Look everyone, my name is WALTER.......Touche!
I heard INTEL's CEO called Andy Grove and Gordon Moore and the rest of the Fairchild Semiconductor alumni when they heard Walter had posted the original boycott news--it must have spread like wildfire....In repsonse to this I guess we can really see the POWER that Walter wields on the INTERNET....Watch out everyone, Walter is a force to be reckoned with! Man, I can see it now...Walter did you go talk to your friend in the IT department and tell him about the chip and officially start the boycott at the company level, or did you take it straight to the president of the company?
you're amazing dude.
Monday January 25, 10:08 pm Eastern Time
Intel to modify chip software amid groups' boycott
By Therese Poletti
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Intel Corp., the world's largest chip maker, said Monday it would modify its plans to have built-in user identification numbers on its forthcoming Pentium III chip amid a call from privacy groups to boycott Intel products.
Last week, Intel announced that its new Pentium III processor will include a unique serial number and a random number generator, features which the chip maker said will make it safer for customers buying goods over the Internet.
Online commerce is forecast to surge to about $1 trillion by 2002 and the ID numbers and random-number generator would help boost security, Intel argued, as well as add new services and applications made possible by the additions to the chip.
But three privacy groups, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, JunkBusters and Privacy International, said that Intel's planned identification features will significantly reduce the level of privacy available to computer users.
''There is an insatiable need from marketers to grab this data,'' said David Banisar, policy director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, in Washington. ''It's created this sort of privacy arms race between people trying to protect their privacy and people trying to grab personal information.''
On Monday, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), called for a boycott of all Intel products, until Intel removes the identification feature from the Pentium III.
Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., said that it had been discussing its plans for the Pentium III with many privacy groups and now plans to reverse the default setting on the chip that lets other computers and applications ''see'' the ID number.
''We went out and talked to the privacy community ourselves, we talked to a whole number of them, including the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and EPIC and Junkbusters,'' said Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman. ''We were surprised by their announcement this morning. We have a meeting still scheduled in Washington later this week.''
Intel said that it now plans to offer a software utility patch so the security feature is turned off when the PC with a Pentium III is first booted up, and it will ask the user if they would like to turn the so-called processor serial number (PSN) on. The user will have the ability to turn it on if they choose.
Originally, the feature of the Pentium III turned the processor serial number on when the system was turned on and the user would have to turn the feature off. The Pentium III, announced last week, will be available later this quarter.
Intel said the software utility would be available over the Internet and that it will also ask computer makers who will be building PCs around the Pentium III to install the software.
''That relies on other manufacturers to adopt this,'' said Banisar of EPIC. ''It still remains that the ID number will be there.'' On EPIC's Web site, the group has a mock logo of the Intel Inside logo on most PCs which says ''big brother inside.'' (http://www.privacy.org/bigbrotherinside/).
Banisar said that Intel's modification does not affect his group's call for a boycott of Intel products and that EPIC will drop its boycott of Intel only when Intel completely disables the feature in the Pentium III.
U.S. Representative Ed Markey, the ranking Democrat on the House Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee, said that he wrote Intel Chief Executive Craig Barrett a letter on Friday, requesting that Intel reconsider its plans for the Pentium III.
''I want to commend Intel for reconsidering its decision and redesign(ing) its technology to better balance commercial security and personal privacy objectives,'' Markey said in a statement. ''I still have concerns, however, about any unique identifying number that commercial Web sites might induce consumers to disclose without any rules that protect subsequent use or sale of personal information.''
Intel's shares on Wall Street were unscathed by the brouhaha, closing up $1.75 to $130.63 in very active trading on the Nasdaq. John Lazlo, a PaineWebber Inc. analyst, told clients earlier Monday that he believed the potential financial impact on Intel would be minimal.
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