Overview

TEL (Telephone Electronics Line) was a small publication that was dedicated to phone phreaking and hacking.  The Teletronics Company of America began publishing it monthly in November 1974 with Jack Kranyak the Editor-in-Chief.  TEL was similar to TAP, but was geared totally toward phone phreaking.

In 1975, Pacific Telephone & Telegraph (PT&T) won a lawsuit against the publishers of TEL.  The Superior Court of California, County L.A. court ordered TEL to stop publishing immediately.  Though never challenged in court, this was truly a violation of First Amendment rights.  A letter was mailed to all subscribers advising them to destroy all back issues of TEL.

TEL ceased publishing after only seven issues.

"TELEPHONE ELECTRONICS LINE better known as TEL, has lost its suit with PT&T and was forced to commit the unpardonable sin of turning over their mailing list to PT&T.  (We don't intend TAP subscribers to suffer in the same fate.  Only one person has access to the mailing list.  He and it are being wired to self-destruct in the case of attack.)  The Gestapo tactics of PT&T's in-security department has included the mailing of a threat note telling all TEL subscribers to not only remove all 'foreign' equipment from their phone but demanding that all back issues of TEL and related TEL publications be destroyed!  They've got fuckin' balls!  Asking to remove homemade equipment is one thing but demanding that printed information be destroyed just reeks of 1984, S-1, and Fahrenheit 451.  While TEL left much to be desired and at the best can only be considered an illegitimate offspring fo TAP, they are nevertheless to be applauded for printing information that apparently pissed off PT&T enough to take them to court.  My own gut reaction to the tactics of PT&T can be sumed up in two words: Phuck you!  For you customers 'served' by PT&T may I suggest that you look to GT&E or some other independant telephone company for all your future business.  And for all TEL subscribers who received PT&T's threat note, may I suggest that you either roll it up and smoke a joint in it or keep it handy in the smallest room in your house and put it to good use whenever you get the urge from Mother Nature."

--- Excerpt from the June 1976 issue of TAP Magazine about the TEL court incident.

• TEL Special Report #1  Telephone conference bridge schematic.
• TEL Special Report #2  Court letter to destroy all issues of TEL.
• Teletronics Multi-Frequency Encoder  Part 1 of their "blue box" schematic.  (Part 2)
• Jason Scott's Mirror  Via textfiles.com.

TEL Magazine Volume 1, Issue 1 (November 1974)

• TSPS ... Traffic Services Position Systems
• md5sum: 4f31983aaf54e86f574d6187848dff7f

TEL Magazine Volume 1, Issue 2 (December 1974)

• How to Call Long Distance Toll-Free
• How Many Attachments Can You Wire to Your Telephone Line?
• How to Handle Obscene Telephone Company Employees
• What You Can Get for the Price of a Dime
• The Automatic Wiretap
• Call Santa This Year and Wish Him the Best!
• md5sum: 0a87b97df8923c59fa9572ff2e2fb625

TEL Magazine Volume 2, Issue 1 (January 1975)

• Toll: A General Introduction
• The Intricacy of Credit Card Fraud
• Modern Phone Preaking
• Detection: How to avoid it
• Area Code 900
• TEL Tips
• Construction Project: The Hold Button
• md5sum: 95558a4d80c99fd4a9cbbe91dc1e0a4c

TEL Magazine Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 1975)

• Telephone Answering / Recording Devices
• When the Phone Company Turns a Deaf Ear
• Dial Tone Speed Measurement - Part One
• md5sum: 00a408fe8e776bcf308ea1141d28ee86

TEL Magazine Volume 2, Issue 3 (March 1975)

• Overseas Dialing Techniques
• Fresno - Way Station for Tax Returns
• Pay Phone Special
• The Telephone: A Basic Introduction
• Dial Tone Speed Measurement - Part Two
• md5sum: 6ecd6d16362f36634e563a3691b19ecb

TEL Magazine Volume 2, Issue 4 (April 1975)

• Touch-Tone - What it is, What it does!
• Construction Project - Add Four New Tones to Your Touch-Tone Phone.
• Central Office Operations - Part One, Step-by-Step
• Anatomy of a Phone Bust - or, "How to Get Caught"
• Dial Tone Speed Measurement - Part Three
• Construction Project - Television Remote Control
• PUC vs. Telco - California Ruling on Interconnection
• md5sum: e51c478a45edd1882d0aecbcb738637b

TEL Magazine Volume 2, Issue 5 (May 1975)

• Trashing the Phone Company - A Look at "Ma Bell's" Garbage
• Construction Project - Poor Person's Telephone
• Construction Project - Telephone "Beeper"
• Central Office Operations - Part Two, No. 5 Crossbar
• European Reports
• Big Mother is Watching
• md5sum: 4c6f19f715245e910028373f299ce5ac