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Science and ICT Committee Agenda Coordination Subcommittee to Present 'Google Gapjil Prevention Act' at Plenary Meeting
Google Postpones Mandatory In-App Payment Enforcement to April Next Year, Delayed by 6 Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee is moving forward with the so-called 'Google Gapjil Prevention Act (Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act)' to block Google's unilateral changes to its commission policy.

According to the committee on the 20th, the committee will hold the 3rd meeting of the agenda adjustment committee related to the Google Gapjil Prevention Act at 10 a.m. on the same day, approve the agenda, and then hold a plenary session at 2 p.m. to vote on the bill.

If an agenda referred to the agenda adjustment committee is approved by more than two-thirds of the members, it can be submitted to the plenary session. Currently, among the six members of the committee, Democratic Party lawmakers Jo Seung-rae, Jeong Pil-mo, Han Jun-ho, and independent lawmaker Yang Jeong-sook have expressed support, making the bill's passage highly likely. If approved by the agenda adjustment committee and referred to the plenary session, it is expected that the ruling party's determination to pass the bill will make it smooth to pass the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the plenary session. Meanwhile, People Power Party lawmakers Hwang Bo Seung-hee and Heo Eun-ah, who did not attend the 1st and 2nd agenda adjustment committee meetings citing a request for audit of TBS, are also expected not to attend the 3rd meeting on this day.

Originally, the Democratic Party planned to approve the Google Gapjil Prevention Act at the 2nd agenda adjustment committee meeting held on the 15th and refer it to the full committee. Although the key provision of the original bill, which prohibits Google's 'mandatory in-app payment,' was finalized without disagreement at the 2nd meeting, concerns about overlapping regulations between ministries and discussions on content equal access rights were not completed, so the submission of the bill to the plenary session was postponed once.

In particular, opinions have emerged that content equal access rights must be reflected to secure the effectiveness of app market competition. Content equal access rights mean that content must be provided without discrimination to all app markets, and among the seven Google Gapjil Prevention Act bills currently pending in the committee, one bill (by lawmaker Han Jun-ho) includes this provision.

An industry official said, "Since mandatory in-app payment without equal provision cannot prevent monopolistic behavior by market-dominant operators, equal provision legislation is essential to resolve the more fundamental problem of market imbalance and induce effective competition."

Equal access rights are evaluated as a device to restore competition in the app market. However, due to concerns that it may impose cost burdens on some app developers, lawmaker Han Jun-ho proposed revising equal access rights from an obligation to a 'recommendation,' and it is expected to be included at the level of a 'recommendation' rather than a mandate. A Democratic Party official said, "Mandatory in-app payment and equal provision rights do not necessarily have to go together and can be discussed later. For now, passing the law to prevent mandatory in-app payment is important."

Google postpones mandatory in-app payment until March next year... Will it affect bill passage?

Meanwhile, attention is focused on whether Google's six-month postponement of the mandatory in-app payment implementation date could become a variable in the bill's passage. Google explained that it considered the difficulties app developers face in upgrading systems for in-app payments due to the spread of COVID-19, but it is interpreted as a measure taken in response to global developers' backlash against mandatory in-app payments.

On the 16th, Google announced on the official Android developer blog that after carefully considering the responses of both large and small developers, it decided to grant a six-month extension opportunity. Starting from the 22nd, developers can apply for a deferral of in-app payment application, and Google will review and decide on the deferral. The deferral period lasts until March 31 of next year.

Google cited the recent COVID-19 situation as the reason for the postponement. Applying in-app payments requires app updates by developers, but due to the pandemic, development teams in various regions found it more difficult than usual to implement technical updates for the new payment policy.

However, the industry views this as a time-buying move by Google in response to stronger-than-expected backlash against its forced commission policy and the intensifying regulatory actions by governments worldwide. Recently, 36 states including Utah and New York, as well as Washington D.C., filed a lawsuit against Google in the California federal court for alleged antitrust violations. They reportedly raised issues with Google's 30% commission policy. Additionally, several U.S. states are reportedly pushing bills to prevent Google's mandatory in-app payment policy.

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