Apple agrees to change Terms and Conditions to comply with consumer contracts laws

Apple Inc has agreed to the Office of Fair Trading’s request to change its terms and conditions in order to comply with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.  The 1999 Regulations require contract terms with consumers to be in plain English and not create a significant imbalance between the consumer’s position and the supplier’s. Apple agreed to change the terms that applied to people purchases on its iTunes stores and software downloads. It agreed to ensure its terms:

• did not exclude liability for faulty or mis-described goods;
• were consistent with consumer rights under the Distance Selling Regulations;
• were drafted in plain and intelligible language;
• did not allow changes to be made after agreements had been made.