Google & Apple Named In Alabama Illegal Gambling Federal Lawsuits

• Two cases have been filed in the Alabama federal court against Google and Apple for profiting off of illegal gambling apps they offer their customers.
• Games where people can buy coins and other purchases are being called “gambling” and each company profits off of any app they offer for download with a cut of 30% of that app’s revenue.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Big-time tech companies Google and Apple are being named in federal lawsuits in the state of Alabama for allowing their customers to download gambling applications where state law deems the activity illegal.

Two separate lawsuits were filed in Alabama’s Northern District Federal Court against the companies on Wednesday.

A request has been made that these cases be categorized as class-action suits so that others affected by this issue can come forward and join the list of plaintiffs.

What The Possible Future Lawsuits Are About

The Google lawsuit has the plaintiff Maria Valencia-Torres claiming a loss of $165 when playing Slotomania over a six-month timeframe. While the lawsuits are different and pointed toward different companies, their legal jargon as well as much of the information provided is the same in each case.

Google’s case is for Android users and Apple’s case is geared toward iOS users. But the list of over 200 titles of apps that are available for download by each platform in Alabama is the same in both court filings.

Among these titles are games like Slotomania, Zynga Poker, and Big Fish. Alabama does not have any legal gambling industries such as these would suggest via mobile platforms.

In Apple’s lawsuit, Teresa Larsen says she lost over $250 in six months playing Jackpot Party and Goldfish Casino Slots. Both women are looking to be reimbursed for their losses as well as receive compensation for bringing the cases to the court’s attention. Each plaintiff is being represented by lawyer John E. Norris.

These cases are like that of the Big Fish lawsuit which finally concluded last month and saw the gaming company payout $155 million to all of the individuals involved in the class action suit. It took five years for the lawsuit to receive the final judgment and it ultimately put 250 employees of Big Fish out of work.

However, these lawsuits are different from Big Fish as the two women are not gunning for the gaming companies but for Google and Apple that provide their users the ability to download these illegal applications.

All revenue made from any app downloaded through the carriers allows them to receive a 30% cut. Both Google and Apple have not commented on any pending litigation from these cases. Within the complaints filed, the plaintiffs maintain that these applications are illegal.

“Alabama’s gambling statutes make clear that paying money in a game for a chance to win more playing time constitutes illegal gambling under Alabama law,” the court filings state.

Now What?

These games are casino-style in that they are slots and poker games, there is no question about that. But as far as being dubbed gambling, no actual gambling is taking place. Every application that is a game for download gives players the option to purchase more coins, more lives, more everything, but it is the choice of the player to do so.

If a certain level is reached after paying for these extras, then by what the court documents claim is Alabama gambling law, Candy Crush would be in violation as well and seen as a gambling game. Going back to the case of Big Fish, it only won after five years on an appeal because it was thrown out at first.

Moving forward, the courts have plenty to consider. On one hand, there is the fact that all games have the option to purchase extras which could ban everything in Alabama because what wouldn’t be considered a gamble? On the other hand, these plaintiffs knowingly engaged in playing illegal games as they’re now calling them, and only brought it to light after losing money with them.

However, it doesn’t make them any less guilty for breaking the same law they say that Google and Apple are breaking by profiting from their app offerings. Each lawsuit is a slippery slope with plenty for the judges involved to consider before any final verdicts are handed down and even then, they could appeal like Big Fish and draw this out for five years. But only time will tell.