Japan's Proposed Law to Require Apple to Open App Store

TapTechNews May 23rd news, the Japanese parliament is debating a proposed law that would follow the EU's Digital Markets Act and require Apple to open up its App Store.

The new bill, which was initially proposed in 2023, is currently undergoing formal review in the Japanese parliament. TheJapanTimes reports that the bill is expected to pass in both houses of the Japanese parliament.

The purpose of this bill is to promote competition and reduce the price of applications. It is reported that the Japanese government believes that Apple and Google are dominant in the mobile application market and charge high fees to developers, which will eventually be passed on to users.

However, it has been previously reported that even if the bill is passed, the Japanese government will decide which companies the bill applies to. Although it is certain that Apple and Google must comply with the law, it is not expected that any Japanese companies will be added to this list.

According to TapTechNews, the current session of the Japanese parliament will end on June 23rd, 2024. If the bill does pass in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it will become law.

Unlike many countries including the United States, this bill only needs to pass through both houses to take effect and does not require the signature of the Japanese prime minister to become law. Nevertheless, the law resulting from this bill is not expected to take effect until 2025.

The bill originated from the competition assessment of the mobile ecosystem by the Digital Markets Competition Committee of the Japanese parliament (that is, the collective name of both houses of parliament). Although Apple has not commented on the current debate in the Japanese parliament, the company has previously defended its antitrust behavior in the assessment.