The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has demanded that Netflix, the world’s largest online video service provider, correct its unfair terms and conditions.
The FTC said on Jan. 15 that after reviewing Netflix’s terms and conditions, six clauses, including one-sided rate changes, were deemed unfair and recommended correction.
Netflix is a global company with 140 million paid subscribers and 30 percent share of the OTT market, with about 2 million Korean members as of November last year.
Netflix plans to revise the terms and conditions to reflect the FTC’s demands and apply the revised terms starting from Jan. 20.
Among Netflix’s terms and conditions, the FTC ruled that the reason for changing rates and memberships without the consent of customers, the reason for the member’s account termination and postponement is unclear, the clause holding the member responsible for accidents, such as hacking, the clause that restricts the member’s claim for damages, and other some clauses are considered to be invalid.
"As new entry of global OTT such as Disney Plus is expected, we will continue to check unfair terms and conditions in the early stages of the project to correct them," an FTC official said. "We will also review the terms and conditions of OTT in Korea in general in the future."
