Things Are Getting Worse...

[Rezbi]

Europe is coming out with new laws which will make things a lot worse for affiliate marketers.

Check out this article on Drayton Bird's site:
The Drayton Bird Blog: How to encourage law breaking and restrain trade: and other Eurowanks

[jazbo]

not a chance in hell it will happen. The big boys such as Google, Ebay and Amazon who dump cookies all over the place will have their say and win.

[Eric Lorence]

Originally Posted by jazbo

not a chance in hell it will happen. The big boys such as Google, Ebay and Amazon who dump cookies all over the place will have their say and win.

Hmm ... not necessarily ...

Just ask Microsoft.

[7_8_shortcuts]

Originally Posted by jazbo

not a chance in hell it will happen. The big boys such as Google, Ebay and Amazon who dump cookies all over the place will have their say and win.

I agree.

Google even have their own affiliate network. And Google are pretty powerful at present.

I think this law will be re-considered in the last minute or so... If passed, it will make whole industries go down... so... I doubt it :-)

[Rezbi]

Originally Posted by 7_8_shortcuts

I agree.

Google even have their own affiliate network. And Google are pretty powerful at present.

I think this law will be re-considered in the last minute or so... If passed, it will make whole industries go down... so... I doubt it :-)

I hope you're right.

[Steve Faber]

It sounds like it already has happened. It's just waiting to go into effect. It brings up an interesting point. If that does become law, they will have to not use cookies, or ignore the law, because just moving their HQs off shore may not be defense enough. When it does happen, look for the knuckleheads in the U.S. government to be right behind the Euros on this one.

As usual, another hamfisted government solution to business.

[rtrotter]

Reading the article explaining the law, it seems that it is possible that a user setting their browser to accept cookies is "consent." That will have to be testing.

To get the law changed quickly, all sites should deliver a blank page to all users in EU stating EU laws does not allow display of content with cookies. After a month or two of lost tax revenue and citizen protest, they will change the law.

[Lawrh]

Browsers are designed to use a sites cookies just to keep track of where
the user is on the site. Without cookies your back button will stop working
and you will only be able to navigate using menus. Not to mention you will
not be able to set any preferences. Tracking cookies are another issue. The
question is, how will they differentiate between types? They are encrypted,
how will they tell them apart?

To state that no cookies are allowed implies a complete redesign of how a
website and browser works. Normal functionality and tracking are probably
in the same cookie anyway. If the law literally says "No Cookies", then they
will have to shut down the web in Europe until a new design happens.

Doesn't seem likely.

[7_8_shortcuts]

Thing is...

So many functions of websites need cookies to work.

And think about it...

even ADSENSE uses cookies to display ads on your page.

Imagine telling Google they can NOT display any ads on other people's sites anymore... The government would experience millions in tax payments lost in a heartbeat and would have to look after tens of thousands of new unemployed who happened to be laid off by Google...

or...

Telling Amazon, they should forbid users to log-in to their accounts AND abandon their user-specific recommendations on their pages too.

No business = no money = no taxes paid = unemployment = no money for governments.

I think they will need to re-consider :-)

[Rezbi]

Originally Posted by Lawrh

Browsers are designed to use a sites cookies just to keep track of where
the user is on the site. Without cookies your back button will stop working
and you will only be able to navigate using menus. Not to mention you will
not be able to set any preferences. Tracking cookies are another issue. The
question is, how will they differentiate between types? They are encrypted,
how will they tell them apart?

To state that no cookies are allowed implies a complete redesign of how a
website and browser works. Normal functionality and tracking are probably
in the same cookie anyway. If the law literally says "No Cookies", then they
will have to shut down the web in Europe until a new design happens.

Doesn't seem likely.

Everything you've said assumes you know something about browsers and the way things work online.

How much actual homework do you think politicians bother to do before passing laws about things they know nothing about.

We are being ruled by a bunch of politically correct idiots whose only role in their jobs seems to be to make life difficult for others.

As lond as they get paid, and have the opportunity to fiddle their expenses, nothing and no one else seems to matter to them.

[adamsad]

hopefully its not going to happen

[troy23]

It will happen. The EU is very powerful as Microsoft found out to their cost.

[spearce000]

I think browser manufacturers will make it so you have to click a "yes" button every time a site wants to put a cookie on your computer. The latest version of Firefox already allows you to do this. In the future, I suspect, there will be no way to override this setting. As most people update their browsers when a new edition comes out, this shouldn't be a problem.

From my reading of the linked sites, it would seem that the EU isn't trying to do away with cookies altogether, just to stop them being placed surreptitiously.

[Rezbi]

Originally Posted by troy23

It will happen. The EU is very powerful as Microsoft found out to their cost.

I agree.

You will also notice that Drayton mentioned this in his blog post:

Did you know there is a new European law about to come in - and it cannot be stopped now - that will prevent anyone putting cookies on a site?

[MichaelHiles]

Logging into a website generally uses some form of session variable to track the user's session activity while on a site.

The session variable on a server is usually indexed with a cookie.

Back to static HTML for the euros.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Rezbi

Everything you've said assumes you know something about browsers and the way things work online.

Not really. The back button on your browser doesn't have a single flipping thing to do with cookies.

[Rezbi]

I just received this email from Drayton, clarifying what he wrote on his blog:

a) It is now impossible to stop this legislation. It is not "if" it is passed. It has been passed.
b) Google reneged on their principles to oblige the Chinese government

But as I said in the piece - and RTrotter says -, eventually the
Euro-idiots will come to their senses.

[Rezbi]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Not really. The back button on your browser doesn't have a single flipping thing to do with cookies.

But do the idiot politicians know that?

[Alex Williams]

I think we do not need to worry about these things. If there is a problem, there is always a solution. ALWAYS. If this happens, people will find ways to overcome.

[Cryp]

Hmm I wonder what the crime is for cookie infringement >.<

Its the most absurd thing ever! :e

[Paul Schlegel]

Originally Posted by Rezbi

Europe is coming out with new laws which will make things a lot worse for affiliate marketers.

Check out this article on Drayton Bird's site:
The Drayton Bird Blog: How to encourage law breaking and restrain trade: and other Eurowanks

Between this, the insane copyright treaty and the new FTC regs maybe the U.S. and the U.K. have decided they don't really like money.

[Chris Stigson]

Lol, no way. Facebook wouldn't even work, or Twitter, or any website in modern web 2.0 basically. The internet would be more or less dead in Europe if this happens. And not to talk about trade and eCommerce.

If this happens the internet pretty much stops. Reminds me of the south park episode "the internet dies"... I'm sure this won't happen.

[redicelander]

I think I will not even read that article and just worry about it if it comes. No use thinking negative thoughts for something that may not happen.

On another note, anybody part of google's affiliate program? I had seen something about that before when I was looking for CPA networks. What exactly is their affiliate program called, etc.?

[J Daniel]

Maybe we should actually read it instead of a blog post about it.

I find it very difficult to believe this is serious. Using cookies to track results for affiliate marketing or whatever is one of the lesser concerns. There will be no affiliate marketing if you can't log into Clickbank, PayPal, or whatever your sites of choice are.

No online banking? I guess bills can't be paid online either.

Oh yeah, and can't forget this little thing... there won't even be e-mail anymore! It would literally be the death of the Internet. Even though this sounds so absurd I actually want to research it more, I could see it actually happening... I mean, the Internet can be used to spread news both ways - I don't want to get too conspiracy theory-ish, but can you imagine how much worse the "I am Neda!" thing would have been without the Internet?

The 'net IS a very useful tool for politicians but if any of them are corrupt I bet they wouldn't mind us being isolated to our small regions. And obviously, some are corrupt - you can't have so many and all of them be saints.

So anyway, not saying any of the above is true and I don't want to go too far, but how did none of us know about this until now, when it's too late?

If it is. I'm very hesitant to actually believe that without researching further.

I guess I'll be back...

p.s. SERIOUSLY?

[Ken Durham]

I wonder how many of the government websites will quit working?
Of course they may be excluded from the rules.......not that anyone in government is above the law or anything

[Topher Walker]

Originally Posted by rtrotter

After a month or two of lost tax revenue and citizen protest, they will change the law.

Unintentionally funniest post ever!

You don't know a lot about European Laws do you?

They don't give two ****'s about protests and if they lose one tax revenue they replace it by raising tax somewhere else or levey huge fines.

My bet is that they actually have reaseached this and know that the Google, Amazon, the big 2.0 sites and Microsoft won't be able to comply and so the EU can just fine them huge amounts every day and ignore the gov, banking and smaller sites. They're after an excuse to milk the big boys... either that or they'll settle for access to Google's data on you

[J Daniel]

Originally Posted by Topher Walker

My bet is that they actually have reaseached this and know that the Google, Amazon, the big 2.0 sites and Microsoft won't be able to comply and so the EU can just fine them huge amounts every day and ignore the gov, banking and smaller sites. They're after an excuse to milk the big boys... either that or they'll settle for access to Google's data on you

Now this makes we wonder if we'll have to get licenses, certifications, degrees and extended special training courses to be an Authorized Cookie Enabled Website Owner in Europe. . . That might not be such a bad idea (for THEM, not us).