Monopoly?

Apple Faces Antitrust Investigation

Licensing of iPhone apps may be a violation.

A lost iPhone may be the least of Apple’s problems: Rumors are swirling that antitrust authorities may investigate the company after it issued a new licensing agreement for iPhone application developers that prevents them from using non-Apple software to create the apps. New advertising restrictions may also give the company’s iAd service an unfair leg up over other companies, and both new restrictions will be the subject of talks in the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, which will determine whether or not an inquiry is needed. The controversy is reminiscent of monopoly complaints against Microsoft in the 1990s and one official said, “Apple is playing right out of Microsoft’s playbook—and it’s one they complained about a lot.”