Additionally, while some individuals may purchase new hardware or software specifically to post material about a candidate, others may simply use their existing hardware or software. Assessing a cost for web sites that are only partially devoted to a candidate or party-related material becomes even more arbitrary. Determining the costs associated with the utility or maintenance of web sites is difficult if not impossible. In contrast to the world of print, radio, and television publication, it is not easy to assign costs to Internet publication. The media is less tangible, there are no designated time slots, and publication is often spontaneous.
Individuals can obtain or provide information at all hours of the day.
It provides relatively unlimited, low-cost capacity for communication of all kinds. 9 The Act is predicated on the notion that the media provides a limited and costly opportunity for political advertising. The Internet, however, starkly differs from traditional forms of media. Application of the Act to the Internet is impractical and inappropriate. Regulating speech on the Internet could deter the individual and grassroots efforts that would possibly gain visibility only on the Web.