FC: Wine felons unite! -- ordering online may be a crime

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Last month in Australia I picked up a few bottles of very nice Shiraz that
you
just can't get in the states. But I guess ordering these online might make
me a
felon. Idiots. --Declan]

********

From: "Donald Boudreaux" <dboudreaux () fee org>
To: [declan]
Subject: Wine Felons Unite!
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 10:17:50 -0400
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Thank heavens for the state!
 
Don

http://www.slate.com/winesworld/99-09-30/winesworld.asp

                             The Crime of Wine
                             Here's one industry the Internet won't
revolutionize
                             overnight.

                             By Fareed Zakaria
                             Posted Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999, at 4:30 p.m. PT

                                     As Internet companies spin into the
financial stratosphere,
                             Wall Street and the business press speak with awe
of the
                             revolutionary implications of the Web. Issue
after
issue of
                             Forbes, Fortune, and Business Week detail in
awe-struck
                             tones the hundreds of millions (sometimes even
billions) raised
                             by Net companies. A new staple is the interview
with the
                             Internet expert (call him the I-guru). The
editors
will ask
                             meekly, "Dr. Chopra, what industries do you think
will be
                             affected by the Internet?" To which the I-guru
sighs, pauses,
                             and explains, "The real question, Charlie, is
what
industries will
                             not be affected. Frankly, I can't think of a
single one." 

                                    Well, I can--wine. The booze business
might
well end up
                             being one of the few areas of American life
undisturbed by the
                             great Internet revolution. The buying and selling
of wine across
                             state borders is still illegal in 28 states,
including New York,
                             where I live. It's a pity because the wine
business is perfectly
                             suited to e-commerce. No store could possibly
stock even 10
                             percent of the 10,000-odd wines produced by
America's
                             1,800 wineries, not to mention the vineyards of
France, Italy,
                             and Australia. It would be a godsend if wine
buyers could do a
                             Web search for bottles of, say, Cloudy Bay
Sauvignon Blanc,
                             a hard-to-find $16 world-class white wine from
New
Zealand.
                             In my mind's eye, I see myself using a search
engine similar to
                             the Advanced Book Exchange, which allows readers
to track
                             down secondhand books at hundreds of shops across
North
                             America. I can just see myself clicking the mouse
to
                             comparison shop and then score a bottle from a
San
Francisco
                             store, four from a Texas shop, and 12 from a New
York
                             outlet. 

                             I'd settle for being able to buy wine from
mainstream
                             Internet merchants such as 1-800-WINE-SHOP or
                             Wine.com (which used to be Virtual Vineyards).
Alas, only 12
                             states--most of them in the West--have completely
legalized
                             such acts of capitalism between consenting
adults.
The laws
                             regulating direct wine sales were rarely enforced
until recently,
                             but a new zeal is in the air. Buying a single
bottle of wine from
                             out-of-state is a third-degree felony in
Kentucky,
Georgia, and
                             Florida and is punishable with fines of up to
$2,000 and jail
                             time. And Orrin Hatch, senior senator from the
parched state
                             of Utah, has introduced a bill that would allow
federal courts
                             to prosecute offenders. Indeed, Hatch was
moved to
                             federalize this crime precisely because new
technologies like
                             the Internet make it easier to buy wine
nationally
(horrors!).
                             Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., introduced a
similar
bill in the
                             House--which passed by a hefty margin. 

                             [...]


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