Apple complies with FAS order on control system issued per Kaspersky complaint

MOSCOW. Feb 7 (Interfax) - Apple Corporation has fully complied with a 2020 order from Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service, the regulator said.

FAS initiated antitrust proceedings against Apple in 2019 following a complaint from Kaspersky Labs about the unjustified rejection by the American company of versions of the Kaspersky Safe Kids parental control program.

In 2020, FAS declared Apple was limiting competition in the app distribution market. The regulator ordered Apple to remove provisions from its documentation that give the company the right to reject third-party applications for placement in the company's AppStore.

Apple tried to challenge the FAS decision, as well as a $12 million fine through the court, but the court supported the agency's position.

"At the end of 2022, the service received information from Apple on fulfillment of the order issued in 2020. FAS analyzed the information and concluded that it was properly executed in full," the FAS press release published on Tuesday says.

As of October 2022, Apple has introduced an additional agreement to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement excluding the clause on the exclusion of Russian developers from the application.

In addition, with the release of iOS 15, Apple has improved the Screen Time API (application programming interface) for parental control applications, allowing third-party developers to extend the functionality of their applications so that they can compete with Apple's own programming.