The bill is an amendment to the country’s telecommunication act that will stop companies like Apple and Google from using their in-app purchase system in app stores exclusively. If any app store operator fails to comply they’ll have to pay 3% of their South Korean revenue. Both companies have faced scrutiny the world over related to the commission they collect from app developers. These companies charge a 30% fee for in-app purchases with certain concessions for small-time developers. Epic Games — owners of battle royale game Fortnite — is in a famous court battle with Apple over this matter. In India, Google had to delay the rollout of its 30% commission, after developers rallied against it last year. Last week, after the South Korean parliamentary committee passed the bill, Apple commented that if people will use alternative sources to buy digital goods, they’ll be “at risk of fraud.” In the US, a bipartisan bill was introduced this month, looking to restrict Apple and Google’s dominance over in-app payment systems in their app stores. Last week, Apple gave a minor respite to developers by allowing them to communicate about alternative payment methods to the customers — but only via email. In a statement, Google said that Play Store provides more than payment processing to developers: In its statement, Apple repeated its message from last week about fraud and developer opportunities: The new South Korean law can inspire a lot of countries and regions to enforce restrictions on these big app store operators. This could potentially change the way that apps are distributed on these mobile platforms.
