The Korea Fair Trade Commission said Thursday it asked Google to change some of its terms and conditions related to copyright infringement, as the first competition authorities in the world to do so.

Google’s video-streaming platform currently allows the firm to arbitrarily delete and reuse video posted by users.

The antitrust watchdog said it is unfair that even if a user deletes his or her video, YouTube can still possess and use that video. It is also unfair that YouTube can arbitrarily delete a user’s video without prior notice and that it does not properly give reasons for the termination, it said.



“If Google does not correct the terms and conditions within 60 days, correction orders can be issued. If it is still not corrected, it will be reported to prosecutors,” said Lee Tae-whi, a chief of the terms evaluation division of the FTC’s consumer policy department, during a press briefing Thursday.

This is the first time in the world that a government has asked Google to correct its terms related to copyright infringement.

The FTC said other issues have also been pursued with tech giants Google, Facebook, Naver and Kakao, following recommendations made by the government here. They include excessive collection of personal information, no-refund policies and Google and Facebook’s designation of legal jurisdiction in the US despite also operating their businesses here.

Google has excluded email in its range of collecting personal information and Kakao removed the no-refund policy from its terms. Google and Facebook also changed their legal jurisdictions, with YouTube planning to apply the changed terms globally. 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)