Before anyone gets too excited about this because "won't someone please think of the children", remember that government policies never stop where they end. Governments want to be able to track everything single thing you do and "let us spy on you because of DUH CHILDREN" is always their first go-to excuse.
Then maybe the porn sites should have spent some of their money coming up with a more robust solution than asking "are you over 18" with unlimited chances to pick the "correct' answer.
And while I certainly take advantage of the fact things are as lax as they are, I also know I can't even buy an R-rated (possibly even PG-13) movie from the bargain bin at Walmart without an ID check; and that discrepancy always strikes me as a bit absurd.
Yeah, but you can enter Walmart, you can pick up and look at the R-rated movie cases, etc.
The internet is its own beast, and it's hard to do an exact analogy. For starters, you're not buying porn, you're viewing it. There's no explicit transaction, and the government is now trying to patrol and control who can even enter the site. Which again, would be fine in theory, if I trusted the government. But they've shown time and again they want to control everything, perhaps especially the internet.
Barring someone from one site can easily snowball into the people in charge controlling access to all sites. If we set the precedent that the government can ask you for your ID to access a website, the slope isn't so much slippery, as just a cliff. It's a short step to not only all manner of thought policing, but also the end of internet anonymity.
I believe the law relates to making it available to minors for viewing, not just selling. Which is why on occasion leftist teachers get charged with showing porn to their students.
But even putting that aside for the moment, what's the R&D budget for these sites for implementing anonymous "proof of age" systems? Are they funding grad students/PhD candidates in this area? Offering grants? Are they interested in solving this problem at all, or are they simply using "it's impossible" as an excuse and counting on the government's general disinterest in this matter?
I don't like government getting involved in this either, but them getting involved is inevitable when the industry itself doesn't offer an acceptable solution on its own. Nor does it help when the industry practically brags about statistics relating to the average age of kids when they first view porn (which is well under 18).
And how does the Government know who's viewing it at that time? How easy would it be for an account to be compromised or handed over to a child?
That was the question asked by UK lawmakers so the UK is likely in 2025 to implement both age verification and live identity verification - their favourite methods will be both Government photo ID and webcam/phone face ID to verify it is you viewing the content. Safeguards to prevent people putting a photo up to the camera or passing the device to someone underage will be put in place.
And it won't just be for pornography, strictly it applies to any content deemed not "safe for kids". And if it succeeds in the UK, the US and other western countries will follow suit.
Before anyone gets too excited about this because "won't someone please think of the children", remember that government policies never stop where they end. Governments want to be able to track everything single thing you do and "let us spy on you because of DUH CHILDREN" is always their first go-to excuse.
Then maybe the porn sites should have spent some of their money coming up with a more robust solution than asking "are you over 18" with unlimited chances to pick the "correct' answer.
And while I certainly take advantage of the fact things are as lax as they are, I also know I can't even buy an R-rated (possibly even PG-13) movie from the bargain bin at Walmart without an ID check; and that discrepancy always strikes me as a bit absurd.
Yeah, but you can enter Walmart, you can pick up and look at the R-rated movie cases, etc.
The internet is its own beast, and it's hard to do an exact analogy. For starters, you're not buying porn, you're viewing it. There's no explicit transaction, and the government is now trying to patrol and control who can even enter the site. Which again, would be fine in theory, if I trusted the government. But they've shown time and again they want to control everything, perhaps especially the internet.
Barring someone from one site can easily snowball into the people in charge controlling access to all sites. If we set the precedent that the government can ask you for your ID to access a website, the slope isn't so much slippery, as just a cliff. It's a short step to not only all manner of thought policing, but also the end of internet anonymity.
I believe the law relates to making it available to minors for viewing, not just selling. Which is why on occasion leftist teachers get charged with showing porn to their students.
But even putting that aside for the moment, what's the R&D budget for these sites for implementing anonymous "proof of age" systems? Are they funding grad students/PhD candidates in this area? Offering grants? Are they interested in solving this problem at all, or are they simply using "it's impossible" as an excuse and counting on the government's general disinterest in this matter?
I don't like government getting involved in this either, but them getting involved is inevitable when the industry itself doesn't offer an acceptable solution on its own. Nor does it help when the industry practically brags about statistics relating to the average age of kids when they first view porn (which is well under 18).
And how does the Government know who's viewing it at that time? How easy would it be for an account to be compromised or handed over to a child?
That was the question asked by UK lawmakers so the UK is likely in 2025 to implement both age verification and live identity verification - their favourite methods will be both Government photo ID and webcam/phone face ID to verify it is you viewing the content. Safeguards to prevent people putting a photo up to the camera or passing the device to someone underage will be put in place.
And it won't just be for pornography, strictly it applies to any content deemed not "safe for kids". And if it succeeds in the UK, the US and other western countries will follow suit.