| Comment Number: | 522418-05877 |
| Received: | 7/4/2006 2:01:46 AM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Michael Shields |
| State: | TX |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
As a business owner I have reviewed the proposed FTC rules and have found that even though the intension is very good, and additional requirements are needed to reduce or eliminate the illegal scams and “deals” offered to individuals, some of the new rules would create major problems for legitimate business. The new FTC proposed rule should target fraudulent work-at-home schemes, pyramid schemes, and other get-rich-quick scams. These schemes have hurt legitimate business opportunities for several years. Any “deal” that collects a signup fee or registration fee which pays any part of that fee to the individuals who sponsor or register someone into their business, should be considered a pyramid scheme and be shut down by the FTC. However, individuals operating a legitimate business opportunity will profit from “sales of goods and services” only and not from the registration fees, and should not be burdened with unnecessary requirements. All of the 5 following subjects are of concern to me as a business owner. All 5 of these proposed requirements can be waived if one simple requirement is met. If the company offers a 100% money back guarantee for all registration fees during the 1st year. This would allow the “prospect” to do a much more detailed research of all these items from the inside, rather than the limited amount of research they could do from the outside of the business before getting involved. Plus this would help to ensure a business owners legitimacy. 1. 7 Day waiting period. 2. References: Names & Address of 10 other business owners 3. Legal Actions past 10 years 4. Separate disclosure for every income claim 5. Substantiation of income claims A business unwilling to guarantee 100% of a prospects registration money back during the first year, may need to have the restrictive requirements placed on them.