No, YOU don’t understand end to end encryption, and you don’t understand browsers. You say you could “write down a base64 encoded binary blob on a website”. Yes you could and how do you decrypt it? The asnwer is with a key (asymmetric or symmetric) that the recipient must have in memory of the receiving software - the browser that the filter has already intercepted and compromised. So “moar layers” is not protection since the filter could inject any JS it likes to reveal the inner key and/or conversation. It could do this ad nauseum and the only protection is how determined the filter is.

But this is also a nonsense argument just on a practical level. The problem is kids connecting to adult websites, or websites with some adult content. The filter doesn’t need to do much - either block a domain outright, or do some DPI to determine from the path what part of the website the browser is calling. The government thinks it reasonable that every single website that potentially hosts adult content should capture proof of identity of adults. I contend that really the issue is kids having access to those websites at all, and that proxies can and would be a far more effective way to control the issue without imposing on adults. No solution is perfect, but a filter is a far more effective way than entrusting some random website with personal information. Only this week somebody found an app that was storing ids in a public S3 bucket compromising all those users. Multiply that by hundreds, thousands of websites all needing verification and this will not be the last compromise by any means.

Or the terrifyingly-random bullshit that happens when someone chooses to depend on a free service such as Hotmail as their primary mission-critical address. (This article is about the developer getting locked out of their Hotmail, and the generally-broken state of Hotmail’s account recovery process.)

That could be it. What is certain is that these big corps really don’t want to pay human beings to sort out issues so if you get caught in the middle of some BS you may have no recourse out of it.

I honestly do not know what you are saying. Deep packet inspection through a firewall that does mitm interception demonstrably happens. It is not up for debate.

What isn’t made clear is if this had anything to do with him being a LibreOffice developer. Or just the usual Kafkaesque bullshit that happens when someone’s account gets flagged for “suspicious activity” or whatever and they cannot get a real human being to help or reverse the problem.

I really do not know what you are saying. I have just told you that Fortigate Firewall can and does do deep packet inspection on https connections. It does so by man in the middle proxying. If one filter / proxy can do it then any other could too. There would be ways for kids to circumvent this, e.g via VPN but that is no different than with age verification.

I’m intimately aware about what it can and cannot do. And it can intercept and man in the middles any https traffic

Did you read the text? This guy was providing a package because the default one was broken and he’s fed up of dealing with complaints. And the solution to that is just flatpak the thing and tell users to use that regardless of dist.

I’m sure when atheists and satanists start proselytising there will be outrage - “we really meant Christians should allowed to bother their co-workers not you guys”

The answer for this guy and other people stretched by supporting Linux is to say it’s flatpak or nothing. Stop trying to build for each dist because it’s not sustainable. If someone on a dist wants to maintain a package then let them take the heat if it is broken.

You obviously didn’t know how it works if I had to explain it was already possible. And I am not aware of any mobile device that prevents you installing a new root CA.

And it isn’t “madness”, it’s a completely workable way to offer filtering for people who want it for kids and have no filtering or censorship for anybody else. It is a vastly better option than onerously demanding adults provide their identity to random and potentially adult themed websites where they could be victims of identity theft or extortion

Deep packet inspection already happens on encrypted traffic (Fortigate Firewall) so it’s eminently possible for filtering software to do the same.

Actually it can be done and is being done. Software like Fortigate Firewall can do deep packet inspection on encrypted connections by replacing certs with their own and doing man in the middle inspection. It requires the browser has a root CA cert that trusts the certs issued by the proxy but that’s about it. Filtering software could onboard a new device where the root cert could be installed.

And if Fortigate can do it then any filtering software can too. e.g. a kid uses their filtered device to go to reddit.com, the filter software substitutes reddit’s cert for their own and proxies the connection. Then it looks at the paths to see if the kid is visiting an innocuous group or an 18+ group. So basic filtering rules could be:

1. If domain is entirely blocked, just block it.
2. If domain hosts mixed content, deep packet inspection & block if necessary
3. If domain is innocuous allow it through

This is eminently possible for an ISP to implement and do so in a way that it ONLY happens when a user opts into it on a registered device while leaving everything open if they did not opt into it.

And like I said this is an ISP problem to figure out. The government could have set the rules and walked away. And as a solution it would be far more simple that requiring every website to implement age verification.

That’s a problem is for ISPs and content providers to figure out. I don’t see why the government has to care other than laying out the ground rules - you must offer and implement a parental filter for people who want it for free as part of your service. If ISPs have to do deep packet inspection and proxy certs for protected devices / accounts then that’s what they’ll have to do.

As far as the government is concerned it’s not their problem. They’ve said what should happen and providing the choice without being assholes to people over 18 who are exercising their rights to use the internet as they see fit.

Of course it was piracy but it was friction free piracy. Not just the price which was low but having a really cool webstore and client application. There was nothing that the music industry offered that was remotely comparable in terms of the convenience that allofmp3 offered at the time.

The best Russian music service ever was allofmp3. Sadly long gone but fondly remembered.

It would have been smarter for the UK to mandate that every ISP must provide a family filter for free as part of their service. Something that is optional and can be turned on or off by the account holder but allows parents to set filters (and curfews) if they want. They could even require that ISPs require new signups to affirm if they want it on or off by default so people with families are more likely to start with it enabled.

I’ve heard of people trying to get Cybertrucks road legal. Some guy in Czech republic almost managed it until a public outcry had his certification revoked. Another guy in UK had his car impounded. So if people are stupid enough to try driving their extremely recognizable illegal vehicle then they risk losing their it entirely.

Trump is certainly a major contributor to the malaise - I bet visitors from Canada have fallen off a cliff and Europeans can’t be far behind. But even domestic visitors must be wondering wtf is going on with the place. It’s just so expensive and a rip off. There are even videos gone up on YouTube in the last few days by dedicated Vegas resident bloggers listing the ways they’re fucking over visitors - parking fees, resort fees, 000 roulette, 6:5 blackjack payouts, high table limits, etc. Some even say don’t bother until casinos read the room and start offering value again. Personally I don’t think MGM & Caesars are capable of it, but maybe some of the smaller off-strip casinos can do it - free parking, low table limits, buffets, cheap shows - the things that pull in customers. I doubt it will help with international visitor numbers but the smaller casinos probably rely on domestic visitors anyway and if they can attract them back then that’s something.

Not surprised given how Vegas has evolved in the last 10-15 years. Most of the casinos are run by MGM or Caesars so there is zero incentive to compete any more. It’s all expensive - the rooms, the meals, the shows. They slap bullshit like “resort fees” on everything. The comps / drinks are minimal. The table limits are ridiculous. Most of the public attractions are shut down or dialed back. The public transport is abysmal. Oh and Donald Trump has basically told the world that tourists aren’t welcome any more. I’m surprised anybody bothers going there any more quite frankly.

Not so much loopholes as existing mechanisms. There are ways to import vehicles and modify them to be road safe / legal, called homologation which involves submitting a lot of paperwork, taxes, inspections and certifications to an EU government and having a car be certified. And also more restrictive special permits so a vehicle can be shown at events or whatever. The cybertruck however is simply too far over the line that no amount of modification would make it road legal.