Record fine in line for Intel?

The US-Israeli chipmaker Intel could be in line for one of the biggest corporate fines in history when the EU announces its decision on its case at a meeting of commissioners. Britain's Financial Times reported on Sunday that the fines will be for what the European Commission considers anti-competitive behavior on the part of Intel, which is the world's biggest processor manufacturer. The Intel probe started in 2000, when its smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), filed a complaint with the EU Regulator about being pushed out of the market by Intel's practices. Following a long investigation and a number of raids on its offices, Intel was formally charged in July 2007 with misusing its dominant market position and offering illegal rebates to computer manufacturers, which had shut AMD out of the market. The European Commission carried out further raids in 2008 and accused Intel of using rebates to persuade a leading European retailer to sell only Intel-based personal computers. However Intel has rejected the allegations and has claimed "Our business practices are lawful, pro-competitive and good for consumers." The European Commission has not yet announced what fines it plans to impose on Intel, but it can impose financial penalties up to 10 percent of the company's annual sales. In 2008, Intel's sales amounted to $37.6 bn. As a result, EU competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, can impose fines up to almost $4bn, although the maximum fine is unlikely. Another US computer giant, Microsoft, was fined about €1bn ($1.35bn) for failing to comply with a 2004 EU decision against it for monopolistic practices. Intel had been fined $21 million last June by South Korea's fair trade commission for anti-competitive conduct and in 2005 was found guilty of similar practices by Japan's fair trade commission. Intel has a giant manufacturing facility in Kiryat Gat in Israel, in an area that was ethnically cleansed of native Palestinians to make room for Israeli settlers. It is only 24 km (15 miles) from the beleaguered Gaza Strip. As a result, the company is the subject of anti-Israeli boycott campaigns for assisting the Israeli occupation and military.