Re: I suppose it is a fake thing or a misunderstanding :?

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

Another take here:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/27/0627computert
ech.html

Group says computer techs shouldn't need investigator licenses
Lawmaker says rule requiring technicians to get P.I. licenses doesn't affect
routine repairs.
By David Shieh
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, June 27, 2008 

Computer technicians performing routine repairs are being required to obtain
"unnecessary and irrelevant" private investigator's licenses, a libertarian
law group is arguing in district court. 

The Institute for Justice - which calls itself a "merry band of litigators"
that defends individuals from excessive regulation - sued the state on
Thursday on behalf of a group of small business owners. The institute says
owners face a $4,000 fine or a year in jail if they continue to fix
computers without private investigator's licenses. Vague language in a bill
passed last year by the Legislature is unfairly targeting computer
technicians who need to perform data analysis to fix computers, the
institute says. But the state agency that administers the licenses and the
lawmaker who spearheaded the bill say the institute has misinterpreted the
law. 

State Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, said that routine computer repairs are not
affected by the law, which he said was passed to increase protection of
consumer privacy. 

"They've gotten people who run computer shops out of sorts for no good
reason," Driver said. "If computer shops want to repair computers, there's
no problem." 

The bill specifies that "the review and analysis of, and the investigation"
of private computer data requires a private investigator's license, which
can be obtained by those who have a criminal justice degree or have spent
three years apprenticing with a private investigator. 

What that means is at the center of the debate. Although no one has been
prosecuted under the law yet, the institute is arguing that the statute's
language and the state's explanation of it have indicated that the data
analysis involved in routine computer fixes - such as examining a computer's
Web cache to determine why it has become virus-ridden - would run afoul of
the law. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Seltzer [mailto:larry () larryseltzer com] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:04 PM
To: Richard M. Smith; FunSec [List]
Subject: RE: [funsec] I suppose it is a fake thing or a misunderstanding :?

Actually, I do think the text below could be construed for normal repair. 

See (a)(1)(D)

... engages in the business of obtaining or furnishing, or accepts
employment to obtain or furnish, information related to:... the cause or
responsibility for ... damage ... to a person or to property;

My computer is damaged. You diagnose it. You fall under the clause.

Larry Seltzer
eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
http://security.eweek.com/
http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/
Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
larry.seltzer () ziffdavisenterprise com


-----Original Message-----
From: funsec-bounces () linuxbox org [mailto:funsec-bounces () linuxbox org]
On Behalf Of Richard M. Smith
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 12:02 PM
To: 'FunSec [List]'
Subject: Re: [funsec] I suppose it is a fake thing or a misunderstanding :?

I don't see it.  Which clause do you think applies?

Richard

-----Original Message-----
From: funsec-bounces () linuxbox org [mailto:funsec-bounces () linuxbox org]
On
Behalf Of Larry Seltzer
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 10:22 AM
To: Vitaly McLain; FunSec [List]
Subject: Re: [funsec] I suppose it is a fake thing or a misunderstanding :?

The text of the law is here:
http://postprocess.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/will-lit-support-vendors-nee
d-a-pi-license-in-texas/

An excerpt is below. I could certainly see how it could be read to refer to
normal computer support, and prosecutors like to use whatever weapon they
can.

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.

Larry Seltzer
eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
http://security.eweek.com/
http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/
Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
larry.seltzer () ziffdavisenterprise com


-----Original Message-----
From: funsec-bounces () linuxbox org [mailto:funsec-bounces () linuxbox org]
On Behalf Of Vitaly McLain
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 9:46 AM
To: FunSec [List]
Subject: Re: [funsec] I suppose it is a fake thing or a misunderstanding :?

Julio Canto wrote:
> http://www.gearlog.com/2008/06/new_texas_law_requires_pi_lice.php
>
> "A recently passed law requires that Texas computer-repair technicians

> have a private-investigator license, according to a story posted by a 
> Dallas-Fort Worth CW affiliate."
>   

This is just a case of Slashdot and similar sites reporting something with a
misleading, sensationalist headline and their version of the truth
spreading. Read into it more and you'll realize it has little to do with
computer repair and more with computer forensics and other investigative
work. It certainly may have an impact on security professionals who work in
the state, but I don't think it's as overreaching as the Internet makes it
out to be.

vitaly
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_______________________________________________
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Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.


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Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.