as political groups, lawmakers and online journalists said on Friday.

n separate letters, Democratic lawmakers and Internet commentators urged

the Federal Election Commission to make sure that political Web sites that serve

as focal points for political discussion, like Wonkette.com and Freerepublic.com,

don't have to comply with campaign-finance rules.
"Curtailing blogs and other online publications will dampen the impact of new

voices in the political process and will do a disservice to the millions of voters

who rely on the Web for original, insightful political commentary," said the

Online Coalition, a group of bloggers and online activists.

Fourteen members of the U.S. House of Representatives said blogs foster a

welcome diversity of viewpoints.

"This 'democratization' of the media is a welcome development in this era of

media consolidation and a corresponding lack of diversity of views in

traditional media outlets," said the group, which consists of thirteen Democrats

and one Republican.

The FEC ruled in 2002 that Internet activities do not count as "coordinated

political activity" and thus don't have to comply with laws that regulate money

in politics.
But a U.S. judge struck down that ruling as too broad last year, and the FEC is

scheduled to consider it later this month.

If the FEC determines that online "blogs" are in fact political organizations, they

could face fines if they work too closely with political campaigns by, for example,

reprinting their press releases.
FEC spokesman Bob Biersack said the commission would try to craft its new rule

as narrowly as possible.
"The Commission has tried very hard for a long time to be as limited in its

regulation of Internet activity as it possibly could, so there's no reason to

assume that that basic orientation doesn't continue," he said.