“We regret to inform you that the Hawaii state legislature has passed an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that, unless vetoed soon by Governor Lingle, would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with Hawaii-based Associates. You are receiving this e-mail because our records indicate that you are an Amazon Associate and resident of Hawaii.

Please note that this is not an immediate termination notice and you are still a valued participant in the Associates Program. All referral fees earned on qualified traffic will continue to be paid as planned.

But because the new law is drafted to go into effect July 1st, we will have to terminate the participation of all Hawaii residents in the Amazon Associates program on or before that day. After the termination day, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com nor will we accept new applications for the Associates program from Hawaii residents.

The unfortunate consequences of this legislation on Hawaii residents like you were explained in detail to key senators and representatives in Honolulu, including the sponsors, committee leaders, and House-Senate conferees. We also have explained by letter these unfortunate consequences to Governor Lingle, and have twice requested her veto.

Note that other states, including Maryland, Minnesota, and Tennessee, considered nearly identical schemes, but rejected these proposals largely because of the adverse impact on their states residents.

Governor Lingle’s website is http://hawaii.gov/gov, the Hawaii legislature’s website is http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/, and additional information may be obtained from the Performance Marketing Alliance at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/.

We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates program, and we will apprise you of next steps.
Sincerely,

Amazon.com”