Democrats want commercial free zones on user generated content sites when it comes to content created by members of Congress. In essence what the Dems are saying is that elected representatives don’t have rights to content they produce and commercial sites that provide UGC services don’t have any ability to monetize when it comes to this content.

And the Republican plan offers a reasonable standard — encourage but not require commercial-free areas of social sites. Requiring it would create some clear property rights issues. The terms of service on most Web 2.0 sites state that once uploaded, your content is owned by the site — doesn’t matter if you’re the President of the United States or doing basement videography. That site has the right to monetize that content (which they own) as they see fit. To prevent them from doing so is a taking of private property.

[From Republican = Open, Democrat = Closed | The Next Right]