Reid Introduces Bill to Protect Internet from Campaign Finance Rules

Harry Reid introduced a bill (PDF) today that would exempt Internet communications from campaign finance laws. The bill reads:

"Paragraph (22) of section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(22)) is amended by adding at the end of the following new sentence: "Such term shall not include communications over the Internet."

Reid also released this statement:

"The Internet has generated a surge in grassroots involvement in our government and has proven to be a democratizing medium in our political process. Regulation of the Internet at this time would blunt its tremendous potential, discourage broad political involvement in our nation and diminish our representative democracy. For all these reasons, we should avoid silencing this new and important form of political speech."