Intel and FTC call truce but tease details

Intel and the Federal Trade Commission tonight said they had reached a settlement in their antitrust lawsuit. The two didn't explain the agreement but will provide full details on Wednesday morning. Public comments will be open for those who object to the deal, they said.

Earlier escaped details had suggested the FTC would require key changes to address complaints both from AMD, which has since settled on its own, as well as NVIDIA. The deal might prevent Intel from buying exclusivity deals with PC builders or threatening companies that promote AMD and other competitors. NVIDIA would be directly addressed by a ban on unfair bundling which allegedly saw Intel give unfair price discounts on Atom CPU and mainboard bundles to squeeze out faster, more advanced NVIDIA Ion chipsets.

Intel wouldn't be fined by the FTC, but government rules restrict the commission from fining companies in antitrust cases.

The early processor designer has routinely denied allegations and has said that every strategy it has used has been legal. Officials in other countries and regions have disagreed, including Japan, Korea and the European Union.

A settlement may speed the end to mutual Intel and NVIDIA lawsuits over a licensing dispute. Intel has banned NVIDIA from making integrated graphics chipsets for any Core iX processor as it claims NVIDIA's license doesn't cover newer chips, but NVIDIA sued as it believed Intel was deliberately misinterpreting its license to shut out a competitor with a faster product. Apple's production plans this year have been hampered by Intel's view, as it has had to use Core 2 Duo chips in the MacBook, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini to avoid taking a step backwards in video performance with Intel graphics.

By Electronista Staff