****ing Apple

[Hauldren Collider]

it's not going to work, asher.

[Ben Kenobi]

Selfbiased wins post of the year award.

[MikeH]

There's a guide somewhere on the internet about how Goatse was photoshopped, if any of you want to make your own.

[Asher]

Apple has now earned itself a third consecutive look into anticompetitive behaviour from the FTC:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/06/iphone-analytics-policy-catching-attention-of-ftc-and-doj.ars

iPhone analytics policy catching attention of FTC and DoJ
By Chris Foresman | Last updated about 3 hours ago
The row between Google and Apple over the strict iPhone analytics information sharing policies, which Google and its AdMob subsidiary claim unfairly shuts them out of iPhone and iPad advertising in favor of Apple's iAd, may face antitrust scrutiny. According to the Financial Times, US regulators are looking into the situation, though it's not yet clear if a formal investigation will happen.

Apple expressed concern about the information that third parties were gathering about its devices and users, and is implementing major changes to the iPhone Developer Agreement for iOS 4 to limit what information could be shared with third parties. Over concerns that the changes could eliminate all third-party advertisers form the platform, Apple further modified the rules to allow third-party advertisers not affiliated with a competing mobile platform.

AdMob founder Omar Hamoui called Apple's changes unfair, claiming that "the terms hurt both large and small developers by severely limiting their choice of how best to make money." He further suggested that the changes "are bad for consumers as well," since many free apps are funded by ads.

The potential probe into Apple's actions comes after the Federal Trade Commission recently concluded an investigation into Google's acquisition of AdMob, which suggested that competition from Apple was an important factor in its decision to approve the merger. According to FT's sources, it's not clear if an investigation, if it happens, would fall under the purview of the FTC or the Department of Justice.

Apple is also facing possible antitrust scrutiny over its policy of discouraging music labels from participating in special price promotions on Amazon MP3, as well as changes to its developer agreement which prohibits using cross-compilers and nonnative frameworks to write code for iOS apps. No formal investigations have yet begun over those issues.

In all three cases, whether or not Apple's actions are deemed worthy of a formal antitrust complaint hinges on whether the policies can be proven to harm consumers. "It has to affect consumers, not just rival suppliers," William Comaner, a University of California professor and former US Federal Trade Commission chief economist, told FT. In the case of the analytics policy, he said it's not certain that Apple is breaking any laws, especially since the policy doesn't single out Google, but Microsoft as well, since it also owns its own mobile ad firm.