'OTT 1-Day Pass' Paysense's Bold Business... Ignoring Netflix's Suspension Request

Netflix has Sent a Certified Letter Requesting Service Suspension
But Paysense Continues Selling Passes
Will Korea's Top 3 OTT Providers Follow Litigation Path?

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Paysense, which sold online video service (OTT) content usage rights in divided portions, has been found to continue sales despite Netflix's request to suspend the service.

Photo by Paysense website capture

On the 13th, Netflix announced that it sent a certified letter requesting service suspension to Paysense at the end of August. A Netflix official stated, "Through the certified letter, we requested the suspension of Paysense's daily pass sales due to violations of terms and conditions." Paysense recently ceased services for the three domestic OTT companies (TVING, Wavve, Watcha) following legal disputes.

Since early June, Paysense has been selling daily passes for six OTT services including Netflix, TVING, Wavve, and Watcha at 400 to 600 KRW per person. Currently, it sells daily passes for three services, including Netflix and Disney+, which are foreign companies, and Bflix, which claims to have official partnerships. Unlike some sites that only support account sharing, Paysense directly owns the accounts and rents them to members for one day under their name. This directly violates OTT industry terms of use, which state that "no commercial activity using paid services is allowed without the company's explicit approval."

Initially, Paysense claimed that it was a legal service and did not violate any laws, but changed its stance about a month after legal disputes began. Early last month, Paysense sent official letters to the three OTT companies stating it would stop sales and partially suspended the service. It also submitted a written pledge to prevent recurrence to withdraw the injunction lawsuit. However, since Paysense continues its business more than two weeks after Netflix sent the certified letter, there remains a possibility that the dispute could escalate into litigation like with the three OTT companies.