A blogger over at Democracy for America sent a query to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) re: regulations on the Internet and received a brief reply containing important information.
I also want to bring your attention to a diary that contains a lot of good background information about this forthcoming rule. The diarist put a lot of work into it and it should get some recognition.
Dear Requester,
At this point in time, the Federal Election Commission has just approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the comments/questions you have raised. As these are proposed rules that have not been finalized, it is premature to answer specific questions (or address comments) about the application of the law to internet use at this time.
However, we strongly encourage you to officially comment on the proposed regulations. You may find the document containing the proposed rules online at http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2005/mtgdoc05-16.pdf. The official NPRM should be published in the Federal Register soon, and once published, can be accessed through the Federal Register at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/frcont05.html, as well as on the Commission's web site. Official comments on the rulemaking may be sent electronically to internet@fec.gov and should be addressed to Mr. Brad C. Deutsch, Assistant General Counsel. The Commission has set the deadline for comments at 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.
Hopefully, you will find this information helpful. If you have further questions about existing FEC regulations, please contact the FEC's Information Division at 1-800-424-9530.
I was going to write a longer diary but I came across this diary that had been posted overnight. Please read it and consider the questions posted in the Comments.
I cannot stress enough that if you care deeply about this issue (and we all should), read the proposed rules and comment on them. There is a 60 day window in which to comment.