James Grimmelman @ LawMeme: "Yes, I know that the blogosphere is in a tizzy about FEC Commissioner Bradley Smith's comments that the FEC will start regulating political blogs as a form of campaign advertising. But I say with all the confidence--nay, arrogance--that three years of law school give, that it won't happen. ...

This bout of bloggeristic panic does a few things, none of them productive. First, it redirects an honest debate over McCain-Feingold into an unhelpful debate over a parade of horribles associated with a questionable interpretation of one small offshoot of the act. Second, it fuels Big Bad Big Brother fears about the wrong things: go worry about the material witness statute or the driver's licence biometric standards. Third, it just reinforces the belief that the number one thing the government, like everyone else, cares about is blogs. They're just not that into you. And fourth, it completely ignores the ongoing role of the courts in protecting free speech rights."

Previous Copyfight coverage here and here.