The regulators’ interest comes in the wake of a dispute that broke out between
Apple and Adobe, a software maker, over the latest version of the iPhone
software, which was unveiled last month.
Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive, last week took the unusual step of writing
a public letter explaining his decision to bar Adobe’s software from his
company’s devices.
A decision on whether to open an investigation is at such an early stage that
the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have yet to agree
on which would take the lead in the matter. A decision is expected within a
week.
The person familiar with the matter said an investigation by either agency
would likely focus on allegations Apple operates a "closed"
system.
Forcing developers
In other words, federal officials are looking into whether the company is
unfairly forcing developers to use Apple’s own tools to develop apps for the
iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Apple declined to comment. The DoJ's antitrust division and the FTC declined
to comment.
In his rare missive on Apple's website last week, Mr Jobs sought to explain
why Apple's devices do not support Adobe's Flash, a widely used video
streaming technology.
"Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in
fact the opposite is true," he wrote.
Adobe's Flash has become a de facto standard for the industry to create web
games and present video, with about 75 per cent of video served on web sites
using Flash.
Interest in open standards
Simon Buckingham, an app developer in New York, says Mr Jobs has demonstrated
he is interested in open standards, including the HTML5 Web standard that
provides analternative way to rendering internet video.
However, some developers point out that apps developed for Apple products
cannot be used on other devices.
"Apple is making its platform richer, but also making it harder to switch
to others," said Bart Decrem, chief executive of Tapulous, which is one
of the biggest game developers for the iPhone.
With a big lead over rivals such as Google and Microsoft, "they think
it's prime-time now" to press their advantage by tying developers more
closely to their technology, he added.
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