haha you and I had the same thought about dreaming what tech nerds will string up next. it's a big reason why i'm actually hopeful about all of this in the 10-20 year range; there was a period where VHS technology was being fought by the big media companies because of its copying/piracy technology, and it ended up winning. sneaker-net type of places like yggdrasil and the meshnet already exist, to boot.

and it's all vibes but i really think ao3 will fight as much as dreamwidth to not do age verification; being privacy conscious is written into its bones in ways that corporations don't recognize.