Intel's Case Is Closing

Anonymous sources may not be ideal news fodder, but when Reuters, The Financial Times, and BusinessWeek all independently come up with their own "people familiar with the matter," I think it's time to sit up and take notice.

That's the case today, regarding a long-expected settlement between Intel (Nasdaq: INTC  ) and the Federal Trade Commission. After paying nearly $3 billion in damages and fines to Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD  ) and courts on both sides of the Atlantic, Intel settled the issue of anticompetitive tactics in the microprocessor market last year. Now the same finger-wagging "don't do that" provisions of the AMD settlement appears to extend to graphics chips as well, protecting AMD (again) and NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA  ) from the harsh incentives and kickback tactics that Intel's deep pockets allegedly made possible.

There won't be any legal fees this time, unless Intel goes back to its old ways and breaks the FTC settlement. Dell (Nasdaq: DELL  ) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) will now choose both central processors and graphics chips based on the performance and economics of the actual products, rather than giving undue preference to the 800-pound gorilla in the market.

That's the spirit of the alleged settlement, at least. The caveats are still plentiful:

• Talks are still ongoing and may break down at any point, including near the finish line.
• All of these respectable news outlets may have talked to the same anonymous sources, who may or may not have the real scoop. Despite the ringing Greek Chorus, we still don't really know anything.
• Intel could still decide that whatever legal repercussions may follow from misbehaving could be worth it, when balanced against the potential gains of being a bad boy. The chipmaker's done so before, after all.

Regardless, it's good to see the legal hurricanes die down in the chip sector. For us investors, it means less uncertainty over unresolved court battles, and probably a stronger sector in general. This is a good thing, even if you happen to be on the losing end of the long-running legal drama.

Is this deal for real? Will Intel stick to the spirit and letter of such a contract in the long run? Discuss in the comments below.