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[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) is urging the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Communications Commission to intervene and resolve the issue of free-riding on network usage fees by global content providers (CPs), sparking a growing controversy over the so-called "free network."

On the 23rd, the CCEJ stated, "The Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Communications Commission must proactively regulate unfair trade practices between domestic and foreign operators to ensure fairness in internet market network access fees and ecosystem fairness, while actively responding to user protection and damage prevention."

The CCEJ claimed that Netflix denied its "financial party eligibility" as a global operator during the Korea Communications Commission's fee review process. They argued that Netflix's refusal to effectively negotiate with SK Broadband due to its status as a global operator, and then filing a "confirmation of non-existence of debt" lawsuit when the situation turned unfavorable, is contradictory.

The CCEJ criticized, "Global CPs have virtually monopolized the domestic internet market, gaining market dominance and exerting undue influence over decisions related to domestic internet network capacity, quality, and usage by telecom companies such as KT and SK Broadband. As a result, this causes unfair issues with domestic large and small CPs that compete with global CPs."

The CCEJ urged domestic regulatory agencies such as the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Communications Commission to actively respond, given their sufficient legal authority. They called not only for mediation by the Korea Communications Commission but also urged the Fair Trade Commission not to delay any further in deciding on the "discriminatory treatment of network access fees by the three telecom companies" case reported by the CCEJ last year. They also appealed to the National Assembly to pay attention to resolving unfair trade practices and reverse discrimination issues between domestic and foreign companies and to fill the gaps in related laws.

The CCEJ stated, "It is time for the government to make a swift decision regarding the behavior of global CPs exploiting the administrative and legal gaps caused by the lack of leadership from the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Communications Commission," adding, "We urge the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Communications Commission to respond proactively ahead of the courts. We strongly urge the government to conclude this matter as soon as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.