It appears there may be issues this year if you blog about political campaigns. C|Net has a story by staff writer Declan McCullagh that indicates a weakening of the Internet exception to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, better known as the McCain-Feingold law. Previously, publishing a campaign link on the Internet was not considered a gift-in-kind to a campaign. It now may become one.
In a previous article we talked about the comparison of bloggers to press. The press can generally discuss a campaign or give a web address without it being deemed a gift in kind. However if XYZ Corporation put a link on it’s front page for a campaign, does that have value? Probably. What about a link from a blog? Does it matter if I advocate for the candidate or if I am discussing issues about the candidate or his/her positions? These are not new issues, having been discussed in detail in a 1999 publication titled: Square Pegs & Round Holes: Applying Campaign Finance Law To The Internet Risks To Free Expression & Democratic Values
If the Federal Election Commission is serious about getting after this issue, they should come up with some clear rules now. While ignorance of the law is no defense, the law should not be something one must have to find by divine means.
