PIII and libraries.

[Bob Craigmile]

Dear Web4lib'ers:

You've maybe heard of the hype re: the Pentium III and it's built-in secret
code (the processor's ID #).  During a web session, this number would be
broadcast across the network, presumably to the server the client computer
is working with.  Intel is marketing this thing as a way to provide
consumer protection for ecommerce, etc.  MS recently got caught in a
similar scheme: 
http://www.mercurycenter.com/breaking/docs/041815.htm

But as an Intel official admitted recently, the user is now being seen as a
major security threat.  
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/p3/0,6424,2216772,00.html
Basically the computer industry, tired of piracy and other security issues,
wants to be able to trace a transaction across the internet back to
specific computers.  This can be a good thing, as fraud and piracy are
growing problems on the net.  

But the implementation can be somewhat sinister from a privacy standpoint.
Consider a patron who uses an email site in a library.  Even if they use a
made up name, they have supplied personal information to the service
(usually a requirement), and now the identity (and presumably location) of
the computer is being broadcast.  So a certain user can presumably be tied
to a certain computer (not just an IP, which can change), possibly in your
library.  

Any thoughts as to what might happen to patron privacy here?  Library
liability would also have to be weighed, on both the side of privacy
(patrons) and security (computer and other industries seeking to protect
their intellectual capital).  I have no doubt that there will immediately
arise hacks to scramble the ID, but there is a cost associated with
implementing workarounds too.   

I'm curious as to what other library folk might have to say about this
matter.   Should we vote with our pocketbooks and buy AMD or Cyrix? 

Bob Craigmile, Library Information Technology Librarian, 
Jackson County Library System   Medford, OR
541.774-6557  541.814.2904 (pager)  bcraig at jcls.org