Yep, the feds will interpret ANY sort of money, goods, services, or other as a form of compensation. Same way amateur radio people can't take anything, even a

Yep, the feds will interpret ANY sort of money, goods, services, or other as a form of compensation. Same way amateur radio people can't take anything, even a can of soda, for radio operations. Or how private pilots can't get paid to take someone from 1 airport to the next. Or more recently, doing drone photography and selling said pictures. Does it happen? Sure. But I've seen the feds come down hard on people, including citizens, for even a whiff of 'commercial' anything. And well, I can't recommend anybody coming into the US, especially a non-native citizen. I wouldn't stay, but I don't have that latitude to move countries.