I came across 2 websites that are PTS (paid to surf) programs - Studio Traffic (www.studiotraffic.com) and 4Daily (www.4daily.com). It seems that people are getting paid so I'm not going to ask the question of does it work because it seems like it does (at least for now). What I wanted to ask was more along legal lines. I believe it is unlawful to run a ponzi or a pyramid scheme in the USA (both companies are operated outside the USA) but they maintain that their operation isn't governed by ponzi or pyramid tactics. Also, the payment processsors they use (StormPay, Moneybookers, e-gold) don't allow money transfers by companies running ponzi or pyramids and those processors let both of them know that their respective companies were ok and they were willing to work with them since they (the processors) deemed those 2 companies were not ponzi or pyramid-run organizations after some evaluation. So here are my questions/issues.

1. Since they both claim they are neither ponzi or pyramid and work with payment processors which don't approve of those schemes (further strengthening their claim), if I were to hypothetically become a member and become a part of it, would I be liable for penalties/jail time if those schemes were later determined to be ponzi or pyramids? Since I was A)told it was neither, B)since the companies operate outside the USA, C)since they generate revenue (at least partly) by paid advertisements and other sister programs (Studio Traffic has some other sister programs which supposedly brings in revenue), would I be ok as long as I file taxes (make the IRS and government happy) for money I earn through surfing advertisements?

2. Even if hypothetically (just to cover the other side of the coin), let's say this is a ponzi or pyramid (which may or may not be). In the FAQs and their respective Terms of Service pages, they let the potential member know that there is no guarantee of earnings nor that you will make a profit and a few more statements along those lines. Having said that, can these organizations in any way be considered scams (even if it were a ponzi or pyramid) since they never ever promise you will always come out on top? I guess I'm delving into ethical issues here since people say it is immoral to take other people's money and pay it out to others (if this really is a ponzi or pyramid, that is). Of course, robbery is just that, but this seems more like getting a lotto ticket and hoping for the best lol - the entrant is made aware there are no guarantees. The point is, the potential member is made aware of the risks and if he/she gets burned (if the companies were to collapse before they got a payout or broke even), then that person took the risk. And no, when I mean company shutting down, I don't mean them running off with the money, but if they were to fall due to loss in revenue from their sources.