We all need to do our due diligence, and the internet is a great tool to find information. But the source of that information is key. You'll find angry customers from any major corporation saying things about them in the blogosphere and message boards, so you always have to sift through these to find useful information. Most people know not to believe everything they read on the internet - like teachers used to tell us.
What's even worse is when someone claims to be a public defender on the internet, and starts making attacks on a person, a company or an organization. They may dress themselves up as a crusader for good - but how do you know they're not the one who is the scam, or has the ulterior motive to profit from the situation? What if someone who thinks they're doing a public service, and has some bad companies he targets, but then gets so high on himself that he attacks good ones too? Or what if he himself goes bad?
The example that prompted this is a guy I've been following recently who calls himself "gatordave" or Dave Thornton. He's created an official sounding organization called "Crimebustersnow", and claims to be defending the little guy against all manner of scams and schemes. Some of his targets are questionable companies. His investigation of the companies TTI and BIM seem to be have been picked up by mainstream consumer protection in the form of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation show Marketplace here. Mr. Thornton has been following these 8-Ball Boardgame style borderline or actual pyramid schemes for years now, and seems to have a very legitimate point.
For more on Pyramid Schemes and the 8-Ball Model Thornton denounces, read Wikipedia.
Specifically note this passage:
The last sentence there is the key. While Thornton is identifying SOME that seem to be the bad guys in the industry, are all his targets the same? On his website he claims to be investigating the following "Scams & Frauds":
But my focus here is to show that Dave seems to start with his familiarity with the 1-2-4-8 pyramid fraud of "Women Empowering Women", and believe that every single network marketing company operates the same way. When in fact this is not the case at all - there are 4 major structures in network marketing:
Again, we reference Wikipedia:
Both Global Wealth Trade and Monavie are binary-based Network Marketing models, with real products (the former with designer jewellery and the latter with bottles of healthy blend of juice). Both companies have a variety of ways to make money, from direct retailing to consumers, through team commissions based on the product sales of the team of distributors working with them, and bonuses or incentives based on other activities that assist in the promotion of the company's products. And the binary system itself has been in use in varying forms for almost 2 decades by companies like Usana, Market America and more.
But Thornton seems to assume that just because they use the binary plan with 2 frontline distributors - if you choose to participate in the team compensation model - that this is another example of the boardgame. In fact that's exactly what he says:
This is obviously one of his goals:
This is vigilante justice at best.
But at worse, it could be something more. Read this, from another target of Thornton's - Canadian Diamond Traders.
They had a very different experience with Thornton:
So it seems that Thornton hides behind the internet in attacking companies, hoping they'll take him to court - where if anyone ever proves to the court that they're NOT illegal, that he'll then work for them. But if they don't go after him, he'll keep making baseless attacks with impunity.
Whether you like network marketing or not - and that's your own prerogative, nobody likes pyramid schemes and they should be rooted out. But e-vigilantes should not be able to run around attacking legitimate businesses and the people that work with them. That's abhorrent as well.
Dave - you MAY have started with good intentions, but in the end you seem intent on discrediting yourself with your lack of understanding of what is legitimate, and imperiled your cause by overreaching, and seeing conspiracies and schemes even where they don't exist.
For more on Pyramid Schemes and the 8-Ball Model Thornton denounces, read Wikipedia.
Specifically note this passage:
Some network or multi-level marketing businesses, which sell real products and rely on the price differentials between the manufacturer's dispatch ramp and the retail counter, may verge on the borderline between ''smart'' and ''scam''. When a pyramid does involve a real product, such as Holiday Magic cosmetics in the United States in the 1970s, new "dealers" who've paid enrolling fees are encouraged, in addition to selling their products, to become "managers" and recruit more new "dealers" who will also pay enrolling fees. As the number of layers of the pyramid increases, new recruits find it harder and harder to sell the product because there are so many competing salesmen. Those near or at the top of the pyramid make a lot of money on their percentage of the enrolling fees and on commissions for the supplied products, but those at the bottom are left with inventories of products they can't sell. However, most multi-level marketing businesses are not pyramid schemes.
The last sentence there is the key. While Thornton is identifying SOME that seem to be the bad guys in the industry, are all his targets the same? On his website he claims to be investigating the following "Scams & Frauds":
- Students Worldwide
- Treasure Traders (TTI)
- BIM and Earnfirm
- Canadian Diamond Traders
- Departure Central
- Sum-It Club
- Ontario Police Association (!)
- Pigeon King
- Perfect4U - Onevision
- Global Wealth Trade
- MonaVie
- Anthony's Franchise
- ICF World Homes
But my focus here is to show that Dave seems to start with his familiarity with the 1-2-4-8 pyramid fraud of "Women Empowering Women", and believe that every single network marketing company operates the same way. When in fact this is not the case at all - there are 4 major structures in network marketing:
Again, we reference Wikipedia:
- Stairstep Breakaway plans This type of plan is characterized as having representatives who are responsible for both personal and group sales volumes. Volume is created by recruiting and by retailing product. Various discounts or rebates may be paid to group leaders and a group leader can be any representative with one or more downline recruits. Once predefined personal and/or group volumes are achieved, a representative moves up a commission level. This continues until the representative's sales volume reaches the top commission level and "breaks away" from their upline. From that point on, the new group is no longer considered part of his upline's group and the multi-level compensation aspect ceases. The original upline usually continues to be compensated through override commissions and other incentives.
- Unilevel plans This type of plan is often considered the simplest of compensation plans. Uni-Level plans pay commissions primarily based on the number of levels a recipient is from the original representative who is purchasing the product. Commissions are not based on title or rank achieved. By qualifying with a minimum sales requirement, representatives earn unlimited commissions on a limited number of levels of downline recruited representatives.
- Matrix plans This type of plan is similar to a Uni-Level plan, except there is a also limited number of representatives who can be placed on the first level. Recruits beyond the maximum number of first level positions allowed are automatically placed in other downline (lower level) positions. Matrix plans often have a maximum width and depth. When all positions in a representative's downline matrix are filled (maximum width and depth is reached for all participants in a matrix), a new matrix may be started. Like Uni-Level plans, representatives in a matrix earn unlimited commissions on limited levels of volume with minimal sales quotas.
- Binary plans: A binary plan is a multilevel marketing compensation plan which allows distributors to have only two front-line distributors. If a distributor sponsors more than two distributors, the excess are placed at levels below the sponsoring distributor's front-line. This "spillover" is one of the most attractive features to new distributors since they need only sponsor two distributors to participate in the compensation plan. The primary limitation is that distributors must "balance" their two downline legs to receive commissions. Balancing legs typically requires that the number of sales from one downline leg constitute no more than a specified percentage of the distributor's total sales.
Both Global Wealth Trade and Monavie are binary-based Network Marketing models, with real products (the former with designer jewellery and the latter with bottles of healthy blend of juice). Both companies have a variety of ways to make money, from direct retailing to consumers, through team commissions based on the product sales of the team of distributors working with them, and bonuses or incentives based on other activities that assist in the promotion of the company's products. And the binary system itself has been in use in varying forms for almost 2 decades by companies like Usana, Market America and more.
But Thornton seems to assume that just because they use the binary plan with 2 frontline distributors - if you choose to participate in the team compensation model - that this is another example of the boardgame. In fact that's exactly what he says:
At the very least thats misinformed and incorrect. But he doesn't stop there. He starts inventing libelous claims like:
CrimeBustersNow has concluded a reevaluation of what we have once again confirmed to be another “shell corporation” masking the familiar and common illegal 1-2-4-8- “endless chain” recruiting pyramid scheme.
Now that's crossing the line. He's making baseless attacks over the internet, knowing that its very difficult to get anything shut down without a very time-consuming and expensive lawsuit. And one where the best case for the company is that Thornton can no longer attack the company - since he admits himself he has no money to pay for damages.
is in fact simply another such “Cookie Cutter”1-2-4-8 fraudulent pyramid scheme that is mathematically doomed to meet its mathematical demise and simply collapse with many victims losing hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars, in this international money-laundering fraudulent scheme, if the international racketeer and founder of this “shell corporation”,
This is obviously one of his goals:
My guess is if they did get his website shut down, it was because he was posting libelous comments and his service provider has in their Terms and Conditions for people NOT to do things like that on a site hosted by their service. Because that opens them up to lawsuits. And they have every right to protect themselves and sanction him when he goes around breaking their rules.
These abhorrent and cowardly crooks fear litigation with CrimeBustersNow, refusing CrimeBustersNow offer to simply have a judge quietly decide the legality of their pyramid selling format.
If they were legal, that would be their best approach. They have chosen, instead, to use their monetary “muscle” and their victim’s millions, in a cowardly attack on the website of CrimeBustersNow in order to suppress, from the public, the unmasked truth of their illegal operation.
They know, in the judge’s ruling, they will be deemed an illegal pyramid scheme, as was Alan Kippax, head racketeer of Treasure Traders International.
It is why they fear the courts, and why they fear CrimeBustersNow.
This is vigilante justice at best.
But at worse, it could be something more. Read this, from another target of Thornton's - Canadian Diamond Traders.
They had a very different experience with Thornton:
Crime Busters Now; A Front for Extortion!What is a company to do when they find themselves the victim off blackmail? What if the blackmailers are charged criminals posing as an anti crime organization? CDT finds itself in the position of being coerced for a payoff in exchange for not being a victim of unwarranted slander. CDT had one thing going in their favor; this particular criminal organization falls under a particular category of wrong doers, “Stupid Criminals”! It is one thing to launch a public smear campaign on a company, then attempt to blackmail them in private. But to make your demands on a taped conversation and reiterate those demands in writing is foolish and will be the undoing of this criminal element.
So it seems that Thornton hides behind the internet in attacking companies, hoping they'll take him to court - where if anyone ever proves to the court that they're NOT illegal, that he'll then work for them. But if they don't go after him, he'll keep making baseless attacks with impunity.
Whether you like network marketing or not - and that's your own prerogative, nobody likes pyramid schemes and they should be rooted out. But e-vigilantes should not be able to run around attacking legitimate businesses and the people that work with them. That's abhorrent as well.
Dave - you MAY have started with good intentions, but in the end you seem intent on discrediting yourself with your lack of understanding of what is legitimate, and imperiled your cause by overreaching, and seeing conspiracies and schemes even where they don't exist.
