TODD COPILEVITZ Published August 5, 1996 Dallas Morning News LIFE ONLINE

Web is giving the little guy a bigger voice A city official I once interviewed had an interesting perspective on the power of he press. "Never pick an argument with someone who buys ink by the tanker," he loved to say. It's one of life's truths that the more people hear your message, the more likely it is you will be taken seriously. For consumers, that has been e curse in fighting against large companies. Corporations have ad budgets, public relations experts and lots of,money. The little guys may have truth on their side, but who will hear them? The Web can change all that. Out in cyberspace, you have access to the same audience that any company does. There's no need to convince an editor to run your story, or to pay the huge costs of taking out a full-page ad. One well-designed Web site can say more than a letter-writing campaign ever could. Just ask Robert Collins of Plano, if you can get him to talk. Mr. Collins launched his Intel Secrets - What Intel Doesn't Want You to Know (www.x86.org) site earlier this year. It sounds rather sexy, like some feature on Hard Copy or something. So what deep, dark Intel secrets are exposed? Beats me. My eyes glazed over from all the techno-speak in the site. It's posted for the benefit of those who write software or make components for use in PCs, he writes in an FAQ (frequently asked questions) site.

Doesn't hate Intel

"Contrary to what one might perceive from reading some of these pages, I don't hate Intel, nor do I even fault them for keeping any information secret (it's their right)," he writes. "I publish this material because I have just as much right to disclose it as Intel has in keeping it secret."

Although his motives may be unique, Mr. Collins is not alone in taking on a corporate giant. Supporters of a couple of European environmentalists put up the McSpotlight page (http://www.envirolink.org/mcspotlight) after McDonald's sued the pair for libel.

It's a long and complicated case. But out of the proceedings had come an inside look at the restaurant giant's international operations. The .site is heavy on the conspiracy tones It does include information on McDonald's (www.mcdonalds.com) responses to the issues, although there are heavy-handed efforts to discredit that information.

At the other end of the spectrum are pages like the K-Mart Sucks site (http://www.concentric.net/~rodf/mart.htm), a satirical poke at a student's former employer. I'm sure the retail chain is not amused that. the site is listed after theirs (www.kmart.com) on Yahoo!

Yet none of these sites has quite the unique status of Mr. Collins'. Most of his content is detailed, technical and boring. But there's one area that's abundantly clear and easy to understand: the battle between Intel and Mr. Collins over the site.

Logo dispute

It's not that Intel is accusing Mr. Collins of violating its trade secrets. It's his use of the company's logo, in an adulterated form, that has lawyers firing off letters and demands. If you look at the two sites, there is a strong similarity, although it would be hard to confuse them.

Mr. Collins has changed his logo several times, making it clear his is not an official Intel site. He has added phrases such as "Intel absolutely not inside," as opposed to the company's "Intel Inside" logo. He has put the red circle and slash around the Intel name, and there are disclaimers everywhere.

Still, it's obvious that Mr. Collins is feeling the heat of Intel's letters. Just try asking him about the site.

"I really, really can't talk about it," he says. "I've been given very strong advice not to say a word to anyone."

Then again, his Web site speaks for him.

Todd Copilevitz can be sent e-mail at toddcop@onrampt.net.

Back to In The News