[Chicago-talk] Illinois considering passing a law to require age verification with smartphones, and Linux

[Richard Reina]

The question is, is it being used as a cudgel and if so what are the ramifications for freedom of speech, access to information and computing.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 27, 2026, at 1:07 AM, Shlomi Fish <shlomif at shlomifish.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
>> On Thu, 26 Mar 2026 10:39:00 -0500
>> Mike Fragassi <mikefrag at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> The bills as created in California require age verification to install
>> Linux, and the Illinois laws would be similar.
>> Some additional links:
>> 
>> https://lwn.net/Articles/1062112/
>> 
>> https://www.pcgamer.com/software/operating-systems/a-new-california-law-says-all-operating-systems-including-linux-need-to-have-some-form-of-age-verification-at-account-setup/
>> 
> 
> note: I am a citizen and resident of Israel, not of the USA.
> 
> Anyway, I think the whole "child safety" / anti-pedophilia issue has been blown
> out of proportion:
> 
> https://www.shlomifish.org/meta/FAQ/featuring_sexy_women_and_girls.xhtml
> 
> my 2 cents, YMMV
> 
> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Thu, Mar 26, 2026 at 10:23 AM James E Keenan <jkeenan at pobox.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On 3/26/26 11:17, Mike Fragassi wrote:
>>> 
>>> The Subject line of this email ends with "and Linux" ... but I didn't
>>> see anything in the body about Linux.  Can you clarify?  Thanks.
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> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Shlomi Fish       https://www.shlomifish.org/
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