Stuff are misinforming people about Pyramid schemes: incorrectly claiming they are "legal"

The Fair Trading Act notes Pyramid schemes are illegal "whether or not they provide a product or service, or both"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/132663928/cost-of-living-pushes-young-people-into-multilevel-marketing-hustles

@winstonsmith multi-level marketing isnt the same as a pyramid scheme. a pyramid scheme (the thing illegal by law) is something very specific.

@freemo it's the fucking same, MLMs are just Pyramid scams -- with marketing

@winstonsmith No, not even remotely true.

A pyramid scheme doesnt have a product and its sole source of generating money is through recruitiment of an every expanding layer of tiers of investors.

In MLM actual products are bought and sold, and each level may take a cut from whoever they recruited... these are vastly different things even ont he surface.

@freemo the level of dumb needed to assert MLMs are not Pyramid scams is truly a remarkable thing

Read the legislation

@winstonsmith

LOL you just posted the legal definition here:

https://mastodon.nz/@winstonsmith/110890347225273207

And it literally almost word for word in a.iii explains exactly what I explained to you as to what the difference between MLM and pyramid scheme is... lolol dude, read, understand, talk less.

@freemo
You're being dumb as a rock, get some rest or whatever your problem is
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0121/latest/DLM96950.html

@winstonsmith Why are you calling me dumb and then linking to legislation that **Exactly** agrees with what I just said... I quote from the link you just gave:

that, to many participants in the scheme, constitutes primarily an opportunity to buy or sell an investment opportunity, whether personally or through an agent, rather than an opportunity to buy or supply goods or services; and

@freemo it doesn't agree with what you said

@freemo read again.

MLMs are primarily an investment opportunity. This bullshit about goods and services is only fooling you, it would seem.

@winstonsmith

That depends on the MLM. A pyramid scheme is a type of MLM where the primary source of income is investors... so if you have a MLM that is primarly that, then it is a pyramid scheme, but a MLM is not automatically a pyramid scheme. If and when they have real products that are sold then they are not, by legal definition.

@freemo where do you get this utter, complete bullshit from?

MLMs came about after Pyramid schemes, that isn't even chronologically correct

@winstonsmith So? A concept with is a super set does not need to preceed the existance of a subset... thats not how logic works. Which came first is irrelevant... its even less irrelevant since we are talking about a legal definition, not a common definition.