Japan enacts law ensuring access to third-party apps

Tokyo: Japan on Wednesday enacted legislation to ensure tech giants like Google and Apple give access to third party smartphone apps and payment syste...

Tokyo: Japan on Wednesday enacted legislation to ensure tech giants like Google and Apple give access to third-party smartphone apps and payment systems on their platforms or risk major fines.

Similar to the European Union's new Digital Markets Act, the law mandates that they act fairly and make operating systems, browsers and search engines available for all.

Behaviour deemed anti-competitive will see operators fined 20 percent of their revenue in Japan for each offending service, rising to 30 percent if they do not stop.

"The EU has already taken early steps and implemented new regulations," a Japan Fair Trade Commission statement said.

"For the digital markets of Japan, the United States and Europe to align their efforts and demand fair competition from digital platform operators, a new legal framework is needed in the Japanese market."