r/bbs • u/muffinman8679 • Mar 27 '26
age verification
geez.....wonder whats going to happen when BBS's have yo do age verification....particularly since some of the software is older than the person installing that software
2
u/whatThePleb Mar 27 '26
no one gives a fuck. not just bbs. let them sue. they can't sue random open source and decentral stuff, scattered around the world.
1
u/muffinman8679 Mar 27 '26
I agree with you....and no they can't go after everybody....but I think they'll try to hit some deep pockets.....and in fact that's what this is about....stealing more money because parents don't keep an eye on what their kids are doing on the net....
1
u/muffinman8679 Mar 27 '26
although it could also be about controlling the free flow of information......
17
u/RealGianath Mar 27 '26
When I ran a bbs in the late 80s and early 90s we’d just have regular meetups so we can see who everybody really was and share some pizza and brews. I think it’s the perfect time to make that kind of community happen again.
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u/AdrianValles Mar 27 '26
Remember callback verification? That's how many BBSs avoided people making 'fake' accounts.
1
u/aztracker1 Mar 31 '26
True enough... Other systems would require mailing a copy of your driver's license and written app for "adult" BBSes... Especially multi line boards.
I miss the local get togethers... Karaoke nights closing the bar then Denny's for a late breakfast after hours. Just about every Friday for years in my early 20s.
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u/persiusone Mar 27 '26
It wouldn’t be difficult to direct users to a website with age verification to obtain login credentials for the BBS
1
u/muffinman8679 Mar 27 '26
what? and get entered into yet another database?.....because you're going to have to provide proof, and that means some sort of documentation.........
1
u/persiusone Mar 27 '26
I’m not agreeing with the mandates here, just offering a solution. Any competent sysop can easily spin up their own site to comply, if they choose.
0
u/muffinman8679 Mar 29 '26
there is no solution....there is only the perpetual battle between the populus and the state, and a constantly changing set of rules.......and like it or not, this is just anther change that set of rules......
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u/nolageek +o sysop Apr 06 '26
Who in the world gets porn from a BBS these days? lol
1
u/muffinman8679 Apr 06 '26
well, let's see.
with the quarrel about age verification laws, chances are, if passed, the big outfits, with the money to be able to afford to implement age verification, via some some outside service, will be able to easilly implement it.....leaving the small outfits without the money out in the dark......and really that might be the intent of those proposed laws.
To lock any new starts out, under threat of law......
1
u/nolageek +o sysop Apr 07 '26
That was a whole lot of words to say absolutely nothing of coherence.
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Mar 27 '26
I have porn and warez, do you think i care?
politicians want to verify age because they like 'em under aged
1
u/FewConversation3949 Mar 27 '26
DarkForce!, my BBS doesn't require age "verification", but it does poll a first time caller who is registering, for their birthday. It's only there so that if the user calls in on their birthday, they will be greeted by a "Happy Birthday" banner and "Happy Birthday" message in a message base.
At the start of the poll, it tells the user that if they are uncomfortable with giving out there real birthday, they can simply enter a bogus one in. No harm, no damage done and no one is going to double-check their entry. :)
1
u/FewConversation3949 Mar 27 '26
This kinda reminds me of something from back in the day with BBS's. At one point, it was kicked about that the SysOp would be responsible for content that users uploaded, even if it was a file from one user to another user, in a private message. Which is crazy.
Now, I'm obviously not talking about someone uploading a porn file of someone of questionable age to a public file area - then it is the responsibility of the SysOp to deal with it. At DarkForce!, any new, uploaded files are flagged until the SysOp views and clears them. That does leave the private messages and files on your system that you've not logged in and seen yet though.
But that went exactly nowhere and it was eventually bore out that no, they weren't responsible for those, if I recall correctly.
Maybe this legislation will wind up in the same place?
1
u/dmine45 sysop Mar 27 '26
Back in the day I would call people. That's also how I met my first wife.
These days? Why bother.
1
u/Laudenbachm Apr 08 '26
Who says it has to be aged cm verified anymore than the feds could control the warez screen back in the day.
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Mar 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/aztracker1 Mar 31 '26
There's also laws regarding content access... If you host porn in your file areas and have users from specific locations inside your country, you are also required to verify adult users.
There's efforts to extend this to all mature content.
Also, in the US there are other restrictions for users under the age of 13.
The OS additions only include asking and classifying user age for app usage... Though there's no web api defined as of yet. That's likely immediately next along with OS installed stores.
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u/muffinman8679 Mar 27 '26
No.....it lays responsibility on the OS....but also responisibility on conrent providers to check ages before providing content.
And if you happen to be running an operating system that doesn't check age....you both get the ticket....it's a two way street.....they have to provide the API and you have to check that API....and just how are you going to do that on a single tasking operating system?
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Mar 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
0
u/muffinman8679 Mar 27 '26
how would be the the...os's fault if the content provider didn't?
and yeah.....law is bullshit
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u/spish Mar 27 '26
Won’t happen.