Solving the high-value hardware project issue seems pretty doable: if kickstarter’s policy is that videos aren’t supposed to lie, then pick a dollar threshold and ask for a prototype on projects that go over it. Then maybe record the demo and let people reconsider their backing. Both the skarp and the zano would likely have failed this, and the threat of being exposed as a fraud would probably make other video producers stick closer to reality in the future.

If the logistics of shipping a prototype to kickstarter proved too difficult, even a live demo over a webcam session between an employee and the project lead would be far better than putting the entire onus of finding out what projects are likely to fail on the buyer.