I don’t think Global Verge has much chance of seeing that $43 Million.
Here’s an excerpt from TechDirt:
Remember Zer01? The company that made really quite stunning claims about being able to offer a VoIP-based mobile phone that would offer unlimited voice and data on smart phones for a low price? After some investigations by reporters like Nancy Gohring and our own Derek Kerton it became pretty clear that the whole thing was pure vaporware, tied to a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme that had a questionable past. It certainly sucked in lots of folks, a bunch of whom showed up in our comments insisting that the phones were real and we’d be proven wrong soon enough. Of course, multiple promised launch dates came and went with nothing to show for it. Laptop Magazine, whose credibility took a big hit, rescinded its "best of show" award for the product, and eventually the company tried to blame everyone else for its problems, suggesting that it was its MLM partner, Global Verge, who was the real problem. Oh yeah, and all those journalists who asked tough questions and weren’t satisfied with the non-answers they received. As part of that Zer01 "dissolved" its relationship with Global Verge (the "parent" operation of Buzzirk Mobile, which was set up to sell Zer01 — or, more accurately, to sell the "dream" of being a Zer01 sales rep, in typical MLM fashion).
Of course, if it was really everyone else’s fault, you would imagine that somewhere along the line, Zer01 would show up with an actual product. One that people could see and actually use — just as Derek had asked to use the "demo" phone at CTIA, a request that was denied. But, of course, none of that happened. Earlier this year, Zer01’s website just disappeared. It also turns out that Global Verge sued Zer01, and has now been awarded $43 million. Of course, considering that Zer01 seems to have disappeared entirely, you can consider that $43 million to be worth about the same as $43 million in Monopoly money. Apparently, Zer01’s boastful CEO, Ben Piilani lost his lawyers after "he stopped replying to contact from his counsel." In other words, Piilani has disappeared.
Great blog post Dan.
We as professional network marketers need to do our research before joining any company.