All of our unprincipled collaborators with Western business interests are busy right now.
Please wait until the regime has had time to consolidate its power and try your call again.
And it's just about 10 o'clock, which means it's time once again for Off the Hook.
The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the wall.
I cut myself while shaving, now I can't make a cough.
It couldn't get much worse, but if it could, it would.
Bum, dilly, bum, but the best, expect the worst.
I hope that's understood.
Bum, dilly, bum!
Bum, dilly, bum!
Bum, dilly, bum!
Bum, dilly, bum!
Bum, dilly, bum!
Thank you.
And a very good evening to one and all.
This is Emmanuel Goldstein.
The program is off the hook.
We're with you for an hour every Wednesday night
talking about high technology
and all the fun things that go with it.
Sometimes the not-so-fun things,
sometimes the side effects,
but always something a little bit interesting.
So if you stay with us over the next hour or so,
I'm sure you'll learn something.
Yeah.
We have some news reports of things going on around the world,
as always.
There's always something going on with computers
and telephones and things like that.
We'll be taking phone calls.
We've got Fiberoptic here with us,
still out of the nasty place that they're sending him away to,
which we'll talk about as well.
Well, off the Risks Digest this week,
this is something concerning phobia or misconceptions.
There was an alleged incident at Reading University in England
where a student used a laptop computer in an exam.
The exam in question was open book,
but the rules did not forbid its use in any exam.
After this, though,
the rules were tightened up,
and each calculator had to be certified as either non-programmable
or programmable and memory cleared.
Certificates had to be displayed on desks,
and, well, it could be requested that the memory be cleared
at the start of the exam.
That's interesting.
People using personal computers during tests.
The world is changing.
It's causing a bit of a stir on airplanes.
I know that much.
On the 16th of November,
trading at the Milan Stock Exchange started late at 2.30 in the afternoon
because the telematic system was down
due to a power failure dating from the previous day.
The day was bad for the market,
with the stock index going down 2%.
This is attributed to political uncertainties
coinciding with the normally bearish period of the year
and all kinds of other technical problems there.
And here's something interesting
concerning the legal system and computers.
This comes from the New York Times.
Craig Collins, a lawyer in San Mateo, California,
used the West CD-ROM Library,
a system that contains every court opinion published in California
in the last 33 years,
on three compact discs to research a parental rights case.
Under penalty of perjury,
he swore that he had devoted 22 hours,
10 of them over the 4th of July weekend,
to writing several memorandums concerning the rights of step-parents in custody cases.
At his normal rate of $225 an hour,
that worked out to $4,950,
part of his total tab of $9,591.50.
The money was to come from the step-father who lost the case,
provided it was approved by Judge Roderick Duncan of the Alameda County Superior Court.
That was not quite what happened.
Indeed, after deconstructing the mechanics of modern computer research,
Judge Duncan not only balked,
but handed Mr. Collins to the disciplinary enforcement section of the State Bar of California.
Why, you may ask?
Well, as it turned out,
large portions of Mr. Collins' memorandums were copied directly from the court opinions,
without attribution.
Collins explained that he quoted the courts at length because
their language was better written than I could have composed it myself.
The court, however, found that 22 hours was rather extreme for cutting and pasting,
since Mr. Collins was an experienced lawyer.
At the hearing,
William P. Epps II,
the representative of the West Publishing Company,
testified that Mr. Collins had used the system for a total of 9 hours and 33 minutes
since he had purchased it.
The witness, who was also a lawyer,
testified that it seemed entirely plausible
that Mr. Collins had put in the time he claimed.
The judge was impressed by the witness's reasoning
and withdrew his claim that Mr. Collins had not worked as long as he did.
All those hours at the computer, the judge seemed to say,
reflected inefficiency rather than dishonesty.
Although disciplinary proceedings were dropped,
Mr. Collins is still displeased with a judge who,
in an interview, he described as a cavalier judicial maverick
whose ill-considered opinions had periodically been criticized
by the California Courts of Appeal.
How did he know?
He consulted his trusty CD-ROM and plugged in the words
Duncan and Reversal.
Yeah.
Fascinating what people do with computers these days
and how it's judged by the rest of us.
And, of course, a lot of us might have read the paper
over the past couple of days
concerning a company on Long Island
that was threatened by a Manhattan software company.
They say the president of that company
just wanted some insurance.
But the way he went about getting that
was to plant a virus
in the Long Island company's computer.
And that virus said,
if you do not pay us
the amount of money that you owe us,
all of your files will be disrupted.
Actually, the exact wording went like this.
This system is locked by MJL Designs.
This happened because you did not comply
with the contract for payment.
To unlock the system,
please contact MJL Designs for password.
Please be ready to fully pay us
or a system will not be unlocked.
Any attempt to unlock a system without the password
will result in the loss of your data
when computer is rebooted.
Boy, that's what happens
if you have a company install something for you
and then you don't pay them quickly enough.
The implications here are incredible.
There was a whole big article about this
in Newsday yesterday,
and I was amazed.
They didn't mention the word hacker anywhere.
I was actually pleased.
They managed to come up with a story
about computer damage of some sort,
and these people don't miraculously become hackers.
It's something, you know.
A couple of weeks ago,
they had something in there
about how somebody was able to listen
to the Secretary of State's phone conversations
on a cellular phone,
and they described the person
who eavesdropped on this public radio frequency
as a hacker,
as if nobody else could possibly figure out
how to listen to a radio signal.
I mean, those of you out there
listening to this station now,
I guess you're all hackers, too,
in the eyes of Newsday
because you figured out how to tune to 99.5.
Here's something out of today's paper.
High-tech cameras installed in London
to thwart the IRA.
Yes, that's right.
Police installed high-technology cameras
around London's financial district
to combat Irish Republican Army bombers.
Last July, the police set up roadblocks
after two giant bomb blasts by the IRA,
which wants Britain to withdraw
from Northern Ireland.
The police are installing 26 cameras
that can identify vehicle registration numbers
as well as the drivers
and front seat passengers.
That's something.
I mean, of course,
you've got this convenient terrorist group there
that's going to be the excuse for all of this,
but wow, do you really think
that after things get settled there
in a few hundred years,
they're going to take away the cameras?
I don't know.
I kind of doubt it.
You know, once you put these Orwellian things in place,
they tend to stick around.
You know, I mean,
caller ID is going to be here
long after the last harassing phone call
has been made.
Here's something.
The Prodigy Services Company,
we all know and love,
a computer online network,
that's a joint venture of IBM and Sears,
has said that it will begin
testing delivery of its service
over cable television lines
through Cox Cable Communications.
The cable delivery would let subscribers
use the service
while freeing their telephone lines.
Typically, access to online services,
which deliver news, electronic mail,
shopping, and other services
to computer users is by Modem,
which uses the telephone line.
Prodigy's service will be delivered
through coaxial cable
into subscribers' personal computers,
resulting in a service
50 times faster
than currently available
through conventional phone lines.
And Prodigy claims to be
the largest computer online service,
reaching well over 2 million users,
but they have yet to turn a profit.
And it just keeps getting
more and more interesting.
We have something here,
which I kind of want to share with people,
including you, Fiber Optic.
Do you have any comments
on what we've done so far?
Well, only about the computer virus thing.
Uh-huh.
What do you think about that?
Well, it doesn't seem like anything original,
at least something that isn't exactly new to me.
In fact, I remember in probably
the early to mid-80s
when all sorts of software companies,
mainly game publishers,
were coming out with all sorts
of wild and crazy copy protection schemes,
mainly on Apple and Commodore computers.
And there were rivalries
between games publishers,
at least that I remember on the Apple,
on the Apple II and II Plus and IIE.
Right.
Where there was actual,
I guess you could call it,
using today's terms,
infection of people
who had so-called illegal copies
of certain games on certain people's,
I mean, on their machine.
And it's not an original idea.
Of course, back then,
it probably wasn't known too widely as a virus,
but only as a program that,
I even recall there were probably programs
that would search on your hard drive,
although hard drive owners
probably weren't very common then either.
Oh, do you think this is going to become
more prevalent in the future,
people planting programs like this,
especially commercial entities?
It's certainly likely.
In fact, someone who you and I both know,
a virus researcher,
had written something about this.
I think it was at the last virus conference
we were at two years ago.
And he was raving about something similar.
But it was more along,
it was basically along the lines
of having not paid your bills,
we've locked out your computer.
Well, now, I mean,
I can understand the company saying,
okay, you haven't paid for this service,
we're going to take away the service.
But where does it stand to reason
that they have the right to mess with other things
on your computer?
It certainly doesn't seem right,
but I guess I don't know if there's any laws
about things specifically like that.
I'm sure they can find some and make them fit.
Now, to those law enforcement people,
legislators,
all those do-gooders out there
that are listening now,
I mean that with all due respect.
This is computer crime.
This is what you tell people not to do
and you punish people for doing.
This is destruction.
This is vandalism.
This is invading somebody's privacy.
And I don't know what's going to happen
to the people that instigated something like this,
if in fact that's what happened.
Of course, it's all allegedly at this point.
I don't want to pass judgment on anybody.
But, I mean,
it'd be interesting to see
what the penalty for this is.
Will it be as severe as fiber optics penalty
for computer hacking?
Will they get a year in jail too?
That's something that's,
I don't know.
It's worth thinking about.
Somehow I doubt that.
It doesn't seem likely
because, I mean,
you were being,
you've been sentenced.
No, it's not me.
Who is it?
It's you?
Oh, it's me.
It's you, okay.
There's a bunch of possibilities.
You were being sentenced as a symbol.
That's what the judge said.
You weren't being sentenced really as a human.
And it's really for doing things
like you do on this program,
speaking out, saying things.
And that's unfortunately the way it works, I guess.
I wish I could send a symbol to serve my time.
Yeah, yeah, an icon of some sort,
but it's just not done that way.
I have something I want to share
with both you and the audience
that is kind of interesting.
I'm going to show it to you across the room, okay?
Because, look at that.
Is that something?
Gee, that's very colorful, yeah.
That's very colorful,
but each one of these is a cable TV channel.
It's amazing.
It's amazing, all right,
because they have this system in Virginia now, all right?
And it's something that,
I mean, how many channels do we get here in New York?
Roughly 80.
80 channels.
Roughly, yeah.
This channel selected goes up to 119.
And some of the channels here are very interesting.
I mean, I haven't seen these in Manhattan
or anyplace else,
and it's kind of neat to think of what the future might hold,
how many different services will be available.
Of course, there's a lot missing from here, too.
But just to give people an idea
of what kinds of things to look forward to
and what kinds of things you should be demanding
and trying to seek out yourself.
Okay, well, we'll just start with a brief channel guide,
and feel free to butt in with any comments along the way.
On Channel 1, of course, you have your preview guide,
which tells you all the premium and pay-per-view program listings.
Channel 2 has your cable edition program updates,
continuously updated program listings.
So right away, you wipe out two channels there
with video text scrolling.
Channel 3 is entertainment television,
you know, that e-network.
Yeah.
Channel 4 is a local NBC affiliate.
Channel 5 is a local Fox affiliate.
Channel 6, top event.
Previews and schedule information for pay-per-view features.
This is, again, another video text thing.
Nothing else on there.
Channel 7, the ABC affiliate.
Channel 8, it's just called News Channel 8.
Local news, weather, sports, traffic, and more.
Channel 9 is the local CBS affiliate.
Channel 10 is the Fairfax Cable Access Corporation,
award-winning public access programming
that they offer you there.
I don't know what happens on Channel 11.
For some reason, that one's missing,
although there was something on Channel 11,
but I don't know quite what it was.
Channel 12 is Fairfax City Government Channel.
Do we have anything like that here?
Government Channel.
Government Channel?
I think we do.
Okay, probably your local legislature in action
and other kinds of exciting things.
Now, here's an interesting one.
Channel 13, down there in Virginia.
It's called the 4-in-1 Channel.
Now, this is what they say here.
It's really kind of interesting.
Watch CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN on one channel simultaneously.
Now, you might ask yourself,
why in God's name would anybody want to watch
all four of those networks at the same time?
It's interesting during a major news event
when one channel cuts in with something
and one channel doesn't.
You want to know who's cutting in.
And so you watch this thing
and you see somebody cut in
and you tune to that channel.
The audio switches from one to the other throughout.
But it's an interesting concept.
I've never really seen anything like that before.
Okay, Channel 14 is now a home shopping network.
And, of course, we know how important those are.
Channel 15 was a station from Chicago, WGN.
Channel 16 is another government station,
Fairfax County Government,
as opposed to Fairfax City Government.
24 hours a day of that.
Channel 17 is TBS.
Channel 18 is C-SPAN.
Channel 19 is C-SPAN 2.
Channel 20 is the local Paramount station.
Channel 21, Fairfax County Public Schools.
School-related programming, news-related announcements
on what they call Red Apple 21.
Then you have Public TV on Channel 22.
Then you have another access channel,
Town of Herndon Access Channel.
100% Volunteers.
So you have a lot of public access here
on this particular system.
Here's another one.
Channel 25, Fairfax County Public Schools,
adult education, telecourses,
instructional programming for students.
Another PBS station on Channel 26,
the local Washington, D.C. one.
Okay, here's something interesting.
Channel 27, Dulles Airport Channel.
What do you think that is?
Well, it's basically a screen
of arrival and departure schedules.
It's like you're at the airport,
and you're able to look at that little screen.
It comes right into your home
so you can see where airplanes are
and when they're leaving
and not leaving and that kind of thing.
And then Channel 28,
it's the National Airport Channel.
So you have two different airports there.
And you can find out everything you need to know
without leaving your home.
Channel 29, the Mega Tour of Homes,
a video tour of new and resale properties
throughout Northern Virginia.
It's kind of like having a real estate agent
at your beck and call all the time.
Channel 31, the Dating Network,
Exclusive and Confidential Dating Classified Service.
Channel 32, Howard University.
I guess a local low-power TV station for that.
Channel 34, Washington Checkbook,
Consumer Information Service Programming.
Channel 35, Information on Queue.
I'm not quite sure what that is.
Information on Operations and Services
plus Community Activities.
Sounds like another one of those
video text channels.
Channel 37, Fairfax Access Network,
Interactive Bulletin Board
and Community-Oriented Programming.
I'm not quite sure how that works either.
Channel 38, Falls Church City Television.
It's another local station there.
Channel 39, Nostalgia Television.
That's one of those networks.
Then we skip all the way up to 44 for some reason.
But there are things on those other channels.
They might be pay-per-view or something.
Fairfax County Public Library.
You know how interesting that can be,
library programs.
Channel 46, this is interesting.
International Service, Foreign Programming,
including Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino,
Vietnamese, Hindi, French, and Hebrew.
Channel 47, Arab Language Programming,
featuring BBC News, documentaries,
and Arabic language courses.
That's something we don't have enough of in this country,
is foreign television, foreign TV stations.
Everybody over in Europe gets CNN.
They all get our programming as we produce it
and crank it out,
and they get it subtitled and all,
but we don't get enough from there.
When's the last time you saw a TV program from France,
you know, or from Yugoslavia or something?
You just don't.
You have to really search long and hard for these things.
Channel 48, George Mason University.
Channel 49, Northern Virginia Community College.
Channel 50 is the local Channel 50 out there.
Channel 52 is another independent station.
Channel 53 is a PBS station.
Channel 56 is another PBS station.
Channel 57, Black Entertainment Television.
Channel 58, Univision, Spanish language.
Channel 59, Telemundo, another Spanish network.
Channel 63, Comedy Central.
This is exciting, isn't it?
Well, I think it's exciting because we're looking at what other people
in other parts of the country are getting,
and it just seems like an awful lot that we're not getting here.
I don't know if we need so many public access channels,
especially if they all are city government and colleges and things like that,
but at least you can see the potential here.
Channel 64, Nickelodeon.
Channel 65, Disney Channel.
Here's where it gets interesting.
Channel 66 is called Showtime 2,
and Channel 67 is Showtime 1.
They have two Showtimes for some reason.
It's not like a West Coast feed or something like that.
It's two different channels.
Channel 68, American Movie Classics.
Channel 69, The Family Channel.
Channel 70, Arts and Entertainment.
Channel 71, Bravo.
Channel 72, HBO 2.
Channel 73, HBO 3.
And Channel 74, HBO.
They get three different HBOs.
I mean, God, we're living in the 18th century here.
We only get one.
People in Virginia, I don't know.
They're no better than we are.
Then you have, on Channel 75,
the USA Network.
Channel 76, Cinemax.
77, you guessed it.
Cinemax 2.
78, Headline News.
79, Lifetime.
80, CNN.
81, Movie Channel.
82, The Fashion Channel.
83, Home Shopping Club.
84, QVC.
85, ESPN.
86, Home Team Sports.
Then you have all these paid TV channels
all the way up to 96.
I can't believe we're up to 96.
The Discovery Channel on Channel 96.
Channel 97, The Learning Channel.
98, CNBC.
99, The Sci-Fi Channel.
That's one of your favorites, right?
We don't get it in New York.
No, for some reason we don't.
Channel 100, Turner Network Television.
Channel 101, The Weather Channel.
Radar Weather on Channel 102.
105 is Court TV.
106, The Travel Channel.
108, M.O.R. Music.
24 hours of music videos from top artists
of the 50s through the 90s,
plus CD and cassette sales.
Yeah, Channel 109, The Nashville Network.
110, VH1.
111, Country Music Television.
112, MTV.
115, Trinity Broadcasting.
116, The Faith and Values Channel.
117, The New Inspirational Network.
118, The Catholic Cable Network.
And, finally, 119, Story Vision Network.
Computer-generated storybooks for children
to read 24 hours a day.
I don't know why children would be reading stories
24 hours a day, but they have it up there
in case they're up at 5 in the morning.
I don't know.
There's a lot here.
And when you consider that we're talking about
500 channels on the information highway,
we're already a fifth of the way there.
More than that, according to this cable system.
And, I don't know.
You know, there's a lot of repetition,
a lot of redundancy.
And, I guess, not much on in the long run
when you actually go through all these channels.
I mean, how do you go through 119 channels
to find out what's on?
Yeah, you need a bunch of those preview channels.
You don't just use one.
You use three of them to find out
not only what's on, but where it is.
How do you get to it?
How do you navigate to it?
It's like, you know, plotting a course.
I don't know.
Do you think Manhattan will get this advanced
in the near future?
I don't think so, no.
Why not?
We don't even get the sci-fi channel.
Well, yeah, that's your pet peeve.
But, apart from that...
I think that we're heading towards a direction
of taking all the buttons off
the stupid remote control clicker
and heading towards some sort of
graphical user interface
where someone basically rolls a little pointer
around on the screen.
And since there's so many channels,
they're going to have to group them
according to category, perhaps.
Like turning a satellite, almost.
Yeah.
Actually, this guide looks like a satellite guide now.
This is the cable TV.
This is what everybody gets in this particular town.
And it's thicker than most magazines.
And it comes out once a month.
And you really have to navigate your way around.
It's incredible.
I mean, a single day's channel listings
takes multiple pages
because there's just so many channels.
Think of all the trees.
I don't know how you find anything with this.
Unbelievable.
Three HBOs.
What do you do with three HBOs?
I mean, it's bad enough you have to choose
between HBO and Showtime,
which are pretty much the same anyway.
But now you have to choose
between three of the same.
I don't know.
It seems like we just don't know
what to do with all these channels.
And we're just filling it up with redundancy.
And I'd like to hear suggestions
for some creative things.
What would you do with a cable TV channel
if you had one?
Me, personally?
I'd put it off the hook on TV, I guess.
But what else?
Um, I'm not exactly sure.
I don't think I was ever faced with that question.
How about interactive video games?
That's a thought.
They, I think they had a channel down there
that you can play Pong with.
Really?
Yeah.
We're sort of going back into the 70s here,
but, yeah, you could call up a special,
I think, 900 number,
only $2.50 a minute or something like that,
and you can play Pong with the local computer
or something.
They've had experimental channels
on public access here
where you could call up
and draw things on the screen
with your touchtone keypad.
And there's a market for that kind of thing.
I don't know.
It was pretty much a toy, I guess.
Uh-huh.
It wasn't anything you had to pay for.
Well, they also have a video jukebox
in some places
where you actually call up
and punch in a video that you want to see,
and it shows up,
and the whole city gets to see it.
And you get to pay for the call,
something like $3 or something like that.
So that's where cable TV is heading
in some parts of the world.
It'll be interesting to see
where it heads here.
But, you know,
the only way it's going to head anywhere
is if people voice their opinions
and say what they want.
Same thing with a phone company.
Same thing with an online service.
It's going to do whatever it wants to do
unless people say otherwise.
So with this,
as well as with all other technologies,
you have to be vocal.
You have to express yourself,
and that's the only hope you have
of seeing something worthwhile.
I mean, myself,
I want to see people have
hands-on access to the technology.
I want to see everybody
be able to play with something
the equivalent of the video toaster
where they can simply create
their own programming.
And there are a lot of talented people out there
that simply do not have access.
Now, WBAI is a perfect example of this.
We're a radio station
that provides access to people
that ordinarily would not be able
to certainly get on commercial radio
and say the things they say.
I mean, I'd never have that opportunity
ordinarily to get on FM radio
and say these kinds of things.
WBAI is here for the community,
and that's what cable TV should be as well,
here for the community,
not just a profit-making venture.
All right.
That being said,
our phone lines are open.
632.
I'm sorry.
No, that's the wrong number.
279.
I'm sorry.
I'm in the wrong mode here.
279-3400, area code 212.
And it's 26 minutes after 10 o'clock.
We're here with FiberOptics.
The program is off the hook.
We're talking about, well,
virtually all kinds of things,
whether it be computer viruses being planted,
hackers being sent to prison,
the future of cable TV,
the future of technology in general,
whatever else happens to be on your mind here.
Fiber, we tried to figure out
how many programs you have
before you have to be sent away.
What date is it that you have to go?
January 7th.
It's not much time then
because I think this is the last show
we'll have in November.
And let's assume there's four weeks in December,
so there's only five more shows,
which will go by very quickly.
So if you have any questions for Fiber now,
it's a good time to ask them.
279-3400, area code 212.
Good evening.
You're on off the hook.
I have a cookout.
You're being invited.
I want to plan a cookout and be invited.
Yeah?
All right, all right.
Enough of that.
Good evening.
Hello?
Okay.
Let me explain.
You have to talk when I pick up the phone.
That's very important.
Good evening.
Hi.
I'd like to shed a little light
on maybe what all the repetitive HBOs
and showtimes are.
Oh, great.
Okay.
This is a maybe.
HBO has recently launched something
called HBO en Español.
This is not that.
I know what you're talking about,
where I think it's through a subcarrier or something.
They provide audio in Spanish?
I think so, yeah.
Yeah.
That's something they're providing,
but that's not what they're providing here.
They're actually,
it's three different HBO channels.
Amazing.
Yeah.
And they might all have the Spanish subtitles
in addition to that,
or Spanish, you know, voiceovers.
Hmm.
All right.
Is that all?
Yeah.
Okay.
Thanks for calling.
Just to give you an example here, okay?
I'll look at something here.
Let's go to September.
It's so hard to read this thing.
I don't even know what date I'm looking at.
It's Sunday in September.
Oh, September 19th.
Okay.
Sunday, September 19th at 10 o'clock in the morning.
All right.
On HBO, we had the Sports Swimsuit USA special.
And on HBO 2, we had Marathon Man.
On HBO 3, we had Best Defense.
So three totally different programs there,
all in English.
And yeah, it's what the people want.
Good evening.
Yes, good evening.
How are you doing?
I was wondering,
what is your concept of what is being said on WBAI
that is not being said elsewhere?
I find that while it's very difficult to get through
when you sort of decide to call in to ABC and so forth,
that, you know, there's so many callers that,
I mean, between penises that are being cut off,
between, you know, older men that are making love to younger women,
Amy Fisher and Butterfuko,
between governments and governors
and 13- or 14-year-old youngsters
who are saying their mothers are honest
because they know...
Are you coming to a comma in your sentence soon, please?
Huh?
I hope you're coming to a comma in your sentence.
The point is, I don't know what...
I just don't...
I don't know how to say it.
Between hosts that are difficult,
you know,
I don't know what's there to say anymore.
You know,
there's so much corruption around in this world
and so much double-dealing
and so much, you know,
nastiness and so forth
that, I mean,
it's not limited to any one place.
I have to agree.
I really don't know either.
Good evening.
Oh, yeah.
You know what's strange?
I've been trying to get through for,
I don't know how long,
about a cable TV question.
Okay.
And finally,
you're talking about cable TV?
Well, it's one of those things,
a sign from the heavens, if you will.
Ah, it must be.
My question,
it has to do...
You know, I have cable.
It has to do with pay-per-view.
On my cable system,
I turn to channel 24.
Mm-hmm.
I call this special 800 number
and when I hang up the phone,
lo and behold,
there's the thing that I ordered.
Now, I'm wondering how that works.
You know,
do they have some sort of a
caller ID that they know
that, you know,
I'm calling them up?
You know, how does it get on my...
Well, they're using A&I technology.
Basically, they're getting your phone number
through the 800 number.
Uh-huh.
Do they...
Fiber, do they use that here?
I think they may.
Yeah, I think they use that too.
It's...
I know it's been used quite a bit
in other parts of the country,
particularly this system in Virginia.
I know it's been using it for years.
And basically,
they take your number
when you call the 800 number
and basically give you
whatever you ask for on that.
And the way A&I works,
it basically takes whatever number
is calling it.
Now, I think if we use call forwarding,
though, you can fool the A&I.
Is that right?
Yeah, but not only that.
I mean,
they basically have the ID
that's inside the firmware
in your cable box
registered under your name.
So when you call in
and it gets your A&I information,
it cross-references
the number you're calling from.
If it's just doing it
straight like that,
I mean, usually I would think
you'd have to verify
by keying in something.
Is there some kind of verification?
No, they just...
When I call,
I hear a recording.
They say,
your order has been confirmed.
Please hang up.
And when I hang up,
I'd say like two seconds later,
you know,
the scramble,
wiggly lines are gone
and there's the event.
Do you have the 800 number with you?
Oh, wow.
Let's see.
I could turn to the channel.
Let's see if they have it.
Okay.
Let's see what happens
if we call it
and see if we can order
programming here at BAI
for some reason.
They're showing some event,
upcoming event.
They're not showing
the 800 number right now.
Okay.
Well, I guess
that's our misfortune then.
If I get through again,
you know,
because this new phone system
is the,
you know,
I know it's not your guys' fault,
but it's the worst, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
No, I agree with you.
You're talking about
where you can only ring
for about 50 times
and then the phone company
disconnects you.
There's nothing we can do
about it, unfortunately.
I thought that was
going to happen tonight,
but you picked up,
you know,
like just in the nick of time.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, in some ways,
you know,
I guess it's more fair
for people that
can dial as fast
because there's more
of a chance at least
that they'll get through
at some point.
It used to be in the past
people with motor fingers
would be able to call
before anybody else
was able to,
and of course
they knew the number too,
and they stayed on forever
and they always got through.
Yeah, it doesn't help
I don't have redial
on this phone either,
so I sort of have
to have motor fingers
too when you say
the, you know,
call, that's when I'm like
my fingers moving like crazy.
Yeah, well, you know,
you got to be prepared
for the 90s.
This is what it's all about,
you know?
Every phone call
is a potential
combative situation.
You have to be prepared
to receive the person's
phone number
and know what to do
or pick up the phone
or call back
or call the police
or what, you know?
And the same thing
with calling into
a show like this.
You have to have
your speed dials
and your redials
and everything else
all ready to go.
Yeah, so before I go,
just this A&I,
it's all automatically done.
You know, like there's
no little person there
looking at what my number is
and then they push a button
and then the show comes on.
It's all done automatically.
Sounds like it's all done
completely automatically.
Yeah, I don't think
there's any little person
looking at anything over there.
Wow.
Yeah.
Well, you answered
that question for me.
Thanks a lot.
Okay, thanks for calling.
This is interesting.
I'm looking in the
Virginia book here.
And, Barbara,
I'm going to show you this.
The phone number
that you call
to get an event.
Look at that phone number.
Read it out loud
and tell us what it is.
Gee, I would think
they made a mistake.
No, they didn't make a mistake.
They did it like that deliberately.
Read it the way they have it
and then tell us
the way it really is.
It says 103-800.
Now, that's the number
you call.
I guess it gets the feeling
that you're calling
an 800 number,
but you dial 103-800.
Now, what is that really?
Oh, actually,
now if I look at that
a different way,
it's actually 103-80
and then zero.
Right.
It's a carrier access code.
Yeah.
103-80 and then zero
for operator.
Yep.
And that's the equivalent
of calling the 800 number
this caller was talking about.
And you're able to order things
in that particular way.
How do you think
they're doing that?
Well, same way.
A and I provided
through equal access.
And why would that
be preferable
than using an 800 number?
I don't think
it really makes a difference.
Less digits, though.
That's true.
So, if anything,
it's probably simpler
for people to remember
rather than having to remember
a whole 800 number.
Certainly true.
Speaking of 800 numbers,
I've got a really
interesting 800 number here
that I want to share
with the people.
And I think you'll find
this rather amusing.
I'll just leave it at that.
Because AT&T, of course,
gets a lot of phone calls.
Awful lot of phone calls.
And you have to wonder
what happens to those people
whose telephone numbers
are similar to AT&T's
phone number.
You ever wonder about that?
If you happen to have
the same number as AT&T
except in a different area code
or even the same ending
to your phone number
as AT&T
with a totally different exchange,
well, maybe you'll get
all kinds of weird phone calls.
Now, this poor company
that we're about to hear
has the misfortune
of having not only
the last four digits
of one of AT&T's
most popular numbers,
but also the first three digits
of another one of AT&T's
most popular numbers.
And all this on an 800 line.
Basically, there are two phone numbers
that AT&T uses an awful lot.
Actually, quite a few.
But the customer service numbers
are in the 222 exchange.
To reach residential customer service,
you would dial 1-800-222-0300.
Business would be 1-800-222-0400.
Now, okay, so you got that 222 part.
That happens to be
this poor company's exchange.
Now, you have this other number
which allows you access
to an AT&T operator.
When you can't get
an AT&T operator directly,
you call this 800 number,
which is 1-800-321-0288.
So, you have the 0-288 part.
Now, what this poor company has
is a mixture,
a hybrid of those two phone numbers.
They have 1-800-222-0288.
Now, we're going to dial that number.
Listen to what these poor people
have to do.
Thank you for calling.
If you are calling
for American Futures Group,
press 1.
If you are calling
for AT&T calling card
or operator-handled calls,
press 2.
Let's do that.
The number you have dialed,
800-222-0288
for AT&T calling card
or operator-handled calls,
is incorrect.
The correct number
for AT&T calling card
or operator-handled calls
is 800-321-0288.
Again, 800-321-0288.
Thank you.
Oh, I don't know about that.
This poor guy,
he sounds kind of,
a little bit perturbed there,
but imagine,
this company has to pay
for all these calls
to their 800 number
that are meant for AT&T
and so much to the degree
that they actually have to set up
half of their voicemail system
to be routed for those people
that dial a wrong number,
a specific wrong number.
I mean, that's the most incredible thing
I've heard in quite a while.
I wonder,
do you think AT&T
gives them some compensation for that?
Somehow, I don't think so.
I don't think so either.
If I was that company,
I would put on
a rather derogatory message
about AT&T
for people that press 2
and explain to them
why they should use another company.
But that's just me.
All right, let's go to the phones.
Good evening, you're on.
Hello.
How you doing?
Hello, Emmanuel?
Yes, go ahead.
Oh, yeah, hi.
I'd like to say
a couple of quick things.
Okay.
Number one,
I really enjoyed the show.
I think it's very, very good.
I'm going to miss
having fiber optics commentaries there.
Well, you have them
for five more weeks.
Okay, yeah.
And then the feds
have them for a year.
A couple of quick questions.
Can you say,
what was that thing
you played at the beginning
of the show
about the voicemail
at the Kremlin?
Number two,
I have a question
about answering machine
type thing.
I had a message
on my machine
recently
when I came home
and I thought
maybe you might be able
to explain what it was.
What it was
is first
a kind of
a silent pause
and then
sound of like
a number
being dialed
like you sometimes hear
when you do
a long distance call
like boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop.
MF tones, yes.
Then somebody picked up
like it was ringing a phone
and somebody said,
hello, Board of Education.
Hello, anyone there?
As if somebody was calling them
from my answering machine.
Really?
It's truly bizarre.
You got this
on your answering machine?
I'm sorry?
You got this
on your answering machine?
Yeah.
A bunch of MF tones
and then
a connection
to the Board of Education.
Yeah.
It sounded like
somebody was making
a call to them
and somehow
this got recorded
on my machine.
Did the other person
speak at all?
What other person?
The person that
was allegedly calling
the Board of Education.
Oh, no.
There was no voice
or anything.
No other voice.
Did you hear
only one side
of the conversation
or did the person
that said Board of Education
not hear anything either?
That person apparently
didn't hear anything
because they were going,
hello, is anyone there?
Okay, yeah.
That's weird.
It could be anything
from somebody
three-waying
and playing a joke
on you
to a cross line
of some sort.
I mean, I hate
to say things like that
because that's
the most ignorant
of all explanations.
I highly doubt
that it would be a joke.
Were the MF tones
loud or way
in the background?
Kind of soft.
Uh-huh.
In the background.
I mean, it could have been
a cable and wireless connection.
They use those MF tones
all the time.
It might have been
an 800 number
of some sort.
It's hard to say,
but unless it happens
a lot,
I wouldn't worry about it.
Yeah, no,
it's the only time
it's ever happened
but I thought maybe
you might be able to...
It's one of those
strange phone things
that happen.
Oh, one other quick thing
about the 500 channel
televisions.
I've heard some commentary,
maybe you can comment on this,
that it's likely
that most of the channels
are going to be
retail-type channels
like stores
having their own channel
like the Macy's channel
and the...
Oh, that's just great.
That's wonderful.
We don't have to leave
our house to go
to the mall now, do we?
Yeah, that's, I think,
kind of really revolting,
actually, the whole idea
of it to turn on my TV
and see 150 channels
of every different
department store
in the country.
Uh-huh.
Well, you know,
I should direct people
to Today's New York Times.
There's a fairly good
editorial piece
in Today's New York Times
written by a couple of people
from the Electronic Frontier
Foundation,
where they kind of define
what this whole
information superhighway
should be
and the fact that
we should have access
to it in various ways,
all of which are not,
you know,
incredibly difficult
for us to attain.
Obviously,
to avoid things
like Macy's channels
and just the same
old garbage
over and over again
in ever-expanding ways...
Stopping channels.
Yeah, we need access
of our own.
We need to be able
to create our own
programming
our own innovation
and basically
define the rules
ourselves.
Let it flow the way...
I mean,
imagine if the way
books were written
had to fall into
a very, very strict
set of guidelines.
I know for a lot
of authors
it already does,
but I'm saying
imagine if it was
impossible
to even print something
and distribute it
unless it was approved
and went through
the proper channels.
It would make life
very boring and dull.
Now, we have to
apply the same logic
to video
and to cable.
We have to
allow people
access...
Actually, you know,
allowing people access
is kind of...
I don't like that phrase
because, of course,
people have access.
What we're doing
by not allowing them access
is restricting access.
So I guess what I'm saying
is we should stop
restricting access.
I guess that.
All right.
Hopefully, this can be done.
I don't know exactly how
because it doesn't seem
to be any kind of
political movement afoot
to have democratic controls
over the so-called
information highway
that's going to be
coming about.
Well, I mean,
that comes with involvement.
Obviously, a lot of us
have to take some interest
in what's happening here
because there's
a lot of changes.
Technology is moving
very, very quickly.
And a lot of us
don't understand it.
We don't want to be
bothered with it.
We want to let somebody else
make the decisions.
That's the worst thing
we can do.
You mentioned this
Frontiers group.
What is that about it?
Electronic Frontiers
Foundation is a group.
Now they're headquartered
in Washington, D.C.
And they cover a lot
of legislative issues
concerning computer freedom
and new technology,
things like that.
A couple of things
that they mentioned
in this particular article
in today's Times
were encryption,
people's right
to encrypt
whatever it is
they feel like encrypting
and, of course,
access,
people having the right
to create
their own programming.
That's something
very important.
I really feel
very strongly about that
because imagine
if a station like this
didn't exist
and we just had to listen
to Hot 90-whatever
all the time.
The Rush Limbaugh channel.
Yeah, people with the money,
people with the connections,
people with the agents
and the syndication rights
and all that.
Yeah, we hear them everywhere.
Everywhere we went
we hear the same thing.
At least with a station
like this you can hear
something different,
something unpredictable.
Yeah, things that will
make you mad sometimes
but that's life.
Yeah, well, I'm usually
not made mad by BAI.
I find it comforting
in a way because I know
that there's other people
out there thinking
the way I do.
Uh-huh.
But I don't think
there's anybody out there
that can listen to BAI
and agree with everything
they hear.
Oh, not everything.
Yeah, it's totally impossible
and nor should it be possible
because it's like
BAI is like its own
individual creation here
and there's nothing
like it anywhere.
Right.
Well, let me get going.
I really appreciate
your comments.
And what was that thing
at the beginning
about the Kremlin?
Oh, that's just an ongoing
promo we have running.
I'll play it at the end
of the show again
if you want to hear it.
I'd be happy to do that.
I couldn't hear...
It's an ongoing BAI type
of thing.
You know, it's just
a generic BAI promo
of some sort.
Oh, is it?
Oh, I see.
But we'll play it again
at the end of the show
and you can listen to it.
Okay, well, thanks very much.
If you want to.
Okay.
212-279-3400
is our telephone number.
The program is off the hook.
We're here with FiberOptic
until 11 o'clock
taking questions, comments,
whatever about cable TV,
computer systems,
telephone systems,
hackers,
and whatever else
may happen.
Good evening.
Hello, yes.
Great show like always.
Thank you.
I have a question
about caller ID.
Okay.
What kind of signal
is transmitted to them?
What do they look for?
Is it touch tone
or is it some kind
of other signal?
Fiber?
It's actually
modulated data.
I don't know if that
makes much sense to you.
It's 1,200 baud
half-duplex data
similar to modem data.
Okay.
All right.
And if you listen,
if you're somehow able
to listen to your ring pulses
by tapping into your line
somehow,
you will hear that data
being sent between
the first and second rings.
It takes half a second,
less even,
for all that information
to be passed on.
Uh-huh.
It'll basically sound
like a little burst of noise.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I have another quick question.
Did you ever hear
about StarSight?
I'm sorry?
StarSight.
StarSight?
Yeah.
It's a new,
like,
TV guide system
that Zenith
is experimenting with.
How does it work?
It works by,
it's a subscription
that you subscribe to
and you have a gadget
hooked up to your TV
and each time you tune
to a channel,
it tells you
what's the name
of the program
and how much time left
and who's starring
and something about
the story of the program.
Oh, really?
So it's a way
to find out what's on.
Yeah,
and also,
you can list
all the programs
for that week
on sports
or news
or entertainment,
comedy
and stuff like that.
You can sort.
Uh-huh.
I always wanted a system
where,
you know,
through a magazine
of some sort,
you could find things
by program
because who really cares
about the channel?
You know,
it's,
I mean,
if you're going to watch
Star Trek on one channel
or another,
it doesn't really matter,
does it?
But you want to know
what episode
is going to be on
and where you can find it.
Well, yeah.
Or what film
is going to be on someplace
and where to find it.
But I don't think
anybody's created
something like that.
I think Zenith,
they have it
on test now.
I went to a seminar
like a month ago
and they mentioned it,
that they have it on test.
And also,
the good thing about it
is that it hooks up
to your VCR
and it records shows
easier than VCR plus.
Really?
Yeah.
And the,
but it requires
a subscription
of about
$3, $4
a week.
That's pretty expensive
just to find out
what's going on.
They say it's similar
to what
the TV Guide costs.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Well, no,
TV Guide doesn't cost
$4 a week.
I mean,
I meant in a month,
sorry.
I meant in a month.
Okay, all right.
Okay,
that's a little bit different.
I mean,
VCR plus
doesn't cost anything.
Of course,
you pay for it,
I guess,
with VCRs
that are capable of it,
but you don't pay
a weekly or a monthly fee.
But TV Guide itself,
if you buy a TV Guide
to find out what's on,
it costs somewhat better.
Well,
you do need TV Guide
to get the codes
for VCR plus.
Actually,
almost any newspaper has it.
But it automatically
knows somehow.
Uh-huh.
All right,
well,
thanks for the information.
You're welcome.
Okay.
212-279-3400.
Good evening.
Yeah,
I wanted to find out
one of my pet peeves
is about the telephone company
in which
they,
I'm on an old dial system.
Now,
everything is converted
to the push button system
as far as getting information
and participating in something.
Now,
they charge apparently
for that push button telephone.
Oh,
yes.
I don't see the reason for it
since it's a,
it's a,
not a vast cost
as far as they're concerned.
In fact,
it's not a cost.
It's not a cost at all.
Yes,
you've just,
you've latched onto
one of my pet peeves
which is a touch-tum fee
which is an absolutely absurd fee.
And
should not be charged at all.
You said something about
being active
as far as doing something.
And what do you do about it?
Who do you,
who do you,
what agency oversees
the telephone company?
The Public Service Commission
oversees New York Telephone.
Public Service.
And what's,
what's important is
next time they have
a rate hearing
which happens about
once or twice a year,
you go down there.
Of course,
they,
they put them in hard
to find places
at inconvenient times
of the day.
Yeah.
But it's also possible
to,
to write letters
and have those included
in the records as well
or just to write letters
to your newspapers.
The thing is,
get people involved,
get people aware of this.
You've taken a step
by calling us here tonight
and you've,
you've probably gotten
a few people aware
of the fact that
there is really
no service provided
for that fee
they charge you.
It's an antiquated fee
back in the early 60s
when they first
introduced Touchtone.
Of course,
they had to,
they had to have
some equipment
to deal with it.
But today,
it's built into everything
and the only thing
they're capable of doing
is denying
your tones
access to the network
which is totally unfair
and it really hurts them
in the long run
because obviously
your calls
are completed faster.
Yeah,
unfortunately,
that public service,
the standard joke
among people
that I've always
talked with
is that it's
a public disservice.
Yeah, well,
I mean,
they have a hard time
with things too
but again,
they're directly
answerable to us
and if enough of us
speak out,
you see,
I've gone to a couple
of these phone company
hearings and unfortunately
they're very sparsely
attended
and if that wasn't so,
if they were overflowing
into the hallways
and people were angry
and they,
you know,
were talking in loud voices
and making sure
that people understood
what they were saying,
they just might have
a different impression of it.
Right.
That's very important.
I can't stress that enough.
So you're saying that
participation actually
is what...
Absolutely.
Yeah, I agree.
It's the only way,
you know,
I mean,
I know it's difficult,
I know the benefits
don't pay off right away
but,
I mean,
there's no other way.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
I mean,
the only other way
is to do it better
but how are we going
to start up a phone company
to rival New York Telephone
like this
and get somewhere?
It takes a long time.
Good evening.
Hi,
a few things
I just thought I'd mention.
Mark Olanski case
that just went down?
Yeah,
update us on that.
There was some action on that.
Yeah,
okay,
well,
you know,
I'm up here a little ways
and the reception's
a little bit fuzzy.
I got Fiber's post on Echo
and decided to go check it out.
There's also that,
when you were talking about
the editorial in the Times today,
maybe people should check out
the Mitch Kapoor's article
in Wired a couple of months ago.
Uh-huh.
Um,
there was stuff about,
oh,
just about the net
and how it should be
more democratic
about how people have access
and,
you know,
like you're saying,
um,
give,
like,
regular person,
uh,
access for,
without a great cost.
Right.
Um,
I don't know if you guys
found out,
but,
um,
America Online
went 9,600 today.
Oh,
that's wonderful.
What do we do?
Wow,
that puts them,
what,
about five years
behind everybody else?
A few years
behind everybody else,
but still,
they're,
they're there now.
It just,
uh,
makes things go a little bit faster,
at least you're not online so long.
And no doubt there's a formidable
surcharge for that excess,
right?
Sure,
that's the other thing.
Another thing I noticed about them,
a few months ago,
they had a party,
just to announce that they were going to get
all these internet services,
and,
uh,
and,
uh,
you know,
go up to 9,600 board.
Probably a little bit,
you know,
I know they're all ripping us off,
but heck,
um,
the,
the bash they had at the Hard Rock Cafe
was like,
um,
pretty decent.
Wow,
that's something.
Uh,
I don't really know why
anybody would choose a commercial
enterprise like,
uh,
America Online,
Prodigy,
Genie,
whatever those are,
over something like the ones we have
here in the city.
Oh,
I understand that.
Well,
if you can't get the ones you can get
in the city,
you know.
Well,
I mean,
everybody in the city can get the ones
in the city,
you see.
That's,
that's what I'm talking about.
And through that,
you can get access to the,
to the true internet.
You can get internet mailbox.
Right.
Um,
and it's,
it's as simple as that.
Uh,
fiber works for one.
I don't want to push one more than
any other,
but there are several.
Uh,
there's Echo,
there's MindVox,
there's Panix.
Yeah.
And I,
I'm not sure if there are any others,
but there probably are.
And we'll certainly give them,
uh,
publicity when they come,
come across.
For now,
look in the phone book.
I'm sure you'll find them.
Yeah,
no,
I,
I know where they are.
I've got access,
you know,
through,
through another commercial enterprise
that you didn't mention before.
And they're really slow.
You know,
it's,
it's kind of a drag trying to log on to them
and they get bogged down.
Oh,
you must be talking about CompuSwerve,
right?
No,
no,
no,
no,
I'm talking about,
uh,
Delphi.
Oh yeah,
Delphi.
How can I forget them?
Oh,
they,
they're the ones who have good amount of internet access
and,
and they're,
um,
they get kind of slow mostly because of what's bogged down on their network and stuff.
And it's not really,
another thing you should mention about is PGP.
Okay.
Uh,
you know,
it's,
some people call it pretty good prison.
Others call it pretty good protection.
Um,
what,
what about the deal with the,
uh,
uh,
something,
something with him exporting the software,
although he had no intention to do it,
you know,
and,
and,
and now he's got the state department down on him.
What,
what,
well,
that's an ongoing saga.
Phil Zimmerman has,
uh,
these problems with,
uh,
the,
uh,
PGP encryption program because,
uh,
the government is kind of concerned about,
uh,
uh,
encrypting,
what is it?
Encryption overseas and in foreign countries.
Basically the federal laws in the United States governing encryption deal with encryption as if it were a weapon or a firearm.
And,
uh,
basically there are laws against exporting encryption.
To other countries.
Yeah,
it's,
uh,
you know,
it's,
it's a whole lot of paranoia that stems from the Cold War and is,
it's very hard to extinguish.
Yeah.
Uh,
certainly you had,
you said something about the Alansky case.
Oh yeah,
they,
they,
they,
I don't know if you read,
um,
the last,
um,
CUD,
but,
um,
in there there was a little blurb about him getting 26 months.
And this is for,
for publishing information on how to build a bomb,
is that correct?
Yeah,
yeah,
yeah.
But he had some other stuff going on there.
I think that the Hartford police were like really after him.
Uh huh.
that he did because he was on probation for a while.
Well,
some,
something,
something strange that I read in there was that,
uh,
some of the terms of his probation were,
uh,
were that,
um,
he didn't allow,
um,
people under 18 to get onto his bulletin board and he let some police officer have total access to his board.
Was the police officer under 18?
Oh,
I guess not.
I mean,
yeah.
But,
but,
you know,
the thing is,
is that,
you know,
for those to be kinds of terms of,
of,
of probation seems to be kind of like cruel.
Unusual and unusual.
Well,
just kind of,
kind of weird if,
if you ask me.
Um,
well.
Well,
we'll try to get something for next week on that.
Uh,
we'll try to get the full update on that particular story because that certainly is a bizarre one.
But for now,
we're out of time.
Thank you for your call.
Take care.
Okay.
And,
uh,
God,
that hour went by pretty,
pretty quickly,
didn't it?
Uh,
any last words,
Fiber?
Uh,
live long and prosper.
Yeah,
I guess that's,
that's good,
uh,
good for just about anybody.
Uh,
we'll be back again next week with another edition of Off the Hook.
Ever-changing developments in,
uh,
computers and telephones.
You know,
it's going to be a totally different world in just another week because that's how quickly everything is moving.
So,
uh,
keep your eyes open,
keep your ears open,
play around with,
uh,
with things and,
uh,
learn what you can and get back to us and tell us what you found out.
Emmanuel Goldstein saying,
have a happy Thanksgiving and good night.
The telephone keeps ringing,
so I ripped it off the wall.
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,
did it,
but the best expect the worst.
I hope that's understood.
Bum,
did it,
no!
You have reached the Kremlin.
In order to report the unconstitutional suspension of a legally elected parliament,
press one.
In order to report the bloody suppression of resistance to the unconstitutional suspension of a legally elected parliament,
press two.
In order to report the unanimous support of the unconstitutional suspension of a legally elected parliament by the morally bankrupt leadership of the Western democracies, press three.
For all of the above, press four.
All of our unconstitutional collaborators with Western business interests are busy right now.
Please wait until the regime has had time to consolidate its power and try your call again.
Good evening.
In the news tonight,
there's movement in Haiti and a possible break in the stalemate.
Four homeless men in San Francisco fight for their rights,
and in New York,
after years of public pressure,
the police department finally bans the use of the chokehold to subdue criminal suspects.
With these and other stories,
I'm Jose Santiago in New York,
with Verna Avery Brown in Washington,
and this is the news for Wednesday,
November 24,
1993.
First to Washington for these headlines topping the news.
The first United Nations food shipments in a month made their way to central Bosnia today,
and three other relief convoys reached Muslim enclaves in eastern Bosnia.
The aid shipments have taken on new urgency with the early arrival of winter in the former Yugoslavia.
U.N. convoys to central Bosnia were suspended four weeks ago after a Danish driver of an aid truck was shot to death.
On a voice vote,
the Senate passed the Brady Bill today.
The bill calls for a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases.
The bill had been caught up in a partisan battle over how many years the law would be in effect,
pending the development of a nationwide computer system to facilitate background checks on gun buyers.
Republicans vowed to introduce legislation to modify the Brady Bill when the next congressional session begins in January.
Three prominent journalism and freedom of information groups filed an emergency motion in court today,
calling for the immediate release of independent counsel Lawrence Welch's final report on the Iran-Contra scandal.
The report has been sealed since Walsh submitted it in August.
Peter Kornblew is a senior analyst with the National Security Archives.
At this point, the public's final right to know about the Iran-Contra scandal,
to get the full story of the scandal, is in jeopardy.
The threat of suppression hangs over the Walsh report at this point,
and it pretends the ultimate Iran-Contra cover-up.
Recent reports indicate that many leading players in the Iran-Contra scandal
plan to file motions to suppress Walsh's findings.
Tomorrow marks the seventh anniversary of the Iran-Contra scandal,
the day when President Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese
announced the discovery of a memo in Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North's files.
That document revealed a connection between the arms-for-hostage deal in Iran
and the illegal operation to arm the Contras in Nicaragua.
Israeli troops today killed a Palestinian man
considered to be their most wanted fugitive in the Gaza Strip.