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Regulations Protecting Consumers From Microtransactions
The following is a list of laws providing an overview of laws and regulations that aim to protect consumers from microtransactions. Regulations in the United States The Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act): The FTC Act prohibits companies from engaging in unfair or deceptive practices, including those related to in-app purchases. These practices include failing to clearly disclose the costs of purchases, making it difficult for consumers to cancel purchases, and encouraging mass spending. In recent years, the FTC has taken action against video game companies that engage in deceptive or unfair practices related to in-app purchases. For example, in 2014, the FTC settled with Apple over allegations that the company allowed children to make unauthorized in-app purchases without their parents' consent. As part of the settlement, Apple agreed to refund a minimum of $32.5 million to affected consumers that were billed for in-app purchases incurred by children. Apple was also required ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microtransaction
Microtransaction (mtx) refers to a business model where users can purchase in-game virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransactions are a staple of the mobile app market, they are also seen on PC software such as Valve's Steam digital distribution platform, as well as console gaming. Free-to-play games that include a microtransaction model are sometimes referred to as "freemium". Another term, " pay-to-win", is sometimes used pejoratively to refer to games where purchasing items in-game can give a player an advantage over other players, particularly if the items cannot be obtained through free means. The objective with a free-to-play microtransaction model is to involve more players in the game by providing desirable items or features that players can purchase if they lack the skill or available time to earn these through regular game play. Also, presumably the game de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consumer Affairs Agency
The is an administrative agency of the Cabinet Office of Japan responsible for consumer protection established on September 1, 2009. Under the law passed on December 10, 2022, the Consumer Affairs Agency now also has jurisdiction over the issue of donations between religious juridical persons and their followers. Until then, the Agency for Cultural Affairs had jurisdiction over all administration related to religious juridical persons. This legislation was intended to address the Unification Church's " Spiritual sales", which has become a serious problem in Japanese society. Background Individual ministries had their own relevant departments, but after a number of scandals involving food poisoning and various types of accidents caused by substandard products manufactured in or imported to Japan, it was decided that an independent body was needed to protect the interests of consumers. Consumers often did not know where to report problems, and if they did, complaints were often pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consumer Rights Directive 2011
The Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU is a consumer protection measure in EU law. It was due to be implemented by 13 December 2013. Scope The Directive applies to most contracts between traders and consumers and applied to all contracts concluded after 13 June 2014. Exceptions include financial services, gambling, healthcare by regulated professionals, package travel, property transactions, social services, timeshare and most aspects of passenger transport. Content The Consumer Rights Directive contains provisions on: *Information to be given before a consumer buys goods or services on the trader’s premises *Information to be given before a consumer buys goods or services away from the trader's premises (e.g. at home or at a fair), or at a distance (internet, telesales) *Cancellation rights and responsibilities where the consumer buys goods or services away from the trader's premises or at a distance *Delivery times for goods – clarifying what deadlines for delivery should ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often described as a ''sui generis'' political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation. Containing 5.5% of the world population in 2023, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around €17.935 trillion in 2024, accounting for approximately one sixth of global economic output. Its cornerstone, the European Union Customs Union, Customs Union, paved the way to establishing European Single Market, an internal single market based on standardised European Union law, legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), abbreviated GDPR, is a European Union regulation on information privacy in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The GDPR is an important component of EU privacy law and human rights law, in particular Article 8(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It also governs the transfer of personal data outside the EU and EEA. The GDPR's goals are to enhance individuals' control and rights over their personal information and to simplify the regulations for international business. It supersedes the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and, among other things, simplifies the terminology. The European Parliament and Council of the European Union adopted the GDPR on 14 April 2016, to become effective on 25 May 2018. As an EU regulation (instead of a directive), the GDPR has direct legal effect and does not require transposition into national law. However, it also provide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consumer Protection Committee
The Consumer Protection Committee (CPC; ) is the agency of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan (ROC) which is responsible for consultation, discussion, and review of important consumer protection policies, laws and regulations, mechanisms, and enforcement outcomes, as well as cross-agency coordination in Taiwan. History The CPC was originally created on 1 July 1994 as the Consumer Protection Commission. On 1 January 2012, it was restructured as the Consumer Protection Committee. Organization The CPC composition is made up of 17 to 27 members with terms of 2 years. The Vice President of the Executive Yuan chairs the CPC, and the members include officials of relevant government agencies, representatives of national consumer protection groups, representatives of nationwide business associations, experts and scholars. The committee meets once each month, but the chairperson has the right to convene unscheduled meetings when necessary. Its operative unit is the Department of Consumer Prote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kompu Gacha
A is a game, typically a video game, that implements the machine style mechanics. Similar to loot boxes, live service gacha games entice players to spend in-game currency to receive a random in-game item. Some in-game currency generally can be gained through game play and staying up-to-date, and some by purchasing it from the game publisher using real-world funds. Most common gacha games are free-to-play (F2P) mobile role-playing video games with an emphasis on strategy, such as team building, synergizing and player improvisation. The game model has been around since the early 90s with strategy trading card games such as ''Magic: the Gathering'', but began to be widely used in the early 2010s in mobile gaming by Japan. Gacha mechanics have become an integral part of Japanese mobile game culture as well as pop culture in general. The game mechanism is also increasingly used in Chinese and Korean games, as well as European and American games. Digital ''gacha'' games have b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gacha Game
A is a game, typically a video game, that implements the machine style mechanics. Similar to loot boxes, live service gacha games entice players to spend in-game currency to receive a random in-game item. Some in-game currency generally can be gained through game play and staying up-to-date, and some by purchasing it from the game publisher using real-world funds. Most common gacha games are free-to-play (F2P) mobile role-playing video games with an emphasis on strategy, such as team building, synergizing and player improvisation. The game model has been around since the early 90s with strategy trading card games such as ''Magic: the Gathering'', but began to be widely used in the early 2010s in mobile gaming by Japan. Gacha mechanics have become an integral part of Japanese mobile game culture as well as pop culture in general. The game mechanism is also increasingly used in Chinese and Korean games, as well as European and American games. Digital ''gacha'' games have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compulsion Loop
A compulsion loop, reward loop or core loop is a habitual chain of activities that a user may feel compelled to repeat. Typically, this loop is designed to create a neurochemical reward in the user such as the release of dopamine. Compulsion loops are deliberately used in video game design as an extrinsic motivation for players, but may also result from other activities that create such loops, intentionally or not, such as gambling addiction and Internet addiction disorder. Basis The understanding of the motivations of compulsion loops came out of experiments performed on laboratory animals in operant conditioning chamber or a "Skinner box", where the animals are given both positive and negative stimuli for performing certain actions, such as providing food by pressing a lever. Besides demonstrating that animals would prefer positive rewards and thus learned to trigger the corresponding lever, B. F. Skinner found that the effects of random rewards and variable time betwee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Trade Commission Act
The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 is a United States federal law which established the Federal Trade Commission. The Act was signed into law by US President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 and outlaws unfair methods of competition and unfair acts or practices that affect commerce. Background The inspiration and motivation for this act started in 1890, when the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed. There was a strong antitrust movement to prevent manufacturers from joining price-fixing cartels. After '' Northern Securities Co. v. United States'', a 1904 case that dismantled a J. P. Morgan company, antitrust enforcement became institutionalized. Soon, US President Theodore Roosevelt created the Bureau of Corporations, an agency that reported on the economy and businesses in the industry. The agency was the predecessor to the Federal Trade Commission. In 1913, Congress expanded on the agency by passing the Federal Trade Commissions Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act. The Federal Trade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Press And Publication Administration
The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) is an external name of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. The NPPA is mainly responsible for implementing the propaganda work guidelines of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), formulating news and publishing management policies and supervising their implementation, managing news and publishing administrative affairs, supervising the content and quality of publications, and managing the import of publications. History In March 2018, as part of the deepening the reform of the Party and state institutions, the news and publication management responsibilities of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television was transferred to the Publicity Department, which also would use the name of the National Press and Publication Administration as a one institution with two names "One institution with two names" () is a bureaucratic arrangement in the Government of China, Chinese gover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consumer Protection
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent businesses from engaging in fraud or specified unfair practices to gain an advantage over competitors or to mislead consumers. They may also provide additional protection for the general public which may be impacted by a product (or its production) even when they are not the direct purchaser or consumer of that product. For example, government regulations may require businesses to disclose detailed information about their products—particularly in areas where public health or safety is an issue, such as with food or automobiles. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of consumer rights and to the formation of consumer organizations, which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace and pursue complaints against businesses. Entities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
