Network: Bytes - Pentium III processor

INTEL'S CONTROVERSIAL serial number identification technology is not unique to the Pentium III processor. The company said last week that an early version had been built into some mobile versions of its Pentium II processors.

"We were informed by a customer that the chip ID was present in the mobile Pentium II processor in mobile module form," George Alfs, an Intel spokesman, said.

"The serial number circuitry was included to test the manufacturing process. Although the circuit was supposed to be switched off before the processors shipped, some left the factory with it still enabled.

"These slipped through. We had no intention to turn this on for the Pentium II. The processor serial number is only a Pentium III feature," Alfs said.

Meanwhile, consumer and privacy groups in the United States continued to lobby the Federal Trade Commission to launch a full investigation of the serial number technology and its implications for privacy "We're seeking an injunction on the chip itself and an investigation of the safest way for PC manufacturers to disable the chip," Ari Schwartz, a policy analyst at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said.