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AMD Angry; Intel Angry; E-Mails Still Lost
By James Detar
March 21, 2007
Now it's Intel (INTC) that's outraged.
Arguably the most acrimonious rivalry in Silicon Valley has taken the "you're the bad guy; no, you're the bad guy" debate to a whole new level — but with potentially huge ramifications.
Observers say the latest incident could be crucial to a major lawsuit. Moreover, they say it likely will push more companies to prepare and follow specific policies for storing e-mails and other data.
The rivalry is between chip giants Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. (AMD) The latest rift began March 5, when Intel sent a letter to the presiding judge in an AMD vs. Intel lawsuit saying some employees — including CEO Paul Otellini — may have deleted e-mails sought by AMD, and the e-mails might not be retrievable.
AMD issued an angry statement.
But now Intel is angry that AMD has issued statements that include transcripts of court proceedings taking place between the judge and attorneys for the two companies. On Friday, Intel wrote a letter to the court complaining about AMD's actions, saying AMD is trying "to exploit the (court) transcript." Intel's letter asked that "the parties discuss how they might cooperate going forward." AMD released this letter to the media.
The e-mail issue relates to a suit AMD filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in June 2005. AMD claims Intel uses unfair tactics to bully and pay off computer makers into buying its chips. Of all the suits between the two companies over the years, many legal experts say this is the most important.
And now, the lost e-mails. Analysts say a lot of companies are cavalier with their e-mail, but Intel's woes puts a spotlight on the issue.
"It's not whether they lost 1,000 e-mails or one, it's whether that e-mail could have helped AMD's case," said Deborah Johnson, a vice president of Orchestria, which makes software to help companies keep track of e-mails. "It's a huge blow to a case like this."
Many agree.
"If you lose anything, in a court of law people will think it was on purpose," said Douglas Freedman, of American Technology Research.
AMD says it will continue to press for the e-mails and explanations.
"The outcome of this (lawsuit) is likely to have a huge impact on the global IT (information technology) industry and the consumers it serves," said AMD legal affairs executive Thomas McCoy. "Given what's at stake, we will fight for the public's right to know the truth."
McCoy made the remark in a statement sent via e-mail to IBD in response to a request for an interview.
Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy says Intel made an honest mistake and means to set things right.
"We've found we've had a series of sort of human errors," Mulloy said in an interview. He says only "a relatively small" number of e-mails are affected.
"From December to (March 5) we had transferred the equivalent of 17 million pages of documents to AMD. And there will be millions more. We don't think this (loss) will impact AMD's ability to press their case," he said. "We're working very hard and expending millions of dollars to correct the situation."
Intel says it will provide an accounting by April 7.
Lost e-mails have played crucial roles in other cases.
One example is a suit against Morgan Stanley (MS) by billionaire Ronald Perelman in 2003 in Florida, claiming the bank defrauded him during a stock swap. The case turned in part on Morgan Stanley's inability to find e-mails that Perelman's attorney had requested.
In May 2005, a jury handed down a $1.45 billion verdict against Morgan Stanley. An appeal is pending.
In a 2004 case, Zubulake vs. UBS Warburg, UBS employee Laura Zubulake said the Swiss-based firm had passed her over for promotions because she's a woman. The court said UBS attorneys failed to stop routine destruction of e-mails. UBS says it and Zubulake reached a confidential settlement in 2005.
"These are the tip of the iceberg," said Matthew Smith, president of privately held messaging service provider LiveOffice. "More and more companies are going go be addressing this type of issue going forward. Based on this (the Intel e-mails), I'd bet many CEOs are getting briefed right now on how to archive e-mails."
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Arguably the most acrimonious rivalry in Silicon Valley has taken the "you're the bad guy; no, you're the bad guy" debate to a whole new level — but with potentially huge ramifications.
Observers say the latest incident could be crucial to a major lawsuit. Moreover, they say it likely will push more companies to prepare and follow specific policies for storing e-mails and other data.
The rivalry is between chip giants Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. (AMD) The latest rift began March 5, when Intel sent a letter to the presiding judge in an AMD vs. Intel lawsuit saying some employees — including CEO Paul Otellini — may have deleted e-mails sought by AMD, and the e-mails might not be retrievable.
AMD issued an angry statement.
But now Intel is angry that AMD has issued statements that include transcripts of court proceedings taking place between the judge and attorneys for the two companies. On Friday, Intel wrote a letter to the court complaining about AMD's actions, saying AMD is trying "to exploit the (court) transcript." Intel's letter asked that "the parties discuss how they might cooperate going forward." AMD released this letter to the media.
The e-mail issue relates to a suit AMD filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in June 2005. AMD claims Intel uses unfair tactics to bully and pay off computer makers into buying its chips. Of all the suits between the two companies over the years, many legal experts say this is the most important.
And now, the lost e-mails. Analysts say a lot of companies are cavalier with their e-mail, but Intel's woes puts a spotlight on the issue.
"It's not whether they lost 1,000 e-mails or one, it's whether that e-mail could have helped AMD's case," said Deborah Johnson, a vice president of Orchestria, which makes software to help companies keep track of e-mails. "It's a huge blow to a case like this."
Many agree.
"If you lose anything, in a court of law people will think it was on purpose," said Douglas Freedman, of American Technology Research.
AMD says it will continue to press for the e-mails and explanations.
"The outcome of this (lawsuit) is likely to have a huge impact on the global IT (information technology) industry and the consumers it serves," said AMD legal affairs executive Thomas McCoy. "Given what's at stake, we will fight for the public's right to know the truth."
McCoy made the remark in a statement sent via e-mail to IBD in response to a request for an interview.
Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy says Intel made an honest mistake and means to set things right.
"We've found we've had a series of sort of human errors," Mulloy said in an interview. He says only "a relatively small" number of e-mails are affected.
"From December to (March 5) we had transferred the equivalent of 17 million pages of documents to AMD. And there will be millions more. We don't think this (loss) will impact AMD's ability to press their case," he said. "We're working very hard and expending millions of dollars to correct the situation."
Intel says it will provide an accounting by April 7.
Lost e-mails have played crucial roles in other cases.
One example is a suit against Morgan Stanley (MS) by billionaire Ronald Perelman in 2003 in Florida, claiming the bank defrauded him during a stock swap. The case turned in part on Morgan Stanley's inability to find e-mails that Perelman's attorney had requested.
In May 2005, a jury handed down a $1.45 billion verdict against Morgan Stanley. An appeal is pending.
In a 2004 case, Zubulake vs. UBS Warburg, UBS employee Laura Zubulake said the Swiss-based firm had passed her over for promotions because she's a woman. The court said UBS attorneys failed to stop routine destruction of e-mails. UBS says it and Zubulake reached a confidential settlement in 2005.
"These are the tip of the iceberg," said Matthew Smith, president of privately held messaging service provider LiveOffice. "More and more companies are going go be addressing this type of issue going forward. Based on this (the Intel e-mails), I'd bet many CEOs are getting briefed right now on how to archive e-mails."
« BACK