KickstarterForum.org

[sbriggman]

Read the full document here: https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-use

When a project is successfully funded, the creator must complete the project and fulfill each reward. Once a creator has done so, they’ve satisfied their obligation to their backers.

Throughout the process, creators owe their backers a high standard of effort, honest communication, and a dedication to bringing the project to life. At the same time, backers must understand that when they back a project, they’re helping to create something new — not ordering something that already exists. There may be changes or delays, and there’s a chance something could happen that prevents the creator from being able to finish the project as promised.

If a creator is unable to complete their project and fulfill rewards, they’ve failed to live up to the basic obligations of this agreement. To right this, they must make every reasonable effort to find another way of bringing the project to the best possible conclusion for backers. A creator in this position has only remedied the situation and met their obligations to backers if:

- they post an update that explains what work has been done, how funds were used, and what prevents them from finishing the project as planned;

- they work diligently and in good faith to bring the project to the best possible conclusion in a timeframe that’s communicated to backers;

- they’re able to demonstrate that they’ve used funds appropriately and made every reasonable effort to complete the project as promised;

- they’ve been honest, and have made no material misrepresentations in their communication to backers; and
they offer to return any remaining funds to backers who have not received their reward (in proportion to the amounts pledged), or else explain how those funds will be used to complete the project in some alternate form.

- The creator is solely responsible for fulfilling the promises made in their project. If they’re unable to satisfy the terms of this agreement, they may be subject to legal action by backers.

[SoftTempest]

My read of it was that this is basically Kickstarter trying to redeem itself after the rash of unfulfilled projects (especially in the video game arena) and angry backers. So, now, Kickstarter is trying to make the whole pledge process a legally binding contract between project creator and backer. From a strictly legal perspective, I don't think it has a leg to stand on. I know a few backers who happen to be lawyers have gone to small claims court and sued certain project creators. But, generally speaking, IF the project is a newly "invented" idea, and IF the creator makes appropriate disclaimers in the risk subsection of the Kickstarter campaign, I think you have a situation akin to investing in a dotcom IPO (remember?). Nothing is guaranteed, so even if you are fully funded or reach stretch goals, manufacturing or programming or other hiccups can result in the rewards going legitimately unfulfilled, IMHO. Kickstarter, like every other crowdsourcing endeavor, involves case of CAVEAT EMPTOR (fancy Latin legalspeak/legalese for "Buyer Beware").

[tristannyc]

It looks like a very candy coated way of still saying, scammers can scam. Sadly.

[SoftTempest]

You're right about that, except that the sugar coating is coming from Kickstarter, not me. If Kickstarter revised their Teens of Service to say they would sue on behalf of backers, or "one strike you're out " on their platform, scammers might tjink twice----even though many would still take chances to grab that one-time jackpot!