South Korea intends to amend its Telecommunications Business Law – known as the “Anti-Google Law” – and force Apple and Google to offer alternative payment methods in their app stores. Failure to comply with this new measure by large technologies would result in a fine of up to 3% of their income.
The new bill has been approved this Tuesday by the National Assembly of South Korea and will take effect in the coming weeks. Specifically, it will allow developers skip that 30% commission (15% in some cases) imposed by Apple and Google in their respective app stores. App creators, therefore, will be able to offer alternative payment methods and thus obtain their total income.
Apple, for its part, has responded (via Reuters) claiming that the new bill could pose a risk and it will hurt a lot of developers.
“It will put users who purchase digital goods from other sources at risk of fraud, undermine their privacy protections, and make it difficult to manage their purchases. User confidence in purchases from the App Store will decrease as a result of this proposal, which it will lead to fewer opportunities for the more than 482,000 registered developers in Korea who have earned more than KRW8.55 billion to date with Apple. “
Apple’s new measures don’t seem to be enough
Apple, remember, announced the possibility that developers can report an alternative payment method to the App Store. However, the agreement has important nuances. The app creators They will only be able to communicate about a form of payment other than that of the App Store. They will have to do it through different means, such as sending e-mails. Consumers will also have to accept the receipt of these communications.
Developers will not be able to include a payment system in the app itself, but rather they will have to use an external gateway, like the browser.
Secondly, Epic games He has been struggling for months with the impossibility of using his own payment system. The creator firm of ‘Fortnite’ faced Apple adding, without prior notice, an alternative payment method to the App Store. Those in Cupertino responded by removing the game from the app store. The legal conflict between both companies is ongoing.
South Korea would therefore be the first country to force app stores to offer alternative payment methods. The new Telecommunications Business Law of the Asian country also aims to prohibit operators from delaying without strong justification the publication of applications or remove them from stores.