While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) still has not issued general guidance on how tax applies to exempt organizations' use of the Internet, a new rule on links for corporate sponsors may provide a clue on what direction the IRS will take.

In December 2001 four legal service programs in New York City, a private charity and pro bono attorney filed suit against the Legal Services Corporation challenging the constitutionality of restrictions prohibiting LSC grantees from using LSC or other funds for class action litigation, legislative advocacy and community education. This includes the “program integrity regulation”, which requires physical separation between LSC-funded recipients and any organizations that engage in these restricted activities. (Se 45 C.F.R. 1610.

In the US and elsewhere, an effort is being made to capitalize on improvements in online security and assistive technologies to use online voting to make voting more accessible, increase overall voter participation, and specifically, turnout among younger voters. The question is whether public confidence will support any changes in voting procedures before technology can be seen as a means to improving voter turnout.

Last week the House of Representatives voted down a taxpayer rights bill that included an exemption for state and local PACs that reformers said went too far and would have undermined the recently passed Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).