Last week we were talking about that cease-and-desist order from the City Attorney against those egregious parking apps that allow assholes to auction their public parking spots to other assholes for cash. Well, now the 29-year-old, Italy-based CEO of one of them, MonkeyParking, who already vowed to fight the city, is coming to S.F. to have that fight, and this is what he looks like.
His name is Paolo Dobrowolny, and he told VentureBeat yesterday that he "will not take the app down," and he's boarding a flight any day now to fight the City Attorney's order. Also he'll have to fight the separate order that Apple remove the app by July 20.
Though a lot of us find MonkeyParking totally angry-making, especially in these crowded times when prime-time parking can be very hard to find, Dobrowolny says, he's "worried about the angry people" but says that they just don't understand how the app works. Also, he seems super-psyched about all the press his app is getting, and thus he's super psyched to keep up this fight as long as he can.
To recap: MonkeyParking rewards people with cash, via the app, when they're leaving a public parking space but wait around holding it for another person who's on the app and hunting for one. Drivers can make between $5 and $20 by auctioning their spaces, but they could also be on the hook for $300 fines from the city if they're caught, because it's illegal to sell parking spaces like this.
Dobrowolny still insists that no one is selling anything besides "information." Kind of like how escorts are only selling their time and companionship.
Previously: MonkeyParking Says 'F**k Off' To San Francisco, Refuses To Shut Down
