Amazon.com has killed another affiliates program due to proposed legislation that would force the company to collect and pay sales tax in Rhode Island.
The move comes less than a week after Amazon notified its affiliates in North Carolina it would be ending its program there due to similar proposed legislation.
Amazon Ends Relationship with North Carolina Affiliates
North Carolina residents who are Amazon Affiliates recently received an email telling them the company would be ending its relationships with them due to the North Carolina state legislature getting ready to, as Amazon puts it, "enact an unconstitutional tax collection scheme."
What the North Carolina government is proposing would apply sales tax to purchases made through online affiliates based in NC. It has not yet passed.
Amazon Closes NC Affiliate Program, Before Vital Tax Legislation Vote
It appears as though Amazon’s email to affiliates regarding North Carolina’s pending taxes was not a bluff. I just received a follow-up email from the company saying it has decided to shut down its affiliate program in the state, as of today.
Amazon Kindle DX to Ship Soon
Update 2: The Kindle DX will ship on June 10th, a spokesperson for Amazon tells Murdok. "The Kindle DX is currently available for pre-order and all orders are prioritized on a first come, first served
basis," they said.
Update: The Kindle DX is now available for pre-order at Amazon for $489.
Amazon Launches Kindle Store For iPhone
Amazon has introduced a new version of its Kindle Store that is optimized for the Safari Web browser on the iPhone.
In March, Amazon launched an application that makes ebooks sold on its site readable on Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
No More PPC for Amazon Associates
Amazon is ending the payment of referral fees to associates in North America using pay-per-click (PPC) to get traffic. This is effective beginning May 1st.
The change is not temporary. Amazon will not reinstate payment of referral fees to paid search associates. They say the decision to make the change is based on their review of how they invest their advertising resources.
Amazon Launches Used Video Game Trade-In Program
Amazon.com has announced it will allow customers to trade-in used videogames for credit on its site, a move that will challenge game retailer GameStop.
The company has launched Amazon Video Games Trade-In in beta. "Our video game trade-in process is easy. Go to www.amazon.com/tradeingames and discover games that you want to trade among hundreds of titles," the Amazon Game Room’s Blog states.
Shortcovers Could Challenge Amazon’s Kindle
You’ve probably heard a lot of hype about the new Kindle 2 from Amazon that people just started receiving this week. This isn’t the only news in electronic reading materials though. What if you could just get books delivered to your phone? That doesn’t sound too bad, and it’s exactly what Canadian Indigo Books & Music, Inc. is doing with its well-timed release of Shortcovers, which launched today.
Amazon’s Kindle 2: First Images
Amazon’s Kindle 2 has arrived in the hands of those lucky enough to get the early pre-orders. Luckily Murdok was among the first batch of recipients. So let’s take a look at this bad boy.
Amazon Unveils Kindle 2
Rumor had it that Amazon would unveil a new version of its Kindle e-book reader today; pictures of a slim and slick-looking device were already circulating, and Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, had called a press conference in New York. Now, Amazon’s investors and (slightly) late adopters will be happy to hear that the rumor was realized.