<So if you have a P-II 350 and a 400 and you analyze them and find that they are the same dice from the same fab and that they run at the same max speed........could be a problem. A friend of mine is a contingency fee lawyer, I will ask him about this and see what he says.>
Well I'm sure if you kept asking lawyer after lawyer, you're bound to find one or two who will not only say that marking chips down is illegal, but will be more than willing to take the case and use the Bausch and Lomb lawsuit as an example. After all, if a lawyer succeeds in winning $1.8 million from McDonalds because his client never understood the dangers of hot liquids, there will be many lawyers out there who will want to take a shot at Intel.
However, I believe that this sort of practice isn't restricted to Intel and that it's fairly common in the computer industry. So if for some odd reason Intel and other chipmakers are restricted from marking their chips down to slower speeds, there will be quite a stir within the semiconductor industry.
My opinion is that the Bausch and Lomb lawsuit does not pertain here. Intel has a legitimate process for testing and sorting out parts into different speed grades. B&L, on the other hand, does not have a legitimate process for sorting out their products into normal and "deluxe" versions. Forcing Intel to sell every part according to its maximum rated speed would be like making them sell 450 MHz parts to everyone, even though many of them only asked for 300 MHz. That means either:
1) Intel will have to charge at the 300 MHz price, thus turning Intel into a charity (and capitalism into communism), or
2) Intel will have to charge at the 450 MHz price, which will reduce the number of units sold, or Intel will have to reduce the 450 MHz price, thus reducing Intel's profitability.
Note that allowing Intel to sell 450 MHz parts as 300 MHz as long as consumers are allowed to run it at 450 MHz will also lead to result #1 above. If this happened, the unscrupulous remarkers out there will buy a heap of 300 MHz parts and resell them as 450 MHz, and Intel will be prevented from taking legal action against the resellers.
To sum it up, Intel has a legitimate 450 MHz product. B&L does not have a legitimate "deluxe" product. The B&L ruling does not apply to Intel. If it did, there could be some rather ugly economic consequences as a result of such a ruling.
Tenchusatsu |
