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> but he still wants two thirds of the websites in the world to age verify their British visitors Ok so on this point - and please, if you must, wear a tin foi

> but he still wants two thirds of the websites in the world to age verify their British visitors Ok so on this point - and please, if you must, wear a tin foil hat for what's coming. I'm sort of convinced that Sunak isn't daft, nor is he surrounded by daft pipe-smoking unicorn-chasers. So I'm sort of convinced that when such a wide and sort of untenable request is made, it is expected that: 1. It will be pushed as morally necessary ("what about the children? we must protect them!") 2. There will be more pushback, because it's too stupidly hard to enforce national mandates on a global level ("the UK demands, but we don't care") 3. Voices of reason harmonising (1) and (2) will say, the necessity isn't questioned, but perhaps the onus of IDing the users should be on the nation that imposes the (morally acceptable, technically unfeasible) requirement 4. The compromise is reached with a UK national ID card (blockchained, if you want to add garnish), which Brits then must use to access anything and everything online and offline. Perfect security [state], if you ask me. Apologies, it's hot and I just couldn't resist -- I'll run and hide from the toh-mah-toh-s now :-)

Mindwipe 4y ago
> I'm sort of convinced that Sunak isn't daft, nor is he surrounded by daft pipe-smoking unicorn-chasers. Honestly, I think he is daft, or just underbriefed about this. There is a lot of lobbying money going into suggesting this scenario is a positive. The NSPCC are spending literally almost their entire lobbying budget on it due to the personal obsession of key staff, and the Age Verification Providers Association is telling MPs that the UK has a chance to build loads of successful businesses selling age verification to the world as they'll have first mover advantage, so it will be a net plus to the economy rather than a massive fiscal drag. These arguments are self interested nonsense from a delusional group that does not want to lose it's terrible investment, but they are absolutely been taken seriously by the current government. Useful lobbying by UK businesses needs to focus on this being a pipe dream - if age verification worked, the money would not be made by UK businesses (if it genuinely takes off do you really not think Google and Facebook would eat that market? Really???), and in the meantime it is rent seeking that will cripple UK start-ups.
- dane-pgp 4y ago
  > The NSPCC are spending literally almost their entire lobbying budget on it due to the personal obsession of key staff If we're still wearing our tin foil hats, I have to ask how did these people become key staff, and what links do they have to GCHQ?
  - Mindwipe 4y ago
    A few of these people (indeed, significant amounts of the child protection sector) are religious fundamentalists, GCHQ don't tend to go for these loons. They're true believers.

Mindwipe 4y ago

> I'm sort of convinced that Sunak isn't daft, nor is he surrounded by daft pipe-smoking unicorn-chasers. Honestly, I think he is daft, or just underbriefed about this. There is a lot of lobbying money going into suggesting this scenario is a positive. The NSPCC are spending literally almost their entire lobbying budget on it due to the personal obsession of key staff, and the Age Verification Providers Association is telling MPs that the UK has a chance to build loads of successful businesses selling age verification to the world as they'll have first mover advantage, so it will be a net plus to the economy rather than a massive fiscal drag. These arguments are self interested nonsense from a delusional group that does not want to lose it's terrible investment, but they are absolutely been taken seriously by the current government. Useful lobbying by UK businesses needs to focus on this being a pipe dream - if age verification worked, the money would not be made by UK businesses (if it genuinely takes off do you really not think Google and Facebook would eat that market? Really???), and in the meantime it is rent seeking that will cripple UK start-ups.

dane-pgp 4y ago
> The NSPCC are spending literally almost their entire lobbying budget on it due to the personal obsession of key staff If we're still wearing our tin foil hats, I have to ask how did these people become key staff, and what links do they have to GCHQ?
- Mindwipe 4y ago
  A few of these people (indeed, significant amounts of the child protection sector) are religious fundamentalists, GCHQ don't tend to go for these loons. They're true believers.