The Office of Fair Trading releases its initial report on IAPs in apps and games aimed at children

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in the UK has released its initial report into IAPs in games and apps aimed at children, and has come up with an eight-point action plan designed to stop kids buying stuff they shouldn't when they're playing on your iPhone.

We first reported on the OFT's investigation earlier in the year when the consumer protection agency announced it was looking into some of the "potentially misleading or commercially aggressive practices" within freemium games.

Through the eight principles that make up the bulk of the report, which you can read in full here, the OFT outlines things that developers can, can't, and shouldn't do if their app is designed to attract children.

I've broken them down below for your perusal.

• Information about the costs associated with a game should be provided clearly, accurately and prominently up-front before the consumer begins to play, download or sign up to it or agrees to make a purchase.
• All material information about the game should be clear, accurate, prominent and provided up-front, before the consumer begins to play, download or sign up to it or agrees to make a purchase. 'Material information' includes any information necessary for the average consumer to make an informed decision to play, download or sign up to the game or to make a purchase.
• Information about the business should be clear, accurate, prominent and provided up-front, before the consumer begins to play, download or sign up to the game or agrees to make a purchase. It should be clear to the consumer who he/she ought to contact in case of queries or complaints. The business should be capable of being contacted rapidly and communicated with in a direct and effective manner.
• The commercial intent of any in-game promotion of paid-for content, or promotion of any other product or service, should be clear and distinguishable from gameplay.
• A game should not mislead consumers by giving the false impression that payments are required or are an integral part of the way the game is played if that is not the case.
• Games should not include practices that are aggressive, or which otherwise have the potential to exploit a child’s inherent inexperience, vulnerability or credulity. The younger a child is, the greater the likely impact those practices will have, and the language, design, visual interface and structure of the game should take account of that.
• A game should not include direct exhortations to children to make a purchase or persuade others to make purchases for them.
• Payments should not be taken from the payment account holder unless authorised. A payment made in a game is not authorised unless informed consent for that payment has been given by the payment account holder. The scope of the agreement and the amount to be debited should be made clear to the consumer so he/she can give informed consent. Consent should not be assumed, for example through the use of opt-out provisions, and the consumer should positively indicate his/her informed consent.

There's a lot of common sense in these suggestions, although it's going to be interesting to see how some of them are implemented.

In particular, the fourth principle is often exploited by developers, with the IAP menu frequently presented in the same style as other in-game shop menus.

Sure, it might be for aesthetic considerations, but are we set to see devs forced to make dull-looking IAP sections to keep podgy kid fingers away from them?

The OFT is asking for feedback from interested parties before November 21st to help shape the final version of the report, which it will release next year.

Then, any app developer found to be flouting the new regulations from next April will face "enforcement action" if it's in breach of consumer regulation law.