Studies and Resources on Internet Tobacco Product Sales

October 11, 2005 Letter from the Campaign, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and Partners for Effective Tobacco Policy urging Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to reintroduce the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (the PACT Act) and urge its passage into law.

Factsheet: Internet Sales of Tobacco Products: Reaching Kids & Evading Taxes

Factsheet: Contraband Cigarette Trafficking & Internet Sales and Terrorism

Factsheet: Tobacco Product Marketing on the Internet

Factsheet: Checklist for State Legislation on Internet Tobacco Product Sales - To Ensure that Tax Avoidance and Youth Sales Are Adequately Constrained

Factsheet: Model State Legislation to Prohibit All Internet or Mail-Order Sales of Tobacco Products (model legislative language based on New York State’s law).

Factsheet: Model State Legislation to Restrict Internet and Mail-Order Tobacco Product Sales [To Block Sales to Youth and to Collect State Tobacco Taxes] (model legislative language).

Factsheet: The Critical Importance of a Delivery-List Enforcement Provision in State Internet Tobacco Sales Legislation

Factsheet: Problems with Philip Morris Model State Internet Legislation

Factsheet: Update on Federal Legislation on Internet Tobacco Product Sales

Press Statement (July 31, 2003): Hatch-Kohl Bill Would Reduce Tobacco Tax Evasion Through Internet Sales.

Press Statement (July 24, 2003): Public Health Groups Support Bipartisan Green-Meehan Bill To Reduce Tobacco Tax Evasion Through Internet Sales (joint statement with ACS, AHA, and ALA).

Factsheet: Key Provisions of the Green-Meehan Internet Tax Collection Bill.

Press Statement (September 9, 2003): JAMA Study Shows Kids Can Easily Buy Cigarettes Over the Internet, Underscoring Need for Meehan Legislation to Address the Problem

Press Statement (May 1, 2003): Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids with American Lung Association, Legislation Needed to Stop Internet Tobacco Sales to Kids

Press Release (Oct 29 2002): Campaign Praises Visa For Taking Strong Action to Stop Illegal Internet Tobacco Sales to Kids, Urges Other Credit Card Companies to Follow Suit

Factsheet: Raising State Tobacco Taxes Always Increases State Revenues & Always Reduces Tobacco Use

Reports on Internet Tobacco Product Sales & Marketing

Ribisl, K, Policy Brief on Internet Cigarette Sales, Substance Abuse Policy Research Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, October 2007. See, also, its additional Key Findings.

Tobacco Law Project (now the Tobacco Law Center), Minnesota Department of Health, Smoke on the Web: Can Children Buy Cigarettes Online? Enforcement Options, Challenges and Recommendations, March 2002.

U.S. General Accounting Office, Internet Cigarette Sales: Giving ATF Investigative Authority May Improve Reporting and Enforcement, GAO-02-743, August 9, 2002. Looks at internet sellers’ compliance with the federal Jenkins Act, which requires internet sellers of tobacco products to report all sales into a state to that state’s tax collection officials.

Rubin, R. et al., Online Tobacco Sales Grow, States Lose, Forrester Research, Inc. (private research and consulting firm), April 27, 2001.

Prudential Financial, Buying Cigarettes Over the Internet, Research Report, Consumer Staples/Tobacco, September 24, 2002.

Center for Media Education, Youth Access to Alcohol and Tobacco Web Marketing: The Filtering and Rating Debate, October 1999. [See, also, Kaiser Family Foundation, See No Evil: How Internet Filters Affect the Search for Online Health Information, December 2002, (only the most restrictive settings of screening software try to block out tobacco websites, but those settings also block out many useful health websites).]

Center for Media Education, Tobacco Targeted at Youth on the Internet: An Update, December 1998.

Center for Media Education, Alcohol & Tobacco on the Web: New Threats to Youth, March 1997.

Economics and Statistics Administration & National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use Of The Internet, February 2002.

Published Studies on Internet Tobacco Sales

Hrywna, C, et al., "Prevalence and Correlates of Internet Cigarette Purchasing Among Adult Smokers in New Jersey," Tobacco Control 13: 296-300, Sept. 2004.

Hodge, FS, et al., "American Indian Internet Cigarette Sales: Another Avenue for Selling Tobacco Products," American Journal of Public Health 94(2): 260-61, February 2004.

Ribisl, K., et al., "Internet Sales of Cigarettes to Minors," JAMA 290(10): 1356-59, September 10, 2003.

Bryant, JR, et al., "Online Sales: Profit Without Question," Tobacco Control 11: 226-27, September, 2002.

Ribisl, K, et al., "Are the Sales Practices of Internet Cigarette Vendors Good Enough to Prevent Sales to Minors?," American Journal of Public Health 92(6): 940-41, June 2002.

Hong T & Cody MJ, "Presence of Pro-Tobacco Messages on the Web," Journal of Health Communication 7(4):273-307, July-September, 2002."

Reagan, KA, et al., "Blocking access to online tobacco sales sites," Tobacco Control 11(2): 164-165 June, 2002.

Ribisl, KM, et al., "Web sites selling cigarettes: how many are there in the USA and what are their sales practices?," Tobacco Control 10: 352-359 (Winter), December, 2001.

Unger, JB, et al., "Are adolescents attempting to buy cigarettes on the internet?," Tobacco Control 10: 360-63 (Winter), December, 2001.

Connolly, G, "Smokes and cyberspace: a public health disaster in the making," Tobacco Control 10:299 (Winter), December, 2001.

Cohen, J, et al., "Tobacco commerce on the internet: a threat to comprehensive tobacco control," Tobacco Control 10: 364-367 (Winter), December, 2001.

Malone, R. & L. Bero, “Cigars, Youth, and the Internet Link,” American Journal of Public Health 90(5): 790-92, May, 2000.

State Laws Prohibiting Internet Tobacco Product Sales

New York law (Public Health Article 13F, Section 1399-ll) prohibiting all delivery sales of cigarettes (other than small amounts delivered by in-state retailers to nearby customers). Related advisory bulletin from the NY State Department of Taxation & Finance. The law was passed in August 2000 but did not go into effect until March 2003.

Connecticut law (Connecticut General Statutes, Chapter 24, Cigarette Taxes, Section 12-285c) prohibiting all shipments of cigarettes into the state except if delivered to cigarette dealers or distributors or other licensed entities in the cigarette business. Specifically prohibits common contract carriers from knowingly transporting cigarettes to anyone in state other than cigarette dealers and distributors and licensed entities.

Alaska tax stamp legislation, passed into law, which, among other things, prohibits deliveries of cigarettes into the state except to licensed entities (thereby forbidding any internet or mail-order deliveries to end-user customers), establishes new licensing rules for all entities selling cigarettes into the state, forbids common carriers from delivering cigarettes for non-licensed entities, and requires that all cigarettes sold to consumers in the state have state tax stamps on them.

State Laws Restricting Internet Tobacco Product Sales

Maine legislation (LD 1236),passed and signed into law, with a comprehensive system for restricting internet tobacco product sales in order to block sales to kids and to collect state tobacco excise taxes, including provisions making the it illegal for delivery services to knowingly deliver tobacco products to persons in the state for internet or mail-order sellers not licensed by the state or that are on state non-compliance lists. The law is at 22 MRSA Sec. 1555-C & 1555-D. The law was challenged by some delivery services, and some portions of the law have been struck down by a Maine federal district court ruling. as being preempted by federal law relating to common carriers. While the court found that the state law, as written, was not preempted, it found that the law as applied was preempted by federal law because it affected the "rates, routes or service" of common carriers operating in the state. The Maine Attorney General has appealed this ruling to a higher court, seeking a ruling that none of the Maine law is preempted by federal law.

Illinois law (Public Act 093-0960) requiring all Internet or mail-order sellers of cigarettes to Illinois smokers to register with the state as cigarette distributors (thereby authorized to buy state cigarette tax stamps and apply them to cigarettes destined for sale in the state) and forbidding common carriers from delivering any cigarettes to individuas for anyone who is not a licensed distributor and forbidding common carriers from delivering any cigarettes to individuals unless the carrier first checks government photo ID to confirm that the recipient is the purchaser and is 18 years of age or older, and also gets a signed statement from the purchaser/recipient confirming that the purchaser/recipient is 18 or over, understands that signing another person’s name is illegal, understands that sales of cigarettes to persons under 18 is illegal, and that purchases by persons under the age of 18 are illegal under state law.

California legislation, which has passed and been signed into law, restricting internet and mail order to kids, with age verification online and signature requirements (AB 1830 Assemblyman Frommer). For the actual new law, see CA Business & Professions Code Section 22963.

California legislation, passed and signed into law, that requires internet sellers to pay CA taxes on cigarettes delivered into state or mark packages notifying recipients that taxes are owed (SB 1766 Sen. Ortiz). For the actual new law, see CA Revenue and Taxation Code Section 30101.7 and CA Code of Civil Procedure Section 1021.10

California legislation, passed into law, changing the tax stamp requirements in the state to require laser stamping with encrypted information (SB1701 Sen. Peace). For the actual new law, see CA Revenue and Taxation Code Section 30162.

Idaho legislation (HB 357), passed into law, that forbids internet or mail-order sales of tobacco products to youth, has various youth access provisions, and creates state parallel to federal Jenkins Act re internet sellers reports of tobacco product sales into the state that identify state buyers for tax collection purposes.

Nevada law forbidding internet sales to youths under age 18 in the state and requiring adult signature at delivery of all tobacco products to customers in state (NRS 202 Sec. 24935).

Rhode Island law calling for unannounced state compliance checks re illegal internet and mail-order tobacco product sales to kids in the state (General Laws 11-9-13.6).

Rhode Island law restricting internet and mail order sales to kids, with signature at delivery requirements.

Virginia law to restrict internet and other delivery sales of cigarettes and to address problem of counterfeit cigarettes and counterfeit tax stamps (appears based on Philip Morris model state internet legislation).

Indiana law from Senate Bill 504 (appears based on Philip Morris model state internet legislation).

Texas law from House Bill 3139 (based on Philip Morris model legislation but revised somewhat).

State Legislation to Restrict Internet Tobacco Product Sales

Factsheet: Model State Legislation to Prohibit All Internet or Mail-Order Sales of Tobacco Products (model legislative language based on New York State’s law).

Factsheet: Model State Legislation to Restrict Internet and Mail-Order Tobacco Product Sales [To Block Sales to Youth and to Collect State Tobacco Taxes] (model legislative language).

Factsheet: The Critical Importance of a Delivery-List Enforcement Provision in State Internet Tobacco Sales Legislation.

Philip Morris "Proposed Cigarette Delivery Sales Bill" (2004) Model State Legislation Regarding Internet and Mail Order Sales and TFK Critique of the Philip Morris model internet legislation.

New Jersey legislation that prohibits common carriers and other delivery services from knowingly delivering tobacco products to minors and requires them to report any tobacco product deliveries to state tax collection officials.

Federal Laws Relating to Internet Tobacco Product Sales

Federal Jenkins Act re internet cigarette sales (15 USC 375 et seq.)

Federal Laws prohibiting trafficking in contraband cigarettes (18 USC 2342 et seq.)

IRS Code re tobacco products.

Federal Legislation to Restrict Internet Tobacco Product Sales

From 2003-2004 Legislative Session: The Prevent All Contraband Tobacco Act (or PACT Act), S. 1177, introduced by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Herbert Kohl (D-WI), passed the full Senate by unanimous consent on December 9, 2003. The PACT Act would minimize tobacco tax evasion through the internet by making tobacco products non-mailable matter, forbidding any internet sales of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco into a state without prior payment of all related tobacco taxes to the state and by giving the states and other tobacco tax jurisdictions the tools they need to enforce that requirement and all state laws relating to the taxation of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco. Carefully crafted to be completely neutral on tribal sovereignty matters. Also provided for a federal list of non-complying or otherwise illegal Internet sellers, with common carriers and other delivery services required not to make any deliveries for any of those illegal sellers. Also contains provisions directed at reducing both internet and other forms of contraband cigarette and smokeless tobacco deliveries and sales.

Press Statement (July 31, 2003): Hatch-Kohl Bill Would Reduce Tobacco Tax Evasion Through Internet Sales.

From 2003-2004 Legislative Session: H.R. 2824, H.R. 2824, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Mark Green (R-WI) and Martin Meehan (D-MA), passed the House Judiciary Committee by a unanimous voice vote on January 28, 2004. The bill would minimize tobacco tax evasion via the internet by forbidding any internet sales of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco into a state without prior payment of all related tobacco taxes to the state and by giving the states the tools they need to enforce that requirement and all state laws relating to the taxation of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco. Among other things, provided for a federal list of non-complying or otherwise illegal Internet sellers, with common carriers and other delivery services required not to make any deliveries for any of those illegal sellers.

Press Statement (July 24, 2003): Public Health Groups Support Bipartisan Green-Meehan Bill To Reduce Tobacco Tax Evasion Through Internet Sales (joint statement with ACS, AHA, and ALA).

Congressional Testimony: Matthew Myers' May 1, 2003 testimony before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property regarding Internet tax collection legislation Introduced by U.S. Rep. Mark, Green (R-WI), H.R. 1839.

Separate legislation to directly address the problem of youth access to tobacco products via the internet, H.R. 3047, has been introduced by U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan (D-MA) (neither the PACT Act or the Green-Meehan bills, described above, directly address the youth access issue).

From 2001-2002 Legislative Session: H.R. 5724, The Tobacco Free Internet for Kids Act of 2002, introduced by Representatives Marty Meehan (D-MA) and James Hansen (R-UT) to block youth access to internet tobacco products and minimize tax evasion through internet sales of tobacco products.

From 2001-2002 Legislative Session: S. 3035, introduced by Senator Hutchinson (R-AR) to prohibit the sale of tobacco products through the internet or other indirect means to underage individuals, to ensure the collection of all cigarette taxes, and for other purposes.

Court Rulings on State Efforts to Restrict Internet Tobacco Sales

June 2005, Stipulated Judgment in a lawsuit brought by Washington State in a Washington State Federal District Court against an Internet tobacco vendor (smokesignals.com) based on Tribal lands owned by the Seneca Tribe in New York. Washington State had charged that the Internet vendor was selling cigarettes to Washington State residents without complying with the federal Jenkins Act, which requires Internet cigarette vendors to register with and make reports to any States to which it sells and delivers cigarettes. The Internet seller entered into the stipulated judgment in favor of Washington State without raising any Tribal sovereignty or Tribal immunity defenses.

May 27, 2005 Maine Federal District Court Ruling striking down the state's law relating to Internet tobacco product sales to the extent that it put new restrictions on common carriers or otherwise affected the common carriers' business practices, finding that the carrier-related provisions of the Maine law were preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA). The Maine Attorney General has said he will be appealing the ruling.

Appellate Court ruling upholding New York State’s ban on internet and mail order sales, Brown & Williamson v. George Pataki, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Docket Nos. 01-7806, 01-7813 8, February 13, 2003. The Appellate Court overruled a lower court ruling, which had blocked the implementation of the New York ban and described alternative restrictions on internet and mail order sales of tobacco products that states could constitutionally implement instead of a total ban.

In Quill Corp. v. Heitkamp, 504 U.S. 298 (1992), the Supreme Court found that a state could not require an out-of-state mail order firm with no physical presence in the state to collect and pay a use tax on goods purchased by customers within the state. It ruled that a mail-order house may have the "minimum contacts" with a taxing State to give the state jurisdiction, as required by the Due Process Clause, and yet lack the "substantial nexus" with the State required for State jurisdiction by the Commerce Clause.

District Court ruling in Washington State finding that states may assert a claim for violation of the federal Jenkins Act in U.S. District Court (citing similar NY State Court ruling) – i.e., states, as well as the federal government, can enforce the Jenkins Act against internet sellers that violate it. Also held that businesses with interactive websites that sell cigarettes into a state have adequate minimum contacts with that state so that courts in that state can exercise personal jurisdiction over the business and bring them into the state as lawsuit defendants. Order Denying Motion to Dismiss, State of Washington v. www.dirtcheapcig.com, Inc., Case No. CO2-2438L, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington at Seattle, May 2, 2003.

Internet Tobacco Product Sales, Indian Tribes, and Tribal Sovereignty Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Oklahoma Tax Comm. v. Potawatomi Tribe, 498 U.S. 505 (1991), ruled that "under the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity" a state is "free to collect taxes on sales to nontribal members" that occur on tribal lands within state borders (but may not tax tribal-land sales to tribal members). But the Court also ruled that because of Indian tribes’ sovereign immunity, a state cannot enforce any such tax collection laws against a tribe through a lawsuit in court unless specifically authorized by Congress to do so. In its consideration of this issue, the Court also affirmed that "Congress has always been at liberty to dispense with such tribal immunity or to limit it." The Court also noted that it had never held that individual officers or members of a tribe could not be held liable for damages in court actions brought by a state; and stated that if the states cannot adequately protect state tax revenues on sales made on Indian lands without being able to bring court actions against Indian tribes the states could seek appropriate legislation from Congress. In a concurring opinion, Justice Stevens also stated that "the Court today recognizes that a tribe's sovereign immunity from actions seeking money damages does not necessarily extend to actions seeking equitable relief."

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) resources on Tribal sovereignty and immunity.

NCAI Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative

NCAI information on State-Tribal tobacco tax compacts

American Indian Policy Center, "Sovereign Immunity." See also, www.airpi.org/projects/marge1.html.

Editorial, "Tobacco Reservations," Washington Times, February 11, 2004.

Internal Revenue Service, “Glossary of Terms" (relating to Indian Tribes and Tribal sovereignty).

Piecing Together the State-Tribal Tax Puzzle, Zelio, J., National Conference of State Legislators, April 2005. Includes map showing which states have state-tribal compacts relating to tobacco tax collections.

State Enforcement to Stop Illegal Acts by Internet Tobacco Sellers

February 2006 Agreement entered into by the common carrier Fed Ex and the New York Attorney General, Elliot Spitzer, in which Fed Ex agrees to institute new procedures to ensure that it will not deliver cigarettes to consumers for any Internet vendors operating in violation of federal or state laws.

• Related Press Release from NY Attorney General's Office.

January 2006 Agreement entered into by Philip Morris USA and New York Attorney General, Elliot Spitzer and other state Attorneys General, in which Philip Morris USA agrees to institute new procedures to ensure that, upon notice from an state attorney general, it will not sell or deliver cigarettes to Internet vendors operating in violation of applicable laws and it will curtail its sales and deliveries of cigarettes to any distributors or wholesalers that are violating the law by making sales or deliveries to illegal Internet vendors.

• Related Press Release from NY Attorney General's Office.

October 21, 2005 Settlement Agreement entered into by the common carrier UPS and the New York Attorney General, Elliot Spitzer, in which UPS agrees to institute new procedures to ensure that it will not deliver cigarettes to consumers for any Internet vendors operating in violation of federal or state laws nor deliver any tobacco products to any youth. This agreement is more New York specific than the broader agreement (see below) between all the state Attorneys General and the credit card companies.

• Related press release from NY Attorney General's Office.

July 1, 2005 Settlement Agreement entered into by the common carrier DHL and the New York Attorney General in which DHL agrees to institute new procedures to ensure that it will not deliver cigarettes to consumers for any Internet vendors operating in violation of federal or state laws nor deliver any tobacco products to any youth. (See below for related Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids letters to UPS and Fed Ex.)

March 2005 Agreement made by the State Attorneys General and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives with the major credit card companies and PayPal in which the credit card companies and PayPal agree to terminate the credit card or PayPal rights of Internet sellers of tobacco products that are not complying with applicable federal or state laws.

New York City RICO lawsuit against internet vendors re nonpayment of state and city cigarette taxes.

California lawsuits against internet tobacco product sellers for violations of the federal Jenkins Act and the state's unfair competition laws, laws forbidding cigarette sales to youth, and new laws pertaining to tobacco taxes and internet and mail order sellers of cigarettes.

• Related press release from the California Attorney General's office.

Washington State lawsuit against "Dirt Cheap Cigarettes" internet vendor for failure to comply with the federal Jenkins Act.

Additional information on Washington State AG Christine Gregoire’s enforcement efforts:

• www.wa.gov/ago/pubs/bidis_order.htm
• www.wa.gov/ago/releases/rel_cheapcigs_103102.html
• www.wa.gov/ago/releases/rel_bidis_122199.html

Massachusetts Department of Revenue Directive "Tax Obligations of Persons Purchasing Cigarettes in Interstate Commerce For Which the Massachusetts Cigarette Excise Has Not been Paid."

• Related TV news story on MA efforts to get smokers buying over internet to pay state taxes.

Tobacco Control Resource Center, Litigation Resources Relating to Sales of Tobacco Products on the Internet.

Private Efforts to Block Illegal Acts by Internet Tobacco Sellers

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids letters to the United Postal Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed Ex) urging the two companies to follow the example of DHL, the other major common carrier operating in the United States, and institute effective procedures to ensure that they do make any deliveries for Internet vendors that are selling tobacco products in violation of federal and state laws.

In March 2005, MasterCard International issued a bulletin to its member banks about the problem of illegal activity by online tobacco merchants. MasterCard reportedly stated that financial institutions may still provide MasterCard acceptance rights for Internet tobacco product merchants but they must first have documented evidence to substantiate that the merchant is in compliance with all applicable federal, state and local laws to the satisfaction of the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and any applicable state attorney general.

• Related MasterCard news release.

In November 2002, America OnLine (AOL) blocked persons from under 18 from AOL’s shopping areas in order to prevent kids from purchasing tobacco products, alcohol, or pornography from AOL partners.

• Related news article.

In September 2002, the Visa credit card company issued a new rule requiring that internet vendors which accept Visa Cards and sell age-restricted products (such as cigarettes) have valid age-verification procedures to block sales to kids and otherwise ensure that Visa Cards are not used in illegal internet transactions.

• A summary of this new rule is on the Visa website.
• The Campaign issued a press release applauding Visa for this action, urging Visa to enforce the rule vigorously, and urging other credit card companies to follow suit.

Philip Morris, the largest cigarette company in the United States, has filed lawsuits against fifty-five internet vendors of cigarettes claiming that they are selling counterfeit versions of Philip Morris brands and violating Philip Morris’s trademark rights.

• Philip Morris issued a press release on these lawsuits, which also provides links to the legal complaints it filed in several different courts.

Aristotle International, Inc., "VerifyMe™ Worldwide age and identity verification using government-issued ID.

Aristotle International, Inc., www.childonlineprotectionservices.org [provides information on existing restrictions and requirements re selling age-restricted products online].

ChoicePoint Authentication Services: "Through ChoicePoint's identification services, companies can perform on-site, online or off-line identity validation and confirmation for use in trusted transactions."

Cybersource Corp., "a real-time age authentication system that validates the Internet user's age based on U.S. and foreign government-issued identification and public records."

Paymentech, OnGuard age verification system, "Merchants can now "card" visitors at their website to authenticate identity and age. Age verification uses an international database of government-issued identifications to instantaneously verify age and identity online." Paymentech also offers OnGuard identity verification through "real-time authentication of a purchaser's identity...using robust proprietary databases, statistical analysis and government issued identification.

[These listings are for informational purposes only and do not represent or imply any endorsement of the companies or their products by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Please send information about any other companies that might be listed to elindblom@tobaccofreekids.org.]

On-Line Tobacco Retailers Association (OLTRA)

National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), Issue Updates: Remote Sales of Tobacco.

State Efforts to Collect Sales Tax on All Internet Sales

Krebs, B, "State Coalition Approves Internet Sales Tax Plan," Washington Post, November 12, 2002.

National Conference of State Legislators, State Internet Taxation Task Force.

National Governors Association, Streamlined Sales Tax Project.

National Retail Federation, Taxation of Internet Sales.

Information on State Efforts to Restrict Internet Sales of Alcoholic Products

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, Inc., Policy Views, "Direct Shipment of Alcohol to Consumers," www.wswa.org/public/policy/direct.html and related info on state laws re direct shipping of alcohol products. www.wswa.org/public/state

Staff Report, U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Possible Anti-Competitive Barriers to E-Commerce: Wine, July 2003.

Remarks by Michigan Assistant Attorney General Irene M. Mead, U.S. Federal Trade Commission Workshop, Possible Anti-Competitive Efforts to Restrict Competition on the Internet, October 8, 2002 [focuses on state's special Constitutional authority to restrict alcohol sales within and into its borders (including internet sales into the state); the state's need to prohibit internet sales into the state to block access by minors, stop tax avoidance; and the difficulty of enforcement against out-of-state internet sellers]. www.ftc.gov/opp/ecommerce/anticompetitive/panel/mead.htm.

For other participants who commented on wine sales over the internet at the FTC Workshop, Possible Anti-Competitive Efforts to Restrict Competition on the Internet, see www.ftc.gov/opp/ecommerce/anticompetitive/comments/index.html.

Other Materials and Information

Please email elindblom@tobaccofreekids.org with information about any other materials or resources that might be included in these listings.