Hello Fellow Lemmings,
I called a few of my state reps and senators about this. I wasn't able to get through to Matt Ball, but I spoke with a member of Paschall's staff who was very polite and helpful despite our disagreements. i also spoke to my own rep's staff but they were not terribly tech savvy. As I suspected, to some degree, this is being framed as an attempt to introduce a less harmful scheme and set the standard before the feds or peer pressure from other states does. Apparently Paschall is meeting with System 76 soon and I asked her aid to let me know what comes of that. I still think it's bullshit and it's crazy to try this with a backdrop of eroding right, liberties, overreach of law enforcement, and mass surveillance of the American people. The Democrats can't do shit for their liberal constituents, but they're kneeling at the feet of the Republicans begging to cooperate anytime they want to do anything authoritarian "for the public good."
Interesting thing about Colorado: we have a ballot initiative process to amend the state constitution where if a citizen collects enough signatures to get an issue on the ballot, we get to vote on it. I don't know who is fighting against this legislation, I've done research and all I can find is the EFF, a few articles, and now System76. I would like to plug in to lobby against this sort of thing. How dope would it be if they passed it only to have us unpass it and collect enough signatures to get a constitutional amendment banning all identity and age verification and declaring that the power lies with the parents onto the ballot.
With that said, a tolerable outcome would be if retailers selling PCs into Colorado were required to include a bundled copy of parental control software unless the customer declines it. This gives parents the opportunity and a slight push to get involved. Do I need a copy of NortonAVGDefenderChildWatchProMAX to be bundled with every new NAS I buy? No. Is it better than the shit they're proposing now, yes.
If you read to the end, please call Ball, Paschal, and the other cosponsors and let them know that the Democratic party is taking a huge risk by shitting on their constituents by pulling out such a controversial issue at such a inopportune time. Tell them to vote NO!
Here's a link to the text and the sponsors: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-051