Copyright 2000 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
May 02, 2000, Tuesday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 22
LENGTH:
536 words
HEADLINE: WEB WHINE;
'Cyber-bootlegging'
just rhetoric for protectionism
SOURCE: Staff
BODY:
Like just about every other sort of consumer
good, from flowers to industrial equipment, beer, wine and spirits are now
available for purchase over the Internet. And like many other businesses
springing up online, alcohol sales in cyberspace are causing apprehension among
brick-and-mortar competitors, governmental taxing agencies, Congress and
lobbyists. Interestingly, however, those who say they oppose alcohol sales
online don't want to ban all sales, just those liquor dot-coms that cut out the
alcohol middleman.
Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a
bill that would allow states to go to federal court to seek injunctions against
shipments of alcohol that violate local laws. While perhaps reasonable on its
face, the bill is actually protectionist. It seeks to deny consumers in Texas
and elsewhere the opportunity to buy wine and other alcohol directly from, say,
a vineyard, bypassing local retailers, wholesalers and distributors. The alcohol
distribution establishment considers illegal those sites that would sell
directly to consumers.
In Texas, U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon
ruled in February that a statute that prohibits the shipping of wine across
state lines violates the interstate commerce protections of the Constitution.
Lawsuits similar to the Texas suit, now on appeal, that sparked Harmon's ruling
resulted in similar outcomes in Indiana and Illinois. More such lawsuits are
pending in several other states.
Harmon's is a sensible ruling that has
some application to the problem of Internet alcohol sales. After all, why should
consumers be more restricted in their ability to order a case of wine from a
California vineyard over the Internet than in their ability to buy groceries,
pharmaceuticals or clothing? There is nothing to stop adults from enjoying - or
overindulging in - wines, beer and spirits they buy from legal or "illegal"
sites, corner stores or just across the line of a dry Texas county.
One
argument that those who would like to ban free-market alcohol sales online is
that minors will be able to order beer and wine. But there is no convincing
evidence to suggest that the sort of site that requires a lot of intermediary
businesses would be any less accessible to underage drinkers than a site that
sells directly to the consumer.
Shipping alcohol to youths is illegal in
every state. And even in the brick-and-mortar world, distributors, wholesalers,
and retail stores have been outrageously unsuccessful at keeping alcohol out of
the hands of minors.
The selling of all kinds of goods and services over
the Internet are fodder for examination on many levels, from taxation to
regulation to consumer safety. Just as Congress saw fit to place a moratorium on
Internet taxation while the fledgling industry develops, so should lawmakers
resist imposing undue and unnecessary restrictions on e-commerce.
Competition in the real world and online engenders innovation, improved
quality and lower prices. A free marketplace is what made America the economic
powerhouse it is today. Legislation that protects the nation's large beer, wine
and spirits distributors from smaller Internet start-ups does not fit that
successful model.
TYPE: Editorial Opinion
LOAD-DATE: May 3, 2000 
