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Alternative Health Care Medicine, Holistic Health Care |
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2007-01-29
Government Meddling Abounds
 
More Meddling from the FTC in the name of PROTECTION???
Thanks to Abbie Drew for the original article.
"Is this the end for biz opps?" By: Abbie Drew, DEMC
If the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Business Opportunity Rule from 2006 stands it could be the end for a lot of business opportunities.
Here's the situation. The new FTC ruling, in an effort to curtail fraudulent business opportunities, has gone over board. The FTC would like to apply rules and regulations which apply to franchise opportunities to all business opportunities. Under the plan all network marketing programs, Internet business opportunities and even some affiliate programs could be subject to the same standards as a franchise business.
If you offer an opportunity or affiliate program with any start-up cost, and you make an earnings claim or promises to provide business assistance (track or pay commissions is considered assistance) then you will need to follow the new FTC rules.
At first glance the new rules may seem a good idea. In theory they might help stop business opportunity fraud. But when you evaluate the details more closely the requirements are problematic.
The FTC mandates that a business opportunity provide a disclosure agreement covering these five points:
1. whether or not the seller makes earnings claims; 2. the existence of criminal or civil legal actions; 3. an explanation of any cancellation or refund policy; 4. cancellation or refund request history for a rolling two-year period; and 5. reference lists.
The first 3 points can be covered without issue and simple explanation documents can be provided to answer questions.
But what about point # 4. This requires keeping extensive records. Most small businesses, particularly smaller businesses who may be offering an affiliate program component to their product / service will now have to keep ongoing records of all cancellation and refund requests. A hassle at the very least, at worst a marketing nightmare, not to mention an added expense. Revealing only cancelled orders, with no explanations or positive sales statistics would make any business look bad.
And point # 5 causes huge privacy issues, increased expense and logistical problems. To comply your business can provide a reference list with one of these 2 options. Give out the names of the 10 people who joined the business who are nearest to the new prospect geographically, or provide the prospect with a national list of all those in the business opportunity. The reference's name, city and state, and telephone number must be included.
Anyone thinking of joining an opportunity or affiliate program would know of the requirement for their name, city, state and phone number to be made available for every potential opportunity seeker.
Do you think this privacy issue might suppress business opportunity sales!
How many people will be willing to sign-up for a business and agree to reveal all that personal information?
So if you're a small business who wants to offer a business opportunity or affiliate program, it is going to become a lot harder to get new sign-ups as well as sales.
Give me a break!
Small businesses simply do not have the resources to meet these requirements.
And, fortunately, for the moment you do not have to.
Congressman Ron Paul has written to the Comptroller General requesting that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate the Federal Trade Commission. The investigation is to see if the FTC has sound basis for the business opportunity
rule.
I would encourage you to also write to your congressman asking him/her to write to the GAO to investigate the FTC Business Opportunity Rule. The more voices who oppose the ruling, the more likely it will fail.
As I was preparing to share the above FTC news with you, I learned of another even more disturbing possible government restriction.
Note from Stan Haley: This next piece of garbage is the STUPIDEST proposed new law I have EVER heard of in a SUPPOSEDLY free country!
There is a new law if enacted could essentially outlaw me from sharing the above information and requesting that you - "Write to your congressman".
Yes, you read that correctly. The Senate has proposed a new bill, Senate Bill S1, which could make it illegal for unregistered organizations to persuade members of "the general public" to contact members of Congress.
If I were to break the law I could be hauled into court by an Executive agency and fined $100,000.
The only way to avoid breaking the law would be to register with the government as a "special-interest group" and complete numerous Federal forms. Then with any email I send that persuades "the general public" to contact Congress, I would again have to complete more Federal forms.
As you can see the law is designed to make it difficult if not impossible for organizations to send out simple emails to encourage others to contact members of Congress. But what's even worse is just presenting the information about an issue could be problematic. If my presentation was interpreted as a persuasive letter to encourage others to contact Congress, even if I did not explicitly ask you to write, I could be fined.
Senate Bill S1 would essentially prevent me from notifying you about the FTC Business Opportunity Rule as I did today. It would also prevent me from writing you about Internet Tax issues, Spam laws and more. It basically forces me to keep my mouth shut!
The Senate it would seem does not want to hear from its constituents.
Yes, Senate Bill S1 is outrageous. And before it becomes law, I strongly encourage you to write to Congress, this time contact both your Senators. Tell them you oppose Senate Bill S1. And if you can, send a postal letter as it will have more impact.
If you have comments you'd like to share please feel free to contact me - http://www.demc.com/contact.shtml
Thanks in advance for taking action!
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Originally written for and published in DEMC E-Magazine - The ezine which improves your small business' profitability through permission email marketing. Discover how to make more money with less effort by harnessing the power of email. Visit:
http://www.demc.com to get your free subscription.
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A final comment from jl scott, ph.d., Director of iCop™
On Senate Bill S1 ... Did you get all that? Really GET it? If this law passes:
1) You may NOT ask folks to contact their representatives in Congress about a proposed law unless you register as a "special-interest group" and fill out government forms.
2) Then, you MUST fill out MORE forms for every email you send asking folks to contact Congress.
3) If you even say or write anything that is negative toward a proposed law, they can arbitrarily decide you have IMPLIED folks should write to Congress.
4) If you do not comply, you'll be fined $100,000!
5) In other words, your freedom of speech will be taken away and saying anything about it will be ILLEGAL!
Senate Bill S1 is at the very LEAST outrageous! What the hell happened to the First Amendment? And, what the hell do those morons think they're doing?
And, exactly WHAT is it they want to pass later that they want to sneak through without the U.S. citizens knowing about it or objecting to it?
PLEASE contact your Senators and GUARANTEE them if they vote FOR Bill S1, you WON'T vote for THEM when THEY come up for re-election!
NOTE: You may find also this page on the subject worth reading: http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north504.html
Stan Haley.
President, Greenwood Health Systems, Inc.
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