[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] The National Assembly's standing committee meeting to discuss the 'Google Gapjil Prevention Act (Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act)' aimed at blocking Google's unilateral commission policy changes has been postponed once.
On the afternoon of the 15th, the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee held its second agenda adjustment meeting to discuss the Google Gapjil Prevention Act. It was initially expected that the decision on whether to submit the act to the plenary session would be made at this meeting, but the agenda adjustment committee decided to review opinions from each ministry further and is expected to reach a conclusion at the third agenda adjustment meeting, which will also be the second agenda adjustment meeting of the July extraordinary session, around next Tuesday.
If an agenda referred to the agenda adjustment committee is approved by two-thirds or more of the members, it can be submitted to the plenary session. Currently, among the six committee members, Democratic Party lawmakers Jo Seung-rae, Jung Pil-mo, Han Jun-ho, and independent lawmaker Yang Jeong-sook have expressed support, making the passage highly likely.
Although the decision to submit to the plenary session was not made on this day, the bill's passage is expected to proceed smoothly. Prior to the meeting, the agenda adjustment committee collected opinions from related ministries such as the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, and the Fair Trade Commission. While there were no objections to the bill's passage, it was reported that there were differences in stance among the ministries on detailed matters.
Once approved by the agenda adjustment committee, the agenda will go through the plenary session, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and then the plenary session of the National Assembly in sequence. At present, it is anticipated that the plenary session, Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and final plenary session will pass the bill without difficulty.
The ruling party plans to pass the bill within this month even if it means doing so unilaterally, as the enforcement of mandatory in-app payments is approaching. Considering the time required for the enactment of enforcement ordinances, passing the bill within this month is necessary to complete legislation before October. Earlier, Google announced that starting in October, app developers listed on its app market, Google Play, will be forced to use in-app payments when selling content and items, with a hefty 30% commission charged during this process.
To prevent Google's unilateral commission abuse, seven bills were proposed last year in the National Assembly's Science and Technology Committee. Unlike the Democratic Party, which urges swift processing, the opposition People Power Party has expressed a cautious stance, citing concerns about trade friction and overlapping regulations.
However, recently, the urgency to pass the bill has spread. Even within the opposition party, there is a growing consensus that the introduction of in-app payments should not be left unchecked. The burden caused by Google's commission increase will inevitably return to domestic creators and consumers of webtoons, web novels, and the entire digital content industry.
The Google Gapjil Prevention Act, which was the biggest issue in last year's national audit, currently has seven bills pending. The core content prohibits acts of abuse of market dominance, such as app market operators forcing developers to use specific payment methods or inducing them not to register content on other app markets.
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