Thinking along the sames lines as Prof about who is to blame here, I think it is both sides of the transaction. If the affiliate obligations never came into the negotiations then the ommission is just as bad as lying. Both parties are experienced enough to know the affiliates should be considered and I’m guessing they both decided not to think about it anymore.
It’s time these programs realised the meaning of ‘for life’ and after all these years you think they would. Then again, perhaps they do and just choose to ignore it. Must admit though, I haven’t read the part of the ‘standard’ T&Cs that attempts to give them a way out when they sell their player list, or merge or are takeover.
As for what to do now. Prof you are in a difficult position but I think you can see what needs to be done. Both Tradal and Party have shown in the past that they are willing to be just a bit greedy at the expense of the affiliate. I’m all for giving people another chance but I think we have all done this with both of them. Time to send the message back to them that,”we don’t need you”, which is pretty much the same message they have been sending to us. Keeping the lines of communication open works up to a point but if we keep getting the same BS then it becomes a waste of time.