Released today by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) - an organization run by centrist "new" Democrats - the paper, titled "The Revenge of the Disintermediated: How the Middleman is Fighting E-Commerce and Hurting Consumers," details the efforts of so-called middlemen to protect themselves.
"Claiming that they are acting for the public good, "bricks and mortar" professional and trade organizations ... have lobbied successfully, and in some cases even gone to court, to prevent direct online transactions between producers and consumers," the paper contends.
This entire story is so tiled it is rediculous it was even bothered to be published. There are a lot of services on the net and a few do have some people trying to protect their positions due to their lack of value added service. Those are limited almost entirely to travel agencies although there may be a few others. The below paragraph mentions them first:
"The paper cites legislative efforts undertaken by National Association of Travel Agents, the National Association of Realtors, National Automotive Dealers Association, the Wine Wholesalers Association, and National Association of Recording Merchandisers as examples.
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The truth is almost all service and retail operations are embracing the net. Banks would much prefer you do your banking on-line. The brokerage firms are not trying to block one from on-line trading. Retailers are all putting their whares on-line such as Wal-Mart, Penneys, Sears, Macys, Godiva, Zales, Costco, Kmart, Tiffanys, etc. If you notice the above list, there is not a mention of a retailor.
Among other things, Atkinson asked that the Bush Administration establish an "e-commerce ombudsman" to act as the public voice of e-tailers.
"Government must act in the public interest and not give in to the demands and pleadings of e-commerce resisters," Atkinson said in a release today. "Doing so protects businesses at the expense of consumers, many of them low-income individuals."
Presently the current laws are in favor of the pure play e-tailers with the no sales tax issue. This story and Robert Atkinson is clueless in my opinion with clearly other motives.
Glenn |
