Credit: Public domain.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission 공정거래위원회, one of the world’s most active antitrust regulators, is taking aim at monopolistic behavior in online platform businesses, including the payment system for Google’s app store and the refund policy for streaming services such as Netflix and Youtube. The KFTC was the world’s first regulator to compel Netflix to change its policies of changing prices without the customer’s consent, waiving responsibility for breaches of the customer’s personal information, limiting the ability of the customer to sue for damages, and other unfair practices.
The commission is in the process of holding hearings to propose a piece of legislation tentatively titled Fairness in Online Platform Intermediary Transactions Act 온라인플랫폼 중개거래의 공정화에 관한 법률, which would give further legal basis for regulating anti-competitive behavior by major online platforms.
