The Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a stern warning to Apple. As reported by the agency's press service, the American company is obliged to eliminate discrimination against Russian search engines and comply with the requirement to pre-install domestic software on iOS devices. This refers to the default search engine, the national messenger "Max", and the Russian app store. The deadline for compliance is July 15. Failure to comply will result in an antitrust case and a fine of up to 4 billion rubles.
There will be no instantaneous transformation of the iPhone into a "brick", however, experts interviewed by Radio RBK predict a gradual squeezing of the technology out of circulation. Lawyers admit technological and regulatory pressure that will smoothly complicate the import, support, and operation of devices.
At the same time, Positive Technologies specialists emphasized: only Apple itself can remotely disable gadgets, but authorities can block access to services necessary for operation. The precedent with Google is indicative – despite a multi-billion dollar fine, access to the company's resources was not blocked.
The warning appears to be a direct response to Apple's recent actions. In early June, the "Max" messenger was removed from the App Store, and at the end of the month – "Zen" and "VK Video". In both cases, the company referred to sanction rules.
The head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadaev, stated that the agency would resolve the issue with the removal of "Max" and assured that "everything will be fine" with the messenger. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov added that what happened calls into question Apple's reliability as a commercial service provider and demanded clarification from the corporation.