Apple in Antitrust Crosshairs?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs shows off the new iPad during an event in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

/ AP Photo

The feds are reportedly poking around on Apple's requirement that software developers only use its-or neutral-programming tools.

The New York Post reports that the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are pondering an antitrust inquiry into Apple's Section 3.3.1 in its iPhone 4.0 software developer kit license agreement.

Here's the section, which is largely viewed as the no-Adobe-Flash-allowed part:

3.3.1 - Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).

Read more of "Apple in antitrust crosshairs? If so, Jobs' Flash rant makes more sense" at ZDNet's Between the Lines.