this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2026
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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.
I’d say the majority of equipment and devices in the POS sector of IT make this version of the bill wildly impractical and doomed from the start. They’ll either have to redraft it to specifically be about consumer devices or the retail, restaurant, and c-stores sectors will be up shits creek.