Apple pays out nearly $13.7 million to Russia in anti-steering App Store lawsuit

I thought Apple had fully pulled out of Russia.

Why? What could that insignificant third-world inbred dictatorship do? Not a penny of outside cash should be going there. 

Cut their funding. Cut their Internet access. Cut their supply chains.

Let them eat Ukrainian Armament.

cia said:

I thought Apple had fully pulled out of Russia.

They did, but this suit is presumably regarding Apple's actions before that.  I am curious how this payment works out in the context of the sanctions against Russia, but I'm going to assume that Apple's lawyers have also thought of that.  lol

AppleInsider said:

Apple has paid Russia a fine of more than $13 million after the company was found guilty of anticompetitive practices regarding its App Store payment system.

Apple pays out $13.7 million to Russia over App Store lawsuit

The fine is a result of an October 2021 antitrust suit leveled against Apple. Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) accused the company blocking developers from connecting users to external payment options, also known as "steering."

According to Reuters, FAS announced that Apple had paid the fine on January 19. The funds totaling around 1.2 billion roubles -- $13.65 million -- have been transferred to Russia's federal budget.

Initially, Apple appealed for a judicial review days after removing its anti-steering provisions from the App Store rules.

In April 2022, the court dismissed Apple's case, giving the Russian FAS grounds to continue investigating Apple's App Store practices.
Read on AppleInsider

The headline could be changed to:  Apple Funds Russia $13.65 in War on Ukraine Civilians!

Maybe Apple had a bunch of rubles that were worthless to them so they just gave them back to the Russians.