Malicious compliance, AT&T, Apple and the FCC
Friday, 31 July, 2009 — apple government iphone
The FCC is looking into Apple’s rejection of Google Voice from the App Store and post-release removal of other Google Voice apps.
Apple has iPhone developer trouble brewing and there are several reconsidering their commitment to iPhone application development. Mint and Fever developer Shaun Inman suggested an App Store reviewer was “practicing malicious compliance.”
Developers are pounding Apple from one side. User are on the other, with AT&T coverage in major cities getting worse. San Francisco sounds like iPhone utility is about nil on 3G, Austin’s AT&T coverage during SxSW fell apart. AT&T hasn’t announced tethering or MMS plans yet, roughly two months after WWDC.
Setting aside some of the truly moronic app denials and that any app accessing the Internet now has to be marked as 17+ in the App Store, what if Apple is done with AT&T’s exclusivity in the US? What if there was a non-trivial amount of time to run on the contract, but Apple can’t force AT&T into a better network upgrade timetable. What if instead of (or only) playing hardball in negotiating extensions to AT&T’s exclusivity, Apple decided to give AT&T exactly everything AT&T asked for with regard to preserving the network, as it is now.
If AT&T decides an app is potentially harmful – whether or not the same app runs on BlackBerries – it tells Apple to pull the app. Apple looks at the contract and says, “Fine, here you go.” That happens enough and sure enough the FCC starts asking questions. Apple points to the contract and says, “These are the terms and conditions we feel we need to stay in compliance with.”
I have two questions. Can the FCC void the contract or decree that Apple must also support the iPhone on another GSM carrier (T-Mobile)? Would Apple play this strategy in the hope that AT&T would request an app to be pulled that would trigger an inquiry?
I presume the FCC has some regulatory authority to cure a competitive deficit, and it looks like they’re interested in doing so. From all appearances, Apple’s pissed, but, if it is a strategy, it’s a gamble that it won’t backfire.