Live data from Hacker News

VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

ft.com

441–450 of 1001 posts

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#441
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, it's all about a permanent Digital ID and the end of any independent forums. It's the first essential steps before you get to great firewalls and social credit scores. Remember, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas already have similar laws in place in the US, so even a nation with better speech and gun laws is still not immune from the slow descent into technocracy.

At least in the US the Supreme Court ruled that these sorts of laws are only kosher because they target porn, which is afforded a lower degree of legal protection (albeit not no protection at all). Trying to restrict access to protected political speech or the like the way the UK and Australia did would likely be a very different court case.

What political speech is the UK blocking?

If the 'political speech' is not adult in nature, which is true 99.9% of the time, then it can't/won't be blocked under this rule.

Unless of course this political speech is happening on a porn site, or a subreddit that has been deemed 18+. Which I can't see a legitimate reason for.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#442

Just a reminder “Brexit” happened just a few years ago. Suddenly no British man can be more than 3 months in another European country before being “banned”. You can’t even move to Switzerland and setup a company. Yes technically it’s possible but I was told my a Swiss accountant “just don’t bother trying unless you can get a European passport - if you can” This is from personal experience. As odd as it sounds Brexit…

> As odd as it sounds Brexit really affected business With all due respect, this was never odd. It was immediately predicted from the day the UK voted for Brexit, along with many of the other very obvious side effects of leaving the EU, like free movement & ability to work, logistical challenges etc.

Unironically, people thought it would end free movement for other people and not them.

When Brits go to another Country, they are expats, bringing their wealth and culture with them. When people come to the UK they are immigrants or economic migrants refusing to get jobs, learn the language or integrate while taking all the jobs.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#443
post #62

Basically every new law, piece of news or media I see coming from the UK paints a picture of a beat-down, cynical & scared society that's complacent to or in support of increasing surveillance and control by the government. Like maybe Adolescence or basically any mention of the NHS. The crimes they cite like child grooming or terrorism/hate being incited sound pretty terrible too, but I wonder why the UK specifically…

The UK is becoming increasingly authoritarian in ways that feel increasingly antagonistic to the majority of the population, regardless of political party. Taxes are rising (with tax take falling), crimes are going unchecked, just mentioning increased immigration gets a lot of people's backs up, but as GDP per capita continues to stall and even fall, the pressure it puts on services is a factor for many. And we're se…

We had talented people piling in and GDP going up and all that pre Brexit. It's the gift that keeps giving.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#444
post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO, the wheels fell off decades before I was born. The peak of the empire was around WW1, where the victory was immediately followed by Irish home rule, and Churchill(!) putting the UK military into austerity to save money, which is how it came to be that evacuating from Dunkirk involved a lot of civilian ships, amongst other things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Year_Rule WW2 was a Pyrrhic victory. Not that Wes…

That happened a long time ago, the realization was the 70s. Thatcher reversed the feeling by selling off the nation to rentiers and foreigners in the 80s, we rode that money in the 90s, and the wheels came off in 2008.

Brexit may have been the emotional response, but like most it didn't help.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#445
post #177

The obvious stage two being the UK targeting VPNs as technology to get around think-of-the-children laws

I doubt they would bother - it's practically impossible without the investment of the level of China.

They will probably pass a law that says you have to be 18+ to purchase a VPN however.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having UK work experience and having talked to thousands of british folks over a decade, I find this hard to believe I only have to look as far as my own wallet to see the effects. I'm being taxed to the eyeballs while there is a glass ceiling preventing me taking any more pay home without a major jump which just isn't coming due to stupid tax rules keeping the working class from bumping into the middle class. I se…

> earn a penny more That is not how marginal tax rates work. Each income band is taxed at the rate for that band . It’s why it’s called “marginal” - because the rate change happens at the margin between brackets. You are taxed 0% on your first £12571. You are taxed 20% on your next £37669, or, £7359.80 on £50270 of income. If you then earned one more pound, or £50271, you would owe £0.40 (40%) on that one additional…

That is only true of income tax. Not all taxes are marginal, and several have thresholds that behave exactly as the OP described.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#447
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK is becoming increasingly authoritarian in ways that feel increasingly antagonistic to the majority of the population, regardless of political party. Taxes are rising (with tax take falling), crimes are going unchecked, just mentioning increased immigration gets a lot of people's backs up, but as GDP per capita continues to stall and even fall, the pressure it puts on services is a factor for many. And we're se…

I moved to the UK with my family just before the Brexit vote and left last year. I love the country, but the changes I saw over that time period were so stark -- and, similarly, so many of the friends I made in that time had already left the country. That I could have multiple negative NHS experiences relating to missed cancer diagnoses of friends in that relatively short span of time is suggestive of a real problem.…

The NHS is cheap but quite ropey.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#448
post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to be able to shut down websites and apps which do not implement age verification.

So, wikipedia?

Yes... and for clarity, perhaps I should have instead said for the implementation of this law to actually make any moral sense, which is like saying for this chocolate tea pot to be functional on a daily basis, one would have to provision a way of shutting down sites which refuse to participate in the age-verification laws of the UK.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#449

Basically every new law, piece of news or media I see coming from the UK paints a picture of a beat-down, cynical & scared society that's complacent to or in support of increasing surveillance and control by the government. Like maybe Adolescence or basically any mention of the NHS. The crimes they cite like child grooming or terrorism/hate being incited sound pretty terrible too, but I wonder why the UK specifically…

> Basically every new law, piece of news or media I see coming from the UK paints a picture of a beat-down, cynical & scared society

Empires take a very long time to die, but when they finally do, it is never pretty.

Historical example are abundant.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#450
post #443
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK is becoming increasingly authoritarian in ways that feel increasingly antagonistic to the majority of the population, regardless of political party. Taxes are rising (with tax take falling), crimes are going unchecked, just mentioning increased immigration gets a lot of people's backs up, but as GDP per capita continues to stall and even fall, the pressure it puts on services is a factor for many. And we're se…

We had talented people piling in and GDP going up and all that pre Brexit. It's the gift that keeps giving.

Is there enough support to reverse brexit (yet)?
Post reply on HN