Like it or not, pornography is often at the forefront of audio-visual technology. But the State of Louisiana has taken a step that I thought I was going to see in the UK a few years back. Still, we have to think of the children....
Submit Govt-issued ID to Watch Porn: Louisiana Law to Combat Child Pornography Has Flaws
Although we know that most governments have an idea of what exactly do we use the internet for, imagine what would it feel like to have your government issues ID associated with the fact that you watch porn online. The state of Louisiana has enacted a new law that would require all users who want to consume porn over the internet, to verify their age by submitting government-issued such as a driving licence, etc.
The new policy, coded as Louisiana HB 142, requires sites composed of "thirty-three and one-third per cent" or more of pornographic content to verify that people accessing them are 18 or older. As a result one of the most popular pornographic sites in the US, PornHub, has already started asking its users to share a government-issued ID for access in the state of Louisiana.
Although there has been no official statement from any of the regulatory bodies or the distributors of porn in the US, users took to Twitter to share screenshots of what they are getting when they are searching for some explicit content.
As of now, Pornhub has started asking users to verify their age with AllpassTrust, which works with the Louisiana digital ID service LA Wallet. Users have confirmed the report using a VPN service, adding that other adult sites like XVideos didn't appear to require verification.
[...] Then, there is also the difficulty in implementing such a verification programme. A user, who is intent on consuming porn, but does not want to share his or her details, can easily bypass the requirement to share their IDs, by using a VPN and logging on from a different location altogether.
Pornhub Requires ID From Louisiana Users to Comply With State's New Porn Law
Pornhub requires ID from Louisiana users to comply with state's new porn law:
Pornhub and other major porn sites owned by MindGeek now require Louisiana residents to verify their ages because of the state's new porn law that took effect on January 1, 2023.
"Louisiana law now requires us to put in place a process for verifying the age of users who connect to our site from Louisiana. The privacy and security of the Pornhub community is our priority, and we thank you for your cooperation," the Pornhub website tells Louisiana-based users when they try to access the website.
[...] We tested the new process by connecting to a VPN server in Louisiana and then navigating to the Pornhub.com homepage, making it appear that the computer was located in Louisiana.
Without the VPN connected, going to Pornhub brought up the usual page full of porn videos that can be viewed without any identification or login. But when connected to the VPN server in Louisiana, going to Pornhub.com instead brought up a page titled, "Please verify your age to access Pornhub."
[...] The law's text says that "pornography is creating a public health crisis and having a corroding influence on minors," and requires porn websites to verify that people seeking access are at least 18 years old.
"Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the Internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material shall be held liable if the entity fails to perform reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the material," the law says.
[...] Companies that violate the law can be sued by individuals "for damages resulting from a minor's accessing the material." The law includes language to prevent news organizations and Internet service providers from being held liable.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 05, @08:50PM (7 children)
33.332% porn, 66.668% AI generated "interesting reading and tranquil video montages of Bob Ross style happy trees scenes."
How do they count the content? If the AI can generate the non-porn videos on the fly, they could reasonably argue that Trillions of unique non-pornographic tranquil scenes varying in length from 4 seconds to 48 hours are available to all users at any time...
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday January 05, @09:05PM (3 children)
You know, generative art has been a thing before the latest AI generative art.
So you could have computer generated images and videos that are more simplistic. More like a sophisticated scream saver that runs after two much time passes without activity.
It would also be possible to scrape CC licensed video from other sites that offer it.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 05, @09:17PM
Electric Sheep https://electricsheep.org/ [electricsheep.org]
Spot (aka Scott https://draves.org/blog/) [draves.org] actually judged a contest for Intel that awarded me a ludicrously expensive laptop back in 2007-ish.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 4, Funny) by mhajicek on Friday January 06, @04:25AM (1 child)
Is a scream saver what runs on Monsters Inc. computers?
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 06, @08:21PM
Scream savers are only necessary on Windows computers.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @01:45PM (2 children)
> 33.332% porn
Great, so all we need now is a definition of porn [wikipedia.org] and divide it by 3.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @02:29PM (1 child)
My personal definition: if you can pop a nut to it, it's porn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @04:22PM
Sounds like it would be easier to define what isn't porn then.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 05, @08:59PM (7 children)
The legislators in Louisiana seem to not understand the very reason the Internet was created [youtube.com].
It has been suggested by some that you are less likely to contract an STD online than engaging with people in real life. (even on truth social)
What if a site were divided into three categories. Example: Cooking, Traveling and Porn. As content is added to the Porn category, the other two categories get auto-generated content from a large language model such as GPT-3.
The site could also auto-scrape content from other free sources, such as sermons that are CC licensed.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday January 05, @09:39PM
It's just a "common sense" test to make sites like twitter, where pornography is not the main content, but user generated content means there's always going to be some, to be exempt.
If you think there's any chance a prosecutor could make an argument that a third of your content is pornography, you follow the law.
Now if it were a provision attached to a less stupid, pearl clutching law, I'd have no problem with it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by owl on Thursday January 05, @10:19PM (1 child)
That is another example of technical people trying to find technical workarounds [xkcd.com] to legal problems. In the end, things usually don't go the way the technical solution [sooke.bc.ca] was intended to go, when put before a judge or jury.
Chances are trying to skirt the law by providing over 66% AI generated content, just to skirt the law, is likely to still be found a violation.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by darkfeline on Friday January 06, @01:01AM
Similarly, trying to find legal solutions for human nature usually doesn't have the intended effect. There will be many unintended effects however. Perhaps widespread adoption of the TOR browser in Louisiana. There's no better way to drive technological adoption after all.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Thursday January 05, @11:02PM
Have your server take the porn and add clothes on the actors/actresses and holding pots and pans or daiquiris and travel brochures while taking naughty bits and substituting....
Would be funny but fit the law: ON THE COOKING SHOW: Betty and Hank, fully clothed, holding knives and pots while she's giving his cucumber a deep throat or his cucumber disappearing as soon as it approaches her fully clothed behind...
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Thursday January 05, @11:09PM
Better yet, they should clone stuff like project gutenberg, arXiv, imslp.org, wikipedia or the likes where clones are welcomed.
compiling...
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 06, @02:34AM (1 child)
> the very reason the Internet was created
And Betamax and VHS tapes... and photography... and stick drawings on cave walls...
It's the oldest profession, whether it's live or Memorex.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @02:41AM
At least it wasn't sticky drawings on cave walls ... uhhh ...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Opportunist on Thursday January 05, @09:06PM (3 children)
I don't give a hoot about your laws. Signed, the internet outside of Louisiana.
Dear Louisianans, you can't visit my page. Sorry. Please click this link only if you're not from Louisiana. Thank you.
Problem solved, let's move on.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday January 05, @09:14PM
It is the legislators of Louisiana who are to blame for this. Although indirectly to blame are the people who voted for them. Maybe they will think this through in the next election cycle.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @08:10AM
Hard to arrest me for breaking the law and showing whatever to Louisiana residents if I never go there.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @12:06PM
The solution is easy. Well not easy exactly, but what North Korea and other repressive states have implemented. Wall yourself off, Louisiana. Only good clean content allowed. Let us know how that goes kthxbye
(Score: 4, Insightful) by looorg on Thursday January 05, @09:11PM (1 child)
So this is how they roll out the national ID scheme ...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by weirsbaski on Friday January 06, @06:34AM
No, the national-ID scheme started almost 20 years ago, with the Real-ID Act. When the final deadline hits in a couple years, you'll need a national ID to get into federal buildings and to fly on commercial airlines. https://www.dhs.gov/real-id [dhs.gov]
The Louisiana law is an attempt to roll out a morality-by-gunpoint scheme.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 05, @09:18PM (9 children)
Suppose all porn sites simply disallowed all traffic from Louisiana? Simply do not implement the age verification system and disallow traffic.
What would happen?
Kids would still get porn, somehow.
(some) Adults would be upset about the difficulty of getting to their favored sites.
Would there be a popular movement to get this law changed?
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 05, @09:35PM (5 children)
What if the rates of rape and violent assault in Louisiana started trending back toward 1995 levels after they got this law to have some kind of traction?
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Friday January 06, @01:20AM (4 children)
Then more restrictive laws will be passed. Obviously, they will not have "done enough".
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 06, @01:44AM (2 children)
I attended Catholic school in the 1970s, we had pedophile priest scandals back then too... Traditional values never change.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @08:15AM (1 child)
Or the former just has more mind share?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @02:34PM
Yes, good question. Which institutionalized religion has the highest rate of institutional pedophilia?
Good luck getting that study funded when 99% of elected officials belong to institutionalized religions and 100% are in institutions.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 06, @03:19PM
The legislators would high five and pat each other on the back saying "well done!".
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Thursday January 05, @11:47PM
I'm just going to leave this here [dilbert.com], as it's kind of timeless when it comes to this sort of topic.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by krishnoid on Friday January 06, @12:10AM (1 child)
I doubt anyone would have trouble [youtu.be] getting access to even online pornography. Also, why does the Louisiana legislature even care about this whack-a-mole task? Was it print media, religious groups, strategic political favor exchange ... ?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 06, @03:20PM
They can claim that they are "doing something" to combat the menace of teens learning about sex.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by crm114 on Thursday January 05, @09:20PM
Anyone who has been on the Internet since before Al Gore "invented it" knows Porn did the heavy lifting (no pun intended) in providing Capital (aka $$$$) of upgrading the routers/switches/Memory/Reverse Proxies/CPUs/etc.etc.etc. for the entire Internet. So now most of us have at least 10Mb/s at the LOW end.
And the oblig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSKBRWoGvL0 [youtube.com] (Homer Simpson provides fast Internet to Simpsonville....)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday January 05, @09:24PM (5 children)
So how does requiring adults to get a license to watch legal porn address the problem of child pornography at all?
Somebody decided to use the "for the chillldren" gambit.
(Score: 2) by owl on Thursday January 05, @10:21PM (4 children)
It does nothing to help that.
What it does help is pacify some uptight bible thumper who is/was upset that people who were not her might have been watching porn via the internet.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Friday January 06, @12:55AM (3 children)
Yes. Talked with a fellow who used to run a porn bookstore. Every time an election approached, there'd be trouble. Cops would be sent to bust up his business. They'd haul his clerks off to jail, for the heinous crime of working for his establishment, which of course was not a crime at all. He was constantly having to get them released. All this was only so politicians could score points with the social conservatives. Once the election was over, things quieted back down.
The social conservative brain seems wired to short circuit on the subject of sex. Think sex is the ultimate motive behind everything anyone does.
Louisiana is very socially conservative. Poor, too. Not as bad as Mississippi next door, but bad enough.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Fnord666 on Friday January 06, @01:17AM (2 children)
To be fair it probably is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @02:38PM
That's why we need to legislate against our biological imperatives. It's the only way that makes sense!
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday January 07, @04:03AM
Maybe food is the ultimate motive.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stormreaver on Thursday January 05, @10:58PM (3 children)
This will (again) be overturned as a 1st-Amendment violation.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 05, @11:19PM (2 children)
Doesn't matter because it has served its purpose. This is what passes as Republican "leadership" these days. Propose or pass flagrantly unconstitutional laws and let the courts sort it out. The real purpose is to get publicity as "fighting for the real Americans." Just look at the idiot "leaders" in Texas and Florida. Don't worry about trying to pass any laws to help anyone because it is far more important to do or say something outrageous to get on a nightly Fox News show to "own the libs."
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Friday January 06, @12:25PM
Of course, Democrat leadership wouldn't pass flagrantly unconstitutional laws, in direct defiance of the Supreme Court within days after a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a constitutional right, would they?
https://dailycaller.com/2022/07/05/barr-new-york-thumbs-nose-supreme-court-ruling-guns/ [dailycaller.com]
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 06, @02:42PM
> Propose or pass flagrantly unconstitutional laws and let the courts sort it out.
I think they've upped their game lately. Do that same shit, but also game the courts. It's almost as if they would like to impose their minority religious beliefs onto everybody, huh?!?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 05, @11:10PM
At the bottom of the page right now for me is
(Score: 3, Interesting) by crafoo on Thursday January 05, @11:12PM
once they can track it, they can tax it. maybe they're just hurting for funds? fingerbang fee incoming.
(Score: 2) by cykros on Friday January 06, @10:34AM
So, this just means that kids won't be watching the relatively vanilla content on Pornhub (yes yes, it's not granddad's Playboy), but will instead be viewing the sites that operate outside of the US who Louisiana doesn't have any standing with where instead of verified adult humans, things are a little more...creative.
Wonder if this'll apply to search engines as well.