IP: Federal Election Commission and the Internet

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>
>Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2000 15:36:15 -0500
>To: Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
>From: Barry Steinhardt <Barrys@aclu.org>
>Subject: Federal Election Commission and the Internet
>
>Dave,
>
>
>The ACLU, CDT, the Free Congress Foundation and 15 other organizations 
>have filed comment with the Federal Election Commission on the subject 
>of  regulation of campaign related speech on the Internet. Among other 
>things, the comments call for the FEC to take a hands off approach to 
>individuals who use the Net to talk about politics. A copy of the comments 
>sent to the FEC, and a full list of all 18
>organizations that are signatories are available at: 
>http://www.aclu.org/congress/l010600a.html
>
>Below is our press release on the comments.
>
>ACLU Urges Government Not To Trample On Internet Political Speech
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact:
>Jennifer Helburn
>Thursday, January 6, 2000
>(202) 675-2312
>WASHINGTON-Saying the government must not gag the new town criers, the
>American Civil Liberties Union joined forces today with the Center for
>Democracy and Technology and the Free Congress Foundation to urge federal
>regulators not to clamp down on political speech on the Internet during the
>upcoming election season.
>"At a time when politicians and talking heads bemoan the political apathy
>that has spread across the country, the Internet holds great potential to
>reengage people in the political process," said Barry Steinhardt, ACLU
>Associate Director. "There is absolutely no reason to clamp down on Internet
>political speech by individuals."
>The organizations sent their comments to the FEC in response to its request
>for ideas on how to apply federal election laws to Internet activity. Though
>the eighteen groups that signed onto the comments represent a wide range of
>viewpoints, they said they are "united in our belief that the Internet
>offers a unique opportunity to improve the quality of the electoral process
>by providing a platform from which individuals can engage in political
>speech outside the control of candidates, political parties, and the
>traditional media gatekeepers."
>The organizations urged the FEC to create a "safe harbor" for Internet
>political speech by individuals and to delay comprehensive rulemaking until
>after the 2000 election cycle to avoid new enforcement actions that could
>potentially chill new experiments in issue advocacy, direct advocacy and
>non-partisan activities on the Internet.
>"The Internet allows anyone, as the Supreme Court said, to become a 'town
>crier with a voice that resonates further than it could from any soapbox,'"
>said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington National Office.
>"The Federal Election Commission, which is charged with broadening the
>diversity of groups involved in the election process, must not gag the new
>town criers."
>During the congressional debate over revisions to campaign finance laws, the
>ACLU urged Congress to protect people using their own personal web sites to
>express their opinions about candidates from prosecution.
>The FEC told at least one man, Leo Smith, that he was in violation of
>federal law because he had spent more than $250 in expressing his political
>views in 1996 without disclosing his identity and filing required reports.
>Although Smith had already been operating a web site for his business and it
>cost him nothing but his time to add a section advocating his
>representative's defeat, the FEC said it determined the value of web sites
>by counting, among other factors, the cost of the computer hardware and
>software used to create the site. If the computer cost more than $250, the
>FEC said, its owner would have to meet the filing and disclosure
>requirements of federal law. Using the FEC's logic, if the computer cost
>more than $1,000, its owner would have to register as a political action
>committee.
>###
>
>
>
>Barry Steinhardt  (Barrys@aclu.org)
>Associate Director
>American Civil Liberties Union
>125 Broad Street, NYC 10004
>212 549-2508 (v)
>212 549 2656 (f)
>www.aclu.org