Another badly thought out law

[Paddy]

Porn sites will be legally required to verify users' age

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-60293057

[SueEllen]

Mmm and no-one ever ever has used fake ID...

[d000hg]

Mmm and no-one ever ever has used fake ID...

Not sure what argument that is. "Some people will evade the law" doesn't make a law pointless. You might as well say "nobody has ever obtained an illegal firearm" as argument against gun control laws.

The big problem of course is nobody wants their personal data anywhere near a porn site. Not just the obvious "I don't want people to know" thing, but because people don't typically view such sites as trustworthy. Probably with good reason.
One imagines these 3rd-party verifiers don't let the client see any of the data - like buying online they pass control to to payment verifier which tells them if it succeeded.

Fairly sure any number of sites will just ignore the rules anyway but in principle IF there's a safe anonymous way to provide proof of age, great.

[vetran]

Agree needs a third party that won't use the info. Off we go to the post office for a Porn pass!

[Paddy]

My penny's worth is that I am not into porn as I like the real thing. However, the law will drive soft porn users to use the dark net and could encourage hard porn.

[NigelJK]

Given PornHub is the most used site in the world, with a global network. How that going to work?

[Paddy]

Given PornHub is the most used site in the world, with a global network. How that going to work?

IP address like what the BBC use to block out of UK access.

[jamesbrown]

IP address like what the BBC use to block out of UK access.

I see a flaw in that plan...

[d000hg]

My penny's worth is that I am not into porn as I like the real thing. However, the law will drive soft porn users to use the dark net and could encourage hard porn.

I thought all these sites were full of hard stuff anyway? You see it talked about quite a lot that the very first porn any kid sees - even on a mainstream site - is likely to be something pretty hardcore, they'd have to actively try harder to find soft stuff. There's a word for it but basically extreme has become the norm. Suppose it depends what you consider soft/hard though?

Given PornHub is the most used site in the world, with a global network. How that going to work?

A bit like Amazon you mean? With the desire to be seen as respectable comes the requirement to follow national laws. They were in the news a while back for removing a huge swath of content that was 'harmful'... possible revenge porn IIRC?

The argument "you can get around these things" shows a failure in understanding. You can get around most laws if you try hard, but there's a big difference between just being able to open a URL as a curious kid, and having to install a VPN or whatever first. Same as how you might buy pot from a seedy guy in a pub but you aren't going to make a trip to some gangland to do so.

[NotAllThere]

My penny's worth is that I am not into porn as I like the real thing. However, the law will drive soft porn users to use the dark net and could encourage hard porn.

That's right, and if you try to enforce checks on age for people buying alcohol and thus reduce the ease at which under 18s can acquire it, you'll just end up with teenagers running stills in their own bedrooms, and thus encourage alcoholism.

Or maybe, if you make it a little more difficult, fewer kids will bother.

If kids really want porn, they'll get access to it. The trick is to stop them getting into it in the first place. At least until they're old enough that it doesn't warp their understanding of real human sexual relationships.