jtara - 9:42 pm on Sep 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

a peculiar fantasy world which informed them that this was a "lawless" environment where they could save money by ignoring existing business requirements

I think a large number of people still live in that same fantasy world. The Internet is the new Wild West. Has been for a a few years, and it's hard to shake that image.

After all, anybody CAN have Viagra (and many other, less benign drugs) delivered directly to their home with a few clicks and no visit to a doctor.

We'd never have gotten to that point if more than a few people didn't feel they were above the law and that the Internet is so big they'd never get caught.

There are many people who's ONLY business they have ever had is on the Internet only. They are simply ignorant of the law. (Which won't help them in court.)

Local governments typically write-up a little phamplet for new businesses - and or post one on the web. For example, here is the City of San Diego's:

[sandiego.gov...]

Maybe they should start mentioning the Internet specifically - that the law applies equally here, and point to requires that are unique or specific as well.