Banning In-app Payment
The Korea Communications Commission announced on Sept. 14 that the new Telecommunications Business Act is now effective.
According to it, the first one of its kind in the world, app market providers such as Google and Apple cannot force in-app payment in relation to content providers and the South Korean government can conduct surveys on how the market providers protect users and run their markets.
At present, the commission is working on enforcement ordinances for such surveys, penalty-related criteria, those for violation detection, etc. In addition, the commission is planning to look into the app market ecosystem as a whole and check facts in the event of any potential violation.
“What matters most is relevant companies’ willingness to observe the law by taking voluntary measures for improvement,” the commission explained, adding, “The implementation of the law is a starting point for a fairer app market ecosystem and the interest and participation of everyone, including platform and content providers, creators and users, are essential for it to be successful.”