California Assembly Bill 1043 (DAAA) requires operating systems and app stores to implement age verification to protect minors, but the law is riddled with vague definitions, punitive fines for undefined non-compliance, and technical absurdities. It fails to account for devices without user accounts, FOSS ecosystems, GitHub, Linux distros with no single responsible entity, VMs, smart TVs, and the Turing-complete nature of modern hardware. The law's assumption that a single entity always controls an OS is incompatible with open source reality. A parallel Texas law was already blocked by federal courts for First Amendment violations. The piece argues the DAAA is technically illiterate magical thinking that will chill innovation without meaningfully protecting anyone.
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