I suppose I could spend time researching my question, but I'm not so interested I want to waste much time on it. But if anyone knows off the top of their head, I am mildly curious how such proposals and propositions don't run afoul of securities laws.
I once organized a year long project to solicit an intra-state share offering to fund a golf course semi-private club and homesite development. We had to submit a prospectus document to our office of securities commission. It took months to receive approval with much scruitiny to every detail of the wording in the prospectus.
If some sort of ownership or rights are involved in the return for money invested, aren't there investment regulations and laws that oversee this "Kickstarter" process? Even the Green Bay Packers non-voting rights stock offering had to have approval to solicit subscriptions, to the best of my knowledge. I know plenty of folk here in Green Bay that have their framed share certificates hanging in frames in their dens and rec-rooms. They get to go to a 'shareholder' outdoor meeting at the stadium every July and cheer their approval of anything the 'real board' does, no matter what the actual results or performance of the franchise... sort of like a compensation committee in the corporate world.
How do the Kickstarter money raising schemes get around that oversight?