-Only in-app payment and third-party payment systems are accepted… Full ban on outlink web payments
– Virtually the same as forced in-app payment
-KCC Enforcement Decree pointed out to be useless
-The key is the KCCs interpretation, how far should we look at approach?
[Digital Daily Correspondent Choi Min] Google, which announced that it would allow third-party payments from developers in the app market in compliance with domestic laws, showed a evil ambivalence to neutralize the law. As the industry showed its will to trick to force in-app payment, the industry went beyond concerns and approached give up.
According to the industry on the 18th, Google notified the app developer on the 16th that it would delete its own payment system. If you do not accept this, you will not be able to submit updates from April 1st, and will be removed from Google Play from June 1st.
What this means is that we will not accept any external payments except for in-app payments provided by Google and third-party payments that have promised to comply with domestic laws. Until now, developers have been able to use web payments using external links. Now, Google bans this fundamentally.
Google announced this policy right after the Korea Communications Commission enacted a partial amendment to the “Enforcement Decree of the Telecommunications Business Act,” which prohibits the enforcement of specific payment methods by app market operators on the 15th. In this situation, developers are arguing that they should rather choose Google IAP and give up external payment.
When using Google In-App Payment, the fee is up to 30%. If you apply external payment, you will have to pay a 26% fee. If you include electronic economy agencies and credit card fees, the in-app payment fee exceeds 30%. Google has adopted a policy of lowering the payment fee by 15% if it meets the conditions for content and sales volume among developers using in-app payment. Rather, it is the greatest benefit when in-app payment is selected.
In a situation where web payment is blocked and the burden of external payment is increasing, developers have only one option: ‘in-app payment’.
The purpose of the law to prevent abuse by giant app market operators such as Google and Apple and to allow various payment methods has faded. The amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act was originally called the ‘Google Gaps Prevention Act’ and the ‘Prevention of Forced In-App Payment Act’, but as the enforcement ordinance came out, the induction of in-app payment became more intensified. Apple didnt even submit a specific implementation plan to comply with domestic laws.
The KCC is helpless. Although the worlds first in-app payment enforcement prevention law was launched and an enforcement decree was prepared, Google found a legal loophole and completed the calculation to make a profit.
The Korea Communications Commission cannot confirm that this Google policy is illegal. A KCC official said, “Its a violation right now, its hard to say definitively.” That said, it is true that Google allowed an external payment system.
The industry believes that the future they feared has become a reality. This is an explanation that has already been pointed out since the draft of the Enforcement Decree.
If you look at the regulations on prohibited acts in the Enforcement Decree, there are a lot of expressions that say that it is a business that uses a payment method other than a specific payment method. In this phrase, we are already seeing a specific payment method called in-app payment as the default. To compensate for this, the KCC added an expression that prohibits the act of forcing a specific payment method, such as making the procedure for using access difficult in the payment method. still ambiguous
The key is whether the Korea Communications Commission will put all payment methods, such as external links, into the scope of access, or whether it can be seen that access is satisfied only by Google allowing third-party payment.
An industry official said, “It depends on how technically and actively the Korea Communications Commission interprets the law.” “If the Korea Communications Commission imposes a fine, global companies will file an administrative lawsuit. Alternatively, the developer may file a lawsuit against the App Market Company, claiming that it is unfair. In the end, there will come a situation where we will have to receive another judgment on the amendment bill by law.”
