Speed of Network Usage Fee Discussions... Assemblyman Yoon Young-chan Proposes 'Fare Evasion Prevention Act'

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] On the 8th, Yoon Young-chan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that he has taken the lead in proposing the "Partial Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act," which guarantees autonomous contracts between business operators but defines acts such as imposing unreasonable or discriminatory conditions, unjustifiably refusing contract conclusion, and refusing to pay fair compensation as prohibited acts.

This is to prevent free-riding on networks by global big tech companies and to create a fair competitive environment amid the rapid increase in network traffic worldwide due to the advancement of internet services.

Currently, six bills with similar purposes to this amendment have been proposed in the National Assembly. They were submitted to the Legislation Review Subcommittee of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee in April but have been put on hold pending re-discussion through a public hearing due to calls for careful review.

This amendment, commonly called the "Netflix Free-Riding Prevention Act," was promoted after a consensus on the need for alternative legislation was formed within the Big Tech Abuse Countermeasures Task Force (TF) under the Democratic Party's Livelihood Priority Practice Group.

Rep. Yoon Young-chan pointed out, "Domestic content providers (CPs) are already paying usage fees in the form of network access charges through contracts between business operators. If a global operator with overwhelming competitiveness refuses to pay fair compensation, the burden could ultimately fall on domestic CPs, and a structure that is difficult to escape from reverse discrimination will become entrenched."

Rep. Yoon explained, "The issue of freedom of contract between business operators, which was the most contentious during the discussion of previously proposed bills, was resolved through ex-post regulation by prohibiting certain acts." He also stated, "To enhance transparency in the use and provision of information and communication networks, we have prepared grounds for the government to conduct surveys to accurately grasp the current status and have worked to supplement measures to notify important information regarding contract conclusion."

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