Google’s offices in Korea have been raided by the Korean authorities most likely in response to the recent issues that the government has had with the company’s Android platform and antitrust issues, reports All Things D.
Google has not commented on the raid but said that it is working with the Korean Fair Trade Commission to discuss the problems that the KFTC has with Google’s Android platform. “Android is an open platform, and carrier and OEM partners are free to decide which applications and services to include on their Android phones,” said Google. “We do not require carriers or manufacturers to include Google Search or Google applications on Android-powered devices.”
Two Korean companies have filed complaints with the KFTC over antitrust concerns with Android. NHN Corp. and Daum Communications Corp. have accused Google of banning all South Korean phone manufacturers from including third-party search applications under its marketing contract as well as delaying the certification of handset makers that “violated the condition”.
Collectively, Duam and NHN hold a 90% share of web searches on computers in South Korea, so they have a vested interest in making sure that they can leverage their products on mobile devices using Android. Duam claims to have evidence that it has not been able to embed its apps on the Android platform.
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The Korean authorities have had issues with Google before and police raided the company’s offices back in May over what they perceived to be illegally obtained tracking data. The tracking data issue hasn’t been limited to Google either, as the Korean Communications Commission launched a probe into Apple’s data tracking methods back in April. Google is currently embroiled in an antitrust debate in the US as well, as the Federal Trade Commission has been making inquiries into its practices.
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