Wouldn't this just be unenforceable for any Linux distros not directly owned/maintained by a US-based corporation? I don't really see how they could force a distro to comply, unless they start going after individual maintainers who live in the US.
If you read this ~~law~~ bill in the strictest way, it makes almost no sense. It says that anyone who makes or controls an operating system has to check the age of every person who uses it. But it does not limit this to big companies. That could mean volunteers who help build Debian or even someone at home making their own version of Linux. The ~~law~~ bill would expect them to build a system that asks for (and verifies) a birthday before you can use the computer.
It gets even stranger with websites like GitHub. If someone downloads shared code and uses it, the person who posted it might be seen as responsible. But they have no way to know who downloaded it or what they did with it. The ~~law~~ bill would still expect their system to check ages and share that information with app makers.
Gets even more absurd when you start to dig at the definition of an 'operating system'.
Besides computers and phones, lots of small electronic devices have a rudimentary OS built into them, including (among many other things) a lot of appliances these days. Forget needing to verify your age in order to use your computer, say hello to needing to verify your age in order to use a refrigerator ... or a gas pump.
They have many ways to do this if they want:
Even if they don't go after individuals they can do a lot of damage in restricting trade and business use of something. The mere threat of legal action is though to make business owners nope out.
It's already risky to draw attention to yourself by using privacy focused phones when traveling. It's the ultimate "if your have nothing to hide why are you worried" situation.
They're forcing legitimate users to either give up or go underground and risk being seen as criminals.
And written by a Democrat. They really have become useless. First they regularly forget that they are opposition for a reason, and now they even betray their voters with the most stupid law humans can cook up.
They're bought and paid for by basically all the big industries just like the GOP.
No it wont. Because we're gonna light shit on fire until this goes away, ICE melts, and the hostages are released from the internment camps. Right?
lol. americans don’t do shit
I fucking hope so 🏴🏴🏴🏴
"Parents Decide Act"
Yet text of it has basically nothing about parents in it, just government data collection lol
How's that supposed to work with ssh keys?
We will keep defeating these nasty bills, we have to keep pushing and not just giving into what the government wants. As what the government wants is nasty as fuck! There will be means to circumvent such changes, Ageless Linux is working on categorizing the methods of evasion, keeping track of what Linux distros are deciding and doing in regards to Age Verification.
Abolish the 2 party system while you're at it.
Oofta, I'd love to have multiple parties with different priorities to vote for. That would be a huge ask, figuring that out for the American political system would be amazing.
That would be a huge ask, figuring that out for the American political system would be amazing.
Change the electoral system from first past the post to one of the saner alternatives (preferably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote) and the rest will follow on its own.
The thing is, this horseshit is only happening because adults have let computers - more specifically, iPads and phones - become their children's babysitters.
Have you seen any of the "iPad Kids" videos?
Holy shit, what fucking irresponsible parents.
this horseshit is only happening because adults have let computers - more specifically, iPads and phones - become their children’s babysitters.
This horseshit is only happening because Meta is lobbying hard for it and throwing tons of money at it, because they want 'protecting children' to be the OS's responsibility, not the website's.
Canadian here. If I can't find a Linux distro that will not comply with this bullshit law, I'll use my GrapheneOS phone and nothing else. Wouldn't be the first time in my life I used a phone for everything.
Artix straight-up refused, and I presume antiX's general stance is against age-gating as they proudly state their anti-fascist stance in their tagline, and as far as I'm aware Devuan is against age-gating as well. I also can assume Parabola and Hyperbola are against this as well.
And then of course Ageless is protestware.
It's fucking Linux.
If you really wanted to, you could make a fork of your favorite distro and remove the age-gating shit yourself.
Wouldn’t GrapheneOS have the Linux kernel and therefor also the same age restrictions? Genuine question here.
The bill targets "operating system providers" and it's called GrapheneOS. So yes, they would be subject to this law if they are based in USA.
They're based in Canada, and given their privacy-focused approach I can't imagine they'd implement such a feature.
They've already stated quite clearly that they will not implement age verification.
This would have to live at the distro level I believe, not at the kernel level
Do you wipe your ass with that phone?
1% chance of being enacted
In 2023 Ohio held a vote to legalize weed. Part of that bill was that business owners could sell lower quality delta 9 in places like gas stations, corner stores, ect. Drinks with THC were allowed at liquor stores. I'm not sure about bars, as I don't go to bars.
That bill passed overwhelmingly. Legalized pot for everyone!
Well, we're about 2.5 years since that happened, and without a vote, they have restricted parts of that bill.
Instead of 12 home grow plants, as the bill was passed with, the final legalization only allowed 6 from day 1. Now it's 3.
Stores that are not dispenseries are no longer allowed to sell the lower grade stuff.
There are stores that popped up, purely to sell the lower grade stores. Then overnight are closed. No longer legal.
Mind you, all of this was approved in a vote, 2 years ago.
My point is, these republicans do not give ONE FUCK about what people want, and vote for. They'll just change the rules and disregard the will of the people, and change the law without voting.
So 1% chance have a 100% chance if you don't give a fuck about votes.
Assuming it isn't pushed through anyways behind closed doors.
Or, the bill fails.
But all of its objectives get packaged attached to other bills that are actually required to be passed.
So you get some random bill about the shape of car exhausts which suddenly requires OS providers to verify users ages
Pretty sure that reflects its stage in the legislative process, not support/opposition. i.e.: out of 100 bills that get introduced, only 1 becomes law.
What was the projected chance of Trump getting nominated, let alone winning an election?
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
