US judge decertifies Apple app store class action
By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) -A federal judge on Monday decertified a class-action lawsuit filed by tens of millions of Apple customers who accused the company of monopolizing the market for iPhone apps by banning purchases outside the App Store, leading to higher prices.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, reversed her February 2024 class certification order; This decision allowed Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on the app or in-app content in the last 17 years to file a class action lawsuit.
In decertifying the class, Rogers said the plaintiffs failed to provide a model that could “reliably demonstrate class-wide injuries and damages at once” by limiting the number of “uninjured” consumers in the class when matching Apple accounts to consumers.
The ruling came after an expert hired by Cupertino, California-based Apple found “alarming” flaws in the plaintiffs’ model.
These included the fact that the plaintiff, Robert Pepper, and the alleged plaintiff, “Rob Pepper”, were different persons, even though they shared their home addresses and credit card information.
It also involved assembling more than 40,000 payment records for people with the first name “Kim” but nothing else in common.
DISAPPOINTED DEFENDANTS WILL REVIEW NEXT STEPS
Plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Rifkin said in an email that we were “of course disappointed” in the ruling and were reviewing next legal steps to protect consumers “harmed by Apple’s illegal App Store monopoly.”
Apple said it was pleased with the decision and had invested a “significant amount” to make the App Store “a safe and trusted place for users to discover apps and a great business opportunity for developers.”
Class actions can result in greater compensation at less cost than if plaintiffs sued individually.
Plaintiffs said Apple’s monopoly involved charging excessive commissions to app developers, which would be passed on to consumers through higher prices to download apps or make in-app purchases.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys had estimated classwide damages could be in the billions of dollars.
The lawsuit began in December 2011, and the class included users of iOS-powered devices since July 10, 2008.
The case is Apple iPhone Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. It is 11-06714.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Nia Williams, Bill Berkrot and Matthew Lewis)
