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Adam:
Speaking only for myself, here are a couple of thoughts in response to your questions:
1.) "Opposing granting bloggers easy access to the media exemption" is not the same as opposing all such access.As you know from reading CLC's filings (I assume you read them as you link to them in your post), many blogs may qualify as media entities--but that is not automatic under the FEC's caselaw, and that seems the right balence .
2.) As CLC argued to the Commission, the individual volunteer exemption should be construed broadly--which is likely to cover the vast majority of bloggers. The June CLC Comments explain how the exemption should work in detail.
3.) Much law (not just election law) is based on distinction by catagory, such as whether someone has voluntarily chosen the privileges and responsibilities of a corporate form of doing business. Incorporated entities are treated differently under the election laws. That does not mean they are necessarily doing anything prohibited by the rules, but rather changes the question from whether they have an individual volunteer exemption to whether they are aiding a candidate in their normal course of busineess (such as by selling services), or are acting as a press entity (see above).
Trevor Potter
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu on behalf of Bonin, Adam C.
Sent: Thu 9/29/2005 2:49 PM
To: election-law@majordomo.lls.edu
Cc:
Subject: RE: McCain statement on Internet regulation
Trevor, do you, Sen. McCain or any other pro-regulation types have any
thoughts on what specific regulation would protect "bloggers" (and other
new Internet speech forms, like podcasting?) but exclude everything you
want to exclude, given that the CLC opposes granting bloggers easy
access to the media exception? Do you really want every kid with a
keyboard to have to file for an Advisory Opinion on a case-by-case
basis? And what happens to group or incorporated blogs?
(http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/attachments/1381.pdf)
Also, when are you going to go after Sean Hannity's media exception?
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509200007?is_gsa=1&final=1
Adam C. Bonin
Cozen O'Connor
1900 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 665-2051
Fax: (215) 701-2321
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From: owner-election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu
[mailto:owner-election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu] On Behalf Of Trevor
Potter
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 1:51 PM
To: election-law@majordomo.lls.edu
Subject: RE: McCain statement on Internet regulation
For technological reasons I cannot explain, my machine sent my message
to the List Serve with no text. Let me try again: here it is:
Following the hearings of the House Administration Committee last week,
Senator McCain has written that Committee to oppose proposals that would
exempt "public communications" on the Internet from BCRA. This is an
issue currently remanded to the FEC for Rulemaking by the DC District
Court, and the subject of several proposals in Congress. McCain argues
that the legislative proposals would allow soft money back into federal
elections.
http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/attachments/1427.pdf
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