Long arm of the government is stretching out

[samintx]

Government keeping eye on Apple as its power grows
Business First
Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2012, 6:36am EDT

The federal government and antitrust experts are watching Apple Inc. closely for signs the company might be wielding its power to stifle competition in the entertainment and mobile electronics markets in which is operates.
According to an MSNBC report, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has yet to garner the same level of antitrust scrutiny that technology giants Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) drew from the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission as they gained significant market share.
The report noted that Apple has raised some antitrust concerns, such as a warning from regulators that its deals with five book publishers illegally drove up prices on electronic books.
Some experts said the reason Apple has not faced more antitrust challenges is because the company is relatively young in its dominance of markets for mobile devices and tablet computers.

[cbelt3]

Continues to be doomed and beleaguered.

[Drew]

Can buying up supply of available parts through pre-orders, etc. be considered monopolistic? If I was a competitor, I wouldn't be happy about that.

[Seacrest]

Drew wrote:
Can buying up supply of available parts through pre-orders, etc. be considered monopolistic? If I was a competitor, I wouldn't be happy about that.

Competitors?

[deckeda]

The federal government and antitrust experts are watching Apple Inc. closely

According to an MSNBC report, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has yet to garner the same level of antitrust scrutiny that technology giants Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) drew from the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission as they gained significant market share.

Which is it, again? How do you watch closely but not scrutinize?

I will bring you down, baby. I've got my eyes on you.

[Jimmypoo]

Apple is inscrutable.

Thanks to all the Chinese SLAVES that build everything at the command of Steve and now Tim!!

[Ken Sp.]

Start scrutizing Apple more so Apple will have to pay lobbyists more, which in turn will pay thieving politicians more.

[OWC Jamie]

Ken Sp. wrote:
Start scrutizing Apple more so Apple will have to pay lobbyists more, which in turn will pay thieving politicians more.

Everyone wants a slice of Apple pie - it's the American way.

[silvarios]

Less cynical take than government money grab. Apple is stretching the boundaries of competitive behavior. I would look into Apple pulling the rug out from under their partners with the 30% bait and switch. "Hey guys, support out platform. Your apps are free? No problem. Wait, you sell eBooks? We want a bigger slice, either cripple your in app purchasing or give us a cut?"

Couple such behavior with similar decisions such as suddenly requiring iPod video out dongles to be chipped after years of allowing third party cables (just happened to raise prices and bring more money to Apple) or suing multiple Android companies with similarly dubious attacks that echo the ridiculous "look and feel" lawsuits of the eighties.