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Posted by WalterSobchak 1 day ago

A new California law says all operating systems need to have age verification(www.pcgamer.com)
761 points | 650 commentspage 15
canbus 9 hours ago|
What a great plot for a Black Mirror episode. Oh wait, it’s real life.
ddtaylor 16 hours ago||
Linux doesn't care. We've already been down this road with media codecs and patents. Let every other OS continue their path to enshittifcation.
monday_ 1 day ago||
One could cope that this regulation can not apply to Linux or other OSS operating systems. But this is only true unless the bootloaders on consumer devices are mandated to be closed next.

We already have Secure Boot, the infrastructure is in place. It is currently optional, but a law like this can change that.

maemre 23 hours ago|
The law is written so broadly, I think it applies to them already: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtm...

> (c) “Application” means a software application that may be run or directed by a user on a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device that can access a covered application store or download an application.

This is basically any program.

> (e) (1) “Covered application store” means a publicly available internet website, software application, online service, or platform that distributes and facilitates the download of applications from third-party developers to users of a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose computing that can access a covered application store or can download an application.

This would include any package manager like dnf/apt/pacman/etc. They facilitate download of applications from third parties.

> (g) “Operating system provider” means a person or entity that develops, licenses, or controls the operating system software on a computer, mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device.

This sounds to me like it would include distro maintainers. They develop and/or control the OS. Also, would this include the kernel devs? How would they be responsible for the myriad of package managers.

The overall law reeks of politicians not knowing what they're legislating.

dbg31415 19 hours ago||
Boo.
uniq7 1 day ago||
You know the non-governmental organization "Save the Children"? Maybe it's time to create a new one called "Fuck the Children" to defend people from these laws designed to mine privacy under the pretense of protecting minors.
nomdep 23 hours ago||
Ironically, the “Save the Children” people tend to be the most pro “Fuck the Children” in secret. Literally
rolph 1 day ago|||
literally.

when you force someone to signal status as a minor, you are forcing them to wear a target, hostiles will not have so much work to find minors, now they only have to contact, groom, and offend.

this proposed law actually endangers minors.

autoexec 23 hours ago||
The fact that bill breaks kids down by specific age groups makes it seem even creepier. Want to target 13-16 year olds? Prefer kids under the age of 13? California is helping predators by making sure they can tell which group every child's username falls under!
theandrewbailey 1 day ago|||
I was thinking "Save the freedom", but your idea works too.
netsharc 1 day ago|||
Ghislaine Maxwell asks where to send her CV in, she's going to be available for work soon...
boznz 1 day ago|||
Not the best choice of words, but I get what you're saying.
calgoo 1 day ago||
Well, you might actually get support from the Epsteinian class ruling the US.
Mountain_Skies 1 day ago||
And their MAP allies.
pipeline_peak 21 hours ago||
You hear that, NetBSD!
jeffbee 22 hours ago||
Buffy Wicks obviously should not be legislating APIs. But I think it's funny how badly this misinterprets the situation. The local user account on a computer has never been less relevant than it is today.
jeremy_su 20 hours ago||
China did this 15 year ago..Fuck yeah, America
bell-cot 1 day ago|
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." - unknown
autoexec 23 hours ago|
I doubt good intentions had anything to do with this.
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