NOTE: two updates appear below the original article MogoTXT has taken issue with a backer comment on the Kickstarter campaign page for Gridiron Thunder. We first reported on Gridiron Thunder earlier this week. The game is taking part in Ouya’s #FreeTheGames fund, which promises to match funding for Ouya-exclusive games crowdfunding on Kickstarter. Some odd early backers of this campaign and another participating in the fund have put the conspiracy theorists in the crowd on high alert. (For more on that story check out Wednesday’s article.) Now a backer has made some accusations based on a pending legal matter surrounding MogoTXT, and MogoTXT has taken issue with the comment in the form of a threat of legal action. (Note: order of comments reversed for clarity) Note: the San Francisco Superior Court case referenced by the backer can be seen by clicking here and entering “528884” So, is this just good prevent defense or unnecessary roughing? One backer has already chimed in…

Threatening legal action over Kickstarter? Declaring someone has a say to publicly reveal themselves is so over the top and really vicious. I reached out to Andrew Won, CEO of MogoTXT, to ask about some of the accusations regarding mysterious backers of his company’s campaign.Japanese Bobcat For Sale “We have deep roots in Silicon Valley and longstanding ties to fellow tech entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond,” Won told Crowdfund Insider. House For Sale Martinsburg Wv” In my case, I practiced law in Silicon Valley for over 20 years before taking the reins at MogoTXT and have a lot of friends in the valley.  Lowes Blinds SizesLikewise, many of our staff worked for many years at leading game companies like EA, Kixeye and Glu, and also have ties throughout the valley.  

Because we are focused on sports games and sports social media, we also have a lot of friends in the professional sports world. “Having generous supporters does not violate a KickStarter or Ouya rule.” He also expressed dismay at the fact that so much attention has been placed on the politics of the campaign and not, as Won calls it, the “fantastic new football game” that MogoTXT plans to bring to Ouya. Ouya also released a statement that was shared on the Ouya forum… We’ve seen the controversy around the games and we’d love if you would let the community know a couple of things: We’ve heard our community’s concerns and appreciate their interest in OUYA not being scammed. OUYA has not contributed monetarily to these two games or any other games participating in the FreeTheGames fund program. As of now and as far as we know at this point both Gridiron Thunder and Elementary My Dear Holmes comply with our rules and regulations so we will be moving forward with funding.

If that changes, we will let you know as we always do. We really just want to support game development while bringing great content to OUYA – this was our full intention with the Free The Games fund and we hope that spirit is embraced. UPDATE: This is beginning to feel all Susan Wilson-ish. There has been another less-than-endearing exchange between a backer and a representative from MogoTXT. UPDATE 2: Andrew Won has reached out to Crowdfund Insider in hopes of clarifying his situation and correcting our earlier reports. The meat of his response is below… I do not know the law firm that is identified as Capstone Law APC.  I have never been a part of this law firm which apparently is based in Los Angeles.  I do not know a single lawyer there or what kind of law they practice.  Put simply, I am not a part of the legal proceeding that you referenced in any way, shape or form. From 1999 until 2009, I helped found and operate a different law firm called Capstone Law Group LLP which was based in Silicon Valley.  

My former law partner and I dissolved this firm in 2009 once I decided to take the reins of MogoTXT.  During its existence, Capstone Law Group LLP never had a single ethical issue of any kind. To be clear, there is no connection whatsoever between the firm I helped found and operate for 10 years in Northern California (Capstone Law Group LLP) and the other law firm based somewhere in Los Angeles (Capstone Law APC) that is the subject of a law suit that I am not familiar with or involved with in any way.  There is no connection whatsoever. And if you think I over-reacted to the post by “Tyler Durden” that you cited in your article, you should know that the accusations are very serious.  Money laundering is a felony.  And, as explained above, I have never been associated with Capstone Law APC or involved in any ethical issue whatsoever.  And it is incredibly unfair for someone to post something that brings my ethics into question and impugns my professional reputation when they know what they are posting is not true.

If you doubt me, please contact the Capstone Law APC law firm in Los Angeles and ask them if they know me and if I have ever been a part of this firm. The following post from Kickstarter seconds this viewpoint.On paper the sport of Canadian football, the lesser-known, much poorer, northern cousin of American football, should be struggling to exist.Not only does it have to compete with Canada's obsession with ice hockey, but it has the goliath that is American football's National Football League (NFL) just across the border.And by any measure you care to check - such as the value of TV deals, team revenues, and player salaries - Canada's professional gridiron competition, the nine-team Canadian Football League (CFL), barely bumps the needle.For example, annual TV revenues at the NFL total more than $5bn (£3.2bn) per year, compared with just $32m at the CFL.Meanwhile, the annual turnover at the richest CFL club, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, was $55m in 2003, while the NFL's Dallas Cowboys made $560m, and the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team secured $190m.

Yet with the 2015 CFL season now under way, Canadian football has actually never been in better health. The current TV deal, first signed in 2013 and recently extended, is double the previous agreement.And teams have seen their profits skyrocket - the Edmonton Eskimos recorded a 2014 profit of $2.8m, twice that of 2013, and it is a similar situation at other clubs. CFL commentators, team owners and fans put the continuing success of the sport down to one central thing - a loyal core of passionate supporters.The sports of American and Canadian football both developed in the mid-19th Century, evolving from the British game of rugby.While the two forms of gridiron are in essence the same game, there are some key rule differences. For example, Canadian football has larger pitch measurements, and one more player per side. Brad Humphreys, a sports economist at the University of West Virginia, who spent several years at Canada's University of Alberta, says the CFL benefits greatly from the strong desire of Canadians to maintain a separate identity to the US."

Canadians are acutely aware of the cultural differences [between the two countries], and acutely interested in maintaining their own separate cultural identity," he says. "The CFL is one way they can do that."David Holmes, 51, a lifelong fan of Vancouver's CFL team, the BC Lions, happily points out that the first recorded game of Canadian football took place in 1861, eight years before the first documented American football match.He says that the Canadian game's long history and heritage is a big part of what keeps fans coming back. "That's probably one of the things that carries me forward with avid support of the BC Lions," he says.Like many other committed fans, he adds that he caught the bug thanks to his parents taking him to games from a young age.Mr Holmes says: "I have really, really strong memories and associations from when I was young. I collected player cards and autographs, and I've sort of kept up with that. I have a massive collection of them."He also says that Canadian football players are better athletes than their counterparts in the US."

The athletes, I think, have to be in better shape to play the CFL game. It's kind of a faster game than the NFL." At the Saskatchewan Roughriders, one of three CFL teams to be owned by their fans, a lack of local competition from other sports gives the club an advantage over its league rivals.The club's chairman, Wayne Morsky, says: "We're fortunate that there are no other professional sporting teams in the province [of Saskatchewan]. There is no hockey team, no baseball team, no soccer team." Mr Morsky adds that his team, which is based in the city of Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan, also benefits from Canada's high level of internal migration."There are also a lot of expatriates who live throughout the country, particularly to the west of us," he says. "When we are visiting in Calgary or Edmonton [in the province of Alberta], it's close to a 50-50 split in the crowd. Rod Smith, a veteran presenter on Canadian sports TV channel TSN, says that CFL also thrives in part because it doesn't try to compete with the NFL."

I don't like the either-or aspect of it," he says. "I don't think it's mutually exclusive for a football fan. You can love both leagues. "I resent not only NFL fans who think the CFL is not as good by comparison, but CFL fans to bash the NFL for whatever reason. Both are very good brands of football."The NFL is bigger money. A lot of things about it on a much grander scale."But to necessarily assess something's value strictly based on how much money it makes and how many people watch it is misguided. I really think it is possible to be good at different levels."Yet the CFL is not without some challenges. Two players have recently filed a 200m Canadian dollar ($160m; £100m) lawsuit against the league due to concussions they say they sustained during matches. Mr Morsky adds that the CFL has to do more to follow the NFL's lead and turn every game into a full-day event."The NFL has done a fantastic job of that with tailgating, and we're doing more and more of that," he says.But perhaps the biggest issue for the CFL going forward is the age of its fanbase.