"And it often comes wrapped in brown paper so parents don’t have a clue what is inside."

Hello! - If my teen got a package in the mail, you are darn tootin' I'd find out what it is, especially if it was wrapped in brown paper!

Sounds like you are so digging for a story!

It's silly that parenting isn't blamed but the internet is.The internet is a tool that parents should manage better when it comes to their kids. No kid is going to plan his party with online liquor sales, when they have a big brother and or sister who will buy it for them.

I'm willing to bet almost every commenter, reporter, and listener at one time bought or had bought for them alcohol when they were minors. Stupid regulations that disrupt free trade is not going to change this. Better education on what alcohol is both good and bad, is money better better spent then on laws to restrict sales.

So let's say kids buy 1/1000th of the underage booze online, is that fair or too little? They're still buying the rest via liquor stores. Seems like a lot of work for a week to get drunk. Crack down on liquor stores and kids fake ideas

Good grief. Teens aren't busy surfing for fine wines on the internet, they're faking ID's and buying cheap beer in party stores. Teens don't want to wait 28 days for delivery, or pay delivery charges. It's easier to buy crack in large parts of the US than it is to buy decent wine.

In the 'land of the free' consenting adults should be free to buy products that it's legal to own and use from whoever they want.

Shame on you, MSNBC. This is not reporting. It appears you have simply passed biased material created by industry lobbyists through to your readers and subscribers. In the future, you would do well to perform real research.

I have not done such research, but my personal experience in having wine delivered to my residence over an 8-year period is quite different than depicted by the WSWA. Every package I every received was clearly marked with an indication that Adult Signature was required. I cannot count how many times I came home to see the yellow UPS Attempted Delivery Notice affixed to my door. During this time, I had my neighbors sign for these packages; once or twice we had to go to the UPS office, because adult neighbors were not at home. It finally got to the point that I no longer have wine sent to my home, because it is a hassle I just do not want to deal with.

Beer, wine, and hard liquor should be sold ONLY through people who are regulated and licensed locally. Without local control, the problem of teen drinking will only increase.

The point is that you can order online without an ID check, with no consequences. There's no risk for a kid to just point and click if he knows that the UPS driver isn't going to check. That's what's so dangerous about online sales.
At least there are consequences for a store that sells alcohol to a kid without checking ID. What is being done to these Web sites that are mailing booze in unmarked packages?
Has anybody bothered to check?
Thanks NBC for the story on this outrageous situation.

I'm sorry but exactly what "toy site" appeared when you Google-ed "online alcohol" Does MSNBC care to clarify?

What is the "toy site" that came up from your google search for "online alcohol?" No such website comes up in my search results. Is this a Son-of-Jukt-Micronics a la Steven Glass?

Gosh, NBC, I remember when your credentials as a news agency were fairly high...what happened? ...a little stop on the ethical highway by the office of WSWA to get seduced by the monopoly that controls liquor distribution in this country? Had you bothered to check your facts you might have found that the number one way that minors are getting alcohol is in the home...from good old mom and dad's liquor cabinet. Number two? How about the retail sector, the corner liquor store, the system of in-person id that is supposed to be fool proof. Access through the net is way way down the list. Come on NBC, don't sink to the level of Fox, do a real story.

I feel that it is extremely important to keep alcohol of any kind out of the hands of our youth. Alcohol is right up there with marijuana in my book as a substance that should labeled as controlled, especially among minors. Having a nephew who almost destroyed his life with alcohol while living with his parents in Osaka, Japan because alcohol--and especially liquor--could easily be purchased from vending machines on the streets, it's imperative that we don't allow our young people to self-destruct as a result of this very addictive and destructive substance.

Are children allowed in strip clubs? NO! Are children allowed on the floor of a casio? NO! Are children allowed in bars or even liquor stores? NO!

Then why are children allowed to even be on the internet? Let alone be unsupervised while doing so? You never hear or see a "GOOD" story about children useing the internet. Only how some kids learned to make a bomb and blew off the hand or killed a friend. Last fall there were stories about how stalkers were useing MySpace.com to rape children! AND NO ONE TO KEEP KIDS OFF OF IT!!!! Just to pay more attention to what they are doing?

The internet is no place for children! If YOUR child gets in YOUR car then races down the street at 120mph and kills someone, who's fault is it going to be? The video game company that makes the racing game that they play all day long instead of getting outside and exercising?

Children cannot go buy a gun because they are dangerous! Well, the INTERNET is a DANGEROUS PLACE FOR CHILDREN!!! QUIT ALLOWING THEM TO USE IT!!!! MAKE A LAW THAT PARENTS WILL BE HELD LIABLE FOR THEIR CHILDREN ON THE INTERNET JUST THE SAME AS CHILDREN NOT GOING TO SCHOOL!!!!

*****JUST A NOTE -- These "children" were 18 year old adults. COLLEGE FRESHMEN!!! Why doesn't the law step up and treat underage children buying alcohol over the internet the same as anyone buying mariujana over the internet?

KEEP CHILDREN OFF THE INTERNET!!! (And make them go outside and exercise instead!)

If a parent suspects that underaged children are ordering any sort of questionable merchandise, then he/she should place a request with their local post office that all packages be held for pickup and turned over only to those who are listed on the request. I believe that a request can be given to the other delivery companies as well, stating the names of persons authorized to receive packages at that address.

This doesn't solve the problem of a child getting said merchandise through a friend whose parent isn't as careful; but, hopefully, parents are involved enough with their children to know who all their friends are, and to know if those friends' parents also have a similar package delivery policy.

I'm not sure if the Post Office, and other companies who rent mailboxes, allow those under the age of 18 years to have access to a mailbox (if they do, then law should be changed), but I would think that a parent could also make a request at their local post office or with the manager at a mailbox company stating that their child(ren) not be allowed to rent a mailbox.

P.S. If this solution was discussed during this segment, please forgive me for the blah-blah ... I was unable to watch the whole broadcast this evening.

Geez, did you even bother to collect any other statistics than those spoon-fed you by the rather prejudiced WSWA? Did you bother to compare how much liquor is purchased in brick and mortar stores by minors or for minors by "accommodating" adults? Did you even consider how much harder it is to slip mail by Mom and Dad than it is simply to head down to the corner store where you're out of sight. Why don't you just bring back Prohibition?

It is almost unbelievable that NBC news has become an unpaid shill for the WSWA (Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America) - a lobbying group for the wholesalers and distributors of wine and liquor across America. Even the amount of money the WSWA has poured into the campaign funds of state legislators has not worked: states are recognizing that the monopoly the WSWA members have is not kosher (spurred in part by the recent US Supreme Court ruling that states could not allow in-state wineries to ship wine to consumers without allowing out-of-state wineries the ability to ship as well). Several state legislatures have recently passed new laws allowing consumers more access to across-the-border purchases of wines that are not available locally. Your story only allows the WSWA to lobby for free in the media a losing effort in many state’s legislatures: That they should keep in place something most Americans abhor: A monopoly.

In most states, the WSWA members operate a monopoly. They have the sole control over all wine and liquor that enters the state and is distributed to retailers (wine & liquor shops). And, because of recent mergers in the wholesalers and distributors across America, it becomes more difficult to find many limited-production wines (and liquors) at a nearby retailer because these small quantities involved do not add to the bottom line of the monopolists. The WSWA wants to stop the practice allowed in several states that would permit someone over 21 years of age to order and have delivered an alcoholic beverage that can not be obtained locally (or, receive a beverage at a lower price from another source).

Even the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under current President Bush, has issued a recent set of findings (see http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/10/ecommercewine.htm) that consumers pay a considerably greater amount of money for wine (the FTC spotlighted wine in their study) in almost all states because of the wholesalers/distributors monopoly, and that the issue of minors access to alcohol online was inconsequential for those states which have more relaxed laws giving consumers greater freedoms. Would the states Attorneys General who were questioned by the FTC be lying about minor’s access to alcohol and the lack of problems related to this issue?

Also, do you think a study sponsored by the WSWA lobby find a different result? It isn't like they have any governing body looking closely at how the study was set up, nor how they went about doing this study to make sure it wasn’t slanted to provide the results they are reporting.

Regarding the results NBC found when ordering on-line . . . Could the laws regarding the shipment of alcohol be better enforced? Yes, especially by those doing the delivery (FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.). But, should the lack of enforcement by the states be reason to continue to strengthen a monopoly that has detrimental monetary effects upon its citizens? Would the lack of priority the states give to this enforcement issue give NBC an idea of the true severity of the situation? Do you really think there are millions of minors ordering wine and liquor over the internet, then having to wait for delivery when they can likely find an easier (and cheaper) means to purchase alcohol locally?

Come on NBC. You should try to “dig” into a story just a little bit to see if there is an agenda behind a study that is released by a lobbyist organization representing the continuation of a monopoly. Else you are showing your bias – something that I thought news organizations tried to avoid.

Thank you.

Thanks for letting untold numbers of teenagers know of another way to obtain liquor.I'm sure that they,along with the people selling liquor online appreciate your story,but as a parent I miss the point.

If your little darlings or little delinquents are going to drink, they are going to drink. As an adult, I am sick and tired of the continuous limitations being placed on my freedom and choices so we can do "what's best for the "CHILDREN". You have your children, then expect the government, schools, police, and now the UPS man to supervise them? What parents are so ignorant about the web that they only now realize liquor can be ordered on-line? And what makes them think stopping on-line alcohol sales will stop their kids from getting alcohol anywhere else?

Of course it's an issue. Kids have more money nowadays than most of us did growing up including their own credit cards. Yes the online companies who sell alcohol to minors need to be better policed and some blame goes to the delivery companies, like UPS, FEDEX, DHL, etc as their manifests list that the contents contain alcohol and delivery can only be made to someone 21 years of age or older, yet rarely if ever is identification checked.

Still like so many other issues that face the youth of this country it comes down to parenting. How active are parents in their kids lives? Have they instilled in them the lesson of right and wrong? Have they taught them morals and values?

Since alcohol and age limits have been around kids have been devising new ways to get to the forbidden fruit -- and they always will