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Federal bill would force VPN providers, ISPs, and DNS services to block foreign piracy sites (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 54 points 1 month ago (6 children)

political theater. won't happen because it's unenforceable.

  • VPNs operate outside of federal control
  • ISPs leverage DNS blocking to censor which is laughable
  • DNS exists outside of the US

if this does happen, IF, it has nothing to do with IP rights or protecting Americans. it has everything to do with censoring what the majority of common Americans read online. this is the first step towards blocking news outlets that won't regurgitate whitehouse directives.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    I'm a bit surprised they've gone with piracy as an excuse - usually it's "Think of the children!" Maybe they've finally figured out that we already know that republicans are thinking of (molesting) the children so they've fallen back on "You wouldn't download a car".

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  • [–] 6 points 1 month ago* (2 children)
    • ISPs leverage DNS blocking to censor

    And blocking the IP address of the site in question, as well. That’s why so many “illegal” sites jump around IP addresses like a flea on a hot griddle. They’re trying to remain accessible whenever the ISP prevents direct access.

    Because if you block the IP address, blocking DNS is superfluous and performative -- it’s just window dressing for better optics towards politicians who don’t understand tech. DNS censorship trivially bypassible by using custom DNS servers that aren’t affected by the censorship, while IP blocking hits everyone who is under that ISP regardless of their DNS settings - they need a VPN to bypass IP blocking.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    all that's going to do is give them an excuse to block IPs outside the US by the block.

    keep an eye on the FCC and any legislation they take against HAM or SDR. without that it would be difficult to have any comms outside the US.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    No, IP blocking is widespread in most places, it’s just that “rights holder” lawsuits go after the domain name, first, both in terms of the registrar and DNS. They also force ISPs to block IP addresses, but this is more of a whack-a-mole prospect so it’s usually a second-order method.

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