Doubt Cast on 'Dash' Developer's Defense Against Apple's Claim of Review Fraud [Updated]

[tdiaz]

Come on, seriously. The whole "I helped a relative" thing and didn't realize, remember, they screwed me, whatever ...

Should have just shut up.

 

[macs4nw]

.....Still plenty of room here for Bogdan to have not been fully aware of what was going on in his name but at this point if I were him I'd be directing my anger at the relative I had assisted that then went on to game the system rather than Apple.

Either that, or the developer's 'relative' excuse is bogus as well.

I tend to think that Apple, full-well knowing the public scrutiny they're under, and in this particular case, the entire dev community's analysis, wouldn't dare go forward very publicly, with the removal of that API documentation browser Dash, unless they were 100% sure of the facts. They wouldn't risk staining their reputation over this.

Until the guy comes up with a totally plausible and credible explanation of the events, I'm not buying his lame, feeble story.

 

[germinator]

Because most people on here are Apple trolls who are against Apple's every move.

Actually what's frightening here is all the Apple defenders. It seems to me that everything the developer said is true and makes sense. It is coherent and consistent.

 

[32828870]

It seems to me that everything the developer said is true and makes sense. It is coherent and consistent.

Ummmmm... I..... uhhhhh... ok?

 

[ErikGrim]

Actually what's frightening here is all the Apple defenders. It seems to me that everything the developer said is true and makes sense. It is coherent and consistent.

Haha. You are kidding right?

Let's refresh everyone's memory with frumpsnake's story of what actually happened:

#293
Gather round, folks, let me tell you a story.

So 5 or 6 years ago, this guy named Bogdan Popescu starts a company called Kapeli and writes a bunch of Shovelware. Puts out a bunch of PR for crap like MoveAddict.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/opinion/a...ly-able-cutpaste-files-merge-folders-3485573/
http://imgur.com/C2vjkig

All of this is featured on his website, kapeli.com. There in the header...moveAddict, iGuard…and something called ‘Dash’.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120409173750/http://kapeli.com/
http://imgur.com/W94bGnl

{edit:
Even his old Twitter posts confirm this.
https://twitter.com/kapeli/status/24561715939
http://imgur.com/qYSESjl
}

Over time, Dash explodes in popularity. It fills a niche and is actually legitimately useful. He “goes legit”, creates a new dev account tied to the same com.kapeli bundle identifier. Suddenly — publically, to those who can’t see his bundle identifiers — it’s the only app he makes!
https://webcache.googleusercontent....popescu/id404213174+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au
http://imgur.com/gGccgDj

But what to do with all the other shovelware though? Not to worry, it can stay on the other account. Spam some reviews, get some idiots to buy it, easy beer money on the side. Let’s just change the author to “Mihaela” instead.

https://webcache.googleusercontent....46869+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie&client=safari
https://i.imgur.com/m70tauN.png
(There's our good friends, moveAddict and iGuard!)

During a routine Apple account transfer…he gets caught.

All of a sudden he cries foul. There WAS a second account, but it’s not his! It’s a female family member’s. It was some account that he had nothing to do with. He forgot about it! It’s ancient history!

…it just houses literally *everything* the guy previously created that isn’t Dash. Including apps such as moveAddict and iGuard previously prominently featured on the dude’s website and PR spam. In his name.

Now both Apple and Popescu are in agreement — there are only two accounts with his com.kapeli bundle identifier. Apple says they are both his. He claims he only has one, and a relative has one. So why are *his* apps on *both* accounts, his and Mihaelas?

Did he gift the entire source code and ongoing revenue of these apps to this 'family member' as well? What a great guy! Still it sounds like something that might be worth mentioning during this whole mixup, either to his faithful blog readers or Apple. It might have cleared things up rather quickly.

Despite the fact that his whole story falls apart on scrutiny, Apple bend over backwards and will reinstate his account if he admits some wrongdoing. Stubborn dude refuses to budge, posts illegally obtained phone calls…

…and yet people still criticise Apple and believe this guy.​

 

[tdiaz]

Come on, seriously. The whole "I helped a relative" thing and didn't realize, remember, they screwed me, whatever ...

Should have just shut up.

 

[gnasher729]

You are probably right. But in the grand scheme of things, neither the developer nor his mom were breaking the law. Just the App Store guidelines.

In many legislations, posting fake reviews is misleading customers and illegal.

 

[splogue]

Haha. You are kidding right?

Let's refresh everyone's memory with frumpsnake's story of what actually happened:

<snipped for brevity>

…and yet people still criticise Apple and believe this guy.​

Best post this year, easy. Thanks for taking the time to lay all this out. I was confused, but didn't have the time or inclination to sift through all the data to figure out what was happening.

I appreciate it!

 

[RDeckard]

Moral superiority. This whole thing is petty.

IKR!!! The only important thing is that apps (or any product) have a LOT of reviews, especially fake ones -- because I like to spend my money on things that OTHER "people" say are amazeballs but are really garbage.

Stupid Apple! What right do they have to make sure that I (or millions of people) read honest reviews??? They're taking scammers rights away! PETTY! SAD!!!

 

[iPaintCode]

Well at first I understand why people, especially many developers defended him. I'm a huge critic of Apple but will admit when I'm wrong and I feel the developer might have been involved. The part that stings the most is he actually filled a niche with an app I used dozens and dozens times a day. I hope this will be a very strong lesson learned (regardless of his part in the review fraud). With that said, even though I'm a huge critic of Apple I still line up to buy their products and money > critic words (As long as they're within reason).

I'm sure he's not the only one to hit pay dirt with a niche app that stands along in its own category. I wonder how many are _ _ _ _ _ _ _ in their pants Apple might be coming for them. I just hope Apple still innovates the Mac App Store as it still has a long way to go. Apps that I used daily have left the store due to system restrictions and upgrade options, both equally hitting developers big and small. I totally get why Apple puts on handcuffs to be part of their App Store, many will cry no but I really do think it's in the best interest of their end users.

I will still support Dash for now outside of the MAS as it has been a must have tool and I understand people make mistakes. Hopefully this gets resolved and both parties can move on.

 

[danckwerts]

Compared to some apps on the app store, this seems a minor case. I've come across some which have masses of 5-star reviews by supposedly different people with almost identical wording.

 

[gnasher729]

Compared to some apps on the app store, this seems a minor case. I've come across some which have masses of 5-star reviews by supposedly different people with almost identical wording.

Can I just say that I received several emails offering reviews for my app for cash.

 

[doboy]

Sure, blame on your mommy

 

[BigPrince]

Should all the "linked accounts" have been notified of the fraud happening on one of those accounts?

 

[Kajje]

I for one envy the guy. If my mother would have a developer account things would be a lot more interesting at the Thanksgiving table. Questions like, when are you going to find a real job, will be a thing of the past.

 

[Nefilim]

Compared to some apps on the app store, this seems a minor case. I've come across some which have masses of 5-star reviews by supposedly different people with almost identical wording.

And that is difficult to prove. I'm not the most creative person when it comes to reviews and resort to silly phrases to get the point across. Meanwhile, in the case of Dash it appears that Apple had some solid evidence for the reviews to be fake.

 

[germinator]

Haha. You are kidding right?

[...]

Despite the fact that his whole story falls apart on scrutiny, Apple bend over backwards and will reinstate his account if he admits some wrongdoing. Stubborn dude refuses to budge, posts illegally obtained phone calls…

…and yet people still criticise Apple and believe this guy.​

The story does not fall apart "on scrutiny". Nothing of what you said contradicts the developer's story.

Apple did NOT bend over backwards:
- they did not notify his account of the problems with the linked account
- they incorrectly assumed that the two accounts were linked
- they promised him that they would re-instate his account if he posted "the truth", but then never replied to his draft blog posting proposal
- they came out with the patently false accusation of fraud on Monday when it was clear from their previous dealings with him (phone call posted) that they were in the process of un-linking the two accounts
- how do you know that the phone call recording was obtained illegally? If that was the reason Apple stopped dealing with this developer, they should say so

I am not saying that Mr. Popescu didn't make mistakes. I am only saying that his actions do not seem any more reprehensible to me that Apple's. Let's not forget that innocent users of the Dash app got punished as well.

 

[neeklamy]

- how do you know that the phone call recording was obtained illegally? If that was the reason Apple stopped dealing with this developer, they should say so

I really think most of us know that secretly recording a phone call is sketchy at best. And it’s an assumption that Bogdan Popescu recorded the conversation with the Apple rep without asking for consent. From Bogdan Popescu’s post (emphasis is mine):

Apple insisted that all communication was through phone calls. Luckily, I recorded my last phone call with them, in which they admit that:

• They want me to write a blog post in order to restore my account
• They never notified me beforehand about what was going on

[embedded partial recording of the phone call – what has been left out?]

– Dash and Apple: My Side of the Story

And this is from the Digitlal Media Law Project article, Recording Phone Calls and Conversations:

When must you get permission from everyone involved before recording?

Eleven states require the consent of every party to a phone call or conversation in order to make the recording lawful. These "two-party consent" laws have been adopted in California […]

Marco Arment says it isn’t illegal to record a phone call without consent in Romania (Dash’s removal from the App Store), but then why wouldn’t Bogdan post the whole conversation if there’s nothing to hide?

There’s no smoke without fire…

 

[charlituna]

No opinion on the truth here—but is it possible he knew about his relative's apps, helped promote them (including on his site), but did NOT know the accounts were still linked? (And in theory, did not know about the review abuse?)

He claims he created some of them. which is why they were promoted on his blog, and then gave them over to his relative to continue. So I'd be a tad shocked if he didn't know, from that and the likelihood that he was still paying for the account, that they were connected

 

[25ghosts]

In the phone conversation and written he states he helped a friend... That friend carries his name...
...and is a family member....

Hehe.. The guy is lying and did not want to admit that it was a relative. Which would look really weird if he did not know about that relative doing odd stuff with his account...

Liar or not, Dash is OK and actually helps a bit. Not too much as first to me it is much more convenient to browse the Xcode doc reader and one winds up going to google anyway... Dash to me is a 3rd-level doc-browser with LOTs to wish for which just happens to collect lots of good information in one place. Browser-wise I don't like it at all..

Be that as it may, fraudulent or not. The AppStore reviews are not something I take serious. I have written objective reviews for several apps which were not putting the app in question on the bright side and those reviews NEVER appeared. Some which I wrote in a highly subjective manor which put the app in a positive light, appeared immediately, almost...

So I don't even take those reviews with grain of salt, I don't take them at all....
Test the app and if it sucks, cancel the purchase..... That is a safe bet...

Some developers offer demos on their Developer Website, try those. And quit relying ANY on the phoney reviews.

... and if the App rocks - who the F*** cares whether the Developer was lying to his mother or writing reviews himself about his own app... For all I care, some writer of some great software may eat his own buggers and fart on his mother as long as the code he wrote makes my life easier, I'm good with that !

 

[HobbsAndCalvin]

The story does not fall apart "on scrutiny". Nothing of what you said contradicts the developer's story.

Apple did NOT bend over backwards:
- they did not notify his account of the problems with the linked account
- they incorrectly assumed that the two accounts were linked
- they promised him that they would re-instate his account if he posted "the truth", but then never replied to his draft blog posting proposal
- they came out with the patently false accusation of fraud on Monday when it was clear from their previous dealings with him (phone call posted) that they were in the process of un-linking the two accounts
- how do you know that the phone call recording was obtained illegally? If that was the reason Apple stopped dealing with this developer, they should say so

I am not saying that Mr. Popescu didn't make mistakes. I am only saying that his actions do not seem any more reprehensible to me that Apple's. Let's not forget that innocent users of the Dash app got punished as well.

Try not to support someone who hides the truth.
It is not on Apple to notify both accounts, just the one that was acting in bad faith. Both accounts are linked because of the CC used. In Apple's attempt to resolve this, they tried for two years! Was Popescu not in contact with his mom in those two years? Did he not check to see how things where going along, I mean this is his mom we are talking about. Ok, I'll play devil advocate and say he never ever talked business with his mom in the last two years.

Once he finds out, and the Apple rep calls him, does it not occur to him to explain what he is doing to resolve this matter? Nope, he says to himself, Ill record this conversation, and say I sent my blog for them to approve. Again, what a bunch of bull this is. Why not include what he sent to Apple in his post that included the record conversation? Cause he is a liar.

In regards to the conversation, what I hear on the call is an Apple Rep trying to help someone out. Popescu instead uses this opportunity to again show how Apple is wrong. What a stubborn idiot. Oh well, some people are just dumb and never learn. And before you say "well Apple said that they were looking to separate the accounts" therefore they knew they were not the same person, wrong. They wanted him to post that Apple had acted accordingly and that he was working to resolve this matter, which Apple would have until he sent his pre-post to them. I guess what they read indicated that the developer was still disagreeing, so out went the Apple post about the issue.

 

[mekatzer]

Dash was useful. If Dash is dead, what's the replacement?

 

[neeklamy]

Dash was useful. If Dash is dead, what's the replacement?

There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of alternatives (and none of those listed at Dash - AlternativeTo seem to be relevant), there’s a website called DevDocs, it has an offline capability, or alternatively there’s an unofficial Electron app, Devdogs.

DevDocs looks really nice, nothing to download and to have to worry about updating, but due to licensing issues it doesn’t include Objective-C or Swift documentation (GitHub issue: “Support Objective C / Cocoa”).

 

[gnasher729]

Actually what's frightening here is all the Apple defenders. It seems to me that everything the developer said is true and makes sense. It is coherent and consistent.

Since I'm a developer as well, I assume that you believe everything as well, since I'm always coherent and consistent.

I hate it when people cheat on their customers by putting up fake reviews. I have been contacted by companies offering fake reviews for cash and I have always rejected any such offer. This guy had about 1,000 fake reviews. If he gets thrown off the app store, that's just fine with me. A clean store with a clean playing field where cheaters don't get an unfair advantage is 100 times more important than some up for browsing documentation.

But the real question is: Are you Bogdan Popescu or his mum?

 

[KALLT]

This has been bothering me too. Unless the app itself is somehow dangerous or compromised, it seems only fair to the existing customers to keep it available-- given all the uncertainty around Kapeli, I imagine more than a few people are going to question sharing credit card data with them.

Maybe there's a legal problem with Apple continuing to source an app that they no longer have a legal agreement with the developer to distribute? If that’s the case, as a consumer, I'd like to see a clause added to the developer agreement that, after termination of the agreement, Apple can continue to distribute an application to customers who purchased prior to termination, at Apple's discretion.

I believe Apple should have at least the decency to contact affected customers via email. We are left in the dark and the only way to notice it is by paying attention or hearing it from third sources. Their ‘don’t care’ attitude makes me seriously angry. I can understand completely why developers don’t have faith in the App Store.