Intel $1.5 Billion Eurpean Speeding Ticket

Intel (INTC) announced along with encouraging earnings that they have paid a fine to the European commission of approximately $1.5 billion. The mega-buck fine is a slap on the wrist sanctioned because they were supposedly dumping through a rebate program. While it looks bad to pay huge fines, considering what it costs to acquire markets or companies with proprietary advantages, $1.5 billion is acceptable if your end game is dominance. The question becomes did the board understand the game and its outcome or did they just fluke this one.