AUTHOR: Jim Edwards
DATE: 4/15/2004 09:20:40 AM
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BODY:
Here's a copy of the email I sent to my affiliates yesterday....

Jim Edwards here from <a href="http://www.ebookfire.com">www.ebookfire.com </a>Affiliate Program
with an unhappy announcement :-(

Time is short... and this is so important... that you must
read every word of this update!

Unless we act now, there is a very good chance my affiliate
program (and your opportunity to earn affiliate
commissions) will go straight down the tubes.

Here's the story...

By now you've no doubht heard of the "CAN-Spam" Act
intended to cut down on all the unsolicited email on the
web.

What you probably don't know is that one of the aspects of
the law that's still under review by the FTC involves
"suppression" lists.

Now why should you care about this?

.... simple! Because, as I read it, this law will render 
affiliate marketing useless for both merchants AND 
affiliates. 

Now, I'm not a lawyer (didn't play one on TV either), but
as I have read it -- and based on the information I have 
gathered from reading and from people who know -- here's
the bottom line problem for all of us... 

If one consumer tells one affiliate or merchant that they 
never want to hear about a particular product (brand) EVER 
again, then EVERY affiliate AND the merchant must remove 
that consumer from their list whenever advertising that 
product. 

The question on your mind should be "How in the #$%^ would
that work? 

Answer: Go to MySuppressionList.com and take a look... I
for one don't see how you or I will be able to deal with it.

If the FTC interprets CAN-Spam strictly and enforces the 
use of "suppression" lists with affiliate programs it will 
make it virtually impossible for us to do business! 

Bottom-line: if they do this, I honestly don't see 
how any of us will be able to market through affiliate 
programs for much longer and I will most likely be forced
to shut down the eBookFire.com affiliate program :-( 

You might be asking "Why haven't I heard about this before
and is it too late to do anything about it?" 

Answer: Because at this stage, though the law has passed,
the interpretation and implementation of it by the FTC is
still open for comment, we can do something about it... but
we only have until April 20th to act.

My good friend, Marlon Sanders, had made it super easy for
all of us to take action. He's set up a website that 
explains how to respond to this crisis.

Please go to Marlon's site right now and follow the
instructions there (he's made it real easy).

=> <a href="http://www.yousubscribed.com/canspam/">http://www.yousubscribed.com/canspam/</a>

If you want additional information on this issue, here are
some links to help you.

Another buddy, Paul Myers, has very clearly covered the
problems of suppression lists in his blog
=> <a href="http://www.talkbiz.net">http://www.talkbiz.net</a>

If you want it straight from the horse's mouth, go see
links on the actual ftc website 
<a href="http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/04/canspam.htm">http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/04/canspam.htm </a>
<a href="http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/canspam.htm">http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/canspam.htm </a>

Let's get into action now!

Jim

PS - Understand that it is NOT TOO LATE to comment, but it
certainly will be too late after April 20th

Go here now
=> <a href="http://www.yousubscribed.com/canspam/">http://www.yousubscribed.com/canspam/</a>

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