Click to enlarge

According to the ruling, the commission said Intel offered rebates to South Korean computer makers if they agreed not to buy chips from Intel rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a practice it said was in violation of fair trade rules.

The KFTC said Intel offered the rebates between 2002 and 2005 to PC makers, including Samsung Electronics and is similar to the one issued by Japanese regulators against Intel in 2005.

The KFTC is no slouch when it comes to investigating the big IT firms as was seen in 2005, when the KFTC fined Microsoft $45 million and required it to sell a modified version of Windows in Korea that did not include Instant Messenger or Windows Media Player.

Not surprisingly, AMD has welcomed the ruling, whilst Intel has said it would appeal.