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Thank You Senators McCain and Feingold ... you [plural expletive deleted]

A while back, Henry Farrell offered this prediction:

As political blogs become a more established part of the political landscape, they will increasingly be treated as another means of political expression, advocacy and fundraising - and the current regulatory regime will, one way or another, be extended to cover them. The only question is how the balance between free political speech and the need to regulate organized political activities is struck. (Link)

It looks like he's right. C-Net interviews Federal Elections Commission Chairman Brad Smith, who believes the FEC may well be forced by judicial decisions in cases brought by McCain and Feingold to regulate a vast swath of internet activity, including blogs!

What would you like to see happen?
I'd like someone to say that unpaid activity over the Internet is not an expenditure or contribution, or at least activity done by regular Internet journals, to cover sites like CNET, Slate and Salon. Otherwise, it's very likely that the Internet is going to be regulated, and the FEC and Congress will be inundated with e-mails saying, "How dare you do this!"

What happens next?
It's going to be a battle, and if nobody in Congress is willing to stand up and say, "Keep your hands off of this, and we'll change the statute to make it clear," then I think grassroots Internet activity is in danger. The impact would affect e-mail lists, especially if there's any sense that they're done in coordination with the campaign. If I forward something from the campaign to my personal list of several hundred people, which is a great grassroots activity, that's what we're talking about having to look at.
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http://www.justinbuist.org/blog/2005/03/mccain-feingold-cfr-and-blogging.html