The Federal Election Commission began two days of hearings on its
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Internet Communications this morning.

After brief opening comments from FEC Chairman Scott Thomas, Vice Chairman Michael Toner, and Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, the Commission quickly turned to the first set of panelists.

PDF Contributing Editor Mike Krempasky from RedState.org was the first to testify. Mike focused predominantly on the so-called “media exemption” which removes most press activities from the definition of contribution and expenditure.

If bloggers do not receive the press exemption from the FEC, many bloggers who incorporate for the purposes of limiting liability may find themselves making corporate contributions.

Mike said:

There is no doubt to that bloggers are media entities. Nor is there any doubt that the tradition of citizen journalists is a long accepted part of our national culture. From before the very founding of our country, individuals and relative unknowns have contributed to this great conversation…The Commission should extend the media exemption to bloggers and other online publishers with the broadest possible terms.”

John Morris from the Center for Democracy & Technology was up next. John had a very straight-forward message to the Federal Election Commission:
Keep It Simple.

Morris said that the challenge the FEC now faces is:

“not weather to protect the speech of individuals, but how best to do it. Break out of the mold of existing campaign finance regulation and draft a short and easy to understand statement [protecting] online speech.”

Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of DailyKos.com injected some humor into the proceedings. Echoing Morris’ statements, Zuniga noted that trying to apply current rules to the internet would be like trying to get Markos – a man of average height and build – into a suit intended for an NFL linebacker.

“The Internet is the first truly democratic medium,” noted Markos. He noted that the mere fact that he is testifying is proof that the blogosphere has reached a critical mass.
His point to the FEC was to do the minimum required by the court order.

Lawrence M. Noble from The Center for Responsive Politics dealt with the elephant in the room: how does the FEC craft rules that embrace individual speech while
making sure that labor unions, corporations, and soft money do not corrupt online
speech.

He noted that blogs that incorporate for the purpose of limiting liability and accepting paid online advertisements should not be treated as corporations. But Noble does not believe that all bloggers deserve the press exemption. Rather, he's a big fan of giving bloggers some form of the volunteer exemption.

More to come...

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