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维基百科，自由的百科全书

传销指控

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Skeptic's Dictionary（英语：Skeptic's Dictionary）的作者罗伯特·卡尔（英语：Robert_Todd_Carroll）曾描述安利为“合法的金字塔式传销骗局”，并指控该公司利用了低层相关人士对该公司的近信仰式的崇拜心理以掩盖安利实际的低回报率。[1]

FTC的调查

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主条目：In re Amway Corp.

聯邦貿易委員會于1979年调查声明[2][3]安利不属于金字塔式骗局，因为（a）招募下线的个人（直销商）并未获得直接利润，（b）安利并不要求直销商购买大量的不动库存，（c）直销商必须每月有10笔以上的零售交易以保持自身直销商的身份，（d）公司和所有直销商都必须接受下层直销商退回的多余商品。[4][5]

然而，聯邦貿易委員會亦证实安利于“价格操作（英语：price_fixing）和夸大可能收入有罪”；[6] 该公司被勒令停止控制零售价格及于各直销商之间分散顾客，并被禁止歪曲其分销商可能在业务中实现的利润，收入或销售额。安利同时被要求在此类宣传中加入直销商的实际平均收入值，并明确指出超过半数的直销商并未从参与安利中赚到任何利润，以及一般的直销商每个月只能获利约100美金。安利于1986年的一次广告宣传中违背了这项指令，导致其被罚款100，000美金。[7][8]

独立的消费者监督机构进行的调查声明约99%~99.9%的使用安利式付费计划的MLM参与者实际上遭受了不同程度的亏损。[9][10] Skeptic's Dictionary一书亦指出，“联邦贸易委员会命令安利在其所有产品中标识'54%的安利新人根本赚不到钱，而其余的每个月平均获得65美金利润'”。[11]

安利印度案例

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经过公众举报，安得拉邦和特伦甘纳邦的邦立警察于2006年9月对在该邦的安利直销经营者实行了突击和没收财产行动，并提交了一份请愿书，声明该公司违反了“奖金和金钱骗局禁止法案”。[12] 他们关闭了所有与安利公司有关的办公地点，包括一些安利直销商的私人办公场所。警方称该公司的经营模式非法。[13][14] 印度储备银行亦通知警方称安利印度可能违反了特定的与“传销骗局”有关的法案。IB Times亦撰稿称“部分人称...安利专注的并不是出售他们的铲平，而是从拉人成为直销商这个行为而赚钱”[13][失效連結]。2008年，安得拉邦邦政府禁止了与安利有关的大众媒体广告。 [12]

喀拉拉邦警察在接到投诉之后于2011年8月6日封锁了安利于科泽科德,坎努尔,科契, 科特塔耶姆, 德里久爾, 奎隆, 特里凡得琅的公司所在地。[15][16][17] 喀拉拉邦邦警的经济犯罪调查组与2012年11月对安利的一部分分公司进行了搜查，作为其对反安利传销行动以及关闭该公司在这些地点的仓库行动的一部分。其同时没收了约2,140万卢比的货物。[18] P. M. Rajkumar，安利当地的区域管理人，后被逮捕并拘押14日。[19]

喀拉拉邦邦警亦于2013年5月27日逮捕了安利印度公司的CEO，William S. Pinckney，以及其他两科泽科德安利分部的总裁。三人被以操纵运营传销机构的罪名逮捕。 [20][21] 他们在被逮捕的第二天便被假释，而其生意并未被影响。同年6月8日科泽科德法庭宣布收回对安利公司于喀拉拉邦的禁令。[22] On May 26, 2014, Pinckney was arrested by Andhra Pradesh police on the basis of a consumer complaint that alleged unethical circulation of money by Amway. He was subsequently arrested in other criminal cases registered against him in the state on allegations of financial irregularities by the company.[23] Pinckney was jailed for two months until being released on bail.[23][24][25]

U.S. class action settlement

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On November 3, 2010, Amway announced that it had agreed to pay $56 million – $34 million in cash and $22 million in products – to settle a class action that had been filed in Federal District Court in California in 2007.[26] The class action, which had been brought against Quixtar and several of its top-level distributors, alleged fraud, racketeering, and that the defendants operated as an illegal pyramid scheme.

While noting that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or liability, Amway acknowledged that it had made changes to its business operations as a result of the lawsuit. The settlement is subject to approval by the court, which was expected in early 2011.[26] The economic value of the settlement, including the changes Amway made to its business model, totals $100 million.[27]

Class action in Canada

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A 2009 class action case lodged in Canada was rejected by the Federal Court and confirmed on appeal by the Federal Court of Appeal, with costs awarded to Amway and the plaintiffs directed to arbitration.[28][29][30][31]

Lobbying for Deregulation

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The DeVoses supported an amendment to the US House of Representatives' omnibus Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018 by US Representative John Moolenaar that would have limited the ability of the FTC to investigate whether MLMs are pyramid schemes.[32] The amendment would have disbarred the Treasury Department, the Judiciary Department, the Small Business Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FTC, or any other agencies from using any monies to take enforcement actions against pyramid operations for the fiscal year.[33] It also adopted provisions from H.R. 3409, the so-called “Anti-Pyramid Scheme Promotion Act of 2016,”[34] which would blur the lines between legitimate MLM activity and pyramid schemes established under the original 1979 FTC case by deeming sales made to people inside the company as sales to an “ultimate user,” thus erasing the key distinction made in the ruling between sales to actual consumers of a product and sales made to members of the MLM network as part of recruitment of members or to qualify for commissions.[33][34][35] The amendment was opposed by a coalition of consumer interest groups including Consumer Action, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union (the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine), Consumer Watchdog, the National Consumers League, and the United States Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG),[34] as well as Truth in Advertising (TINA.org) in its original incarnation.[35]

  1. ^ Carroll, Robert Todd. Amway. Skeptic's Dictionary. July 9, 2014 [February 24, 2015]. 
  2. ^ 引用错误：没有为名为MLMLAW的参考文献提供内容
  3. ^ Pyramid Schemes. Ftc.gov. June 25, 2007 [July 9, 2011]. （原始内容存档于January 8, 2009）. 
  4. ^ Eisenberg, Richard. The Mess Called Multi-Level Marketing With celebrities setting the bait, hundreds of pyramid-style sales companies are raking in millions, often taking in the gullible. CNN Money. June 1, 1987 [May 17, 2011]. （原始内容存档于June 5, 2011）. 
  5. ^ Valentine, Debra A., Former General Counsel. Pyramid Schemes. www.ftc.gov. Federal Trade Commission. May 13, 1998 [2016-03-15]. 
  6. ^ Amway: Selling the Dream of Financial Freedom. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. May 5, 2011 [May 17, 2011]. （原始内容存档于June 5, 2011）. 
  7. ^ ''Amway Corp. To Pay $100,000 Civil Penalty, Settling FTC Charges''. Casewatch.org. [July 9, 2011]. （原始内容存档于July 16, 2011）. 
  8. ^ Manes, Billy. Look Who's Knockin. Orlando Weekly. January 18, 2007 [May 17, 2011]. 
  9. ^ MLM report of the Consumer Awareness Institute
  10. ^ Amway Forever: The Amazing Story of a Global Business Phenomenon, p. 178
  11. ^ The Skeptic's Dictionary
  12. ^ 12.0 12.1 Ban on Amway Chits, Schemes. The Hindu (India). September 17, 2008 [July 9, 2011]. 
  13. ^ 13.0 13.1 Saha, Arijit. Amway in hot water in Hyderabad over "business model" controversy. IB Times. December 13, 2006 [January 17, 2010]. [失效連結]
  14. ^ NULL. Hyderabad Police shuts down Amway offices. Moneycontrol.com. [July 9, 2011]. 
  15. ^ Amway offices raided at nine places. Hindustan Times (India). August 6, 2011. （原始内容存档于September 29, 2011）. 
  16. ^ Police raid at Amway offices. Mathrubhumi English. 2011-08-06 [2013-05-27]. （原始内容存档于November 5, 2013）. 
  17. ^ Statewide raids on Amway offices. The New Indian Express. 2011-08-07 [2013-05-27]. 
  18. ^ Searches conducted on Amway offices. The Hindu. 2012-11-10 [2013-05-27]. 
  19. ^ Amway: accused in judicial custody. The Hindu. 2012-11-11 [2013-05-27]. 
  20. ^ 引用错误：没有为名为Sanandakumar的参考文献提供内容
  21. ^ Amway India CEO William Scott Pinckney arrested Mathrubhumi Business. Mathrubhumi. [2013-05-27]. （原始内容存档于June 7, 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
  22. ^ Kozhikode Court lifts freeze on Amway offices Deccan Chronicle. Deccan Chronicle. [2013-06-08]. （原始内容存档于June 13, 2013）.  参数|newspaper=与模板{{cite web}}不匹配（建议改用{{cite news}}或|website=） (帮助)
  23. ^ 23.0 23.1 Amway India CEO William Pinckney released on bail. Hindustan Times. July 28, 2014 [March 23, 2016]. 
  24. ^ Amway India MD & CEO William Pinckney released on bail. Economic Times. Jul 29, 2014 [March 23, 2016]. 
  25. ^ Amway India MD & CEO William Pinckney released on bail. The Hindu Business Line. Jul 28, 2014 [March 23, 2016]. 
  26. ^ 26.0 26.1 Chris Knape. Amway agrees to pay $56 million, settle case alleging it operates a 'pyramid scheme'. The Grand Rapids Press. MLive.com. November 2010 [July 9, 2011]. 
  27. ^ "Lawyers say their $20 million payment is fair for $100 million settlement in Amway pyramid scheme lawsuit", ''Grand Rapids Press'' (November 4, 2010). Mlive.com. [July 9, 2011]. 
  28. ^ Murphy v. Amway Canada Corporation 2013 FCA 38, Federal Court of Appeal（英语：Federal Court of Appeal (Canada)） (Canada)
  29. ^ No class action this time: Federal Court of Appeal upholds arbitration agreement. Globe Business Media Group. April 9, 2013 [March 12, 2016]. 
  30. ^ Federal Court of Appeal Holds that Competition Act Claims are Arbitrable. McCarthy Tétrault LLP. February 26, 2013 [March 12, 2016]. 
  31. ^ Federal Court of Appeal confirms availability of contractual waiver of class actions in favour of arbitration absent contrary statutory language. Stikeman Elliott LLP. March 28, 2013 [March 12, 2016]. 
  32. ^ Kosman, John. DeVos’ family seeks deregulation of Amway so it can beat Herbalife. New York Post. 18 September 2017 [6 May 2018]. 
  33. ^ 33.0 33.1 Gingerich, Jon. Pyramid Scheme Protection Law Pits Legal Group Against Multilevel Marketers. O'Dwyer's: The Inside News of PR & Marketing Communications. 20 October 2017 [6 May 2018]. 
  34. ^ 34.0 34.1 34.2 NCL Communications. Public interest groups' letter to Congress in opposition of Moolenaar pyramid scheme rider. National Consumers League. March 2018 [6 May 2018]. 
  35. ^ 35.0 35.1 Vander Nat, Peter. Why This Anti-Pyramid Scheme Bill is Outrageously Wrong for Consumers. Truth in Advertising (TINA.org). [6 May 2018]. 
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