Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501260057
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: SAN JOSE, CALIF LENGTH: Medium
Intel Corp. plans to announce soon a broader policy for disclosing any types of defects in its computer chips after learning a lesson in consumer backlash from the flaw in its Pentium microprocessor.
Rather than keep information about flaws in its chips to itself, Intel now will disclose its ``errata,'' or defects both major and minor, for its microprocessors, said spokesman Howard High. The microprocessor serves as the brain of the computer.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, the world's biggest chip maker, has been exploring a more open and candid disclosure policy ever since the mathematical flaw in the Pentium was publicly disclosed late last year. The bug, which could cause small errors in certain division calculations, caused a revolt among consumers who were furious that Intel kept mum on the problem until a Virginia math professor discovered it independently. The revolt led Intel to offer free replacements of flawed Pentium chips with no questions asked, a move that the company said could cost it $475 million.
High said Intel has decided that broader disclosure is necessary. In the past, Intel asked anyone who wanted to know its errata to sign legally binding non-disclosure agreements that prevented the person from telling anyone else. Thomas Nicely, the Virginia professor, had to sign such an agreement.
High said the company has a document listing other flaws in the Pentium besides the floating point division bug, but High said all were considered minor in the company's opinion. He declined to disclose any of the additional flaws, nor would he say specifically when the new policy would be announced.
A team of Intel employees has been asking computer manufacturers and software developers about disclosure of bugs. Such customers would be the first notified by Intel of future bugs, while some limited information might eventually be released to the public.
``The floating-point issue compressed our learning curve into a three-month period,'' High said. ``This is one of the lessons.''
High said that it wasn't clear whether the company would release all of its flaws in postings on the Internet, the global communications network where the Pentium revolt started. Some companies list their bugs on the Net as a matter of policy.
by CNB