The ACLU is already on this and has my full support. Intel is promising that first gen hardware will ship with the ability to turn this feature off, but i'll belive it when i see it. Both
slashdot and the gaurdian have in depth details about the hardware behind this, and a good deal of non US companies including Toshiba and Sony have pledged not to support this, calling it censorship. however, they have been threatened with custom tarrifs and may have no choice but to back down to maintain the US market.
Of interest to many here is that Palladium chips would be epoxy coated ceramic based like atm mono proccesors, making any tampering, including overclocking, imposable since that chip would self desruct if the epoxy seal is not present to provide an elictrical insulator. in other words, it's a way for intel to MAKE you buy an upgrade, not overclock.