This comes courtesy of Len Clements:

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. filed a lawsuit against YTB Travel (YTBLA.OB) yesterday seeking $25 million in fines and restitution, calling it a "gigantic pyramid scheme". The suit was filed against YourTravelBiz.com, a subsidiary of YTB International. The AG’s press release states the lawsuit seeks to, "shut down the company’s unlawful operation before more people are exploited by the scam." The basis for this position, according to the release, is that, "Once enrolled, members who join the pyramid scheme earn compensation for each new person they enlist, regardless of whether they sell any travel." The Attorney General has charged the company and it’s senior management with unfair business practices and false advertising.

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I hear that YTB Travel Associations are in St. Louis for their National Convention this week…that should be interesting.  With nearly 80 percent of company revenue coming from sign ups and agency fees and roughly 15% coming from the sales of actual travel, it is easy to see how YTB is now a target for shut down as a pyramid scheme.

If you are a YTB Travel rep, I know it is difficult to detach yourself from the emotional attachment of thinking that YTB is the key to your dreams and goals, but please try to look at this logically and with some business sense.  I have seen this happen before with a number of companies and they never hardly ever recover.

YTB also made it much more difficult to market online recently, forcing many reps to shut down their successful marketing site or risk immediate termination.

Rumor Mill: Rumors are flying around that YTB is about to remove the MLM component from their plan and go strictly direct sales, which seems far-fetched since the only created 15% of their revenue outside of MLM sign ups.