South Korea may be close to approving an amendment to its Telecommunications Business Act that would force companies like Apple and Google to allow third-party payment options in their app stores. With a final decision coming as soon as Wednesday, August 25, Apple has shared concerns about what the bill would mean for the App Store.
Reported by Reuters, it appears very possible South Korea will pass the new “Anti-Google law” with a final vote scheduled for tomorrow, August 25 as long as it gets approval from the parliament’s legislation and judiciary committee today.
In a statement to Reuters, Apple said the amendment “will put users who purchase digital goods from other sources at risk of fraud, undermine their privacy protections, make it difficult to manage their purchases.”
South Korea is likely to bar Google and Apple from requiring software developers to use their payment systems, effectively stopping them from charging commissions on in-app purchases, the first such curbs on the tech giants by a major economy.
Going further, as it has previously responded when it comes to this criticism over App Store payments, Apple again shared concerns about users’ trust being eroded:
Of course, South Korea isn’t the only country where Apple and Google are seeing the potential for big legislative changes. Check out our antitrust guide for all the latest on the litigation and scrutiny Apple is facing around the world.
The iPhone maker said it believes “user trust in App Store purchases will decrease as a result of this proposal — leading to fewer opportunities for the over 482,000 registered developers in Korea who have earned more than KRW8.55 trillion to date with Apple.”
