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Re:Who controls your computer? and how to make sure it's you by ryukafalz on Tuesday March 07, 2017 @08:01AM (#13809976)
Worth noting, it is possible to disable this on certain systems that come with Intel ME out of the box:

https://libreboot.org/docs/hcl/gm45_remove_me.html

There's work in progress on removing the ME blob on the Thinkpad x220 and the Librem 13.

But for most modern systems, yes, you're right.

Re:Who controls your computer? and how to make sure it's you by moppl on Tuesday March 07, 2017 @08:31AM (#13810117)
Yes right, but the gm45 chipset is a core2Duo chipset. And the X220 features Sandy Bridge (2011).

While it is possible to mess around with older implementations of the IME it is pretty much impossible with recent versions. It sits now on the CPU die and is inaccessible.

An it is only removing the ME blob in the system's flash memory. The ME has also it's own internal ROM which contains firmware which cannot be altered or read.