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▲Colorado Adds Open-Source Exemption to Age-Verification Bill (self.__VINEXT_RSC_CHUNKS__=self.__VINEXT_RSC_CHUNKS__||[];self.__VINEXT_RSC_CHUNKS__.push("2:I[\"aadde9aaef29\",[],\"default\",1]\n3:I[\"6e873226e03b\",[],\"Children\",1]\n5:I[\"bc2946a341c8\",[],\"LayoutSegmentProvider\",1]\n6:I[\"6e873226e03b\",[],\"Slot\",1]\n7:I[\"3506b3d116f7\",[],\"ErrorBoundary\",1]\n8:I[\"a9bbde40cf2d\",[],\"default\",1]\n9:I[\"3506b3d116f7\",[],\"NotFoundBoundary\",1]\na:\"$Sreact.suspense\"\n:HL[\"/assets/index-BLEkI_5r.css\",\"style\"]\n")get="_blank">fosstodon.org)
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Given the current broad assault on civil liberties, though, I’ll take any small victories we can get.
How is this different from any disclosure, signage or notice requirement?
Why not require all books to begin with the sentence “America is the greatest nation in the world”? Or requiring endorsement of a particular political party or politician? Or requiring a “stolen land” acknowledgement?
Edit to respond to dead comment: MPAA and ESRB ratings are voluntary. Ever heard of “unrated” films?
No. This is a non sequitur.
> MPAA and ESRB ratings are voluntary
Okay? Cigarette-package notices are not. All manner of required disclosure packets are not.
Maybe you’ve never written code, but done properly it’s certainly a creative act.
In the US we don’t allow laws that regulate the creative output of authors, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, or other such artisans. (That is, outside of “obscenity” laws that are constantly shrinking in scope as courts rightly reject most cases.)
Perhaps there is a difference when it comes to operating systems that provide built in “stores” with a monetary exchange function. This could be like building a moving sculpture that’s also a vending machine. The vending machine portion might be regulated under commercial laws depending on the level of craftsmanship and the mood of the court. A mass-produced sculptural vending machine is almost certainly subject to standard regulation even if it looks nice. A bespoke college art project may or may not be (although in any case the artist needs to pay their taxes). The law regarding creative projects is fuzzy and complicated.
That sounds like it doesn't even apply to most open-source licenses, since they usually do have some restrictions, like not being able to change the license without permission of all authors, or removing authors' credits, plus you have to display the license to the user etc., IANAL but perhaps those could all be interpreted as "restrictions" that make it not eligible for exemption.
The way I interpret that is that redistributing cannot be restricted either, which wouldn't work for say, the GPL, as far as I understand it.
if you take the argument to the extreme then only public domain code would be exempt. clearly the lawmakers are aware of open source and free software licenses and would not make a stupid blunder to only allow public domain operating systems which nobody is using, if they even exist.
the license can't be modified anyways, that's a feature of copyright. a license may allow combination with code that has a different license, but the original code is still under the original license. so if i build a program that includes MIT or BSD code and GPL code, then the combined result is under the GPL, but the original MIT code is still MIT or BSD. both licenses require that the license notice may not be removed. i can rip out the GPL code and distribute the rest under MIT again. if it was possible to actually modify the license then i could not do that.
Will an LLM drop capitals and write all lowercase if you ask it to or does it require postprocessing?
The writing style reminds me of the people in college who would fake an English accent.
Addressing the actual comment, "it's anarchy not freedom" isn't really meaningful when talking about software modification instead of societal governance. Why is "anarchy" of home software modification a bad thing?
Why is "anarchy" of home software modification a bad thing?
because anarchy allows everyone to do hat they want, which means it does not offer protection for people who can't protect themselves.
the point of the GPL is to protect the user, to prevent the developer from locking the user in, it is not to give freedom to the developer. BSD/MIT licenses don't have that protection. no protection for the user equals anarchy to me.
> GPL
> BSD/MIT
Aha, your shift key does work! Now that you've found it we can work on using it when sentences start.
I find your anarchy analogy unconvincing. It seems like you're conflating the existence of permissive licences, with a lack of a legal obligation to use the GPL. If anarchy exists rather than user protection, it's in the ability to choose a non-GPL license altogether.
you're conflating the existence of permissive licenses, with a lack of a legal obligation to use the GPL
well, the interpretation of 9dev creates a legal preference for public domain software. so there is that. but that aside, i don't get your reading, how am i conflating anything. i am making an analogy. permissive licenses enable a state or behavior that is comparable to anarchy, in that there is no protection for anyone, whereas the GPL has a strong focus on user protection. if we want to stretch the analogy even further, the GPL could be compared to socialism. oh, and binary only distribution is capitalism. (ok. i'll stop now ;-)
what you are describing is something different entirely. the original developer of course has the freedom to set the rules for his software. what i am talking about in my analogy, is how that choice affects the environment in which their software gets used and distributed, which is either like anarchy or like socialism (or anything in between).
https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1rshc1f/i_traced_2_b...
(As another comment says, it is still not good, but at least it is something.)
If they're minded to bypass all that then they're going to bypass any technical block you put on anyway.
But when I say not 100% against, maybe 75% against it. The idea of age checking operating systems and browsers I'm very much against. Ban devices in schools: fine, it's a place of learning and there are always specific rules in shared environments.
Good luck. People who aren't willing to collaborate don't get what they want.
I'd like the nice thing of a workable solution. The failure to do so means you get the first proposed solution - the one you obviously don't want. It's crazy to believe that despite detesting age verification, none of that vitriol can be redirected in to coming up with a workable better idea.
The failure to do so means you get the first proposed solution - yes I agree, the first solution is by definition the status quo before the 'now' solution.
There are times that you have to accept: there is no middle ground, other than the ground you stand upon.
You want to control the user - kid, and not control the user i.e adult, you also want parent to not bother. That is impossible. Either parent have to do active part, other (because by definition kid already is - since the age is already available to whatever malware will be running on device) people will be harmed by surveillance or we keep status quo. Classical choice triangle.
The only "rational" (still for me this seems like possible trojan horse) way would be to actively enforce existence of "for-child OS" on company controlled OSes, and use something like Secure Boot if parent SO DESIRES (with caveat 5 ). 0. (short version) Effectively this would mean buy separate device for kids or learn how to do it. And it would fundamentally be bound to device not user, 1. by enforcing main key to be Owner's (Parent) and signing the OS developer key with the main key for purpose of OS boot (start) - so that OS 'provider' can sign kid-friendly OS version with that developer key. (you probably could ease that with vendor key - but still requires possibility of changing the key which leads to 2. then lock the UEFI by password... that still require knowledge about the tech - unless you get password in device box [then again parents have to exercise some parenting and not give device with the box], and don't start about phones - they would require UEFI and Secure Boot available for user first - not just manufacturer. 3. and you would HAVE TO (this bit is especially trojan otherwise) enforce every OS manufacturer and vendor that provide ones for kids to always provide the non-kid version (and support it!) - so that it would not create de facto surveillance OS/PC. Let me guess this is impossible for you Americans. 4. Then app developers can sign apps for kids with the OS developer key that is FOR the kid variant - otherwise will not run (in that scenario 'kid-OS' only). 5. you would have to limit it for kids devices ONLY so you would have to reverse "ID check in bar" to confirm the existence of kid instead of adult (during buying the OS/device) - otherwise again trojan horse (because of commonality of solutions).
If you find this version 'workable' please have it - but for me it seems contradictory to desire of not bothering parents. *From my perspective this is effectively parental controls on steroids*. This is exceptionally similar to attestation except it has opt out for people who actively kept the password, no IDs, and no 'sending age over wire'. This will help exactly zero to stop spread of some files if parents give a kid in class for-adult phone/pc unless you enforce signing every file by kid-OS and not opening unsigned files - congratulations your kid would be using OS approved by north Korea! - do you start to see the issue with 'workable' ideas? They inevitably flow to surveillance and autocratic tech.
This is anyway probably faulty in something I did not thought about.
It's really adorable.
Seriously though, I think it is good illustration point of "this is unacceptable speech" i.e outside of Overton window.
they could, they just dont want to spend the money or risk liability
You're reaching for legally mandated solutions. Why can't this be one?
"Choose to be a good parent, vs legally mandated spyware". Why not "legality mandated be a good parent"? This would solve a lot of other problems too. Like, all those people who hand wring "oh we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas! It's not working! Whatever could work in aggregate?!" people who don't actually parent can be trained to parent, and if they refuse they face consequences.
School bans have been effective because the entire friend group is taken off at once. That network effect is important. We need a real solution for keeping kids off social media—there is too much popular will for this not to happen. The debate is realistically around how.
The bill under discussion is being pushed by Facebook purely to absolve themselves of liability. The information flow is completely backwards. Its design actually removes control from parents (websites are responsible for making the decision, so whether a given site is suitable for your kid is made by corporate attorneys), and puts assumed liability on parents (eg "you're negligent for letting your kid access a browser that doesn't broadcast their age").
(I'm a parent but thankfully not yet at the stage where I have to navigate this issue)