In South Korea a new law called “Telecommunications Business Act”, Which seeks to end a very popular practice in the App Store and Play Store, which has generated discontent in some developers in recent years.
This law will force Apple and Google to allow developers to implement their payment methods for users to make in-app purchases or subscribe to services without going through the “cash register” of Apple and Google.
This means that tech titans won’t be able to charge 30% commission to developers who decide to implement their own payment methods.
To ensure that both companies comply with the law, the government will fine anyone who does not respect the decision with up to 3% of their income in the country.
Google warns that this could change Android
Neither Apple nor Google are happy with the decision, especially since this could be a precedent and be the way forward in the United States and Europe, places where both companies already have legal battles over the same situation.
Google mentioned in a statement that their 30% commission is one of the reasons they can offer Android free to manufacturers, as well as offer free solutions to developers to access millions of consumers around the world.
“Just as it costs developers money to build an application, it costs us money to build and maintain an operating system and an application store. We will reflect on how to comply with this law while maintaining a model that supports a high-quality operating system and application store, and we will share more in the coming weeks, “said a Google spokesperson.
Apple has not issued a statement on the matter, but before the law was accepted Tim Cook’s company mentioned The Verge the next:
“This law will put users who buy digital goods with third-party payments at risk of fraud, undermine their privacy, make it difficult to manage their purchases, and erode various features.”
Both Apple and Google have implemented solutions to reduce commissions to certain developers in their stores, but argue that maintaining commissions is necessary to continue ensuring the best experience and privacy for users.