Right - the frauds are obvious in retrospect, after most people will have given up on fighting for what is usually a relatively small amount of money. IMO Kickstarter should be required to vet creators, release funds in phases and monitor manufacturing. They should also not allow copy that uses verbiage like "order," "early-bird discount," etc.. while also claiming to be "not a store." Right now, they're not adding much value for "backers" and using the "just a platform" excuse to dodge liability. It won't work for them forever.

Probably agents of the "creator" kicked in some big pledges to make sure the scam got over the funding threshold (technically against the rules but KS seems to be deliberately blind to scams of all sorts so long as they get their cut). If a project doesn't reach the funding threshold, there's no payout for the scammer.

but in most cases the project creator tried really, really hard to deliver. In such cases I regard the loss of my money to be part of the game and I do not resent it.

The problem with Kickstarter and Indiegogo is that there's no real way to distinguish between "tried and failed" and an exit scam. And once the platforms have taken their commission, they have no monetary incentive to care.

Except that often times (possibly not in this case), scammers take advantage of that razor as a cover for actual malice. Kickstarter is littered with exit scams where "backers'" money was taken and communication ceased completely. It's only a matter of time before credit card issuers, state attorneys-general and/or regulators bring the hammer down.

Casinos (and their less stigmatized counterpart, stock exchanges) are highly regulated. Kickstarter and other "crowd-funding" "not stores" should be too, if they're to be allowed to continue to exist in their current form.

He's victim-blaming and probably also believes in a hyper-libertarian caveat emptor dystopia where deceit and fraud are widely tolerated and chalked up to the victims not having done their due diligence. Maybe a Kickstarter employee also?

Wow, just wow. I'm truly sorry for you and glad most of society is not composed of people like yourself.

Clearly you have had good luck, but there are several campaigns where the funds have been delivered and the makers have ghosted. Victim-blaming plus all the legalese and disclaimers don't change the fact that Kickstarter presents itself as a store in all but the fine print and facilitates (and profits from) blatant fraud.

Too often, these "campaigns" and Kickstarter use the trade dress of a store (forget where I saw that but the person who wrote that nailed the idea) while claiming to not be a store. Kickstarter passes the duck test for a store, except they take their percentage from blatant scammers and then wash their hands of the situation, saying that the issue is between the backers and the "maker."

Kickstarter is knowingly facilitating fraud and it will be entertaining to see what a functioning consumer protection apparatus does to them--if the card issuing banks don't get tired of the chargeback volume first.

Inasmuch as you've only cited a few northern states, the poster you're replying to is still correct that studs are illegal on most public roads and even on those where there are sometimes legal, are illegal most of the year. So your smugness is quite unwarranted.

Yup, so long as there's a refund, not seeing much of a problem and agreed on the lesson on Digital Restrictions Management part.

It does to the people who want your domain. I have my own domain for email and have had several requests to purchase it (for peanuts, I might add) since "it wasn't in use" due to a lack of web presence.

Beat me to it. The stuff you've got to watch out for is the blue.

This pigfucker is charging for the database. Fuck him sideways with a rusty spork.

I appreciated it.