
From telecom-request@delta.eecs.nwu.edu  Tue Aug 22 23:18:18 1995
by
1995
23:18:18 -0400
telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:24:14 -0500
1995
20:24:11 -0500
To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 22 Aug 95 20:24:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 354

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    IntegreTel/VRS Billing-Bulk Block Procedure (Joshua G. Fenton)
    Re: Integratel Customer Service (John Levine)
    WKP, Infotext, and Carrier Assignments (Van Heffner)
    Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (Nathan Duehr)
    Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (Darryl Kipps)
    Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (bkron@netcom.com)
    Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (David Devereaux-Weber)
    2500 Set Schematics Wanted (Charles B. Robey)
    Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Linc Madison)
    Sending Telegrams via the World Wide Web (Nigel Allen)
    AT&T Credit For Cut Calls (Steven Lichter)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------



Pat,

The accounts payble administrator here has been working very hard to
get through to IntegreTel, Inc. & VRS Billing Systems, Inc. to block
numbers from our campus.  After several weeks, she managed to get a
decent rep who provided the following information via fax:

(My paraphrasing, exact text is denoted by "")

To block 10 numbers or less, call 1-800-BLOCKME (800-256-2563)

[TELECOM Editor's Note: Really, 1-800-4-BLOCKME (800-425-6256, optional 
3)
See my note at the end of this file.  PAT]

Larger quantities of numbers, you can send an ASCII text file on
diskette.  The file must be a flag text file, not WordPerfect, Excel,
etc.  Each phone number should be on a separate line, 10 digit number,
followed by carriage return.  No dashes, commas, or blanks.  "If
numbers are within a range, please include the range in a cover
letter".  Enclose a cover letter with: company, organization, or
institution name, address, contact person with phone number in case of
processing errors.

Mail diskette to:
IntegreTel/VRS Billing Systems, Inc.
Consumer Relations Department
PO Box 611987
San Jose CA  95161-1987

Questions should be directed to the 1-800-BLOCKME number.

"Please note: This blocking services if free of charge and normally
takes 10 working days to take effect.  This blocking service takes
advantage of modern blocking technology that should prohibit access
to services, but is not 100% guaranteed and only effective for such
services that are billed by VRS Billing Systems and/or IntegreTel."

Hope all of you find this information helpful!


Joshua Fenton

ccjf@augustana.edu or joshuaf@sparc5.augustana.edu
Joshua G. Fenton, Augustana College Computing Services
Phone +1.309.794.7309, Fax +1.309.794.7431
639-38th Street, Rock Island IL  61201-2296 USA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried it your way and got a sort
of irritated lady who told me it was 4-BLOCK-ME **not** BLOCK-ME.
So I redialed it as suggested and did indeed get through to an
automatic service. I only have a couple of complaints about it
and both are minor. Your ANI is delivered to them at the time you
call, and if you indicate you wish to block your home number, they
respond by blocking the ANI given to them without an opportunity
to block *additional* residence numbers unless apparently you call
them from each line involved, one at time. They offer the choice of
blocking '800 callback services' as well as 'international services'.
A third option is to block 'all services billed by Integratel/VRS'.
They do offer a menu selection for blocking of business phones but
I did not try that one. Perhaps it allows more than one entry per
call. 

To repeat though, as the irritated lady told me -- after apparently
receiving many such calls -- 'the number for those people is eight
digits long': (1-800) 4BLOCK-ME, or 1-800-425-6256. What you do with 
the '3' on the end is up to you, I guess. 

Maybe this could be the start of something new in the USA: Eight digit
numbers, with Integratel boldly providing the leadership and setting
the example for other telco organizations -- even Bellcore!  <grin>  
PAT]

------------------------------



> me: "I can be charged for 800 number calls?  I thought they were 
free."
> Her: "You sure can - calls to psychic hotline, chat lines, others."

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: She was speaking a little shorthand in
> the call and should have perhaps been more precise. There is no charge
> to the caller for carriage of his traffic to an 800 number. ...

I was under the distinct impression that IXCs were permitted to charge
to an 800 caller's line only with a prior written agreement, under a
recent FCC rule.

We went around with this a while ago, with many people pointing out
that often someone who was using a phone to call an 800 number had no
authority to charge anything to that phone line.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It can be a 'verbal agreement' as well,
or an 'agreement' that is implied by some single action on the part of
the caller such as pressing a touchtone button. In fairness to the
folks who run those services, bear in mind that many magazine and mail
order purchases come with forms already addressed in your name with
your only action required being to check a box entitled "YES ... send
me a subscription and bill me later." Those have been upheld as legal,
with the rule being that as long as the respondent is required to take
'some positive action in agreement with the proposal made by the seller'
then the contract is enforceable. If you and I mutually agree that your
pressing a button on the phone and causing the phone to make a noise 
that my computer understands to mean 'yes' will commence the sale or
delivery of my goods or services to you, then I gotcha!  Since voicemail
and the pressing of buttons on phone to communicate requests and
decisions is very common these days, one can hardly claim that the
same principle, when used by Information Providers is somehow too 
unusual
or different in nature.  Check a box ... press a button ... etc.   

The other thing the IP's successfully claimed was that in 'regular
telephone calls' the operator is allowed to accept your verbal
approval to charge your number for a collect call. No prior written
agreement is required when the operator asks, "I have a collect call
will you accept the charges."  Therefore, the IP's said it is an
unfair advantage for telco to be able to work with verbal agreements
on charges to telephone accounts but for us to be required to have
written agreements."  And in these times in which we live -- the era of
post-divestiture and all -- the telco is required to deal with one and
all at 'arms length' as they say. If Western Union, an entity separate
and not associated with telco, is permitted to speak with you on the 
telephone and charge the cost of your transaction to your telephone bill
based on your verbal statements, then other vendors similarly situated
must be permitted to do so as well said one IP.  You dial an 800 number
to speak with the Western Union operator don't you?  It never occurred
to you that you were being 'charged for a call to an 800 number' when 
Western Union charges were placed on your phone bill, did it?  Good ...
now we understand one another.   PAT]

------------------------------



I don't know of any way to identify 500 carrier assignments at the
moment, but if you are looking for 800/900 number assignments there is
a relatively quick (and cheap) way to do so.

  Infotext Magazine (the trade journal of the pay-per-call industry)
sponsors a toll-free audiotext service called The Interactive Exchange. 
It contains some useful information, including:

* 800 & 900 NXX CARRIER ASSIGNMENTS
  Let's you quickly access 800 and 900 NXX assignments.
  Just enter the 3-Digit NXX code.

* WEEKLY NEWS
  Weekly news updates on the pay-per-call industry.

* STATE INFORMATION
  Enter the two-letter state postal abbreviation to hear
  pay-per-call regulatory news for that state. A list of
  all area codes (including NANP) for that state is also
  given.

* CARRIER INFORMATION
  Supposedly updated information on new carrier features.
  All I ever hear when using this feature is the carrier's
  address and phone number. Press 'A' for AT&T, 'M' for MCI, and
  'S' for Sprint.

THE INTERACTIVE EXCHANGE: 1-800-321-TEXT

Like any voicemail-type IVR system, it seems to send you to
the wrong places at times, and can be a bit confusing. The price
is right though! You don't even have to pay for the phone call
(and NO, it is not an 800 number that bills you back onto your
phone bill).

  I would also highly recommend reading {Infotext Magazine}. It is
really the only publication (left) that caters to the 'service
bureau industry'. Just reading some of the ads from the service
bureaus gives an interesting insight into what is going on in
the industry. It is free to qualified subscribers. You can find
subscription info at our FAQ File homepage below.


P.S. FYI, I just looked at their latest issue, and guess who has
the centerfold ad?  WKP, Incorporated! Here is a little snippet of
their ad:

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WKP is the audiotext industry's only full-service carrier serving
domestic and international markets. WKP has emerged as the leader
in the US market providing solutions for all forms of domestic and
international dialing.

WKP Offers:
* All transport, switching, call processing and accounting.
* Multiple dialing plans including: 10XXX, 011, 500, 800 and
  many alternative transport vehicles.
* A choice of service bureaus that provide audiotext, live
  one-on-on (SIC), psychic, conference calling and many
  other live and recorded services.
* Billing company choices that process call records at WKP
  tariffed/dominant carrier rates.
* 800 billing on LEC Calling Card, Visa/Mastercard and Check
  Debit.
* Comprehensive fraud control and caller screening.
* Customized tag messaging.
* No start-up fees, no number fees and no minimum volumes
  required.

<blah, blah, blah....>

For more information (on WKP) please contact Brayton Johnson
at 206-622-4187.

WKP INCORPORATED
1200 Fifth Ave., #1206
Seattle, WA  98101
Tel: (800) 882-9215 (!)
Fax: (206) 622-3708
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


BTW, I have ABSOLUTELY NO association with Infotext or WKP
whatsoever. I do find Infotext facinating reading though.


Van Hefner
Publisher
Discount Long Distance Digest
vantek@northcoast.com

FAQ FILE HOMEPAGE
http://www.webcom.com/~longdist/dldfaq.html 

------------------------------



Michael Fumich <0003311835@mcimail.com> wrote:

[Clipped a big story about how Michael called Allnet Long Distance and
was trying to find out who is responsible for some phony 500 numbers
that are sending calls overseas to "adult phone services" at
horrendous rates.  Allnet responded that they don't do that kind of
business, and that their company practice is not to do so.]

> The plot thickens!:

> When I dial 10718-1-700-555-4141, the equal access test number, I find
> that I have reached "The Equal Access Dialing" network. When I dial
> 10718 +0 + # to reach an operator the call does not complete and gives 
me
> Switch "WCCH2".

> The exact same thing happens with 10509, assigned to International
> Audiotext Network Inc. , also of Seattle WA. In fact, several PIC's
> known to be used by Adult Service Providers gave me the recordings 
> described above.

> The heart of the matter?:

> "WCCH2" in fact indicates the call is being handled by WCT, Inc. a
> long distance company located in San Luis Obispo CA. I was informed
> that "Worldcall" was one of their brands. WCT is owned by Frontier
> Communications International as is (surprise!) ALLNET. I probed 
> further (and higher up) and when I mentioned WKP? BOOM! "Who are YOU!"
> "What do you REALLY want?" "No Comment!" etc., etc. etc.

There is no secret here, Allnet and WCT were both purchased by
Frontier Communications *very recently*.  In fact, Allnet's
shareholders just agreed to the merger Wednesday.  Other companies
purchased include ConferTech, American Sharecom, Schneider
Communications, LinkUSA, and ETI.  The only company expected to be
operating under their old name after the merger is complete is
LinkUSA.  All of the other companies will become Frontier
Communications.

> My mother had a saying she was rather fond of ... "Oh what a tangled
> web we weave, when we practice to deceive" . This is a very tangled
> web indeed!

I think you are looking in the wrong place.  My guess would be that as
these companies merge, their traffic will be handled on the "other"
company's switches, etc.  Allnet probably has no idea that they are
carrying this traffic.


Nathan Duehr, Technical Service Associate
ConferTech International, Wholly Owned by ALC Communications (Allnet)

The opinions above are my own, and not the opinions of ALC.
I guess I'd better say that.

------------------------------



In article <telecom15.350.7@eecs.nwu.edu>, 0003311835@mcimail.com is: 

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well readers, if your PBX is capable of
> screening as far the prefix within an area code, you might want to 
Snip
> also. And don't forget 900-999. That one is very bizarre and very 
> expensive.

_
            


Pat ... are you referring to (900) 999-XXXX or (500) 900-XXXX thru 
999-XXXX?

> And I do not grouse about them because they do sex talk on the phone.
> My complaint is that they moved out the tidy little box we had for
> them known as 900/976 where phone system admins could be protected
> against abuse, and began abusing 800 as well.  I don't care what 
anyone
> chats about on the phone or their computer as long as they pay their
> own bills, and 900/976 along with billed number screening was one way
> to assure that was pretty much done.   PAT]

AMEN!


Darryl Kipps  dkipps@globalcom.net
CIS: 72623.456   Winchester, VA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was referring to 900-999. Those can
really get raunchy, and quite expensive. I guess we can assume the
adult phone services are like any other business in the 'community'
which a large segment of the community finds distasteful. Consider the
adult bookstore in your community: how many different times have
petitions been passed and motions made at city council meetings to
have them closed down or moved to a different location under the
guise of zoning restrictions, etc. People say adult bookstores and
prostitution should all be confined to a so-called 'red light district'
and as to be expected, the people involved in those businesses fight
such efforts to restrict them. You say they bring down the neighborhood
and cause a lot of 'victimless crimes' to occur. There is no such thing 
as victimless crime (if some action has been codified as a crime, then
by definition there are victims involved), but that is not the point I
wish to make. It takes a major effort to remove nuisances of that sort
if indeed there is any constitutional right to remove them at all. 

We sort of had it nicely controlled before with the equivilent of a 'red
light district' in the 900/976 territory. But when business started to
go to down because the assigned district was so out of the way and
difficult to reach that most citizens did not go past there on a regular
basis anyway, the merchants in that district decided they needed to
expand.  They moved out on Main Street once again with their wares in
plain view, knowing full well that as the poet John Bunyan said, "what
we say, and what we do, in real life are often two." 

So here they are once again on Main Street: Alexander Graham Bell 
Boulevard,
with new and shiny storefronts in the 500 block, instead of their old
location down in the 900 block where no one goes any longer except a few
people who still know ways of getting around all the barricades the
community put up down there. 

So *now* what do you propose to do people?  Block 500's as well?  PAT] 

------------------------------



jensoft@blarg.com (Jensoft) writes:

> Baylan Communications Inc
> Vienna VA

It's actually in Sterling, VA.

> International Audiotext Network
> Seattle WA
> 206-286-5200

This one answers "Callback Services" with a voice-prompt menu offering
to connect you with various departments.  When you select "information
about our services" and are routed to the "telesales" department, you
get a live human being ... at 1 o'clock in the morning!

> This last one isn't exact, but it's a likely culprit! 
> W K Enterprises Inc
> Tacoma WA

Hardly!  They're a cabinet shop here in Washington state!

------------------------------



Pat,

I have reservations about distributing this information, but it may help
someone who is attempting to investigate this company.

Regarding WKP.COM:  If you point your World Wide Web browser at

http://www.wkp.com

you get "Internet Strip Show".  For $15(?) per day (charged to your VISA 
or
Mastercard), you can watch "live strippers" over the Internet.



David Devereaux-Weber, P.E.            djdevere@facstaff.wisc.edu
The University of Wisconsin - Madison  Division of Information 
Technology
Network Engineering            (608)262-3584(voice) (608)265-5838(FAX)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How fascinating. I wonder if as a service
to bored office workers sitting around at four in the afternoon waiting
for five o'clock to come they also allow you to charge it to the phone
number to which your modem is connected?  That would sure get things in
an uproar wouldn't it ... <grin> ...

Speaking of c-sex, I am amazed at the large number of office workers and
assorted bureaucrats with computers and modems at their disposal one 
will
find on Compuserve CB in the middle of the afternoon. Check it out 
sometime.
Login to the adult CB simulator some afternoon and see all the business
executives, etc sitting on there, purportedly reading 'email' or working
on the company's latest 'contract proposal' ...  PAT]

------------------------------



I have a friend who has, squirreled away in his garage, a very old
wood telephone, with the crank and all.  I offered to get it working
for him if he could find me an old 2500 set, to take the network from.
He got it, but when I went looking for my old ITT maintenance manual,
well, I couldn't find it.  Does anyone have a schematic for a 2500
set, so I can figure how do the wiring involved with this?

If this is in computer form, could you mail it to me?  I don't work in
telecom any more, but I know what to do with it.


Chuck Robey      chuckr@eng.umd.edu     
9120 Edmonston Ct #302 
Greenbelt, MD 20770  (301) 220-2114         

------------------------------



James E. Bellaire (bellaire@tk.com) wrote:

> Q. Why should NPAs be required to split rather than be overlaid?

> A. They should not.  NPA overlays have been in use for several years 
in
>    New York and California.  This means 10 or 11 digit dialing for 
local
>    calls, with the old users being able to keep their numbers.  
Sometimes
>    7 digit dialing is allowed IF the area code is the same.

This is utterly false.  There are no (zero) NPA overlays in California
and there is only one that is in VERY limited use in New York.  The
415/510 split was a split, not an overlay.  The 213/818/310 and
714/619/909 splits were splits, not overlays.  The 212/718/718 split
(I list 718 twice because the Bronx initially kept 212 but later moved
into 718) was a split, not an overlay.  The 917 overlay on 212/718 is
used only by a small number of cellular phones.  In none of these
cases were old users able to keep their numbers, except to the extent
that the original plan for 917 was abandoned.  (The plan was to force
all cellular and beeper numbers into 917.)

There is one planned NPA overlay coming to California, but the details
are still in flux.  I believe the first fully operational overlay in
the U.S. will be Houston, Texas, ACs 713/281, and the people in
Houston are NOT happy about it, either.

In California, all calls to a different NPA, whether local or toll,
must be dialed as 11 digits.  All calls within a given NPA, whether
local or toll, may be dialed as 7 digits.  Thus, from my home in San
Francisco, a local call to Oakland is 11 digits but a toll call to
Palo Alto is 7.


Linc Madison   *   San Francisco, California   *   LincMad@Netcom.com

------------------------------



Unitel Communications Inc. now allows users to file telegrams using
the World Wide Web.

If your Web browser supports forms, go to
http://www.alliance9000.com/E/10/ORDER.HTML to send your telegram.
For more information, see http://www.alliance9000.com/E/10/10.HTML

I realize that the telegram is now largely obsolete, but it's
interesting seeing Unitel do this.

It's quite a change from walking down to CNCP's Halifax telegraph
office late at night eighteen or nineteen years ago to have stories
from the student newspaper at Dalhousie University sent as press-rate
telegrams to the telex machine in Ottawa of Canadian University Press,
the co-operative news agency of student newspapers.


Nigel Allen (formerly of The Dalhousie Gazette)
52 Manchester Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1V3, Canada
Internet: ndallen@io.org   http://www.io.org/~ndallen
Telephone: (416) 535-8916

------------------------------



It seems that AT&T now has a new policy on giving you credit for
calls of one minute. My BBS calls its Hub during the night to get
its mail and newsgroups. At times for one reason or another the
call will get cut off; maybe because of something in the network
or noise or god knows what; remember it is a modem and not voice.
Up until this month when I called to get the credit; most times it
is just a few cents and never amounts to much, but money is money when
you run a BBS and don't charge. 

Now they will not give you credit unless there is another call right 
after
the bad one. Well this last month was a real bad one and in one case
my system tried 14 times right in a row and never got connected; other
times it was just a time or two and then maybe did not get connected
because the other end got busy or did not answer. 

I took my complaint through the system and yesterday got a call from
the Ofice of The Chairman of AT&T, who said that a credit would be
issued for a grand total of $4.95 with tax. It seems that the manager
with AT&T at a lower level was willing to lose a customer for such a
be issued for a grand total of $4.95 with tax. It seems that the
manager with AT&T at a lower level was willing to lose a customer for
such a small amount because of their so called new policy. 

They would have lost both my phones as well as my wats line, which is
a lot more.  This person told me that they could not say that they
would issue a credit each month this happens, but if it is just a
couple of times I never even bother. The reason behind this policy is
they can't be sure if it is their equipment, local equipment or the
subscriber's equipment on either end and besides the phone circuts are
made for voice. 

Right on all of the above, but I never got anything for the call since
I was cut off, and the newer modems are made to work over the voice
network just fine as is proved by my 95% trouble free operation.  I
also pointed out that the modems we are using are made by AT&T
Paredyne, so maybe there is a problem with them. Also AT&T now has
Internet access and they will have the same problems we all have.  He
agreed that this is an ongoing problem that they will live with, this
was not the chairman and I don't think he will even hear about it, but
should this occur again I will move my service as with the small
users the costs are almost all the same, I have checked.


The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer 
is.
SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909)359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours,
Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They were not 'willing to lose your 
business
over $4.95', they were willing to lose your business because you nickle 
and
dime them to death month after month over credit for stuff that in all 
likely-
hood is *not* their fault. People seem to feel that whenever there is a
problem with a phone call the phone company is automatically at fault 
and
should be required to absorb the loss. I disagree.  AT&T and the local 
telcos
are usually more than generous about making allowances when there is any
question at all about who is at fault. The local telcos routinely write 
off
small amounts as a courtesy to the IXC's rather than charge them back 
for
investigation and the IXC's do the same for the local telcos. Rarely is 
it
worth the time to investigate *where* the fault occured in a telephone
connection.  Both the IXC's and the local telcos also write off a lot of
charges due to just plain customer stupidity and stubborness also; it 
costs 
less than it does to have to respond to a commission complaint filed by 
a 
subscriber who read some consumer journal and knows his rights by God! 
and 
wants his money back. 

Everyone knows that the human ear is far less sensitive to noise on
the line than a modem, and that the human brain can make sense out of
things a modem would be completely confused by. Telephones come with
receivers which are placed against your ear, not with modem connections.  
That over simplfies it a little, but I have seen idiots ask for credit
on the dumbest things.  A few years ago a lady goes to a payphone and
dials my *modem* number in error. Or rather, she dialed it correctly
because her basic premise -- the number she thought she wanted -- was
incorrect. She stands there at the payphone and makes five calls in a
row to my modem, then has the unmitigated gall to call up repair
service and report my number out of order 'because there are just loud
noises on the line when I call it.'  The repair guy calls me on my
other line to ask me if there is a problem. I told him there was not,
and he tells me about this lady, and how after turning me in to repair
then wants to know how to get back the money she lost in the payphone
due to this 'phone company screwup' ... everything is the phone 
company's 
fault, you see.

Ask the newspapers, ask any talking head on your television set. Area 
codes
change on every street corner?  Must be a plot by the phone company to
turn more local calls into long distance ones. As we used to say in 
years
past to CB'ers with poor quality radios, "Take it back to K-Mart or
Radio Schlock and demand a refund. Tell 'em to give you back your 
welfare
check for this month then go by a decent radio that doesn't sound like 
pooh!"
Put in 1995 terms, check those modems and their settings. Look for loose
connections on your own premises. Consult with other users of the same
hub and see if they also have hassles like this every night during the
National Mail Hour. Ask the sysop of your hub to relate his experiences.
Once you have completely eliminated yourself and your hub as the source
of this problem ... or at least 75 percent of it, *then* go to telco and
get your refund for this month. Otherwise quit bothering them.  And by
the way, if you think AT&T is stingy with refunds due to customer 
goodwill,
try one of the others you highly tout. See how soon they get a bellyful
of your complaints also.   PAT]

------------------------------



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This one could be retitled as a "Last
Laugh!", my periodic joke feature ... but then I realized the guy is
serious.  Read on ...   PAT]

SPEAK UP AMERICA -- MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT


Question:  Should the United States Government interfere and put 
           restrictions on the use of the Internet??

CALL:  1-900-945-5600  ext  163  and cast your vote.

Cost:  $1.98 per call (NOT per minute)  Call Today

       Must be 18+/Touch Tones Only

       InfoService/Studio City, CA/213-993-3366

Results of this survey will be compiled and sent to members of 
the House and Senate.  Thank you for casting your vote and for 
making your voice heard.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Isn't that precious!  I wonder what
he thinks 202-225-3121 is used for?  I wonder if he has ever heard
of whitehouse.gov or of the various representatives in Congress who
have email addresses?

*Why* -- pray tell -- would anyone with an Internet address who reads
his message not simply send email to the proper people? Oh? You don't
know what net addresses to use? That's okay, I have dozens of long
winded messages in my queue here from the EFF/ACLU/CPSR and other
groups who will be more than glad to tell you who you should be email
bombing on a daily basis. Not only that, they know just what you should
say when you write.  

When this guy wrote me, he cross-posted to about a hundred other groups
on Noisenet. I suspect when the software saw me in there (moderated) it
probably jinxed his message from reaching all the other groups. At the 
same 
time as the above arrived, I got another one touting a 900 'dateline'
service, where if I so choose, I may meet the man of my dreams. He
wanted that one printed also, to the same hundred or so noisegroups.
Perhaps as a courtesy, I should carefully remove my name out of the
newsgroups line, and feed the whole thing back into the stream again so
that others may be as amused as I was by this fellow.  <grin>   

So you see, it isn't just AOL that comes up with rather incredible 
people
sending out messages. Obviously netcom has a few stashed away also.
As I said, a last laugh for today ... but not a very funny one.  PAT]

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End of TELECOM Digest V15 #354
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