Media watchdog says Google, Apple violated laws regarding in-app purchases
Korea's media watchdog concluded Wednesday that U.S.-based Google and Apple violated related laws by abusing their dominance in their respective app marketplaces. The level of sanctions will be decided at a later date, the Korea Media Communications Commission (KMCC) said at a regular meeting held in the afternoon. The two U.S. tech companies are accused of bypassing the revision to the…
South Korea's media watchdog announced on Wednesday that U.S.-based tech giants Google and Apple have violated laws by abusing their dominance in their respective app marketplaces, according to a report. The Korea Media Communications Commission (KMCC) stated that the extent of the sanctions will be determined in due course. The two tech companies are alleged to have circumvented a 2021 revision to the telecommunications business act, which aimed to prevent major app market operators from compelling app developers to utilize solely their in-app payment systems.
Despite allowing customers to buy apps via third-party payment gateways post-revision, Google and Apple imposed a transaction fee of approximately 26% on non-in-app purchases, a move that sparked criticism for effectively nullifying the law. In October 2023, the same media watchdog had forewarned that it would impose the highest possible fine on the two tech giants, yet it has yet to execute such a penalty.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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