SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — A parliamentary committee on Wednesday passed a bill to ban Google and Apple from forcing app developers to use the platforms’ payment systems, clearing the last remaining hurdle before a final vote. The legislation and judiciary committee of the National Assembly approved the revision of the Telecommunications Business Act, [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — A U.S.-based group of companies that has voiced opposition to commissions major app stores collect from developers expressed support Tuesday for legislative movement in South Korea to pass a bill that seeks to curb the so-called app store taxes. Last month, the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications [...]
SEOUL, July 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean lawmakers decided Tuesday to press forward with legislation that restricts app market operators from wielding their dominance in determining how digital goods payments are processed in a move widely seen as reining in global tech giants such as Google and Apple Inc. Over the past year, multiple [...]
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Universities and students are baffled by Google Inc.’s abrupt decision to end free, unlimited mail and cloud storage service for college students and introduce paid subscription fees next year. The South Korean unit of U.S. tech giant recently sent out notices to universities in the country using Google’s cloud [...]
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday that it will team up with Google LLC to deliver a new smartwatch operating system (OS), as they seek to better compete with Apple Inc. in the wearables market. Yoon Jang-hyun, who heads Samsung’s software development team, said in an editorial that the South [...]
SEOUL, April 1 (Korea Bizwire) — U.S. tech giant Google will invest more than 50 billion won (US$44.15 million) in Kakao Mobility Corp., the country’s top taxi-hailing company, parent Kakao Corp. said Thursday. Google will invest in Kakao Mobility by acquiring new shares worth 56.51 billion won, according to a regulatory filing from Kakao. The [...]
SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Global tech giant Google Inc. is facing criticism in South Korea for putting consumer protection on the back burner despite having an unrivaled presence in the domestic mobile operating system (OS) market. Today, Google commands a share of more than 70 percent of the nation’s mobile OS market. On [...]
SEOUL, March 17 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s political community has launched a drive to legislate a new law that forces global Internet platforms to pay copyright fees in return for using news reports created by domestic media. Thus far, global Internet platforms have chalked up huge profits while using such news sources for free. [...]
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean unit of Google Inc. has decided to lower its planned commission rate for app developers, parliamentary and industry sources said Monday, amid complaints from software makers over steep fees. Google Korea reported to parliament’s committee on science and technology that it will cut the 30 percent rate [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s app market ONE store has drawn attention as a possible alternative to Google’s Play store as local app developers worry about increasing costs over the U.S. tech giant’s decision to expand its 30 percent commission fee to all in-app digital goods purchases later this year. ONE store, [...]