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Comment by gspr | original | California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
[−]gspr · 2026-08-30 Sun 06:49 UTC · link
Rest of the headline: "software distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses are exempt"

And then further into the text it's clarified that there also isn't a specific list of open licenses, as the terrible headline would have you believe, but instead a description of what is considered open

With the caveat that I haven't read the actual legal text, this seems to be an eminently sensible law (it'd be better if it weren't needed, but here we are).

In summary: not a Linux exemption, and not an exemption for a specific list of licenses either.

[−]13415 · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:13 UTC · link
I don't consider that sensible at all. The law is supposed to protect children. It's hypocritical to exempt certain operating systems from the law, and, to be honest, I'm astonished this is legal/constitutional in California.
[−]SoftTalker · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:41 UTC · link
Agree, I think the law will be challenged on that basis, and ultimately thrown out. Millions of taxpayer dollars wasted, when they could have been actually solving the problem by making platforms responsible for the content they distribute.
[−]iamnothere · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:42 UTC · link
The law didn’t protect children before, and it continues to not protect children now, so there’s no change.

This law was never going to succeed at those aims.

[−]gspr · 2026-08-30 Sun 16:14 UTC · link
Of course the underlying law is idiotic.

What I meant is that if we take the law as a given, then the exemption we are discussing here are very good and sensible. I wish they weren't needed, but given that they are, the language seems sensible.