Crowdfunding

unrealistic performance or price claims; and failure of project sponsors to deliver on prior
Kickstarter projects.
A small list of canceled projects includes:
1. Eye3 Camera Drone Helicopter: for unrealistic performance promises, photos copied
from other commercial products, and failure of creators to deliver on an earlier
Kickstarter project.
2. Mythic: The Story of Gods and Men adventure game for copying graphics from other
games and unrealistic performance promises; the creator had raised $4,739 on an
$80,000 goal before canceling the project.
3. Tech-Sync Power System: for failing to provide photos of the prototype and sudden
departure of project creator.
4. Tentacle Bento: a card game intended to satirize Japanese school girl tentacle
rape comics, after being criticized in the online media for having inappropriate content.
5. Kobe Red: a project for jerky made from Kobe beef, was canceled after raising
$120,309. The project was allegedly fraudulent.
6. iFind: claimed to be a battery-free item locating tag. Critics of the project raised serious
doubts about its viability, focussing on its claimed EM harvesting capability and the lack
of a working prototype. Kickstarter suspended funding after $546,852 had been raised.
Controversies
In the Huffington Post article "Why Kickstarter is Corrupted" Nathan Resnick blames the rise of
paid advertising, investor backed campaigns, and crowdfunding agencies for the decline of
Kickstarter as a useful tool for small inventors and creators.
Resnick cites Nebia, backed by Tim Cook and Eric Schmidt, as an example of a well-funded,
investor backed, project using Kickstarter purely for publicity and thus drawing donations from
smaller teams.
He goes on to note that the highest profile crowdfunding marketing agency, "Funded Today",
charges a 35% commission on all monies raised, regardless of their contribution, while
reserving the right to abandon projects they've pledged to support and claims such huge fees
can make it impossible for successful projects to survive even if they hit their targets. Funded
Today can collect as much as 50% of the total amount a campaign raised as fees, when the
four-figure up-front charges they levy are accounted for.
In May 2014, Kickstarter blocked fundraising for a TV film about late-term abortionist Kermit
Gosnell. Producer Phelim McAleer claimed that Kickstarter was censoring the project because
of its graphic content and espousing a "liberal agenda". In June 2014 the project received
approval for fundraising from rival site Indiegogo, raising more than $2.3 million.
On November 6, 2013, writer/director Hal Hartley launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce
his upcoming film Ned Rifle, seeking a total of $384,000. On November 25, Hartley added a
$9,000 reward tier offering the film's distribution rights for seven years in the United States and
other countries, making his Kickstarter campaign the first to propose offering film distribution
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