Originally Posted by
You want to go where?
I agree, not because I consider that immigration laws are necessarily silly, but because unpaid promotional acitivities are simply not commercial activity, even if the end result may through complex channels generate income for the individual. Where do you draw the line?
While Mr. Hornby's activities would undoubtedly result in increased sales of his book, those transactions are not conducted with Mr. Hornby but with the bookstore that is actually selling his books. He is not being directly remunerated for his activities.
When Bono gives a speech promoting poverty alleviation, it raises his public stature and undoubtedly boosts his record sales. Would that be considered work?
When a politician speaks abroad, is that considered work? What about if they have also published a book?
People pay a lot for foreign politicians to speak in the US. A buddy of mine used to handle the likes of Nelson Mandela's contracts for speeches in the OECD world; and it wasn't cheap. FWdC, his counterpart who released him, was more available and cost less, but it was big bucks too. They got paid big bucks to speak and frequently had their travel costs often covered on top of that.