TOKYO, March 1, 2019—The Japan Fair Trade Commission, the country’s compact antitrust agency April 27 commenced surveys on app store and on-line mall businesses of the four U.S. internet giants and other so-called internet platformers for the first time, JFTC announced earlier this week. The survey is believed to be coopted by a similar action by the European Union earlier. The survey’s on-line questionnaire does not seem to contain new items.
The survey is aimed at analyzing whether the so-called GAFA – Google (Alphabet), Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.com, plus local Japanese internet-based operators such as Yahoo Japan and Rakuten, that are called platformers – are pressuring smaller firms that use the big ones in violation of the Anti-monopoly Law, a JFTC official said.
One part of the survey that drew The Prospect’s attention was clearly directed at Amazon, which is scheduled to start on May 1 a reward point incentive program to consumers for merchandise sold on its site, in a follow-up of Rakuten and Yahoo Japan that already are offering 1 percent credit points to consumers for merchandise and service purchases. If Amazon is found to be forcing vendors to cough up the cost of those points, say one of every point given to consumers, it would be deemed a violation of the law.
On March 27, Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani was quoted by a Japanese newspaper reporting from Barcelona, Spain as expressing concerns that the JFTC survey and its possible legislative actions might have serious adverse impact on on-line business models. ‘I ask (the JFTC) not to arbitrarily send psychological pressure to vendors,’ he said.
Rakuten and Yahoo Japan released comments that said they would cooperate with JFTC.
Yahoo Japan collects 2.5 points from vendors of merchandise sales and gives 1 point to consumers since 2016.
The JFTC survey is expected to prove a no-brainer for GAFA and other on-line platformers since sales incentive giveback point incentive programs have been around for years accepted as a given by both vendors and consumers. Then, why is the agency doing it? Simply, the commission has very little to do to administer the antitrust law and its capacity is limited by its small size and capabilities.
–Toshio Aritake