Information: Japan Enacts Regulatory Law to target Apple and Google Smartphone Market Dominance
Japan is now the latest nation to pass a law which target businesses like Apple Inc. and Google LLC from limiting third-party companies that want to sell and market their own apps for Google and Apple devices.
Per Kyodo News, "The law will prohibit the providers of Apple's iOS and Google's Android smartphone operating systems, app stores and payment services from blocking the sales of applications and services that directly compete with the native platforms' own." This is in order to keep the providers of platforms out of "gatekeeping" while also forcing greater competition between their own apps as well as other applications on the platforms.
Although Japan's current antimonopoly law penalizes 6 percent on profits earned via anticompetitive practices, the sanctions in the new, more specific law are 20% on domestic revenues generated from services that violate the provisions of the law. The fines will increase to 30% if violations aren't stopped.
The new law is expected to take effect at the end of 2025 and, according to Kyodo News points out is like one of recently issued EU regulations (presumably that of the European Union's Digital Markets Act).
Kyodo News also reports that both Apple and Google issued announcements concerning their continuing involvement with Japanese regulators.
An earlier article from Kyodo News regarding the regulation which was passed first by Japan's Cabinet stated that it had voted to approve the rule as "a step to challenge the duopoly exerted by industry majors Apple Inc. and Google LLC," and said that the regulation demonstrates the Japanese government's intention to join with the EU when it comes to enacting laws "of Big Tech firms such as Apple, Google and Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc., who are now able to exercise considerable influence over the digital world across the globe."
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