a well written and informational piece, with logic and proper investigation and wording.
All the trolls here can take a lesson from it
It is decent, but it uses some source info linked to AT's website which, as we all know, can (and has) been manipulated. I'm really interested in the tidbit in the article where AT claims to have notified everyone July 15th about the inability to ship in July. They were telling folks even up till last week that it was possible. They link to a now-edited section of AT's website.
Overall a great article, which does nothing but summarize what myself and 2 others have said. In fact, some of it is verbatim.
Folks looking into refunds and legal action should pay particular notice to the last few paragraphs where AT claims they don't violate UK law, because they classify the purchases as business purchases. Their *only* support for this, comes through a blogpost which talks about a decision which occured 3-4 months *AFTER* sales opened and initially closed. Ergo, their claim will fall short in court because the purchases were made prior to the opinion piece. They also lack things such as: requiring you provide your business information, and referring to you as a business anywhere.
For folks taking legal action, keep the pressure on. Their story is falling apart day by day.
They also claim that with just 30% of total funding, they had all money required to ship final products. Well, if that's the case, maybe Alpha should just ship based on what's been paid, and not ask for anything else. That might be at least a decent way to treat people after they've been subjected to virtual sodomy.
That would be the ethical thing to do. But we know that's not going to happen. Alpha are as poor as a church mouse and this one last desperate cash grab to stop them going under. It will be interesting to see what info they release to their would be shareholders. To make an informed decision they will need.
Detailed Financials. Including how much was invested by the Akrams and other shareholders, Company debts, Assets, IP, creditors and debtors.
Detailed business plan. Showing how the current management team aim to take this company forward from it's current near bankrupt state to future profitability.
A detailed report from their "leading UK law firm" laying out their advice that customers are not consumers. Their new share holders do not want to be liable for any law suits that befall the company if this advice isn't legally sound or doesn't exist.
A detailed report from Dexcel, Global foundries and other external component suppliers. This should lay out the costs and time scales required to complete production AND detail when and how first tapeout broke down
A detailed breakdown of the share split/ profit share, explaining whether customers will have an appointed representative on the board, their voting rights and crucially their stake in the company. If, as I suspect the customers have invested vastly more money than the current shareholders (Akram and Laurus) they should have a vastly larger share of the pie, probably in the order of 80% equity. I'd be very surprised if Mohammed Akram has invested more than £10k for his 90% stake. But I really don't see the customers getting anywhere near this.
They will also need a plan for dealing with disgruntled customers and former customers. If they have any sense they will refund in full all customers that don't want to take part in this experiment, as a disgruntled block of voting shareholders will destroy the company, as will years of litigation.
However you slice it this whole thing is a complicated mess. Personally I don't think the customers will get any of the above. As it would expose Alpha to the harsh light of truth and many awkward questions will be answered and lies revealed.
As is typical of Alpha there has been no thought into this and they are probably putting it together as we speak. A plan this complicated should require weeks of legal counsel, contract negotiations and planning, for what is essentially a customer buyout. But knowing Alpha they dreamt this up on Monday cobbled it together on Tuesday to present to their customers on Wednesday.
They will no doubt present it as some groundbreaking proposal of self sacrifice, and you should be grateful you aren't just getting a 5mh/s miner anytime they feel like it, as per their T&Cs. This will be wrapped up in half truths and lies to lead you away from the fact that you are getting a pretty shabby deal, taking all the risk, with the minimum of rewards, to support a company that is financially on its last legs.
No, i have to sort out the most reliable site, well, i think all of them are kind of reliable, so then i have to find the most promising.
