FTC drops Cisco antitrust probe.

Cisco Systems Inc., the premier maker of computer networking gear, was cleared of wrongdoing in a limited antitrust probe by the Federal Trade Commission, Cisco officials said Tuesday. The Agency_s investigation, revealed by Cisco in October, focused on meetings last year between the San Jose, Calif., company and two leading rivals, Lucent Technologies Inc. and Canada_s Northern Telecom Ltd. "The routine inquiry by the FTC has ended," Cisco general counsel Dan Scheinman said in a telephone interview. A spokeswoman for the FTC confirmed that the probe was closed. Scheinman said the FTC notified the company last week that the investigation had ended. Cisco cooperated fully, participating in one meeting with the FTC and turning over a few boxes of documents, he said. While talks among rivals are not illegal, agreements among competitors to fix prices or split markets are prohibited under U.S. antitrust law.