Every site-blocking proposal runs into the same problem: blocking is easy to specify and hard to aim. You order ISPs to block a domain, the site moves to another domain, and the list grows. Going after the tools people use to get around the list is the obvious next step, which is exactly why it's worrying.

Pedantic, but the mechanism matters here. 'Blocking' can mean a DNS resolver refusing to answer, an ISP dropping traffic to an IP address, or something deeper in the network.

DNS blocking is bypassed by changing your resolver in settings. IP blocking takes out every unrelated site that happens to share the address. Neither is precise.

Right, and shared hosting is the bit people forget. One IP can sit in front of thousands of sites. You don't get to block only the bad one.

The number of ordinary things that run over a VPN is enormous. My employer's entire remote setup depends on one. So does the connection between my parents' local pharmacy and its head office, as I found out last year when it broke.

'VPN' sounds exotic in a headline. In practice it's plumbing.

Also everyone on hotel or café Wi-Fi who was told by their IT department to switch it on. A decade of security advice has been 'use a VPN on public networks'.

Worth remembering that the EFF is an advocacy group and writes like one. That's not a criticism, and they're usually right about this kind of thing, but I try to read the bill text alongside the post before I make up my mind.

Agreed, and that's a good habit generally. I posted it because it's where I first heard about the bill, not because I think it's the last word.

The pattern I find most tiring is that one of these bills stalls, and then a slightly different one turns up a year or two later. Opponents have to win every time. Proponents only have to win once.

That's true of almost every kind of legislation, in both directions. It's how persistent lobbying works, whichever side you happen to be on.

Practical question for anyone who runs a small site: is there anything worth doing now, or is this purely a call-your-representative situation?

Mostly the latter at this stage. The one practical thing is to know who your DNS provider and host are, and how quickly you could move if you had to. That's good hygiene with or without any bill.