> This doesn’t sit well with me at all. Apple should have every right to create a closed system if they want.

I disagree. In general a company should have the right to create a closed system sure. But if said company is this huge and essentially shapes a large part of digital society then the representatives of the people (it's governments) should take action to shape it in the interest of their populations. Now if that's what's happening I cannot say. Perhaps it is more like you describe it:

> All I see is lazy, half baked ideas and petty bureaucracy.