Another clown world "protect the kids" bill is going to be passed saying that operating systems must verify users' ages, but it's very vague and clearly written by tech-illiterate iToddler boomers like all tech-related laws.
Colorado Bill: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-051
California Bill: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/face ... 0260AB1043
Here's the top comment on that video:
What do we think about this whole thing? Are open source operating systems going to add age verification in the next few years? What about proprietary operating systems, are they going to take this as an opportunity to introduce ID checking (which this bill doesn't force)?This is bill is overly broad and also unspecific enough to be both overreaching and meaningless at the same time. First, it seems to also requires anyone who provides software downloads to use that signal for age verification. So, stuff like adult games or other software that for some reason should be age restricted. Now they can legally charge all developers of that software with child abuse.
Second, it doesn't seem to cover things like - what if someone on the internet made a patch that removes the age verification code? The os provider is in compliance and yet no OS will have that signal de-facto. The bill does not cover the users, so if the user removes that "feature", they can't do anything, it seems.
Thirdly, there are no technical specs provided. In what way and what format will said verification take place, seems to be up to the particular vendor. So, every single distro and OS theoretically can implement unique way of doing this and then whoever must comply with that age must go and implement all existing APIs.
And finally, they also don't specify what should happen if they interface with something that doesn't have that verification. Well, they sort of do - they say that the developer must request the verification from the app store. WUT? So, they clearly had a smartphone in mind when writing this bill, and not really a desktop os. What does developer do when the application can't access any signals? Who knows.
This is the dumbest bill they made in a while. I put it on the same level as the ruling that boneless chicken can have bones and that chicken wing doesn't need to be a wing.
PS: This has been said a lot of times already, but these age verification laws are extremely moronic and dishonest because guess what, the best way to make sure children don't look at (supposedly) harmful things online is by not giving every 4 year old an iPad or smartphone... which sadly is encouraged by our feminist society which heccin empowers women to have to wageslave and encourages them to be single mothers, leaving no time to take care of their children.
