In recent years the company Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), was intensely criticized due to the fact that it allows publication in App Store of apps and games that trick some kids into spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on in-app purchases without realizing what they're doing. Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), she was sued because of this problem and not a few times she had to return the money to the parents who found out out of the blue that their children had made purchases of hundreds or thousands of dollars without their knowledge.
After several months of negotiations with an American federal agency to solve the problems related to in-app purchases, Tim Cook sent an email to employees today Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), describing the problem. Tim Cook claims that Apple has offered 37.000 refunds for the problems generated by in-app purchases, and the agreement concluded today does not change in any way the system of protecting and verifying the applications, Apple continuing to monitor the problems and return the money to those who are dissatisfied, over 32 million dollars to be reimbursed to some of the users.
Tim Cook believes that the involvement of the American federal agency is unfair since Apple was judged and agreed to pay a significant amount of money to a number of dissatisfied users, but the company preferred to avoid a second trial. For several months, Apple has been displaying a warning message in the App Store for applications that contain in-app purchases, and from now on there will probably be more refunds.
Team,
I want to let you know that Apple has entered into a consent decree with the US Federal Trade Commission. We have been negotiating with the FTC for several months over disclosures about the in-app purchase feature of the App Store, because younger customers have sometimes been able to make purchases without their parents' consent. I know this announcement will come as a surprise to many of you since Apple has led the industry by making the App Store a safe place for customers of all ages.
From the very beginning, protecting children has been a top priority for the App Store team and everyone at Apple. The store is thoughtfully curated, and we hold app developers to Apple's own high standards of security, privacy, usefulness and decency, among others. The parental controls in iOS are strong, intuitive and customizable, and we've continued to add ways for parents to protect their children. These controls go far beyond the features of other mobile device and OS makers, most of whom don't even review the apps they sell to children.
When we introduced in-app purchases in 2009, we proactively offered parents a way to disable the function with a single switch. When in-app purchases were enabled and a password was entered to download an app, the App Store allowed purchases for 15 minutes without requiring a password. The 15-minute window had been there since the launch of the App Store in 2008 and was aimed at making the App Store easy to use, but some younger customers discovered that it also allowed them to make in-app purchases without a parent's approval.
We heard from some customers with children that it was too easy to make in-app purchases, so we moved quickly to make improvements. We even created additional steps in the purchasing process, because these steps are so helpful to parents.
Last year, we set out to refund any in-app purchase which may have been made without a parent's permission. We wanted to reach every customer who might have been affected, so we sent emails to 28 million App Store customers – anyone who had made an in-app purchase in a game designed for kids. When some emails bounced, we mailed the parents postcards. In all, we received 37,000 claims and we will be reimbursing each one as promised.
A federal judge agreed with our actions as a full settlement and we felt we had done things right for everyone. Then, the FTC got involved and we faced the prospect of a second lawsuit over the very same issue.
It doesn't feel right for the FTC to sue over a case that had already been settled. To us, it smacked of double jeopardy. However, the consent decree the FTC proposed does not require us to do anything we weren't already going to do, so we decided to accept it rather than take on a long and distracting legal fight.
The App Store is one of Apple's most important innovations, and it's wildly popular with our customers around the world because they know they can trust Apple. You and your coworkers have helped Apple earn that trust, which we value and respect above all else.
Apple is a company full of disruptive ideas and innovative people, who are also committed to upholding the highest moral, legal and ethical standards in everything we do. As I've said before, we believe technology can serve humanity's deepest values and highest aspirations. As Apple continues to grow, there will inevitably be scrutiny and criticism along our journey. We don't shy away from these kinds of questions, because we are confident in the integrity of our company and our coworkers.
Thank you for the hard work you do to delight our customers, and for showing them at every turn that Apple is worthy of their trust.
Tim
Foarte frumos si corect… Mai ales ca incepe si se termina cu acelasi cuvant ;-)) (sort of)