Rhode Island Affiliates Banned From Amazon.com Sales

Rand Huck writes "Amazon.com has now added Rhode Island to its blacklist of affiliates in response to its proposed budget changes to enforce a tax on Internet sales, which includes commissions on their affiliate program by content providers based in Rhode Island. The first state to be blacklisted was North Carolina, for the same reason. If you go to a Rhode Island-based or North Carolina-based website that advertises Amazon.com goods as an affiliate, that website will no longer have the goods available because otherwise Amazon.com would be forced to pay sales tax to the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations or the State of North Carolina. The state's rationale is, if someone clicks to buy a good from Amazon.com via a site based in Rhode Island, it's equivalent to buying a good from a brick and mortar chain store located in Rhode Island."

Comments

Hopefully it will cut down on affiliate-link spam

[tomhudson]

Let all the states do this. There's too much affiliate-link spam going on already. Kill 2 birds with one stone - lower spam AND help fix the budget deficits.

The only ones complaining are the affiliates and Amazon - but they're the source of the problem to begin with. Let them pay their fair share of taxes, so that others don't have to pay more than their share to make up for it.

Re:Hopefully it will cut down on affiliate-link sp

[Animats]

Agreed. The whole "affiliate" business is mostly slimeballs now, anyway. After all, you can still buy the product. It's just that the spammer with the "affiliate" site doesn't get paid.

Re:Hopefully it will cut down on affiliate-link sp

[tomhudson]

Taxing more things is not a fix for a budget deficit. You don't give a coke addict more coke because they're going through withdrawals. All 50 states need to learn to balance their budgets by *gasp* spending less money.

State revenues have fallen through the floor. California how has the worst credit record around, and on July 2nd will start issuing IOUs instead of cutting cheques, because they're out of money.

They have to do this because lenders won't take California IOUs (bonds) because California can't raise taxes enough, thanks to Proposition 13.

The federal government also has to raise taxes ... half the budget is IOUs, and lenders are starting to make noises about wanting their loans counted in yuan or euros, and not greenbacks. The accumulated deficit will be between $20 Trillion and $25 Trillion by 2016 - everyone agrees it's not sustainable, and that taxes will have to rise.

They are consuming MY AIR SUPPLY

[tjstork]

They already do, considering that they're consuming approximately 0% of the state's resources.

If it wasn't for Amazon's giant warehouse, my tomatoes would be in season much, earlier.

Those thieves. Give me some money!

Re:Hopefully it will cut down on affiliate-link sp

[Johnny Mnemonic]

We did. And then Bush took office and fucked everything up, again. Finally, we have a Democrat that is our only chance at a balanced budget.