In the future, the open market platform will not be able to force the sale at the lowest price or use the content created by the seller at will.
The Fair Trade Commission announced that seven open market operators, including Naver, 11st, WeMakef, Interpark, Gmarket Global, Coupang, and Timon, submitted voluntary corrections to 14 types of unfair terms and conditions that could violate the Terms and Conditions Regulation Act.
The Fair Trade Commission has been reviewing the terms and conditions of sellers of these businesses in response to reports from civil society organizations such as the Lawyers for a Democratic Society.
If you look at the terms and conditions in question, unfair contract termination and sanction clauses were the most frequent, followed by agenda clauses for expression of intent, clauses on infringement of seller's copyrights, confidentiality clauses after contract termination, clauses unreasonably exempting or limiting the platform's liability, etc. was followed by
According to the Fair Trade Commission, five companies, including 11st, Interpark, Gmarket, Coupang, and Timon, immediately terminate their contracts when a foreclosure action is taken against the seller's assets, delay payment of payment for unclear reasons, or stop selling, etc. I have used the terms and conditions that sanctions are possible.
As for Naver, WeMakeup, and Coupang, the problem was pointed out as a problem with the provision that allowed sellers to use copyrighted works such as product images independently created for free until the end of the service.
In the case of Coupang, the so-called 'most favorable treatment clause', which requires sellers to set product prices and transaction conditions at a non-disadvantage to consumers compared to other sales channels, has also been deleted.
Hwang Yoon-hwan, head of the Fair Trade Commission's Terms and Conditions Review Division, explained, "During the review process, we requested operators to submit their opinions on provisions that may violate the Terms and Conditions Regulation Act, and these operators expressed their intention to rectify all reported parts."
He said, "If business operators do not voluntarily implement the corrective plan, they can start investigating the case again and recommend corrective measures, corrective orders, and criminal prosecution."