| Comment Number: | 522418-02414 |
| Received: | 6/15/2006 6:11:41 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Ellis Thayer |
| State: | KS |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
RE: Business Opportunity Rule, R511993 I want to thank the FTC for your diligence to protect the public against fraud. You are doing a very needful and mostly thankless task. Thank you. Over 4 decades, I participated ten times in four direct selling ventures. I didn't make any money in any of them, but it was totally my responsibility. Every one of them were good, scrupulous companies. My own laziness and shyness were the only contributing factors to lack of profit for me. There are many, many direct selling businesses that extend ethical and genuine business opportunites to individuals and couples like us. We are currently participating in one. I am overcoming laziness and shyness and we are receiving an income from our business. Recently, we might have gone through bankruptcy if it wasn't for the income from our business. I believe Business Opportunity Rule, R511993 would completely destroy our business. Elimination of the $500 investment requirement for franchise would subject our little home-based business to franchise rules, which are irrelevant to our business. A 7 day waiting period, would put all ethical home-based businesses in a light of suspicion. Record keeping would break our backs. Our company requires a very small investment and has a generous refund policy. To report all litigation regardless of outcome would cast unfair sus-picion. Do you understand what a nasty mess you create by requiring a list of “10 nearest existing sales people?" That would open the door to so much trouble! Theives could easily obtain that list, find out when that company is having meetings, go to those houses and burglerize them. If the occupant of the hosue was home, there would be a dangerous confrontation. Identity theft would increase because this information was given. This could possibly cause the corporations who were forced to give out the list to have to defend themselves as contributors in the ID theft. It is unscrupulous for any network marketer to give false claims about income. It should be illegal. Business Opportunity Rule, R511993, in my opinion would be an undo burden on ethical businesses, and just make it easier for the fraudulant to operate using false income claims. They would simply falsify earnings support data. Every provision of the rule would have the same effect. The fraudulent would simply produce false documents. The rule would destroy legitimate financial opportunity to people like my wife and I. It would eliminate the incomes of millions of self employed, who would have to become competition for the employed or become government supported. Please keep up the work of protecting the public, but find a better way to do it. Best regards, Ellis Thayer