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FEC Rules for Daily Kos: Blogs Exempt From Regulation

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Tue Sep 04, 2007 at 09:18:46 PM EST
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Kudos to Markos and Daily Kos. The FEC issued an important ruling today, finding that blogs are media and like all media since 1974, media activity has been explicitly exempted from federal campaign finance regulation:

The Federal Election Commission announced today that it has unanimously resolved two complaints alleging that Internet blog activity is subject to Commission regulation, finding that the activity is exempt from regulation under the media or volunteer exemption.

In Matter Under Review (MUR) 5928, the Commission determined that Kos Media, L.L.C., which operates the website DailyKos, did not violate the Federal Election Campaign Act. The Commission rejected allegations that the site should be regulated as a political committee because it charges a fee to place advertising on its website and it provides “a gift of free advertising and candidate media services” by posting blog entries that support candidates. The Commission determined that the website falls squarely within the media exemption and is therefore not subject to federal regulation under the Act.

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With respect to MUR 5928, the FEC found that Kos Media meets the definition of a media entity and that the activity described in the complaint falls within the media exemption. Thus, activity on the DailyKos website does not constitute a contribution or expenditure that would trigger political committee status. The Commission therefore found no reason to believe Kos Media, DailyKos.com, or Markos Moulitsas Zuniga violated federal campaign finance law.

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    FEC Rules for Daily Kos: Blogs Exempt From Regulation | 4 comments (4 topical)

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    this was (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Tue Sep 04, 2007 at 11:41:14 PM EST
    kind of a no brainer. i suspect, had daileykos been more supportive of republicans, this complaint would never have been made.

    but hey, that's just cynical me! lol

    Always been the case (none / 0) (#2)
    by Latino Pundit on Wed Sep 05, 2007 at 09:27:37 AM EST
    I am surprised this even went to court.  This has always been the case since earlier this year's earlier ruling:

    The Federal Court states: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides that "[no] provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider," and that "[n]o cause of action may be brought and no liability may be imposed under any State or local law that is inconsistent with this section." In other words, the Federal Court affirms immunity of Bloggers from...comments! Fox News however, does not agree with our laws and spews our rhetoric as they see fit.

    blogs and talk radio (none / 0) (#3)
    by diogenes on Wed Sep 05, 2007 at 10:14:26 PM EST
    Funny how some of the people who support the "Fairness Doctrine" concerning talk radio are thrilled by this ruling.

    If the Internet were a resource (none / 0) (#4)
    by Dark Avenger on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:36:18 AM EST
    like the public airwaves, which are regulated for the benefit of the owners(We the People) by our government, you might have a point, diogenes.

    Still need more oil for your lamp?

    FEC Rules for Daily Kos: Blogs Exempt From Regulation | 4 comments (4 topical)

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