Apple Inc. might face an investigation by the Department of Justice (DoJ) after U.S. lawmakers have asked for an investigation into reports that the Cupertino giant has been blocking an app developed by Beeper. The Beeper app brings iMessage to Android users. Congresspersons from both parties—Democrats and Republicans came together and wrote a letter to the Justice Department asking for a probe.
A bipartisan group of Congresspersons has written a letter asking the U.S. Department of Justice to look into Apple’s “potential anticompetitive treatment of the Beeper mini messaging application.” The letter that was addressed to U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kanter also mentioned that “interoperability and interconnections” help drive “competition and consumer choice in communications services.”
Four U.S. Congresspersons signed the letter. They include
Senator Amy Klobuchar—a Democrat from Minneapolis
Senator Mike Lee—a Republican from Utah
Representative Jerry Nadler—a Democrat from New York and
Representative Ken Buck—Republican from Colorado.
The lawmakers refer to a description of Apple as a “gatekeeper” that had a “monopoly position” in its mobile app ecosystem, according to the Department of Commerce. They want the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division to investigate Apple’s recent actions barring the services of Beeper’s app.
Beeper developed an app called Beeper Mini that could provide Android users access to Apple’s iMessage. Although initially charged a small fee, it made the app free. However, the app began acting up and some web fans were unable to use Beeper Mini’s iMessage integration.
Apple later confirmed that it had blocked an iMessage exploit. Beeper found another way to make iMessage work on Android, this time it required an Apple ID. A few days ago, Beeper said that Apple had been deliberately blocking the delivery of iMessages to about 5 percent of web fans who use Beeper Mini and was working on resolving this.
The back and forth between the two tech companies was cited as a reason why the Congresspersons have referred the matter to the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department and want them to investigate.
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