{"id":13690,"date":"2019-06-07T22:43:41","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T22:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=13690"},"modified":"2019-06-08T19:58:50","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T19:58:50","slug":"kodakcoin-defends-its-ico-failure-and-eastman-kodak-starts-a-new-blockchain-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/06\/07\/kodakcoin-defends-its-ico-failure-and-eastman-kodak-starts-a-new-blockchain-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"KodakCoin defends its ICO failure \u2014 and Eastman Kodak starts a new blockchain adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

I didn’t notice it at the time \u2014 but KodakOne blogged<\/a> (archive<\/a>) back on 4 January 2019 about the ICO \u2014 sorry, SAFT \u2014 for KodakCoin.<\/p>\n

KodakOne present it as a FAQ, with responses to \u201cquestions we\u2019ve been getting over the past few months.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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How did the KodakCoin offering go?<\/h3>\n
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QUESTION: <\/strong>Was the KODAKOne ICO a failure?<\/p>\n

ANSWER: <\/strong>First and foremost, we didn\u2019t launch an ICO but rather a SAFT Offering.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, that’s not the most convincing way you could answer that question.<\/p>\n

So \u2014 how much money did KodakOne take in?<\/p>\n

“The KODAKOne SAFT Offering has raised $5 million so far” \u2014 which sounds like a nice chunk of change.<\/p>\n

But the third phase of the token offering was aiming for $73.5 million.<\/a> And the first two rounds took in $4,130,000.<\/p>\n

So, did the third, public round,<\/a> which got massive mainstream publicity, fail hugely with taking in $5 million \u2014 or did it fail spectacularly and hilariously,<\/em> taking in $870,000?<\/p>\n

I contacted KodakOne, and commented on the blog post, asking for clarification. I’ll let you know of any response.<\/p>\n

$5 million is a chunk of change I’d personally be quite pleased with \u2014 but then, I didn’t commit to building an impossible AI-driven copyright-trolling engine with it.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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How’s the AI-driven copyright-trolling engine going? Also, paying people<\/h3>\n

This is KodakOne’s planned image-search engine,<\/a> which will roam the World Wide Web for its clients’ photos \u2014 automatically sending out legal notices whenever it sees a match. This is the one where the “blockchain” bit is literally tacked on the bottom,<\/a> hanging off the end, not doing much.<\/p>\n

You’ll recall that the developers quit because they weren’t getting paid.<\/a> And one of them took the code with him. KodakOne respond:<\/p>\n

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QUESTION: <\/strong>Why is KODAKOne being accused of not paying their employees?<\/p>\n

ANSWER: <\/strong>This boils down to a contractor dissatisfied with his compensation and a company dissatisfied with his work. One of our contractors, who came to us via a third-party hiring company, made false and damaging statements on social media without divulging all the facts. His compensation fell under the umbrella of an invoice we\u2019re disputing due to unsatisfactory work during his tenure at the company. We are taking legal action against him and have handed this matter over to our lawyers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’d find that more convincing if other people saying they’d also been stiffed by KodakOne hadn’t contacted me separately.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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still waiting for my outstanding bills from the services my Uk consultancy company worked at kodakone @KodakOne<\/a> project. I have sent a tone of emails but no response.<\/p>\n

— adebayo dada (@prince_a_dada) June 4, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n