Odd one. Accessible using an app, not on browser though.

Will need an alternative if you need to port forward, but for general use you can’t fault them

UK is implementing law for age verification on nsfw content, that’s the jist of it.

Some services are choosing to simply not serve the UK rather than deal with the faff and/or the privacy concerns. lemmy.zip where I am from is one of them.

Blame lies squarely with the UK gov & Online Safety Act. It’s a shit law made to pander to the ‘think of the children’ types that are incapable of parenting, also coming with the bonus of grift and doxxing concerns by companies that move in to provide the service.

I don’t blame any site operator that chooses to simply not play. VPN goes on, normal service resumes.

If a device relies on any kind of external service to initially set up or function thereafter, do not buy. Regardless of brand.

Or accept that it has a finite lifespan that you cannot control. It’s not a matter of if the rug will get pulled, but when.

There is a grey area for things that can be reflashed or rebrained, but I prefer to not rely on this. Local access methods like ZigBee, Z-Wave and 433Mhz are immune to this kind of enshittification by design. Even WiFi devices can fit in here, with appropriate restrictions in place.

An acceptable middle-ground would be for EOL devices to be offered (with a big disclaimer) a final update that removes the reliance on the service but retains the core function. That’s a pipe dream though.