Not necessarily related....but interesting.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-yorks-cuomo-names-intel-in-antitrust-lawsuit-2009-11-04

New York's attorney general files antitrust suit against Intel

Cuomo cites emails, including one saying that Intel execs 'prepared for jihad'

By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday filed an antitrust case against Intel Corp., accusing the chip behemoth of using "bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold" on the semiconductor market.

Shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) traded up 1.7% Wednesday, gaining in a broadly higher market, as the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, got hit by another antitrust case based on allegations that it's abused its market position, especially against archrival Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) .

To bolster his case, Cuomo cited internal emails, including one from a Dell communication warning that Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini and Craig Barrett, then the company's chairman, were "prepared for jihad" if the computer maker uses AMD products.

Intel quickly fired back, with spokesman Chuck Mulloy saying the company disagrees with Cuomo's decision.

"Neither consumers, who have consistently benefited from lower prices and increased innovation, nor justice are being served by the decision to file a case now," he said in a phone interview. "Intel will defend itself."

In a statement, Cuomo portrayed Intel as a ruthlessly aggressive competitor.

"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," he said. "Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices.

"These illegal tactics must stop and competition must be restored to this vital marketplace."

Rebounding economies are attracting huge inflows of capital, thanks to low interest rates around the world. That's sending property, stock and commodity prices higher. Some policymakers worry that new price bubbles are forming, especially in Asia.

He cited internal emails to bolster the case against Intel, including a February 2004 Dell communication warning of repercussions if Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) "joins the AMD exodus."

Separately, in a June 2004 email, an executive at Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) warned that following the computer-maker's decision to launch an AMD-based product, "Intel has told us that H-P's announcement on Opteron [AMD's server chip] has cost them several $B [Billions] and they plan to 'punish' HP for doing this."

Echo of the E.U.

Cuomo's suit echoes many of the same complaints filed by the European Union and AMD against Intel, including the use of "rebates."

Such rebates, Cuomo said, "were actually just payoffs with no legitimate business purpose that Intel invented to disguise their anticompetitive nature."

"Intel also attempted to erase the most obvious traces of its anticompetitive scheme by eliminating crucial but flagrantly objectionable provisions from written agreements or by camouflaging language about illegal guaranteed market shares with terms like 'volume targets,' " Cuomo's office said.

The New York case comes about six months after Intel got hit with a hefty fine, then worth about $1.45 billion, by the European Union related to the anti-competitive charges. Intel has appealed the ruling.

"The pig pile is on," analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates said in email comments. "Aside from this latest blow, Intel is facing an active U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigation, not culminated in charges yet but likely to soon, as well as the expensive civil suit with AMD.

"And on top of that, there's the international appeals. You could say Intel is getting pretty muddy about now."

However, Crawford Del Prete of International Data Corp. noted that, in light of the other pending cases, "There's not a lot new here."

"What's new is the fact that the charges are in the U.S and that Cuomo is raising them," he said in an email. "This is yet another chapter in what will likely be a long road for Intel with this matter."

Analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group said the New York case could be a prelude to the FTC case. "I think the action also anticipates a similar FTC ruling as New York typically doesn't go alone," he said in an email.

He added that the case "continues to help AMD in the market because it helps remove the fear of using AMD products in terms of Intel retaliation."

Intel also faces the possibility of other states following New York's lead, Enderle said, noting: "It will be interesting to see if other AGs follow, in California the AG is expected to run for governor and these things can increase visibility and generate revenue for the state which could play well in an election cycle.

"The politics and timing don't bode well for Intel."