FEC General Counsel Issues Draft Advisory Opinion On Fired Up Websites

The FEC General Counsel's office has issued a draft Advisory Opinion in response to Fired Up!, LLC's request.

Here is the draft AO.  The General Counsel has requested that this matter be placed on the Commission agenda for November 17.  Comments will be accepted by the Commission until Noon Eastern on November 16.  The comment procedure is outlined on the first page of the above pdf.

Here's a link to previous discussion of this matter on Fired Up!  Here's a link to Allison Hayward's reaction to the Draft AO, and here's a link to Bob Baur's discussion of it.

Here's a taste of the Draft AO:

An examination of Fired Up's websites reveals that a primary function of the websites is to provide news and information to readers through Fired Up's commentary on, quotes from, summaries of, and hyperlinks to news articles appearing on other entities' websites and through Fired Up's original reporting.  Fired Up retains editorial control over the content displayed on its websites, much as newspaper or magazine editors determine which news stories, commentaries, and editorials appear in their own publications….

The Commission notes that an entity otherwise eligible for the press exception would not lose its eligibility merely because of a lack of objectivity in a news story, commentary, or editorial, even if the news story, commentary, or editorial expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for Federal office.

If you have an opinion on regulation of the Internet, please share your thoughts with the Commission in the next few days through the procedure outlined in the document above.