The Federal Trade Commission has sued Intel, saying it has “abused its market dominance” according to the LA Times. Richard A. Feinstein, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition is quoted as saying:
“Intel has engaged in a deliberate campaign to hamstring competitive threats to its monopoly. It’s been running roughshod over the principles of fair play and the laws protecting competition on the merits.”
Intel issued the following statement today:
“Intel has competed fairly and lawfully. Its actions have benefited consumers. The highly competitive microprocessor industry, of which Intel is a key part, has kept innovation robust and prices declining at a faster rate than any other industry. The FTC’s case is misguided. It is based largely on claims that the FTC added at the last minute and has not investigated. In addition, it is explicitly not based on existing law but is instead intended to make new rules for regulating business conduct. These new rules would harm consumers by reducing innovation and raising prices.”
Intel senior vice president and general counsel Doug Melamed added, “This case could have, and should have, been settled. Settlement talks had progressed very far but stalled when the FTC insisted on unprecedented remedies – including the restrictions on lawful price competition and enforcement of intellectual property rights set forth in the complaint — that would make it impossible for Intel to conduct business.”
“The FTC’s rush to file this case will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to litigate issues that the FTC has not fully investigated. It is the normal practice of antitrust enforcement agencies to investigate the facts before filing suit. The Commission did not do that in this case,” said Melamed.
The FTC’s suit claims Intel engaged in threatening and rewarding of big-name PC makers like Dell, HP, and IBM. Last month, Intel agreed to pay $1.25 billion to settle multiple disputes with rival chip manufacturer AMD over similar accusations. Intel was also recently hit with an antitrust suit from the New York Attorney General.
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