FTC launches antitrust probe against Twitter
01 Jul 2011
The US the Federal Trade Commission is moving to probe Twitter on the company's interactions with outside developers who build around its platform.
The FTC has approached several companies over Twitter's actions on its business, according to a developer who was contacted by the authorities and later spoke to CNNMoney.
Among those contacted was Uber Media, viewed as a competitor to Twitter. According to CNNMoney the rival firm had been contacted by the FTC and it intended to fully comply with their request for information.
In February Twitter suspended UberMedia's UberTwitter and twidroyd, citing policy violations, including trademark infringement. Twitter reinstated the apps' access after UberMedia made the changes to bring its applications into compliance.
According to sources tension has been mounting between Twitter and its developer community with the company looking to gain greater control over its platform. In May, Twitter acquired TweetDeck, one of the most popular third-party Twitter clients, which has been adding new features like photo-sharing.
The problems are rooted in Twitter's haphazard early growth, as it grew in fits and starts neglecting to develop essential features, with outside developers racing in to fill the gaps.
