- Joined
- Sep 29, 2004
Intel will try to overturn €1bn EC antitrust fine
Not happy with the amount
By Lawrence Latif
Thu Apr 26 2012, 11:51
CHIPMAKER Intel will challenge a €1.04bn fine levied by the European Commission (EC) over anticompetitive tactics against AMD.
The European Commission has been investigating Intel for the best part of a decade for anticompetitive practices against chip designer AMD. The EC handed Intel a €1.06bn fine in 2009, however Intel has said it will ask Europe's General Court to scrap the fine, claiming the EC failed to prove that it had blocked AMD.
Intel's battles with antitrust regulators have focused on the firm's tactics of offering customers such as Dell better deals if they didn't purchase AMD's products. Intel has settled an antitrust case in New York for as little as $6.5m and paid AMD $1.25bn as part of a settlement, while the US Federal Trade Commission ordered the firm to extend x86 licenses to its rivals.
Initially Intel said the EC's decision to fine it 4.15 per cent of its 2008 annual revenue was "manifestly disproportionate", even though the commission could have levied a fine of up to 10 per cent of Intel's annual revenue.
The European Ombudsman has backed Intel, censoring the EC for procedural errors in its investigation. In the Ombudsman's report issued five months after the commission's findings, he cited "maladministration" because the commission had failed to make a proper note of a meeting with Dell, one of the key witnesses in this case.
Intel will most likely use the European Ombudsman's report as part of its appeal against the fine. The firm will put its case to the European General Court from 3 July. µ
Source: The Inquirer (http://s.tt/1a4Yr)
Not happy with the amount
By Lawrence Latif
Thu Apr 26 2012, 11:51
CHIPMAKER Intel will challenge a €1.04bn fine levied by the European Commission (EC) over anticompetitive tactics against AMD.
The European Commission has been investigating Intel for the best part of a decade for anticompetitive practices against chip designer AMD. The EC handed Intel a €1.06bn fine in 2009, however Intel has said it will ask Europe's General Court to scrap the fine, claiming the EC failed to prove that it had blocked AMD.
Intel's battles with antitrust regulators have focused on the firm's tactics of offering customers such as Dell better deals if they didn't purchase AMD's products. Intel has settled an antitrust case in New York for as little as $6.5m and paid AMD $1.25bn as part of a settlement, while the US Federal Trade Commission ordered the firm to extend x86 licenses to its rivals.
Initially Intel said the EC's decision to fine it 4.15 per cent of its 2008 annual revenue was "manifestly disproportionate", even though the commission could have levied a fine of up to 10 per cent of Intel's annual revenue.
The European Ombudsman has backed Intel, censoring the EC for procedural errors in its investigation. In the Ombudsman's report issued five months after the commission's findings, he cited "maladministration" because the commission had failed to make a proper note of a meeting with Dell, one of the key witnesses in this case.
Intel will most likely use the European Ombudsman's report as part of its appeal against the fine. The firm will put its case to the European General Court from 3 July. µ
Source: The Inquirer (http://s.tt/1a4Yr)
