Apple may face EU antitrust probe

Apple could be facing another antitrust probe, this time in the EU, according to a new report published over the weekend.

iPhone 4 Cameras Rethink Wireless says that EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes is using Apple’s App Store as an example of a closed environment. That’s not good news for Apple as the EU begins focusing on open platforms and interoperability.

“We need to make sure that significant market players cannot just choose to deny interoperability with their product,” said Kroes. “This is particularly important in cases where standards don’t exist… This is not just about Microsoft or any big company like Apple, IBM or Intel. The main challenge is that consumers need choice when it comes to software or hardware products.”

Apple is facing antitrust allegations at home in the U.S. too. The DoJ is reportedly looking into complaints from Adobe, after Apple refused to allow Flash on its mobile iOS platform.

The DoJ is also looking into Apple’s business practices in the music industry. They have spoken to major music labels after allegations that Apple is pressuring music companies to withdraw support for Amazon.com’s MP3 Daily Deal.

Eric

If all of this is true, it could be that Apple has to open up a bit. But I’m thinking it’s Android that is going to be the reason they won’t have to. People have choice. I choose reliability and great apps without the hassel of software upgrades not working for one-year-old hardware and not knowing if an app I download will even work. Or have spam/malware.
A different Eric

I’m not even sure what the commissioner wants. I’m guessing she wants multiple ways for an Apple consumer to buy iOS software other than just through Apple’s App store as in the way Android users can where the developer can sell their app through other means than the Android Market Place. If so, that wouldn’t be hard for Apple to do on a technical level. But would it really benefit the consumer? Apple will almost certainly flag up an automatic disclaimer for any app not registered through the Apple store that the user decides to run on an iOS device warning of potential issues and tell consumers that Apple couldn’t be held responsible for apps that misuse location data, burn battery time, run poorly, don’t perform what the app claims, etc. This may benefit certain developers but they’re not consumers. I think consumers will flock to this alternative buying experience the way people choose to hang around full restaurant Eurobins on a hot muggy day. If she gets her way I bet some infantesimally small number of people use this great advance for EU consumers. Horray for the EU, score another victory bloated beaurocracy. Colour me cynical about this one.
Mathue

Maybe I’m missing their train of thought on ‘The main challenge is that consumers need choice when it comes to software or hardware products’ but isn’t there a whole bunch of other phones and software out there?

As for pressuring music distributers about doing exclusive deals with the iTunes store it doesn’t sound any different than brick and mortar stores having exclusives or electronics stores having exclusive model numbers.

Certainly there are many more egregious examples to use EU money on investigating than this?