1. SCrid2000's Avatar
    Some CrackBerry Readers and Developers may have read a previous post on here regarding the mobile site Appanite; upon the request of Appanite's attorneys, that thread was deleted (a claim of libel was made, and I agree with CrackBerry's decision to delete it to prevent any potential legal ramifications to this site).

    However, I feel the factual information contained in that post is valid, and it is not libelous for me to state my opinion of whether or not the Appanite website should be used by either developers or consumers. Therefore, in desire to have an open dialogue and dissemenate factual information, I am making this post.

    Appanite is a mobile app site that advertises "A Free App A Nite." A Free App A Nite! | Appanite

    It is registered as a Deleware Corporation. https://delecorp.delaware.gov/tin/GINameSearch.jsp

    It was founded by Steve Howard and Richard Wood. Steve Howard | LinkedIn and Richard Wood | LinkedIn

    Steve Howard and Richard Wood were the CEO and CFO of Mobihand. Steve Howard | LinkedIn and Richard Wood | LinkedIn

    Mobihand filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in September of 2012. Company Bankruptcy Information for MobiHand, Inc.

    Many developers mentioned that they were not being paid for their app sales by Mobihand in the months leading up to the bankruptcy.
    MobiHand Nearing Bankruptcy, Not Paying Developers, Up for Sale? - N4BB
    http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...se-key-672258/
    Brenda Cares Corner – MobiHand Under
    http://www.blackberrycool.com/2011/1...ay-developers/
    http://forums.crackberry.com/theme-d...ayment-668639/
    http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...bihand-669607/
    Whether or not Mobihand did or did not pay developers prior to filing bankruptcy is not a proven fact, and the above internet blogs and posts must be given the credence deemed appropriate in making a determination in this matter.

    Many developers, as a result of the Mobihand bankruptcy, were not ever paid for the sales of their apps. Again, this fact is not proven; please consider the above comments.

    After the liquidation of Mobihand (exact timeline not known), the exCEO and exCFO of Mobihand prepared to open another mobile app site called Appanite.

    Steve Howard contacted some CrackBerry members via Twitter to defend Appanite, but did not follow up on his promise to deliver information (I'm sure he's busy). https://twitter.com/mobisteve/status/325673478231572480

    Now, I can't make any judgments as to the veracity of Appanite. However, in light of the above proven facts, as both a developer and a consumer, I will very much avoid any use of Appanite or any other mobile application site created by the people behind Mobihand, and will refer anyone who is considering using that site to consider the above facts.
    robtanz, araskin and MB2 like this.
    05-04-13 10:34 PM
  2. Thunderbuck's Avatar
    lol... let's see what their lawyers have to say about THAT. Nice job of sticking to the facts, Scrid!
    05-04-13 10:39 PM
  3. ezrunner's Avatar
    I wondered what happened to that thread

    Posted via CB10
    05-05-13 06:22 AM
  4. adeveloper's Avatar
    MobiHand bankruptcy petition is available via pacer.gov
    https://ecf.canb.uscourts.gov/cgi-bi...menu.pl?490026

    Pacer.gov is the official website of bankruptcy courts, note that you may be charged to get access to documents.

    This petition mentions ~200 unpaid developers.

    I am an unpaid developer. My debt (Mobile Stream) is mentioned in the petition, there it is said to be $20667 at the time of their bankruptcy filing. Since that time I have not received any payments or any info as to if/when this payment will ever be made.

    On public forums you can read posts from unpaid developers who claim that they have been omitted from the bk petition. The following links are not official court documents, just for your consideration:

    http://forums.crackberry.com/theme-d...1/#post7646165
    Mobihand Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in California - BerryReview
    http://forums.crackberry.com/theme-d...1/#post7691014

    MobiHand filed for bk on September 12, 2012. However, my dev account had been blocked (later unlbocked, but with deleted reports/stats) three weeks before filing. My emails from August 17, 18, 25, 30 to MobiHand team regarding missing reports/stats remained unanswered.
    SCrid2000 likes this.
    05-06-13 02:34 AM
  5. meyerweb's Avatar
    While I certainly don't want to minimize the pain felt by unpaid developers, I think we need to recognize that when companies go bankrupt a lot of bills go unpaid. And it's gererally up to the bankruptcy court to decide who gets paid, and how much, not the owners of the company. Not fair to those who don't get paid, but a fact of life. Mobihand was certainly a reputable business for a long time.

    Whether developers should work with Appanite or not is up to them, not me, but I doubt seriously that Howard and Wood set out to defraud anyone. They probably lost plenty in the bankruptcy too.
    05-06-13 01:05 PM
  6. SCrid2000's Avatar
    While I certainly don't want to minimize the pain felt by unpaid developers, I think we need to recognize that when companies go bankrupt a lot of bills go unpaid. And it's gererally up to the bankruptcy court to decide who gets paid, and how much, not the owners of the company. Not fair to those who don't get paid, but a fact of life. Mobihand was certainly a reputable business for a long time.

    Whether developers should work with Appanite or not is up to them, not me, but I doubt seriously that Howard and Wood set out to defraud anyone. They probably lost plenty in the bankruptcy too.
    If course. The whole purpose of bankruptcy is to discharge debts you can't pay, and there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest Mobihand was created with an intent to defraud.
    My first concern is that a chapter 7 liquidation was used rather than a reorganization - if the company founders wanted to keep have an app store, liquidating the existing one seems a strange choice.
    My second concern is that we don't know why or how Mobihand failed, or what ( if anything) has been changed with appanite. I was hoping Steve Howard would explain some of that after so me of his comments on Twitter, but that hasn't happened yet.
    05-06-13 02:06 PM

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