Linux

Don't buy computers with locked parts. Buy computers with non locked parts. Problem solved.

Amazing how governments opposed to MAGA/US fascism, ensure the tools for fascism. I will choose "illegal" phone, computer, 3d printer.

The end goal of the elites is eliminating access to actual computers from the masses and using software to manipulate, spy on and control the masses.

That is why libreboot and the Free Software community need active support.

None of us can be free if any of us can’t choose freedom.

That's what SecureBoot and TPM paved the way for.

The computers in the store, yes. I expect all computers in the store to be phones and the cell company will verify.

Open Source computers will be more important. Might need to brush up on wire wrapping... (Implication being that chip supplies might become dedicated to only those manufacturers that lock the product down.)

They can't get all computing devices. If desktop PCs are done for, I'll go to Raspberry Pis. There's plenty of embedded and industrial computer systems that can be repurposed to use as a general purpose computer.

The cyberpunk dystopia has arrived, prepare your tools and defenses accordingly.

It used to be that similar (and equally bad) ideas were getting traction because of copyright law, e.g.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Broadband_and_Digital_Television_Promotion_Act

Now other excuses for the same thing have been invented. I wonder which will be next.

Nah computing as a service will be for the masses and mainstream user who doesn't care, and they will have age verification and all the "security" measures included. The custom build and DIY setups won't change at all. Any Linux / BSD distro can just be hosted in a territory that doesn't require these "security" measures, then anybody who knows how to use them will be able to continue unaffected.

There will always be a couple companies going against the norm and make open devices. Or computers that are fully customizable IE just stick a different hard drive in there or whatever. I don't think this will ever happen, regardless.

Does the age verification stuff matter for this? Microsoft, if they wanted to, could already lock down systems in this way.

I don't think it'll come globally at all - even the most crazy laws I've read so far target "only" OS vendors.

If it comes it'll be regional only as manufacturers will be hell bent on not losing revenue in the rest of the world.

Keep in mind that age verification needs to be done on a local level as there is no universal level of what is an acceptable method.

Windows will probably become a thin client/cloud OS as MS is already making moves in that direction with Windows 365 thin clients that were recently announced, and the fact that Win12 could be subscription-based.

I could easily see MS phasing out local Windows installs altogether in favor of a lower consumer-oriented Windows 365 subscription tier tied to the cheapest thin clients possible at some point.

I think this is what they really want. Perhaps it will come with the introduction of Windows 12, of course all for your "safety".

But luckily there is still a giant supply of old(er) computers out there that will happily run under Linux / BSD.

Only if Microsoft acquires a major CPU chipmaker. There has to be a lot of vertical integration under one company, the way it is with Apple products. Otherwise there are other OS like Linux that comprise enough of the market to ensure there will always be an unlocked BIOS option.

They just need to push for thin clients that rely on cloud computing as the prices for consumer hardware make it not affordable to own your stronger hardware.

Yes. For example, on iOS It'll work like this once this is no longer "in error" https://www.theverge.com/tech/884306/apple-age-verification-uk-users-ios-26-4-beta

I don't know about the new law in California, but here in the UK the age verification push is happening is because our young people are overwhelmingly left-wing and progressive, and get their news online and not from our captured legacy media, and the right-wing establishment doesn't like that, so they're trying to block young people from internet access.

Edit: wtf is with the downvotes? Do y'all support this shit? Here are some sources to back up what I said:

https://yougov.com/en-gb/trackers/voting-intention -

In the UK: 49% of 18-24 year olds are voting for the Green party, highest of any party by far. 27% of 25-49 year olds are voting for the Greens, with only 19% for Reform (the far-right party).

This trend reverses once you look at the age groups over 50, with 50-65 year olds favouring reform at 29% at Green's 16%, and over 65s favouring reform at 33% to Green's 6%.

Furthermore, the other demographics factors like gender and even region(!) don't demonstrate such a clear correlation, and this is further confirmed by another recent poll done where the surveyed were asked to pick between a left-wing coalition and a right-wing one:

Our elderly consume vastly more print and specifically television news than our young people - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/online-research/adult-and-teen-news-consumption-survey/news-consumption-in-the-uk-2025-research-findings.pdf?v=400636

See specifically figure 4 from page 9:

This is very inconvenient for a primarily right-wing establishment. I could see similar dynamics playing out in California though i don't know enough to say for certain.

Obviously I don't think this is the only reason that age verification is being implemented, especially as it's seemingly being done all around the globe all at once, and often companies with known links to Peter Thiel and Palantir and the defense sector are involved, such as with e.g. discord and Thiel did allegedly say he explicitly wants to make a surveillance state. Obviously countries like the UK have been speed running that goal for a while so, make of that what you will.

There's also seemingly bi-partisan support for this issue from establishment parties, arising from tech ignorance of the boomer class and more genuine, and well-meaning concerns about the spread of misinformation from social liberals and progressives, especially where their country's young people are turning to far-right misinformation.

I think the combination of these two factors is likely what is pushing the specific law OP is referring to in California, though this is just speculation as I'm not familiar with it's state legislature and their political makeup.

The recent push for these sorts of laws in Europe also could be explained by the fact that those countries can use regulation as leverage in trade negotiations with an increasingly beligirent united states because they know that Trump's regime is beholden to the tech oligarchy that amassed around him - the same oligarchy who would stand to lose money if these regulations were implemented because they own the platforms primarily targeted by this.

This last reason is further compounded by the fact that Elon Musk has genuinely been artificially promoting far-right content, including his own, on his platform, and he has been since he acquired it. Considering how many people use twitter, its a genuine risk to the political autonomy and democratic integrity of countries like France, which is also investigating twitter for the algorithm manipulation.

I don't think the CA law requires your OS verify your age, just that it requests the age of your user account during setup and has an API to provide that age range to app stores.

https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1043

I don't think it's any more of a privacy violation than passing UserAgents