Antitrust Regulators Target Dominant Firms
The European Commission recently imposed a record US$1.45 billion (€1.06 billion) fine on Intel Corporation, finding that Intel had impeded competition in the computer chip market through what the Commission concluded were illegal rebates and payments to exclude rival products from retail outlets. In imposing the biggest single antitrust fine in the history of the European Union, the Commission found that Intel had violated the European Commission Treaty antitrust rules on the abuse of dominant market position by engaging in illegal anticompetitive practices. The fine against Intel comes in the same week that the head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division announced that the Obama Administration would adopt a more aggressive enforcement posture against firms it believes are engaging in exclusionary and predatory conduct that reduces consumer welfare.