Intel said on Monday it was in talks with US antitrust watchdogs on a settlement to a probe into whether the computer chipmaker had illegally monopolized the market.
Intel said in a statement that lawyers for the company and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday “filed a joint motion to suspend administrative trial proceedings while the parties consider potential settlement of the case originally filed by the FTC on December 16, 2009.”
‘WINDOW’
The motion “opens a window through July 22, 2010, during which time the parties will review and discuss a proposed consent order.”
Intel said the terms of the possible deal “are confidential and Intel will make no additional public comment on the matter at this time.”
ACCUSATION
In December, the US government accused the world’s biggest computer chipmaker of illegally using its market power to stifle competition.
The FTC alleged at the time that Intel, which has been facing similar charges in Europe and Asia, has waged a systematic campaign for a decade to shut out competing microchips produced by rivals by cutting off their access to the marketplace.
THREATS, REWARDS
Intel produces 80 percent of the microprocessors used in the world’s personal computers, but has settled its dispute with US rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
The FTC had accused Intel of using “threats and rewards” with major computer makers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM to coerce them not to buy chips produced by rival companies.
RECORD FINE
EU antitrust regulators fined Intel a record US$1.45 billion last year, saying it abused its stranglehold on the semiconductor market to crush AMD.
Intel last year also challenged an US$18 million fine imposed by South Korea’s antitrust watchdog.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique