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‘공룡포털’ 네이버, 상생방안발표가 면죄부?
불공정거래 의혹으로 집중포화 받고 있는 네이버, 정치ㆍ사회권 압박에 못 이겨 상생협력방안발표
By 김영원Published : July 29, 2013 - 17:05
국내 최대 포털 사이트인 네이버를 운영하고 있는 NHN은 월요일 상생협력방안을 발표했다. 이는 불공정거래혐의로 공정거래위원회에 조사를 받고 있으며, 정치권에서 네이버의 독과점적 사업 운영에 제동을 걸기 위한 ‘반 네이버 법안’을 마련 중인 가운데 나온 것이다.
“NHN은 지난 10여 년 동안, 이용자가 만족할 만한 서비스 제공을 위해 쉼 없이 달려 왔습니다,”라고 발표를 시작한 김상헌 NHN 사장은 “그 동안 간과 하고 있던 부분은 없었는지, 수용해야 할 부분은 없는지 고민하였다,”고 밝히며 상생방안에 대해 설명했다.
네이버는 인터넷 검색시장의 약 75%를 점유하며 ▶가격 단가 후려치기, ▶높은 광고비 부과 시스템 ▶ 부동산, 게임, 웹툰 등 무분별한 사업 확장 ▶’정보’와 ‘광고’의 불분명한 구조 등으로 중소기업, 콘텐츠 제공자뿐 만 이용자들에게 한국 인터넷 시장의 ‘독재자’라는 비판을 받아왔다.
김 사장은 그 상생의 첫 번째 방안으로 네이버의 파트너들과 ‘네이버 서비스 상생협의체(가칭)’를 구성하고, 유관 협회들과 공동으로 ‘벤처기업 상생협의체(가칭)’을 만들어 본격적으로 소통하고 협력할 것,”을 약속했다.
두 번째로 네이버의 개별 서비스가 이용자 후생과 인터넷 생태계에 미칠 영향을 면밀히 검토하여, 중소 벤처기업들과의 동반 성장에 힘을 쓰며, ‘표준 계약서 제도’를 도입하여 콘텐츠 사업자들이 부당한 조건을 감수하거나 불이익을 받는 일이 없도록 하겠다고 약속했다.
또한, 벤처 사업 활성화를 위해 500억 원, 건강한 콘텐츠 창작 환경을 조성하기 위해 500억 원 총 1,000억 원의 펀드를 조성할 것이라고 밝혔다.
“‘광고’와 ‘정보’를 명확하게 구분할 것”이라고 김상헌 사장은 말하며, “타 포털사와 공조하여 음란물 등 불법유해정보를 적극적으로 차단 하며, 혁신적인 아이디어를 가진 애플리케이션, 웹툰, 게임 등과 같은 콘텐츠가 해외로 나갈 수 있도록 돕겠다,”고 밝혔다.
이에 ‘네이버 독식 방지법’을 준비중인 새누리당의 김용태의원은 “지켜봐야 볼 것”이라고 말하며 “당의 정책위에서 현재 관련 법안이 마련 중에 있다,”고 밝혔다.
업계 2위 업체인 다음은 “불법유해정보 차단을 위한 노력은 계속해서 공조 할 것,” 이라고 밝히며, “네이버가 현재 직면하고 있는, 예를 들어, 검색 시 광고 결과 노출 같은 문제에 대해서 대응 방안을 구상 중에 있다,”고 밝혔다.
(코리아헤럴드 김영원 기자)
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NHN succumbs to pressure to be ‘fair’
By Kim Young-won
NHN, the operator of Korea’s most popular search portal Naver, bowed to mounting public criticism and said Monday that it would seek co-prosperity with small and medium-sized market players.
Speaking at a news conference, CEO Kim Sang-hun announced a roadmap to pave the way for a “fair” Internet business environment.
“In recent days, we have pondered over what we have been missing and what we need to accept,” said CEO Kim, adding “Naver will do its utmost to cooperate and communicate with partners. Setting up a committee for co-prosperity and another for supporting venture businesses will be the starting point.”
His announcement came amid heightened criticism from not only small entrepreneurs that supply online content to the Internet giant but also political circles working on regulations to rein in the Internet giant.
The firm has been accused of encroaching on a wide array of business domains such as real estate brokerage, Web-based cartoons, games and online shopping.
The company is under investigation by the Fair Trade Commission, the nation’s antitrust regulator, for allegedly unfairly wielding its power in business transactions.
The home-grown Web-portal, accounting for around 75 percent of the domestic market, has been blamed for exploiting its dominant influence by taking too much in commission fees for advertising and illegally copycatting services of small online content developers.
In a news conference, Kim promised to introduce a system to evaluate the possible impact of certain Naver services on other business players and the market, and a standard contract that ensured fair deals with content providers.
He said NHN would gather 100 billion won in funds to support venture start-ups with innovative ideas, create a healthy business environment, and promote cultural content.
He also promised to change marketing tactics that overwhelm computer screens with advertisements instead of displaying search results for Internet users.
Kim said “Naver would clearly differentiate search results from advertisements.”
Despite the company’s pledges, critics suspect that the firm hurriedly came up with the measures after receiving a lot of flak from social and political groups.
“(I) will wait and see for a while” said Rep. Kim Young-tae from the ruling Saenuri Party, who is leading a move to introduce antimonopoly rules against Naver, adding “The party is currently working on the rules.”
Daum, the second largest Web-portal, said it would be inappropriate to comment on its rival’s co-prosperity measures announced Monday.
“Daum will continue cooperating with Naver and other portals such as stemming pornography on the internet,” a Daum official said. “Daum is also discussing the same issues that Naver has encountered such as those advertisement issues,” the official said.
Some market experts siding with NHN said the government and political circles should be cautious in reining in the largest Web-portal operator, which is often praised as a crusader against international internet giant Google.
(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
NHN succumbs to pressure to be ‘fair’
By Kim Young-won
NHN, the operator of Korea’s most popular search portal Naver, bowed to mounting public criticism and said Monday that it would seek co-prosperity with small and medium-sized market players.
Speaking at a news conference, CEO Kim Sang-hun announced a roadmap to pave the way for a “fair” Internet business environment.
“In recent days, we have pondered over what we have been missing and what we need to accept,” said CEO Kim, adding “Naver will do its utmost to cooperate and communicate with partners. Setting up a committee for co-prosperity and another for supporting venture businesses will be the starting point.”
His announcement came amid heightened criticism from not only small entrepreneurs that supply online content to the Internet giant but also political circles working on regulations to rein in the Internet giant.
The firm has been accused of encroaching on a wide array of business domains such as real estate brokerage, Web-based cartoons, games and online shopping.
The company is under investigation by the Fair Trade Commission, the nation’s antitrust regulator, for allegedly unfairly wielding its power in business transactions.
The home-grown Web-portal, accounting for around 75 percent of the domestic market, has been blamed for exploiting its dominant influence by taking too much in commission fees for advertising and illegally copycatting services of small online content developers.
In a news conference, Kim promised to introduce a system to evaluate the possible impact of certain Naver services on other business players and the market, and a standard contract that ensured fair deals with content providers.
He said NHN would gather 100 billion won in funds to support venture start-ups with innovative ideas, create a healthy business environment, and promote cultural content.
He also promised to change marketing tactics that overwhelm computer screens with advertisements instead of displaying search results for Internet users.
Kim said “Naver would clearly differentiate search results from advertisements.”
Despite the company’s pledges, critics suspect that the firm hurriedly came up with the measures after receiving a lot of flak from social and political groups.
“(I) will wait and see for a while” said Rep. Kim Young-tae from the ruling Saenuri Party, who is leading a move to introduce antimonopoly rules against Naver, adding “The party is currently working on the rules.”
Daum, the second largest Web-portal, said it would be inappropriate to comment on its rival’s co-prosperity measures announced Monday.
“Daum will continue cooperating with Naver and other portals such as stemming pornography on the internet,” a Daum official said. “Daum is also discussing the same issues that Naver has encountered such as those advertisement issues,” the official said.
Some market experts siding with NHN said the government and political circles should be cautious in reining in the largest Web-portal operator, which is often praised as a crusader against international internet giant Google.
(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
