Facebook to stand trial over virtual currency

Doesn't mention how old the kids are but could be a couple of things here.

a) You need to be 13 or older to have a Facebook account
b) Was this on the kids' own account or on the parents account? If it is on the child's own account then C)
and
c) Someone had to put in the credit card details, if that was the kid taking it from the purse/wallet of the parents then isn't that something the parent should be taking responsibility for? I don't remember retail shops being forced to give refunds after kids took money from a purse/wallet when I was growing up (not that I did it but I know those who did)

When did parents stop taking responsibility for the actions of their children?

@Barrie

I was thinking exactly the same thing. I don't see how it makes any sense to sue a company over this. However, I am not exactly surprised either. People sue for some of the dumbest things.

Well, if you bought something from a shop you can take it back. If it is edible or such, then it is unlikely to force you to re-mortgage your house pay for the bar of chocolate your child has bought.

In general, credit cards can just be charged back very nearly without exception from what I can remember from my time in lending. I think that it has more to do with that the system should be designed to protect users from unauthorised purchases. Once payment details have been added to an account, how easy is it to remove them? Do you need a password to use them? Its like that ipad app for cats to chase a fly about the screen or whatever, that the cats could rack huge bills as there was no protection on the item shop.

It sounds from the article that the accounts are the childrens, and what protection has Facebook put on these accounts knowing that they are minors therefore cannot be the legal owners of the credit cards?

All sales are final is a nasty thing. Is there really to keep the money of the impulsive and I have used up enough premium currency in games with accidental button presses to understand how annoying it must be if you have just spent a whole lot of real money seeing it fritter away because there is no 'are you sure' dialogue on an irritatingly placed button.

Parents should take responsibility for their kids, but if that means they should have to suck up thousands of dollars of debt that they cannot necessarily afford because of misplaced trust in their children due totally to the poor design of a website and the money grabbing attitude of not helping your customers at all when it might cost you money... hmm, this sentence got too long and I have no idea where I am going with it any more :) In short, parents should take responsibility, but that doesn't mean that massive corporations that have money coming out of their ears should treat their customers like shit either.

@Kenny

due totally to the poor design of a website

Where on earth are you getting that from? The article mentions nothing of the sort.

You are making a claim that the issue occurred due to poor design of a website, but that isn't the case. No one can type in a whole credit card number along with address, and security code .. due to poor website design lol.

I can understand if this article was about buttons being placed in a manner that causes false purchases, but that isn't what this article is about. This is about children going into their parents things and using their credit cards. Has nothing to do with poor website design.

I must say I assumed that it was talking about children using payment options that had been put there by the parents. Like if you buy Minecraft for your kid and the details remain tied to the account.

Clicking through to the original article, the case is actually both - er, why would I type this out? A bit of copy-pasta

"The lawsuit was brought by two children and their parents.

One child said his mother let him spend $20 on her credit card toward the game "Ninja Saga," but was later charged several hundred dollars for purchases he thought he made with "virtual, in-game currency." The other said he took a debit card from his parents without permission and spent $1,059."

Design of the payment system, particularly for those that have underage accounts could very well play a part in these cases - though the real issue is that it is the plaintiffs assertion that it is against Californian law not to protect parents from their children spending that money. I am not an expert in law, but it does seem fair to me. Because if they really could not afford it, would that mean that they would have to press criminal charges against their child?

Too much of mobile, f2p, social gaming and other modern inventions were based around impulsive spending and the original systems were often (apparently at least) designed to make it as easy as possible to spend a lot of money without any chance of getting it back. Particularly where children are involved, I can see why this is unethical and depending on where you live, could be illegal.

@Kenny
Ok, I see, so I was mistaken.

They need to make it so the parents have full control over it. Maybe when you place in payment details, have an option that makes it so you have to type in a password for it to go through.

I agree though, if children accidentally purchase things due to parents payment details being tied to the account, they should get a refund off that stuff because that is a flaw with the payment design and the parents shouldn't be at fault in the least bit.

Those who have children steal their card though ... that is the parents responsibility.