Apple, Meta, Google appeal against casino app ruling that calls them 'bookies'
A judge ruled that Big Tech firms that allow casino apps in their App Store are arguably bookies profiting from gambling, but at the same time admitted that the line is so fine that the companies to appeal.
With that, the platforms are appealing a 2022 ruling from U.S. District Judge Edward Davila of San Jose, California, that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which immunizes online publishers for hosting third-party content, does not shield the sites from claims that they essentially acted as “bookies” by facilitating (and collecting a commission on) purchases of virtual chips for use in online casino games.
From Reuters:
Quote:
The trial judge said that those payment processing claims, asserted in more than a dozen statewide class actions on behalf of casino app users from states with stringent gambling laws, fall outside of Section 230’s immunity for online publishers because they involved allegedly unlawful acts by the platforms themselves.
Davila did dismiss plaintiffs' claims that Apple (AAPL.O) , Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) and Meta (META.O) were liable for offering access to the casino apps and providing the app developers with data and other services to help them target big spenders and retain users.
The judge, as I told you last year, acknowledged that “reasonable minds” might reach different conclusions about the scope of the platforms' immunity under Section 230 in the context of casino apps. The judge, of his own accord, certified his order for interlocutory appeal.
Both sides took him up on that offer. Apple, Meta and Google appealed Davila’s decision that they can be liable for processing virtual chip payments. Plaintiffs' lawyers from law firm Edelson brought cross-appeals over their dismissed claims. The platforms’ newly filed briefs are the first salvos in an appellate briefing process that won’t wrap up until December.
Read more here: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transa...al-2023-07-26/
