Just What is the Point?

Over the last few weeks I have been running a battle of the brews thread, and as part of my research to bring you a balanced representation, I have visited many brewery sites. Budweiser, Stella Artois, Carlsberg, Becks, etc, and on each and every one you have to enter your date of birth. Why? Does viewing Internet beer sites cause intoxication? Do they feature hidden pornographic material? So why? One site, I think it was Coors even asked if I was a girl or a boy! Have they begun doing gender specific brews now? At first I thought it might be to discourage under age drinking. But then they would have to ban beer commercials on TV, and billboard posters, and to the best of my knowledge this hasn't happened. So why? I even entered my date of birth as the 11/11/1887 on the Miller Time site, and gained access. On the same site I entered my DOB as 11/11/1999 and was directed to http://www.thecoolspot.gov/ a government site for teens thinking about drinking booze. If I was born in 1999 I would only be 10 at most, and so not really a teen at all. Maybe they should have a tweenager site for the under 13's? Much weirdness.