EU refuses to give Intel more time

Just don't drop the soap!

The EU is refusing to give Intel any more document-gathering time or to entertain any further delay in its ongoing antitrust probe against the firm for purported anti-competitive behaviour towards rival AMD.

In July 2007, Intel was accused by the European Commission of having paid off retailers to sell Intel Inside PCs only, slipping cash to OEMs who agreed to slow launch plans for AMD based PCs and offering significant rebates to OEMs who agreed to stick to building Intel based notebooks.

Intel protested its innocence, of course, saying AMD had been making the same allegations repeatedly for years.

The Eurocrats weren't buying it though, and in October, Intel was forced to file an appeal to the European Court of First Instance to get a temporary pause in proceedings. Chipzilla spinner, Chuck Mulloy, reckoned the pause was necessary in order for Intel to dredge up enough evidence to conduct a proper defense.

Sadly for Intel, the EU is having none of it, calling time on Chipzilla and its attempts to sift through more AMD documents to help defend itself with.

This has AMD rubbing its hands with glee, but nothing is over until it's over and Intel says it will review the court's decision and decide on its next move soon.