The FTC is suing Amazon over in-app purchases in children’s gaming apps. In-app purchases have been a frustrating issue for parents, many of whom see unapproved charges when their children buy things within a tablet app. Also, interview with LACMA’s Michael Govan about new design on Wilshire. Then, it's Filmweek on AirTalk!
Is Amazon responsible for the charges kids rack up making in-app purchases?
The FTC is suing Amazon over in-app purchases in children’s gaming apps. In-app purchases have frequently been a frustrating issue for parents, many of whom see hundreds of dollars in unapproved charges when their children buy things within a tablet app. Complaints say that children often don’t realize that they are making real purchases when they buy gold coins, special character outfits, or acorns, but for parents, the cost is real. Even after Amazon began requiring passwords for purchases over $20, customer criticism steadily rolled in.
The FTC claims that Amazon’s process for refunding purchases is too difficult to negotiate. The suit against Amazon seeks a repayment to customers and new rules about regulating in-app purchases and takes a very similar approach to a suit against Apple on the same topic from earlier this year. Amazon has expressed disappointment with the charges, saying that the cases are different, and that the FTC’s "unwillingness to depart from the precedent it set with Apple despite our very different facts leaves us no choice but to defend our approach in court."
What should be the rules for in-app purchases? Is it ethical to include easy exchanges of money in children’s games? Will this case play out like Apple’s in-app suit settlement, or are Amazon’s policies different enough to set a new precedent?
Guest:
Cecilia Kang, technology reporter for the Washington Post
Grand Canyon tourism projects splits Navajo Nation
An outside development under consideration by the Navajo Nation -- referred to as “Grand Canyon Escalade Project” -- is splitting Navajo Nation 50/50 for-and-against the project. Those in favor say, for a nation that has a 45% unemployment rate, the proposal could yield jobs and economic opportunities heretofore unseen. The exact nature of the project is in flux – it might include a restaurant, a river walk platform and possibly an amphitheater, but the concept definitely includes a gondola ride that takes visitors down to the bottom of the Canyon.
Critics say where the gondola would land is uncomfortably close to the confluence of two rivers considered sacred to not only the Navajo, but the Hopi and Zuni, too. Backpackers and river runners hold the Canyon -- and the feat of getting there by foot or mule -- close to their hearts as well.
Would development of this sort be ruinous to the majestic views of the Canyon? Are marring the views and the untouched beauty on and around the canyon floor worth the promise of economic prosperity for the Navajo Nation? Is economic prosperity a real possibility? And can the Navajo come up with locally-generated ways to bring on economic benefit, and even development, while respecting the sacredness of the Canyon?
Guests:
Kevin Dahl, Arizona Program Manager for National Parks Conservation Association
Deswood Tome, Special Advisor to the President of the Navajo Nation; he's of Navajo descent and supports The Grand Canyon Escalade Project
Renae Yellowhorse, Diné of the Navajo Nation, is spokesperson for Save the Confluence, a group opposed to The Grand Canyon Escalade Project
Michael Govan defends new LACMA design over Wilshire Boulevard
Plans to redesign the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have been years in the making. Recently, architect Peter Zumthor behind the $650-million renovation project has released a revised design—a response to concerns that his original blueprint could pose damage to the La Brea Tar Pits.
The new LACMA design now features a bridge connecting the main building to a new wing to be built across Wilshire. In addition to the updated design, LACMA announced plans in July to build a skyscraper near the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax on land that the museum partly owns.
The tower would contain a hotel, condos, and LACMA galleries. LACMA director Michael Govan is trying to lure renowned architect Frank Gehry to design the new building.
What do you think of LACMA’s new redesign? What do you think about the new proposed tower-gallery-condo project, especially for those Angelenos that live and work around Miracle Mile?
Guests:
Michael Govan, director of LACMA
Phil Aarons, co-founder of Millennium Partners, the developer behind the proposed LACMA tower project
Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic for the LA Times who's been closely following the LACMA redesign
Filmweek: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Boyhood and more
Host Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Claudia Puig and Wade Major review this week’s releases, including "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," "Boyhood," and more. TGI-Filmweek!
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes:
Boyhood:
Guests:
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA today
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and producer and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com
How do you judge great CGI in film?
“More is more” seems to be Hollywood’s motto when it comes to the use of computer-generated imagery. For the movement’s poster boy, look no further than last weekend’s top-grossing film “Transformers: Age of Extinction.” The giant robot flick cost over $200 million to make, with a sizable chunk of which going to special effects. Some analysts are predicting that the Michael Bay blockbuster is on track to net $1 billion by the end of the summer. Critics, though, aren’t so enthused, calling the film’s over-reliance on CGI gratuitous and mind-numbing.
This weekend, audiences will be feted with another CGI-laden piece of entertainment in the form of “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” Overall the franchise’s getting a lot of positive buzz, but some moviegoers apparently prefer the original incarnation, circa the late ‘60s, starring Charlton Heston, in which the apes were mere actors wearing monkey suits (as opposed to actors wearing motion-capture suits) because, in going for the ultimate in verisimilitude, the remake calls too much attention to its own digital pizzazz.
But not every film that employs CGI suffers from its own unwieldy ambition. There are those, like Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” or Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” which incorporate CGI and motion capture into the storytelling seamlessly. Instead of upstaging the plot, these films use those nifty tools to service it.
Which films do you think use CGI well, and which not so well?
Guests:
Charles Solomon, animation film critic for KPCC and Indiewire Animation Scoop
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and producer and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA today