dibbern2 - 6:24 pm on Jan 7, 2011 (gmt 0)

The brainiacs in our state legislature passed a bunch of new tax levies yesterday. Both houses voted yes, and our Governor is scheduled to sign the bills today. This is all part of a lame-duck session that is trying to deal with the massive debt Illinois is carrying as we enter the new year.

One of the new taxes -called the Internet Sales Tax Bill, and referred to in short as 'The Amazon bill'-- is similiar to taxing schemes set up in New York, Rhode Island, and Colorado.

Amazon sent email notices this morning that it will cancel all assoctiate accounts within Illinois when this new measure becomes law.

I have a small associate business with Amazon, and am unhappy to see this minor part of my business go away.

On a much more serious note, however, I am concerned with how Google will react. On one level, I have a serious involvement with several marketers through the Google Affiliate Network. Whats going to happen?

Even more scary, though, is how this might effect AdSense.

You might think at first "well Amazon is involved in selling things through its Affiliates, and AdSense is not, it's commisions on advertising." But before you take that opinion, remember that Amazon classifies its affiliate payments as advertising fees.

Any ideas or comments?