Standing By Your Sex-Hobbyist -Man; Because It's Your Fault Too?

BLOGGERS: WELCOME TO "MEDIA" & YOUR ANONYMITY

A couple stories worth sharing in readers to the status of bloggers and their anonymity came up in the news - and I want to share them with my readers and the blogosphere.

Political Bloggers: Welcome to the “Media”

Political Bloggers can now “breathe a sigh of relief” according to Eric Sinrod on CNET. A ruling just came down from the Federal Election Commission that classifies bloggers as media and volunteers - doesn’t matter if you’re a big operation or working solo.

From the article:

Political bloggers can breathe a sigh of relief, as the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has just resolved two complaints by determining that Internet blogging activities are not within FEC regulation because such activities fall within media and volunteer exemptions to the Federal Election Campaign Act.

The first matter resolved was in regards to DailyKos.com:

The site has charged a fee to place advertising on its Web site. It also has charged for providing “a gift of free advertising and candidate media services” by posting blog entries that support candidates.

The FEC considered arguments that DailyKos should be regulated as a political committee. However, the FEC rejected these arguments. Instead the FEC reasoned that the site is directly within the ambit of the media exemption and thus is not subject to regulation under the Federal Election Campaign Act.

The FEC evidently concluded that the DailyKos site is neutral, in that it is not owned or controlled by a particular party, committee or candidate. Indeed, the FEC found that the site met the definition of a media entity and that the Web site activity therefore falls within the media exemption. Indeed, nothing, according to the FEC, about the site is tantamount to a contribution or expenditure that would create political committee status.

Another ruling was in regards to Michael L Grace - a quasi freelancer that blogged to specifically advocate the defeat of Mary Bono in the 2006 elections.

Here’s what the FEC had to say:

The FEC determined in this matter that there had not been in-kind contributions to Roth’s campaign emanating from Grace’s blogging activities.

What does all this mean? Well, blogging sure does appear to be exempt from regulation under campaign finance. In my opinion, some aggressive campaigning from a number of groups may have made the FEC realize the potential for mass public outrage if they would’ve prevented people from voicing their opinions online.

For now, at least, there’s more opportunities for individuals to get involved in the election process.

SOURCE

And, as a big supporter of the efforts of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) I gladly post the following:

JUDGE: BLOGGER'S IDENTITY IS SAFE

MANALAPAN, N.J. — The undisclosed identity of an Internet blogger whose comments targeted local officials will remain a mystery for now, a state Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

Judge Terence P. Flynn in Freehold ruled to quash a subpoena filed by Manalapan Township against Google, seeking the name and account information of the author of the blog — daTruthSquad.blogspot.com — calling the request "an unjust infringement on the blogger's First Amendment rights."

The subpoena is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed in June against Stuart Moskovitz, a former township attorney and mayor. The township contends Moskovitz botched negotiations for a recreational land purchase in 2005.

Attorneys for the township believe Moskovitz is the owner of the blog.

The blog recently has targeted Township Attorney Caroline Casagrande for defending the township's position in seeking the blog owner's identity. The blogger also has staunchly defended Moskovitz's position in the ongoing lawsuit.

David Weeks, an attorney for the township, said that whether Moskovitz is the blogger speaks to his credibility, because he said in court papers that he is not.

"The fact of the matter is that you read that thing and you come to the conclusion that it's either Moskovitz or it's his alter ego," Weeks said in court. "When you read these blogs . . . da-Mosked Man is da hero of da blog and everybody else is da bad guys."

Matt Zimmerman, attorney for Electronic Frontier Foundation of San Francisco, the group representing the blogger, filed a motion to quash the Sept. 26 subpoena, saying that Manalapan officials began the push to unmask the blogger solely because of his criticisms of the township.

Zimmerman said the township's accusation was "merely speculation" and that the subpoena was a "rather transparent attempt" to expose the critic.

"There is absolutely no basis whatsoever for issuing this," Moskovitz said.

Moskovitz further asked the judge to award him $7,000 compensation from Weeks and Dan McCarthy, another attorney for the township, for making misrepresentations to the court and not notifying him of the subpoena, among other charges.

Flynn denied the request for compensation, along with Moskovitz's request to remove Weeks from the lawsuit, saying he did not believe Moskovitz had been irreparably harmed. But he agreed to quash the subpoena, calling it another chapter in a political battle.

"I don't believe the suspicions are founded at this point," Flynn said, adding the blogger "has a right not to be drawn into the litigation."

"We're grateful that Judge Flynn upheld the First Amendment rights of our client and recognized that anonymous speakers should not be intimidated into silence through the discovery process," Zimmerman said in a prepared statement. "Now "daTruthSquad' can continue to discuss township business without fear of government reprisal."

SOURCE

But of course, Orthomom could have told us this.

Expect more challenges to the anonymity ruling in the future, fellow bloggers. The truth, our very opinions and our right to say what we truly feel will always be under attack. We need to support each other, even those bloggers don't agree with.