Apple changes terms and conditions in response to Office of Fair Training reprimand

Posted on 27 Nov 2009 at 16:02

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has today announced that Apple has agreed to change iTunes' terms and conditions to make them clearer and fairer for consumers following discussions with the OFT.

These dicussions raised concerns under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulation 1999 (UTCCRs). The problems were with clauses that excluded Apple from liability for faulty or mis-described goods (including poor quality or mislabelled audio tracks), allowed it to make changes to products and prices after an agreement had been made, and which were inconsistent with consumer rights under the Distance Selling Regulations.

The OFT also highlighted issues with the comprehensibility of the language used in Apple's contract.

Jason Freeman, Legal Director, OFT Consumer Markets Group, said: "The contract or terms of use between a company and a consumer, whether they are found online or on paper, must be clear, fair and easy to understand. In particular, it is important that consumers are given clear and accurate information about their consumer rights in case things go wrong. We have worked closely with Apple to secure these changes and we believe they will improve confidence and clarity for consumers."

At the time of writing, the iTunes terms and conditions available to read on Apple's UK site are still dated 9 September 2009, but we expect to be seeing an update in the near future.

This isn't the first time Apple has come under criticism from the OFT - in 2004, the OFT reported Apple to the European Commission over uncompetitive pricing practices that prevented UK customers from buying content from European iTunes stores, which was (at the time) more cheaply priced in Euros.

Author: Kat Orphanides

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