As if there isn’t enough government interference with what Americans do, here comes to government again trying to get involved in our internet business practices. This news could potential hurt anyone who makes money online, owns domain names or sell advertisements.

I received this email from the DN Forum staff. It’s kind of long, but well worth the read if you’re involved in this business.

Dear DNF members,

We feel it is our duty to bring this to light and make people aware of what’s happening. As you may have heard, Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME) has very recently introduced a bill that could threaten the future of the domain name industry and internet commerce. Snowe’s bill has been introduced as the “Anti-Phishing” bill, but contains provisions that are largely unrelated to these objectives. These provisions radically and unnecessarily expand the rights of trademark owners to essentially provide them with monopoly rights on registered trademarks. This would be to the detriment of millions of individuals and businesses engaged in lawful and legitimate Internet commerce.

If the bill passed through congress, it may allow large businesses to take domain names with little to no effort. Trademark owners already prevail in 85% of all UDRP complaints and nearly 100% of all ACPA cases. Yet some apparently now wish to establish a new regime for contesting allegedly “infringing” domains that is tilted even more in their
favor by denying basic due process and substantive protections to domain name registrants – and that provides the possibility that they can use their power and influence to sway public officials to expend taxpayer dollars in defense of private Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

The proposal unfairly targets domain name registrants for a widespread Internet practice  if it’s aim is to halt the advertising monetization of brand names and typographical variations thereof when consumers engage in direct Internet navigation or in web searches it utterly fails in that endeavor, as this activity is also engaged in systematically
by search engines, web browsers and ISPs.

We need to do as much as possible to make sure the bill is revised to serve it’s purpose of preventing phishing scams and not to bury domain name owners. Please sign the petition at http://www.SnoweBill.com to help in the fight and to review all portions of the bill.

Thank you for your time and attention in this matter. There are several big discussions taking place right now at http://www.DNForum.com - please visit the site and perform a search for “Snowe” to view the threads.

February was a pretty down month for me when it comes to affiliate marketing. What that basically means is I didn’t do much of anything. I don’t think I ran any new campaigns. I didn’t read up on anything. Didn’t learn any new tricks or test any new keywords. Even though I just sat there in February, I still wanted to share with you guys my earnings from all the affiliate companies. Since I didn’t do any ppc campaigns, all these earnings just come randomly from the sites I already own.

My January affiliate marketing results showed I made $144 in profit in all my affiliate marketing accounts. My goal for February was about $250-300.

February Affiliate Earnings
Azoogle - $140
CPA Empire - $2.50
RocketProfit - $10
Neverblue Ads - $13.70

Total - $166.20

So my profit from January to February went up $20. Sure I didn’t reach my goal, but at least my affiliate earnings didn’t go down. It’s sad to say that I think March (and April for that matter) will be the same as February. I just do not have the time right now to work on affiliate campaigns. It takes a ton of time to research keywords and set up profitable campaigns. Until my wedding is over and I’m settled in, I just won’t the have time to commit to it. So I’ll be stuck earning just $100-200/month from my sites just sitting there.

I’m definitely not giving up on affiliate marketing though. I just have to delay how dedicated I can be to it for a few months. I’ll continue to post my monthly reports though.

I haven’t done an “Ask David” post in a long time. Mostly because since I switched themes a couple of months ago, I am no longer displaying that rotating banner that tells people they get a free link back by emailing me a question. However, I still have the Ask David page with information about the deal.

So anyways, I got one of my first questions in awhile like a week or so ago. It came from someone by the handle SLR, but he did not leave a link back. He asks:

If you only had a second to grab one of your network’s sites and lose the rest, which one would you grab and why?

Good question. Because my favorite sites are not necessarily the ones that make me the most money. Would I take a high revenue site, the site I enjoy the most, or the site that has the most potential? Very tough decision.

If I had to pick just one site from my network to save, it would probably be Gator Envy. Now, Gator Envy doesn’t make me a lot of money and is probably like 5th or so no my list of top earners, but I would choose this site because it means the msot to me. I’ve poured countless hours into this site I would hate for it to just be gone one day. And it’s not just about the time and effort I’ve put into it. Because Gator Envy has a forum with almost 800 members, I have had the opportunity to build relationships with the members and Moderators on the forum. A lot of people visit Gator Envy everyday and count on it as a resource for Gator news.

Gator Envy also has a lot of potential. It’s one of the few sites I have that has unlimited growth potential. There have been Gator fans for 100 years and there will always be new Gator fans born every day. That means this site has no end should it stay operational. It’s not a site built around a fad or a hot product that won’t be popular in a couple years. The Gators are here to stay, and with time, the forum will only grow up.

Remember, if you want a free back link to your blog or web site, feel free to email me and ask a question. You can ask anything… it doesn’t have to be internet related.