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Comment by JohnFen | Hacker News Reader

Because when you show ID to buy age-restricted things in person, nobody is keeping a record of anything. A clerk looks at your ID and that's the end of it.

Online is a completely different beast on that count.

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I don’t think this is a compelling argument for keeping things as they currently stand.

Governments have a terrible track record when it comes to privacy. Everything from the USPS selling your info when you move, to the 2 dozen texts I got yesterday because the government sells[1] your voting records on the cheap. Maybe you don't agree but surely you at least understand why people are widely worried about a future where the government decides to sell your adult website access records to make a few extra bucks.

[1]: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration/voter-re...

They should be worried. Bad governance is bad. But people do want something to be done about ease with which children can access pornography online. A solution will eventually be imposed if the industry doesn't clean things up.

It is the parents responsibility to raise their children. It's not my responsibility to have to show ID(I'm a grown adult, there is no mistaking me for someone 18 and below.. though I don't think there is any such laws in any country I would want to live in. this seems to be a fairly US centric world view).

"Think of the children"? That's the argument here?

Do you think a business should be able to sell alcohol to a 10 year child? It’s not the business’ responsibility to raise a person’s kid, afterall.

There is a big difference between storing someones credentials in a porn identification database vs showing your ID to some clerk. These things are not identical.

Of course they aren't identical. The point is that prior to the internet everyone thought it reasonable to prevent kids from accessing pornography. Now it is widely available to them online. Some people think this is not right. There are no perfect solutions.

I don't disagree. The problem is that the solutions being talked about have a large negative impact far wider than the problem they're intended to address.

Could you elaborate further on the problem you see?

I don't see a problem with "things as they currently stand".

As they currently stand anyone, regardless of age, can easily access pornographic content online.

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