South Korea has a $50 million ‘warning’ for Google, Apple – Times of India
South Korea‘s telecommunications regulator, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), has accused Google and Apple of abusing their dominant position in the app market. The KCC has warned the tech giants of possible fines amounting to $50.5 million. According to the KCC, the two companies have forced app developers into using specific payment methods, causing delays in app review, and creating an unfair environment in the app market. The commission is notifying companies of necessary corrective action and will determine fines. In 2021, South Korea amended the Telecommunication Business Act to ban app store operators from mandating the use of their payment systems by software developers. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) stated that Google and Apple’s enforcement of certain payment methods, and Apple’s “discriminatory charging of fees to domestic app developers,” are likely to undermine the law’s purpose of promoting fair competition. Apple released a statement disagreeing with the conclusions presented by the KCC in their Examiner’s Report. They believe that their recent changes to the App Store comply with the Telecommunications Business Act. Apple stated that they will continue to engage with the KCC to share their views, as they have always done in the past. Google told Reuters that what KCC has shared today is a “pre-notice”, and that they will carefully review it and submit their response. Once the final written decision is shared with them, they will evaluate it and decide on the next course of action. Korean regulators will impose fines of up to 68 million won ($50.47 million) on Google and Apple after hearing from both companies. Google’s history with South Korean regulators Earlier this year, in May, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) fined Google $32 million for preventing developers from releasing mobile video games on One Store, a local Korean peer of Google’s Play Store. Google allegedly required Korean video game companies to exclusively release their new games on the Play Store from June 2016 to April 2018, which banned the local game makers from releasing their content on One Store. In 2021, the KFTC fined Google $177 million for abusing its market dominance in the Android operating system market. Google claims that it has contributed to the growth and successful global expansion of Korean mobile game developers that have launched their games on Play over the last decade.