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	Phil's Blogservations Thursday, July 01, 2004 Posted by philgomes 12:02 PM The Pentium III: Threat To National Security? The Pentium III: Threat To National Security? One-time VP hopeful Geraldine Ferraro once observed that there was a time when "semiconductor" meant "part-time orchestra leader" and "microchips" could have been a type of diet food based on the portion-control principle. It seems that lawmakers actually believe this. A "tiny part" of a new bill would seem to classify even outdated PC CPUs as homeland-security-significant. From the CNET article: Today, computer sellers are required to get a license to export any computer with performance equal to or greater than a system with 32 Intel Itanium processors. The current version of the defense authorization act would lower that limit to systems deemed "militarily critical" by the Department of Defense. That level is currently set to the equivalent of a computer using a Pentium 3 processor running at 650MHz, state of the art in 1999 but considered feeble today. Equally dumb is the fact that no one over there seems to realize that Asian companies like Via make x86-compatible CPUs that offer equal or greater computational power compared to the Pentium III. If you really want to get a clear picture of the anti-tech bent of many legislators, download this report (PDF) from Pacific Research Institute. It identifies 10 tech-unfriendly bills, introduced around the time of the dot-bust, and the Valley-area politicians that supported them. HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes[[dot}]com SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.