Using a payphone as a banking institution - KungFuFox, yet again |
     =------------------------------------------------------------------=

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!

=----------------------------------------------------------------------------= 
                    =-----------------------------------=
                    | 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!
=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=