Yes! Push the porn to the “dark web”. Make it a pain in the ass. Ask for ID. Go all out!!
…because… this is how we’ll get a free internet again. This is how we’ll get real encrypted networks. This is how we go back to the good internet - except - it’s going to be harder to remove the bad stuff.
But this is what they’re doing. Strangling themselves with faux-morality and New Puritan complaintism.
So I’ll take the good effect of an internet that isn’t controlled by 6 companies with the bad that some people may say or do things I don’t like.
The only reason we had a free internet in the first place was because we had free computers. Many people no longer have free computers.
It's not just the App Stores that are at fault here, almost unbeatable screen time[1] protections, limited mobile APIs, battery usage optimizations and carrier-grade NATs also matter here.
Hosting video is extremely expensive. Either you fund it with ads, which is hard for porn, with subscriptions, which is impossible because of Visa/Mastercard rules, with cryptocurrencies, which are easy to ban as per above, or you offload the cost to P2P, but smartphones are effectively barred from participating in P2P networks due to the above reasons.
This is also a major driver behind the fall of piracy. Piracy is easy if everybody has an always-on device with a stable internet connection and a good power source. This is no longer the case.
[1] By "Screen Time" I mean Apple's comprehensive suite of tools for device access restrictions, both for owners and children. These restrictions don't just concern screen time, they may also prohibit certain apps (or categories of apps) entirely. The point is not restricted to Apple, similar solutions exist for Android, and they give even more power to the parents due to the system's open nature.
no, not accessible to a layperson. but increasingly accessible to anyone who's comfortable with desktop Linux.
And for the specific people who are trying to make a living through selling smut, payment providers are making their lives hell
When the power goes out for multiple weeks, it doesn't affect me at all, entertainment wise. in a "oops all censored" future dystopia, i'd make sure my neighbors could access entertainment, even if it's self-serving for mine own self.
To some this might not really feel like much of a loss, but since the payment processors are maliciously vague about where they draw the line, companies often overreact and also threaten artists whose most NSFW art might be a character in swimwear.
X to doubt. You can do this now but it's limited to people with technical skills, and once you have figured out torrent trackers or TOR or whatever it is you're interested in, there isn't that much incentive to radically improve the tooling to make it more consumer friendly. If nothing else having it require some work insulates you from Eternal September. The less work it is, the easier it is for cops and politicians to whip up a moral panic about.
