Not for the first time, a mobile service has generated egregious fees because a parent hasn’t had control over a child’s usage. That happened with text messaging when the child went over the contracted number of SMS messages per month. In this instance, a mobile game maker with in-game payments capability found itself at the center of parental ire. Until mobile apps of all kinds implement controls on payments, the only answer will be parental vigilance. NFC may offer a means to control payments but only if the game or app publisher uses the facility. In the short term, the best path will be for game publishers to gracefully refund payments when there’s a complaint. We’re in the “growing phase” of mobile payments and early adolescence is a messy business.
Capcom Interactive Inc. caught the ire of parental groups in recent weeks over its Smurfs’ Village iPhone game, which is free to download but charges players to purchase additional features, like “Smurfberries,” within the application.
Smurfberries can cost as much as $99.99 per wagonful.
Some parental groups criticized the game, as well as iPhone maker Apple Inc., after reports surfaced of children racking up large bills while playing the game. The uproar prompted Capcom to add a warning to the game’s users. Apple has since tweaked a password feature in its mobile operating system so that users need to authenticate themselves a second time before buying items within apps.
