The Lazy Man's way to Owning a Bank
Many individuals believe that owning a "portfolio" of ATM's is a profitable venture, similar to owning a bank. There is at least one group of individuals who believe that one of the operators, Monex, is dishonest in its relationship with its dealers, see their Monex Is A Scam!.
There are three points to be made about both the ATM forum discussion and the website.
First, in Ontario, the sale of distributorships of ATM's would likely fall under the Arthur Wishart (Franchise Disclosure) Act, and so the purchaser or investor should get a disclosure document, which would have to document the true cost of doing business with Monex. Yet not one of the individuals discussing Monex or complaining about Monex appear to be aware of their legal rights.
Second, the website decrying Monex's practices seems, unfortunately, quite similar to many private consumer protection websites, which sprout up like wildflowers after a summers rain and die just ask quickly. The site's owners appear to be content with making essentially one long post and leaving it at that. It certainly is far from clear that Monex is a scam, from these complaints.
Third, and finally, none of the individuals who appear unhappy with Monex are aware of what the Competition Bureau could do, since it enforces misleading advertising in not only in Ontario, but right across Canada.
I am very pro consumer, but there is little or no point in putting up a website, which is apparently over a year old, unless you direct the group of unhappy investors to a viable legal solution or better information about business opportunities.
Technorati Tags: monex, atm forum, franchise disclosure, disclosure act, disclosure document
Comments
Impressive article ... One question: Is posting of a logo/trademark (Monex in case)* in an article/blog such as this one legally okay?
*NB: I mean without written permission from the owner of the logo/trademark.
I personally think it is okay because they published it in the Internet which is after all, a public domain.
Appreciate your comment on this ... Thanks.
Posted by: E. Tan | July 10, 2007 11:56 AM
E. Tan;
Generally, you can reproduce a trademark in order to talk about the goods.
What you cannot do is use the trademark to pass off your goods as somehow related to the trademark.
Posted by: michael webster
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July 10, 2007 7:09 PM