A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly impossible, and most members are unable to profit; as such, pyramid schemes are unsustainable and often illegal.
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to coordinate and disseminate emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via terrestrial and satellite radio and television, including broadcast and multichannel television.
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. is a global multi-level marketing (MLM) corporation that develops and sells dietary supplements. The company was founded by Mark R. Hughes in 1980, and it employs an estimated 9,900 people worldwide. The business is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, with its corporate headquarters located in Los Angeles, California. The company operates in 94 countries through a network of approximately 4.5 million independent distributors and members. John O. Agwunobi has been the company's chief executive officer and executive chairman since March 2020.
World Group Securities, Inc. (WGS), a member of the Dutch-owned AEGON Group, is the exclusive broker-dealer affiliate of World Financial Group (WFG).
Apollo Education Group, Inc. is an American corporation based in the South Phoenix area of Phoenix, Arizona, with an additional corporate office in Chicago, Illinois.
Alaska Communications is a telecommunications corporation headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. It was the first telecommunications provider in the state of Alaska to maintain a third-generation wireless network and the only provider in Alaska that owned fully incorporated infrastructure for the major telecommunications platforms; wireless communications, Internet networking, and local and long-distance phone service. Alaska Communications wireline operations include advanced data networks and an underwater fiber optic system. The Alaska Communications wireless operations included a statewide 3G CDMA network, and coverage extended from the North Slope to Southeast Alaska.
Keith A. Hall is an American lawyer. He is a graduate of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and has his law degree from the University of Louisville. He has served on the University of Louisville Board of Overseers and is a benefactor to the university's athletic programs.
New Look is a British global fashion retailer with a chain of high street shops. It was founded in 1969. The chain sells womenswear, menswear, and clothing for teens.
BurnLounge, Inc. was a multi-level marketing online music store founded in 2004 and based in New York City. By 2006 the company reported 30,000 members using the site to sell music through its network. In 2007 the company was sued by the Federal Trade Commission for being an illegal pyramid scheme. The company lost the suit in 2012, and lost appeal in June 2014. In June 2015, the FTC began returning $1.9 million to people who had lost money in the scheme. The company is dormant pending additional appeals.
Jonathan David Leibowitz is an American attorney who served under President Barack Obama as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2009 to 2013. Leibowitz was appointed to the commission in 2004, and resigned in 2013. During Leibowitz's tenure, the FTC brought privacy cases against Google, Facebook and others for violating consumer privacy, as well as enforcement against "pay-for-delay" deals in which pharmaceutical companies paid competitors to stay out of the market. Prior to joining the FTC, Leibowitz was Vice President for Congressional Affairs from 2000 to 2004 of the MPAA.
Saint James School of Medicine (SJSM)is a private for-profit offshore medical school with two basic science campuses, one in British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, and the other in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it is considered one school with two campuses. Saint James confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree.
Aspen Technology, Inc., known as AspenTech, is a provider of software and services for the process industries headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts. AspenTech has 35 offices around the world, on all continents.
QuinStreet, Inc. is a publicly traded marketing company based in Foster City, California. QuinStreet offers performance-based marketing and search engine marketing services. QuinStreet was founded in 1999, and has launched or acquired dozens of websites and other media properties.
LegalShield is an American corporation that sells legal service products direct to consumer through employer groups and through multi-level marketing in the United States, and Canada. It was available in the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2021. According to LegalShield's income disclosure regarding associates selling the product: "For Associates with 0-2 years of experience who made at least one sale, average annual earnings were $798 for 2019. Approximately 73% of all Associates across experience years made less than $1,000 in 2019."
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been involved in oversight of the behavioral targeting techniques used by online advertisers since the mid-1990s. These techniques, initially called "online profiling", are now referred to as "behavioral targeting"; they are used to target online behavioral advertising (OBA) to consumers based on preferences inferred from their online behavior. During the period from the mid-1990s to the present, the FTC held a series of workshops, published a number of reports, and gave numerous recommendations regarding both industry self-regulation and Federal regulation of OBA. In late 2010, the FTC proposed a legislative framework for U.S. consumer data privacy including a proposal for a "Do Not Track" mechanism. In 2011, a number of bills were introduced into the United States Congress that would regulate OBA.
Vemma Nutrition Company was a privately held multi-level marketing company that sold dietary supplements. The company was shut down in 2015 by the FTC for engaging in deceptive practices and pyramid scheming.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower program went into effect on July 21, 2010, when the President signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The same law also established a whistleblower incentive program at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to incentivize reporting of violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, which is run by former senior SEC enforcement attorney Christopher C. Ehrman. The SEC Whistleblower Program rewards people who submit tips related to violations of the federal securities laws. The program offers robust employment protections, monetary awards and the ability to report anonymously. SEC whistleblowers are entitled to awards ranging from 10 to 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected, which are paid from a replenishing Investor Protection Fund. Since 2011, whistleblower tips have enabled the SEC to recover over $4.8 billion in financial penalties from wrongdoers. The SEC has awarded more than $1 billion to whistleblowers. The largest SEC whistleblower awards to date are $114 million, $110 million, and $50 million.
Google has been involved in multiple lawsuits over issues such as privacy, advertising, intellectual property and various Google services such as Google Books and YouTube. The company's legal department expanded from one to nearly 100 lawyers in the first five years of business, and by 2014 had grown to around 400 lawyers. Google's Chief Legal Officer is Senior Vice President of Corporate Development David Drummond.
Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. was an Orlando, Florida based multi-level marketing cosmetic company selling mink oil-based cosmetics. It became entangled in numerous legal difficulties and went out of business in the 1970s.
Atlantic International University, Inc. (AIU) is a private for-profit distance learning university based in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was founded in December 1998 as Atlantic University, Inc. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees including doctorates. Despite being located in Hawaii, AIU is not accredited by any U.S. accreditation agency.
