Open Source Community Secures Age Attestation Exemptions in Colorado and California
By
pull_my_finger
Slightly gummy. The crust never quite set.
Summary
System76 CEO Carl Richell describes how the open source community worked with legislators in Colorado and California to secure exemptions from age attestation laws for open source projects. The article highlights the open source philosophy of privacy protection, using systemd's birthdate field as an example of how open source projects can include features without mandating their use. The piece emphasizes that the fight to protect open source values from regulatory overreach is ongoing.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledWe're naturally resistant to this kind of activity. If an open source project attempted these behaviors, it would be relegated to the heap of random software rotting on the internet.
We don't want to know the user's birthday because a username and birthday could identify an individual. Personal privacy is central to our philosophy.
In Colorado, we had the opportunity to meet with our representatives along with other members of the local open source community.
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