[icon ] blenderdumbass . org [icon scene] Articles

Few Words of Hope

March 09, 2026

👁 24

https://mastodon.social/ : 👁 2
https://mastodon.online/ : 👁 1
https://infosec.exchange/ : 👁 1
https://social.linux.pizza/ : 👁 1

#hope #law #ageverification #freedom #dmca #drm #freesoftware #gnu #linux #california #ab1043 #chatcontrol #privacy #ageism

License:
Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike

[avatar]by Blender Dumbass

Aka: J.Y. Amihud. A Jewish by blood, multifaceted artist with experience in film-making, visual effects, programming, game development, music and more. A philosopher at heart. An activist for freedom and privacy. Anti-Paternalist. A user of Libre Software. Speaking at least 3 human languages. The writer and director of the 2023 film "Moria's Race" and the lead developer of it's game sequel "Dani's Race".


1 Minute Read



With today's seeming apocalypse it is easy to give up all hope, to feel hopeless. Age-Verification, Chat Control and other ( usually ageist ) attempts at attacking our freedom seem to be overwhelming at their might. And while it is true that they are terrible things and that they are bad for our freedom, still they are not the end of the world. There is still hope.

In the late 90s the DMCA was introduced into the law, together with other, similar laws around the world that made anti-circumvention of DRM punishable by prison. It did not, however, stop anti-circumvention. From video game cracks, to movie torrents, to hacks of John Deere tractors, freedom still persists. Yes, it is outlawed. But it is still there.

California wants people to record their ages into their computers. But in Free Software we could always lie. We could always edit the files. Parents of free children will set their systems such that no crappy ageist "parental control" or age restriction would be on their kids computers. And if caught with this seeming "neglect" they could simply shrug, pretending to not understand how the computer works in the first place.

With the enshitification of law, law becomes unfashionable. With laws that are equivalent to injustice, justice is to ignore the law. With law that nobody obeys, the law itself becomes unenforceable.

As with Windows 11 enshitification we see people exit toward nice Free Software operating systems. As with X-ification of Twitter we saw a mass exodus towards Mastodon. If the law will not stop being ridiculous, we will see a mass exodus away from law. And in a few decades the lawmakers will scratch their heads, confused why nobody obeys the law anymore.

There is always hope.

Happy Hacking!!!

[icon unlike] 5
[icon right]
[icon terminal]
[icon markdown]

Find this post on Mastodon

[avatar]  Troler c:0 March 09, 2026


I find cynical worldview too narrow. Even when the entire world is turning to rubble, spitting at it and walking away isn't the best solution. Since terrible laws won't stop be published and mindless masses won't stop supporting them.

... replies ( 1 )
[avatar]  Troler c:1 March 09, 2026



@Troler Doing nothing is only going to accelerate the already ongoing process. To turn around the ship, so to say, would require at least 10% of the entire population to be active supporters of freedom. That requires a change of mindset, which is hard to achieve. Convincing people to believe in a new idol is trivial, the task is convincing them to stand up on their feet and be led by reason. The next best choice is to lessen the speed at which we are going or else the eventual crash of reality is going to have quite dire consequences. I fight for a better world not because I believe it's going to change, rather because I am part of it and desire to lessen once the Titanic rams at the ice-berg.




[icon reply]
[avatar]  Troler c:1 March 09, 2026


... c:0
[avatar]  Troler c:0 March 09, 2026


I find cynical worldview too narrow. Even when the entire world is turning to rubble, spitting at it and walking away isn't the best solution. Since terrible laws won't stop be published and mindless masses won't stop supporting them.


@Troler Doing nothing is only going to accelerate the already ongoing process. To turn around the ship, so to say, would require at least 10% of the entire population to be active supporters of freedom. That requires a change of mindset, which is hard to achieve. Convincing people to believe in a new idol is trivial, the task is convincing them to stand up on their feet and be led by reason. The next best choice is to lessen the speed at which we are going or else the eventual crash of reality is going to have quite dire consequences. I fight for a better world not because I believe it's going to change, rather because I am part of it and desire to lessen once the Titanic rams at the ice-berg.

[icon reply]
[icon question]











[icon articles]Few Words of Hope

[thumbnail]

[avatar]  Blender Dumbass

👁 24 ❤ 5 🔄 5 💬 2



With today's seeming apocalypse it is easy to give up all hope, to feel hopeless. Age-Verification, Chat Control and other ( usually ageist ) attempts at attacking our freedom seem to be overwhelming at their might. And while it is true that they are terrible things and that they are bad for our freedom, still they are not the end of the world. There is still hope.


#hope #law #ageverification #freedom #dmca #drm #freesoftware #gnu #linux #california #ab1043 #chatcontrol #privacy #ageism


[icon articles]Breaking Down the New Stupid Ageist Californian Law that Requires Age Verification at OS account setup

[thumbnail]

[avatar]  Blender Dumbass

👁 147 ❤ 4 🔄 4 💬 24



Assembly Bill No. 1043 of the State of California forces every operating system vendor to implement an age verification system on "account setup". I guess it's time to break the text of it down and rant a pissed-off rant about how stupid it is. Shall we?


#ageverification #pivacy #california #ab1043 #age #kids #development #philosophy #law #stupidity #stupid #ageism #paternalism


[icon codeberg] Powered with BDServer [icon python] Plugins [icon theme] Themes [icon analytics] Analytics [icon email] Contact [icon mastodon] Mastodon
[icon unlock]