A number of class actions have claimed that Apple improperly sells illegal gambling games in its App Store. This one asks for restitution of money lost at the illegal gambling games. The complaint alleges that Apple’s role seems to suggest it is more than simply a payment processor.
The class for this action is all Alabama residents who downloaded, played, and paid money for more coins in games from the Apple App Store that offered slots, roulette, blackjack, poker, keno, craps, and other casino-style gambling games, or bingo, or simulations of them, where the player was able to win coins or other means of paying for additional periods of time, from April 21, 2020 to a date to be set by the court after the certification of the class in this case.
Apple keeps tight control of its iOS system. If a game developer wants to make an iOS game, it must first submit its program to Apple for approval.
Apple provides the only permitted payment interface for iOS apps. That is, when a consumer buys an iOS game, or when a player makes in-app purchases in an iOS game, Apple processes the payment. It takes 30% for itself and gives the developer 70%.
The complaint points out that a 30% fee is very high for mere processing. Also, it notes that the fee is paid “to Apple” and not to the developer. And, it claims, Apple and its App Store help promote games.
Among the games that the Apple App Store offers are some the complaint calls “no more or no less than casino-style slot machines, casino[-]style table games, and other common gambling games.”
When customers first download a gambling game, it gives them a quantity of “coins” for play. When customers run out of coins, they are invited to buy more coins with real money.
The plaintiff in this case, Teresa Larson of Alabama, downloaded two games from the App Store—Jackpot Party and Goldfish Casino Slots. In January 2019, she began buying coins to continue to play. In the six months before the filing of this complaint, she paid $258.63 to Apple, the complaint says, “for the privilege of continuing to play illegal gambling games.”
The complaint alleges that Alabama’s gambling laws “make clear that paying money in a game for a chance to win more playing time constitutes illegal gambling under Alabama law.”
It notes that Apple already has the ability “to geo-restrict games so that they can only be played in certain states. In fact, with cash-out gambling games, it regularly restricts those game[s] so that they can only be played in states where that type of gambling is legal.”
The complaint further quotes Alabama law to claim that players who lose have the right to restitution.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Apple and Earnings from Illegal Gambling Games Alabama Complaint
October 21, 2020
A number of class actions have claimed that Apple improperly sells illegal gambling games in its App Store. This one asks for restitution of money lost at the illegal gambling games. The complaint alleges that Apple’s role seems to suggest it is more than simply a payment processor.
Apple and Earnings from Illegal Gambling Games Alabama ComplaintCase Event History
Apple and Earnings from Illegal Gambling Games Alabama Complaint
October 21, 2020
A number of class actions have claimed that Apple improperly sells illegal gambling games in its App Store. This one asks for restitution of money lost at the illegal gambling games. The complaint alleges that Apple’s role seems to suggest it is more than simply a payment processor.
Apple and Earnings from Illegal Gambling Games Alabama Complaint