It became known that the South Korean authorities are considering the possibility of introducing fines for the operators of the largest mobile application stores, represented by Apple and Google. They will be applied if the U.S. companies continue to force software developers to use only their payment systems. It writes news agency Reuters, citing a statement of the South Korean Communications Commission.
According to reports, the agency proposes to introduce a penalty of 2% of the income generated by the platform for digital content distribution in South Korea for forcing the use of certain payment methods. It is also proposed to approve a fine of one 1 percent of store revenue in the country for unreasonable delays in checking applications or unjustified removal of software products.
In August this year, South Korean authorities introduced a number of amendments to the current Telecommunications Business Law aimed at limiting the market dominance of large digital content store operators. The draft introduction of fines, which is currently under consideration by the government, is expected to be approved and come into force by March next year.
The regulator noted that cases where app developers are disadvantaged by the use of third-party payment systems can be equated to coercion, as they have no choice but to work with the payment methods imposed by the store operator. The department also plans to determine the amount of fines that will be imposed on app store operators for refusing to provide the information requested by regulators.