National Assembly Holds Meeting on Netflix Network Usage Fees... Government Officials Participate in Discussion

Kim Sang-hee, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, and Kim Young-sik, Member of the National Assembly, Co-host
Gathering Opinions from Various Sectors Ahead of National Assembly Bill Review

Dean Garfield, Vice President of Policy at Netflix, is speaking at the Media Open Talk held on the 4th at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Members of the ruling and opposition parties belonging to the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee will hold a roundtable meeting regarding the Netflix network usage fee dispute and listen to opinions from various sectors. With the attendance of department heads from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission, the responsible government agencies, as discussants, more in-depth legislative discussions are expected to be possible.

Kim Sang-hee, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party, and Kim Young-sik, a member of the People Power Party, both of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, announced on the 24th that they will hold an “Expert Roundtable Meeting to Seek Reasonable Solutions to Network Usage Fee Issues in the Digital Economy Era” on the 25th at 9:30 a.m. in Seminar Room 3 of the National Assembly Members’ Office Building.

Deputy Speaker Kim Sang-hee and Representative Kim Young-sik have each proposed bills related to the burden of network usage fees. Ahead of the National Assembly’s bill review, they have arranged a session to hear opinions from stakeholders including Netflix, the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA), regulatory authorities such as the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission, and expert groups.

At the National Assembly seminar, Professor Cho Dae-geun of Sogang University will present as a representative of Internet Service Providers (ISP), and Thomas Bolmer, Director of Netflix’s Global Content Delivery Division, will present as a representative of Content Providers (CP). Professor Choi Kyung-jin of Gachon University’s Department of Law will serve as the chairperson, and discussants will include Kim Jun-mo, Director of the Telecommunications Competition Policy Division at the Ministry of Science and ICT; Ko Nak-jun, Director of the Internet User General Division at the Korea Communications Commission; Yoon Sang-pil, Executive Director of KTOA; and attorney Koo Tae-eon from Law Firm Lin.

Deputy Speaker Kim Sang-hee introduced a partial amendment bill to the Telecommunications Business Act last November, which specifies contract regulations for overseas CPs’ network usage fees. The bill includes the establishment of Article 34-3 (Conclusion of Information and Communications Network Service Use Contracts), requiring telecommunications business operators to enter into contracts upon request from other telecommunications business operators regarding the use and provision of information and communications networks.

Earlier, Representative Kim Young-sik also proposed a similar amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act in July. The bill prohibits acts where value-added telecommunications service providers, who receive internet access services using public telecommunications networks under Article 22-7, fail to pay fair usage fees in consideration of the network configuration and traffic volume.