I don't like ethereum going ahead with the ICO while they are yet to finalise their most basic operation - PoW. With that not out, how can one even trust them with their money. Add to it the fact that the ICO will form majority of the coins in circulation for a year or two - it is just bad. Though I don't think there will be a cheap fork.
One of the best conditions in the ICO are - They are not obliged to return the money if they fail to deliver. Yep! so basically a crowdfunding without a commitment. Hell even btctalk's scam ICO's are better than that.
U got it right. When an ex GoldMan Sachs executive is backing them, u should not expect a petty alt coin scam from them. They'll do it intelligently
...But anyway, the basic concept of Ether was awesome.
p.s. By the way, I like your user name. Are u a fan of Bappi Lahiri ?
Well it is really petty when you think about it. Its just that people are not reading the big fonts. T&C 20 clearly says:
"20 All Purchases of Ether Are Non-Refundable
ALL PURCHASES OF ETH ARE FINAL. PURCHASES OF ETH ARE NON-REFUNDABLE. BY
PURCHASING ETH, THE PURCHASER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT NEITHER ETHSUISSE NOR ANY OTHER
OF THE ETHSUISSE PARTIES ARE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE A REFUND FOR ANY REASON, AND THAT
THE PURCHASER WILL NOT RECEIVE MONEY OR OTHER COMPENSATION FOR ANY ETH THAT IS
NOT USED AS CRYPTOFUEL OR REMAINS UNUSED."
and section 19 lists out the risk. While some of them are given like exchange risks, cheap forks, lower adoption, regulation etc are acceptable. This is the one which people should really think about:
"19.9 Risk that the Ethereum Platform May Never be Completed or Released
Purchaser understands, that while the Ethereum Team will make reasonable efforts to complete the Ethereum
software, it is possible that an official completed version of the Ethereum Platform may not be released and
there may never be an operational Ethereum Platform."
Virtually they are saying we are free to spend your money, because of the marketing blitz they did. Only in crypto world such stupidity can go without being scrutinized in detail.
PS: I am a fan of Mithun da