You can have my blog when you pry it from my cold dead hands
David Hardy notes a bill that requires registration of bloggers with more than 500 readers, and who comment on policy issues. Violation would be a criminal offense.
He has the text of the bill there.
January 18th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Yet another attempt by the CFR establishment, which already controls most of the mass media flow of information and opinion, to further trample the Bill of Rights (1st one) for more control for the elite ruling class.
January 18th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
And now Senator Vitter (RINO – La.) is attempting to remove the offending portion of the bill.
Does he even read what he introduces?
January 18th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
My statement still stands.
January 18th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
How the hell are they going to know who has more than 500 readers? Most of my readership comes from search engine recipe seekers, so I’ve had thousands of one-time visitors. Could they bust someone for getting an Instalanche?
January 18th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Why should they respect the first anymore than they do the second, or fourth?
January 18th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Given that sections 19A and B would seem to exclude almost all bloggers automatically, even without the question of whether random donations without a contract or “understanding” as to the direction of efforts for pay would be “counted”, this is a tempest in a teapot.
By which I mean, it doesn’t appear to be any worse than the existing McCain-Feingold stupidity. Probably unconstitutional, daft, and a waste, but less of an affront to free speech than what we’ve already got, in fact.
($25k a quarter? Unless you’re Andrew Sullivan, that ain’t real likely to be a problem.
I can almost see a transparency benefit, in fact, in requiring people getting that level of pay from someone to direct “specific actions” on specific issues to disclose the fact.)
January 18th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
[…] Say Uncle has the right idea on this one. […]
January 19th, 2007 at 12:54 am
From time to time I think about starting a blog, but haven’t because I see it done by others so much better than I could, and I realize how much work it would take to do even a mediocre job. Shit like this almost pushes me into doing it, though, just so I could spend all my efforts criticizing policy issues.
January 19th, 2007 at 7:41 am
“Yet another attempt by the CFR…”
You’d think that their arch-foes, the Masons, would do something to stop them!
January 19th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Apparently this section has been removed from the bill.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/19/0553211&from=rss
January 19th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
frack them.
January 24th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Nice Post.
That was well said. Always appreciate your indepth views. Keep up the great work!
John