After "Apple agreed that developers in the EU can provide application services to users in the form of third-party application stores," Japanese House of Representatives member and executive member of the Liberal Democratic Party's Competition Policy Research Committee Kobayashi Shiaki announced that he would promote a bill that is expected to allow iPhone users in Japan to download applications through channels other than the App Store.
Shiming Kobayashi said that this bill hopes to prevent specific companies such as Google and Apple from forming market monopolies in Japan. This bill is expected to be submitted for review in the next Congress. If successfully passed, it will take effect and be implemented within 1-2 years.
In this bill, the proportion of use of software, mobile operating systems, app stores, browsers and search engine services will be measured. If each item is equal to or exceeds the scale of a specific business determined by the government, it can be deemed to involve market monopoly. Therefore, these businesses will be required to make adjustments. For example, Apple will be required to allow iPhone users to obtain application services through app stores other than the App Store, or to pay fines for the parts involved in violations.
In addition, this bill also requires Apple to agree that users can conduct transactions in the App through other payment methods, and even to provide third parties with iOS functions that are originally only available to Apple, and to ensure safe use. Apple must also make it easier for users to modify the default browser and search engine functions.
In addition to proposing relevant regulations for Apple, this bill also imposes restrictions on giants including Google to prevent them from affecting market competition with their platform advantages such as operating systems.