Nov 4, 2009, 16:24 GMT
New York - Intel was sued in federal court Wednesday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who accused the computer chip giant of threatening computer makers and using illegal inducement to deter them from using competitors' products.
The lawsuit said that Intel, whose chips run some 80 per cent of the world's personal computers, violated state and federal antitrust laws to harm its main rival Advanced Micro Devices.
'Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market,' Cuomo said in a statement. 'Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices.'
Intel, based in California's Silicon Valley, was fined 1.45 billion dollars in May by the EU for antitrust violations. It is facing an additional antitrust lawsuit filed by AMD four years ago that is due to go to trial next year.
Cuomo said that email evidence that surfaced in the EU's antitrust case against Intel showed that the company routinely used illegal measures to deter its customers from using AMD products. 'We intend to stop them,' Cuomo said.
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