TBNTech
Court Agrees with EFF: Utah’s VPN Law Demands a Technical Impossibility
Publication: Deeplinks
Author: Rindala Alajaji
Source published: 01/10/2026, 19:57:20 UTC
Briefing created: 10/10/2026, 02:05:32 UTC
Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 05/10/2026, 18:20:25 UTC.
Briefings
A federal judge in Utah blocked state law SB 73, which attempted to ban VPNs by requiring adult websites to geolocate users with perfect accuracy to avoid liability. The court ruled that the law creates a technical impossibility because destination sites cannot reliably distinguish between VPN traffic and regular traffic, making strict enforcement legally unenforceable. EFF submitted comments opposing the law, arguing it forces invasive surveillance and violates the Constitution's prohibition on burdening interstate commerce. The ruling effectively halts enforcement pending further administrative rulemaking, leaving the law's provisions unenforceable for now.
Key points
- Judge Barlow issued a preliminary injunction blocking Utah's SB 73, which required adult websites to geolocate users with perfect accuracy to avoid liability.
- EFF submitted formal comments to the Utah Department of Commerce detailing how the law forces platforms to detect and block privacy-preserving tools, undermining user privacy and security worldwide.
Context and limitations
The ruling is preliminary and pending further administrative rulemaking; enforcement is halted until the Department of Commerce finalizes compliance terms. The court's decision relies on the technical impossibility of perfect geolocation, which remains a factual observation rather than a forecast.
Generated by Bittrees-hosted qwen35-2b sha256:aaf42c8b7c3c on 10/10/2026, 02:05:32 UTC. Based on publisher-provided feed evidence; may not cover the full original article. Check the source for details.
View archived briefing on IPFS
bafybeidjjoo5nguxxlv7q5aylx6pqnznfuuio7muy6ad2yq44nkei4skji