Intel Fighting EU Fine Of $1.4 Billion, From 2009

There's being late, and then there's this. Intel has just appealed a record-setting $1.45 billion antitrust fine that it was hit with a little while back. And when we say "little while," we mean "2009." Three years later, the company is fighting back. Over in Europe, the company recently bucked back in a bid to have the fine overturned. The story is this: the European Commission nailed Intel in '09 for "hindering AMD" after an 8-year investigation. It was the biggest fine ever placed on a single company, and now a panel of five judges at the General Court in Luxembourg will hear arguments from both sides.

Intel's argument is that the EU "didn't have sufficient evidence of any wrongdoing by Intel and relied too much on subjective comments by the company's customers," but lawyers for the EU are suggesting that rebates from Intel to Dell, HP, NEC and Lenovo are at the heart of the antitrust issue." Commission lawyer Nicholas Khan said: "These kind of rebates can only be intended to tie customers and put competitors in an unfavorable position."


Will Intel actually be forced to pay up? Something tells us its shareholders have their fingers crossed for one particular answer...