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'Erotic Review' Blocks US Internet Users To Prepare For Government Crackdown (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A website that hosts customer reviews of sex workers has started blocking Internet users in the United States because of forthcoming changes in U.S. law. Congress recently passed the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act bill (SESTA), and President Trump is expected to sign it into law. SESTA will make it easier to prosecute websites that host third-party content that promotes or facilitates prostitution, even in cases when the sex workers aren't victims of trafficking. After Congress approved the bill, Craigslist removed its "Personals" section and Reddit removed some sex-related subreddits. The Erotic Review (TER) has followed suit by blocking any user who appears to be visiting the website from the United States.
"As a result of this new law, TER has made the difficult decision to block access to the website from the United States until such time as the courts have enjoined enforcement of the law, the law has been repealed or amended, or TER has found a way to sufficiently address any legal concerns created by the new law," the website's home page says in a notice to anyone who accesses the site from a US location. The Erotic Review explained in an FAQ why it blocked US-based users even before SESTA takes effect. (The bill is also known as the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, or FOSTA.) "TER has always operated within the law, and it takes SESTA seriously," the FAQ says. "Because we do not know when SESTA will be signed into law, TER wants to be certain that it is in compliance with the statute the moment it becomes effective." TER can still be accessed outside the U.S., and U.S.-based users can still access the site via a VPN service. "Non-U.S. are asked to agree to a disclaimer, which requires users to agree to 'report suspected exploitation of minors and/or human trafficking' and that they 'will not access TER from a Prohibited Country,'" reports Ars.
"As a result of this new law, TER has made the difficult decision to block access to the website from the United States until such time as the courts have enjoined enforcement of the law, the law has been repealed or amended, or TER has found a way to sufficiently address any legal concerns created by the new law," the website's home page says in a notice to anyone who accesses the site from a US location. The Erotic Review explained in an FAQ why it blocked US-based users even before SESTA takes effect. (The bill is also known as the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, or FOSTA.) "TER has always operated within the law, and it takes SESTA seriously," the FAQ says. "Because we do not know when SESTA will be signed into law, TER wants to be certain that it is in compliance with the statute the moment it becomes effective." TER can still be accessed outside the U.S., and U.S.-based users can still access the site via a VPN service. "Non-U.S. are asked to agree to a disclaimer, which requires users to agree to 'report suspected exploitation of minors and/or human trafficking' and that they 'will not access TER from a Prohibited Country,'" reports Ars.
Yet nobody will fight it. We have find a way to make censorship impossible.
You don't even need to bring the amendments into this. The law states it also applies to all to act committed BEFORE it passes into law. This is call post-ex facto and completely contradicts the constitution, common law, and common sense.
Everywhere else you have right or left wing nut jobs who think the answer is government, but in New Hampshire there is at least a migration of people from all over the world who believe in freedom and have gotten together to say no more. We've been quite successful in various areas from guns to crypto to freedom of speech.
I hate to break it to the majority of you but the government is *why* we have these problems. The government isn't the solution to poverty, war, security, morals, racism, or whatever the latest fetish is.
Government is the problem and the way you fix it is by neutering it and empowering the individual to make decisions for themselves explicitly by getting out of the way. We're so trapped with government regulations we don't even know what could exist without it. Most of the laws we have today were outright written by private interests looking to profit (looking at you entertainment industry) via limiting competition. By pushing "safety", "children", "terrorism", and other costly regulations industries have created barriers to entry by potential competitors which has artificially increased costs and profits for a select few.
The solution is simple. Organize. The masses don't care and we'll never achieve anything as liberty-loving people if we're spread so thin there is no voting block capable of even influencing politics. Fortunately the Free State Project, Shire Society, and similar groups have successfully drawn thousands of people together and amongst this group we've gotten tons of people elected and routinely win court cases, get laws passed, or hinder bad ones from taking effect. While the free world collapses around us we're taking some freedom back here. However to really achieve the ultimate level of freedom most of us desire long term we need to focus our energies and gather an even larger number of people in one place. For a few thousand people won't be able to declare independence or take other actions to hinder the federal government from enforcement and of unreasonable and dangerous legislation. Even 10s of thousands that are working on moving here is not enough. However it is enough to make a move worthwhile today. If for no other reason that most people who find themselves at the mercy of governments are there are the state and city level. By fixing local government first we can seriously reduce the amount of harm by government within our little area.
You use the term "1st amendment" like it means something.
We also have a 2nd amendment, but that only means what a judge wants it to mean, and they can happily ignore what it clearly says. Yeah, ban guns with certain cosmetic features. That does not qualify as "infringing."
The 4th amendment clearly means that you can't have property arbitrarily taken, but we have "civil forfeiture." Pulled over with a bunch of cash? That belongs to the police now.
Oh, while we are violating the 4th amendment, why not ban certain people from owning guns, without being charged with any crime, nor with oversight of a judge or jury.
So, yeah, if one amendment can fall, then the precedent is set for them all to fall. Judges and politicians are both complicit in this.
"-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."