Friendly reminder the new CJ PSA goes into effect on Thursday. Are you in compliance? Is your privacy policy and cookie disclosure up on all your sites? I know some affiliates own tons of sites and may not have gotten around to updating them all. I am adding to my original post from the 8th about CJ’s new TOS. Since then many questions and concerns have been raised about the new CJ PSA. Some affiliates have said they are dropping CJ over the new PSA, others say they already have. Many are wondering what CJ will do come Thursday if their sites are not in compliance. Will they get dropped for not having an acceptable privacy policy, including instructions to consumers about how to discontinue the use of cookies?

My biggest concern is that many affiliates don’t read their email. The ones that do read email may scan it but they don’t really pay attention to PSA’s and such. Heck I know tons of affiliates still who have never even heard of the Code of Conduct or the afsrc=1. So what will happen on the 20th to all the affiliates that either have not even read the new PSA and are not in compliance or who choose not to comply? If I were an affiliate and making significant income from CJ I would not risk waiting to find out. Holiday season is already upon us, so I would double check all the info below, make sure I understood the changes in the PSA and was in compliance by Thursday.

ORIGINAL POST from Saturday, October 8th, 2005 at 12:06 pm

There has been lots of concern and speculation by affiliates regarding CJ’s new Publisher Service Agreement that just came out. Lots of conspiracy theories too. Now for some people change always causes concerns, so I am not saying at this time whether the concerns are justified or not. I have not been able to carve out the time to dig into the new PSA at all so can’t really comment too much personally. I’m glad Scott Jangro had time to investigate. He published some of the most important changes in an overview here: Commission Junction’s New Publisher Service Agreement Piece-by-Piece »Jangro. But really take a closer look at his in-depth comparison here!

Below is the actual email from CJ giving publishers 14 days to read and accept the new terms. There are some significant changes in the new PSA so even if you typically ignore legalese, you should take a look at this. One of the important changes is that all affiliates need to have a privacy policy on their site which incudes this: “You must fully and accurately disclose Your use of third party technology, including CJ’s tracking technology, use of cookies and options for discontinuing use of such cookies.” Another thing some affiliates are concerned about is that sales can be reversed anytime and not just limited to 60 days after the sale. One thing that jumped out at me also is this: You can be deactivated by CJ if “Your Account has not been logged into and/or there have been no Transactions credited to Your Account for any 30 day period.” There is some really important stuff in here that all CJ affiliates should read.

Commission Junction is dedicated to continually increasing the quality of its services and the standards of our network participants. We know the quality of our network directly impacts your success. To this end, Commission Junction has made small changes to its policies and procedures that require slight modification of the Publisher Service Agreement (”PSA”).

The revised PSA that governs your relationship with Commission Junction is effective as of October 20, 2005. It is posted at www.cj.com/psa.jsp for your complete review.

Pursuant to Section 7 of the PSA, Commission Junction is providing you with 14 days notice of these modifications. Your continued use of the Commission Junction Network and your publisher account, after October 20, 2005, will be deemed as your acceptance of the new PSA and you will be legally bound by its terms. You have the right to terminate your relationship with Commission Junction in the event that you do not agree to the new PSA.

You are advised to read the new PSA and to seek independent legal advice if you require interpretation regarding any of its provisions, and to assist, if necessary, in determining whether to continue your relationship with Commission Junction prior to the end of the notice period.