[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] The Japanese government has also taken a knife out of the monopoly of global big tech companies such as Google and Apple.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 14th, "The Japanese government will prepare a 'smartphone competition promotion bill' that can fine 20% of sales in Japan for anti-monopolistic activities of Big Tech." Analysts say the bill calls for Apple and Google, which are oligopoly in the smartphone operating system (OS). The Japanese government plans to decide on the bill at a Cabinet meeting this month and pass it through Congress.

The bill includes banning companies from interfering with other companies' provision of app stores or allowing users to easily change the initial settings of the app. It is also prohibited from displaying its services in search results before other companies. In violation of the law, the Japan Fair Trade Commission imposes a fine of 20% of the company's sales in Japan. This is well above 10% of the existing anti-monopoly law, and it rises to 30% if the violation is repeated.

Based on the FTC report in February, the Japanese government pointed out that Google and Apple enjoy a virtually exclusive position by preventing other companies from entering the app distribution and payment market based on the oligopoly of the OS market.

Prior to Japan, the EU has also implemented the Digital Market Act (DMA), which regulates the abuse of market power by Apple, Google, and Meta since last month. The EU's Digital Market Act requires platform operators to pay up to 10% of their global sales in fines if they violate the law.

 

 

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