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The Telecom Digest
Friday, November 4, 2022

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Copyright © 2022 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.
Volume 41 Table of Contents Issue 244
FCC Expands Disability Access Obligations Of Inmate Calling Service Providers And Proposes Additional Regulatory Changes
DC Circuit Upholds FCC Order Reallocating Part Of 5.9 GHZ Band For Unlicensed Use
How one determined woman fought an identity theft nightmare
Uber tests push notification ads, a feature literally no one wants
Message-ID: <20221103172455.GA703123@telecomdigest.us> Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2022 17:24:55 +0000 From: Bill Horne <malQRMassimilation@gmail.com> Subject: [telecom] FCC Expands Disability Access Obligations Of Inmate Calling Service Providers And Proposes Additional Regulatory Changes FCC Expands Disability Access Obligations Of Inmate Calling Service Providers And Proposes Additional Regulatory Changes To Improve Communications For Inmates With Hearing And Speech Disabilities by Michal Nowicki On September 8, 2022 the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC" or "Commission") released a report and order and further notice of proposed rulemaking adopting sweeping changes to its regulations governing access to telecommunications relay services (TRS) for incarcerated individuals with hearing and speech disabilities. The new rules require inmate calling service (ICS) providers to offer all federally compensable forms of TRS, including video relay service (VRS), Internet Protocol Relay Service (IP Relay), and Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) (collectively, Internet-based telecommunications relay services ("iTRS")), to eligible inmates in most correctional centers, and, with a narrow exception for the voice component of IP CTS, prohibit ICS providers from charging inmates for these services. They also establish special carceral TRS user registration requirements for IP CTS providers to address the unique challenges associated with accessing these services in correctional environments and clarify how certain mandatory TRS minimum service standards apply in carceral settings. https://tinyurl.com/4cvmr4hc ************************** Moderator's Note ************************** Well, well ... it seems that letting former inmates vote will have some positive effects after all. :-) Bill Horne
Message-ID: <20221103140333.GA701882@telecomdigest.us> Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2022 14:03:33 +0000 From: Bill Horne <malQRMassimilation@gmail.com> Subject: [telecom] DC Circuit Upholds FCC Order Reallocating Part Of 5.9 GHZ Band For Unlicensed Use by Ronald E. Quirk, Jr. On August 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ("D.C. Circuit") struck down a challenge to a 2020 Report and Order by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC" or "Commission") which reallocates 45 MHz of the 5.850-5.925 GHz spectrum band ("5.9 GHz band") for commercial unlicensed use, including Wi-Fi and similar services. Specifically, the FCC designated the 5.850-5.895 GHz portion for unlicensed use, while allocating the 5.895-5.925 GHz section for intelligent transportation system ("IT\ S") operations. https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/telecoms-mobile-cable-communications/1246534/dc-circuit-upholds-fcc-order-reallocating-part-of-59-ghz-band-for-unlicensed-use?email_access=on
Message-ID: <16F11B16-A016-4BD2-8FB7-778315C9E8A5@roscom.com> Date: 3 Nov 2022 10:53:59 -0400 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: [telecom] How one determined woman fought an identity theft nightmare Identity theft happened to me. It could happen to you. Our systems enable bad actors to commit identity fraud and generally get away with it. But it doesn't have to be this way. In my experience as a victim of identity theft, and as a reporter interviewing experts about the problem, I've encountered a few ideas for how to fix things. Some are small, detail-oriented changes that would make life easier for victims and harder for thieves. Some are medium-sized: policies or programs that would make it harder to commit this crime. And some are big-picture things that would provide broader protections for our increasingly online lives. I've organized them here roughly in order from "doable" to "daunting." https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2022-10-26/identity-theft-nightmare ************************** Moderator's Note ************************** The problem with *ANY* plan to reduce identity theft is that we have to eliminiate the weakest link in the system: the users! The U.S. banking system has been largely converted to an electronic transaction system, designed from the start to eliminate the need for any oh-so-expensive humans to interract with the oh-so-gullible and oh- so-profitable customers whom have been taught to do the jobs which used to be done by actual employees. It's surprisingly hard to fool a traind and experiened bank teller - but fooling technologically ignorant consumers is amazingly easy. If we could convince every Yuppie and "Gen [X|Y|Z]" glitterati-worshipping fool^h^h^h^h customer to abandon their cute, sexy, stylish dumb phones and go back to writing paper checks and doing business face-to-face, we'd still be left behind the eight-ball, trying to convince the rulers of our nation that the extra machinery, software, and (Heaven Forfend!) IT employees wouldn't cost them more than their current insurance bills and bribes^h^h^h^h^h campaign contributions. Inevitably, there will be an electronic meltdown: the ever-increasing amount of automation and the Bankers oh-so-sincere spokesmen will be overwhelmed by hungry natives in the former colonies, who will transfer a few Trillion into the electronic piggybanks of their new ruling class. After that, assuming our society remains functional, there will be some actual, verifiable changes made. Bill Horne
Message-ID: <F26CD02A-E973-4851-94E2-2951EE49CDD3@roscom.com> Date: 1 Nov 2022 09:16:28 -0400 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: [telecom] Uber tests push notification ads, a feature literally no one wants Uber recently launched its new advertising division and in-app ads. Apparently, those ads aren't staying within the app. Instead, ads from other companies are being sent out as push notifications, much to the chagrin of some Uber users. Over the weekend, people turned to Twitter to complain about the notifications, sharing screenshots of ads, including one particularly popular (sic) one from Peloton that Uber had sent out. One of the primary complaints: notifications are being sent out when users aren't engaging with the app. https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/31/uber-tests-push-notifications-a-feature-literally-no-one-wants/ ************************** Moderator's Note ************************** In my not-so-humble opinion, the Internet is quietly being Gerrymandered from a peer-to-peer model into a one-way-only content delivery system. The 30 Old White Men who run America were more than a little frightened by the use of text messaging and peer-to-peer cellphone-based aps to organize the January 6, 2021 riots in Washington, D.C., and although they might have approved of - or planned - the expected results, the widespread discontent with the current political system which followed has them on edge - and probably worried about how influencers and commentators and even aged Vietnam veterans like me express thoughts that might knock their proverbial pig off his fictional ladder before they've finished changing the rules again. Bill Horne
End of The Telecom Digest for Fri, 4 Nov 2022
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