Kaspersky Files Anti-Monopoly Claim Against Apple in Russia

    An antitrust complaint by Russian cyber-security firm Kaspersky Lab against U.S. tech giant Apple was filed on Tuesday in Russia, TASS news agency reported.

    The Russian company says the OS maker has lately firmed its monopolistic grip over the official App Store, using its power to over the entire iOS app ecosystem to force its engineers into removing two features from the Kaspersky Safe Kids iOS app –namely app control and Safari browser blocking.

    The company argues that Apple did so to eliminate competition for the “Screen Time” feature that the OS maker added in iOS 12 in September last year.

    In a blog post published today, Kaspersky said that other app makers like AdGuard and Kidslox also lost their abilities to restrict access to apps after interventions from Apple.

    Furthermore, the Russian firm claims that Apple has embarked on what appears to be a concerted effort to crack down, remove, or reject any third-party screen time apps that may compete with built-in iOS features.

    “From our point of view, Apple appears to be using its position as platform owner and supervisor of the sole channel for delivering apps to users of the platform to dictate terms and prevent other developers from operating on equal terms with it. As a result of the new rules, developers of parental control apps may lose some of their users and experience financial impact. Most important, however, it is the users who will suffer as they miss out on some critical security features. The market for parental control apps will head toward a monopoly and, consequently, stagnation,” the Russian company said.