The most comprehensive treatment on the topic I've come across so far is the opinion authored by Canadian Associate Chief Justice John Rooke of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta in Meads v. Meads. Here's a brief summary of the opinion. He uses the term Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (OPCA) as a catchall term for the variations that pop up. but it doesn't seem to have caught on yet.

As far as an answer to your question -- who started it? It appears to be as unanswerable as asking who started any other number of conspiracy theories. J. Rooke identifies a number of "gurus", who seem to be the origin of most current OPCA rhetoric.

OPCA arguments seem to appeal to people of certain common characteristics. However because the characteristics of OPCA arguments are fairly widespread, in some areas they simply overlap with losing legal arguments and interpretations. In other areas they seem to overlap with the kind of magical thinking that can be found in the magical incantations cataloged in Frazer's The Golden Bough, or even in more mainstream religious beliefs in the power of specific words of prayer.