Apple has finally settled a 2011 lawsuit with parents whose kids spent insane amounts of money on in-app purchases. A group of parents originally sued Apple after their kids raked up enormous iTunes bills on apps that were downloaded for free from the App Store.
Many apps use the ‘freemium’ model to bait users with a free download and then use in-app purchase to generate revenue. Most adults are good at restraining themselves from such temptations, but young ones are not so strong willed.
Under the terms of the settlement, Apple will pay $5 in iTunes gift cards to the parents who sued. If the amount is over $5, Apple will issue either a credit or cash refund to the affected parents.
You can watch an old segment on The Daily Show with John Stewart that explains the issue behind this suit. Two parents learned that their kid had raked up hundreds of dollars to bring a fish back to life in the iOS game Tap Fish.
The lawsuit doesn’t reveal how much Apple will have to pay out to all of the parents involved who can’t claim responsibility for their kids’ actions.
Source: GigaOM
