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Beginning 1 September, we will need to geoblock Mississippi IPs

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295 points AndrewDucker | 5 comments | 27 Aug 25 20:03 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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deadbabe ◴[28 Aug 25 05:27 UTC] No.45048718[source]▶
When will people understand geoblocking won’t save you? If a Mississippi user is on a VPN and they access your website you must still comply.

If you have a competitor, you can hire a bunch of Mississippians to access their website by VPN, collect evidence of them doing so, and then report them to have the shit fined out of them. It will pierce their corporate veil and leave them personally bankrupted, ending their website.

replies(1): >>45049499 #
1. Asraelite ◴[28 Aug 25 07:37 UTC] No.45049499[source]▶
If that actually works, that's terrifying. Do you know of examples of companies facing legal trouble despite geoblocking efforts?
replies(1): >>45050785 #
2. deadbabe ◴[28 Aug 25 11:16 UTC] No.45050785[source]▶
Not companies, just small individuals who couldn’t afford the legal battle.
replies(1): >>45051214 #
3. Asraelite ◴[28 Aug 25 12:13 UTC] No.45051214[source]▶
That shouldn't matter, I'm just curious if it would actually be sufficient legal grounds for a suit or if it would be dismissed immediately.
replies(1): >>45052699 #
4. deadbabe ◴[28 Aug 25 14:35 UTC] No.45052699{3}[source]▶
It is more than sufficient. The law doesn’t care about “Mississippi IPs”, the spirit of the law is if a person is accessing your website from Mississippi, you must verify their age, regardless of what path they are taking to reach it. Can’t verify where they are from? Then you just verify them anyway, you don’t get to just be lazy because you don’t know your user. If you don’t, there is a case that you are being negligent.
replies(1): >>45053416 #
5. Asraelite ◴[28 Aug 25 15:27 UTC] No.45053416{4}[source]▶
Is that just your opinion or is there case law supporting that?