<![CDATA[As online marketplaces come to dominate a fast-changing global economy, platform providers increasingly need an effective and coordinated legal compliance framework. This research analyzes the impact of different forms of licensing on the regulation of online marketplaces in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Australia. Using normative legal research with a comparative approach, we examine the regulatory frameworks of these three jurisdictions. Our research shows that, although Indonesia and Vietnam still have some regulatory gaps to close, their ex-ante (preventive) frameworks build key legal protections into the e-commerce licensing process. Australia’s ex-post (reactive) approach, by contrast, keeps barriers to entry low but can leave digital markets highly vulnerable. Because the relevant legal norms are vague, regulators can find it hard to deal with compounding, fast-moving marketplace problems after they occur. This study indicates that Indonesia and Vietnam only need minor adjustments to their existing systems, whereas Australia needs a fundamental shift toward e-commerce licensing. Specifically, Australia requires firm legal gatekeeping to reinforce government oversight and address the large power asymmetry between dominant platform providers and ordinary consumers. The paper situates the challenges of compliance monitoring within the broader debate on digital platform governance and, by comparing ex-ante and ex-post enforcement strategies, proposes solutions to fill the legal gaps in all three countries.]]>
