How will adult sites be policed if they refuse to do age checks in June?

XMR (aka Monero) is EXTREMELY resistant to this. That is its whole purpose as a "privacy coin". AFAIK the only "trace" of this was when some dealer on the dark web recently withdrew from the website and tried to cash in the exact same amount at an exchange.

This shit is not going to happen to us casuals just paying for a VPN (and maybe getting a bit of something for the weekend now and then).

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

Jesus. That's some dedication to be able to knock one out to a 5 minute porn vid!

[-]

DarkFireGuy@reddit

If that's your use case then you don't need the service

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

That's literally what this thread is about

[-]

DarkFireGuy@reddit

The cash thing was a sub discussion about the payment methods of mullvad and comparing against crypto (which someone brought up).

Cash is very useful for a small number of people that need to stay completely off the grid.

[-]

ConsistentCatch2104@reddit

So criminals?

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

Absolutely, so long as they also never connect any devices to the Internet either.

[-]

AngryChickenPlucker@reddit

No logs, tracking on NordVPN. Have used it for years.

[-]

jamesckelsall@reddit

Actual no tracking.

And that has been proved when faced with a warrant - the police force in question actually published a press release stating that mullvad held no user data.

[-]

Sithfish@reddit

All VPNs are the same. Nord is just double the price for no reason cos it's the Nike/Addidas of VPNs.

[-]

LeadingTower4382@reddit

Kape Technologies owns Express, it’s a dodgy company who owns several other big VPNs.

[-]

LeadingTower4382@reddit

For Mullvad: Regular audits Ram servers More transparent Anonymous sign up Raided by the police and they came out with nothing Fast servers No BS marketing Fair pricing Accepts cash and Monero DNS based ad blocking Open source clients

And far far more

[-]

Awordofinterest@reddit

If you want Nord, Sign up to the affiliate programme and buy using your own code, They will send you about 35% of the sale back. Source: That guy who made the video about the Honey scam did it.

https://youtu.be/vc4yL3YTwWk?t=645

[-]

Willumz@reddit

I got a three year subscription with 100% cashback at one point… I know their profit margins are high but seriously?

[-]

Awordofinterest@reddit

Serious money in User data.

[-]

OGSkywalker97@reddit

Most profitable commodity on the planet since 2018 when it overtook oil.

[-]

ampmz@reddit

Not us based, they do not hold customer details and have not relented to authorities when raided.

[-]

jamesckelsall@reddit

have not relented to authorities when raided.

More specifically, could not relent. They didn't choose to withhold user data from authorities, they just didn't have any to hand over.

[-]

ampmz@reddit

I think they’ve also refused access to offices in general, but yes that’s a good clarification

[-]

MrAnonymousTheThird@reddit

It's more that mullvad is proven to have no logs but calling Nord VPN snake oil is a bit much. You don't need to go that far (put cash in the post) if you're going to have private time..

[-]

blood__drunk@reddit

Do you have any evidence to support this?

As a nord subscriber who's about to come to the end of their sub and plans to renew, I'd love to see evidence of these claims.

[-]

LeadingTower4382@reddit

Yep

Check my previous comments & you can just check their marketing and https://doineedavpn.com

[-]

Different-Estate747@reddit

Mullvad's servers suck ass. Never ending Capthcas and YouTube thinks you're a bot if you're not signed in. Which I never am.

Oh, reddit also thinks you're a bot and calls you "Pardner".

I'd recommend Proton. When my Mullvad sub expires I'm going back to Proton.

[-]

LeadingTower4382@reddit

I agree with that, for YouTube and Reddit it’s a bitch at the moment.

Windscribe is also p good

[-]

scrotal-massage@reddit

If you’re going to make claims like that, you should be providing proof.

LeadingTower4382@reddit

Tomsguide does affiliate links for them for money like most VPN review sites 😂

Nord is snake oil, look no further than their advertising.

Check independent sources such as the below for some good options:

https://www.privacyguides.org/en/basics/vpn-overview/?h=vpn

https://www.techlore.tech/vpn

This is also interesting: https://kumu.io/Windscribe/vpn-relationships#vpn-company-relationships/nordvpn

[-]

V65Pilot@reddit

What's wrong with Nord?

[-]

abfgern_@reddit

The hardest part is picking which youtuber I want to get the discount bonus!

[-]

OGSkywalker97@reddit

Lol Nord you know

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

They are also very easily detectable by websites, so will be useless in this case.

It's crazy how many people don't understand what VPN's actually do. They just mask your IP, that's it.

[-]

arpw@reddit

If the website doesn't care that you're using a VPN though, which porn sites won't... Then it'll work.

I'm aware that the likes of Ticketmaster can and do detect VPN connections, but that's for entirely different motivations.

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

That's the point of this law though - it puts the onus on the website not to accept users from the UK.

Just try using a VPN for some well known sites, you'll see they already block them.

[-]

Kazizui@reddit

Just try using a VPN for some well known sites, you'll see they already block them because of similar laws in other countries

Got any examples? The only ones I can think of are streaming sites, but they are generally protecting regional content and not because of some national law. News sites like the Chicago Tribune block EU traffic because of GDPR, but if I set my VPN to a US server I can access it just fine, they make no attempt to block it whatsoever.

[-]

Historical_Owl_1635@reddit

Just try using a VPN for some well known sites, you’ll see they already block them because of similar laws in other countries.

They tend to only block free VPNs that are often used maliciously.

Mainstream paid VPNs are normally always allowed through.

[-]

CumUppanceToday@reddit

I've used a vpn for years for work reasons. I've never been blocked by any of the more "recreational" sites that I've visited

[-]

Sad_Channel_9706@reddit

You know your work IT can see everything that goes through that VPN?

[-]

CumUppanceToday@reddit

I'm the work IT guy 😁

[-]

Scottishtwat69@reddit

They just mask your IP

That's not all they do, porn websites have no reason to block VPN servers, and even if they wanted to. It's a game of Whack-a-mole that VPN services have been winning vs websites like Netflix.

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

The difference here is that the website is the one breaking the law if they don't.

It is up to the website to ensure their content can't be viewed in the UK without age verification. What route the network traffic takes is totally irrelevant, so VPN's are redundant in this case.

[-]

Kazizui@reddit

It is up to the website to ensure their content can't be viewed in the UK without age verification. What route the network traffic takes is totally irrelevant, so VPN's are redundant in this case.

How do you imagine the site can tell? Let's say a site based in the US receives requests from a VPN server based in Germany. One user is in California and is just using the VPN for privacy. Another user is in China and is using the VPN to get around the national firewall. And a third user is in the UK, evading this block. How do you think the site can distinguish?

[-]

SmugDruggler95@reddit

But if the company simply says its stopping operations in the UK and blocking access, why would they care if people in the UK then use a loophole?

Not their problem if they are not operating under any UK laws surely?

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

Oh yes that's totally OK.

But according to Ofcom, Pornhub aline had 15 million UK users in 2021.

Even if a tiny percentage are paying customers, that's a lot of revenue to cut off.

Then you have twitter etc.

It's gonna be interesting.

[-]

Taken_Abroad_Book@reddit

Tell us you don't know what a vpn is without actually saying it

[-]

Bacon4Lyf@reddit

Who cares if the website detects it, they aren’t gonna stop you using it

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

Many sites already do due to similar laws elsewhere.

It is the website who is breaking the law, not the user. The law doesn't care what route the network traffic takes, whether by VPN or otherwise. If the website is serving content illegally, they are breaking the law.

[-]

blither86@reddit

Are you sure it will work like this?

Website sees visitor from Norway (actually in UK) visiting their website, and see that they are using a VPN.

Website does not insist on user verification because user is not showing as from the UK.

What am I missing?

[-]

Blackout73@reddit

The connection between you and the VPN provider is encrypted. They then provided a jumping off point to the internet via a broad range of regularly changing IP addresses. Websites can detect VPN traffic because there will be lots of people accessing from the same IP, which is easy enough to detect. But the adult sites literally don't care. They will do just enough to comply, or they will shut down in that location. Look at the US recently where a bunch of states required ID verification. PornHub just stopped serving all those states and there was a huge spike in VPN usage from those same states.

[-]

ArtisticWatch@reddit

Yes *cough Reddit

There are quite a few VPN browsers out there. Some are free but you will get interrupted with adds for Shein & Temu, some have free 30-60 mins before you need to switch IPs or purchase more time.

[-]

gbfeszahb4w@reddit

Never, ever, ever, ever use a free VPN. You are giving that company control over your internet experience, they will sell your data.

[-]

ConsistentCatch2104@reddit

Who cares if they seek your data?

I don’t get this obsession with caring if your browsing history is stored on some server somewhere. If you think there is someone out there reviewing every page you go to you are crazy.

[-]

OGSkywalker97@reddit

You really think the paid for ones aren't selling people's data? It's the most profitable commodity on the planet since 2018 when it overtook oil.

[-]

cheese0muncher@reddit

Shein & Temu

No way am I letting them know my wanking habits.

[-]

Apathetic_Superhero@reddit

Where else would you go to knock one out though?

[-]

cheese0muncher@reddit

I'm a deacon in the catholic church so probably near alter.

[-]

ampmz@reddit

If you aren’t paying then the product is you.

[-]

BlazkoTwix@reddit

I'd recommend Mullvlad if you do go down the VPN route, they're pretty cheap in comparison to the household names.

[-]

insanityarise@reddit

Mullvad is the best, split tunnelling, anonymous accounts, anonymous payments are also available, speed is pretty great too. Only 5 euros a month. That's less than a pint of craft beer.

[-]

tomc128@reddit

I got for PIA since it's £60 for 3 years lol

[-]

Apathetic_Superhero@reddit

No port forwarding though if that's a requirement

[-]

insanityarise@reddit

it does that too as long as you don't have a subscription, so just pay as you go

[-]

n0p_sled@reddit

OpenVPN with a config file from your VPN provider of choice

[-]

fussyfella@reddit

Wireguard is more efficient these days if it is supported, but for most people that is splitting hairs, they will just use the magic app the VPN provider give them.

[-]

wowsomuchempty@reddit

Like this, but wireguard.

[-]

VOOLUL@reddit

That is not the simplest way. The simplest way will just use the VPN app from your provider. Like Mullvad for example.

[-]

Alpha_Majoris@reddit

Mozilla VPN. And consider to change to Mozilla Firefox instead of Chrome.

[-]

LeadingTower4382@reddit

Mozilla resells off of Mullvad

[-]

Xylogy_D@reddit

If you're just using the vpn for porn and dont want to pay... 'Tunnelbear' gives you 2000mb free a month, so with multiple accounts, that's plenty enough data for a daily tug of the old cheese log

[-]

Ziazan@reddit

nord vpn has a pretty seamless mobile app. Only need the one subscription to use it on mobile and desktop. Also acts as a convenient way to send a few files between computer and phone wirelessly.

I'm sure the other major providers likely also have this but I haven't confirmed it personally.

[-]

Appropriate-Divide64@reddit

Only downside to Nord is that it doesn't work in China, if you need it for that.

[-]

FluidCream@reddit

Opera browser has a built in vpn. I use it to access blocked torrent sites.

[-]

Pristine_Juice@reddit

I hate opera though. I use it for the VPN but it's slow and clunky for me.

[-]

FluidCream@reddit

That's all I use it for. Cheaper than paying for a vpn

[-]

ringadingdingbaby@reddit

Proton VPN is free.

[-]

Large-Fruit-2121@reddit

ProtonVPN is the only VPN that's free I'd trust.

I pay for the full proton suite and their mission and funding is clear. Their free VPN isn't selling your data.

[-]

colei_canis@reddit

While I'm a fan of Proton it's best not to trust a free VPN. Many of them are free because they're using your connection as an exit for residential proxies. Residential proxies can be a useful tool for various legitimate and less legitimate activities, but from a selfish point of view I wouldn't want my connection being used as the exit point for the things people typically use VPNs for.

[-]

Buffsteve24@reddit

Proton van is good has a totally free plan too

[-]

Conscious-Ball8373@reddit

Pixel phones now have a Google-supplied VPN built in.

[-]

douggieball1312@reddit

It doesn't let you change location sadly.

[-]

AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit

For just web pages, opera comes with VPN installed by default.

[-]

Cloudfish101@reddit

Can recommend both nordvpn and surfshark for android, surfshark being a bit easier and more reliable, been about 5 years since I used Nord tho so probably caught up

[-]

UnacceptableUse@reddit

On pixel phones Google has a VPN built in you can enable for free. I'll let you decide whether or not you are okay with the potential privacy implications of that.

[-]

jimmyrayreid@reddit

What more info will Google get from me from using their vpn when I already use their browser, their OS and their hardware

[-]

UnacceptableUse@reddit

That's probably true, I know that if I didn't mention it though I would've gotten replies about it

[-]

CR2010@reddit

Asking for a friend?

[-]

The-Almighty-Jay@reddit

If u need surfshark ref lmk

[-]

boomerangchampion@reddit

It's incredibly simple, you install an app and give it a permission or two and you're away.

[-]

Boldboy72@reddit

My "ahem" friend.. uses a PS4 for "ahem" youtube, is there a VPN for PS4?

[-]

ProsodySpeaks@reddit

Bare in mind any free vpn is very likely storing and selling your data.

Plus many are vulnerable to all kinds of attacks including but not limited to remote code execution, using your ip address for other people's - potentially illegal - activity, etc.

[-]

IdioticMutterings@reddit

Plenty of paid ones are also storing and selling your data too.

[-]

Appropriate-Divide64@reddit

If you're connected all the time. Not sure what they can do with "User logs on and then browses pornhub for 15 mins at 11pm each night"

[-]

ProsodySpeaks@reddit

Yeah fair point, although I believe some don't, whereas the free ones are pretty much all scamming you one way or another.

If you're not a paying customer you're the product etc etc

This one blew my mind!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ugaLp6BIkgo

[-]

Wrong-Kangaroo-2782@reddit

It's not really a.scam if I trade the use of my.data for the use of their VPN

It's just a trade

[-]

Cubewood@reddit

If you use a free VPN, then your PC will also be used as a VPN by other users. They basically operate on a peer2peer system which is how they can be free.

[-]

ThrowAwaAlpaca@reddit

You don't even need a VPN most of times. They can't regulate DNS' outside eof the UK, so don't use one.

[-]

turkishhousefan@reddit

They're saying that the websites in question will block the IP ranges of UK ISPs to stop us from visiting their sites.

[-]

OMGItsCheezWTF@reddit

Except most of these sites are fronted by CDNs, xhamster for instance is behind cloudflare. You can't block Cloudflare without blocking a huge chunk of the internet and because the connections are encrypted it's not trivial for ISPs to see what site you're accessing behind cloudflare.

Essentially about the best that can be done is blocking the site at the DNS level and there are many DNS providers outside of the jurisdiction of the UK, and DOH providers are built in to most browsers now.

Even if that's not the case, running your own recursive resolver is also trivial.

[-]

turkishhousefan@reddit

I'm not talking about ISPs or the gübermint blocking traffic to sites, I'm talking about the sites blocking incoming traffic.

[-]

OMGItsCheezWTF@reddit

Oh! In that case they'll just grab the maxmind DB and say job done.

[-]

Grouchy_Conclusion45@reddit

That's what I'd do if I was them. The UK is such a tiny market, it's not worth the investment. Easier just to geolock the website based on IP

[-]

Interesting_Try8375@reddit

Why would they even have to bother blocking UK users? They can just ignore the UK surely?

[-]

turkishhousefan@reddit

Governments cooperate.

[-]

nolinearbanana@reddit

Probably be no need for a VPN. There'll be plenty of mirror sites set up with no official connection to the main site. As each is blocked, a new one will spring up.

[-]

dread1961@reddit

Yh, exactly. Like what happened to The Pirate Bay when it was supposedly blocked. A simple search for a proxy and you're in.

[-]

turkishhousefan@reddit

The Pirate Bay hosts URLs, not videos. Big difference in the amount of data being served.

[-]

Sufficient-Sleep-860@reddit

It’s definitely a possibility that some sites might block UK IPs to sidestep the regulations. And yeah, VPNs can be a handy tool for accessing content, but it also raises questions about safety and privacy

[-]

BabaYagasDopple@reddit

They won’t, and nothing will be done about it. The cyber crimes units can’t even tackle people scamming people via car adverts on Facebook etc.

[-]

ChrisAmpersand@reddit

I disagree. This law is completely nonsensical so there is an agenda behind this. I think the UK Gov are just looking to normalise their ability to censor anything they don’t like. They will put a lot of media attention and effort into this.

[-]

sp1z99@reddit

Absolutely. Thin end of wedge, slippery slope, whatever you want to call it.

[-]

Nuclear_Geek@reddit

Paranoid delusional conspiracy theory would seem to be pretty accurate.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

Did Edward Snowden teach you nothing?

[-]

Nuclear_Geek@reddit

Hang on, can you be a bit more specific? The previous comments are from conspiracist loons, banging on about slippery slopes and censorship (obvious nonsense). Edward Snowden is more associated with surveillance ops, something that is a bit more of a legitimate concern.

[-]

St2Crank@reddit

Not really, they can already censor what they want, they forced ISPs to block pirate bay years ago, they did it, obviously you can get round it as it’s just people in government (specifically the previous government who initially kicked this off) who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.

Classic example of, Don’t attribute malice to what can be explained by incompetence.

[-]

zero_iq@reddit

IMO it's not about censorship, it's about removal of anonymity on the internet.

[-]

Bacon4Lyf@reddit

They put in for this law every other year, even Theresa mays government tried putting in for it, and it never goes anywhere

[-]

Dry_Conclusion_2700@reddit

It’s a distraction story. There’s so many that resurface every few years. The government have gotten lazy with coming up with new ideas so just recycle them and actually find they work better because it reinvigorates all of that negativity from the last time they ran the story.

Wonder what they’re trying to distract us from this week.

[-]

BabaYagasDopple@reddit

Fiscal drag, limited growth, potential tax increases. Take your pick.

[-]

iBlockMods-bot@reddit

I'm not certain this specific one is a dead cat, however there are plenty atm so this could very well be one.

Anyhow onto the point, what's happening this week - I would say the pound slipping and gvt borrowing costs rising are worth distracting from. Because if we start thinking about that topic, we come to the conclusion that our 6 month new gvt is hamstrung by finance entities and markets, and all the promise of A Future are now down the drain again.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

I don't watch porn since I am not an immoral degenerate, however how will this impact websites (such as Reddit) which have pornography on them, but are not primarily porn sites?

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

Explain how porn is intrinsically immoral. Nice smattering of. One’s social assumptions therez

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

God does NOT want to see you tugging yourself off.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

Ah so in other words it’s your inane opinion.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

The word of God, is a fact not an opinion dear.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

And that’s your opinion…

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

It's not my opinion it's a fact, it says so in the Bible.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

And your “fact” is the belief in what’s been written in a book with zero external corroborating evidence. That’s called an opinion my friend.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

There is proof the Bible is the word of God.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

There is “opinion”

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

It's a fact, it says so in the Bible.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

According to your opinion.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

It does say so in the Bible.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

And it’s your opinion that it’s face… with no verifiable evidence.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

It is the word of God, so everything it says is true.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

According to your opinion.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

You won't be acting so smart on judgment day with your little "comment"

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

And you shouldn’t preach opinion.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

The Bible encourages the flock to preach to the sinners.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

So your opinion about a book leads you to bleat at others, that’s arrogant and selfish on the face of it.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

It's a charitable service to save the souls of the wayward, the sinful and trhe begotten.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

All based upon your opinion.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

The wrath of God is far from an opinion, of that I assure you.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

Opinion.

[-]

Mount_Kailash_Awaits@reddit

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

I hope for your sake you repent soon.

[-]

secondaryone@reddit

You hope with your opinion based on nothing but a book.

[-]

longtermbrit@reddit

Don't they wheel this thing out every year or so? Then some tech advisor calmly and politely explained why it's a dumb idea and could never work and the whole thing is forgotten about.

[-]

Gaunts@reddit

Every year or so since Cameron was in power, they get this idea that the magic internet wizards can make this happen, an every time the internet wizards go sure but it'll take a long time and cost a lot of money and will continue to cost a lot of money to implement chinas great firewall uk edition an then it's promptly forgot about again.

[-]

fussyfella@reddit

And of course The Great Firewall of China is still pretty trivial to escape through for those with motivation.

[-]

Gaunts@reddit

Until you're in the middle of a starcraft 2 match and someone says in chat Winnie the pooh or tiananmen square and you get disconnected.

[-]

Vinegarinmyeye@reddit

Yep pretty much.

I reckon I've seen this sorta thing been pushed as a policy decision since the early 2000s - pretty much always in terms of "Won't somebody think of the children?!?".

Sounds good / looks good on paper. There's a bit of political football, there's a nationwide discussion, and then someone with more than a very surface level understanding of how the Internet actually works informs the relevant ministers about the cost of implementing and enforcing such a thing... And then it disappears for a couple of years until the whole cycle repeats.

I'd be highly surprised if anything comes of it this time around.

It's another classic case of trying to implement a technical solution to behavioural problems... Don't want your kids seeing adult content? Monitor what they do on the Internet and you know.. Be a fucking parent.

(I worked for a local education authority for a few years and would regularly have parents at PTA meetings asking me about apps / solutions to stop keep their little cherubs safe - I could always point them at something or another to do content filtering, but it would drive me nuts that they'd never seem to consider the option of NOT giving them a laptop / tablet in their bedroom which they spent all day every day on with the door closed... And actually have a conversation with their kids about online safety rather than just install some app or another).

[-]

Yamosu@reddit

Unfortunately the people that come up with these things don't understand the technology, nor do they seem interested in learning. So we get these stupid ideas without any idea how they would work in practice.

It should be down to the parents to supervise and monitor their kids Internet use. However it seems a number of parents don't care and just them get on with it.

[-]

Xenasis@reddit

It should be down to the parents to supervise and monitor their kids Internet use

The goal of these laws isn't to stop kids from accessing porn, everyone knows it won't. The goal is to be able to track adults via their IDs.

[-]

Vinegarinmyeye@reddit

It really is daft, I've put some other comments into the mix on the topic but referring to the whole "We want Apple, Facebook, etc to give us a master decryption key because... Terrorists!!"

Not to put myself on a list or anything, but I can roll an end to end encrypted messaging system in about 10 minutes from scratch using open source code.

Encryption exists - you can't uninvent it.

The notion that nefarious bad actors are using WhatsApp to co-ordinate is just fucking farcical...

And yeah, this whole age restriction blah blah blah is another flavour of the same nonsense.

I can't emphasise enough - kids should not be seeing adult content on the Internet, I'm no apologist or anything...

But, why can't people be responsible parents and look after their kids rather than going "Ohhhh we need the government to implement laws because we can't control what our kids are doing... Big scary...".

If your 10 year old knows how to get around the parental controls, AND you don't know about it, AND you haven't had a conversation about the dangers of doing that... Then in the year of our lord 2025 you have to put your hand up and go "I'm an idiot".

Are you smarter than a 10 year old?

[-]

Gaunts@reddit

They view the engineers as wizards that can snap their fingers and make it so in a blurr of black screens with green text flying everywhere to dramatic music then with a triumphant click of the enter button 'it is done'.

[-]

-intellectualidiot@reddit

They won’t be

[-]

ClimbsNFlysThings@reddit

The whole thing is unworkable in my view. Technically, legally and practically. It might reduce some access but I doubt it will make a meaningful dent.

[-]

Kaiisim@reddit

I disagree. The average person in this country is stupid. They struggle to handle things like passwords.

Maybe 20 years ago it wouldn't have stopped people. But today? Absolutely. They cannot navigate anything that has more than 2 steps.

[-]

homelaberator@reddit

People say this things but at the same time, if you look internationally, most people don't use VPN or other measures to subvert these bans even in countries with quite oppressive regimes.

It will mean fewer people, and fewer children, accessing adult content. It's not intended to be a final and absolute solution to the problem, it's just meant to be another discouragement.

[-]

ClimbsNFlysThings@reddit

Yes I get that and some reduction in harm will follow but it's the lore of unintended consequences. Impact on the overall market, OnlyFans becomes even more of a relevant market (if you're going to give someone your details), otherwise the sites will work around it or people will be driven to darker less mainstream places.

Then there's the age verification systems which will get compromised.

It might help but as a balance of risk and harm, it just won't work.

[-]

Anima_of_a_Swordfish@reddit

I am curious if there is a hidden agenda here. Having stricter control on user registration could allow for companies to better police piracy. The porn industry obviously suffers massively from the free porn sites.

[-]

ClimbsNFlysThings@reddit

I doubt it, it's the pearl clutchy opposite I reckon, THINK OF THE CHILDREN! Not boosting the income from smut

[-]

TheHomesteadTurkey@reddit

It will actually just divert people to illegal porn sites that don't moderate their content.

[-]

Kaylamarie92@reddit

I live in Texas and this is how it’s worked since they blocked pornhub. It’s pretty concerning.

[-]

Jazzlike-Compote4463@reddit

Yeap, it’ll just send people to the worst parts of the internet.

They’ve been trying to stop piracy for years and look how well thats going…

[-]

breadandbutter123456@reddit

I’ll be using a vpn not because I want to look at porn, but because I don’t trust sites such as this one with my data. They’ll be hacked and by next Christmas, you’ll be have your passport details being bandied about in the dark web for sale and being collected by nafarious countries (looking at you Russia, China, Iran, DPRK, etc).

[-]

throwra-rickDiscu@reddit

Thats the biggest thing for me. If I go on the have I been pwned website and put all the emails I have had over the years. I have been in silly amounts of data breaches.

I do not trust these websites to keep me safe.

When I was a bit too young to be looking at these things, with a mom that put a childlock on my laptop. I still found it. But in really dodgy corners of the net through forums you could only enter on games and apps. I was groomed in these places, I used to lie and say I was 13 instead of 7 as 13 was sooo grown up.

In a weird way Porn mags you stole from an adult is the safest way for a kid to consume that content. Then its more regulated sites like pornhub. And then its scraping the crap at the bottom of the barrel on dodgy forums. I dont see this going well for kids.

[-]

tippyonreddit@reddit

Why are you putting your passport details on Reddit

[-]

Somebody_Broke_That@reddit

They’re not, but Reddit does have adult content so could fall under these rules in the UK. So you will have to provide evidence of your age to access Reddit. So the question becomes what evidence of your identity and age would you be happy to provide?

For me it would be none, so vpn it is.

[-]

Adventurous_Rub_3059@reddit

There is also talk of adding stricter age requirements for accessing social media, which Reddit would likely fall under as well

[-]

Conscious-Ball8373@reddit

Because reddit hosts a large collection of porn and there's the possibility that reddit will react to this law by requiring you to verify your age eg by submitting your passport ID page.

[-]

alexandriaweb@reddit

It will hurt performers far more than consumers.

[-]

ATSOAS87@reddit

It will teach children about hacking, VPNs, etc.

I never worry about bans, because I'll find a way.

[-]

MXron@reddit

The whole thing is unworkable in my view. Technically, legally and practically.

and morally

[-]

Sufficient-Sleep-860@reddit

I totally get where you’re coming from! It does seem like a tough challenge to enforce, and there are so many loopholes

[-]

turntricks@reddit

It’s been proven unworkable time and again which is why governments trot it out time and again only to watch it die on its arse, presumably to distract us from a bigger story.

[-]

Gaunts@reddit

If they stump up the cash (hard doubt it won't be cheap) it'll be poorly implemented and will need ongoing maintenance as new sites appears, it won't work, when we had a national crisis of covid they stored the data in an excel spreadsheet rather than handling it properly.

[-]

ClimbsNFlysThings@reddit

Yes and the mechanism for verification when it's compromised will be absolutely terminal for the scheme.

[-]

Gaunts@reddit

Whenever these laws pass of which there's been many in the last 20 years i'm brutally reminded of how incompetant and out of touch the goverment is and weep for the advisor who is dying inside from not being listened to, assuming they exist, at which this point I doubt.

[-]

mh1ultramarine@reddit

It depends on loop holes. Is it Sites for porn or any site that could theoretically contain it.

[-]

trmetroidmaniac@reddit

The same way sanctioned and court-ordered websites are banned in the UK. ISPs will be required to take them down.

This isn't a new situation.

[-]

phatboi23@reddit

you mean the ISP level block that is just a VPN walkaround?

[-]

Fremanofkol@reddit

Can ISP's block things if you change your DNS server?

[-]

fussyfella@reddit

Yes, but most just block at the DNS server level. A few actually block the IP addresses in their routers (this is actually hard for them to manage as IP addresses change frequently and the same IP address can host multiple services, so a simple block could result in blocking legit sites).

Whatever the method, using a VPN, Proxy, or TOR will circumvent the blocks but you might need to sometimes flip the server/service you use.

[-]

Conscious-Ball8373@reddit

Depends a lot on how it is hosted. If it's served over HTTPS and by a content distribution network like cloudflare that's used by heaps of sites, not really. If it's self-hosted or served over HTTP then yes, very easily.

[-]

SPECTRAL_MAGISTRATE@reddit

Of course, if it's hosted by Cloudflare like most of the internet these days -then that is one centralised body that the government can send "Implement user ID or we'll fine you for whatever percentage of your revenue" legal threats to.

Sites may also preempt enforcement by requiring ID of any account that was created or logged in from the UK for any significant period of time, even if their current IP address being served through a VPN is somewhere else.

A lot of new Reddit accounts in Ireland are about to be made.

[-]

Laser493@reddit

Virgin media blocks IP addresses, so changing DNS server doesn't help. You need to use a VPN instead.

I've heard that changing your DNS server works for other ISPs though.

[-]

ItsDominare@reddit

Most of them use DNS. For example if you wanted to visit a certain Swedish website about sailing the high seas, you can easily do so by using an alternative DNS rather than your ISP default.

[-]

phatboi23@reddit

depends on how they're blocking really.

but a cheap VPN is the easiest workaround.

[-]

ItsDominare@reddit

Changing your primary DNS takes all of 30 seconds and is free.

[-]

insanityarise@reddit

strong recommendation for Mullvad

[-]

nolinearbanana@reddit

Yes

[-]

barriedalenick@reddit

Yes depending.. I'm in Portugal and using google DNS gets round most of the blocking but ISPs can still block access to certain IP addresses or force you to use their DNS

[-]

randypriest@reddit

They can block the IP ranges of the websites.

[-]

darrinfunk@reddit

At least parents will have more control by not allowing their children to run a vpn, since they would be the ones paying for it.

[-]

AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit

The Opera browser has free VPN built in. Anyone can install it.

[-]

phatboi23@reddit

free VPN's exist.

i know proton VPN has a free tier.

[-]

mumwifealcoholic@reddit

That's the one:)

[-]

phatboi23@reddit

aye, happens for some torrent sites in the UK i heard ;)

it's ineffective as hell.

[-]

wdwhereicome2015@reddit

Also happens if your isp isn’t listed in the court order that enforced isps to block access to certain torrent sites ;)

[-]

Easy-Equal@reddit

Yup I'm on Vodafone with cityfibre and all tge torrent websites that virgin used to have blocked are not anymore

[-]

lungbong@reddit

Yeah the ones that are just 8.8.8.8 away.

[-]

Gaunts@reddit

ISP's don't host the websites an will require a large sum of money to implement ip blocking and ongoing ip blocking as it continues, i'm sure they have this money to create a great fire wall of china UK edition.

[-]

insanityarise@reddit

They can already do it. Back in the say if I wanted porn on mobile I had to call my ISP to enable adult content for my account.

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

Completely different actually, but a lot of people are gobbling up the "a VPN will fix it" mentality thinking it's the same, when it's not.

The onus is on the website, not the ISP. And of course it's easy for websites to detect VPN's, so they are useless in this context.

HOWEVER - VPN's stand to make a LOT of money from people signing up thinking it will let them carry on as before, so they are quite rightly pushing the narrative, with no comeback.

[-]

fatguy19@reddit

But it's a UK law? A vpn to Brazil or something would mean the website wouldn't be following the UK law?

[-]

Conscious-Ball8373@reddit

If the site has no UK-based operations and the owners never want to come to the UK etc etc then yes, they can just ignore UK law. But they would still be breaking it; the law doesn't care what route your network traffic takes, the law cares whether you are serving content to people in the UK.

[-]

Motor_Line_5640@reddit

Agreed on the technicality but there is nothing wrong with using a VPN and using one doesn't mean you are hiding your country. If the user is connecting from Brazil via VPN, there is nothing to suggest to the business that the user is actually from the UK, so there is no reason to reject. Porn companies are not going to be blocking VPNs. This situation has already happened in the US, so we can follow the same process.

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

Very well put. This is the bit so many don't seem to be understanding.

This is not like the ISP blocks put on Pirate Bay etc back in the day, this is about the website illegally allowing content to be viewed in the UK. Whether there is a VPN involved or not is irrelevant.

Many well known sites already block VPN's for similar laws in the US and other countries.

[-]

AtalyxianBoi@reddit

I wouldn't say taken down. It's basically a pop up window with how easy to circumvent it is

[-]

fussyfella@reddit

It will probably be like with access to torrent and piracy sites, they will get blocked by the ISP, and trivially able to be circumvented by use of a different DNS server, proxies, VPN, or TOR. The ISPs will conform to whatever the law is, but some will be more enthusiastic than others too in how they do it.

There is a very old saying in the internet world: the internet sees censorship as a failure and routes around it.

[-]

RelStuff1646@reddit

They will cease access to the UK, but that's alright as VPN's exist.

[-]

homelaberator@reddit

Big companies have a real world presence. They can be fined, they can have local assets seized, they can be blocked in the way this government (and others) already block internet services.

Sure, there's no perfect measure but we don't have a perfect measure against much more serious crimes like murder. It's just designed to reduce the problem.

[-]

Grenvallion@reddit

They will do what they've done in America and block sites to the UK. Something like a 3rd of Americas states have been blocked from accessing many adult sites now.

[-]

EfficientRegret@reddit

I can see this opening up a new opportunity for scammers to attack people too. They setup a site, say, “biggaycocks.co.uk” and say “hold on there tiger, let’s see your passport first” and then just keep the passport info and redirect to google or something.

[-]

Glad-Pomegranate6283@reddit

Most adult sites designed for that purpose do require ID checks and release forms but for certain sites like Reddit, PH are more lenient

[-]

darrinfunk@reddit

With any luck they will be shut down

[-]

pullingteeths@reddit

"I can't control myself so I wish for other people's freedoms to be taken away"

[-]

jimicus@reddit

That's Reddit gone, then.

[-]

darrinfunk@reddit

I won't shed a tear. I've been active on reddit for about 2 months or so and I'm already getting sick of it. It's just another addictive thing I don't need in my life. Soon I'll stop using it like I did with fb.

[-]

SPECTRAL_MAGISTRATE@reddit

You may find this link useful https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/204579509-How-do-I-delete-my-account

[-]

darrinfunk@reddit

I'd never delete the account. It's been helpful over the years when I have a specific question regarding an equipment repair. I just have to stop browsing here. Most of reddit is trash.

[-]

GlitchingGecko@reddit

bye

[-]

jtw7@reddit

Poor guy can’t control himself

[-]

Appropriate-West2310@reddit

This was done with PirateBay back in the day, the ISPs redirected you.

Typically you use your ISP's domain name services as part of obtaining your IP address by DHCP, this all gets done by your router. Then when you lookup a domain name, the DNS returns the IP addresses to use, if the DNS returns the address of a page saying 'blocked' it looks blocked to you.

There are other ways of doing it but that works for the bulk of people, getting around it might involve using a VPN or a different DNS. It depends on exactly how they implement it. If it's effective for most people the authorities will be able to say 'look we did something' and so that ticks the box for them.

[-]

jimbobsqrpants@reddit

Different DNS is normally the easiest thing.

Set your router DNS to the Google ones

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

[-]

VirtualArmsDealer@reddit

Shout-out for quad9 (9.9.9.9)!

[-]

SpaceMonkeyAttack@reddit

Or cloudflares 1.1.1.1

1.0.0.1

[-]

Weird1Intrepid@reddit

Since when has 1.1.1.1 been owned by cloudflare? I could have sworn they used to be independent and had a little app and everything

[-]

ChunkyBezel@reddit

1.1.1.1 was created by Cloudflare. It's always been theirs.

[-]

Weird1Intrepid@reddit

Yeah I had a little gander online and found that out. I guess when the app first came out there was way less cloudflare branding visible. I used to use it up until around the time when Warp came out

[-]

LinksAwkwardBrother@reddit

Cloudflare has an app for 1.1.1.1 titled 1.1.1.1.

[-]

ctesibius@reddit

Which unfortunately seems to be amazingly badly described. What I think is does is run DNS over HTTPS (and nothing else, so not a VPN), but I can’t find a page which makes it clear exactly what the thing does.

[-]

Anaksanamune@reddit

Some ISPs (notably Virgin) hijack all DNS traffic, setting your router DNS doesn't make a difference

You can work around by using DNS over HTTPS or DNS over TLS

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

This is completely different though. This law has nothing to do with ISP's, it's up to the website, and since they can easily (as most do already) detect VPN's, they can easily block those too.

[-]

Steamrolled777@reddit

OF is UK based, but I can't imagine all that smut is on servers here.

How is a VPN going to work for that?

[-]

cenderis@reddit

I presume OF already checks customer ages (as do many sites that want to charge rather than relying on advertising).

[-]

Marlobone@reddit

They do not have to verify someone’s age if they are from Germany for example (vpn)

[-]

Necessary_Reality_50@reddit

They will do absolutely nothing and will keep quiet and hope everyone forgets about this idiotic law.

[-]

Bacon4Lyf@reddit

They suggest it every other year and it never gets anywhere

[-]

Gaunts@reddit

They pass it because the internet programmer wizards will work it out, sed wizards in turn go cool we need a huge amount of cash and on going cash. Errr can't you just make it do the thing we want with a click of a button? funnily enough no lol

[-]

JayJay2912@reddit

sed wizards

Ha, nice pun!

[-]

Gaunts@reddit

Was hoping there was someone might spot that <3

[-]

SPECTRAL_MAGISTRATE@reddit

I think they're serious this time

[-]

carbonvectorstore@reddit

No, they will be fined and UK advertisers will be banned through advertising through them until they pay the fine.

The UK spends around 36 billion a year on marketing, and a large percentage of that goes into paid internet advertising. The UK arm of Facebook, for example, pulls in revenue of 2-3 billion a year.

So for facebook, for example, its comply or loose billions.

And no VPN protects against that.

[-]

deathduckies@reddit

genuinly curious as to why you think preventing children from seeing adult sites is idiotic

[-]

Kilgyarvin@reddit

I don't think anyone has an issue with children being prevented from seeing adult content. The problem is the implementation.

[-]

deathduckies@reddit

ahh ok i must have interpreted their comment wrong then my bad

[-]

Kilgyarvin@reddit

Happens to the best of us

[-]

EmotionalMachine42@reddit

It's cute that you think you can prevent children from looking at porn. If they want to look at porn, they're going to find a way.

Nothing wrong with age restricting adult content of course, as long as it doesn't massively inconvenience everyone else. I'd rather just use my VPN than have to send photo ID to every website that might potentially have mature content on it.

[-]

deathduckies@reddit

i’ve already gathered that they meant the implimentation of the law rather than the law itself, but thank you for u otherwise

[-]

Necessary_Reality_50@reddit

Pathetic attempt, tbh.

[-]

deathduckies@reddit

no? i just genuinly dont understand what you mean lol. but someone pointed out you probably meant the implimentation of said law and not the law itself which makes a lot more sense.

[-]

RetiredOutdoorsman@reddit

I live in Indiana, our porn is already blocked.

[-]

Daveddozey@reddit

s/blocked/blacked/

[-]

theabominablewonder@reddit

Honestly these VPNs get better value every year! Are any of the VPN providers publicly listed, because their business must be booming.

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

Yep, they stand to make a lot of money even though they will be completely useless in this context.

[-]

rithotyn@reddit

Why would they be useless?

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

Because, as others have pointed out in more detail - this law makes it illegal for the website to allow someone in the UK to view their content. How the network traffic flows, and whether it goes via a VPN or not, is completely irrelevant.

Most major websites already block access via VPN due to similar laws in other places.

[-]

rithotyn@reddit

Assuming that the website will not introduce age verification across its entire offering, just it's UK offering to be compliant, how would a VPN then not help? Why would a porn website block an incoming VPN connection when they have no way of knowing the originating location? They've done their bit by for compliance by removing access to UK IPs, why would they block VPN connections? What current porn websites block access by VPN?

[-]

Scarred_fish@reddit

They would block them to be sure they are not breaking the law.

To "do their bit" they have to be sure nobody in the UK can access their content without going through the age verification. Why would they allow access via VPN and risk prosecution and fines, when they can just charge people instead? P_H is the most well known one, just look what they did when some states in the US changed the laws.

Also remember how a VPN works - they don't even need to know you're using one. This is my favourite description from back when the US laws changed :

Say your shipping a gift to a friend and don't want people to know what it is, so you wrap it in black paper (that's your data being encrypted by the VPN), it then get courier delivered to your friend (that's the internet)... But 3/4 of the way through the route, they take the black paper wrapping off (you data left the VPN), and now gets shipped in the exact same format if was when you started... And everyone can see from that point to your friends house that you bought them a big old embarrassing sex toy.

[-]

rithotyn@reddit

Except your analogy is wrong. Everyone can see that some unknown person in Romania, Spain, the UK, Belgium or wherever you choose your server's endpoint to be, sent them a sex toy, but who bought it, no one knows.

As for blocking VPNs, yea... No, they wouldn't and not only that, in your example, they dont. Pornhub blocked the states that banned it and continued to allow free access via VPN.

I can connect to my VPN right now and access it if you want me to send you a screenshot?

[-]

ManyHatsAdm@reddit

The porn websites are out of UK jurisdiction, they are not breaking their own domestic laws by serving content to UK residents, and the UK law requiring them to age verify is not extra-territorial, and even if it was, how could you possibly enforce it abroad? The only reason the larger adult websites might try to implement this is to keep hold of their UK visitors for purely financial reasons. Those websites that don't do the checks and aren't bothered may find themselves blocked by UK ISPs. Users who wish to get around this can use a VPN.

[-]

_whopper_@reddit

What did they do when states made the age verification laws?

[-]

Guruchill@reddit

They used VPNs. The above analogy is wrong.

[-]

WesternJournalist892@reddit

I am in ulan Bator as I type but my sofa is in the uk

[-]

GhostRiders@reddit

Just use a VPN which does not keep any logs of which there are many.

Simple.

[-]

Fritti_T@reddit

You don't need to worry about logs - the government isn't about to start chasing down people who bother to circumvent this. It's a "being seen to do something" sort of law.

[-]

t3hOutlaw@reddit

There is no such thing as a VPN that doesn't keep logs. Any that do are pinky swearing at best.

[-]

Klandesztine@reddit

I for one am looking forward to seeing Reddit, Facebook, X, Twitch etc. etc. verify all their (assumed) UK users by June. Remember it's not just adult sites, it's any site that may have adult content on it.

[-]

Quick-Minute8416@reddit

Indeed. No one seems to realise that it’s effectively a whole scale ID check for practically anyone accessing the internet in this country.

[-]

BornAsAChicken@reddit

That’s exactly why it’s a terrible idea. It’s just another way to control you lol. Please wake up.

[-]

BemaJinn@reddit

I would have agreed with you 10 years ago. But have you seen the bots/propaganda trolls on every social media recently? It's gotten insane and is so draining just browsing anything these days.

I miss the internet from 20 years ago before governments and corpos stuck their claws into everything and enshittified it all.

[-]

OrangeBeast01@reddit

I know it's anecdotal, but over the last few months I've seen a huge uptick of bot-like questions on Reddit. You check their post history and every post is a template with a few words changed. Some of it is so mundane, I believe its some form of information gathering for language models.

[-]

Larnak1@reddit

I'm wondering if it would be a strategy to keep people busy discussing bot-generated questions online instead of studying, learning or being productive ...

[-]

OrangeBeast01@reddit

Well I can tell you from personal experience that it's very effective if that's the mission.

[-]

Larnak1@reddit

Can confirm lol. I've just banned Reddit from my phone yesterday and restricted my PC use to like 10 minutes per 2 hours 🤣

[-]

neo101b@reddit

The internet was fine, before mobile phones gave everyone access to the internet. At least back then you would need a computer to go online. So it was full of geeks.

[-]

Delduath@reddit

The eternal summer isn't what made it shit though, it was five websites dominating everything else and prioritising keeping peoples attention captive by any means.

[-]

Acceptable-Bag7774@reddit

It was all of the above!

[-]

BornAsAChicken@reddit

Again I completely disagree. Having to give your ID to predatory companies who sell your data is a TERRIBLE idea.

[-]

BemaJinn@reddit

Oh I don't disagree, but there isn't a good solution to the current state of... Well, anything really.

Just like everything the UK government does (no matter the party) it's short sighted and half arsed.

[-]

nolinearbanana@reddit

You seem to be missing the point that the bots/propaganda trolls will not be remotely impacted by this.

This will ONLY impact regular folk's use of the internet.

[-]

BB-Zwei@reddit

So your solution is government intervention?

[-]

BemaJinn@reddit

Government intervention is already happening, from everywhere. This is just the one you know about.

[-]

VolcanicBear@reddit

Don't worry, bee happy.

[-]

Figueroa_Chill@reddit

Safari Browser has a free VPN built in.

[-]

MagazineMassacre@reddit

Force everyone and everything onto the dark web. I am sure there are no downsides to it.

[-]

terrordactyl1971@reddit

Go through a proxy server

[-]

One-Cardiologist-462@reddit

Most likely the overseas based sites will just block access from the UK.
That's why so many US websites simply say they're unavailable here. They don't want to degrade their user experience, redesigning things just to appease us. So they'll block us.

There was talk about WhatsApp, Facetime, and Apple Messenger blocking the UK from using their services because the UK government wanted to add a backdoor security risk to see what people are sending to each other.

[-]

realjustinlong@reddit

Florida in the US passed a law requiring you to upload ID for verification, PornHub as an example just blocked Florida IP addresses from being able to access the site. You can also see that “Free VPN” searches have increased in Florida since the law has taken effect.

[-]

nolinearbanana@reddit

Government - we're going to make IT the cornerstone of our economy.
Also government, we're going to force most of the big IT companies to locate outside the UK by loading them up with stupid costly regulations.

[-]

Dry_Conclusion_2700@reddit

Distraction politics. And it’s working. Look!

[-]

NightsInWhiteStatins@reddit

I don't care, me and the missus load up the VPN before we get our freak on or watch a regular movie on kodi.

[-]

noopdles@reddit

A lot of sites that have to bear massive traffic rely on CDNs (content delivery networks, think of it as a beefy reverse proxy-cache for your site, to prevent users from hitting it directly) that have a shared pool of IP ranges for their endpoints, pools that can also be pretty massive - and are shared across the CDN customers.

So yeah, blocking by IP addresses is not only an ancient approach but also would be an ineffective one, and they'd risk blocking unrelated stuff too because the IP addresses may be shared between different completely unrelated sites which are customers of the same CDN provider.

DNS blocking and hijacking can also be easily circumvented as mentioned in many comments in the thread.

AFAIK I can only envision blocks at an ISP level if they rely on SNI (server name indicator) snooping - which is essentially inspecting the request headers your browser does for a site name (SNI) that the server uses to know what site you're asking for. That is unfortunately still transmitted unencrypted even if you are using HTTPS, as part of negotiation (until hopefully one day encrypted SNI comes into fruition and ends it).

[-]

insomnimax_99@reddit

ISP’s will be forced to take them down.

Afterwards? VPN go brrrr

[-]

Gremlingthing@reddit

Your mobile provider already enables the blocking by default and has to be disabled. It'll just be transferred to ISP providers for broadband and you might not be able to disable it. Or you can, but it warns you that anyone using the internet must be 18 which is their cover up. :)

[-]

SeamasterCitizen@reddit

I think a lot of people are missing that “mobile provider verification” is one of the acceptable forms of “ID”.

I’m pretty sure that most people have already had to contact their mobile provider to remove an adult content block at some point, as providers also block a lot of non-adult sites by default under the same umbrella.

I’d imagine I’ll just have to phone my ISP and say yes, I’m an adult and you know this because I signed a contract with you.

[-]

DaveBeBad@reddit

If they do not comply with requests from Ofcom and continue to ignore requests to comply, then they will eventually be taken to court and fined £18m or 10% of global revenue.

So, chances are the big social media sites will geo-block the UK. And if they aren’t going to make it more difficult to post porn - especially child porn - then they deserve it.

[-]

Quick-Minute8416@reddit

Say goodbye to Reddit, then. It’s one of the largest purveyors of porn in the UK.

[-]

DaveBeBad@reddit

Yup. Although there are things they can do if they can face it (block nsfw links), but they could pull out.

[-]

BuiltInYorkshire@reddit

Arf arf...

[-]

tekhnik@reddit

try accessing thepiratebay without a vpn, it'll be the same thing.

[-]

richyyoung@reddit

So really easy

[-]

tekhnik@reddit

yeah, you know what it's supposed to do, don't need to wave your ultra 1337 skillz around

[-]

Easy-Equal@reddit

Works fine on Vodafone via cityfibre

[-]

wdwhereicome2015@reddit

Depends on your provider as well. As I have mentioned above, the torrent sites were ‘blocked’ by a uk court order . However that court order only specified certain uk based isp’s. The other uk based isp’s were able to pass traffic to those sites legally.

So unless the law specifies that all uk ISP’s have to restrict access to websites that contain adult sexual material, unless they implement age restriction controls, then some ISP’s will be able to get round it.

The easiest way to get round it will be vpn’s

There is also how they define adult sexual material. So many sites could get included depending on how they define it. So would expect to see plenty of court action to prevent some sites being included in a poorly worded law.

How would it affect search engines? If someone searches for something classed as adult sexual material, will it just not return based on location?

What happens if your isp buys a range of IP’s and the geo location hasn’t been amended (it does happen) then could allow access to sites that shouldn’t be able to:.

So many things can go wrong with this

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BigSignature8045@reddit

If you look to the USA to see what happened there, VPN use in the states that brought in similar laws went up by a huge amount. The VPN software allows you to 'present' as though you are geographically somewhere else.

It's a stupid law that is easy to circumvent.

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Zerttretttttt@reddit

I should put stocks on a vpn

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carbonvectorstore@reddit

Ban UK companies from advertising through them, with massive fines for anyone who violates that.

Eliminating that revenue stream is often the scariest threat, especially for large social media networks who monetize through adverts, and users accessing through a VPN does nothing to fight that.

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Another_Random_Chap@reddit

How many times has this been tried and failed? I remember back in the day they tried to do it on UseNet, and entirely predictably, channels like Disney suddenly found themselves hosting a sea of porn. Never underestimate the ingenuity and spite of people about to lose their porn!

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xPositor@reddit

Define adult content, and define social media. Potentially any site that allows users to comment would he impacted, and any site that doesn't have a strict editorial policy over their own content, or acknowledge that they may host "adult content" - Netflix, iPlayer, Daily Mail etc. Mumsnet, Reddit, MSE. All needing to do user age verification. When the UK doesn't have any formal personal identification methods (unless you happen to have either a passport or a driving licence). And will the site have to identify the user every time they attempt to access the site by way of some form of biometrics (fingerprint, face) to ensure it really is Billy, and not his 15 year old younger brother borrowing his laptop/phone/console...?

Then you'll have the issue that the likes of Meta will have to admit that a significant portion of its user-base is actually below the age at which they allow them to sign up at, as they only ask for a DOB currently.

As ever, it is the law of unintended consequence that we will discover in the run up to, during and post implementation.

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ThereAndFapAgain2@reddit

Block their IP address with ISPs?

Yes.

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wdwhereicome2015@reddit

So if they keep switching IP’s?

Will that work the same way it did for torrent sites? When the court case and order to block the torrent site access came in, it only applied to specific isp’s. All the other isp’s were freely allowed to let traffic to those sites legally.

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ThereAndFapAgain2@reddit

I'm not sure it would work the same way, because for torrent sites the difficulty is that all the data isn't stored on some server somewhere like it is with porn sites. The data is shared basically p2p, all that needs to be mirrored is the very small torrent files, so as soon as one site is taken down, another can come to replace it very quickly.

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Aggravating-Menu466@reddit

I suspect threatening to spank non compliant bondage site owners as a punishment may not have the desired effect!

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EdmundTheInsulter@reddit

Yeah I think the idea is to order ISP's to block them.

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Quick-Minute8416@reddit

I can’t wait to see the outrage on here when Reddit is forced to introduce these changes, and everyone has to provide ID to log in, given that it’s one of the biggest providers of porn in the UK.

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randypriest@reddit

It's likely to push users to less legitimate porn sites, and there'll be a lot more issues with that.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

Either the goverment will mandate blocking of the sites by ISPs as they already do for PirateBay and other torrent sites.

Or the sites themselves will stop accepting connections from UK IP addresses like PornHub have been doing to US states that have impllmented ID laws, 17 states can't directly access PornHub.

Reddit already implments subreddit blocks based on location.

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fiddly_foodle_bird@reddit

Same as any other website that breaks the law. This is not rocket science.

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cgknight1@reddit

So the laws around this are complex, and many have UK legal entities even if they don't have offices here - Reddit has a UK company for example (even thought the officers are US based).

As others have said, eventually they would do an ISP level block.

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Mr-Incy@reddit

They probably would get blocked as they won't be following the UK guidelines/laws.
If they do get blocked people will use VPN to access them.

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