Apple called 'nonsensical' for claiming it complies with new South Korea laws

A leading South Korean politician involved in the country's decision to impose App Store legislation, says neither Apple nor Google are doing enough to comply.

In response to South Korean legislation requiring alternative payment systems for app stores, Google has

">announced changes

to its Google Play store. Apple, however, has claimed that its procedures are already compliant and so there is no need for change.

According to Reuters, South Korea politician Jo Seoung-lae does not accept that either company is following the new law.

"Frankly, we are not satisfied," he told Reuters "Apple's claim that it's already complying is nonsensical."

Lawmaker Jo was directly involved in the country's move to legislate, and says that it is important because "excessive fees take away developers' chances for innovation."

"[Parliament] is to be closely informed as the government drafts detailed regulations to make sure there is accountability," he continued.

The new law came into effect in September, but specifics of compliance are now expected to be published this week. The country's Telecommunication Business Act has been amended by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).

These specifics cover what is considered a breach of the regulations, and how the country can penalize Apple or Google if necessary. According to Reuters, one proposal is that the companies could be fined up to "2% of revenue" for infractions.

What are described as being "finely woven" regulatory details are due to be reported to a parliamentary committee. They are expected to be put into practice in March 2022.

Details of this schedule were revealed by KCC vice chairman Kim Hyun at the Coalition for App Fairness's Global Conference on Mobile App Ecosystem Fairness. This is taking place in South Korea, and has featured Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney saying "Apple must be stopped."

3 Comments

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

About 3 years ago

AppleInsider said:

A leading South Korean politician involved in the country's decision to impose App Store legislation, says ... the country can penalize Apple or Google if necessary. According to Reuters, one proposal is that the companies could be fined up to "2% of revenue" for infractions.

Two percent of app store revenue or hardware revenue? If the former, Apple might accept the penalty. If the latter, Apple might pull its App Store out of South Korea so that Apple is no longer violating the rule.

freeassociate2 215 comments · 3 Years

Keep in mind this is coming out of a country long noted for its kleptocracy and a government with incestuous ties to the state sponsored monopolies. One of which is Samsung — recently 17% of the S. Korean economy — a company that is a known IP thief, displays aggressive anti-competitive behavior, and is corrupt at the highest levels.

hmmmmmm … wonder what incentive Korean lawmakers have for going after Apple rather than Samsung?

xyzzy-xxx 199 comments · 6 Years

This will extend to other countries, so Apple would be wise to comply timely.

I believe that Apple will lose the App Store monopoly but I also believe it would not be harmful to Apple and they may attract new customers to the platform.

The App Store was never a warrant for security (see Pegasus and latest zero day threats), Apple just needs to make iOS more secure.

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