Court agrees with EFF: Utah's VPN law demands a technical impossibility

Utah VPN Porn Law and Court Ruling

• Law requires adult sites to block Utah minors and treat any Utah user behind a VPN/proxy as “in Utah.”
• Court agreed with EFF that this effectively demands technical impossibilities (perfect VPN and location detection).
• Commenters see the law as “lawfare” against porn: make compliance impossible, then punish or drive sites out of Utah.

Technical Feasibility of Blocking VPNs

• Broad agreement: you can block “known” commercial VPNs (provider IP ranges, datacenter IPs, heuristics, reputation).
• But it’s impossible to:
  • Maintain a complete, accurate list of all VPN/proxy exit nodes.
  • Distinguish a self‑hosted VPN or friend’s router from normal residential traffic.
  • Reliably tell if someone on a VPN is physically in Utah.
• Some argue “good enough” detection plus overblocking is fine; others note the law demands perfection, not best effort.

Geolocation and Existing Practices

• DraftKings and similar services block many VPNs and use phone-based geolocation; this satisfies looser state rules.
• Utah’s statute is stricter: a Utah user on any VPN still counts as “in Utah,” making DraftKings‑style approaches insufficient.
• Overblocking VPNs would burden users everywhere, not just Utah residents.

Constitutional and Jurisdictional Issues

• Several posts cite Dormant Commerce Clause concerns: Utah can’t effectively force global sites to verify all users or tailor behavior for one state.
• The law also bans explaining how to bypass age checks with VPNs, which many see as a clear First Amendment problem (though some note commercial speech has weaker protection).

Censorship, Surveillance, and “Internet Routes Around” Debate

• Mixed views on the adage that “the internet routes around censorship”:
  • Some say China/Iran show states can largely control or shut down access, especially by making VPN use risky.
  • Others note evasion (VPNs, Starlink) still exists for a small, motivated minority.
• Discussion of technical levers: SNI, certificate authorities, national firewalls, whitelisting vs blacklisting.

Debate over Pornography’s Harms

• Critics of porn cite:
  • Religious/moral objections.
  • Claims of trafficking, coercion, and broader harm to women.
  • Concerns about addiction, social withdrawal, and shifting sexual norms.
• Defenders argue:
  • Causation claims (e.g., porn → abuse) are weak or analogous to “video games cause violence.”
  • Abuse exists in many industries; focus should be on punishing coercion, not banning an entire category of speech.
  • Prohibition is unworkable and pushes content into black markets.

Religion and Utah Politics

• Multiple comments frame Utah’s government as heavily influenced by the LDS church, leading to:
  • Restrictive policies on cannabis, alcohol, queer rights, and now porn.
• Others push back that most LDS members are not the stereotypical Christian nationalists.

Proposed Alternatives and Critiques

• Ideas floated:
  • VPN providers doing age checks or blocking porn for Utah customers.
  • Restricting access to “residential” IPs only (criticized as technically vague).
  • Content‑level flags (e.g., NSFW headers) and client‑side parental controls.
• Many argue technical blocking is a poor substitute for education and that these tools are easily repurposed for broader speech control.