Facebook faces a new lawsuit over virtual currency

[garyopa]

Some people don't know that they are spending real money



A mother sued Facebook when his minor kid purchased Facebook Credits not knowing he has spending real money

This is another news about "Angry mom VS The World". The story was the following: A minor bought some Facebook credits without knowing that he was spending real money. Facebook ToS specifies that minors can't purchase anything without parent's permission but doen't include any measure to check this. Mom noticed and sued Facebook and requested a refund.

According to Gamasutra:

Facebook is facing legal action from the parent of a teenager who claims that minors are able to purchase Facebook Credits for use in games on the social network, and that this goes against California's consumer protection laws.

Glynnis Bohannon has filed a complaint against the company with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, demanding a refund, not only for the purchases made by her son, but also for those made by all minors in the U.S.

This isn't the only recent instance of companies getting in trouble over minors purchasing credits for social games. A U.S. District Judge has chosen to uphold a handful of claims that Apple distributed free iOS apps that trick children into money in-app purchases.

Children are legally allowed to create a Facebook account from the age of 13 -- however, Facebook's rules state that any child under the age of 18 must ask for a parent's permission before purchasing Facebook Credits.

Bohannon alleges that this goes against consumer protection laws in the state, and is now seeking refunds from Facebook for, according to the legal documents, "all parents and legal guardians in the United States whose minor children made unauthorized purchases of Facebook Credits from the minor child's Facebook account," to the tune of $5 million.

So, whats your opinion about this? Facebook's fault for using strange currencies and lack of measures to prevent this actions, Mom's fault for not educating kids correctly? or kid's fault for his ignorance? Fell free to express yourself.

NEWS SOURCE #1: http://gamasutra.com/view/news/16896...l_currency.php
NEWS SOURCE #2: http://es.scribd.com/doc/90357135/Fa...redits-Removal

Our thanks to 'Kaos2K' for this news story!

[billysastard]

why are facebook allowing an account registered to a child to buy credits using a credit card that isnt in his name? there is some argument that certain other California laws are being broken in relation to the gambling act, its connected to paying real money and not getting anything in return since the credits are used to pay for effectively nothing.

[Crimson Blade]

Some people doen't know they are spending real money

...and "all your base are belong to us."

"Don't" doesn't have an "e" in it, plus grammatically a 'that' in-between "know" and "they" would've been nice.

A mother sued Facebook when his minor kid purchased Facebook Credits not knowing he has spending real money

First off, that's one strange mother, not my fetish but I guess some people are into transsexuals.

Secondly, it's the past tense "was" you were looking for, "he has spending real money" makes no sense what so ever.



Who edits the articles before posting them?

[kcvfr400]

Its the mother fault clearly, its her card so she should be responsible for its use when she has given permission in this way. And if she does not take an interest in its use or her child then she needs to take a hard look at herself and not embarass herself looking for a scapegoat. You can buy cards for facebook so there is another way to fund his account.

[mattias800]

A lot of services uses credits.

[IJTF_Cinder]

Just like the crap with Apple, it's not Facebook's responsibility to parent your children.

If they get ahold of your credit card and use it without permission, that's your fault.
If you add your credit card to their account and they spend money you didn't want them to, that's your fault
If they use it because you saved the credit card in your account, that's your fault.

Personal responsibility be damned...it's these corporations fault that your children do things without your permission! After all, their systems\websites allowed it to happen...

I have one thing to say to this woman. "***** please..."

The world is fucking DOOMED, 9/10 parents these days don't pay any attention to what their kids do, their kids can do no wrong and ANYTHING they are caught doing wrong, is the fault of someone else. I can't wait for the days of mandatory sterilization...

[iLLNESS]

its the parents fault for not parenting, but its also the responsibility of facebook to follow all laws the site is accessible in. if california deems it illegal, its illegal and facebook is at fault.

companies nowadays are pushing the limits as far as how they can get money and credits on facebook is a good example in my opinion. people are being taken advantage of in situations like this, but at the same time its their own fault for being taken advantage of.

where is the line drawn?

[billysastard]

Its the mother fault clearly, its her card so she should be responsible for its use when she has given permission in this way. And if she does not take an interest in its use or her child then she needs to take a hard look at herself and not embarass herself looking for a scapegoat. You can buy cards for facebook so there is another way to fund his account.

its the mothers fault that facebook allowed the child to use a credit card that wasnt in the childs name to buy facebook credits?

[IJTF_Cinder]

its the mothers fault that facebook allowed the child to use a credit card that wasnt in the childs name to buy facebook credits?

Why is Facebook supposed to police the use of your credit card? Lots of people allow their teens to use their credit card on say their Xbox Live account or other subscription models. So Facebook should disallow it on a minors Facebook account, where a parent might very well have allowed it?

Again...personal responsibility be damned, lets all give today's incompetent parents a pass, it's someone elses fault.

[wrathchild]

Who edits the articles before posting them?

You've been a member here since 2007 and you just now asking that question?

[DEDDOA]

What I don't get is why the kid had his mothers credit card details linked to his facebook account for in the first place, what has he had to have them for if it wasn't to buy stuff. I have no credit card details linked ot my facebook, admitedly I only use it as an alternate means to contact my sister (she can't hear the phone when it goes off in her pocket, but she can hear her facebook alerts 100 miles away), but I have never been asked for credit card details for anything run of the mill on there. From what I can work out form the intentionally limited information she gives, it was either her facebook account, in which case it's her fault for letting him use it, or she had given him the details to buy stuff in games etc., in which case they both knew what was going on and he obviously knew it was costing real money. I wouldn't be suprised if it was the mother who spent the money and caliming it was the kid, and if it was the kid, then she had given permission for the kids account to use it, if she had not wanted it to be used again or without her permission then she could have just removed it from the account. Once the permission is given and theoretically you have read and agreed to the terms and conditions, then it's not down to the company to ask for validation of every transaction, some do and will ask for the likes of a 3 digit security number, but many won't and you can't assume it will ask before using it in future. I am not a fan of these sorts of things but so long as the agreement she obviously agreed to and didn't read was reasonable then she is to blame for her own appathy.

[Diztructor]

why are facebook allowing an account registered to a child to buy credits using a credit card that isnt in his name? there is some argument that certain other California laws are being broken in relation to the gambling act, its connected to paying real money and not getting anything in return since the credits are used to pay for effectively nothing.

why are parents allowing a child have a facebook account without supervision, also how did the child get the parents bank account details onto his facebook account without them knowing.

this is utter BS parents these days rather blame someone else rather than admit they have sh1t adult supervision and really shouldnt have kids if they cant keep an eye on what theyre doing.

[garyopa]

...and "all your base are belong to us."

"Don't" doesn't have an "e" in it, plus grammatically a 'that' in-between "know" and "they" would've been nice.

Who edits the articles before posting them?

I review all the articles before posting them, but I don't always catch all the mistakes, our news writers make at times.

So I guess I am just like Capcom in having some typo's on their recent game releases!

Thanks for the correction, the article has now been updated.

[MadonnaProject]

Glad I don't have kids. Or facebook. Not sure which is worse.

[billysastard]

Glad I don't have kids. Or facebook. Not sure which is worse.

kids are fine if properly parented, facebook is not a part of that.