Hey Jon,
While I always respect your opinions and for the most part agree with all you say, I have to disagree with you here. As a network, I have to rebut this because you are painting ALL networks with the same brush and I think that's pretty unfair.
You have no clue how much I've eaten over the years because of merchants who've decided not to pay their bills. And I know of several other networks that are in the exact same boat as me (Copeac for one). Fact is, you don't hear about this because we don't broadcast "Hey affiliates, we got fucked over, but we're still going to pay you". It just isn't good business to air dirty laundry. But in this case, I felt I had to speak up.
While your suggestion is noble, I don't expect any network will make any changes to their terms. Well, I should step back from that a bit. I don't expect any network with real experience in this industry, or with a strong legal team, will make any changes like this. Do you know why? Because it puts too much protection on the side of the affiliate, and that's dangerous.
Why is it dangerous? Because there will be cases where an affiliate is fraudulent and it takes several weeks (months) to detect the fraud. Merchant finds it and refuses to pay for the leads. I'm certainly not going to step up to the plate for a fraudulent affiliate, nor am I going to pay them for leads that are fraud. I know this is an exception that rarely happens, but that's what most clauses in contracts are for - to handle the exceptions. And that's why I have a similar clause in my affiliate terms and conditions, and why I'd never remove it. How many times have I exercised this clause in the 5+ years MB's been around? Zero. But I leave it in as a just-in-case.
I don't know the OP, don't know the specifics in the case of the OP, and I've never really worked with Hydra. But to me, there has to be more to the story than what we've read so far. In my experiences where affiliates come screaming to boards, there always is. It makes no business sense for a network to throw away a happy $5K per day affiliate simply to pocket $25K. And if they WERE stupid enough to not pay this guy who was delivering legit (while maybe poor quality) leads, then they're stupid and deserve what the get.
Affiliates want protection? They should do their homework and do some research on the networks they want to work with. Look at the history of the network. Look at who owns/runs the network. Check the reputation of the network on boards. Speak with other affiliates. Don't pick a network simply because they're promising "hot chicks and free booze". Unless, of course, they're looking to get fucked in more ways than one.
