The “yablochniki” have another trouble. The US Federal Court has met angry parents who consider API applications a sophisticated type of fraud.
Last week it became known that the Federal Court of the United States upheld a number of statements according to which Apple distributes free applications that fraudulently force children to make in-game purchases for real money.
Last year, parents of embezzling children have already filed lawsuits against Apple. Then everything rested on the opportunity to buy in-game items without re-entering the password in the first 15 minutes after downloading the application itself. Theoretically, it turned out that children have the opportunity to spend several hundred dollars without their parents’ permission to buy a new saddle for their favorite hamster (as an option).
Then the case did not reach the court: Apple promptly removed the fifteen-minute window, thereby sending the case to the archive. However, last week, federal judge Edward Da Vila said that the company violated the law on consumer protection by calling f2p applications free.
Since the case is underway at the federal level, Apple plans to build its defense on contract law. It is quite possible that the company will also challenge the very possibility of applying some measures against itself, stressing that these purchases are made in third-party applications.
The hearing is scheduled for May 24.
By the way, the target audience of the applications in question are children. Their applications, mainly, encourage them to buy additional content. There were cases when children spent up to $375 in such games.
Smurfs Village from Capcom is one of such applications. In it, children were advised to buy virtual currency in the most accessible form for the development of the gaming city. However, now on the download page there is information for parents explaining in detail the business model by which the application functions.