Taking action on phone scams

Article Abstract:

Telephone marketing schemes that charge consumers for vacations and travel services that are never delivered are the target of new regulations designed to protect telephone customers and help them recover their money. The schemes take two main forms. In both, a postcard or certificate informs customers that they have won a prize or been selected for a special offer and must call a certain telephone number to receive the benefit, frequently a vacation. In one form the customer must call a long-distance number with a 900 or 700 prefix or a local 976 exchange. The operating firm derives income from charges for the call, as much as $5 per minute, as the customer waits to hear details of the prize or offer. In the other form, customers' credit cards are charged, with or without their knowledge, for vacations that are never delivered. Long-distance telephone carriers and state attorneys general have recently reached an agreement under which they will share information with the aim of stopping these schemes. At the national level, Congress has directed the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to set regulations for these telephone services.

Travel agencies, Laws, regulations and rules, Travel industry, Ethical aspects, Fraud, Telemarketing, Legal Issues, Government Regulation, Audiotext services, Audiotex

---

With computers, mapmakers are redrawing the world

Article Abstract:

Map-making is big business. The International Map Dealers Association estimates that commercial sales in the United States are $200 million annually. Major companies, which are privately held, do not publish sales figures, but the Rand McNally Co is thought to be the largest, and Langensheidt, a German company, is probably second. Trends are important in the industry: maps of the Mideast are selling well because of the crisis involving Kuwait, and glasnost has helped sales of maps of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Maps of China are currently out of favor. The National Geographic Society, known for detailed and elegant maps, is also known for its nonprofit, tax-exempt status, considered unfair by some. Computer cartography is probably the most important industry trend. Using computers, detailed and accurate maps that include particular features can be marketed as specifically as other products.

Motor vehicles and car bodies, Statistics, Automobile industry, Technology application, Portrayals, Geographic information systems, Maps (Geography), National Geographic Society, Cartography, Industry Analysis, Maps, International Map Dealers Association, Geographic Information System

---

PBS plans a magazine by students, on a disk

Article Abstract:

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) will cooperate in a pilot project involving 16 affiliate stations in Mar 1993, publishing a computerized student magazine called HiWavz. Students in 21 high schools will participate, contributing news stories, features, reviews, sports articles, editorials and columns. HiWavz will include art work, photographs and even videos. Submissions will go to WGBH, the PBS affiliate in Boston, which will assemble the magazine and distribute it via satellite. Molly Breeden, educational coordinator for PBS, says math and computer science students, as well as students in the arts, have become interested, so that the project has brought together a wider mix of participants than was originally envisioned.

Telephone communications, exc. radio, Usage, Telecommunications services industry, Telecommunications industry, Electronic publishing, Periodical publishing, Study and teaching, Public Broadcasting Service, Educational technology, Publications, Electronic Publishing Industry, Magazines

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Reaching out: Canadian schools try to lure foreign students - and dollars. Muscle bound
• Abstracts: A taxing situation: the blended sales tax has made few friends
• Abstracts: Economy may be victim of war against terrorism. Nuclear plans may stall on uranium shortage. Cooler heads may find buying opportunities in base metals
• Abstracts: New Jersey acts on video terminals; the goal is to reduce hazards like eyestrain and tendinitis. I.B.M. cuts computer radiation
• Abstracts: Computer problems delay installation of new weather radar. Olivetti is said to plan 7,000 layoffs in slump

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.