Intel antitrust action delayed till March

Rumours that it's because of a Microsoft-inspired lawyer shortage unfounded

Intel’s date with antitrust destiny has shifted back two weeks, to March 9, either because Intel didn’t turn over requested documentation to the FTC on time, or because both sides asked for the delay. According to Intel, the delay was by mutual agreement, but James Timony, an administrative judge for the Federal Trade Commission, said that Intel’s failure to hand over data had caused delays in the questioning of witnesses. The FTC is suing Intel, claiming the company withheld technical data from Intergraph, Compaq and Digital. The trial schedule has moved at a considerably more sedate pace than the DoJ’s action against Microsoft, and this may or may not be good news. On the one hand, there’s less chance of everybody’s brains being sprained by having to keep up with both trials at the same time, but on the other, the longer they’ve got to prepare, the more Intel trial documentation there’s going to be. ®