GoKawiilFederal court blocks Utah's SB 73 anti-VPN age verification law
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of Utah's SB 73, which required adult websites to detect users' physical locations and block or age-verify anyone using a VPN. The court found the law likely violates the Constitution's restrictions on states burdening people and businesses outside their borders, since it would force sites to verify every visitor worldwide. EFF, which opposed the law, called the ruling a win for digital privacy rights.
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The ruling suggests courts are skeptical of state laws that effectively regulate the entire internet rather than just in-state activity, which could discourage other states from pursuing similar anti-VPN measures. EFF argues such laws attempt technical impossibilities since VPNs make it inherently difficult to pinpoint a user's true location, a point the court appears to have accepted in its reasoning.
- Utah's SB 73 required adult sites to detect and block VPN users or verify all visitors' ages.
- A federal court found the law likely unconstitutional for burdening people and businesses outside Utah.
- EFF views the decision as a precedent against future state attempts to restrict VPN use for age verification.
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Published there as: “Court Agrees with EFF: Utah's VPN Law Demands a Technical Impossibility”
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