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Eliot Spitzer, the former Attorney General and now former Governor of New York, has resigned from his office today which will be effective next Monday. So why are we writing about this on our cigar related blog? Hmmm….let me see!

Oh yes, now I remember. See a long time ago when we were just starting out, we were able to sell cigars on our internet site. Then Mr. Spitzer got together with the good people at Visa and Mastercard and scared the crap out of them. The long and short of it all, was through Mr. Spitzers intervention, we were forced by our credit card processors to delete cigars from our website. The idea was that were were selling our cigars to minors! Now really, when was the last time you saw a bunch of teenagers hanging around a Dairy Queen smoking a fine Rocky Patel or Gurhka cigar? Hmmm? I thought so! It wasn’t just us, but a whole bunch of businesses that were forced by their credit card processors to get out of the online cigar business. In fact, in speaking with my current credit card processor just last month, we can sell firearms on the internet using their services but I cannot sell cigars….go figure! We carried on with humidors and accessories and have built a fine company in spite of Mr. Spitzer’s intrusive behavior. Because of Mr. Spitzer’s actions any new business who wishes to offer cigars on the internet will not be able to do so. The law in question is the Jenkins Act and we just happen to have in our possession an email from the Associate General Counsel of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Department (ATF) who specifically states that the Jenkins Act does not pertain to the online sale of cigars, just cigarettes. But because of Mr. Spitzer’s bullying tactics as Attorney General of New York, he has succesfully intimidated companies and individuals regardless what the law says. Visa/MasterCard and credit card processors…are you listening? Please don’t just take our work for it, click here for a fine compilation from the good folks at the Wall Street Journal.

So goodbye Mr. Spitzer, we can’t say we feel sorry for you, but we do feel bad for your lovely wife and three children. They now must face an incredible amount of public humiliation because of your actions…..they deserved better.

HumidorVault

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