Path: utzoo!attcan!telly!eci386!clewis From: clewis@eci386.uucp (Chris Lewis) Newsgroups: news.admin Subject: Re: warning: scumbags using usenet for pyramid schemes Message-ID: <1989Nov28.170119.718@eci386.uucp> Date: 28 Nov 89 17:01:19 GMT References: <15389@vlsisj.VLSI.COM> <667@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM> <1989Nov19.004703.16570@rpi.edu> <1229@svx.SV.DG.COM> <256C7976.372@rpi.edu> Reply-To: clewis@eci386.UUCP (Chris Lewis) Organization: R. H. Lathwell Associates: Elegant Communications, Inc. Lines: 36 In article <256C7976.372@rpi.edu> tale@pawl.rpi.edu (David C Lawrence) writes: >Okay, I have some questions still though. I won't argue about them, >I'd just like to have some answers. Why is it illegal? Pyramid letter schemes are a particularly seductive form of fraud, for though a few people at the top may make money, a teeny bit of math will show you that the premise that they're based on won't work for someone a few levels down. And are therefore fraudulent. Very seductive for the naive. Towers of Hanoi anyone? Other (legal) get-rich-quick schemes like lotteries have well defined odds, aren't violating the laws of physics, and are usually regulated by the government, ostensibly, again, to avoid fraud. (BTW: lottery winnings aren't taxable in Canada, so there isn't a revenue incentive for the govt. Alcohol, on the other hand, is entirely different :-() > Who ends up getting punished, and how? >The person who started it, the people who knowingly propogated it, >and/or anyone that has such a letter in their possesion? Good question. I suspect that they try to track them back. Merely being in possession of an unsolicited letter couldn't possibly be a crime. Propagating it would probably just get you a lecture on how stoooooooopid you are. > What do other nations have to say about it? They're strictly illegal here (Canada) too. There seems to be one reported in the news and stamped out every couple of years. -- A fanatic is one who can't change his | Chris Lewis, Elegant Communications Inc. mind and won't change the subject. | {uunet!attcan,utzoo}!lsuc!eci386!clewis [Winston Churchill] | Ferret mailing list moderator. Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com