It's clearly Apple's fault for not policing your child

[Eri]

Apple is facing a lawsuit over its newly revised in-app purchasing policy. The suit was filed by Garen Meguerian of Pennsylvania who accuses Apple of the unlawful exploitation of children with this iOS feature.

The crux of the suit hinges on Apple's policy that uses a single password to gain access to an Apple account and make an in-app purchase. Apple's in-app purchasing policy was recently updated to require users to enter their iTunes password a second time to make a purchase following reports of children racking up thousands of dollars in iTunes purchases.

Meguerian recognizes Apple's new policy, but asserts this change is not enough. Minors under 13 who have their parent's iTunes account can still make purchases without their parent's consent. According to the suit, Apple should require a secondary password, separate from the main iTunes password, for all in-app purchases.

Meguerian's suit stems from his own experience with his 9-year old daughter who racked up over $200 in charges while playing Zombie Cafe (shown above), Treasure Story and City Story. Meguerian was not aware of these charges until he received his monthly credit card bill. Though it may or may not have bearing on the case, receipts submitted as evidence show these purchases were made before Apple changed its in-app policy in February.

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/04/15/apple-faces-lawsuit-over-in-app-purchases-by-children/

Holy god am I so tired of these parents giving their children technology they don't even know how to work themselves, and then blaming someone else when shit goes down.

No, I don't want to have to enter a 2nd password just to buy something because you're lazy ass was too stupid to govern your own child. If you give your kid the keys to your car and they wreck it, Are you going to sue the car maker? Good luck with that.

Nevermind the fact you can disable in app purchases on your iphone or ipod, and do many other parental control-y things. Also nevermind the fact that anyone under 13 should not even be touching the appstore, an agreement you made, and ignored, allowing your kid to download whatever they please.

Can we get some personal accountability, please? /rant off

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Wait, so Apple have changed the way you purchase apps to make them more secure, and this guy is suing because in his opinion, it is not enough? I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with the money that he could gain and he plans to donate all the money he will make to charity. We are so lucky to have people like this looking out for our common good.

 

[Hader]

snip

Haha, guy can't keep his own account private? That's his own problem. When it's something as silly as this (iTunes and small internet games and whatnot like this is) a parent should totally be able to control their account and their child's possible use of it. By the time the lawsuit gets anywhere, if it does, the guy could have probably...changed his password at least once, right?

Not that I would ever have anything Apple related on my computer though!

 

[gigastar]

Where do you get theese newstories?

Anyway i agree. Thoroughly.

 

[WorldCritic]

Parents never want to blame themselves for things their children do. We'll be seeing another one of these soon enough.

 

[Cheesus333]

Wait...

Zombie Café? The hell?

Seriously though, people will blame literally anything if it means they don't have to admit fault in themselves. Behold!

Spilt hot coffee all over yourself like the clumsy fool you are? No problem, sue the vendors! It's their fault for making coffee hot!

Fallen over and banged your knee when skating on a frozen body of water? Well, looks like it must be the fault of the local authorities for not putting up fences and signs - not that that would stop you, you crazy thing!

Hurtling to your death from atop a cliff to a rocky gulch below? Blame tectonic action for the formation of mountainous regions aeons before mankind even existed! Because if there's no-one else to blame, the Earth itself is at fault.

Well that last one's hyperbole for it's own sake, yes, but I swear to God the other two are things that people actually do... and, worse still, get away with. Call it greed, call it pride, call it ignorance, it's disgusting by any name.

 

[FalloutJack]

Accountability? Yes. I'm a Pennsylvanian and this man is a disgrace to the state. You keep your flipping iPod OUT of the reach of children for fear of breaking or worse. So, this is not something he can sue over. Now, it would be REASONABLE if Apple allowed him to get refunds for all the mistakenly-purchased stuff, but he is not allowed to blow his stack. No, uh-uh, and NEIN!

 

[Miles000]

I honestly don't understand how parents can be so stupid. Then have the nerve to blame someone else for it.
I guess in the world we live in accountability always falls on the biggest party. Apple should just say "Pay more attention."

 

[Coop83]

Holy god am I so tired of these parents giving their children technology they don't even know how to work themselves, and then blaming someone else when shit goes down.

This is one of the dilemmas with modern parenting. They need to adequately ground their children and it's so hard for parents to say no. Particularly in households where divorce has happened, because the parents already come ready divided, thus all the kid needs to do is conquer.

I swear that when I have children, they aren't getting anything more advanced than what I have as a gadget. They will be pissed off with me, as I'm still using a Sony Ericsson W810i at the moment. It's not broken, so I won't bother to fix it.

 

[Heronblade]

There's $200 worth of random junk available dedicated to those pathetic games? Screw it, I just might sue Apple for being greedy assholes... wait... aw crap.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

The fact that he even gave his kid access to his account in the first place should be reason enough to dismiss this case. Apple should not be responsible for what your kid does. YOU should be responsible for what your kid does, until such time as they're old enough to take responsibility for their own actions. ...which, if the Meguerian guy is any example, is somewhere around the age of 92. ¬_¬
Apple shouldn't even have to require customers to enter their password a second time before making a purchase, never mind a second password.

If you give your kid the keys to your car and they wreck it, Are you going to sue the car maker? Good luck with that.

Apparently this Meguerian guy would.

 

[viranimus]

/gasp

the purveyor of overpriced and vapid hardware is getting sued for an overexaggerated and vapid reason.

I would have never seen that coming.

When you poke an angry dog with a stick do you get mad that it bit you? Perahps if Apple didnt market to this kind of person in the way they do, this... MIGHT ( I say might because its the US... you know the place that makes the 16th century British legal system look timid.) not have happened.

 

[Raregolddragon]

Ha when I was little my mom and dad wound not let me buy anything rated higher then E when it came to video games. I was 17 before I ever got to play a shooter.

 

[William MacKay]

i agree because this happened to me. i spent £200 on apps and music over the course of a year. i didnt even realise i'd done it because of the time-lapse between purchases.
NB: of my mother's money.

 

[Crazedtraceur]

Before too long people will demand that Apple starts using retinal scanners as a secondary password. Then sue because the technology is expensive.

 

[WolfEdge]

Accountability? Yes. I'm a Pennsylvanian and this man is a disgrace to the state. You keep your flipping iPod OUT of the reach of children for fear of breaking or worse. So, this is not something he can sue over. Now, it would be REASONABLE if Apple allowed him to get refunds for all the mistakenly-purchased stuff, but he is not allowed to blow his stack. No, uh-uh, and NEIN!

Oh, you can SUE for absolutely any reason you like, it's whether or not the dumb-ass in question can actually put forth a case for his argument that'll decide whether he can take this matter to court.

Magic Eight ball says... : "Unlikely"

 

[FalloutJack]

Accountability? Yes. I'm a Pennsylvanian and this man is a disgrace to the state. You keep your flipping iPod OUT of the reach of children for fear of breaking or worse. So, this is not something he can sue over. Now, it would be REASONABLE if Apple allowed him to get refunds for all the mistakenly-purchased stuff, but he is not allowed to blow his stack. No, uh-uh, and NEIN!

Oh, you can SUE for absolutely any reason you like, it's whether or not the dumb-ass in question can actually put forth a case for his argument that'll decide whether he can take this matter to court.

Magic Eight ball says... : "Unlikely"

Hmmm... I allways preferred "Reply Hazy, Ask Again Later", myself.

 

[badgersprite]

Who the hell gives a 9 year old girl their own iPhone with complete unlimited access to your Apple account and hence your credit card?

I'm twenty and I still don't have my own credit card.