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Technology

Kickstarter Expands Allowed Projects, Automates Launches 58

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the money-bots dept.
itwbennett (1594911) writes "On Tuesday, Kickstarter announced 'Launch Now,' a feature that will let creators launch their project as soon as they're ready and not require review by 'community managers'. Instead of human feedback, the tool uses an algorithm incorporating thousands of data points to check whether a project is ready to go live, such as its description, funding goal, and whether it's the creator's first project, Kickstarter said. As part of the changes, Kickstarter also said it simplified its rules for projects, allowing projects to be hosted on its site that previously weren't allowed, including more types of software."
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Kickstarter Expands Allowed Projects, Automates Launches More

Kickstarter Expands Allowed Projects, Automates Launches

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  • Back my project: (Score:5, Funny)

    by i kan reed ( 749298 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2014 @11:15AM (#47165025) Homepage Journal

    Please back my kickstart project: Get a +5 funny post by ironically mocking the general quality level of "art" projects on kickstarter.
    Goal $2,000

    For $5: you will get my heatfeltfelt thanks(but I won't actually talk to you)
    For $10: I will let you know when I make the post so you can reply
    For $20: I will put your name on a website, no one but other backers will ever look at
    For $50: A T-Shirt with the post-ID image printed on it.
    For $1000: You can talk to me for a day, because the fact that I ran a kickstarter makes me interesting.

  • Lazy. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TechyImmigrant ( 175943 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2014 @11:20AM (#47165073) Homepage Journal

    > a feature that will let creators launch their project as soon as they're ready and not require review by 'community managers'.

    So they got lazy and wanted to cut out all the manual labour.

    • More like:

      They're tired of getting flak for projects appearing on their site that people have issues with, raise a stink about on twitter, and then complain when it's still there 1 hour later - or getting flak for removing projects that use questionably language, get buckets of crap dumped on them by thousands of people alleging them of having a political agenda, and that decision being exploited for the benefit of the project getting launched at a different site.

      Speaking of which...

      They're probably not fon

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by GigsVT ( 208848 )

        Any company that bans gun related stuff does have a political agenda.

        • Re:Lazy. (Score:4, Insightful)

          by TechyImmigrant ( 175943 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2014 @12:26PM (#47165691) Homepage Journal

          >Any company that bans gun related stuff does have a political agenda.

          Or isn't a licensed interstate gun dealer and wan't to avoid the legal consequences of dealing in guns without such a license.

          • Except they also ban weapons and weapons accessories, to include, but not limited to axes, and knives, and archery gear.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by jythie ( 914043 )
              The same type of problem exists to a lesser degree with those types of projects too. Various areas get really twitchy over non-gun weapons and since only guns are 2nd amendment protected are free to have all sorts of laws about their sale and use.

              • OK. So we can have an Arrow Gun -- no problem. In fact, let's do a kickstarted for a home surgery kit, that is attached to a gun. Then you can remove the gun at home -- but don't tell anyone.

                As long as something has a gun attached, I can bring it everywhere. Now I don't have to pretend I'm blind to bring my Bijon Frise into the theater attached to a shot gun. Easier to get a weapons permit and just say; "That animal is my fancy holster." OK, and it poops, but that's constitutionally protected poop.

          • >Any company that bans gun related stuff does have a political agenda.

            Or isn't a licensed interstate gun dealer and wan't to avoid the legal consequences of dealing in guns without such a license.

            Help Help -- I'm being repressed!

            As long as Kickstarter doesn't support my Anthrax deployment system -- I'm going to bitch on Slashdot!!!!!!

            And let me add some more !!!!!!

            I mean, we can't just assume they stay clear of things that require excessive licensing and oversight. Anyone for a Kickstarter fast breeder reactor? Come on, everyone can't be a baby about this.

        • Yeah, this was more about a film that doesn't need any more free press - but in terms of weapons, U.S. law itself is funky (imagine that), so inconsistency happens.

    • Ooooh, you cynic, you.

      I thought it was more like "We need more traffic. Can we afford to be fussy?"

  • Yawn (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Lord Kano ( 13027 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2014 @11:38AM (#47165217) Homepage Journal

    As long as kickstarter bans "weapon accessories", I can't take my idea there.

    Fuck kickstarter.

    LK

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GigsVT ( 208848 )

      Agreed. It's incredibly stupid and shortsighted for kickstarter to ban "weapons and weapons accessories".

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jythie ( 914043 )
        Not really. Kickstarter is big enough that they have to worry about legal issues, and weapons gets into a legally difficult area to operate in, just like all the other things on their prohibited list. It is annoying and I wish it was not so, but it is neither stupid nor shortsighted.

        • What would be the legal ramifications for kickstarter if I raised funds for finishing development of my quick release scope mount?

          LK

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Anrego ( 830717 ) *

            The time and resources spent deciding what is legally dubious and what isn't plus the risk of getting it wrong probably exceeds the cost of just saying "if it's vaguely related to guns, it's not allowed".

            • By all means it's within their rights to make such a decision.

              But that justification is nonsense.

              There is no legal liability issue in play.

              LK

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by Anrego ( 830717 ) *

                There is no legal liability issue in play.

                Someone still needs to look at every potentially vaguely weapon related thing and make that determination, and that someone is probably going to need to have a law degree. "Some guy on a forum said it was cool" isn't enough for a large business with resources to lose in a lawsuit. Untangling the laws surrounding complex, heavily related areas like weapons and medicine (also prohibited, I imagine for the same reason) is expensive.

                And then you get into the stuff that's borderline, and you inevitably have peop

                • You're grasping at straws.

                  There are potentials for legal liability for everything.

                  What if Oculus Rift caused eye damage to someone?

                  What if The Dash caused someone to go deaf?

                  Liability concern does explain why they don't want weapons, it doesn't explain why they won't allow weapon accessories.

                  LK

                  • Re: (Score:2)

                    by Anrego ( 830717 ) *

                    So your belief would be:

                    - kickstarter and their team of lawyers don't understand the law as well as you do?
                    - kickstarter is pushing some kind of agenda, not just against guns, but against medicine, GMOs, alcohol, tobacco, porn, etc. And this is more important to them than money?

                    or something else entirely?

                    • I'm sure that any staff or retained layers working for kickstarter understand the law better than I do.

                      I'm saying that this decision is obviously political.

                      And yes, pushing their political agenda is clearly more important to them than money.

                      LK

                    • Where does the kickstarter page say the decision is for legal concerns?

                      You are grasping at straws.

                      LK

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by jythie ( 914043 )
                      Having worked in an industry that has to deal with the maze of local regulations, you would be surprised how much of a headache that can be, and yes, if you are big enough, those localities WILL come after you if someone in their jurisdiction buys something that is illegal there. We ended up having to do things like forbid sales to Canada, New Jersey, Utah, etc, because of all the little (but enforced) laws that come into play. All of the things they list are product types that frequently have restrictio

                    • If kickstarter was actually the entity shipping the rewards, this might be a bit more relevant.

                      It's not. The people who would make and send such items are not kickstarter, hence they need kickstarter to raise funds.

                      LK

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jythie ( 914043 )
            They would have to check all the states and jurisdictions involved, which is pretty much everywhere unless they implement some kind of geo-ip blocking. Weapon accessories, including scopes, sometimes have local restrictions.

    • "Oh woe is me, this website doesn't assume a US monoculture, and many places make the thing I want to sell illegal for quite reasonable reasons"

      Let me ask you a question: Do you even know the US's laws regarding exporting weaponry?

      • Who said that I was talking about exporting or even building a weapon?

        I'm specifically talking about weapon accessories.

        It looks like you kan't read.

        LK

        • "Hey jerk, why don't you acknowledge this minor technicality with regard to the subject of why its a bad idea"

          I'm not sure that has much bearing at all on the potential legal quagmire they'd be stepping into for the sake of supporting a notion of freedom that's unique to just one country.

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