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[-] Zephorah@discuss.online 201 points 2 weeks ago
[-] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 212 points 2 weeks ago

I think this is one if those laws where they get to selectively choose who to prosecute.

..everyone is always a criminal so those in charge can do whateverthefuck they want with little regard for actual laws.

[-] Phantaloons@piefed.zip 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Were it me...

Wireguard is too obvious, so, Yggdrasil to an out of state or ideally country VPS, VPS to, you name it, tor, ygg, i2p, "the works".

but, this makes the barrier to entry that much higher. Any public TOR relay is an instant breach of the law and provable if the target IP is identified as one, and most could very easily be. One would need to go private, on their own hardware.

[-] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 136 points 2 weeks ago

The EFF warned that the legal risk could push sites to either ban all known VPN IPs or mandate age verification for every visitor globally.

This is the goal.

[-] Godort@lemmy.ca 37 points 2 weeks ago

Could they not also just selectively ban all Utah-based IPs?

People in Utah could still access with a VPN, but never would, because that would be against the law.

[-] underisk@lemmy.ml 34 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Why is a company or person that doesn’t exist physically in Utah at all responsible for adhering to Utah’s laws? Should be their government’s responsibility to block sites, not the site’s responsibility to block Utah.

[-] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

Why is a company or person that doesn’t exist physically in Utah at all responsible for adhering to Utah’s laws?

This line of thinking is dangerous as it allows companies to disregard any sane legislation as long as their servers are located in a "safe" place. A large portion of websites accessible from Canada are served from US servers, for example. American companies ignoring Canadian laws because they don't have Canadian-based servers would be a nightmare

If a company makes any money off users in a geographic area (which includes ad view revenue), they have to follow the rules there which is a GOOD thing - even if it's ridiculous in this case

Also endorsing governments selectively blocking websites is just bad for obvious reasons

[-] underisk@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago

Allowing individual states the ability to dictate laws for the entire country is even more dangerous, for the non-hypothetical reasons we are currently experiencing.

And what you're describing is exactly what happens with international websites. Its why you can go find tons of websites with open media piracy being hosted in Russia. Are parties in Russia now subject to US laws?

[-] atrielienz@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

This would be easier than banning VPNs wholesale.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Could they not also just selectively ban all Utah-based IPs?

No. Because VPNs redirect traffic from the site to a third party to Utah, in order to disguise the location of the original request

[-] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

In Hungary, we have a term "impossibilization", used to describe laws that are not technically banning things, but making them near impossible to do. The christofascists of the US want to ban porn without actually banning porn, because that pesky constitution doesn't allow it yet.

[-] Phantaloons@piefed.zip 6 points 2 weeks ago

site traffic gets cut by 30%

"How could this have happened?"

[-] 667@lemmy.radio 48 points 2 weeks ago

Seems like it’s the first step in transferring control of the internet to the government.

[-] Zephorah@discuss.online 26 points 2 weeks ago

Step 1 to China/Russia/Iran level internet?

[-] Flower@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 weeks ago

They tried in Russia and electronic payment terminals, that use a VPN, stopped working.

[-] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 5 points 2 weeks ago

The government? Whoever is the highest bidder for all the data being gathered. Probably Palantir, as ever.

[-] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 29 points 2 weeks ago

It's not, it's an add-on for shifting liability after the fact. Basically, if a site gets dinged as being part of showing some youth something truly evil, like confirming the existence of LGTBQI+ people on earth, then if the youth used a VPN, somehow the site is to blame. And likely fines come into play.

It's like if a person that's 19 buys alcohol with a fake ID in Utah - the liability is still on the place that unknowingly sold the liquor. It's probably based on the same lack of logic.

[-] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago

every website will start blocking VPN IPs, more so than what some already do, which is exactly what these cunts want

[-] Miller@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

So then something else will be found that yields a degree of anonymity, that is the game we all play. They sell us security which tastes like totalitarianism and we respond with compliance which smells like subversion.

[-] Stupidmanager@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

This will be be one of those that they use to tag onto your allegedly illegal activities. Probably a larger penalty but a secondary infraction that can be painful. They just need reason.

I think you can equate it to if you were pulled over for speeding, and they noticed a busted taillight which makes the fine larger. They can’t pull you over for a busted taillight alone but they can add those fees on and wow do they add up.

[-] Zephorah@discuss.online 4 points 2 weeks ago

They can pull you over for a busted tail light.

[-] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago

They can pull you over for a tail light that isn't broken.

Source: happened to me a couple times. Small town cops hate out of state plates.

[-] alakey@piefed.social 8 points 2 weeks ago

Depends just how willing you are: demand domestic websites block any non residential IPs and report any attempted or even successful VPS connections, allow only registered businesses to operate VPNs, use government shipped mobile apps to detect people's network configs/installed apps/private and public IPs, block any known VPN IP ranges, use DPI to block VPN protocols and detect unusual traffic, allow access only to a select list of domains and IP addresses, etc. There's a myriad of ways to enforce this, but in the US they will need a few years to set up the hardware necessary to do it, that's the one thing the US has going for it. Sleep on it, though? You will wake up to intranet in 10 years.

[-] cley_faye@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

If they start looking into your stuff for any reason, and suspect that a user connected to your site through a VPN, you're in.

It doesn't have to be true to begin with. And it doesn't have to be enforced at scale, only when needed.

[-] Zephorah@discuss.online 4 points 2 weeks ago

Only if wanted, more like.

[-] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago
this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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