i think the person wrote this article from an untrue assumption, that the people who "donated" to EYK are getting nothing in return.
EYK is basically a TV show. like all TV shows you pay to watch it. sure there are things you can get for free but for most things if you want to access it legally, at some point you're going to have to pay. sites like dramafever.com and viki.com have much more traffic than EYK, people stay on the sites longer at a time so they can get more cash for thier advertising slots. those people who did give ARE getting something, continued and improved access to a TV show they like.
i see this as no different than people buying CDs or purchasing DVDs or concert tickets, actually it's alot better b/c Simon and Martina allow thier fans a lot more access than mosrt celebs do too. they do live chats, they are on their website responding personally to posters and they dont expect ANYONE to pay for it. if you read their articles and other articles written in the subject they say they didnt even expect to reach half of thier goal. in one article they said they thought at MOST the MIGHT get 7,000, so they were prepared to go forward with thier plans w/out this help.
also the author said at least one thing that is demonstrably untrue. "Your idols would never ask for money for themselves" the author is clearly educated, so they have to know how the entertainment industry works. everytime an idol says "please buy our CD!" or "I hope to see you at our concert!" they are, infact, asking you for money in exhange for thier performance. the only difference is the idols have a much larger infrastructure. the money goes first into the entertainment company where it is used to pay for things needed for production (like studio time and employee salary things S&M said they would use the money for) and then a set percentage goes to the idols.
