Apple has a licensing arrangement with Intellectual Ventures to keep them from being sued by the patent trolls that Intellectual Ventures sells patents to. It's

Apple has a licensing arrangement with Intellectual Ventures to keep them from being sued by the patent trolls that Intellectual Ventures sells patents to. It's freakishly unlikely that anyone at Apple got the idea for in-app purchases from this patent, never mind that the patent itself is likely invalid for any number of reasons. This isn't about who innovated what. You're watching a protection racket in action.