Fair Trade Commission Reviews 'Network Usage Fee Free Riding Controversy' from Multiple Angles

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyungsoo] The Fair Trade Commission is examining the legality of Netflix's payment of internet network usage fees.

On the 16th, at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee plenary session, Fair Trade Commission Chairman Cho Sung-wook responded to Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin's question, "Is it true that there are reports regarding Netflix's network usage fees and that investigations are underway?" by saying, "There have been several reports submitted."

Previously, in April 2019, the Fair Trade Commission received a report that the three major telecommunications companies were discriminating between domestic CPs and global CPs, which was deemed unfair. Since then, the Fair Trade Commission has not reached a conclusion for about two years.

Chairman Cho stated, "We are looking into various issues regarding online video services (OTT), including network usage fees and consumer terms," adding, "We are also investigating music copyright fees."

They are also examining whether online shopping malls have properly paid suppliers.

Regarding the criticism that online shopping malls take up to two months to pay suppliers, Chairman Cho said, "We have not previously investigated the actual situation, but we plan to do so going forward," and added, "We will conduct a prompt investigation and develop improvement measures."

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