'Google Gapjil Prevention Act' Passes KCC Committee Agenda Coordination Subcommittee

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] The so-called 'Google Gapjil Prevention Act (Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act),' aimed at preventing Google's unilateral changes to its commission policy, has passed the agenda coordination committee of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee.

On the morning of the 20th, the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally approved the bill at the third meeting of the agenda coordination committee, held without the participation of the People Power Party, and referred it to the plenary session scheduled for 2 p.m. At the meeting, only Democratic Party members Cho Seung-rae, Jeong Pil-mo, Han Jun-ho, and independent lawmaker Yang Jeong-sook attended, while two members of the People Power Party were absent.

Since the majority of the Science and Technology Committee members are from the Democratic Party, the bill is expected to easily pass the plenary session. It will then undergo review by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee before being submitted to the plenary session. The People Power Party, which has boycotted the bill review while demanding an audit of TBS (Traffic Broadcasting), is expected to also boycott the plenary session following the agenda coordination committee meeting.

In-app payment refers to a payment method that requires paid apps and content to be purchased only through an internal payment system developed by Google or Apple. Google had applied in-app payments only to game apps but plans to expand it to all apps and content starting this October.

However, attention is focused on whether Google's decision the previous day to postpone the mandatory application of in-app payments by six months could affect the bill's passage. Google explained that it considered the difficulties faced by app developers upgrading their systems for in-app payments due to the spread of COVID-19, but this move is interpreted as a response to global developers' backlash against the forced in-app payment system.

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

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