Travel in the United States is enough of a bother without doing so alone and as a minor. Not something I wanted to deal with. Besides that, there are apparently a lot of problems with liability when someone pays for a minor to travel and it doesn't involve an adult.

Wow, typical America. I travelled threw europe with friends in that age and its no problem and thats over borders.

I know that the people at americans airports think that everybody is a terorrist or nazi but do the even think that if you travell within america?

Chas Emerick here; I set up the fundraiser for Anthony in 2010. That rule was mine, and it had nothing to do with "typical America" (whatever that means).

If something were to go wrong at any point, I wanted to make sure that someone would be around that had Anthony's best interests at heart (could have been any relative as far as I was concerned — I think Anthony's brother was also an option at one point). Similarly, I made sure I talked to Anthony's mother by phone before I started the fundraiser to make sure she was aware of what was going on and had no objections.

Yeah, there may have been liability involved — for me, for Relevance, for others, who knows — had something gone badly wrong. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know; but, having a parent or other adult relative along seemed like a relatively simple way to address that unknown.

Fundamentally, this had nothing to do with laws or regulations or even liability — it just seemed like the right thing to do.

Right. My comment was driven by the fact that Geni had their legal guys figure out what the consequences of paying for a minor to travel alone and attend an event would be. Apparently, there are many.

Sorry, I didn't want to make fun of your effort and beeing on the safe side is always good.

Why I said "typical America"

- In Europe we have a view of America where you can get sued for anything.

- Since 9/11 America has very strange laws about travling. (I had to fill out more then one form asking me if im a Nazi or if I knew one)

Who required these forms? I have traveled many times within and without the US and have never seen such a form, nor heard from anyone who has.

The Airlines. When you are at the Airport to pass on your luggage. The give you some forms to fill out. Then you have to give these to somebody befor you get to pass on your luggage. The nice lady then Ask you questions like: "Have you every left your bags unwatched? (That was on the form allready)".

Made the line 2x slower then it had to be. Made me not wanting to go back to Amerika anymore.

I remain unconvinced. Perhaps I'm being overly skeptical, but I'm just not buying that any "Airlines" forms require that you out your political affiliation, or knowledge of anyone IN a particular one.

Your critique is correct, but doesn't apply to this situation so much. Insurance isn't going to want to cover accidents if no adult is involved and insurance isn't known for making exceptions in the customers' favor.