by Dan Moren
Apple to allow alternative App Store payments in South Korea
Apple said it plans to provide an alternative payment system at a reduced service charge compared with the current 30 percent charge, as the tech giant turned in its compliance plans to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).
The company did not provide the exact date of when the policy will take effect or the service fee to be applied but said it plans to discuss with the KCC on further details.
“We look forward to working with the KCC and our developer community on a solution that benefits our Korean users,” Apple said in a statement.
This is, of course, the result of legislation passed in the country last year. Google’s already made a similar move, saying it would cut the commission for those not using its payment system by a modest 4 percent.
The details of such an implementation are going to be interesting. In the U.S., Apple’s victory over Epic seems to not only have solidified the company’s position, but also more or less tacitly acknowledged that even if alternative payments were allowed, Apple would still be within its rights to collect a commission from developers. But that’s according to U.S. law, and the South Korean law has its own restrictions.
It’s probably going too far to view how Apple handles this as a blueprint for how it might deal with a similar law enacted in the U.S., but it will at least give us some idea of how the company adapts to a significant change to one of its most criticized services.