CachyOS bekommt Linux 7 0 Kernel Image © CachyOSCachyOS bekommt Linux 7 0 Kernel (Image © CachyOS)

Legislative details in Colorado and California

In Colorado, Senate Bill 26-051 contains provisions in Article 30 that exempt operating system developers from age verification requirements if their software is distributed under licenses that allow recipients to copy, modify, and redistribute the code. These licenses may not contain platform-side technical or contractual restrictions on the installation of modified versions.

Similarly, California has addressed this in AB 1856. The bill clarifies that the term “operating system provider” does not include companies that distribute software under license terms that permit modification and redistribution of the application or system.

Impact on Linux and proprietary software

These exceptions mean that the majority of Linux distributions will not be required to collect or verify user age data at the system level. However, the application of these laws becomes more complex in the case of dual-license distributions. A prime example is SteamOS. While the underlying Arch Linux base remains open source and thus exempt, the proprietary Steam client acts as a separate app store. As a result, the proprietary layer of the software will likely remain subject to age verification requirements.

Status of open source web browsers

While operating systems have received exemptions, these protections do not currently apply to web browsers. The California bill does not provide a similar exemption for open source browsers. Therefore, developers of browsers such as Firefox and Chromium may still be required to include support for age verification signals in order to comply with the new legal framework.