Korean authorities for Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) cautioned and fined Google for $177 Million for abusing its market dominance in the Android operating system market.
According to the regulator, the tech giant has restricted market competition for not allowing local companies like LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics from customising their Android OS, through Google’s anti-fragmentation agreements (AFA).
Google states, Under the AFA, smartphone developers are not allowed to install or develop “Android forks”, modified versions of Android.
KFTC banned Google LLC, Google Asia Pacific and Google Korea from imposing local smartphone developers to sign the AFA and ordered to make changes on details about the existing version.
The new law in South Korea will be applied to not only mobiles devices but also other Android-powered smart devices including watches and TVs.
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