Column:

Taming blogs is impossible on the wild, wild Web

it"s a mad, mad world

By Kim Adams, Columnist

Published March 11, 2005

The days of taming the wild frontier of the Internet by taking down news organizations and politicians through the use of Web logs, or blogs, might soon come to an end.

Next month, the Federal Elections Commission will begin applying the provisions of a 2002 campaign finance reform bill to the Internet.

Although the bill originally exempted the Internet from the provisions, a U.S. district court judge overturned that part of the bill in 2002. That decision might mean the end of political blogs as we have come to know them.

This brings up many issues, such as the value of the hyperlink. It's possible that in the future, bloggers could be fined simply for linking to the Web site of a political candidate because, in the world of the Internet, a hyperlink on a Web site is often considered advertising. But in the context of blogging, a limitation such as this is patently absurd. The majority of posts on average blogs incorporate links to other Web sites, whether they are other blogs, news stories or a candidate's own Web site.

Furthermore, it seems unfair to limit a medium that relies on a series of connecting pages (there's a reason we call it the "World Wide Web," after all) by suggesting that linking is equivalent to placing a TV ad.

I think this issue will soon become a debated, messy undertaking by the FEC, because the government is making the mistake of trying to apply laws meant for older forms of media. The FEC is applying these rules to an arena that is unregulated and of an entirely different nature from other media.

It is difficult and expensive for any citizen to start a newspaper or acquire a TV program, but blogging is open to almost all people who have access to an Internet connection. All they need to do is sign up with a company such as Blogger, at www.blogspot.com, to become bloggers.

The problem the government faces is whether bloggers can be considered journalists. In a sense, many bloggers try to report events in the same way journalists do, but because blogs are not subject to the same controls as most journalists, they are not usually considered journalists. But who is to say they shouldn't be able to link to a political candidate's Web site?

Because this column is considered journalism, I could promote any political candidate I wanted until the cows came home and, though perhaps no one would read my column if all it amounted to was a mushy ode to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the FEC would never blink an eye.

That same committee is suggesting that, should I place the same words on my blog and link McCain's name to his campaign Web site, those same words would suddenly turn into a political advertisement subject to campaign finance laws.

Regardless of the ridiculous nature of that situation, how does the FEC propose to determine the value of a hyperlink in terms of dollars? Are some hyperlinks worth more than others? How on earth would such a value be determined or regulated?

I believe the FEC will soon find it has gotten in way over its head.