DO YOU HAVE BAC K ISSUES OF 26007 If not. look what you're missing!

1984

AHOY' an Introduction to 2600. 81 GOES AFTER ADS HACKERS FBI 'nveSllgator unwittingly
revpals tactics and recent activities
f-LASH LICA dlscusses GTE fdlds, AT&T credit cards, wireless phone troubl THE 1 RUTH Bt.HIND
THOSE 9999 NUMBERS a toll free error
story DATA variOus White House exlenslons. HACKING ON TELENET -- how to sot felenel
use, ESS ORWELL 5 PROPHECY __ the first In a
serle on the fun and udngers of ESS, FLASH directory assistance ci1anges, CQrTlpUlel
all -ban, AT&T credit cards, etc , SOME THOUGHTS
ON GARBAGE PICKING first of a series of trashing for valuable mform<illon as related \0
a diScussion of crosstalk DATA COUNTRY
CODES every last country cooe for overseas dialing, THE CONSTITUTION OF A HACKER -- a dlcusslon
of hacking, ALTERNATE

LONG
DIS, T ANCE MCI-- history, systems, 'tnd serVices, FLASH 718, Connecticut wlretdps, Sweden person
numbers, etc , THE FIRS T ATOMIC
OMB an inSide story on the event as related to our nation's phone system, DATA ARPANET
HOSTS list 01 acceSSible hosts, WHOS!::.
STRIKE WAS THAT ANYWAY? a startling analYSIS of summer 83 phone strike, THE TROUBLE
WITH TELEMAIL diSCuSSion of GTE's
Irre JOnslblllty In protectmy their system, FLASH AT&T credit cards, portable
prisons, 414 S plead, etc , A TRUE SAGA OF
TELECONF-ERENCING what can happen on a teleconference, DATA MCI ACCESS NUMBERS
OIALUPS FOR MCI MAIL, PHONE BOOK
COLLAGE_ ttl
our artistiC heritage In phone book deS igns, THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF A STEP
OFFICE dISCUSSion of Ins and Guts of
,mtIQuated phone systems, IBM S AUDIO DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM USing vOice messaging
technology, FLASH 414 sentenCing, equal
au , ess. bank record privacy. etc THE WOES OF HAVING A SMALL TIME RURAL PHONE
COMPANY -- a true story, DATA AVAILABLE
Nt. TWORS ON THE DEFENSE DATA NETWORK
a list including base addresses, EASYLINK ACCESS NUMBERS ARPANET HOPPING
'
AMI-RICA S NfWEST PASTIME how II works and tiPS for Its use, ELECTRONIC SWITCHING
ADVANCES 50me of the poSSIble serVices
dnd drawbdcks, FLASH Directory asslstdl1ce charges, 2600 writer indIcted, demISe of E
COM. etc, THE DARK AND TRAGIC SIDE OF THE
GREAT BREAK UP a frank diSCUSSion, LETTE.RS sysop problems. 518-789 an XY step. etc ,
DATA E COM ACCESS NUMBERS--dlal ups
l or th e (now-defunct) service. NY TELEPHONE-' LEITER OF DOOM
a copy of a law enfOlcement monitoring notice, " LOOKOUT, HE'S GOT
,
A COMPUTERI
a defense of the hacker Viewpoint, MCI MAIL THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES -an analySIS
of theweJl knOV\fn faulty E-rnad
ystern. FLASH curnputerlled meter maid, blue oox arreSIS, anti hack lglsldtIOr1, INTRODUCING
THE CLEAR BOXI -- post-pay payphone
deVICe, LEERS new SWItching equIpment. 99 scanning, reJjulsive operator stury,
etc SPECIAL REPOAT TRW
BIG BUSINESS IS
JVATCHING YOU tlOW to use TRW al1U an assessment at the potential of thiS system, BUT HOW
DOES IT WORK) - a Simple explanation of
the phone system. WirIng, voltages, black boxes ring, etc PRIVACY LOST
a review of DaVid Burnham 50 tx>ok "The Rise of the Computer
Stdte' BE NICE-' TO YOUR TE-'LCO how mdlvldudls are abUSing their telcos, FLASH Big Brother In Miami, NASA computer
break-in,
computer export controls, 800 directories. LE Tn RS ,-",hone scramblers, page numbers
Ilacker S tx>ok, etc , DATA CNA NUMBERS list of
CNA s A HCKER S GUIDF TO AN ARFA COD!::
a sl(nple SCheme 10 nelp 'map out exchanges In your area, HISTORY OF BRlTISH
PHR_AKING an account of tile tllstory and knl nl ques, MORE ON TRASHING what to look for where
to go, how 10 act. A FRIEND IN HIGH
PLACES story of a friendly operdt H, FLASH NSA insecurity hacker caught. prlvale directOries,
LEfTERS phone IO<:XJ. WATS, TAP. etc ,
DATA A NON COPYRIGHTED DIRlCIORY, NY TE.LEPHONE BIG BROTHER LEITERS
tOUCl1 tone Without perll\lSSlon, etc, GETTING
CAUGHT HACKf-R S VIEW a story of the personal etfeLls 01 hacking, VITAL INGREDIENTS what
makeS the phones work operators
SWitching, FLASH NSA want:. beller phones, crime computer Victim, wiretap loopholes.
911 alldcker caught. LEITERS BBS diSCUSSion
Cumsec Lettef Computer Crime Data, ottwrs. DATA NY TELEPHONE SECURITY NUMBERS.
MCI ANECDOTE dds. vulgarlsrns. MCi
Lhdlrlnan profile, PHONE BOOK COLLAGE ::J2, EXPLORING CAVE::. IN TRAVELNET
an Interesllflg extender eXlJlalned, FUN WITH
FORTRESS FONES what a pay pllOne does, how people beat ttlem. FlASH SS computer foul up,
Alffone Wiretaps, 818. pay phone attack,
L r TTERS book list Silver t)oxlny, another hdcker s IJlew. OATA IC S AND CARRIER IDENTIFICATION CODt S gUide to 950
exchange' MCI
:
MAIL_ TROUBLE LE TIER
tile hdrassment begins, A TIME FOR REFLECTION ttle year In reView, MCI MAIL AND EASYUNK
electronlc
IIldil horror stories. THE SCAH.IEST NUMBER IN THE WORLD
true Story, FLASH campaIgn computer, Pentagon by phone. students bog
(nmputer electrunlc Jail fp{jer al phone ur>gradt' SURVEY reader survey responses, SOME
BUT NOT ALL ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEMS
Iisl dlKI price comparisons pius vOIce m ess a yl ll g compdrlles, REACH OUT AND GOOSE SOMEONE
list of many unique dial-It numbers

1985
THOf: HORRIBLE HACKERS STRIKE AGAIN analySIS of Newsweek Illclueni WIHETAPPING AND DIVESTITURE a lineman dlscusse
Illest' IOPICS, GEnlNG IN TH!: BACK UOOR a gUide tu some popular operdtHly systems H1cludlng TOPS 10. TOPS 20. and UNIX, 2600
INFOHMA nON BUREAU our phone bIll our thanks and other notices, FLASH IRS and telco data GEISCO KKK computer, LEITERS BBS
flytl\s E a <;y l l nk , Canada looD. Iflterfldllurlal I-Jilreak day BITNET TOPOLOGY
a schematiC of the BI T net , THE THEORY OF "BLUE
BOXING
COSMOS

l_l rTEHS

Illstury
d

future

and IIOW they are used, TRASHING ALASKA STYLE

j dr yon. NAlI BBS A CHALLENGE TO HACKERS

liE T INTO A C 0
IF TTf fS redding
; I()W t()

a real trashing adventure story, SURVEYING THE

beyHlner s gUide 10 COSMOS, BI-'II s computer program. FLASH phreak roundups, real TRW Cfllne 26CX) BBS.

Bell probl('m, telco dlscolJllt, marine calling, many questions. 2600 INFORMATION BUREAU
the role of ttw hacker, ARE YOU A PHREAK)))

It)lJ{ h

data,

a t our 01 a central office. FLASH custom calling, Kenyan pay phones, hacker coke rnachlne, IRS computer screw-up,
liSt, t rdclny and law enforcement, UNIX Info. NSA phone

tI, 2600 INFORMATION BUREAU - interesting phone numbers

ellal a teleptlOne, New York Tel message, CNA LIST, NSA CIPHER UiSK, WHA T A WHITE BOX CAN DO

pllfLlble

8C()

acronym list of useful telephone

hurnourous revlew'of phreaklng, HOW TO

tone yenerator, A PHONE PHRlAK SCORES

how to budd and the use of a

another Successful SOCial engineering story, HACKING PACKARD

useful

Illfl!rlTld!IOI1 ,Ibout the HP2(XX} F LASH talking clock computers for comlTlUnlSlS rooot kills man, war garnes. Silver pages, LEITERS Torn

MILNET hosts by localIon. PEOPLE EXPRESS TO BE

HAcKF 0 TO PIECES (I look at P eople s flew anonymous reservation service. HOW TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL H.LECONFERENCE -complete
qlJl(je 10 AllIanc e TelecunferenclllY Ser V ice, FLASH hacker bust, police hacker. Reagan doesn t dIal kids dlal-a directory. LErTERS
(()lllputf'r rletwurks Silver boxes 950 rernob traCIng, 2600 INFORMATION BUREAU
Alliance Teleconterenclng materiaL INTE.RESTING
f-'HOM: NUMBE.RS. UNBELIEVABU-_ ADVERTISEMENT, GUIDE TO THE ISRAELI PHONE SYSTEM_ SHERWOOD FOREST SHUT DOWN BY
::) eHE: T Sf RVICE. SOME: WORDS ON HACKE R MORALITY OUT OF THE INNER CIRCLE REVIEWED afl t-'x t lacker 5 new tx>ok., FLASH who
IIwtnled the phone, porno pilant!, wiretap award A T &. T computer steals, LE TTERS Infonnatlon charges A Ta. T cutoff marme calling, 2600
IUIllldls

INf

secure teil'phones and cryptoyraphy. 26CXJ INFORMATION BUHEAU

()RMATION BUREAU

dt'VILt', TINA
ON A DEL 20

Call Me

800

preflxt' hI'

.,ldtP

J YSTEMATlCALl Y

SPEAKING go odbye 10 meIer readers. Thai pt10ne books, tracking

Cdrd, FROM SHE.RWOOO FOREST INTRO TO HACKING

wildt to

do and not

10 do, INTERESTING THINGS TO UO

huw to use lJarlOUS COlnrndnds and SOllie Ulinys 10 look for, BANKING FROM YOUR TERMINAL A LOOK AT PRONTO

$2 billion error, lIT crackdovvn. monltorlng, 2600

INFORMATION BUREAU Mllnet lAC dlalups by location, SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING Mel goes optical, 1CX)",o ESS, GTE bigger than
AT& T _ Sf Ile: 01 2600 BULL!:: TIN BOARD IS lMPLICA rEO IN RAID ON JERSEY HACKERS
an accurate account of the Private Sector BBS,
CuMME-NTARY THE THREAT TO US ALL what BBS sellures mean, FLASH 2600 a !lacklng Victim, Middlesex Courthouse. MOVING
SATE-LLITtS JVHAT WAS REALLY GOING ON? pOint by pOint correction of New Jersey prosecutors' fallaCIOUS charges, WHY
COMPUTERS GET SNA TCHED why law enforcement seizes equipment. SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK provocatlveQuesllons
dboul tllese events, HOW CAN SYSOPS PROTECT THEMSELVES), A GUIDE TO VMS how 10 use [JC s VAX operating system, THE
INFINITY TRANSMITTER
dll old bug explalrled. REACHING OUT ON YOUR OWN
blue boXing verification, PURSUIT FOR PEOPLE --GTE
Telenet s co m pu t e r to computer link up serVice, FLASH phone If) registratIon, 800 word numbers war yame addiCt. hacker extortioniSt.
2l)()() !NFORMATION BURfAU Telenet dIrectory of lf1terestlng addresses, SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING Dick Tracy toys, computer
dlfectory assistance. Bell propayanda fdlns Europe tandardlllf1y telcoms, MANY FAMILIAR TONES, AND THEY CALL US CROOKS?-- story
of.l phont tHt;ak WllO can I sell tllS expertise, AN INTERESTING DIVERSION call dlverters and how they are abused, MORE INFO ON
Electr()nlC bal1klng. how It works wl1h a locus on Chemical

VMS

second lfhtallrnent of an In depth gUide to VMS FLASH

s.

system. FLASH

computer elections. big phone bill, Navy phreaks, phone boclth captures

flldll lE flERS BBS suyget!on, colleyes are a goldllllne, recommended readlflg, 2600 INFORMA liON BUREAU - - Blue Box plans. THE NEW

A[&

I HOS rAGE PHONE unbelIevable dd, SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING hackers scare bUSinesses, DuPont bypasses telco, computer
CdlllfMlyn Info phone computp's divesiliurt' WOt'S, RSTS A TRICK OR TWO
some aspects of thiS operatlny system, THE SECRET
HfVb\LED the problem Witt) 0 H G rO;.;5 swltcil, HISTORY OF ESS, EQUAL ACCESS MAY NOT BE ""EQUAL' TO MODEMS -some
protJlelns :Ildtlnay arIse, FLASII U,IUI'lllISI attacks AT&T. feds dial It too much. little town pilOnes, Springsteen mania, LEITERS ::.ome
ddvIU', elc s and free calls Br Itlsll pilredk, blue tx) xln y gone?, CHASE BANK IS CRACKED, 2600 INFORMATION BUREAU -many Interesting
t<1 nllilibefs SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING Jvuld phones In storms, rural unequal access, police cellular phones, loll-free from where)
AT& T !O redd e II1dil, OUR V\!ISHf:.S FOR 86 ANLr BfYONU some of wllat we d like to see In the future. fUN WITH COSMOS how 10
l f1 \ erpre\ and u::,t pdrtS 01 \!w ptlorw COfl:pdlly- c ompu t er s, FLASH French phones, racist bdf1ter, Cltyphone SURVEY reader survey
reSlJonses, 2600 INf- ,-JRM.4. T IO N BURE:.AU
BBS rlwnbers SYSTFMATICALLY SPEAKING AT&. T e ITldd, Ger Ili::tn phones. super pay phone

Page 2

October, 1987

2600

(continued on inside back cover)

meet interesting people and machines,

We've gotten calls from New York.

and get questions answered.

Calls from the West Coast.

For us, the important thing is

Down South.

enforcement of a very basic freedom

Up North.

freedom of speech. Our boards will be

We've had calls from England. And

Holland. And even Africa.
It seems that quite a few people from
all over are interested in running
computer bulletin board systems under
the name of 2600 Magazine. And it
looks as if this may finally be the month
that we start to pull it together.
What's so important about a bulletin
board network that spans the globe'!
Well, for one thing it will be an easy way
for subscribers and non-subscribers alike
to keep in touch with the latest news,

open to all. Users will have the right to

be anonymous if they choose. And
privacy will be respected.
It's surprising that it's taken so long
for these very basic premises to be
accepted. Computer communications
have become a vital link for many of us
and one of the most important tests of
our Constitution in recent memory.
Call our office in a few weeks or
watch these pages for further news
this.

OR

STAFFBOX
Editor and Publisher
Eric Corley 110

Office Manager

Cover Art

Peter Kang

Ken Copel
Tish Va Iter Koch

Writers: John Drake, Paul Estev, Mr. French, Emmanuel

Goldstein, Chester Holmes, Lex Luthor, Bill from RNOC, David
Ruderman, Bernie S., Mike Salerno, Silent Switchman, Mike
Yuhas, and the usual anonymous bunch.

Production: Mike DeVoursney.

Cartoonists: Dan Holder, Mike Marshall.
Reader: John Kew.

Editor Emeritus: TSH.

2601) (/.\S.\ 1174<)-3/i51 ) /.1 Iwhlished 1/I0071h/l hI :!6()(J l:i7lerlJri.ln.

.\1'( (!lId cla.I.1 I"'lliJ!?1' IWrII1I1 I"'/Ill",!? al Sl'laukl'l. . \ell rOIl.
"OS I \tASTER:
Cop, right

Y carl,

Send addre" change, to

1%7. 261K)

:!W{). 1'0.

Box

752.

Illc. 7 Slroll!?

\1lddle bland.

\ Lane. S'elaukel . V Y I 1733 .

y 11953.{)752.

Interpme,. Inc.

Ii .S.

15 Indi\ldual. $40 corporaIe.

S5 eorporale
Back ",ue\,,,ailahk at S2'i per \ear. ",311 pcr\ear mcr\ca,.
\()()RESS AU. Sl'BSCRIPTlO, CORRf:SPODE:-;CE TO: :!W(J Suh,cription Dept . . I' . 0 . Box. 7)
-.
\llddle bland. ,) 11'I5J'{)7')2
for ktte" and artc\",\lhmi"")O\. \\ rite to: :!W(I hittonaillept. 1'.0. Box '19. \llddle Island
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. :\Y II <JS1'{)752
Iclephone: (516) /SI-2600
,uh,enption:

(her",,,

25

and Canada

mdl\ Idual.

2600

October, 1987

Page 3

New York's

by Mac+

Just when you thought you'd had enough of

Dial-A-Joke and the porno lines, New York
Telephone has decided to give you more
opportunities to waste your money. The number
of information providers, or IP's, is limited on the
976/970 systems. This is because no one has
ever made a switch large enough to handle all the
potential calls that could be made from 6 million
households to a Dial-It service. The smaller
systems that work around the nation cannot
handle this market. Instead, New Yorkers get a
dozen or so lame services, limited to 57 seconds
each, while the variety of products in smaller
markets dwarf us by comparison. In Los Angeles,
for example, there are over 500 IP's. Why not
here?
New York Telephone said they couldn't handle
it. Once when they advertised the Dial-A-Santa
service during the Muppet Show, the network
was overrun with calls. From then on, the policy
was clear ...we can't use the POTS, or public
switches, for these services. Now, New York
Telephone's division called THE Entertainment
Network (for some reason, ''THE'' is capitalized
and underlined) is trying to make up for lost time.
By the second quarter of 1988, they expect to
have the nation's biggest and most state-of-the
art switch in place dedicated to handling all
976/970 numbers, plus two new ones: 540 and
550.
The switch is an AT&T 4ESS and it'll be
located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. That was
deemed the most convenient location where they
can have it interface the network (and where
there was enough space in a central office). Its
job is to take all the 976/970/540/550 numbers
dialed throughout the LATA without the
customers having to use an area code. That will
mean lots of central office (CO) reprogramming
and rerouting.
Rather than make all the IP's move to
Williamsburg, they located the head-end that
interfaces with the I p's in the central office at
East 56th Street. That location was chosen
based on several criteria. One, the building has to
be "sitting on fiber". It needs around the clock
maintenance crews, floor space, and has to meet
the demands of the marketing'department
Page 4

October, 1987

2600

(something that appears to bewilder the

engineering department). Marketing, in trying to
satisfy the I P's, had to choose a place that was in
a safe neighborhood, was centrally located, and
had easy access to mass transit. At a recent
meeting where the IP's were first told that telco
picked a region that probably has the most
expensive real estate in the world, they blew up.
The East 56th Street CO roughly serves East
46th Street to East 64th Street and runs from the
East River to 5th Avenue and includes Roosevelt
Island and the United Nations. Telco would even
like to pick the buildings within the region that
have the best potential for an easy wire run. (As
if the IP's really care what's easy for the
installers! )
The 976 folks are now located around a lower
Manhattan CO and might have to relocate.
Initially when a new switch is activated, it will
not handle the 976 numbers itself. That won't
happen until about fourth quarter 1988 when
they retire the current switch. Until then, all the
LATA CO's will route the calls to the
Williamsburg CO, then to East 56th, then to
lower Manhattan (simple, huh?).
Why go through all of this? Money, and lots of
it. With a dedicated switch with a capacity of
64 ,000 lines (don't tell anyone, that's
proprietary), they think they'll clean up. The new
system has the most outrageous ways of making
them money. It's called IMAS-Integrated Mass
Announcement System. The "I" was going to
stand for interactive, but that would not have
included the passive broadcast system (which is
jargon for 976/970).
Some of the features of the new switch are
really remarkable. It's completely digital
(although analog trunks can be made available to
vendors using older equipment). Coin-originated,
operator-assisted, and call ing cards cannot
access the system. Long distance calls had
routinely been a problem for the mass
announcements. Some of Ma Bell's bastard
children don't believe in passing on the money to
credit New York Tel. If New York doesn't see the
cash, neither does the IP. The new switch will
have the capacity to determine if an agreement
has been signed between the siblings and will

IMAS
either pass on the 976 calls or deny access.
Right now, this service is being offered in
Locally, New York Tel used to maintain direct Nassau and Suffolk counties only. In Nassau,
I ines from switches that border our LATA to pass
access to GBS is limited to the following CO
on the 976 calls. However, their. eagle-eyed designations: 239, 249, 264, 285, 293, 367,
Legal Department made them tum these over to 37 1,39 1,420,454,531,598,69 1,692,694,
AT&T Long Lines.
752,753,789,and 842. Again, if all goes well,
550
by second quarter 1988,this will be LATA-wide.
Let's start with 550. That will be for the Group The IP's were made to locate in the area covered
Bridging Service (GBS). According to a tariff by the Garden City CO District for Nassau's GBS
filed, "GBS is a vendor-operated entertainment lines, or the Patchogue CO District for Suffolk's.
related teleconferencing service. The service When the new switch goes online, they'll have to
provides telephone users, [initially] within a pack up and move to. midtown (real sweet).
limited geographic area, the ability to call a
Let's talk...money. From the customer, 20
publicized number to join an ongoing, casual, cents for the first minute, and 10 cents for each
group conversation. The telephone company additional minute connected to the GBS service. S'
provides to vendors Group Bridging Service lines On the (proposed) phone bills, the calls will be
and transport over the network. The vendor desigrlated on a separate page as having been 0
furnishes the necessary teleconferencing , made to a GBS and will either repeat the number
equipment and monitoring functions to ensure ! or the title of the service. (Try to explain this one
free flowing conversations and, if necessary, to morn.) Of course, the IP's would prefer to see it
isolate or disconnect abusive or unruly callers buried as it is in many parts of the nation. To the
from the service."
vendor, compensation will be five cents per

TALKING
TO STRANGERS
CAN BE. COSTLY.
...... .. the f11ct8:

ilformalion, ir)cIuding the actual

phone numbers 10 catr .
h's a 101 01 fun 10 talk 10 strangers. but
can get expensiII8. So Iafk 10 ywr
50.
famity about first Especialy if 'w
Group callinn serllice phone
go\ young adults living with you.
numbers ';';t with "550." The seryo
ices are made possible by New York Group caDng ser'Jice. Giw a
listen.
1ilIephone's advanced network. f'Io. '1bu may fOO ywrseIf calling
strangers ywr friends.
gram format and content, ,
EiIher you'I know how much
.
'nI by a lone thai beeps come from other companies who are
__ ."..... __ ......-.
Il1OO1I
pIO'oIiding
for
also responsible
at ywr tine fMI miruIIlS.

can also be a lot 01 fun and per.

Iectfy sale. with caIng

ser'Jice.
For ju&t 20C for the fist fI1iUa, and
10C a nWUe III. thai, can jail
a wiIh other
III'OfTIOU8 caIII!rs. Or can ju&t

The fl'Stlime hear , 'U 'spent6(). Ewry time after thai, the
beep means 'w spent another

@ NewVorkTelephone
A NYNIDC Coqlany

. _------_.---,

2600

October, t 987

Page 5

telco response
After months of trying, we've finally managed
to get a response from the telephone company
conceming our battle to eliminate the fee for
touch tone service (see July 1987 issue).
We've received a fair amount of publicity
conceming this matter. Consumer-oriented radio
stations like WMCA in New York have shown a
great interest and devoted time to the growing
battle. Several newspapers have reprinted our
press release and it was one of those that drew
the response which was written by Bruce
Reisman, a staff director of media relations for
New York Telephone. Since more than a month
passed between the printing of the press release
and Reisman's reply, we believe that some
consultation was involved and that this is pretty
much the official view of New York Telephone.
'There is nothing improper here," Reisman
states. 'This is the practice throughout the
United States.... lt's longstanding public policy."
The same words could have been used to describe
racial segregation once. The fact that an unfair
practice is occurring all over does not make it
right or justifiable. And the populace is most
definitely waking up to this unfaimess.
He goes on to justify the cost, claiming central
office equipment that recognizes tones has to be
paid for, as well as the labor involved in making
the change from pulse to tone. This logic is so
flimsy that a child could knock it over. As we said
in our press release, touch tone decoding devices
are s tandard equipment for practically every
central office in existence. Every electronic
switch has the capability of allowing touch tones
on all of its lines. The only thing preventing this is
an "N" instead of a "Y" inside the customer
database. Which brings us to the labor question.
Just how much should the company rake in for
changing an "N" to a "Y" anyway? Reisman says
$10.55 is reasonable. We say let's stop kidding
the public.
We were accused of misleading when we
claimed that customers very often lost the use of
I'age 6

October, 1987

2600

their touch tones when an area upgraded to

electnonic switching. Not so, says the phone
company-the customer is always asked to pay
before service is disrupted. Well, we don't base
our comclusions on mere speculation. We know of
many people who have lost the use of their tones
the imstant their central office cut over to
electrl>nic switching. The fact that the phone
company claims this never happens is further
evidence of their distorted perception.
It's only eight cents a day, they protest. Figure
out h,ow many people are paying the phone
company eight cents a day for doing absolutely
nothimg. Take into account that the cost is higher
for business customers, a fact they conveniently
forgot to mention. This is a very large amount of
money.
And finally, the usual mistruth: 'Touch tone
servi c e also enables the customer to
convetniently bank or shop electronically from
home.. " This is simply not true. As long as you
have ;a touch tone phone, you can use any of
those bank-at-home services. The only thing the
phone: company can do is prevent you from
placifllg a call with tones. Once you're connected,
they h,ave no way of deactivating your tones. The'
tones" after all, are created inside your phone,
not inside the phone company. If everyone
realized that, their policy would never have
survivied this long.
Butt things are changing. There will be an
articl e in the November issue of Popula r
Communica tions that points out the unfaimess of
this fee, not just in New York, but nationwide.
We are bombarding the New York Public Service
Comrnission with information about this and we
expec1 some kind of a reaction from that entity.
We need your continued support. Spread the
word. Tell your parents. Tell your children. Tell
your elected officials. Write letters to your local
papers and send us a copy. If you're not clear on
the facts or have any questions or comments, call
us at (516) 751-2600.

Comment

.....
..
ell

Telephone company responds to criticism of Touch-tone' fees

., aavCE REISMAN
The July 23 iuuc 0( The VILLAGE
TIMES carried a viewpointsanicle aboul
Touch-Ione OCrvK:e thaI did New York
Telephone aD injullice and beg. a

'There is no free
lunch. Ifyou want
the speed and
convenience of
Touch-tone, you
are supposed to pay
for it,'
1

l'IIIpCIOM.
JUIl U Ihcre is 110 f.... 1undt, there IS no
f.... ToucIHoococrvicc-and bere's why:
V ndet a New York State Public Service
Ownmiuioa (PSe) tariff, anyone using

Touchtone provided by the phone

company mUll pay for i t. It'l
",_t-regulated price. If you use
TolJCb.(ooe, you'lc aupposcd to pay for it.
I f you amt\ payina now, you may be
wed to do 10 before 10.... (AU of New
York TcIcpbonc'l ralcI are rquJated by

PSC.)
Tbcrc is -maa improper here. This is

the

the pladice tbrouahoul the United StalCl.

To ou r knowledge, all regulalory
commiuiona and phone companiel
requireCWlOlDalto pay for ToucIHonc,
..
a diacrctioaary 1ICI'Vico. It\ ....tandin.

public policy.

The CUll....... ia required to pay for

benefits and for its
..
Touch-toac'l ....in&

inVCllalCat, mainIenan<:c and administra

tive COllI. ToucIHone capability requirca

Ipccial puIoc idcnIiflCltion equipment in

local telephone central offICe buildinga

plus related equipment modiflClliona.
T he fact that cer ta in Touch-lone
aerving equipment may "already be in a
local central office ia a cademic . The

in_ COIl 0( aucb equipmenl is

JCIICraily recowrod _ a number of
yeara. This is done to make the price (If
auch IICIWa aft'onIable to the ovenll
CUltomcr body. This ia a Ionpaanding

switching Iystem, !he compan gains lhe

abilily, Ihrough computer prognammi na.
10 de tect unaulboriud use ofTOUCh-tone
service. Tbia doc:a IlOl advencly .(fecl
telephone service. It limply means thallbc
company can easily 8COet&te a Jisl of
CUllomerl w"o are ul i n. Touch-lone
service--but &reo' paying for il. It can
then aslt CIIItOmclIto pay for it.
Speed and cay diatiD& .... Ibc main
advanlqiea of TO\ICh..cone. For installCC,
in an emergency a TOU<:h-tone call will be
connected in only abotu nine 1CCOnd1venus approximately II -.... wilb

rotary or puIac pboIa. 11'1 .... "cJtp..,..

connection.

practice nationwide.
When customera pay for Touch-tone
aerv"'" lhey are paying for:
Cen t ra l Orfice eq u i pm en l Ihat
recognizes the elccIRlIli!: pulses thaI will
..nd their calLi swilily oVer the local
telephone ne twork. In older ... ilhina
equipment -..nder bo.. are n""'"" to
conven pul... inlo 1000. In .Ic\'lrl'nic
switches, a more advanecd Icclmokll!Y,
cuslomer digil receivera Ire needod tQ
provide Touch-tone capability.
The labor of thelelephone people who
make required equipment change),
usuaUy computer software modifications.
in Ihe I_I telephone central office, plu

maintenance.
Th e ongoing benefits of the service
that enable the Touchtone customer (0
dail calls aboul IWice as fasl aa other
customers.
The midnec Touch-tonc cuslomer is
lhe ref ore ",,!uitod 10 pay;

A OllC-time record order connection

charge of 510.55. Thia is reasonable and
COvers the administrative COlt
of
processing a cuslomer. requOIllo cha
service from rotary 10 TOUCI1-I_. This
charge, incidentally, call lie Iptud over a
12-1!1{!nth penO<l if dtiiflld.
A recu rring IQW monthly charge of
$2.21 tllllt cov. ... the service\ ongoiri.
hell,filJ ind the lona-term equ ipmenl
CIIII . Thll equal.. 10 a da i l y cost of less
than 8 cents.
lhe writer misled when he said "il is nol
uncommon f or an area to upgrade to aft
electronic syslem and IiOOIMI Nilftheit

TeMfll-lone i\I1@flHfIIIlonaerwork.The
ftQIiI If !hil when 1 local cenlral orr"", is

convened to a modem (elcctronac) caU-

TOU<:h-Ione aervice aIIo -.hies lbe

cuatomcr to caavcnieGalybanlt Or &bop
electronically u- Iiomc.
Incidentally, and CODtraty to popular

mytholo.y, cUltomcra do nOI. have

amWoc fast pulae T0UCb-I0ne diali...

un.... they ha... it provided Ibrou... a
t ele ph one central office lhal is 10

equipped.
In .eneral lerml, To uch- l one has
become jUil what its dcaianen intended -0
an incrcasinaIy uaeful ckaronM; computer
lerminal

There is no f.... lunch. If you wanllhe

lpeed and conveniellCC of Touch-tone,
you .... supposed to pay fot il.

(Bruct /Uilmlut U 1M 6/qjJ dint/or oj

mrdill "Itu/otu "" I:.ont Is/QndJOI N",,
YOlkr.)

.....
oc

the telecom informer

f you're thinking o f stealing a bus in

Manhattan, you should know that
unless you get around an electronic
..
anti-theft device, you1l have the words
"Call Police" f1ashing in the front where
the destination usually is. A couple of
months ago that's exactly what
. happened. Except nobody noticed the
f1ashing sign, or at least no one thought
anything of it. It seems this guy went
around picking up people for free and
depositing them at their doorsteps. "All
my life I've wanted to do this," he
said....We've seen surprisingly few pirate
television transmissions recently. In fact,
we haven't seen any. Hut in Poland,
they're becoming rather frequent-and
popular. Most recently, a Solidarity
radio station broke in on the sound
frequency of a TV broadcast to urge
Poles to shelter a Soviet army deserter
who was in town.... Mastercard is buying
the Cirrus system, which means that
Cirrus customers will be able to use
Mastercard's telecommunications
capabilities and Mastercard will become
the world's leading debit card
organillltion. This will link together
about 30,000 automatic teller machines
starting January I, 1988....CLASS
service is being Jested in New Jersey with
features like Return Call, Call Block,
Priority Call, Repeat Call, Select
Forward, Call Trace, and Identa Call.
These features make it easier to identify
incoming calls and to get through to
busy numbers. If any of our subscribers
have the opportunity to participate in
these tests, please contact us. We have a
whole series of ..experiments we'd like to
try on these features.... We may as well
get used to it: nationwide beepers are
popping up everywhere. At a cost of $30
to $60 a month, it will soon be almost
impossible to be out of range.... US
Sprint is going through hell. Combining
the telephone networks and accounting
systems of United Telecommunications
and GTE has proven to be a much
Page 8

October, 1987

2600

BY GOLDSTEIN

greater task than originally anticipated.

Already, $76 million has been written off
in uncollectible accounts, apparently due
to an inability to function efficiently.
Currently, there are three different
Sprints in existence: the old GTE Sprint,
the old US Tel, and the new US Sprint.
And introducing the new fiber optic
network and FON cards has added to
the pressure....Sprint is filing a number
of civil lawsuits against people who are
accused of long distance fraud. So far,
the lawsuits are for $20 million plus
penalties and have been filed in Kansas
City and Seattle. According to Bernard
A. Bianchino, US Sprint vice president
and associate general counsel, Sprint is
filing lawsuits because criminal
prosecutors don't have the resources to
pursue all leads in these
cases.... Meanwhile, a really big fraudster
has been caught selling Sprint and MCI
codes for $100 each. Thomas Alvord of
South Shore Electronics in Lake Tahoe,
California allegedly used a computer to
scan for codes and even advertised his
service in the yellow pages. He used the
name "General Bell" which showed up
right next to Pacific Bell. Customers
. would obtain their codes by calling a
voice mailbox. It's believed that this one
person cost the long distance companies
more than two million dollars. As long
as they know it's not hacking....AT&T is
now distributing free copies of a
business-to-business Italian yellow page
directory. If you have a need for Italian
yellow pages, call 800-538-BOOK ....In
the mood for some fun? In Washington,
OC, students living in college dorms
now can disconnect their telephone
service without even talking to a
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone
representative. Bell Atlantic is testing a
service called "quick termination" or
"Q.T." A student uses a touch tone
phone and calls a special number any
time of the day or night. Voice prompts
guide the caller through the entire

process. The system can store a

maximum of 300 disconnect requests. So
far, we're unable to determine what, if
any, security precautions are present
here.... c&P is also experimenting with
distinctive ringing. By assigning up to
three telephone numbers to the same
phone line, each line can produce a
different type of ring. Residents will pay
about $4 a month for one additional
phone number and $6 for two. We hope
they don't mislead people into thinking
they're getting three separate phone lines
that can all be used at the same
time....The following news item
appeared recently in Network Wor/d. "A
Bell Communications Research, Inc.
scientist may have found a solution for
often-annoying call-waiting tones.
Deluxe call waiting, not currently
available, can temporarily suspend the
call-waiting feature, quell the tone, and
signal the second caller to try later. This
solution requires complex software to
program computerized switches to
execute the multitiered signaling
between users; telephone company
central offices and those placing the calls
on the busy line." Let's cut the crap!
This service has already been available,
at no charge, in many locations for
years. All a caller has to do is dial *70 or
1170 before placing a call or during a
call and call waiting is disabled. The
tone is "quelled" and, as far as signaling
the second caller to try again-ever hear
of a busy signal? That's what they're
talking about, although they make it
sound so much more complex. So who
is this scientist that has found a solution
that already exists? Bell
Communications Research and Network
World are doing us all a disservice by
announcing an invention that is nothing
new. No doubt this is happening so that
well get used to the idea of paying for it.
Deluxe call waiting, what next?! ....The
American Credit Card Telephone
Company says it plans to offer a new
service that would let customers charge

long distance calls to major credit cards

from any public or private touch tone
phone. A customer would dial an 800
number and enter a Visa, American
Express, or Mastercard number. The
number would be validated and the call
processed in seconds. According to the
New York Times, this new service will
compete with calling cards offered by
AT&T. They also say that AT&T plans
to offer a similar service by 1989. Does
this mean AT&T will be competing with
themselves? It wouldn't surprise us one
bit....The FBI is installing personal
computer networks at remote sites that
will be linked via gateways to
mainframes at regional data processing
centers. The project is known as
Intelligent Workstation (lWS) and calls
for more than 8,000 terminals, 700
networks, and 640 gateways. Iverson
Technology of Mclean, VA was
awarded the contract....According to a
new government report, computers are
now keeping track of more than seven
million American workers. They
monitor rest breaks and productivity,
and even the number of individual
keystrokes on a terminal or typewriter.
The report was requested by
. Representative Don Edwards of
California and was prepared by the
Congressional Office of Technology
Assessment. It's called "The Electronic
Supervisor: New Technology, New
Tensions". "We are becoming a
surveillance society," Edwards said.
"Every day we are seeing new invasions
of the privacy and dignity of workers.
We have occupational health and safety
laws to protect workers' bodies. Now
Congress needs to respond to
technological threats to their dignity and
privacy." The report, which describes
today's office as "an electronic
sweatshop ", said most jobs now
monitored by computers were clerical
data-entry type positions, but the
management tehnique is spreading to
(continued on page 18)
2600

October, 1987

Page 9

INTERNA TIONAL NUA '5

(accessible from Tymnet & Telenet)
PUBLIC ACCESS SYSTEMS
West Germany
Altos:

026245890040004

login: shox

West Germany

M&T

026245890010006

login: guest

Switzerland
Cybertalk

022846911003

user:Cia0543 pw: guest

OTHER NUMBERS AROUND THE WORLD

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

234 231354354
234 219200101
234 227230301
234 219200871
234 275317173
234 219709210
234 219200190
234 274200103
234 222530303
234 233458158
234 241260260
234 253265165
234 258200106
234 261643143
234 263259159
234 273417217
234 290524242
234 299212221
234 223519111
234 2192001082
234 222236163
234 21440012
234 248300106

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

234 220641141
234 221222225
234 212301186
234 222715151
234 247300103
234 263259159
234 219806160
234 219200394
234 241260106
234 239232323
234 246240240
234 253300142
234 258240242
234 261643210
234 270712217
234 275317177
234 292549149
234 307813
234 219200222

234 222339399
0 234 2130001511

o 234 293212212
o 234 248321321

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

234 239232323
234 275300102
234 270712217
234 253265165
234 219709110
234 270712221
234 219200297
234 262500484
234 231354354
234 241260106
234 251248248
234 253300124
234 260227227
234 261643343
234 273417317
234 290468168
234 293212212
234 219200118
234 252724241
234 212301187
234 215710104
234 274253385
234 227230231

Networks like Telenet and Tymnet usually require an ID of some sort before
access to international numbers is granted. Watch future issues for more
numbers. Let us know if you get through to any of these.

Page 10

October, 1 987

2600

24 Hr. BBS's in the

Republic of South Africa
The Catalyst SBS 300 (021) 66-3112
The CAtalyst BBS 1200 {021) 69-2792
Micro Baud
300 (021) 65-1603
6eonet HDS
300 1021)591-4954
300 (021)587-1918
SSSBBS
The Catalyst P.E. 300 (041) 33-6176
The Catalyst P.E.12i24 (041) 34-2859
300 (041) 30-4573
PEEBS/PEREL
300 (0431)55-8b6
Border BDS
The Catalyst JHB 300 (011)782-3332
The catalyst JHB 1200 (011)782-3341
3/12 (011)643-3724
Ideas BBS
12/24 (011)642-9919
Techair BBS
Uninet (16 lines) 300 (011)476-4519
Uninet (over network) 06550 11101207
12/24 (011)407-5027
Fido-net
Pyroto mountain 3/12 (011}407-5327
The Catalyst DBN 300 (031)764-0353
300 (031) 86-7858
MABEL
Highway Sotware 300 (031) 74-3561
300 (031) 42-1923
VALTRONICS
THE INFO ON THESE TWO PAGES COURTESY OF
The Greek
1600

October, 1987

Page 11

READER
Verification and Tracing
Dear 2600:
I have a few things to say and a few
quest ions to ask.
Fi rst of a l l , a l ot of people were
compl a ining a bout the pr inted size of
your recent i ssues. I pe rsona l ly l i ke the
s i ze. I have worked out a nice binder
a r r a ng e m e nt f o r t h e m . I f you a r e
fam i l i a r with the m et h ods that many
l i bra ries use for stor ing magazines and
newspape rs, you m i g h t want to m ake a
sma l ler vers ion of those for the i ssues.
H oweve r, I am not too crazy a bout
the way you a lways h ave the articles
c ont i nu e d s o m ew h e r e e l s e i n the
issues.
N ow, onto t h e q u e st i ons: In t h e
O c t o b e r 1 9 8 5 i s s ue y o u h a d a
schemati c for a blue box. There is one
problem, however. The 8038 chip that
i s used i n it i s not ava i l a b l e anymore.
N o c o m pa n i e s h a ve i t or a ny
repl acement l i sted. Are there any that
a r e k n o w n t h a t m i g h t be m o r e
ava i l a b l e or can you pr int a different
sc hematic that doesn't requi re that
pa rt?
I have g rown cur ious late ly about the
phone systems and what can be done
on t h em th roug h t h e b l ue box tones. I
have seen a lot of stuff gea red towa rds
the Am e r i can systems. The problem is
that I am i n Canada a nd the refore the
info is use l ess. We don't have the
multiple ca r r i ers and such. To place a
ca l l i s s i m p l e e noug h . I 'm m or e
i nterested in the ver ificat i on and t h i s
l ike that. Is there any chance of putting
out a l i st of the different ways to do the
known thi ngs in the form of a refe rence
manua l or whatever as a spec i a l issue?
One l a st thing. I would very much
l i ke to know if the re is a ny way to trace
a ca l l without the phone company's
he l p a nd without the i r knowledge. I
have a second l i ne aV::li l a b l e to do the
trace. We h ave recent l y had some new
, Page 12

October, 1987

2600

sw itching equipment insta l l ed but I

don't know what type it is yet.

Joshua Falkon

As far as finding the equivalent of the

discontinued chip, we can only hope
some of our readers have found a
replacement or alternative and are
willing to share it with us. We would be
most grateful if our readers would send
in any schematics for such devices that
they come across-and we know there
are some pretty incredible devices out
there!
Perhaps you're a little confused
about the application of blue box tones.
It's true that in Canada you don't have
as many long distance companies as
t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . Bu t t h e s e
companies generally work on touch
tone, not multi-frequency (MF) blue
box tones. MF tones work quite well in
Canada. In fact. they probably work
better up there than they do down here.
Many central o ffices in the United
States are modernizing, as are the
connections within the primary long
distance network (A T& n. And one of
the results of modernization is an
inability to effectively use blue box
tones to route calls on your own.
Consequently, many phone phreaks
call to remote places (more than a few
of which are in Canada) where blue box
tones still work, and route their calls
from there.
Regarding verification and tracing
these require a fair amount of
knowledge, experience, and con
nections (the human kind). However,
we do plan on running articles on these
topics in the future.

Missing Blue Box Chip

Dear 2600:
I am w r i t i ng in order to fi nd out some
information. I 've written a couple of
t i mes before a bout the same thing, so
maybe you can he l p me out. My ma i n
quest i on i s about pag e 2-69's blue box

RESPONSE
plans and whether or not they are
correct. If they are correct or if they
have been updated I would like to know
so I can experiment.
Secondly, I'd like to know if you have
any listings for toll free bulletin boards
or 7 1 8 boards. I hope you will get back
to me on this-it w ill be greatly
appreciated.
Here is a question you might have
one of your staff try to answer for the
newsletter readers. It's a problem I
have and I'm sure others do too. Being I
only have one phone in my house, how
can I run a PC through a modem with
call waiting?

KM
According to the letter before yours,
you'll have trouble getting parts for that
blue box. We do expect to be getting
other plans, however.
Check the following letter for an
answer to your inquiry on 718 boards.
Boards are very easy to find. Simply call
any board that you know of (if you don't
know any, ask your local computer
store) and either read the messages
that frequently have bulletin board
advertisements or look for a function
that lists bulletin board numbers.
Eventually, you'll find one nearby.
Call waiting is a very annoying
problem for anyone with a computer.
The beep of a second call coming in
frequently interferes with data flow. As
a result,

the phone companies are

"introducing" a service that should

have been available from the start, and
in some cases was. There are a few
different names for it, but basically it
allows you to turn off call waiting for
one call, usually by dialing *70 or 1170
before making a call. In many areas,
this feature always existed but was
never publicized. Now that people are
expressing an interest in it, you'll hear
about it and also get charged for it.
History just keeps repeating itself.

It might be advantageous to drop call

waiting altogether and just get another
phone line with tripover from your first
line. In most places, there is no charge
for this feature, at least not yet. And it
gives you the freedom of talking on the
phone and sending data at the same
time. A two line phone will deliver most
of the features the phone company
charges monthly fees for: call waiting,
three-way, speed dialing. The charge
for a second phone line will just about
equal all of the little charges they throw
in.

BBSNumbers
Dear 2600:
Here are the phone numbers for two
computer bulletin boards. 7 1 8-4999277 goes to the O.T.O., an occult
order which deals with magic, wicca,
and sci-fi. The next number, 404-3771 1 4 1 i s I liumi-net. They deal with

parapsychology, conspiracy theory,

UFO's, etc. They're on line 24 hours a
day. Have fun.

HAL 9000/Beast 666

Thanks for the numbers. If you have
some interesting bulletin boards, let us
know. And remember to support
bulletin boards by participating in
them. They're one of the most vital
links to freedom of speech that we have
in the 1980's.

Getting Started
Dear 2600:
I am sort of a new kid on the block

when it comes to hacking. So could you

please indulge me if I am not of equal
proportion to you. Could you tell me
what steps I should take as a beginer
in the field of hacking? First I would like It
to give you a background on myself if I g
may. I am 1 5 years of age. I am a known '\:l
under-achiever in my school. My
teachers press me for answers but I ::
refuse to comply with their methods. -2;

8'
.

My h obb i e s a r e c o m p u t e r s a nd
2600

October,1987

Page 13

THOSE SILL Y CODES

A reader from Oregon recently wrote: "Some b u i l d i n g s u b d i v i s i o n of an end o f f i c e o r
friends and I were on a conference cal l 'social subscriber-serving central office uses short codes
engineering' our local SCC ( Switching Control l ike the following , x being numeric : M Gx
Center) . We were trying to f i nd out where 'a cal l M a r k e r G r o u p , u s e d t o r e p r e s e n t
to an unknown exchange was going . The man at electromechanical swi tches such as crossbar;
the SCC asked us what the 'si lly code' for the CGx-Control Group, used to represent a 1 , 1 A ,
originating office was. We, of course being 2, 2 B , or 3ESS office; DSx- D igital Switch ,
confused , told him we would check with our used to represent a 5ESS , D M S 1 00, or other
superv i sor and cal l back. What is a 'si lly code'? digital switches .
H ow do I find out what mine is? "
Smal l independent phone companies often
Our technical writers did some investigating make t h e i r b u i l d i n g s u b d i v i s i o n codes t h e
exchange code o f their central office, such as
and this is what they came up with:
I n this instance the word that is pronounced 921 , 423 , etc . AT&T numbers its 4ESS tol l
"si l ly" is actually C l L l (Common language switches with a 2-digit numeric fol lowed with a T
location I dentification ) . Quoting from a Bel lcore ( 57T , 1 3T ) .
H ere are some examples o f C l L l codes :
publication: "This code set uniquely identifies
locations ranging from earth stations, building, C H V l V A X A 9 2 1 w o u l d be C h a r l ottesv i l l e ,
poles , manholes , etc . Codes can be used to V i rg i n i a , i n dependent t e l ep h o n e company ,
identify existing or proposed bui ldings and can b u i l d i n g A , exc h a n g e 9 2 1 . D N V RC O Z U C G O
a i d l o n g range p l a n n e rs , c u rre n t p l an ners , would b e Denver, Colorado , Zuni Street , ESS
equipment engineers , installers and maintenance mach ine O . C H C G l l0257T wou ld be Chicago ,
personnel in their work . location codes identify I l l inois, bu i l d ing 2 , 4ESS number 57 . ( N ote: in
cities , states , and foreign countries as well as cases where the bu i lding subdivision ends in xxT ,
bui ldings and specific entities within buildings . " the building code may be the number that comes
A C l L l code i s a n 1 1 -character code used by after an error message from that particular 4ES S .
the telephone companies to identify the location For example, C H C G l l0257T's error message
and type of a central office. The 1 1 -character might be: "Your call cannot be completed as
identifier is broken down as fol lows-town : 4 dialed . Please check the number and dial aga i n .
alpha characters , state: 2 alpha characters, 31 2 2T . " They don't say "02" . )
b u i l d i n g : 2 a l p h an u m e r i c s , a n d b u i l d i n g
In the future, if you ha ve any technical or
subdivision : 3 alphanumerics .
n o t - s o - techn ica l ques tions abou t compu ters ,
H ere are some examples of towns: RCM D phones, or anything else, send them i n . I f w e get
Richmond , VA; C HCG-Chicago , I l ; D l lS enough information about the subject, we 'll
Dal las, TX ; D N V R-Denver, CO; NYCM -New publish the answer in the form of a short article.
York ( N Y C ity M anhattan ) , N Y .
O therwise, ques tions will appear in the letters
S t a t e s a d h e r e t o s t a n d a r d p o s t a l sec t i o n . O u r address is 2 6 0 0 Edi toria l
abbreviations, with the additions of : PR-Puerto Departmen t, PO Box 99, Middle Island, N Y
R ico ; V I -V i rg i n Islands; AB-'-Alberta, Canada; 1 1 953- 0099.
BC- B r i t i sh Columbi a , C anada; M B
M an i t o b a , C a n ad a ; N B - N ew B r u n sw i c k , -.
Canada; N F-Newfoundland , Canada; NT
Northwestern Territories , Canada; NS-Nova
M I K E AG R A N O F F
Scotia, Canada; O N -Ontario, Canada; PE
A uthor of
Prince Edward's I sland , Canada; PQ-Quebec ,
"The Ballad o f Captain Crunch "
Canada; S K-Saskatchewan , Canada; YT
published earlier this year in 2600
Yukon , Canada.
will appear in concert on Nov. 2 1
The b u i l d ing field w i l l always have an X i n i t if
at
8 pm in Moun t Sinai, New York.
the central office in question does not belong to
CA
LL 5 1 6- 75 1 - 1 339 FOR INFO
AT&T or a Bell O perating Company ( BOC ) . The
Page 14

October. 1 987

1600

DON'T B E A S LAV E

oo w

TO THE SYSTEM
2600

October, 1 987

Page 1 5

READER

(continuedfrom page /3)

bas ketball, mos tly c ompu ter s . M y
parents thr eaten t o take a w ay my
compu ter which is an I B M PC if my
g r ades don' t improve and I tell them C's
ar e averagebu t they still want A's from
me. The compu ter is half mine-I pu t in
well over two thou sand d ollars. Well,
back to hacking. F irst, what are som e
approaches that I c an take in g etting
into another c ompu ter system to
explore it for the wealth of information
that I cou ld u se? N ext. is there a ny
d evice or g adget I can make to tell
when my phone call is being traced ?
Third, I wou ld like to know if you have
some of the many phone phreaking
d evices kn own to u s hackers? I f so, I
wou Id be wiI I ing to purchase them for a
r easonable fee. Als o, do you have a
prog r am called a wor m. I wou ld like it
for a B B S that s ent a logic bomb in a
pr og r arYi to me. This bomb wiped my
Tl's memory right out.

JS

If you read 2600 enough, you should

get a good feel for what kind of systems
are out there and the "wealth of
information" they contain. We can't
condone breaking into any of them, but
we can say that if you're determined
and skilled. you'll most likely get into
something. Hot water, in all probability.
We know of no such device that
could alert you to your phone being
traced. Perhaps some government
phones could do that. but we don't
think it 's possible at this stage in the
game. Besides, how could it tell you
that you were being traced before you

Private Sector Style

Dear 2600 :
A fter r ead i ng the J u ne i s s u e of
2600, I d ecid ed to g et r i g ht into the idea
of pu tting u p a system that wou ld be
either a network or j u s t another P r i vate
Sector. I already have a system u p that
has the exact same s ub-boards as the
Private Sector d id. I also have most of
you r old g - file section and almost all of
you r digests already on line. Pretty
g ood ? My system has been u p since the
beginning of the year. However I have
had nu m erou s hardwar e problems and
the system has been u p and d own. I ' ve
r aised my memory to two meg abytes
and now have a US R obotics 2400
baud modem. I also have a 20 meg hard
d rive with abou t 1 4 megs left.
I was very impressed with the Private
Sector and I have the same ru les you
did. N o cod es . J u s t infor mation. E ven
there I am r eg u lating what g oes on
( c r ed it c ard frau d ) . If y o u or you r
read ers want to call, the nu mber is

2 1 3- 559-7306 .
We wish you luck. In the interests of
freedom, don 't go overboard with
"regulating " discussion . Keep the
codes and passwords from being
posted. as well as anything obscene or
offensive to users, but be careful with
trying to control the flow of
conversation too much or you'll be
running a dictatorship. And

if you have

private mailboxes, they should remain

private. System operators should not
read their users' mail unless that is

actually got traced? It wouldn 't do

their stated policy.

much good.

More on Disclaimers

The 2600 Marketplace is your best

bet for finding electronic devices. Ads
are free to subscribers.

We don 't

approve of logic bombs, but we do want

to show you what they look like. If
anyone has one, please send it in. (On
paper, please. )

Page 16

October, 1987

2600

Dear 2600 :
I wou ld like to comment on you r J u ly
is s u e , " O n D is c l a i m e r s " . Y o u r
response that there is " no s u c h thing "
as a " perfect disclaimer" is not correct!
We have yet to be prosec u ted or s u ed
over any of ou r publications . N o police
enti ty has even talked to us abou t

RESPONSE
them ! A M a Bel l sec u r ity type once
came to my home to lectu re me on
phone color boxes ( 1 98 1 ). I th rew h i m
out. End o f conversat ion !
I ' m a w a r e of a n u m b e r of c o n
trovers i a l B B S 's r u n b y teenagers with
tw ice my 10. However, when it comes
to effect ively d iscl a i m i ng their user
f i l es, the i r 1 0's drop to room
temperatu re . The wrong a pproach is to
q u est ion users as to pol i ce aff i l iation.
The right a p p r o a c h is to p r e s e n t
c o n t rove r s i a l f i l es for e d u c a t i o n a l
pu rposes on ly-even to state that no
i l l eg a l use is suggested, impl ied, or
i ntended. It a lso helps much to i nterm ix
pu rely i l leg a l appl ications with those
that a re lega l so it ca n 't be c l a i med that
you r f i les h a ve n o reaso n a b l e
a p p l i c a t i o n s except t h os e t h a t a r e
i l l ega l . For exa m p l e , g reat sex
associ ated with a p lot i s "n ecessary for
plot development" . Otherwise, it's j ust
pornog raphy.
John J. Williams
Consumertronics
Unfortunately, a lot of those rules
still don't seem to apply to computer
bulletin boards, even though they are
i n e f f e c t ju s t a n o t h e r f o r m o f

publication.

We feel the key lies in

making this connection clear to the

. people inside and outside the computer
world

A nd More
Dear 2600:

I n response to "MAC???", the perfect

BBS d i sc l a imer is fou n d in the B i ll of

R i g h t s -t h e . r i g h t t o p e a c e a b l y
assemble, freedom of press, etc. This,
e n d i n g w i t h a n ot e on w h a t a r e
forbidden activities (dea l i ng i n drugs or
c h i ld pornog raphy) a long with a
wa r n i ng that a nyon e i n violation i s
endanger i ng the board a nd w i l l be
ba n n ed , wo u l d be a n a d e q u a t e
d iscl a i m e r . To J D : Why not bou nce a
laser off a cloud at n ig ht? ( D u r i ng Wor ld

Wa r II morse code search l ig hts were

bou n ced off clouds . )

N . E . Mouse

British Payphones
Dear 2600:

The i nformation pri nted on reusable

B r i t i s h c a r d p h o n e s i n the J a n u a ry
1 987 issue of 2600 is i naccu rate. The
frauds were perpetrated by the user
i n s e rt i n g h i s c a rd i n to t h e p h o n e ,
t u r n i n g i t off a n d b a c k o n a g a i n
( boot i ng) with cred its bei ng reset a nd
not remo.ved when a ca l l was placed.
It seems that peop le a re catch i ng
o n t o t h e i d e a o f by p a s s i n g t h e
payphone a ltogether by attach i ng a
h a ndset with a l l igator c l i ps to the m a i n
w i re com i n g i nto t h e phone. Users of
th is method have com p l a i ned that they
ca n hear the u n it beeps com i ng down
the l i ne over the voi ce l i ne.
A l m os t - f r e e i n te r n a t i o n a l p h o n e
c a l l s c a n be m ad e' f r o m a n y co i n
operated payphone i n the U n ited
K i n g d o m . To c a l l a n yw h e r e i n t h e
wor ld for approximately 30 seconds, a l l
you h ave t o d o i s i nsert 1 0 pence i nto
the phone a nd d i a l . When 30 seconds
a re up, the phone w i l l sta rt beep i n g ,
prompt i ng y o u t o i n sert more money to
continue the ca l l .
C h a rges for ca l ls from payphones
don 't go th roug h the operator, but loop
b a c k to t h e p a y p h o n e a f t e r t h e
computer f i g u res out where you are
ca l l i ng to. T h i s p rocess usually tCitkes
more than 30 seconds depend i ng on
where you a re located in relation to an
excha nge .
John Drake

2600

October, 1 987

Page 1 7

the teleco m informer

(cuntinued/rom page 9)

other m o re compl ica ted work . T h i s i s

rec o rd s on ma teria l a fo reign student

lead ing t o a substa n t i a l i nc rease i n s t ress

borrowed . Later the\" we re forced to

leve l . A nd it d oesn't stop t he re .

Compute rs a re i n s ta l led o n the
dash boa rd s o f t rucks to reco rd speed or
how long a d river stops fo r. T hey ca n
now a lso be m o n i t o red by sa te l l i te . D rug
tests a re p o p p i ng up a l l over the p lace
and they can te l l a grea t d ea l about a
pe rs o n 's p ri vate l i fe . Tele p h o ne l ogs a nd
video camera s a re a l so on the r i se .
Tod a y 's tec h n o l ogy makes i t easy a nd

su rrend e r the record when se rved w i t h a

sub poe na . Stephen R obe rts, a ssociate
d i rector of l i b ra ries fo r the u n i versity,
says the new system d e s t roys the l i nk
between a person a nd any books as soon
a s the books a re ret u rned . H e says, "We
t h i n k you ought to be a b le to read
whate v e r you wa n t w i t h o u t a nybod y
a s k i ng 4uestions a b o u t i t . " Amen .

W
H
o
o
p

chea p to m o n i t o r a l l k i nds of t h i ng s . I n
A le xa nd ria , V i rg i n i a , there a re devices
ca l led te lecoms . Bas ica l l y they 're
tele p h o nes w i t h ca meras a t tached used
to m o n i t o r peo p le on p roba t i o n a nd
pa ro le. The person ca l l s the co rrections
offic ia l s a fter h i s "curfew". fhe telecom
t ra n s m i t s a photogra p h of the pe rson
ta l k i n g eve ry few seco nd s . The
a u t h o r i t ies know t ha t the pe rson is a t
home a nd i s n o t u s i ng a rt,i m persona t o r .
Acco rd i ng to the a u t h o ri t ie s , t h e

subjects d o n 't t h i n k of t h i s device a s

i n t ru s i ve a t a l l . I t w i l l b e used m o re and
more i n the fu t u re , t hey sa y . " E ve ry day
a n America n wa kes up, he o r she i s less
free a s fa r a s private i n fo rma t i o n is
co nce rned , " sa ys Ed wa rd s . " P ri vacy is .
be i ng i nvaded

n a w h o le sa le

bas i s . "

Computerized t ra c k i ng in t h i s c o u n t ry
now beg i n s at age five , when c h i ld ren
c la imed a s dependents m u s t a p p l y for a
S oc i a l Sec u r i t y number. That numbe r
becomes t h e i r na me . O ne F B I system i s
named Big Floyd . I t p l o t s re la t io n s h i p s
between people entered i n t o a c rime d a ta
ba n k a nd d raws a g ra p h of t h ose
re la t i onsh i p s . It then revea l s i f t he
suspects seem to have v i o la ted labor
rac ketee r i ng sta t u t e s . The I R S is
i n te rested i n a s i m i l a r a rra ngeme n t .
W h e re i s i t a l l iead i ng'! . . . . lhe S tate
U n iversity o f ew Y o rk a t B u ffa lo has
ad o p ted new computer met h od s to

.
concea l the identity of read ing ma tena l
its students bo rro w . In :\i ovember I !JX 6 .
t h e u n ivers i t y refused a n F B I re4 uest fo r
Page 18

October, 1987

2600

D
a ty.pesetting error that we sti l l haven't
figured out , a portion of last month's article on
telephone operators was omitted . The missing
portion , which should have appeared three l ines
from the bottom of page 6 , colllffilil 1 , reads :
"'959 is not a valid exchange. So instead of
getting a coin test, you wind up will! a recording.
"'

It seems tha t in some older offices, New

York Telephone has calls routed in such a way
tha t if a 0+ call is made and the area code is a
valid out-of-LA TA area code (9 1 4, 30 1 , 4 1 5,
2 1 5, 503, 7 1 4, 4 12, etc. ), the call goes to an
A T& T TSPS. A ll area codes (NPA 's) in New York
City go to the TOPS. This includes valid New
York City LA TA area codes ( 7 1 8, 5 1 6, 2 1 2)
"
. . . .

And that wasn't al l . Simple human error led to

two fouled up phone numbers last month . One
was the number for the Mainstreet Data BBS on
the letters page, column 1 . The number should be
61 9-439-6624 . The other number appeared in
the first ad of the 2600 Marketplace. That
number should be 5 1 4-288-6 731 . We hope these
m istakes didn't cause anyone undue stress and
we can only hope that simi lar occurrences don't

. !!!ketplace
Pen Reg ister . Just l i ke new. $70.00.
J . C . D e v e n d o r f , 2 9 2 6 1 B u c k h a ve n ,
Lag u n a N ig u e l , CA 92677- 1 6 1 8 .
DO Y O U HAVE o l d o u tdated computer

G O T S O M ETH I N G TO S E LL? Look i n g f o r

someth i ng to b u y ? O r trade? Th i s i s t h e
p l a ce ! T h e 2600 M a rketp l a ce i s f r e e t o
s u bsc r i bers ! J u st s e n d u s w h a tever you

eq u i pm e n t lying a ro u n d gath e r i ng d u st ?

want to say ( w i t h o u t m a k i ng i t too l o ng ) a n d

W h y n o t d o n a t e i t t o 2 6 00 ' s g r ow i n g

we ' l l p r i n t i t ! O n l y p eo p l e p l ea s e , no

b u l l et i n boa rd n etwo r k ? S u pport f reedom of

b u s i nesse s ! Add r e s s : 2 6 00 Ma rketplace,

speech in yo u r t i m e ! Contact 2600 a t ( 5 1 6 )

P O Box 9 9 , M i d d l e I s l a n d , N Y 1 1 9 5 3 .

7 5 1 - 2 600 o r w r i te 2600, P O Box 7 5 2 ,

I n c l ude you r address l a be l .

M id d l e I s l a nd , NY 1 1 9 5 3 .

D O C U M E NTAT I O N o n e l ectron i c & d i g ita l

FOR SALE : SWTPC Model CT-82

P B X ' s a nd switc h i ng system s . Wi l l i n g to

I n te l l igent v i deo term i n a I . Comp lete Iy

t r a d e / p u r c h a se . Also looki ng for B e l l

p r og r a m m a b l e ( 1 5 0 s e p a r a t e f u n c t i o n s ) .

System Practices a nd other such

R S - 2 3 2 C & p a ra l l e l p r i nter ports, f u l l ASC I I

p a r a p h e r n a l i a . W r i te to B i l l , c/o 2600, PO

keyboa rd w / c u rsor control p a d , 9 " P- 3 1

Box 7 5 2 B , M idd l e I s l a n d , N Y 1 1 95 3 .

C RT w/ 7x 1 2 dot m a t r i x- u p to 9 2 col u m n

3 2 K M O D E L 1 00 , U 1 - Rom I I , d r ive, TS

c a pa b i l ity, 3 2 b a u d rates t o 3 8 , 400- m u c h

D O S , spreadsheet. modem cables, AC

more. Exce l lent cond ition with f u l l

a d a ptors, b r i efcase i n c l uded, good

doc u m e n ta t i o n . O r i g i n a l ly $ 800, sel l for

c o n d i t i o n , $ 1 200 . N e w , m a k e a n o f f e r .

$ 1 2 5 o r best offe r . B e r n i e S p i n d e l , 1 44 W

Ta ndy 2000 ve r s i o n of Word Perfect 4 . 0

E a g l e R d . , S u ite 1 08, H a ve rton , PA 1 9083 .

$ 1 50 o r t r a d e for

1 200 o r 2 4 00 b a u d

8-BIT

exte r n a l m ode m . I BM PC & XT & AT vers i o n

R O B O T I C S K I T by F i sc h e rt e c h n i k . A l l

of WordPe rfect 4 . 1 a nd M a t h P l a n 2 . 1 . $ 2 50

FOR

SALE :

COMMODORE

h a rdwa re, i n te rface, softwa re a n d m a n u a l s

or trade for 1 200 or 2400 baud exte r n a l

i nc l uded. M i nt cond i t i o n . $ 3 9 9 . S e n d phone

m ode m . Ca l l (803) 244 - 6429 or (803) 2 3 3 -

# to : Box 5 7 1 , Forest H i l l s , N Y 1 1 3 7 5 .

5 7 5 3 . A s k f o r Pa u l .

B E S T H AC K E R A N D P H R EA K E R written

WA N T E D : Look i n g for a g ood u sed 5 o r 1 0

p u b l i c dom a i n softwa re for t h e App l e I I

m e g a byte h a rd d r ive for t h e App l e I I se r i e s

f a m i l y . Two d o u b l e s ided d i skettes f u l l of

of c o m p u t e r s . I f you a re se l l i n g one or k n ow

com m u n i c a t i o n a n d dep rotect lon u t i l i t i e s .

of a n yone t h a t is t h e n send rep l ies to : B r i a n

T h e s e prog r a m s w e r e com bed f r o m t h e best

F . , 1 003 W . M a i n , Apt . 3 , Ottawa , I L 6 1 350.

B B S a nd c l ubs n a t i o n w i d e . Send $ 1 0 ca s h ,

TA I WA N ! A l l Ta i w a n c o m p u t e r s a n d

c h e c k , o r M O t o M a rk B , 1 48 6 M u rphy Rd . ,

accesso r i es a va i l a b l e for d i rect s h i pment

W i l m i ngton, O H 45 1 7 7 - 9 3 3 8 .

for cost plus s h i pp i ng plus 3% ( q u a n t i t i es of

WA NTE D : Tec h n i c a l d a t a for pay phones,

50 o r more). G i l e s , PO Box 1 2 5 6 6 , E I Paso,

dot m a t r i x p r i n t e r s , a n d / o r m o d e m s .

TX 7 99 1 3 .

Look i n g f o r s c h e m a t i c s a n d t h e ory of

2600 M E ET I N G S . F r i d a ys from 5 - 8 pm at

opera t i o n . Ca l l ( 205 ) 2 9 3 - 6 33 3 / 6 395, 7 t o

t h e C i t i corp C e n t e r in t h e M a rket- 1 5 3 East

4 C S T . A s k f o r A i r m a n Pa roc h e l l s . C a n not

5 3 rd Street , N ew York C i t y . Come by, drop

accept col lect ca l l s .

off a rt i c l es , a s k q ue st i o n s . Quest i o n s ? Ca l l

TA P BAC K I S S U E S-com p l ete set (vo l . 1 84) of h i g h q u a l ity copies s h i pped v i a UPS or

5 1 6 - 7 5 1 - 2 600 .

f i rst class m a i l for $ 1 0000 Over 400 pages

of TAP mater i a l i n c l ud i ng s c h e m a t i cs and
spec i a l reports . C h ecks/ M . O . to " P . E . I . "
C a s h , M . O . s h i pped s a m e d a y . SASE for
sa m p l e . Pete G , P.O. Box 4 6 3 , M t . La u r e l ,

FOR SALE : Ex-Be l l blue boxes, old a nd

sty l i s h , may eve n wor k ! Also a wide
range of old Be l l com m s eq u i pment.
C a l l ( 5 1 4) 288- 673 1 a nd ask for R ick
for deta i ls .

NJ 080 5 4 .

2600

October, 1987

Page 19

(continued/rom page 5)
m i nute. But don't forget , they sti l l have to buy
teleconferencing equipment, which is not made
by Westem Electric (AT&T Technolog ies) or
N y nex ; they m u s t p rov i d e a " c o n v e rsat i o n
f ac i l i t a t o r" ( u s u a l l y o n e f o r every e i g h t
teleconferencers) , they must pay monthly l ine
charges , leave huge "performance bonds" on
depos i t ( s u bj ec t to forfe i t u re ) , pay f o re i g n
exchange charges if they locate outside o f the
East 56th Street CO d istrict , and guarantee
minimum performance levels. The new tariffs
have not been written yet so the exact numbers
are sti l l not avai lable.
The t e l ec o n feren c i n g eq u i pm e n t must be
pretty neat stuff . I t must have the abi l ity to play
an introductory message, about a m inute in
length , welcoming the callers and exp laining the
costs. Then it must hunt for free space on a
moderator's console, and provide an alert tone
every five m i nutes that the person is connected .
Also , there must be a way for the moderator to
identify and isolate/disconnect an unruly caller.
There are about 1 6 companies that make GBS
equ ipment.
540
Profit margins too thin for your taste? Don't
worry I Say hello to the 540 exchange. I ts primary
feature-Sponsor Selective Pricing ( S S P ) . New
York Tel w i l l b i l l whatever the I P wants to
charge. A lthough they haven't fi led the tariff yet ,
the product manager said she'l l probably pick
some maximum (so they won't cause parents
with l ittle chi ldren to get heart fai lures ) . Telco
w i l l b i l l the vendor 30 cents for the f i rst m inute
and five cents per 30-second unit. In an SSP
system in Boston , an IP charges about double

that . N ow the money adds up. One IP reports

that the pomo teleconferences that he runs
throughout the country eam $1 . 1 9 to $1 . 80 per
cal l . With that kind of cash , why doesnt the
phone company j ust take a percentage? After al l ,
it's their network and their b i l l ing and col l ection
department . The answer is that it just doesn't
look right for a public u t i l ity to be "in bed" with a
pomo l ine.
N ote that the phone company w i l l probably
put a limit on the t ime you can spend on the 540
exchange . F ive minutes is being discussed , but
there's no final word yet . They are t ly i ng to
Page 20

October, 1 987

2600

IMAS

discourage the I P's from price shopping between

the 540 and 550 exchanges.
I s teleconferencing all that it does? N ope.
What it does is what the I P wants to do. Telco
w i l l transport the cal l , time i t , and b i l l . What the
I P does on his end is up to him. It could be an
AudioText Service, l ike the passive broadcast
announcing systems such as D ial-A-Jock [sic] .
I t could b e a touch tone interactive system, much
l ike the dai ly horriblescope service where you
touch tone your birthday and the I p's database
accesses that slot in a voice mai lbox system . I t
could also provide a P I N screening/security
system ( hackers: on your mark ! ) .
I n Los Angeles , one telepomographer (coined
here first ? ) produces D ial-A-Perversion ( not the
real name) . At the tone, press 1 for straight
phone sex, 2 for gay sex, 3 for bestiality, and so
on He plans to do the same here. He also wants
to b r i n g t o N Y t h a t s a m e a b i l i t y i n
teleconferencing whereby you touch tone your
perversion and are connected to other l i ke
minded people under the auspices of a special ly
trained moderator. (One presumes that also
means dogs and goats w i l l have to be outfitted
with headsets. )
H e's a fascinating guy. H e thinks the people
who cal l are pretty sick and he hasn't cal led his
own service in quite a while. H e has even stopped
checking up on his recording studio where new
tapes are always in prod u c t i o n . To make
additional revenue, he not only uses the tapes in
the several markets where he operates, he rents
them to other telepomographers around the
country. (I thought that heavy breathing sounded
fam i l iar. )
976/970
N ow , the ever-popular passive 976/970. The
new tariff has increased the charges for 976/970
cal ls. They now charge 28 cents and g ive no
time-of-day discounting . If any such cal ls were
made during the b i l l ing period , you'll be hard
pressed to figure out how many . The charge w i l l
b e added to the first l ine o f your local-call b i l l ing
page. That's the one that looks l ike a spread
sheet . And guess what? They're also proposing
to redesign that page . Even as you read this they
are test marketing the new page. ( H ow come
they never ask me? )

Wh ereas now they start c o l u m n o n e

del ineated b y bands A , B , C , D, and E, they
propose to actually state in that column where
that band is ( U WSTC H R , E S U F F K , etc . ) . The
first row w i l l be the band you're i n . U nder that , all
other rows w i l l be the info for cal ls made to other
areas within the LATA , listed in ascending order
of cost (the further down , the more expensive) .
The next column is cost , initial , then incremental .
N ext is the number of cal ls made during the
day/ non-discounted rate. Then the additional
minutes column , then the total charged for that
rate. That is where they' l l bury the 976/970
28 cent costs . Says the phone company, "If they
want to know how many cal ls were made, they
can do the math . " (Yeah , right . N ow here's
another reason to buy a PC for the home. ) Also ,
they' l l change the note on the bottom of the page
if at least one 28 cent cal l was made during that
bill ing period to indicate as such .
The revenue to the I P's also goes up . They
eam their money based on cal l volume. Currently,
the first 250 ,000 cal ls per month earn them two
cents each . Then there are several increments
unt i l they hit the top level . Over 4 , 000 ,000 per
month earns them 2 . 5 cents each . The new
proposed levels are: 3 . 5 cents per cal l for the first
1 4 4 , 0 00 c a l l s ; 3 . 7 5 cen t s f o r 1 44 , 0 0 1 t o
432 , 000 cal ls; 4 cents f o r 432 ,001 t o 1 , 1 52 ,000
cal ls; 4 . 25 cents for 1 , 1 52 , 001 to 2 , 304 , 000
cal ls; and 4 . 5 cents for over 2 , 304 ,000 cal ls.
Why doesn't everyone sign up? I haven't told
you the bad news. Shortfalls. An IP must
maintain a minimum cal l volume of 57 , 600 calls
per month . Any amount under that w i l l be
charged to the vendor at a rate of 24 . 5 cents
each! For example: let's say a dial- it service
received only 21 , 000 calls in one month (700
cal ls a day times 30 days) . They' l l eam 21 ,000
times 3 . 5 cents or $735 . Then they'll be hit with a
"charge back" of 57 , 600 minus 21 ,000 times
24 . 5 cents or $8 , 967 . That yields them a
negative $8 , 232 for the month. (Talk about a big
phone b i l l ! ) H owever, with a customer base of six
m i l l ion, your cal l volume should be tremendous.
The good news is that this is a much lower
charge-back level than ever befure . Telco wants
to encourage more narrowcasting for this 57second passive AudioText service.

have formed an association to fight the l ittle

Bel ls, wherever they might be. For some reason,
they feel the regional phone companies don't play
fair when writing these tariffs. (There's a shock! )
What effect they' l l have between now and then
remains to be seen . In the meantime, New York
Tel continues its instal lation at a record pace.
976 -. io Z I Z. 914. 5 1 6 .. _
976-1 1 1 1

The Pro Wrestling Aclloo Line (Daily News)

Newsday Weather Se!vice

976- 1 2 1 2

976- 1 3 1 3

976- 1 4 1 4

976-1 6 1 6

976-2020

"

976-2 1 2 1

976-2222

Daily News Sportsphone

Lottery results in Spanish
Tinne and t8J"!l6fOture

Lottery results

Race results

DTB results

Sports

976-2424

976-2525

976-2626

976-2727

Daily News Sportsphone Extra

live Wire/High Society 5exllne
Live Wire/High Society 5exline

976-2828

live Wire/High Society Sexline

976-2929

Actioo Line (Wrest",,' Fonm)

976-3232

976-3333

976-3434

Lottery results in Spanish

Race results

Lottery results
5exllre (affiliated with 976-BBBB )

5exl ire

976-3535

"

976-3737

976-4141
976-4343
976-5050

"

976-51 51

976-5252

976-5353

976-5454

976-5656

976-5757

976-5658

976-5959

976-6262

976-6363

976-6767

976-6969

976-7777

976-8383

Lottery results

(Car<er)

Liz Gar<iler H oroocope (Virgo)

Liz Gar<iler H oroocope ( Libra)

Liz Gardner H oroocope (ScorjIio)

LIZ Gar<iler H oroocope (Sagittarius)

976-6060

976-8282

976-6 1 6 1

976-7676

Dow Jooes Report

LIZ Gardner Horoocope (Aries)

Liz Gar<iler H oroocope (Taurus)
Liz Gar<iler Horoocope (I"'TIITII )
Liz Gardner Horoocope
Liz Gar<iler Horoocope (Leo)

Liz Gardner Honoocope (Caprirom)

LIZ Gardner Horoocope (AquariUS)
Liz Gar<iler H oroocope ( Pisces)

Stock marl<et report

fducatlonal " detect,ve" service (Dally Newsl

Race results

Lottery results

Lottery results

LIZ Gardner lovecast (txJro=pe)

976-8484

976-BBBB

976-8989

976-9999

970-()()()()

Race resulls
Lottery results

Sexllre (affiliated with 976-3535)

Cheri/Live Wire/HrgIl Soc"ty 5exlire

970 _ io Z I Z , 914. 5 1 6 .. _

TONE

Spanish 5exlire

ntJTbers)

970-0707

970- 1 0 1 0

Mr. Happ lres5 (lucky

Ta", of Terror (Dally News)

970-1 7 1 7

970- 1 8 1 8

970-4747

970-4848

970-7272

970-7878

970-7979

970-6080

970-8686

97U-8787

5exlire (originates In Seattle)

Lesbian 5exlire (originates In Seattle)

Slbnissive 5exlire (onginates in Seattle)

5exllne (ooginates in Seattle)

5exlioo (affiliated with 900- 410-6749)

Dommant Sexline (onginates In Seattle)

Telelooos de Fantasias (Spanish Sexline)

.. .. .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. Kinky Sexline (origlllates in Seattle)

970-9090

970-9494

970-9898
970-9999

Scorsphone
Scorephone Plus

5exllne (onginates in Seattle)

Anal 5exline (originates In Seattle)

Live Wire/High Society 5exlire

. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gay Sexhne

&

540-5400

540 ....... _ Iram 2 1 Z. 914, 5t6 .. _

. . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . Jeanne Dixoo's

540-5050

.. . . . . . . . .

Horosc.ope
_
Oculy News Sport:; TriVIa
550 _,, _ Iram 516 .. """

50 4222
b50-!:I336 . . . . . .. . . . . . .
:150- 555 ..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Conference Cal!

Conference Call

Cooference Call

Watch this space. This might all change

between now and second quarter 1 988. The lP's

2600

O ctober, 1987

Page 2 1

Here are the results of the 2600 Contest, where we asked for funny and interesting ways
of answering the phone : It was not quite what we expected . The most common entry was
"City Morgue - you kill 'em , we chill 'em " or some similiarly macabre variant . A few
people, when they answer the phone, like to pretend that they are answering machines
or telco recordings. Or even their local police department. Since so few of the entrants
conformed to our judgement criteria and since there was no clear winner, we 're
averaging out the two prizes offered and giving each of the three best entries a one-year
extension to their 2600 subscriptions. And the winners:

***

"This is Bullwinkle . Wanna

hear me pull a rabbit out of
my hat? "- 3-RARE , Prospect
Heights, Illinois .
***

"If you tell me you 've got the

wrong number again , I 'll carry
out my threat . "- North
Babylon, N ew York .
***

" I thought I told you never to

call me here . " - Clintown
Township, Michigan .
If you see your entry here, then you 've received an extra year on your subscription .

Page 22

October, 1 987

2600

2600 BAC K I S S U E S (continued from inside front cover)

1986
online soon but many Quest ions on seizure rema in, THE BASICS DIVESTITURE WHAT
HAPPENED 1 - - an explanat ion of that which Is cunfuslng the popu lace. FLASH AT&T steals customers, Dom in ican blue boxers, computerized
hooky catcher, Falwell a t tacked by computer. an astronom ical phone bill. dlal-a -porn update, phone I::x:>ot h VictOriOUS, LETTERS Gettlng credlt
f r o m a l t e r n a t e c a r r i e r s , t r a c i n g m e t h od s , mob i l e p h o n e s , M a n i t oba r a i d , 2 600 I N F O R M A T I O N B U R E A U - b l u e box prog r a m s ,
SYSTEMA n CA LL Y SPEAK ING confusmg payphones, code abuse software, centrex features I n your house, VAX 8650, overcharge hunters,
VMS THE SERIES CONTINUES - more on secur ity features, IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU ! -what happens when hackers have a fight, DIAL
BACK SCU R I TY -- holes I n the systems, FLASH abuse of party line, u n ique obscene caller, news on pen registers, reporters steal SWISS
phones. pay phone causes paniC, LETTERS asking questions, blue box corrections, Computel complaint, BBS security, 26CX) INFORMATION
BUR EAU -- assorted numbers, SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING Sprint and US Tel merge, write protect tabs wrong, Bell Atlantic chooses MCI.
cellular phones In E ngland, Infrared beeper, electroniC tax returns, acoustic trauma; AN OVERVIEW OF AUTOVON AND SILVER BOXES-the
!n l l t t a r y phone network and hO\lV your touch tone phone can play a long; AN AMERICAN EXPRESS PHONE STORY-a memory of one of the
better hacking escapades, F INAL WORDS ON VMS-seCUrity devices and assorted tipS, FLASH . hacker zaps computer marquee, Soviets
denied computer access, calling the shuttle, new ways of stealing data, computer password forgotten, LETTERS. corporate rates, defeattng
call waiting, n ngback numbers, where IS BlOC?, credit where It'S due, speclal SOO number; THIS MONTH AT 2600 Private Sector's return,
C omp u t e l a n d Compuserve, Telepub '86, a postal m iracle, SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING Jamming satellites, TASS news service, Soviet
computer update, dial ing the yellow pages, Northern Telecom to destroy CO's, more phones than ever, RSTS FOR BEGINNERS-basIc
system functions, log i n procedures, MOBILE PHONES THEORY AND CONSTRUCTION- how to bUild your own mobile phone; FLASH
Br II Ish phoneboo t h wedding, another large Sprint bill, bad tenant databases, car breathal lzers, phone phreak flOeet Marcos phones for free,
LF D E R S blue box coding, electroniC road priclOg In Hong Kong, U N IX bugs, more on AF hacklOg, A STORY OF EAVESDROPPING-from
Wor l d War I I , THIS MONTH AT 26CX) transcnpts of Pnvate Sector raid, more on Compute\; SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING ' 6 1 7 to be dlVlded,
C o ny r ess chooses AT&T, Baby Bells don 't pay AT&T bills, equal access 800 numbers, data encryption, DA failure, AT&T loses Its zero;
r XPLOITS IN OPERA TOR HELL haraSSing operators from Alaska, THE COMPUTEL SCOOP, FLASH' Bellcore publications go public, US and
f r dnct' l i nk phones, computer grammar, shower phone, cel l u lar modem, high tech parking meters, CongreSSional computer; LETTERS
foreign phone systems, RUSSian phone book s, numbers to dial on a blue box, Boston ANI. Chesh ire Catalyst, CNA, ways of answering the
I) h o n e , 2 600 I N F O R MA T I O N BUREAU - Autovon number, alternate phreaklOg methcxts for alternate carners, SYSTEMATICALLY
SPEAKING Wrest lemanla pinS Bell. sting boards on the rise, American Network fears hackers, free pay-phones plague New Jersey,
di sposable phones. hdcker terrOrists, COMPUTER CRIME REVIEW-a review of the report from The National Center for Computer Crime
D d l a . HOW f O HACK A PICK An introduction to the Pick operating system and ways of hacking IOta It; NOTHING NEW IN COMPUTER
UNDERGROUND
re,new of a new book , FLASH New York's new computer Crt me law, a $6,829 phone bill, how big oomputer crime pays,
publIC phone secr ecy, Capitol H i l i hacker, Clt lbank money games, LETTERS English phreaklng, ways of tricking sting 8BS's, called party
superVISIOIl 2 600 Phun Book, Captain M idnight RGI, 2600 INFORMATION BUREAU-some phone n umbers; RESOURCES GUIDE;
!:> YS f EMA TlCALL V SPEAKING Hands across Telenet. calling K iev, Nynex bumps off Southwestern Bell, stock market crash, cell site names,
w1eophone-:, VIOLATING A VAX-- f roJan horses, collecting passwords, etc , etc , THE FREE PHONES OF PH1LLY-Skyline providing
c omp l e tely free SerVice t rom pay phones, FLASH 'town Cr ippled by teleo strike, prisoners make Illegal calls, hacker degrees, New Jersey tops
ldp!:>, ell: fed IS tapped, water company wants customers' SOCial security numbers, computers strike agalO, federal employees "tracked";
U::. TT E H S A!:>soclat lon of C l a ndest ine RadiO EnthUSiasts, lIT correct ion, NSA more on VMS, Telecompuust. a 950 trick, 2600 INFORMATION
B U R EAU World Numbering Zones, SYSTEMATICALLY S PEAKING AT&T sel l i ng pay phones, automated operators. cellular dial-by-VOice,
new Br itish phone service. no data protection for Hong Kong, CongreSSional fraud hotline, federal phone failures, Indiana teleo threatens
A I &: T. KNOWING U N I X sending mall and general hacking, A TRIP TO ENGLAND-and the fun I)1 mgs you can do with phones over there,
LA SH Phone f r a u d In gover nor 's house, Big Brother, Teltec fights back, vandal ism, 9 1 1 calls LETTERS. shutting down systems, legal
BB s . VAX VMS tipS, 2600 INFORMATION BUREAU --a l ist of telcos, a list of area ccxtes and number of exchanges, SYSTEMATICAllY
SPlAKING USSR computers, ATM s In China, NYCE, TV blue boxes, government phones, rural radio phones, SOME FACTS ON
SUPf HVISION an!:>wer superVISion explained, RCI & OM S - 1 00 BUGS, ANOTHER STINGER IS STUNGMaxfleld exposed again; FLASH:
NSA d r ops DES. hackers un shortwave, Big Brother traffiC cop, crosstalk saves a life, Indian phones, VideO signatures, FBI shoppi ng list,
d l rphone c..au-:,e confUSion. LE ITERS Captain M idnight, annoyance bureau, SL- l SWitches, credit. PBX's, 8OO word-numbers, pubhc CNA's;
2600 I N FO RM AT I O N BUREAU- Winn ipeg numbers, SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING Sprint overbills, AT&T ranks # 1 , portable VAXes, call
J e je c t Ion. D EA T H O F A PAY PHONE - nasty bUSiness, TRASHING AMERICA'S SOURCE FOR INFORMATION-stili more tactics; FLASH FBI
Investigates coffee niachme, CIS copYrights public software, Navy software, HBO encryption, I ndiana "Fones", LETTERS. Numbers, telco
harra!":>sment, Puertu R i can telephones, O's and Z's, 2 600 INFORMATION BUREAU-Overseas numbers, SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING
ElectroniC tax returns. software makers crash BBS, ICN, Ultraphone, ESS an Taiwan, NSA wants new chip; ICN-MORE THAN A BARGAIN
a look dt one at t h e worst phone companies In the world, MASTERING THE NETWORKS-communicating on Arpanet, Bitnet, etc ; FlASH
Htagan t o r ture s Pdt lents, FBI angers parents, 0 and Z controversy, LETTERS Telenet hacking, ANI's, 8 1 1 . 976 problems, 26(X)
I N f- O RM A T : O N B U REAU
B r itish B B S numbers, WRATH OF GOD STRIKES 26CX), SYSTEMATICALLY SPEAKING Banks l i nk arms, Sprint
has too m a n y cuSlO l n e rs, new payphones, n ickname listings, computer college, A LOOK AT THE FUTURE PHREAKING WORLD--cellular
telepl,one, & h o w they wo,k, HOW CELLULAR PHONES CAME ABOUT AND WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT, THINGS WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO
K NO\/''v' A B O U T . FLASH AVOiding reJect ion, phreaks tie up CirCUits, North Carolina hackers, international hacking, paying for touch tones,
w l r e td '_E T fER!:> Equal access 800 numbers, strange numbers, Irish phreaklng, dIsabling call waiting, 26CXJ INFORMATION BUREAU
Nelmad -:, l I e -:, SVS TEMATICALL V SPEAKING Free directOries, f tngerpf lnt ID system, navigatIng With CD's, SWeepIng for bugs
P R IVATE SEC TOR

R E T U R N I NG - Back

All issues now in stock. Del ivery with in 4 weeks .

MA KE YOUR COLLEC TION COMPLE TE!
--------- --------------------

2600 BACK ISSUE ORDER:

[] 1 984 $25

[] 1 985 $25

[] 1986 $25

S E N D THIS COUPON WITH PAYMENT TO:

2600 Back Issues
P. O. Box 752
Middle Island, NY 11 953

(rour address label should be on

the back

2600

of this form)

October, 1 987

Page 23

BBS UPDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
N EW YORK'S IMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
TELCO'S RESPONSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
TELECOM I N FORM E R . . . . . . . . . 8
NUA L I ST . . .
. . .. ... ... 1 0
SOUTH AFRICAN BBS'S 1 1
.

12
LETT ERS
THOSE SI LLY CODES
. 14
2600 MARKET PLAC E . . . . . . . . . 1 9
CONTEST RE5U LTS . . . . . . . . 22
.

2600 Magaz ine

PO Box 752
M iddle Island , NY 1 1 953 US A

WARN ING:
MISSING LABEL