Watching online pornography could be about to get more difficult very soon for people living in the UK.
New rules that could come into effect as soon as April 1st will require anyone wishing to access a free adult site to provide proof of identity.
Whilst that might sound annoying - if you're into that sort of thing to begin with, anyway - the rules are aimed at protecting children.
The rules, once they are brought into place, will cover many of the world's largest pornography sites such as YouPorn and PornHub. Those two sites alone see nearly 2 billion people visit every month from around the globe.
Alongside those websites, a whole host of others will require anyone wishing to access free content of an adult nature to sign up to a new system called AgeID.
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That means that you'll have to register yourself using details from a valid form of ID such as a driving licence, credit card, or passport.
Basically, as soon as you log on, you'll be met with a non-pornographic landing page upon which you'll be prompted to verify your age.
This is according to a spokesperson for the company providing the verification software.
AgeID spokesperson James Clark told The Metro: "When a user first visits a site protected by AgeID, a landing page will appear with a prompt for the user to verify their age before they can access the site,
"Each website will create their own non-pornographic landing page for this purpose."
Despite this seeming like a bit of a hassle, once you're registered on one site, you'll be able to use the same verification for any other sites that subscribe to the AgeID system.
However, the decision on which age verification system to use is up to each individual site and some will have different providers.
Clark continued: "It is a one-time verification, with a simple single sign-on for future access. If a user verifies on one AgeID protected site, they will not need to perform this verification again on any other site carrying AgeID."
These rules - which are part of the Digital Economy Act of 2017 - are aimed at making adult content less accessible to anyone under the age of 18.
If the credit card, driving licence, or passport form of verification isn't for you, you'll be able to get hold of a verification card known as a PortesCard from a selection of high street shops.
That will allow access to anyone with the Portes app without provision of an email address.
Clark explained: "The PortesCard is available to purchase from selected high street retailers and any of the UK's 29,000 PayPoint outlets as a voucher.
"Once a card or voucher is purchased, its unique validation code must be activated via the Portes app within 24 hours before expiring.
"Once the user has been verified, they will automatically be granted access to all sites using AgeID."
You can expect to pay £4.99 for use with one device, or £8.99 for multiple devices, should you wish to go down this route.
It's worth remembering that this is an idea that has been talked about for some time now. It is expected to come into effect on April 1st, but no definite date is set. It has also been put back before.
If porn websites don't comply, they face a fine of up to £250,000 and even a blanket ban from UK internet service providers.
Featured Image Credit: PA