Netflix and Google penalised for their unfair paid subscription business

On Sunday, South Korea's antitrust authority announced that it had chosen to fine Google, Netflix, and three other video streaming firms a total of 19.5 million won ($16,300) for unfair business practises involving paid subscriptions.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, paid subscribers' attempts to cancel their membership were impeded by five over-the-top (OTT) media service providers: Google, Netflix, KT, LG Uplus, and Content Wavve (FTC).

According to the FTC, they provided false information or did not allow subscribers to cancel their membership online in order to make it harder for customers to terminate their service contracts.

The regulator also ordered them to change their business practises, according to the Yonhap news agency.

According to a survey, over 34% of South Koreans were paid users to over-the-top (OTT) media, or video streaming services.

According to a poll of 6,834 persons over the age of 13 conducted by the country's media regulator, the Korea Communications Commission, paid customers to OTTs increased by 20.4 percentage points last year (KCC).