Though I doubt this program will have widespread acceptance from general surfers, I think they have hurt their chances by using this program as a consumer tracking device. Nobody likes that.

Wired article [wired.com] about the tracking situation.

I think amazon probably started this program just for the sales of the data. The 15% cut is probably not much more than the cost of administration of the program.

Even if the user never donates, any user who has purchased/registered at amazon will be tracked at every site that is in the program, provided their amazon cookie hasn't been deleted.

That is quite an asset if they pull this off, considering the approximate 30 million members.

ComScore, which runs netsetter, has reported they have 1.3 million members, and sells the same type of data. They pay affiliates $4 per lead for this data, which (to me) suggests they can probably make $15-$20 for each user.

If this campaign takes off, the revenue they could generate selling that data would dwarf the 15% cut of donations.

Here [seattle.internet.com] Amazon tries to defend the scrutiny of the tracking, pointing to their Honor System FAQ [s1.amazon.com]. Looking at the last paragraph in the FAQ, it seems to me they are basically saying they don't track the user personally/individually. They don't say they aren't tracking surfing habits. ComScore does the same thing, doesn't track users personally, just tracks their online habits. Interesting.