If you own a mobile device, you have probably purchased something by mistake at some point. It’s not hard to do, especially if a kid gets a hold of your handset. Amazon’s walled garden is no different than the App Store or Google Play when it comes to IAP’s and soon they will have to pay the piper…
A few years back, children accidentally purchasing coin packs and other goodies through mobiles was a big deal. Since that time, plenty of safeguards have been introduced and we’ve got to assume parents just started paying more attention. While we don’t hear nearly as many outrageous tales of IAP’s gone wrong in 2016, a federal judge in the U.S. has ruled that Amazon will have to pay up to parents who were duped by the IAP setup.
In a nutshell, the courts ruled in favor of the FTC instead of Amazon, which is good news for parents who lost money due to mislabeled apps. The FTC claimed Amazon did not properly label games and apps in their market, as one marked as “Free” were actually chocked full of in-app purchases. That should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever downloaded an app or game marked as “Free” as hardly anything is these days although we do get IAP warnings.
In-app purchases are big business, and while the courts haven’t decided how much Amazon will have to pay, it is likely to be a hefty amount. Regardless, it’s good news for parents who feel the company got one over on them in the IAP department, as there could have been better safeguards in place to prevent unauthorized IAP’s in the beginning.
Have you ever been duped by an in-app purchase?
via – Wall Street Journal