Is it possible to get a free iPod off the internet?
As far as I have been able to tell, the Free iPod schemes, as well as other related free merchandise schemes, are based on variants of the straight-line matrix scheme. (See http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/55870 ) The only difference is that instead of paying money to join the scheme, you participate in various promotional offers, intended to sell you other goods and services. The companies that sell these goods and services pay your entry into the straight-line matrix in exchange for the value in advertising to you and obligating you to buy their products. Apparently, the fact that you are participating in these promotions instead of simply paying money to join these schemes makes them nominally legal. Nevertheless, they are still dishonest and unethical, inasmuch as you are led to believe that you have a very good chance of receiving the promised prize, when, in fact, you have only a very slim chance of receiving it. These schemes have lately been a driving force behind a lot of e
