A Utah law requiring adult websites to verify the age of their users will remain in effect after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality

  • MagicShel@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    I’ve got a bucket of popcorn and porn open on one screen and the U.S. judicial system on the other, and thus far the latter has proved more entertaining.

  • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
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    Dismissing their lawsuit on Tuesday, he instead said they couldn’t sue Utah officials because of how the law calls for age verification to be enforced. The law doesn’t direct the state to pursue or prosecute adult websites and instead gives Utah residents the power to sue them and collect damages if they don’t take precautions to verify their users’ ages.

    “They cannot just receive a pre-enforcement injunction," Stewart wrote in his dismissal, citing a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a Texas law allowing private citizens to sue abortion providers.

  • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The religious authorities of the day working with the secular power and paying people to report victimless crimes.

    If they would pay those bounties in talents of silver they will hit peak irony.

  • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    This is basically just a porn blocker for the poor who can’t afford a VPN.

    • Scooter411@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Who is “they” in your statement. Also, as a Utahn, I definitely give a fuck. This is a majorly shitty law that opens up all sorts of possibilities for abuse.

      • CookieJarObserver
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        1 year ago

        Government can’t do shit against the porn sites, you can’t block porn.

        • Scooter411@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          The age verification system that the state came up with requires you to enter personal identification information, like a drivers license number. I don’t trust the porn sites with that info - in fact, porn hub doesn’t want that responsibility and has actually blocked IP addresses from Utah. So, actually, it looks like they can.

          • CookieJarObserver
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            1 year ago

            They blocked ip Adresses from there, just use a VPN like a normal person. Porn hub is btw the most compliant of all, there are mountains of other sites.

            • Scooter411@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              JuSt UsE a VpN

              First, VPN’s cost money.

              Second, this isn’t about access to pornography. This is just testing the waters. They want absolute control over what people do on the internet.

              “The new age-verification rules for pornography arrive on the heels of another bill passed this year requiring a government-issued ID to open a social media account.”

              Source: https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/utahs-elected-leaders-push-new-anti-pornography-laws-that-may-threaten-civil-liberties/Content?oid=20045294

              • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                You can use a bunch of free ones available or roll your own. Many of the big cloud providers will let you host at least one VM for free. Spin up say an Ubuntu VM and setup a VPN with that. There are many tutorials out there to help or you could reach out to the Linux community. You will find them to be rather eager to help you with Linux stuff.

                Talking about under 2 hours of work and you will get a skill for life.

                • Scooter411@lemmy.ml
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                  1 year ago

                  If you look at the rest of my comments with the other person, it’s not even about the cost of the VPN’s. Yes, I’m aware there are some free ones.

              • CookieJarObserver
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                1 year ago

                First, VPN’s cost money.

                There are free ones.

                Second, this isn’t about access to pornography. This is just testing the waters. They want absolute control over what people do on the internet.

                Aren’t you the “we need our guns to fight tyranny” people? Do it.

                • Scooter411@lemmy.ml
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                  1 year ago

                  Me personally? No. The ones who want to use their guns to fight tyranny are the ones who back these kinds of laws.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              use a VPN like a normal person

              Normal people have passwords like “workpassword#1” and don’t know what an IP address is.

              My mother in law still uses America Online.

                • KnightontheSun@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Yah, I had to laugh when you said that. Normal and VPN do not equate generally.

                  Utah needs to be smacked down about this.

                  Carry on.

        • cowfodder@unilem.org
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          1 year ago

          Tell me you haven’t read the law without saying you haven’t read the law. This isn’t about the government blocking anything, this is about allowing religious extremists to sue over things that they deem immoral.

          • CookieJarObserver
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            1 year ago

            Yes, suing means they’d have to actually have legal reach over it… They don’t… Ask telegram for example, they get court letters all day and just ignore them.

            And suing? Everyone can sue for everything, question is if the judge deems it reasonable.