Intel counter-attacks against European Commission

Intel has accused the European Commission of abusing procedures in its probe of allegations the US chip giant sought to gain an unfair advantage over its main rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and asked that the charges be dropped.

European regulators filed fresh anti-trust charges against the world's largest computer chip-maker in July, accusing it of abusing its dominant position in the market to try to squeeze out AMD.

In reply, Intel asked that the Commission "annul the decisions" on the basis they "contain errors in law" and that the Commission pay the costs the US chip company has incurred to defend itself.

Intel's demands were published this week in the online edition of the EU's official journal.

Intel's move was met with criticism by the head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA).

"We are disappointed that Intel has apparently chosen to attack the law enforcement organization that is investigating it," CCIA president Ed Black said in a statement.

"This is a tactic we have seen before by other companies when they have concluded they cannot effectively argue the merits of their wrongdoing.

"The European Commission's credibility is strong and as the historical record demonstrates it has consistently struck the right balance in antitrust action," he said.

The Commission sent a letter to Intel in July outlining its complaints.

The letter contained three specific charges -- that Intel offered discounts to a major European personal computer distributor to favour its products, paid a PC maker to delay marketing a model line using AMD chips, and also paid it to use Intel's own microprocessors in preference.

If the findings are sustained, Brussels could demand that Intel stop the alleged abuses and impose a hefty fine.

Following an anti-trust investigation of Intel launched six years ago, the Commission sent a list of complaints to the company in July 2007, accusing it of offering "substantial" rebates to computer makers that mostly used its chips.

AMD has long accused Intel of using its grip on the market for microchips -- the brains of personal computers -- to choke off competition.

Intel's central processing units make up the computing power behind 80 percent of the world's personal computers, while AMD controls about 17 percent.