A U.S. Appeals Court will consider whether millions of Apple customers can band together in a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of monopolizing the app market and inflating prices, according to Reuters (a subscription is required to read the article).
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California,denied class action status of the case earlier this year. However, now the San Francisco-based U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will review a ruling that decertified a class of nearly 200 million customers who claim the Apple App Store led to US$20 billion in overcharges.
In October Rogers said the plaintiffs failed to provide a model “capable of reliably showing classwide injury and damages in one stroke” by matching Apple accounts to consumers, while limiting the number of “unharmed” consumers in the class.
According to Reuters, the judge ruled after an expert hired by Apple found “alarming” errors in the plaintiffs’ model. These included that named plaintiff Robert Pepper and supposed claimant “Rob Pepper” were different people despite sharing home addresses and credit card information.
They also included the lumping together of more than 40,000 payment records for people whose first name was “Kim,” but who otherwise had nothing in common, Rogers ruled.
I hope you’ll help support Apple World Today by becoming a patron. Almost all our income is from Patreon support and sponsored posts. Patreon pricing ranges from $2 to $10 a month. Thanks in advance for your support.
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
