WASHINGTON - The Federal Election Commission more than doubled its civil penalties in 2006, imposing $6.2 million in fines for campaign-law violations.

By Fredreka Schouten WASHINGTON -- Three independent political groups paid six-figure settlements to resolve charges that they broke campaign-finance laws in the 2004 presidential election, the Federal Election Commission said Wednesday.

By Thomas B Edsall, Washington Post Staff Writer In a unanimous vote yesterday, the Federal Election Commission left unregulated almost all political activity on the Internet except for paid political advertisements.

The Federal Election Commission decided Monday that the nation's new campaign finance law will not apply to most political activity on the Internet. In a 6-0 vote, the commission decided to regulate only paid political ads placed on another person's Web site.

WASHINGTON _ There's broad agreement among Democrats and Republicans that the Internet writings of political bloggers shouldn't be tangled in complex federal campaign-finance regulations. But how to keep that from happening is fast becoming controversial.