zlacker

[parent] [thread] 27 comments
1. icarou+(OP)[view] [source] 2025-08-15 09:31:34
This sounds like a misinterpretation. The OSA is primarily about making online service providers responsible for age verification, if they supply adult content. No different in principle from having to prove one's age to buy cigarettes, alcohol, knives, etc.

No-one says "cigarettes are censored!", because, obviously, they're not. Same for adult content online. It can still be accessed, as long as proof of age is provided.

replies(3): >>IanCal+i >>khalic+A >>mdp202+N
2. IanCal+i[view] [source] 2025-08-15 09:34:47
>>icarou+(OP)
That’s not what it’s primarily about, but is the more visible aspect. Lots of the rest is ensuring moderation and the like is supported, scanning for csam, etc. where the risks are higher.
replies(1): >>icarou+w
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3. icarou+w[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:37:25
>>IanCal+i
I see much of the rest of it as being similar to alcohol licensing laws. Pubs and bars have restrictions on how they operate, for the good of the community and society.
replies(1): >>mdp202+P1
4. khalic+A[view] [source] 2025-08-15 09:37:44
>>icarou+(OP)
False equivalence, the local pub doesn’t keep track of your identity.
replies(4): >>jddj+c1 >>icarou+t1 >>mdp202+X1 >>aricha+Z3
5. mdp202+N[view] [source] 2025-08-15 09:39:40
>>icarou+(OP)
> obviously, they're not

No, you are just tracked when you access them - «cigarettes» being, of course, all """controversial""" expressions.

(Already putting children as an excuse for that...)

*** They have censored lobste.rs . The "for adults only site" lobste.rs ***

https://www.blocked.org.uk/osa-blocks

replies(1): >>icarou+01
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6. icarou+01[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:41:43
>>mdp202+N
The owner of lobste.rs decided to censor lobste.rs. And then changed his mind. It's accessible from the UK as it was before.
replies(1): >>mdp202+f3
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7. jddj+c1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:43:56
>>khalic+A
Not to take away from your general point (which I agree with), but that depends where local is.

> Identity technology used at a county's pubs and nightclubs since 2023 is to be extended for a further three years.

> Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) Danielle Stone has agreed to provide funding to keep the scheme at 25 venues that open beyond 01:00.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgm28lmk474o

replies(1): >>khalic+Y1
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8. icarou+t1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:45:32
>>khalic+A
Your local pub will have CCTV and some have names and photos of banned patrons behind the bar. Some bars and clubs have digital ID scanners upon entry.

Most online service providers who verify age are using third-party suppliers who don't provide any details of one's identity, just whether the user has been age verified or not. And much of that is done by recording a selfie, not handing over identity documents.

replies(2): >>khalic+f2 >>ptero+n2
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9. mdp202+P1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:48:44
>>icarou+w
Now picture the profiles of those who would present a document to enter a pub, and picture the profiles of those who would present a document to access a forum.
replies(1): >>IanCal+uj3
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10. mdp202+X1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:51:33
>>khalic+A
It's not about accessing pubs. It's about deciding what is a pub.
replies(1): >>khalic+h5
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11. khalic+Y1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:51:48
>>jddj+c1
Thanks for the context, jeez that’s concerning
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12. khalic+f2[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:54:55
>>icarou+t1
Your example doesn’t work. They’re not keeping it for bad actors only, but for every one.

Stop trying to oversimplify the concept, it’s not a pub, it’s not a store, it’s a virtual service. This comparison doesn’t help us at all.

About the face and not ID: good thing we can’t identify someone using their face! /s

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13. ptero+n2[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 09:56:30
>>icarou+t1
One local pub may have a face scanner, the other may not and I am free to choose which one I go to without fear of reprisals. Refusing to follow a government mandate can land me in jail.
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14. mdp202+f3[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 10:06:20
>>icarou+01
I see. I only came to know it from the list.

Now what about the rest of the list.

replies(1): >>tgv+M8
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15. aricha+Z3[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 10:13:05
>>khalic+A
My local knows exactly who I am, that I'm over 18, where I live, who my kids are, how old they are, what I like to drink etc.
replies(2): >>khalic+84 >>amanap+vu
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16. khalic+84[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 10:14:34
>>aricha+Z3
Do you really think those things are comparable?
replies(1): >>aricha+M5
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17. khalic+h5[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 10:25:13
>>mdp202+X1
Better still: it has nothing to do with pubs at all
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18. aricha+M5[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 10:29:29
>>khalic+84
The claim was a pub doesn't track your identity. I think I proved mine did.
replies(1): >>khalic+Z5
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19. khalic+Z5[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 10:31:36
>>aricha+M5
I used the word track, as we were discussing mass surveillance and not pubs, but sure, good job
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20. tgv+M8[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 10:59:31
>>mdp202+f3
Is this you?

    news.ycombinator.com | Hacker News
    https://news.ycombinator.com
    Reported: 15 August, 2025 at 10:09
    Shut down on: 15 August, 2025
    Shutting down due to OSA
    Discussion site for insufferable nerds.
    Submitted
replies(1): >>mdp202+rg
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21. mdp202+rg[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 12:00:24
>>tgv+M8
It is nice of you to do community bond building by being jocular, tgv, but I do not see context nor content.

I do not see context because this is the beginning of "present an ID to access the web", and I do believe in slippery slopes, especially in a world where societies have lost the basics.

And I do not see content because I am not sure you want to suggest anything relevant with that.

For the rest, we can joke whenever we are both here fondly mate, but you have probably picked the worst topic for it.

--

Edit:

> where societies have lost the basics

And that's why I feel your use of "nerd" is so out of current reality (besides its application to the attending). A world of voluntary subjects, and the term for the sieged would be "nerd"?!

replies(1): >>tgv+eU
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22. amanap+vu[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 13:27:49
>>aricha+Z3
Your local pub doesn't keep records of everything evreryone does in the pub so that they can collate all of your habits and either sell it to advertisers or hand it over to the government when requested.

It's a way different set of incentives and outcomes.

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23. tgv+eU[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 15:41:57
>>mdp202+rg
I copied that entry from https://www.blocked.org.uk/osa-blocks. It's clear this site hasn't been blocked. "The rest of that list" is not relevant. Most of it seems trolling, to give somebody a headache, I presume.
replies(1): >>mdp202+6a1
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24. mdp202+6a1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-15 16:59:30
>>tgv+eU
> "The rest of that list" is not relevant

Last time I checked it (here I barely have any Internet connection) it contained complaints from people unable to straightly conduct their usual web activities, of a sensitivity nature above Peppa Pig.

Hysterics? Possibly. But the first steps that could lead to the worse are taken. I have little trust in the profiles I see to have faith the future steerings.

> Is this you?

If you were suggesting that I could be behind childish acts, in the proper societies I lament are going missing you were supposed to apologize.

My age is private, not low.

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25. IanCal+uj3[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-16 13:02:33
>>mdp202+P1
This isn’t about presenting a document to enter a forum.
replies(1): >>mdp202+Jk3
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26. mdp202+Jk3[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-16 13:11:10
>>IanCal+uj3
In fact I miswrote: I understand it is about presenting a document to access webpages. In the equivalent proposal in Australia, they spoke about presenting a document to access search engines. Surely my mention of "forums" was rushed on the spot and reductive.

So, what did you mean? Have I fell into some confusion in legislations?

replies(1): >>IanCal+Dk4
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27. IanCal+Dk4[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-16 21:06:18
>>mdp202+Jk3
The problem here is there is a big bit of legislation and people are focussed on one outcome of it, which is what you will have heard.

It’s a bill about safety online. The onus is moved to the provider to mitigate harms or decide they don’t apply/are low risk.

For porn providers the outcome is fairly clear, to check your users are of age. This was kind of always the case but “are you over 18 yes or no” is not enough.

For other sites it’s making sure there are reporting mechanisms for child abuse content. It’s making sure there’s moderation to manage grooming, self harm stuff etc.

People can fairly argue about the bill but it’s not about age or user verification. That’s one outcome for one set of sites.

replies(1): >>mdp202+Z65
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28. mdp202+Z65[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-08-17 08:31:10
>>IanCal+Dk4
Consider the source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/no-uks-online-safety-a...

I understand from that source that the legislation "mandates that any site accessible in the UK - including social media, search engines, music sites, and adult content providers - enforce age checks"; all accessible sites that could contain """harmful content""" (so basically a dramatically high amount of sites of importance - with particular regard to search engines, which link to the controversial).

Now: how will, say, a search engine conduct age verification without identifying the user.

Because the issue here is that of anonimity online (i.e., the disappearance of the "online" - the end of the Web).

> That’s one outcome for one set of sites

We understand from the article that the set, as said, includes the basics...

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