South Korea Expected to Target Apple over App Store Practices

South Korean regulators are expected to take issue with Apple in the coming weeks following recently passed laws that state smartphone vendors must allow app developers to use third-party payment processors. Google has told the country it intends to comply with the law, but Apple is courting a fight over its stranglehold over developers.

Breitbart News has previously reported on a South Korean law that states that tech giants such as Apple and Google must allow developers in the company’s app stores to take payments via third-party processors. Currently, Apple and Google require all in-app purchases to be made via their respective payment processors, allowing the companies to take a 15 to 30 percent cut of all payments made via their platforms.

Apple’s bombshell and the trillion-dollar question (AFP)

In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Blue House, South Korean President Moon Jae-in talks on the phone with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. Suga on Thursday held his first telephone call with his South Korean counterpart since taking office, telling Moon that the neighbors should work to resolve their strained relations.(South Korea Presidential Blue House via AP).

South Korea’s new law states that if tech companies fail to allow developers to use alternate payment processors, the firms could face fines of up to three percent of their revenue in the country.

Now, Reuters reports that Apple is heading for conflict with South Korea’s regulatory bodies over the issue. The law went into effect last month, but Apple told the South Korean government that it was already in compliance with the law and did not need to alter its policies, according to a Korea Communications Commission official.

The KCC official told Reuters: “This goes against the purpose of the amended law.” The KCC reportedly plans to request Apple’s South Korea unit to develop a new company policy giving developers great autonomy in payment methods, and if Apple fails to comply, the KCC would consider implementing a fact-finding probe before administering fines and other penalties.

Google, in comparison, has told the KCC that it plans to fully comply with the new law including the implementation of third-party payment systems and will discuss the matter with the KCC next week.