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
