Apple provides the App Store in every market possible, providing access to as much software as possible. However, part of that responsibility is abiding by local government rules. This means Apple regularly has to choose between delisting certain apps to avoid being forced to close the entire App Store in those markets.
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Since Russia’s full-scale assault on Ukraine, Apple has significantly scaled back its operations in the country. It has since suspended all product sales and limited certain services, such as Apple Pay. Despite this, Apple continues to operate a full-fledged App Store in Russia. However, it’s now facing worthy criticism for complying with Russian government requests to remove VPN apps to adhere to local regulations–censorship.
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Back in 2022, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) in Russia accused Apple of anti-competitive practices when it comes to the iOS App Store. Last year, the regulator decided to fine the U.S. company 1.2 billion rubles (which was $17.4 million at the time), and now the Russian government claims to have finally received the money from Apple.
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Russia has claimed that the NSA hacked iPhones belonging to both Russian citizens and foreign diplomats based in the country.
More than this, it claims that Apple assisted the NSA by providing backdoor access into iPhones …
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Apple may be fined by Russia for failing to store user data within the country, according to a new report today.
Twitch, Pinterest, Airbnb, and UPS have already been fined – though the sums involved are hardly likely to concern any of them …
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At the end of February, Apple announced it was suspending Apple Pay in Russia due to the war against Ukraine. While Visa and Mastercard cards were made immediately unavailable, the Russian Mir card was still working with Apple’s own payment service, but not anymore.
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Russia has been suffering severe sanctions from other governments since it invaded Ukraine last week. Unfortunately, the situation for those living under Russian territory is about to get worse, as the local government has been censoring the internet. As a result, VPN apps are now among the most downloaded apps in the Russian App Store.
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A Tim Cook email to employees about the Ukraine crisis outlines the steps Apple has taken so far, and assures them that further action will follow.
Additionally, when employees make donations to humanitarian aid organizations working in the region, Apple will match those donations on a two-for-one basis, tripling the original donation …
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Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US government and the European Union imposed economic sanctions on the country – which include restricting foreign transactions to Russian banks. As a result, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets have been suspended in Russia.
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The big tech companies are about to face another standoff with Russia, as the Russian government now wants Netflix and other streaming services to include local state TV channels on their platforms.
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Apple is in a global fight to protect its App Store business model, and the latest development lands us in Russia. Apple is taking legal action after objecting to a ruling by the country’s Federal Antimonopoly Service that would allow developers to promote alternative payment methods to Apple’s in-app purchases.
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Russia this week required Apple and other US tech companies to open local offices by the end of 2021 if they want to continue operating in the country. The Russian government is threatening to restrict and even ban companies that do not have official representation there.
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Last month we learned Russia found Apple guilty of anti-competitive practices based on how it has handled third-party parental control apps. In a separate, but somewhat related development, a new bill has been submitted to the lower Russian Parliament to cap Apple’s App Store commission at 20% as well as require it to allow third-party app stores.
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The Russian government this month passed new protectionist legislation that may directly affect tech and media companies like Apple, Google, Netflix, and Samsung. Starting July 1, 2020, all computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices sold in Russia will be required to come with pre-installed Russian software.
There’s no sign yet of the Apple Maps Crimea controversy dying down anytime soon…
In accordance with a local Russian law that requires technology companies to store some user data on servers within the state, new filings reveal that Apple stores some iCloud information on local Russian servers. While the information stored is apparently limited to full name, address, email and phone number, Apple says more information is stored locally from their Russian employees.
Not even a week after being requested to pull The New York Times app from the Chinese Apple App Store, both Apple and Google will have to pull the LinkedIn app from their respective app stores. According to The New York Times, the removal comes after a court ruled that LinkedIn had violated Russia’s data protection laws.
Update 8/9: In a statement to Reuters, Apple denied any price-fixing in Russia, claiming that resellers set their own prices:
“Resellers set their own prices for the Apple products they sell in Russia and around the world,” the company said.
Apple is once again being targeted for alleged price-fixing, this time in Russia. The country’s federal antitrust body has today opened a case and investigation into accusations that Apple and 16 resellers formed an agreement to fix prices of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
In what Bloomberg describes as ‘a 90-minute interview peppered with expletives,’ Russia’s new Internet advisor has said that he wants to force Apple and Google to pay more taxes.
German Klimenko is pushing to raise taxes on U.S. companies to help level the playing field for Russian competitors such as Yandex and Mail.ru […]
Bloomberg says that he has an interesting ally in this aim …
(Photo by Ryan Emberley/Invision for Apple/AP Images)
A month after rolling out carrier billing for iTunes and App Store content with German carrier O2, CNBC reports Apple is expanding the initiative with a similar service in Russia.
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Apple’s rollout of the iPhone 6s/Plus beyond the dozen launch countries kicks off today, with customers in 36 more countries able to get their hands on the new devices. This follows Apple making SIM-free phones available in the USA.
The countries are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan.
Those in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates will have to wait until tomorrow, while there’s a further week to go before sales open up in India, Malaysia and Turkey. Apple has promised that the new iPhones will be on sale in over 130 countries by the end of the year.
Apple sold more than 13 million iPhones in the opening weekend. If you’re still on the fence, some recent pieces that may help are my iPhone 6s diary, a video of the best 3D Touch features, plus a comparison video and opinion piece on the 6s versus 6s Plus.
Apple could potentially be facing a fine upwards of one million rubles in Russia (which is only about $15,000 USD) over its inclusion of same-sex couple emoji characters on the built-in iOS keyboard. The Independent reports that police in Russia have began an investigation into Apple to determine whether the company has violated a highly controversial national ban on activity its government considers homosexual propaganda.
Local police in Russia’s Kirov region began their enquiries after Orthodox activist and lawyer Yaroslav Mikhailov complained that the images violated a controversial 2013 law banning the promotion of homosexuality to minors.
Someone, somewhere not only has no aesthetic taste, but also feels an inexplicable need to pay tribute to Russian President Vladimir Putin – or so Russian jewellery brand Caviar apparently believes. It has released a limited edition customized model which features an embossed dot pattern inscribed with Putin’s signature, the Moscow skyline and the state emblem on the digital crown.
If you are nostalgic for the Soviet Union days, you could opt instead for the USSR Lenin model (complete with engraving of Lenin’s mausoleum) or the Tsar Peter the Great model featuring Russian palaces.
Each costs around $3,000. Rather scarily, Business Insider reports that the company’s previous line of gold Putin cases for the iPhone sold out shortly after going on sale …
If you’re looking for the gold plate without the, er, extras, there are a range of options for transforming a steel Watch into a gold one.
As expected, Apple Watch launched today in three new countries. Starting today, Apple’s wearable is available in Turkey, Russia, and New Zealand. This expansion comes after a launch in seven new countries earlier this month. Apple CEO Tim Cook was in Istanbul, Turkey to celebrate the launch and took to his Twitter account to share his experience.
