Parents filed a c over the in-app purchase bill shock. WIth iOS 4.3, to require the Apple iTunes password for all in-app purchases and prevent children from unknowingly spending hundreds of dollars.

Patent LawsuitsAs if the negative consequences of the in-app purchase policy aren't punishment enough in and of themselves, app developers are now being threatened with . A company called Lodsys claims that the in-app purchase process violates patents that it owns.

Apple has the deep pockets and legal muscle to engage in a patent battle (which explains why it is engaged in so many patent lawsuits), but tiny app developers who are just trying to follow the rules laid out by Apple can't really afford to defend themselves in patent litigation.

It is Apple's platform, and Apple gets to make the rules inside the walled garden. But, the policy around in-app purchasing seems to be having little impact so far in Apple's battle for ebook supremacy with Amazon, but is having serious repercussions affecting just about everyone else.

With this kind of fallout, developers may think twice about playing in Apple's sandbox, and Apple may find that the in-app purchase policy isn't worth it.