The Texas attorney general Ken Paxton is reportedly investigating Apple for deceptive trade practices.
At this point, the nature of the practices being looked into remains unknown.
The investigation by the Texas Office of the Attorney General was discovered by Axios and the Tech Transparency Project.
“The Consumer Protection Division (‘CPD’) of the OAG is involved in a multistate investigation into Apple for potential violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. CPD initiated this investigation for enforcement purposes. If violations are uncovered, CPD will initiate enforcement proceedings. Accordingly, the OAG anticipates litigation in this matter,” notes a document from the Paxton’s office sent to Axios.
It’s nearly impossible to guess what the Texas attorney general might be looking into because the law cited covers a extremely broad array of possible misdeeds. The Act states, “false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful.”
Not just Texas
This is only the latest of a series of investigations into Apple’s business practices. The European Commission is scrutinizing the Mac maker over its ownership of the App Store, its e-books and Apple Pay.
Meanwhile, the United States is investigating Apple over its App Store. Multiple app developers accuse Apple of behaving in an overly controlling manner and taking an unfair cut of revenue.
