FTC Staff’s Revised MLM Guidance—More Content, Less Clarity
| 12 min
Yesterday FTC Staff released updated Business Guidance Concerning Multi-Level Marketing that provides a detailed account of their current perspective on applicable standards governing the direct selling and multi-level marketing (MLM) industry. The new Guidance updates guidance from January 2018 (that we covered here) and lays out several principles and issues that Staff intend to consider in evaluating whether MLMs constitute illegal pyramid schemes and/or are otherwise engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices, including through misleading earnings and lifestyle claims and potential agency liability.