Porn connoisseurs across the pond can sigh a breath of relief. The UK government has tossed out Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act, which wanted adult site owners to verify users’ ages or face a ban. Britons may have had to prove their age through invasive means, such as uploading scans of passports or driving licenses.
The critics said it was an attack on civil liberties, it was the government trying to censor the web, it could endanger privacy and any database of porn users would be a honeypot for scammers. Most of all questions were raised about whether it would work, with pornography shared on social media sites not affected by the ban, and savvy teenagers able to use VPNs to get round it.