Stop children using VPNs to watch porn, ministers told
The children's commissioner for England tells the BBC virtual private networks are a "loophole that needs closing.
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Do the government ministers understand that setting up your own VPN is literally a 5 minute operation.
Hire a droplet VM, pre-installed with a server OS. Log in with provided credentials. sudo apt install docker Copy/paste a docker compose file that sets up a wg-easy container. Create a peer. Take a picture of the provided QR code. Connect to the server via a wireguard app. Done.
Are they going to ban VMs?
What a VM? What's a server OS? How do I log in? What the fuck does sudo apt mean? What is docker? Now I'm editing files? A peer? What's wireguard?
So many of you are disconnected from regular people because you're chronically online.
If kids have learned to run their own Minecraft private servers, hosting a VPN should be child's play... Pun maybe intended.
what's a VPN? what's a VPN app? how do I log in? what the fuck does a tunnel mean?
kids somehow figured these out. they'll be able to figure out their selfhosted VPN too. at least more of them might find an interest in tech instead of consuming on brainrot platforms.
sunbeam didn't describe it very clearly but it can be described in a way that its just following instructions without even having to understand it. like something like this: "register here. click this to get a free cloud server. log in to the server like this. paste this command and hit enter. install this app on your phone. tap import and scan. point your phone to the qr code on the screen."
It's a lot easier to get a VPN working than doing it yourself on a VPS.
the instructions can cover the server setup too. the instructions can also be to just download and run a script with double click, because it's really just following simple instructions that can be codified
You say this as if people are utterly incapable of learning.
Anyone can learn anything of they’re given a good enough reason to want to learn.
Sure, but if they need to learn, it isn't a 5 minute operation.
I too can go to space in 10 minutes, if I already did all the training and get a space shuttle from NASA.
Yes plan law makers needs to have a clue on what they are making laws about. Teenagers looking for porn are going to learn.
The same teenagers that don't even use computers with physical keyboards?
I'd wager less than 1% of the minors affected by this will learn how to proxy through a VPS.
So all this does is create a black market for tech. People with the knowledge of how to set up this technology will provide it as a service for those who don't.
It's the same as trying to outright ban drugs. Those who can provide for those who cannot (for a fee).
It makes these kids easy marks for malware.
They just got a motivation.
I just deployed a few VM on my phone, not even a tablet. It's not that hard nowadays with websites being designed primarily for smartphone users
There are instructions that are completely "type this" monkey see, monkey do. The majority of people who cannot follow such instructions should be wards of the state.
Do the government ministers understand that setting up your own VPN is literally a 5 minute operation.
Of course they don't. Most of them type with their index fingers and don't even understand what a VPN is.
Exactly this. There's maybe 8 politicians in the whole world that understand what a VPN is. They're told by a lobbyist and donor that it's a thing that is bad, now they're out to figure out how to make it go away.
I'm sure the VPN industry will bring a lot of money to bear to ensure this doesn't happen. They like the online safety act itself, because it brings them customers, but if it also causes them to face issues they're going to be less keen on it.
Are they going to ban VMs?
They will keep banning things until they feel they have absolute control over the internet.
If someone tells them to, they might try until a few business interests remind them that these are also fundamental components of business networks. Once money tells them to stop it, they will.
VPN companies should just hire a lobbyist for a week and this will all go away.
Don't give them ideas!
The VM is associated with your name and payment method. It is about removing privacy so they can remove free speech and other rights. Not about porn. You don't need a VPN to access porn in the UK. Half the porn sites don't verify age anyway.
They'll ban encrypted Internet traffic that they don't have a backdoor to steal inspect the contents.
They could require age verification or even special licensing to use any sort of internet server infrastructure. That's what I would do if that was my goal.
setting up vps requires money which ideally children do not have access to (not even crypto)
Docker's an unnecessary extra step. Just install wireguard server on the VM.
Myeah sort of agree if you compare wireguard vs wireguard docker.
But wg-easy has a management interface for creating peers and seeing who’s active so it’s somewhat easier to get set up.
