In a ruling that will surely rock the anti-trust lawyer's socks off, Intel has been fined a massive $1.45 billion dollars by the EU for "anti-competitive practices". This far exceeds the $497 million dollar fine Microsoft received back in 2004.
The basis of the anti-trust case that was started after AMD filed complaints to the EU in 2000, 2003 and 2006 is that Intel was giving hidden rebates to the major producers of computers if they would only use Intel products.
The EU also told Intel to stop all illegal business practices immediately insinuating that the practices are still going on.
This landmark ruling shows that the EU will not tolerate any sort of anti-trust practices that hurt consumers or keep prices inflated artificially. Intel will has said that the ruling was unjust and that they will appeal.
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