Hi Elli
I can understand your views, and I was having this discussion with someone else today.
Running an affiliate program always means surrendering some control. Many people do this willingly - the returns that affiliates bring them make it a no-brainer.
Alternatively, if you run your site exactly how you want it, you'll probably have troubles.
This is not to say that you CAN'T have a tight affiliate program - you just need to lay down the rules, and monitor the affiliates (obviously)
Now, I know you know all of this -
But in the case of SuicideGirls
1) They don't know if they want an affiliate program or not, really.
2) They don't want to give up control
3) They don't tell affiliates what they want, or what they expect.
Finally, as you can see above, they have treat their affiliates like dirt behind their backs, nice one.
You know about the internet Elli, you made a measured, intelligent decision - something SG seems incapable of