In terms of info bits?

And is it okay if you pay for the information? (And what if the person you're paying doesn't have to pay for the information. Could you pay for information denominated in bits not with dollars but, say, in a package of information similarly denominated in bits? Are Russian or British or Greek bits all worth the same, or do we have a universal currency, perhaps we could call it bit-bucks since "bit-coin" is taken?)

What if you pay a foreigner for the information? Is that foreign campaign worker? Or do they have to establish a valid $/bit rate and then evaluate the pay and bit volume? "I'm sorry, you paid 3 cents for bit, the going rate is 5 cents/bit and so the remaining 2 cents/bit count as an illegal campaign contribution. Busted!&quot

Would the sources of information matter? "This is from a miscellaneous US citizen-lobbyist who can't get a gig in the US" versus "This is from a high-ranking official close to the president of this other country and affiliated with military intelligence"?

Would the truthfulness value? "You got 2.3 million bits of oppo research from Mr. Cherepakha, that's a violation." Three months later, post-election, "Yeah, we got that information, but it was forged information. Mr. Cherepakha was a liar and the information was disinformation."

I figure that the total of the regulation would be to say, "Oops, we can't quantify it but we can qualify it, and as a foreign contribution we can ban it." That's going to be a bear.

Le Figaro hears a story and fact-checks it with Councilman Kurt, a candidate for the US Senate from North South Dakota. "Wikileaks says that you, Councilman Curt, was caught having an affair with the bellboy during his family vacation last summer in Provence, and the bellboy's husband blackmailed him with video." Councilman Curt asks to see the video, and opens the attachment. "I think you mean to talk to Councilman Curt, Le Figaro, I'm Councilman Kurt with a K and he's on the wrong political team. Thanks for the info."

Does Kurt say he was the victim of an unsolicited but banned illegal foreign contribution? Can he *return* it? Does he have to ignore it? What if he leaks it, and Councilman Kurt's ratings fall precipitously, helping shift the Senate from 50-50 to 51-49 "pro Curt".

Would it matter if Kurt leaked the information to, say, the FBI, who now investigated Curt as a security risk and, if he won office when LeFigaro didn't publish the story could now be blackmailed--esp. if Curt, last name "Provencale", votes to favor France?

What if Kurt's cousin, working for the Curt campaign as an informant, got the video and forwarded it. Curt wouldn't have used it; Kurt would. Who got the contribution? Does it count--i.e., is information laundering a crime?

Would it be a campaign contribution if LeFigaro actually published the story? Ah, that's la presse and it enjoys la liberte as a corporate citoyen. So how about if it wasn't published by LeFigaro but by the snarky website l'homme du metro (for "man from the underground" in warped translation).

Hard cases make bad law.