Micron Seeking Amnesty in DoJ Antitrust Probe?

deaddeng writes "Memory maker Micron Technology is allegedly seeking amnesty from a US Dept. of Justice grand jury investigation of price fixing, collusion, and antitrust by the memory industry, according to numerous news services, including the LA Times and Reuters. Last week, a Micron regional marketing employee pled guilty to charges brought under the same DoJ investigation for destruction of evidence and lying to the grand jury. The DoJ is investigating charges that major memory makers colluded to prevent the success of Rambus memory favored by Intel, and once that was achieved, colluded again to raise prices for DDR-SDRAM in 2001-02. If Micron is granted amnesty, it can keep its executives from facing criminal prosecution, but it may still face civil court challenges."

Comments

Rambus is better?

[Anonymous Coward]

And Rambus Inc.'s practices are better?

Only Micron?

[Kurt Wall]

Rambus, Inc.'s misbehavior is well-known, so Micron is hardly alone here. If Micron is guilty of collusion, the pregnant question is, "With whom were Micron colluding?"

Re:Micron deserves amnesty!

[eschasi]

Putting on my cynical hat, note that everyone Micro admits to colluding with (you did read the articles, folks?) is a foreign manufacturer. Given the ever-increasing tend towards protectionism in the US, it's not hard to believe there are purely pragmatic reasons why the DOJ would grant US-based Micron amnesty while socking it to those Korean and German competitors.

What, me cynical?

So, let me get this straight...

[Fortunato_NC]

...and I'll freely admit that I haven't RTFA yet...

but Rambus surreptitiously cuts a deal with Intel to make their patented technology the new industry standard for memory, and when it backfires, the rest of the industry is guilty of collusion against Rambus?

The inmates are running the asylum, kiddos, and it's getting nuttier by the minute!