The government plans to start discussions on the introduction of regulations targeting information technology giants with dominant e-commerce platforms to prevent unfair trade.
The collection of massive amounts of data through online services, such as retail sites and search engines, gives large IT firms a formidable competitive advantage. Firms that operate major platforms, providing a foundation for third-party entities to sell products, include companies such as Amazon.com, Inc. and Google LLC. The government aims to implement measures to prevent such firms from unfairly retaining massive amounts of personal data and conducting unfair trade by taking advantage of their dominant positions.
Relevant ministries and agencies -- including the Cabinet Secretariat, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, the Fair Trade Commission and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry -- intend to work together to look into the issue and set out the basic direction for the regulation by the end of this year. They are expected to consider whether they can apply the idea of monopoly and oligopoly regulation, which mainly concerns product market share, to data transactions. The government is looking to establish a new law targeting the operators of major platforms and revise the Antimonopoly Law.
Platform operators expand their businesses by offering services they have developed by collecting data such as personal shopping and internet search histories and analyzing the preferences of their users.
Because the data is concentrated in the hands of certain companies, there has been growing concern that other firms have found it difficult to enter similar fields. IT giants could unfairly disadvantage their competitors because of their dominance. In light of this, the government has found it necessary to consider new regulations.
In April, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, announced a new regulatory plan that will oblige online platforms to disclose their criteria for how products and services are ranked in online search results. The government intends to proceed with discussions by referencing the EU's proposed rules.
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