MARK KENNEDY AN ADVOCATE FOR BLOGGERS
Congressman Kennedy Supports Protecting the Right to Blog
In a country where only 60% of eligible adults vote, we cannot afford to allow the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to burden political participants with arbitrary and cumbersome rules. If the FEC imposes any regulatory scheme on the Internet, bloggers will be in legal jeopardy. This bill has unusual bi-partisan and bi-cameral support, being introduced in the Senate by Democratic Leader Harry Reid. H.R. 1606 excludes the Internet from "public communications" as defined for FEC purposes. It will mean that no campaign finance regulations apply to communication over the Internet.
Background on the Online Freedom of Speech Act:
When Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in 2002, it listed several types of public communications (such as mailings and billboards) which the FEC should regulate. The Internet was not included in the list.
The FEC was directed by law to write several regulations pertaining to the bill, and logically interpreted that public communications rules did not apply to the Internet.
A federal court struck down that rule earlier this year and instructed the FEC to regulate the Internet. The new rulemaking is currently underway.
Other rules, such as for official campaign activity, will still apply. Campaigns must report all of their spending, including the use of their staff and production of materials. This is just as true for spending done on the Internet. For instance, when campaign staffers produce a video for the Internet, it is already regulated.
Regulation would be an enforcement nightmare since the Internet is so immense and diverse. Websites also change quickly, further complicating regulation.
Why the Act is Necessary:
There are a few thousand political blogs, with millions of viewers. Blog definitions are fluid, and anyone can set up a free, largely unregulated blog on the Internet.
The Internet enables people to participate in the political process extremely cheaply. Blogs attract a lot of first-timers to the political process, as well as politically active individuals who lack the funding to buy ads in the media.
Compelling content determines how many people follow a blog. In other words, demand more so than funding increases the exposure and success of bloggers.
FEC regulation of the Internet would impose arbitrary definitions on blogs and other web content. Since bloggers would fear being sued, regulation would deter participation.
Independent bloggers push the dialogue beyond what campaigns might want voters to know. This is good for the electoral process and good for democracy.
FEC regulation will mean bloggers need lawyers. But only the wealthy can afford them - therefore regulating the Internet stifles free speech and limits what the voting public knows on election day.
Since its creation, the government has never regulated lawful, non-commercial activities on the Internet. Forcing bloggers to pass a government-imposed litmus test for what they could otherwise legally say while not a computer is the first step in a slippery slope towards ending freedom on the Internet as we know it.
Source: Congressman Mark Kennedy press release, November 1, 2005
2 Comments:
Finally a group outide of the White House that can call Mark "Screech" Kennedy an advocate.
So if Kenney is Screech, does that mean Norm is Zack? He is the ladies man you know...
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