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Rumor-Busting: Bloggers Won't Be Required To Register

Looks like yesterday's rumors that bloggers might be required to register as lobbyists, or face jail time, turns out to be just plain wrong. U.S. Sen. David Vitter has a statement clarifying the proposed law.

"These amendments place tougher penalties on lobbyists and federal officials –- not bloggers, radio talk show hosts or any citizen’s group exercising their freedom of speech," he says.

The proposed law specifies criminal charges only for federal officials who fail to comply with financial disclosure laws -- not lobbyists, only federal officials, says Vitter. "Also, this amendment does not create any new classification for what is a lobbyist or federal official, and therefore, the law does not create new criminal penalties for bloggers or other grassroots activists. Moreover, it doesn’t even apply to bloggers or grassroots activists."

My colleague Paul McDougall debunked the rumor earlier today, by reading the actual legislation.

I posted the original blog entry yesterday figuring that the information came from a press release from an organization unknown to me, and therefore it might be wrong in detail. I chose to post it anyway, because it had already appeared on Slashdot and therefore was widely known. I knew we had an obligation to follow up and get the real story today, and we did.

What I didn't know yesterday is that the story might not just be wrong in detail -- it was totally, utterly, and completely wrong. It was, to put it in plain English, a damn lie. I'm disgusted with the organization that spread the lie, I'm disgusted with Slashdot for promoting the lie without doing any fact-checking, and disgusted with myself, too. I should have known better.

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