free ingame purchases

(image source: apple) by collin ruaneanchor mikah sargent apple is refunding users who say their kidscharged their credit cards on free apps with in-app purchases. wusa explains the company’sdecision. reporter: “the company says it’ll settlea lawsuit over so-called ‘bait apps.’ these are games that can be downloaded forfree, but then you charge for game currency -- things like virtual goods or play money.” according to gizmodo, more than 23 millionusers were affected by those ‘bait apps.’ lawsuits were filed back in 2011 by parentswho said their children were charging their

credit cards without permission. cnet explainshow kids were able to pull it off. “… a parent could download a free or paidtitle using their password, then the child … could proceed to make purchases withoutthose credentials, as long as it was within a certain time period.” the register notes apple is more than willingto compensate users who were affected. “in the settlement … apple agreed to paya minimum of $5 in compensation to american claimants who can prove that their childrenbought items … without permission during a particular 45-day period. … full refundscould be available if parents meet the above requirements and fill in an online claim form.”

are credits on kids’ games even necessary?a writer for ars technica asks … “do you really need a button in a child'sgame that allows for an immediate purchase of $99.99 worth of virtual fish?” apple hopes to get the money back to the affectedusers by the end of the year.