Apple Beeper Mini block overview:
- Who: Sen.s Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Ken Buck, R-Colo., have asked the Department of Justice’s antitrust division to review whether Apple violated antitrust laws by blocking the Beeper Mini app.
- Why: The lawmakers argue Apple is, among other things, harming competition by taking steps to block Beeper Mini, which allows Android users to send and receive iMessages.
- Where: Beeper Mini, if not blocked, would be available to Android users nationwide.
A group of lawmakers has referred Apple to the Department of Justice’s antitrust division after the technology company acted to disable the new Beeper Mini app, which allowed Android users to send and receive iMessages.
Sen.s Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Ken Buck, R-Colo., urged the DOJ in a letter over the weekend to look into whether Apple’s efforts to disable the application violated antitrust laws, according to Law360.
In addition to the four lawmakers, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., while not signing the letter herself, wrote on the social media platform X over earlier this month that she disapproved of Apple’s decision to disable the Beeper Mini app.
“So why would Apple block a new app allowing Android users to chat with iPhone users on iMessage?” Warren wrote. “Big Tech executives are protecting profits by squashing competitors. Chatting between different platforms should be easy and secure.”
Apple blocking Beeper Mini harms competition, eliminates consumer choice, lawmakers argue
Apple reportedly took steps to intentionally block the Beeper Mini app only days after it was first launched as a way to allow Android users to send and receive iMessages rather than having to use unencrypted SMS technology.
In their letter, the lawmakers said they were concerned that Apple’s efforts to disable the Beeper Mini application harms competition, eliminates a consumer’s ability to choose and “discourages future innovation and investment in interoperable messaging services,” Law360 reports.
“We also fear these types of tactics may more broadly chill future investment and innovation from those that seek to compete with existing digital gatekeepers,” the lawmakers wrote, as reported by Law360.
Beeper Mini reportedly went live earlier this month; however, Apple within days worked to shut down the application, arguing that it was a security concern and that it had simply taken steps to block techniques that “exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage.”
Apple responded to a separate class action lawsuit earlier this year by telling a Washington federal court that an agreement it has with Amazon exists to prevent counterfeit Apple products from being sold on its marketplace.
Do you believe Apple should be allowed to block the Beeper Mini application? Let us know in the comments.
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I have an Apple iZphone 11 and have purchased many. Please keep me updated