DOJ and/or FTC may launch antitrust inquiry against Apple for developer policies

By on May 3, 2010 at 11:25 AM
mobile May 3, 2010

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The New York Post is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are, “locked in negotiations over which of the watchdogs will begin an antitrust inquiry into Apple’s new policy of requiring software developers who devise applications for devices such as the iPhone and iPad to use only Apple’s programming tools.” The Post, claiming to have “sources familiar with the matter,” goes on to say that the two government agencies, “are days away from making a decision about which agency will launch the inquiry.” The Post speculates that the inquiry is a byproduct of Apple’s hard-line on Flash, however, 9 to 5 Mac speculates (probably more accurately) that the inquiry is driven by Apple’s recent ban on third-party “rapid app development tools” and restrictions on “unauthorized programming code” as mandated by the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. Whatever the reasoning, it looks like Apple’s General Counsel will continue to earn their keep. What do you think? Should Apple have the right to exert totalitarian control over their development ecosystem… or, should they play nice and let others join in the fun?

Read – New York Post

Read – 9 to 5 Mac

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  • dean

    can somebody force you how to do in your house

  • StevenGlansburg

    I think this is just as absurd as when MS was sued in the 90s. Its apples platform and ecosystem, let them dictate it how they please. If you don’t like it then don’t buy it or develop for them. MS should do the same. If it becomes too intruisive it will solve itself through the natural flow of the market. Let’s Apple, MS and google control their own companies and how they are run.

    • Nerdherder

      The natural flow of the market would be to let dev’s use any tools they want, and if Adobe’s products are as bad as Steve Job’s says they are then consumers will flock to the better product. Thats how it’s supposed to work.

    • Patrick Moto Droid

      The “natural flow of the market” is what has led our country to it’s current economic situation. Companies get too big and when they fail, too many people are affected. In the big scheme of things Apple is a small company, not some big conglomerate that is buying up other companies…oh wait, aren’t they?

  • rg

    Soo… is Adobe on the hook for flash development or Microsoft for Silverlight? There are no other software dev tools for either of those other than what is supplied by the companies that create them.

    This really seems like a load of shit – why can’t Apple define a standard for how content is created for their own products? If anything it should make life easier, instead of n-number of disparate products that may/may not fully conform to dev requirements.

    If they do end up getting forced to allow multiple dev environments, maybe label apps accordingly, like “Apple Xcode verified application” or something. Just an idear.

    What they SHOULD be investigating is Apple’s arbitrary approval/denial process for apps…

    • blah

      @rg, It’s still a bit bizarre to limit a developers tools. On MS, there’s tons of tools. Android also has support for other development environments. At the very least, Apple should release development tools that can run on multiple platforms.

      So… if Adobe is on the hook, that’s up to them, but they shouldn’t be blocked either.

      Is it really that tough to develop a browser that supports plugins on the iPhone? That’s all adobe would need.

  • Dave

    General counsel too, i bet

  • mosamjc

    They should have the right to maintain their walled garden however they’d like, but they shouldn’t prevent the right of lepers, lawyers, and coders from happily living just outside the city walls. Exclusion from the app store and mainstream support is fine, but they shouldn’t prevent the end user from executing side loaded code code on a machine they lawfully purchased, no matter what flavor it may be.

    • Patrick Moto Droid

      Bottom line is that it is my computer/phone/ipod/etc and I should be able to run whatever program I decide. End of story!

  • Grady

    Thank god! Apple is communist on this stuff!

  • Roman

    Android 2003, why are you arguing from such an extreme? I’ve read quite of few of your comments over the past major articles and most of if not all have no value to the story at hand. Is this how you spend your day, smirking at your dumb-founded comments?

    • Android 2003

      @ Roman,

      While I can see where it is you were, I can only imagine where you could end up if you only knew where you were going. Other than that I can not explain attempted satire and/or sarcasm. Reading this sites nuttiness when speaking of “Fandroids and Fanboys” you would clearly see what it is I am doing. Information is the last thing anyone posting on this site is looking for. Everyone posting on this site is an expert in everything other than what they have as a career. Myself I do three things well:

      1. Build with wood
      2. Make money with money made from building with wood.
      3. Without making my wife blush……….her.

      Thank you.

      • Roman

        Regardless, you answered almost none of my question by telling me about your financial and personal life. I see the sarcasm and yes, it is quite difficult to get past the fanboyism, but your only adding fuel to the fire.

        Sometimes its better not to be the devil’s advocate…

    • Dara

      The actual answer is that Jarrett realized that nobody wanted to hear his asinine bleating so he decided to simply start making the same noises as commenters who people seemed to actually listen to.

      The reason it sounds so extreme is that he has absolutely no idea why people were criticizing his beloved Apple.

      Like the cargo cults that sprung up after WWII trying to land planes by building towers and wearing coconut headsets, he’s just simply trying to emulate the people who consistently got the better of him and comes off looking, as always, like a complete jackass.

  • scarshapedstar

    “If you don’t like it then don’t buy it or develop for them.”

    Um… this would make more sense if Apple hadn’t already pulled the rug out *at the last minute* from under a finished product, namely Adobe’s.

    People have already sunk costs into development with non-Jobs-approved tools and now Apple is telling them that they have a Hobson’s choice between restarting development with certified racially pure Aryan Apple code, or just canceling the whole project. Well thank you sir may I have another! No, no need to use lube, Mr. Jobs!

    God bless America and the free market!

    • Android 2003

      Maybe the dumbest comment ever. Almost a finished product? Are you serious?

      • scarshapedstar

        Ok, then. I guess Apple waited until everyone had finished developing products and took a deep breath and announced that nobody could link to non-Apple code and it was a totally level playing field.

      • Cynder70

        Adobe was warned many times about Flash development on the iPhone before any public acknowledgement of it.

        Instead, Adobe believe it would be able to leverage it’s position so force Apple to open it’s platform and then cried like a petulant child when it didn’t.

      • lolwut

        Adobe had been publicizing their support for Flash export to iPhone for months…. then 3 days before the media event unveiling Adobe CS5, Apple changes the developer agreement.

        If a subpoena finds a single email between Apple employees suggesting changing the developer agreement at this time to spite Adobe, they’re sunk.

      • Lolipopjones

        And? There is a company called gamesworkshop that sells models, paints, and whatever for its games and hobbies. Their stores allow you to play, paint, and build models but the catch is all that stuff must be GW products. If you go into their stores using other products they will kick you out.

        This is no different then apple. If you want to keep your warranty then you must go through apple for its products. If you want to develop for Apple you have to use a free set of tools that they supply. I see no problem with what they are doing. If a developer doesn’t like what apple is forcing they can either A make apps for Android, WebOS, and WM or B make apps for Jailbroken iphones.

        Oh and yes i now you have to void your warranty to jailbreak your iphone…. Thats no different then having to void your warranty on your car if you wish to put an aftermarket turbo or any aftermarket engine upgrade. Jailbreaking is not illegal and it isn’t illegal to make apps for jailbroken iphones.

      • MicroNix

        They why is Microsoft *forced* to bundle other browsers now with *their* OS? It’s THEIR OS that they license you rights to use. You don’t know a thing about what you speak…

      • johne

        Actually, lolipopjones, in the US, under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975, it is unlawful for a car dealer to “void your warranty” because you’ve installed after market parts. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 applies to any consumer product over $15 that is sold with a warranty. Apples behavior is almost certainly in violation of this act, and one of the reasons this act was passed was to stop big companies (read: car manufactures) from locking out competitors under the color of “you’ll void your warranty” and placing unreasonable restrictions on what you can do with something you own.

        http://autos.aol.com/article/warranty-and-aftermarket-parts/

        This means that, under the provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975, an automotive dealership/carmaker cannot void your warranty because your vehicle has been modified with aftermarket parts. They (the manufacturers) have to prove that the failure was the direct result of the installed aftermarket part. Unfortunately, too many folks have gone to a dealer to have warranty service performed on their modified vehicle only to have the dealer refuse to cover the defective items. The dealer usually states, that because of the aftermarket parts installed, the warranty is void (without even attempting to determine whether or not the aftermarket part caused the problem). This is illegal…period.

  • Brad

    @rg – “why can’t Apple define a standard for how content is created for their own products?”

    They do have a standard. Their standard is “we make the rules, and reserve the right to change them in the blink of an eye, and you are expected to accept all such changes without any complaint.”

    You do raise an interesting point, about only being able to develop Flash with Adobe’s developer software. However, Flash code can be written for numerous platforms, meaning there won’t be any artificial monopoly being created for a single platform, because that’s the only place Flash will run. Apple, on the other hand, seeks to control every aspect of the user experience, both software and hardware. They will only allow iPhone apps to be written with their development software (they can control how you code the apps), they choose whether or not your app is acceptable for consumers (content censorship), they will only allow your app to be distributed via their app store (controlling distribution, potential for price fixing), and the apps only run on devices produced by Apple. That is the single most closed computing environment on the face of the planet. As far as walled gardens go, this one’s got 100 foot high walls. If it wasn’t for extreme public outrage in the DRM department, the music they sell would still be locked to iTunes and iPods as well. Microsoft could only dream about creating such a closed ecosystem.

  • PrivateBlinky

    From a TECHNICAL standpoint, the fact is this: by Apple limiting the developer app tools, they can further guarantee that whatever programs were designed by Apple’s tools WILL work with the iPhone ecosystem. Everyone always hate dealing with a buggy app, and Apple tries its best to limit ANY complaints/issues to its devices and software.

    (When a ‘joe consumer’ gets ticked off by a buggy app, guaranteed they will always complain to Apple first, not to the app developer)

    I’m not approving of Apple’s methods to limit dev tools, I’m just saying this type of mentality from them has ensured that Apple has put out products that are more difficult to ‘break’ (by both devs and consumers alike), so Apple has less fires to put out on “who’s fault is it” when an app does the hoocha-goocha.

    One of Apple’s greatest strength is that it’s developed a product that is limited in external support, so they can provide a great device ecosystem for the end-user.
    This is also their greatest weakness…

    My .02

    • MikeD

      Well said and very reasonable pro and cons you brought up.

      Apple like any other company can and should be able to decide what tools should be used to develop apps for their platform. Other companies have standards regarding how to bring apps to their platform including Nintendo, Microsoft Xbox, and Son Playstation.

      All these companies want to make sure that the best efforts are made to take advantage of the hardware they have created.

      Sony suffered its first two years because a lot of the games that came to the PS3 were ports of games that were original developed for the Xbox 360 limitations. But when you had games strictly dev’d or at least dev’d first for the PS3, the results were incredible.

      Apple just wants to ensure that developers are optimizing to the fullest for their platform. It makes sense.

      The true challenge for Apple is to have the right balance as to not chase away good developers, but its fine if it chases away the lazy.

      • QuesoGrande

        You guys talk as if the app store is an open market like Android has. It isn’t. Apple maintains 100% control of what gets in. If they were simply worried about the quality of apps getting through, then that would cover it.

        No. It’s a method/philosophy for forcing people to buy more macs and Apple developer tools and forcing everyone though the app store.

        What 99% of the discussions fail to address is that Flash is used for much more than video today. Sophisticated apps are built on top of Flash. Why not let the user decide if they want to visit a web page to use an app built on Flash? It has nothing to do with ‘crashing’ or user experience. It has everything to do with Apple not getting a 30% cut via the app store.

        And before you say it, no, Flash apps are not a viable alternative to -all- native iPhone apps… but for many of the simpler ones, absolutely. A developer could write cross-platform apps using Flash.. not only that, but they wouldn’t have to give money to Apple. That’s what Apple doesn’t want. That is anti-competitive practice and is ultimately bad for the consumer and industry as a whole.

      • Lolipopjones

        Thats a load of bullshit you just spewed there. Why? Because like any platform you are not forced to buy an iphone. This is like buying a brand new 370z and then bitching that Nissan is screwing you because you can’t put a corvette engine in the car without voiding your warranty.

        Their appstore does not have to be open… Its a corporate store that sells products that must conform to their sets of rules. This is not anti-competitive because their is nothing stopping Developers from making an App thats they made for Android or WM. They just have to remake the App for the iphone using tools they do not have to buy.

        As far as limiting competition… This shit is absurd. This is no different then if aftermarket tuning companies bitched about how Car Manufactures void their customers warranties for putting in aftermarket parts. If i bought a brand new Genesis Coup and then decided to tune it I would lose that 100,000 mile warranty in a heartbeat even if their was a factory defect on the car.

        And before you try to argue this…This situation is no different. Apple can literally argue that products not built by their standards that don’t use their tools can cause a decrease of quality and make their product unstable. SInce they constantly upgrade their OS they can easily argue like they do now that products using cross compilers that aren’t made for specifically for their device can cause issues because every upgrade the apps become absolutely useless and crash.

      • QuesoGrande

        Relax. First, go back, re-read and comprehend. Where did I complain about the app store being controlled? I’ll answer for you.. I didn’t.
        What I said is that if there is a concern about the quality of apps, that Apple could check it at the front gate and not let it in. It’s just a decoy to distract the gullible.
        Second, Flash can circumvent the app store… meaning Apple potentially doesn’t get revenue for that. That is their real motivation for *blocking* Flash. Realize too that there is a difference between blocking something and simply not supporting it.
        You just need to relax and really think about what you’re saying. I’m not going to go into a bunch of silly analogies about cars, engines, etc. I could do the exact same thing illustrating anticompetitive practices that would piss you off as a consumer… but I won’t. Because it’s really simple and it’s right there in front of you. If you don’t get it or don’t want to believe it, then there’s nothing more I do for you.

      • QuesoGrande

        By the way, I find this quite amusing…
        http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/apple-scratch-app/

      • johne

        “This is like buying a brand new 370z and then bitching that Nissan is screwing you because you can’t put a corvette engine in the car without voiding your warranty.”

        That would be because it /is/ illegal for Nissan to screw you over by voiding your warranty because you put a new engine in your 370z.

        http://autos.aol.com/article/warranty-and-aftermarket-parts/

        It’s funny you keep using a car analogy to make your point- “This is no different then if aftermarket tuning companies bitched about how Car Manufactures void their customers warranties for putting in aftermarket parts.” You don’t seem to understand that it /IS/ illegal for a car manufacture to void their customers warranties like this or to do most of the things your claiming they can do, even for the reasons that your using to justify the behavior. And it’s been illegal for a long time.

        Car manufactures tried this exact same thing in the past. Guess what? In the US (at least) laws got passed which explicitly made this kind of behavior illegal. Those same laws are still on the books. They unquestionably apply to Apple as well (any consumer product over $15 sold with a warranty).

        The /exact/ same arguments were used by car manufactures- after market parts “won’t meet our high quality standards”, etc, etc. No one bought it then, and they got smacked down something fierce for their effort. A lot of consumer protection laws were passed as a result… and those exact same laws now apply to Apple and make it clear that what Apple is doing is illegal.

      • MikeD

        I think you just answered it yourself.

        “…Flash apps are not a viable alternative to -all- native iPhone apps…”

        So if thats what Apple wants? or any other company whats the problem with that?

      • QuesoGrande

        I don’t get what you’re asking…. ?

  • Dale Thomas

    its a pity I love their products. cuz I am beginning to hate apple the company more and more.

    • TypicalAndroidFanboyDBAG

      yes yes yes!!!! come to the world of Android, where we preach open source, but largely have no appreciation for what it really means!

    • Cynder70

      It’s a matter of perspective. There are plenty of people that want to exploit the success of Apple and impose their viewpoint, tools, ideas, etc.

      It’s this open market without a clear direction that waters down the products and makes them only 80% of what Apple offers.

      Certainly there is room for both an open and closed designs.

  • better apps please

    privateblinky is so right. it’s like this lame boy genius app closes out all the time and the hyper links don’t work no landscape support. where the engadget app is really stable and functions better over all. I wonder if BGR is slow on updating or uses none apple approved tools to write thier app.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • Glickkman

    For all of the years that Apple bitched about Microsoft being anti competitive, they are making some pretty “ballsy” moves themselves. It seems they are pushing these issues to see how far they actually can go. For me, its just another good reason to keep as far away from anything thats Apple.

    • Cynder70

      I always love the “open market” advocates who then bitch about competition. Waaaah!

  • http://howIpad.com how ipad

    spirit jailbreak is out & here are instructions on how to enable flash video on your iPad!

    http://howipad.com/2010/05/03/how-to-play-flash-video-on-ipad/

  • Drew

    Karma’s a bitch named Justice.

  • EnoughStupidity

    An education for those that don’t know the history.

    Netscape invented and brought the web browser to market.
    That webbrowser had 100% marketshare on Windows.
    Microsoft saw the future (thanks to another company) and decided to make a browser.
    Microsoft made their browser free and bundled it with the OS.
    Naturally new PC owners used IE by default, no choice to use netscape.

    Apple isn’t telling Devs they can’t create Apps with Flash or a Flash wrapper. They are only telling Devs that those Apps will not be granted access to their store. Those Devs can certainly place those Apps in all of those other successful App Stores.

    • eric

      What ARE you talking about.

      Netscape did not invent web browsers. Tim Berners-Lee invented the web browser – using a NeXT workstation. (Next evolved into OS X.)

      Do you understand 100 percent? Macs had web browsers, UNIX machines had web browsers, etc. That’s not 100 percent Windows.

      They had a choice to use Netscape – pay $30 for it and you can use it.

      What other successful App stores? :-D (Okay, that was a joke.)

  • xclntgig

    Adobe’s last gasp? The quicker Adobe developers accept progress the sooner we can all move on to more important things

  • t

    When you buy an apple product, aren’t you buying integrity and with that -piece of mind?

  • eric

    Dudes!

    It’s the NEW YORK POST!

    Their accuracy is about the equivalent of John Dvorak, Rob Enderle, Paul Thurrott and the Magic 8 Ball all rolled into one.

  • Fred

    There are some pretty good arguments here but for me it’s more about the tool that is intuitive than the one that has a bigger learning curve before I can be productive in real world use. For that reason i use an I-phone3gs, but will keep a close eye on the competition, in the event they become as intuative.

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