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Apple Facing Russian Investigation Into Alleged Monopolistic App Store Behavior

Russia's FAS, or Federal Antimonopoly Service, has launched a formal investigation into Apple over alleged violation of antitrust laws about the App Store (https://www.macrumors.com/guide/app-store/) and Apple's restrictions that do not allow developers to link to third-party payment methods outside of the platform.





(https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2021/04/app-store-blue-banner-russia.jpg)


In August, FAS issued a warning to Apple to "stop violating antimonopoly legislation" by not inhibiting developers from directing users to make in-app purchases from outside the ‌App Store‌, such as on the web. Apple "did not comply with the warning," according to a press release (https://fas.gov.ru/news/31574) from the agency, and therefore a case has been opened against Apple on the grounds of violating antitrust laws.





"If Apple is found to be in violation of the Competition Law, it could face a turnover penalty on the amount of market revenue," the agency added. FAS stopped short of specifying how much a fine would be or under what timeframe.





Apple is no stranger to being scrutinized in Russia and by the FAS. This past April, the Cupertino tech giant was fined $12 million for violating anti-monopoly rules (https://www.macrumors.com/2antimonopolyle-russia-anti-monopoly-fine-app-store/) with the ‌App Store‌. Just a month earlier, Apple had agreed to comply (https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/16/apple-to-offer-government-approved-apps-russia/) with the Russian government's request that users be shown government-approved apps to download during initial device setup (https://www.macrumors.com/2021/04/01/iphone-setup-russia-government-approved-apps/).





Apple has already announced steps it plans to take early next year to ease &zwnj;App Store&zwnj; restrictions. As part of a deal to close an investigation in Japan, Apple announced in September (https://www.macrumors.com/2021/09/01/apple-reader-app-changes-japan-ftc/) that it would allow "reader" apps to link to external websites in their apps. These links to external websites can help users set up or manage an account.<div class="linkback">Tags: App Store (https://www.macrumors.com/guide/app-store/), Russia (https://www.macrumors.com/guide/russia/)</div>
This article, &quot;Apple Facing Russian Investigation Into Alleged Monopolistic App Store Behavior (https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/27/russia-investigation-app-store-behavior/)&quot; first appeared on MacRumors.com (https://www.macrumors.com)

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Source: Apple Facing Russian Investigation Into Alleged Monopolistic App Store Behavior (https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/27/russia-investigation-app-store-behavior/)