Posted on: Saturday, April 14, 2001
Laws apply to online liquor sales
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i's first Internet liquor store has raised a virtual floppy disk of questions relating to enforcement of liquor laws developed for traditional stores.
The Honolulu Liquor Commission yesterday found Hawaii Online Grocery Inc. guilty of selling liquor after the hours established by law. But the business was found not guilty of a second charge of delivering beer to a home and failing to verify the age of the recipient.
The first charge could have led to a $500 fine. But commissioners decided to write a letter of reprimand to Hawaii Online Grocery owners William and Julie Sankey.
Commissioners said they were torn because the Sankeys appeared to have followed instructions set by commission staff when it granted a liquor license last September. But liquor laws do not address online businesses and they differed from the instructions.
Like other retail stores, Hawaii Online is prohibited from selling alcoholic beverages between midnight and 6 a.m. But the service, which sells produce and household items, can be accessed 24 hours a day, even though orders aren't filled.
A liquor control investigator said he placed an order at 1:10 a.m. last November and shortly afterward received confirmation that the order was placed. Kerry Shannon said the confirmation constituted a sale. He said he used a fake name to order beer, which was delivered by William Sankey the next day.
Sankey said he followed rules established by the commission to not download any orders between the prohibited hours. He said the computer notifies people who order liquor after hours that the order isn't being processed at that time.
"The bottom line is we would do whatever you as the commission requests of us," Sankey said. "I went according to our package (of instructions) that we got as to how we should handle this and that was not to download."
But the commission noted that Shannon received a confirmation number for his order, which members said constituted a sale. Commissioner Chu Lan Kwock warned last September there would be problems with enforcing liquor laws because there is no store that can be monitored.
"When you first came in we had discussed those hours from midnight to 6," Kwock told the Sankeys. "Your computer at your direction responded after midnight. There is communication between your store between that hours and the customer. Nobody controls your e-mail, nobody controls your site except you."
Sankey said he is developing a new software for a second store that will "close the doors" to the liquor store between midnight and 6 a.m. But that is still a few weeks away and he won't be able to fix the problem until then.
Commissioner Avis Jervis, who voted against the license last year, said she wants the business to succeed. She said the rules need to be clarified for online businesses.
"I want to help them, but I'm still confused myself," Jervis said. "This is going to be a learning process and we're really giving you the benefit of the doubt. But you have to be very, very careful because you're setting the rules out there for the next guy."
