Author Archives

    Thomas Ritter

    Thomas Ritter is an associate attorney at Thompson Burton PLLC. His practice area focuses primarily on cybersecurity law, which includes an assortment of data protection and privacy-related matters, and a wide-variety of business transactions. He assists diverse businesses from well-established companies to early stage start-ups.

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    After a Flurry of SEC Activity in the Cryptocurrency Space, the Network Marketing Industry is on Notice

    The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a noteworthy announcement just days before the Thanksgiving holiday with significant implications for the network marketing industry: Regulatory oversight and enforcement of cryptocurrency companies is here (and here to stay). I warned MLM companies and consumers alike of the dangers surrounding cryptocurrencies all the way back in 2015. […]

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    Cloud Mining and the Sale of Unregistered Securities

    No bigger buzzwords exist in the general populace right now than “cryptocurrency,” “bitcoin,” or some other derivative. With skyrocketing prices and frenzied market activity, everyone and their grandmother wants to know the best way to collect some cryptocurrencies of their own. As a result, new business model after new business model continues to pop up […]

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    The Dangers of Weak Cybersecurity in Network Marketing

    A review of this past year’s news cycle illustrates the paramount importance of strong data security. Yahoo, Equifax, Uber, and the list could go on and on. These companies fell victim to data breaches. In turn, they all faced public relations nightmares not to mention ongoing congressional and regulatory investigations. Today’s cyber landscape is relatively […]

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    Crowdfunding and Network Marketing: Part II

    In Part 1 of the crowdfunding series, I discussed the rise of the crowdfunding phenomenon and Title III’s recent enactment under the JOBS Act. While Title III may appear to be an attractive avenue  of capital fundraising for entrepreneurs and startups, founders of a network marketing company may find it a boardwalk littered with more stops than […]

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    Need a Financial Jolt? Get a JOB(S): Part 1

    The term “crowdfunding” has been thrown around a lot over the past several years. But what does “crowdfunding” really mean? And how does crowdfunding, particularly the recent enactment of rules from Title III of the JOBS Act, relate to network marketing?  At its most basic, crowdfunding is the pooling of financial contributions via the internet for a […]

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    What Makes a Company a MLM?

    I recently fielded a phone call from a business owner who asked me the following question: Does my business model qualify as a multi-level marketing company? It’s a good question whose answer invokes a variety of possible legal implications. THE MLM LEXICON With no single authority providing some sort of precedential definition of “MLM,” the best way of […]

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