FTC to Investigate Apple’s Conduct in Mobile-App Market

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will investigate whether Apple’s (AAPL) business practices harm competition in the market for software used on mobile devices, people familiar with the situation said.

For weeks, the FTC has been engaged in negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department over which agency would review allegations by companies that say they’re being shut-out of one of the most important emerging computing platforms.

Adobe Systems (ADBE) has been engaged in a public feud with Apple over its decision to ban Adobe’s Flash video technology from its mobile devices. This week, Apple also drew complaints from Google Inc. (GOOG) for imposing new rules on developers that could bar Google and other rivals from selling ads inside Apple’s iPhone and iPad applications.

Apple has also banned software developers from using other companies’ tools to develop software for its devices.

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