Follow-up Measures for the 'Google Gapjil Prevention Act' Approved by the Cabinet Meeting... Effective on the 15th

Partial Amendment to the Korea Communications Commission Enforcement Decree
Approved at the 11th Cabinet Meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] The enforcement decree prepared by the government as a follow-up measure to the so-called 'Google Fair Trade Act,' officially known as the 'Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act,' passed the Cabinet meeting on the 8th and will be fully implemented starting from the 15th. The focus is on closing regulatory loopholes to prevent app market operators like Google and Apple, who have forced in-app payments (app market operators' payment systems) on game companies and other application (app) developers, from using evasive tactics.

The Korea Communications Commission announced that at the 11th Cabinet meeting held that day, it approved a partial amendment to the enforcement decree of the Telecommunications Business Act, which prohibits app market operators from mandating specific payment methods.

This amendment is a follow-up measure to the amendment of the Telecommunications Business Act on September 14 last year, which was the world's first to clearly define the obligations of app market operators. It specifies the obligations of app market operators to protect users, the investigation of app market operations, types and standards of newly prohibited acts, and criteria for imposing fines.

The Korea Communications Commission collected opinions from stakeholders such as app market operators and app developers, as well as expert opinions, during the legislative notice period until January 10, and throughout the review process including the Regulatory Reform Committee.

During this process, the enforcement decree was also supplemented. It accepted the opinion that it is necessary to explicitly prohibit app market operators from guiding or promoting other payment methods through outlinks, etc., by app developers, and included this in the 'acts that force specific payment methods.' The scope of prohibited acts was also expanded by adding provisions that prevent app market operators from imposing unreasonable or discriminatory conditions or restrictions in the data processing of purchase history and usage status on app developers who use other payment methods.

The main contents of the amendment to the enforcement decree of the Telecommunications Business Act approved at the Cabinet meeting that day include ▲establishing types and standards of prohibited acts such as forcing specific payment methods ▲imposing obligations on app market operators to prevent user damage and protect user rights ▲setting targets, contents, and procedures for app market operation investigations ▲and stipulating the upper limit of fines for newly prohibited acts.

The partial amendment to the enforcement decree of the Telecommunications Business Act is scheduled to be published in the official gazette and come into effect on the 15th of this month.

Han Sang-hyuk, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, said, "To prevent indirect regulatory evasion, we have established the types and standards of prohibited acts as thoroughly as possible within the scope delegated by law. We will strictly enforce the amended law and do our best to achieve substantial changes that members of the app ecosystem can feel."

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