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profitclinic
Joined: 03 May 2008
Posts: 16
Location: Melbourne AU
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 Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 9:14 pm Post subject: A rash of ILLEGAL new traffic/income programs... be wary! |
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G'day gang 
We're witnessing a sudden boom in new traffic generation and income generation schemes that are, quite simply, illegal in almost all countries. They're growing like mushrooms (mould?) and are likely to result in serious grief for anyone promoting them, so here's a quick way to recognise the dangers and steer clear:
If YOU have to pay or make a purchase YOURSELF before you're eligible to earn commissions on the sign-up fees or purchases of people you refer, it's ILLEGAL.
In every developed country, this kind of activity breaches anti-pyramid selling laws or related consumer protection or unfair trade practices laws.
Penalties can be severe, including heavy fines (6-7 figures in most cases... be prepared to lose your home) and jail time. It's ALWAYS a felony and it's ALWAYS related to fraud. These do NOT look good on your permanent record!
Learn more here: http://IsItaPyramid.com/affiliateprograms.php
(Note: it only applies to so-called "closed" affiliate programs.)
Hope this helps you to avoid the traps.
John Counsel
CEO, The Profit Clinic |
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js
Joined: 22 Jun 2008
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 6:08 am Post subject: Re: A rash of ILLEGAL new traffic/income programs... be wary |
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| profitclinic wrote: |
If YOU have to pay or make a purchase YOURSELF before you're eligible to earn commissions on the sign-up fees or purchases of people you refer, it's ILLEGAL.
(Note: it only applies to so-called "closed" affiliate programs.)
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Hi John, how's it going mate?
So I was giving your post some thought. Obviously your warning will be ignored by most. In one year from now, your post will have had ZERO impact on the overall trend which you're describing. But, your post has a great deal of merit for anyone who wants to avoid potential problems.
Here's a possible work-around that I just came up with, and it's based on the so-called "standard" and "express" site submission options offered by Yahoo to webmaster who want their site included in the Yahoo directory.
Vendors who want to essentially run a "closed" affiliate program can indicate that customers will have their affiliate application reviewed within 2 business days. In virtually every instance John, a customer will be approved as an affiliate. This is not expressly stated, but between you and me, this is how it would essentially operate.
Non-customers will also have their affiliate application reviewed, but the terms will indicate: Due to the volume of affiliate applications, we cannot guarantee a timely consideration of your application. For faster consideration, invest in our product/service and your affiliate application will be reviewed (and most likely approved) within 2 business days.
John, there are a lot of crooks out there. People who will happily break the law, despite your thoughtful post. Maybe we can turn this thread into a helpful resource for people who want to basically run "closed" affiliate programs, yet who want to do so under *some* degree of legitimacy.
-Jonathan |
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Joseph Ratliff
Joined: 11 Jul 2008
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:38 pm Post subject: Re: A rash of ILLEGAL new traffic/income programs... be wary |
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| profitclinic wrote: | G'day gang
We're witnessing a sudden boom in new traffic generation and income generation schemes that are, quite simply, illegal in almost all countries. They're growing like mushrooms (mould?) and are likely to result in serious grief for anyone promoting them, so here's a quick way to recognise the dangers and steer clear:
If YOU have to pay or make a purchase YOURSELF before you're eligible to earn commissions on the sign-up fees or purchases of people you refer, it's ILLEGAL.
In every developed country, this kind of activity breaches anti-pyramid selling laws or related consumer protection or unfair trade practices laws.
Penalties can be severe, including heavy fines (6-7 figures in most cases... be prepared to lose your home) and jail time. It's ALWAYS a felony and it's ALWAYS related to fraud. These do NOT look good on your permanent record!
Learn more here: http://IsItaPyramid.com/affiliateprograms.php
(Note: it only applies to so-called "closed" affiliate programs.)
Hope this helps you to avoid the traps.
John Counsel
CEO, The Profit Clinic |
Hi John!
Another place where you invest your time eh? 
Good to see you here as well.
And...
Would your information above be referring to a pyramid scheme approach? |
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Joseph Ratliff
Joined: 11 Jul 2008
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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Never mind, I found your link.
Gesss I godda lern how ta reed.  |
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khuether
Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:25 am Post subject: |
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| Hmm - I guess it's similar to writing and getting your work published. If you need to pay someone to publish it (and this statement excludes self publishing places like lulu) it is most likely a scam. I guess it was just a matter of time before people started doing this in another field. |
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Jim Hutchinson
Moderator
Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 467
Location: Iowa, USA
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| Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 12:55 pm Post subject: Re: A rash of ILLEGAL new traffic/income programs... be wary |
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| khuether wrote: | | Hmm - I guess it's similar to writing and getting your work published. If you need to pay someone to publish it (and this statement excludes self publishing places like lulu) it is most likely a scam. |
That is not true. When you pay to have an article published, you are paying for a service. It has no relation to affiliate programs.
Example: If you wrote and article and sent it to me to get it published in the top article directories, which are mostly free to submit. I do the work and invoice you for that service.
That is not a scam. It is a valuable service for which you would gladly pay to get your article published in places you may not otherwise have known about. |
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khuether
Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you for encouraging my clarification. I was vague, and as a result I didn't articulate what I was referring to. When you pay for a service it's completely different. I was thinking more along the lines of the Publish America debacle. I'm not sure if that's still going on but I was following it for a time. There are companies out there that prey on newbie writers who want to get their novels, etc published - desperately.
Company comes along and says, okay, we'll publish it. But you need to pay us a fee for looking at your manuscript. They keep adding fees. In the end, the writer is down thousands of dollars because they fell victim to it and of course, their novel isn't published at a publishing house. It was print - on- demand all along. That's unethical because of the misdirection.
To give you some background, I started out as a writer. I understand that in the internet marketing world, there are legit, valuable services like the one that you describe. Plus, you never tell the person "pay me and I'll make you a published writer". If you did, that would be unethical because that's not the service you're providing. You're saying, pay me and I'll do a service that you most likely find annoying and time consuming. |
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