Is Apple Promoting Illegal Gambling? New Lawsuit Alleges Company Benefits From Such Activities
A new lawsuit accuses Apple of promoting illegal gambling and alleges that the company benefits from such unlawful activities.
Apple has faced dozens of lawsuits in the past, but these mostly involve antitrust violations and other alleged unfair practices. The newest lawsuit, however, bears a different tone as it charges the company with illegal gambling promotions and benefiting from the unlawful activities in the process.
The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California claims that Apple hosts, facilitates, and eventually benefits from illegal gambling enterprise on its App Store. The accusers zeroed in on several free-to-play social casino apps on Apple's App Store that allow users to purchase in-game currency with real money.
A Mutually Beneficial Business Partnership
The complainants also allege that just like real casinos and slot machines, social casino apps on Apple's App Store captivate the attention of its players and are "extraordinarily profitable and highly addictive." In addition to the apps' allure, Apple promotes them willfully and benefits from their activities, which complainants claim are akin to promoting and profiting from illegal gambling. Unlike physical casinos, however, players cannot cash out their chips for real money.
Although the case focuses on Apple App Store's casino apps, the complaint also targets the Cupertino giant specifically for hosting such apps, which functions like illegal gambling enterprises. Aside from charging Apple with promoting illegal gambling, it also claims that the company benefits from such unlawful activities through its 30% cut on in-app purchases. "By utilizing Apple for distribution and payment processing, the social casinos entered into a mutually beneficial business partnership," the complaint states.
Aiding "Illegal Gambling" Developers
The lawsuit also claims that Apple's App Store helps in the distribution of the games, as well as aids "illegal gambling" developers by providing them with user data and insights. These activities, according to the plaintiffs, confirm that Apple is promoting illegal gambling and benefiting from unlawful activities. The complaint went on to say that Apple also enables the processing of in-app payments from users. For its part, the Cupertino tech giant greatly benefits from a cut that complainants claim is higher than the "house" at real casinos.
The complainants allege that the Cupertino tech giant is in violation of a California law that bans slot machines. They also claim that Apple committed acts of illegal gambling promotions, racketeering, and benefiting from illicit activities like the collection of unlawful debts. The complainants seek damages commensurate to the amount of the losses suffered, which runs up to $6 billion, and the "disgorgement of all of Apple's ill-gotten gains," among other types of relief.