The evidence is VERY shaky...based on these flimsy ass reports I've seen, but the fact is that intel chips are better, and THAT is why AMD is getting creamed by intel...just like how Intel was losing market share to AMD when their chips were better...WTF...

"The Commission said that Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and NEC had been given hidden rebates if they only used Intel chips.

It also found that Media Saturn, which owns Europe's biggest consumer electronics retailer Media Markt, had been given money so that it would only sell computers containing Intel chips."

I can't speak for Media Saturn, but last time I checked, Dell, Acer, HP, and other ALL carried AMD computer lines, so imho, that's shaky.  To boot...The US Government needs to investigate Sony and Nintendo practices on selling their consoles in Japan, as it makes no sense why the 360 does so poorly...and also to investigate why BMW and Mercedes Benz sell better in EU zone.  This is complete nonsense , and it's not protecting consumers, it's basically the EU shaking down US companies, because they have market share...Apple is next with the Ipod...you just wait.

But yeah when it comes to anti-competitive behavior the EU as a country does top the charts. America has been closing behind though.

The sad part is too... most of it is to benefit the "Local farmers" which is laregly a myth... factory farmers being the norm more often then not.

Helps spur on global food hikes.

Wow that must burn a hole in their finances

But these violations refer to as much as 8 years back, so what you said doesn't prove the evidence is shaky.

This is going to be a fight at the WTO...because this smacks of a set of countries shaking down some foreign companies.

How can this be such a big deal if California with its 35 million population has fined Microsoft for $1.1 billion, nearly the same amount? It's like a fifth of Intel's annual profit.

More to the point, I don't understand what "shaking down some foreign companies" could possibly accomplish here, other than the openly stated objective of making the "free market" be a reality unaffected by Intel's monopolisation attempts.

It's not like AMD is a European company. There isn't even a single significant European company competing in this market.

Why is it weird that the products made in your own region sell better there again? Basicly, if I had to choose between a Danish apple and a German apple and they were more or less the same I'd buy the danish because I live in Denmark. Not that weird that prducts made in your region gets more popular there..

I can't speak to the other manufacturers but the Dell situation is a fact. Intel bribed them to not use AMD chips for years.

Here is one more little piece of anti-competitive Intel behavior. The Intel-Skype deal, where Skype locked in some features of its application to PCs with Intel CPUs.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2006/gb20060301_227521.htm

Not a big deal compared to these "bribes", but still indicates that Intel has no problems with engaging in these deals, even openly.

PS: I don't hate Intel, in fact I have only ever bought one CPU from AMD in more than 15 years of using PCs. That doesn't mean I'm blind to Intel's behaviors though.

First off, the companies I'm talking about are M$, Intel, and the pending suit against Apple (which is probably going to expand in short order, now that the shakedown is complete on Intel and M$).  You are correct, AMD is a US company, so what is the EU going to do with $1.4 Bln...give it to AMD...who is the plaintiff here...because in that example you were SO quick to pick-up on...and I was just WAITING or somebody to do so,...it was a consolidation of class action lawsuit from consumer...not government.  Is the EU saying it is going to award this money to EU citizen's who bought Intel-based PCs, but they wanted AMD computers?  What is the endgame here...THIS my friend, is nothing more than a shakedown by EU regulators...go to ANY retailers and you will find a TON of AMD based desktop...I can take pictures at WALMART, Bestbuy, Target, etc etc etc if you want, PLUS online...this is going to end badly...I can guarantee you that.