This was orignially report in the Boston Globe, February 28, 2000

Seeking to avoid costly in-state cigarettes, Massachusetts residents are starting to migrate to discount cigarette stores on the Internet.. . . California and Iowa are among several states that have ordered online tobacco sellers to name their customers. And with lists in hand, they're contacting residents and telling them to pay up.

Many states are now chasing after smokers who purchase cigarettes on the Internet demanding they pay up.  As the states have raised their taxes on cigarettes many people have looked elsewhere to purchase their smokes.  Whether it's a neighboring state with lower taxes or one of the online tobacco sources that do not charge you taxes.  As a result, the states have experienced a decrease in revenue - or at least less revenue than they think they deserve, and have turned to tracking down smokers who purchase on the Internet.

Big business interests, political opportunists, paranoiacs, and well-organized and financed zealots have applied pressure to credit card companies and banks and even to delivery companies to put serious obstacles in the way of consumers who simply want to exercise their right to make legal purchases in the manner they please and to get good cigarettes savings. These pressures have also enabled state tax authorities to violate smokers' privacy and get purchaser lists from US-based online vendors and to send out huge surprise tax bills to unwary smokers whose online purchases were reported. This violation of smokers' privacy has destroyed online cigarettes companies, sown fear and worry in smokers, and has certainly already cost smokers many tens of millions of dollars in higher costs and tax surprises.

This whole ugly situation boils down, once again, to the same old struggle over money - to transferring the maximum amount of money from the small guys to the big guys. Once you understand who the big players are and what sums are at issue, it's easy to understand all the hoopla is really just smoke and mirrors, hot air, junk science, media hype, hysteria, and good old fashioned greed.

So this is where Sovran Solutions Online steps onto the stage to address the privacy issue which is at the heart of much of the problem. SSO was conceived and built from the ground-up for privacy and durability and to provide the largest possible savings to smokers - all with TOTAL PRIVACY.