Political blogs new focus of campaign-finance laws

[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera]
Bloggers are pushing Congress to pass legislation to add a nine-word sentence exempting the Internet from the definition of ``public communications'' in federal campaign-finance regulations. Their first attempt failed in the House of Representatives on Wednesday night, but the battle is far from over. Supporters say the change is needed to protect bloggers from fears of getting fined for activities as simple as linking to a campaign Web site or forwarding a candidate's news release to an e-mail list. But opponents -- including the four major sponsors of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act and the head of the Federal Election Commission -- said the exemption is so broad it would open a huge loophole. Unregulated ``soft money'' from corporations and unions could flow without limits to buy political ads on Web sites and e-mail campaigns.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/13072099.htm