Threat to the internet

Thanks to the Instapundit for pointing us to this important news for political bloggers and readers alike. The FEC is still trying to regulate political speech on the internet. Kos has details on how you can help prevent regulatory chaos.

The results could be catastrophic -- and, please note, this has very little to do with whether bloggers have to disclose whether they're being paid for content.  It's much broader than that.  This is where you come in.

One of the most important things you can do is let the regulators know how you use the internet for politics, so that they understand what they're getting involved in and how careful they need to be in not stifling these robust communities.  Here's how:

The easier way: visit the CDT website and fill out this form.  They'll use your answers to help them formulate their response, which will be a comprehensive take based on their eleven principles; or

The harder way:  email your comments directly to the FEC.  Be polite, and tell them who you are, where you live (you must provide a postal address for your comment to be read), and how you use the internet for politics, using the CDT questions as a guide.  Stress to them the vibrancy of these sites, how valuable they are to you, and the activities that you want to ensure remain free of onerous regulations.  And post here what you've sent them, to give others an example and inspiration.

Lawyers like me can propose regulations to them and argue to the Federal Election Commission about how the law ought to be applied.  But you've got the power -- and the right as citizens -- to explain to the FEC the importance of what's going on here, and why they need to only regulate where absolutely necessary.  We only have until June 3.

Please help protect free expression on the internet.