The European Commission (EC) has fined Intel EUR376 million for abuse of a dominant position in the market for x86 central processing units (CPUs). The EC took issue with so-called "naked restrictions", which involved Intel paying computer manufacturers to cancel or postpone the launch of specific products containing competitors' x86 CPUs and to limit the sales channels available to these products. The authority found that this had a detrimental impact on competition by depriving customers of a choice they would otherwise have had. The conduct took place a long time ago, from November 2002 to December 2006. Intel was originally sanctioned by the EC – for the naked restrictions as well as for anti-competitive conditional rebates – in 2009, with a fine of EUR1.06bn. However, following appeals and subsequent EU court rulings, the conditional rebates part of the EC's decision was annulled.