The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Why Are the Feds Monitoring Me?

Posted on | October 18, 2019 | 2 Comments

Email from Amazon:

Hello Associate,
This is a reminder of your disclosure obligations under the Operating Agreement. Any time you share an affiliate link, it’s important to disclose that to your audience. They will trust you more if you are transparent about where you are directing them and why. To meet the Associate Program’s requirements, you must (1) include a legally compliant disclosure with your links and (2) identify yourself on your Site as an Amazon Associate with the language required by the Operating Agreement. To comply with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations, your link-level disclosure must be:1. Clear. A clear disclosure could be as simple as “(paid link)”, “#ad” or “#CommissionsEarned”.2. Conspicuous. It should be placed near any affiliate link or product review in a location that customers will notice easily. They shouldn’t have to hunt for it.In addition, the Operating Agreement requires that the following statement clearly and conspicuously appears on your Site: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” For social media user-generated content, this statement must be associated with your account.Associates should also consider the relevant social media platform’s guidelines. For example, Associates may use Facebook’s Branded Content tool. To read more about the FTC Endorsement Guides, visit: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking#affiliate. Visit this page on AC to bookmark this information about disclosures.
Thank you, Amazon Associates Program

What exactly the hell is a “legally compliant disclosure”? In case anyone doesn’t understand, under the Amazon Associates program, anytime you visit Amazon through my links here, I get a small commission (at no cost to you) on every purchase you make during that visit. Because I’ve always been “transparent” — hey, give me your money, this is a capitalist blog! — I can’t imagine any reader feels they have been deceived when I do an affiliate link (usually to a book title) on the blog. But now, apparently, somebody went and got the doggone Federal Government involved, and I’m supposed to include an officially-approved “disclosure” on every single link? What the hell is the point of electing Donald Trump president if he can’t put a stop to this kind of meddlesome regulation? It’s not like I’ve been defrauding my readers or doing some kind of shady scam here.

Anyway, now I’m going to have to read the fine print on my Operating Agreement now, but you’d better believe some of my friends in the Trump administration will get an earful about this. I pay taxes on my income, and I don’t expect my tax money to be used to pay a bunch of pointy-head bureaucrats at the FTC to monitor my blog!


 

Category: Amazon

Comments

2 Responses to “Why Are the Feds Monitoring Me?”

  1. This is the weekend linkage. – Dark Brightness
    October 19th, 2019 @ 6:55 am

    […] are used against you. Wise people ducktalk there. The government is monitoring what you do, and has weaponized social media to do it. (Another reason this is self […]

  2. Sunday Linkage « Bacon Time !!!!!!
    October 20th, 2019 @ 9:52 am

    […] The Other McCain:  Why Are the Feds Monitoring Me? […]