>The company can defend it's self against the charge if they have a "prescribed age-verification method".
And the prescribed age-verification method is going to be government ID.
And the prescribed age-verification method is going to be government ID.
If I buy alcohol I also need a "government ID"
That way the porn site doesn't know who you are (it just knows "this person is old enough to access this content"), and the age verification entity doesn't know what you used the token to access.
Of course, this scheme is more complicated than building an age verification system that involves uploading a government ID (or asking a third party directly to verify someone's age), so ultimately no one gets any privacy or anonymity.
The only way we ever verify someone's age for legal purposes, at least here in Canada, is by checking government ID. Birth certificate, driver's permit, photo ID card, health card. They all have your birth date on it. A younger adult may need to show this ID if they look particularly young and want to buy cigarettes or alcohol.
Though relevant to the topic, I would note that the same young adult may need to show ID to buy pornography on DVD or Bluray at a retail store. That's already established and I would think few object to that. It's the security and privacy issues that arise when we start sending this data in a recorded and logged form over the Internet. This remains true whether it's a government ID or a privately issued ID.
That's for consumers and distributors to figure out. The lack of trust between consumers and distributors is no reason to continue allowing online porn to be exempt from long established and agreed upon controls.