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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (500464)	8/2/2009 2:44:09 PM
From: Taro	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1583869

The fairness doctrine makes strides into other areas. Taro Should the FCC Force Apple to Stock Competitive Products in Its Own Store? (by: Vincent Fernando August 02, 2009) The Federal Communications Commission has launched an inquiry into why Apple Inc. rejected Google Inc.'s Internet-telephony software for the popular iPhone, another sign of the Obama administration's stepped-up scrutiny of competitive practices in the technology industry. In letters sent late Friday to the two companies and AT&T Inc., the FCC asked why Apple rejected the Google Voice application for the iPhone and removed related applications from its App Store. This will be ridiculous if it moves forward. Apple (AAPL) just entered the phone space, it might be a little early to say that their iPhone has some sort of insurmountable competitive barrier. Furthermore, I like how the FCC is studying whether it was wrong for Apple to chose which products should be sold in it's own shop. I mean, it's pretty normal that if someone owned their own store, they wouldn't want to place threatening products from their competitors in it. I don't think Starbucks (SBUX) would want to have Dunkin Donuts coffee as an option in its own shops, for instance. Earlier this year, the non-profit Internet group Free Press asked the FCC to look into why Apple put restrictions on eBay Inc.'s Skype's iPhone application so that it would work on Wi-Fi hotspots, but not over AT&T's 3G wireless network. The agency hasn't launched an inquiry into that case. The FCC's request for information is part of a broader inquiry on exclusive deals between cellphone carriers and handset manufacturers for popular phones. Isn't this again pretty fair behavior by anyone who is trying to survive as a business? I mean, when your distribution of phones depends on wireless network owners (this time AT&T (T)) making money, you should have the choice as to what software you want for the phone design that you created and own. Hopefully this goes nowhere. Now, arguing whether Apple should or should not block certain apps, as a matter of their own choice and benefits, is fair game. But forcing them to incorporate competitive threats into their own design and own store would be to trample over their rights of ownership. This reminds me of the many attacks Microsoft has faced whereby it has been forced to poke holes in it's own products, except even worse given how recently Apple even entred the mobile phone space.