VOIP WATCH
Is Your Broadband Connection VoIP-Ready? - Consumers are increasingly thinking about ditching their old wireline phones in favor of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phones, thanks to advanced features and attractive prices for heavy users. However, before jumping into the brave new world of VoIP, consumers should do a quick check of their broadband connection to make sure it’s ready to use the service. The easiest way to do this is with TestYourVoIP.com, a free connection testing service being offered by Brix Networks, a VoIP management company. TestYourVoIP.com will simulate a call from your computer over your broadband connection to one of six domestic and international locations. The test, which takes about twenty seconds, produces a report on the quality of the call over your broadband connection on a scale from 1 to 5. Test calls from a cable modem in Arlington, Virginia produced qualities from a low of 3.8 on calls to Helsinki, Finland, London, England, and San Jose, California (slightly lower than a decent quality cell phone call) to a high of 4.3 for a call to Boston (slightly worse than a standard wireline phone call). If you’ve decided that VoIP is for you, you may want to consider purchasing TRAC’s TeleTips Consumer Guide to Telephone Service Over the Internet which compares nine of the nation’s leading VoIP providers on cost, features, and “fine print.” Click herei for more information and to order.
WASHINGTON WATCH
TRAC Supports California Telecom Consumers Bill of Rights Bill - On Tuesday, California State Senator Martha Escutia introduced SB 1068, a bill which would set California’s telecommunications consumer bill of rights into law. The bill was introduced in response to the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) January 27 decision, made under intense industry lobbying pressure, to suspend the bill of rights until new consumer guidelines passed last May can be reexamined. The bill would require that the CPUC, by July 1, 2006, develop and enforce consumer protection rules for telecommunications service, including wireless services, as defined, that achieve certain policies and meet specified requirements. The bill would additionally require that the CPUC, by July 1, 2006, develop and enforce consumer protection rules for charges for non-communications services on telephone corporation billings, that meet specified requirements. TRAC strongly supports the California legislation. “SB 1068 is common-sense legislation that will finally give California telecommunications consumers the protections that they deserve,” said TRAC Research Associate John Breyault. “We call on Governor Schwarzenegger to put the interests of California’s consumers ahead of those of the telecom industry and support this bill.” To read the full text of the bill, click hereii.
SCAM WATCH
FBI Warns of Fraudulent E-Mails - The FBI this week released a warning to consumers to be wary of a new e-mail scam. These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI’s Internet Fraud Complaint Center and that they have accessed illegal web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment (“indictment_cit9792.zip”) and answer questions. The attachment contains the Sober-K virus which will then send itself to e-mail addresses gathered from the infected computer. The e-mail reads as follows: "We have logged your IP address on more than 40 illegal Web sites. Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached." A tipoff that this is a scam is the poor grammar in the second sentence of the e-mail. Another way for consumers to recognize this scam is that the fraudulent e-mails are coming from the fbi.gov e-mail domain, which the Bureau shut down earlier this month due to security concerns. All of the major security vendors now have virus definitions for the Sober-K worm in place and users are urged to update their virus software to make sure that they are protected. The FBI has recommended that users receiving e-mails of this nature should report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center via http://www.ic3.gov. For more information on this scam, click hereiii .
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
What do you think? Got a tip you want to share? Nominate your "Scam of the Week" and your "Tip of the Week" - If we select your submission, we'll give you a one-year free membership in TRAC and acknowledge your contribution by name in TRACNotes. Send an e-mail to trac@trac.org to submit your ideas!
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Endnotes
