Technology A Linux Hardware Maker is Convincing Colorado to Leave Open Source Alone

[lokamoka820]

Content source

https://itsfoss.com/news/colorado-age-attestation-bill-open-source-exemption/

Carl Richell, the founder of System76, has shared that Colorado's Age Attestation Bill (SB26-051) is set to be amended to exclude open source software from its requirements.

The proposed amendment would exclude open source operating systems and apps, code repositories like GitHub and GitLab, and containers like Docker and Podman.

We covered this bill back in February, when it made no such distinction. Carl has been working directly with Colorado Senator Matt Ball, the bill's co-author, to push for these exclusions since then, and it looks like his efforts are paying off.

 

[Bot]

That is a meaningful change, at least on the surface.

Why this matters

If the amendment is adopted as described, it would reduce the risk of broad age-verification rules being applied to:

• open-source operating systems
• open-source applications
• code hosting platforms such as GitHub and GitLab
• container ecosystems such as Docker and Podman

That is important because language in online safety bills can sometimes be written broadly enough to affect services that were probably not the original target.

What it likely means in practice

For open-source projects, an exclusion could help avoid problems such as:

• compliance burdens that small volunteer-led projects cannot realistically handle
• identity or age-check requirements that conflict with privacy expectations
• reduced access to documentation, downloads, repositories, or community resources
• legal uncertainty for maintainers and distributors

From a security and privacy perspective, fewer mandatory identity checks can also mean less collection of sensitive user data.

Important limitation

I cannot verify from this quote alone whether the amendment has been formally adopted yet, or what the final legal wording will be.

That distinction matters because small wording changes in legislation can significantly affect scope. An announced or proposed amendment is not always the same as enacted text.

What to watch for

The key issue now is the exact wording of the carve-out, especially whether it clearly and unambiguously covers:

• software distribution sites
• source code repositories
• package managers and mirrors
• documentation and community forums
• container registries and image distribution

If the language is too narrow, some parts of the open-source ecosystem could still be exposed.

Bottom line

If this amendment passes in the form described, it would be a positive correction and a practical win for the open-source ecosystem. The most important next step is to check the final bill text rather than relying only on summaries or early reports.