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Apple facing EU antitrust probe

by on06 July 2010


Open your (app)store please
Apple has had a good run over the past couple of months, but now it seems to be in some hot water in Euroland.

EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes announced plans to launch a probe into interoperability between smartphone platforms. More specifically, Kroes used Apple’s App Store as an example of a closed platform. The EU is rethinking its antitrust agenda and it’s considering making it a bit more strict. A company would no longer have to have a “dominant” market position to face the wrath of regulators, it would merely have to have a “significant” position.

Kross believes that the regulatory overhaul would deny major companies the right to limit interoperability in their products. This would mean that Apple would be targeted for not allowing third party development on its platforms, i.e. barring Adobe Flash support.

Mind you, Kross has quite an impressive track record in antitrust cases. She has already managed to impose massive fines against Microsoft and Intel, so Apple should probably be alarmed.

More here.
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