After a lawsuit was introduced in November towards Amazon for providing customers entry to social on line casino apps, the corporate responded final week arguing that federal legislation shields Internet platforms from claims introduced involving third-party functions.
Amazon attorneys requested a federal choose to freeze plaintiff efforts in Seattle whereas comparable fits involving Google, Apple, and Facebook play out in courtroom. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to review the issue by April or May with a ruling coming by the tip of 2024.
“Hundreds of millions of dollars or more in alleged damages could be at stake in the cases,” _Reuter_s reported. “A California federal judge in 2022 said consumers could pursue claims against Google, Apple, and Facebook over their roles in processing payments for in-app transactions.”
Federal Law May Offer Immunity
The unique class-action lawsuit towards Amazon was filed by Chicago’s Edelson PC legislation agency on Nov. 10 on behalf of a Nevada man. He alleges that he turned hooked on taking part in on-line slots by way of social casinos, a lot of which have been out there on the Amazon platform. Attorneys mentioned the corporate was engaged in a “dangerous partnership” with on-line casinos.
The agency has filed different comparable circumstances and argues that whereas social casinos could also be marketed as free-to-play video games, they’re as an alternative an end-run round gaming legal guidelines and performance as de facto on-line casinos.
The apps supply free play with digital forex or tokens, but additionally permit gamers to proceed taking part in by buying further tokens. The attorneys within the case have mentioned Amazon is in a “dangerous partnership” with on-line casinos.
“By moving their casino games directly onto the phones and computers of players, and by leveraging an innocuous-sounding ‘free-to-play’ model, social casino companies, along with defendant Amazon, have found a way to smuggle slot machines into the homes of consumers throughout the United States, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year,” the lawsuit notes.
However, attorneys for Amazon are actually pointing to Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996. The U.S. Department of Justice has noted. that this provision “provides immunity to online platforms from civil liability based on third-party content and for the removal of content in certain circumstances. Congress originally enacted the statute to nurture a nascent industry while also incentivizing online platforms to remove content harmful to children.”
Those within the social on line casino trade additionally word that gamers know that there aren’t any financial winnings out there within the video games, making them extra akin to conventional cell video video games than on line casino gaming.
