I don't know about tempering, but when you use chocolate chips for a fountain, you have to add oil (yuck! 
) or cocoa butter to keep it smooth. I would assume it is the same for the special dark chips.
The instructions for my fountain say that only Belgian chocolate has the right content of cocoa butter to not add anything.
Hope this helps.
I have a candy making book that says chocolate chips are actually just candy melts, so if that's true then I would say no, they don't need to be tempered. I melt them all the time in my double boiler with no problems unless I get condensation in the pan, or the water is too hot underneath. I haven't used the dark ones though, so I can only speak for milk chocolate, or semi sweet.
When I use chocolate chips for dipping cakeballs, I add about a tablespoon of vegetable shortening to them as I melt them. It makes them a tad smoother for a better dip. HTH.
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