his CNN Article touts what is most definitely a WIN to those of us here in the blogging community (Scroff – I also hate the term blogosphere!).
This past election saw hundreds of sites pop up supporting this candidate, decrying that candidate, and generally wreaking havoc towards those in the Mainstream Media. With the advent of Blogger, Movable Type’s TypePad, and other do-it-yourself web publishing software, millions of Americans are getting into Blogging. Their blogs consist of everything from political extremist views to those of someone just reporting on what their cat did all day. Whether they be silly or serious, blogs and blogging are here to stay. For those of you who frequent my abode here, you know that I have some pretty strong opinions on things, yet I also try to keep it light and interesting.
Thankfully, according to the article, our lawmakers are finally starting to show some common sense in how they approach certain things. As the article mentions, it was primarily Democratic lawmakers involved in keeping bloggers from being held to campaign-finance laws. I’m sure the outcry to pass this legislation was from mostly Republican lawmakers who imagined a “Vast Left Wing Conspiracy” towards them and their flawed views on certain things. Had the proposed legislation gone into effect, bloggers would be subject to the same or similar rules as other Political Action Committees. Of course, those of us who do blog, could have a little fun too.
One of the blogs I read semi-frequently (can’t remember which one I saw this on) shows how this legislation could also backfire. Let’s take for example, the past election. I’m a Kerry supporter who hates the majority of Bush’s policies. Every time I link to a site, Kerry or Bush’s, I am in effect supporting that candidate. Illegal though it may be, numerous links to my opponent’s website would, in effect, make him/her responsible for reporting these links which would then be subject to the limits of existing legislation. Get the picture?
If the Mainstream Media is smart, they will get back to reporting the facts instead of opinions. If our elected representatives are smart, they’ll stop trying to limit our First Amendment rights.
Even though it’s CNN, read the rest of the article.
