I'll leave you to go read it on their site:
https://www.wareable.com/fitness-trackers/helo-lx-band-multi-level-marketing-9876
But the most hilarious part is a HELO rep then offered the reviewer, who just gave them a bad rating, a free sample, as if that'll change the reviewer's mind!
a blog about Skepticism, MLM, Scams, and Critical Thinking
Monday, July 31, 2017
DSA's latest attempt to destroy direct selling: Moolenaar Amendment
Direct Selling Association is supposed to be promoting direct selling. Instead, for the past several decades, DSA has been trying to destroy direct selling by killing legislation that would have promoted retail, and promoting legislation that discouraged retail. This is actually not a surprise as DSA is really a lobbying group by the largest MLM companies like Amway, Avon, Herbalife, and so on.
In July 2017, DSA launched its latest attempt to destroy direct selling by trying to attach a rider to the current budget appropriations bill for FY18, known as the Moolenaar Amendment. It claimed that there is no Federal law that defined a pyramid scheme, and this bill would define one. The problem is, this is at best, a half-truth.
The US courts and FTC already have an existing definition of a pyramid scheme: The Koscot Test. MLM attorney Jeff Babener called it "a twenty-year standard", back in 2001. So by now, it's a 36-year-old standard. DSA, in its "selective blindness", pretended this standard does not exist so it can substitute a LOOSER definition instead.
DSA's previous attempt to pass a bill, deceptively titled "Anti-Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act of 2016", never made it out of committee. This time, by attaching the failed legislation to the appropriations bill, DSA hope it will sail through until various consumer organizations called them out.
But what is wrong with this piece of legislation, vs. the existing standard?
While on the surface the bill sounds rather clear, it contains several interesting bits of language designed to erode the definition over all.
But first, let us go back to the Koscot Test, and how it stood for 36 years (and counting).
In July 2017, DSA launched its latest attempt to destroy direct selling by trying to attach a rider to the current budget appropriations bill for FY18, known as the Moolenaar Amendment. It claimed that there is no Federal law that defined a pyramid scheme, and this bill would define one. The problem is, this is at best, a half-truth.
The US courts and FTC already have an existing definition of a pyramid scheme: The Koscot Test. MLM attorney Jeff Babener called it "a twenty-year standard", back in 2001. So by now, it's a 36-year-old standard. DSA, in its "selective blindness", pretended this standard does not exist so it can substitute a LOOSER definition instead.
DSA's previous attempt to pass a bill, deceptively titled "Anti-Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act of 2016", never made it out of committee. This time, by attaching the failed legislation to the appropriations bill, DSA hope it will sail through until various consumer organizations called them out.
But what is wrong with this piece of legislation, vs. the existing standard?
While on the surface the bill sounds rather clear, it contains several interesting bits of language designed to erode the definition over all.
But first, let us go back to the Koscot Test, and how it stood for 36 years (and counting).
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