South Korea Restricts Google and Apple App Committee

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South Korea wants to make it legal that app developers are no longer obliged to use the payment systems of Google or Apple. This threatens to elect a lot of committees.

If you want to put apps in the App Store or Google Play, you pay a commission to Google or Apple. This also includes purchases in that app. Korea now wants to ban that obligation imposed by Google and Apple. The proposal, an amendment to telecom legislation, is expected to be approved today and voted on Wednesday.

It is the first time that a major country has implemented such a ban in a legal framework. There are already similar plans in Europe, but not so concrete for the time being. A similar proposal was recently launched in the US as well. Reuters notes that a Korean government report states that 6 trillion won went to Google in 2019 that way, in South Korea alone.

The committee that Google and Apple demand, in which you as a developer have no say, has been under fire for some time. Including Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, which complains that the two platforms will run with a lot of money. But Belgian newspaper publishers have also complained about the model used in the past.

In the meantime, Google has adjusted their commission, so as a developer, you still pay 15 percent instead of 30 percent in the first million dollars that are earned. Apple made a similar decision.