Just when we it seemed like the Main Street Fairness legislation introduced this past summer was dying a slow death, a second federal remote seller bill was introduced. That's right, on October 12, 2011, H.R. 3179 , entitled the “Marketplace Equity Act of 2011”, was introduced by U.S. Representative Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, and Steve Womack , an Arkansas Republican. Like the Main Street Fairness legislation, S. 1452 and H.R. 2701 , introduced on July 29, 2011 by Senator Dick Durbin and Representative John Conyers, respectively, the ultimate goal of the Marketplace Equity Act is to grant States the authority to require out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax on sales to in-state customers. But despite this overall common goal, the Marketplace Equity and Mainstreet Fairness Acts are different. H.R. 3179, The Marketplace Equity Act Before delving into how the competing federal on-line sales tax bills compare, let’s look at the Marketplace Equity Act (“th