‘American FTC and DOJ investigate possible thwarting of Beeper by Apple’

The US Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are reportedly investigating whether Apple wrongfully thwarted the Beeper platform. Beeper’s service for using iMessage on Android devices may have been wrongly prevented by Apple.

Having two people involved to The New York Times said that Beeper Mini representatives spoke with antitrust attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice, the DOJ, on December 12. Several members of a subcommittee on barriers to competition are said to have sent a letter to the ministry following the controversy surrounding Beeper. Concerns were expressed about possible restrictions on competition by Apple.

Furthermore, the American newspaper refers to a blog post which was published by the FTC on December 21. In the publication, the market watchdog does not mention any names, but does say: “Companies justify hindering the interoperability of products and services with services from other companies with claims about privacy and security.” This statement is completely consistent with the situation surrounding Apple and Beeper, but as yet the FTC has not officially acknowledged that it is investigating the companies.

Beeper has been at the center of the controversy surrounding interoperability between iMessage and Android platforms since early December. The Beeper Mini service, which makes all iPhone-exclusive functions of the chat app available on Android devices, stopped working a few days after its release. CEO Eric Migicovsky blamed Apple. Apple subsequently confirmed that it was taking action against the service due to “significant security and privacy risks.” Beeper then made several attempts to circumvent Apple’s measures, with the companies continuously responding to each other’s measures.