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Kickstarter Has No Plans to Protect Backers

Posted Jun 27, 2012 at 3:47PM EST by Todd B

Listed in: News Tags: kickstarter, polygon
Ó

 

Kickstarter has become something of a phenomenon in the gaming industry. The platform, which is designed to connect creative people with the money they need for their projects, has helped indie game studios raise millions of dollars over the last few months. But not all of those projects will come to fruition—some will end up dead in the water with donor money on the line. Some are even (gasp!) scams.

 

kickst2


What does Kickstarter plan to do for donors who lose their money in projects gone wrong? Well, nothing. In an interview with Polygon, Kickstarter outlined the many reasons it considers itself outside of the fray, and the many ways in which it is not the company’s fault if donors get screwed.


First, there’s the Terms of Use from the site:


“Kickstarter is under no obligation to become involved in disputes between any users, or between users and any third party.”


Then, there’s these comments from a board member:


“It's one thing to be scammed like Bernie Madoff, where you've gone and you've been seduced by something and put in all your life savings. It's another thing for something not to come through for $25.”


“When it's syndicated out so broadly with backers, even if somebody is scammed — and it looks too good to be true and you still take a risk on it anyhow — you feel pissed off and upset at the creator and then, you know, some of that may lead over on some people feeling 'why can't Kickstarter control this?' Well, it's a platform — we can't.”


A different Kickstarter rep also noted that the video game success rate on the site is much lower than the average success rate across the board. The full article is a good read if you want to take a peek behind the curtain at Kickstarter and get an idea as to how they view the service they provide.


Do you think Kickstarter has a responsibility to protect investors?


[Polygon]



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Comments 


 
# RE: Kickstarter Has No Plans to Protect Backerstosh.0 2012-06-27 18:59
Good! They shouldn't have to and there's no reason to.

BUYER BEWARE. Just like everything else in life.

Reply
 

 
# RE: Kickstarter Has No Plans to Protect BackersAkaiOtoko 2012-06-28 01:06
"Do you think Kickstarter has a responsibility to protect investors?"

Investors should be willing to take the risks that come with placing their money on something that doesn't exist yet.

Kickstarter is just there so that the devs don't need to setup their own site for funding and advertising, and so that investors can find things that they would like to fund easily.

Reply
 

 
-1 # Is he saying?....Sinnerswake 2012-06-28 16:22
....If I were to put a lot of money in then I have the right to be upset and angry.

If however I have only invested a small amount of my hard earned cash then I should just deal with it because the problem is shared with others?

I get it now it's gambling. Investment banking, hedge funds, bad credit loans, it's all gambling. Now what was the downfall of the global economy again?

That's right KICKSTARTER!!

Reply
 

 
# RE: Is he saying?....AkaiOtoko 2012-06-28 20:53
I hope you're joking...

...Credit cards, CoD(Activision) , and Battlefield(EA) are more likely candidates. :P

Reply
 

 
# YesSinnerswake 2012-06-29 17:40
I was joking.

Reply
 

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