Are European regulators in the final stages of filing antitrust charges
against Intel? We may know soon,
according to an EU official who didn’t want to be named.
“It is likely that the commission will make an official statement on the
case in the coming days,” the official told internetnews.com.
The official said a final review of the case
against Intel is ongoing and will be presented to EU Commissioner Nellie Kroes for the final decision whether to charge Intel with antitrust behavior.
The source wouldn’t comment on reports Kroes will decide by the end of 2006.
EC spokesman Jonathan Todd would only say its investigation of Intel
was continuing.
While Todd refused to confirm whether or not a statement
regarding the case will soon be issued, he said the commission will
release more details once a decision is reached.
The five-year investigation heated up when EC investigators raided
the European offices of Intel in July.
The probe widened last month when
the EC said it would include allegations the chipmaker colluded with a
European retail giant to exclude AMD-powered computers.
“Intel abuses its super dominant monopoly in order to perpetuate its
iron grip on the industry,” Thomas McCoy, AMD’s executive vice president
of legal affairs and chief administrative officer, said in a statement
at the time.
“There is dialog between the EC and Intel,” Chuck Mulloy, an Intel
spokesman told internetnews.com.
While those conversations are private, Mulloy said Intel’s understanding of the status of the EC investigation doesn’t match media reports.
“We’ve been cooperating with them [the EC] for five years,” Mulloy said.
“Our business practices are fair and lawful.”
Not waiting for the EC to take action, rival AMD has filed suit
in the U.S. and elsewhere claiming that Intel is guilty of antitrust
activities.
AMD was not immediately available for comment on the latest
Intel reports.
AMD last week suffered a legal setback in its charges Intel coerced
computer makers to not do business with the No. 2 chipmaker.
Delaware
District Court Judge Joseph Farnun ruled a large portion of a lawsuit
filed in June fell out of his district, since AMD’s claims addressed
practices allegedly committed outside the U.S.
The Intel competitor had
charged Intel paid Toshiba and Sony to not work with AMD, as well as
forcing NEC, Acer and Fujitsu into exclusive agreements that provided
rebates to computer companies that either limited or stopped AMD purchases.
AMD has also taken Intel’s Japanese subsidiary to Tokyo High Court,
seeking $50 million for violating that country’s Antimonopoly Act, as
internetnews.com reported in June.
