A new bill in the Texas state legislature would require online retailers to implement age verification of purchasers before selling 'obscene' devices to anyone in that state. SB 3003 was introduced by Republican state Sen. Angela Paxton, who was the
lead sponsor of Texas HB 1181, the age verification bill for porn sites currently being challenged i the Supreme Court. According to industry attorney Lawrence Walters, this type of bill raises different issues than age verification laws for
adult websites. The devices at issue are not likely to be deemed expressive works, and therefore the First Amendment would not be implicated, Walters told XBIZ. Instead, restrictions or prohibitions on the sale of obscene devices trigger substantive due
process concerns under the Fourteenth Amendment. The government is prohibited from burdening an individuals right to engage in private intimate conduct of his or her choosing. Laws that interfere with that right have been struck down in several states,
Walters noted -- including in Texas. There is also the separate issue of imposing local requirements on internet-based sellers with no physical presence in the state. Such regulatory obligations can run afoul of the Commerce Clause or be deemed
outside the jurisdiction of state regulation, Walters said. A court may be called upon to decide whether Texas has the authority to regulate ecommerce retailers located outside the state. | 
