Passage of Nth Room Prevention Law... Internet Industry "Regret Over Regulatory Bill Passage... Active Response to Enforcement Decree"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The internet industry immediately expressed regret on the afternoon of the 20th when the National Assembly plenary session passed the amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

The Korea Internet Corporations Association, the Korea Venture Business Association, and the Korea Startup Forum criticized in a joint statement released that day, "Despite numerous concerns raised by academia, legal experts, the media, startups, venture business organizations, civic groups, and the general public, the National Assembly and the government unilaterally passed laws that regulate value-added telecommunications service providers and can substantially restrict user benefits."

These organizations pointed out, "To prevent the recurrence of crimes like the 'n-beonbang incident,' it is necessary to properly analyze the essence of the problem and find solutions," adding, "The question of whether these bills will eradicate similar crimes remains unresolved."

Furthermore, they highlighted issues in the legislative process, stating, "During the bill review process by the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, it was pointed out that important provisions that should be stipulated in the law were broadly delegated to enforcement ordinances, which violates the constitutional principles of clarity and legality." Despite many organizations requesting sufficient consultation and discussion, the National Assembly and government focused solely on the swift passage of related bills under the pretext of 'measures to prevent the recurrence of the n-beonbang case' and 'eliminating discrimination between domestic and foreign businesses through overseas CP regulation,' which is regrettable."

These organizations expressed concern that the ambiguous term "securing service stability" could affect the sharply divided related markets and the principle of net neutrality, worrying about future controversies that may arise.

They also emphasized, "Considering the valuable past experience where attempts to solve various social problems through platform regulation resulted in far more harm than good to society as a whole, the National Assembly and government should have been more cautious in this related legislation," and stressed, "We reiterate the need for our country's current legislative practices to become more precise, professional, and careful."

The three organizations added, "We will verify whether enforcement ordinances and other measures are prepared according to the content disclosed by the government during the legislative process, express our opinions, and simultaneously conduct a thorough analysis of the impact the amendments will have on the internet industry and users, continuing efforts to prevent harm to both businesses and users."

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