| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"T James" |
| Date: |
22 Mar 2005 08:49:57 PM |
| Object: |
|*|DownsizeDC|*| Internet regulations coming soon |
D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h
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PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS WHO CARE ABOUT INTERNET
FREEDOM
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) could take
action as soon as this week to regulate the Internet.
These regulations are mandated by a court order ruling
that the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act applies to the
Internet.
Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold (the primary
authors of BCRA) have tried to lull the Internet to
sleep on this issue, claiming that the new regulations
will be moderate. And they seem to have succeeded. The
Internet has gone silent about this looming threat.
But do not be deceived. Rights lost are rarely
regained. And our ability to use the Internet as a
"free press" is about to be lost. Consider this recent
"Washington Post" quote from Republican FEC
Commissioner David M. Mason:
"We are almost certainly going to move from an
environment in which the Internet was per se not
regulated to where it is going to be regulated in
some part. That shift has huge significance because
it means that people who are conducting political
activity on the Internet are suddenly going to have
to worry about or at least be conscious of certain
legal distinctions and lines they didn't used to
have to worry about."
And the regulations that McCain and Feingold claim
will only be moderate, are unlikely to stay that way.
McCain and Feingold have gone to court repeatedly to
force the FEC to expand regulatory control of
political expression. New legislation against 527
organizations is also pending in Congress, and gaining
a lot of support on Capitol Hill.
I see absolutely no reason to believe that incumbent
office holders will relent until they have controlled
every venue of grassroots political activity. Indeed,
the claim that initial regulations will be moderate is
part of their method of operation. They add
restrictions gradually so that no one raises too much
of a fuss at any step along the way.
Do not be fooled. Do not go to sleep. We must fight to
retain our right to freedom of the press on the
Internet. Please click here to send a message to
Congress to preserve an unregulated Internet by
repealing BCRA:
http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=19
PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS WHO CARE ABOUT INTERNET
FREEDOM
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
P.S. In 2001 I attended a "town-hall" style rally
supporting so-called campaign finance reform featuring
Senators McCain and Feingold. At this rally, conducted
in Annapolis, MD with national media figures present,
McCain told his followers that they had to be patient.
Reform takes time. He wanted to close every venue for
"special interest groups" (his derogatory label for
Americans who unite in clubs to oppose his vision for
a Brave New World) but it would take perhaps another
decade, maybe more, to complete their work of driving
these groups of citizens out of politics.
Are they trying to lull you to sleep? Count on it.
Please act now.
http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=19
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