FEC to Let Parties Sell Mailing Lists

AP ^ | 1-16-03 | SHARON THEIMER

[deport]

FEC to Let Parties Sell Mailing Lists

By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Election officials agreed Thursday to let national political party committees sell their mailing lists to any buyers, including businesses and labor unions.

The move would open up a new source of income for parties looking to compensate for the loss of millions of dollars in corporate and union soft money banned by the nation's new campaign finance law.

A majority of the six-member Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) expressed support for the policy. The FEC stopped short of a final vote, however, instead directing its lawyers to develop a document reflecting the policy. That will be circulated among the commissioners for their votes over the next few days.

The commission is taking the action in response to a request by the Libertarian National Committee. The party asked the FEC for permission to continue several business activities despite the new campaign finance law's ban on corporate and labor contributions to national party committees, donations known as soft money.

Among its moneymaking ventures, the Libertarian National Committee rents out its mailing list, sells advertising space in its monthly newsletter and licenses Libertarian Party trademarks to T-shirt vendors and others who make political memorabilia.

In discussions Thursday, the commission stopped short of authorizing the continued sale of advertising space and party trademarks. Several commissioners said it would be too difficult to determine the fair market value of such transactions and judge whether they were legitimate business deals or sham transactions aimed at eluding the soft money ban.

Commissioner David Mason, who proposed allowing the Libertarians and other national party committees to rent or sell their mailing lists, said it would be much easier for the commission to determine whether list transactions were legitimate.

An industry has developed around the sales of mailing lists, so it wouldn't be difficult to determine a party list's fair market value, Mason said. In addition to paying fair market value, the purchaser of a party list would have to use it to sell subscriptions, products or services. And, the party would have to show sales were a fraction of its use of the mailing list.

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FEC: http://www.fec.gov/

[deport]

Who said they were going to ban money from the political scene........

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[deport]

Heck the boy over at the conservative watchdog site may even cough up a few sheckles if'n the donors will keep sending in the cash....

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Karsus]

I will not donate one penny to any political orginization that makes it policy to sell my information.

[Miss Marple]

No, they won't sell to him, deport. He didn't pay the last people he bought a list from, remember? Heheheh.

[deport]

Yes I remember, but then maybe he can expand his horizons to the democrats as they've not had him renege yet... I can see some groups now like the trial lawyers buying list that will never be used... Heck maybe the Enrons, etc. will buy list after list... You can't keep money out of politics.

[mrsmith]

A bright new day for all those Dem contibutors too stupid to find pornography on their own.

[deport]

Data mining is one of the fast growing enterprises. I'm never sure now who does or doesn't sell your name, address, etc as most of our names are in the public domain in several places.

[Howlin]

OMG...I almost missed this.......I wonder what 'the donors' will think????

[anymouse]

Can you say a "giant sucking sound" as donors zip up their wallets and refuse to donate anything, until their party publically denouces this policy of abusing their privacy and states that they will only provide donor info. to the the FEC as required by law and nothing to anyone else.

[Karsus]

The EFF doesn't sell your name. And I am pretty sure you can tell the NRA not to sell your name. Most of the other that I have check out say they will sell your name.

[deport]

Donors will be upset to say the least. However I suspect you'll be able to request that you name not be given or sold. Some groups already allow a subscriber/user to opt out of any list they sell/rent/etc.

But the truth is that our names are out there in the public domain now and are being mined daily into different categories that are sold to marketers.

[Rensselaer]

The truth is that the political parties already sell and exchange mailing lists. The FEC was merely asked whether or not the McCain-Feingold law changed that. It appears to be prepared to answer that it does not.

[deport]

The truth is that the political parties already sell and exchange mailing lists.

---

I knew they did to some extent but wasn't sure how far it went.... The 'conservative watchdog group' [because no one is above the law] got into an altercation with some Republican group over the exchange of mailing list.

[Karsus]

I know this. They also know that I will not donate money to them till they stop this practice.