Well, I would very much like to know what you think about the retroactiveness of the new terms.
As I see it, Bwin has a contract with affiliates, in some cases for many many years. Affiliates adhered to their side of the contract.
Bwin now breaches that contract and that is just not right.
When these affiliates agreed to promote Bwin, they did so on the basis of a set of terms.
Now suddenly, Bwin changes the name of the affiliate program, starts a new site, and if affiliates want to get paid any portion of what is owed to them according to the contract, they have to sign away their rights to the excisting contract.
That is just not right, and I don’t think it’s legal. These are monies owed on services already delivered. You can’t just stop payments on them.
Say you sold me a TV and I agree to pay $100 for it. You ship the TV and I accept it. But now I change my mind, I decide I am spending too much money on entertainment and so I only send you $50.
Is that legal? NO, of course not.
Of course Bwin can design a new program any way they like, and it’s up to affiliates whether they want to work under those terms or not. But you can’t do so retroactively, you do have to pay existing affiliates the monies you owe under the old contract. The new terms can only apply to new affiliates.
Anything else is breach of contract, and can be pursued in most any court in the world.