VEF vs UK porn licenses - Page 2

**bowlinggreen** · March 19th, 2019, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beutelwolf

VEF isn't based in the UK AFAIK. And the law potentially applies to all porn places, everywhere.

I thought it was.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beutelwolf

Meaning, for the people who run a porn site: if you do not restrict access from UK-based IP-addresses by demanding age verification, your site will be blocked by ISP providers in the UK. I reckon, most sites will just shrug their shoulders and carry on as ever, ignoring the UK.

I kind of figured that. Since the UK only comprises a relatively small base of porn users in the wide world, most sites aren't going to want to hassle with the overly restrictive regulations of one nation.

If the worst comes to pass, where shall all of us foreign VEF exiles who refuse to lie under the thumb this law regroup?

We've only got 13 days to decide until the hammer comes down.

**JeffSav** · March 19th, 2019, 10:29 AM

I'm based in the UK so the difficulty in accessing UK-based sites will apply to me.

I've started experimenting with VPNs, in fact I'm accessing this site using Tunnelbear right now, which gives free use of 500MB per month, via a server based in the USA (other countries are available).

Also there's Windscribe, which I might try. That gives 9Gb per month for free.

I only use the VPN for accessing this site and one other. If I'm accessing newspaper or other similar sites then I switch the VPN off.

As I understand it - and I've done some research, the UK-based sites will recognise the IP address of UK based people and put up an age verification page. This will not happen for non UK IPs, so VPNs with servers abroad will not get the page but will go through to the site normally.

Also, it will only apply to commercial sites, that is if access is charged or there are adverts to fund the running costs of the site. Also, age verification will only apply when over two thirds of the content is regarded as 'adult'.

I hope this information is of some use to UK-based people.

**Mal Hombre** · March 19th, 2019, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sif

Opera has a built in VPN and that works on this site.

It says that I am in Washington DC......

sif · March 19th, 2019, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

It says that I am in Washington DC......

It says I'm either in Sweden or Ukraine

bjcb0 · March 19th, 2019, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffSav

As I understand it - and I've done some research, the UK-based sites will recognise the IP address of UK based people and put up an age verification page. This will not happen for non UK IPs, so VPNs with servers abroad will not get the page but will go through to the site normally.

This should be fine initially, but it depends on how much effort is devoted to the task. I live in France for 3-4 months each year and sometimes used a VPN to access iPlayer. This worked for a several years, but in 2017 iPlayer began to reject certain VPN IP addresses. In my case I fixed this by creating a VPN server at my UK home address (and I have a UK TV licence for that address), but many British people in France were affected. I could imagine the age verification pages beginning to reject non-UK VPNs, particularly if political worry is being fomented by the tabloids.

**JeffSav** · March 19th, 2019, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjcb0

This should be fine initially, but it depends on how much effort is devoted to the task. I live in France for 3-4 months each year and sometimes used a VPN to access iPlayer. This worked for a several years, but in 2017 iPlayer began to reject certain VPN IP addresses. In my case I fixed this by creating a VPN server at my UK home address (and I have a UK TV licence for that address), but many people here were affected. I could imagine the age verification pages beginning to reject non-UK VPNs, particularly if political worry is being fomented by the tabloids.

Yes, you might be right, but I can see why the iPlayer people might want to block VPNs, but porn sites? As long as they get the revenue from adverts I wouldn't think they'd be bothered. I can't see many porn sites turning away customers, unless, as you write, there is a lot of political interference.

By the way, for people here who are using Opera, it's not actually a true VPN that's on there. It's more of a proxy, although I'm not completely certain what the difference is.

Another reason why a VPN is of use, apparently, is for people who access the web from open wi-fi connections, like coffee shops. Once on there, accessing bank accounts is a no-no. Tech experts who are on the same network can intercept the data, passwords etc., that are being sent. Using a VPN apparently stops that, but it would take someone who is more of an expert than me to explain how. What I'm trying to say is that VPNs have more use than just to allow people to view porn sites without passing their IP address to them.

bjcb0 · March 19th, 2019, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffSav

Yes, you might be right, but I can see why the iPlayer people might want to block VPNs, but porn sites? As long as they get the revenue from adverts I wouldn't think they'd be bothered.

I don't think the Porn Sites will care at all, but they might well be forced to do this by the usual British moral panic outcry. I think that UK porn sites will probably start blocking VPN IP addresses, sadly, because there will almost certainly be at least one politician saying that VPNs allow our innocent youth to be corrupted. Still, I very much hope I'm wrong!

Quote:

What I'm trying to say is that VPNs have more use than just to allow people to view porn sites without passing their IP address to them.

That's certainly correct, but I don't see a blanket ban on VPNs, only on their use to access porn. Of course, once a government gets a taste for censorship and control, it doesn't usually stop there . . .

MaxJoker · March 19th, 2019, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

It says that I am in Washington DC......

Any chance to pick locations

I fancy visiting Hawaii this afternoon

Jenny48549 · March 19th, 2019, 03:23 PM

I can tell you with complete certainty that VEF is not based in the UK.

As far as I know, there are no plans to include age verification for this site. Personally I highly doubt that the owner would even want to take the responsibility for storing sensitive information such as credit cards etc. when the site itself is available free of charge.

I also cannot tell you what effect this will have as far as VEF access either. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

I wish I had something more specific to tell you but I don't. Sorry about that.

To answer another question in a fairly simple manner, true VPN is safer because the connection is encrypted. Sniffing data from a VPN is a fairly useless exercise because you would need to break the encryption to access the actual data.

**Roubignol** · March 19th, 2019, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

It says that I am in Washington DC......

I was sure you wrote in American.

March 19th, 2019, 03:23 PM	#19
Jenny48549 Beloved Sister Mistress of Mayhem Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: The Great Gig In the Sky Posts: 6,668 Thanks: 64,911 Thanked 127,589 Times in 6,475 Posts	I can tell you with complete certainty that VEF is not based in the UK. As far as I know, there are no plans to include age verification for this site. Personally I highly doubt that the owner would even want to take the responsibility for storing sensitive information such as credit cards etc. when the site itself is available free of charge. I also cannot tell you what effect this will have as far as VEF access either. We'll have to wait and see what happens. I wish I had something more specific to tell you but I don't. Sorry about that. To answer another question in a fairly simple manner, true VPN is safer because the connection is encrypted. Sniffing data from a VPN is a fairly useless exercise because you would need to break the encryption to access the actual data. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

March 19th, 2019, 10:29 AM	#12
JeffSav Vintage Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: VPN dependent variable Posts: 637 Thanks: 5,179 Thanked 19,300 Times in 648 Posts	I'm based in the UK so the difficulty in accessing UK-based sites will apply to me. I've started experimenting with VPNs, in fact I'm accessing this site using Tunnelbear right now, which gives free use of 500MB per month, via a server based in the USA (other countries are available). Also there's Windscribe, which I might try. That gives 9Gb per month for free. I only use the VPN for accessing this site and one other. If I'm accessing newspaper or other similar sites then I switch the VPN off. As I understand it - and I've done some research, the UK-based sites will recognise the IP address of UK based people and put up an age verification page. This will not happen for non UK IPs, so VPNs with servers abroad will not get the page but will go through to the site normally. Also, it will only apply to commercial sites, that is if access is charged or there are adverts to fund the running costs of the site. Also, age verification will only apply when over two thirds of the content is regarded as 'adult'. I hope this information is of some use to UK-based people.