Archive for February, 2008

Maine & Direct Shipping Education

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

No one ever claimed the issues surrounding direct to consumer shipping were not complicated and often difficult to understand. Add politics to the mix and you often have mistaken understandings of the issues at hand as well as very problematic interpretations of what a direct shipping bill does for a ...

Ignorant or Misleading?

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

Recently the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport that the state of Maine may not required a common carrier (FedEX, UPS, etc) to obtain a signature from someone to whom cigarettes are being delivered. The court reasoned that such a state requirement ran afoul of ...

Who Are The Greedy Ones?

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

"All they care about is their own greed, about selling wine." One must be struck by the extraordinary disregard some people have for their own integrity. On Monday, the state of Maryland heard testimony in committee on HB 1260, a bill that would allow wineries and retailers both inside Maryland and ...

Washington State Wine Shipping: A Post Mortem

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Specialty Wine Retailers Association, wine merchants and many a wine lover had very high expectations for a very good piece of legislation that had been introduced in Washington State by Senator Brian Weinstein. SB 6384 would have created a permit issued by the the state of Washington to out-of-state retailers ...

Why Allowing Retailer-to-Consumer Shipping is Good Public Policy

Friday, February 8th, 2008

Across the country a variety of states are currently considering direct shipping legislation that addresses retailer-to-consumer shipping. In most states the same issues tend to arise. Below are the most important issues that have been arising and the points that should be raised in each case 1. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES CONCERNING DIRECT ...

The Fallacy

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

"The world sees the Internet as their friend, they don’t see the danger in it. I guarantee you, if I gave my daughter a gift card or a credit card tomorrow she could order a bottle of vodka on the Internet and get it three days later. They don’t see ...

ALASKA-The State of Retailer Shipping

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

Alaska has enacted one of the country's most progressive set of wine shipping regulations. Assuming the wine can be delivered free from damage by the state's often inclement weather, Alaskans have access to a world of wines. The Law: "An individual who is not in the liquor business may import, ...