On what planet would this be a privacy issue? (Score 1)

Um, how exactly does a microprocessor "transmit its serial number across the internet"? Does it come with Netscape and a cellular modem embedded in hardware?

Attention, people: software can broadcast your identity with our without a chip ID number. And if your software doesn't send the ID number (or sends a fake), then web servers can't see it. I haven't seen any Intel announcements about shipping magic fingers with which someone can poke around inside your computer over a phone line.

There could be problems with software companies that use the serial number to restrict licenses to a single machine, but that doesn't have a whole lot to do with privacy issues.