Kitty's Corner

It's common now that children have mobile phones so the parents can always get in touch with them. Kids down to 1st or 2nd grade have them, but there have been some cases recently that ought to make parents consider some things before they equip their youngsters with phones.

One of the cases I think of is about 13 year old Sandra, who recently managed to spend 6,000DKK (800Eur) in 3 months. Not on ringtones and wallpapers for the phone, but on virtual things for a virtual horse she kept online.
The family discovered it after the first month, but it took their phone provider 2 extra months to close down the service. And during that time, Sandra just kept on spending money.

Another case is about 10 year old Astrid, who spent 1,500DKK (200Eur) in 3 weeks, also on virtual gear for a virtual horse. In this case the company has a rule that says that you can only spend 150DKK (20Eur) a week if you're under 16 years old, 250DKK (35Eur) if you're between 16 and 18 years old, and there's no limits if you're over 18.

When the 10-year old made her profile, she wrote her real age. First time she bumped into the 150DKK-limit, she went in and changed her age to 19, and the limit was gone with a click of the mouse.

The parents have to pay the company in both these cases. I went to the website, which is Danish, but owned by a Swedish company. They have a sub-site for the parents, but honestly - it doesn't say much, and is not clear enough, and besides - the info box is cut off in the middle of a sentence. So perhaps it's all the interesting stuff that's missing, who knows.


Don't the companies who sell things that aren't really there, virtual things, have some kind of responsibility? I mean - I know it's business, but still, they're selling some stuff that doesn't really exists to minors!

I think the problem could be solved by refusing to let these companies charge for their services over the phone. I don't think many parents would just let their kids use their credit cards. Please let me hear what you think about this.