Amazon, it seems, has just said no to the Federal Trade Commission in regards to the federal agency’s request that the eCommerce mega-retailer update some of its policies regarding in-app purchases.
According to reports by The Wall Street Journal , the FTC is particularly concerned about purchases made by children and wants Amazon to agree to terms similar to what Apple agreed to earlier this year. Such a settlement would likely cost the Seattle-based company some fairly steep fines and greatly change the way records are kept and disclosures are done. Amazon has publicly stated it would rather defend its approach in court than cede to the FTC’s demands.
“When customers told us their kids had made purchases they didn’t want, we refunded those purchases,” Andrew DeVore, an Amazon associate general counsel, saidin the letter to the FTC, reports the Journal.
And go to court it may well have to. Instead of making the requested changes—requiring passwords for all in-app purchases, making changes clearer and refunds easier—Amazon maintains that despite thousands of customer complaints, it has always handed out prompt refunds to customers who requested them.
“The commission is focused on ensuring that companies comply with the fundamental principle that consumers should not be made to pay for something they did not authorize,” an FTC spokesman said, reports The Journal. “Consumers using mobile devices have the same long-established and fundamental consumer protections as they would anywhere else.”
Amazon is now trying to succeed on the ground that reduced Apple to its knees – it agreed to the FTC’s terms and settled for $32.5 million in January of this year.
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