A Look at Proposed FEC Rule

Following up my earlier post:

From Democracy Project:

Democracy Project has obtained a copy of the Federal Election Commission's request for comment (a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) on a draft rule for proposed changes to the FEC's definition of "public communication" as it pertains to the Internet. It will consider the rule change tomorrow. The document is a draft and a solicitation of commentary, and not a final ruling.

A preliminary reading of the document indicates that communication about candidates via blogs or emails will not be considered a "public communication," and so will not be considered an in-kind contribution to that candidate.

In short, follow the money. If there is no compensation involved, the FEC will not consider Internet activity to be an expenditure for a candidate. This will be true, the draft proposes, in this and other circumstances.

Read the full piece, plus several Analysis Updates to the original here:

FEC Draft Rule Looks Good for [Non-Corporate] Bloggers.

Thanks for the heads up to my compatriot, in the Bear Flag League, Kevin, The Interocitor.