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- 14 de Mayo, 2022
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DaThings dijo:Yesterday I uploaded a YouTube Poop called "The King Files His Taxes" where King Harkinian is kidnapped by an IRS agent and finds out he owes 6K - an unsubtle allusion to my own tax situation. The first half is on DaThings Archives if you want to see it.
The second half was a promotional stunt I pulled. There were a lot of things wrong with it that could have gotten me in legal trouble had they come to pass and still has the potential to do harm. So let's talk about what went wrong.
Here was the initial pitch - Link talks in sentence-mixed words about a raffle where you can join my monthly Ko-Fi supporters for a chance at winning some prizes. Already we've hit a couple of roadblocks and to understand why we need to talk about Raffles.
In a raffle, one person sells the opportunity to win something in a game where a winner is selected at random and the odds are set by the number of participants. The raffle holder tries to profit by selling beyond the number of entries needed to offset the cost of the prize.
However in most of the US, events like this are classified as an "Illegal lottery." The main sticking point is that the raffle holder takes in a profit rather than supporting a school or charity. But the law is also there to protect would-be participants from getting scammed.
I don't want you to get scammed, that was never my intention. I don't even want you to FEEL scammed. so we need to think about how to do things ethically.
But there's another roadblock: Ko-Fi's terms of service state "You are prohibited from using the Ko-fi platform, service or page in connection with [...] Raffles, lotteries, giveaways or games of chance where a fee is paid to enter and winners are selected at random"
Ko-Fi is a great platform and we want to stay in their good graces too. So I (DaThings) have two goals: Drum up enough Ko-Fi support to get out of the $6K hole, and send my belongings to good homes. However, promising supporters the chance to win prizes is an illegal lottery.
I'll admit, I didn't do enough research before posting the original video. I could have gotten in huge trouble if it weren't for the folks who gently pointed me in the right direction. I figured being upfront about the logistics would be enough, but it goes much deeper.
So here was my original workaround: Ensure people who support on Ko-Fi are paying for the listed perks - names in the credits and Discord privileges to be specific - and agree that their purchase is not in any legally binding way considered a raffle entry.
But we're still violating Ko-Fi's terms on the same line because now it's a *giveaway* where winners are randomly selected. We could get around this a little by selecting winners arbitrarily instead of randomly, thus removing the game element - at the cost of fairness.
So where do we go from here? First and foremost I want to very sincerely apologize for this whole entire mess. The raffle idea was misguided and poorly researched, and was predicated on promises I can't legally keep.
I tried to mask my desperation in confidence and spin it into a fun event, but in doing so I not only dipped my toe into legally hot water, I also misled many of you. That was the last thing I wanted and I've already lost sleep over it.
So before I get into my spiel about making things right, just know that if you were misled and you sent a Ko-Fi tip with the expectation of getting a raffle entry, you may get a refund no-questions-asked. For PayPal: https://paypal.com/us/cshelp/article/how-do-i-issue-a-refund-help101… For Stripe: https://stripe.com/docs/refunds
Still the reality we're in is that a bunch of kind people believed in me and already gave me their money with no expectation of a refund. I still have a debt to pay and objects to share. How do we make everyone happy?
I have to legally tell you that there is no raffle and that paying for Ko-Fi only earns you the perks listed on my Ko-Fi page, which does not include any kind of raffle entry. HOWEVER I do still have all the would-be prizes and I want to thank my supporters by distributing them.
Since I can't do that randomly as per Ko-Fi's terms, I'm going to do it arbitrarily. So all I can say is don't be surprised if I message you and ask if you'd like one of the lots.
And as a gesture of good faith, I'm going to be considering ALL Ko-Fi Tips that have been made - not just the monthly ones - going back as far as the opening of the Ko-Fi page itself.
Honestly the whole reason I made that restriction in the first place was because I was scared of being in this debt situation again - but that was selfish of me. I shouldn't have prioritized certain kinds of support over others. I am sorry for that.
In addition, there is no more unlocking of lots at different tiers - I don't want to keep all this stuff. It's all gonna be up for grabs, including the YTP requests.
No amount of apologies can fix the heart of this whole ordeal though - the truth is that my carelessness got the best of me and I have to accept the consequences of that.
Some might see this as a whoopsie, but others may see this as broken trust - which they're right to, and I accept whatever negative reactions folks might have.
I plan on moving forward with DaThings as I have the last few years - focusing on silly videos and keeping updates like this one rare. I'm sorry for flooding your subscription boxes this week. Please take good care of yourself. Thanks.