Determining a user's location can be an exercise in quantum mechanics when VPNs are involved.
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In ACPA, a standard blocking order needs to be court-issued, but would apply in 14 to 30 days. There's a special case seemingly targeted at live-streaming of sports events and shows, or "time-sensitive events" in legal parlance, which can shorten the blocking deadline as a judge sees fit, so long as the first leak of copyrighted material appears within 24 hours after going live.
Blocking at the ISP and DNS level is relatively straightforward. The vast majority of users utilize their ISP's DNS, so not resolving a given domain if it's in the blocklist for its customers is simple enough. Some people, like yours truly, rely on external DNS servers like Google DNS, Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1, OpenDNS, or NextDNS. These too could ignore specific DNS resolution requests from incoming users in the States, the accuracy of geolocation notwithstanding.
Small ISPs and services with less than 100,000 monthly users and public networks are exempted, as are root DNS and top-level domain (TLD) providers. However, the bill does not specify an exact means of blockage, and it's possible that service providers, out of fear of liability, may well take a heavy-handed approach. It also makes no mention of protecting or nullifying encryption.
When it comes to people using VPNs to bounce their connection through another location, things get tricky, as the bill does not clearly state what "from the United States" means, and even the definition of "foreign" can get fuzzy. Determining those might well be an exercise in quantum superposition, since any of the below scenarios can be argued to technically fulfill a criteria. We conjured up a handful of possibilities, though we're sure creative techies can come up with many more:
Chat Control 1.0 sneaks through the EU Parliament, letting companies scan user data without warrants — legal tactic used to force a majority-required re-vote on eve of Parliament break
VPN provider Windscribe has built a script to block Microsoft's persistent GDID tracking on Windows
EFF asks California governor to veto bill that would require online age verification
A connection to a VPN originates from the U.S.
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/vpn/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/vpn/federal-bill-would-force-vpn-providers-isps-and-dns-services-to-block-foreign-piracy-sites-yet-fuzzy-location-rules-could-trigger-heavy-handed-bans#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.