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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeff Fox who wrote (74027)	2/19/1999 4:00:00 AM
From: Tenchusatsu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

<All the consumer will hear is that the PIII is Big Brother.> Actually, one of the reasons why the press talks so much about the big privacy issue over the Pentium III's serial number is that the "live-free-or-die" twits are so vocal and insist on writing and e-mailing every single person in the press and in the government. Ever wonder why the privacy advocates are trying to step up their attacks and broaden the Pentium III boycott? Could it be that not too many people, except for those who are already anti-Intel, believe that this serial number will cause the sky to fall? Tenchusatsu

To: Jeff Fox who wrote (74027)	2/19/1999 7:57:00 AM
From: gnuman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Jeff, re: NY Times article on PSN Thanks for the link. As we suspected, this is beginning to snowball. I see a number of similarities to the Drivers License database issue. The ACLU is now involved in that one. And in today's Washington Post I see that a number of lawmakers that supported funding of Image Data are trying to distance themselves from that issue claiming, "they did not understand how the company's operation would work." ;-) And now the Intel boycott is investigating if there is any government involvement in the PSN initiative. "Sobel said the identifying technology in the Pentium III " seemed to be along the lines as some of those types of suggestions that have previously come from the FBI." Some other interesting excerpts from the NYT: "The organizers are considering extending the boycott to major PC manufacturers who ship Pentium III systems in a configuration that would significantly damage consumer privacy," the draft letter states. "We request your assistance in providing us with information on your company's intentions, so that we can determine our organization's boycott policy regarding your company and any individual consumer products" that contain such a processor serial number.........." "Intel told us that the origin of this concept was that the PC manufacturers were asking for this capability because they were being asked for it by their customers. We tried to explore that with them,"......... It's too bad, since I think PIII's success depends a lot on marketing. This controversy must be driving the marketing guys crazy.

To: Jeff Fox who wrote (74027)	2/19/1999 9:26:00 AM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Jeff,>>>Read it if you have registered at their site. (aside - Yes you must register. I find this somewhat ironic. Its likely that the NYTimes would have demanded my PIII serial number if I had one).<<< Get it straight. Intel is not the Evil Empire. They don't do Watergate. There's no stained dress. They are a manufacturer. They manufacture tools for people to use. For the most part they don't pass judgement on how people use this tool. People can use this tool any way they want - but for the most part it does more good than harm. This situation is a bit like nuclear science and human cloning. Once the genie is out of the bag, there is not much you can do about it. You can't artificially suppress it - you have to live with it - and make the most out of it. This situation is also a bit like prohibition. A few passive aggressive do gooders think they know what is good for society and try to impose their will on everybody else. This controversy will pass just as the bug has passed. Perhaps more good will come out of it than the bad for Intel. There will be discussions on this subject in all the civics classes in America - lots of free publicity. With the exception of a few goody two shoes, brown nosed, nerdies, most kids and most adults will likely get out of the civics lesson that Intel is a darn good company - with no evil intent. Perhaps, the solution for Intel is as a previous poster had suggested, there is two versions of the PIII. PIII-ID (with) PIII-IX (without). Regards, Mary