To me, a complete lay person, this is incomprehensible. Not only you can sell something you don't own, but you can sell something that doesn't exist... How did it come to this, why? This feels stupid. What's the point of allowing this, what problem is it solving?
"The lawsuit claims that the creator, Doug Monahan, didn’t use his raised Indiegogo or Kickstarter funds to develop or deliver the backpack, but instead, he put the cash toward “various personal expenses,” including the purchase of bitcoin, ATM withdrawals, and to pay off credit cards. The agency also claims that backers reached out to Monahan, but he ignored their complaints, shut down the company, and ceased communications."
"what Ferguson called “the first enforcement action in the nation against a crowdfunded project that didn’t follow through on its promise to backers” succeeded this July, netting restitution for the Washington-based donors and slapping Asylum with $31,000 in civil penalties."