PC Repair In Texas Now Requires a PI License

JohnnyNapalm writes "In some shocking news out of Texas, PC repair will now require a PI License. Surely this stands to have a substantial impact on small repair shops around the state if upheld. Never fear, however, as the first counter-suit has already been filed."

Slaughterhouse Cases

[snowgirl]

Unfortunately, the Slaughterhouse Cases [wikipedia.org] already determined that a state-run cartel can push out individuals not meeting specific criteria.

Such a right to "sustain ones life through labor" simply does not exist at the Federal level... Now, they are pushing this under the Texas constitution, and I don't know for sure what the Texas constitution says about it, however likely, just like Louisiana, they probably don't guarentee a person's right to work in a particular field.

We require licenses of many different professions, doctors, medical professionals, accountants even. Sorry, but unfortunately, saying "I have plenty of happy customers that are willing to have me repair their computers" doesn't justify this anymore than a doctor practicing medicine without a license can say "but they're totally accepting of my care, even though I'm unlicensed."

I hate to say this, but these people probably don't have a single leg to stand on legally, because this has all been through the courts before... of course, I could be wrong, and things could change. But I don't expect it to.

If Texas ruled you had the right to do any work between two knowing and consenting adults, then that would lead to situations potentially opening the way to prostitution (which I don't think should be illegal) or circumvention of licensing standards for other professions. Why do I need government permission to be a cop? I can pull over anyone I want, and by telling me that I can't, the government is making me unable to sustain my life through the labor of my choosing.

I think the biggest issue here, is that police and other criminology people are concerned that if a computer tech stumbles across illegal information on a computer, that since they are not a licensed private investigator, the evidence cannot in any way be used. Even if say, it's for a child-pornography case. "Your evidence was siezed improperly, sorry, but it's excluded, next time do things the right way!"

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[TheSHAD0W]

We require licenses of many different professions, doctors, medical professionals, accountants even. Sorry, but unfortunately, saying "I have plenty of happy customers that are willing to have me repair their computers" doesn't justify this anymore than a doctor practicing medicine without a license can say "but they're totally accepting of my care, even though I'm unlicensed."

And if the patients know this, what exactly is wrong with it?

This is one good reason why medical care costs so much in this country.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Anonymous Coward]

So does the garbage man need a PI license, just in case he sees something in the trash? Does the gardener need one just in case the plants dieing in a corner of the yard are due to buried evidence?

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Anonymous Coward]

Because there are a lot of crooks in this country, and was the reason these kind of laws were put into place in the first place. We all expect doctors to have a certain level of training, and just because someone says they have the equivalent, doesn't mean they do.

Re:But it's okay to shoot robbers in the back ther

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't know what the PIs are thinking. This is still Texas. They push too hard they'll get an applied lesson in You Don't Fuck with Another Man's Livelihood 101.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Jartan]

We require licenses of many different professions, doctors, medical professionals, accountants even.

Uhh yea but those licenses actually pertain to the profession in question.

I don't know why the summary says "small repair shops". In reality such a requirement will throw a total wrench into any big chain that does computer maitenance. Theres no way the kids who work in Best Buy have PI licenses.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[ardle]

It's cheap to force them to get PI licences: how about a license to practise computer repair, or something? At least they'd be trained in that (maybe).
Repair staff are effectively being hired to spy on people: they should be paid, rather than the other way around.
The people gathering the evidence are also capable of planting evidence - and there are a lot of computer repair businesses.
What happens if someone doesn't report something they find (and doesn't blackmail their customer, either?)

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[loraksus]

We require licenses of many different professions, doctors, medical professionals, accountants even.

I'm sorry, but that's a crap argument. In all of those cases, the licensing requirements are related to the actual job. In this case? Completely unrelated.

And Louisiana law is fairly different from Texas law. Louisiana is sort of the red haired bastard stepchild when it comes to the law because of the heavy French influence.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[e4g4]

No argument there. I certainly expect my doctor to have medical training, my lawyer to have law training - but do I expect my local PC tech guy to have investigative training? Do you really want to hand your computer to someone who is trained at gleaning information? When I fix a computer - I make a studious effort to ignore the personal contents of a machine...this is just ridiculous.

Re:I don't think the report is accurate

[loraksus]

Not that someone disgruntled couldn't try to make a case out of it...

Or some DA who wants to look "tough on crime" in anticipation of running for office.
And while I don't want to sound insulting, Texas isn't known for the discretion of their prosecutors or integrity of their police / crime labs.

These seems even more far reaching

[richardellisjr]

According to this wouldn't it be illegal for a network admin to do forensic research on a security breach? At the very least it seems it would make any evidence found inadmissible in court.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Spacepup]

Doctors require a license as a way for laymen to distinguish between a quack who might kill you and someone learned who might kill you. Structural engineers need a license so you can have a reasonable expectation that what they design wont fall down on people. It isn't unusual to have to have a license to work in a particular field. What is unusual is to be required to have a license for a field relatively unrelated. It's rediculous to require structural engineers to get a medical license just because they build hospitals.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[AllIGotWasThisNick]

And if the patients know this, what exactly is wrong with it?

To play liberal's advocate for a moment, the US health care system as it stands today requires licensing to get malpractice insurance. This is a pretty reasonable expectation should say, your leg be accidentally amputated during an annual checkup. This same policy applies to your insurance payables for eg. massage therapy. Registered therapist's services are invariably insured, whereas non-licensed massage services (teehee) are almost never covered.

The subtle reason for any of this concern is the principle of "informed consent". Without a medical degree, how can you effectively evaluate (in advance, no less) the skills of someone whose actions potentially put your life in definite, immediate risk? The liberal mindset is that you are not allowed to choose, even if you actually are informed, since other uninformed people will frequently make "the wrong choice".

As for my personal opinion, I think that the vast majority of medical conditions can be dealt with by someone with significantly less training/licensing (eg. nurses, online/telephone professionals, etc) than is currently demanded; heart surgeries are much less common than colds, as dreamy as McDreamy is.

avoid the PIs

[bugs2squash]

The state of Texas may be re-assured that its geeks are PIs, but I think many ordinary customers would be more inclined to hire a non-PI.

Seems to me that being a non-PI-repair-guy would be a selling point as having a PI license emphasizes that the geek is there to snoop, not to fix.

Speaking as someone who does not have a PI license, thanks Tx.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[un1xl0ser]

I think the biggest issue here, is that police and other criminology people are concerned that if a computer tech stumbles across illegal information on a computer, that since they are not a licensed private investigator, the evidence cannot in any way be used. Even if say, it's for a child-pornography case. "Your evidence was siezed improperly, sorry, but it's excluded, next time do things the right way!"

I guess that we should also make anyone who develops photos get a PI license as well. That's a great way to boost salaries at Walmart.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[arminw]

...require licenses ...

To breathe, drink water, eat, drive, chase dogs or cats, teach, build houses or outhouses or most anything else, hunt or fish, make love with or without marriage, which also is licensed. You'd be hard pressed to come up with something that is NOT licensed or permitted, either directly or indirectly, by some level of government. So big deal, another license to do something in life is added to the collection of thousands of things that government requires licenses for.

I agree with you that this litigation isn't going to succeed. What should be done is to find out the politicians who were paid off and by whom and vote them out of office. In a sense, every time a legislator passes such licensing laws, they are loading another tax onto the people. It will now cost more in Texas to get a computer repaired. In fact the cost may increase so much, that almost all computers will be thrown out rather than remain in service. It will also increase the number of do-it-yourself computer owners/fixers. They better also license garbage collectors who may now have access to many computers in dumpsters. These computers may have sensitive information on them, requiring the garbage collector to also have a PI license.

BAD headline/article

[Anonymous Coward]

All this means is in order for Geek Squad (or anyone) to perform forensic data recovery for example, on behalf of your local PD, or even a PI, the Geek Squad technician would also need a PI license.

No. Shit. It would be an obvious loophole otherwise.

Every computer repair person in the damned state doesn't qualify under (a)(1), sorry pcmag/slashdot. It doesn't take a lawyer to understand this, but you DO have to have more than a 5th grade reading level to backtrack from (b) to (a)(1) I guess. Besides, your shit is "public" as soon as you hand your PC to the repair person. This is not some sinister, evil law, douche bags.

Sec. 1702.104. INVESTIGATIONS COMPANY.
(a) A person acts as an investigations company for the purposes of this chapter if the person:
        (1) engages in the business of obtaining or furnishing, or accepts employment to obtain or furnish, information related to:
                (A) crime or wrongs done or threatened against a state or the United States;
                (B) the identity, habits, business, occupation,knowledge, efficiency, loyalty, movement, location, affiliations, associations, transactions, acts, reputation, or character of a person;
                (C) the location, disposition, or recovery of lost or stolen property; or
                (D) the cause or responsibility for a fire, libel, loss, accident, damage, or injury to a person or to property;
        (2) engages in the business of securing, or accepts employment to secure, evidence for use before a court, board, officer, or investigating committee;
        (3) engages in the business of securing, or accepts employment to secure, the electronic tracking of the location of an individual or motor vehicle other than for criminal justice purposes by or on behalf of a governmental entity; or
        (4) engages in the business of protecting, or accepts employment to protect, an individual from bodily harm through the use of a personal protection officer.

(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), obtaining or furnishing information includes information obtained or furnished through the review and analysis of, and the investigation into the content of, computer-based data not available to the public.

And please stop posting news of new laws that are obviously not reviewed by real lawyers or people who can fucking read at least. PLEASE.

Re:I don't think the report is accurate

[Tsu Dho Nimh]

Per Section 4a1 and 4b, it only applies if you're specifically snooping in the data on the computer. It says nothing about normal repair. Not that someone disgruntled couldn't try to make a case out of it...

Yes ... "(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), obtaining or furnishing information includes information obtained or furnished through the review and analysis of, and the investigation into the content of, computer-based data not available to the public.

Looks like it's aimed at "computer security" consultants, not repair firms.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Anonymous Coward]

Because there are a lot of crooks in this country, and was the reason these kind of laws were put into place in the first place. We all expect doctors to have a certain level of training, and just because someone says they have the equivalent, doesn't mean they do.

Of course, but that doesn't mean we should be arresting everyone on Slashdot for speculating about legal issues without being members of the bar. As long as you're not misrepresenting your credentials, what's the problem? And as far as this case goes, nobody who goes to Best Buy with computer problems is even asking for an investigator -- they just want somebody to install antivirus and make AOL work again. So what misrepresentation is occurring that requires a licensing agency?

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[snowgirl]

There are no evidence collection rules about trash. The owner of that item has already released ownership and rights to keep it from search and seizure.

Here is a hint for you. If you throw something illegal away, you're an idiot, because cops don't need anyone's permission to collect that evidence anymore.

Interesting.

[Neanderthal Ninny]

Do they investigate systems from out of state? If anyone has sent in Apple laptop in for AppleCare service they send it a repair depot in Houston, TX or Memphis, TN so what if someone in New York sent in a Apple laptop to the Houston, TX depot what will happen?
Similar to Dell which has an repair depot in Texas also.
A bunch of interesting and scary questions for those who send equipment across state lines for repair.

Re:It is fine to defend your own and others proper

[BitHive]

I've noticed that many people who preach a lot about liberty, gun rights, due process, the rule of law and the government having a monopoly on force are curiously quick to defend the use of lethal force in defense of properties (typically valuable enough to already be insured) that the self-appointed defender may not even own. The not-too-subtle romanticisation of having a free pass to shoot someone is unnerving. I think people should be able to own guns, but I also think you've got some serious self-examination to do if you believe it's moral to execute people because they have stolen something or aren't documented as citizens.

Re:This law is to prevent me from perv catching

[Mr2001]

I am a contractor that operates outside the box, almost a vigilante. I cannot name what software I use or I would be easily identified. I do not engage in corp espionage but this law would stop me in my tracks if I were to ever have stepped foot in Texas.

Good! You have no right to snoop around other people's computers, even if you think you're doing it for a noble cause. (Which you aren't, by the way -- if you really wanted to help people, you'd go after the ones creating these images in the first place.)

I hope to turn in many more.

And I hope that when your vigilante game finally lands you in prison, you'll meet up with some of your victims.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[jlarocco]

Repairing a computer is much more likely to produce evidence against someone.

What? That's most ridiculous thing I've heard all day.

Not that I'm particularly worried about this law. The black market for computer repair people without PI licenses will be HUGE. Computer savvy neighbor kids who know how to reinstall Windows and upgrade RAM are going to love this law.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[tomhudson]

It is meant to apply to those whose work involves the review and analysis of material stored on a computer.

I actually went and looked at the law itself. Yes, it applies to those whose work involves the review and analysis of material stored on a computer. That could be read to apply to pretty much anyone. Do any sysadmin work? Debug any cron jobs? Trying to find out why a partition got full? Heck, read email?

The law is really, really dumb. Especially since much "computer forensics" is just people (including cops) trained to run a few perl scripts via a nice point-n-click gui. they wouldn't know how to do a sector-by-sector analysis of a drive if you held a gun to their kids' head.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[badasscat]

Repairing a computer is much more likely to produce evidence against someone.

I would argue that firing a gun is much more likely to produce evidence against someone than repairing a computer will, but you don't need any kind of license for that in Texas.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[ScrewMaster]

Yes, it's ridiculous when viewed from the perspective of the computer-using public. But if you look at this the way an overarching government would, then the idea of having trained snitches in every computer store is very appealing. I mean, look at post-WWII East Germany ... they eventually had half the population spying on the other half.

If there was ever a time for a Texan to learn how to fix his or her own computer system ... this is it.

Re:French influence.

[loraksus]

Who crapped on Louisiana's legal system? I just said the law there is different and you really can't make assumptions.
"red haired bastard stepchild" doesn't always mean bad.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[_KiTA_]

Is this a joke? Would you have untrained "doctors" able to prescribe narcotics? Over use antibiotics? Perform surgery?

I would hardly put Joe-College Student reinstalling Windows on par with a trained professional who went to school for 12 years to be able to do, you know, brain surgery or something?

Do we really, really want to live in a society that swapping a CD-ROM drive requires several years of professional training?

Apple and Geek Squad executives, put your freakin' hands down.

Besides that, collecting evidence about crime is very, very definitely not my problem. Child Porn on some pervert's machine? Call the cops, get them to get an engineer out and -- more importantly -- a warrant for the drive. Despite 8 years of lawless Neo-Con rule, you still need a warrant for this kinda stuff. In theory.

Fortunately this will be shot down in court.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Anonymous Coward]

So I guess my Dr. should have a PI license so that if I use drugs he can tell the police then. Or my mechanic should have PI so if he finds child porn in my trunk I can be reported. Lets just make a PI license a requirement for entering the country... that'll work!

Re:MediaSentry? Slashdot agrees!..

[Sancho]

There's a difference. MediaSentry are doing investigative work. PC Repair techs are doing repair work. It's slashdot, so we need a car analogy--would you demand that a automobile mechanic have a PI license so that they can properly handle any potential evidence found in the car during routine repairs?

Re:BAD headline/article

[Anonymous Coward]

All this means is in order for Geek Squad (or anyone) to perform forensic data recovery for example, on behalf of your local PD, or even a PI, the Geek Squad technician would also need a PI license.

No. Shit. It would be an obvious loophole otherwise.

Every computer repair person in the damned state doesn't qualify under (a)(1), sorry pcmag/slashdot. It doesn't take a lawyer to understand this, but you DO have to have more than a 5th grade reading level to backtrack from (b) to (a)(1) I guess. Besides, your shit is "public" as soon as you hand your PC to the repair person. This is not some sinister, evil law, douche bags.

Sec. 1702.104. INVESTIGATIONS COMPANY.
(a) A person acts as an investigations company for the purposes of this chapter if the person:

        (1) engages in the business of obtaining or furnishing, or accepts employment to obtain or furnish, information related to:

                (A) crime or wrongs done or threatened against a state or the United States;

                (B) the identity, habits, business, occupation,knowledge, efficiency, loyalty, movement, location, affiliations, associations, transactions, acts, reputation, or character of a person;

                (C) the location, disposition, or recovery of lost or stolen property; or

                (D) the cause or responsibility for a fire, libel, loss, accident, damage, or injury to a person or to property;

        (2) engages in the business of securing, or accepts employment to secure, evidence for use before a court, board, officer, or investigating committee;

        (3) engages in the business of securing, or accepts employment to secure, the electronic tracking of the location of an individual or motor vehicle other than for criminal justice purposes by or on behalf of a governmental entity; or

        (4) engages in the business of protecting, or accepts employment to protect, an individual from bodily harm through the use of a personal protection officer.

(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), obtaining or furnishing information includes information obtained or furnished through the review and analysis of, and the investigation into the content of, computer-based data not available to the public.

And please stop posting news of new laws that are obviously not reviewed by real lawyers or people who can fucking read at least. PLEASE.

Hmmm... Seems that people are not reading this properly, and think that this is all about nothing.

Try this:
(a) A person acts as an investigations company for the purpose of this chapter if the person:
    (1) engages in the business of analysis of computer based data on a private computer for information related to:
          (D) to the cause of loss or damage to data stored on the computer (property).

So if you have a virus or malware on your PC, don't take it to an unlicensed shop, cause that is investigation folks. Unless you are ready to declare that your computer based data is available to the public, (b) combined with (D) could be very dangerous.

Just my take though. And no, my shit is not public as soon as I hand my PC over to get it repaired. If you think that is the case, don't ever let anyone else look at your machine, cause in your words you've made it public.

This is very curious

[jkeelsnc]

I don't really understand why they want this. For one thing, if you require technicians to be PI's they are more likely to go snooping around in someone's computer in the first place. So, this thing is a double edge sword. I don't trust the government with security related legislation anyway. And esp nowadays with all the ridiculous security nonsense pervaded by the whitehouse and by congress (both parties it seems). Oh well, this is what you get from politicians it seems.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Man On Pink Corner]

No, because computers are much more likely to be involved in crimes, and hold evidence of said crimes.

I'm sorry, that reasoning is just... psychotic.

Who are you, exactly, and what are your qualifications and vested interests in this area?

RIAA

[deraj123]

So...ignoring the headline and considering the actual law - does this affect the folks doing RIAA's investigations? It sounds (from my uninformed point fo view) like it's written almost specifically for that sort of situation.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[letxa2000]

"Liberals" seem to fight a hell of a lot more often and with more passion to protect the right to choice in virtually every situation, while the "conservatives" want more laws restricting what people can do.

Actually both liberals and conservatives want to protect choice--just on different issues. Conservatives want to protect your choice to spend your money but want to apply their concepts of morality on society. Liberals, meanwhile, don't really care what you do morally speaking as long as you do what they tell you to do with your money.

Which is better? In my opinion a moral society in which people can do what they want with their money is desirable to a morally corrupt society where everything goes as long as you're paying extortion money to the liberal government. But that's just my opinion.

The only ones that really have a passion for freedom of choice across the board are libertarians. They have some good ideological points, though I think their platform is lacking from a practical standpoint.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[letxa2000]

On what grounds? I suspect that the state can set pretty much any licensing requirements they want, up to some point, and I doubt this has hit that point.

I dunno. If to become an electrical engineer the state requires you to get a medical degree, does that make sense? Yes, they can set their licensing requirements. I believe, however, that the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately conclude that the licensing requirements must have something vaguely to do with the skill being licensed.

Re:baby rapes became a serious problem

[letxa2000]

It still boils down to an informed patient making their own decision. Listen to the quack, or don't. It's the patient's choice.

Yes, but society is potentially impacted by generally stupid people making uninformed decisions. Eventually this can come back as a cost to society that the government (which is ultimately you and me) will have to shoulder.

I think it makes sense for skills to be licensed in areas where life and limb are potentially at risk. Structural engineers, doctors, dentists, etc. A bad apple can cause a lot of damage to a person's physical wellbeing and I think it's reasonable for the state to ensure that people practicing these skills are qualified to do so.

Plumbing? Pretty much the worst that can happen is you flood your basement. PC repair? Maybe you get a computer virus or your computer still doesn't work. These aren't generally things that are a matter of personal or public safety so I don't think they merit being licensed.

What about the babysitters?

[Cormophyte]

So, my plan is to instruct every babysitter in the fine art of forensic psychology. That way they can utilize their access to the children under their care and be able to tell when a child's been abused and report the parents to the proper authorities. Unlike busting people for having child porn (note: this is in no way an endorsement of child porn) this will actually directly prevent the harming of a child, and the training involved will improve the child care the babysitter provides.

It's a win-win. Unlike forcing pc repair people to become PIs which will result in more arrests and do almost zippy-do-da for the children who have been harmed.

I'm circulating a petition. I'm hopeful.

This only cements my opinion even further:

[Zorque]

Texas law is the worst in the nation. A man who kills two escaping burglars (who didn't even rob his house, it was his neighbor's stuff being taken) in cold blood by shooting them in the back gets off scot free (even after telling the police dispatcher he was going to kill them, and being ordered to stay inside), patent trolls rule the courts (most of these companies file suit solely in Texas because it's so friendly to them), and now you can't even fix a computer without yet another layer of certification, this time for a completely unrelated subject. Texas needs to stop being so backwards and making our whole country look bad. Texas: You're the reason I can't talk to a European without some disparaging comment being made about my nationality. Stop it, you bastards.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[tsm_sf]

Or (as I've seen it put somewhere before) Conservatives want government out of the boardroom, Liberals want government out of the bedroom.

It's interesting that you picked the Conservative PoV as the most moral.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Deagol]

"Dial-a-nurse" services are available in the US, as well. We've used them on occasion. That was a long time ago (~8 years), and I was a bit perturbed by the amount of personal info they wanted, but it helped us out a bit. These days, a few current nursing-related books from the thrift store, a recent Merck Manual (though it's online these days), the internet, and ranch/feed-store meds have kept us out of a doctor's office for many years. Indeed, I wish more OTC medial supplies were available so those of us with half a brain (and without health insurance) can help ourselves when it's feasible. In fact, I wish there were decent DIY medical treatment resources on the web.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[Falco Danderfluff]

I agree that there is the possibility for having a trained snitch. However couldn't it also be looked at in the sense that by requiring a license, if in fact a person were to commit some kind of a privacy violation that they could lose their license and no longer be allowed to service systems? I'm not saying that requiring a PI license is the way to go, but it's just a thought.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[arminw]

..... Look at the requirements to be a barber or beautician....

It seems that equating those who work on computers with those who work on people is gross foolishness. It is especially foolish to require a PI license for someone who repairs a computer. By the rationale that supposedly went into this law, anybody who has access to data should need such a license. After all, they may come across some data that the cops might need that must be preserved properly and pristine, in order to be stand up in a court of law.

It might be instructive to learn who the monied interests are that lobbied for this law. There is very little law made anywhere these days, that does NOT have some money reason behind it. Laws generally get suggested by those who stand to gain financially by the existence of said laws. If such people or companies have the money to put behind the appropriate politicians, they won't hesitate to do so. As the saying goes, "Follow the money".

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[cayenne8]

"No argument there. I certainly expect my doctor to have medical training, my lawyer to have law training - but do I expect my local PC tech guy to have investigative training? Do you really want to hand your computer to someone who is trained at gleaning information? When I fix a computer - I make a studious effort to ignore the personal contents of a machine...this is just ridiculous."

I think this is crazy too.

To balance it out...ok, make them all have to be PI's. However, just pass a 2nd law making anything found on a computer without a valid search warrent (before it is cracked open) invalid in a court of law. A person working on a PC is not supposed to be looking for/at files that are not part of the problem to the system working. This way...if something is stumbled across, it is inadmissible in a court of law.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[CodeBuster]

Actually, with new desktops costing only a few hundred dollars now most people will probably just junk the broken machine and get a new one. Let's be realistic here, with computers fast becoming a commodity cheaper than a decent television many people will just chuck it when it breaks instead of having it repaired or else they will pay their neighbor's teenager under the table to fix it on the sly. This law is completely silly in that way. Would it be illegal to help out a friend by recovering his crashed hard disk with Knoppix if you don't have a PI license? What a bunch of crap, I expected better of Texas.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[mrchaotica]

But my health insurer is able to make that judgement and also has a clear incentive to steer me away from doctors who are likely to place me in bodily danger.

You're kidding, right? What your health insurer has is a clear incentive to send you to the cheapest dumbass they can find, and then simply disbelieve you and deny your claim when you complain that he screwed up.

Re:Anti-whistleblower effects

[happyslayer]

Even if this information was found in the normal course of fixing the computer, this evidence would be "illegal" to have been found by anyone other than a registered PI -- and anyone reporting it would be de-facto "admitting" they'd broken the law by "conducting a search".

So, if your TV repairman sees evidence that you have a meth lab, he's not allowed to report it?

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[h3llfish]

From your answer, I would guess that you have never done this type of IT work before. For most small businesses, it's not nearly as simple as just chucking the old one and getting a new one. First and foremost, there's the small matter of migrating the data.

For instance, one firm that employs me has been using Quicken 2001 for their accounting needs. That product is no longer sold. Getting their crucial accounting data from that old program to some new software is far beyond the average user... FAR beyond. Just choosing a new program to migrate to is more than most small business owners want to deal with.

So, they're faced with the choice of either hiring me (or someone like me) to help them with that, or else attempting to do it themselves with the aid of tech support, which will be frustrating and time consuming at best. This law really hoses people like that. They'll be paying twice as much for that type of service, all so that some private dick can be clicking the keys.

I do think you're correct about a black market for computer repair being created. That's what happens every time the government tries to limit commerce. I'm not always against government regulation. I'm not one of those free market extremists who think that the government should be abolished. But, this is certainly too much.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[dbIII]

Also, in English, "he" is the correct pronoun to use to refer to a singular person of unknown gender.

Alas you are thinking of the similar languages called Ahmerrycan or possibly Ebonics if your teachers were too lazy - in English we use "they".

Grammar and spelling arguments are completely irrelevant and even look childish on an International forum like this anyway, so if the earlier poster conveyed the meaning why worry?

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[rugatero]

There's no way to prove that you didn't put it there yourself to frame him, and your word -- with you not being a P.I. or law enforcement officer -- isn't strong enough to override that doubt, so the evidence is inadmissible.

Actually, being a PI would theoretically give you the required expertise to plant the incriminating evidence without it being traceable to your actions, thus giving the guy's claim of a setup increased plausibility.

Re:Never Fear? THANK HEAVENS!

[The Rizz]

...the problem being that the law requires licensing saying you know how to do P.I. work, but no actual knowledge of computers is required.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[MindStalker]

Though this will probably also effect computer retailers as well. That Dell tech that gets sent to your business because your in warranty computer no longer works probably would have to obtain a PI license as well. Dell doesn't pay these people nearly enough for that.

Re:Slaughterhouse Cases

[IronChef]

Scary stories.

A good friend of mine had his mom die when he was young in large part due to a medical error. Not surprisingly, he has been mistrustful of doctors ever since, but from his cynicism was born one fantastic bit of wisdom: "Doctors are just tech support for your body."

I haven't found the tech support yet that I wouldn't check on with my own research.