Apple Hit With Lawsuit From App Store Developer Over Copycat Apps

[MacRumors]

App developer Kosta Eleftheriou, who highlighted the problem of scam and copycat apps on the App Store last month, is now suing Apple for a variety of allegations, including negligence and anticompetitive conduct (via The Verge).

Eleftheriou's complaint, filed against Apple in Santa Clara County, California, accuses the company of exploiting its control over iOS apps "to make billions of dollars in profits at the expense of small application developers and consumers."

Eleftheriou explains that his keyboard app for the Apple Watch, "FlickType," was targeted by poorly-functioning competing software that eroded his sales and App Store rankings through false advertising and the purchase of fake reviews. The lawsuit revolves around the allegation that Apple failed to do enough to combat the scams, even though it did later remove some of the copycat apps. Specifically, Apple is accused of false advertising, unfair competition, breach of its developer agreement, negligence, and fraud.

Apple entices software application developers like Plaintiff to develop innovative applications with the promise of a fair and secure App Store in which to sell them. In truth, Apple systematically flexes its monopoly muscle against potential competition through the App Store and profits from rampant fraudulent practices. If Apple cannot buy a desired application from a developer on the cheap, Apple attempts to crush that developer through exploitive fees and selective application of opaque and unreasonable constraints against the developer.

Apple attempted to acquire FlickType before purportedly raising "roadblock after roadblock" to the app being sold on the App Store. Eleftheriou alleges that Apple actively chose to allow scam and copycat apps on the App Store in an effort to force him to "give up" and sell his app to Apple "at a discount," and claims that this period resulted in a year of lost revenue.

At the same time, Apple permits other developers that Apple does not view as real competition, including scam competitors, to peddle similar, inferior products because Apple profits from their sales. Scammers oftentimes use screenshots and videos taken from legitimate developer's applications and manipulate their ratings. Apple does little to police these practices because it profits from them. Apple then lies to its regulators by asserting that it must maintain its monopoly power over the sale of Apple-related applications to protect consumers, when, in fact, Apple lets them get ripped off and exploits the developers trying to deliver innovation to consumers.

Once the app was available for sale, the complaint alleges that revenue was severely hemorrhaged by a wave of scam and copycat software. Apple is accused of "intentionally" failing to police these apps, "while Apple continues to amass huge profits for itself."

Apple holds both its device users and developers hostage. Yet each time it faces antitrust claims, Apple justifies its monopoly by claiming it is necessary to protect its users and developers from unscrupulous conduct and ensure a fair competitive marketplace for the benefit of both. In truth, Apple turns a blind eye to rampant fraud and exploitation to make an easy profit.

The complaint joins a plethora of other ongoing lawsuits against Apple, amid increasing scrutiny over the company's control over the App Store and potential anticompetitive behavior.

Article Link: Apple Hit With Lawsuit From App Store Developer Over Copycat Apps

 

[MGrayson3]

Soooo... If Apple gave up its monopoly powers over its App Store, then the copycat software would go away why exactly?

 

[Rob_2811]

Soooo... I fApple gave up its monopoly powers over its App Store, then the copycat software would go away why exactly?

No but they shouldn't be allowed to use the 'We are protecting you from bad actors' argument when their monopoly is called out.

 

[Ubuntu]

Hmm. One of the key things that is missing here is the reasons for the roadblocks that Apple put up. I think they'd need to be examined to determine whether or not Apple was just flexing its muscle here or if the developer did violate guidelines.

 

[1258186]

Interesting insight from a respected developer.
.

 

[cmaier]

Good luck with that.

 

[Smith288]

I made a Turkey call app 12 yrs ago and a bunch of copy cats came out when my app reached the top 10 in the sporting category. Just rip off my UI, take the sounds I made and repackaged it as “Turkey Sounds” or “Turkey Calling Free”. It’s annoying and depressing.

 

[cmaier]

Interesting insight from a respected developer.
.

Not really. His lawyers wrote it, and it’s not like they aren’t motivated.

 

[jonnysods]

If this story is true then I agree with the lawsuit - I couldn't imagine the helpless feeling of having to go against Apple if they want your tech and put the squeeze on you by allowing fakers to push your revenue down. It reminds me of those scooby doo stories where they drive real estate down so the victim sells cheap just to get out.

Hope the truth comes out either way.

 

[Rob_2811]

I made a Turkey call app 12 yrs ago and a bunch of copy cats came out when my app reached the top 10 in the sporting category. Just rip off my UI, take the sounds I made and repackaged it as “Turkey Sounds” or “Turkey Calling Free”. It’s annoying and depressing.

Apple must've missed that probably busy scrutinsing music streaming apps.

 

[cmaier]

If this story is true then I agree with the lawsuit - I couldn't imagine the helpless feeling of having to go against Apple if they want your tech and put the squeeze on you by allowing fakers to push your revenue down. It reminds me of those scooby doo stories where they drive real estate down so the victim sells cheap just to get out.

Hope the truth comes out either way.

The obvious problem with his theory is that there are copycats of just about EVERY popular app. Did apple want to push them all out of business to acquire them on the cheap?

 

[sfbrg]

Soooo... If Apple gave up its monopoly powers over its App Store, then the copycat software would go away why exactly?

No but maybe another App Store would arrive that actually police the apps and guarantee that they are legit and working. Then they might attract more customers and also get exclusives from developers that are tired of all the crap in the regular App Store.

 

[cmaier]

No but maybe another App Store would arrive that actually police the apps and guarantee that they are legit and working. Then they might attract more customers and also get exclusives from developers that are tired of all the crap in the regular App Store.

But then what’s to stop copycats from just putting the copies on other app stores?

Doesn’t do the developer any good that store A has no copycats when store B still does, and store C is nothing BUT copycats because it does NO vetting.

 

[sfbrg]

But then what’s to stop copycats from just putting the copies on other app stores?

Doesn’t do the developer any good that store A has no copycats when store B still does, and store C is nothing BUT copycats because it does NO vetting.

It doesn't stop them of course. But then the stores themselves have to compete to be the one stop shop for customers by having the best apps, no fakes, better search or best prices etc.
If one store does no vetting at consumer might get tired of them because it's hard to find what they really want, and legit apps might not even sell their apps there.

And since the revenue for app stores is from a few giant developers if they withdraw from a store you'd lose most of the customers.

 

[Rob_2811]

The obvious problem with his theory is that there are copycats of just about EVERY popular app. Did apple want to push them all out of business to acquire them on the cheap?

The complaint doesn't alledge that does it?

The 'Copy, Aquire, Kill' stategy might not be in use in every case of a copycat app but it doesn't mean it isn't in any of them.

 

[cmaier]

It doesn't stop them of course. But then the stores themselves have to compete to be the one stop shop for customers by having the best apps, no fakes, better search or best prices etc.
If one store does no vetting at consumer might get tired of them because it's hard to find what they really want, and legit apps might not even sell their apps there.

And since the revenue for app stores is from a few giant developers if they withdraw from a store you'd lose most of the customers.

Then how does Android stay in business?

The real world says there will just be a race to the bottom.

 

[cmaier]

The complaint doesn't alledge that does it?

The 'Copy, Aquire, Kill' stategy might not be in use in every case of a copycat app but it doesn't mean it isn't in any of them.

According to the article:

“ Eleftheriou alleges that Apple actively chose to allow scam and copycat apps on the App Store in an effort to force him to "give up" and sell his app to Apple "at a discount," and claims that this period resulted in a year of lost revenue.”

The evidence against the idea that Apple “actively allowed” this to happen to him is that Apple has had little success in preventing it from happening to nearly every popular app.

If there weren’t 500 flappy bird clones, the fact that his app was cloned might be evidence of something.

So unless he finds some email in discovery that says “let’s get this guy,” where is the proof? Where, in fact, is there even sufficient evidence to plead such a theory in a complaint?

 

[iAFC]

Was browsing the App Store the other day and noticed how it's absolutely littered with sh*tty apps from unknown developers that can't have any purpose other than scamming or data mining. I thought the whole reason of the "walled garden" was to avoid this.

 

[Pman17]

I see false ads all the time for apps in the App Store. The most common is live wallpapers.

 

[Rob_2811]

According to the article:

“ Eleftheriou alleges that Apple actively chose to allow scam and copycat apps on the App Store in an effort to force him to "give up" and sell his app to Apple "at a discount," and claims that this period resulted in a year of lost revenue.”

The evidence against the idea that Apple “actively allowed” this to happen to him is that Apple has had little success in preventing it from happening to nearly every popular app.

If there weren’t 500 flappy bird clones, the fact that his app was cloned might be evidence of something.

So unless he finds some email in discovery that says “let’s get this guy,” where is the proof? Where, in fact, is there even sufficient evidence to plead such a theory in a complaint?

No proof doesn't = not happening, prescisely why the App Store needs regulating.

 

[mi7chy]

This is why Apple's claim that they've created millions of jobs is rubbish because only a small percentage of app developers even break even. The rest are better off pursuing something else. Apple is liable for false advertisement if they keep pushing that narrative.

 

[TouchMint.com]

Yea as a dev it’s a huge turn off. Wish apple would do something about this is very clear it happens everywhere on the App Store.

 

[genovelle]

Hmm. One of the key things that is missing here is the reasons for the roadblocks that Apple put up. I think they'd need to be examined to determine whether or not Apple was just flexing its muscle here or if the developer did violate guidelines.

This is likely the reason it is not mentioned.

 

[cmaier]

No proof doesn't = not happening, prescisely why the App Store needs regulating.

You can’t sue somebody just because there’s no proof they aren’t out to get you. You need proof even to file a complaint - lawsuits aren’t fishing expeditions.

And all the evidence here is that apple simply doesn’t have the resources to prevent every clone. In fact, they aren’t even obligated to. Unless the clone is a copyright or trademark infringement, or does something malicious (e.g. it doesn’t perform the functions it claims to, or it violates an App Store policy), then there is no problem with clones, no matter how similar they are to the original app. In other words, when the complaint complains about apple allowing “similar, inferior” apps, so what? Isn’t that the competition you crave?

If these apps are really “scam competitors” in the sense they are ripping off customers, then they need to be removed. But, again, the fact that they made it into the store in the first place doesn’t show that apple has animus against this developer - in this thread alone there are posts from other developers that happened to.

 

[Scipster]

Here's the link to the complaint if anyone is interested:

Kpaw, LLC v. Apple, Inc | PDF | App Store (I Os) | Apple Inc.

Kpaw, LLC v. Apple, Inc

www.scribd.com