Scam or Fair Game: TUQSOFT Takes $36K Piggyback Ride To The Bank

I’m not going to directly throw TUQSOFT under the bus, I’ll let the Android faithful decide, but iSource has pointed out a pretty pitiful business plan that some may classify as scam: TUQSOFT is selling screenshots of iOS Games on Android Market. Not only that… they’re making bank.

I know this isn’t the only developer raking it in, but we’ll use this example to examine the issue.

Think about the process:

TUQSOFT has made at least $36,000 selling their repurposed iOS screenshots and it could be MUCH more; I just took the minimum number from the download range to base my estimate. With Android Market’s shortened return policy (15 minutes) by the time a user realizes they haven’t actually downloaded a game it could be too late to return. And it seems that either users really like paying $1 for screenshots or a lot of people don’t figure it out in that 15 minute span.

As with any story, there are two sides and I’ll objectively tell both.

Side 1: TUQSOFT are Scammers

You could argue that TUQSOFT is preying on the uninformed consumer. They’re clearly making Wallpapers based on popular titles. These titles are likely trademarked terms and the average consumer might assume the source is legit. The description is written to sound enticing as if the game – not a wallpaper – is on sale. Take for example their Bejeweled Blitz LiveW description:

Certainly seems like they’re trying to confuse consumers while slipping in the live wallpaper mention to cover themselves legally. Of course legally, I’m sure the actual developer of the game could issue a C&D to have their “app” removed from the market. I feel slimey and miserable myself just calling a screenshot an app.

Side 2: TUQSOFT is Playing Fair

You could also argue that TUQSOFT is playing fair and consumers shouldn’t be so stupid. The app is classified as personalization, the titles say LiveW, the description says they are wallpapers if you read them all, the ratings aren’t very good, the comments further explain people are unhappy because they’ve downloaded an image rather than a game, and if you did any research you’d realize this isn’t what you actually wanted to download.

What do YOU think?

There is obviously a grey area here. I think a large number of people probably quickly download the app, don’t test it out until a little bit later, and by the time they realize they took the bait, the 15 minute return policy has expired.

[polldaddy poll=4495058]

Personally I think Google needs to extend their return policy. It used to be 24 hours which I can understand might be too long, but I think 15 minutes is way too short. Any way you look at it, the fact that TUQSOFT has made $36,000+ on selling screenshots of someone else’s games is like highway robbery.

[Via iSource]

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