Stefan Mileschin

Fruity cargo cult Apple will pay at least $32.5 million and change its billing practices in order to settle complaints over children racking up in-app purchases in iPhone games.

The Federal Trade Commission announced the agreement. The $32.5 million figure is a minimum refund amount to consumers and not a fine.

Apple settled a class action lawsuit in which it promised to refund purchases made by children either mistakenly or without consent.

Apple is furious that the FTC and the courts had not done what he told them and told the parents to go forth and multiply.

In an internal memo sent to Apple employees, CEO Tim "whinge" Cook moaned that the FTC's complaint "smacked of double jeopardy," and that the agreement "does not require us to do anything we weren't already going to do".

That would be all very well Tim, but why did it take the court case and the FTC case to make you change your billing process in the first place, editorialises Nick Farrell. Apple has fielded complaints from parents who discovered their kids had racked up huge bills for in-app purchases that needed little, if no verification to complete for years.

http://news.techeye.net/business/app...s-32-5-million