Intel close to FTC anti-competition agreement

Intel may face curbs on its marketing operations rather than monetary penalties

A Reuters report suggests that Intel is very close to announcing a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its anti-competition case.

Intel in the UK would not confirm that this was the case, and a spokesman could only say that "discussions are ongoing".

However, Reuters claims that the deal will see Intel spared any "monetary pain" in return for having less "leeway in marketing its products". Reuters quotes a source close to the company.

So far there is no update to the case, which has the docket number 9341, on the FTC web site. In fact, the last update was on 21 June, and concerned the suspension of its investigations in favour of discussions about an amicable resolution.

In a statement posted on its web site at the time, Intel said: "Lawyers for the FTC and Intel today filed a joint motion to suspend administrative trial proceedings while the parties consider potential settlement of the case originally filed by the FTC on December 16 2009."

In light of this, the suggested settlement makes some sense. Intel may prefer to limit its marketing efforts in favour of saving itself from fines, particularly as it has already been ordered to pay $1.25bn (£755m) after the close of the AMD anti-trust investigation.