Piracy is not justification.You should not pirate apps in first place. you are breaking law here.
Now since you were using the app & enjoying all its benefits -- its developers are full rights to get paid for their labour & hard work.
Now since you were using the app & enjoying all its benefits -- its developers are full rights to get paid for their labour & hard work.
My pirating an app does not give Apple the right to charge my account without asking me. Apple's the one that I trusted my credit card info with, and it's their responsibility to not put any unexpected and unsolicited charges on it. I'm not even trying to justify piracy or say it's okay.
Regardless of your opinion on piracy, I'm surprised by this sentiment. Are you and the other commenters suggesting that any time you pirate any software or media, it's justifiable for some third party to charge your account for the price of that item? If I download a torrent of thousands of iPhone apps, should I immediately be charged thousands of dollars, whether or not I even use the apps?
Legal? Probably not, but he has no recourse. But it reminds me of when people call the cops and say "arrest that person; they stole my drugs!"
My point is, this was definitely a bug in the app store, because before any charge there should be a clear modal confirmation dialog (and there normally is).
For instance, my cable company recently shut off my Internet due to excessive DMCA complaints. They told me they had a "four strike" policy. They cut me after three. I could threaten a lawsuit, even if it would be silly, but that would potentially open me up for other legal attacks, so I'm forced to walk away.
So all I'm saying is that they got you in a tight spot, and they've probably paid enough lawyers to make sure they're covered. Their hardware detected software, so they charged you for it. I find it hard to imagine they haven't written it up to cover themselves.