Apple Could Face Antitrust Inquiry Over Flash Ban [REPORT]
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been very clear on the matter of Flash, and why Apple won't let developers use a third party layer of software to create apps for their mobile devices, the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
The question is: is it fair towards developers and towards Adobe? This question will definitely be the subject of debate in the next couple of days as the New York Post reports that either Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission might begin an antitrust inquiry to determine into Apple's new policy, introduced a month ago with the revised section 3.3.1 of the the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement.
The New York Posts quotes a person familiar with the matter, which claims that regulators are "days away" from making a decision on which agency will launch the inquiry. The inquiry itself does not mean action will be taken against Apple, but it's a step in that direction.
Apple has been at the receiving end of several antitrust suits in its history, but hasn't yet suffered real damage. Could this time be different?
This probably won't be a popular opinion on an Adobe user group board... but I've got to say I'm with Apple on this.
ReplyDeleteIt's their device, and if they choose to only allow you to use a certain application, or ban the use of certain applications to produce software for the hardware they create, I feel they have every right to do so. It allows for greater control over the software/hardware integration of the device.
It may blow up in their face, but that's the risks one must be willing to take in business.
I don't do any mobile development, and don't really have any interest in doing so, so I'm not exact an expert on the field, but that's my opinion on this.