> On Wed, 13 Oct 1999, James R Bruce wrote:
>
> > Though perhaps it should be an option just because someone *might* want
> > to use it...
> >
> > Intel claimed at some point that it was for identification for eCommerce
> > and similar applications, which is a pretty stupid reason since any
> > layer between the CPU and the network card could easily fake another
> > serial number. Crippleware seems to be the only reasonable use in
> > commercial apps.
>
> There is one more use, in proving you own a computer if it is stolen. A
> simple program on a bootable floppy could be used to determine the serial
> number of any computer's CPU. If you already have your PIII numbers
> registered somewhere, that's pretty compelling proof that this was once your
> CPU.
Was not the melissa "virus" author caught out by the use of the PIN with a MS
operating system encoding the serial number to the document. then simply using
the reporting of a mac ip address (also encoded to the doc) to find him?
kevin
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