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Comment by frollogaston | Hacker News Reader

I've noticed more websites wanting you to log in. Most surprising is how YouTube won't let me watch anything otherwise. Idk if related.

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In case of YT it is likely a mix of multiple reasons. They stop playlists on this screen: https://www.hollyland.com/blog/tips/why-does-this-the-follow... . Apparently music is no longer advertiser friendly. Detecting ad-click fraud is easier when users are at least pseudo-anonymous. Warnings about "ban for using adblock" is also not very effective when people could watch video in new private window.

I have no idea, but I noticed that you have to login to GitHub first before you could view any page. Surely it has nothing to do with adult content, right? I think it has to do with LLMs / bots.

And if the website contains erotic content (like YouTube), they are supposed to lock you and verify your ID. This is why all erotic content is getting filtered on X.

In the UK maybe

And in Texas, which has ~half the population of the UK, and in several other US states.

(And if not, because US firms don't take compliance with outlying state law seriously)

Wait, Twitter is following the law now? I thought Elon was a free speech absolutist who only banned things that were inconvenient to him?

You can't even read a tweet without logging in. Additionally, recently I have noticed I cannot view anything on GitHub without logging in first. Why do I need to log in to GitHub first to view anything on it? I am sure it has nothing to do with adult content. Perhaps it has to do with bots?

For a while now, GitHub doesn’t allow you to use the code search anonymously, but everything else is still there. Rate limits are quite damn low though.

Do you think it has to do with LLMs though? Them disallowing anonymous code search?

Pre-MS GitHub didn't have code search at all, and once they added it, I think it always required login from the start.

What are we referring to as code search? I cannot view any pages on GitHub without logging in. I tried to reproduce this in a private window but it seems to work, which is weird. I was not logged in to GitHub on Windows and it wants me to login. It might be the extensions I am using (along with an User-Agent switcher). Not sure, I would have to check. All I remember is that I was logged out on Windows and I could not view ANY page from GitHub without logging in, but I can on Linux, tested it in a private window. Odd.

GitHub Code Search was introduced in 2021 and made GA in 2023[1][2]. It's an improved version of the previous global search (aka across all repositories).

> I cannot view any pages on GitHub without logging in

There must be some sort of IP/browser reputation check going on. For Firefox on Mac, I get this on a private window:

https://vie.kassner.com.br/assets/ghcs-1.png

I'm not behind CGNAT and GitHub can pretty much assume that my IP = my user. The code tab you can't see without logging in though.

1: https://github.blog/news-insights/product-news/github-code-s... 2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35863175

Was gonna say, try disabling ipv6 if it's on ;)

If there's no login, there aren't great ways to ensure the user has skin in the game. Having a whole ipv4 addr is one, I guess having a whole ipv6 /32 would be equivalent.

I will give you a screenshot when I get on Windows, and some details.

I can't comment on LLMs, but I vaguely remember speculations of it being a mixture of AI training and trying to keep resource utilization at bay. Even generic bots can cause a lot load if you don't have much caching in front of it.

X is weaponising it by asking for adult verification for things that don't need it and saying "oh we are forced to do this" because it angers the Reform-voting meatheads who will be voting for the candidates Musk is going to find a way to bankroll in 2030, even -- I would guess -- if it means breaking UK election law to do it.

He is intent on meddling in UK politics.

Soon after he bought Twitter, it got changed to requiring login to do anything at all. Even before that, Twitter was super eager to ban new accounts for no reason, while old ones seemed to be grandfathered in.

This coincided with tech companies broadly moving to profit-taking over growth. Even before LLMs took off, everything started locking down. Making a Google account used to take nothing, now you need a phone number. It'd be wise to sign up for possibly useful free accounts while you still can.

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