Why Feds Go after High Tech FTC Suit against Intel Signals New Antitrust Assault on Computer Industry

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The personal computer industry has become so important to the US economy in so many ways that government regulators are going to give it special attention for years to come.

That's the likely message of the Federal Trade Commission's new antitrust case against the Intel Corp. In just the last few months, federal agencies have now filed suit against both Microsoft and Intel, the software and hardware halves of the PC "Wintel" behemoth. Regulators hint that more related actions may be coming.

But whether Washington should, or can, change high tech's behavior remains an open question. US officials are applying an old tool - antitrust law - to a new industry where …