First details of Intel and FTC settlement emerge

Intel and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have finally reached an out-of-court settlement to avoid becoming embroiled in a full-blown anti-trust case.

The chip giant issued a statement late yesterday, which indicates that from now on, Intel will share product information with its customers - primarily PC manufacturers - even if there is an ongoing dispute with them over intellectual property rights. The FTC had accused the company of holding back such information in similar cases in the past.

However, Intel also won a concession from the FTC that the ruling will only apply if the manufacturer concerned agrees not to file an injunction to stop Intel's production lines.

Last week the anti-trust court case was postponed while the FTC considered Intel's settlement proposal.

CEO Craig Barrett, in the statement, said: "The compromise provides a framework for resolving future intellectual property disputes with our customers."

The anti-trust investigation was prompted by complaints from PC and workstation manufacturers Compaq, Digital (now part of Compaq) and Intergraph. Compaq was unavailable for comment, but Intergraph - which is commencing a private lawsuit with Intel - released a statement saying: "Intergraph commends the FTC for its firm actions to protect a competitive climate. This consent decree is an additional protection for Intergraph. Through its consent decree, Intel avoided embarrassing, public descriptions of its coercive actions, and has temporarily avoided being formally identified as a monopolist."

Pundits also welcomed the announcement. Mike Thompson, research manager at the Butler Group, said: "In effect Intel has given in most of the way. But it won't affect Intel's hold on the market, because they have got what they want."