The U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its two-year investigation of nVidia and ATI over suspicions the companies conspired to fix graphics chip prices. Both companies received letters from the DoJ saying the investigation had been dropped, but each still agreed to pay a $850,000 out of court fine.

Although little was known about specifics of the investigation, in December 2006, the companies confirmed receipt of subpoenas by the agency. The DoJ simply stated it was looking into: "The possibility of anticompetitive practices involving the graphics processing units and cards industry."

Delicious | Digg | Reddit | Technorati