Why is it scarey that a manufaturer would monitor a website discussion
group? I'd welcome it.

Many computer company employees montior and answer questions about
their produucts on many of the News groups (and have for years). This
is typically just an employee that shares a common interest -- not a
corporate decision to help or monitor, etc. In some cases the
employee can bring an issue up with management and can get something
done about it (and I've seen that happen in companies where I have worked).