EETimes.com – EC charges Intel with anticompetitive practices — oops! The question this begs is where were the USA regulators? If this sort of thing was happening in Europe it was happening here too. Apparently we have no real antitrust mechanism that actually does anything. With that in mind why doesn’t Intel simply buy out AMD and end this agony?
EC antitrust regulators have concluded that Intel has abused its dominant position in the microprocessor market. The legal proceeding could end with a billion-euro fine for Intel, media reports here speculate.
In a statement of objections issued friday (July 27), the EU antitrust authority blames Intel of having infringed the EC antitrust rules in that the microprocessor giant had used practices aiming at excluding AMD as its main rival from the x86 market.
In its statement, the regulator accuses Intel of three types of abusing a dominant market position: First, Intel had provided ‘substantial rebates’ to several OEMs under the condition that they buy their microprocessors exclusively from Intel. Secondly, Intel paid to OEMs if they delayed or canceled the roll-out of products based on AMD CPUs. Thirdly, Intel has offered microprocessors to server OEMs under cost in order to block the competitor.
#19: Apple is using only Intel processors right now. Others can have opinions about the reasons why.
Mr F…so you don’t seen any problem with the government being compelled to act? Not because there is good reason or even maybe evidence just they have to act no matter what. Remember these are the people that define a white elephant as a mouse buildt to government specs. This kind of thinking is way more scary then any conspiracy theory about orwellian government coming into play in our future.
Mr F
NOTE-knee jerk reactions begat an unexpected pain in the fundament.
#22 & 23, KV,
Neither of your posts show any sense.
…so you don’t seen any problem with the government being compelled to act?
Yes. We expect our government to react. When a hurricane devastates a large city or a flood wipes out a town, WE expect to see our government step up and assist. See, FEMA and the National Guard.
When life is so complicated that laypeople can’t understand the specifics, we expect the government to hire experts on our behalf to protect us. See, FDA, EPA, FCC, SEC, FTC, and any number of acronyms.
When the technology is above our heads, we expect the government to set the rules to protect us. See, FAA, NHTSA, DoE, DoA, etc.
When a company tilts the market through unfair, and usually illegal, methods, then we expect our government to act. Monopolies are NOT beneficial to the economy or the nation. Competition spurs innovation. Competition keeps prices lower. Competition gives consumers better, safer, and higher quality products. Monopolies have no incentive to improve or satisfy the captive consumer. It is best for the nation to have a healthy market place.
Remember these are the people that define a white elephant as a mouse buildt to government specs
I have no idea what the hell this means. I have no recollection of ANY government specification that would stipulate what a mouse should look like. Is it sarcasm? Is it stupidity on your part? Would it be you just don’t understand what government specs really are? Maybe you were just trying to be cute when it is obvious you don’t have a clue what you are posting.