this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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Web services and websites should block all Utah IP addresses and redirect to page explaining that because they cannot tell who's using a VPN, their only option is to block all of Utah.
Yes, I understand how dumb that is, but sometimes you have to fight stupid with stupider.
Porn sites have been doing that for years now.
And that's exactly what they want.
They don't want every website to do it though.
I like the thought, but it won't work. The big websites won't be willing to lose money they don't have to, and like ID laws that give them reasons to extract more data from users anyway.
Indeed. ID laws are a wet dream of Meta and the like. Both because it gives them the unique ID the always wanted and because it is easier for them to comply than small upstarts.
They actually want to avoid the liability of storing someone’s id.
The government wants to make these things illegal, but they also want to track every person on the internet through their government ID, so they create the problem (age restriction and id checks) because they have the planned solution: digital id for every computer!
Do you have your computer license? Do you? You think the internet is a psy-op and Big Brother’s watching you? Just wait until a government admin message pops up on your screen because you visited the wrong website.
You’re getting fined for spreading misinformation or receiving a letter for libel due to some offhand tweet about some famous person. Don’t worry about receiving a notice in the mail, if you have a printer they’ll make it print your ticket for you immediately.
You don’t thing an extra 10,000 words in the EULA won’t absolve them of liability for ID theft?
Actually, the existing EULAs probably already do.
Its easier to implement and less crazy than blocking VPNs. It also pushes back on other jurisdictions doing the same. I'd be amazed if this isn't what happens.
Big websites will only have to do it for a little while though, a month perhaps. If suddenly Utah can't reach youtube or Netflix... Constituents will complain, the citizens simply won't have it, and then the legislators have a problem.
I might not underestimate how much big tech companies hate this too. They are pretty famous about despising all regulation of their space. I wouldn’t put it past them to block a backwater like Utah.
Your right, but I can imagine what it would be like, and that's something.
Are you sure?
But VPN users using a VPN outside of Utah will still get through.
What Utah (and likely other dumb states soon) are trying to do is to force age verification worldwide through a state law, forcing websites to verify the age of every user from anywhere, because any user who accesses the site from anywhere in the world might possibly be someone in Utah using a VPN.
I understand.
Which is why I'm suggesting they preemptively block everyone in Utah. Protesting needs to inconvenience people and good protests redirect that anger towards those in power.
But whether or not that particular strategy would be an effective from a protest, is a moot point, as big tech is behind these types of age verification and use identification laws, and those are the only websites and services with a large enough user base to make a difference here.
Pornhub and other porn sites already do this.
They would still be liable for transmitting content to a Utah resident using a VPN to appear as though they were in neighboring Arizona.
That just means that people in Utah would need to use a VPN to access those sites.
Which is hilarious, and a predictable result when your legislature is mostly filled with people who could've retired decades ago...
Even worse, that would not necessarily help. If someone's accessing your website through a VPN that's not located in that state, you would not block it… then become liable.
Better block everything at this point -_-
The great firewall of Utah, all your pron must be inspected by government officials prior to delivery...
So you're saying we should blockade the blockade? /s
With a button saying "Actually, I'm using a VPN so it looks like I'm in Utah but I'm actually not." that gives you access
That won't work on a VPN, though. The VPN will say the user is coming from outside the state. That's the whole point of the VPN.
right, meaning everybody will need to get a VPN, defeating the purpose of the law
It's actually quite trivial to detect most VPN providers. There's publicly available IP lists
https://ipinfo.io/tools/vpn-providers-detected
Many VPN providers regularly rotate their IP ranges.
Regardless, that wouldn't reveal to a website where the traffic was originating from.
that's... exactly the point here. If you're connecting thru a VPN then the web site is supposed to ID you because you might be circumventing their local ID laws.
I was replying specifically to your comment...
None of that has anything with what I'm suggesting, or why I suggested it.
I've explained the rationale in other comments, but this is an action of protest, not a technical response or workaround to the law.
If Utah passed the stupid law, you have to inconvenience Utah voters, and to do that, websites should block all Utah IP addresses. Making clear to their users that due to the new regulatory framework, they're no longer doing business in Utah.
If that upsets people in Utah, they can reach out to their representatives to ask why they voted to ruin the internet in Utah.
you originally said
I was replying to that specific statement only. Lists of IP ranges are updated regularly and publicly available. Web sites hosted in Utah will have to make use of them to ID check visitors to comply.
I agree with you that web sites hosted outside of Utah should just block Utah IP addresses with a "contact your representative" message."
No, the better solution is for sites that age verification is pointless to block Utah. If you make a mobil app check the GPS or IP and disabl the app if they are in Utah. People should go on sites like Yelp in mass and put down votes on every establishment in Utah so that ths site becomes useless for anyone in Utah. Pretty much just destroy all tech and internet for all things Utah.
i don't think you do. residents of utah don't have to use vpn with endpoint in utah, so in order for your "gotcha" to work, they would have to block whole world. since most people will choose endpoint far from them, it would probably be enough to block anything but utah...
That's the point....
It would be protest against Utah's dumb law, with an even dumber response, that's designed specifically to inconvenience people in Utah.....
so you would bully the people being bullied by this law to protest the law that bullies them? well that would show them!
Unless you are willing to admit that Utah is a dictatorship, then yes "bullying" the people is very appropriate.
This is an issue with american thinking, the sanctity of normality. You think doing anything that effects the every person is somehow off limits, you think the daily life of the people is unassailable. Its the same nonsense over and over across everything and I think why americans always talk about how "nothing can be done" about any issue that comes up. The us of a is flying off a cliff in multiple ways but americans will put up with it as long as they don't notice a change in their daily life.
It is why you are all ok with war, right up until the gas price goes up.
It is why you are all ok with losing liberties, right up until it effects you personally.
It is why you are all ok with your media and entertainment pushing usa #1 bullshit that always ends up "back to normal", right up until you can't ignore reality.
It is why you are all ok with a clearly broken and non democratic system, right up until nether party is able to guarantee your lifestyle.
It is why you are all ok with draconian "purity" laws being put into place, right up until sites you like to use realize that Utah is not worth the work to be there.
hey doc, here is one who forgot to take their pills!
you do know there are people in the world that are not americans, right?
no, it is not. once you are done with this tantrum, i suggest to talk to a mental health professional and ask them for explanation.
Yes, it is. You americans will get to see the results of your madness first hand over the next few years, there is no "tantrum" over it, just the explanation of the consequences you are all facing from thinking you are special.
"Nah bro ya crazy"
“The people being bullied” lol, they are called voters and they voted for the government that does this. Americans can fuck right off with their victim mentality. Go fix your shithole country instead
“You can’t punish the voters for the things the people they voted for did!”
I think you're confused on the concept of protesting.
Or maybe you're just a fan of this law, or don't think it's a big deal.
Either way, I disagree.
Americans not understanding how to protest? Surely not.
yes, it would. their elected officials did this.