Intel Corp (INTC)

[Windsock]

F.T.C. Chief Balks at Intel Inquiry

Intel executives said the difference between American and foreign antitrust was that Americans view it as protecting competition, while the others use it to protect competitors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/washington/22ftc.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 — The head of the Federal Trade Commission has rejected requests by lawmakers, other commissioners and a small rival company to open a formal antitrust investigation of Intel, the world’s largest maker of computer microprocessors, for anticompetitive conduct, government officials and lawyers involved in the proceeding said.

In recent weeks, regulators in Korea and with the European Commission have separately accused Intel of antitrust violations by offering large discounts to computer makers in exchange for their not using products by the rival company, Advanced Micro Devices, which has struggled to compete and has waged a global antitrust campaign against Intel. Japanese officials made similar accusations in 2005.

The trade commission has been conducting an informal review of A.M.D.’s complaints for more than a year, gathering thousands of documents from Intel and its customers. But the commission’s chairwoman, Deborah P. Majoras, has rejected requests to elevate the inquiry to a formal investigation, which would give staff members the authority to issue subpoenas and compel testimony from executives of the companies involved.

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Though the two companies are based in California — and their largest customers are American computer and equipment makers — A.M.D.’s complaints have received considerably more traction abroad. Intel executives said the difference between American and foreign antitrust was that Americans view it as protecting competition, while the others use it to protect competitors.