What surprises me here is the Apple spokewoman's suggestion that "users whose accounts had been misused dispute the charges with their card companies" rather than initiating action against Mr. Nguyen and issuing refunds at his expense.

Apple's developer agreement requires that developers refund the total price of the app, despite the fact that Apple only pays out 70% in the first place (details: http://news.cnet.com/apple-refund-clause-bad-for-developers). The company makes it painfully clear that application developers are entirely liable in the event of customer complaints.

It strikes me as unusual that the company would urge customers to request a chargeback, which would be filed against Apple at significant cost, as all billing runs through iTunes. Can anyone offer an explanation for this?