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FEC Will Not Regulate Bloggers, For Now

Draft Advisory Opinion 2005-16, Fired Up! LLC, by counsel, Marc E. Elias and Brian G. Svoboda, Agenda Document No. 05-55. Circulated November 14, 2005 for Open Meeting on November 17, 2005, at which time it was unanimously adopted.

  • Fired Up qualifies as a press entity. Its websites are both available to the general public and are the online equivalent of a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication as described in the Act and Commission regulations….because Fired Up is a press entity, and neither it nor its websites are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate, the costs Fired Up incurs in carrying or covering a news story, commentary or editorial on its website are exempt from the definitions of “contribution” and expenditure.”
  • Related documents:

  • Request for Advisory Opinion by Fired Up, August 22, 2005
  • Comment from Democracy 21, the Campaign Legal Center and the Center for Responsive Politics, November 16, 2005
  • Comment from Adam Bonin on behalf of Duncan Black, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and Matt Stoller, November 16, 2005
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