Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category
If I'm not mistaken, we are seeing the development of a strong cultural aversion to the now notorious "1 Percent". Put another way, there appears to me to be a strong and still developing cultural and political zeitgeist that includes diminished respect, and even distaste, for financial elite, their demonstrations of wealth, their political power and the issues they care about. (Before someone mentions that I've used the term "zeitgeist" incorrectly by making observations of the present, rather than a…
Yesterday a federal court issued a decison in a wine related case. Consumers and Free Trade lost in this case, one that probably should never have been brought. However, within the final ruling by the three justices that heard the case is something you don't see to often: A justice acknowledged the anti-consumer nature of the alcohol regulatory system currently in place in most states. First, the "Cap N. Cork" case challenged Indiana's ban on retailers using common carriers such…
In a recent post concerning New Jersey and the State of Direct Shipping, I concluded by writing, "There is a great deal to do across the country to make consumer interests paramount in the alcohol regulatory world." This kind of vague pronouncement doesn't actually layout the conditions that would result in a consumer-centric wine marketplace. I should have been much more clear. There are in fact a set of specific conditions that would reflect a consumer driven wine marketplace. What's…
With New Jersey passing direct shipping legislation on Monday and the governor only needing to sign it, really one more significant state exists where the wineries and significant numbers of wine consumers need to get direct shipping: Pennsylvania. Yet the New Jersey experience demonstrates all the various dynamics that are currently in place in the world of direct shipping politics. 1. The Minors Issue Is Played OutAlthough opponents to direct shipping will sometimes argue that Direct Shipping will lead to…
There appears to be a nascent move among public health advocates and government consumer protection agencies to much more carefully monitor how alcohol is advertised and marketed in the digital world. The Sunday Baltimore Sun Article, "Review Shows Alcohol Companies Reach Youth Online", demonstrates that alcohol companies may soon be targeted in an effort to diminish the capacity of alcohol to market its products, particularly in the social media world in order to reduce minors' exposure to such efforts. What…
