Earlier this week, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in the Netherlands hit Apple with its tenth fine of €5 million ($5.5 million) for failing to offer alternative in-app purchase systems for Dutch dating app developers. Now, the Consumer Competition Claims Foundation (CCCF) is preparing to sue the iPhone maker over the App Store’s developer fees. It seeks a whopping €5 billion ($5.5 billion) in damages over the company’s “anti-competitive practices.”

The organization behind the impending lawsuit calls itself “an independent non-profit foundation that is committed to protecting consumers against unfair commercial practices and violations of consumer law.” Its website notes that Apple has been overcharging consumers via App Store purchases and users should “demand a refund.” The CCCF further claims:

Apple has reaped this excess profit by abusing its market dominance at the expense of European consumers.

By using anti-competitive practices, Apple has been able to charge excessively high prices and impose restrictive conditions. Apple excluded all competition and withheld choice for consumers on their App-store and in-app purchases.

According to Bloomberg, the CCCF states that Apple “has taken advantage of its monopoly position” by forcing app developers to pay a 30 percent fee which leaves them with no choice but to hike prices to earn the profits they originally intended to make. Essentially, Apple tax makes end users pay more and developers look bad for it. The organization has reportedly urged all EU consumers who have purchased an app or made an in-app purchase in the App Store since September 2009 to join its class action lawsuit. It will be filed in in the Amsterdam District Court. The law firm Scott + Scott will be handling the claim, which is no novice when it comes to such lawsuits.

The firm was able to secure over $2.3 billion in settlements against fifteen Wall Street banks that attempted to manipulate the foreign exchange market. It specializes in competition law, antitrust, securities litigation, as well as international arbitration.

The firm notes:

In a derivative lawsuit settlement with one of the highest dollar values ever, Google parent Alphabet agreed to establish a diversity, equity, and inclusion fund as part of the settlement of the consolidated derivative litigation relating to the Company’s alleged mishandling of sexual harassment allegations against senior executives and overall culture of sexual discrimination and harassment.

In October 2018 more than 20,000 Google employees walked out after it was reported that Alphabet’s Board had approved a $150 million stock grant for Android founder Andy Rubin, weeks after he was accused of sexual misconduct. Moreover, it awarded Rubin a $90 million severance package “even after the investigation deemed the allegations credible.” Scott+Scott negotiated a massive $310 million settlement in 2020.

Additionally, Scott+Scott was appointed co-lead counsel “on behalf of a proposed class of advertisers” for a case where Facebook was accused of monopolizing social advertising.

Facebook surreptitiously identified nascent competitors and acquired, copied, or killed them, ensuring no other viable alternative social advertising platform might emerge.  In addition to its attempts to destroy would-be competitors, Facebook also reached an anticompetitive agreement with Google. In exchange for Facebook’s agreement not to compete with Google’s ad exchange monopoly, Google agreed to stay out of Facebook’s social advertising monopoly and extend its reach by helping Facebook track its users beyond the Facebook ecosystem.

The latest lawsuit targeting Apple comes on the heels of Dutch watchdog ACM hitting it with its tenth fine of €5 million, racking up a total of €50 million. The ruling requires the company to allow dating app developers in the country to allow third-party payment systems. The antitrust authority warned that it might impose another order “subject to periodic penalty payments (with possibly higher penalties this time around)” to force Apple into compliance.

Ever since the Dutch regulator’s rules were implemented in January, Apple has received a 5 million euro fine for every week it has delayed compliance with the order. Although the iPhone maker submitted plans to comply with the ACM’s orders, the regulator dismissed them, citing numerous issues with its terms and conditions.

The firm initially proposed that developers could use third-party billing systems for IAPs on submitting separate app binaries for the Netherlands. However, Apple would still charge a 27 percent commission on the in-app earnings via payments processed by third parties.

Just last week, lawmakers in the European Union (EU) targeted the Cupertino-based company with a new law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The proposal would require Apple to allow third-party payment options on the App Store.

Do you think the CCCF will win the lawsuit against Apple? Or will the iPhone maker come out of it unscathed? Let us know in the comments.