LOBBYING EXCEPTIONS IN THE U.S.A.

In the United States, lobbying does not include a communication that is

1. made by a public official acting in the public official's official capacity;
2. made by a representative of a media organization if the purpose of the communication is gathering and disseminating news and information to the public;
3. made in a speech, article, publication or other material that is disyributed and made available to the public, or through radio, television, cable television, or other medium of mass communication;
4. made on behalf of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party and disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA);
5. a request for a meeting, a request for the status of an action, or any other similar administrative request, if the request does not include an attempt to influence a covered executive branch official or a covered legislative branch official;
6. made in the course of participation in an advisory committee subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act;
7. testimony given before a committee, subcommittee, or task force of the Congress, or submitted for inclusion in the public record of a hearing conducted by such committee, subcommittee, or task force;
8. information provided in writing in response to an oral or written request by a covered executive branch official or a covered legislative branch official for specific information;
9. required by subponea, civil investigative demand or otherwise compelled by statute, regulation, or other action of the Congress or an agency, including any communication compelled by a Federal contract, grant, loan, permit, or license;
10. made in response to a notice in the Federal Register, Commerce Business Daily, or other similar publication soliciting communications from the public and directed to the agency official specifically designated in the notice to receive such communications;
11. not possible to report without disclosing information, the unauthorized disclosure of which is prohibited by law;
12. made to an official in an agency with regard to (i) a judicial proceeding or a criminal or civil law enforcement inquirt, investigation, or proceeding; or (ii) a filing or proceeding that the Government is specifically required by statute or regulation to maintain or conduct on a confidential basis, if that gency is charged with responsibility for such proceeding, inquiry, investigatio, or filing;
13. made in compliance with written agency procedures regarding an adjudication conducted by an agency under the United States Code, or subtantially similar provisions;
14. a written comment filed in the course of a public proceeding or any other communication that is made on the record in a public proceeding;
15. a petition for agency action made in writing and required to be a matter of public record pursuant to established agency procedures;
16. made on behalf of an individual with regard to that individual's benefits, employment, or other personal matters involving only that individual, except that this clause does not apply to any communication with (I) a covered executive branch official, or (II) a covered legislative branch official (other than the individual's elected Members of Congress or employees who work under such Members' direct supervisionà, with respect to the formulation, modification, or adoption of private legislation for the relief of that individual;
17. a disclosure by an individual that is protected under the amendments made by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, under the Inspector General Act of 1978, or under another provision of law;
18. made by (I) a church, its integrated auxiliary, or a convention or association of churches that is exempt from filing a Federal Income Tax Return under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or (II) a religious order that is exempt from filing a Federal Income Tax Return;
19. between (I) officials of a self-regulatory organization as defined in the Securities Exchange Act that is registered with or established by the Securities and Exchange Commission as required by that Act or a similar organization that is designated by or registered with the Commodities Future Trading Commission as provided under the Commodity Exchange Act; and (II) the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodities Future Trading Commission respectively, relating to the regulatory responsibility of such organization under that Act.