Facebook Calls Parent's Suit Over Game Credits Bogus (Law360)

By Sean McLernon

Facebook Inc. on Thursday called for a California federal court to toss a putative class action accusing the company of improperly profiting from game credits unknowingly purchased by minors, arguing the plaintiff's son has benefited from the credits and has not rejected the terms of the purchases.

The teenager made a $20 purchase of the company's gaming and application currency, called Facebook credits, receiving permission from his mother and using her credit card to complete the sale, according to the suit.

Subsequently, without any notice that the credit card information had been stored by Facebook and used again after the initial purchase, the boy continued to buy credit by spending what he thought to be virtual currency, but what was actually several hundred dollars worth of charges to his mother's account, the complaint contends.

In Thursday's motion to dismiss, Facebook contended that California law has established minors can't accept the benefits of a contract without meeting its obligations. The company also argued that plaintiff Glynnis Bohannon has no right to disaffirm the contract on behalf of her son and contended that there is no evidence that the teenager himself wants to disavow the contract.

"Remarkably, the plaintiff asks the court to enter declaratory judgment that would effectively allow her teenage son — and all other minors who use Facebook — to continue purchasing and using credits for free," the motion said. "In short, the plaintiff is asking the court to create entirely new law allowing minors — with the full knowledge of their parents — to get something for nothing."

Facebook also said that even if the teenager sought to disaffirm the contract, he has no right to recover money paid by another person, in this case his mother.

Bohannon is accusing Facebook of violating California's contract laws, Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Business and Professions Code. But the company claims that its payment terms explicitly caution against minors making purchases on their own. According to the motion, Facebook tells users if they are under the age of 18, they can only make payments with the consultation and consent of a parent or guardian.

"The plaintiff cannot claim that either she or her son were somehow deceived under these circumstances," the motion said.

Facebook also asked for the suit's class allegations to be stricken as an alternative if the court refuses to dismiss the case. The company called the proposed class of all parents whose minor children allegedly made unauthorized charges "inherently unworkable" because the court would need to examine the interactions of each parent and child for each purchase.

"Regardless of how the court might resolve the question of 'authorization' as to the plaintiff's individual claim, there is no conceivable way to engage in a classwide analysis for each of the millions of purchases of credits by minors potentially at issue in this case," the motion said.

Counsel for Bohannon was not immediately available for comment Friday.

Bohannon is represented by John R. Parker Jr. of Kershaw Cutter & Ratinoff LLP.

Facebook is represented by Michael G. Rhodes, Whitty Somvichian and Kristine Anne VanHamersveld of Cooley LLP.

The case is Bohannon v. Facebook Inc., case number 5:12-cv-01894, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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