My cat tore up my Virtual Dynamics Power 3...

[fraseyboy]

Hmmm... If the commission IpodPJ got was just for one purchase that a friend he referred made then doesn't that mean there is no affiliation? If it was like he got 10% for every purchase then that's an affiliation...

But if its just because he referred a neighbor to VD because he liked VD's products, and then VD offered to give some money to him because of this, I don't see what's wrong with that.

Then again, I'm not very experienced in this field...

[kpeezy]

Originally Posted by fraseyboy

Hmmm... If the commission IpodPJ got was just for one purchase that a friend he referred made then doesn't that mean there is no affiliation? If it was like he got 10% for every purchase then that's an affiliation...

But if its just because he referred a neighbor to VD because he liked VD's products, and then VD offered to give some money to him because of this, I don't see what's wrong with that.

Then again, I'm not very experienced in this field...

No...

[UseName]

Originally Posted by gotchaforce

Dont post if youre just going to make stupid kneejerk comments.

If I want to post kneejerk comments and look like an ******, I'm pretty sure it doesn't voilate any terms and conditions.

Regardless, this is not a kneejerk comment. I find it disgusting that there is this much deceipt on this forum. I mean, do you REALLY want to ask advice from people who may be taking commission on the advice they are giving? This info needs to be disclosed to keep the forum honest. It it is not honest, why am I posting here?

[The Monkey]

Take heed.

[spacemanspliff]

Yup. Seems DIY is the only way to be absolutely certain of what your cables are made of.

[BIG POPPA]

"Like the sands of an hourglass, so are the days of our Head-fi"
OMG, this is a Soap....IMO

[adanac061]

Just wanna say this thread is awesome.....
...I went through a whole roast dinner, ice cream dessert and two beers reading through it from the beginning...better than anything on tv.

[TheMarchingMule]

Originally Posted by adanac061

Just wanna say this thread is awesome.....
...I went through a whole roast dinner, ice cream dessert and two beers reading through it from the beginning...better than anything on tv.

Seriously?

[chesebert]

few things observed:
1. not knowing the rules is not a defense to the violation of the rules. Public policy dictates that, unless we all prefer chaos; as between rules and no rules, order and chaos, there is no middle ground.

2. Participation in a referral program as a consumer on a sporadic basis hardly qualifies one to be MoT.

No one should raise any controversy that MoT also means Member of the Commerce; with the subject of the commerce being the audio product. No one should further raise any controversy regarding the nature of the commerce; which in this case most of the commerce is interstate, as in the product has traveled through several states, or between the several states and a foreign state.

We can therefore re characterize Member of Trade as Member of Interstate Commerce of which the audio product is the subject.

So the question is what type of activity would qualify someone to be engaged in interstate commerce. At one end of the extreme you have brother A selling his headphone to brother B in another state and B gives A consideration in exchange for the headphone. At the other end of the extreme, you have AKG shipping and selling millions of headphones across multiple state lines throughout the country to millions of individual and businesses.

It is without a doubt that AKG is conducting interstate commerce while the brothers are not, to say otherwise is to twist the word 'commerce' beyond what's reasonable.

To distill the former example to a general principle is to say interstate commerce does not mean singular or isolated selling of goods across the states, rather interstate commerce requires a systematic and multiple selling of goods across the states, or at least a desire to systematically sell multiple products across the states.

The recipients of most friends referral program benefits can hardly be characterized as interstate commerce. Granted, if the recipient receives systematic and multiple benefits from program benefit offeror, it is certainly possible to say that he recipient has engaged in interstate commerce; since there must be a direct and proportional relationship between the number of individual commerce moments and the frequency of those moments.

Therefore if the offeree of the referral program has only received benefits once last month, the person cannot be characterized as Member of the Interstate Commerce on audio products; on the contrary, if the offeree of the referral program has been receiving multiple benefits from the benefit offeror and there is direct and proportional relationship between the number benefit giving moments and the frequency of those moments, then it would be a good policy to label the person as MoT.

[Febs]

Originally Posted by chesebert

We can therefore re characterize Member of Trade as Member of Interstate Commerce of which the audio product is the subject.

Once again, you are trying to force the discussion into the framework of a U.S. Constitutional Law analysis where that type of analysis has nothing whatsoever to do with the subject at hand.

[chesebert]

Feb:

Yes there is the 'interstate commerce' clause in the US Constitution, but that has nothing to do with what I said. If your response to any argument with 'interstate commerce' in it as 'an argument on the framework of the US Constitution' then you are just confused. I don't know why, but you are confused.

[Uncle Erik]

If you want to get legal about it, the MOT deal is a lot more like a conflict of interest. You know, where a judge isn't supposed to hear a case where he or she has a financial interest in a party. Or an attorney who has a personal stake in the outcome of a case.

Those are unethical practices.

Another unethical practice is selling things to people without telling them that you have a financial interest in that company. You can muddy the waters all you want, but earning commissions, perks, free gear, etc. in exchange for sales means that you have a financial interest.

[chesebert]

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik

If you want to get legal about it, the MOT deal is a lot more like a conflict of interest. You know, where a judge isn't supposed to hear a case where he or she has a financial interest in a party. Or an attorney who has a personal stake in the outcome of a case.

Those are unethical practices.

Another unethical practice is selling things to people without telling them that you have a financial interest in that company.

I agree with everything you have just said. But does participation in a referral program as a consumer on a sporadic and isolated basis qualifies one to be categorized as MoT? - that's the question I have attempted to answer in the prior post.

One final note: the ethical standards imposed on legal professionals is much higher than that of an average lay consumer; therefore the learned legal professional shouldn't hold a lay person to the same high ethical standards

[adanac061]

Originally Posted by chesebert

I agree with everything you have just said. But does participation in a referral program as a consumer on a sporadic and isolated basis qualifies one to be categorized as MoT? - that's the question I have attempted to answer in the prior post.

As it stands, I don't think so. There would need to be a consistent working relationship between the company and the member for the member to be designated as MOT.

[883dave]

Could all the lawyers, who are having discourse about legal issues pertaining to this matter, please clearly state they are actually, in fact members of the bar.
Thanks