Texas youth hellbent on using iPhones, the battle escalates

Apple, Google, and Texas youth disagree

There's a strong opposition to this law. The Computer & Communications Industry Association—which represents big names such as Apple and Google — alongside a student group called Students Engaged in Advancing Texas are pushing hard to stop this law.

The argument is that the law infringes upon the First Amendment. Earlier last year, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman compared the act to requiring every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door before even allowing them to go inside and look at the books. He blocked the law with an injunction.

The injunction was overturned

The next step in the saga comes earlier this year when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns the initial Judge Robert Pitman ruling.

The Supreme Court of the U.S. basically let it all slide and refused to intervene, making it possible for the law to come into effect on June 4th and to be enforced.

Now that the Texas Bill 2420 is in effect, it will be much harder to change it, and it would require different legal procedures.

Do we need such rigid laws?

That's a very complicated question. If you ask me, setting the bar at 18 years of age is a bit too high. In many states teens get learner driver's permits as early as 14 and restricted licenses around 16, so it's a bit too harsh to require age 18 for things such as App Store accounts and app downloads.

Highschoolers relying on their parents to download an app could be humiliating and put additional strain on the relationship with their parents at a very sensitive age. My personal opinion is that this limit should be placed somewhere around age 14 to 16. What do you think?