Officials searched the Italian offices of both companies earlier this week.
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This story originally appeared on Engadget
Amazon and Apple are facing more antitrust accusations. This time, Italy is investigating. Authorities want to know whether the two companies agreed to prevent retailers who are not part of Apple’s official program to sell Apple products and Beats headphones, Reuters reports.
Officials launched the investigation this week and searched the Italian offices of both Amazon and Apple on Tuesday. In a statement provided to Engadget, an Amazon spokesperson said the company is “fully collaborating with the Authority.”
This is certainly not the first time officials have raised concerns about the companies’ practices. In the US, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google are facing a federal antitrust probe, and the company’s CEOs are expected to testify on July 27th. Apple Pay and the App Store are facing an antitrust investigation in the EU, and the EU is reportedly planning to file antitrust charges against Amazon over seller data.
Amazon and Apple are not alone. The Wall Street Journal reported that Google will likely face antitrust lawsuits later this year, and Facebook is being investigated in the UK, in addition to the US. At least in the US, this is part of a larger power struggle between big tech and the government.
Engadget has reached out to Apple for comment.
