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On June 3, 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at Apple's Global Developer Conference in San Jose, California. REUTERS / Mason Trinca
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US Department of Justice is vouching for a possible investigation of Apple Inc. as part of a wider review to determine whether technology giants are using their size to act anticompetitively, have told Reuters.
The Antitrust Division of the Ministry of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have met in recent weeks and agreed to give the Justice Department the power to initiate potential antitrust investigations on Apple and Google, the property of Alphabet Inc., said these sources.
The FTC has been allowed to consult Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc., said the same sources.
The sources did not specify the government's potential concerns about Apple.
Spotify Technology SA, the leader in streaming music, has criticized the iPhone manufacturer's practices, describing the company as anti-competitive in a complaint filed with the European Union's competition authorities. Spotify's complaint is based on a 30% fee. Apple is asking content-based service providers to use Apple's integrated purchasing system.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has already defended its practices by stating that it receives a commission only if a good or a service is sold via an application. "Our users trust Apple – and this trust is critical to the way we run a fair and competitive store for the distribution of developer applications," said earlier.
Reporting by Diane Bartz, edited by G Crosse and Bill Rigby
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