Newspaper group call to block BBC iPhone apps
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...7317969_-7.jpg The BBC is entering a crowded market place
The BBC Trust has been urged to block the corporation's plans to launch phone apps for its news and sport content.
The Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) said that the corporation would "damage the nascent market" for apps.
The group said that it would also raise the issues with the the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and MPs on the Media Select Committee.
The BBC has said it plans to launch its first news app on the iPhone in April, followed by one for its sport content.
It is also planning to develop more apps for its popular on-demand video iPlayer.
"Not for the first time, the BBC is preparing to muscle into a nascent market and trample over the aspirations of commercial news providers," said David Newell, director of the NPA.
He said that the market for iPhone news apps was "a unique and narrow commercial space" that would be "distorted" by the BBC apps.
"This is not, as the BBC argues, an extension of its existing online service, but an intrusion into a very tightly defined, separate market."
Several newspapers already offer iPhone apps, including the Independent and the Daily Telegraph - which are free - and the Guardian - which costs £2.39.
BBC News - Newspaper group call to block BBC iPhone apps



