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This was a semi-humorous hoax, but Kickstarter has shown a whole generation that crowdsourcing can make serious money for both the requester (the person seeking

by zupreme 14y ago

This was a semi-humorous hoax, but Kickstarter has shown a whole generation that crowdsourcing can make serious money for both the requester (the person seeking funds) and for the facilitator (e.g. Kickstarter). It's only a matter of time until the BlackHat crowd catches on to this and real fraud begins. If that happens then, almost as certainly, legislation will follow which will cripple the crowdfunding economy, or will drive it underground. To potential Kickstarters: Get it while you can. The party won't last forever.

slowpoke 14y ago
>The party won't last forever. On the contrary, the party will get even bigger, It's a business model for creators that demonstrably works, and I think crowd-funding in general will only get more widespread in the future. That isn't to say that the content industries won't try to attack it on grounds of the very fear-mongering arguments you just presented, but as with their fight against piracy, it's ultimately futile, and they will eventually adapt - or die.
- untog 14y ago
  What zupreme was suggesting (and that I agree with) is that legislation will, eventually, change the process. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. But wait until someone raises a fake Kickstarter for the victims of sexual abuse, or some other political hot-topic. Maybe someone will get funded to do something wildly dangerous and will get killed. Legislation will be crafted, badly, and people will be limited by it. Just like most other things, I suppose.
  - zupreme 14y ago
    Thanks Untog. You got the gist of what I was saying correct. I'm not referring to what will happen today, or even this year. But the reality is that governments do not have a good track record of allowing large sums of money to change hands without wanting to exercise control over the process. It is only a matter of time until a well-publicized fraud is capitalized by one or more politicians to introduce legislation limiting or outright banning such transactions. Just wait. In a year, or five, when it happens I'll do a blog post linking back to this discussion as a reminder...
    - slowpoke 14y ago
      It's not that I didn't get what you are saying, it's that I disagree with you that the outcome is set in stone. It's a given that governments, backed by eternally backwards industries, will try to attack innovative new technologies or business models like Kickstarter that could threaten those industries. And they will use ridiculous edge cases or contrived, hypothetical threats to argue against them, and maybe achieve temporary victories in the form of stupid laws. And as I said, it will be futile. Innovation, in the end, will win. Progress will eradicate those opposed to it, and reward the ones who embrace it. Just like free sharing of information, art and culture will eventually be accepted as one of the greatest technological advancements in human history, and we'll deeply regret the decades wasted fighting against it.
dandelany 14y ago
Legislation HAS already followed. And to the contrary - rather than crippling the crowdfunding economy, it has expanded its scope by allowing the fundraiser to offer monetary returns on investments. Look up the crowdfunding exemption in the Jobs Act which was recently signed into law.

by zupreme 14y ago

slowpoke 14y ago

>The party won't last forever. On the contrary, the party will get even bigger, It's a business model for creators that demonstrably works, and I think crowd-funding in general will only get more widespread in the future. That isn't to say that the content industries won't try to attack it on grounds of the very fear-mongering arguments you just presented, but as with their fight against piracy, it's ultimately futile, and they will eventually adapt - or die.

untog 14y ago
What zupreme was suggesting (and that I agree with) is that legislation will, eventually, change the process. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. But wait until someone raises a fake Kickstarter for the victims of sexual abuse, or some other political hot-topic. Maybe someone will get funded to do something wildly dangerous and will get killed. Legislation will be crafted, badly, and people will be limited by it. Just like most other things, I suppose.
- zupreme 14y ago
  Thanks Untog. You got the gist of what I was saying correct. I'm not referring to what will happen today, or even this year. But the reality is that governments do not have a good track record of allowing large sums of money to change hands without wanting to exercise control over the process. It is only a matter of time until a well-publicized fraud is capitalized by one or more politicians to introduce legislation limiting or outright banning such transactions. Just wait. In a year, or five, when it happens I'll do a blog post linking back to this discussion as a reminder...
  - slowpoke 14y ago
    It's not that I didn't get what you are saying, it's that I disagree with you that the outcome is set in stone. It's a given that governments, backed by eternally backwards industries, will try to attack innovative new technologies or business models like Kickstarter that could threaten those industries. And they will use ridiculous edge cases or contrived, hypothetical threats to argue against them, and maybe achieve temporary victories in the form of stupid laws. And as I said, it will be futile. Innovation, in the end, will win. Progress will eradicate those opposed to it, and reward the ones who embrace it. Just like free sharing of information, art and culture will eventually be accepted as one of the greatest technological advancements in human history, and we'll deeply regret the decades wasted fighting against it.

dandelany 14y ago

Legislation HAS already followed. And to the contrary - rather than crippling the crowdfunding economy, it has expanded its scope by allowing the fundraiser to offer monetary returns on investments. Look up the crowdfunding exemption in the Jobs Act which was recently signed into law.