Intel has been slapped with anti-competitive suit by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which claims that the company has illegally used its dominant market position for a decade to stifle competition and strengthen its monopoly.
The FTC alleges that Intel has "waged a systematic campaign to shut out rivals' competing microchips by cutting off their access to the marketplace."
The wide-ranging and damaging allegations from the FTC also include claims that the secretly redesigned key software, to deliberately stunt the performance of competitors' chips. It also claims that Intel used a series of threats and rewards to influence the chips computer manufacturers such as Dell, HP and IBM used in their products.
Last month Intel agreed to pay US$1.25 billion (€857m) to AMD to settle suits relating to its business practices.
The Commission said that its action seek to “remedy the damage that Intel has done to competition, innovation, and, ultimately, the American consumer."
Adding that the vendor had been “running roughshod over the principles of fair play and the laws protecting competition on the merits.”
The FTC suit does not seek monetary damages, but aims to change the company's conduct and set an industry example, the FTC said.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has made peace with the EU and its web browser demands agreeing to allow over 100 million European consumers the option of choosing from 12 web browsers, rather than get Internet Explorer by default.
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes claimed victory against the software giant.