On Tuesday, antitrust authorities in South Korea have raided Google’s offices in Seoul, according to reports. Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) officials are also planning on visiting the South Korean headquarters of Google on Wednesday.
Daum Communications and NHN, two South Korean companies that provide services such as email, news and search, filed a complaint against the Mountain View search giant in April. The companies complained that Google was putting pressure on smartphone makers not to bundle software made by its rivals, while its Android operating system made it impossible to remove the company’s own search tools.
Fair Trade Commission spokesman Kwag Se Boong and Google spokesman Robin Moroney declined to comment on whether the raid really took place, but the company said that they are working with KFTC to solve any issues.
“We will work with the KFTC to address any questions they may have about our business,” Google said in a statement. “Android is an open platform, and carrier and OEM partners are free to decide which applications and services to include on their Android phones. We do not require carriers or manufacturers to include Google Search or Google applications on Android-powered devices.”
This is not the first time that the Seoul office of Google has been raided by the South Korean authorities. In May, the South Korean police had investigated suspicions that the company’s AdMob advertising unit illegally collects personal location data from users without their permission.
via: The BBC
