The Paris Court of Appeal's recent decision to block four porn sites in France, including xHamster, Iciporno, Mrsexe, and Tukif, has been marred by a technicality that has rendered the block ineffective for one of the sites. The court's ruling was prompted by complaints from two online child protection nonprofits, which argued that the sites lacked proper age verification systems.

However, in the case of xHamster, the nonprofits' complaint listed the web address as "fr.xhamster.com", pointing to the site's French subdomain. As a result, the court's order to block the site only applied to the "fr.xhamster.com" domain, leaving the main xHamster site accessible in France.

The internet service providers (ISPs) in France have complied with the court's order and blocked xHamster at the DNS level, but only for the "fr." prefix. This means that users in France can still access the site by simply removing the "fr." prefix from the URL.

This embarrassing loophole has left the nonprofits and the French regulator, Arcom, scrambling to find a way to close the gap. It is unclear at this point how long it will take to resolve the issue, but it is likely that Arcom will need to revisit the court's order and request a revised block that applies to the main xHamster domain.

This incident highlights the challenges of regulating online content and the importance of technical precision in legal proceedings. It also raises questions about the effectiveness of blocking orders as a means of regulating online content, particularly in cases where sites have multiple domains and subdomains.

The issue of age verification systems on porn sites has been a contentious one in recent years, with many countries introducing laws and regulations aimed at preventing minors from accessing explicit content. While the French court's decision was intended to protect children from accessing inappropriate content, the technical error has undermined the effectiveness of the block and raised concerns about the potential for unintended consequences.

As the situation continues to unfold, it remains to be seen how Arcom and the French government will respond to this setback. One thing is clear, however: the need for careful consideration and technical expertise in regulating online content has never been more pressing.