Don’t Be Misled
I received a letter from the Online Coalition for Free Speech today. It seems the Shays-Meehan group, which brought us the BCRA of 2002 have introduced a new bill into the house that would supposedly protect our right of free speech better than HR 1606 - The Online Freedom of Speech Act.
Don’t be misled by this attempt to derail the efforts of Congressman Jeb Hensarling and all of us who are fighting desparately to protect our free speech on the internet. Read:
“Right now - there are TWO bills in Congress that will affect bloggers - one good, one bad. The bill that deserves our support is HR 1606 - The Online Freedom of Speech Act.
The other bill - HR 4194 - is a substitute offered by those most interested in regulating the Internet. Its supporters are engaged in an aggressive campaign to pass this legislation in Congress, in an effort to muddy the waters and distract Congress from passing real protections for bloggers. They’re so terrified of your freedom to speak your mind that they’ve actually compared giving freedom to bloggers to the scandal involving Scooter Libby in the White House. (No, we’re not making that up.)
In order to pass the bill we want - we need - to stop the sham alternative bill, HR 4194.
Their measure, HR 4194 purports to protect “bloggers” from campaign finance regulation. But, in fact, it is so riddled with exceptions and exclusions that it is worse that nothing.
Click here to search for your member of Congress by zip code. Tell them that the blogosphere is not behind HR 4194.
Problems with 4194:
* It offers no guidance as to the treatment of group political activity, potentially treating all group websites that discuss federal candidates as political committees
* It would stifle technological innovation. HR 4914 specifically mentions “blogging,” but ignores such as already-widely used technologies like podcasting, wikis and peer-to-peer networks, let alone the technologies of tomorrow.
* Its alleged protection to incorporated bloggers offers no real protection. In comments filed before the FEC, supporters of HR 4194 have stated explicitly that those websites which endorse, expressly advocate, and urge readers to donate funds to the election of preferred candidates do not qualify for protection under the law. This would force bloggers that speak forcefully about politics to seek legal counsel - a complete disaster.
This measure is a smokescreen designed to confuse the issue and prevent better laws from passing. Call your Representatives in Congress and make sure they understand that HR 4194 is unacceptable.”
Krempasky over at Red State has also written an article on this issue which features a letter co-authored by him and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of DailyKos. You can read the article and letter to Congress by clicking here.
Help us stop HR 4194 now by calling your Congressman using the Capitol switchboard 202-224-3121. It is time to light up the phone banks again.
