Serial numbers intelligence

[Dennis Boone]

 > I'm curious to what degree people have used serial number
 > intelligence gathering and countermeasures in the industry. Like
 > were/are there market research firms that would go to Fry's and
 > record numbers off of boxes to try to extrapolate sales for things
 > like printer consumables, and whether companies like HP ever took
 > measures to try to obfuscate the potential information content of
 > their product serial numbers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jul/20/secondworldwar.tvandradio

De