Feed: Slashdot
Feed Link: https://slashdot.org/
---

Title: South Korea Set To Get a Fully Functioning Google Maps

Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2144...

South Korea has reversed a two-decade policy and approved the export of high-
precision map data, paving the way for a fully functional Google Maps in the
country. Reuters reports: The approval was made "on the condition that strict
security requirements are met," the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport said in a statement. Those conditions include blurring military and
other sensitive security-related facilities, as well as restricting longitude
and latitude coordinates for South Korean territory on products such as
Google Maps and Google Earth, it said. The decision is expected to hurt Naver
and Kakao -- local internet giants which currently dominate the country's
market for digital map services. But it will appease Washington, which has
urged Seoul to tackle what it says is discrimination against U.S. tech
companies. South Korea, still technically at war with North Korea, had shot
down Google's previous bids in 2007 and 2016 to be allowed to export the
data, citing the risks that information about sensitive military and security
facilities could be exposed. "Google can now come in, slash usage fees, and
take the market," said Choi Jin-mu, a geography professor at Kyung Hee
University. "If Naver and Kakao are weakened or pushed out and Google later
raises prices, that becomes a monopoly. Then, even companies that rely on map
services -- logistics firms, for example -- become dependent, and in the long
run, even government GIS (geographic information) systems could end up
dependent on Google or Apple. That's the biggest concern."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

---
VRSS v2.1.180528