Photo/Illutration The building housing the Fair Trade Commission (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Antitrust regulators are soliciting information from smartphone app developers about problems they face in doing business with Apple Inc. and Google LLC to add teeth to planned industry guidelines.

On its website, the Fair Trade Commission on July 31 asked the companies whether Apple and Google, dominant players in smartphone operating systems and app stores, restricted them from using audio, GPS and other functions.

The competition watchdog also asked whether the companies had problems with payment systems and other issues.

Companies have until Sept. 8 to provide information to the FTC.

The request comes after the enactment of the smartphone software competition promotion law in June. 

The legislation prohibits technology giants, primarily Apple and Google, from blocking new entrants or restricting app developers’ charging methods and their use of wireless communication functions, for example.

The law will take effect by December 2025.

The FTC is also asking app developers about new services they plan to introduce if the restrictions imposed by Apple and Google are removed after the law is implemented.

“The new law will expand options for app developers by removing the restrictions they have faced,” Tetsuya Fujimoto, the FTC’s secretary-general, told a news conference on July 31. “We expect them to capitalize on the law to spark innovations.”

The legislation is designed to make it easier for newcomers to operate app stores and develop services.

Epic Games Inc., a major U.S. videogame developer behind the multi-genre title “Fortnite,” said it plans to open an app store in Japan.

Related News