Why Pateron is a horrible idea: Partnerships and liabilities Tl:Dr/Summary: In the law, there is a business agreement called a partnership. It can be established informally. I believe that either willfully or unwitting, thanks to pateron and how they donate to each other with it,  many of the games journos fall under legal partnerships, and as such now fall under more legal scrutiny then if they were just operating on their own.  A link for the legal definition of a partnership https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/partnership A partner relationship is generally the result of a contract either express or implied with no formal requirements (such as a signed document). To determine whether a partnership exists courts look at: (1) intention of the parties, (2) sharing of profits and losses (3) joint administration and control of business operation, (4) capital investment by each partner, and (5) common ownership of property. implied with no formal requirements What does this mean in English? It means that all those pateron donations, made by journalists to each other, to promote their work, or their friends work, complicate the fuck out of everything. EVERYTHING!!!!!!! Keep in mind that this is just the American definition, because of the global nature of the internet, these guys may meet the criteria for a partnership in other countries as well.  One of the things that set gamergate off, was the cronyism  going on with the journos and the indi devs. Now, based on their behaviors, i am certain they do not have a law or business background.  Because they have been caught giving each other money for their projects(capital investment), donating to each other's pateron(profit sharing) contributing to games, and other behaviors without telling the public.  Pateron has complicated this situation to all high hell. it has established a money trail that may be indicative of profit sharing, demonstrating a vested interest amongst the parties involved. For the sale and promotion of games by devs, this raises legal concerns about how the business operated. For journalists, this raises questions about if they are following their parent companies policies.  The reason why i bring this up, is because in this situation, a legal, business partnership between journos and devs would be inappropriate, and in possible violation of regulatory laws.  Its something that should be considered and investigated further, and its something that the authorities need to scrutinize.