> "You can't just disable this 'feature' from Vodafone? I'm in the UK and my ISP doesn't do this."
Yes, you can disable it quite easily. Usually by entering a credit card number in their app or website to prove you're 18, or alternatively by contacting their customer service chat.
But of course, only pervs who want to access porn would do that, right?
In my experience it's a good idea to disable it regardless, it as there are often a lot of "false positives", and the filtering can sometimes cause performance problems. (Unless you've got kids and really do want to block porn, but eventually they're gong to discover VPNs...)
> But of course, only pervs who want to access porn would do that, right?
No? Why would you say this? I disabled this back with my old carrier and it was pretty painless - I don't recall there being any stigma attatched to turning off the filters. I've since moved carriers and I don't remember having to disable filters - maybe I did or maybe something about signing up turned it off?
I'm on EE PAYG. I have to go in to a store and show them my ID if I wish to remove content protection. I can't even visit webarchive pages with it enabled.
Painless based on provider, otherwise what described above is a pain.
> But of course, only pervs who want to access porn would do that, right?
Are people actually afraid of some stranger call-center worker silently judging them, but not even saying anything out-loud about it because the call is recorded and they'd be fired if they tried to actually shame you?
You presumably can't get a contract if you're under 18 because that would usually mean a credit check. But you can certainly get an account, on PAYG or pre-paid monthly direct debit that is not subject to contract. Some providers have "UK residents 18+ only" in their terms but others do not.
No, they don't all do that. Those kind of blocks are mostly confined to a handful of the larger ISPs, and especially the mobile providers. I've yet to manage to find something my current ISP blocks, for example. Might well be they block something, but none of the "usual suspects" that I'm willing to test (e.g. Pirate Bay, Sci Hub)
Not all of them. I’m on Zen, no filters as far as I’m aware, sci-hub works fine. Libgen is fine. Torrent sites that the ‘main’ ISPs block come up just fine, too.
Edit: some of the ISPs that do seem to land on this URL (note http) –
I can if I put in bank card details to confirm my age but it would be better if this didn’t happen in the first place unless there’s actually something 18+ on the site
Yes, you can disable it quite easily. Usually by entering a credit card number in their app or website to prove you're 18, or alternatively by contacting their customer service chat.
But of course, only pervs who want to access porn would do that, right?
In my experience it's a good idea to disable it regardless, it as there are often a lot of "false positives", and the filtering can sometimes cause performance problems. (Unless you've got kids and really do want to block porn, but eventually they're gong to discover VPNs...)