Japan: Antitrust watchdog to study tech giants

The Fair Trade Commission has decided to launch a massive survey in January into the business practices of internet technology giants, a senior lawmaker said Wednesday.

The planned survey is designed to learn how four large firms that provide online search and shopping services, Google, Apple, Facebook  and Amazon.com, conduct business and how best to set regulations for dealing with issues that may arise due to their massive economic clout.

The move, revealed at a meeting of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, comes amid growing concerns that such technology companies can force unfair deals on smaller business partners due to their overwhelming market shares.

Full Content: Japan Times

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