South Korea approves law limiting the power of app stores
South Korea’s parliament has approved a bill that limits Google’s and Apple’s app stores power to force developers to use the app stores’ payment systems. Both Google and Apple have been criticized by market operators and politicians for forcing developers to use the apps’ payment system and for charging commissions of up to 30%.
The South Korean legislation is studied by governments and IT companies around the world as it is the first time a large economy aims at limiting the power of the big companies’ app stores.
South Korean lawmakers voted to approve the amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act, which bar app market operators from forcing certain payment systems on mobile content businesses by abusing their market positions, South Korean news agency Yonhap reports.
The change would make it possible for developers to ask customers to pay directly to them. Apple is presently waiting for a court ruling in a case where gaming company Epic Games violated Apple’s rules and inserted their own payment solution when it launched its game Fortnight.
Apple recently announced that it is limiting its commission to 15% for smaller developers to settle another and smaller court case. The company also opened up for developers to have more direct communication with customers instead of forcing almost all communication to be via the app store.
The big app stores’ market dominance has also been an issue with US Senate hearings with Apple and Google being accused of abusing its dominance.
The parliament’s voting was 180 in favour out of 188.
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