I had this whole nightmare before the end of the year, and it still hasn't happened.
So I just have to ride this roller coaster a little longer and see where it takes me.
Well, now, can you update us, because it's been a while since we've spoken to you on the air, as to what exactly has happened since...
I mean, you've had a hearing postponed a few times.
Last week I spoke to you, and you were pretty pessimistic about the possible outcome of this.
I still am.
I think when I spoke to you last week, I had just arrived for my scheduled court date, only to find that it was just a two-hour drive from where I'm living.
My attorney had driven two and a half hours from his office to this court date.
We arrived to find that there was no judge there.
And the district attorney's secretary told me that the hearing had been rescheduled.
Didn't I know about it?
I said, well, obviously I didn't know about it, or I wouldn't be here.
When was I notified?
She said, well, aren't you looked up in her papers?
And she said, well, we notified you by certified mail two days ago.
So I went back to Philadelphia to find that that morning the certified letter had arrived at the post office.
This was after the fact, after the hearing was scheduled to occur.
I guess the system doesn't seem to care that there are legal fees involved when you have a private attorney and that sort of thing.
Well, yeah, but couldn't they have overnighted it to you?
Oh, yeah, they certainly could have, and it would have been much easier for them to pick up the telephone and call me.
They have my number.
Absolutely.
Or call my attorney, which would have been simple courtesy, but needless to say, they didn't bother to do that.
So that's just one of dozens of examples of being jerked around with this whole case over the past year that I've gone through.
What has been taking place, though, in your life as you've been, I guess, preparing for this potential outcome?
Have things improved?
Mean, honestly.
Just waiting for the wind to blow me one way or the other.
I have been hesitant to make any types of plans in my life because there's a possibility that I could be put back in jail for as long as two years.
But the district attorney at this particular county is called a victimless misdemeanor.
But in any case, getting an apartment, I'm staying with friends right now, but getting an apartment,
just trying to set down roots again is something that I don't want to do because in a few days I could be back behind bars for quite a while.
So a county probation officer advised me even not to get an apartment or any type of permanent living situation because as far as he was concerned, I should go back to jail.
I'm waiting for this outcome, and it's been five times now this hearing has been rescheduled for reasons beyond my control, and it's quite an emotional roller coaster ride.
The federal prosecutor has actually gone so far as to call the local guy and say what a threat to society you are.
Well, not the federal prosecutor, but the Secret Service agent who headed up the investigation of my federal charges called a county probation officer in Northampton County, Pennsylvania,
and advised him that the types of materials that I had are the types of things that the federal government is focusing on eradicating right now.
Like books and pictures and things.
Computers and telephone equipment.
I guess it's interesting to know that I wasn't charged with committing any type of fraud or stealing anything or cheating anyone.
I was simply convicted of having hardware or software which could be used to basically get a free ride and a telephone system.
I wasn't alleged to have used this stuff, and in fact the stuff that's available at any Radio Shack store or different mail order companies.
So it's a strange thing.
The federal prosecutor has stated to my attorney that the reason I was in jail was really not about those charges.
It was really about another issue concerning the Secret Service involving photographs of their undercover agents which managed to find their way onto television in Philadelphia.
And that was a rather embarrassing situation for Philadelphia Secret Service.
So when my home was raided and those photographs were found incidental to their other investigation, they kind of went ballistic.
I've heard this from two official sources off the record that that's what this case is all about.
I hope their ire has calmed down by now, but I have no way of knowing.
If you aren't sent back to prison for the offense of taking the batteries out of a tone dialer a couple of years ago, how has your life been piecing itself back together?
Do you think that given a couple more months you'll be able to recover from this?
If I'm not sent back to prison, yes, I'll slowly try to normalize my life.
I just feel like I'm on the edge of a razor blade right now and have felt that way since I was released from federal prison unexpectedly on Friday the 13th.
That was October 13th.
But again, I'm really hesitant to make any types of plans when it comes to career, relationships, living situation.
All these things really kind of have to be put on hold because I could have the rug pulled out from under me at any moment.
So again, I just want some closure to this.
It would be a relief, even if I were to be sentenced to some time, just to know how much time I'd be doing and just start doing it rather than wondering how much time I'll be sentenced, if any.
I think there's something in the Constitution about cruel and unusual punishment.
I don't know if this classifies as that.
I think you're defining those terms right now.
Unfortunately, the government has its way of getting around its own rules, as I've found this past year.
Even the cruel and unusual punishment restriction, I'm sure they would find an exemption from that because it says cruel and unusual.
While this is cruel, it's certainly not unusual.
I'm sure this happens to a lot of other people.
Like the law I was charged with violating, possessing hardware or software, cruel and unusual.
This is not unusual.
That's certainly true.
That's one thing I've learned over the past couple of years, both with you and fiber optics case, the kinds of things that people in the prison system have to put up with.
Did you hear the latest bit of nonsense from the Clinton administration concerning people who are arrested right now on federal charges but eventually on state charges as well?
They would have to submit to a mandatory drug test at the time of arrest.
That's incredible because if you don't submit to this drug test, then you're held without bail until the time of your trial.
Think of the chilling effect this is going to have on, say, people who demonstrate against a nuclear power plant or against the arms race or anything, really.
If they're not 100% spanking clean and they happen to be arrested for, say, civil disobedience or something like that, all of a sudden they could be facing all kinds of other charges because of the results of a drug test.
I haven't heard of that, but it sounds pretty outrageous.
It sounds like a search without probable cause.
Again, as I found it in my case, searches can and are done without probable cause, and then law enforcement officials will be dishonest when it comes to testifying about the circumstances of that search or seizure.
The judge is always going to believe the law enforcement officer.
Absolutely.
In this particular case, however, it simply raises things to such a degree that everyone will sort of fall into the hacker frame of mind, which is basically if you're caught with something, you're accused of something, most people wind up pleading guilty because they just don't want all these other things brought up that could possibly get them into trouble.
The same thing is going to happen to virtually anybody who has ever puffed a joint or done God knows what and has something...
Well, he didn't inhale.
Well, that's true.
In fact, lots of times I don't think he's breathing at all, what he thinks.
This is something... I mean, the reason I'm upset about this, this is not something that's going to be debated in Congress.
This is an executive order.
This is something that he snaps his fingers and it's more or less, you know, like a King George decree or something, and, you know, that's it.
And I don't understand why.
You know, what is the reason behind this?
What kind of crisis are we facing where everybody who is arrested for any reason has to immediately be suspected of being some sort of, not even drug dealer, a drug addict, you know, and dealt with in some particular fashion?
I think the government is desperately looking for boogie men and boogie women to use as scapegoats to distract people from their real problems and the real causes of some of society's ills.
Well, it would be nice if they played these games inside the confines of their buildings and not involve the rest of us.
Speaking of craziness, though, have you heard the latest concerning Bell Atlantic?
Bell Atlantic actually is talking about merging with Ninex.
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
Now, what I don't understand is, isn't that the whole purpose of breaking up the phone company in the first place?
They can't get back together.
I was wondering the same thing myself.
This is an irreconcilable breakup, you know?
That's what it's supposed to be.
Why don't they all just merge into one big Bell operating company again, you know?
Sort of be an alter AT&T.
They're talking about merging, but I haven't heard any discussions about the Justice Department or the SEC getting involved with investigating whether this is a monopolistic action or not.
I certainly hope that that's squashed, because I think the Bell operating companies are being as it is.
Well, let's see what the New York Times had to say about it today concerning this particular thing.
It hasn't been reported all that widely.
As you know, there are seven regional Bell operating companies.
U.S. West, Ameritech, Ninex, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, SBC Communications, used to be Southern Bell, and Pacific Telesis.
And a whole range of independent providers throughout the nation as well.
Long-distance companies, there's all kinds of long-distance companies.
AT&T, MCI, Sprint, cable and wireless, Metromedia, the list goes on.
So there's all kinds of different phone companies, but only seven big former Bell regional providers.
And this is what the Times said today.
With Congress on the verge of sweeping away six decades of communications laws, imposing a whole lot of restrictions too at the same time, I might add,
the nation's telephone companies are jockeying furiously in preparation for a wide-open race for customers and profit.
Two regional Bell telephone companies, Ninex and Bell Atlantic, are reportedly exploring a merger that would create the second-largest telephone company in the United States.
Only AT&T, the largest long-distance provider, would have more customer lines.
At the same time, Wall Street executives said that the third regional Bell, the Pacific Telesis group,
was trying to negotiate deals with several phone companies, including Ninex and Bell Atlantic.
So this is something that's spreading throughout the nation, I guess.
What I wonder is, what are they going to call this thing?
Are they going to call it Bell Ninex, Ninex Pacific, or Ninex Atlantic?
I could think of nothing that could be pronounceable.
They'd have to come up with some other nonsensical name like Ninex, I guess.
Ninantic.
That's a good one, Ninantic.
Yeah, that sounds ridiculous, but then again, it's Ninantic.
I don't know. Do you think it's going to happen?
It might. I think the politicians are really bent on deregulating this whole industry and letting the chips fall where they may,
and they're going to fall on the average consumer in a big way, in a bad way, I'm afraid.
But there seems to be a lot of anticipated competition between these Bell operating companies
who want to get into the long-distance market, and the long-distance carriers who want to get into the local loop,
or the local telephone market, and they're both trying to get out the gate first.
This is an example of that, I guess.
Now, they've already merged their mobile communications, have they not?
Yes. It's now Bell Atlantic Ninex Mobile, for some reason. That happened last year.
So there wasn't very much imagination in that name that they'd have.
No.
Bell Atlantic Ninex. I see.
Eight syllables.
Real mouthful there.
Okay, well, that's what's happening with the telecommunications industry this week.
And I don't know. Things just seem to be getting bigger and bigger.
Bill Gates owns everything under the sun.
Sony owns CBS. Somehow Westinghouse owns CBS, too.
I can't keep up with it. Disney owns ABC.
You've got Disney, Westinghouse, and GE owning the big three major networks.
Two defense contractors and a bunch of clowns, or maybe three bunches of clowns.
I think they're all a bunch of clowns, frankly.
Well, possibly, yeah, but I don't think Disney has bombs. I'm not sure, though.
Wouldn't surprise me.
Look for the upcoming article on how to infiltrate Disney World, coming up in the new 2600.
That's probably going to be the one that will really get us in trouble.
All right, Bernie, is anything else going on with you?
Well, a few more weeks of guaranteed freedom, and after that, it's anyone's guess.
So when is the exact—have they officially postponed it?
December 12th is the next official date, but I've learned not to get my hopes up about anything,
because they're continually dashed.
Which date did you say?
December—I'm sorry, January 12th.
January 12th.
January 12th. I don't know what the other week deadline. Probably Friday.
Well, you know, one of the things I thought you had on your side
was that the judge isn't about to send somebody to prison for something as minor
as what you're being charged with right before the holidays.
But now, if it's January 12th, who knows?
He'll probably have a long hangover after the New Year's.
Now, you had an interesting discussion with this judge concerning what you were wearing.
Maybe that's something that people who are going before judges might want to hear.
Now, you somehow thought that dressing nicely for court, for being sentenced, was a good idea.
This was last year, last October, I guess it was,
when I finally pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge in Pennsylvania tampering with evidence
that consisted of being accused of removing batteries from a touch-tone dialer that had been in my possession.
The police claimed that removing those batteries erased any numbers that were stored in it
and therefore denied them from finding out what they were.
So that's the best they could come up with, tampering with evidence charge.
My attorney at the time advised me just to plead no contest to it, not plead guilty,
but just to say, listen, I don't want to fight this, I just want to get it over with
and get probation and not risk getting conviction, even though it was bogus.
Juries in that area tend to side with the police. It's a very conservative area.
So I played on the safe side and just pled no contest to the thing, thinking it was trivial.
When the judge sentenced me to this two years' probation,
before saying the period of probation I'd be getting or whether he'd even send me to jail,
he kind of insinuated that I was a wealthy person and had no business being in his court.
He seemed quite angry at me for wasting his time.
He asked me how much my haircut was, and I told him it was $10.
I'd just gotten a cut the night before. I wanted to look presentable.
I was wearing my one and only suit that I bought several years before on a low-budget trip to Morocco.
I couldn't afford a suit like that in this country,
but I guess it cost me the equivalent of a couple hundred dollars there.
It was a very nice suit, but in any case, I looked like a million dollars.
I just wanted to look good.
He sentenced me to two years' probation and a $2,000 fine
because he must have thought that I was dressed too well to get away with a minor fine and a small period of probation.
He actually chastised me for looking so good.
When I went there Friday to appear before the same judge,
I wore sneakers and not-so-nice slacks and a shirt that didn't look too expensive.
You can't win either way, I'm afraid.
Now, what do they call the monetary unit over there?
The Durham. D-U-R-H-A-M.
He asked me how much the suit was, and I told him it was, I think, about $3,000.
I don't know what the exchange rate was at the time, but he thought I said dollars.
He just thought I was being smart with him.
I explained to him that it was in Morocco, and he didn't seem to know where that was.
He didn't know where Morocco was. This is a judge that doesn't know where Morocco is.
The whole thing is just a farce, and he just wanted some reason to berate me
and use that as another reason.
Anyone who's had any experience in the criminal justice system will know what I'm talking about.
If they haven't, it's almost impossible to understand or relate to,
because it's truly an Alice in Wonderland environment
where logic and reason and common sense go out the window, and nothing makes sense.
Actually, no. There's just a gentleman here who seems to be staying at the hotel
who's making some calls on another pay phone.
That's about the only person here.
Pretty deserted.
FiberOptic has finally made it.
Wait a minute. Your mic's not on. Try it now.
I finally made it, and now my mic's on. Okay, great.
Hello, Fiber.
Hey, Ed. How are you?
I'm good. Not unlike you, a couple years ago,
I've been saved at the last minute temporarily by a tremendous ice storm.
Do you remember that fateful weekend in Philadelphia
where we were all stranded outside of Philadelphia?
Couldn't make it to your appointment with a federal prison camp.
We wound up on South Street crawling around in the street, getting from place to place,
because we couldn't even stand upright.
Is it that bad now?
I started in the morning with postponed fiber for three weeks because of this ice storm.
This is the fifth postponement, so I've been jerked up and down in every which way.
There should be a limit.
If it's postponed five times, then they have to just call the whole thing off.
They can postpone it as many times as they want,
and you have to keep paying my attorney every time he goes up there for nothing.
That is injustice there, one of many.
Okay, well, you're welcome to stay on the line if you want.
I'm not sure. Do you want to go out there?
Sure, I'll hang out here.
Okay, great.
What else is happening? Let's see.
We have this announcement for First Night.
Maybe you know about this, Fiber.
First Night being New Year's Eve,
we got into a big discussion about this last year.
It's not really the first night, it's the last night.
It's the last night. I don't know.
But anyway, 9X is taking part in First Night.
In Bryant Park, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., this is what they say,
enjoy magic and the magic of technology.
Magicians will pull rabbits out of their hats,
and 9X will show you and your family the wonders of its new ISDN technology.
ISDN technology will also be available for use from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
I imagine that means there, not just for everybody else.
So yeah, they'll be pulling rabbits out of their hats and playing with ISDN.
What do you think they're going to do in Bryant Park?
I don't know, but I guess getting it installed and working
will be kind of like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, won't it?
I imagine so.
We'll see if they have as much trouble with it as we did.
That would be kind of interesting.
But yeah, maybe we'll show up there.
Where is that?
I don't know, actually.
I've never been to Bryant Park.
Somewhere.
It's near the main library.
Oh, okay.
Okay, the main library.
First night last year, we were in Grand Central, weren't we?
Yeah, yeah.
And the city is pretty big, so they have things all over the place.
I see.
Yeah.
Ed, do you have any plans for New Year's?
No, I don't, and my options are pretty limited.
I'm prohibited from traveling outside the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
So you won't be enjoying the marvels of ISDN up here?
No, nor of rabbits being pulled out of hats, I'm afraid.
But I could get special permission from the Federal Probation Office,
but I doubt they would find that a compelling reason to allow me to travel outside the boundaries.
Well, maybe next year at this time we'll all be enjoying the wonders of ISDN courtesy of Niantic.
Is that one of the many names?
That's the name we've decided.
I don't think that's the name they're going to decide.
Niantic.
No, because everybody laughs when they hear it.
So I don't think that's the image they want to convey.
Okay.
Now it's time for the special part of our show, the part we promised you last week.
Remember, we were talking about the evil company called PSI.
What does that stand for?
Performance?
Systems International.
Well, they might be international, but their performance stinks and their systems are not worth running home with.
They're universally bad.
Well, you know, we don't just say this out of malice,
and we've tried very hard to talk to these people, but they will not be talked to.
To sum up very rapidly, we signed up for their ISDN, what they call their LAN ISDN service, last summer, this summer.
And we asked them very specifically, do you offer data over voice?
And they told us, yes, we do offer data over voice.
So we said, okay, let's sign up for that service where we can connect at 56k, save the 9x penny a minute surcharge at 64k.
Well, lo and behold, we finally got connected.
It did not work.
We asked them, why isn't this working?
What's wrong?
And then they told us, we don't support that service.
And no, we won't cancel your contract.
They have gone and they've charged us $1,300 already,
and they've also told us that they intend to charge us for the entire year because we've signed the contract for a year.
However, the contract was signed with the understanding that they offered a particular service, which they do not, in fact, offer.
Now, what we have here tonight, since they have failed to respond to our phone calls, our email, our letters, everything else,
we have no choice but to share this information with everybody out there.
So everybody take note of this.
This is something that's quite important.
It involves one of many PSI people.
Last summer, we talked to two different PSI people that told us they had this service available.
Now, we talked to somebody about a week and a half ago.
Actually, we talked to two different people, and we asked them the same question.
We wanted to see if they got their facts right this time, if they knew what services they offered and what services they did not offer.
So we called them up, and we asked them the exact same question.
Do you offer data over voice?
So listen to what happens when you call PSI.
First of all, you're told to have your credit card ready because, you know, they want to get to that part very quickly.
They want to get to that part right away and have, you know, have your magical numbers so they can keep charging you for God knows how long.
So you'll hear the recording, and then you'll hear us connected to a, I guess, a knowledgeable customer service rep.
Thank you for calling PSI.net, the largest Internet service provider with its award-winning service and software.
For just $9 a month, you'll be able to send email, join newsgroups, and visit exotic worldwide web destinations using SoftwareVentures' Internet Valet with Netscape Navigator.
Please stand by and have your credit card ready.
PSI.net representatives will be with you shortly.
Thank you for calling PSI.net, the world-leading Internet service provider.
Are you calling about our full Internet access offer today?
Actually, I was calling about ISTN.
ISTN?
Yeah.
Okay, I can help you.
What do you want to know?
Okay, I just wanted to know, first of all, if you offered it in a 212 area code.
212, which is New York or?
Yes, we do.
Okay.
Do you offer basic services like bonding and data over voice and things like that?
Okay, that's something I'm going to have to ask about.
Can you hold on for a second, please?
Sure.
The quality of this music on hold is about equal to the quality of the audio.
Okay.
Okay, that's something I'm going to have to ask about.
Can you hold on for a second, please?
Sure.
The quality of this music on hold is about equal to the quality of service we've seen so far from these people.
Didn't he sound like a recording at first?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, before.
So he's going off to check with his supervisors, the people that really know.
I mean, you know, you're supposed to take the word of a representative,
but if you want to really be sure, you have them check with somebody higher up
just to make absolutely certain that there's no question about the service.
Now, keep in mind, this is the second phone call we made.
We had already made a call before this.
We had gotten a positive response from a representative,
and this is followed by two other calls we made beforehand in August
where they swore they offered this service, data over voice.
We simply can't afford data over data because a penny a minute is about 500 bucks a month, you know,
and that's more expensive than the service they offer.
So it was very important to us to get.
Should I be listening to the music?
I don't want to deprive the listeners of this.
Okay, we should be back talking to the representative in just a moment.
Okay, I'm sorry to keep calling.
No problem.
We do not have that capability in New York yet.
Oh, which capability is that?
The bombing?
Uh-huh.
Okay.
That's like 128, right?
Right.
Okay.
So that's coming soon?
Yeah.
Okay.
And how about the data over voice?
There's no problem with that?
No, that's no problem.
Okay, great.
Is it possible to fax me a contract so I can look it over?
What's the quickest way I can get started?
Oh, I just need to take your information over the phone.
Okay.
I do have ISDN that you're wired for.
We have an ISDN line, yes.
Yeah, we just need to get your, you know, credit card information over the phone.
Okay.
And, you know, address and stuff.
Okay, which credit cards do you take?
MasterCard, Visa, Maverick Express, and Discover.
Okay.
Actually, I'd have to get that information,
but if I were to call you back with that information later today,
what's the quickest we could get started?
We'd have it out to you, get it to you overnight.
Overnight, great.
Okay, what's your name and extension?
My name is Rod.
Uh-huh.
I'm at 4651.
Okay.
All right?
All right, great.
I'll get back to you then.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Well, there you have it.
That's pretty damning evidence in my eyes.
I don't know.
He went off, he checked with somebody, he asked them the questions.
No, they don't offer bonding yet.
They knew enough to ask that.
They also knew enough to make sure that we had an ISDN line
because it doesn't work without an ISDN line.
When we asked him, data over voice, yep, no problem at all.
I mean, that's almost word for word the same conversation we had in August,
and we signed up right away.
They faxed us a contract, they took our credit card information,
and that was it.
It was all over, and now we can't get out of it
because they're not offering the service they said they were offering.
It's useless to us, but they refuse to let us out of this contract,
and they keep charging us money.
Was anything in writing ever put forth that said anything about data over voice?
No.
It did not say they offered it.
It did not say they did not offer it, though.
In fact, it was a standard ISDN contract.
Now, I was reading something about ISDN to you the other day, Fiverr,
as far as their definition of it.
Now, their definition, would you say that encompasses 56k?
Oh, yeah.
They said up to 64.
They did not say at 64.
They said up to.
Well, that would indicate that they would offer 56k, then.
To me, it does, yeah.
I mean, the only speed below 64 is 56.
See, we received absolutely no indication that that would even be a slight problem
until they actually told us after we tried to connect that it didn't work.
So, I don't know.
What do you think, Bernie?
Caveat emptor.
Yeah.
Let the buyer beware.
Absolutely.
And get anything you expect in writing.
You know what?
Well, yeah.
But the thing is, the only thing they offered in writing was this contract,
which seemed to imply that, yeah, there was no special circumstances here.
When they tell you over the phone, this is what our ISDN service includes,
and you sign a contract for ISDN service,
you assume that the two things are the same, you know?
And I don't see how we could have gotten a contract that said anything different.
Well, I'm in the habit of adding things to contracts
and then signing them and getting a copy of them,
signing it after I put my modifications to it.
Well, this was a fax contract.
It was on wax paper.
It was hard enough to sign it, let alone add anything to it.
And we never did get a real copy of it.
And it's kind of funny because we're having trouble with our credit card company.
They're not taking the charges off because they say we signed a contract,
and they made a copy of the contract.
Apparently, PSI faxed them a copy of the faxed contract,
which had been faxed to us, which we faxed back to them,
and then the credit card company reduced it so it could fit onto a small piece of paper.
It's just a bunch of lines.
You can't even read what it says.
And they say that that's what's holding us to this contract.
It's incredible.
A bunch of lines.
That's really what it's all about.
So what we suggest to people is, you know,
I will not stand up here and say do not use PSI,
but I will say listen to the evidence and make a decision on your own.
And, you know, you might want to contact these people.
Maybe you'll have better luck getting through to them and getting some sort of reply from them.
We've tried everything.
Have you contacted your state public utilities commission?
Well, you know, the funny thing is I was told the best commission to talk to about this kind of thing,
is the Federal Communications Commission.
So yesterday I called them, and you know what?
They're closed because of the budget problems.
For the very first time I needed the FCC for something, and they're not there.
All the other times I would be happy if they weren't around,
but, oh, no, the one time I need them, they're closed.
Indefinitely, too.
They don't know when they're going to be back,
and they say don't leave a message because you can't do that.
You know, if you can't leave a message, we won't get back to you,
and we don't know when we're going to be here.
Yeah, that's the kind of response I'd like to see.
Do you plan to put your own radio station on the air?
I guess so.
I guess there wouldn't be a whole lot they could do about that.
Okay, we're just about ready to move to the phones,
which our phone number is 212-279-3400.
I should caution our listeners that this is the first time.
You notice that weird noise we're getting with the phones?
A little static?
It's sort of like static, a little bit like reverb.
Yeah.
It only happens when I have the phone up.
You see, if I bring the phone down, it goes away,
but if I bring the phone up, you suddenly hear this echo.
So I imagine that's something our technicians will work on shortly.
Okay, so let's take some phone calls.
212-279-3400 if you have any comments or questions
or anything else that you'd like to share with us.
Boy, this phone's a long way away.
I've got to press the button over here.
Are we ready for our first listener phone call?
Good evening, you're on.
Hello.
Hi, how are you doing?
I have a question.
Today the phone company accidentally cut off my ISDN service
after they fixed up my caller ID feature.
Are you the guy with the BitSurfer?
Yeah, this is our caller ID.
Boy, you're going through a rocky road, aren't you?
No, you know, you were almost right when I spoke to you.
You said that one of the SPID numbers might be off.
What happened was on December 7th,
the 9X issued the number that they gave me as a data SPID in August.
On December 7th, they issued it to a store at an analog line
several blocks from where I live.
When I called and said,
I'm having a little trouble getting my caller ID to work,
at the request of Motorola support, could you reset my caller ID features?
And there's a setting in there for the display identifier
to set that to what Motorola said was normal.
So they did all this and everything worked beautiful.
Everything, everything.
It was nice.
They called up.
They got me to swear that I was happy.
I swore that I was happy.
Was it a day or so it lasted?
No, 10 minutes.
They called me back.
Somebody else called me back and they said,
Listen, we accidentally gave you a number that belongs to somebody else,
so we're disconnecting your number.
And I said, no, no, no, no.
I'm the fellow that you gave the number to originally.
You're cutting off the other guy.
So they said, oh, we're very sorry.
No problem.
We'll take care of it.
I looked at my bit server 10 minutes later,
and the second green light went out.
Oh, boy.
I called up after about an hour on hold
and found out that at my request I disconnected my own service.
Now my question is, see, there's a question here.
Now they cut my ISDN, but how am I still on the phone?
I mean, I'm on the phone with you guys through the Motorola bit server.
It would appear so.
Well, it sounds like they cut off one SPID, but not the other.
So is there some way that I can reconfigure this so I can get on the net tonight?
Yeah, all you have to do is set your voice and data SPID to the same SPID.
I'm going to do it.
What have we started here?
I want to tell you, it's impossible.
It's impossible to get any satisfaction out of anybody.
It's just impossible.
Now I spoke to a representative tonight,
and they said it was too late tonight to do anything,
but hopefully over the next couple of days they'll have it working properly.
Sir, are you going to come and witness the magic of technology with 9X on first night?
Maybe you could ask him some pointed questions there.
Well, why don't we give him a 24-hour phone number?
Pardon?
I could give you a 24-hour phone number if you're having a problem.
Well, yeah, there is a 24-hour number.
It's the 4-1-800-F-O-R-S-W-5-6.
What does that mean?
Oh, no, that's switch 56.
That's not for ISDN.
Well, when you get to them, they put you with the people who take care of the ISDN.
What you could also do, if you want to try, you could call 800-NYT-FAST.
Right, and 800-NYT-FAST put me with switch 56.
Oh, really?
Yeah, I've had a bit of a go around.
Let me ask you this.
Is it possible for these guys to turn back my ISDN tomorrow?
I mean, this lady gave me the feeling that I might not be seeing her for a few days.
Well, physically possible or feasibly possible?
Physically possible.
Physically possible they could have it on in the next five minutes.
It's not going to happen, is it?
No.
Nope.
But I suggest you be as much of a pain as possible with them, and maybe they'll move fast.
I've had a repairman come out to repair someone's phone on Christmas Day once.
That's my biggest accomplishment of my life, to actually get someone to do that.
I got two service guys to come in this morning, one right after another,
and both of them showed up with analog handsets,
and both of them told me that I'm having a problem.
They can't find a dial tone.
Yeah.
Well, I think you're not the one with the problem there.
But is there a way that I can sue for a disadvantaged situation?
Because they're going to charge me for this.
They should not charge you.
What would they charge you for?
Well, I had two servicemen coming out to the house,
and the lady said that if there was no problem on their part, I would be charged.
Well, it's obviously a problem on their part.
Obviously.
It's causing me an emotional disturbance.
Well, you talk.
Thank you very much for being here.
Good luck.
Bye-bye.
That caller should talk to the ISDN person and say that they're threatening to charge him.
I think they'll see the ridiculousness of that.
Emmanuel, did that gentleman tell you earlier whether his line was residential or business ISDN?
He's definitely a resident.
He's definitely a resident.
Well, perhaps, it's just speculation on my part,
that the so-called store that they assigned his number to on an analog line,
business numbers are certainly more profitable for 9X than residential lines,
and maybe that's how they prioritize their efforts.
You mean a business comes ahead of a consumer?
Well, a business line is, I don't know what the tariffs are.
Maybe you know, Fiverr.
But, you know, business lines are always more than residential lines.
Well, that may be so, but, I mean, the fault is still on their part
because they had already assigned the number to him.
Oh, I agree.
I'm not talking about fault.
I'm just talking about what their motivations might have been.
Maybe they just, well, since we assigned it to a business,
we'll let the business keep it because we're making more money off of them.
I don't know.
It's just speculation on my part.
Yeah, I noticed a light on on my phone the other day,
and, you know, the light was on as if somebody was on it.
And, you know, there was nobody around, so I picked it up,
and you know what I heard?
Well, I heard a modem.
There was somebody making a modem call on my line.
Can you believe that?
And I tried everything to disconnect it.
I tried blowing into it and hitting touch tones and everything like that.
It was probably a lineman with a craft.
Well, what's he doing making a data call on my line?
Come on.
All these people, they're a phone company.
Don't they have their own phones?
Do they have to tap in and beige box off my line?
I don't need that.
I mean, they get all upset when I do it to them.
I mean, if I did do it to them, that is.
But, you know, it's not right.
It's not right at all.
So I hope it was the phone company.
Can you imagine if it was someone else?
Who knows what they're calling on my line?
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Go ahead.
Speak up.
Yes.
Yeah.
You know, in hearing what happened with 9x and what's going on with 9x
and Bell Atlantic and Salus, though,
that the Bell companies are going to come back together.
That's what a lot of people seem to think.
Yeah.
So that's an eventuality.
I wouldn't be surprised if that was the plan altogether.
Do you think that's going to make service any better?
Well, how was the service when they were one company?
You were afraid of them because they were the phone company
and you couldn't question them at all.
People were afraid to have extension phones in their house
if they didn't pay for them.
I don't think bigger is better.
I really don't.
No, it's not necessarily better,
but then again it all depends on whose perspective you're talking from.
I mean, here, put it this way.
If you're the chairman or possible chairman of this humongous company,
bigger is better.
But if you're a consumer, bigger is not better.
So I guess that's just a relative term.
They are going to combine once again,
and maybe that was the plan that was in print when they broke up.
I don't know.
I don't know if there's a master plan in place,
but I certainly think that they're moving towards something like that.
Well, when you have combinations of this magnitude,
there's always a master plan in place.
This is not done overnight.
This is definitely forethought.
Yeah, I guess you're right about that
as far as them wanting to move in a certain direction,
wanting to go with something more national perhaps or regional.
It's kind of frightening.
You know, I think the best way to have things work
is to make sure there's always competition,
but the way I see things going, it's going directly away from that.
It's business.
It's business.
Yeah, I guess so.
And part of business is to get rid of competition
in some time at any cost possible.
Interesting.
Even if they don't all merge into one big company,
they may have so many cross agreements between each other eventually
that for all intents and purposes, it will be one entity.
Yeah, but I'd say in a situation such as that,
there's always one that decides that it's better than the other.
I mean, that's just the way business works.
It's cannibalism.
That's just the way it is.
I mean, they're buddies, but business is business.
You're a stockbroker, aren't you?
No.
You seem to have the inside track on these things.
Yeah, well, I like business.
And I tell you, it's just a matter of maybe in about less than five years,
you'll probably see the Bell companies together as they were back in the early 80s.
Well, I think you'll see togetherness, but not necessarily as they were,
probably something of a much bigger magnitude.
No, you're absolutely right.
I'm saying as one entity.
I mean, of course, you're going to be able to choose your movies over the phone
and all those other nice little features that are going to make it sound nice and fluffy.
But, yes, they will recombine.
They will recombine.
Okay, we'll see if you're right.
Thanks for calling.
Have a nice one, pal.
Okay.
You know, it's interesting.
It was a caller to this radio show not too long ago that asked us
if we had heard anything about a 9x Bell Atlantic merger.
Remember that a few weeks ago?
No, I can't say I do.
Well, yes, it happened.
I heard somebody say that.
And I was amazed because I thought nothing was further from the truth then.
But, you know, it's weird.
Imagine this, the Bell companies coming back together,
Russians voting back communists.
You know, it's like, what's going on here?
We're moving backwards.
We're not getting ahead.
Learning from mistakes.
I don't know.
Bernie, how's the weather situation out there?
Very cold.
Yeah?
How cold is it down there?
Oh, we have probably about 4 inches now, and we're expecting 6 to 10.
Okay, we're expecting about that.
It's coming down pretty hard now.
Right now it's just ice.
So it's putting ice on everything.
It's supposed to warm up a little bit and then be snow again.
But the roads are pretty treacherous.
What happened to your car?
Oh, yeah, that's a story that hasn't been told to too many people.
My vehicle, which had been seized by Haverford Township Police in Delaware County, Pennsylvania,
was held for a short period of time while I was incarcerated.
And then since I was not able to return to get it,
because I was being held in prison, they sold it.
They sold your car?
They sold it and kept the money
and refused to tell me how much money they got for it,
saying that they took a loss.
I don't believe this.
I don't believe this.
They sold your car?
Well, the official police towing entity,
which has a business agreement with that particular police department,
got the right to sell the vehicle.
But they knew you were coming out at a certain time.
How could they sell your car?
All right, I've learned not to have discussions like that.
I'm sorry.
I'm speechless.
There's no logic or reason behind it.
Old-time logic kicking in there.
Yeah.
It was a car earlier that year I'd spent $3,000 for.
It was a used car, but very reliable and a nice little Subaru.
And they won't tell you what they got for it?
No.
They said it was sold for scrap, but there was nothing wrong with it.
And they won't give you the money?
No, they won't even say how much money was gotten for it.
And they won't apply the money to what they're charging you
for being their guest in prison and things like that?
No.
This is unbelievable.
Well, if there was ever a cause for a one-man riot, I think you've got it.
Okay, well, then the question comes up.
How did you manage to get stranded at a roadside stop on the highway
if you don't have a car?
I'm with a friend.
Oh, okay.
You're with a friend.
So now what's the situation of that car, then?
Which car is that?
I assume a car somewhere is stranded, which is why you're there.
Oh, that's fine.
We're in a parking lot.
Oh, you're not really stranded, then?
No, we're just waiting for the Pennsylvania Turnpike to be plowed.
Right now it's covered over with ice.
It's not really unlike a couple of years ago down in Philadelphia
that weekend when there was ice over everything.
You can't even walk outside here now.
It's too slippery.
It's really not slippery.
We're waiting for plows and salt and that sort of stuff
to be strewn across the highway, and then we can get on our way.
Are you near anything, or are you just stuck in this place?
One of these roadside stands.
There's a little diner, and that's it.
Vending machines, pinball, anything?
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, at least you won't go insane.
No, no, I'm not bored.
This is pretty interesting listening to this program.
Uh-huh.
I'm the only person in Philadelphia listening to this program, I'm sure.
That's true, but in eight minutes you won't be because we'll be off by then.
Oh, no.
Let's see if we can squeeze in a couple more calls before that happens.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Oh, finally.
I have a few points and one question.
Okay.
First of all, tone down the paranoia about 9x.
They don't have the time to decide if a business or a residential customer gets the number.
I know because I've been in a dispute a few years ago and involved two commercial entities,
and basically the smarter one is the one that gets, or let's say the sleeker one,
the one that does the nastier tricks,
because what I'm convinced happened to this guy who called before
is simply that the business, who is strongly motivated to keep a phone number,
just called 9x and said,
I am such and such, please turn off my service.
And to him and to anybody who has these kind of problems,
I suggest put a security code on your account number
so that your account number cannot be discussed
unless you give them the security code when you call.
Everybody who has any kind of problems should do that.
Second is simply the scheme.
It's not even a scheme.
It's just the creation of paper wealth.
That's what's happening with the phone companies.
I don't know if any of you remember in 1984 when it was broken up, the system.
Everybody who had one share got seven shares of different companies.
And those shares over the years, the value of those shares grew.
And now you have what AT&T used to be is now a number of companies,
and their combined wealth or value is much higher than what AT&T used to be.
So there you have a lot more money, whether it's paper money or real money, we don't know,
but the value of these pieces of paper has grown.
And that's what is going to happen when they recombine in any kind of form.
So you think it's inevitable they'll recombine?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
I mean, again, it won't be exactly the same thing, but that seems to be what we're heading towards.
And I find it perfectly normal.
You know, it's just basic capitalism.
Then there is another thing.
A couple of weeks ago you talked about the new—
I'm sorry, I'm running out of breath because I'm not so used to public speaking anymore,
and that's what I have to do, just keep going.
Otherwise you get bored or the listeners get bored.
But in any case, you talked of these plans that New York Telephone or 9X is offering now.
And farther back, a few months ago, you had a guy on your show from the American Council of Telephone Consumers
who was quite brilliant, and I called him up and he told me that there has been a case in New York State
brought against the phone companies or the phone company, 9X, by a number of counties upstate
where you can still get, for the price of the basic service every month, you get unlimited calling.
So it's not such a great thing that now New York Telephone or 9X is offering it to 212 and 516 area codes
as an additional cost that is basically your yearly cost divided by 12.
So in other words, they are guaranteeing themselves,
they are edging the odds against when you make less phone calls in one month
and they are getting it all the same amount of money.
So it's a big scandal.
It's not such a great opportunity because if you live in Rochester,
for the same price of your basic service, you have unlimited calling in your area.
And you should talk about that.
And then there is another thing on your phone bill.
If you read it, you have FCC ordered line charge.
That is not what it is.
It's not an FCC charge.
It's a charge by the local companies to provide access.
Exactly.
And the fact that FCC has allowed phone companies to charge that for last business,
for the long distance calls that they cannot offer to the customers anymore, is what it is.
But the phone company is fraudulently blaming it on FCC.
That's another thing concerning the phone company.
That's pretty clever on their part, I think.
Yeah.
But you should tell people these things.
And my question is that the number for checking the number interstate,
like the 958-212, has changed.
Do you have the new number?
Well, no, I don't think we have the new number, the one you have.
Which one is that?
No, I don't have it.
Okay, well then, no, we definitely don't have it.
Okay.
But there's numbers out there.
And also with the advent of national caller ID,
I imagine almost anybody could set up a non-toll-free number
that you could call to find out what your phone number is.
It will read back off the caller ID box.
Well, that would be a clever idea.
Yeah, it certainly would be.
Listen, thanks for the call.
We're going to try to fit in one more person rapidly running out of time here.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Yeah.
Hi.
I called a few minutes ago.
You gave me some advice on how to get this bit surfer running.
Make it real quick.
I put the two voice numbers.
I changed the data split to my voice number, and it's working.
My question is, how am I talking to you?
That's a good question.
As long as you're not online at the same time.
I'm online right now.
And the other still works?
I'm online at 57.6, and I got you on the phone.
Now, I guess if somebody called me, they would get a busy signal?
Yeah, you shouldn't be able to make two calls at once unless both of your spits are working.
I keep trying, though.
You're on a roll here.
Yeah, I'm on a bit of a roll.
Okay, I just wanted to let you know.
Thank you very much.
Okay, thanks for calling.
That's what we need at this holiday season, a true miracle.
That's what it is.
Listen, Bernie S., I want to wish you the best of luck.
We'll probably be speaking to you again before your next court appearance.
I hope so.
I'll make it a point to.
It sure would be nice to say that this is over once and for all.
But it's a nightmare that's been going on for some time.
Hopefully January 12th will be the last time we have to worry about this.
Let's hope so.
I want to wish everyone a happy holiday.
Yes, you too.
What day of the week is January 12th?
I don't have a calendar.
I don't know.
It's probably a Friday.
Okay, all right.
Listen, thanks again.
Good luck to you.
Good luck getting out on the Pennsylvania Turnpike there.
It's all iced over.
Drive carefully.
I guess we'll be back again next week at this time.
Well, we'll be saying goodbye at this time, but next week at 8 we'll be in
for another edition of Off the Hook.
This is Emanuel Goldstein for FiberOptic.
Have yourselves a good night.
Have a good holiday.
We'll talk to you next week.
The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it up and lost.
I cut myself while shaving, now I can't make a cost.
They couldn't get much worse, but if they could they would.
I hope that's understood.
And you are tuned to listener-sponsored WBAIFM in New York City.
The time now is 9 p.m.
Coming up, Housing Notebook.
Pain feeling off the wall.