Intel and FTC reach antitrust compromise
Intel and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have tentatively settled a antitrust dispute over the chipmaker's business tactics, with Intel giving undertakings not to engage in the practices in the future.
The deal, announced on Wednesday, brings an end to a lawsuit filed by the FTC in December 2009, which alleged that Intel claimed better software performance on Intel CPUs than on competitors' CPUs, but failed to inform customers that Intel had designed its compilers to give Intel chips a performance benefit. The FTC said in its suit that Intel had operated a "systematic campaign to shut out rivals" and competing microchips by cutting their access to the marketplace through anti-competitive means.
Intel does not admit that it violated U.S. competition law, the company said on Wednesday. Nevertheless, it has conditionally agreed in future to not fix prices. It has also promised not to offer incentives to customers to exclusively use Intel products or to deny benefits to a customer if they use a competing product.
Read more of "Intel and FTC make antitrust compromise" at ZDNet UK.