TL; DR
- South Korea has passed a law targeting payments on Apple and Google’s App Store.
- The bill prohibits Apple and Google from imposing certain payment systems on app developers.
The South Korean parliament has passed a bill forcing Apple and Google to accept alternative payment services in their respective app stores. The bill is expected to be signed by President Moon Jae-in, whose party primarily pushed for the bill.
According to South Korea Yonhap news, the changes to the Telecommunications Industry Act will “prevent app market operators from imposing certain payment systems on companies with mobile content”. In other words, the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store are not allowed to impose their own payment systems on developers.
The outlet adds that the bill also prevents app stores from “unfairly” delaying reviews of mobile content such as apps. App store operators who violate these rules can be fined up to 3% of their sales in South Korea Wall Street Journal reported.
A sign for Apple and Google?
The news comes after Google and Apple cut sales in their app stores by up to 30% for years. The passed bill also comes almost a year after Google announced plans to force all apps in the Play Store to use its billing service. Apple also long stuck with this approach, preventing app developers from informing users about other billing options.
Apple recently reached a settlement with US developers that would allow them to inform users about other payment options via email and SMS. Unfortunately, iOS developers still cannot inform users of their options within an app itself.
It goes without saying that this bill only applies to South Korea, but this is not the only country targeting business practices on the app store. US Senators tabled a bill earlier this month that would prevent Apple and Google from imposing their own payment services on developers. 36 US states and Washington DC also filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google earlier this year. The suit calls into question Google’s dominance in the Android app store space.
Will South Korean law cause more countries to take action too? That remains to be seen. For what it’s worth, the EU forced Google to offer users a choice of browsers and search engines back in 2019, but we haven’t seen any similar action in other major markets.
Do you think Apple and Google’s app stores should allow alternative payment options? Let us know what you think about the survey above.
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