Bootlegging

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bootlegging is a slang term to describe smuggling (see Bootleg). Most commonly, the word refers to the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages on which excise taxes have not been paid. It is said that the term comes from how the alcohol (or "booze" as it is commonly called) was hid in flasks on the legs of sellers, above or under the boot. The term is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the production of untaxed alcoholic products; however, that is "moonshining", not bootlegging. Most bootleg liquor is not "home-made" by a moonshiner but, instead, bottled by professional distillers.

The illegal sale of many consumer products other than alcohol is often termed Bootlegging as well. Goods such as compact discs, DVDs and other Intellectual Property are considered to be "bootleg" if they are replicated without permission of the copyright holder. Unofficial audio recordings of live performances in particular are often called bootlegs.

History

During Prohibition of the 1920s in the United States, much of the bootleg whiskey was brought in from Canada and much of the bootleg rum was imported from Mexico or Cuba via "rum roads." Today most bootleg alcohol in the United States is made domestically but sold "under the table" or "off the back of a truck" without the necessary permits and taxes.