The sad fact is that any of these programs could just stop paying. What recourse do you have if a program stops paying? Now any program that did this would receive bad press from affiliates and no more exposure from affiliates, but beyond that there is little that can be done. Affiliate programs are based on trust. We trust the programs to report our stats correctly and pay us on time. And as always, actions speak louder than words. That’s why the honest and reliable companies do well.