Apple is being sued yet again over its monopoly power and App Store practices that have drawn increasing scrutiny over the last year.
IOS developer Kosta Eleftheriou is suing Apple after he publicly called out the company earlier in 2021 for its lack of integrity in how it runs its App Store.
“It’s surprising more people don’t know about this. The extent to which this has been going on and is currently going on is absolutely mind-blowing. In particular now with the App Store, which is my main concern, the problem has grown to such an extent that having the rating and review system is making it worse. It gives consumers a false sense of security and a false idea that the app is great as you’re entering it through a glowing App Store page with raving reviews,” Eleftheriou told The Verge about the amount of fraud occurring on the App Store back in February of 2021.
Eleftheriou accused Apple of aiding in scams on the App Store. He claimed that his app FlickType was targeted by competing software and his app’s ranking and sales fell steadily through false advertising and the purchase of fake reviews by the competing companies. When he complained to Apple, he said the company did not do enough to combat the scams, though Apple did later remove some of the apps to which Eleftheriou called attention.
Now, Eleftheriou is taking action on his complaints about the company. His company, known as KPAW LLC, which he co-owns with his partner Ashley Eleftheriou, filed its complaint in Santa Clara County on Wednesday. The lawsuit details the development and release timeline of Eleftheriou’s app.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple entices developers to build their applications for the App Store, which is the only place iOS applications can be legally sold, by claiming the marketplace is a safe and trustworthy place. However, Apple allegedly does not protect legitimate app developers against scammers profiting from their hard work.
Eleftheriou’s lawsuit goes on to allege that Apple is disincentivized to enforce punishment against scammers because the scammers are generating significant revenue for Apple via their use of a subscription service.
This lawsuit joins a number of other complaints against Apple. Developers, competing tech companies, regulators, and now state lawmakers have accused the company’s App Store business of being a monopoly in software distribution that harms competition and forces consumers to keep paying higher prices.
One of the most notable ongoing legal disputes is between Apple and Fortnite creator Epic Games. Epic has accused the big tech company of engaging in monopolistic behaviors in how they distribute apps to devices and process payments for digital content.
The lawsuit happened after Epic allowed users to purchase its in-app currency known as V-bucks directly from Epic, circumventing Apple’s 30% fee on all in-app payments.
Pressure from Epic and other app developers has led to the state of Arizona passing a sweeping amendment to Arizona’s existing HB2005 that prevents app store operators from forcing app developers in Arizona to use a preferred payment system.
