The UK continues to struggle with implementing the idea to block access to websites with porn content.
Political intentions and sloganeering are one thing, but especially when dealing with tech-related issues, these often hit some technical snag in the real world.
Turns out that the British would have to regulate not only age verification – which they said was no problem – but also force browsers, such as Google Chrome and Firefox, not to use DNS encryption.
And while Chrome may be wavering, Firefox seems steadfast and will go ahead with implementing this technology, that will not only prevent the Internet Service Providers (ISPs), whose gatekeepers of the web, from blocking pornographic sites that don’t comply with the age verification rule, but would also make it difficult for governments to (arbitrarily) block other content/websites, if and when those are deemed dangerous or unacceptable.
The reason is simple: with DNS encryption in place, the ISPs won’t know what website users are visiting – and therefore who to block.
The scheme – one of the tech policy legacies of outgoing British PM Theresa May – is designed to stop people under 18 from accessing pornographic material online, has been repeatedly postponed. The latest deadline for the law, originally announced to come into force on April 2018, will be July 15.
However – it’s hard to say the porn block idea is now dead in the water, even though it’s likely to be postponed once again. But one official who spoke for The Daily Star for the first time spelled it out: if DNS encryption is introduced in the browsers, the authorities and Internet Service Providers simply “can’t enforce” the porn block.
But the Daily Star said that a government spokesman expects the law to be enforced “in a couple of months – without mentioning an actual deadline.
Critics have long warned about privacy implications of the planned legislation, given that verifying age would require passports, credit cards, driving licenses, or buying “porn passes” from the local store.
Not to mention that if every other obstacle is somehow overcome – the users would still be able to access the sites they want thanks to VPNs.
