플랫폼 경제에서의 무료시장 획정 필요성

This article examines whether services provided free of charge by online platform operators to end users can be defined as a relevant market under Korean Competition Law. In traditional single-sided markets, prices generally exist, serving as an indicator of market existence. However, platform operators, leveraging indirect network effects in two-sided markets, employ asymmetric pricing strategies and provide free services - priced below marginal cost - to certain user groups. Fierce competition among platform operators to attract users has led to services being offered to users at zero or even negative prices. Such services can be viewed as a crucial indicator of competitive dynamics. In order to capture the anti-competitive effects arising from the dominance acquired through free services and to address potential abuses of market power affecting other interrelated services, free services must be recognized as a relevant market. Although Korean Competition Law incorporates the concepts of “goods” and “prices,” often assuming monetary transactions, there remains room for an interpretative approach to defining free markets. If there are substitutable services from the demand-side perspective and competitive interactions among suppliers, a market where competition occurs can be identified as a relevant market based on the concepts of the demand-side market and a teleological market approach. However, given the unique characteristics of the platform economy, the existence of a contractual relationship - based on mutual intent between the platform operator and users - should not be a prerequisite for defining a free market. Similarly, the exchange of user data or attention as a quid pro quo for free services should not be a necessary condition. Before discussing various legislative approaches to platform regulation, particularly designation systems that bypass traditional market definition, this paper explores the feasibility of defining free markets through the interpretation of existing laws as a means to address anti-competitive concerns arising in online platforms.