Intel Corp (INTC)

[Tenchu]

Elmer or anyone else, can you give your thoughts on the following parts of the agreement?

modify its intellectual property agreements with AMD, Nvidia, and Via so that those companies have more freedom to consider mergers or joint ventures with other companies, without the threat of being sued by Intel for patent infringement

Does this mean that if AMD, nVidia, or Via want access to a key piece of Intel IP, they can just merge or do a JV with some company that has a license for it?

If so, that might make Intel LESS likely to license IP, not more likely.

maintain a key interface, known as the PCI Express Bus, for at least six years in a way that will not limit the performance of graphics processing chips.

Since when did PCIe ever limit the performance of graphics? I don't get why the FTC agreement has to spell this out.

Intel also will have to reimburse all software vendors who want to recompile their software using a non-Intel compiler.

What does this mean? Pay every single software vendor for the amount of time and labor it takes to recompile software using someone else's compiler? What if that compiler sucks and the vendor has to spend many person-weeks trying to make it work? Can that vendor then sue Intel?

Tenchu