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UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

alecmuffett.com

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Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#261

Post by bitwize »

wkat4242 wrote: post #240
bitwize wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's already the law in Brazil that online services and "terminal operating systems" must perform age verification in a secure, auditable manner. This presumably includes smartphones and computers, meaning you can't just run an arbitrary Linux distro in Brazil anymore. I expect similar laws to pass in at least a few U.S. states by 2030—places like Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, maybe Florida... When I say "the future…

While that's really terrifying about Brazil, is it actually enforced? I can't really imagine there being a "Linux Police" kicking down the door of a hooded teenager and prying the Ubuntu DVD from his clammy hands. I mean this is the country of favelas where even the police don't dare to enter.

No, but Brazil can (and did) exercise strict import controls over what kind of electronics can get into the country. For the longest time the only game consoles you could legitimately get in Brazil came from Sega through special arrangement with Brazilian manufacturer TecToy—in particular, the Master System and Mega Drive. When the market finally did open up, import consoles were subject to stiff tariffs. Piracy was rampant. That's why the Brazilian gaming market is... weird to this day, and until recently was generally avoided by major manufacturers creating openings for also-rans like the Zeebo.

So while police arresting a kid for having an Ubuntu DVD is unlikely, the Brazilian government twisting the arm of PC manufacturers to prevent the installation of any but approved operating systems on hardware sold to the Brazilian market is highly plausible. Since this already aligns with Microsoft's eventual goals, Microsoft and the PC manufacturers will just hasten the rollout of Palladium 2.0 and nothing will stop it.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#262

Post by rcxdude »

iamacyborg wrote: post #116
StanislavPetrov wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the media that shows the UK locking up old ladies and people in wheelchairs for speaking out publicly against ongoing UK support for genocide (among other "speech offenses").

You might be missing some important context, namely that they’re doing so under the guise of a proscribed organisation.

That proscription being done by that same government. I don't think that context paints them in any better light.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#263

Post by JumpCrisscross »

pydry wrote: post #258
nine_k wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly, calling the UK "ultra-authoritarian" is incorrect. But the point about attempts of completely deanonymizing Internet access is still important. The inability of the government to know everything about its citizens is an important check that prevents it from slipping towards illiberal, even if prosperous, system, like that in mainland China, or Singapore.

>Certainly, calling the UK "ultra-authoritarian" is incorrect. It's Russia level. They're prosecuting people for holding up signs protesting a genocide.

> They're prosecuting people for holding up signs

Source?

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#264

Post by exasperaited »

baazaa wrote: post #36

On a related note, they built their digital ID so that third parties could verify attributes (it's NOT just a single-service login across government + a linking ID across government services, which is how it was sold by the BBC). They're pretty close to completely de-anonymising the internet for UK citizens. Say they introduce an Australian-style social media ban for under 16s, then requires all social media to link…

> Keep in mind the UK already arrests and imprisons vast numbers of people for speech offences

No it fucking doesn’t.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#266

Post by kylecazar »

StanislavPetrov wrote: post #84
kylecazar wrote: post #23

Isn't everyone under the age of 16 using a VPN doing so through their parent's billing?

There are many free VPNs.

Yeah, I guess I was thinking 15 is pretty young. Presumed a majority of minors using VPN's have a parent with a family plan.

I, of course, was not one of those people -- so maybe I shouldn't presume.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#267

Post by wkat4242 »

bitwize wrote: post #261
wkat4242 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While that's really terrifying about Brazil, is it actually enforced? I can't really imagine there being a "Linux Police" kicking down the door of a hooded teenager and prying the Ubuntu DVD from his clammy hands. I mean this is the country of favelas where even the police don't dare to enter.

No, but Brazil can (and did) exercise strict import controls over what kind of electronics can get into the country. For the longest time the only game consoles you could legitimately get in Brazil came from Sega through special arrangement with Brazilian manufacturer TecToy—in particular, the Master System and Mega Drive. When the market finally did open up, import consoles were subject to stiff tariffs. Piracy was…

Wow thanks, I didn't know any of that. It feels alien to me and yeah I'm sure that MS wants this to happen. Now that windows has only become an advertising vehicle for their cloud services, Linux is a way for customers to avoid that tax.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#268

Post by knorker »

phatfish wrote: post #234
autoexec wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are a trash paper so skepticism is warranted but care should be taken not to dismiss facts just because of who reports them. Thankfully, we don't have to depend on the word of the Daily Mail for evidence that the UK doesn't value the ideal of free speech and are far too comfortable punishing and silencing online speech. It's a problem, and it makes their efforts to tie people's online activity to an individual w…

[flagged]

People have been arrested for silently praying in their head.

And for saying "not my king".

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#269

Post by pydry »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #263
pydry wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Certainly, calling the UK "ultra-authoritarian" is incorrect. It's Russia level. They're prosecuting people for holding up signs protesting a genocide.

> They're prosecuting people for holding up signs Source?

[flagged]

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#270

Post by istjohn »

XorNot wrote: post #233
piker wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be hard to wrap your head around it from the US, but many of these are people that are in fact being arrested for writing posts on social media, e.g., https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-6... (arrested for post wearing a Manchester Arena bomber costume) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-60930670 (arrested for posting "the only good British soldier is a dead British sold…

And in many other countries those would get you prosecuted for hate speech or incitement to violence. The lie here is you've picked too examples of atrocious behavior, but you're trying to pretend that actually all the rest are just people posting dank memes and so "it could happen to you!!".

Those examples are completely inoccuous to my sensibilities. Of course, there are plenty of countries that lack the broad speech protections Americans enjoy, but one doesn't expect such curtailments of personal liberty in a fellow English-speaking western "liberal" democracy.
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