Intel could be facing a US federal investigation as the
number of legal complaints against the chipmaker's business
practices begin to mount up.
The
latest complaint by New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo
after a 22-month investigation alleges that Intel spent up to $6bn
to coerce computer makers such as Dell, HP and IBM into using its
chips instead of those from rival AMD.
The suit charges that Intel violated state and federal
anti-monopoly laws by engaging in a worldwide, systematic campaign
of illegal conduct to maintain its monopoly power and prices in the
market for microprocessors.
Intel is accused of extracting exclusive agreements from large
computer makers to use Intel's microprocessors in exchange for
payments totalling billions of dollars and punishing computer
makers perceived to be working too closely with rivals.
But US legal experts believe the case could lead to a much
bigger case against Intel similar to the US Department of Justice's
anti-trust case against Microsoft in 1998.
A federal case is thought to be likely in the light of the
Federal Trade Commission's announcement earlier this year that it
will take a more stringent approach to enforcing US anti-trust
legislation.
There are also similarities between the complaints against Intel
and those against Microsoft, where a dominant technology supplier
is accused of abusing its power to keep out smaller rivals.
A federal case could also broaden the investigation to look at
whether Intel's actions have limited innovation in the chip
industry, according to a former FTC official.
Intel is likely to come under severe pressure as it prepares to
defend itself in New York at the same time as private US anti-trust
cases filed by
AMD and graphics chip maker
Nvidia.
Intel has been found guilty on similar charges by anti-trust
regulators in Korea, Japan and
Europe.