UK's online porn viewer age verification checks delayed

[Ttaskmaster]

If I have a problem I think may be due to a virus then I just use one of the free online scanners.

I'm assuming you're using the term generically, to include trojans, malware, hackware, spyware, underware, and so on... In which case, good luck using online scanners after something has infected your system and/or hijacked your session and taken control of your machine.....

I'm rambling. My point is that drugs have been around for longer than the human race and have been used for as long as we have been able to identify what plants to chew on when we're bored.

Half of that led to accusations of witchcraft too, though...

[MLyons]

Rather than the annoying pop-ups from the non-sketchy ones, that circumvent even popup blockers?

Good point. On a side note. A certain well known site actually has a really good technical blog that talks about a bunch of their stats and technology. The way they get around ad blockers is actually a really cool solution technically. But yes the pop ups and the all allusive pop under ad are bad... but the ads most well known sites use are no where near as horrific as certain sites. For example windows you can't close without doing some tricksy stuff in the task manager. Or so I'm told

[Ttaskmaster]

For example windows you can't close without doing some tricksy stuff in the task manager. Or so I'm told

Oh, those Click Bait websites? You can close them normally... Just gotta ALT+TAB and CTRL+W before they finish loading up.... and if you can do it one-handed, all the better - You're a master de-baiter!

[MLyons]

Oh, those Click Bait websites? You can close them normally... Just gotta ALT+TAB and CTRL+W before they finish loading up.... and if you can do it one-handed, all the better - You're a master de-baiter!

No the sites they put a invisible screen over the top of the site that upon click loads up a really aggressive window. Then there's pop unders which i don't have a fix for. Although I do have a funny story relating to a pop under and a friends family PC

[daddacool]

Must have been 1995/1996 during the first wave of internet (world wide web) porn sites that adult verification systems became VERY popular. They were a scam of course, basically you could use a third party verification site to hide porn behind and sweaty palmed individuals would have to sub to one of the verification systems to access to the smut. In effect, they were a subscription based affiliate system, with the site host getting a cut of every sign up to the verification site. At the time I thought it was a genius idea but the way this bunch have vertically integrated porn, advertising, and age verification is pretty astonishing.

[philehidiot]

I'm assuming you're using the term generically, to include trojans, malware, hackware, spyware, underware, and so on... In which case, good luck using online scanners after something has infected your system and/or hijacked your session and taken control of your machine.....

When you can't access the online scanners then you know something's wrong - it's a symptom that helps you fix it and not to be seen as a problem. Interestingly on other people's machines this has never presented much of an obstacle and frankly, on my own machine I'd sod it all off, wipe the thing and start again without it being a major hassle.

"format c: /q/u"

Now where the hell did I put that driver disc I never got round to burni..... awwwww cra....

Serious note - having to do one reinstall of my Windows machine as a result of getting something I can't rid myself of would be worth it for the lack of continuous hassle from AV over the years. I look at it in a similar way to parking my motorbike - the lack of having to bother with car parks is worth the rare ticket I get for being right next to where I want to be all the time.

[johnroe]

I'd say that internet porn has changed at least the way two generations relate to sex.

Society is bizarre, especially British. They take substances or practices that have been a part of human development for thousands of years(and without sex, none of us would be here!), and make them taboo or illicit. Where exactly before the internet, were young and inquisitive people supposed to find out about sex.

You can point to a point in time culturally that is Post Internet Porn. At least younger people will be made to be more resourceful when trying to find out about the world of adults, if this age verification idea works.

[Mr_Jon]

Will it all not just be side-stepped via a vpn anyway?

[Corky34]

You probably won't even need that, a simple proxy server circumvents all the other UK censorship of the internet, at least most that i know of.

Still it's a bit of a disgrace to be ranked with the likes of China, Iran, and North Korea while having despotic regimes use the UK's approach to internet censorship as excuses for their own attempts to restrict free speech.

[kalniel]

Still it's a bit of a disgrace to be ranked with the likes of China, Iran, and North Korea while having despotic regimes use the UK's approach to internet censorship as excuses for their own attempts to restrict free speech.

Are you suggesting that age restrictions are the same thing as censorship?

[philehidiot]

Are you suggesting that age restrictions are the same thing as censorship?

I think he's probably referring to the fact that certain types of porn (by the looks of it just types that someone found distasteful) are blocked in the UK by the government. I have also had to use TOR to view certain political material which actually wasn't that extreme at all. I find that reprehensible in a country which exported libertarianism and the concept of personal freedom all over the world. Classical liberalism has been killed off at the point of origin and it's tragic.

[Corky34]

Are you suggesting that age restrictions are the same thing as censorship?

This isn't age restrictions though, it's age verification, something that should not need to be done because firstly you have to be over 7 years old before you even have the power to make a contract so anyone under that age is using their parents internet connection and is their responsibility, then you have to over 18 to be legal held accountable for what's written in a contract so the vast majority of ISP won't entertain the idea of selling broadband to under 18's because they can't be enforced.

What I'm saying is that internet access already has age restrictions, i know probably the vast majority of children already have access but that's a choice of the parent and as such it's the responsibility of the parent to make sure their child is using it responsibly.

For example it's perfectly legal for a 5 to 16 year old to drink alcohol at home, i think it's safe to say it would be considered highly irresponsible if a parent stocked up their home with booze and let their kids have at it, however what we appear to be saying with this age verification thing is that we don't trust parents to act responsibly when it comes to the internet.

[aidanjt]

It should be cancelled outright. The policy is retarded out of the gate.

[aidanjt]

Are you suggesting that age restrictions are the same thing as censorship?

It can be if the mechanism for age restriction involves identity verification. It has a chilling effect on speech. Not that Britain's leaders seems to care much about free speech these days.

[Ttaskmaster]

When you can't access the online scanners then you know something's wrong - it's a symptom that helps you fix it and not to be seen as a problem.

Except that you can't access your scanners to find the virus... and a complete wipe-everything-reinstallation, especially on other people's machines that have all manner of personalisations, is not always an option.

I look at it in a similar way to parking my motorbike - the lack of having to bother with car parks is worth the rare ticket I get for being right next to where I want to be all the time.

See, I park mine properly so I don't get a ticket in the first place and am not too lazy to walk a couple hundred extra yards to ensure it... plus I look good in black leather, so it gives me a chance to show off how cool I am.

I'd say that internet porn has changed at least the way two generations relate to sex.

I must have married an old-fashioned one, then....!

Where exactly before the internet, were young and inquisitive people supposed to find out about sex.

Everyone had a mate who 'knew' about it. The rest was all the fun of self-discovery!
TBH, with all the additional stuff that the internet has brought us, it's become a monumental PITA, if I'm honest. Demands and expectations are higher, to the point where it's become as much of a corporate consumerist commercialisation as the rest of life.... I recall reading about a guy in Germany who drugged his girlfriend with rohypnol or something, just so she'd pass out and he could go play computer games instead!!

At least younger people will be made to be more resourceful when trying to find out about the world of adults, if this age verification idea works.

That's my argument, though - Young men expect girls to be porn actress perfect and young girls expect men to be utter studs. My colleagues in the Psychology department were forever dealing with more and more people who experienced sexual issues derived from the utterly unrealistic expectations that porn had taught them. Some were in failing marriages, others were suicidal, others had problems with promiscuity, addiction, embarrassing forays into kink, strong unfulfilment issues, cocktails of STDs and/or a combination of all the above.

Then there's the issues with ever-increasing, ever-diversifying genders and sexualites now available to people, although that's a bit down the road of the snow-flake thread and we've done that stuff already.

As you say, porn overload has changed how generations perceive sex, but not necessarily for the better.

I have also had to use TOR to view certain political material which actually wasn't that extreme at all. I find that reprehensible in a country which exported libertarianism and the concept of personal freedom all over the world.

It's not so much about what it is, as what people DO with it... and what they keep doing with it.
Handguns and assult rifles have been banned because people have proven they cannot be trusted with them.
Same for all the things on the Offensive Weapons list.
Same for a number of drugs.

People can and do have a variety of freedoms, but if they start taking the mick with it, then limits have to be set. Otherwise it becomes total chaos with people doing whatever the heck they want in the name of personal freedom and liberty....

however what we appear to be saying with this age verification thing is that we don't trust parents to act responsibly when it comes to the internet.

Given how many modern parents seem to put the responsibility for raising their rugrat spawn on the shoulders of the government and the teachers, I'd say that lack of trust is well-founded... certainly in enough cases to warrant measures like this.
I'm not a fan of it, personally, but I can see that strong tactics are needed.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Great British Firewall(TM).