The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The idea that this is some fresh killer point when pooped out by a Yoon for the millionth time is also pretty hot in the self delusion stakes.
And yet you maintain this wilful self deception over the decades. And on it goes
never saw anyone on here mention it at all, all comes from unionists trying to assuage their guilt. Have a look in the mirror.
In the 19th century, Scots were able to run a empire. Now we’re not trusted to run our own country.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Wild edibles are generally extensively available. Of course nobody should ever consume anything they cannot 100% identify given the equally extensive lethal wild plants out there
Lots of things used to be extensively available until they weren't.
It would be difficult to make wild garlic extinct but it would quickly disappear in local woods if enough people picked it.
It’s about proportionality. Some foraged bits and bobs for personal use is fine. Going to the woods to pick huge amounts of say mushrooms to sell to the London restaurant trade much less so. This year I have made nettle beer (one bag of nettle tops) and have gathered elderberries and blackberries (about 1.5kg) to make the king of hedgerow wines. On both picking sites a fraction of the available was taken.
The other thing is this. We eat the and have domesticated the good stuff already. A lot of foraged stuff (not all) is ok but a bit of an acquired taste.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Wild edibles are generally extensively available. Of course nobody should ever consume anything they cannot 100% identify given the equally extensive lethal wild plants out there
Lots of things used to be extensively available until they weren't.
It would be difficult to make wild garlic extinct but it would quickly disappear in local woods if enough people picked it.
Good job not too many of us do then. Wild food makes a good addition to your diet. But I don't encourage others to go a gathering, its a little pleasure for me
As for wild garlic..... Obviously its illegal to dig up the roots of any wild plant unless you have permission of the landowner. Picking the leaves will not affect the wild garlic at all as it will grow back.
We had a request for permission from someone to do some foraging in local woods who also rather cheekily asked if there were any where a specific plant grew.
A quick Google of their name revealed it was actually for a business selling to restaurants.
The specific plant requested only grows in one small patch in the whole of the district as far as we know and hopefully remains there still.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The idea that this is some fresh killer point when pooped out by a Yoon for the millionth time is also pretty hot in the self delusion stakes.
And yet you maintain this wilful self deception over the decades. And on it goes
never saw anyone on here mention it at all, all comes from unionists trying to assuage their guilt. Have a look in the mirror.
In the 19th century, Scots were able to run a empire. Now we’re not trusted to run our own country.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Yup, the UK is the laughing stock of the world after the OSA dropped. It was already bad but this has increased it 10x, our reputation is destroyed globally. I had a guy from Dubai tell me what they would have done with the perpetrators of the crime that mustn't be discussed and he was dumbfounded that the perpetrators haven't all been strung up, a Muslim chap from Dubai not an expat.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
The worst part is that they are law abiding citizens and when they get presented by the age verification barrier (and these are now popping up everywhere, and not always for, err, naked ladies) they are the type who will dutifully enter their details, take a picture of their ID and do the verification video etc... it's their data that's at risk, not ours or anyone else who will simply set their VPN to Switzerland or something.
They are so blind and outmoded that they don't get that the government is targeting them for all of these unnecessary checks and personal data.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Wild edibles are generally extensively available. Of course nobody should ever consume anything they cannot 100% identify given the equally extensive lethal wild plants out there
Lots of things used to be extensively available until they weren't.
It would be difficult to make wild garlic extinct but it would quickly disappear in local woods if enough people picked it.
Good job not too many of us do then. Wild food makes a good addition to your diet. But I don't encourage others to go a gathering, its a little pleasure for me
As for wild garlic..... Obviously its illegal to dig up the roots of any wild plant unless you have permission of the landowner. Picking the leaves will not affect the wild garlic at all as it will grow back.
We had a request for permission from someone to do some foraging in local woods who also rather cheekily asked if there were any where a specific plant grew.
A quick Google of their name revealed it was actually for a business selling to restaurants.
The specific plant requested only grows in one small patch in the whole of the district as far as we know and hopefully remains there still.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Not sure we ever did. The last conviction for blasphemy was in 1977. There was never a golden age.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
I'll ask you the same question, why are young kids being given unsupervised access to internet connected devices? What of parental responsibility?
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
I'll ask you the same question, why are young kids being given unsupervised access to internet connected devices? What of parental responsibility?
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Yup, the UK is the laughing stock of the world after the OSA dropped. It was already bad but this has increased it 10x, our reputation is destroyed globally. I had a guy from Dubai tell me what they would have done with the perpetrators of the crime that mustn't be discussed and he was dumbfounded that the perpetrators haven't all been strung up, a Muslim chap from Dubai not an expat.
DESTROYED
I think most people recognise that something is going seriously wrong with the COVID generation. The sentiment, at least, has got widespread support in the UK and likely the world, however impotent the application.
You need to step outside the techbro bubble occasionally. Polling is available.
(I am not a fan of the OSA because of the issues it's posed to some of my favourite forums, but I recognise it's popularity).
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Not sure we ever did. The last conviction for blasphemy was in 1977. There was never a golden age.
No one ever claimed complete freedom of speech. Religion has been down on wrongthink since it started. But most of the time, you can mostly say what you want. But not without limits.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
I'll ask you the same question, why are young kids being given unsupervised access to internet connected devices? What of parental responsibility?
Oh come, parents need a break and handing over the device is an easy way to get ten minutes of peace.*
*I don’t do this with our two year old, I stick Bob the Builder on…**
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
I'll ask you the same question, why are young kids being given unsupervised access to internet connected devices? What of parental responsibility?
As a parent who has brought up a child single handed, I'd say it is virtually impossible to supervise a child's internet access at all times. Of course parents need to be responsible, but they need society to play along too.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
Lol. Know your way around a VPN indeed. I should cocoa.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
I'll ask you the same question, why are young kids being given unsupervised access to internet connected devices? What of parental responsibility?
Because, sadly, not all parents are as responsible as they should be.
It's the same as the argument against free school meals, or for the benefit cap. In each case, if all parents were fully responsible, loving people, there wouldn't be a need for the state to intervene. Until we reach that blessed situation, there is.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
The worst part is that they are law abiding citizens and when they get presented by the age verification barrier (and these are now popping up everywhere, and not always for, err, naked ladies) they are the type who will dutifully enter their details, take a picture of their ID and do the verification video etc... it's their data that's at risk, not ours or anyone else who will simply set their VPN to Switzerland or something.
They are so blind and outmoded that they don't get that the government is targeting them for all of these unnecessary checks and personal data.
And of course personal data never leaks...
Certainly not when it passes through a VPN.
Clueless.
Its actually another serious point. Pushing people to VPNs opens a whole other more dangerous angle. They are trivial to use, what happens to your data, now that is an interesting question. Our government ministers using these public commercial products for "security" are morons.
I bet China, Russia and North Korean share these stories among their intelligence groups and piss themselves laughing.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
Lol. Know your way around a VPN indeed. I should cocoa.
Being able to use a VPN isn't exactly the peak of technical sophistication.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
Individuals can ignore the law, companies can't. Are you actually a real Lib Dem or just one of those Labour supporters who pretends to be a Lib Dem because it makes you feel better.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
I'll ask you the same question, why are young kids being given unsupervised access to internet connected devices? What of parental responsibility?
Oh come, parents need a break and handing over the device is an easy way to get ten minutes of peace.*
*I don’t do this with our two year old, I stick Bob the Builder on…**
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Yup, the UK is the laughing stock of the world after the OSA dropped. It was already bad but this has increased it 10x, our reputation is destroyed globally. I had a guy from Dubai tell me what they would have done with the perpetrators of the crime that mustn't be discussed and he was dumbfounded that the perpetrators haven't all been strung up, a Muslim chap from Dubai not an expat.
Considering that Dubai is packed to the gills with young women groomed and trafficked into the sextrade to service older, often muslim men he might want to remove the beam from his own eye before picking at the mote in ours.
And while he is at it might want to do something about the drug money laundering.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
I'll ask you the same question, why are young kids being given unsupervised access to internet connected devices? What of parental responsibility?
Because, sadly, not all parents are as responsible as they should be.
It's the same as the argument against free school meals, or for the benefit cap. In each case, if all parents were fully responsible, loving people, there wouldn't be a need for the state to intervene. Until we reach that blessed situation, there is.
Then let's tackle that problem with big public information campaigns about the dangers of unsupervised access to internet devices for kids. Again, as a parent I've literally never seen any official advice on this or any resources for parents who want to know more. Why not run online safety ads during primetime TV? The message is pretty simple too. Don't give your 6 year old your unlocked phone.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
The worst part is that they are law abiding citizens and when they get presented by the age verification barrier (and these are now popping up everywhere, and not always for, err, naked ladies) they are the type who will dutifully enter their details, take a picture of their ID and do the verification video etc... it's their data that's at risk, not ours or anyone else who will simply set their VPN to Switzerland or something.
They are so blind and outmoded that they don't get that the government is targeting them for all of these unnecessary checks and personal data.
And of course personal data never leaks...
Definitely never, not at all, doesn’t happen.
Meanwhile, every investigative journalist in the country is out looking for lists of famous people who have done things the ‘right’ way and sent their ID to the ‘adult’ sites.
I’ll take a bet on at least one MP being ‘exposed’ by the end of the summer.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If the politicians are managing to install VPNs, I back any teenager to do it.
You truly think "teenagers can use VPNs" means it's futile to try and better regulate the internet?
Yes, make parents take responsibility for their kids. Maybe have a campaign on how dangerous it is to give young children unsupervised access to internet connected devices rather. It's literally pointless because those who want to get around the blocks will find a way and the law abiding citizen suddenly has their government ID, video verifications and details of which websites they have verified with stored somewhere which is an absolutely huge security and potential blackmail risk.
The downsides to the OSA are absolutely huge and the upsides are completely illusory.
OSA - King Canute aberration, will fall into disrepute and be repealed.
OSA - Imperfect initial implementation, will be improved and built upon, becomes accepted as a positive reform.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Not sure we ever did. The last conviction for blasphemy was in 1977. There was never a golden age.
No one ever claimed complete freedom of speech. Religion has been down on wrongthink since it started. But most of the time, you can mostly say what you want. But not without limits.
Theatre in this country was subject to state censorship until 1968. The idea of Britain as some eternally shining beacon of free expression is one of those national myths we like to tell ourselves, but which doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. This is not to give Sir Keir a free pass, of course - merely to point out he's just the latest in a long and inglorious tradition.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
Individuals can ignore the law, companies can't. Are you actually a real Lib Dem or just one of those Labour supporters who pretends to be a Lib Dem because it makes you feel better.
I am a Lib Dem. I left the Labour Party over 20 years ago and don't expect to ever vote for them again. I doo have sympathies with the Greens too, and some of the Independents like Shockhat Adam.
OSA - Imperfect initial implementation, will be improved and built upon, becomes accepted as a positive reform.
But why do it now? Right now the official UK government position is "just hand your personal data to any random company that asks for it", this is a 180 degree turn from about a decade of the government saying "never give websites personal data".
It's stupefyingly bad policy. If you wanted to guarantee the abuse of PII this is exactly the sort of stupid stuff you would endorse.
Ofcom should have said we need to wait for better technical solutions*. But Ofcom doesn't seem to feel pointing out the stupidity of the policy is their duty.
* Use a digital wallet to enrole an electronic version of a government issued document on a device, and then present a zero-knowledge proof of age derived from that, and allow it to be set as a per app/site or system-wide permission. This is what Apple and Google want to offer.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
Lol. Know your way around a VPN indeed. I should cocoa.
Being able to use a VPN isn't exactly the peak of technical sophistication.
Well TBF he knows his way around a VPN "and so forth" ... which hints at vastly more esoteric things.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
Sure, it needs improvement, but finally we have a willingness to address the issue, and it is popular.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
Sure, it needs improvement, but finally we have a willingness to address the issue, and it is popular.
No it needs scraping and starting again. "Needs improvement" is just code for even more restrictions across the board e.g. better start with licencing VPNs.
Corbyn's Communist Cable Company was popular policy, but another terrible tech idea.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Not sure we ever did. The last conviction for blasphemy was in 1977. There was never a golden age.
2001. The gov't getting back in for the grand loss of 6 whole seats indicates people were pretty content with their lot. Interest rates were a touch higher than now but coming down, houses were actually affordable before the rocketing prices of 2003 odd (In real terms); tuition fees were a thing but affordable and not going to land the holders in a lifetime of debt. University was fun, rents were affordable. The music wasn't quite as good as a few years earlier but festivals were again... affordable. You could have 2002 too or the late 90s (Worse economics, better music) and 2012 was the best year since. Immigration wasn't a big issue. The whole vibe was just... relaxed..
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
Sure, it needs improvement, but finally we have a willingness to address the issue, and it is popular.
The death penalty is popular. Deporting millions of migrants is popular
Funny how you only use this argument when it suits
OSA - Imperfect initial implementation, will be improved and built upon, becomes accepted as a positive reform.
But why do it now? Right now the official UK government position is "just hand your personal data to any random company that asks for it", this is a 180 degree turn from about a decade of the government saying "never give websites personal data".
It's stupefyingly bad policy. If you wanted to guarantee the abuse of PII this is exactly the sort of stupid stuff you would endorse.
Ofcom should have said we need to wait for better technical solutions*. But Ofcom doesn't seem to feel pointing out the stupidity of the policy is their duty.
* Use a digital wallet to enrole an electronic version of a government issued document on a device, and then present a zero-knowledge proof of age derived from that, and allow it to be set as a per app/site or system-wide permission. This is what Apple and Google want to offer.
Indeed, and it's law abiding citizen that will get the data stolen and exploited by these dodgy third party verification players.
It's the same as the train companies pursuing people who buy the wrong type of ticket at the machine through the courts because they didn't pay the full fare while ignoring rampant fare evasion at the barriers. Law abiding citizens who get confused by the myriad of ticketing options are chased through the courts while law breakers get away with it. This is no different.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Wild edibles are generally extensively available. Of course nobody should ever consume anything they cannot 100% identify given the equally extensive lethal wild plants out there
If you go to the correct part of the Flatland (ie hedgerows around Bradwell) after a summer like this you will be able to forage wheelbarrowfuls of damsons.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
Sure, it needs improvement, but finally we have a willingness to address the issue, and it is popular.
No it just needs to be junked and we concentrate on parental education schemes and adverts. The internet is like a gigantic burning wildfire and the government has got a watering can and thinks it can put out the flames. The only way to do it is to have a great firewall like China and outlaw VPN usage, like China.
We can and should target companies who abuse their privileged position of selling products and services to children such as games and social media for much tougher restrictions because that's actually feasible and something we can do. Telling game publishers that they can no longer sell mystery boxes or use gambling mechanics is easy, countries around the world are already doing it and succeeding against these unscrupulous game publishers.
Forcing social media companies to open up their doom scrolling algorithms and auditing them to make sure kids aren't being served content that will lead them to commit suicide or engage in self harm etc... is also something we can do. We could feasibly ban social media for under 16s given how much those companies know about us based on likes and engagement. YouTube is about to test a new AI detection to selectively ask for age verification to users who it suspects are under 18. I wouldn't be surprised if it has a very, very good hit rate.
The OSA isn't fit for purpose, there is no amount of tinkering or improving that can make it feasible. You lack the knowledge and understanding just like those civil servants. The reason I go to the doctor when I'm sick is because I lack the knowledge of medicine.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
Sure, it needs improvement, but finally we have a willingness to address the issue, and it is popular.
The death penalty is popular. Deporting millions of migrants is popular
Funny how you only use this argument when it suits
Rejoining the EU is popular, Starmer calling Trump a c*nt to his face is popular etc. *withdraws from tedious circular argument*
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
The sad thing is there probably are people in Ofcom saying "boss this is nonsense, it flies in the face of all our previous campaigns about protecting personal data, we need better technical solutions first". Unfortunately the government/Ofcom won't wait, and "something must be done" has prevailed as usual. I do not believe that anyone competent actually thinks "this is a good approach". Even if you think age verification is a good idea, which I do have some sympathy for, they way it is being tackled is a pig's breakfast and simply not good enough.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
Sure, it needs improvement, but finally we have a willingness to address the issue, and it is popular.
The death penalty is popular. Deporting millions of migrants is popular
Funny how you only use this argument when it suits
Rejoining the EU is popular, Starmer calling Trump a c*nt to his face is popular etc. *withdraws from tedious circular argument*
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
The sad thing is there probably are people in Ofcom saying "boss this is nonsense, it flies in the face of all our previous campaigns about protecting personal data, we need better technical solutions first". Unfortunately the government/Ofcom won't wait, and "something must be done" has prevailed as usual. I do not believe that anyone competent actually thinks "this is a good approach". Even if you think age verification is a good idea, which I do have some sympathy for, they way it is being tackled is a pig's breakfast and simply not good enough.
Given what's actually in the act, I don't think that's the case. Or maybe a few low level grunts raised objections and we're ignored. The civil service isn't fit for purpose and this is just another example of why.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Yes, that's more the point, I think. Obviously any teenage lad with a bit of technical nous will likely be able to circumvent the checks, but it will at least help to prevent very young kids from accidentally stumbling across adult material.
I'll ask you the same question, why are young kids being given unsupervised access to internet connected devices? What of parental responsibility?
Oh come, parents need a break and handing over the device is an easy way to get ten minutes of peace.*
*I don’t do this with our two year old, I stick Bob the Builder on…**
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
Being born in 72 I missed the excitement of the moon landings but was prime for the shuttle in 1981. Incredible to look back now -just 12 years from ‘One small step’ to the shuttle. But the shuttle dream died and we haven’t (yet) been back to the moon (with people, at any rate). There has been some stunning stuff with the planetary explorers and the Mars rovers. But you sense we are on the cusp of a new race.
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
It's time to go back to the moon.
Tonight? I need a bit more warning than that, ideally.
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
It's time to go back to the moon.
I'm quite surprised Trump hasn't made a bigger thing of trying.
It is just the kind of thing he could make noise about, though of course relations with SpaceX might be difficult...
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If the politicians are managing to install VPNs, I back any teenager to do it.
You truly think "teenagers can use VPNs" means it's futile to try and better regulate the internet?
Yes, make parents take responsibility for their kids. Maybe have a campaign on how dangerous it is to give young children unsupervised access to internet connected devices rather. It's literally pointless because those who want to get around the blocks will find a way and the law abiding citizen suddenly has their government ID, video verifications and details of which websites they have verified with stored somewhere which is an absolutely huge security and potential blackmail risk.
The downsides to the OSA are absolutely huge and the upsides are completely illusory.
OSA - King Canute aberration, will fall into disrepute and be repealed.
OSA - Imperfect initial implementation, will be improved and built upon, becomes accepted as a positive reform.
We will see but my sense is the second.
Worse its a third option.
OSA - Farcical bad policy, an absurdity that will do nothing positive, much negative, but never gets repealed.
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The British Empire was often Global Scotland.
Keep kidding yourself, the money went to London , the Scots as like the army were the workhorses to make England rich.
No shortage of very nice big stone 19thC villas in the more favoured parts of Scotland, Malc. The money came from somewhere.
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The British Empire was often Global Scotland.
Keep kidding yourself, the money went to London , the Scots as like the army were the workhorses to make England rich.
No shortage of very nice big stone 19thC villas in the more favoured parts of Scotland, Malc. The money came from somewhere.
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The idea that this is some fresh killer point when pooped out by a Yoon for the millionth time is also pretty hot in the self delusion stakes.
And yet you maintain this wilful self deception over the decades. And on it goes
never saw anyone on here mention it at all, all comes from unionists trying to assuage their guilt. Have a look in the mirror.
In the 19th century, Scots were able to run a empire. Now we’re not trusted to run our own country.
We voted no. We didn't trust Wee Eck to the run the Country, and we were so right.
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
It's time to go back to the moon.
Back ? I've never been,
Alien Earth, btw, is weird. Retains oddly retro late 70s stuff, along with the not quite so retro new stuff.
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The British Empire was often Global Scotland.
Keep kidding yourself, the money went to London , the Scots as like the army were the workhorses to make England rich.
No shortage of very nice big stone 19thC villas in the more favoured parts of Scotland, Malc. The money came from somewhere.
One would hardly believe this is from the same lot as the Yank loan pilot on the Catalina patrol flying boat who spotted the Bismarck at a critical moment.
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
It's time to go back to the moon.
I'm quite surprised Trump hasn't made a bigger thing of trying.
It is just the kind of thing he could make noise about, though of course relations with SpaceX might be difficult...
I dunno, having all the world's attention on three men in a tin can hurtling to the moon rather than on him might be too much.
One would hardly believe this is from the same lot as the Yank loan pilot on the Catalina patrol flying boat who spotted the Bismarck at a critical moment.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Not sure we ever did. The last conviction for blasphemy was in 1977. There was never a golden age.
Yes there was. About 1985-2010
And no blasphmeny law in the 20th century ever sent a teacher into hiding, for his life, with his family. Now, it does, de facto
One would hardly believe this is from the same lot as the Yank loan pilot on the Catalina patrol flying boat who spotted the Bismarck at a critical moment.
Trump would be tweeting about how Britain wasn’t suitably grateful for a bunch of shagged out 4 stack destroyers and sinking the Bismarck was an unacceptable act of aggression.
Frankly the OSA impact on online porn is nothing. I’m much more upset that by its chilling impact on online discussion on PB where certain topics are verboten. I understand the reasons and support the site owner(s) but it’s a dreadful state of affairs in a country with a reputation for supporting freedom of speech.
Er, we don’t have that reputation any more
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
Not sure we ever did. The last conviction for blasphemy was in 1977. There was never a golden age.
Yes there was. About 1985-2010
And no blasphemy law in the 20th century ever sent a teacher into hiding, for his life, with his family. Now, it does, de facto
"I investigated London's Shari'a law "no go zones", here's what really happened"
Thank-you for that link. I'm interested in reactions to this. To me the BBC are being glass-jawed:
1 - it's a free speech issue, 2 - Jenrick IS precisely driven by xenophobia as a core value (or at least a core "expressed value" as he conceivably may not believe it and be pandering to his beliefs about voters.) 3 - Jenrick misrepresented what the TFTD speaker said * .
The BBC should imo have backed their speaker. They should have told Jenrick (politely) to stop being a pathetic special snowflake, and to take a running jump.
* From the article linked. Xenophobia is not the same as racism. What the speaker said: "Kandiah quoted from the Mail on Sunday. “[Jenrick] said: ‘I certainly don’t want my children to share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally, and about whom we know next to nothing.’ These words echo a fear many have absorbed. Fear of the stranger. The technical name for this is xenophobia.”"
* Jenrick on Twitter: On BBC Radio 4 this morning listeners were told that if you're concerned about the threat of illegal migrants to your kids, you're racist.
#Trump will offer #Putin access to Alaska's mineral resources and "lifting some of the American sanctions on Russia's aviation industry", allowing Moscow access to crucial spare parts, in exchange for ending the war on #Ukraine on terms unspecified.
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The idea that this is some fresh killer point when pooped out by a Yoon for the millionth time is also pretty hot in the self delusion stakes.
And yet you maintain this wilful self deception over the decades. And on it goes
never saw anyone on here mention it at all, all comes from unionists trying to assuage their guilt. Have a look in the mirror.
In the 19th century, Scots were able to run a empire. Now we’re not trusted to run our own country.
Don’t be down on yourselves
Your not trusted to run an off road camper van these days….
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
It's time to go back to the moon.
I'm quite surprised Trump hasn't made a bigger thing of trying.
It is just the kind of thing he could make noise about, though of course relations with SpaceX might be difficult...
I dunno, having all the world's attention on three men in a tin can hurtling to the moon rather than on him might be too much.
What if he was there to claim the moon for The United States The Trump Organization?
He could open a golf course and genuinely claim a 300 yard driving average.
The Bulwark @BulwarkOnline · 4h Trump: "We're going to need a crime bill that we're going to be putting in and it's going to pertain initially to D.C...We're going to be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions because you can't have 30 days...Republicans in Congress will approve."
#Trump will offer #Putin access to Alaska's mineral resources and "lifting some of the American sanctions on Russia's aviation industry", allowing Moscow access to crucial spare parts, in exchange for ending the war on #Ukraine on terms unspecified.
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
It's time to go back to the moon.
I'm quite surprised Trump hasn't made a bigger thing of trying.
It is just the kind of thing he could make noise about, though of course relations with SpaceX might be difficult...
I dunno, having all the world's attention on three men in a tin can hurtling to the moon rather than on him might be too much.
What if he was there to claim the moon for The United States The Trump Organization?
He could open a golf course and genuinely claim a 300 yard driving average.
Didn't one of the apollo crews actually play golf on the moon?
#Trump will offer #Putin access to Alaska's mineral resources and "lifting some of the American sanctions on Russia's aviation industry", allowing Moscow access to crucial spare parts, in exchange for ending the war on #Ukraine on terms unspecified.
Ah schrodinger's OSA that is simultaneously trivially easy to get around and dealing a fatal blow to our freedom of speech and tech industry.
The problem for the tech industry is the potential liabilities when Ofcom goes looking for some inevitable failures by the big tech companies. Of course all the non-UK sites won't face these issues. It'll just be the companies Ofcom wants to make an example of. This will almost certainly be bad for the tech industry in the UK.
The worst part is that it doesn't even tackle social media or gambling mechanics in games aimed at kids. Both of these are far, far worse than anything the OSA is trying to prevent. Or the literal paedos in Roblox grooming kids that Roblox are doing nothing to prevent, indeed, they're actively pursuing the paedo catchers in the courts to prevent them exposing how bad it's become.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
Sure, it needs improvement, but finally we have a willingness to address the issue, and it is popular.
The death penalty is popular. Deporting millions of migrants is popular
Funny how you only use this argument when it suits
Rejoining the EU is popular, Starmer calling Trump a c*nt to his face is popular etc. *withdraws from tedious circular argument*
And we had a referendum on the first, indeed two referendums
I would welcome a referendum on the death penelty. Do it
One would hardly believe this is from the same lot as the Yank loan pilot on the Catalina patrol flying boat who spotted the Bismarck at a critical moment.
Trump would be tweeting about how Britain wasn’t suitably grateful for a bunch of shagged out 4 stack destroyers and sinking the Bismarck was an unacceptable act of aggression.
The old four stackers actually worked out well - especially after the conversions of the aft boiler rooms to fuel storage.
One area Id say is better now than at any point in my lifetime (81 onwards) is the promise of space. Sure, there's been a few mishaps but big picture it's in the best position it's been in since Apollo imo
It's time to go back to the moon.
I'm quite surprised Trump hasn't made a bigger thing of trying.
It is just the kind of thing he could make noise about, though of course relations with SpaceX might be difficult...
I dunno, having all the world's attention on three men in a tin can hurtling to the moon rather than on him might be too much.
What if he was there to claim the moon for The United States The Trump Organization?
He could open a golf course and genuinely claim a 300 yard driving average.
Didn't one of the apollo crews actually play golf on the moon?
Yes, Alan Shepard had a go at it during one of the later missions when everyone had got bored with the whole Apollo thing.
I think it was mainly just to make a few headlines.
It was a bit difficult in the space suits of the time so the ball didn't actually go far but we could probably do better than those clunky things now.
The pro-Scottish independence actor turned down a part in the film before being persuaded to appear by its star Mel Gibson
Scotland’s greatest living male actor has finally admitted what the rest of the world suspected — Braveheart is “bollocks”.
Brian Cox, who agreed to star in the 1995 Oscar-winning film after repeated entreaties from its director and star Mel Gibson, said the script was “crap” and that liberties were taken with historical accuracy.
“The film is just bollocks. It doesn’t make any sense,” the 79-year-old actor told the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Cox revealed that he had initially turned down Braveheart, instead opting to perform in Rob Roy — another Scottish historical epic that was due to be shot at the same time.
He said Gibson then pleaded with him to take a part in the film and Cox finally relented.
“I said, well, there is a very good part at the beginning, a guy called Argyle but I’m wrong for him because he should be cadaverous and thin. And he [Gibson] said: “No, you can play it.”
Cox added: “I just didn’t want to be in a kilt. Of course they didn’t have kilts in those days but they had to have kilts [in the film] because that is what it is about.”
In response to questioning from film critic Mark Kermode, Cox agreed the film was “tosh-like”, adding: “It is a f***ing lie, the whole thing.”
Braveheart, which won the best picture Oscar, has been lauded by generations of Scottish nationalist politicians, with the late Alex Salmond’s Alba Party even channelling the film in a 2021 campaign advert.
At its premiere in 1995, Salmond — in reference to the film’s central character William Wallace being hung, drawn and quartered in London — said he would “decapitate” his then political opponent, Michael Forsyth.
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The British Empire was often Global Scotland.
Keep kidding yourself, the money went to London , the Scots as like the army were the workhorses to make England rich.
No shortage of very nice big stone 19thC villas in the more favoured parts of Scotland, Malc. The money came from somewhere.
The pro-Scottish independence actor turned down a part in the film before being persuaded to appear by its star Mel Gibson
Scotland’s greatest living male actor has finally admitted what the rest of the world suspected — Braveheart is “bollocks”.
Brian Cox, who agreed to star in the 1995 Oscar-winning film after repeated entreaties from its director and star Mel Gibson, said the script was “crap” and that liberties were taken with historical accuracy.
“The film is just bollocks. It doesn’t make any sense,” the 79-year-old actor told the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Cox revealed that he had initially turned down Braveheart, instead opting to perform in Rob Roy — another Scottish historical epic that was due to be shot at the same time.
He said Gibson then pleaded with him to take a part in the film and Cox finally relented.
“I said, well, there is a very good part at the beginning, a guy called Argyle but I’m wrong for him because he should be cadaverous and thin. And he [Gibson] said: “No, you can play it.”
Cox added: “I just didn’t want to be in a kilt. Of course they didn’t have kilts in those days but they had to have kilts [in the film] because that is what it is about.”
In response to questioning from film critic Mark Kermode, Cox agreed the film was “tosh-like”, adding: “It is a f***ing lie, the whole thing.”
Braveheart, which won the best picture Oscar, has been lauded by generations of Scottish nationalist politicians, with the late Alex Salmond’s Alba Party even channelling the film in a 2021 campaign advert.
At its premiere in 1995, Salmond — in reference to the film’s central character William Wallace being hung, drawn and quartered in London — said he would “decapitate” his then political opponent, Michael Forsyth.
Braveheart is a really really fine movie. Yes it's historically garbage and full of nonsense, but my God it is stirring, and it deserved an Oscar. Mel Gibson is a genius storyteller
And yet Rob Roy is EVEN BETTER.. A masterpiece, much neglected
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The British Empire was often Global Scotland.
Keep kidding yourself, the money went to London , the Scots as like the army were the workhorses to make England rich.
No shortage of very nice big stone 19thC villas in the more favoured parts of Scotland, Malc. The money came from somewhere.
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The British Empire was often Global Scotland.
Keep kidding yourself, the money went to London , the Scots as like the army were the workhorses to make England rich.
Scotland is still getting more money than it deserves from English taxpayers.
How galling it must be that it’s the people you voted for who enacted this set up and are shit scared to change it.
#Trump will offer #Putin access to Alaska's mineral resources and "lifting some of the American sanctions on Russia's aviation industry", allowing Moscow access to crucial spare parts, in exchange for ending the war on #Ukraine on terms unspecified.
In truth, a temporary pause and today's rain really only affected parts of the south east including London. It was 33c in York for example but never mind letting the facts get in the way of the Telegraph spouting an anti-BBC story.
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice HUGE “HISTORIC” EVENT — THURSDAY 11:30AM PACIFIC IN LOS ANGELES!!! A “BEAUTIFUL RALLY” / PRESS CONFERENCE WITH GAVIN CHRISTOPHER NEWSOM & STRONG DEMS. DEMOCRATS WILL DESTROY GREG ABBOTT’S “TOTALLY RIGGED MAPS.” TREMENDOUS WORK IS BEING DONE. DONALD TRUMP (THE CRIMINAL PRESIDENT) GET READY FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PAYBACK YOU’VE EVER SEEN!!! COULD BE THE WORST DAY OF YOUR LIFE AS YOUR PRESIDENCY ENDS (DEMS RETAKE CONGRESS!). AMERICA WILL BE LIBERATED — “LIBERATION DAY” MANY ARE CALLING IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN
Comments
This year I have made nettle beer (one bag of nettle tops) and have gathered elderberries and blackberries (about 1.5kg) to make the king of hedgerow wines. On both picking sites a fraction of the available was taken.
The other thing is this. We eat the and have domesticated the good stuff already. A lot of foraged stuff (not all) is ok but a bit of an acquired taste.
Jenrick accused of Xenophobia on the BBC.....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dxqwkwx5qo
A quick Google of their name revealed it was actually for a business selling to restaurants.
The specific plant requested only grows in one small patch in the whole of the district as far as we know and hopefully remains there still.
Obviously both requests were refused.
We are literally laughed at, online, as the country where you get arrested and jailed for naughty tweets. Laughed at by everyone, worldwide
I think most people recognise that something is going seriously wrong with the COVID generation. The sentiment, at least, has got widespread support in the UK and likely the world, however impotent the application.
You need to step outside the techbro bubble occasionally. Polling is available.
(I am not a fan of the OSA because of the issues it's posed to some of my favourite forums, but I recognise it's popularity).
*I don’t do this with our two year old, I stick Bob the Builder on…**
**Will Bob and Wendy ever get it on?
It's the same as the argument against free school meals, or for the benefit cap. In each case, if all parents were fully responsible, loving people, there wouldn't be a need for the state to intervene. Until we reach that blessed situation, there is.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyvn6r682lmo
Its actually another serious point. Pushing people to VPNs opens a whole other more dangerous angle. They are trivial to use, what happens to your data, now that is an interesting question. Our government ministers using these public commercial products for "security" are morons.
I bet China, Russia and North Korean share these stories among their intelligence groups and piss themselves laughing.
And while he is at it might want to do something about the drug money laundering.
Meanwhile, every investigative journalist in the country is out looking for lists of famous people who have done things the ‘right’ way and sent their ID to the ‘adult’ sites.
I’ll take a bet on at least one MP being ‘exposed’ by the end of the summer.
OSA - Imperfect initial implementation, will be improved and built upon, becomes accepted as a positive reform.
We will see but my sense is the second.
Look out for a knock at the door, Malc.
The OSA has been written by complete tech illiterates in the civil service and the UK is becoming a laughing stock.
It's stupefyingly bad policy. If you wanted to guarantee the abuse of PII this is exactly the sort of stupid stuff you would endorse.
Ofcom should have said we need to wait for better technical solutions*. But Ofcom doesn't seem to feel pointing out the stupidity of the policy is their duty.
* Use a digital wallet to enrole an electronic version of a government issued document on a device, and then present a zero-knowledge proof of age derived from that, and allow it to be set as a per app/site or system-wide permission. This is what Apple and Google want to offer.
Corbyn's Communist Cable Company was popular policy, but another terrible tech idea.
Immigration wasn't a big issue. The whole vibe was just... relaxed..
Funny how you only use this argument when it suits
It's the same as the train companies pursuing people who buy the wrong type of ticket at the machine through the courts because they didn't pay the full fare while ignoring rampant fare evasion at the barriers. Law abiding citizens who get confused by the myriad of ticketing options are chased through the courts while law breakers get away with it. This is no different.
History tells us there is a lot of inertia once a law has been passed. For politicians, they did something, onto the next thing to cock up.
We can and should target companies who abuse their privileged position of selling products and services to children such as games and social media for much tougher restrictions because that's actually feasible and something we can do. Telling game publishers that they can no longer sell mystery boxes or use gambling mechanics is easy, countries around the world are already doing it and succeeding against these unscrupulous game publishers.
Forcing social media companies to open up their doom scrolling algorithms and auditing them to make sure kids aren't being served content that will lead them to commit suicide or engage in self harm etc... is also something we can do. We could feasibly ban social media for under 16s given how much those companies know about us based on likes and engagement. YouTube is about to test a new AI detection to selectively ask for age verification to users who it suspects are under 18. I wouldn't be surprised if it has a very, very good hit rate.
The OSA isn't fit for purpose, there is no amount of tinkering or improving that can make it feasible. You lack the knowledge and understanding just like those civil servants. The reason I go to the doctor when I'm sick is because I lack the knowledge of medicine.
*withdraws from tedious circular argument*
No 55%
Yes 45%
It is just the kind of thing he could make noise about, though of course relations with SpaceX might be difficult...
OSA - Farcical bad policy, an absurdity that will do nothing positive, much negative, but never gets repealed.
https://x.com/krassenstein/status/1955604901733843189?s=61
I've never been,
Alien Earth, btw, is weird.
Retains oddly retro late 70s stuff, along with the not quite so retro new stuff.
A bit incoherent.
Fun so far, though.
President Trump tells me Russia will face consequences if Putin does not agree to stop fighting in Ukraine after their meeting on Friday.
https://x.com/MikeCarterTV/status/1955667598219305425
And no blasphmeny law in the 20th century ever sent a teacher into hiding, for his life, with his family. Now, it does, de facto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhQbh_bRCuw
1 - it's a free speech issue,
2 - Jenrick IS precisely driven by xenophobia as a core value (or at least a core "expressed value" as he conceivably may not believe it and be pandering to his beliefs about voters.)
3 - Jenrick misrepresented what the TFTD speaker said * .
The BBC should imo have backed their speaker. They should have told Jenrick (politely) to stop being a pathetic special snowflake, and to take a running jump.
* From the article linked. Xenophobia is not the same as racism. What the speaker said:
"Kandiah quoted from the Mail on Sunday. “[Jenrick] said: ‘I certainly don’t want my children to share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally, and about whom we know next to nothing.’ These words echo a fear many have absorbed. Fear of the stranger. The technical name for this is xenophobia.”"
* Jenrick on Twitter:
On BBC Radio 4 this morning listeners were told that if you're concerned about the threat of illegal migrants to your kids, you're racist.
#Trump will offer #Putin access to Alaska's mineral resources and "lifting some of the American sanctions on Russia's aviation industry", allowing Moscow access to crucial spare parts, in exchange for ending the war on #Ukraine on terms unspecified.
https://x.com/KyleWOrton/status/1955725948407414807
Your not trusted to run an off road camper van these days….
The United StatesThe Trump Organization?He could open a golf course and genuinely claim a 300 yard driving average.
The Bulwark
@BulwarkOnline
·
4h
Trump: "We're going to need a crime bill that we're going to be putting in and it's going to pertain initially to D.C...We're going to be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions because you can't have 30 days...Republicans in Congress will approve."
https://x.com/BulwarkOnline/status/1955664135360049273
*There’s the actual H class designs and then there are the sketches that happened after Dr Morrel gave Mr 18 one too many injections.
LOL.
As in Putin hasn't told him what he'll accept yet.
I would welcome a referendum on the death penelty. Do it
I think it was mainly just to make a few headlines.
It was a bit difficult in the space suits of the time so the ball didn't actually go far but we could probably do better than those clunky things now.
https://www.kbismarck.com/painting15.jpg
Braveheart is a load of bollocks, says Brian Cox
The pro-Scottish independence actor turned down a part in the film before being persuaded to appear by its star Mel Gibson
Scotland’s greatest living male actor has finally admitted what the rest of the world suspected — Braveheart is “bollocks”.
Brian Cox, who agreed to star in the 1995 Oscar-winning film after repeated entreaties from its director and star Mel Gibson, said the script was “crap” and that liberties were taken with historical accuracy.
“The film is just bollocks. It doesn’t make any sense,” the 79-year-old actor told the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Cox revealed that he had initially turned down Braveheart, instead opting to perform in Rob Roy — another Scottish historical epic that was due to be shot at the same time.
He said Gibson then pleaded with him to take a part in the film and Cox finally relented.
“I said, well, there is a very good part at the beginning, a guy called Argyle but I’m wrong for him because he should be cadaverous and thin. And he [Gibson] said: “No, you can play it.”
Cox added: “I just didn’t want to be in a kilt. Of course they didn’t have kilts in those days but they had to have kilts [in the film] because that is what it is about.”
In response to questioning from film critic Mark Kermode, Cox agreed the film was “tosh-like”, adding: “It is a f***ing lie, the whole thing.”
Braveheart, which won the best picture Oscar, has been lauded by generations of Scottish nationalist politicians, with the late Alex Salmond’s Alba Party even channelling the film in a 2021 campaign advert.
At its premiere in 1995, Salmond — in reference to the film’s central character William Wallace being hung, drawn and quartered in London — said he would “decapitate” his then political opponent, Michael Forsyth.
https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/braveheart-film-bollocks-brian-cox-edinburgh-festival-dkvlv5203?t=1755118506484
Braveheart is a really really fine movie. Yes it's historically garbage and full of nonsense, but my God it is stirring, and it deserved an Oscar. Mel Gibson is a genius storyteller
And yet Rob Roy is EVEN BETTER.. A masterpiece, much neglected
Fourth heatwave of the summer broken by downpour in spite of ‘blue skies’ forecast"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/13/bbc-fails-predict-heavy-rain-during-heatwave
Which, to be fair, they were.
Terminally naive malignant narcissist, or actual Russian agent ?
For the south east, back to 30c by Friday.
2-0 up with 5 minutes to go.
Concede 2 late goals.
Lose on penalties.
“Spursy” ✅
@GovPressOffice
HUGE “HISTORIC” EVENT — THURSDAY 11:30AM PACIFIC IN LOS ANGELES!!! A “BEAUTIFUL RALLY” / PRESS CONFERENCE WITH GAVIN CHRISTOPHER NEWSOM & STRONG DEMS. DEMOCRATS WILL DESTROY GREG ABBOTT’S “TOTALLY RIGGED MAPS.” TREMENDOUS WORK IS BEING DONE. DONALD TRUMP (THE CRIMINAL PRESIDENT) GET READY FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PAYBACK YOU’VE EVER SEEN!!! COULD BE THE WORST DAY OF YOUR LIFE AS YOUR PRESIDENCY ENDS (DEMS RETAKE CONGRESS!). AMERICA WILL BE LIBERATED — “LIBERATION DAY” MANY ARE CALLING IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN