"Projects, projects, projects. As in all categories, Kickstarter is for projects that can be completed, not things that require maintenance to exist. This means no e-commerce sites, web businesses, or social networking sites. (Yes, this means Kickstarter wouldn’t be allowed on Kickstarter. Funny, but true.)"

I suspect this rule is open to interpretation. They've allowed MMORPG projects of various sorts (Your World, Pathfinder Online). Those certainly would/will have ongoing maintenance to continue existing.

It's likely all in how it's framed. There's probably a way to get this on KS if that's what is truly desired.

How is Penny-Arcade's Kickstarter allowed then? (Not disagreeing, but it seems like they would run afoul of this if it were actually enforced.)

They treat it as a funding for the project of "no ads for a year" rather than "pay to take ads off penny arcade"

Item 1 says in part:

>> A project is not open-ended. Starting a business, for example, does not qualify as a project.

He's starting a business.