Intel CEO Screws Up AMD Lawsuit By Losing Emails
By Craig Childs
Paul Otellini and other Intel execs are under fire from Advanced Micro Devices for failing to retain emails that will assist in AMD’s lawsuit against Intel, and Intel’s Japanese arm, Intel KK.
In 2005 AMD filed a lawsuit against Intel claiming the company coerced 38 hardware manufactures, including IBM, Dell and Sony, to stop promoting AMD processors and to use Intel products only. It also claims that Intel has long threatened to withhold price breaks from hardware manufacturers in order to secure exclusive deals.
AMD alleges that Intel illegally used its 90% marketshare to provide ’special discounts’. However, AMD will have a hard time proving such discounts as illegal, since discounting is standard business practice.
The other ‘monopolizing’ move made by Intel, as alleged by AMD, were special deals with manufacturers that came into effect when they purchased a certain quantity of Intel product. AMD claims that this forced manufacturers buy Intel processors, when they would have otherwise bought AMD processors.
Although denying the charges, Intel has now admitted it has mistakenly lost documents, in the form of emails, that it was required to hand over to AMD’s lawyers. The information would make up only 10% of the reported 1000 plus documents that the two companies agreed to disclose.
Now these documents appear to have disappeared into thin air, and it appears that Intel employees were not properly informed on how to backup email documents. Intel execs, including CEO Paul Otellini, Chairman Craig Barrett and worldwide head of sales and marketing Sean Maloney, thought backups were being taken care of by the IT department.
Intel now faces multi-million dollar fines for ‘withholding’ the documents, however inconsequential they may actually be.
It’s not a good sign when companies of this size appear completely in the dark when it comes to something as fundamental as file backups. What may be going on is some damage control. Could the ‘lost’ documents be incriminating enough to cost Intel more if handed over to AMD, than the fines it faces for loosing them?
All in all, this may just be another short chapter in the long term battle between the two CPU manufacturers. Who wins, David or Goliath? Or maybe their lawyers?
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