Friday 30 January 2015

The illegal and misleading practices of mobogenie.com

Lately I found out that that there is site called mobogenie.com in which two of my Android apps are published. I have not submitted them to this site and I don’t really want them published there. But this didn’t stop them from presenting the apps in the site and putting a download button.
When you press the download button you get an .apk file that it is supposed to be the app that you are seeing in the site it has the same name. In reality it is the “mobogenie” app that tricks you to install it in your device. Then, perhaps you will have the chance do get the app that you actually want. In their disclaimer they admit that they have no control over the app submissions, they don’t really know if the app that you submit is really yours. A few days ago there was a link in the main page with directions on how to claim your own app from mobogenie if you find it there without having submitted it yourself.
Of course I send an e-mail, they respond that they will look at it, two weeks later no answer.
It turns out that they have built a whole market in which is not clear if they have the right to distribute the apps that they distribute. This practice is illegal, at least in my case it is clear in the EULA of my apps that they may be distributed only be authorized distributors; mobogenie is not one of them.
It is also misleading. The app that they let first to download is not the one you asked for.
Most of the app stores and markets have an app that they ask you to install before start downloading apps. But it is quite clear when you download the app of the appstore and when you download the app that you want. Before submitting an app to legitimate appstores like Amazon and Google Play you go through an extensive check of your ID, they even cross-check the information you provide with IRS. In mobogenie they could do something like this, but they don’t seem to care as their location is in Asia and you will probably won’t bother to form an international law complaint.
Besides, my apps that I saw in mobogenie are distributed from Amazon and Play for free, the mobogenies probably think that I should not mind having in their site my free apps. They could ask first.

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