Three years ago Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the 527 organization Empower Illinois Media Fund (EIMF). Now, the FEC has fined EIMF $3,000 finding that they failed to register as a political committee and knowingly accepted individual contributions of over $5,000. The group violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) by running ads during the 2004 Illinois Senate race urging voters to vote against Barack Obama. For more information and all of the documents in the case, see CREW's website. This decision is legally significant because it is the first time that the FEC has determined that a 527 that operated a web site that distributed information critical of a federal candidate's record could be required to register as a political committee. In other words, this decision could be read as requiring any organization that raises funds specifically to establish and operate a web site to disseminate information critical of a federal candidate's record to register as a political committee and raise money within the prohibitions and limitations of FECA. Bob Bauer responds; "This urge to bring the Internet under control can be expected to continue. And this is not because Internet politics is causing all sorts of trouble for an election law now having to struggle harder to fight off corruption. Apparently, what is at work is an unwillingness to accept that this space should not be regulated like all others."