Chad's News

Amazon has an affiliate program where members refer traffic to Amazon for specific products. The members get a percentage of sales made by the referrals. Regular Chad’s News readers will recall that New York state recently decided that an in-state affiliate was sufficient cause to require Amazon to collect state sales taxes on purchases by New York residents. Amazon is challenging this in court as being unconstitutional, but is collecting the tax in the meantime.

Now North Carolina is in the process of changing its tax laws, such that anything purchased through Amazon affiliates in that state would be subject to sales tax. Amazon has preemptively responded to this by shutting down its affiliates in North Carolina. This is an overreaction on the part of Amazon, but the company is very serious about not having to collect sales tax for states in which it doesn’t have a physical presence. State legislatures, however, are reasonably upset over the loss of significant tax revenue to internet retailers. Residents are supposed to voluntarily pay “use taxes” on internet purchases, but that rarely happens.

How this will all end is anyone’s guess. Amazon is up for the fight, however, and the final outcome will be decided in court.

Link #1: http://www.news-record.com/…
(via Slashdot)

Link #2: http://www.news-record.com/…
(via The Consumerist)

Update: Amazon has banned Rhode Island affiliates as well.

This was discussed on a local radio station. As part of the annexation of Texas into the United States, Texas was allowed the option of dividing itself into smaller states at an unspecified future date. As the linked article notes, however, any state can split up, provided it follows proper procedures.

Link: http://www.snopes.com/…

On May 11th, the price of a first-class stamp will rise to 44¢. The linked article suggests that you stock up on forever stamps. As for me, I’m still going through my 41¢ Yoda stamps.

Link: http://consumerist.com/…

Update: The Presurfer clued me in to this site, which simply displays the current price of a USPS first-class stamp.

The linked article lists the major effects that the stimulus bill will have on everyday Americans. There’s some pretty good stuff. Of note:

• Tax credits in 2009 and 2010
• Subsidies for COBRA premiums
• Higher unemployment payments, for a longer period of time, with less tax
• New vehicle taxes are deductible

Link: http://consumerist.com/…

Here’s a direct quote from Mayor Frank Melton of Jackson, MS: “I certainly respect the Constitution, but we have some issues that are much bigger than the Constitution.” He’s referring to an executive order banning saggy pants. No, really.

Link: http://www.clarionledger.com/…
(via Neatorama)

January was a good month for class action lawsuit settlements. Some of them have very broad participation requirements.

• Apple iPod Nano scratches
• Dell computers
• Bank of America overdrafts
• Vonage fax service

New Zealand will be implementing a new section of its copyright law, aimed at file sharers. Guilt will be assumed upon accusation. The penalty will be to disconnect the user’s internet service. This reminds me to be thankful for the Bill of Rights.

Link: http://torrentfreak.com/…
(via Slashdot)

Update: New Zealand has changed its mind.

Because the borders of a country are special cases, the U.S. Government is allowed more flexibility in border zone searches and seizures than is normally permitted by the 4th Amendment of the Constitution. For this purpose, the border zone of the U.S. is defined as anything within 100 miles of its external boundary. This doesn’t sound that bad, until one realizes that it encompasses two-thirds of the U.S. population.

Link: http://www.aclu.org/…
(via digg)

The Australian government will be implementing a nation-wide internet filtering system, to prevent its citizens from accessing illegal content. Concerns have been raised over the possibility that, with such a mechanism in place, it would be all too easy for the government to filter legal content that it deems inappropriate. And this appears to be exactly what is happening. At times like this I’m thankful for the Bill of Rights.

Link: http://www.news.com.au/…
(via Slashdot)

Here’s a way to get a two-for-one deal on airline seats. It appears that Canada officially considers obesity to be a disability.

Thanks to Josh for this topic.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/…

And I always thought it was because they were too out of touch with technology.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

Update: Turns out that he may be keeping his Blackberry after all.

Update #2: Yes he can.

In the UK, suspected criminals are required to provide their encryption keys to law enforcement officials, even if the unencrypted data would be incriminating. From the linked article, “In the decision, the Court stated that although there was a right to not self-incriminate, this was not absolute, and that the ‘public interest’ can supersede this right in some circumstances.” All I can say is thank God for the Bill of Rights. (Chad’s New has previously covered the UK’s use of ubiquitous surveillance cameras.)

Link: http://arstechnica.com/…