| Comment Number: | 522418-05574 |
| Received: | 7/2/2006 8:16:31 AM |
| Organization: | Private citizen, consumer advocate and anti-MLM activist, writer |
| Commenter: | Petteri Haipola |
| State: | Not in the US |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
USA-based MLM companies like Quixtar do a lot of harm in my home country, Finland, by misrepresentations of business opportunity and false income promises. A new rule would help other countries to apply it to our consumer protection in legislation and the local "FTC", Consumer Agency. I support the PSA action in order to petition for the new rule as follows: 1. All multi-level marketing companies must comply with earnings-claims disclosure rules. No multi-level marketing company should be given an option of making "no earnings claims". 2. Multi-level marketing companies must disclose the average retail-based income earned by participants in each level of the hierarchy. 3. Income disclosures of multi-level marketing companies must include: -- The total number of all participants who joined in the past year, not just the so-called "active participants" in one part of a year. -- The average NET, not gross, income of participants in each level. Average net income is the average of all monies received from the company by participants minus the average of all moneys paid to the company by participants in each level. Expenditures paid to the company include product purchases, renewal fees, shipping costs, books, audio and video tapes, training and motivation seminars, computer fees, etc. Thanks for reading my comments.