Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), reach an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), through which complaints filed against Apple are resolved.
The complaints argued that Apple does not prevent in-app purchases from being made in a real way, presenting an interface very similar to that of the game and with which minors can make mistakes, and make payments with the parental account, without understanding that there is real money involved in the transaction.
The president of the FTC, Edith Ramírez, said at a press conference that Apple will reimburse at least $ 32.5 million Consumers to resolve the cases of in-app purchases made by minors without the consent or knowledge of their parents. That figure of $ 32.5 million is the minimum to pay by Apple, since the amounts of the purchases must be added compensation to consumers, so the final amount it could be higher. If it is less, Apple will pay the difference to the FTC.
Apple has until March 31, 2014 to check your billing system, the requirement imposed is that it be made evident when a purchase is made in a real money game, thus ensuring that the consumer has given their consent before being invoiced.
Last year, Apple reported unauthorized use of IAPs (in-app purchases) in games and applications, but the FTC apparently decided there was no evidence of a crime.
Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday sent a email to all employees to explain the company's decision:
From: Tim Cook
Date: January 15, 2014
Subject: FTC AnnouncementTeam,
I want to let you know that Apple has signed a consent decree with the US Federal Trade Commission. We have been negotiating with the FTC for several months about the in-app purchase function of the App Store, as the Younger customers have been able to make purchases without their parents' consent. I know this announcement will come as a surprise to many of you, as Apple has created the App Store as a safe place for customers of all ages.
From the beginning, the protection of minors has been a priority for the App Store team and, in general, for all Apple employees. The store has been carefully reviewed, and we have claimed the same standards of security, privacy, usefulness and decency as application developers. Parental controls on iOS are strong, intuitive, and customizable, and we've added different ways for parents to protect their children. These controls go beyond the features of other manufacturers of mobile devices and operating systems, most of which do not even review the applications they sell to children.
When we reviewed in-app purchases made in 2009, we proactively offered parents a way to disable in-app purchases using a single selector. When in-app purchases are enabled and the password is entered to download an app, the App Store allows you to continue shopping for 15 minutes without having to re-enter the password. This 15 minute window has been around since the launch of the App Store in 2008 and was intended to make the App Store easier to use, but some younger customers found that this window also allowed them to make in-app purchases. without the consent of their parents.
We heard from some customers, who complained about the ease with which minors could make in-app purchases, so we quickly moved on to making improvements. We create additional steps in the purchase procedure.
Last year, we set out to return any in-app purchases that may have been made without parental permission. We wanted to reach all the customers that might have been affected, so we sent an email to the 28 million customers of the App Store, reaching all the people who had made an in-app purchase in a game designed for children. Some emails were bounced, so we mailed postcards to those customers. In total, we have received 37.000 claims and we are going to reimburse each one as promised.
A federal judge agreed to our actions as a complete solution and we felt we had done things right, for Apple and its customers. Later, the FTC got involved and confronts us with the possibility of a second lawsuit on the same issue.
We do not believe it is right for the FTC to sue us for a case that we had resolved internally, however, the consent decree proposed by the FTC does not require us to do anything that we did not already agree to do, so we have decided to accept it instead. of getting into an annoying and lengthy legal battle.
The App Store is one of Apple's biggest innovations, and it's very popular with our customers around the world, because they know they can trust Apple. You and your co-workers have helped Apple earn that trust, which we value and respect above all else.
Apple is a company full of innovative ideas and people, who are committed to upholding the highest moral, legal, and ethical standards in everything they do. As I have said before, we believe that technology can serve the deepest values of humanity and be the highest of aspirations. As Apple continues to grow, there will inevitably be scrutiny and criticism. We do not run away from this type of questioning, because we are sure of the integrity of our company and that of our co-workers.
Thank you for the hard work you do to meet the expectations of our customers and for showing them at every step that Apple is worthy of their trust.
Tim
Learn more – In-app-purchase add-ons generated 76% of App Store profits last month