On Parsing The Law In Texas

Computer repair techs in Texas are now required to hold a Private Investigator (PI) license. From the PC Magazine article:

In order to obtain said license, technicians must receive a criminal justice degree or participate in a three-year apprenticeship. Those shops that refuse to participate will be forced to shut down. Violators of the new law can be hit with a $4,000 dollar fine and up to a year in jail, penalties that apply to customers who seek out their services.

Looking at the law itself, the added passage that applies is as follows (it adds to the definition of an "Investigations Company"):

(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.

I think this was aimed more at folks snooping through your hard drive (or your non-public network), but I can see how it could be twisted to cover a tech who boots up your computer to check it. It all depends on how the State of Texas wants to swing that club.