Japanese Government Raids Intel Tokyo Offices 155
mordicus writes "Reuters
is reporting that Japanese Trade Officials have raided Intel's Japan Offices. From the article:
'Japan's fair trade watchdog raided the offices of Intel Corp's Japanese unit on
Thursday and a government source in Tokyo said the chip giant is suspected of violating
antitrust laws.' Japan seems to be rather vigilant in enforcing its antitrust legislation. Microsoft's Japanese unit was target of a
similar operation
less than two months ago."
Two down... (Score:2, Interesting)
So, who's for the chop in May then?
Re:Two down... (Score:5, Funny)
Balloon popping. (Score:2)
Re:Two down... (Score:1)
Yikes! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Yikes! (Score:5, Funny)
I bet that this unit just needed new computers, and didnt have the budget to buy them.
Re:Yikes! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Yikes! (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyway, go AMD!
Re:Yikes! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Yikes! (Score:2)
Re:Yikes! (Score:4, Funny)
Still I can't look down on someone who raids microsoft AND intel.
Unlike a lot... (Score:4, Interesting)
There's probably also a lot of other internal political action (politics=money, like any other place) going on around this, but I don't follow their internal affairs adequately enough to comment on it to any significant degree.
As an aside,I am also highly surprised that in this day and age that *any* intel chips get used in Japan.
Re:Unlike a lot... (Score:2)
The reason for this is?? Just curious.
more or less obvious (Score:1)
re read (Score:1, Insightful)
"It's in all the history books." (Score:1)
Stocks.. how many people do you know who were sitting on what they thought was a "ton o money" in their dotcom stock portfolio, then it vaporized on them? If it was a representation of a tangible produced product, it would be sitting in a warehouse someplace, but it wasn't, it isn't, that's why it can disappear. And be created at will.
All representations of money are subject to poofin
Re:Yikes! (Score:2)
Re:Yikes! (Score:1)
Japan vigilant? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, at least they have been against American companies.
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:2)
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:5, Informative)
But there was no hint of wrongdoing. Would you like some whale sushi?
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:3, Interesting)
The DRAM shortage that occured at that time had a LOT of reasons associated with it, but the short version is that it all boiled down to supply and demand. Despite having a large chunk of the international DRAM market, none of the companies were making any money because prices were so low. So, to try and fix this, they decided to constrain the supply a bit. Supply goes down while demand was going up a
Re:But its /scientific/ whaling (Score:2)
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:3, Interesting)
Sony, Matsushita and Mitsubishi might count, they each have a huge corner in some market somewhere and have been pretty beligerent at times.
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:2)
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:5, Informative)
Check out the dozens of books written about Japanese business-government practices with American companies in the 1980s.
With all respect due, I don't see how anyone could use the words 'Japanese anti-trust law' together seriously unless they are referring to a government-keiretsu coalition to destory a foreign company and assign their market to a Japanese concern. There's just too much history to suggest otherwise.
Not just them (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:You're a retard. (Score:1)
I can think of lots of Japanes companies that sell lots of stuff here, but I can't think of a single company selling a single product line that has a clear market advantage over any other company.
And I can't really say that Iv'e ever heard of say (for example) Sony using anti-competitive tactics against Toshiba in the US market. I wouldn't rule ot my own ignorance on the minor details of the issue, but my perception is that many US companies just don't play nice, and that most Jap
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:5, Insightful)
thats why MS got off lightly in the american anti trust case
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:2)
they were about to get beaten with a legal baseball bat, then the Bush administration got in, and microsoft asked bush to drop the case and he did, IIRC.
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:2)
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:2)
Literally a handful of companies own nearly everything in Japan, it's much, much worse than what the hippy-types say what's wrong with corporate America.
Re:Japan vigilant? (Score:1)
Are any activities against American company in foreign country considered unfair, even when the purpose is to protect another American companies' rights?
Read between the line ... (Score:1, Insightful)
"You should have these new Japanese employees contribute money to the (misnamed) Liberal Democratic Party".
Raid (Score:5, Insightful)
Needless to say, calling it a "raid" gives the wrong impression (to me).
Re:Raid (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Raid (Score:2)
And yet here in America your suposed to have the same rights as anyone else until convicted. At least in theroy.
Re:Raid (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Raid (Score:2)
Re:Raid (Score:1)
You are kidding right? (Score:2)
Do they bust open doors and put people in handcuffs? YES if anyone on site is foolish enough to resist. Usually most people are not. Would you an army of cops for your boss?
No a raid is precisly what happened. It just won't make a good episode of cops. That is because while collar criminals are smart enough not to wrestle 10 cops with guns.
Re:Raid (Score:2)
Since the employees usually don't whip out machine guns and battle the police, I think it's an appropriate approach (especially since it conv
Other related news (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Other related news (Score:1)
Re:Other related news (Score:2)
They were able to keep governments in court long enough for them to almost go bankrupt.
Not Really... (Score:5, Informative)
The Japanese are known for protecting their own, at any cost, from non-Japanese threats. To say such protectionism a cornerstone [thejapanfaq.com] of their culture is an understatement. Chances are that Intel tried to go John Wayne* on their Japanese suppliers/distributors, and they replied to the threat in their own special way: Using Tokyo to respond for them.
* - Being an American currently living in Japan, I can say that acting American in a Japanese Business setting is like walking upto the plate, in baseball, with 2 strikes against you.
third world countries (Score:4, Insightful)
Unfortunately, many countries are not in the same position to aggravate or turn down Western business, even if in the medium and long run they lose in the deal. For many "third world" countries, short-term existence (and political graft) are the only thing on the radar.
no offense but... (Score:1)
Re:third world countries JAPAN IS NOT (Score:1)
Re:third world countries JAPAN IS NOT (Score:1)
Re:third world countries JAPAN IS NOT (Score:1)
Re:third world countries JAPAN IS NOT (Score:1)
Vigilant? (Score:3, Interesting)
Considering that Microsoft has probably been breaking antitrust laws for 10+ years, I wouldn't call this "vigilant".
personally (Score:2, Insightful)
you know, more than just obvious corporate welfare, subsidies and pandering. At least the Japanese look after their own a little.
Giant robot involved? (Score:5, Funny)
That or I watch too much anime. Probably a bit of both.
Re:Giant robot involved? (Score:1)
Re:Giant robot involved? (Score:1)
They are really saying Gojira, but in English we hear it as GODZILLA.
Re:Giant robot involved? (Score:1)
Re:Giant robot involved? (Score:2)
No Knock Raids (Score:4, Funny)
Wonder why they don't raid Sony *wink wink* (Score:3, Interesting)
Because Sony knows its home turf. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Wonder why they don't raid Sony *wink wink* (Score:1)
Re:Wonder why they don't raid Sony *wink wink* (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wonder why they don't raid Sony *wink wink* (Score:2)
Re:Wonder why they don't raid Sony *wink wink* (Score:2)
Re:Wonder why they don't raid Sony *wink wink* (Score:2)
Intel isn't a monopoly in the strictest sense, but they've been known to exhibit the same type of behaviour as a dominant player that garnered Microsoft its monopoly in the first palce - which is why nationalism may be *A* factor in this, but is far from the only one.
japan and crime (Score:4, Interesting)
Is it still that way?
Re:japan and crime (Score:3, Insightful)
well, of course... (Score:2)
Re:japan and crime (Score:4, Funny)
Re:japan and crime (Score:2)
Those statistics sound bogus to me. How can you know how many criminals aren't caught?
Re:japan and crime (Score:3)
I don't live in Japan, but I have family there and the general attitude seems to be that the US is heaven compared to Japan. Normal people just accept that the police and politicians are corrupt and sold out. As
Re:japan and crime (Score:2)
Normal people just accept that the police and politicians are corrupt and sold out. As long as politicians can deliver the pork most people are apathetic.
This is soooo true, and soooo frustrating, at least to one who's been raised to believe that one has a duty to make one's voice heard. There doesn't seem to be quite as much of it in the younger (10s/20s) generation, but that means it'll be 20-30 years before there are significant enough numbers of them to make any difference--if there's a difference t
Wrong statistic (Score:4, Informative)
I hear some figure about how criminals in Japan have a 80-90% chance of being caught, where as in the US, it's more like 20-30%.
No, Japan's about on par with the US there--in fact there've been news reports lamenting how the Japanese rate of catching criminals is "down" to 20% lately. The 80-90% figure is your chance of getting convicted if they take you to trial, and that's mostly because the police don't bring charges unless they're more or less certain they can convict you. (Even if you show up at the police station and confess to a crime, the standard procedure goes something like: confession --> interrogation --> confirm details --> okay, now we arrest you.)
Re:japan and crime (Score:1)
it could be... (Score:3, Informative)
Or in haiku... (Score:3, Funny)
intel antitrust frolicks
ruined by truncheon
Re:Or in haiku... (Score:3, Funny)
Cherry blossoms fall
The moon rises in the sky
Intel has been pVVn3d.
Just a few more raids (Score:4, Funny)
Read the Intel Book (Score:5, Interesting)
It's Orwellian nature makes it perfectly suited for Japanese culture. Should be a slam dunk. Except, as another slashdotter pointed out, the profits are rolling back to Andy Grove and his clan. The Intellies probably cut some deal with Taiwan and a Japanese company lost out, and before you know it, the offices are being raided.
With Intel's culture, a government raid is the biggest kick in the balls you could deliver. Start going through computer files and the network there, and people would be flipping out. What if they uncovered the AMD sabotage plot?
On the flipside of that... (Score:3, Informative)
I haven't heard of this book, but may have to check it out. One of my oldest friends works there, we grew up together (in our 30's now). I was just out visiting him, and I have to tell you that Intel seems like a nice place to work. He gets ve
Privacy concerns... (Score:2)
ya right... (Score:1)
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:2, Interesting)
Antitrust laws are not only used against monopolies (which means it is already too late in some way), but also for anti-competitive behaviour.
It is best for the consumer if all those backroom deals and exclusive contracts disappear and the consumer has the free choice. That would be a concept, wouldn't it?
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:2, Interesting)
It is best for the consumer if all those backroom deals and exclusive contracts disappear and the consumer has the free choice. That would be a concept, wouldn't it?
I think you'll find the land of the Zaibatsu [wikipedia.org] wrote the book on backroom dealing.
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:2, Informative)
Says who? You can have monopolistic practices without being a monopoly. Isn't that what everybody has been saying about Microsoft all these years?
According to Columbia Guide to Standard American English [bartleby.com] the -istic suffix means:
"in imitation of" or "having some characteristics of,"
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:1, Informative)
This helps the law take on duopolies and oligopolies which have most of the powers associated with a monopoly.
AC
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:2)
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:1, Informative)
In the US, the threshold for a monopoly is not 100%. If you are twice as big as the nearest competitor and the nearest competititor is bigger than all the rest of the competition, you can be considered a monopoly. Even if a competitior is gaining ground on you. It is not illegal to be a monopoly. However monopolies do have another layer of restrictions with which they m
Kudos? (Score:4, Interesting)
You can't believe this is in the interest of fair trade, not in Japan, where business has the government firmly wrapped around its little finger? Surely you don't believe this was not at the behest of griping japanese electronics manufacturers who have had a difficult time competing with Intel on their home turf. This is the country that dumped consumer electronics and automobiles on the world, subsidized by taxing their own citizens. This is the country that negotiated hardball and grudgingly every millimeter of trade concessions for years.
When Japan, Inc. does things we like, like make handheld devices with Linux embedded, we applaud. When they do things we're less thrilled, we overlook. Japan, Inc. makes some damn fine stuff, but don't confuse that with government-industrial policies.
Re:Kudos? (Score:2)
I've already posted this elsewhere, but i want to point out that Japanese buisness does not have the government "wrapped around it's finger" like somne US companies do. That sounds negative. The japanese government and buisness work together as a team to promote Japan. Japan is economically communist (communist != totalitarian) and successful at it. Things wo
Re:Kudos to Japan (Score:5, Insightful)
I wish AMD was the only processor manufacturer in the world, then everyone could only buy processors that are high quality for a low price.
I wonder if the price of AMD would be so good if they would be a monopoly ...
I still like choices. Let AMD and Intel and maybe some more companies compete. This creates innovation and good prices
Re:Discriminatory. (Score:3, Interesting)