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South Korea may ban Android Market

update Government claims 4,400 game apps in Google's marketplace have not been rated; warns company to take action or face service termination, news report says.
Written by Vivian Yeo, Contributor

update The government of South Korea has warned Google to take action on unauthorized games content found on Android Market, or risk having its service banned in the country, according to a news report.

South Korea's Games Ratings Board officially notified Mountain View, Calif.-based Google to remediate the situation, and comply with the country's regulation requiring all video games to be rated by the Board before release, reported Chinese news agency Xinhua on Thursday.

According to the Board, there are currently about 4,400 unrated games accessible on the Android Market.

"We have confirmed a number of game content available to South Korean users on Google's Android market has not been rated by the country's board," the Games Ratings Board said in the letter. "If Google fails to make any corrective measures, we may have to completely shut down the Android marketplace in South Korea."

The report added that both Motorola and LG Electronics released Android-based smartphones in South Korea in the last two months, with more releases scheduled in the coming months.

In an e-mail Monday to ZDNet Asia, a Google spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter from the Korean agency, and said the company is currently reviewing it.

The apps market has seen a resurgence over the past year, with research firm Ovum predicting that users will download some 18.6 billion mobile apps in 2014, generating US$6 billion in revenue.

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