Bundling Bungle
The Fair Trade Commission will soon decide whether or not it will punish global IT giant Oracle, which has been investigated by the commission for bundling products. The commission announced on Oct. 12 that it will bring up the issue for discussion in an all-members meeting with the participation of Chairperson Jeong Jae-chan on Oct. 21.
Database management systems (DBMS) are Oracle’s main product, targeting public organizations and financial companies such as banks and securities firms in Korea. The company is enjoying a 60 percent market share in Korea.
According to the Fair Trade Commission, Oracle has been investigated for several months for an allegation that the IT company bundled the next version of its software while selling maintenance services for its DBMS. The commission also secured circumstantial evidence that Oracle reinforced its market control through “lock-in” effects that force users to continue to use the next versions after software contracts expire.
Last year, in Korea, Oracle’s sales in the maintenance sector totaled 257.5 billion won (US$224.5 million). In 2006, the commission looked into Oracle for an allegation that Oracle bundled WASs into DMBS to sell WASs for a giveaway price in 2006. But Oracle was later cleared.