Apple has reached a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to refund approximately $32.5 million to parents whose children made App Store in-app purchases unknowingly.

According to BBC News, Apple said it was better to avoid "a long legal" fight in a case involving complaining parents who say the App Store's billing procedures are too lax. Now, Apple will have to change them to prevent accidental purchases, like adding another form of consent before completing an in-app purchase.

"This settlement is a victory for consumers harmed by Apple's unfair billing, and a signal to the business community: whether you're doing business in the mobile arena or the mall down the street, fundamental consumer protections apply," FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a statement. "You cannot charge consumers for purchases they did not authorize."

While parents may enter a password for their children to make an in-app purchase, the FTC claims the kids have an additional 15 minutes to continue making purchases. The FTC also pointed out Apple had received "tens of thousands of complaints" about unauthorized purchases made by kids.

In an email obtained by 9to5 Mac, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed to his employees the settlement with the FTC, adding it ended "several months" of negotiations.

"Last year, we set out to refund any in-app purchase which may have been made without a parent's permission," the email read. "We wanted to reach every customer who might have been affected, so we sent emails to 28 million App Store customers - anyone who had made an in-app purchase in a game designed for kids. When some emails bounced, we mailed the parents postcards. In all, we received 37,000 claims and we will be reimbursing each one as promised."

Cook also questioned why the FTC got involved in the first place, saying the group's intervention did not change what they already planned to do.

"It doesn't feel right for the FTC to sue over a case that had already been settled," Cook wrote. "To us, it smacked of double jeopardy. However, the consent decree the FTC proposed does not require us to do anything we weren't already going to do, so we decided to accept it rather than take on a long and distracting legal fight."

CLICK HERE and scroll down to read the entire email from Cook, obtained by 9to5 Mac.