Law enforcement now performs all PC repairs
 
 By Greg George
 CEO
Spinal Cord Resources Network
The Texas legislature just passed a law that all computer repairs and help must be done by a person that has a private investigator license. In order to get a PI license you must either go through a 3 year college level degree program or spend three years as an apprentice to a PI. The law stipulates that all companies repairing software and hardware problems, as well as individuals fixing their own or family PC problems must stop immediately or face 1 year in jail and $4000 fine. Unless a computer repair facility has on-staff PIs, they must close down immediately for three years until everyone becomes a PI. It is unknown how this will effect out of state help companies like Dell or Apple, but the way the law is written, if anyone helps you with a computer issue, you can be fined and thrown in jail. The Institute for Justice Texas CHapter is suing the state for all the companies and individuals that fix computers.
Texas has essentially made it a crime to fix computers or do any computer work if you are not a PI. Thousands of people will be thrown in unemployment lines or arrested for doing their job. All existing hardware repair companies like CompUSA or Best Buy will have to stop operations or face prison. According to reports coming out of Texas, this law was forced through by the Private Investigator lobby group to bring in more work to PIs. Obviously this was not very well thought out because how many PIs are PC or software experts and who has savings to pay the $250 - $500/hour that most PI’s charge? A whole industry has been crushed and destroyed in Texas and everyџne with a degree in computer science or information technology is now a criminal. All of the computer people in texas will have to find work outside their field or leave the state so they can feed their families. However, if the families stay in TExas will they be harassed by law enforcement because their husband or wife is repairing hardware or software outside of TExas?
This does not even touch the privacy rights that this law has trampled. It isn’t anyone’s business what is on a hard drive to be repaired, or what company secrets exist in software that needs to be modified. Every computer will now be under the watchful eye of law enforcement and the Attorney General’s office to sue anyone that they believe is performing illegal activities. Parents with nude pictures of their infants have been arrested and charged with child pornography and others have been charged with hacking while trying to fix a problem for a customer. Now everything in your computer must be handed over to the state while PI’s and Law Enforcement decide what to charge everyone with. People could try and encrypt their data, but those that have done that and tried to fly in from overseas were automatically charged with terrorism. Because if you are hiding something from the state then you must be a criminal. Encrypting s09mething is analogous to carrying a bomb or other dangerous device among the public which can throw you in Guantanamo Bay for the rest of your life. 
The people of Texas must call their congressmen and senators and demand that this ridiculous law be revoked. Demand to know how this law was enacted and if your congressman voted for it. Evidently the Texas legislature believes that all it’s citizens are criminals so perhaps they need to be impeached? This would be a good time to find out if other states are thinking about legislation along this line so it can be stopped in it’s tracks. If this law were to be put into place  in California, Washington State, or Washington D.C. it would cripple the entire computer industry. Every computer expert would have to be fired and PI’s would have to be hired to replace them. However, since virtually none of these PI’s have anywhere near the computer knowledge of a computer scientist, all existing projects and customer installation would have to be stopped indefinitely. 
IT looks like the book "1984" was right on the nose about state control of everything including thought, it was just a little off on the date.
