September 25, 2010
These are comments in regards to a petition for rulemaking change.
I urge you to consider the petition 4-605, in support of an exemption for "crowdfunding".
Over the last year or so, I've been able to contribute to a number of small projects, through sites that raise money through large crowds of people donating small sums of money (such as Kickstarter.com), that I would never have heard of otherwise. Being a part of these projects has been enriching, inspiring, and has made me feel that if I ever wanted to start my own project and raise some amount of money to get it started, I could do so through these mechanisms.
But, as petition 4-605 states, there is more that could be done if citizens were able to actually invest in these projects and retain ownership, as an alternative to simply donating money. Even more ventures would be able to come to fruition, and more citizens would be able to participate in the ownership and creation of these ventures, than is possible now.
Petition 4-605 seeks a limited exemption for a type and breadth of investment that would not affect largescale investment activity, and would not run into the types of problems that the current prohibition seeks to avoid.
I hope you will consider this petition, and consider how much innovation and entrepreneurialism could be unleashed by allowing an investment-based model to crowd-funded ventures.
Thank you,