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Hot Off Wire: Feds to probe Apple rules for developers; Interactive Data sold for $3.4B; China targets ‘overseas hostile forces’

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A roundup of the latest high-tech news “Hot Off the Wire” from The Associated Press and Local Tech Wire:

• Apple may face antitrust probe

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators plan to examine whether Apple Inc. is violating antitrust rules by requiring software developers to use Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) programming tools to create applications for the iPhone and iPad.

A person with knowledge of the inquiry tells The Associated Press that officials at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are sorting out which agency will examine Apple's policy. The policy could prevent developers from using outside tools such as those from Adobe Systems Inc. to design apps for Apple's devices.

The person with knowledge of the inquiry, who was not authorized to speak publicly, noted that it is in a preliminary stage. The government regularly scrutinizes corporate conduct without taking action.

Apple did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

A key question facing federal regulators is whether Apple hurts competition in the mobile device market by forcing software developers to choose between designing apps that can run only on the iPhone and iPad and those that can run on rival devices such as Google Inc.'s Android phones and Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry.

Apple's new policy has also raised concerns for Adobe, which includes Flash as part of a suite of software tools sold to professional designers and Web developers. Although Apple's decision to ban Flash limits what its iPhone and iPad can do, the popularity of the devices has led many software developers to design apps without the format.

Last week, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs defended the company's decision in a lengthy Web posting arguing that "letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in substandard apps." Jobs criticized Flash for, among other things, causing performance problems with mobile devices.

Adobe had no comment Tuesday. But last week, the company said in a statement that Apple's "attempt to position this solely as a technology issue is a smoke screen." Instead, Adobe said, Apple was trying to protect a business model that locks developers and consumers into its tools and services.

• Interactive Data is being sold for $3.4B

BEDFORD, Mass. - Interactive Data Corp. (NYSE: IDC), which provides financial information and tools to analyze it, said Tuesday it has agreed to a $3.4 billion takeover by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus as private equity firms begin to return to leveraged buyouts.

Interactive’s biggest shareholder, U.K. publisher Pearson PLC, and its board of directors approved the deal. Pearson publishes Penguin books, the Financial Times and The Economist periodicals and education materials.

Interactive Data stockholders will receive $33.86 in cash for each share they own. This represents an approximately 33 percent premium over its Jan. 14 stock price, the last trading day before it decided to explore options. It is also a 3 percent premium over Interactive’s Monday closing stock price of $32.99.

The acquisition is a positive sign for private equity deals, which stalled after the financial crisis froze credit markets. With economic conditions and credit markets improving, private equity firms have re-entered the fray. Recent leveraged buyouts include Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of CKE Restaurants Inc., the owner of fast food chains Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.

The Interactive Data deal will be funded with a combination of equity invested by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus and debt financing provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank PLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and UBS Investment Bank.

The acquisition is expected to close before the end of the third quarter. The company said it will remain headquartered in Bedford, Mass., and will keep its senior management team in place.

• China targets “overseas hostile forces” on Net

BEIJING - China will target online information from "overseas hostile forces" in its next crackdown to tighten Internet controls, a government spokesman said in comments reported Monday.

The announcement gave no details about which groups might be targeted but Beijing sometimes accuses political, human rights, Tibet and other activists abroad of trying to undermine communist rule.

The move is part of efforts to step up a crackdown on online smut, gambling, fraud and other offenses, said Wang Chen, chief of the Cabinet's Information Office, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

"We will strengthen the blocking of harmful information from outside China to prevent harmful information from being disseminated in China and withstand online penetration by overseas hostile forces," Wang was quoted as saying.

Beijing encourages Internet use for business and education but tries to block material deemed subversive or pornographic and operates an extensive system of Web monitoring and censorship. Regulators block access to websites abroad run by political and human rights activists and some news organizations.

U.S.-based Google Inc. moved its China-based search engine to Hong Kong last month after announcing it no longer wanted to cooperate with Chinese online censorship.

China's population of Internet users, already by far the world's largest, has surpassed 400 million, with 233 million users getting access through mobile phones, according to weekend reports by state media, also citing Wang.
 

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