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In Re Amway Corp.
''In re Amway Corp.'' (93 F.T.C. 618; full name ''In the Matter of Amway Corporation, Inc., et al.'') is a 1979 ruling by the United States Federal Trade Commission concerning the business practices of Amway, a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. The FTC ruled that Amway was not an illegal pyramid scheme according strictly to the statutory definition of a pyramid scheme, but ordered Amway to cease price fixing and cease misrepresenting to its distributors (participants) the average participant's likelihood of financial security and material success. Complaint The FTC filed a complaint on March 25, 1975, alleging five counts of violating Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act:''In the Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust enforcement with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The agency is headquartered in the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC. The FTC was established in 1914 with the passage of the Federal Trade Commission Act, signed in response to the 19th-century monopolistic trust crisis. Since its inception, the FTC has enforced the provisions of the Clayton Act, a key antitrust statute, as well as the provisions of the FTC Act, et seq. Over time, the FTC has been delegated with the enforcement of additional business regulation statutes and has promulgated a number of regulations (codified in Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations). The broad statutory authority granted to the FTC provide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amway
Amway (short for "American Way") is an American multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells health, beauty, and home care products. The company was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos and is based in Ada, Michigan. Amway and its sister companies under Alticor reported sales of $8.4 billion in 2019. It conducts business through a number of affiliated companies in more than a hundred countries and territories. Amway has been investigated in various countries and by institutions such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for alleged pyramid scheme practices. It has never been found guilty, though it has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle these suits. History Founding Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos had been friends since school days and business partners in various endeavors, including a hamburger stand, an air charter service, and a sailing business. In 1949, they were introduced to the Nutrilite Products Corporation by Van Andel's second cousin Neil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multi-level Marketing
Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company's products or services, while the earnings of the participants are derived from a pyramid-shaped or binary compensation commission system. In multi-level marketing, the compensation plan usually pays out to participants from two potential revenue streams. The first is based on a sales commission from directly selling the product or service; the second is paid out from commissions based upon the wholesale purchases made by other sellers whom the participant has recruited to also sell product. In the organizational hierarchy of MLM companies, recruited participants (as well as those whom the recruit recruits) are referred to as one's ''downline'' distributors. MLM salespeople are, therefore, expected to sell products directly to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyramid Scheme
A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly impossible, and most members are unable to profit; as such, pyramid schemes are unsustainable and often illegal. Pyramid schemes have existed for at least a century in different guises. Some multi-level marketing plans have been classified as pyramid schemes. Concept and basic models In a pyramid scheme, an organization compels individuals who wish to join to make a payment. In exchange, the organization promises its new members a share of the money taken from every additional member that they recruit. The directors of the organization (those at the top of the pyramid) also receive a share of these payments. For the directors, the scheme is potentially lucrative—whether or not they do any work, the organization's membership has a strong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Price Fixing
Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given level by controlling supply and demand. The intent of price fixing may be to push the price of a product as high as possible, generally leading to profits for all sellers but may also have the goal to fix, peg, discount, or stabilize prices. The defining characteristic of price fixing is any agreement regarding price, whether expressed or implied. Price fixing requires a conspiracy between sellers or buyers. The purpose is to coordinate pricing for mutual benefit of the traders. For example, manufacturers and retailers may conspire to sell at a common "retail" price; set a common minimum sales price, where sellers agree not to discount the sales price below the agreed-to minimum price; buy the product from a supplier at a specified maxi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Trade Commission Act
The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 was a United States federal law which established the Federal Trade Commission. The Act was signed into law by US President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 and outlaws unfair methods of competition and unfair acts or practices that affect commerce. Background The inspiration and motivation for this act started in 1890, when the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed. There was a strong antitrust movement to prevent manufacturers from joining price-fixing cartels. After '' Northern Securities Co. v. United States'', a 1904 case that dismantled a J. P. Morgan company, antitrust enforcement became institutionalized. Soon, US President Theodore Roosevelt created the Bureau of Corporations, an agency that reported on the economy and businesses in the industry. The agency was the predecessor to the Federal Trade Commission. In 1913, President Wilson expanded on the agency by passing the Federal Trade Commissions Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act. The Federa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Resale Price Maintenance
Resale price maintenance (RPM) or, occasionally, retail price maintenance is the practice whereby a manufacturer and its distributors agree that the distributors will sell the manufacturer's product at certain prices (resale price maintenance), at or above a price floor (minimum resale price maintenance) or at or below a price ceiling (maximum resale price maintenance). If a reseller refuses to maintain prices, either openly or covertly (see grey market), the manufacturer may stop doing business with it. Resale price maintenance is illegal in many jurisdictions. Resale price maintenance prevents resellers from competing too fiercely on price, especially with regard to fungible goods. Otherwise, resellers worry it could drive down profits for themselves as well as for the manufacturer. Some argue that the manufacturer may do this because it wishes to keep resellers profitable, thus keeping the manufacturer profitable. Others contend that minimum resale price maintenance, for ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Administrative Law Judge
An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is a judge and trier of fact who both presides over trials and adjudicates claims or disputes involving administrative law. ALJs can administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evidence, and make factual and legal determinations. In the United States, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that the role of a federal administrative law judge is "functionally comparable" to that of an Article III judge. An ALJ's powers are often, if not generally, comparable to those of a trial judge, as ALJs may issue subpoenas, rule on proffers of evidence, regulate the course of the hearing, and make or recommend decisions. Depending upon the agency's jurisdiction, proceedings may have complex multi-party adjudication, as is the case with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or simplified and less formal procedures, as is the case with the Social Security Administration. Federal appointment and tenure The Admini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Pitofsky
Robert Pitofsky (December 27, 1929 – October 6, 2018) was an American lawyer and politician who was the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States from April 11, 1995, to May 31, 2001. He had previously been Dean of the Georgetown University Law Center from 1983 to 1989, and was Dean Emeritus at the time of his death. Early life and education Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Pitofsky attended Eastside High School. Pitofsky was educated at New York University and the Columbia University School of Law. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Before becoming chairman of the FTC on April 12, 1995, he previously held positions with the FTC as a Commissioner (1978–1981) and as Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (1970–1973). Pitofsky was the primary author of one of the most widely used casebooks in the area of trade regulation Trade regulation is a field of law, often bracketed with antitrust (as in the phrase “antitrust and trade regulatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Trade Commission Litigation
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or regional governments that are partially self-governing; a union of states * Federal republic, a federation which is a republic * Federalism, a political philosophy * Federalist, a political belief or member of a political grouping * Federalization, implementation of federalism Particular governments *Federal government of the United States **United States federal law **United States federal courts * Government of Argentina * Government of Australia *Government of Pakistan *Federal government of Brazil *Government of Canada *Government of India *Federal government of Mexico * Federal government of Nigeria * Government of Russia *Government of South Africa *Government of Philippines Other *''The Federalist Papers'', critical early argument ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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