DOJ antitrust lawyers question Beeper over Apple's iMessage

Lawyers from the Department of Justice have reportedly met with Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky as part of an investigation into Apple's alleged antitrust efforts.

Beeper is the tool that in theory allows Android users to use iMessage and its blue bubbles, without buying an iPhone. Over the course of December 2023 it has worked against Apple, eventually to a ridiculous extent, which keeps blocking its different hacks on security grounds.

According to the New York Times, the Department of Justice (DOJ) took an interest in the back-and-forth between Beeper and Apple. Citing two sources familiar with the issue, the publication says that the DOJ met with Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky on December 12, 2023.

Neither the DOJ nor representatives from Beeper would comment on the meeting. It's claimed that the DOJ's lawyers at the meeting are involved with the department's antitrust investigation into Apple, however.

There are no further details and it is not known whether the meeting was instigated by the DOJ or Beeper.

At one point, Beeper's CEO Eric Migicovsky has said that he was considering legal action against Apple, though he later appeared to walk that back as he stopped development of his service.

The New York Times also claims that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) must be interested in the case, though it has no source confirming this.

Instead, it notes that the FTC published a blog on December 21, 2023, in which it says that the "FTC will closely scrutinize any claims that competition must be impeded to advance privacy or security."

31 Comments

rob53 3307 comments · 13 Years

About 10 months ago

The FTC and DOJ need to open their eyes and understand that Beeper is trying to hack Apple software. This has nothing to do with competition and anyone at the DOJ or FTC with any brain should see it for what it is and understand what it isn't. Messages is Apple's product and just like Microsoft and Google software, along with the million other apps, there's no justifiable requirement that they have to work with each other.

avon b7 8008 comments · 20 Years

rob53 said:

The FTC and DOJ need to open their eyes and understand that Beeper is trying to hack Apple software. This has nothing to do with competition and anyone at the DOJ or FTC with any brain should see it for what it is and understand what it isn't. Messages is Apple's product and just like Microsoft and Google software, along with the million other apps, there's no justifiable requirement that they have to work with each other.

I agree with your first observation. I don't think reverse engineering the Messages protocol is the best way to go.

However, I definitely think industry should work towards interoperability which has been a decades old problem and source of problems.

youngjm 8 comments · 15 Years

avon b7 said:

rob53 said:

The FTC and DOJ need to open their eyes and understand that Beeper is trying to hack Apple software. This has nothing to do with competition and anyone at the DOJ or FTC with any brain should see it for what it is and understand what it isn't. Messages is Apple's product and just like Microsoft and Google software, along with the million other apps, there's no justifiable requirement that they have to work with each other.

I agree with your first observation. I don't think reverse engineering the Messages protocol is the best way to go.

However, I definitely think industry should work towards interoperability which has been a decades old problem and source of problems.

If a company is forced to open up their innovations, they will stop doing so. Allowing third parties to hack your platform and then stopping the hack is not anticompetitive; it is protecting their platform from bad actors and protecting me who do not want to have to think about security every time I pickup my phone. I use to have that time. Now I want to trust the company I buy my phone from.

As for interoperability, it would be nice but that is not anticompetitive either. It is Apple's platform and they are paying for servers to run that platform. Those hacking into it are taking from those of us who do like the Apple Ecosystem and want them to innovate and not be stifled because someone else's feeling are hurt seeing green bubbles.

InspiredCode 405 comments · 8 Years

This is so obviously a bad take by the government. Exactly why we don’t trust politicians to make regulatory decisions. Interoperability of some core services could be a goal, but not with Apple’s private backend servers.

gatorguy 24608 comments · 13 Years

Ignore the Beeper Mini circus. It is not important enough to stand on its own.

But it does add fuel to the ongoing DoJ antitrust investigation begun 4 years ago. That matters.
I suspect it was the DoJ reaching out to Beeper rather than vice versa, just gathering facts to add to the pile.