From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Date: Sat, 10 May 1997 00:56:52 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Wine Politics Again!
Message-ID: <v0302098baf98c132e204@[139.167.130.248]>
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X-Sender: mcooley@pop.tiac.net
Date: Thu, 08 May 1997 22:25:28
To: dcsb@ai.mit.edu
From: Marianne Cooley <mcooley@nethorizons.com>
Subject: Wine Politics Again!
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Reply-To: Marianne Cooley <mcooley@nethorizons.com>

This one is not just an Internet message.  In fact, I should probably take
it to my marketing list ;)--but just to keep y'all up to date with the
latest commerce developments.

Marianne

forwarded message:
Hello friends of the Virtual Vineyards and family wineries. Remember the
felony direct shipping law in Georgia I wrote about a few weeks ago? Well,
Governor Miller signed it, unfortunately. Ship a bottle of wine, go to
jail. Amazing.

Here it is again, this time in Florida. The wholesale liquor lobby is
pushing a bill through the state houses making it a felony to ship a bottle
of wine to a Florida consumer. If you believe, as we do, that this is
unreasonable restraint of legitimate commerce, please register your
opposition directly with Governor Chiles. This is not just a Florida issue,
as other states are watching the development of such laws very closely. If
you have friends in Florida please pass this on to them and urge them to act
quickly. The bill will soon be on the governor's desk.

Here is a sample letter for Governor Chiles with several ways to contact
him. Personalize it if you wish, or send it as is:

E-Mail: chilesl@eog.state.fl.us
Fax:  904-487-0801
Phone:  904-488-4441

Governor Lawton Chiles
Office of the Governor
Florida State Capitol,
Talahassee, Florida  32399-0001

Dear Governor Chiles:

I call upon you to veto HB 725 (SB336), the felony direct shipment
bill. This bill is sponsored by the state's Liquor wholesalers in order to
protect their monopoly on wine sold to Florida consumers.  Out-of-state
sellers of wine support Florida Attorney General Butterworth's
counter-proposal, and are willing to register with Florida, pay state excise
and sales taxes and assure that all Florida laws protecting minors are
observed. If HB 725 becomes law, Florida wine consumers' choices of products
will be narrowly limited to the few wines represented by the Liquor
wholesalers and Florida itself will be making a statement that small family
winegrape growers and wineries in over 40 states deserve to go to jail, and
lose their farms and vineyards, if they ship a bottle of wine to a customer
who happens to reside in Florida.  HB 725 is hostile to consumers and
agriculture.

I urge you to use your veto.

Sincerely yours,

Peter D. Granoff, M.S./Virtual Vineyards
http://www.virtualvin.com
800-289-1275
415-938-9463
415-919-1977 fax
3803 East Bayshore Rd., Suite 175
Palo Alto, CA 94303



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       Marianne Cooley            Internet Special Interest Group
       NetHorizons Unlimited      SigNet.org--where online users meet
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-----------------
Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com), Philodox
e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/