The porn portal xHamster bypasses the block by German providers with a simple trick.
Enlarge
xHamster bypasses the network ban in Germany
© Ralf Liebhold/Shutterstock.com
The porn portal xHamster doesn’t put up with the network ban in Germany and is now using a simple trick to overturn it. The commission for youth media protection (KJM) recently announced a blocking of the subdomain “de.xhamster.com”, which the German network providers have to implement (we reported).
After the first providers had blocked access to de.xhamster.com for their customers via DNS blocks, xHamster reacted and is now offering its service via the subdomain deu.xhamster.com. As a result, the porn portal can also be reached again by the providers who had blocked de.xhamster.com according to the KJM instruction, because the blocking only referred to this xHamster subdomain.
According to a report by Netzpolitik.org, German providers also want to legally defend themselves against the network ban, including Telefónica and Pyur, who want to have the legality checked in court.
The reason for the penalty against xHamster
The KJM justified its decision with the fact that xHamster violated the youth media protection state treaty applicable in Germany and was therefore illegal. xHamster is accused of not introducing an age check despite corresponding requests. The operator of the porn portal is Cyprus-based Hammy Media Ltd.
When the decision was announced on March 3, 2022, KJM already admitted that DNS blocks can be easily circumvented by providers. But it is a hurdle that children and young people have to consciously avoid. The blocking prevents “accidental and unwanted confrontation” with the porn offerings. The blocking is also mainly aimed at the particularly vulnerable younger children, for whom access provider blocks are very difficult to circumvent.
Porn site xHamster is blocked in Germany – the reason