FEC exempts blogs from political limits

The Federal Election Commission yesterday, by a 6-0 vote, effectively granted media exemptions to bloggers that allow them to praise and criticize politicians in the same manner as newspapers can without fear of federal interference, The Washington Post reports.

"The rules 'totally exempt individuals who engage in political activity on the Internet from the restrictions of the campaign finance laws. The exemption for individual Internet activity in the final rules is categorical and unqualified,' said FEC Chairman Michael E. Toner. The regulation 'protects Internet activities by individuals in all forms, including e-mailing, linking, blogging, or hosting a Web site,' he said."

The document containing the FEC's final rules and their justification is here. Additional revisions and amendments are in this document.