What began as an effort by Republicans to shield affiliate marketers from inclusion in lawsuits against the companies the marketers represent has turned into an outright ban on affiliate marketing by the Democratic majority.

Republicans argue that 72% of affiliate marketers are low-income households who need the additional cash and cannot afford nor should be held responsible for the deficiencies of any products they represent. Democrats argue that 94% of affiliate marketers make less than $20 per year, but use their home-based business as a tax write-off for their Internet connection fees.

Democrats say that affiliate marketing shields companies from false and exaggerated claims made by their affiliates. The companies pass the blame to their affiliates while claiming the lion’s share of the profits. Democrats argue that banning affiliate marketing will increase corporate responsibility.

Republicans argue that companies dump affiliates who do not play by the rules and that affiliate marketing provides an additional income, especially during these harder economic times when families need all the additional income they can get their hands on.

Democrats argue that the tough economic times were caused by the war in Iraq, and the debate digresses into finger pointing and the typical partisan bickering.

At any rate, the Democrats have the upper hand, and the bill has a good chance of passing both houses of Congress. Democrats expect Bush to veto the bill, but are confident they have enough votes to override a veto.

In a move that surprises few, John McCain has sided with the Democrats while Hillary Clinton has sided with Republicans. On the other hand, Barack Obama claims not to have seen the questionnaire on which he hand-wrote his response.

To learn more about this legislation, which could impact many bloggers and websites, click here. Be sure to write your Congressman as, at this point, only a grassroots effort has any hope of stopping this devastating bill.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 9:48 am and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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