[WSG] Affiliate link code validation errors

[Will Jensen]

If this is off-topic - Just let it die for lack of reply!

I have an 'affiliate' link on my web site for the Opera browser (And, yes for Firefox, Mozilla and Netscape as well).

The problem is that the link does not validate in XHTML 1.1.

This same problem shows up on many other sites using affiliate links for all kinds of products, not just for Opera.

Here's the link code:

<a href="https://secure.bmtmicro.com/servlets/Orders.ShoppingCart?CID=310&PRODUCTID=3100023&AID=xxxxxx">

The "x's" are the affiliate ID.

The W3C validator shows 12 errors related to the items highlighted in BOLD:

<a href="https://secure.bmtmicro.com/servlets/Orders.ShoppingCart?CID=310&PRODUCTID=3100023&AID=830198">

The errors stem from PRODUCTID, the '=' and the '&'

My question is how - if at all possible - to make this statement validate in XHTML 1.1?

I know I can downgrade the DOCTYPE!, but really prefer to keep the XHTML 1.1 rating.

Will Jensen
Moscow, Russia
[EMAIL PROTECTED]