California and Colorado are both moving to exempt open source software, including Linux distributions, from their age verification laws. California's AB 1856 rewrites the definition of 'operating system provider' to exclude software distributed under terms allowing copying, redistribution, and modification. Colorado's SB26-051 goes further, also exempting code repository providers, containerized software distributions, and apps from public repositories, while adding an anti-tivoization clause. Neither exemption existed in the original bills — both required sustained community advocacy and direct legislative outreach to achieve.
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