Age Verification

[PersonalFavors]

[Politics and trolling prohibited per our AH Forum Rules]

 

[TiberiusPrime]

Does Literotica qualify as "pornography" under UK law?

Under US law, I don't think the written content qualifies as porn. I'm not sure if the visual content here would qualify as porn. Some of it might, but the Site has restrictions on the degree of explicitness of visual content that might take it outside the scope of porn.

I tried to access Literotica on a work computer once about 10 years ago and it got flagged as porn. Thankfully it wasn't my computer!

 

[MillieDynamite]

There is a lot of politicking going on, judging from all the blocked posts. But I'm not a judge and don't judge and ain't judgmental. Well, most of the time.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

Okay, different question. That law is in the UK, right? I THOUGHT the UK already had some kind of opt-out system, where ISPs filter a list of domains out of the internet traffic that are deemed harmful for children, until the person paying for that internet connection tells them to stop? Didn't they have a huge controversy about that, because it didn't just block porn, but also stuff like suicide hotlines?

Whatever happened to that?

 

[Bazzle]

I wasn't trying to have a political thread

More of a logistical one!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Okay, different question. That law is in the UK, right? I THOUGHT the UK already had some kind of opt-out system, where ISPs filter a list of domains out of the internet traffic that are deemed harmful for children, until the person paying for that internet connection tells them to stop? Didn't they have a huge controversy about that, because it didn't just block porn, but also stuff like suicide hotlines?

Whatever happened to that?

Maybe I'm not understanding the dynamic here, but I find something troubling about the concept of blocking suicide hotlines...

 

[Britva415]

There's something wrong here, having to do with abandoning the expectation that parents control their children

Especially since these are the exact same people who bitch about the “nanny state” in all other areas of government oversight.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

Maybe I'm not understanding the dynamic here, but I find something troubling about the concept of blocking suicide hotlines...

Not just you. That's the whole reason I heard about that practice of ISPs blocking content by default, because the overzealous filtering caused that massive controversy.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Sweety, I didn't say you were being political. I was only pointing out we got a whole lot of blocking content going on.

I wasn't trying to have a political thread

More of a logistical one!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Okay, different question. That law is in the UK, right? I THOUGHT the UK already had some kind of opt-out system, where ISPs filter a list of domains out of the internet traffic that are deemed harmful for children, until the person paying for that internet connection tells them to stop? Didn't they have a huge controversy about that, because it didn't just block porn, but also stuff like suicide hotlines?

Whatever happened to that?

There's been various recommendations, and many ISPs do filter stuff by default until you ask them not to and prove you're over-18, but that's a consumerism thing. Other ISPs do exist. The last time I ended up following such censorship proposals closely (a fictionalised version is in the first few pages of my story Image Nine Point Four), the response from people who knew about the internet got them to give up, but there's usually something which is announced as being banned, just to give the Mary Whitehouse types a feeling of satisfaction. IIRC face-sitting videos were supposed to be banned for a while and then unbanned, but I doubt anyone took any notice either way - the only way to confirm such a video still existed would be to search for it and then admit you'd done so...

Plus ça change. Henry VIII introduced the Buggery Act, but Elizabeth I used it hugely - people might be accused, but the state didn't have to take accusations seriously unless it wanted to. And then it had the option to turn the accusations back on the denouncer, because how else would they know?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Well, I guess you could ask Oscar Wilde about his prison stent for gross bugger in the homosexual world, but you know, he doesn't answer his email since he died.

There's been various recommendations, and many ISPs do filter stuff by default until you ask them not to and prove you're over-18, but that's a consumerism thing. Other ISPs do exist. The last time I ended up following such censorship proposals closely (a fictionalised version is in the first few pages of my story Image Nine Point Four), the response from people who knew about the internet got them to give up, but there's usually something which is announced as being banned, just to give the Mary Whitehouse types a feeling of satisfaction. IIRC face-sitting videos were supposed to be banned for a while and then unbanned, but I doubt anyone took any notice either way - the only way to confirm such a video still existed would be to search for it and then admit you'd done so...

Plus ça change. Henry VIII introduced the Buggery Act, but Elizabeth I used it hugely - people might be accused, but the state didn't have to take accusations seriously unless it wanted to. And then it had the option to turn the accusations back on the denouncer, because how else would they know?

 

[TheRedChamber]

Plus ça change. Henry VIII introduced the Act of Buggery but Elizabeth I used it hugely

What I read before I'd had my first cup of coffee...

 

[Bramblethorn]

Side observation, and I hope this doesn't constitute inflammatory politicking because that's not my goal here (and it's definitely a Both Sides Do It kind of thing):

A couple of years back I caught an interesting presentation about governance, which made the point that passing laws is only one of the ways governments exert influence to implement policy. Often it's more convenient to apply soft power, in a way that's less likely to provoke blowback against "government overreach" etc. but is still effective in getting what the government wants.

One specific example they brought up was "voluntary" industry codes of conduct. That can look something like this:

Government: Hey, are you aware that a lot of people are using your services to access porn?

Industry [hastily closing PornHub tab]: What? We had no idea. Shocking.

Government: A lot of our voters are concerned about this. Nice industry you got there, would be a real shame if we had to make laws about how you operate. Any thoughts?

Industry (to one another): Do we want more laws about technology made by people who are still trying to find the ANY key? No we do not. Good chance they'd fuck it up royally.

Industry (to government): We hear your concerns. We've decided to form an industry body to deal with this issue and we've agreed, purely voluntarily, to institute restrictions on our users.

Government: Well that's great, I guess we don't need to get involved then!

And bingo, government gets its policies implemented without getting its hands dirty. In legal terms, the government didn't do anything at all - this is just a bunch of private enterprises making private choices about how to run their businesses. And the government doesn't even need to worry about court challenges, because it's Not A Law.

But when you understand how those decisions were made, and influenced, it's still very much an exercise of government power to control what people are able to access. It might not be 100% effective - there might be smaller ISPs who don't follow the voluntary code - but for government purposes, it's enough.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Side observation, and I hope this doesn't constitute inflammatory politicking because that's not my goal here (and it's definitely a Both Sides Do It kind of thing):

A couple of years back I caught an interesting presentation about governance, which made the point that passing laws is only one of the ways governments exert influence to implement policy. Often it's more convenient to apply soft power, in a way that's less likely to provoke blowback against "government overreach" etc. but is still effective in getting what the government wants.

One specific example they brought up was "voluntary" industry codes of conduct. That can look something like this:

Government: Hey, are you aware that a lot of people are using your services to access porn?

Industry [hastily closing PornHub tab]: What? We had no idea. Shocking.

Government: A lot of our voters are concerned about this. Nice industry you got there, would be a real shame if we had to make laws about how you operate. Any thoughts?

Industry (to one another): Do we want more laws about technology made by people who are still trying to find the ANY key? No we do not. Good chance they'd fuck it up royally.

Industry (to government): We hear your concerns. We've decided to form an industry body to deal with this issue and we've agreed, purely voluntarily, to institute restrictions on our users.

Government: Well that's great, I guess we don't need to get involved then!

And bingo, government gets its policies implemented without getting its hands dirty. In legal terms, the government didn't do anything at all - this is just a bunch of private enterprises making private choices about how to run their businesses. And the government doesn't even need to worry about court challenges, because it's Not A Law.

But when you understand how those decisions were made, and influenced, it's still very much an exercise of government power to control what people are able to access. It might not be 100% effective - there might be smaller ISPs who don't follow the voluntary code - but for government purposes, it's enough.

Have you been eavesdropping on my work? This is pretty much how every industry Code of Practice comes into being. The exact extent of Govt involvement varies - sometimes it's Government-led as you suggest. but it's as often:

Government rep - a young civil servant possibly called Bernard: Hi, $industry reps! Have you been on the receiving end of a letter-writing campaign about X?

Industry: Yeah, we've had 12,000 letters so far. And did you see that anti-X article in The Times, by Y whose only qualification on anything is being mates with the editor and is full of mistakes?

Bernard: I raise you 15,000 letters, and we're legally required to answer them. What do you suggest? Do you have someone who can write a response article? Given how many errors they had, our Comms team will happily help get you space in the Times for that. But basically, it's the usual problem, how do we shut up the great unwashed?

Industry: We have a few ideas...

Bernard: Thank goodness. The Minister wants to know how I'm going to stop these idiots writing in. Which is a bit unfair, as for once 10% of them are well-informed. Only the other 90% are idiots.

Cue a few rounds of Something Must Be Done! countered by Here's Something, until the public find a new cause to rally behind. Or start having riots, but one thing about our weather is it does deter most rioters...

 

[Pabiporffor]

Just think, the government will know all your sexual fetishes. Every post you've made, picture posted, story written etc, will now be available to a government minister at the click of a button. Won't be long before employers start demanding access too.

That taboo story you wrote last year now makes you a citizen of concern, perhaps those incest stories on your favourites list will get you on a register. No doubt if there's a sex attack in your neighbourhood you'll be getting a bang on your door to ask you to explain your interest in bondage and non-consent stories.

Sure this site is well moderated, you won't find anything illegal here. But your first time story will raise an eyebrow or two in your companies HR dept. Expect to be called in for a meeting and a 4 hour training video because you posted a story about spanking your typist.

 

[Deleted member 6903436]

Just think, the government will know all your sexual fetishes. Every post you've made, picture posted, story written etc, will now be available to a government minister at the click of a button. Won't be long before employers start demanding access too.

That taboo story you wrote last year now makes you a citizen of concern, perhaps those incest stories on your favourites list will get you on a register. No doubt if there's a sex attack in your neighbourhood you'll be getting a bang on your door to ask you to explain your interest in bondage and non-consent stories.

Sure this site is well moderated, you won't find anything illegal here. But your first time story will raise an eyebrow or two in your companies HR dept. Expect to be called in for a meeting and a 4 hour training video because you posted a story about spanking your typist.

Sounds far fetched.....

Who would have thought when you Google for a present fore your wife, what you Google will appear on her pages as suggestions.

...so your probably right.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

Just think, the government will know all your sexual fetishes. Every post you've made, picture posted, story written etc, will now be available to a government minister at the click of a button. Won't be long before employers start demanding access too.

That taboo story you wrote last year now makes you a citizen of concern, perhaps those incest stories on your favourites list will get you on a register. No doubt if there's a sex attack in your neighbourhood you'll be getting a bang on your door to ask you to explain your interest in bondage and non-consent stories.

Sure this site is well moderated, you won't find anything illegal here. But your first time story will raise an eyebrow or two in your companies HR dept. Expect to be called in for a meeting and a 4 hour training video because you posted a story about spanking your typist.

Given ‘free’ porn sites are ad-festooned, and big money’s been spent for decades on tracking customers via ads, that kind of info is already out there.

 

[TheLobster]

Who would have thought when you Google for a present fore your wife, what you Google will appear on her pages as suggestions.

When “you” and “her” are on the same computer, same browser, same profile and same cookies, that’s exactly what I would have thought would happen.

 

[Deleted member 6903436]

When “you” and “her” are on the same computer, same browser, same profile and same cookies, that’s exactly what I would have thought would happen.

That's the thing....we have different devices and accounts.

I figure it's worked out by the address,IP address etc..

 

[BobbyBrandt]

IP addresses in South Carolina are also blocked by Pornhub. Sites such as the International Adult Film Database, Adult Film Central, and similar now require registration for age verification.

 

[Britva415]

That's the thing....we have different devices and accounts.

I figure it's worked out by the address,IP address etc..

No, it’s worse.

They know you’re married because they know who you each are.

This isn’t paranoia, it’s standard marketing data.

If the marketers have it, imagine what a state-level actor already has on you,

 

[crimfolk]

I suspect we may not know the implications until July. I'd like to think the written word isn't a priority but I see no evidence from official sources that it is exempt. Is a VPN the answer? I have no idea.

 

[alohadave]

No, it’s worse.

They know you’re married because they know who you each are.

This isn’t paranoia, it’s standard marketing data.

If the marketers have it, imagine what a state-level actor already has on you,

And your cell phones are frequently in the same location.

 

[Deleted member 6903436]

And your cell phones are frequently in the same location.

Have ago at explaining this one...

Dentist apoint was attended by myself on time. When I got homethere was a message on my cell phone google wants me to rate my Dentist.

I didn't take my cell phone.

 

[yowser]

You don't think, perchance, that maybe your calendar isn't available/visible?