Japan’s parliament is set to consider a bill that could open up Google and Apple’s app store ecosystems, following a US decision to designate Google’s Play Store and payment system as an illegal monopoly.
According to the Nikkei Shimbun, Japanese lawmakers are preparing to crack down on four areas in the new year: app stores and payments, search, browsers, and operating systems. The aim is to allow third parties to launch their own app stores on mobile operating systems and use their own payment systems with Google’s and Apple’s own app stores.
If all goes as planned, the Fair Trade Commission could impose fines totaling around 6% for violations. The exact numbers on the fines and the standards set by the Japanese government regarding the revenue and users a company will be affected by the regulation are expected to be revealed this spring.
Global companies such as Apple and Google are likely to be the first to be affected by the regulation, as they almost certainly meet the standards. It’s unclear whether the regulation will prompt the companies to open up their rules globally, as Apple has done with its own hardware in the wake of increased scrutiny in the EU.
Japan’s regulations do not only target large companies. New app stores and payment methods must meet certain privacy and security standards to be approved.
Apple and Google’s App Store policies have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers around the world. South Korea warned in October that tech giants could face multimillion-dollar fines if they did not change their policies. In addition to the ruling that Google’s app store is a monopoly, Apple is currently appealing a US court ruling that allowed users to purchase content within apps without using Apple’s payment system.