All I hear is parents in politics are "too busy" to setup adult blocking on there kids devices. Witch means these parents shouldn't have kids if u can't parent and research how to do the setup for setting the age content on Apple and microsoft and android platforums. Its all a google search away but i guess it easier to make laws for developers than to be a parent ? .Well as I see it Texas blocked Pornhub like turning on a light switch ,I say we just block CA from the rest of the USA if parents can't parent or these "adults" that can't parent need to get better on their pull out game or put on a condom not my problem you can't parent ur cum pets.
this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
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Not quiet. The answer is no. We will not comply with this law. And if forced by the courts, we will undermine the spirit of the law at every level and every turn.
Software is speech and fuck anyone who tries to compel speech.
Software is speech and fuck anyone who tries to compel speech.
Then how does it sound?
Put an install disc in an old enough CD player and you can listen to the screeching as it reads binary code incorrectly as redbook audio.
Depends on the audio format, programming language and player.
Python with a synth voice sounds like a religious chanting prayer.
Assembly with a 6581 voice sounds like chiptune music.
C# with a Windows sound API sounds like a Hitler speech.
C with an ALSA sounds like the Enterprise D’s warp core.
And how would this be enforced?
Good luck with that, I guess California will exclusively use Windows then.
I can't imagine they'll enforce this on every flavor of Linux. Also, pretty sure it's just asking for a box where you enter your own age at installation. Nothing even verifiable. What would the penalty for not doing it even be?
What would the penalty for not doing it even be?
$2500 fine for negligent failure to do it.
$7500 fine for deliberate failure to do it.
With increasing penalties and enforcement mechanisms for continued noncompliance.
Will they be able to enforce those fines on anyone outside of California? Maybe, maybe not. Remains to be seen. May depend on your local jurisdiction's level of cooperation.
For the OS dev or the user?
For the developer.
It's a pretty wild thing to attempt enforcing here. It's not like kids don't actually immediately find the work-around for this stuff. And this one doesn't appear to be anything more than an age tied to the user account of your OS. Simple to move around.
But this "for the kids" crap is always lip-service at best, and something more nefarious at worst. The US foster care system is a prime example of that kind of thing gone rampant.
And this one doesn’t appear to be anything more than an age tied to the user account of your OS. Simple to move around.
I think the concept is that when a parent sets up a device for their child, they'll enter the child's age during the setup process, not giving the child an opportunity to lie about it.
But, yeah, there will be numerous ways around it, for sure.
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Factory reset the device and redo the setup with a different age.
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Run a VM inside the device and set up the VM with a different age so they can access restricted content from within the VM.
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High possibility of nefarious online services/apps being developed that take the age string sent by your OS/browser to websites, intercept it, and change it before sending it out. (And probably track you while doing so.)
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Simply access smaller and/or international websites that don't ask your OS/browser for your age.
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Find adult content on websites/services (like Roblox) that are supposedly child-friendly, but have poor content moderation and a lot of adult content.
... just to name a few obvious ones.
Also ... I really wonder if developers will think to increase the user's age over time or not.
Like... If you enter your age as 16, then use the device for 5 years, will it update your age to 18 after two years and therefore change it to an 'over 18' age string?
Here's the thing, open source is big business for the likes of Canonical and Red Hat. There is no need for any of this to be in the linux kernel, or even in the window system. It is a pretty trivial feature to implement as a simple add on, and those who sell Linux based OSes and support contracts will ensure that they can continue to do business in a market as large as California. The law is clearly not perfect, but it's also not awful. My understanding is that it does not mandate any kind of age verification, only age declaration. The idea is to let a porn website or similar ask the browser "Is the user 18 or older" and get a response based on an age provided when the user account was created.
If you accept that there is content on-line which small children should not access, then it follows that some type of age verification beyond "Click here only if you're old enough" is necessary. Something like this, baked into the browser and/or OS, is kind of the least bad option. When you look at the kind of AI age verification garbage some web sites and apps are starting to do, an age signal baked into the OS actually starts to look pretty good. If this gets adopted widely and sites start to take advantage of it to skip the "I'm totally old enough" button, I'll be happy to tell my OS what my birthday is... Jan 1, 1970.
If you accept that there is content on-line which small children should not access, then it follows that some type of age verification beyond “Click here only if you’re old enough” is necessary.
No, that does not necessarily follow.
This is shifting responsibility for children away from the parents and onto software developers. But an argument could be made that it's the parent's responsibility to monitor their child's internet usage and prevent them from accessing things they should not access.
How about, instead of fining software developers for allowing a child to access inappropriate content, we fine the child's parents for allowing their child to access inappropriate content?
Here's the thing, this doesn't apply only to "those who sell Linux based OSes and support contracts". Read the blog post again and my recent comments at https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/55723652/24217066 and I hope you'll see the problems. 😐
I agree that it's a poorly written law, I mean it was written by politicians who don't understand what an OS is. My main point is that something baked into the OS and browser is better for a handful of reasons than most of the other 'solutions' we're seeing.