Amazon.com is willing to fight the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) decision to require the company to pay penalties regarding their policies on in-app purchases made by children.
The FTC is planning to file a lawsuit against the e-commerce company because regulators wanted to reach a settlement similar to the one they forged with Apple. The lawsuit is related to in-app purchases Amazon offers with free games and other services. Users can download these apps at no cost; but, upgrades such as lives, more gaming tools, and others need a registered credit card to purchase. According to the federal agency, children are susceptible to purchasing in-app services, which could lead to a large bill that may shock the credit card owner.
The FTC previously urged Amazon to change their policies to prevent these unauthorized in-app purchases. In January, Apple paid at least $32.5 million to refund their customers. The company also updated its billing rules to ensure that parents can monitor and authorize the purchases made by their children.
In a draft document, the federal agency argued that Amazon should agree to do the same after the agency received complaints about millions of dollars lost due to children buying in-app purchases.
But Amazon maintained that its representatives should not be responsible for such issues, citing a disclosure in the app store stating "prominent notice of in-app purchasing, effective parental controls and real-time notice of every in-app purchase." The company also expressed that they plan to fight the order in court, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"The commission's unwillingness to depart from the precedent it set with Apple despite our very different facts leaves us no choice but to defend our approach in court," wrote Andrew DeVore, an Amazon associate general counsel, in the July 1 letter obtained by Reuters.
The largest online retailer in the United States also expressed its disappointment over failing to reach an agreement with the FTC after weeks of negotiations. The latter entity demanded Amazon to refund their customers, make the notices more prominent, and require passwords for in-app purchases.
