AUSTRALIA'S consumer watchdog is monitoring bill shocks from children playing "free" games on smartphones and iPads. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is concerned about a surge in complaints from parents receiving huge credit card bills when they think apps are free.
Commissioner Sarah Court said the watchdog would examine whether marketing of games with potential cost traps could be considered misleading and deceptive.
"We will be closely looking at it," Ms Court said.
The Herald Sun last year found parents were unwittingly stung with bills of thousands of dollars after discovering some addictive games were free to download but they were then charged up to $110 for extras.
Unwary victims reported charges of up to $4000 after children went on game frenzies, ignoring messages about charges or confusing real money with play cash.
The industry says clear warnings flash on screens, and parents should be careful about revealing passwords. It says charges for "in-app content" can be easily blocked.
Ms Court said complaints about bill shock from mobile phone services such as ringtones and quizzes had rapidly declined. Apps were regulators' new challenge.
heraldsun.com.au 10 Mar 2012
Another behind the 8 ball action by the ACCC or Australian legal system.
Many app developers have been defrauding the Australian consumer for quite some time, and nothing has been done about this.
Consumer rip off by major corporations like Apple has been practiced for many years, to the 'blind eye' of the ACCC, in effect supporting the globalists.
Australian politics is deliberately slow to intervene in corporate fraud against the masses, conversely when the masses commit a 'crime' against the multinationals (e.g. theft) penalties / incarceration / convictions are almost instantaneous.
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