蘋果已經與美國聯邦貿易委員會（FTC）就應用內購買達成和解，結束了一場長期的法律訴訟，這場訴訟挑戰了應用商店的大部分基本功能。由於家長控制不力，該公司被要求退還因錯誤收費而被收費的客戶，向3.7萬名不同的客戶共支付了3250萬美元。蘋果還將被要求改變其收費方式，“以確保在對移動應用程式中銷售的商品收費之前，已獲得消費者的明示、知情同意。”

在一個案例中，一個女孩在15分鐘內花了2600美元

根據9to5mac釋出的蘋果CEO蒂姆•庫克（Tim Cook）在全公司範圍內的一封信，蘋果是在聽取了未經家長允許而進行應用內購買的投訴後提出索賠的。作為回應，該公司向每一位在為兒童設計的應用程式中進行應用內購買的iOS使用者發送了電子郵件，總計2800萬個賬戶。在這2 800萬人中，有3.7萬人提出索賠，並得到了購買補償。儘管聯邦貿易委員會（FTC）的和解協議涉及面很廣，但庫克對員工們表示，“不要求我們做任何我們還沒有做的事情。”

美國聯邦貿易委員會（FTC）對蘋果的15分鐘收費視窗提出了特別的異議，即在接下來的15分鐘內，只需輸入一個密碼就可以授權無限收費。聯邦貿易委員會主席伊迪絲·馬丁內斯說，在一個案例中，一個女孩在15分鐘的時間視窗內使用“Tap Pet Hotel”應用程式花費了2600多美元。馬丁內斯說，問題不在於時間長短，而在於批准應用程式內購買的家長無法知道在該視窗內他們可能招致的全部費用。和解協議要求蘋果修改其計費方式，以獲得更明確的同意，最遲在今年3月31日實施新的保障措施。

蒂姆·庫克寫給員工的信轉載如下。

I want to let you know that Apple has entered into a c***ent decree with the U.S. 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’ c***ent. 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 acti*** as a full settlement and we felt we had made 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 **acked of double jeopardy. However, the c***ent 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 innovati***, 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 humankind’s deepest values and highest aspirati***. As Apple continues to grow, there will inevitably be scrutiny and critici** along our journey. We don’t shy away from these kinds of questi***, 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