S Korea to tighten grip on Netflix, Google from next week
A law revision set to take effect next week in South Koreawill tighten rules for data-hungry internet giants such as Netflix, Google andFacebook amid growing calls for stable services.
Should they fail to meet the new rules, they could face anadministrative fine of up to 20 million won ($18,350)
Earlier this week, the Cabinet passed an amendment to theordinance of the Telecommunication Business Act, stipulating that onlinecontent service providers are responsible for providing stable services tousers.
The new rules, set to take effect from December 10, apply tolarge online service companies, which account for 1 percent or more of thecountry's total data traffic in the last three months of a year, essentiallytargeting popular global online service providers as well as local playersNaver Corp and Kakao Corp.
The revision comes as global streaming giants Netflix andGoogle, which operates YouTube, have recently come under scrutiny over theirresponse to service complaints despite their growing popularity, reports Yonhapnews agency.
YouTube faced criticism here after its service went down forhours last month, while a ruling party lawmaker accused Netflix for notproperly responding to service issues in May and June this year during aparliamentary audit in October.
All the while, the two companies have boosted their presencein the country.
South Koreans are estimated to have spent on average nearly30 hours on YouTube in September, according to market tracker IGAWorks.
Under the new rule change, the companies will have toprovide stable services to users regardless of the devices or ISPs used andtake measures to prevent excessive online traffic by working with ISPs,according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The relatively paltry fine, however, has left some criticswondering about the revision's effectiveness.
"The revision itself has meaning rather than the amountof the fine," an ICT ministry official said. "There hadn't been a wayto legally hold these companies accountable for not providing stable services.
"As online content providers have grown in influence,there's a need for them to handle greater responsibility," he added,explaining that the government is not expecting a string of new violations dueto the revision.