Lawsuit Filed against Amazon over Social Casino Apps

Several years ago, the US appeals court in Washington ruled against social casino applications, acknowledging that such apps are illegal. While applications of that sort do not offer cash payouts, consumers use virtual chips to wager and secure wins, an activity that is similar to casino-style gambling. Yet, while some social casino apps do not feature cash payouts, they do accept money in exchange for virtual chips that are wagered. This issue is precisely the topic of a new lawsuit, alleging that the largest online retailer and provider of cloud services, Amazon.com, benefitted from “an illegal internet gambling enterprise.”

Filed on Friday, the new consumer class action lawsuit alleges Amazon earned billions of dollars by distributing applications that offer casino-style activities with virtual chips. The legal complaint was filed by a resident from Nevada. It alleges that Amazon “owns and operates an app store where users can gamble on their mobile devices in Vegas-Style social casino apps.” Such applications, according to the lawsuit, are “aggressively” marketed and distributed to customers with Android and Amazon devices.

“Social casinos are apps, playable from smartphones, tablets, and internet browsers, that make the experience of slot machine gambling available to consumers anywhere and anytime,“

reads the class action lawsuit

The new class action lawsuit claims that over the last 10 years, leading gambling operators of slot machines from Las Vegas joined forces with developers to deliver the popular social casinos. According to the lawsuit, such applications can be accessed through internet browsers, smartphones and tablets, delivering an experience similar to slot gambling. However, unlike slots where customers need to visit a casino, social casinos are available at any time and anywhere, claims the lawsuit.

The recently filed lawsuit alleges Amazon together with social casino companies, 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 class action lawsuit was filed by Edelson PC, representing Steven Horn.

Edelson is a famous law firm that focuses on mass and class action lawsuits. The latest case marks the eighth such lawsuit for the company, according to one of its leading attorneys, Todd Logan, who was recently interviewed by Reuters. “We look forward to trying this case to a jury of Amazon’s peers,” he explained. In similar cases, related to social casino applications, Edelson has previously secured millions of dollars in settlements for its clients.