A lot or projects seem to be getting off the ground thanks to kickstarter.
I'm not sure if we should be supporting kickstarter although it doesn't seem
to be hurting free software any.
For those who don't know what kickstarter is. Kickstart is a web site where
you can donate to projects to get them off the ground.
There was an privacy enhancing ISP that is attempting to get off the ground
(I believe they raised about half the amount they were aiming for at the time
I looked). That effort was started by a person who had worked with the EFF to
fight National Security Letters. He has experience in the ISP business and
credentials which seem to at least suggest an interest in fighting big
brother.
There are quite a few other projects which have raised hundreds of thousands
of dollars in this way. Some have been to port new games to GNU/Linux
(although I'm not sure they were free software compatible).
There isn't much of any restriction on what you can propose and potentially
attract funding for as far as I'm aware. So those funding do need to
investigate who is proposing it. I wouldn't advise funding somebody without
at least some background which would suggest they are capable and interested.
