allmlmfacts

all MLM busters

  • MLM
    •  
    • 1. Lost Money

    •  
    • 2. Lost reputation

    •  
    • 3. Lost time

    •  
    • 4. Lost selfesteem

Glossary Of Terms And Abbreviations

binding-contract-948442
If I have used any other terms in this blog you would like defined, just make a request in the comments
ATS – Amway Tool Scam, the symbiotic RICO scamming relationship between Amway and the LCKs. When the LCKs asked for more of the Amway profit, Amway turned them down, but then ignored the FACT the upline was TOTALLY misrepresenting the business model by showing the marketing plan, yet leaving the ATS out of the presentation.
Directly Speaking – The name of the recordings made by Rich DeVos in 1983, in which Rich complained about the ATS, but then did NOTHING meaningful to fix. This is a double entendre, as the speeches were very direct talks, and the primary audience was the Direct Distributors. It should be noted most of these recordings have been destroyed, as this was the general order from the LCKs, as told to me on the telephone by my former upline Diamond, Bruce Anderson. However, two of these recordings, which address the ATS, are available here, one of them was transcribed, the other is still in audio format: http://www.amquix.info/amway_directly_speaking.html Also see IBO.
IBO – stands for Independent Business Owner. The former name, Distributor, is no longer appropriate, as IBOs do very little distribution, as all products are now shipped from Amway to every individual IBO or the very few customers that exist, unlike the old practice of Amway shipping the products to the Direct Distributor (named because this individual worked “Directly” with Amway), and each of their personally sponsored distributors picking up their order from their Direct Distributor, then providing the products to their own personally sponsored distributors, etc., until all the products reach their intended distributor for personal use and customer sales.
Illegal Pyramid – Usually used in the context of the MLM model, an illegal pyramid exists wherever there are little to no retail sales profit making up the overall profit profile. Instead, common techniques used include high buy-in fees, required or highly encouraged internal use, front loading, massive tool scams, etc. In the end, it makes no difference which technique is used to hide the lack of retail sales, the courts have consistently stated the only thing that matters is what the actual profit profile is, not what is claimed, encouraged, incentivized, etc.
Often confused with a Ponzi Scheme, there are at least two key differences. The first is a Ponzi Scheme is passive and an illegal pyramid is active, as described here: http://www.ehow.com/info_8050306_differences-between-ponzi-pyramid-scheme.html. Another difference is the appearance of these scams from an outside perspective, as described eloquently in the comments in the same story. In a Ponzi Scheme, the intent is to hide the multi-level nature of payouts, and an illegal pyramid emphasizes this aspect of the structure. Another good discussion of the differences can be found here: http://www.buttecounty.net/da/pyramidfraud.htm
LCK – Lying Cowardly “Kingpin”. For most groups, it starts at the Platinum level, although the BIG money starts at the Emerald level. There are actually 3 levels, the highest is in all capital letters, LYING COWARDLY “KINGPIN” – the 20 or so owners of the large ATS companies. The mid-level is Lying Cowardly “Kingpins”, the midlevel, below the owners, but major Diamond and above pins, and finally the lower capital letters, lying cowardly “kingpins”, the Platinums, Sapphires, Emeralds, and first level Diamonds. LCK also refers to current and former IBOs, Amway employees and lawyers, etc., specifically the ones who are familiar with the ATS, but do not actively speak out against it. Has also been described as “Lucifer’s Corrupted Knights,” tip of the hat to poster “Below Me” for that gem!
LOS/LOA – Line Of Sponsorship/Line of Affiliation. LOS is the Amway “tree” of people sponsoring new people into the Amway business. LOA is the tool scam group an IBO affiliates with, and is often the same as their upline group, but it is also common for entire groups to “break off” and join other ATS organizations or form their own ATS company in order to make more ATS profit. This process is usually very disruptive to the organization, and results in huge groups collapsing to virtually nothing (although this is obviously not a totally bad thing, as most of these folks were being ripped off via the ATS).
Platinum IBO – An IBO attaining 7,500 PV of volume, with certain time and width requirements. Normally consists of 75-150 IBOs in the organization. Formerly known as Direct Distributor, also see IBO.
Ponzi scheme – Often confused with an illegal pyramid because of some similarities, there are distinct differences. See illegal pyramid for more information.
RICO Fraud – Described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act Note the original author of the law, G. Robert Blakey, has gone on record that Amway operates like the Mafia, along with Amway’s predictable and failed attempt to suppress the report: http://www.amquix.info/blakey_fiasco.html
Tools – ALL sources of profit for the upline from the downline, except for the Amway products. This includes, but is not limited to, books, CD/DVDs, the various meetings, (such as Open/ Opportunity meetings, monthly Seminars, Major Functions), websites, voice mail, etc.
Before proceeding, be sure to read and understand the Legal Notice found here: http://stoptheamwaytoolscam.wordpress.com/about/

One thought on “Glossary Of Terms And Abbreviations

Comments are closed.