Just heard about this one on a Mac mailing list.  Maybe it's old news to
some of you, but I sure found it interesting:

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Subject: Intel, PC Makers Sued Over P4 Performance Claims
From:

What? Only thousands of Plaintiffs?

Intel, PC Makers Sued Over P4 Performance

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,104075,tk,dn081602X,00.asp
by Tom Mainelli, PCWorld.com  Friday, August 16, 2002

Customers seek class action status in charge that vendors
misrepresented
the power of Intel's top chip.

A small group of PC owners has quietly filed a class action lawsuit
against Intel, Gateway, and Hewlett-Packard alleging the companies
misled them into believing the Pentium 4 was a superior processor to
Intel's own Pentium III and AMD's Athlon.

The complaint--Neubauer et al v. Intel et al--was filed June 3 in the
Third Judicial Circuit in Madison County, Illinois. The case is in
limbo
awaiting a ruling on whether it belongs in a state or federal
jurisdiction, and has not yet achieved class action status. It came
to
light this week after a copy of the complaint was sent to PCWorld.com
anonymously.

The plaintiffs claim the companies deceived the public when marketing
Intel's flagship processor and allege that it is "the material fact
that
there is no benefit to consumers in choosing the Pentium 4 over the
Pentium III." The complaint alleges that "the Pentium 4 is less
powerful
and slower than the Pentium III and/or the AMD Athlon."