Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Bitdefenders free anti virus now comes with a free basic VPN in a 2 finger salute to the UK government hahaha

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Will take a look at that as I have friends asking for advice as to which vpn to use. The Government has created a situation where they have forced user on to vpns in droves 😂

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I have windscribe pay for just USA servers the rest free. Select unlimited and ROBERT costs me $2 a month

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I love Nord. topcashback or quidco (they match and/or beat cashback rate) for the initial basic product purchase then disable auto renewal and purchase a new subscription at the discounted prices at the end of your term, £65 for 2 years, around £1 more than windscribe possibly less functionality at basic level, there is threat protection included anyhow it is personally by far the superior product. I've had express, digibit, pia.. Nord wins for me

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

yeah but I only have to part with less than £2 a month plus I only use it to bypass geo locks and now this so do not need anything more. If I did I would use Tails

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Just be careful that someone does not report you all to the thought police for promoting VPN’s.;) :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

:LOL: freedom is no more you're nicked.

Around £1 more each month DOH! Is tails an autocorrect?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

yeah but I pay monthly that is what I mean I do not have to buy blocks

Tails is a linux based operating system that integrates Tor

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

You mean a monthly rolling commitment. Digibit was that way for me but it's not worth it at £2.50 monthly.

Your knowledge exceeds mine :tu:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I am not committed to anything I just pay £1.50 because I use it sometimes. Do not use it enough to want to pay for blocks and have that size chunk come out of my tight wallet

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

My apologies, I was intending to pick out particular points in the post I was responding to and answer them explicitly, rather than a generic response to the whole lot.

If bold text is not allowed, or reserved for mod comments; is there no ability to block this for ‘normal’ people’s use? It does strike me that it seems to be easy for users to fall fail of this rule innocently.

Just an observation.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

best way to do it is to split the quote up, if you're not sure how that works, you copy and paste the tags which are {QUOTE=user;post}{/QUOTE} but with square brackets instead, around the bit you want to quote and then respond to, and keep going. A bit like it currently looks when you see a post to quote.


Responding inline within the quote does look confusing as to who's said what.


In my experience with forum software especially from the admin/moderator end I'm not sure that the permission to restrict bold text would be possible. It would depend on the option existing within the preferences. I'm sure one of the team would be able to answer that for sure but that's what I'd expect.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Bold is fine to highlight words, just not whole sentances. :)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

More unconfirmed rumours that scammers have moved quickly on this. Rumours of txt messages pertaining to be OFCOM enforcement quoting the Online Safety Bill demanding payment of a fine for accessing porn online or the police will attend and arrest you.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I decided to try to get rid of an annoying advert on Facebook, but using the option "Comment on this post".

But the instant response was not what I expected.

Is this due to Age Verification being required? :dunce:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

What it really says is

"why would we remove a revenue stream? Ads are big business"

:D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Had another request for "Must provide id to use our service", Microsoft are now demanding either a photo or your id be uploaded in order to continue to use Xbox services like voice and text chat.

I wonder how long it is going to be before all these companies that are saying "We delete your image and id" get found out to be holding on to them.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

No idea if related to this 'online safety bill' or not,

Just logged into youtube (google account) to comment on a music video (I do this about once a month).

To keep my account safe, and for easier recovery in case it's hacked, they asked for an alternate email address and/or a phone number. (first time I've had this extra step)

Luckily I could skip that and was then presented with . . . enter your home address - skipped that too, obviously :rofl:

The thing is, are google just fishing for more data to sell on, or are they so worried about being able to keep my account secure that they need extra data for when it gets hacked?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Having an opinion:shocked: das ist verboten

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

There are AI sites out there that Generate ID for this. Not gonna link or say I promote this but .....

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Having an opinion isn't forbidden anywhere in the UK, just unlawful behaviour.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

It depends on what that opinion is.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Like writing on a piece of cardboard, what a waste of police time and the cash to pay them

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Saw a tweet earlier that said Britain's most tattooed man can't watch porn now because sites can't verify his face :)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I can't think of any opinions that aren't allowed in the UK.

Some may be frowned upon and it may be against the law to publically state them, but holding such an opinion and expressing it within the privacy of your own home shouldn't cause any issues.

By contrast with the United Arab Emirates, people can be sent to prison for doing such things as leaving a bad company review or sharing details of a charitable cause, even if done outside the UAE where these activities are legal!

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Ummmmm.

Well then they are not allowed are they. :sleep:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

What about this one, should someone go to jail for this?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yep I have seen a couple and they are well, quite funny.

A certain person is going be used for all sorts of things I think :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Over lunch today at work we were chatting about the online safety bill and how much of a pain it was, we then did a straw poll and out of the 18 in our team 12 are now using a VPN. It's shocking we now have to use a VPN to get around age checks on the likes of YouTube, Spotify, and other sites because the UK Government is sending us down the same route as Chine and North Korea

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

too bloody right hahaha

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I haven't come across age verification at all yet. However my main interests are cricket and gardening. You should see the size of my cucumbers this year :)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

both boring old fart activities so no age check needed;)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Be careful, the way the UK is going Cucumbers will soon have an age limit, you never know what they could be used for :erm:

:naughty:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

YouTube are currently testing a system to check if someone is over 18 by looking at what videos they have watched in the past.

If the system deems that they are under 18, their account will be restricted.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Another moronic system.
So as long as they watched loads of porn, they will be ok.

I very much doubt I watch anything on youtube that would say I'm definitely over 18.
In fact in recent years it largely been kids stuff for my GD.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I usually just use youtube for music vids.
However sometimes I get the craving for the good TV stuff from years ago and can spend all night watching comedy episodes and clips that haven't been banned . . . yet.

If they're taking note of what I watch they wouldn't understand it anyway, with them not having a sense of humour :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

That sounds like the most idiotic waste of time. I didn't think youtube had any 18+ content? As content creators can't monetise them.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Youtube's plans could be silly if they catch some Media student watching lots of children's programming as part of a project then restricting them from their own work that could be more adult. Or even folk with nostalgia for children's programmes aimed to let children be children and could be enjoyed by parents too.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Re: YouTube. What about parents whom shut their kids up by putting videos on.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I'm assuming that people can appeal by providing proof that they are an adult.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

it's the modern day baby sitter

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

And AI will soon do everything for them except from wiping their arse. I guess old habits die hard. :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Welcome to your new home, this Plastic Polymer box has everything you need during the rest of your life.

Powered by the large Solar Farms where housing used to be, these boxes contain all you need for the happy healthy lifestyle you deserve.

At the touch of buttons on the operations screen (situated in the lower left of the main VR screen) you can choose to converse with others (limited at a total 4 hours a day and constantly monitored) and watch - or participate in - most of the entertainment on offer, ranging from:

~Quiz shows (no prizes but will stimulate the brain just enough to avoid vegetable status)
~Movies, both modern (full AI) and archive (with people as actors and filmed outdoors when there was an outdoors).
~Lifestyle - a series looking back to when people did strange things like Gardening, Shopping, Sport, Social Gatherings, and Traveling the outside world.

Sustenance and vitamins to prevent illness (or premature passing) are provided by the tubes grafted into the right side of the abdomen, and all waste products are passed through the tube grafted into the lower center of the abdomen.
Please note - the waste products enter a small chamber which is then vented into a larger recycling chamber by using the conveniently placed rotating pedal arrangement by your feet, this ensures you get a minimum amount of daily exercise whilst maintaining a clean and fresh environment in your box.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the latest version of 'Life 101' and your stay with us is a pleasant experience.

In case of any difficulties or a possible software glitch, there is a HELP button in the FAQ section of the VR menu (we envision long queues but your call is important to us and will be answered as soon as possible).

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Account age is an easy way without causing too much hassle.


Assuming the account is operated by one person and hasn't changed hands, if it was registered over 18 years ago, the person operating it will be over 18.


There's a fair chance you could even say something over 8 years old would be too, as I doubt many ten year olds would be signing up for email addresses, X, youtube etc.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Some porn sites have taken a similar approach. In response Ofcom said that there is no prescribed way to carry out age verification, but that website owners & staff must ensure that the method used is accurate and robust.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yes, which is why some sites are going through AI verifications of scanning ID and selfies and others are doing other methods. X are allowing some accounts over a certain date through.


Having read the guidance, verification checkers, risk assessment stuff etc a lot of areas are a bit vague but this kind of thing probably allows for a certain degree of flexibility whilst things get worked out properly.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The Government did say that the Act was designed to be flexible and dynamic to cope with the fast paced of twchnol9gy and changing priorities of today.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Its the most vague and pointless act as its so simple and easy to work around it.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yep, and the Government know it, but can tell everyone they gave it a go :rofl:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I assume you're referring to this latest (age verification) implementation of the Act.

Incidentally, since this was introduced, traffic to porn sites has plummeted, so it seems that rather than verify their age or work around the requirement, most just aren't bothering with porn anymore.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc...7n9k54qz2o.amp

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Or they are just finding alternative sources that either don't track or dont give that sort of info.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Taken from that BBC page:
That's probably because those viewing in the UK are now, miraculously, viewing from Albania, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Romania, Turkey etc etc :Yes:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The best check would be seeing how much increased traffic those other countries have had.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

And why would they provide that

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I didn't t
Say they would. However if those most common VPN countries should increased porn activities then its clear what is happening. Rather than simply saying, oh look UK porn site activity is dropped.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

For shits and giggles I went to a website that uses yoti and tried the age estimation using a camera and it simple does not work anyway. Just a spinning estimating age wait page.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Thats the point of VPNs, they dont appear to be from the UK anymore. ;)

---------- Post added at 12:17 ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 ----------

Btw, do you really think those 1 million visitors were underage ?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Is possibly the more pertinent question with regards to this topic.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Not all of them no, I suspect that some will be adults who can't be bothered verifying their age, aren't able to do so or don't feel comfortable passing personal details onto a porn site who have decided to go down the VPN route instead.

---------- Post added at 14:07 ---------- Previous post was at 14:06 ----------

Good point.

Re: The earlier rumour that the Government was thinking of banning the use of VPN's. The answer is no and it won't matter too much as not many children actively seek out inappropriate material, it finds them:

https://www.express.co.uk/finance/pe...eadmore-target

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Of course the government won’t ban VPN’s there’s significant legitimate usage.

And how does inappropriate material find them? Does it sneak into a cage and replace hamster with xhamster ? And then xhamster sends subliminal messages whilst it’s drinking from the bottle going ‘look at me, look at me’

Children are inherently inquisitive and very prone to peer pressure , that can only be managed by parenting, you can have all the technical plans that you like but, without good parenting they will be doomed to fail.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Not saying you did , my question was/is how would that be done

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

It would not matter if they did.
As I said before, all you need is a proxy server, easy to set up and use (and share).

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

https://x.com/Awk20000/status/1956890792204857543


Guess we shall see where that one ends up...

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

What we have said all along, they have no power over other countries, they're just delusional.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Does Virgin Media allow the use of VPNs on its system?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I’ve used them for both work and home use, and nobody seemed to mind…

There’s this info about them on their website.

https://www.virginmedia.com/the-edit.../what-is-a-vpn

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Sometimes you see something that makes you really wonder if there's a point to anything :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Watch nords current tv ad to see the original idea for using it.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Why wouldn't they?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I am using one to post this reply and i am on Virgin media

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

So am I :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Ditto, VM don’t ‘support’ VPNs but that just means that if you have an issue with one, VM won’t help you - fine!

The 'not supporting’ is sometimes misunderstood as meaning that they don’t allow or ban them. And considering that some VPN protocols run over https; I’m really not sure how they could even if they wanted to!

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Of course it does. :dozey:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

From the BBC... 'Stop children using VPNs to watch porn, ministers told'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn438z3ejxyo

So parents, make sure you ask your kids to stop using VPNs. I'm sure that'll work because asking your kids not to view porn without one didn't..... :rolleyes:

What a joke.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The first item here is with the Children's Commissioner who has updated her report from two years ago concerning the exposure of pornography to children.

Key points:

- 50% of all children will have seen hardcore porn by the age of 13 or 14. This includes non consensual sex and strangulation.

- 25% will have seen this by the age of 11. Some have actually become addicted to watching pornography.

- The youngest age reported as seeing porn was aged just 6.

- This is normalising inappropriate behaviour themselves

- The site where the majority of porn is seen by underage people is X/Twitter by stumbling across it or it being shown to them by other children. The second worst is Snapchat.T

- Headteachers say that what children see on social media is second on the list of what they are most concerned about.

- This data was collected before the age verification requirement of the Online Safety Act came into force.

- Children (respondents were aged 16 to 24) say that one of the best things that parents can do is to talk to them about what they see online.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live/bbc_radio_fourfm

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

You missed out 'Exposure to pornography has increased since the introduction of UK rules to protect the public online.'

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...t-commissioner

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I don't think that the idea is to ask children to stop using a VPN, but to take proactive steps to stop them.

The Children's Commissioner said today that people accessing porn in the UK had severely reduced, but that the use of VPN's had severely increased. As a result she is to recommend to the Government that age verification is extended to VPN's.

---------- Post added at 11:08 ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 ----------

I dont recall her saying that.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Do you not see yet, Richard, that the Online Safety Act simply isn’t working, just as we all said it wouldn’t.

---------- Post added at 11:18 ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 ----------

Thanks, Hugh.

---------- Post added at 11:20 ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 ----------

I certainly read something about this a while ago, so I expect that perhaps it was something like that.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

No idea if kids today are anything like we were when I was a grotty insipid rebellious 12 yr old, but when we were told not to do something you could bet your bestest wining conker that we'd go try it to see why it wasn't allowed

:D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

LOL, they really do have no clue, thats like saying age check a kettle before you plug it in.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

It's certainly causing a great deal of coverage & discussion today. It's unfortunate that it's taken this part of the Act to be implemented before the public have taken notice and put their views forward.

---------- Post added at 13:19 ---------- Previous post was at 13:15 ----------

Could they not require providers of VPN's to people in the UK to become registered users and only allow those over 18 to use them?? I can't think of any legitimate reason why children would need a VPN.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Ever heard of Privacy ? Thats the main reason VPNs exist, aside from that of course, VPNs are either on or off, they dont care who you are.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Richard, stop trying to extend the amount of 'not allowed' instead of seeing how ridiculous things are. Every time there's a valid (not illegal)work around to the problem, the answer isn't to then invalidate that work around to cause even more problems elsewhere.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

This is what's been suggested by the Children's Commisioner. I'm interested to know how/if they could age verify VPN's.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Sorry l didn't make any comment about virgin supporting anything:rolleyes: let's be honest their support for anything is poor.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Steaming of content on services such as Netflix / Prime Video which isn’t available in their home region. Or even having a Netflix account based in the country eg Turkey (costs much less than the UK)

Making purchases/ downloading games from PSN store that are cheaper on countries such as Turkey

Making people who are VPN users register and is only available to those over eighteen allowed to use them ? What a moronic statement , why not just ban under eighteens from purchasing anything that can connect to the internet.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

None of those are legitimate.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yes they are , you might not like it but it’s perfectly legit otherwise sites like hotukdeals would advertise such things

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I suppose that depends on what you mean by "Legit".
Possibly not illegal, but I bet they are against Netflix's terms of service.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Good luck putting Age verification on VPN's provided from outside the UK.

Richard

Please explain to me how this joke of a Government will force Age verification on a VPN provided from let's say Japan.

The view i have is that these Government advisers don't have a sodding clue about VPN's or how they are provided. They seem to think the Government can force any company they want be it in the UK or outside to do as they say. BTW the Government has withdrawn its request to apple to put a back door in there software so they could snoop on users data, Apple told them to sod off.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/u-s-officia...-data-ea74eda2

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I was once told that to be a lawyer , you need a good memory, be too stupid to run a business, and live on a different planet mentally to normal people, not having a clue of how things run in the real world.thinking. this also describes MPs

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I’ll take a virtual beer ;) far from being against their terms it would appear ?

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/119024

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/114701

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Kenneth Chenault (Chairman/CEO Amex), Lloyd Blankfein (CEO Goldman Sachs), Charlie Munger (Vice-Chair Berkshire Hathaway, David Rubenstein (co-founder and co-Chair Carlyle Group), and many others, may disagree with your characterisation... ;)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Who are the many others? Please list every one so we can fact check and verify ..... ;)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

They haven't said that they will do. If they decided to, I have no idea- which is why I was asking about the technicalities of doing so.

What hurdles do you envisage?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

:confused: The articles say ;
So "Steaming of content on services such as Netflix which isn’t available in their home region." would be against their terms of service.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The biggest hurdle will be that they cannot force any company outside the uk to do what they want. If I was running a VPN company in lets say Iceland and someone from the UK Government told me I must set up age verification on my product I would tell them where to go as they have no power to make me do it. Now think about this, how many of the VPN,s providers being used in this country are based in this country. The Government is losing a war they created and they will lose. They have created the biggest uptake in VPN usage this country has ever seen and it is still increasing. I have helped many of my friends setup their VPN,s

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I read you can’t as ‘not technically possible’ I find it ironic that if the use is against their TOS that they provide support links to how it works and what happens when you use it ? But :shrug:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Probably is, I mean who does read the Terms of Service?

I've used a VPN to access content in Australia, from some of their channels as they were showing Carabou Cup games that you couldn't watch here!

And Mrs Pierre like to watch Survivor Australia, I don't use for netflix though as I don't watch it on my Laptop or tablet.

you also need a VPN to watch UK stuff when you're on holiday.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

If they decided to bring in age verification for VPN's I imagine that they'd treat those that don't comply in the same way that they say they will treat porn sites that refuse to comply ie ban UK companies from doing business with them and make the VPN site unavailable to those in the UK.

I suppose that a legitimate VPN could be used to access a proscribed VPN, but there wouldn't be much point:D