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Opera Browser Asked to Blacklist Pirate Sites in 'Turbo Mode' (torrentfreak.com)
Opera web browser's 'Turbo Mode' is designed to speed up browsing. As a side effect, it also bypasses website blocks, something popular with pirates. However, it appears that the company has been in talks to integrate a blacklist which could stop access to blocked domains. From a report on TorrentFreak: It transpires that earlier this year, Opera's owners were approached by Russian telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor who aired concerns about the browser's ability to unblock banned sites. It was suggested that Opera should introduce some kind of filtering/blacklist mechanism to disallow blocked sites from accessing 'Turbo Mode.' Russian publication Kommersant says that it was able to confirm the nature of the discussions with sources within Opera. And according to Roskomnadzor's Vadim Ampelonsky, a meeting took place between the parties early in the fall. Ampelonsky says that discussion surrounded the technical issues of keeping blocked sites inaccessible when 'Turbo Mode' is activated. Representatives from Opera reportedly confirmed that this kind of filtering is possible. "We are ready to periodically send a list of sites to enter into such a filter at the conclusion of a bilateral agreement [with Opera]," Ampelonsky says, adding that discussions continue.
Quite often switch out of Chrome or Edge to use Opera for this very reason.
You thought the Age of the Surveillance State was bad? Enjoy the new hotness: The Age of Censorship, where you're not even allowed to choose anymore, your Nanny State does it for you. They can go fuck themselves sideways with a rusty Zika-and-HIV infested chainsaw.
I'm surprised that the blurb makes it all about pirates while in fact it's about state censorship. That's Russian government we're talking about. Pirates has nothing to do with the request - it's all about blocking porn, of course! ;)