FAS OPENED A CASE AGAINST APPLE INC.

FAS decided to conduct an antimonopoly investigation due to actions of the corporation on the market of distributing applications for iOS

The case¹ is opened upon a statement of Kaspersky Laboratory (an antivirus software developer) that Apple had unreasonable rejected versions of parental control software - Kaspersky Safe Kids (KSK) and as a result a new KSK version lost a significant part of its functionalities.

At the same time, Apple launched its own application to the market - Screen Time in iOS 12 version, which capabilities match parental control applications.

Having studied all materials, FAS reached a conclusion that actions of Apple  on setting unclear requirements to vendor’s software and rejecting software version that earlier were used in App Store contain elements of abusing dominance by Apple on eh market of distributing applications for iOS.

According to information from mass media, apart from Kaspersky Lab, 11 more developers of similar applications all over the world also encountered rejection to restrictions from “Apple” after the launch of Screen Time:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/27/18519888/apple-screen-time-app-tracking-parental-controls-report.

Developers from Ukraine (Kidslox) and Spain (Qustodio) also filed antimonopoly complaints against Apple to the European Commission based on similar circumstances. 19 developers of such applications formed an association and created a web-site to demand Apple to find out a technical solution enabling them to continue working on iOS-devices.

Also, the licensing agreement for Apple software developers directly establishes the right of “Apple” to reject any applications without any grounds.

FAS scheduled the case on 13 September 2019.

Note:

¹The case against Apple Inc. on elements of violating Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.