The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has fined Alphabet Inc's Google $177 million for abusing its market dominance to Stunt competition in the Android operating system (OS) market, Tech Crunch reported.
South Korea's antitrust regulator has initiated a probe into the tech giant blocking of local smartphone manufacturers like Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics from using other Android OS, through Google’s anti-fragmentation agreements.
ICYMI: South Korea's parliament approved a bill that bans major app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing software developers to use their payment systems, effectively stopping them from charging commissions on in-app purchases https://t.co/e83thriJGC pic.twitter.com/yJQi27PBcg
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 6, 2021
This fine is not the first setback for the search engine operator in South Korea as earlier in August a South Korean parliamentary committee voted to recommend amending a law that bans Google and Apple from forcibly charging software developers commissions on in-app purchases.
