Were you aware of this current regulation in the United States that was put into effect two years ago?
*Bloggers cannot be considered to have made a contribution or expenditure on behalf of (or in opposition to) a candidate simply because they link to campaign websites or write about the positions of federal candidates. Additionally, blogs are treated as any other publication under the general media exemption from most campaign finance restrictions. Without such protections, bloggers could be subject to various limitations and reporting requirements under campaign finance law.*
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued the regulation to protect bloggers from being hampered by certain campaign finance laws.
Here’s the catch.
Since this protection is just regulatory, not a statute, it can be changed without congressional action. Also, the aforementioned FEC is currently defunct.
This week, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) will introduce the Blogger Protection Act of 2008.
It will be interesting to see if Congress wants to protect bloggers.
Read in detail about the The Blogger Protection Act of 2008 here. (PDF)
A ton of historical information on mixing political speech with the Internet can be found at http://www.cdt.org/speech/political/
‘‘any payment for the purchase or rental of an email address list made at the direction of a political committee”
Wow, I never even thought of that! That’s quite a scary thought – comment on a clinton, obama, or mccain blog and get your e-mail address sold. Eek!
I hope this blogger protection act doesn’t become a political catch-all as the 2007 version became. In order for such protection to be worth the paper its printed on, it can’t give anyone who’s made a dollar from Adsense the same standing as someone who’s makes a living from real journalism.