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Apple is bowing down to fascists.
Being just a little facetious here, but Apple is fascist. Dictatorial... check Centralized Autocracy... check Martial virtues celebrated... check Liberal and democratic values disparaged... check Forcible suppression of opposition... check Subordination of individual will to the state's authority... check
I've been arguing here that Apple should not decide what apps a user can run on an owned device, yet, scores of commenters right here, on Hacker News, were telling me, "do research prior to buying the device". No, you shouldn't. Apple should be stripped off this power. EU's DMA is a first step, but we need such policies applied everywhere. So far, the only ones who benefit from AppStore monopoly are Apple themselves…
The article is about the app store, which apple obviously should have control over. A company can not operate outside the laws of the country it is operating in.
This issue is separate from Apple having a monopoly on app distribution (outside of the EU).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They don't officially sell any hardware here since 2022. Every iPhone and Mac sold in Russia since then is grey import and costs accordingly, around 1.5x the Apple price.
That makes concessions on software sales even more embarrassing imo
RKN tried to block Telegram in Russia in 2018 but they couldn't block it after a few years of struggle.
In 2024 RKN already pushed away big VPN players who were too big and slow to adapt and obfuscate their protocols.
They do this in waves:
1) first just notices 2) then website domain block 3) then they sent abuse requests to hosting companies, like this:
"It is notice of making an entry into the "Unified register of domain names, Internet web-site page links and network addresses enabling to identify the Internet web-sites containing the information prohibited for public distribution in the Russian Federation” the Internet web-site page (s) link (s): https://xxx.xxx/ .
In case the hosting provider and (or) the Internet web-site owner fail to take these measures, the network address enabling to identify Internet web-sites containing the information prohibited for distribution in the Russian Federation will be decided to be entered into the Register and access will be limited.
The information about entering the domain names, Internet web-site page links and network addresses into the Register shall be available on a 24-hour basis at the following Internet address: http://eais.rkn.gov.ru/en/ .
Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (ROSKOMNADZOR)."
They did send takedown requests in 2018 too, but somehow every hosting provider at that point of time knew that this was bs and they mostly ignored that.
4) Block internal API domains to disrupt VPN apps
5) And finally request app removal from App Store.
My guess is it's their final chance to win this situation.
In 2018 RKN pressured Apple to remove the Telegram app too.
Apple even suspended Telegram app updates for some time.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Apple should be stripped off this power. EU's DMA is a first step, but we need such policies applied everywhere. What do you suppose happens when those same authoritarians make a reverse DMA and require that all phones sold be locked down only to a single centralized market place? If one thinks Apple should be complying (and bear in mind the amount of consternation there has already been around "malicious compliance…
Somehow, Android devices currently sold into both China and Russia both support sideloading apps, including VPNs. Apple has set up a situation where they are able to be used like this, and if you think that a country is going to put in laws to require phones work like this, the only reason that could even make sense is because Apple is willing to do so and has set the stage for it being normalized. As it stands, Appl…
I've been arguing here that Apple should not decide what apps a user can run on an owned device, yet, scores of commenters right here, on Hacker News, were telling me, "do research prior to buying the device". No, you shouldn't. Apple should be stripped off this power. EU's DMA is a first step, but we need such policies applied everywhere. So far, the only ones who benefit from AppStore monopoly are Apple themselves…
>Apple should be stripped off this power. The article is about the app store, which apple obviously should have control over. A company can not operate outside the laws of the country it is operating in. This issue is separate from Apple having a monopoly on app distribution (outside of the EU).
In case of Russia, Apple is not or should not be operating in the country, so the condition isn't met.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Otherwise Apple risks their online properties getting blocked and iOS devices becoming useless because of how iOS assumes it can always access Apple servers.
In Russia, yes.