Archives for January 2022

Over 30 US states on Thursday stood by Fortnite video game producer Epic Games as they appealed a ruling in its lawsuit against Apple over restrictive policies on the iPhone maker’s in-app payment system.

“Apple’s conduct has harmed and is harming mobile app-developers and millions of citizens,” the plaintiffs said, according to court papers seen by Reuters.

“Meanwhile, Apple continues to monopolize app distribution and in-app payment solutions for iPhones, stifle competition, and amass supracompetitive profits within the almost trillion-dollar-a-year smartphone industry,” they claimed.

The appeal, filed by the attorneys general for 34 US states and the District of Columbia, follows a 2020 lawsuit accusing Apple of violating antitrust laws by charging Epic Games (and other developers) commissions of 15% to 30% to use its in-app payment system and restricting external payment methods.

READ MORE: Apple ordered to let customers pay OUTSIDE App Store in big win for Epic Games, but Fortnite maker may have to cough up huge sum

A US district judge in Oakland, California ruled in favor of Epic Games in September 2021. Apple was ordered to open up the payment system in its App Store app so developers could offer other payment methods and not have to pay Apple extra fees. However, the judge also ruled that Apple is not an antitrust monopolist in mobile gaming transactions, largely leaving the company to do what it pleases with its developers. Epic Games challenged the ruling in the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals last week.

In their appeal in support of Epic Games, the attorneys general said the Oakland court failed to adequately assess the case, noting how it appeared to overlook the non-negotiable contracts that Apple requires game developers to sign, which they see as a clear sign of monopolistic policy.

“Paradoxically, firms with enough market power to unilaterally impose contracts would be protected from antitrust scrutiny – precisely the firms whose activities give the most cause for antitrust concern,” they said.

This is the first time that US state attorneys general have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Several similar cases have been filed against other tech giants, including Meta Platforms and Google.

Apple’s reply to the appeals is expected in March, and the company said on Thursday it was optimistic that it would be able to overturn them.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/547594-apple-stiffles-competition-epic-games/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, wants to expand to Russia despite a proposed crypto ban in the country.

According to Binance Eastern European Director Gleb Kostarev, expansion to Russia is strategically important for the growth of the crypto exchange.

“Our goal is to obtain a license and conduct legal business where the regulation allows,” Kostarev told Reuters, noting that Binance is expecting to see a progressive regulatory approach from Russia that could also set a precedent for similar regulations in neighboring states.

Russia has been eager to regulate its growing crypto market. According to the central bank, the country’s annual volume of cryptocurrency transactions is near $5 billion.

READ MORE: Russia’s finance ministry pans idea of crypto ban

The regulator, which has been increasingly critical of cryptocurrencies for the past several years, recently proposed a complete ban on crypto trading and mining in the country.

The proposal, however, has been met with opposition from both the public and other government ministries, who called for a more moderate approach, and regulation instead of prohibition. The Ministry of Finance said this week that regulations of this kind are already in the works, noting that crypto technologies “should get a chance to develop.”

Kostarev called the ban proposal “harsh,” but noted that “for now, we consider this as an invitation to dialogue with the regulator.” He also said that the course Russia takes in regulating crypto may impact its neighbors.

“In Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan they are more loyal to cryptocurrencies and are taking steps towards liberalization, rather than restriction. But local regulators are taking these steps with an eye on Russia.”

Cryptocurrencies are for now largely allowed in Russia and can be used for financial transactions, but their use for purchasing goods or services is prohibited.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/547553-binance-wants-expansion-russia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The US and the European Union are threatening Russia with sweeping sanctions in the event of a military conflict with Ukraine. These could include Russian exports of oil, natural gas, and raw materials. However, experts warn that such measures would backfire on Europe, depriving the continent of Russia’s natural gas supplies and other commodities. With gas prices already sky-high, storages at multiple year-lows, and spring warmth still weeks away, Europeans might have to seek alternative suppliers to heat and light their homes.

1. What could halt Russian gas supplies to Europe?
   Washington has threatened Russian businesses, energy companies, and even President Vladimir Putin personally with sanctions if Russia makes an offensive move against its neighbor. The Biden administration has also been pressuring EU partners to block the certification of the newly built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which could have remedied the starving European gas market with its 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually. Moscow has not made any declarations regarding closing the taps on Europe, and major energy exporter Gazprom has been pumping gas in accordance with existing contracts. Russian gas flows have shrunk in recent months, prompting some Western analysts to claim that Russia could use its gas as leverage in response to sanctions.
   
2. Would Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe?
   This is highly unlikely, unless new sanctions target Russia’s ability to get paid for its exports. Europe remains the most profitable market for Russian gas. In 2020, Russia delivered 175 billion cubic meters of gas to the continent, much more than to its second-largest market, Asia-Pacific. Russia would not put its key source of revenue at risk. Gas flows from Russia to Europe were not interrupted even at the height of the Cold War. In fact, historically, energy supplies stopped only once – during Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union during WWII. However, supplies could be stopped by Western sanctions themselves – for instance, if Russia is cut off from the SWIFT payment system.
   
3. Why is SWIFT so critical?
   SWIFT is the main global provider of secure payments and bank transfers. Think of it as a credit card for individuals and countries. Without SWIFT, most countries which use the payments network cannot pay for Russian energy supplies, and Russia has no way of receiving the funds. Since we are talking about multibillion-dollar transactions, and containers of cash are out of the question, it is very difficult to find an alternative way to do business. Western banks would have to send money to Russia’s neighbors, and then the funds would have to be transferred to Russia through the Russian payment system SPFS. This would deal a huge blow to the entire global economy and make large transactions with Russia virtually impossible to carry out. However, disconnecting Moscow from SWIFT would not only hurt Russia, but Europe and other countries as well, since it would effectively cut off the West from Russian energy supplies.
   
4. How badly does Russia need the European market?
   Although, as previously noted, Europe is a key source of revenue, the country could survive without it. Russia could find other suitors for its gas in Asia. As of November 2021, shipments through the Russian gas pipeline to China, the Power of Siberia, exceeded 13 billion cubic meters, which is over three times their volume in 2020. Japan and South Korea also purchase significant amounts of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Arctic. In the future, India could become a potentially huge market for Russian gas.
   
5. Why does Europe need Russian gas supplies?
   More than half of the EU’s energy needs (61%) are met by imports, according to Europe’s statistics agency. Russia is the main EU supplier of natural gas, accounting for over 46% of gas imports as of the first half of 2021. Most of the gas comes via the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which connects the EU with Russian gas fields through Ukrainian territory. If Russia closes the taps due to sanctions, or if the gas flow is disrupted due to some infrastructure damage resulting from a hypothetical conflict in Ukraine, Europe would lose the bulk of gas supplies – which are difficult, if not impossible to replace on short notice. This would propel gas prices, which nearly doubled last year, to new record highs.
   
6. What other gas suppliers does Europe have?
   According to Eurostat, apart from Russia, the EU gets its gas from Norway (20.5%), Algeria (11.6%), the United States (6.3%) and Qatar (4.3%), as well as some other states whose combined share is a little over 10%. However, Norway has been unable to meet the demand throughout 2021, with North Sea fields undergoing heavy maintenance after pandemic-induced delays, while other suppliers have too small a share in the European gas market at their current volumes to make a difference in case of a flow disruption.
   
7. Can other suppliers cover the shortfall in Russian gas supplies?
   The US administration has reportedly been in talks with Qatar on the possibility of increasing LNG shipments to Europe, but so far to no avail. Experts cited by Bloomberg say Qatar is already producing at full capacity, and most of its cargoes are sent to Asia under long-term contracts, which it can hardly break for fear of losing the valuable market. Even if the US finds a way to boost LNG deliveries to Europe, energy prices would jump nonetheless, as US LNG is more expensive than Russian natural gas. Algeria may have spare production and pipeline capacity to boost supplies to Europe if called upon, a government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told SP Global Platts on Tuesday. Those could be delivered as LNG or via Algeria’s direct pipelines to Spain and Italy, the source said. However, no official reports regarding the matter have been issued, while Algeria’s major pipeline linking it to Europe via Morocco was shut down last year.
   
8. What are Europe’s alternatives to gas as an energy source?
   Europe has a number of alternative energy sources, but none of them could be called upon to substitute for natural gas. The EU’s decision to turn to weather-dependent sources of energy like wind and solar power over ‘dirty’ fossil fuels has already, at least in part, led to the current energy crisis. Coal has also soared in price, as Europe, China, and others have been looking for alternatives to gas amid the global pandemic crisis in recent months. Finally, Europe (with the exclusion of France) has been shutting down another crucial source of energy – nuclear power plants – amid its push to phase out atomic energy after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. The plants can still be salvaged if the recently proposed draft bill to label nuclear energy as ‘green’ comes through, but both the bill and the revival of the closed plants, as well as the construction of new ones, will take time, which Europe does not have.