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In a big break for online shoppers, Web retailers generally don’t have to charge sales taxes in states where they lack a store or some other physical presence.

Increasingly, states aching under the weight of the recession are seeking a way around that rule. Because companies like Amazon.com Inc. get help drumming up sales from online affiliates — people who link to products on their blogs, promote Web shopping deals and offer coupons — several states say the Internet retailers should charge sales taxes in states where those affiliates are based.

The financial benefits may not be quite what the states anticipate, though. Rather than gearing up to collect taxes, Amazon and other Web retailers are simply shutting down their affiliate marketing programs. As the small businesses that participate in these programs get cut off, a state could lose tax revenue rather than add to it.

A look at what the affiliates do helps explain why. They’re just one of several methods that e-commerce companies have for driving visitors to their Web sites, so nixing them is not necessarily a big loss for the companies.

It’s a far bigger deal to people like Rich Owings.

By running Web sites like GPSTracklog.com from his home in Asheville, N.C., Owings serves as an affiliate for Amazon and other companies. Owings, 53, spends most of his time reviewing GPS gadgets and covering industry news. He links to navigation products of his choosing on Amazon’s site, and if his readers click through and buy one, he gets a commission.

Owings estimates he brought in about $80,000 in affiliate revenue from various companies in 2008, about $50,000 of which came from Amazon. After Amazon recently shuttered its North Carolina affiliate program in response to that state’s attempt to collect sales taxes, Owings said he and his wife were thinking about heading elsewhere to run their business.

“We’re terrified,” he said. “We just bought a house here a year ago and we’re looking at having to move out of state just to keep our business going.”

The amount of money at stake overall for state governments is somewhat murky. According to a recent University of Tennessee study, uncollected state and local taxes from online sales could total $7 billion this year. However, only a small part of this would stem from consumer purchases, because transactions between businesses make up the bulk of e-commerce sales. (Consumers are generally supposed to pay a “use tax” themselves on online purchases, but few do.)

Because any extra revenue is precious, several states, such as New York, have passed laws seeking to cash in on Web retailers’ affiliate relationships, while others are considering doing so.

Amazon cut off affiliates in North Carolina in late June, anticipating legislation requiring it to collect sales tax will soon pass there. The company has also stopped working with affiliates in Rhode Island and Hawaii because of similar laws that already have passed. Discount retailer Overstock.com Inc. and jewelry marketer Blue Nile Inc. also closed down affiliate programs in Hawaii, Rhode Island and North Carolina, and Overstock stopped working with affiliates in New York last year.

(Hawaii’s Republican governor, Linda Lingle, vetoed the bill Wednesday, so Amazon, Blue Nile and Overstock.com said Thursday they plan to reinstate affiliates there if the state’s Democratic majority does not override Lingle’s decision.)

Rebecca Madigan, founder of the Camarillo, Calif.-based Performance Marketing Alliance, which represents affiliate marketers, called the new state rules “pretty devastating.” Echoing opinions of several online retailers and associates, Madigan argues that the nation’s estimated 200,000 affiliate marketers are advertisers, not salespeople.

“They don’t deliver product, they don’t take any money from a consumer, and most of the time they don’t even know who the consumer is,” she said. Because the tax crackdown could curtail the business generated by affiliates, “the states are sort of shooting themselves in the feet,” she said.

That’s not how the states see it. In 2008, New York started requiring retailers to collect sales tax if they solicit business in the state by paying anyone there for leading customers to them. Matt Anderson, spokesman for the state’s Division of the Budget, said New York expected the change would bring in $23 million for the fiscal year that ended March 31, and estimates $34 million for the current fiscal year.

“We believe we have to keep the tax code in line with technology, and that online retailers shouldn’t have an unfair competitive advantage over off-line businesses,” he said.

Amazon and Overstock sued New York in 2008, arguing it unlawfully imposes tax-collection obligations on out-of-state entities. A judge dismissed the cases in January, and Amazon is collecting taxes in New York. The company has not shuttered its associate program there.

North Carolina expects it could collect an additional $13.2 million in the coming fiscal year on sales generated by Web retailers that use affiliates, and from a new sales tax on downloads of music, video and software, according to a legislative fiscal analysis.

But while states may see these marketing programs as a way to shore up budgets, they’re just one way these companies drive visitors to their Web sites. Companies also use ads on Google and links on comparison shopping sites.

Patrick Byrne, head of Salt Lake City-based Overstock, said sales made through affiliates account for less than 10 percent of Overstock’s revenue. The amount of business it will lose by cutting about 8,000 of its 25,000 affiliates loose is a “small fraction” of what it would have to start collecting in taxes if it kept the affiliates, he said.

Judy Browning, 66, worries she’s done collecting affiliate revenue from Amazon for her Vegetable Goddess Web site, which she runs from Honolulu. Browning did not want to say how much money she had been getting from Amazon, other than to call it a “tremendous” opportunity for her.

“If I don’t get paid by Amazon, then I’m not making money,” she said. “If I’m not making money, I can’t spend money.”

NBA star Kobe Bryant of the Los Angels Lakers was honored Tuesday by a local Asian-American society for his commitment to creating goodwill and understanding between the United States and China.

Asia Society Southern California presented the MVP and captain of the 2009 NBA Champion the award of “Global Ambassador” at its annual gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

“I am honored to receive this award from the Asia Society,” Bryant said. “It has been a privilege to work with so many young Chinese athletes, and young people around the globe.”

“Sports truly is a universal language, and bringing together the youth of China and the United States through basketball is extremely rewarding,” he added.

Liu Peng, head of China’s General Administration of State Sports and president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, attended the event as a guest of honor.

The event, sponsored by AEG, owner of the Lakers’ home stadium Staples Center, and other companies, featured a sit-down dinner, a silent auction filled with sports memorabilia and luxury jewelry donated by Nubeo, maker of Bryant’s Black Mamba watch collection, and performances by the Laker Girls and musical students.

Donald Tang, chairman of Asia Society Southern California, while announcing Bryant’s selection as the society’s annual “Global Ambassador,” said that the basketball star is deeply committed to creating goodwill and understanding between the U.S. and China.

“The newly-created Kobe Bryant China Fund will support and collaborate in the efforts of China’s Soong Ching Ling Foundation to bring education, sports and health programs to children across China,” Tang said.

While in the U.S., the Kobe Bryant Family Foundation is launching a Mandrain language program in conjunction with the After-School All-Stars, which will teach Chinese language skills and culture to American youth, according to the Chinese-American businessman.

French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand says pop icon Michael Jackson was a “great musician” whose life was “devoured by medication in great solitude,” local media reported Friday.

The newly appointed minister told Europe 1 radio that Jackson “joins Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Elvis who ended (their lives) in a manner not very different to his, devoured by medication in great solitude.”

“All the people who heard or saw Michael Jackson once in their lives, even if they aren’t close to that music, were touched by his appearance, his charm, the beauty of his music,… he was a great musician,” Mitterrand told the radio network.

Jackson represented “the idea of a perpetual adolescence that one must try to preserve all one’s life until the end. He did it but at such a price that he died from it,” said Mitterrand, nephew of former French president Francois Mitterrand.

Jackson died at the age of 50 Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest in Los Angeles. With his moonwalk and songs, Jackson was one of the most influential figures in pop history.

The U.S. politicians paid their tribute to Michael Jackson on Friday following the sudden death of the pop king. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that President Barack Obama considered the pop star “a spectacular performer and music icon.”

I think everybody remembers hearing his songs, watching the moon walk on television …” said Gibbs.

However, the president also said that aspects of Jackson’s life were “sad and tragic,” and he would like to send his condolences to Jackson’s family and fans.

The 50-year-old singer was pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon at the Medical Center of the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), after he was in a full cardiac arrest.

U.S. lawmakers also took a brief break on Friday to pay tribute to Jackson, praising the deceased “King of Pop” as a singing and dancing inspiration.

“We rise to pay tribute to a star that went high into the sky,” said Democratic Representative Diane Watson of California.

“A young man has left Earth, but now resides in the stars. And this was a talented, multitalented person who entertained the world with his dynamic portrayals, his songs that he had written, his style of dancing,” she said.

On behalf of Congress, Watson sent “our condolences, our heartfelt sorrow to his family, his friends, and to his millions of fans throughout the world.”

Democratic Representative Barbara Lee, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in a statement that Jackson “was an icon who inspired generations around the world through song and dance.”

“His contributions to American music are innumerable and the genius of his talent will endure for years to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with Michael’s family as we mourn and remember this incredible human being who touched the lives of millions,” she said.

The self-styled King of Pop Michael Jackson has died after suffering a suspected heart attack.

His brother Jermaine Jackson said he believed the 50-year-old singer suffered a suspected cardiac arrest at his Holmby Hills home in Los Angeles and was taken to the UCLA medical centre where he was pronounced dead.

He said: “My brother, the legendary King of Pop, passed away on Thursday June 25 at 2.26pm.

“We believe he suffered a cardiac arrest at his home, however the cause of his death is unknown until the results of the autopsy are known. The personal physician who was with him at the time attempted to resuscitated him.”

A spokesman for the hospital added: “When he arrived at hospital at approximately 1.14pm a team of doctors including emergency physicians and cardiologists attempted to resuscitate him for a period of more than one hour, they were unsuccessful.”

TV footage showed a rescue helicopter flying the star’s body to a waiting ambulance.

Tributes from the world of music, film and celebrity have flooded in. His first wife Lisa Marie Presley said: “This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me.”

Madonna said: “The world has lost one of its greats but his music will live on forever.”

The head of the Sony Corporation Sir Howard Stringer said: “Michael Jackson was a brilliant troubadour for his generation, a genius whose music reflected the passion and creativity of an era.”

And Justin Timberlake - who has been compared to a young Jackson - said: “We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only pop music, but of all music.”

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said the robbery and homicide team was investigating Jackson’s death because of its “high profile”. But he added nothing should be read into his team’s involvement.

A post-mortem examination is expected to take place later, Los Angeles Coroner’s Office spokesman Fred Corral said.

Jackson was about to embark on a comeback tour - This Is It, including 50 dates in London, which aimed to resurrect his fortunes.

Jackson last toured 12 years ago when he played 82 shows in 58 cities around the world for the HIStory tour.

Close friend Uri Geller said: “I guess the stress, the anticipation and the passion he was emitting from his heart, wanting to do this comeback so badly, maybe that got to him.

“That is all I can think, that maybe the stress killed him.”

He described Jackson, who was best man when Geller renewed his wedding vows, as a “genius”.

He said: “I’m shocked and devastated. I am hoping this is a dream I will wake up from, but it is not. Michael is dead.

“For him not to be around, that he’s gone, is just surreal. It cannot sink into my psyche. He was a genius.

“I had my rows and up and downs with him because we were friends. I voiced my opinion about what he was doing wrong and found myself shouting at him at certain times, but when this person you were so close to is taken away, is gone, it’s just unbelievable.”

Jackson has three children, Michael Joseph Jackson Junior, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

The self-styled King of Pop Michael Jackson has died after suffering a suspected heart attack.

His brother Jermaine Jackson said he believed the 50-year-old singer suffered a suspected cardiac arrest at his Holmby Hills home in Los Angeles and was taken to the UCLA medical centre where he was pronounced dead.

He said: “My brother, the legendary King of Pop, passed away on Thursday June 25 at 2.26pm.

“We believe he suffered a cardiac arrest at his home, however the cause of his death is unknown until the results of the autopsy are known. The personal physician who was with him at the time attempted to resuscitated him.”

A spokesman for the hospital added: “When he arrived at hospital at approximately 1.14pm a team of doctors including emergency physicians and cardiologists attempted to resuscitate him for a period of more than one hour, they were unsuccessful.”

TV footage showed a rescue helicopter flying the star’s body to a waiting ambulance.

Tributes from the world of music, film and celebrity have flooded in. His first wife Lisa Marie Presley said: “This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me.”

Madonna said: “The world has lost one of its greats but his music will live on forever.”

The head of the Sony Corporation Sir Howard Stringer said: “Michael Jackson was a brilliant troubadour for his generation, a genius whose music reflected the passion and creativity of an era.”

And Justin Timberlake - who has been compared to a young Jackson - said: “We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only pop music, but of all music.”

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said the robbery and homicide team was investigating Jackson’s death because of its “high profile”. But he added nothing should be read into his team’s involvement.

A post-mortem examination is expected to take place later, Los Angeles Coroner’s Office spokesman Fred Corral said.

Jackson was about to embark on a comeback tour - This Is It, including 50 dates in London, which aimed to resurrect his fortunes.

Jackson last toured 12 years ago when he played 82 shows in 58 cities around the world for the HIStory tour.

Close friend Uri Geller said: “I guess the stress, the anticipation and the passion he was emitting from his heart, wanting to do this comeback so badly, maybe that got to him.

“That is all I can think, that maybe the stress killed him.”

He described Jackson, who was best man when Geller renewed his wedding vows, as a “genius”.

He said: “I’m shocked and devastated. I am hoping this is a dream I will wake up from, but it is not. Michael is dead.

“For him not to be around, that he’s gone, is just surreal. It cannot sink into my psyche. He was a genius.

“I had my rows and up and downs with him because we were friends. I voiced my opinion about what he was doing wrong and found myself shouting at him at certain times, but when this person you were so close to is taken away, is gone, it’s just unbelievable.”

Jackson has three children, Michael Joseph Jackson Junior, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

T-Mobile USA will begin selling a new smartphone using Google Inc’s Android operating software in August, facing off against high-end devices such as Apple’s latest iPhone and the Palm Pre.

T-Mobile, an arm of Deutsche Telekom and the No. 4 U.S. mobile service, said the myTouch 3G phone is a slimmer and more advanced version of the G1, which was also made by Taiwan’s HTC Corp and based on Android technology.

The new phone will cost $199, the same as the 16-gigabyte model of Apple Inc’s iPhone 3GS and Palm Inc’s Pre after a rebate for a two-year service contract.

MyTouch’s advantage is that the phone can be personalized, such as with custom home screens and widgets, T-Mobile said. The Android platform can also learn user preferences and offer recommendations.

“The story is personalization,” said Andrew Sherrard, vice president of product innovation at T-Mobile. The iPhone had a “beautiful aesthetic, but you can’t change it,” he said.

Cupertino, California-based Apple introduced the iPhone two years ago, and it quickly became a consumer phenomenon and upped the game for other phone makers, including the more business-oriented BlackBerry from Research in Motion Ltd.

Apple’s latest iPhone, 3GS, hit stores last Friday with new features and faster speeds, intensifying competition in the high-end mobile device market. Apple and its U.S. carrier partner, AT&T Inc, also cut the price of an older iPhone model.

With more and more models on the market, there are questions what the market can support.

An outlook by RIM on Thursday that fell short of some investors’ expectations stoked concerns about consumer spending and fears that the smartphone market has become more cluttered with alternatives.

T-Mobile’s Sherrard acknowledged the economy has been weak, but said consumers will continue to seek feature-rich phones.

“We’re still living in a recessionary environment,” he said. “But people have hung onto their wireless devices. It’s become the way they communicate.”

The myTouch features a touch-screen display, and a 3.2-megapixel camera, a music player, and video capabilities to make it easier for users to share pictures and videos on sites like YouTube and Picasa.

The phone is also more lightweight in design compared to the G1, and will have longer battery life, T-Mobile said. It will come in white, black and wine red.

Customers already using T-Mobile can pre-order myTouch from July 8 onwards, and begin receiving the new gadget from July 29, the company said, adding that the price for upgraded users has not yet been finalized. T-Mobile expects more than half of the new phone’s buyers to be existing customers.

Chinese online gaming company Shanda Interactive Entertainment Inc. will buy 51 percent stake inwireless value-added service company Hurray! Holding Co. Ltd. for 46.2 million U.S. dollars, reported Wednesday’s China Daily.

Shanda said in a statement on Tuesday that it plans to acquire a controlling stake in the bleeding NASDAQ-listed Chinese ring tone provider.

Shanda is a provider of interactive online games and a variety of cartoons, literature works and music.

Hurray! started operation by selling ring tones and wallpapers but soon diversified into artist development and music production business.

By acquiring Hurray!, Shanda has managed to enter China’s wireless service market, which is expected to get a fillip as telecom operators are aggressively pushing their 3G services.

Last month, Shanda submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the proposed IPO of its online game business, which takes up about 20 percent of China’s booming online game market.

Art and advertising have been closely connected for sometime now. Graphic designer Seb Jarnot drew up the Nike ads; musician Jose Gonzalez sang Heartbeat for Sony Bravia TV; and Hong Kong movie director Wong Kar Wai made an ad film for Philips Aurea.

Next month in Shanghai, the China Philharmonic Orchestra and multi-media artists Bauhouse from Berlin will perform a 35-minute live commercial for carmaker Audi.

Bauhouse, that includes visual artist Fabian Grobe and sound artists Clemens Wittkowski and Arno Kraehahn, will stand on podiums and work the screens behind them from laptops while accompanied by the orchestra. The visual will comprise entirely of Audi related footage.

“I was so excited when I got the video that I decided to change my program to conduct this one,” says Yu Long, artistic director of China Philharmonic Orchestra who will conduct Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in the second half of the concert at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center on July 16 and 17. The first half will have the Audi Symphony.

“I never imagined music, motion picture and advertising could be combined so naturally and comfortably. Yes, it is an advertising film, but the music sounds novel and inspirational and the video part is smartly shot and edited,” says Yu.

“It’s interesting to create music for cars. Audi represents a certain spirit and tradition of Germany and symphonic music is also a tradition of Germany. We are combining them in a novel way that we hope people will appreciate,” says Clemens Wittkowski.

The Audi Symphony concert in Shanghai is not only the highlight event of celebrations to mark the company’s 100th anniversary, but is also part of the 2009 Audi Summer Music Festival. The festival includes a series of music classes held in Peking University, Tsinghua University and the Communication University of China, through June and July.

It will also feature lectures by famous cellist Zhu Yibing, guqin artist Huang Mei, musicologist Xie Jiaxing, music psychologist Hu Tao and other experts in music.

The annual Audi Summer Festival is funded by the Beijing Music Festival Fund and the Audi Cultural Fund. The box-office earnings from every year’s festival go to the Audi Young Musicians Plan that supports talented young Chinese musicians.

Thousands of screaming fans, being asked to sing the national anthem at a major league baseball game and a parade: It was all too much for “American Idol” finalist Danny Gokey, who recently returned to his hometown of Milwaukee.

During the parade on May 8, the 29-year-old truck driver cried.

“It’s unbelievable,” Gokey told former “Idol” contestant Jamar Rogers.

The 29-year-old Gokey, who was voted off Wednesday, said he was grateful to the show and that his “life has turned around: I can’t say that enough.” With the vote, “Idol” now pits dark horse Kris Allen against early favorite Adam Lambert.

Gokey has come far in his transformation from an unknown widower to the third-place finisher on the popular Fox singing show.

“From tragedy to triumph,” he said.

Less than a year ago, Gokey’s wife, Sophia, died after surgery for a congenital heart defect. He was so shocked, he couldn’t cry at her funeral.

Sophia had been an “American Idol” fan, and they had agreed he would try out. Gokey, then 28, reached the upper age limit for the audition, but a month after her death, he auditioned in Kansas City.

Gokey, a volunteer church music director who knows mostly gospel music, had to learn new songs every week. He also tailored his image, turning his collection of more than 50 pairs of funky glasses and the heart symbol he makes with his hands into his signatures.

He has said he decided long ago to put away bitter feelings and enjoy life, which recently included being tutored by actor and singer Jamie Foxx, complimented by Simon Cowell as “one of the best” and adored by Paula Abdul, who cried when he was voted off the show.

“My whole testimony is overcoming,” Gokey said. “Overcoming the impossible in my life, and now I want to take that message and tell people, ‘If I can do it, you can do it.’”

Gokey plans to take that message on the road this summer when he tours with the show’s top 10 finalists and in charity work for Sophia’s Heart Foundation, which he started after his wife died. He said he also wants to make a rhythm and blues CD, although he hasn’t yet signed a record deal.

Gokey’s 34-year-old brother Charles said his family was devastated by the vote, but that Gokey was now free from “Idol” contracts to do what he wants, including more foundation work.

“I’m a little sad, but at the same time it’s a new beginning,” said Charles Gokey. “It’s a happy beginning for what he can accomplish, with all the exposure he’s had.”

“I was a nobody, and this show turned me into somebody and I’ll always be thankful for the roots that I came out of because I do believe that still the best has yet to come for me,” Danny Gokey said on a recent conference call with reporters. “This is not the end of the road.”