When the European Commission ruled in 2009 that Intel had broken European Union antitrust laws and fined it €1.06 billion (US$1.44 billion at the time), it was just the beginning of a 15-year saga.
That saga ended Thursday with the European Court of Justice dismissing the Commission’s appeal of an earlier judgement against it, and ordering it to pay all costs. Intel is now off the hook for that billion-euro fine, now worth US$1.15 billion at current exchange rates.
The story began with an investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices by Intel that resulted in the 2009 judgement in which the Commission ruled that the company had engaged in practices to exclude competitors from the semiconductor market, citing rebates granted to computer manufacturers on the condition that they buy all or most of their processors from Intel.
In its judgement, the Commission fined Intel €1.06 billion and ordered it to cease the business practices it had deemed illegal at once.
Intel immediately said it would appeal.
Source:: Network World