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Carrie · 01-08-2004, 06:00 AM

For the folks saying/thinking "so what" and continuing to support these sponsors...

Acacia is not the only company with streaming video patents who are actively working to collect licensing fees.
There are two more currently with overlapping patents and they *will* get to us eventually; they just chose to focus on mainstream first because unlike Acacia they actually *do* have the capital to take on big targets. They don't need to squeeze the "low-hanging fruit" (Acacia's words) for money.

If you sign with Acacia, you set a precedent for other companies to sign.
And you also set a precedent to sign with the next two companies... who, by the way, want far more than 2%.

Let's see. As a program owner you payout 50% to affiliates. 15% or so for processing. Pump another 20% back into content, design, and hosting.
Now you're up to 85%. For every $100 your site makes, you get $15 whopping bucks.

But wait... Acacia wants their piece too. Not 2% of what you've got left, but 2% right off of the top. So that's 87%, lowering your take to $13 for every $100 you take in.
And not only do they want the 2% for the money you take in off of signups, they also want it off of all of your upsells. All of your exits. All of your cross-sells. Why? Well, according to them, there's no way possible to tell exactly how much money you're making from streaming video, so they are entitled to 2% of *everything* you make from *all* sources.

The two companies coming behind them want more. Let's keep it low and say 5% and 7% respectively.
That brings you up to 99% paying out.
For every $100 you bring in, you get $1.

One measly dollar.

And here's the kicker... they're not just after program owners. They're also after solo webmasters who do nothing more than build galleries and free sites etc and send traffic to sponsors. They would require you to gather up all of your check stubs from all of your sponsors and report that amount to them... and then pay them 2% of the gross that you received.
Didn't receive much? Don't make much? No problem... they have a minimum fee of $1500.

That's $125 a month, people. To a company that does *nothing* to help you increase your bottom line. To a company that does *nothing* to help you sit there for hours building sites. No content for that $125. No Google traffic for it. No galleries built for it.
You get NOTHING to show for your $125 per month, $1500 per year.

If you think that this doesn't matter, you are frighteningly mistaken.
If you think this won't touch you, you are deluding yourself.

Even if Acacia doesn't come after you personally, what do you think program owners will do when they're faced with making a 1% profit?
They're going to cut the affiliates and pull things in-house, people.

Cutting the affiliates immediately gives them back 50% of their money.
You think they are really *that* desperate to keep your traffic? They're not - up to this point they've just been taking the easy route. It's much easier to pay you $35 per signup than to try to manage 1 employee.

But these licensing fees will change that. It will no longer make good business sense to outsource traffic to affiliates. The problems associated with actual employees will pale in comparison to the costs they will recoup.

Think about it. You send 2 sales a day at a cost (to them) of $35 each.
For that $70 they can pay 2 workers nearly $6 per hour to work 6 steady hours a day, pumping out sites and galleries the entire time. Day after day, driving a hell of a lot more traffic than you do. Bringing in more signups than you do.

Add in the Visa 1% chargeback limits which will start being punished around February 1st, and the writing on the walls gets even bolder and bigger. The only way to completely control the advertising methods being used to drive traffic to their sites is to hire in-house webmasters that make sites to an exact standard.

The writing is on the wall, people. Ignore it if you wish, but it won't make it go away.
Supporting Acacia is supporting the next two companies who will soon turn their attention to adult.
Supporting companies who license with Acacia does the same thing, with the added benefit that you are actively working to your own demise when your licensed sponsor decides it doesn't want to take just a 1% cut and gets rid of affiliates completely.

Chicken little? Nope. It's simple mathematics and business sense.
And isn't that what the companies who sign keep saying? "It made good business sense."
Getting rid of you in exchange for workers who put out sites and galleries to their exact standards, reduce chargebacks, and put more money in their pockets... well, that makes even *better* business sense.

Happy 2004.

01-08-2004, 06:00 AM
Carrie Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Virgin - nee Posts: 3,162	For the folks saying/thinking "so what" and continuing to support these sponsors... Acacia is not the only company with streaming video patents who are actively working to collect licensing fees. There are two more currently with overlapping patents and they will get to us eventually; they just chose to focus on mainstream first because unlike Acacia they actually do have the capital to take on big targets. They don't need to squeeze the "low-hanging fruit" (Acacia's words) for money. If you sign with Acacia, you set a precedent for other companies to sign. And you also set a precedent to sign with the next two companies... who, by the way, want far more than 2%. Let's see. As a program owner you payout 50% to affiliates. 15% or so for processing. Pump another 20% back into content, design, and hosting. Now you're up to 85%. For every $100 your site makes, you get $15 whopping bucks. But wait... Acacia wants their piece too. Not 2% of what you've got left, but 2% right off of the top. So that's 87%, lowering your take to $13 for every $100 you take in. And not only do they want the 2% for the money you take in off of signups, they also want it off of all of your upsells. All of your exits. All of your cross-sells. Why? Well, according to them, there's no way possible to tell exactly how much money you're making from streaming video, so they are entitled to 2% of everything you make from all sources. The two companies coming behind them want more. Let's keep it low and say 5% and 7% respectively. That brings you up to 99% paying out. For every $100 you bring in, you get $1. One measly dollar. And here's the kicker... they're not just after program owners. They're also after solo webmasters who do nothing more than build galleries and free sites etc and send traffic to sponsors. They would require you to gather up all of your check stubs from all of your sponsors and report that amount to them... and then pay them 2% of the gross that you received. Didn't receive much? Don't make much? No problem... they have a minimum fee of $1500. That's $125 a month, people. To a company that does nothing to help you increase your bottom line. To a company that does nothing to help you sit there for hours building sites. No content for that $125. No Google traffic for it. No galleries built for it. You get NOTHING to show for your $125 per month, $1500 per year. If you think that this doesn't matter, you are frighteningly mistaken. If you think this won't touch you, you are deluding yourself. Even if Acacia doesn't come after you personally, what do you think program owners will do when they're faced with making a 1% profit? They're going to cut the affiliates and pull things in-house, people. Cutting the affiliates immediately gives them back 50% of their money. You think they are really that desperate to keep your traffic? They're not - up to this point they've just been taking the easy route. It's much easier to pay you $35 per signup than to try to manage 1 employee. But these licensing fees will change that. It will no longer make good business sense to outsource traffic to affiliates. The problems associated with actual employees will pale in comparison to the costs they will recoup. Think about it. You send 2 sales a day at a cost (to them) of $35 each. For that $70 they can pay 2 workers nearly $6 per hour to work 6 steady hours a day, pumping out sites and galleries the entire time. Day after day, driving a hell of a lot more traffic than you do. Bringing in more signups than you do. Add in the Visa 1% chargeback limits which will start being punished around February 1st, and the writing on the walls gets even bolder and bigger. The only way to completely control the advertising methods being used to drive traffic to their sites is to hire in-house webmasters that make sites to an exact standard. The writing is on the wall, people. Ignore it if you wish, but it won't make it go away. Supporting Acacia is supporting the next two companies who will soon turn their attention to adult. Supporting companies who license with Acacia does the same thing, with the added benefit that you are actively working to your own demise when your licensed sponsor decides it doesn't want to take just a 1% cut and gets rid of affiliates completely. Chicken little? Nope. It's simple mathematics and business sense. And isn't that what the companies who sign keep saying? "It made good business sense." Getting rid of you in exchange for workers who put out sites and galleries to their exact standards, reduce chargebacks, and put more money in their pockets... well, that makes even better business sense. Happy 2004.