Karimi & Associates Law Firm presents according to Wall Street Journal:
South Korea’s National Assembly on Tuesday passed the world’s first bill that ends Apple and Google’s dominance over how apps hosted on their app stores sell digital goods. As soon as the bill gets signed by President Moon Jae-in, it will become law. The president’s party strongly supported the legislation.
This bill challenges Apple and Google’s lucrative commissions on digital sales and will require Apple and Google to allow alternative payment systems on their app stores.
By amending South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act, this law will prevent large app-market operators from requiring the use of their in-app purchasing systems. Moreover, it will stop operators from unjustifiably delaying the approval of apps or deleting them from the stores.
Failure to comply with the law would result in a fine of up to 3% of a company’s South Korean revenues. The Korea Communications Commission, the country’s media regulator, is in charge of this matter.
“As bills with similar implications are being proposed in the U.S. and Europe, South Korea’s bill will become a cornerstone for legislating app market platform regulations worldwide,” commission chairman Han Sang-hyuk said.