I would like to take a break from all the complaining and point out how hilarious it is that this law does not apply to any computer that can only connect to the internet via an Ethernet port.
Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
431–440 of 534 posts
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#432Earlier quoted context omitted.
You quite frankly have the conversational intelligence of a petulant child and I would not seek your legal advice in any matter if this is how you conduct yourself when discussing law with others online.
I am ok with this. Sometimes a lawyer doesn't want certain clients, either.
A non-practicing lawyer, by definition, has no clients. Just to be clear.
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#433Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am amazed that an attorney would ask me to divulge this kind of highly personal information in a public forum when I am clearly trying to be discreet.
I'm not your attorney; I don't owe you a duty of confidentiality. You're not being discreet at all; you brought up your prior incarceration, presumably in the hopes that it would help you prevail in this discussion. By so doing, you opened that door and made the issue relevant.
That has nothing to do with your general professional respect for others and knowing how to read the room.
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#434Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not your attorney; I don't owe you a duty of confidentiality. You're not being discreet at all; you brought up your prior incarceration, presumably in the hopes that it would help you prevail in this discussion. By so doing, you opened that door and made the issue relevant.
That has nothing to do with your general professional respect for others and knowing how to read the room.
I've read the room. I think I'm okay.
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#435Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given your comment history, I suspect that you are sympathetic to these laws and you’re trying to prevent people from opposing them, using your “friendly advice” as cover. Believe it or not, there are plenty of people in the US willing to go to jail (or worse) for their beliefs. It’s kind of the founding mythology of the nation . US history is full of people who successfully challenged violations of their rights and…
Not at all! I think these laws are dumb and I don't want my state to pass one. But when I play, I play to win. Openly thumbing one's nose at the courts and the state is rarely a winning strategy. The way to win is through the democratic process: persuading elected officials to take your side. That, in turn, requires persuading the public to take your side.
On the contrary, civil disobedience involves openly thumbing your nose at the state, and it has a long history of successes.
Going to the courts instead of the legislature is another strategy that often wins. This is how Bernstein ended export restrictions on cryptography, by suing the government on constitutional grounds rather than trying to persuade legislators.
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#436Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am in the USA, but I literally cannot comply because by design it is not possible for me to ship changes without the international maintainer team agreeing to them. And Illinois legislators have no power over them. Also, we are not a company. We are an independent community owned project. Our code is free speech and I will burn the world down to defend that right. Truly I dare someone to try to take me to court ove…
If you're in the ninth circuit you're safe because of Bernstein v DoJ.
If you're in the sixth circuit you're even safer because of Junger vs Daley.
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#437Earlier quoted context omitted.
Public expressions of defiance are motivating to people who don’t yet recognize that they have allies.
At least one person understands my intentions. You made my day.
There are more of us than it appears, but we usually don’t speak out. Thanks for making a stand.
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#438Earlier quoted context omitted.
how would it work in the age of everything virtual, from containers to VMs, even an OS instance running in a browser, with OS/kernels being spanned in sub-seconds and existing even for just one call with no user interaction. Are they going to inherit age bracket from supervisor/parent process? Which of course wouldn't work for AWS/GCP, and many other cases. It looks to me like it would require something similar to se…
Simple. If unconfigured, user birthdate should default to 1970-01-01
No. The stupid-ass law [1]:
> "Internet-enabled device" means a smartphone, tablet, or personal laptop or desktop computer that provides cellular or wireless connectivity, is capable of connecting to the Internet, runs an operating system, and is capable of downloading and running applications.
Enumerate all network interfaces. Are any of them cellular or wireless? No? Then the law doesn’t apply.
[1] https://my.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/104/HB/PDF/10400HB...
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#4391773350468 | Illinois introduces OS-level age verification law | https://legiscan.com/IL/bill/SB3977/2025 | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47357294
1773770767 | Illinois Introducing Operating System Account Age Bill | https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocTypeID=HB&Doc... | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47416131
1786248239 | Illinois just told every operating system to start reporting your kid's age | https://itsfoss.com/news/illinois-age-verification-bill/ | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228350
Re: Illinois just passed a law that puts Linux on the hook for age verification
#440Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am ok with this. Sometimes a lawyer doesn't want certain clients, either.
A non-practicing lawyer, by definition, has no clients. Just to be clear.
They also just went and silently changed multiple comments in order to make their replies look less edgy, petulant and unprofessional. I'm all for editing out swipes, but the lack of acknowledgement makes it clear that their last resort for turning this one around is manipulating the conversation after the fact to benefit themselves.