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Kaspersky Lab Files Antitrust Complaint Against Apple Over App Store Policy (macrumors.com)
Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service relating to the company's App Store distribution policy. From a report: Kaspersky's complaint is specifically to do with Apple's removal of the Kaspersky Safe Kids app. In a blog post on the Kaspersky website, the firm says it received notice from Apple last year that the app, which had been in the App Store for three years, did not meet App Store guidelines owing to the use of configuration profiles. Kaspersky was told by Apple that it would need to remove these profiles for the app to pass review and remain in the App Store, but the Russian firm had argued this action essentially crippled the app. "For us, that would mean removing two key features from Kaspersky Safe Kids: app control and Safari browser blocking." The first allows parents to specify which apps kids can't run based on the App Store's age restrictions, while the second allows the hiding of all browsers on the device so that web pages can only be accessed in the Kaspersky Safe Kids app's built-in secure browser.
And that's what an anti-trust court is going to determine - it's not whether Apple has a monopoly, its whether they are abusing their position.
Sure, it's a walled garden on only Apple products, but it's a large part of the overall app market and a significant amount of revenue - a court could certainly place limits on what Apple can and can't do in its own garden, if it finds Apple is abusing its position as gatekeeper.
This is going to happen in the EU in the next year or so as well - I think Apple has something to worry about.
Configuration profiles offer a lot of control of a device, and can pose asecurity risk. Nothing really prevents a developer from distributing the app and configuration profile independently though, just makes it harder for the end user. If all the functionality is really in the profile though, it becomes easy to bypass the sales mechanism.
First link I found on the subject: https://www.howtogeek.com/1761...