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Oracle Sues Micron Over Price-Fixing Claims

REDWOOD SHORES (AP) - Oracle Corp. sued semiconductor maker Micron Technology Inc. in federal court over price-fixing claims.

In its complaint in U.S. District Court in California, Oracle says its Sun Microsystems business bought billions of dollars worth of microchips from 1998 to 2002.

Oracle, based in Redwood Shores, bought Sun in February.

Oracle says Boise-based Micron was among conspirators including South Korea's Hynix and Samsung and Germany's Infineon that artificially inflated microchip prices above what Sun should have paid, had the companies actually competed.

The lawsuit says five companies have agreed to a nearly $1 billion fine and that Micron was granted amnesty from a U.S.  Department of Justice criminal prosecution because it cooperated.

Micron also escaped a fine in a European case in May because it brought the case to regulators there.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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