On July 15 in the UK, there is a law that will go into effect that will require adult sites to install an approved 3rd party age verification system. Such a system would act as gatekeeper to all traffic coming into UMD from the UK, requiring you to give them personally identifiable information in order to see any page of this site or even access your account.

Such a verification system requires your passport, driver's license, phone number, or credit card, and it's stored by a 3rd party company that's interfacing with the government. And it won't even be effective. There is nothing about this that looks good to me, so at least for now I don't plan to implement it. I recommend that UK UMD visitors get a VPN and vote. Here is a useful list of free ones: https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/top-really-free-vpn-services.

I had written a more about my reasons for the decision but it looked liked a rant. Anyway, let me know if anybody has any input.

Peace,
Messmaster

You know much more about it than me, but I've seen a lot of websites offering verification through the fact that someone has purchased something in the past using a credit card. Is Epoch capable of giving you that information?

Funny, I don't remember voting for this. As you say, it won't work.

Adults visiting adult sites will be inconvenienced.

Under-age visitors will still find ways to view porn if they want to.

Nobody really wins.

Messmaster said: "I recommend that UK UMD visitors get a VPN. Here is a useful list of free ones: https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/top-really-free-vpn-services."
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Depending on the sort of stuff that you use your VPN for (mine is personally to watch stuff from abroad that I can't see based on location), I've had great luck with TunnelBear https://www.tunnelbear.com/

It does cost $59.88/year (avg $4.99/month) but does allow it to work on up to 5 devices, with no limitation on the amount of data run through it. Depending on which videos/photos you're ogling on here, it would likely more than pay for itself.

**Note: They do have an Affiliate Program where people can be compensated, but I am not a part of it, nor do I receive any sort of compensation for this suggestion. I don't want people getting the wrong idea of my recommendation.

I have only one question: MessMaster had anyone from the UK gov contacted you?

regards

Andy and the team.


*Edit*, Funnily enough, I just found this. If any site owner or user can make head or tail of it let me know. https://www.ageverificationregulator.com/assets/bbfc-age-verification-certificate-standard-april-2019.pdf I have no idea!

Glad you're on top of this MM and I'll add myself to the list of people not looking forward to it.

One thing to add about the VPN is that it's fine when having a bit of a browse and a look around but I've found that I've encountered problems with buying stuff when I've still got it on. My bank really don't like me trying to pay through a VPN and won't authorize the payment. I'll probably just have to use the UK authorization thingy but I won't be happy about it.

Let's be honest, this country has a fair few things going on at the moment that we've got to deal with, making porn slightly harder to access isn't really helpful or useful.

Thanks MM - a good trustworthy list of VPNs was the only thing I was wanting in the run up to this!

Totally agree with your decision not to implement anything - I'm leaning towards thinking the system (if indeed it finally does go up in July) will collapse & be taken down in a relatively short time when people see how useless it is and how much chaos it causes ...though given the UK government is determined to proceed with B*exit, even though that is also useless and will cause chaos I may be overly optimistic there!

Worst case scenario, if I can't access sites easily any more, I'll just have to abandon buying clips & memberships online and save up for a custom from a producer I've used before and do the whole shebang via email!

So am I right in thinking if you're not applying gate stuff then it will work as normal for us who aren't willing to join the government / 3rd party porn deviant database?

Hoping that will be the case, but, does that mean there is a risk that if you're blocked by ISPs for failing to comply (hopefully unlikely as they'll go for bigger sites and not niche market ones?), that even those with passes in the UK won't be able to get through to you and your content / stores?

Wonderful - what could possibly go wrong there.

A database of your personal information that will be a hackers dream come true, for blackmail, ransomware, credit card fraudsters.....whoopee - a goldmine for hackers.

In my manual customer database 20 years ago I had many many customers who held "sensitive" jobs such as local politicians, military servicemen. doctors, lawyers and even members of the clergy ... now anybody in a sensitive job or applying for a job will be subject to blackmail once this database gets hacked.

Things will work normally outside of the UK regardless. Inside the UK, there is a definite possibility that your UMD access will get blocked, even though we're a small site. Here is a readout of ISP's already blocking us now, before the ban: https://www.blocked.org.uk/site/http://www.umd.net

I feel that if they're going to block sites at the ISP level, then the adult filter should be activated only by the choice of the person paying the phone or internet bill, not the government.

Yeah, we know that sites and banks and governments get hacked all day. Such a massive honeypot of data linking users to adult site habits would be the most immense target for hackers ever. UMD never requires personally identifiable information because the best theft deterrent is not to have stuff lying around to steal. Besides hackers, these companies are legally able to share your information anyway. Even if they don't, law enforcement itself is increasingly pressuring companies to break their own security, or they subpoena them for whatever private data they want to get--against their own terms of use that they promised to their members!

And it won't work because everybody knows all you need is a VPN. Yet other countries have similar interest and they are watching how this plays out, so it's important how this precedent is set. The big adult sites will easily comply, but smaller sites like ours are handling it in different ways, not least because some of us actually give a shit out about our users.

Our site does use the standard splash page that warns of adult content (and... cookies). For minors who lie and come in anyway, we have the benefit of an active community that reports suspicious users, who I kick off. Then I have a few systems place that do their best to block such a person from returning. Our system of user flagging and due dilligence is as effective as I think it can be while still respecting user privacy.

Besides a VPN, UMD also has a stealth domain that you can use. You can discover it on the bottom of your Add Scene page. I may add more stealth domains as time goes on... They don't show ANY content until you log in, to prevent them from being listed as adult sites.

A lot of work still needs to be done worldwide to keep kids off of adult sites, but any such effort should not jeopardize the privacy of legit adults. I will install a such a system if I find I absolutely have to, but not now. When it comes time to vote, these are the types of issues we should all be paying attention to.

Peace,
Messmaster

https://www.blocked.org.uk/site/http://www.umd.net

Those are what I call UK option links. They not enforced blocks, they're default parental settings by suppliers. The user can switch them on or off. I'm on BT at the moment, what I can't do is get emails off UMD.net, hence gmail.

I know in 2017 the Tories tried to pass a law that there could only be UK supplier for the internet, it got blocked - thank God - as it was seen as unfair competition/monopoly.

As I asked before MM have the UK Gov or the BBFC (British run company) been in contact? I'll answer and say they've haven't.

regards

Andy and the team.

Didn't know about stealth mode - that's good to know, and hope they block on domain names only & not ip address (assuming they all resolve to same place?)

If you wish to avoid the trouble of getting your own VPN, you can also install the Epic browser which has a built in VPN, so only that portion of your traffic is routed through a different country.

Not to mention the most tempting. Having personal IDs on record is an identity theft wet dream...

No, Epoch is not on the list of companies that are approved by the UK to do this. Even if they were, it would present the same problem of people not being able to visit even free areas of the site without pulling out a credit card.


No, I haven't been contacted by them, nor any other government entity about this. I also haven't been contacted by any biller or ISP. Just trying to get out ahead of all this.


I don't believe they will be targeting individual IP addresses because many sites can be on an IP address. But who knows.

Another possible option would be to simply use the Opera browser (www.opera.com) - on the advanced settings page it has an option to use an in-built VPN

Update: It appears your data is not safe - big surprise! - the rollout about may go back to October.

https://www.klfm967.co.uk/news/uk-news/2897175/government-under-pressure-to-delay-launch-of-porn-restriction-scheme-for-third-time/

It turns out there are malicious AV suppliers popping up wanting to collect people's data - as everyone has said from the start - the whole thing will turn into another Brexit. Oh, to live in the UK at the moment. Never a dull day.

regards

Andy and the team.

What an absolute fucktard of events.....Why can't parents be resposible for what there kids do online? I know they are clever and find a way aroundstuff. We used to steal topshelf to get our fix....Appreciated vids are graphic. Why should it even be a thing for anyone who hasn't got kids....Hopefully it'll feck off for ever...

Thanks for the advice on the browsers with built-in VPN's. I'll link to them on the stealth login page and other places soon. I'm also put in a few other stealth domains for us to use in case shit hits the fan.

There is a new option in your profile prefs where you can tell us if you're on a VPN. This will reduce the chances of UMD blocking you for logging in with too many IP addresses. For multiple producers managing a single UMD account, there is also an option to allow more than one IP address to log in to an account at the same time without kicking each other off. These options should make using a VPN more tolerable.

Thanks for the article 123gunge. I think we were all pretty sure this thing would fall apart eventually, but it seems like it already is. They're never gonna stop trying though, so perhaps this was the kick in the ass we needed.

I was testing UMD on the Epic browser and it works okay so far, but I'm getting alerts of website tracking. Oh hell naw, we don't track anything here. So don't be alarmed if you see that notice. I'm trying to find out why it's saying that....

Peace,
Messmaster

So far in the thread I didn't see an answer to this - Messmaster if we are forced to vpn won't all transactions be blocked for memberships/purchases?

I was watching the news earlier and a 'breaking news story' was that the UK government has delayed the introduction of this [absurd] law, possibly indefinitely.

It is probably worth checking though.

https://news.sky.com/story/porn-block-delayed-for-third-time-after-government-climbdown-sky-sources-11745231

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Seriously, anyone who thinks they can go ANYWHERE on the internet without some form of tracking or record keeping is woefully delusional. Every router, switch, server, search engine, and NSA spy point is logging everything. The only pointless exceptions are a handful pf "privacy" systems that claim they don't keep logs, but that has no value when they are connected to the entire internet, which DOES save them.

BTW, I don't think I'd get too worked up about existing blocks. The link

https://www.blocked.org.uk/site/http://www.umd.net shows the same content as

https://www.blocked.org.uk/site/http://umd.net but that really doesn't matter because those URLs are not accessible anyway. You are redirecting everything to https and the link

https://www.blocked.org.uk/site/https://umd.net just returns an error

FWIW, We at Vidown/TheMothership have no intention of ever implementing this 1984 bullshit. The government of Britain can go fuck themselves. Our system is laid out a little different than most other sites and our store URLs are apparently listed individually. Vidown.com is not blocked according to this site, but 3 individual stores apparently are. Also, the catalog engine has an IP address and each content site has a separate one. We have an allotment of 512 addresses, so we can game the system for quite awhile. It will be interesting to see how (or even if) it all works out. Pretty sure we can defeat the whole thing with some trivial techno-trickery on our end.

Tor is worth a try as a solution too. It's really easy to download and use. TOR makes it harder to track a user's usage patterns. The more of us use it the better it works.

Your VPN should be able to connect to any biller just like a regular browser, far as I know. You'll just be coming from a wacky IP address. Speeds maybe affected tho.

However, if you are using one of UMD's stealth domains, new purchases will be disabled because legally we are only set up to allow transactions coming from umd.net. Existing purchases can still be viewed.


Dammit, that's it! Thanks SG, you've always been the best source of tech advice. I'm also sure we can come up with several tricks to keep things schmoove for all our visitors.

It's linked to Brexit.

The government knows that whilst we are in the EU, such a farce of a law will never wash.

A good case to the court of human rights would kill it off the bat.

The definitions the government have set for what constitutes porn are so broad they could close down anything they want to, basically a way of mass censorship.

I think someone needs to take a case about the governments definition of porn to the EU courts now, whilst we're still in, before our shit turd of an excuse for a government get Cart Blanche to do whatever the hell they want to without oversight.

It was true in 1701 and it's true today.

Just downloaded the Opera browser, and it gives me access to american newspaper sites I can't normally get to from the UK. So,our govt has spent all this money on this anti-porn measure, and you literally just have to download a browser?

It's been delayed indefinitely tonight. Can't see it happening to be fair.

Too open for abuse

UK definition via Oxford Dictionary = "Printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate sexual excitement."

U.S definition via Merriam Webster Dictionary = "the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement."

If one takes those definitions literally, then the UK definition of porn would exclude most wam fetishes where there is no nudity (there is no display of sexual organs) while most wam fetishes would be considered porn under the U.S. definition because the very nature and intent of wam videos is to cause sexual excitement (and nudity is not a factor).

I wonder what the EU definition of porn is. Under the U.S. definition then pillow fights, smoking, shoes, socks and a gaziion other every day activities could be classified as porn, because anything that sexually excites can be called porn. Even Joe Biden would be have a problem with his fetish for smelling women's hair...ha ha.

I once did a custom video for a guy who got sexually excited by girls wearing and changing wristwatches and he paid us $2000 to have one of our models wear over 40 different wristwatches, We only had to film the girls hand and wrist and the watch...nothing else. Not to mention other custom videos we made with girls wearing WW2 gas masks.

So basically if you are in the USA anything can be classified as porn, but if you are in the UK and you do not display sexual organs, then it cannot be called porn.

MK