Because their speshul snowflakes can do no wrong

[silverwing84]

Kids blowing $600 on freemium mobile games inciting government interference.

(text below cut for the linkphobic)

As an avid gamer and indie game developer, I'm really sick of stories like this popping up in the news all the time.

Like that case that got thrown out earlier this year when parents in California tried to sue Apple over their kid

Comments

[coanteen]

"Sylvie, 9 ... racked up a bill of nearly $600 over a three-day period with in-app purchases"

That 9 year old is spending a LOT of time on the iPad if she can rack up that amount in 3 days. Hey, mom - if you're so worried over the games being "addicting" and "personality changing": guess what! No 9 year old needs an iPad!

[silverwing84]

No 9 year old needs an iPad!

This. Fuck, I'm 27 and I didn't feel the need to buy an iPad!

(Ever notice how the Kindle Fire, and Samsung Galaxy tabs don't seem to get as much hate from the entitled parents as iPads do?)

[onixstar1]

Some peurchaces are as much as $100 each so I guess like 5 of them, isn't that many individual purchases. But yes 9 year olds don't need an iPad!

[lisasimpsonfan]

Sorry I couldn't finish the first article. If by 9 you have no concept of money then Mom and Dad are doing something wrong. And if their parents are choosing to use electronics as babysitters and not paying attention to what their kids are doing on them then it's their own fault that the kid runs up a big bill.

[silverwing84]

And if their parents are choosing to use electronics as babysitters

Yup, I think that's the root of the problem. Using the iPad as a babysitter, and then suing the company that made the device rather than solving the problem at home.

[khh1138]

Yes, this. At 9, I was saving up for my first computer. I call BS on these idiots.

[l_o_lostshadows]

I agree most of this is on the parents, but the game that apparently lets you make purchases for 15 minutes without a password definitely bothers me. That can screw over even careful parents.

Are we expected to have one password for each device?

Well, it's generally a good idea, even without kids.

Mr Textor has urged parents to go on a "consumer strike" and refuse to pay the bills.

"It will be very hard for these companies to justify these bills where they are effectively billing parents for the gambling habits of their children," he said.

Not sure how he makes the jump from "addictive" to "gambling", so I'm guessing he's really advising them to screw up their credit because... video games are evil?

[silverwing84]

I have to admit, that 15-minute unlocked period is deceptive and should be eliminated. It kinda defeats the purpose of passwords.

No less, just because a parent doesn't password protect the account or the kid is able to guess the password doesn't mean Apple or freemium game devs are their babysitters...

[onixstar1]

There's an option to type in the password for every purchase, or an option were once every 15/10 or 5 mins will do. If my sister was anywhere near my devices I'd damn make sure it was a password for every one.

[nesmith]

Mr Textor has urged parents to go on a "consumer strike" and refuse to pay the bills.

Oh, then parents aren't going to need Mr. Textor; they'll need Mr. Lawyer.

Edit: Not to mention that it apparently has completely escaped this nitwit that parents are being held liable for the "gambling habits" of their children because parents are legally responsible for their children, who cannot enter into contracts because they're children.

I feel like this world keeps getting dumber and dumber.

[silverwing84]

It sure is getting dumber: Textor says "It is an example of corporate or market failure where politicians must intervene."

But...politicians don't need to intervene. Parents need to either put in stronger passwords, come up with creative ways to make the kids pay these huge bills, or just take the damn iPads away.

[nesmith]

You know, I friggin' hate corporations and unrestrained capitalism, but this is called companies making products and offering them for sale (and not even a case of misleading or false advertizing), and it's not their fault we have a generation or two of lazy damn parents who would rather be their kids' friends than be their parents. It's called "no." My parents said it all the time, and these wankers can too.

[silverwing84]

In the case of a lot of iPad games they're made by third-party developers-- App Store's just the means to peddle them. My partner and I aren't fans of iOS and a great deal of Apple's policies, but we know lots of people whose bread and butter comes from iPad games. (Ours is from PC.) He and I know how it is to depend on those sales for a living-- makes me wonder if these same parents also sue candy companies and grocery stores for putting candy right near the checkouts because they just cannot say "no" to their kids. This generation's approach to parenting really makes me fear how the next generation will turn out.

[bessie_smith]

Why do these people have credit card info on their iTunes accounts? You can have an account without having that info on file, that's what I do, and I'm the only one using the account.

While I agree that the 15 minute window needs to be eliminated, parents should still realize that their kids could have access to their credit cards and rack up charges when they're using those i-devices and open iTunes. Remove that info, and if they their kids to be able to make iTunes purchase, then buy gift cards, which will limit how much they can purchase.