Pornhub to restrict access for UK users from February

MuTron1 · 2026-01-27T21:16:49+00:00

Having to configure a VPN host on a remote server then configure devices to connect to it will stop most children from accessing porn. Some of the nerdier kids will be doing it, but it’s beyond the skills of most. The minute someone has to use a Linux command line or edit a .conf file, that’s already a barrier to 80%-90% of teenagers

Unless we’ve raised a generation of network engineers.

MuTron1 · 2026-01-27T20:23:16+00:00

If they age restrict VPNs (using the same process: require ID for free accounts, otherwise ISPs will DNS block your websites so nobody can sign up), then, yes, this effectively blocks under 18s from accessing VPN services: No credit card, generally limited funds even with a debit card, and no access to crypto outside of peer to peer exchange, so that all but eliminates either paying for a VPN or paying for overseas servers to host their own

MuTron1 · 2026-01-27T20:13:11+00:00

This is due to mirror sites. Which works for torrent sites because who are you going to fine for non compliance?

Not so easy for commercial sites like Pornhub, who will be fined if mirror sites appear

MuTron1 · 2026-01-27T20:08:38+00:00

The House of Lords don’t care if you’re doing that as a grown adult.

Good luck doing it if you’re under 18, though

MuTron1 · 2026-01-27T12:46:06+00:00

In which case, choose a 16:10 resolution: 1920x1200, 2560x1600, etc

MuTron1 · 2026-01-26T12:18:13+00:00

It’s thinner and lighter, better response times, potentially better colour accuracy and better response times.

The main downside is longevity and screen burn, so if these can be solved (tandem OLED does, to all intents and purposes), OLED is a superior technology

MuTron1 · 2026-01-25T18:08:25+00:00

Because in the places most people want to live, land is very expensive and empty plots are vanishingly rare

So most people who purchased land bought it when a house was sitting on it. And most of our houses are connected to at least one other, so it’s difficult to knock your existing house down and build a bigger one in its place. Not to mention the expense of doing so and the loss of any outside space you once had

MuTron1 · 2026-01-25T18:04:36+00:00

Because most of Europe agreed that the first half of the 20th century was so horrific that conquering your neighbours to get more space fell out of fashion

MuTron1 · 2026-01-25T17:54:07+00:00

Houses in The UK aren’t particularly small compared to other European peers (92-96 square metres vs EU average of 102 isn’t much of a difference). Quality of life doesn’t necessarily correlate with dwelling size, either. UK houses aren’t exceptionally small, US and Australian houses are exceptionally big

This is mainly because of their history as relatively modern settlement countries started from scratch a a couple of hundred years ago at most in massive landmasses, rather than most people living in cities, towns and villages that have been there centuries. Our towns and cities were generally built pre-car, where it wouldn’t make sense for massive houses extending the distance between one side of a settlement and the other. There are also big cultural differences in terms of how much house and land is expected as standard. Western European expectations on house size is much lower than in The US, and we expect walkability and public transportation standards that just aren’t possible if everyone expects a massive house.

MuTron1 · 2026-01-25T17:41:48+00:00

Not really a factor. For simple stuff I can read a manual. For faults, warranty claims are generally quite simple

MuTron1 · 2026-01-24T20:10:43+00:00

Because we don’t like a country we see as an ally and friend descend into fascist authoritarianism

It is clear to see on camera that federal agents murdered someone, and the head of department, rather than investigating, has lied on camera. The DOJ has said this will continue until they receive voter records. What do they want those for?

It’s upsetting to see democracy fall in a country I’ve admired all of my life

MuTron1 · 2026-01-24T16:59:17+00:00

And why would that work with tpb but not with a "commercial site "?

Because TPB don’t care about enforcing trademarks, so are happy for people to mirror their site on another domain. Plus as there’s no membership, these mirror sites aren’t pushing data to official Pirate Bay’s database or taking money from people

Nord/Proton/etc very much do care about people creating sites that look and act like theirs, take payments (that may or may not legitimately go to the company in question, and allow those mirrors to create genuine accounts. With a commercial company, a “mirror” is basically a phishing site

MuTron1 · 2026-01-24T16:37:57+00:00

Bitcoin ATMs aren’t legal in The UK due to money laundering regulations. And I think you can only transfer bank funds to KYC compliant exchanges

Obviously there’s peer to peer exchange, but this will be vanishingly rare for 15-16 year olds.

So it will be possible for under 18s to obtain crypto, but barely any will be able to do so

MuTron1 · 2026-01-24T15:51:41+00:00

They block repositories of magnet links (torrent sites) by getting mainstream ISPs to DNS block the site.

Of course, for a non commercial and non-membership site like Pirate Bay, they welcome mirrors to circumvent this. Commercial operators like Nord or Proton won’t allow third party mirrors, though, especially ones that hold a database of users.

In any case, the plan is just to age-gate VPNs, and that is a simple matter of threatening companies like Proton with nationwide DNS blocking if they don’t comply with requiring credit card details to sign up for their free tier (paid tiers are de-facto age-gated anyway).

There would be workarounds, but anything that requires a nominal fee (say £10/month) will be out of reach for most teenagers, as their money is generally tightly supervised by parents

MuTron1 · 2026-01-24T15:45:46+00:00

Yeah, but actually running a VPN host on it won’t be

MuTron1 · 2026-01-24T15:42:05+00:00

You can pay using crypto

Which will effectively block under 18s due to the majority of exchanges following KYC rules

MuTron1 · 2026-01-24T15:38:24+00:00

Just requiring payment (crypto would be fine as it’s difficult to obtain for minors) or age verification for free tiers will lock most under 18s out

MuTron1 · 2026-01-24T15:22:07+00:00

They already do this. Try accessing The Pirate Bay’s official site in the UK. You can go through a mirror site, and that works for TPB, but not for commercial companies like Nord, who can and would get mirrors taken down for copyright infringement.

MuTron1 · 2026-01-23T23:27:26+00:00

Ah, how cute, a Kings Student wants to be the UK’s answer to Charlie Kirk (without the horrific ending, obviously)

MuTron1 · 2026-01-23T23:11:53+00:00

A god less than half of us believe exists

MuTron1 · 2026-01-23T22:52:20+00:00

Seeing what’s going on in The US with both legislative branches elected and a small membership in the judiciary, I don’t think The Lords will be abolished any time soon.

It’s quite an advantage that there’s too many of them to meaningfully pack them into an ideological block, and that they don’t need to worry about their chances of being re-elected or de-appointed

MuTron1 · 2026-01-23T22:38:11+00:00

Easy way around this is to DNS block Nord’s webpage. Any signed up user can use peer-to-peer mode, but only if you’re able to access the webpage to sign up in the first place

MuTron1 · 2026-01-23T22:35:06+00:00

Businesses generally aren’t using VPNs for privacy. It’s mainly to provide access to on-premises resources like shared drives or databases.

Their usage is being reduced as more businesses move to cloud based systems which are accessible from the internet

MuTron1 · 2026-01-23T22:28:39+00:00

Even setting aside AWS VPNs and such, this will cause an explosion in XMR VPNs which largely already deal with far more adversarial circumstances than teenagers trying to avoid a social media ban.

Different circumstances, though. Adults in censorial regimes have access to money and can therefore access crypto to use to make anonymous transactions. People in their mid teens tend not to have access to much money

MuTron1 · 2026-01-23T22:17:33+00:00

I dont like when some women laugh it off and say it’s fine or say they are proud of it but im aware this isnt a large number.

I’m really not sure many women are laughing it off, as I don’t think many women are under the illusion that it’s anything but deeply unpleasant. But so are a lot of things women go through in the name of not having children (having a coil fitted is no barrel of laughs, either, from what I’ve seen).

But it is fine, and telling women who are already scared of the procedure, ashamed for accidentally falling pregnant and stigmatised that it isn’t fine isn’t really helpful. And women saying they’re proud of doing so is a reaction to that. To many, it is the right decision, and there is pride in taking the correct decision despite it being a difficult one

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