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Google plans to comply with a Korea Communications Commission (KCC) corrective order concerning its YouTube Premium service. As of late August, the company is to immediately process cancellation requests for its subscription-based YouTube Premium service as well as related domestic services, with charges refunded for the remaining service period. With Google currently offering its YouTube Premium service in around 30 countries, South Korea is the first for which it is adopting a system calculating costs in proportion to the period of use.

On June 25, the KCC announced that Google had submitted an implementation plan for the corrective measures it had been ordered to adopt for violating the Telecommunications Business Act. The KCC concluded that by processing cancellation requests from YouTube Premium service users on the following month’s payment date, Google “restricted customers’ ability to cancel a usage contract,” and that users had not been properly notified that their one-month free trial would automatically transition into a paid subscription. The KCC imposed a fine of 867 million won (US$723,549) and issued a corrective order to improve processing procedures.

At the time, many observers in related South Korean industries and the KCC predicted that Google might file an administrative suit objecting to the corrective order.

However, Google paid the fine and publicly announced its acceptance of the corrective order through media advertisements and on YouTube. “Google likely determined there was little chance of succeeding in a lawsuit since the case pertains to the principle of protecting user rights,” industry analysts believe. “Google also appears to have considered the fact that a legal response could cause negative PR within Korea.”

Google announces that it has accepted a corrective order from the Korea Communications Commission regarding user cancellation requests and automatic subscription fees for YouTube Premium.

The plan for implementing the corrective order, submitted by Google on the same day, covers all of the matters listed by the KCC. This includes immediately cancelling a YouTube Premium user’s subscription and providing a refund for the remainder of the subscription period upon receipt of such a request. Google will also display the date on which a user’s free trial ends (when they will be charged) on the sign-up page, and send users an email three days before their account converts to a paid subscription.

The company has vowed to improve its business processes by Aug. 25. KCC Chairman Han Sang-hyuk stated, “This is significant in that it represents the application of the same user protection principles to both domestic and global companies, and reaffirms that users of subscription services must have their right to cancellation protected. Moving forward, we are committed to remaining impartial with regard to any violations or prohibited actions committed by global operators, with no difference in treatment from local firms.”’

By Kim Jae-seob, senior staff writer

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