Byung Kyu Park's Personal Website

I haven’t been following the issue closely (I know, I know, I should be ashamed of myself), but I just got this email from Amazon:

Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2011 16:08:03 +0000 (UTC)
From: “Amazon.com Associates Program” <no-r...@amazon.com>
To: “xxxx...@bkpark.com” <xxxx...@bkpark.com>
Subject: Important Update for California Associates

Hello,

As you may have heard, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation repealing the law that had forced us to terminate our California Associates. We are pleased to invite all California Associates whose accounts were closed due to the prior legislation to re-enroll in the Associates Program.

If you haven’t already re-enrolled, please click here:

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/reinstatement/main.html

When asked to sign in, please use the same email address and password that were previously associated with your Associates account. To make your return to the Program as seamless as possible, when you re-enroll, your account settings (login, Associates ID, payment information, etc.) will be the sam=
e as they were previously.

For further information about re-enrollment, please click here:

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/t48

Best Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/

Well, I guess I’ll enroll today (even though chances are near negligible that I’ll make a buck through the program). I’m hopeful this might be turning tide against tax-hungry states, but this could also be just the eye of the storm: IIRC, Amazon has one year to get Congress to settle Internet sales tax issues (I know, separate from the issue addressed here) before they may have to start collecting tax in CA.

And this time, it theoretically affects me. From my inbox (some personal details redacted, of course):

Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:22:16 +0000 (UTC)
From: “Amazon.com Associates Program” <asso...@amazon.com>
To: “xxxx...@bkpark.com” <xxxx...@bkpark.com>
Subject: Notice of Contract Termination Due to Potential New California Law

Hello,

For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with thousands of California residents. Unfortunately, a potential new law that may be signed by Governor Brown compels us to terminate this program for California-based participants. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers – including but not limited to those referred by California-based marketing affiliates like you – even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It is supported by big-box retailers, most of which are based outside California, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue. We deeply regret that we must take this action.

As a result, we will terminate contracts with all California residents that are participants in the Amazon Associates Program as of the date (if any) that the California law becomes effective. We will send a follow-up notice to you confirming the termination date if the California law is enacted. In the event that the California law does not become effective before September 30, 2011, we withdraw this notice. As of the termination date, California residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com [ http://www.amazon.com/ ], Endless.com [ http://www.endless.com/ ], MYHABIT.COM [ http://www.myhabit.com/ ] or SmallParts.com [ http://www.smallparts.com/ ]. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned on or before the termination date will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of California. If you are not currently a resident of California, or if you are relocating to another state in the near future, you can manage the details of your Associates account here [ https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/your-account/payee-info.html ]. And if you relocate to another state in the near future please contact us [ https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/contact?subject=&ie=UTF8 ] for reinstatement into the Amazon Associates Program.

To avoid confusion, we would like to clarify that this development will only impact our ability to offer the Associates Program to California residents and will not affect their ability to purchase from Amazon.com [ http://www.amazon.com/ ], Endless.com [ http://www.endless.com/ ], MYHABIT.COM [ http://www.myhabit.com/ ] or SmallParts.com [ http://www.smallparts.com/ ].

We have enjoyed working with you and other California-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to California residents. We are also working on alternative ways to help California residents monetize their websites and we will be sure to contact you when these become available.

Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

——————————————————————————

This e-mail was sent to xxxx...@bkpark.com.

Please note that you must use this e-mail address to access your account in Associates Central or when contacting Associates Customer Service.

To manage your e-mail preferences, update your account settings [ http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/your-account/main.html ].

Message Category: Notice of Contract Termination Due to Potential New California Law

(c) 2011 Amazon.com. All rights reserved. Amazon.com is a registered trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. Amazon.com, 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5210, USA.

It theoretically affects me, not practically, because, well, I haven’t made any money through the program (I did try placing a few links on this website ). Well, I hope Amazon wins the war, if not these battles.

P.S. The email is technically copyrighted by Amazon.com; given the public nature, hopefully they don’t mind its publication, but if I take it down in the future … that would be because I received a cease-and-desist letter.

P.P.S. BTW, I technically have an address outside California that I can use … but I don’t think it’ll help; it’s in Connecticut.

I suppose it’s not a very good news for me, but Kindle 2′s price has been cut down once again, to $260. I think there’s an international version (wireless access outside U.S. included, I think) for $280 or something, too.

If anything, this is proof that capitalism works, when there are good capitalists (such as executives at Amazon) around, where there is enough competition (Sony’s new, cheaper readers provide real competition with wireless access, unlike iLiad’s readers, which are too expensive and lacks wireless), and where there is not enough regulation to choke the life out of the market.

Competition will drive price down. We don’t need some sort of “consumer protection agency” forcing companies to charge a fair price. Remove the barriers to entry, and the “exorbitant” profits themselves will be the driving force behind the downward pressure in price—increasing supply, attracted to the good profit, ensures that.

Capitalism works not because of virtues of any one man or organization. It works the same way scientific community works: under the usually held assumptions, there is a self-correcting mechanism in place. In science, it’s the principle of peer review—unless the entire community is rotten to the core, bad research will out itself because no one will be able to reproduce it. In capitalism, it’s the price and competition—any misallocation of resources will correct itself because that precise misallocation is an opportunity for profit (see: international trade) and that profit attracts more competitors, which forces everyone to offer lower price or lose business.

On the other hand, socialism works only when there are benevolent, wise government officials. Are you really willing to take that chance?

In another demonstration of, well, how exercise of copyright control really looks like censorship.

Will they reimburse customers who bought the ebook version, or will they simply say that they have never been charged. You know, the way we’ve been always at war with Eastasia and stimulus is stabilization.

Anyways. I guess I am not buying Kindle until they work out these legal issues. For now, I’ll just … enjoy the irony of Kindle ad on the Slashdot story.