Very good! I can start shopping Amazon again with a clear conscience.
I say this not as sarcasm but as literal truth. I know many HN'ers disagree that they were doing anything wrong -- but personally, their behavior turned my stomach and I was avoiding buying anything from them which I could easily get elsewhere.
Sure, but doing so is practically harder even than itemizing your taxes. It's not like you can just PayPal the money over right when you make the purchase.
Sure. But that doesn't change the fact that Amazon tried to weasel out of charging the same sales tax as every other retailer who sells books in California; that they were going to try and get legally guaranteed special treatment by promoting a state referendum (as other corporations have also done); and that they abruptly screwed over their 10,000 affiliates in the state.
There are plenty of retailers who sell books to California residents without collecting sales tax. (And the other way around--I, in Washington, have bought books from California retailers who did not collect Washington sales tax).
I say this not as sarcasm but as literal truth. I know many HN'ers disagree that they were doing anything wrong -- but personally, their behavior turned my stomach and I was avoiding buying anything from them which I could easily get elsewhere.