Stopping Big Tech's Abuse of Power... National Assembly Launches 'Gapjil Protection TF'

Democratic Party Establishes Livelihood Priority Task Force
Focus on Platform Companies' Issues
Netflix Refuses Network Usage Fees
Likely to Address OTT Content Revenue Sharing

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Amid ongoing 'tollgate' abuses by application (app) market operators such as Google and Apple, seemingly mocking domestic laws, the opposition party is forming a Big Tech Abuse Countermeasure Task Force (TF).

On the 5th, lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea belonging to the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee announced the launch of the 'Big Tech Abuse Protection TF,' led by lawmaker Han Junho. The TF will be established under the party's Livelihood Priority Practice Group. It is expected to take on roles distinct from the Euljiro Committee, which handled fair trade issues such as coexistence between domestic platform companies and small business owners. A National Assembly official stated, "The TF will address issues such as platform companies' abuse of power, damage to local businesses, Netflix's refusal to pay network usage fees, fair profit distribution for original content production on online video services (OTT), and copyright protection."

Han Junho, member of the Democratic Party of Korea

Conflicts between global big tech companies and domestic firms are reaching a peak. Google enforces 'in-app payment (its own payment system)' on all apps and content sold on the Play Store. The commission developers must pay reaches 30%. Last year, the world's first 'In-App Payment Prevention Act (Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act)' passed the National Assembly, but the Ministry of Science and ICT, the competent authority, has only conducted repeated inspections due to procedural reasons. Recently, Apple announced the same in-app payment policy as Google, putting both major app markets in a situation where developers must pay commissions of up to 30% to Google and Apple. Furthermore, developers tend to avoid disputes with Google, which holds a 70% share of the Korean app market, resulting in widespread dissatisfaction but a frustrating inability to take action.

The OTT industry controversy, led by Netflix, is also intense. Netflix has been engaged in a legal battle for years with SK Broadband, a domestic Internet Service Provider (ISP), over network usage fee payments. In the case of 'Squid Game,' which set the record for the highest-grossing Netflix original, controversy arose over compensation as Netflix took all the success profits, leading to calls for improvement in profit distribution methods for Korean production companies.