Intel has appealed the European Union’s €1.45 billion fine on the grounds that such a penalty is a human rights violation. Intel’s argument is that under the European Union’s classifications of legal action, an antitrust investigation is considered to be “administrative.” By comparison, fines which could be considered deterrent and punitive, as this one seems to be, are the jurisdiction of the EU’s criminal courts.
This is a clever move on Intel’s part that’s bound to help it keep some money in its wallet. The EU is typically overly stiff in its antitrust litigation, so I don’t see it as very likely that Intel won’t have to cough up some money. Still, considering that it took a criminal court to fine Microsoft €500 million back in 2004 over its bundling of Windows Media Player, it’s seems likely that the EU will revise its previous ruling, if only to respect the legal precedent that it itself has set.
I feel like this whole legal preceding was pretty slimy. For those who don’t know, Intel was brought to task by the EU over its practice of providing large consumers of its products with rebates. AMD raised concerns that Intel’s actions were illegally harming its business, and then got right to gloating after Intel was handed down the fine. Sure, a company of Intel’s size cannot think it can go around interfering with the free market, but suits brought by a business’ competitor always reek. There are always ulterior motives at play.
(Original story via Ars Technica)
