Since news of the fine the European Commission imposed on Intel hit last week, there has been a lot of confusion. Who’s getting the money? How come AMD isn’t getting a thing? To clear things up, while AMD was a victim of Intel’s actions, the European Union was not acting on behalf of AMD and so, the company gets nothing. However, experts say the result of the EU/Intel decision could result in a barrage of other European lawsuits for Intel.
PC World cites Alan Davis, an expert in competition law at Pinsent Masons, as saying Intel could face even more payouts if Intel competitors, such as AMD, take civil cases on the back of the Commission's ruling.
"This will open the floodgates for competitors to sue," said Davis. "There was a complainant in this case, AMD and without question they and other competitors will pursue a case for damages."
Davis went on to explain that, while AMD was a complainant, competitors who suffered damage to their businesses because of Intel's anti-competitive practices will not see a cent of the money Intel has to hand over to the European Commission. According to Davis, “what is likely to happen is that action will be started and a massive settlement will be made.”
For those of you interested, the $1.45 billion from Intel will go to the EU’s central budget, and will, according to the commission, reduce the contributions that Member States pay to the EU. In other words, that money goes to the countries who were affected by Intel's actions.
