The Utah Department of Commerce has agreed to hold off on enforcing SB73 while a federal judge weighs whether to block it due to challenges by Pornhub owner Aylo.
The law, considered one of the toughest age-verification measures for adult websites in the country, requires a “deemed-location” provision that treats anyone using a VPN or other location-masking tool as though they are present in Utah. Under this provision, a site could face liability any time a Utah-based user gets through via VPN, even if the company had no way of knowing the user’s true location, with fines running up to $2,500 per violation.
The original agreement between the state and Aylo Freesites — parent company of Pornhub, RedTube and YouPorn — was struck in April and was set to expire yesterday, September 3. With that deadline now passed and no ruling yet issued, the two sides have filed a new stipulation extending the pause.
Where Does the Utah SB73 Case Stand?
U.S. District Judge David Barlow heard arguments in the case on July 30, but has yet to issue a ruling on Aylo’s request for a preliminary injunction. At that hearing, an assistant attorney general for Utah told Barlow that the state would apply only a “reasonableness standard” in enforcing the law — a concession the judge pressed her to confirm applied to both the Attorney General’s Office and the Division of Consumer Protection.
Aylo’s attorneys argued that assurance wasn’t enough, given that the statute carries potential criminal penalties and doesn’t define what “reasonable” means. Barlow told the parties he could not commit to a timeline for his ruling.
The Underlying Legal Fight in Utah
Under the latest stipulation, Utah will continue its non-enforcement until the federal court either approves or denies the preliminary injunction, or until the “Period of Forbearance” expires. Notably, the arrangement now also ties into Utah’s rulemaking process: the state is drafting a proposed rule to implement the law. Aylo has said it still believes the proposed rule is flawed and doesn’t resolve its underlying legal claims. The company had also agreed to keep geofencing Utah users during the pause.
Utah officials, including Attorney General Derek Brown, have pushed back, comparing the law to existing age checks for alcohol and tobacco and arguing compliance shouldn’t be difficult. Industry advocates for age-verification technology, meanwhile, have disputed Aylo’s claim that reliable verification is technically infeasible, noting websites already use tools like time-zone and advertising data to estimate user location even when a VPN is in use.
What is Aylo’s Position on SB73?
Aylo’s lawsuit, filed in April, argues that SB73 — which passed nearly unanimously in the Utah Legislature — effectively becomes a global mandate because of its VPN-related deemed-location provision. To fully comply, Aylo says it would have to age-verify every internet user everywhere, not just those in Utah, since it has no reliable way to distinguish a masked Utah user from anyone else. The company argues this violates the Commerce Clause and Foreign Commerce Clause, and warns that mandatory age verification could also cost it a substantial share of users unwilling to complete the process.
This is one of several cases Wet Ink is currently monitoring nationwide, as adult content companies challenge state age-verification mandates on free speech, privacy, and interstate commerce grounds. With no resolution yet in sight in Utah, both sides await the judge’s ruling. We’ll keep our readers updated.
