12.10.2004

My name is Pierce and I approved this message

This story evokes a subtle terror in me.
No laws have apparently been broken. Case precedent on political speech as it pertains to blogs does not exist. But where journalists' careers may be broken on ethics violations, bloggers are writing in the Wild West of cyberspace. There remains no code of ethics, or even an employer, to enforce any standard.

Beginning next year, the F.E.C. will institute new rules on the restricted uses of the Internet as it relates to political speech.

I have yet to discover what "new rules" will be instituted. Consider, what was originally designed and marketed as an online diary is now going to come under the jurisdiction of the FEC (that's the Federal Election Committee to you and me Russ). The prominence of blogs in this year's election has made the main stream media concerned for some reason - do they see blogs as a threat? I assume so. But really, regulating what I say on my blog about the current administration and what another party might be able to do better seems like a bit of an overstep, not to mention unconstitutional. I'm going to do a bit more research on the FEC's rules and see what I can find.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a non-card carrying member of the Libertarian Party and I receive no funding for this site (yet!).

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