[JURIST] The Federal Election Commission (FEC) [official website] Friday proposed new rules [draft text, PDF] that would require federal political candidates to pay for internet advertisements out of funds regulated by federal campaign laws, but would otherwise leave most online political activity free from government regulation. Recently, a federal appeals court ordered [opinion text, PDF] the six-member FEC to create regulations that extend campaign finance and spending limits regulations online, saying that the previous definition of “public communication” impermissibly excluded all internet communications. The new definition includes only advertising on another person’s website. The FEC stated that the rules:

are intended to ensure that political committees properly finance and disclose their Internet communications, without impeding individual citizens from using the Internet to speak freely regarding candidates and elections.