EU hits Intel with massive fine

Jake Widman
Thursday, 14 May 2009 00:23

IT Policy - Regulation

lan Davis, an expert in competition law at international law firm Pinsent Masons, said in a release , "This will open the floodgates for competitors to sue. There was a complainant in this case,...and without question they and other competitors will pursue a case for damages."

Davis further said that companies should expect a tougher tack against anticompetitive activities in the U.S. as well.

New Department of Justice antitrust division head Christine Varney "withdrew the [Bush administration's] guidelines and said they were no longer Department of Justice policy," Davis said. "We can expect a very aggressive policy in the US now on antitrust issues and on abuse of a dominant position."

At the time, Neelie Kroes said of Varney's actions, "They give me a huge positive feeling. The more competition authorities join with us the better."

That may not bode well for Intel's prospects in the antitrust suit filed against it by AMD in 2005. That case is still wending its way through U.S. courts, with a ruling scheduled for 2010.