Three of the four commissioners in the Federal Trade Commission are in favor of filing a formal complaint against Intel over anticompetitive behavior, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.

The investigation into Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has been going on since mid-2008 but got kicked into high gear after the European Union fined the chipmaker $1.45 billion for engaging in anticompetitive practices, according to Reuters.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Commissioners Thomas Rosch and Pamela Jones Harbour are in favor of filing a complaint, the sources said.

“The Bush administration wasn’t really serious about antitrust, but Obama’s pretty serious about this stuff,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with The Enderle Group. “Once the EC ruled against Intel, it was only a matter of time before the FTC was going to pick it up. It’s been going on since last year but it takes a while to get these things going.”

Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Intel’s legal affairs, said he knows of no imminent decision. “They are still asking questions, we’re still talking to them. We have no indication a decision is imminent,” he told InternetNews.com.

If a complaint is filed, a hearing is held by the FTC, which provides an administrative law judge to hear the case. Evidence and a defense are presented just like in a regular legal case. The judge then comes back with an opinion. If he rejects the case, the FTC can in turn reject it, refuse to accept it, and another trial is held.

If he accepts it, then Intel can appeal and it goes into the regular court system. Either way, between the EC, the AMD antitrust case and this, Intel’s lawyers stand to be busy for quite a while.

Intel settled a case in 1999 with the FTC, which accused it of using its market dominance to defend its position. In 2005, Japan’s trade commission ruled Intel had violated anti-monopoly laws and South Korea fined Intel $26 million in 2008 for similar behavior. Then came the giant slap from Europe.

Enderle said an investigation is serious for Intel. “The FTC is being reasonably careful so they aren’t going to open this up if they aren’t sure it will result in some kind of charge,” he said. “Right now in the eyes of the government, Intel is innocent. Once the FTC files the complaint, then they are no longer innocent.”

The penalty, however, is unknown. “We won’t know until we see the FTC complaint. That’s up to what is negotiated with Intel and the FTC. Intel could settle and do a consent decree. All the FTC wants is for them to stop the behavior and pay whatever penalties or whatever judgment the FTC would like them to come up with,” he said.

Page 2: Beyond CPUs

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