[mainestategop]

I think it has more to do with sales taxes then privacy. Here in Maine a lot of people have been buying things like cigarettes online to avoid paying the massive taxes we pay. This is a way to stop that and force people to pony up.

[WellyP]

As a 15th generation born and raised Mainer (first settled in the Portland area in 1632)I take the privacy issue very seriously. The rest of it, the tax issue, I am sure it sits just fine with the “Bangor Democrat”in the Blaine House.

[browardchad]

I think it has more to do with sales taxes then privacy. Here in Maine a lot of people have been buying things like cigarettes online to avoid paying the massive taxes we pay. This is a way to stop that and force people to pony up.

Huh? So, by your reasoning, it's OK for the government to collect info on every internet transaction (a clear invasion of privacy) in order for them to collect taxes on eeeevil cigarette tax dodgers?

BTW, I have a neighbor who buys cigarettes on line. There are several states that require the vendor to collect taxes for internet cigarette sales. Guess what the vendor he deals with has done? Rather than deal with the bureaucratic BS, they refuse to sell to people in those states.

Aside from privacy issues, do you have any idea what a massive headache this will be to internet vendors? How the paperwork and time involved will be passed onto consumers? And considering the frequency with which hackers gain access to government computers, how it will spook buyers?

I guess not, as long as people buying cigarettes on line "pony up," right?