Announced Actions for October 22, 1999

• Petition to reopen and modify and order:

The Commission has received a petition from the following entity to reopen and modify an existing order: Compaq Computer Corporation, in the matter of Digital Equipment Corporation.   Compaq Computer Corporation, successor to Digital Equipment Corporation, has requested that the Commission reopen and modify its July 14, 1998 decision and order to set aside the requirement in Section II that the petitioner license its Alpha microprocessor architecture to Advanced Micro Devices, Inc, or to another licensee that receives the Commission's prior approval. The Commission's initial decision was designed to address antitrust concerns arising from Digital's sale of certain semiconductor business assets to Intel Corporation, including a microprocessor manufacturing facility known as Fab 6--the primary manufacturing site for Digital's Alpha microprocessors. (Docket No. C-3818; see press release dated April 23, 1998; staff contact is Daniel Ducore, 202-326-2526.)

• Privacy Act system notice rule and amendment:

The FTC will publish shortly a Federal Register notice approving the development of a records system needed to implement the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998. The new system is being established subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (as amended) and will be used by the Commission to log and acknowledge complaints submitted by victims of identity theft, to provide information to such individuals, and to refer their complaints to appropriate entities, including, but not limited to, the three national consumer reporting agencies and law enforcement agencies for potential law enforcement action.   Because the categories of individuals covered by the system may include (among others) the target of an identity theft complaint, the Commission has determined that it is necessary to exempt the system from disclosure to such individuals for law enforcement purposes. Accordingly, the Commission will also publish a notice in the Federal Register to amend its Privacy Act rules to include this system in a list of similar systems covered by this exemption.   Comments on this notice (and the related notice amending the Commission's Privacy Act rules to exempt the system) must be submitted within 30 days following publication in the Federal Register to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20580.   The Commission vote to publish the Federal Register notice was 4-0. (FTC File No. P859907; see press releases dated May 20, 1998 and April 22, 1999; staff contact is Alex Tang, 202-326-2447.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this FYI are available from the FTC's web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 877-FTC Help (877-382-4357); TDD for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest news as it is announced, call the FTC NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710.