Kaspersky Lab Filed Antitrust Complaint Against Apple In Russia

Indira Datta - Mar 21, 2019

Apple removed Kaspersky Safe Kids application from the App Store. This application provides Screen Time function, similar to the recently released feature along with iOS 12.

Kaspersky Lab, a cybersecurity company, posted a post on its blog today saying it filed an antitrust complaint with Apple on the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service. Kaspersky claims that the tech giant Apple accused Kaspersky Lab's Safe Kids app of violating the Apple Store's policies, but this accusation has a shady motive.

According to 9to5Mac, Kaspersky said that Apple began to show opposition to this application when it launched the Screen Time feature for iOS 12. This is an earlier feature of Kaspersky Safe Kids. After tech giant officially removed the application on the App Store, Kaspersky was forced to file a complaint with the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service.

Kaspersky Safe Kids provided screen Time feature before Apple released iOS 12

Kaspersky Lab's complaint surfaced less than a week after Spotify filed a similar one against Apple. Spotify said that the large iPhone maker was doing an unfair business environment when applying "Apple tax" of 30% per transaction on the App Store. This makes Spotify feel that the policy stripped away its competitive edge, typically against Apple Music. The giant tech company quickly gave feedback in this complaint. Apple announced that it would cut "tax" to 15% after one year of registration and Spotify will be offered an essential service in its ecosystem.

It can be said that two complaints from Spotify and Kaspersky Lab for Apple have some similarities. Both suffer from unfairness when competing with Apple products on its foundation. However, for Kaspersky, its competitor is the Screen Time feature of iOS 12, not an Apple app.

Kaspersky Labs latest to take a stab at Apple's 'monopoly'

These two complaints contribute to the proof of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s idea became more understandable and concerned. Warren (D-MA), who is running for president in 2020, said about the concerns in Apple's operation and the App Store's unfair business competition. She proposed big technology companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, and of course, Apple had to break up.