‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Court agrees with EFF: Utah's VPN law demands a technical impossibility

802 points · 405 comments · hn_acker

  1. SoftTalker · · focus · HN ↗
    > platforms are left with an impossible choice: completely block all VPN traffic nationwide or withdraw access from Utah entirely

    Is it even possible to reliably know that a connection is from a VPN? Anyone can proxy through a random hosting provider.

    1. gorgoiler · · focus · HN ↗
      The classic: ping the endpoint address, then “ping” the code. If the IP address comes back in 30ms but the JavaScript responds in 330ms, then the client is probably 300ms further away than they say they are claiming.
      1. patrakov · · focus · HN ↗
        This will also catch a SIM card in roaming, which is not a VPN.
        1. someonebaggy · · focus · HN ↗
          except it is literally a VPN, actually. That's why it would have that characteristic. Except actually it wouldn't, because the test described only catches proxies at L4 and higher. It would catch a lot of CGNATs.
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.