Colorado SB51 age-verification bill passes house committee with an explicit exemption for open-source OS providers and apps distributed under permissive licenses.
Key Takeaways
CO SB51 Article 30 exempts any OS provider or developer distributing under licenses that permit copy, redistribute, and modify without restriction.
The exemption covers both technical and contractual restrictions on installing modified versions, closing a common compliance loophole.
Carl Richell, associated with System76 and Pop!_OS, flagged the amendment on Fosstodon, signaling Linux distro maintainers likely engaged in the advocacy process.
“Open source distros and apps” are named directly in the exemption scope, not just upstream libraries or package registries.
The amendment targets the same category of bill that has drawn criticism from FOSS communities in other states for imposing impossible compliance burdens on volunteer-maintained projects.