Amazon.com said a U.S. law protecting internet platforms from complaints about third-party content on their sites should prevent a new consumer lawsuit accusing the company of profiting from illegal casino-style apps.
In a document filed Thursday, Amazon asked a federal judge in Seattle to put the consumers’ lawsuit on hold while an appeals court considers whether to allow similar lawsuits against Alphabet Inc’s Google, Apple and Facebook’s Meta.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear cases related to the casino apps in April or May, and a decision is expected later this year, Amazon lawyers at Perkins said. .
Hundreds of millions of dollars or more in alleged damages could be at stake in the lawsuits. A federal judge in California in 2022 said consumers could bring lawsuits against Google, Apple and Facebook over their roles in processing payments for in-app transactions.
The litigation could set a new precedent on the scope of Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996. The provision offers some protections to technology companies that host content on their websites that they did not create.
Virtual casino apps are free and do not generate cash prizes. Users earn digital tokens and can purchase more to continue playing.
The lawsuit against Amazon, filed in November, accused it of offering more than 30 illegal casino apps in a “dangerous partnership” with virtual casinos. The plaintiff is a Nevada resident who claimed to be addicted to “illegal slot machines.”
The lawsuit claims that Amazon was “acting as a bank” for social casino apps that the company knew were illegal.
Source: Terra
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