Les Jones

> Attention, Wine Drinkers in Tennessee

I like money. I like wine. I like when Bill Hobbs tries to save Tennesseeans money on wine:

There's a new report out from the Federal Trade Commission that says laws like the one Tennessee has banning the sale of wine on the Internet are anti-competitive and drive up prices for consumers. Well... yeah. The FTC says lifting such laws could help consumers save about 20 percent on their wine purchases. The report on online wine sales is part of a broad FTC review of state regulations and whether they are reducing online competition. The FTC: "By allowing interstate direct shipping, states would give consumers the opportunity to save money on their wine purchases, and would let consumers choose from a much greater variety of wines." Twenty-six states ban interstate wine sales online. Tennessee is one of them - in Tennessee it is a felony for a winery to ship wine directly to the consumer. The story notes a previous study indicated that calculated that state restrictions on online wine sales cost consumers more than $15 billion a year.

UPDATE: more news on the wine front.