Patchwork Problems in State Laws Hurt Online Commerce

by Braden Cox on October 26, 2009 · Comments

CNET reports that Amazon has halted plans to sell wine online. The reason:  too many inconsistent state laws. Per the article:

Since the Supreme Court ruled in May 2005 that states must grant the same shipping rights to out-of-state and in-state wineries, winery-to-consumer shipping has become legal in 35 states, according to wine advocacy group Free the Grapes. But state laws governing direct wine shipping vary greatly, creating an onerous task in managing compliance.

Amazon has become a great marketplace for countless products–it’s a shame to see wine makers shut out from this market due to regulatory barriers to e-commerce.

Comments Posted in: E-Commerce Taxation & Regulation, Miscellaneous

  • Braden, I realize that the intent it to promote "No Regulation". Ironically, the post is logically absurd. For example, lets assume that a State law is a proprietary "product", like the iPhone. Well, how come it is considered OK for private companies to have a "patchwork" of different standards, that these different non-interoperable standards are considered innovative, and not considered onerous to the market place? So, continuing with the "no regulation" intent, the owners of all phones should not be "regulated" by the phone companies and they should be able to freely unlock their phones and use any service that they desire.

    While some may consider my analogy weak; I would go on to say - What about the issue of State rights? One of the themes common to this forum is keeping the Federal government out of the regulation business to allow companies (States) to have a degree of freedom. So if companies should be free, as advocated on this forum, to develop their own (proprietary) solutions without the requirement for standardization, shouldn't the State's have the same privilege?
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