9 p.m. Saturday, 9 p.m. Saturday.
Oh, it's that time again for our day of love, lust, renunciation, sex and violence, Ring
Day on WBAI.
We'll be using the Metropolitan Opera version with James Levine and some absolutely fantastic
voices.
I'll be starting on Valentine's Day, appropriately enough, at 7 in the morning, and running straight
through until 2 in the morning.
So, join me.
I'm Manya.
I've been doing this for a while, and whether it's your first time or the most recent, you'll
like it.
A very good evening to one and all.
It's just about 10 o'clock.
Time for Off the Hook.
Yeah, time for Off the...
Is that two or is that three?
That's three.
Thank you.
We're having some technical difficulties.
Send in your pledge, and we won't have as many.
We're having some technical difficulties.
We're having some technical difficulties.
The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the floor.
I cut myself while shaving.
Now I can't make a cough.
It couldn't get much worse.
But if they could, they would.
Bum, dilly, bum.
But the best, it's better worse.
I hope that's understood.
Bum, dilly, bum.
and our apologies for
the slightly disorganization
you heard before
things aren't where they're supposed to be
things aren't working quite the way they're supposed to work
and right now
the only way we can bring you this program
is to kind of stretch around
the entire studio
microphone is all the way at one end
and a tape recorder is all the way on the other end
and you have to sort of do a balancing act
to get to both
but that's part of what we're all about here
at WBAI
is a consistent balancing act
that's what we will endeavor to do
in the next hour
the program is Off the Hook
this is Emmanuel Goldstein
and we are having all kinds of other stories
other technical difficulties as well
that we'll be sharing with you
and we'll be taking your phone calls
212-279-3400
and hopefully you can partake in this madness
okay let's get right into things
we've got some special announcement type things
some news type things
and bits of data and information
and again your phone calls are a vital part of that
212-279-3400
okay here are some experiences
some nasty experiences from people
now occasionally we tell you about the licenses
that people have a lot of problems with
you know where you have kind of a duplicate of some sort
somebody else's name or address
a social security number is remarkably similar to yours
and you wind up having to pay a lot of grief for that
well this person named Jim Roberts
or James Roberts if you will
says he received in the mail from the state of Maryland
which is where he lives
a notice that my driver's license is revoked
based on a DWI arrest
by a person with a similar name in 1985
on all official documents
including driver's licenses
I use my full name
William James Roberts
the person with the same birth date
named James Roberts
resided in Florida
a state I have never visited
and he was arrested in Tennessee
to have my license reinstated
I must prove to the hearing board
that I am not the DWI James Roberts
something I suspect it will not be easy to do
if one has a real DWI
he gets a day in court
but if one has merely a computer generated DWI
he has no such right
the notice indicated that James Roberts had no sex
weighed 0 pounds
was 0 feet 0 inches in height
and had blank eyes
so the folks who programmed the database
well
the information you're required to have
on your driver's license is not useful
when they want to roll up the numbers
on license revocations apparently
I suspect that if I were Barbara James Roberts
that is sex F
I would have gotten the same notice
in that case it might be easier to fight
but what if I were a woman
with an ambiguous middle name
say Barbara Kelly Roberts
and the revokee were just Kelly Roberts
really a male
but to Maryland
an M or an F
then I would again be in difficulties
the next step in the widening scope
of the database
may be just to use your birth date
and the soundex code of your last name
that should considerably improve
the numbers achieved
by the responsible bureaucrats
in their hunt for more revocations
incredible
if anyone out there
has ever had that happen to them
I'd sure like to hear
what kind of experiences
you've been put through
and this doesn't just apply to
to driver's licenses
it can apply to anything
anything at all
that involves computers
and credit reports
and that kind of thing
all right
here's something else
this comes from Mark Colon
who heard this on the BBC
the tail end of the sports news
at the end of News Hour
which is a BBC program
which you can get on shortwave
if you have a shortwave here
the morning BBC show
heard on WBUR
among other places
it's also heard
on some public stations
I don't think any
in New York though
the mention of an error
in a betting computer
at a Greyhound racetrack
the computer continued
to accept bets
well after the conclusion
of the race
needless to say
many gleeful track bettors
bought tickets for the dog
that had already won
and claimed their winnings
the article also mentioned
that some people
are just born losers
after the race
had finished
139 people
bet on dogs
that had already lost
the government management
reported that
they intend to reclaim
all of the unfairly won monies
however they stated
that they intend
to keep the money
from the losers
okay
now
what else do we have for you
a Reuters report
found in the New York Times
January 21st 1993
states that computer disks
holding secret information
on Brazil's banking reserves
have disappeared
from the central bank
the federal police
are investigating the loss
according to the report
President Itamar Franco
took the unusual step
of releasing information
on the reserves
to offset any damage
or financial speculation
from loss of the disks
the disks held information
on day-to-day reserve operations
and details
like where the reserves
are invested
what they consisted of
and how the reserves
were generated
yes
a computer glitch
two weeks ago
means some accident
compensation clients
have been sent
multiple identical letters
promising them checks
for zero dollars
and zero cents
teacher Angela Watt
received three envelopes
the other day
from the Accident
Rehabilitation and Compensation
Insurance Corporation
and this is in New Zealand
by the way
this is relating to her son
Andrew who sprained his ankle
while picking apricots
that's what they do
in New Zealand
the first letter
gave Andrew's medical fee number
and requested that he keep it
in a safe place
the second did the same thing
but added mysteriously
that although you have claimed
zero dollars and zero cents
legislative regulations
provide maximum limits
of payment
of zero dollars and zero cents
payment of this amount
will be forwarded
confused and craving enlightenment
Mrs. Watt opened
the third letter
she found a check
for twenty nine dollars
a refund
for Andrew's doctor's fee
Palmerston North
branch manager
Joe Burney
said the corporation
reprogrammed
its Wellington computer
on January 12th
to stop it sending out
individual letters
for every part
of a client's claim
under the old system
you would get
separate letters
and checks
for each part of a claim
the doctor's fee
the prescription charge
and the physiotherapy
she said
the new computer program
was supposed to save
all the claims
add them up
and send out
one letter
and one check
something happened
there was one letter
all right
but it was sent out
three times
in some cases
oh this is
a good one
for those of you
that think you're safe
from using
pirated copies
of software
let's know what
happened in Germany
employees of IBM
Phillips
the German Federal
Interior Ministry
and the Federal Office
for the Protection
of the Constitution
are among those
who unwittingly
turned themselves in
when a German
computer software company
resorted to an
undercover strategy
to find out
who was using
illegal copies
of one of its programs
hundreds of customers
accepted
CadSoft's offer
of a free demonstration
program
that unknown to them
searched their
computer hard disks
for illegal copies
where the search
was successful
a message appeared
on the monitor screen
inviting the customer
to print out
and return a voucher
for a free handbook
of the latest version
of the program
however instead
of a handbook
the users received
a letter from
the Bavarian-based
software company's
lawyers
since the
demonstration program
was distributed
last June
about 400 people
have returned the
voucher which
contained coded
information about
the type of computer
and the version
of the illegally
copied CadSoft
program being used
CadSoft is now
seeking damages
of at least
6,000 Deutschmarks
each from the
illegal users
of course
nobody knows
if this is legal
yet for them
to do this
kind of thing
but they're
preparing for
some long
legal battles
that's the
newest way
of fighting
quote-unquote
software crime
and that comes
to us from
the Risks Digest
how about this
a superior court
judge has
upheld the
Milpitas
unified school
districts
two-year-old
ban on the
wizards
spelling game
that's out of
California by
the way
the ruling
was handed
down last
Friday
actually a few
Fridays ago
the computer game
was banned in
1990 by the
school board
following complaints
from parents that
it promoted
satanic worship
teachers seeking
to reverse the
ban argue that
it infringed on
their rights to
choose teaching
materials and
broke laws
prohibiting state
agencies such as
school districts
from supporting
any religion
the court ruled
that the school
district had
acted within
its authority
and had not
violated the
California
constitution by
banning the
game
with all due
respect we
don't agree with
the court's
decision said
Catherine Porter
an attorney
representing the
teachers based on
the California
constitution we do
believe that we
provided significant
evidence to show
that the purpose
and effect of the
ban was religious
and not secular
pleased by the
ruling Milpitas
superintendent Jack
Mackey said we
always thought the
board was acting
within its
authority to
maintain a
secular environment
unquote
wizard's spelling
game
that's
an interesting
one
and speaking of
religion
heard
this on the
radio
according to
Peter Scott
on the
risks digest
a major
Christian radio
network is
alerting its
member stations
to check their
latest shipments
of religious
compact discs
before airing
them
it seems
that due to
a computer
error
some other
CDs were
mislabeled at
the factory
and shipped
along with
the religious
ones
unfortunately
the itinerant
CDs were by
the Dead
Kennedys
a spokesman
for the
radio network
said this is
what happens
whenever people
get around
machines
the CBS
newsreader
with masterful
understatements
said the Dead
Kennedys CDs
included songs
such as I
Killed Children
which some
Christian listeners
might not find
inspirational
yeah
the major
telecom
carriers are
reporting that
1992 was a
bad year for
the phone
baddies
intent on
ripping off
phone service
from corporations
Sprint reported
fraud claims by
its business
customers dived
96%
fraud went
down 96%
to $670,000
or $1,350
per incident
compared to an
average loss
of $35,000
in 1991
that's $35,000
per incident
compared to
$1,000
about $1,000
per incident
last year
AT&T also
says fraud
claims made
to it
dropped
about 88%
and MCI
says it has
also seen a
drop in claims
in other words
1992 losses
were a far
cry from the
$1 billion
to $3 billion
a year
claimed as
losses in
past years
the major
reason
customer
awareness
and a
three minute
computer failure
at an Ohio
Bell central
office
disrupted
phone service
for 42,000
telephone lines
in the
downtown
business district
and that was
in late
January
for about
45 minutes
the computer
problem cleared
after a few
minutes
but the
disruption
snowballed
when a
surge of
callers
seeking
dial tones
caused a
telephone
traffic jam
of sorts
according to
Ohio Bell
spokesman
David
Kandel
outgoing
and incoming
calls
on 15
downtown
prefixes
were disrupted
by the
problem
which started
at
942
a.m.
the
Columbus
police
the
Franklin
County
Sheriff's
Department
Columbus
Public
Schools
and state
offices
were among
those
disrupted
by the
outage
callers
in the
affected
prefix
areas
who dialed
911
could not
reach
Columbus
police
or the
Franklin
County
Sheriff's
office
for at
least
three
minutes
however
those
agencies
reported
they did
not receive
any complaints
after the
dial tones
returned
it was
starting to
clear itself
within minutes
but because
you're looking
at such a
huge volume
of calls
downtown
it took the
system time
to recover
they said
the system
was delivering
a very
very slow
dial tone
problems
problems
started
when one
of two
computer
processors
failed
the other
took over
but it
took about
three minutes
for it
to retrieve
the information
from the
failed
processor
Ohio Bell
technicians
were working
with the
equipment
manufacturer
yesterday
to determine
what caused
the processor
to fail
it still
was not
working
late yesterday
when I say
yesterday
keep in mind
this is a
news story
from about
a week
or so
ago
Columbus
police
dispatchers
reported
having problems
for about
30 minutes
chief deputy
Robert Taylor
of the
sheriff's
department
said
this radio
room
used cellular
phones
until the
problem
cleared
neither
department
knew of
any
emergencies
missed
because of
the
computer
problem
Columbus
firefighters
said
they were
receiving
911
calls
throughout
the
period
of
disruption
interesting
that
such a
brief
period
three
minutes
can cause
a snowball
effect
like that
but that's
exactly how
the phone
system
works
now this
is something
of interest
if you know
anybody
that goes
to the
University
of Illinois
you might
want to
take note
of this
latest item
you should
know that
anyone
anyone who
knows your
social security
number and
birthday
can now see
your official
transcript
and to
add insult
to injury
if someone
does look at
your transcript
you will be
charged
five dollars
that's right
the administration
building room
100 now has
three computer
terminals
anyone can walk
up to one
and type
one
a social
security
number
two
a birthday
three
an address
you want
the transcript
to be sent
to
it's that
easy
if the
social security
number and
birthday match
a current
student
that student's
transcript will
be sent to
that address
and that
student's
account will
be charged
five dollars
and I
somehow have
the feeling
that this is
not an unusual
type of system
and also
in the stupidity
department
this was
also sent
into the
risks digest
this person
saw on page
two of
their phone
bill from
southern bell
the following
little notice
call right
touch service
to do
various things
such as
disconnecting
your phone
ordering
extra cost
services
please protect
your access
code
and they
printed the
access code
right there
on the
page
like I
said most
people would
simply throw
that page
out
but
who knows
how many
people really
did
all right
a couple of
legal things
now
the New York
Times has
reported
that a document
obtained by
computer professionals
for social
responsibility
through the
Freedom of
Information Act
well they say
that internal
memo which was
prepared by the
General Services
Administration
describes many
problems with
the FBI's
wiretap plan
and also
shows that the
GSA strongly
opposed the
sweeping proposal
the GSA is
the largest
purchaser of
telecommunications
equipment in the
federal government
the FBI wiretap
proposal first
announced in
March of 1992
we've devoted
quite some time
to it here
would have
required telephone
manufacturers to
design all
communications
equipment to
facilitate wire
surveillance
the proposal was
defeated last
year the FBI
has said that it
plans to
reintroduce a
similar proposal
this year
difference though
is that we have
an administration
that might
understand why
this is a bad
thing now
the documents
released to the
were released to
the computer
professionals for
social responsibility
which is a
public interest
organization
headquartered in
DC
after CPSR
submitted Freedom
of Information Act
requests about the
FBI's wiretap
plan to several
federal agencies
last year
the documents
obtained by
CPSR
reveal that the
GSA which is
responsible for
equipment procurement
for the federal
government strongly
opposed two
different versions
of the wiretap
plan developed
by the FBI
according to the
GSA the FBI
proposal would
complicate
interoperability
increase cost
and diminish
privacy and
network security
the GSA also
stated that the
proposal could
adversely affect
national security
in the second
memo the GSA
concluded that it
would be a mistake
to give the
attorney general
sole authority
to waive provisions
of the bill
the GSA's
objections to
the proposal
were overruled
by the
office of
management and
budget
a branch of
the White
House which
oversees
administrative
agencies for
the president
however none
of GSA's
objections were
disclosed to
the public or
made available to
policymakers in
Washington
secrecy surrounds
this proposal
critical sections
of a report on
the FBI
wiretap plan
prepared by the
general accounting
office were
earlier withheld
after the FBI
designated these
sections national
security information
these sections
included analysis
by GAO on
alternatives to
the FBI's
wiretap plan
CPSR is also
pursuing a
Freedom of
Information Act
lawsuit to
obtain the
FBI's internal
documents concerning
the wiretap
proposal
GSA memos
the GAO report
and others that
CPSR is now
seeking indicate
that there are
many important
documents within
the government
which have still
not been disclosed
to the public
they're doing
quite a job down
there in DC
tracking down
information on
this particular
case
while it may
seem as if
the battle
has been won
as the FBI
said
they plan on
resurrecting it
and it could
pop up again
at any moment
it's important
that people
be educated
when it does
Mark Rotenberg
is the
head of
CPSR
in the
Washington
DC office
and if you
have an
internet account
since they
print his
internet account
on the
risk side
just might
as well
give it to
you here
as well
and it is
rotenberg
r-o-t-e-n
b-e-r-g
at
wash
w-a-s-h
o-f-c
as in
Washington
office
dot c-p-s-r
dot o-r-g
and
become part
of
the educational
battle
which is
always going
on in this
particular
world we
live in
speaking of
CPSR
there's also
more CPSR
action a little
closer to
home
and that
concerns
something else
we've been
talking about
quite a bit
on this
program
the incident
in Washington
DC at the
November 2600
meeting
computer
professionals for
social responsibility
have filed
suit in
federal court
seeking information
on the role
of the secret
service in
the disruption
of a meeting
of computer
users last
November
the incident
which occurred
at the
Pentagon
City Mall
in Arlington
Virginia
has been
described as
an example
of overzealous
law enforcement
activities directed
against so-called
computer hackers
on November 6th
1992 a group
of people
affiliated with
the computer
magazine 2600
were confronted
by mall
security personnel
local police
officers and
several unidentified
individuals
the group
members were
ordered to
identify themselves
and to submit
to searches
of their
personal property
their names
were recorded
by mall
security personnel
and some of
their property
was confiscated
however no
charges were
ever brought
against any
of the individuals
at the meeting
the Secret
Service has
not formally
acknowledged
its role
in the
November
incident
however
a mall
security
official
and the
Arlington
County Police
have said
that Secret
Service agents
were present
and directed
the activities
of the mall
security personnel
according to
CPSR Washington
director Mark
Rotenberg
if this was
a Secret
Service
operation
it raises
serious
constitutional
questions
it is
unlawful
for the
government
to disrupt
a meeting
of people
who are
peaceably
assembled
and to
seize their
personal property
we have
filed this
FOIA suit
to determine
the precise
role of the
Secret Service
in this
affair
CPSR has
submitted a
Freedom of
Information Act
request to
the Secret
Service
or they did
submit that
several days
after the
incident
to date
the agency
has failed
to respond
under the
law
FOIA
requesters may
file suit
in federal
court when
an agency
has not
complied
with the
legally imposed
time limits
CPSR
a national
membership
organization
that protects
civil liberties
for computer
users
previously filed
an FOIA
suit against
the Secret
Service
after the
agency was
criticized for
several poorly
conducted
investigations of
computer users
documents disclosed
to CPSR from
the Operation
Sun Devil case
revealed that the
agency monitored
publicly accessible
electronic bulletin
boards
CPSR has
recommended the
development of
guidelines for
computer crime
investigations and
called for a
reassessment of
the Secret
Service's role in
the computer
crime field
if you're
interested in
CPSR
membership you
can contact
CPSR P.O.
Box 717
Palo Alto
California
94302 or
you can call
415-322-3778
okay that's
pretty much it
as far as
that kind of
news goes but
sticking with
the government
issues we
were talking
last week
about new
ways you can
get a hold
of various
governmental
officials we
gave out a
CompuServe
address but
now we have
we have even
more we have
some internet
addresses as
well and
fiber optic is
here with
with the
latest as far
as that goes
you've got
some some
addresses for
us is that
right
okay let's
make sure that
microphone is
working because
a lot of
things aren't
working
try the
console mic
on number
six
on number
six
see if it
works
we don't
have a number
six
there's no
six here
well no it
only goes up
to five but
this microphone
is fine I like
this one just
use yours
you have to
speak into it
though
okay
hi everybody
since January
25th the new
administration has
been installing
a domain on
the internet
known as
house.gov
g-o-v
and it's
for the
purpose for
the main
purpose of
email and
whether it's
for internal
use or whether
it's so that
our fine
citizens of
the internet
can send
can send
our newly
elected
administration
some electronic
mail it's
being set up
as we speak
now if one
was to
inquire on
the network
information center
on house.gov
you'd find that
it listed as
house information
systems
house annex
2
second and
D streets
southwest
washington
dc
20515
and there
are three
contacts listed
there's
Doreen
Albiston
as an
administrative
contact
john
schnizlein
technical
contact
and
Doreen
dean
zone
contact
and it
also lists
their phone
numbers and
email addresses
now for all
you internet
users if you
want to look
this up
yourself you
can simply
type who
is house
h-o-u-s-e
dot gov
g-o-v
and uh
of course a
more advanced
user might use
the ns lookup
utility
well not
to type
this who
is you
have to
be on a
particular
system
right
you have to
be on a
unix system
any unix
system will
this will
work on
any unix
system is
going to
have the
who is
command
yeah
and you
can look
out people
on other
systems
yeah
in the
event that
you're a
net user
and you
find that
your system
doesn't have
the who
is
utility
for whatever
reason
you should
the first
thing you
should do
is complain
and the
second thing
you should
do is
just do
the next
best thing
which is
to telnet
to the
network
information
center
by simply
saying
telnet
space
nick
dot ddn
dot mil
and do
the same
thing
once you're
connected to
that then
just say
who is
house
dot gov
and it'll
have the
same
effect
now it's
interesting
ddn dot
mil
it stands
for a
defense
data
network
military
now why
why would
people have
to connect
to military
computers
to get
this
well the
network
information
center
was
originally
set up
by the
Stanford
research
institute
SRI
back when
it was
still
arpanet
and once
they moved
the nick
and arpanet
is no
longer
around
they
changed
the host
from
remember
what the
old one
was
I think
it was
sri
nick
dot arpa
and now
it's
nick
dot ddn
dot mil
it's just
simply because
sri
has
a lot
to do
with the
government
and the
military
and doing
research
so that
just happens
to be
where the
machine
is
it's
located
on
the
defense
data
network
and it
should be
noted that
the
department
of defense
are the
people who
first started
the DARPA
project
the
defense
advanced
research
projects
agency
I know
I have in front
of me
the results
of one of
those
lookups
and
I have a few
different names
of computers
here
maybe you
might know
what some
of these
are
looking for
house
dot gov
we find
such names
of computers
as
well
house
nitrogen
oxygen
ozone
bismuth
b-i-s-m-u-t-h
demo center
one
demo center
two
minority
leader
majority
whip
server
abbreviated
s-v-r
appropriations
dellums
d-e-l-l-u-m-s
capital l
capital t
sikorsky
district
l-t
stark
district
l-t
and then
the two
final ones
batman
and joker
i'm not quite
sure what's
going on
here but
each of
these has
has a
corresponding
internet
address
all of
which
begin
with
137.18
there's
actually a lot
more than
that there
were at
least a
hundred or
so
systems
really
that came
up
yeah
now this
is all
brand new
isn't
it
yeah
since
the 25th
of january
they've been
setting this
up
and again
it's the
main purposes
for email
to get
everyone
on capitol hill
hooked up
on the net
and using
electronic mail
and also
make them
accessible to
the outside
world for
email purposes
and
you know
bear that in
mind if
someone goes
and looks
up the
hosts in
this domain
and sees
irs subnet
or federal
government
task force
it's not
anything top
secret
it's just
their email
system
but it's
interesting
and it's
about time
that they've
tied into
the 20th
century
which is
something
that we
didn't really
get much
of in the
previous
administrations
I'm willing
to take
bets to
see if
the
it's a good
bet actually
well here's
some information
on something
else that we
gave out
last week
as far as the
CompuServe account
sending email
to President
Clinton
this comes
from somebody
named Gordon
Linoff
let me reach
that
gordon
at think
dot com
and this is
regarding email
to the White
House
dated January
31st
yesterday
meaning January
30th
I saw several
postings related
to the email
address for the
White House
along with a good
number of others
I worked
throughout the
campaign as
part of a
network of
email volunteers
for the
Clinton campaign
so I can
pass along some
important information
about that email
account
the account
is actually
the personal
CompuServe account
of Jock Gill
Jock worked hard
along with a
handful of
programming volunteers
BBS operators
list server
maintainers and
computer sophisticates
at places such
as Marist College
MIT
San Francisco
Chicago
and elsewhere
during the
campaign to put
together an
email system
for national
campaigning
the system
was later
expanded to
accommodate all
three major
presidential campaigns
it was an
innovative highly
successful effort
and it played a
huge role in
getting campaign
position statements
out to a wide
public
things posted
from that
address found
their way into
the virtual reality
as the messages
got passed along
many networks
from their
original posting
several weeks
before the
inauguration of
President Clinton
Jeff Eller was
appointed by the
president-elect to
have overall charge
of establishing
something which
has never existed
an interactive
public access
email system
into the White
House and into
other offices of
the administration
Jock Gill was
then hired by the
administration to
work under Jeff
Eller
currently Jock Gill
is working in
an office located
in the old
executive office
building across
the street from
the White
House
at this point
he is working
alone without
a staff
nobody has seen
him he hasn't
eaten anything
he hasn't talked
to him
sorry
his current
assignment is to
use the email
system as during
the campaign
to issue official
copies of White
House statements
the text of
press briefings
and press
conferences
copies of
executive orders
and presidential
memos
declarations of
martial law
you know that
kind of thing
the like to
the virtual
world of
email
since the
CompuServe box
is a regular
personal mailbox
it gets filled
very quickly
especially given
the high volume
of mail now
beginning to
arrive with the
broad dissemination
of his address
those of you who
have sent email
to that address
may well have
received an error
message stating
that the box is
full
that's another way
of saying it
has been overwhelmed
Jock has asked
those of us who
have been part of
the volunteer email
team to help him
out while he works
to get a good
interactive system
up and running
basically he has
asked that everyone
cooperate and not
begin sending a
barrage of email
to that CompuServe
address
the White House
itself employs
a large staff
to handle snail
mail which to
those of you
who don't know
is regular mail
that goes to
the post office
actually at this
point in the
development of the
White House email
system you will
probably get your
message through to
the administration
quicker through
ordinary snail mail
and telephone
later once the
administration's
email team
develops the
system they want
and need
email contacts
should become
the easier route
all things in
their time
once the email
address was
circulated together
with the heading
the White House
everyone understandably
believed the real
system was up and
running not quite
yet
suggestion use the
CompuServe address
you have judiciously
reserving it for
absolutely vital
contacts until such
time that a real
public access White
House email system
is operational
consider relying on
the traditional means
of contacting the
administration
given what they
had to start with
from the previous
administration
which is nothing
I have every reason
to expect that
Jeff Eller and
Jock Gill will
work well and as
quickly as possible
to get an interactive
system up and
running but it will
take time and
patience we can all
help them achieve
that effort best if
we refrain from
acting as if that
non-existent system
were already in
place please help
relay this context
and suggestion to
other networks and
individuals which I
think we've done a
pretty good job of
tonight now here are
some addresses and
phone numbers of the
more traditional ways of
getting a hold of the
White House and the
President the
President's phone
number of course he
won't really pick this
up very often but his
office will area code
202-456-1414 the
White House comment
line to register your
opinion on an issue
202-456-1111 and a
number to call when a
bill has been signed or
vetoed 202-456-2226 and
a couple of vice
presidential numbers
202-456-2326 and
202-456-7125 the
mailing address the
White House 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue
Northwest Washington
D.C.
20500 and as we get
more addresses of course
we will put them here
and hopefully we'll talk
to these people in the
future and get some
more information from
them okay that's the
situation as far as that
goes we're just about
ready to take phone
calls now 212-279-3400
but first I have some
exciting news that came
out of out of NYNEX
today and I was
wondering if if anyone
here has heard of it
fiber optic have you
ever heard the term
voice dial voice dial
yes that's a new
phrase that I heard
today from NYNEX
speaking a number
yes this is how it
works and this is going
to be tested in Bayshore
New York over the next
couple of weeks and
they expect to have the
system up and running
in New York City by May
where you can store up
to 50 different numbers
in your telephone at a
cost of about four to
six dollars a month and
literally speak a phrase
a name whatever and the
central office will
recognize your voice
recognize the phrase and
connect you to the number
that you wish yeah you
look stunned but that is
what NYNEX announced
today seems like a waste
to me why well it just
seems wasteful yeah yeah
well first there's speed
calling yeah but this is
you don't even have to
dial you don't even have to
worry about those numbers
yeah but how lazy do
people have to get as
lazy as necessary if
they're if they're going
to you know show up the
four to six dollars a
month to just speak a you
know you can pick up pick
up the phone and and just
say BAI imagine that
how well does it and
saying oh you can just say
B if you have to and your
phone will instantly dial
WBAI's phone number which
is 212-279-3400 you don't
have to dial all that well
they don't exactly go into
how accurate it is how many
mistakes it can make well
actually from what I heard
it's not 100% when someone
has a cold it's it's it's
pretty good they said but
not 100% and there are
certain certain problems that
could arise you know people
using it for unauthorized
purposes of course I know from
what I understand the first
time you use it you have to
enter a particular code I
guess you have to use
touchstones in that
particular case and then you
speak the the name and dial
the number that you want to
connect it to and from then on
it from then on it works so
that's that's something you
should be seeing within the
next couple of months within
our area I have two things
to say the first thing is
that if someone has to dial
in a code to use it they
might as well just dial a
single digit no no just the
first time just first program
it just to program okay well
and then the other thing is
that it'll be in the papers
tomorrow okay I'll check it
out the other thing is a
federal law enforcement or any
law enforcement agency that's
going to place a dialed number
recorder on a phone line does
it in either one of two ways
either it's going to record
rotary or it's going to
record touchstone they can't
record what you're dialing
that's a very interesting
point now all that is going
to be this might be a very
good thing for people who
are under investigation by
certain agencies to use but
then of course it'll force
them to to use taps full-blown
taps on the phone lines
either that or they'll simply
request a message accounting
from the phone company this is
all done through the central
office this is not something
like the sprint calling card or
anything like that this is
the actual local switching
network that will take care of
this and it's being installed
in various places throughout
New York New England and
various other places I would
imagine it will soon be
nationwide but it is being
tested in Bayshore and it will
be in place I'm told by in many
places that is by mid-year and in
I think the the figure I heard was
70 percent of all 9x customers will
have it by January 1st 1995 and
you know they'll they'll slowly
integrate it to everybody so
something else to to watch out
for as technology marches on okay
our phone number is 212-279-3400
let's see who's out there good
evening you're on off the hook
yes hello Emmanuel how you doing
hi I'd like to thank you for an
excellent program I'm a frequent
listener I'd like to talk a little
bit about caller ID okay what state
are you in I'm in New Jersey all
right then you've had it for a
while right I don't personally
have it but I'm against it and
people who are against caller ID as
an infringement of privacy as I think
you've explained you are often
described as paranoid thinking that
someone is after them and that sort
of thing but in this month's issue of
consumer reports magazine a letter was
printed and I'd like to read it it's
very short and I think it captures
what my position on the whole
situation is which is okay it says on
New York telephone was recently
granted permission by the state to
offer a new service known as
automatic number identification a and i
which I think it's the same thing no
it's it's not really but why don't you
read the article we'll we'll add our
corrections to it okay it's very short
I I urge consumer union and its
members to vigorously oppose
implementation of this service in New
York and other states a and I can
provide a recipient of a phone call
with the number of the caller so when
consumers call a business they will
risk having their number recorded for
sale to telemarketers since the
caller's number can be displayed even
before the call is answered businesses
can also use this function to screen
out calls from selected individuals
such as those with complaints this
service paves the way for numerous
abuses of consumers and I think that
this is one of the reasons I really
object to this caller ID service
because I do a lot of shopping over the
phone and checking out and calling of
businesses and that sort of thing right
well now this this particular service is
not caller ID a and I or Annie is
something that is already in place
and it's not something that's that's
up for any kind of a vote fiber what
are the technical guy the guy who wrote
that article is obviously very confused
although his point is well taken he
really means caller ID he doesn't mean
a and I which is completely different
and has been around for years and the
other thing is that telemarketers and
businesses get your number through a
and I not caller ID because usually
you're dialing 800 number and a and I is
just another way of passing along your
phone number to a watt subscriber
it's often not 800 numbers and I think
that the caller ID thing can be used
yeah if you're calling a local number
then caller ID will be used but if
you're calling a business with an 800
number then they're using a and I and
they could be anywhere in the country
now so far it's just 800 numbers that
use a and I to record the number coming
in 800s and I'm sure 900s as well and
700s as well yeah but nothing just 800s
and no direct dial long distance numbers
do it not as of yet no I just thought
that was the same thing it's called it
has the same effect I mean it's it's the
for all intents and purposes the
differences are very very small for as
far as we're concerned but a and I is
already in place you know every time you
call an 800 number your number is flashed
up on a screen someplace and it's not
much you can do about blocking that and
and yeah you know we were never asked
if we wanted that kind of service
there's one other point about it one
other aspect of them I think last week
or the week before on another show on
BAI which I won't name but it happens
to come on right before your show okay
well that that narrows it down quite a
bit
there's a fellow promoting software he
had developed which uses this kind of
a system to record the calls of numbers
of people and put them right into a
database of a computer a PC based
database and to record all kinds of
information that way to capture
information from callers starting with
their phone number and identify them
that way and this was supposedly
presented as some kind of tremendous
advancement and to me I'm disgusted with
that sort of thing and if I find out
any businesses that using it I'm going
to make sure I never call them or do
any business with them
well that's that's one way of getting
your point across spread the word if
someone is using that kind of thing and
well now you're in New Jersey you're not
allowed to have have blocking on your
line I don't know well now I don't
think that New Jersey has a blocking
option in other words whenever you call
somebody your number can be displayed if
they have caller ID and you don't know
one way or the other if it is well if it
did work star six seven would be the way
that you would block your number from
being sent that's per call blocking now
if you already had all call blocking
star six seven would unblock it which is
kind of silly but that's the way it
works so you might be able to have per
call blocking but not all call blocking
the best thing to do is call your
business office and ask you know what
you can get yeah and be indignant if
they don't allow it because they really
have no right to dictate how to use your
phone like that okay thanks for
calling let's go to another call good
evening hi I have a comment on something
you talked about in the beginning of the
show about mixing up numbers mixing up
numbers yeah I remember for about five
years ago I was on a cold card phone
that that said if you're out of change
use your bank card to make calls now I
assume that that meant your 24-hour bank
card and I used my 24-hour bank card
number and it worked and the reason why
it worked is because my 24-hour bank
card number probably was the same number
as somebody's credit card number like
visa card number or something yeah
probably fit the algorithm that's all
they checked yeah because it said bank
card meaning bank credit card and it
didn't sort of state that you made an
honest mistake and you you committed a
federal crime in the process I didn't
that's all right you know well the other
question is is that how possible is it
to make I have again I have a friend who
was known for a very long time about 12
years and he knows and his family knows
that I love telephones and how I you know
know all about phones since I was you know
for for many years and he gotten some
third-number calls placed from his phone a
couple of third-number calls fraudulently
billed to a pay phone and he thought his
father thought that I made the calls how
possible is it for somebody to you know to
do that to make somebody think that
somebody made calls from somebody's number
and charged it to another number well no
what you know what was it he actually saw
to give him on his no no no he got a call
from the fraud investigation unit right it
said somebody placed calls from your line
and billed them to a pay phone and we're
billing you back for them build them to a
well how do they how do they build it
bill to a pay phone well and not to a
pay phone they build it to a another
phone okay and was there a pay phone
involved in this at all there might have
been I don't know but oh one of them was
a new pay phone that they forgot to block
or something yeah I don't know well I I
still kind of unclear as to how you got
involved yeah because I like telephones
and he asked me he came to me saying did
you place these calls and I'm trying to
prove to him that I didn't well you know
there's not much just because you like
telephones it's not really much of a
reason to blame you for making phone
calls well how did the fraud investigation
work for third number fraud what do they
do today what they do is they compare the
numbers they look at somebody's phone
bill they compare the numbers that have
been called and build to that particular
number first that first thing they do is
check your line out to see if you ever
call those numbers which would indicate
that there they were your calls and then
what they do is they call back the number
that it was called from it cannot be a
pay phone to to allow third number
billing to go through unquestioned and
then they ask the people there well who
was here at this time they they launch a
big investigation and sometimes they get
someone what if they said I don't know
or whatever well you see if all the
people say I don't know I guess they
they kind of strike out and they bill
him back but what if they say what if
he mentions my name sometimes I'm sorry
what if what what if he mentions my
name and say oh I think I know who it
is one of my son's friends well they
might investigate you then and see how
would they investigate they would look
they would look at your phone bill and
see if those numbers show up at any
point in your phone bill no if they if
they do they would call you and
interrogate you I suppose they don't
show up in my phone I didn't make
these calls well then you have nothing
to worry about so I mean what what
okay you have nothing to worry about
you should also reevaluate as to who
your friends are yeah they're so quick
to accuse you of something tell my
friend my friend's father that's doing
this I'll tell your friend to reevaluate
their father listen we got to go so
thanks for calling okay good evening
you're on off the hook hi good evening
great show thank you you know there's a
special on channel 4 about you know
pornographic that is the biggest pile of
garbage I've seen on TV in a long time
and I don't mean to jump on you but
why do you feel that way well because
if you watch if you watch a particular
feature that they have this is a sweeps
week kind of thing or sweeps month kind
of thing you get the impression that
people can can use their modems and
simply download pornography and that's
what what your kids will do the
reaction to this will be to take modems
away from kids because there's all
kinds of child molesters out there
they've made the connection they've
said because you can access this
because pedophiles are interested in
this that means pedophiles are going to
prey on your kid whenever he uses his
modem and people who don't know much
about technology are going to freak out
and think that this is this is a hotbed
for this kind of criminal activity in
reality we're not talking about anything
more than somebody taking a magazine
with dirty pictures and looking at it
except they're using their computer to do
it now big deal how do you feel about
this I kind of agree because you know
I mean I mean I've used some bulletin
boards and you know if you don't know
what you're doing I mean it's actually
hard to down it's not so easy to
download software you know and you know
if you're just a novice computer user you
might actually be intimidated by the
bbs itself well it's it's a lot easier to
get a dirty magazine than it is to go
out and get a a gif picture of some of a
naked woman or something like that but I
mean even if somebody is able to do that
that is not going to lead to the dire
predictions that channel 4 is saying are
going to happen or implying you know at
one moment they show a picture that you
can download on a on a on a internet
connection and then the next moment they're
showing a trial of a pedophile that that
raped a child now those two are as far
apart as as you know the the Mideast to
here it's it's not related they're not
one does not lead to the other and that's
a very important point to make but it's a
point they're not making because I don't
I don't know why they want to it's I
guess sweeps week answers all the
questions yeah yeah you know there's
there's another issue that I wanted to
raise I don't think it's about this
government program energy star computer
program do you know when that's going to
kick in and when those PCs are going to
be ready I'm not sure I know what you
mean the energy star computer program is
you know from the EPA and it's this um
it's it's like a a new standard so that
desktop PCs will go into sleep mode
anytime they're not they're in they're
inactive you know to save power you know
and like as as an environmentalist the
thing is like when will will big
companies you know kick that in and when
will they be available to the public I'll
look into it I have heard nothing about
that but uh that sounds like Apple and
compact there's a there's a big three on
the block that are supposed to be you
know um implementing this energy star
computer program from the EPA yeah to
DC so like you know that that's kind of
interesting and because I built my own
PCs and I'd like to be able to build my
own PC that has a you know um sleep mode
features just like notebook computers
right I'm sure we'll hear more about
that in the future but you know I'd like
to see some other uh some other energy
saving ideas be nice if your TV had a uh
had a mode like that you know people
leave their TVs on for hours at a time
and don't even look at them yeah unless
you speak a command that says TV or
something like that and then 9x will
kick in and turn it on thanks very much
for calling let's go to uh another phone
call here good evening oh yeah hi let me get
the radio here okay on the um on the
Clinton connection uh email connection
there the Clinton connection I like that
yeah um that um the the CompuServe ID
was given to them by CompuServe during
the campaign they they also they gave one
basically to to the three main contenders
Perot uh Clinton um Bush and actually I
think there was a fourth one too but I
forget which one who it was right now
um through their um I think they called
it the vote forum and um basically that's
a CompuServe what they call a sponsored
account so so um people have been have
been um wondering what might happen if
they start getting a bill for that
account I don't know but it would be
quite a bill because CompuServe is a
very expensive service it's much better
for them to have their own domain like
you also did you also mention the
America Online address uh no I didn't
mention that I don't have that do you
have that yeah well it's just Clinton
space PZ okay it's the uh their address
on America Online there's also another
there's also another there's a college
um uh something Morris College I think
Morris College right that's upstate I
believe they also have a um their their
uh uh they have an address there too and
um basically what they also put out is
all the press releases that come out of
the White House go immediately onto that
system and I guess the transcripts of any
speeches and things like that as well I
don't know I haven't seen anything from
that I just I just know what some other
things what do you think of this you
think this is a good idea well it's cute
you know um uh it's it's kind of like
anything any um um you know um it's kind of
like their their their public opinion hot
lines that they've got you know I mean you
have no idea I mean the guy could just go
in there and they can collect all the
addresses and send you back a nice little
you know uh machine produced note saying
thank you for your you know for your input
right just completely ignore everything
like they do now yeah like they do now
but uh but with more volume oh so you
know it's cute but I I guess I don't know
I guess it could be uh it could be
interesting all right well uh the coming
months we'll uh definitely see some
changes I think also you were talking
about the the um the connection between
the the x-rated bbs matter and um the
pedophile charged with rape up in
rhode island right didn't he uh contact
the um rapey um over a bbs well he I
think what he had done was he had used a
a bulletin board at one point and he may
very well have have met somebody on the
bulletin board but again to to make the
blanket statement or implication that uh
downloading x-rated pictures or or you
know pictures of questionable nature
are going to necessarily lead you into
something like this is is quite a jump
as far as I'm concerned and it seems uh
you know it seems like it's going to
make a lot of people panic for no good
reason you know they have the final part
of that series on tonight in fact it's
on in a few minutes so if people watch
that and uh you know maybe get back to
us here and get back to channel four and
say what you think of that take one final
point and then I'll go okay it's it's
interesting I was talking to a woman um a
single mother the other day who has a
computer and I I was suggesting to her
well you know it would be much easier
for us to be able to communicate through
email instead of phone calls back and
forth it's it's for long as far as long
distance charges are concerned it's much
cheaper right communicate through email
and she was saying how she didn't want
to get a modem for her mac because she
was afraid that her son would download
viruses onto it well you see it's the
same kind of panic situation that's
exactly what I'm talking about whether
it's viruses whether it's he'll he'll you
know get connected to all these evil
computer hackers or whether he'll get
attacked by child molesters you know a
modem is just a tool it's just a tool
and and if you use it responsibly it can
be a really good tool if you use it
irresponsibly you know all kinds of of
bad things could happen but uh the
modem is not what's evil the bulletin
board the computer they're not what's
evil it's how they're used you guys do a
good show keep up the good all right
thanks for calling you know this whole
Clinton thing though uh it all depends on
how many people have access and that's
why we've got to figure out ways of
getting people onto the internet so
they can uh have access to just one of
many new evolving communications uh
things that are going to be happening
throughout the 90s and we'll have more
on that in future shows let's see if we
can squeeze in one or two more calls
good evening yes hi hold on a second
yeah turn on your radio okay i'm
calling about phone dialers okay
modified ones modified phone dialers
right specifically radio shack okay i
think what you're referring to are
radio shack tone dialers that uh that
um make red box tones i believe is
what you're talking about yeah well
what happens is it's like a higher
octave of the regular um tones that you
hear from one through uh zero okay you
might be talking about silver box
tones then well what happens is i can i
can make the sound of a quarter nickel
and a dime right those are red box
tones okay how come it works on most
indoor telephones as opposed to the ones
out in the street very good point and
that's the fact that you pick that up
is uh proves how observant you are yes
the phones that are inside do not get
serviced as much as the phones that
are outside the phones that are outside
when they get serviced they get fitted
with uh the newer kind of system which
does not allow that to go through and
the phones that you're seeing on the
inside are they haven't been touched
in a lot longer they haven't been
serviced in uh you know and they
haven't broken down in a long time
phones inside tend not to as much as
phones outside and so that is uh the
simple reason why that that still
works but it won't work forever
right right also there is a crystal
inside i it must have been uh a new
crystal placed inside but it's not
identified usually there'd be a
frequency of some sort on the crystal
uh-huh you know what sort of
frequency it might be um you know
fiber well well it might be 6.5536 but
but that's only a guess are you being
sarcastic yeah it's that frequency
okay i just didn't know the last uh
all those all those numbers in mega
hertz of course right okay great that's
really what i need to know okay thanks
for calling i enjoy the show it's great
okay well keep listening then okay all
right take care that's uh gonna just
about do it for us here tonight because
we're out of time and um we'll be back
again next week for off the hook between
10 o'clock and 11 o'clock on
wednesday night stay tuned for uh the
wbai evening news a rebroadcast this
is emmanuel goldstein have a good week
see you next time
the telephone keeps ringing so i ripped
it off the wall i cut myself while
shaving now i can't make a call
it couldn't get much worse but if they
could they would
but the best expect the worst
i hope that's understood
monday nick no
thank you so much for tailgate
so
all right
the
Thank you.
Thank you.