FEC Rules Exempt Blogs From Internet Political Limits

FEC RULES EXEMPT BLOGS FROM INTERNET POLITICAL LIMITS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Thomas B. Edsall]
In a unanimous vote yesterday, the Federal Election Commission left unregulated almost all political activity on the Internet except for paid political advertisements. Campaigns buying such ads will have to use money raised under the limits of current federal campaign law. Perhaps most important, the commission effectively granted media exemptions to bloggers and other activists using the Web to allow them to praise and criticize politicians, just as newspapers can, without fear of federal interference. The rules "totally exempt individuals who engage in political activity on the Internet from the restrictions of the campaign finance laws. The exemption for individual Internet activity in the final rules is categorical and unqualified," said FEC Chairman Michael E. Toner. The regulation "protects Internet activities by individuals in all forms, including e-mailing, linking, blogging, or hosting a Web site," he said. The 6 to 0 vote was widely expected after the FEC released the proposed rules last week. That followed months of discussions and widespread concern -- which turned out to be unfounded -- among many political activists that the commission would impose significant restrictions on Internet campaign activity. The vote drew praise from most ideological quarters, as well as from several watchdog groups. Three public-interest groups that are often critical of the FEC -- Democracy 21, the Campaign Legal Center and the Center for Responsive Politics -- said in a statement that "the new FEC regulation strikes the correct balance in preserving the Internet as an unregulated forum for robust political activity by individuals, while ensuring that the Internet does not become a loophole for unregulated soft money."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/27/AR200603...
(requires registration)
See the amendment to FEC rules:
http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2006/mtgdoc06-20a.pdf

CDT COMMENDS FEC FOR PROTECTING POLITICAL SPEAKERS
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy & Technology]
The FEC today approved a series of rule changes that exempt bloggers from most federal campaign finance regulations. CDT believes that the FEC adopted the strongest protections for small speakers possible under the statutory framework set by Congress. The FEC rules strike an appropriate balance between competing concerns, and CDT believes Congress should not undercut what the FEC has done. CDT maintains that certain of the provisions of H.R. 4900 would provide broader or more comprehensive protection for individuals than the FEC rules, but that the FEC rules offer a very strong set of protections.
New FEC Rules : http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2006/mtgdoc06-20.pdf
Supplement to FEC Rules: http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2006/mtgdoc06-20a.pdf
Two-Page Summary of FEC Rules: http://www.fec.gov/members/lenhard/speeches/statement20060327.pdf