from Ars Technica:

Now this is a lil bit news lil bit offer. Bear with me.

Today, I was lucky enough to grab ECA President and Founder Hal Halpin for a fascinating discussion of DRM, the ability to re-sell your PC games, and other issues he's tacking with the Entertainment Consumers Association. We'll provide the high points of that conversation next week after we're back from San Francisco, but he did provide one nifty bit of news we want to share with you now: your ECA membership will now get you 10 percent off your software purchases at Amazon.com.
This gives you yet another excuse to join the ECA, as that savings on software can quickly make the $20 yearly fee more than worth it... as if it wasn't already. Take a look at some of the other benefits for members; there are some very good ways to save money.
More importantly, being a part of the ECA helps the organization fight for things that are important to gamers: Halpin had just returned from the FTC's conference on DRM issues, where he argued that the industry needs to begin disclosing the type of DRM used by games on the product's box, and should provide a description of how invasive the technology is. This is a man who can get the industry to move: previously, when he was with The Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA), he was able to help make PC game boxes smaller and provide uniform information on each unit.
"If you buy three games or so a year through Amazon, your ECA membership is basically free," he told Ars, while also saying that he's working to bring the discount to even more retailers and game organizations. The ECA does good work for gamers, and membership has its privileges.
So, you must be thinking ... Im not spending 20 bucks on some corp that i never interface with. This is a new company that appears to be out there to protect us, the gamers of the country, from all the rediculous politics and such that are popping up to "Save the children" from the "Evils of video games." I think thats a worthy cause personally.

There are some nifty benefits which come with membership.
-The Amazon coupon looks good but its only a one time use right now. Assuming they manage to make it a unique to you, multi-use coupon ... Thats huge cause i know i would be very willing to get my free super-saver shipping with an additional 10% off.
-Now i love gamefaqs but sometimes i like having a book to flip through and read when im not at a computer or need to print out an epic text file. Prima guides giving members a discount is rather nifty but i didnt look at details so you probably need to order online through their store.


Now i dont particularly want to get into the video game industry anymore as i am still establishing my IT career ... but i have been tinkering with the idea of doing some kind of programming. Start small and work my way up sort of thing. Having a resource available to me to put my resume up and know its target audience is going to be the industry i want is like going to Monster/HotJobs and expecting to only get emailed with choice jobs.




So, when i get home, I will be making my contribution to what could be a great cause, with benefits. PS: I am not affiliated and just thought this was a righteous cause to support.