In-app purchasing suit against Apple allowed to proceed
A California judge has denied Apple's request to dismiss a lawsuit leveled by a group of parents who are suing for relief after their children spent large amounts of money on in-app purchases.
Federal Judge Edward J. Davila of the Northern District of California will allow four of the class action lawsuit's five claims to move forward, dismissing only on regarding breach of good faith and fair dealing, reports The LA Times.
Originally filed in April 2011, the lawsuit alleges that Apple's implementation of in-app purchasing made it too easy for children to accrue fees on their parents' credit cards for game currencies without realizing they were spending real-world money.
According to the suit, charges ranging from $99 to more than $300 were made by the minors on credit cards associated with parents' iTunes accounts. The case revolves around certain "freemium" games that can be downloaded at no cost but offer in-game upgrades that can be priced at over $100. Apple asserts that parents are able to stop their children from making purchases.
At issue is the time span in which purchases can be made before a user is asked for their password. Parents would download an app or make a purchase and then hand the device to their unsupervised child who would be able to buy in-game items without reauthorization. Apple has since adjusted the password window as of iOS 4.3, however at the time a minor could make several purchases without a parent's knowledge or consent.
The so-called "bait-app" case was disputed by Apple on claims that the purchases were made under the contract of the company's Terms and Conditions which were agreed to upon shopping in the iTunes App Store.
The denial of dismissal means that the suit can move forward, though it remains to be seen whether the plaintiffs will be successful in extracting damages from the iPad maker.
Federal Judge Edward J. Davila of the Northern District of California will allow four of the class action lawsuit's five claims to move forward, dismissing only on regarding breach of good faith and fair dealing, reports The LA Times.
Originally filed in April 2011, the lawsuit alleges that Apple's implementation of in-app purchasing made it too easy for children to accrue fees on their parents' credit cards for game currencies without realizing they were spending real-world money.
According to the suit, charges ranging from $99 to more than $300 were made by the minors on credit cards associated with parents' iTunes accounts. The case revolves around certain "freemium" games that can be downloaded at no cost but offer in-game upgrades that can be priced at over $100. Apple asserts that parents are able to stop their children from making purchases.
At issue is the time span in which purchases can be made before a user is asked for their password. Parents would download an app or make a purchase and then hand the device to their unsupervised child who would be able to buy in-game items without reauthorization. Apple has since adjusted the password window as of iOS 4.3, however at the time a minor could make several purchases without a parent's knowledge or consent.
The so-called "bait-app" case was disputed by Apple on claims that the purchases were made under the contract of the company's Terms and Conditions which were agreed to upon shopping in the iTunes App Store.
The denial of dismissal means that the suit can move forward, though it remains to be seen whether the plaintiffs will be successful in extracting damages from the iPad maker.
Comments
For a company with an army of lawyers, Apple seems to be losing a lot more often than it wins.
Parents don't buy your kids a phone and give them your credit card.What a Joke these parents have no responsibility for there own actions in making a unwise choice to buy their children a phone so they blame someone else for there stupidity.
Parents owned these phones, didn't know that downloading a free app would allow children users to purchase in-app content. Apple was stupid to allow this, which explains why they changed the policy. With such an unforgiving attitude, you're obviously not a parent.
Yep I am have three children and they don't own phone's I want allow it.
Well this has been there since day 1 has it not?
Beside's only a person with a unforgiving attitude sues someone else for there mistakes.
Instead, these parents decided to sue.
In all fairness, Apple is doing a horrible job of raising their children.
Isn't that what parental controls are for? Let's sue credit card companies for allowing kids to place orders online with their parents cards now.
this is how these parents teach their kids to 'take responsibility'? and the judge is an idiot too, for letting this proceed. what a joke.
'US justice' is fast becoming an oxymoron.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
This judge pretty much epitomizes why the judiciary in the US -- including its highest court -- has become a pathetic joke.
'US justice' is fast becoming an oxymoron.
Spot On +++++
Quote:
Originally Posted by lotones
In all fairness, Apple is doing a horrible job of raising their children.
If any post needed an irony mark, THIS one does. Epic first post.
Yup. This is obviously not the fault of the parents, who freely gave their kids young enough not to understand the balue of money their Apple ID password (which can be used to download ANYTHING off the store), it's not the fault of the developers, who decided to create a free app and entice players with in-app purchases, it's not the fault of the kids themselves, who agreed to make the purchase after a warning about the price, then entered the password- no- it's the fault of Apple... just because.
Don't give your kids access to your fucking credit card account, especially when you know they're irresponsible, or don't even understand the concept of money. It's not that damn difficult. In-app purchased ask you for a password each and every time. It's your own fucking fault for supplying it to your kids and letting them have free reign.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
Yup. This is obviously not the fault of the parents, who freely gave their kids young enough not to understand the balue of money their Apple ID password (which can be used to download ANYTHING off the store), it's not the fault of the developers, who decided to create a free app and entice players with in-app purchases, it's not the fault of the kids themselves, who agreed to make the purchase after a warning about the price, then entered the password- no- it's the fault of Apple... just because.
Don't give your kids access to your fucking credit card account, especially when you know they're irresponsible, or don't even understand the concept of money. It's not that damn difficult. In-app purchased ask you for a password each and every time. It's your own fucking fault for supplying it to your kids and letting them have free reign.
You running for judge in Texas? Please allow me to donate to your campaign.
These moronic and irresponsible parents will hopefully lose their lawsuit against Apple. Apple is not responsible for your shitty, little children. I would like to see the parents get hit with huge damages after they lose.
Take care of your damn kids. An iOS device is not a babysitter. A good parent will monitor what their children are up to. A shitty parent will leave their kids unsupervised, letting them run around like animals, causing havoc and chaos.
I will say that I am not a fan of any of those freemium games though, and I stay away from most of them. I'd rather pay full price for a game, and not get nickled and dimed, playing one of those freemium games. I am definitely not a fan of the freemium business model, kids or no kids.
edit - It's also time to erase my signature I suppose, since I see that colors are now gone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by I am a Zither Zather Zuzz
For a company with an army of lawyers, Apple seems to be losing a lot more often than it wins.
Apple hasn’t really lost anything here - the case hasn’t even really begun. Having a motion denied means jack as far as the whole trial is concerned and has no bearing on the merits of the case as a whole. As the OP points out:
Quote:
The denial of dismissal means that the suit can move forward, though it remains to be seen whether the plaintiffs will be successful in extracting damages from the iPad maker.
Motion hearings are one of those routine things that you file no matter what even if the lawyer filing them knows that they are likely to be denied. It helps establish a defense later on.
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Originally Posted by adamb100
Again: there was no “loss” since the case is ongoing and has yet to be ruled on. In fact one of the five claims against Apple was dropped. This doesn’t mean anything about their overall case.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MGLeet
If the parents who are participating in this class action suit really were upset that they let their children use their phones logged into the App Store with no parental restrictions set, they would have sent an e-mail to iTunes support. And the friendly iTunes Support people would've issued them a full refund as a "one time courtesy".
Instead, these parents decided to sue.
Actually for all we know, they did send that email and did get that refund. And are still suing as a class action.
Apple has had the restrictions from day one. Also they have never marketed this as an item that is safe to hand to your kids and stop paying attention to what they are doing. In the end that's the real rub. These parents tried to use their iPhones as a babysitter and weren't paying attention and got bit. But instead of admitting this they are trying to make Apple into the nasty folks. Rather like the parents that sue McDonald's cause their kids are obese when the real issue is the parents not saying no to their kids