Internet Free Speech Protection Act of 2006

Bill: 109-hr-4900
Sponsor: Rep. Allen, Thomas H. [D-ME-1]
Introduced: 2006-03-08 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Campaign funds
Congress
Congressional elections
Economics and Public Finance
Federal Election Commission
Government paperwork
Independent regulatory commissions
Indexing (Economic policy)
Internet
Law
Political action committees
Political advertising
Presidential elections
Press and politics
Science, Technology, Communications
Standards

Summary:
action_date: 2006-03-08
text: 
Internet Free Speech Protection Act of 2006 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to exclude any communication made over the Internet, with certain exceptions, from the meaning of a public communication subject to FECA requirements.
 
Subjects to FECA requirements, however, any communication: (1) placed by a person on another person&#146;s website, if the aggregate amount spent for such communications exceeds $5,000 during the calendar year; (2) made by a state, district, or local committee of a political party; (3) made by any political committee; or (4) made by any person other than a corporation whose principal purpose is operating an online discussion forum, or disseminating social or political ideas or commentary through operation of a website, web log, podcast, or other similar forms of Internet communication, and which is not established, financed, maintained or controlled by a labor organization or by another corporation without such a principal purpose.
 
Revises the reporting requirements for individuals making independent expenditures in a calendar year to exclude from the aggregate amount or value of such expenditures an annual aggregate of $5,000 for communications made over the Internet.
 
Revises the requirements for disclaimers on unauthorized advertisements and solicitations to exempt from such requirements any communication made over the Internet by an individual during any calendar year for which the aggregate amount paid by the individual for such communications does not exceed $5,000.
 
Revises requirements for the determination of what constitutes a political committee on the basis of certain expenditures. Excludes from the determination of such expenditures up to an annual aggregate amount of $10,000 for Internet-related expenses, such as those for Internet access and hosting services, creation of an Internet site, and creating, hosting, or participating in an online discussion using blogging or other software.
 
Revises the meaning of expenditure to exclude expenses for any news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through an Internet site or service from treatment as expenditures of stories and commentaries appearing in media, unless such media are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate.
 
Requires an annual inflation adjustment to any amounts relating to disclaimers in communications made over the Internet or to the exclusion of: (1) expenditures on Internet communications from the determination of the threshold for registration of political committees; (2) Internet communications from treatment as public communications; or (3) expenditures on Internet communications from the determination of the threshold for the filing of reports on independent expenditures.
 
Directs the Federal Election Commission to publish a single policy guideline in plain language for the use of individuals engaging in online communications about FECA rules and regulations applicable to individual Internet activity.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-03-08
text: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
action_date: 2006-03-08
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2006-03-08
text: Introduced in House