FTC probes Twitter for antitrust abuses

[ej510]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into Twitter, focusing on the company's interactions with outside developers who build around its platform.
The FTC has asked several companies in the Twitter ecosystem about how Twitter's actions have affected their business, one developer who has been contacted told CNNMoney.

Twitter declined to comment on the investigation.
Uber Media, which has been viewed as a competitor to Twitter, was among those the FTC reached out to.
"We have been contacted by the FTC, and we intend to fully comply with their request for information," a company representative told CNNMoney.
In February, Twitter suspended UberMedia's UberTwitter and twidroyd, two popular apps used for mobile Twitter access. Twitter cited policy violations, including trademark infringement. UberMedia scrambled to make changes to bring its applications into compliance, and Twitter reinstated the apps' access soon after.

Multiple sources say there's been mounting tension between Twitter and its developer community as the company matures and and exerts greater control over its platform. In May, Twitter acquired TweetDeck, one of the most popular third-party Twitter clients. The site has been adding new features like photo-sharing that compete with functionality offered by established outside ventures.

More at the link: http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/30/technology/ftc_twitter_investigation/

[phasma ex machina]

1. Twitter's stepping on too many mass media toes I take it. nt

[ej510]

2. Twitter has broken too many stories. It allows stories to be broken immediately.