I'm passing this information along. It also affects us copywriters...

Just got this personal email from my friend Shawn Casey, Esq. (my client for whom I wrote many salesletters, including his Internet Compliance how-to infoproduct which is a book on how to bulletproof your business from alphabet agencies).

It relates to a new law being introduced that can literally kill bizopp, MLM and how-to information marketers. I'll let Shawn's own words say it...

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From Shawn Casey:

Please excuse the form letter, but I wanted to get this out to everyone without torturing myself in the process. This is a bit long, but it's vital to the future of your business. No exaggeration.

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has proposed a new Business Opportunity Rule. What they've proposed -- and intend to pass -- will wipe out the biz opp business and all related companies that do business in the U.S. This includes everything from all MLM businesses to those that sell information to people seeking to start a business or to engage in a new line of an existing business.

Here's the FTC Notice:
FTC Proposes New Business Opportunity Rule

Here's the rule language from the FTC:
R511993BusinessOpportunityRuleNoticeofProposedRule making.pdf

In short, the rule requires 5 disclosures akin to the Franchise Rule before you can make the sale of any product or service. These disclosures include the contact information for all prior purchasers as references (imagine how much fun that will be) and statistics on the cancellation and refund requests.

These disclosures must be provided in written form to the prospective purchaser at least 7 calendar days prior to you collecting any money from the seller. Do you really think you're going to be able to make a significant number of sales online using this new process? Forget it.

And if you think you can just ignore the power of the FTC, give Frank Kern a call and ask him how much it cost in dollars and stress to resolve one little error.

You should carefully review the comments of Attorney Gary Hailey (my D.C. based FTC lawyer that I keep on retainer) which I have attached to this mailing.

The FTC is strongly behind this proposed rule which means that it's going to pass in some form. As it now stands, many people reading this will be retiring early from their current business. Since some of you have not yet reached the ripe old age of 30, that probably means you're not quite ready to call it quits.

We can't stop the rule from being approved. What we can focus on is changing the language of the rule to carve out a specific provision dealing with information products so that supplying information, coaching, training, etc. would not fall under the rule.

With that exception, we could continue to do business as usual.

I've discussed option with Gary Hailey and he believes that with the backing of a loosely-knit coalition of companies, he can get a "seat" at the discussion on the rule and have a significant impact on the final version.

FYI - Before he joined Venable LLC, Mr. Hailey was the general counsel for regulatory affairs for a NYSE-listed infomercial producer, where he was responsible for legal review of all the company's advertising and promotional efforts. Prior to that, he served as attorney advisor to a member of the Federal Trade Commission and program advisor in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

You can read more about Gary and Venable LLC at Venable LLP - Attorneys / Professionals - Gary D. Hailey

Gary knows all the players and how the system works at the FTC. Now, he just needs some backing to give him enough influence to work on our behalf.

So here's the plan:

We estimate that the total legal fees should not exceed 20k for this process. Gary will accept anyone who wants to join the "coalition" as a client and split the costs equally among the clients. He'll bill each client individually as the work is done and keep us all updated during the process.

With 10 people, that's just 2k each. With more people, it's even less. Considering your entire business may be at risk, it's a small fee.

If you'd like to support this effort, then all we need at this point is an email from you with the following information:

Name
Company Name
Address
Phone Number
Email Address

I'll provide your information to Gary and acknowledge that you're part of the team.

Shawn Casey
Mining Gold Corp.
20533 Biscayne Blvd, No. 484
Aventura, FL 33180
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Every day it's something else with the feds.

Amazing how we can't find funding to adequately help Katrina victims and rebuilding... grant monies for community police officers have completely dried up... and yet there's money and resources to implement and police new policies over at the FTC?

Government can't fund or do the job they've already been assigned to. I know for a fact that the FTC is not acting on the complaints they're already getting -- after all, CI HOST is still in business, right? after how many legit consumer complaints??? (including mine!) -- and yet the FTC wants to broaden their reach even further now? As if they don't have enough on their plate and aren't already having an impossible time keeping up with what they've got. Pfffft!


I don't agree with the logic that the rule "will" pass. With adequate pressure, ANYTHING can be killed. That's how government works.

I would recommend that every one of us do what we do best -- sit down, with a pen and paper, and write letters to our legislators. Explain how this affects you, in real-world terms, bottom line. We are writers, after all. We could sell turnips to farmers, no? *giggle*

This one matters, guys ... big time ... please, make the time to write to your legislators at every possible level in the federal system. As I have a couple hosting clients who are also in federal-level politics I'll be dropping them a personal note, too. It might help for them to learn how this will affect someone they know personally... not just a faceless "constituent."

Handwritten letters are said to get the most notice, that's the only reason I suggested it. I prefer to type too but if writing it out gets it read, I'll write it out.

We've got to put strong pressure wherever and however we can to get this hare-brained idea shot down.


Michel thank you for posting this.

Bailey

I can't believe nobody else has replied.

Is it that people don't care, or that they don't grasp the depth & breadth of the issue?

*scratching head*

Bailey

I was going to reply yesterday, but - at the risk of sounding really dopey - I have a hard time with this legal stuff.

I'm not quite sure what these new rules are. And I'm not sure what to say in a letter.

I'll review this again - right now I've got to get my son to bed. I may have questions - lots of them!

Janet

Here's the latest. There have been over 15,000 comments made to the FTC in response to the proposed rule. With the extended public comment period, it may be significantly more than that, i.e. the proposed rule stirred up a hornet's nest.

This morning, I called one of the people handling this issue for the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Marketing Practices. He said that with the public comment period just ending, there has been absolutely no decision on the issue.

There may be no rule. There may be more hearings. There may be workshops. It is simply too early to tell.

Based on what we've seen, my guess is that this issue is DOA short-term. It may be years before a modified version is promulgated as a final rule.

Regards,

-Mike

Whew! And I thought I would have to scrap my How To Make Six Figures A Year Cleaning Up Butt-Ugly Websites And Direct Mail Promotions book.

Can't wait for that book. No doubt filled with highlighting, bold, ALL CAPS, italics, underlining . . . and the final title will be "WHO ELSE Wants To Make Six Figures A Year"

Perhaps it's time we all consider moving to Australia or some other virgin territory!

Or New Hampshire Free State Project

Cheers,
Stephen

Thanks for the update Mike - but what happens after those years have gone by?