Court agrees with EFF: Utah's VPN law demands a technical impossibility(eff.org)
799 points by hn_acker 12 days ago | 401 comments
tl;dr: A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking Utah's SB 73, a law requiring adult websites to detect VPN users and geolocate visitors to enforce age verification. The court ruled the law imposes de facto strict liability by demanding "geolocation perfection" that isn't technically possible, forcing sites to either verify every user worldwide or block Utah entirely—likely violating the Constitution's limits on regulating out-of-state commerce. Utah lawmakers may revise the law next session, but the ruling sets a precedent against similar anti-VPN proposals in other states.
HN Discussion:
  • ~Governments won't be stopped by technical impossibility and will just ban or block everything they can't track
  • ~The 'internet routes around censorship' adage is outdated as authoritarian states have proven effective at censorship
  • ↑This law is part of a broader fascist/authoritarian push and the real motive isn't porn but control
  • •Questioning technical details of the law such as VPN detection feasibility or first amendment implications of banning instructions
  • ↑Lawmakers routinely ignore technical and scientific reality when crafting laws