Rehash: Why is TVI Express a Pyramid Scheme / Money Game?

Image via WikipediaSome people who enjoyed weasel explanations from their weasel uplines are somehow convinced that TVI Express is NOT a pyramid scheme or money game, as it's known in Asia. Here's explanation why TVI Express IS indeed a pyramid scheme.

First, what is a pyramid scheme? Instead of wiki definition, let's use an actual legal criteria, a court case against a pyramid scheme:

The Federal Trade Commission has established a test for determining what constitutes a pyramid scheme. Such contrivances are characterized by the payment by participants of money to the company in return for which they receive (1) the right to sell a product and (2) the right to receive in return for recruiting other participants into the program rewards which are unrelated to
sale of the product to ultimate users
--US vs. Gold Unlimited, US 6th Circuit Court (1999), as cited from http://openjurist.org/177/f3d/472/united-states-v-gold-unlimited-inc

This definition will be worded different in different countries, but even in Indonesia the meaning is virtually identical:

9. Money Game is a fund raising activity community or the doubling of money to practice give commissions and bonuses from the increase / registration of new Business Partners / join later and not from product sales, or from the sale of products but the products sold only as camouflage
-- fatwa issued by Indonesia Islamic Council, translated through Google

So the elements of a pyramid schemes are as defined
a) you pay to join
b) you receive right to sell something (could be a product but often just a disguise)
c) you receive right to recruit more people who will be just like you (out to look for more recruits)
d) you get paid mostly for recruiting more people (and less/none for selling things to non-members)

So does it apply to TVI Express? Let's check the elements one by one.

a) you pay to join

YES -- you pay $250USD + whatever fees the local office deem appropriate. In South Africa it was 2700 South African Rand, which is well over $300 USD

b) you get back the right to sell something (could be a product, but usually merely a disguise)

YES -- TVI Express itself was very vague about what you *can* sell. It implies that you sell travel out of your backoffice, but its own FAQ states "You don't have to sell any products". Some weasel TVI Express members claims that they are selling travel discount memberships.  But that would imply they sell nothing, but just recruit people (In reality the discount travel is just a front to Travelocity, but that is FREE to use)

c) you get back right to recruit more people who will be just like you (out to look for more recruits)

YES -- you cannot join TVI Express by yourself. You must find a current member who will give you his referral code and becomes your upline once you join. You become a part of his "genealogy". When you recruit, you do the same: give the recruit your referral code so you become his/her upline. Right to recruit is in the membership. In fact, in the TVI Express FAQ it is specifically stated that to make money, you start by recruiting two people and teach each of them to recruit two more people each.

d) you get paid mostly for recruiting more people (and very little / none for selling things to non-members)

YES -- out of four ways you get paid as explained in the TVI Express, all four depends on "cycling out", which means "fill up the board with recruits", so you get paid by recruiting. None of the payout is dependent on actually selling any products to non-members (recruiting is NOT selling things)

So what explanation does TVI Express have that explains why they are NOT a pyramid? Absolutely NOTHING! The various associates / distributors / members (such as Rudy Phan the liar) makes up bogus explanations on why TVI Express is not a pyramid scheme, usually by narrowing on the optional aspects of the definition and say "we don't have that!"  However, none of the lies stand up to the test above.