San Francisco – Federal investigators are apparently looking
into how "certain popular applications" for iPhone and Android mobile
platforms share consumer information, PaidContent reports.
In an updated filing
related to its planned initial public offering (IPO), streaming radio service
Pandora acknowledged that it received a subpoena in early 2011 to produce
documents in connection with a federal grand jury, "which we believe was
convened to investigate the information sharing processes" of mobile
applications, Pandora states in the filing.
"While we were informed that
we are not a specific target of the investigation, and we believe that similar
subpoenas were issued on an industry-wide basis to the publishers of numerous
other smartphone applications, we will likely incur legal costs related to
compliance with the subpoena, management’s attention could be diverted and
there is no guarantee that we will avoid costly litigation."
Pandora went
on in the filing to note that restrictions on its ability to stream personalized
music content and offer targeted advertising could negatively impact its
business.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3mfbq8d
(PaidContent)
