MonkeyParking is an iPhone app which allows users to auction their parking spaces.
On Monday, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent a cease-and-desist letter to MonkeyParking, threatening the startup with a lawsuit unless it shuts down operations in San Francisco by July 11.
MonkeyParking has refused, claiming Herrera’s cease and desist letter is a violation of free speech. “I have the right to tell people if I am about to leave a parking spot, and they have the right to pay me for such information,” says Paolo Dobrowolny, the CEO of MonkeyParking.