Intel Paid Billions in Kickbacks,|Bullied Competitors, New York Says

(CN) - Intel paid billions of dollars in kickbacks and bullied competitors "to maintain its monopoly power and prices" in the market for microprocessors, New York's attorney general claims in an antitrust lawsuit against the world's largest computer chip maker. It's more legal headache for Intel: The European Union in May fined Intel $1.45 billion, and Korea's Fair Trade Commission fined the company $18.6 million. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also is investigating Intel.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo claims in Delaware Federal Court that Intel paid "billions of dollars" and retaliated against those that did too much business with competitors like Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Intel "used threats and coercion, bribing and bullying to preserve its market dominance," the 87-page complaint states. "In a market which is itself a driver of productivity growth, this harm to competition radiates throughout the economy, decreasing productivity gains."

Cuomo wants the company to stop its alleged anticompetitive conduct, and to prevent it from happening in the future.

He also seeks "to restore the competition which was lost," along with damages New York consumers and governmental entities suffered.

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