To: Robert Douglas who wrote (1322 ) 12/16/1998 3:55:00 PM From: Mark Oliver Respond to
Possession of a Talking Barney could be a criminal offense? :o :)SO WHAT'S ON YOUR PALM PILOT?--A week after announcing plans for it's newest Palm Pilot, the Internet-ready Palm VII, the device's maker 3Com issued a statement concerning the ability of its Palm III organizer to unlock remote-controlled car doors and fool pay telephones into giving free calls. A Danish Palm Pilot user reported on the Internet that he had unlocked a car using the device's infrared port by programming it to impersonate a remote control car key. Days later, a Canadian Web site posted code to turn the device into a so-called "Red Box," a device used by criminal hackers to make free phone calls on pay telephones in Canada. 3Com said it "had not introduced any risk" with the devices and pointed out that regarding car door locks, universal TV remote controls and IR-equipped laptops have the same ability. Many devices capable of playing sounds, from simple cassette tape recorders to talking "Barney" dolls have been adapted to play Red Box tones over the years, but phone companies have generally eliminated the threat by upgrading their pay phones. Yet possession of one in the U.S. is considered a crime.
