Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has released the In-App Purchasing (IAP) quite some time back and since then it allows the user to purchase items within free or paid app. IAP uses 1-Click settings to purchase the apps in Amazon App store for Android.
FTC alleges that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) had unlawfully billed parents in millions of dollars by allowing children to purchase the Apps without parental consent. FTC has filed a suit seeking a refund to consumers for unauthorized charges and permanently banning company from billing the parents and other account holders for in-app charges without their consent.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has responded to the FTC suit. CNBC’s Julia Boorstin reported on this. She said that Amazon defended itself by claiming that they have continually improved their experience and FTC has unfairly treated them.
“Pursuing litigation against a company whose practices were lawful from outside and that already met or exceeded the requirements of the Apple consent order makes no sense and is a misallocation of the commission’s resources,” Boorsten quoted Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s response.
She said that Amazon considered FTC actions as deeply disappointing. Apple inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) also had similar issues when FTC had filed a lawsuit against them for similar reason earlier this year. In that scenario, Apple agreed to pay $32.5 million as refunds to customers and as a return FTC dropped the lawsuit. She said that Amazon also wanted to follow Apple’s footsteps and reach a settlement with FTC rather than taking the lawsuit to federal court.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has to handle the tax irregularities issue in the EU due to which there was a slight dip in the stock recently. The key investors in the company are Lansdowne Partners, owning approximately 2.95 million shares and Blue Ridge Capital with 810,000 shares as of 31st March 2014.
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