'Google Gapjil Prevention Act' Passes Science and ICT Committee Plenary Meeting Amid Opposition Party Absence

Science and ICT Committee Approves Six Amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act Excluding 'Equal Access Rights'
Attempt to Pass at the Plenary Session on the 23rd

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] 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 full meeting of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee. However, the contentious issue of “equal access rights” was excluded from this vote and will be reviewed later.

On the 20th, the National Assembly’s Science and Technology Committee approved the bill at the third meeting of the agenda adjustment committee, and in the afternoon held a full committee meeting to pass a consolidated agenda adjustment committee proposal combining six amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act. The bill is expected to go through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and be processed at the plenary session on the 23rd along with the supplementary budget bill.

Last year, Google decided to expand in-app payments, which had only applied to game apps, to all apps and content starting this October. In-app payment refers to a method where only the internal payment systems developed by Google and Apple are used to pay for paid apps and content. Google's decision to enforce in-app payments means imposing a 30% commission on payment amounts for all content including games, music, and webtoons, raising concerns in the industry that this will lead to price increases and increased burdens on mobile content consumers.

The political sphere also reacted sensitively, with the Google Gapjil Prevention Act becoming a major issue during last year’s national audit. Seven bills were proposed by both ruling and opposition parties, focusing on prohibiting abusive practices by app market operators who force developers to use specific payment methods or prevent them from registering content on other app markets, leveraging their market dominance.

The bill passed on this day is a consolidated alternative combining six of the seven bills, excluding the proposal by Representative Han Junho of the Democratic Party, which focused on “content equal access rights,” as it was deemed necessary to discuss it later. This bill will be referred to the Information and Communications Broadcasting Bill Review Subcommittee.

Equal access rights are regarded as a measure to restore competition in the app market. However, concerns that it could impose cost burdens on some app developers led Representative Han Junho to propose revising the equal access rights from a mandatory obligation to a “recommendation,” resulting in its exclusion from this vote. A Democratic Party official said, “The issues of mandatory in-app payments and equal provision rights do not necessarily have to be addressed together and can be discussed later. For now, passing the law to prevent mandatory in-app payments is important.”

However, attention is also focused on whether Google’s decision the previous day to delay 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 also seen as a response to global developer backlash against mandatory in-app payments.

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

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