Looking for smut won’t be so easy anymore in the UK as of April 1st. But not to worry, you can unlock those naughty videos with your ID. The government claims this new law is to protect children from the horrors on online porn.
The only way to get access is to register with the AgeID system, that uses your official ID such as a driver’s license or passport.
The new rules were approved as part of the Digital Economy Act 2017. They aim to make it harder for under-18s to get hold of adult material.
When a user first visits a site protected by AgeID, a landing page will appear with a prompt for the user to verify their age before they can access the site. It is a one-time verification, with a simple single sign-on for future access. If a user verifies on one AgeID protected site, they will not need to perform this verification again on any other site carrying AgeID.
If you’ve been in the adult industry for a while this may sound familiar to you, as a decade or so ago the adult industry used a similar system that ended up failing miserably. Sites like AgeCheck and Validate used to offer web surfers access to porn in exchange for verifying they are over 18. And by verifying they mean, using a credit card.
As well as registering with AgeID, Brits will also be able to access porn sites using a voucher you can buy from high street shops. Thousands of shops will offer special ID cards, which users can link to an app known as Portes. Through Portes, they can then log into sites without having to hand over their email address. The PortesCard is available to purchase from selected high street retailers and any of the UK’s 29,000 PayPoint outlets as a voucher.
Once a card or voucher is purchased, its unique validation code must be activated via the Portes app within 24 hours before expiring.
Once the user has been verified, they will automatically be granted access to all sites using AgeID.
Each PortesCard will cost £4.99 for use on a single device, or £8.99 for use across multiple devices.
The big controversy is that sites face fines of up to £250,000 or a blanket block by UK internet service providers if they do not comply. And not just sites in the UK. The new law allows the UK government to issue the fine to anyone, in any country.
Regulators will be also able to block porn websites if they fail to show that they are denying access to under-18s.
However, there are some reservations from experts. Dr. Victoria Nash of the Oxford Internet Institute says “it may make it harder for children to stumble across pornography, especially in the younger age range, but it will do nothing to stop determined teenagers.”
Experts have also raised concerns that people’s privacy will be threatened by the new system.
3 Responses
At first glance this could actually revive the business id it works as planned…I haven’t considered the unintended consequences fully but If the industry actually worked with legislators to do it right it could seriously hurt the tube sites….itll never thwart usenet but most people cant use that anyway and torrent sites are kinda dead….Obviously MndGeek would be against this so dont expect avn, xbiz or the fsc to try to make lemonade of it…interesting
Kids under 18 should not be watching porn anyways. Their brains aren’t fully matured to make rational decisions. It fucks up their mind on how sex, love, and relationships really work.
Will this somehow connect your porn surfing with your payment so they can have a record of your porn habits tied to your name? Seems like a lovely way for a government to fuck with you if true.