Dear Congressman Ryan

I submitted this letter, albeit too late, to Paul Ryan, my representative in the U.S. House of Representatives about the Deleting Online Predators Act after I was alerted by News.com.

Congressman Ryan,

I wish to offer my regrets that you voted for the Deleting Online Predators Act. I understand the need for the law that protects children online. I think it is important to protect minors, especially when they are using technology at public schools and libraries. I, however, think the act is far too broad. If the bill gets passed into law and is fully implemented at schools and libraries it would restrict access to sites such as Amazon.com and CNet Networks, a popular online news network including sites such as News.com. These sites both provide services where users can post profiles. Clearly, this was not the intention of the bill. I understand the bill to have the goal of targeting sites such as MySpace.com, which if you enter computer labs at our alma mater Craig High School you'll find many students spending "unproductive" time on. It will clearly be both a productivity boost and a safety-improvement for the students and the school if that site is blocked. The blocking of News.com and Amazon.com will damage the ability of the students, however, to conduct research. Amazon.com, a shopping site, is a great site for students to gather information on products and services relevant to their papers and homework; I myself have used it many times for that purpose. News.com serves the obvious purpose of providing news articles and there is no doubt of the academic merit of the site.

I think the Deleting Online Predators Act is far too broad and needs to be narrowed in scope to accomplish the goal of the bill.

Respectfully Submitted,
-Jeramey-

This prompts another question. Is there a good resource out there to monitor upcoming bills, votes, and new laws? I want an unfiltered list, not a nightly news run-down.

Tags: Paul Ryan, Deleting Online Predators Act