Wireless startup Karma is offering a hotspot that accesses Clearwire's (NASDAQ:CLWR) mobile WiMAX network and allows users to open it up to the public, earning hotspot owners free data service for every new user who signs in. The company generated considerable attention for its novel business plan, but it has already been bitten by its own aggressive publicity effort. When announcing Karma's new "social telecom" service, CEO Robert Gaal said on stage his company is working with American Airlines and Uber, an on-demand car service. That prompted Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to tweet that Gaal "lied on stage at Tech Stars demo day in order to get funding." Gall then issued a Tumblr posting in which he wrote, "We apologize profusely for claiming Uber and American Airlines are working with us--a statement we never received explicit permission to use." Read more about Karma and its recent learning experience here.