FC: House will vote on bill to regulate online campaign advertising

[Declan McCullagh]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45138,00.html
   
   Mulling Reins on Net Campaigns
   By Declan McCullagh (declan at wired.com)
   2:00 a.m. July 11, 2001 PDT
   
   WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote
   Thursday on a campaign finance bill that would, for the first time,
   regulate Internet advertisements and e-mails targeted at voters.
   
   The new rules aimed at online political activity are part of a
   Republican effort to overhaul U.S. election law that has received
   little scrutiny -- which, if enacted, would roil the fast-growing
   online campaign industry and impose obstacles on candidates' use of
   the Internet.
   
   Jonah Seiger, co-founder of Mindshare, a 16-person Internet consulting
   firm in Washington, said he understands why the legislation was
   written to cover "any communications" directed at voters, and not just
   traditional methods.
   
   "But I hope Congress would understand what they're doing," Seiger
   said. "The unintended consequences of sloppy legislation could make it
   more difficult to use the Internet and make it less effective as a
   political communications medium."
   
   On Thursday, the House will consider a campaign finance plan patterned
   after a bill backed by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) that the Senate
   has already approved. That proposal, H.R.2356, covers only political
   communications sent by broadcast, satellite, cable or the U.S. mail,
   and does not apply to the Internet.
   
   But the version that House Republicans will offer as an alternative is
   far broader in one important way: It regulates "any" paid
   communication -- including Internet communication -- that mentions a
   candidate for federal office. Anyone who makes such a communication,
   not just political parties or candidates, would be required to keep
   careful records and count online spending toward a $50,000 limit that
   would trigger a filing with the federal government.
   
   The bill's drafters say they intended to regulate the burgeoning world
   of Internet politics but predicted the legislation's impact would be
   limited.
   
   Roman Buhler, counsel to the House Administration Committee, said
   "when we thought about the Internet we doubted that the cost of
   Internet messages, such as bulk e-mails, would rise to that level....
   It was our sense that bulk e-mails would not approach the $50,000
   threshold." (The bill does count e-mail spending toward the $50,000
   trigger point.)
   
   "A banner ad would be a form of mass communication, and they would
   have to disclose," Buhler said.
   
   Ken Nealy, a press secretary for bill sponsor Rep. Albert Wynn
   (D-Maryland), refused to speak on the record. When asked in person
   what effects the bill would have on the Internet, Nealy declared that
   the conversation was over and left the room.

   [...]



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