A draft amendment put forward by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators on Thursday would require crowdfunding platforms to offer greater consumer protection.
Projects seeking financing via crowdfunding are increasingly becoming contentious, DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said, citing Consumer Protection Committee statistics showing nearly 1,000 crowdfunding disputes over the past two years.
The Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法) and other laws do not regulate entrepreneurs seeking financing through crowdfunding or hold them accountable for promises made to investors, she said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Crowdfunding platforms need to be regulated by a government agency, she said, adding that common disputes involve delayed delivery, a venture disappearing after collecting funds or products being of inadequate quality.
Lin said that she has held public hearings to help prevent and mediate disputes over the past two years, but that problems have been difficult to resolve without legal regulation.
Crowdfunding investment totaled more than NT$3.3 billion (US$117.38 million) in Taiwan last year, highlighting the importance of legal consumer protections, DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said.
The proposal would eliminate loopholes while protecting crowdfunding campaigns that are legitimate and make efforts to deliver quality products to their investors in a timely manner, Wu said.
Disputes often arise when entrepreneurs fail to deliver the promised product and refuse to return invested funds, Wu said.
Crowdfunding is an innovative way to finance projects, but the platforms do not provide means to contact the manager of a project outside of the platform, DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said, adding that the platforms must provide ways for investors to stay in touch with project initiators through other means.
Those who pledge funds to campaigns might not be informed of their rights or the campaign initiator’s obligations, Ministry of Economic Affairs Department of Commerce Deputy Director Liu Ya-chuan (劉雅娟) said, adding that legal disputes stem from crowdfunding platforms differing from traditional e-commerce sites.
“We will continue to advise platform managers to implement standards for what kinds of crowdfunding campaigns are allowed on their sites,” she said.
While crowdfunding transactions are regulated by the Consumer Protection Act, it is unclear what responsibilities the platforms have in the transactions, Department of Consumer Protection Deputy Director Wu Cheng-hsueh (吳政學) said.
Those investing in crowdfunded projects should use credit cards that include dispute resolution mechanisms, he said, adding that the committee is in talks with platforms about including guarantee procedures in campaigns.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
RSS