I live in North Carolina. It’s a pretty state. You get a taste of the winter months but you don’t get a lot of winter weather per se. Sure the summers are hot but that’s what air conditioning is for. Overall, it’s a great place to live and raise a family.
That is except for the state government and their attempts to collect taxes on online purchases made from Amazon. They have already pushed Amazon far enough that the online retailing giant ended its affiliate programs with North Carolina residents in 2009 thus depriving residents of the chance to bring money into the state that would be spent in the state and would give some ailing jobless folks a chance at survival. Nice move!
Apparently, Big Brother is alive and well in the Tar Heel state as well since the state government has been trying to get detailed purchase information from Amazon which would include names and addresses of those making purchases from 2003 to 2010. Fortunately, a federal judge has called the state on its draconian efforts and handed them a major setback in federal court yesterday. cnet reports:
In a victory for the free speech and privacy rights of Amazon.com customers, a federal judge ruled today that the company would not have to turn over detailed records on nearly 50 million purchases to North Carolina tax collectors.
The state had demanded sensitive information including names and addresses of North Carolina customers–and information about exactly what they had purchased between 2003 and 2010.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Washington state said that request went too far and “runs afoul of the First Amendment.” She granted Amazon summary judgment.
The Tar Heel State’s tax collectors have “no legitimate need” for details about the literary, music, and film habits of so many Amazon customers,” Pechman wrote. “In spite of this, (North Carolina) refuses to give up the detailed information about Amazon’s customers’ purchases, while at the same time requesting the identities of the customers and, arguably, detailed records of their purchases, including the expressive content.”
With privacy victories coming too few and far between these days at least we can feel like someone is paying attention and not letting the government run rough shod over privacy while squashing commerce in the process.
I suspect that the state feels they have good reasons for doing what they are doing. They will say that the taxes they want to collect will help the state. Pardon my cynicism, but if the affiliate money that was once coming onto the hands of the residents were turned back on that would REALLY help the state.
At the heart of this ruling though is privacy.
In addition, the ACLU intervened in the lawsuit asking for an even broader injunction against the tax collectors. They wanted Amazon to be prohibited from disclosing customer purchases without a subpoena, which the court did not grant.
In general, as Amazon stressed in its lawsuit, purchases of books, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and other media enjoy special privacy protections.
So what is the North Carolina government trying to do here? At the core, it’s trying to collect taxes from both Amazon and its citizens because of online purchases. In the process, it is killing an avenue for commerce in the state and appearing as if it wants more data on its residents in a time when that is not considered such a good thing. I don’t get it.
In the end the state is only hurting itself though because as people learn about these attempts they will maybe stop short of saying they will set up a business in the Tar Heel state for fear of too much government intrusion. Sadly, no one wins in that scenario.
What’s your take on the idea of taxing online purchases? It’s an old story but one that will likely get more attention in these days of scarce money. Have you been impacted by rulings like this in any other states? What’s worse, more taxes or invasion of privacy to collect them?
Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!
When you think of social shopping, you likely envision the group buying phenomenon made popular by Groupon and LivingSocial. But there are dozens of other services out there that offer a social experience for consumers looking for products and services. We’ve compiled a list of five social shopping services that you’ve never heard of, so you can get a taste of the variety of ways you can buy online.
DoTogether
The DoTogether Mall is integrated into Facebook, making it easy for consumers to purchase products and services without having to visit third-party sites. After installing the Mall on your Facebook account, you can browse thousands of products in dozens of categories. And the great thing about this social shopping experience is that you can invite your Facebook friends in on the action, getting their opinion of that blouse or laptop you’re considering buying.
Snatter
Snatter’s premise is simple: find an offer, post your status, get a discount. They leverage people’s existing social networks to spread the word about the products, services and deals they offer, while giving consumers who share via Twitter or Facebook a discount in return. The discounts aren’t necessarily as deep as group buying social shopping sites, but they include things like 10% off home decor, $5 off orders of $25 or more of baby toys, and 15% off organic bamboo t-shirts.
myShopanion
myShopanion is a mobile app for the iPhone that offers social features to brick-and-mortar shopping. Users who are out and about can scan barcodes or perform keyword searches to find out what others are saying about that particular product. They can also use the app to connect with their friends across social networks and get real-time advice. And lastly, shoppers can use the app to compare prices of the product they are considering purchasing, to find the best deal out there.
Stuffpit
Stuffpit incentivizes social shopping by offering consumers money for recommending products to their friends. Consumers can add their favorite products or deals to Stuffpit, and then recommend them via an affiliate link on their social networks. Earning commission for sharing online deals is a great way to make social shopping both fun and lucrative, and although Stuffpit isn’t the only service to offer this feature, it is a successful model.
DealRadar
DealRadar is a group buying aggregator. It combs through dozens of daily deal and group buying sites and compiles all the deals in one place. This is useful if you find yourself spending half an hour every morning flipping from bookmarked daily deals site to daily deals site to find something that piques your interest. The Toronto offerings on DealRadar, for instance, includes 18 separate sites with the deals categorized into “Beauty & Spas”, “Food & Drink”, “Fitness & Nutrition” and more.
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger
I live in North Carolina. It’s a pretty state. You get a taste of the winter months but you don’t get a lot of winter weather per se. Sure the summers are hot but that’s what air conditioning is for. Overall, it’s a great place to live and raise a family.
That is except for the state government and their attempts to collect taxes on online purchases made from Amazon. They have already pushed Amazon far enough that the online retailing giant ended its affiliate programs with North Carolina residents in 2009 thus depriving residents of the chance to bring money into the state that would be spent in the state and would give some ailing jobless folks a chance at survival. Nice move!
Apparently, Big Brother is alive and well in the Tar Heel state as well since the state government has been trying to get detailed purchase information from Amazon which would include names and addresses of those making purchases from 2003 to 2010. Fortunately, a federal judge has called the state on its draconian efforts and handed them a major setback in federal court yesterday. cnet reports:
In a victory for the free speech and privacy rights of Amazon.com customers, a federal judge ruled today that the company would not have to turn over detailed records on nearly 50 million purchases to North Carolina tax collectors.
The state had demanded sensitive information including names and addresses of North Carolina customers–and information about exactly what they had purchased between 2003 and 2010.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Washington state said that request went too far and “runs afoul of the First Amendment.” She granted Amazon summary judgment.
The Tar Heel State’s tax collectors have “no legitimate need” for details about the literary, music, and film habits of so many Amazon customers,” Pechman wrote. “In spite of this, (North Carolina) refuses to give up the detailed information about Amazon’s customers’ purchases, while at the same time requesting the identities of the customers and, arguably, detailed records of their purchases, including the expressive content.”
With privacy victories coming too few and far between these days at least we can feel like someone is paying attention and not letting the government run rough shod over privacy while squashing commerce in the process.
I suspect that the state feels they have good reasons for doing what they are doing. They will say that the taxes they want to collect will help the state. Pardon my cynicism, but if the affiliate money that was once coming onto the hands of the residents were turned back on that would REALLY help the state.
At the heart of this ruling though is privacy.
In addition, the ACLU intervened in the lawsuit asking for an even broader injunction against the tax collectors. They wanted Amazon to be prohibited from disclosing customer purchases without a subpoena, which the court did not grant.
In general, as Amazon stressed in its lawsuit, purchases of books, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and other media enjoy special privacy protections.
So what is the North Carolina government trying to do here? At the core, it’s trying to collect taxes from both Amazon and its citizens because of online purchases. In the process, it is killing an avenue for commerce in the state and appearing as if it wants more data on its residents in a time when that is not considered such a good thing. I don’t get it.
In the end the state is only hurting itself though because as people learn about these attempts they will maybe stop short of saying they will set up a business in the Tar Heel state for fear of too much government intrusion. Sadly, no one wins in that scenario.
What’s your take on the idea of taxing online purchases? It’s an old story but one that will likely get more attention in these days of scarce money. Have you been impacted by rulings like this in any other states? What’s worse, more taxes or invasion of privacy to collect them?
Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!
When you think of social shopping, you likely envision the group buying phenomenon made popular by Groupon and LivingSocial. But there are dozens of other services out there that offer a social experience for consumers looking for products and services. We’ve compiled a list of five social shopping services that you’ve never heard of, so you can get a taste of the variety of ways you can buy online.
DoTogether
The DoTogether Mall is integrated into Facebook, making it easy for consumers to purchase products and services without having to visit third-party sites. After installing the Mall on your Facebook account, you can browse thousands of products in dozens of categories. And the great thing about this social shopping experience is that you can invite your Facebook friends in on the action, getting their opinion of that blouse or laptop you’re considering buying.
Snatter
Snatter’s premise is simple: find an offer, post your status, get a discount. They leverage people’s existing social networks to spread the word about the products, services and deals they offer, while giving consumers who share via Twitter or Facebook a discount in return. The discounts aren’t necessarily as deep as group buying social shopping sites, but they include things like 10% off home decor, $5 off orders of $25 or more of baby toys, and 15% off organic bamboo t-shirts.
myShopanion
myShopanion is a mobile app for the iPhone that offers social features to brick-and-mortar shopping. Users who are out and about can scan barcodes or perform keyword searches to find out what others are saying about that particular product. They can also use the app to connect with their friends across social networks and get real-time advice. And lastly, shoppers can use the app to compare prices of the product they are considering purchasing, to find the best deal out there.
Stuffpit
Stuffpit incentivizes social shopping by offering consumers money for recommending products to their friends. Consumers can add their favorite products or deals to Stuffpit, and then recommend them via an affiliate link on their social networks. Earning commission for sharing online deals is a great way to make social shopping both fun and lucrative, and although Stuffpit isn’t the only service to offer this feature, it is a successful model.
DealRadar
DealRadar is a group buying aggregator. It combs through dozens of daily deal and group buying sites and compiles all the deals in one place. This is useful if you find yourself spending half an hour every morning flipping from bookmarked daily deals site to daily deals site to find something that piques your interest. The Toronto offerings on DealRadar, for instance, includes 18 separate sites with the deals categorized into “Beauty & Spas”, “Food & Drink”, “Fitness & Nutrition” and more.
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger
I live in North Carolina. It’s a pretty state. You get a taste of the winter months but you don’t get a lot of winter weather per se. Sure the summers are hot but that’s what air conditioning is for. Overall, it’s a great place to live and raise a family.
That is except for the state government and their attempts to collect taxes on online purchases made from Amazon. They have already pushed Amazon far enough that the online retailing giant ended its affiliate programs with North Carolina residents in 2009 thus depriving residents of the chance to bring money into the state that would be spent in the state and would give some ailing jobless folks a chance at survival. Nice move!
Apparently, Big Brother is alive and well in the Tar Heel state as well since the state government has been trying to get detailed purchase information from Amazon which would include names and addresses of those making purchases from 2003 to 2010. Fortunately, a federal judge has called the state on its draconian efforts and handed them a major setback in federal court yesterday. cnet reports:
In a victory for the free speech and privacy rights of Amazon.com customers, a federal judge ruled today that the company would not have to turn over detailed records on nearly 50 million purchases to North Carolina tax collectors.
The state had demanded sensitive information including names and addresses of North Carolina customers–and information about exactly what they had purchased between 2003 and 2010.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Washington state said that request went too far and “runs afoul of the First Amendment.” She granted Amazon summary judgment.
The Tar Heel State’s tax collectors have “no legitimate need” for details about the literary, music, and film habits of so many Amazon customers,” Pechman wrote. “In spite of this, (North Carolina) refuses to give up the detailed information about Amazon’s customers’ purchases, while at the same time requesting the identities of the customers and, arguably, detailed records of their purchases, including the expressive content.”
With privacy victories coming too few and far between these days at least we can feel like someone is paying attention and not letting the government run rough shod over privacy while squashing commerce in the process.
I suspect that the state feels they have good reasons for doing what they are doing. They will say that the taxes they want to collect will help the state. Pardon my cynicism, but if the affiliate money that was once coming onto the hands of the residents were turned back on that would REALLY help the state.
At the heart of this ruling though is privacy.
In addition, the ACLU intervened in the lawsuit asking for an even broader injunction against the tax collectors. They wanted Amazon to be prohibited from disclosing customer purchases without a subpoena, which the court did not grant.
In general, as Amazon stressed in its lawsuit, purchases of books, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and other media enjoy special privacy protections.
So what is the North Carolina government trying to do here? At the core, it’s trying to collect taxes from both Amazon and its citizens because of online purchases. In the process, it is killing an avenue for commerce in the state and appearing as if it wants more data on its residents in a time when that is not considered such a good thing. I don’t get it.
In the end the state is only hurting itself though because as people learn about these attempts they will maybe stop short of saying they will set up a business in the Tar Heel state for fear of too much government intrusion. Sadly, no one wins in that scenario.
What’s your take on the idea of taxing online purchases? It’s an old story but one that will likely get more attention in these days of scarce money. Have you been impacted by rulings like this in any other states? What’s worse, more taxes or invasion of privacy to collect them?
Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!
When you think of social shopping, you likely envision the group buying phenomenon made popular by Groupon and LivingSocial. But there are dozens of other services out there that offer a social experience for consumers looking for products and services. We’ve compiled a list of five social shopping services that you’ve never heard of, so you can get a taste of the variety of ways you can buy online.
DoTogether
The DoTogether Mall is integrated into Facebook, making it easy for consumers to purchase products and services without having to visit third-party sites. After installing the Mall on your Facebook account, you can browse thousands of products in dozens of categories. And the great thing about this social shopping experience is that you can invite your Facebook friends in on the action, getting their opinion of that blouse or laptop you’re considering buying.
Snatter
Snatter’s premise is simple: find an offer, post your status, get a discount. They leverage people’s existing social networks to spread the word about the products, services and deals they offer, while giving consumers who share via Twitter or Facebook a discount in return. The discounts aren’t necessarily as deep as group buying social shopping sites, but they include things like 10% off home decor, $5 off orders of $25 or more of baby toys, and 15% off organic bamboo t-shirts.
myShopanion
myShopanion is a mobile app for the iPhone that offers social features to brick-and-mortar shopping. Users who are out and about can scan barcodes or perform keyword searches to find out what others are saying about that particular product. They can also use the app to connect with their friends across social networks and get real-time advice. And lastly, shoppers can use the app to compare prices of the product they are considering purchasing, to find the best deal out there.
Stuffpit
Stuffpit incentivizes social shopping by offering consumers money for recommending products to their friends. Consumers can add their favorite products or deals to Stuffpit, and then recommend them via an affiliate link on their social networks. Earning commission for sharing online deals is a great way to make social shopping both fun and lucrative, and although Stuffpit isn’t the only service to offer this feature, it is a successful model.
DealRadar
DealRadar is a group buying aggregator. It combs through dozens of daily deal and group buying sites and compiles all the deals in one place. This is useful if you find yourself spending half an hour every morning flipping from bookmarked daily deals site to daily deals site to find something that piques your interest. The Toronto offerings on DealRadar, for instance, includes 18 separate sites with the deals categorized into “Beauty & Spas”, “Food & Drink”, “Fitness & Nutrition” and more.
eric seiger
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
So you have decided you want to make money online, guess what? It IS possible! Whether you need a little extra money each month or you want to make a full time living on the Internet, you can do it with just a few simple steps! There is this awesome website called Click Bank.
At Click Bank you have the opportunity to do two different things! The first thing is to publish and sell your own e book. Not all of us feel we are capable of writing an e book, hence money maker number two! You can actually sell OTHER people's product and make a commission from each sale. Below I've listed the steps you can take to start making money online, selling other people's products through click bank!
Step One ~ Sign Up!
It is FREE and easy to sign up at Click Bank! Simply go to their website, clickbank.com, and click on "Become An Affiliate". Then follow the simple steps given to sign up.
Step Two ~ The Marketplace
The marketplace offers over 10,000 products to choose from that will all pay you up to SEVENTY FIVE percent commission! Spend some time browsing the types of products you think you would like to sell and make sure to view the pitch page. Once you have found the products you want to sell, click "create hop link" and type in your user name, be sure to write down or save in a file all of the hop links you are given, you will need these later!!
Step Three ~ Advertise!!
This is the big one! You absolutely need to advertise. There are thousands of ways to advertise free on the internet and it will not cost you a single penny to start your advertising campaign. Join groups on yahoo, msn or aol, get a blog like, My space or Blogger and designate it just for your review of products and of course do not forget to add your hop links, that way people can click them and go directly to your affiliate site and purchase from you! Make sure you update your blogs and advertise with your groups EVERY DAY!! The more you update, the more often search engines will pick them up.
See, it's that easy! But the main thing is to update your blogs and advertise every single day, even if it is only for an a hour a day! Give it a few weeks and you will be making money!
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
Meanwhile, also in the <b>news</b>…
This entry was posted in News and tagged alex carlile, david anderson, harrogate council, mike gardner. Bookmark the permalink or use the short url http://ldv.org.uk/22006 for twitter and emails. Follow any comments here with the RSS ...
Wednesday Morning Fly By: NHL and Phantoms <b>News</b> - Broad Street Hockey
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes... Remembering Pelle Lindbergh: [Flyers Faithful]; Looking at Peter Laviolette's impact on the Flyers: ...
eric seiger
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