Japan to Issue Cease-and-Desist Order against Google

Tokyo, Dec. 22 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Fair Trade Commission plans to issue a cease-and-desist order against Google for violating the antimonopoly law, people familiar with the matter said Sunday.

The Japanese antitrust watchdog found that the U.S. company has forced smartphone makers to install its search app, the people said.

Google will be the first U.S. technology giant to receive a cease-and-desist order from the FTC.

The FTC has notified Google of the plan and will make a final decision after hearing opinions from the company, the people said.

Google has signed contracts with makers of smartphones that run its Android operating system to have them install its Google Search and Google Chrome apps on home screens in exchange for allowing them to install their own app stores, the people said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]