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2600 Magazine - Volume 1, Number 9

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VOLUME ONE, NUMBER NINE

HISTORY OF BRITISH PHREAKING

709

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1500

1620

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by Ltfhor Mid The [.effri o* Doom _

In Britain. phreak in£ goes hack to the early liftiK, when the technique of To 1 1
A drop buck "was d iscovered. toll A was an OLdtiil^ near St . Paul* which muled
■rails between London and the- nearby non-LundCfl exchanges. ThE tricli wis [0
diaLdrt unallocalcd number, and [hen depress [he receiver — rekt for 'A srtiond. This
(lashing initiated the “clear forward" serial, leaving the caller with iti open line
into ihc I’dLI A exchange. He could then dial 01 ft. which forwarded hkrn to ibe
trunk exdtangc- -at that time, the first long distance exiclangc in Britain — and
follow it with ihe code for the dislant exchange to which he would be connected at
no extra charge.

The signals needed la control the UK network were published in the tnsiituihm
of Post Qftce tjigineers JuUtWilznA reprinted ill the Sunday Times ISOct, 1975.
(NOTE: the British Posl Office is the U -K- cqua^alertt of Mi Bell. )

The system is called Signalliog System No. 3 and it uses pain Of frequencies
selected from 5 touts separated by 130lh. With lhal info, the phneaks made
’iMecpers^oras they are called here in the U.S., blue boxes. The British, though.
Utilize different MF tones than ihe U.5.. thus, your U.S. blue box that you
smuggled into iheU.K. will not wwk, unles^ou change the frequencies. (In ihe
early sewilifti. a simpler system based on different number of pulas with the
same frequency (22&0Hz) was used, For more info oo that, try to gel ahold of:
Atkinson's “Telephony and SySI^[n^T((h^fllo^y' , .

Boxingm Focafpi Lands

The following are timing and the frequencies for boxing In the U.X. and other
foreign countries. Special (hank? to Peter Mclven for Ihc following Mia-
BcHish “bleeper" boxes have the very same layout as U.S. bine hoses. The
frequencies 91 nc different, though. They use IWO sets Of frequencies forward and
backward. Forward signature senlodl by ihebteeperhpx. The backward signals
f may he ignored (it s sort of hke using fuH dupkxl-The frequencies are as folk*:

V - IhH.

Kwd
Bkwri

For example, change the 900Hz: potentiometers In your box to iSflOHz.- Alt
numben 1-0 ( 10) art. in the.samednderas map American fcwx. The ones after this
are the ir cocks for operator 1 1, operator 12, spate 13, spitrtr 14. and 15. One of
these is K P, one i probably 1 5 ) is Star l It wouH be loo land to figure out. The signals
should carry >1 1 .SdBm +, 1 - ldB onto the Line: Ihe frequencies should be within

: -4 Hz (as is the British equipment). Atso. the IVFsystem. is Still in operation in

parts of Ihe D.K. This would tfltode all signals ! to ft H* binary numbers: for
instance, a five is 010 1 . There are six imervals-pcr digit, each 50ms long ora total of
300ms. First is a Stall .pul*; Of 22M) for 5dms. Then, using ihe example of five
(0101), there tea 50ms pause.a50ms pulse of I2B0.& 50ms pause, and a wim pulse
of 2280. Finally, there is a 50ms pause that signals ihe end of the digit. '[Tie
frequency inference on ihe 2280S tz is +/ -0.3%: ii isnntat ldBm. An idle line
is signally by the presence yf a 3825 Hi tone for more than*50ms. This musi be
within 4H z.

Trance uses the same box codes as the U.S., wilh an additional 1900Hz
acknowledgement Sdgnal,tt -8.7 +■'- 1 dBm per frequency.

Sq+l uses, a 2 out of 5 mf code (same frequencies as U.S.). with a 1700Hz
acknowledge signal.

Other places using the I VF system are:

Aiutnlk; 22SOHi +; -bH? 35m?, 1 digit at -6dB

Gcrtmnj, France: ame is Auairalia; aba, some I VF systems in ihe UlC.

SwIlHrlm): \ame as Australia, only it uses 3000Hz, nOl 2280.

Sweden: same a> show, but ii 2400Hz.

Spain: some pnrts use 1 VF with 25QQH2.

rhere is one olher major system: the 7 VF System. Iti Ihis system, cflch d igit is 35ms
iopg- The number is encoded in binary as with the I VF systeni . U sing the exampk
of five (UlOl). here s how the American 2VF system was sent:

2400 pulse, pause. 2CM0 pulse, pause. 2400 pulse, pause, 2040 pulse, pause. The
digits and pulses are all 35ms long for a lofel uf 2ms ptrdigil.
OlhercxHintncsareslill using a simitar high, '.kni, 1 pair with the saiil* limipp Stnw
parts of Elily use Ihe I V F system with 2W0Hz; some use the 2V F system with 2040
and 24Di>H i. ( same as original LJ ,S, )- The NethertftiH iiseia 2V F sysiem with 2400
and 25Q0Hr pulses. With the 2Vh system, alE frequencies should be within 2Hz.
Also, kre are flame specs for American phone equipment;

Ohl Tnne: 35d+440H^, -17 J to -14.5 dBm, 1 [One.

^ — L mr-Hook (ftOH )c t400*2MCN24SI)+26£iOf!) on/ off 5 I inks per second .

Bgijj 480+P20Hz: slow busy: 0.5 + ' ■ 0.05 see = I period (about twkc a second), at
-28.5 iu '22.5 dBm; tone

Rifl{:44Dt4M)H; at -23. 5 to -20.5 dBm -tone. A Hug is modulated at 20 *1 ■ 3Hz. 2
hk on, 4 sec off.

Call Willing; 440Hz, on I second.

R«£ftrdeT Com** + jct»: ’ J TOHt. beeps I S »C««l3

MuMpNtrLkwRhi: san»e frequency and modulationas fin#, hut I uc«i, 2 SAC
nff (twice as fast).

Tfte the Somr

In ihe eaHy days of British ptireaking. the Cambridge llniveraiy TiUn
computer was usol to recsnl end circulate numbers fourel by ihe exhaustive
doling of local networks. These number* were used tociwteacluin of links from
local exchange to local exchange acrOfiS the country, bypassing the trunk druuiis.
Because ihe internal routim codes in the UX networkire not the same as those
dialed by the cablet, the phrcaki had io discover them by “probe and listen
techniques, more commonly known in the U S, as scanning, Whal they did was pUI
in likely signals and listen to find out if ihcy succeeded. The rasalia of scannihg
were circulated to other phneaki- Discovering each other look time at first, bul
ewntually ihe phreaks became organized, The H TAP" of Britain was called
"Undercurrents" which embk; British phreaksto share the info on new numbers,
equipment . ete.

To understand what the British phreaksdid, think of the phmt network m three
layers of lines: local, trunk, and international. In (he U.K., SuhBcriber Trunk
DLs|1ti[ (STD), is the mechanism which ukes a call from the lual lines and
(legjlimhttly}£lKvii4niLloa trunk or international level. The U.K, phretks figured
ihelacallat trunk Icvcl^n be routed through any number of exchanges, provided
that the right routing codes were found and used correctly. They itso had to
dBcovcr how to gel from local to mink level either without being charged (which
they did with a bktpcr box) or without using (STD). Chaining has already been
mentioned but it requires lone stringa of digits and speech pit more and more
faint aa the chain grows, just like it does when you stack trunks beck and forth
across the V S, The way the annuity reps snagged the phreakt was to put a simple
"nrintenneter" or pen register, as we rail it . on the HJipcct^iinc, which show? ?vcr
digit dialed (torn the subacriberh line.

Thi British prefer to get onto the trunks rather than chaining, One way was to
discovee where local calls the trank? between neighboring (Khaqp, iiart a
catln and stay an the trank instead of returning to the local lerel dn reaching the
distant, switch. This npin required exhaiHlivt dbatuig and made more work for
Titan; il also revealed "fiddles", which were inserted by Post OfHc* Engineers.
What fiddling mean* ia that the engineers, rewired the exchanges for their own
benefit . The equipment is modified to give access to a trunk without being charged,
an operation which is pretty easy in Step by Step (SxS) ekdromochaiiiea!
exchanges, which were installed in Britain even in the I970i.

A famous British “fiddteT 1 ' revealed in the early 19710^ worked by dialing 173
The caller then added the trunk code of I and the subscribers local number. At
that time, most engineering tot services began with I7X, so the engineer* could
hidt their fidd les in the nest of service wires . When security reps started searching,
llu Tiddles were concealed by tcuKS signalling: “number urvobuinabk” or
"equipment eoeapri"' which switched off after a delay. The necessary relays are
small and easily hidden. ■ ■

There wasatiother aide to phieaking in the U.K, in the sixties. Before STD vA a
widespread, many ‘'otdiiuiy" people were driven to occasional phmkutg from
sheer frustration -31 the inefficicfU operator ran trolled trunk system. This came m n
head during a strike about I%1 when operator* emild not be reached, haihnyg
complicated was needed. Many operator* had been in the habit of reireating the
codes as they dialed the requested numbers so people soon Iramed the numbers
they ca Lied frequently . The only "trick " was to know which exchange* could be
dialed through to p«4 an the trunk number, C&lfcr* also needed a pretty quiet
place to do it. since timing icktivr to clicks w» important.

The most famous trial of British phteaks ww rolled the Old Baily trial which
started on3tk,i. L9T3. Whaithe phreaks did was dial a spare number at a local call
rale but invulving a trunk to another exchange. Then they tent a "clear forward" to
their local exchange, indicating to it that iIk cell wsi finished— but the distant
exchange didnT realize this because the eallert phone wtu still off the hook- They
now had an Open line into the distant trank cxchangeand they ml a “seize" signal
(] ) which pul them an the outgoing lines. Since they figured out the codes, the
world, wo* open to thera . All other exchanges trusted the local t ucha ngf to handle
the hilling— they just interpreted the tone* they heard. Meanwhile, the local
exchange caltacud only fora local ca II. The inve^ipwmdiscoiwti the phreata
holding a conference somewhere in England surrounded by various phone
equipment and bleeper boxes, also printouts listing^secrel “ Post Office codes. The. . _
judge said, “Some take to heroin, some take to telephones " For thrm phon
phreakirtg was tUM a crime but a hobby to be shared with phdlaw enthusiasts ta
disetussed with the Post Office openly overdimicr and by mail- Their approach and ""
altitude to the world 'i largest computer, the global telephot» system, wa* that of
scientists conduttityi: experiments or pragrammErs and engineer? testing programs
end systems. The judge appeared to agree, and even liked them for phreaking
codes to use from his local exchange!

1-49

MORE ON TRASHING

What to look for, how to act, where to go

by The Kid & Co. and The Shadow

An inspection of your local Telco office trash receptacles can
reveal a wealth of documents of great interest to a telecom-
munications hobbiesi. The font company doesn't expect anyone
except maybe bums to paw through their refuse, and therefore
often disposes some interesting materials. In all the instal-
lations we have investigated, the Company doesn't shred or
i nd rterale anything, M ost sites have theii r garbage in trash hags
convenient for removal and leisurely inspection at home.

A case in point. The authors of this article have been engaged
in trashing for about three months, finding quite informative
info, but when we escorted two phriends from the city on an
expedition, we didnlt know the most efficient methods. They
came out to the boondocks of New Jersey to inspect the wealth
of AT&T and Bell installations in the region. They were quite
expert at trashing, having more experience in the art, so we
merely watched and copied their technique.

Our first hit of the night was of an AT&T Information
Systems office building. We gathered a large mass of manuals
and binders. Then we moved onward to hit AT&T Communi-
cations, the local business office, our central office, and another
Bell site. After a successful session, we deckled to call it a night .

We sorted the piles of garbage for things of merit. Our
phriends garnered the majority of the really interesting items,
but we salvaged several things of worth. This sorting session
was conducted in the center of town, to the amusement of
passers-by. It was interesting to explain to friends that passed
by what we were doing. We BS’edan inquisitive young lady into
thinking that we were a Local group of Boy Scouts cleaning the
area as a project for our Eagje Scout badge. Following the
tendency of the masses to follow falsehoods, she complimented
us on how clean the town looked, for she had been out of the
country for the last couple of months- Just remember when
"creatively explaining* to sound confident, and to have your
compatriots shut their mouths. A couple of times we almost
contradicted each other as everyone got into the flow of
falsehoods.

N Limerous th mgs of interest can be found in Bell trash. Ones
thal are of use to anyone are binders and notebooks with the
Bell logo on them, good for impressing friends. Also, supplies
of Bell letterhead are good for scaring phriends. Documents of
more interest to phreaks can also be found. Cosmos printouts
abound in any CO trash. In house telephone directories list
employees of Bell, good to try social engineering on. Manuals
also have merit for the phreak. Maintenance reports* trunk
outages reports, line reports, network control ana lysis (NC A),
TSPS documents, and lists Of abbreviations used by the font
company can be found. The latter is of great importance as it
allows one to decipher the cryptic documents , Bell seems to love
ridiculous and mysterious abbreviations and anacronyms.

“Looking for Notebooks*

The expert irasher must be willing to physically enter the
dumpster. Only reachi ng i n for easily obtai nable objects m isses
heavy manuals that tend to sink to the bottom. Huge bulky
printouts, directories, and obese manuals as well as binders
settle out of reach. Also, once in the dumpster, inquisitive
security can't see you.

we don't know, having never been caught at it. The basic fact
which protects the trasher is the ludicnou&ness of someone
stealing your garbage. Probably the most they can get you for is
trespassing, and most of the time theyll probably just throw
you off the property. Good excuses for being around the
d umpsten are that you are passing through on a shortcut, that a
bail or friabce has flown in, or thal you are Looking for
notebooks for school.

A good way to avoid unnecessary surveillance by Telco
employees is to trash late at night, after most have gone home.
Weekends, especially Sunday nights* leave the sites deserted,
except for security or janitorial staff. Before starting on a
trashing run, be sure to ceconnoiter the a rea, and to Find out the
schedule of garbage collection. That way you can hit the trash
at the fullest and most profitable time.

One thing that simplifies trashing runs is the use of a car. A
car will allow one to hit trash sites farther afield, as well as
assisting in the removal of bag* and boxes of trash to sort at
your leisure. Trash sorting really shouldn't be done on site as U
increases the possible time for disco very by security. Removing
garbage by fool invites starts and limits the amount that can be
removed- The car should drop off the t rashers and return about
a half hour later* depending on the amount of trash there.
Before dropping them off, be sure to investigate if there is any
trash in the first place for, as past experience has shown, they
tend to get quite angered when they have spent the hist hour - ^
staring at an empty trash container.

The on-site tra^hera should be willing to hop into the
dumpster. As we mentioned, this maximizes the amount 1 of
trash that can be reached. They should rip open any bag*,
shoving the uninteresting ones to the rear and bottom of the
container, while bringing new ones to the forefront. Boxes in
the trash should be used to cany the documents into the trunk
of the car for leisurely sorting. This should be done with a
minimum of noise and light, if flashlights are to be used, The
trashere shouldnt attempt to take the best stuff, just to grab as
much as looks interesting.

At the appointed time, the car should return and pick up the
trashers. Boxes should be stuffed in the trunk as quickly as
possible. Smell won't be much of a problem* as all you are
laking & re papers. Occasionally a bag of coffee grinds smells up
the works, but you, at all costs, should avoid cafeteria
dumpsters as the rotting food really reeks, and contains little of
value to the telecommunications hobbicsL

The car should then drive off to a safe and secluded spot to
sort the trash. The location should be well lit and have another
dumpster handy to throw the real trash out permanently. The
valuable stuff should be taken home and sorted according to
type. By keeping a 11 of the similar stuff together, patterns can be
recognized. Here, abbreviation lists come in handy. The date
and location where the trash is located helps to keep the junk
organized.

A careful inspection of local Telco trash receptacles can be
informative and lun. Any real phreak should find out at the
least what the switching equipment for his/hef/it^wa is. ^

Proper trashing technique is gained by experience, so climb on
Speak ing of security, what are the dangers of trashing? Wei L in! Wc3L happy trashing and have a phree day.

1-50

— '

MNO

OPER

— - J

OPER

NS A Doesn^ Feel Secure

I tie heir York Tii*ei

The National Security Agency has told Congress that United Slates
advantages in advanced teclmoldgiej, indudingdevelcpoieoi of nuclear
weapons, are threatened by the poor security of the ration’s cocnmum-
catkfoa networks.

To protect information, the agency recommended that a single
agency superv ise the development of communication security proce-
dures, the purchasing of telecommunications security equipment and
carrying out personnel security procedures.

The National Security Agency is the largest and most secretive of the
nation’s intelligence agencies. Its chief rwpoitribilitia am to collect
intelligence by eavesdropping on the electronic communications of
olher nations and to devise ways to prevent foreign countries from
acquiring the confidential messages of the Defense Department and
other security agencies,

Jerry F. Berman, legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties
U nice, agreed that the swift development of computerized communi-
cations systems had made security a legitimate public concern,

"But what is disturbing about the proposal is that it comes from the
N S. A. , a super-secretagewy with a major foreign intelligence mission
and the least accountability of any agency in the United States.
Government,'* Berman said-

"lf any agency is competent, it is the N.S. A, The problem, however,
is that they are not accountable and cannot be counted upon to weigh
oiber interests, such as the privacy of all American citizens,

“If the N r S,A, were to get involved in procurement, for example,"
Berman added, '‘they could end up putting a net of security over large
parts of the academic community and industry. It might increase

security, but it also could reduce freedom and hinder the open
development of new forms of communications, 1 "

A list was not provided of the Government telecommunications
networks that might come under the overall control of a centralized
sccurily agency if it was given a broadened mandate. The Federal
Bureau of Investigation, the General Services Administration, and the
Federal Reserve operate nations L communication networks that would
qualify as being among “the nation's automated information systems, **

Another Hacker Story

Aunjwtnt Pick

A boy who allegedly bought rare comic books and other goods
worth thousands of dollars by using a computer to get crediTcaid ■,
numbers is helping authorities trace other hackers across Ihe country,
Howard County [MDJ police say-

Hc has cooperated with local police, FBI, and Secret Service
investigators by providing information about illegal computer opera-
ting practices. I he youth allegedly bought computer equipment and
programs valued up to54jD00 by using end it card numbers supplied by
computer hackers from the Midwest. He ordered the good& by
telephone and then picked them up after their delivery to unoccupied
homes. .

Police obtained a warrant to search the boyls house August lb after
talking with an informant- Found were programs that allowed him to
patch into several long distance telephone companies illegally, Police
say he apparently was able to call around the world and arrange .
conference calls using corporate telephone lines.

[Must have been a real genius...]

AT&T Faces Serious Money Problem

AsuroUcd Pimcu^in

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, despite service
backlogs and ine reared competition, hat moved closer in recent
vmomhs to its maximum authorized profit margin for interstate long-
-distance telephone service.

A company spokesman said late last month that ATAT^ rate or
return, or proHl margin, on long distance service was 12.36 pcrcenl
after the first seven months of 1 984. The maximum authorized margin

is 12.7 5 percent annually, based uu a Jdt i a investment ill equipineiu..

Among long distance companies, only ATAT faces an Federal
Communications Commission limit on profits. The rommuram last
adjusted the margin In J981 after more than a year of study, railing it
from 1 1 percent. Should ATAT exceed itk margin, the F.C.C, can
order rate cuts.

Private Directories Soon to be Available

Hie New Vnri Thus

How valuable are the telephone directories or some of the nation^
lop banks, investment and accounting firms, insurance compa nics, a nd
corporations — especially those that include not only direct office
numbers for managers, but also home addresses and phone numbers
and, in at least one instance, such date for summer homes?

Steven Olsen is counting on their being worth a great deal. Hia firm,
Corporate Information Services, plans to sell copies of directories for
such companies as the General Motors Corporation, the RCA
Corporation; Chase Manhattan Bank; Goldman, Sachs A Company;
Arthur Andersen A Company, and Boot, Allen A Hamilton, the
management consulting firm.

Prospective buyers are told to write to a box number and ask fora
catalog detailing what Mr. Olsen raid would be a package of directories
for 250 companies from around the world . They must then submit bids
through the mail for his package Bidders topping a minimum set by
Mr. Obens company would receive the package, and, he said, "We're
not talking small money. This is a valuable source of information to
Stockbrokers, executive recruiters* [computer hackers,] insurance and
real estate brokers, and those engaged in direct-mail marketing or
telemarketing. We'Ve talking about the most powerful companies and
some of the highest-salaried people in the world.” he added.

Mr, Olsen, who raid he got his idea while working as an editor fora
computer publication [it wasnl us, wc jhtot}. showed off copies of
in-housc directories for Chase Manhattan and Goldman, Sacha during
an interview. His plans drew a cool response from both companies.

. Many other com panics declined comment on the attempted sale of
their directory information. The reaction among those that did ranged
from outrage to hearty amusement.

“WeonEy have copies of the directories,” Mr. Olsen stressed, not the
.directories themselves. “So we're not in receipt of stolen properties,
and I acquired them all legally."

But Mr. Olsen, who wants to sell other people's addresses and
telephone numbers, declined for “reasons of security' 1 to disclose the
address or telephone number of his company. There was no listing for
Corporate Information Services in telephone information for New
York City, and the address to which inquiries about the auction are to
be sent is a mailbox in ft private postal drop company on lower Fifth
Avenue, Mr. Olsen was reached through an answering service, whose
number is not as closely guarded. [The folks at 2600 would be more
than proud if some of our readers were able to Hud out this guy t phone
number so we can display it on Page Onef*f\

Mr. Olsen said that such secrecy was necessary “as protection
against attempts lo steal ordestroy this valuable database, "He said he
was followed for a time and “had to take evasive action “ last year after
a newspaper published an article about the company.

Mr. Olsen also raid that he Had no copies of company directories
that are copyrighted. Victor A. Kovner, a lawyer who is a copyright
expert, raid that If ft company has copyrighted its directory and given
notice in it, the book cannot be reproduced without permission.

M r. K ovner raid that if a company has not copyrighted its d ireciory.
then in most cases it could not prevent copies from being d inseminated.

[To illustrate this point, we have published a picture of a directory on
Page 5 that ts not copyrighted. We suggest you look at it so you II
understand this article belter. And as a public service to nearly
everyone, we challenge Mr. Olsen to beat vvr price for “public”
Information, which is simply the cost of xeroxing a nd ma iling it . Well
cheerily ma kc a vai lablt any d ocuments ( noncopyrighted , of course ! )
provided by contributors for a no-profll price. So send them on in!]

1-51

A FRIEND IN HIGH PLACES

YET ANOTHER TRUE STORY OF TELECOMMUNICATION FUN

Qnce upon a lime there waa a most unusual phone phreak
and it was a phone phreak who didn't realize it. Her name was
Joanne. She had a very remarkable position in that she was a
telephone operator in an extremely small, rural, midwestem
community. A friend of mine, who wasa radio DJ-.gotajob in
this small town. One night he had a few drinks after he got off
work. He called this operator up and started talking to her for a
while. She didn't hang up. In fact, she was quite cordial, quite
nice, quite friendly. She said,**Wnuld you like to call DiaLa-
Record (in Australia)? Or Dial-the-Timr in London? Or any
other dial-it serviced If there are any phone calls you'd like me
to place for fre just let me know,”

So Joanne proceeded to place a lot oflong distance calls for
the guy for free. He int roduced me to her and said you can call
Joanne for free by dialing a certain out-of-service number
She'd say, "What number did you dial, please?** And then she
would quickly forward it to the other intercept operator in the
nearby large city where she would tell the operator what
number was dialed and then they'd put on the standard out-of-

se price or number-changed recording, I Vi say, “ Hey Joanne, it’fc
me, call me back!** And sbe would. And l*d talk to her all night
long because i was a security guard at the time. We'd place long
distance calls, conference calk like you wouldnK believe. One
day she said that the switchboard was going to get phased
out— a new TSPS switchboard was being installed in the large
community and was going to serve all of the small communities
in a four or five state area.

But Joanne continued to be a phone phreak and to this day
sbe^ working as a secretary for a senator in Washington, DC.
She still docs some pretty remarkable things, even though she's
not an operator.

You might want to call up your local operator, provided you
Jive in a small town, and just say hi sometime. I've done it on
occasion and operators are usually fairly friendly, but far from
phone phreaks. You might want to try this with directory
assistance (they double as operators in smaller locales).

Who knows, you might find another Joanne someplace. One
never knows.

LETTERS FROM THE OUTSIDE

Dea tltiMP

Would you explain these terms to me? L don’t know what
they are:

1) phone loop

2) WATS extender.

Also, what became of TA £?

Thanks.

A Z

Dear AZ:

Phone loops are basically test circuits that the phone
company uses for various purposes. They were never intended
for use by the public. The way it works is simple- One caller
dials number A, Another caller dials number B. When both of
these people call these numbers at the same time, they become
coimcctedT Some loop* make clicking or beeping sounds every
few seconds which makes talking on them rather hard. But
others are crystal clear connections. But while they may serve a
purpose for the telco, what possible use could they be for
anyone else. Well, for one thing, in many cases there is no
choice for calling a loop number since they fall withina series of
lest number the phone company uses, Loops are also a great
way to have an anonymous conversation- it's an indirect
connection to another person instead of a direct one, although
it's far from impossible to be traced while using one. Finally,
there’s the old call-collect trick where one person calls up one
end of a loop that is within his local calling area, A friend from
far away calls the other end of the loop collect When the
connection is made between the two loops, the operator will
think that somebody answered the phone and will ask them if
they want to accept a collect ca II. The telephone company winds

up billing themselves for the call. Also, your phone number
need never be known by the person ^meeting" you on the loop,
since he + s not ever dialing your number. Loops have two ends—
the silent end and the tone end. When a connection is
established, the tone stops and conversation can begin. Loops
are almost always found within the phone company test
numbers (the 99XX suffix, in many cases). Loops are slowly but
surely dying out, however.

An extender is very similar to a Sprint or M Cl dialup, except
that it's a number used exclusively by a particular business or
organization for their phone caU$- A WATS extender is one
that is available on an 800 number. An employee calls up, hears
the dial tone, enters a code, and dials away. There are many
extenders around and many different types. Watch for an
article soon detailing these.

Asfaras TAP, we sent a message to their MCI Mailaccount,
and this is what their editor said:

44 TAP is in hiatus. 1 was evicted from my apartment last
week, put everything I cobid carry into storage, and left for
California on vacation. When 1 get back to the East Coast, 111
be getting together issues 9 L and 92. (While there is a possibi lily
of getting the issues out while I'm out here, l will not put TAP
out in California due to the restrictive state laws on proprietary
information.)

MCI Mail is a viable way of ask ing me questions that req uire
only short responses, but you should send me hard copy to
TAP\ maildrop address (RM 603, 147 West 42nd St., New
York, NY 10036) because L seldom check my MCI Mail
anywhere near a hard copy printer. MCL usually deletes my
mail before 1 can call back in and pull it out on paper.

Hope this answers your question. Keep Smiling, Chesire."

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V10RE THAN MEETS THE EAft

a directory

New York Telephon

i 5B w«i Central Ayahijs
S onflg v*\toy, N*w York 1C£77
Pftone fSlfli d?5"H5D

June 27, 19M

Wc /iave node. ieveJtal iimucceitiul attempti to neaoh you. by telephone
to ducuii an important mattiA etmcwniny tfouA telephone AW vice
Wew City axojt*

Oua azcoasU indicate, that you. am not iubicAlblng to Touch Tom
ScavIcq. but you ate u&lng a. pu&h button phone.. It tout be necenany £ot
you to. contact in no latex than July Sfid 40 that m my conoeAt youA iejivme
to Touch Tom at *fie app-.oxiat.e efuwgai. I j you £alt to do 40 you wt&£
noi be a bli to make, outgoing c alZt Inom you*, pinh button. 4 it a£t£A JuLyJ.tli
due to oua new call pnccti&lng iyitejv; which went Into e^ee* on June 9th.

The new 4y4iem It deilgmd to handle mo-te colli and phaezii them
taiteA. A Uo', It adorn £oa iophl&tlcated calling cnpabllitlet called
Custom Calling SeAolcei . Thue a zAvlca ate "Call tXattlng, Call TomvuUng,
spud Calling, and ThAee Way Calling".

You my Ulan* <0 Aubietibe to thete tenvlcei when you*. conoeAt to Touch

Tone.

Ptetae contact tnc befpti TuJLy $ttd, &o that T can make the n&cte&ahy
ajuutn$cmzxit6 to cflftrtcct you. tint -to Touch Tout itntf &-void any ijtt&JOiiiptton
in youft. outgoing bvivice.

Sincexely,

[MtojALJ, Coyne
R^&aen ftutivt.

OH NO! THIS PERSONS CENTRAL OFFICE HAS SWITCHED OVER TO ESS OR THE EQUIVALENT,
WHICH MEANS NO MORE FREE USE OF TOUCH TONES*. AND SOMEHOW (PROBABLY THROUGH
THE USE OF FCC REGISTRATION NUMBERS) THE PHONE COMPANY FOUND OUT THAT THIS
PERSON WAS USING A “PUSH-BUTTON". BY THE WAY, CHECK OUT THE MANY TYPOS IN THIS
LETTER. WE COUNTED FIVE MAJOR SCREWUPS, AND THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE-