Following the same legislative and narrative pattern as the EU for “Chat Control”, similar laws and rhetoric are now cropping up in the US. The narrative is “save the children from porn” but the action is censorship, mass surveillance, and the elimination of privacy on the Internet.
As of this writing, Wisconsin lawmakers are escalating their war on privacy by targeting VPNs in the name of “protecting children” in A.B. 105/S.B. 130. It’s an age verification bill that requires all websites distributing material that could conceivably be deemed “sexual content” to both implement an age verification system and also to block the access of users connected via VPN. The bill seeks to broadly expand the definition of materials that are “harmful to minors” beyond the type of speech that states can prohibit minors from accessing—potentially encompassing things like depictions and discussions of human anatomy, sexuality, and reproduction.
Wisconsin’s bill has already passed the State Assembly and is now moving through the Senate. If it becomes law, Wisconsin could become the first state where using a VPN to access certain content is banned. Michigan lawmakers have proposed similar legislation that did not move through its legislature, but among other things, would force internet providers to actively monitor and block VPN connections. And in the UK, officials are calling VPNs "a loophole that needs closing.
Hey, I have a GREAT idea. Let’s ban cryptography. Then the cards will all be on the table. Fair and just!
Republicans, defending a pedophile as president, should get a full swing of a bat in the teeth every single time they say anything “… for the children”
these people deserve a big FUCK YOU to the face, in front of an audience.
Good luck with enforcing that, websites are likely to block access from Wisconsin. Isp’s in Wisconsin will just block vpns or not do anything at all. If the whole world banned vpns then we’d just all use the next work around.
FTFY:
Lawmakers
Want to Ban VPNs—And TheyHave No Idea What They’re DoingLawmakers
Want to Ban VPNs—And They HaveNoIdeaWhatThey’re DoingI know governments work slow but these guys are still trying to figure out if freeing the slaves was a good idea.
Governments barely work at all
Because almost EXACTALLY half of them KNOW that freeing the slaves was a bad idea.
Porn websites should just start blocking access for any lawmakers that are okay with this legislative garbage.
s/blocking access/releasing the viewing history of/
Lawmakers Have No Idea What They’re Doing
Sounds like a headline for literally every issue regarding technology.
You can do whatever you want on i2p. Nobody knows who you are.
I thought L2P was just for torrents. How do I use it with my internet connection? Does it cost money?
I2P is for whatever people put on it. It’s all the Internet services that already can exist, specifically behind a piece of software such as i2pd for example. It’s free, just setup i2p software on a computer. Then you can make some local services visible to it, for example a web server.
Next on the list for a ban. They came for my neighbors ID, and I said nothing, then they came for my neighbors VPN, and an I did nothing, and now they are coming for me on I2P, and there is no one left to speak for me…
My home network is all under Mullvad for a few months now, and I’ve noticed that recently a lot of pages block it. I just get a 403 error and I need to disable it to access. Honestly I expect this to happen more and more, which is BS.
Keep in mind that a lot of webpages block traffic from datacenters, as they are trying to protect themselves from AI scrappers. I recently had an issue with OpenAI making thousands of requests to one of my servers.
OpenAI is the leach that keeps on leaching
Is it due to geo-blocking?
I have noticed that some sites would load my local language version even if I point out original site. E.g. southpark.cc.com would stubbornly redirect to southpark.de no matter how you tried to trick it. And, of course, some content on some sites would also report that is is unavailable in my region.
No, I actually use an exit on my country for that reason.
ah yes, every time they want to do something abhorrent, they cry “its for the children!” to immediately try and silence any critics.
As usual. Our government, your government, totally clueless about how the internet works or what it actually is. And with all the money they waste every day, there seems to be no cent left to get some professional who could explain things on a politicians mental level. We’ve got people who successful teach computers to seniors, maybe politicians should hire some…
I think this is mostly a symptom of the gerontocracy. Most elected officials have not grown up with computers, which is already likely to make them incurious about them. Couple that with being in office so long, likely developing a very high opinion of themselves that they know best. I would guess a significant minority is actively hostile to learning anything about computers, so you can hire any professional to explain stuff with baby talk, it won’t work on them. Combine that with the rest of the technologically illiterate politicians just being indifferent, and you get this kind of policy.
Don’t worry once this bites them in the ass by exposing something they have said is bad they will get themselves an exception.
well, ultimately too many lawmakers, elected or not are “let them eat cake” people. Living in their own world, uncaring and unknowing about things they rule over. Too many are likely there for their own hubris, thinking how they are so excellent that they must deserve to be there and maybe to line their own pockets. Though obviously there are some that are genuinely competent, otherwise the whole thing would come crashing down too fast, but they are most likely quite suppressed in favor of the pieces of shit that care only about their own interests.
They COULD have consulted people who know about this, considered extensively if its good idea to do this or not and maybe even explain themselves why its necessary without resorting to propaganda and lies, such as how this is to “save the children”. But they do not, because they dont care and they dont have to care.
Welcome to:
People’s Republic of America
美利坚人们共和国
Long Live Chairman Trump
Maybe he reign a thousand years!
/s
Anyone know how to get started with Tor?
TOR Wikipedia page - explains the key concepts and gives a link to the website so you can download the Tor Browser.
Tails (Amnesiac OS) Wikipedia page - If you want the real Fort Knox solution to browsing something or sending something without anyone finding out. It’s more of a process than downloading Tor Browser, but probably the most secure option possible for browsing the web. (The OS runs everything through the TOR network, is only retained in RAM, and wipes the RAM clean during shutdown)
How secure is something like Orbot? I like the idea of connecting to Tor while still using my preferred browser.
It’s a half-measure, kind of like using a VPN. The problem with using your preferred browser is that it’s not designed to prevent any identifying leaks, so you could be fingerprinted at basically any time and your efforts will have been for nothing. Also, if you’re using an insecure OS (like the version of android that comes preinstalled with your phone), that’ll prevent its effectiveness full stop.
For situations like those, you aren’t really using Orbot (or any VPN-esque solution) for genuine privacy. Those tools are useful for Utility (circumventing region blocks, ISP filters, IP blocks, so on), and Plausible Deniability (Piracy, usually through torrenting). If what you seek falls into those two categories, good for you, but true privacy has to be achieved through something like Tails or a secure OS with Tor Browser, sorry.
