As a former Fed and well known network marketing industry leader with a consulting practice with a prominent former Attorney General who used to prosecute people for being involved in illegal money games like these, I think I know a lot more about the legality of programs like these than you do..
Many of the ringleaders of these types of programs point to various statutes and then misconstrue them, especially the IRS codes, and just because you report any money received on your tax return (which many don't) does not make the program itself legal!
There is a big difference between giving someone a gift versus "gifting." When you give someone a normal gift, like a birthday present, you aren't expecting anything in return at the time you give them the gift!
Gifting deals are all predicated upon the intended receipt of money from others, which has 2 legal problems: first, the only thing changing hands his money (hence the classification as a "money game") and second, a quid pro quo is involved.
If you didn't think you were going to receive any money in return, there's no way you'd send people money, especially people you don't know!
Yes, I would highly advise going to the FTC website...I would also recommend visiting the website of your state Attorney General as many have warnings about programs like this...
You evidently don't watch TV much (60 minutes has done stories on the illegality of programs like this) and there are numerous news stories all over the Internet about programs like these being shut down and people being prosecuted, fined, even jailed for participation..
Several hundred women were recently prosecuted in the state of Texas for participation in a program similar to this one! I would suggest that come down here and tell them that you will get their convictions and fines overturned (I'm sure they'd be more than happy to give you a percentage) and then turn around and sue the state of Texas for wrongful prosecution and make millions of dollars! You'd make a lot more money on that than gifting, but of course we know that there's now way you would undertake such an endeavor because programs like these aren't legal and you'd be laughed out of the state of Texas..
I woud suggest doing a search online from different news sources instead of listening to nut jobs on the Internet and just because there are people doing this doesn't mean that it's legal...
The fact is there are so many of these types of deals out there the authorities can't get to them fast enough. The FTC in the past several years has shut down over 200 of these types of programs, so the mere fact that you are involved with one that hasn't been hit yet does not mean 1) that the program is legal nor 2) that they won't get hit by regulators in the future..
I would highly recommend investing your time in a legitimate home based business opportunity...