It turns out from the point of view of the law, the creator of an Internet service with paid access and a referral program can be accused of creating a pyramid, provided that few people use this service from those who bought access to it. Let's try to figure it out in more detail.
Let's take examples of modern pyramids disguised as any services. For example, this site BigMoney.VIP social network with paid access, has now grown to 400 users. Simply access is taken from the user 200 dollars for 1 year of using the site and at the request of the user, you can bring referrals, you have a percentage of them. Most users of the site, in my opinion, have the desire to build a network of referrals and earn money. Isn't it a pyramid? Definitely a pyramid. Instead of a social network, you can hide behind another pseudo service, cashback or something else, if the main income comes from attracting people, then this is a pyramid. On the other hand, this is not a pyramid! I would like to hear the opinion of other users of the site.
And now, let's take the case if a person does not have the intention to create a pyramid. They'll just create some kind of mindless service, although they'll believe in it and promotes it with the help of a referral program. Their service also began to gain momentum and many registered, but people register not because they like the service, but to earn on referrals (registration in the service is paid for access to the service itself) those. This situation brings us back to the first pyramid case. Unwittingly, They become the owner of the pyramid. And suppose for a second that 50% of users started using their service, then the referral program fades into the background, and there is nothing criminal in the scheme. It's just a service with a referral program.
Quote from Wikipedia: "The fundamental difference between a financial pyramid and a real business project is the source of income payment. If the amount of income payments consistently exceeds the value added that this business provides, then we can safely say that the project is a pyramid."
So where is the line? If 99% registered only for the sake of earning money in an affiliate program, then this is like a pyramid. And if 80%? what if it's 90%? When will the service cease to be considered a pyramid scheme? It turns out everything is at the discretion of the judge and there is no specifics in the law. The people making their businesses have not read up on the law itself. And what follows from this: using the referral program at the initial stage of development is simply dangerous...