The FTC and Intel
The New York Times has a front page article today about the FTC and Intel regarding the FTC’s investigation of Intel:
The head of the Federal Trade Commission has rejected requests by lawmakers, other commissioners and a small rival company to open a formal antitrust investigation of Intel, the world’s largest maker of computer microprocessors, for anticompetitive conduct, government officials and lawyers involved in the proceeding said.…
The trade commission has been conducting an informal review of A.M.D.’s complaints for more than a year, gathering thousands of documents from Intel and its customers. But the commission’s chairwoman, Deborah P. Majoras, has rejected requests to elevate the inquiry to a formal investigation, which would give staff members the authority to issue subpoenas and compel testimony from executives of the companies involved.
…
F.T.C. officials said that at least two of the five commissioners have recommended that the chairwoman open a formal investigation. But Ms. Majoras has declined without elaboration to authorize a formal inquiry, the officials said.
…
… Though officials said they did not know why Ms. Majoras had not moved forward with a formal inquiry, they offered several possible explanations.
They said that she might be skeptical of the antitrust theory underlying the case, or that she might want to await the outcome of a different case brought by the F.T.C. that involves an interpretation of the same section of the Sherman Act. They also said she might be concerned that there was little American regulators could add to the proceedings already undertaken by foreign authorities.
A person familiar with the commission’s investigative process, speaking not about the Intel case specifically, said the agency’s staff sometimes preferred not to elevate a case to a formal inquiry — particularly when the subject is cooperating and fears the adverse publicity that comes with a formal inquiry — because it is far easier to obtain evidence. Once the inquiry is elevated, this person said, the commission may find itself in an adversarial relationship with the company.
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