South Korea Fines Google 207 billion won, this is the case that ensnares him

 


South Korea's trade regulator has fined Google's parent company Alphabet Inch 207 billion won for blocking a custom version of the Android operating system (OS).


The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said that Google had abused its dominance to limit competition in the mobile OS market.


Where Google is alleged to have prevented domestic phones such as Samsung from customizing their own OS.



In a statement, Google said it would appeal the ruling. This decision is called Google ignores the benefits offered by Android compatibility with other programs and undermines the benefits enjoyed by consumers.


KFTC said Google was hindering competition by making device manufacturers comply with anti-fragmentation agreements (AFA) when signing key contracts with it on app store licenses.


Under the AFA, manufacturers cannot equip their handsets with a modified version of Android known as an 'Android fork'. Thus, Google has succeeded in strengthening its market dominance in the mobile OS market


Under the ruling, Google is prohibited from forcing device makers to sign AFA contracts that allow manufacturers to adopt modified versions of the Android OS on their devices.


In one example, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) launched a smartwatch with a customized OS in 2013 but switched to a different OS after Google deemed the move an AFA violation.

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