I think you've missed the central theme of this article. Kickstarter backers are not customers. If they were customers, they would receive merchandise. They're

I think you've missed the central theme of this article. Kickstarter backers are not customers. If they were customers, they would receive merchandise. They're something between a customer and an investor and it's interesting to explore the details around that. Maybe full disclosure in return for funding an idea that may never come to fruition is a good compromise. I think that it would certainly have satisfied most of the people who were angry in this article. If you are "sickened" by the prospect of exploring new business models, I suggest you stay away from crowd funding and avoid reading about it, for your own health.