Selling Engineering Samples illegal?

oceancyc

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 9, 2004
Messages
497
I currently have an Engineering Sample CPU up for sale on an online auction site. I received a PM from another user telling me that selling it may get someone in trouble. He goes on to say Intel is buying these CPUs in order to use the serial number to find out who sold them and fire whoever sold it. Does this sound like it could be true? I'm not to concerned about getting in trouble since I'm pretty sure its not stolen property. But by selling this can someone at an Intel campus lose their job?
 
Well sure if you have a dual core chip or some other piece of tech that hasn't been released yet, that may happen...but if it's just an unlocked P4, not a big deal.
 
I'm not too sure about what you've heard to be all true. I was talking to someone today who tests hardware for review purposes and he says that a lot of the time yes, the chips are taken back after testing to be dealt with because they don't want them floating around. But at the same time do you think intel would really waste their time for a 500 dollar processor if that? I have a 3.8EO es that I got from a buddy of mine and I was asking him as to the legistics of buying/selling the es' and he said pretty much the same, that it's not really worth their time. I emailed someone off ebay as well the other day selling a chip exactly like mine asking him about the legalities too, he just seemed to avoid my question, but the chip sold for about 650 bucks.

I guess as long as you don't make it worth their time to investigate, nothing would happen.
 
sativaman84 said:
Nice timing..
LOL

Yeah its just a 478 P4. Wont be fetching 500 anytime soon. It's just that the guy who PM'd me had a ton (1000+) of feedback so I took his opinion a little more seriously than I normally would. He just seemed concerned that Intel would find where the chip came from and fire whoever sold it originally (make me wonder if he may have :confused: ). He kinda worded it so that I should be concerned that by me selling it someone could lose their job. I firmly believe people are responsible for their actions, so if someone did end up getting fired they should of took that into consideration before selling the CPU in the first place.
 
The only way it would be a crime is if selling it violated a contract you signed with intel when you recieved the chip. I dont think congress passed a law regarding unlocked multipliers, but hey, they tend to pass asinine laws pertaining to all sorts of things they know nothing about.
 
I don't know how people can have those processors on hand but I was lucky enough to find one on these forums. About the laws and such, I would say the same as other said.. You have not signed any contract with intel or anyone else. I guess Intel, as big as it is, simply don't care about chips that have no other use (since it is "old" tech) other than to enthusiasts. Plus, how many processors are built for a given frequecy, say a 3.4C like mine? 1000, 2000? It is a very small portion (0.000000001%...) of all processors made.. If it was me, I would not care at all but I would produce as much as processors as possible and make $$$. I think that is the way Intel probably think :rolleyes:

Para
 
Yah, just saw your auction on ebay and was planning to bid on it, do we have anti-fencing law in here .
 
If you work for Intel you occasionally get them. I currently have two 2.4ghz processors that are unlocked and just got 2 Prescotts but have checked to see if they are unlocked yet. Still building the computers.
 
im not really sure if we do have it here, its a law were they prosecute people who buys goods was not authorized by the company to be sold or stolen should i say but im sure you didnt steal that :D
 
Oh. Just got done talking with the buyer of my auction and he wont bea able to pay till the end of the month. The auction clearly stated 3 days. thats the second time in the last two months this has happened :mad: . Anyways I posted it for sale on these forums if still interested.
 
robberbaron said:
The only way it would be a crime is if selling it violated a contract

I would hvae thought that selling (or re-selling) something that the company didn't release to the public would have contituted trafficing stolen goods, which is a misdemeanor in most states.

.B ekiM
 
so even if this law exist on a certain state but doesnt exist on your state and you bought it you can still get in trouble :rolleyes:
 
I'm pretty sure intel wouldn't waste time to send lawyers after me or anyone else for selling a $200 cpu.
 
therapist said:
If you work for Intel you occasionally get them.

Any company that builds hardware with Intel procs gets Engineering Samples.
Dell, IBM, Sony, ASUS, etc.
 
v3rt1g0 said:
Any company that builds hardware with Intel procs gets Engineering Samples.
Dell, IBM, Sony, ASUS, etc.

Sure. But aren't they under NDA?

.B ekiM
 
All the ES CPUs are property of Intel. If they somehow find their way into your hands, that doesn't change the fact that it is still property of Intel. Selling the processor would mean that you are selling stolen goods. Intel, however, is not interested in prosecuting you for this. They are much more interested in finding out how the processor was stolen from them... Trust me, I have had firsthand experience with this.
 
Intel Engineering samples are marked confidential. There is a NDA that usually goes with them, to the original owner anyway. Under that agreement it is technically Illegal. Intel is really big on the whole confidential thing.

They are not supposed to be resold. Of course that's not the way it really works as we all know.
 
I work for a semiconductor company also and know for a fact the Intel is supplying processors to their employees for their own personal use. Intel would not do this so an employee can make $ 500.00 or $ 600.00 bucks on E-bay, and yes the numbers are recorded and who it went to. So yes that person is taking a risk selling it and they have the potential to lose their job and Intel wouldn't need a lawyer to do it... Again that was given to them for their own personal use and not to supplement their income.
 
Of course anything this good has to be illegal ;) but I think its cause I robbed sativaman at gunpoint for mine.
 
Most of these things are more of a time expired thing.

If its a brand new processor that hasn't been released to the public yet, its still "confidential", but if its some chip thats been out they dont really care.

IE: dual core chips floating around now, would probably get someone fired.

A 3.8ES or below, no problem, since they are all publicly available anyway.
(no longer confidential)
 
if its an unlocked processor then intel will track it for sure. unlocked processors are kept under strict supervision from intel.
 
Yeah, but i'm sure intel isn't going to go and search for every one of their unlocked processors. The only thing that would tip them off is if one of their proc's went on ebay for like 1100 dollars, then i'm sure the seller would be contacted.

(*hoping his statements are true, just traded for an ES proc...)
 
Fly low on the radar and they shouldn't care. IMO it would be a waste of time and money to bust someone for selling a few ES processors. If they started dishing out a ton of them on ebay I would understand.
 
It's my experience that the ES chips fall of the Intel rep's radar as soon as the chip is formally released. I regularly receive ES samples from my vendor. ES samples that I've received months before a release have always had to be returned. In the past those that I've received within a month of a release I still have. Just a few weeks ago I received two samples; a 3.46EE ES and a 660 ES. I have not been asked to return them, and based on previous experience probably won't.

And the poster who stated that it's illegal to resell them is correct. The reps go not "give" these chips away, they are on loan to whomever they lend them to.
 
SacLANd said:
if its an unlocked processor then intel will track it for sure. unlocked processors are kept under strict supervision from intel.

I was wondering why there is always some guy standing in the corner of computer room watching me. :D There are a lot of unloscked processors out there. Last year Intel gave out 1 unlocked chip to pretty much all the workers in Oregon. I have 2 of them as far as engineering samples. I have had 10 of them over the last 5 years. The ones I have are unmarked and they would have a hard time finding them.

People are right as long as they aren't under a NDA you can do pretty much what you want with them.
 
therapist said:
I was wondering why there is always some guy standing in the corner of computer room watching me. :D There are a lot of unloscked processors out there. Last year Intel gave out 1 unlocked chip to pretty much all the workers in Oregon. I have 2 of them as far as engineering samples. I have had 10 of them over the last 5 years. The ones I have are unmarked and they would have a hard time finding them.

People are right as long as they aren't under a NDA you can do pretty much what you want with them.
ya the NDA... and the theft part. whoever takes em outa the intel labs could get in a whole lotta trouble (especially unlocked)
but really its the newer chips they will worry about.
 
Whenever I have seen ES's on sale in forums, they always have some info blurred/Photoshopped out of the pics, presumably some traceable stepping info.
 
CPU's been sold, so I'll let you know if I get sued or something. Presumably in 7-10 years. 5 for good behavior :p
 
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