金童炫 首尔 —— 韩国周三对Alphabet旗下的谷歌和苹果处以总计637亿韩元（约合4760万美元）的罚款，称这两家公司滥用其在应用商店市场的主导地位，强迫本地开发者使用其自有支付系统，并不公平地延迟应用审核。
KIM TONG-HYUNG SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Wednesday fined Alphabet’s Google and Apple a combined 63.7 billion won ($47.6 million), saying they abused their dominance in app store markets by forcing local developers onto their own payment systems and by unfairly delaying app reviews.
韩国广播通信委员会（该国媒体和电信监管机构）耗时数年调查这两家美国科技巨头，指控它们涉嫌违反2021年颁布的一项法律，该法律禁止应用商店运营商强迫开发者使用特定支付系统。
The Korea Media and Communications Commission, the country’s media and telecommunications regulator, spent years investigating the U.S. tech giants for allegedly violating a 2021 law that prohibits app store operators from forcing developers to use specific payment systems.
委员会对谷歌处以429亿韩元（约合3200万美元）罚款，对苹果处以208亿韩元（约合1550万美元）罚款，并责令两家公司允许韩国开发者在其应用内使用外部支付链接，以及改进应用审核程序。谷歌和苹果暂未回应置评请求。
The commission fined Google 42.9 billion won ($32 million) and Apple 20.8 billion won ($15.5 million) and ordered both companies to let South Korean developers use external payment links within their apps and to improve their app review procedures. Google and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
委员会表示，谷歌和苹果不公平地推动应用开发者使用其自有的应用内支付系统，同时禁止通过外部网站支付。尽管这两家公司在技术上允许应用内使用第三方支付系统，但它们向开发者收取26%的佣金，并扣留了一些自有系统提供的功能，实际上迫使开发者只能使用其应用内支付系统。
The commission said Google and Apple unfairly pushed app developers toward their own in-app payment systems while barring payments through external websites. Although the companies technically allowed third-party payment systems within apps, they charged developers a 26% commission and withheld some features available through their own systems, effectively forcing developers to use only their in-app payment systems, the commission said.
委员会还表示，发现这两家公司在未向开发者明确说明延迟原因或恢复审核时间的情况下，延迟了应用审核。此外，委员会指控苹果在2015年至2023年1月期间，向韩国开发者收取的佣金高于其他地区的开发者。
The commission said it also found instances where the companies delayed app reviews without clearly explaining to developers the reasons for the delays or when reviews would resume. It also accused Apple of charging South Korean developers higher commissions than developers elsewhere from 2015 to January 2023.
多年来，韩国一直密切审视外国科技公司在其市场上的商业行为。2021年，韩国成为首个强制执行法律禁止谷歌、苹果等应用市场运营商要求用户使用其自有应用内支付系统的国家。
South Korea has for years closely scrutinized the business practices of foreign technology companies operating in its market. In 2021, it became the first country to enforce a law prohibiting app market operators such as Google and Apple from requiring users to use their own in-app payment systems.