What you need to know
- Australia's competition authority is considering legislation against Apple's App Store.
- ACCC chair Rod Sims believes more rules will be needed based on what other countries do.
- The rules will supposedly help foster competition in app marketplaces.
Australia's competition market watchdog is considering rules to legislate against Apple and Google's respective app stores.
The Guardian reports:
As Fortnite creator Epic Games continues its global legal battle against Apple and Google over in-app payments, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says "upfront rules and regulations" may be needed to force the tech giants to open their app stores to greater competition.
Apple is already under scrutiny in Australia, and ACCC Rod Sims reiterated further plans to toughen up on tech giants:
In a speech to the Global Competition Review webinar on Thursday, the ACCC chair, Rod Sims, will say the commission is yet to make final recommendations, but he flags more rules depending on what other countries do, and whether Apple and Google take steps he believes are reasonable.
An advance copy of the speech says that upfront rules and regulations may be needed to achieve the group's objectives and that the ACCC is following developments in other countries:
"Our own work at the ACCC must be tailored to match our own issues and concerns. But although the finer details of our approaches may vary, competition authorities can still achieve successful global outcomes by aligning their approaches to both enforcement and regulation. This will include alignment around upfront regulation and rules as well as enforcement. The competitiveness, and the level and type of innovation in our economy, requires this."
