texts: Non-custodial parent fails to exercise visitation -- what can custodial parent do (NY)?

texts:
I have a friend, ten years old, who is going nuts because his father has rejected him entirely since he lost shared custody.  But my friend sees his father around town, and this constantly reopens the wound.

Is there anything that can be done legally about this?

Mother petitioned to change the court order because father was physically and emotionally abusive to the child.

The court order that changed the custody arrangement states that father may have visitation at a certain frequency -- one weekend per month, one day per week, something like that.  But since then there have been 0 visits, and father doesn't respond to phone, text, email or snail mail from the child or the mother.

The court order acknowledges that the father has unpredictable shift work, and says father should contact mother to arrange dates for visitation.

I think some sort of mediation would be best, because mother gets extremely nervous in court, and can't afford a lawyer.  The pro bono lawyers in our town are either flaky or impose their own agenda on the person with limited means.  They're not like private lawyers, who have the financial motivation to carry out the client's directives.

Edit:

I found a Parents Handbook with an FAQ at https://www.nycourts.gov/ip/parent-ed/, which says

  What happens if a custodial parent violates a visitation order?
  Traditionally, courts have been reluctant to impose a jail sentence when a parent withholds visitation, although it has been done. More common penalties for
  the persistent withholding of, or interference with, visitation are the suspension
  of maintenance, transfer of custody, providing make-up time, and/or requiring
  the payment of counsel fees.


texts: In Felthouse v Bindley (1862), why didn't the nephew claim?

texts:
Prof Richard Taylor, Damian Taylor. Contract Law Directions (6 edn, 2019). p 41.
Kindly see the last sentence, emboldened, at the bottom.

Acceptance by silence
The law often makes a distinction between positive conduct and omissions—in criminal law it is
an offence to push a man off a cliff but not normally an offence to omit to call a warning before
someone steps off the edge. The same is true in contract law. Whilst conduct may amount to an
acceptance, doing nothing, i.e. silence, will rarely count. The reasoning is the same as in other
areas of law; a man must not be put under a duty to act without good reason. If silence was
readily accepted as a mode of acceptance in contract law then I could go around telling everybody
in sight that I would assume they had accepted my offer to buy all their property for 10
pence if I did not hear from them within one hour. This would place a duty on everybody I met
to reject my offer within one hour if they did not want to be bound—clearly a ridiculous situation.
Therefore, the general rule established in Felthouse v Bindley (1862) is that silence cannot
constitute an acceptance. In that case a nephew and his uncle had negotiated the sale of the
nephew’s horse. They misunderstood each other and became confused about the agreed price.
In a letter, the uncle suggested that they split the difference and that if he heard no more about
it he would consider the sale done for this middle price. The nephew said nothing more to the
uncle but clearly accepted the new price because he told his auctioneer to withdraw the horse
from auction in which it was to be sold as he had already sold it to his uncle. The auctioneer
nevertheless sold the horse in the auction by mistake and the uncle sued him for interfering with
his property rights over the horse (known as the tort of conversion). It was held that the uncle
had not become the owner of the horse, and therefore had no title to sue, because the contract
of sale between the uncle and nephew lacked an acceptance and so never existed. You should
note that it was the uncle (the offeror) who claimed there was a contract and it was he who had
introduced the idea that acceptance could be by silence—if instead it had been the nephew, who
sought to enforce the contract, a different result might have been appropriate.


texts: How do I (politely) get contractual agreement from my neighbor to let me attach my fence to theirs?

texts:
This is pretty straight forward, but unfortunately I can't find a straightforward answer anywhere.

What all do I need to address when asking my neighbor(s) if I can attach my fence to their existing fence? What kind of wording should my pseudo-contract have that is legal enough to be held up in court (should something go awry) but polite enough to not come across as demanding terms?

If they ask that I pay a portion, how would that be added into the paperwork? Are there standard forms for this kind of thing?


texts: How is "unauthorized" access determined under the Computer Misuse Act?

texts:
Regarding the Computer Misuse Act as a whole, but in particular Section 1:-

(1)A person is guilty of an offence if—
(a)he causes a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer [F1, or to enable any such access to be secured] ;
(b)the access he intends to secure [F2, or to enable to be secured,] is unauthorised; and
(c)he knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function that that is the case.

How is it determined whether or not access is "unauthorised"?
In particular, computer software is notorious for erroneously allowing access to secure functions, perhaps because of an error in coding, or negligence.
Consider, for example, the following scenarios:-

Alice goes to Bob's blog. She reads an article written by Bob. The article links to images '1.jpg', '2.jpg', '3.jpg'. Impressed with Bob's photography, Alice performs a URL manipulation attack writes "bob.com/4.jpg" in the address bar in her browser. '4.jpg' is, of course, one of Bob's racy selfies that he didn't intend Alice to see.

Is Alice's access "unauthorised"?

Alice posts the link on her feed.me social media account with the caption "lolz check out this photo that Bob totally doesn't want you to see", and Charlie clicks it.

Is Charlie's access "unauthorised"?

Bob, furious, goes to Charlie's feed.me page and performs a SQL injection attack¹ and replaces Bob's profile picture with some embarrassing far-right propaganda.

Is Bob's access "unauthorised"?

In each case, the owners of the data did not intend that the access be allowed.

In each case, due to negligence, the access was explicitly allowed.

¹I don't think it's particularly important to know precisely what a SQL Injection attack is, though if you're interested you can find an example here on stackoverflow. My question is more of a general one regarding how "authorisation" is determined, and my scenarios are for illustrative purposes rather than specific ones. Suffice it to say that from a technical perspective, SQL injection differs from URL manipulation only in terms of sophistication. In both cases, an attacker modifies data sent to a server in a way that grants unintended access, and importantly neither attack requires the attacker to defeat any authentication (e.g. guess passwords).
Similar cases have ended up being investigated by the police e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-17780084
Is there any mechanism for determining whether access is "authorised" or "unauthorised"? Does it depend on the intent of the owner of the data, or on the actual behavior of the computer system? Do all of my example scenarios represent "unauthorised" access, and thus differ only by the intent of the attacker?
Have any cases similar to the Norfolk City incident gone before a court?


texts: Of a judgment, how do 'substantive merits' differ from 'formal qualities'?

texts:
Source: pp 108-109, Is Eating People Wrong? Great Legal Cases and How They Shaped the World (2011) by Allan C. Hutchinson

  [...] For example, the difference between Plessy
  and Brown has nothing to do with their legal integrity as a
  matter of constitutional doctrine. It has everything to do
  with the changing currents and concerns in the contemporary
  political context. Plessy’s separate-but-equal dogma ceased to be a fixed point on the constitutional compass
  because it no longer enjoyed sufficient political confidence
  and public support, at least among the elite. When Justice
  Harlan in 1896 predicted in his dissent that the Plessy judgment
  “will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the
  decision in Dred Scott,” he was talking about its substantive
  merits as a political outcome, not its formal qualities as a
  legal judgment. And he was correct.

I do not understand the distinction by the bolded: What are the differences between   substantive
merits as a political outcome    vs  formal qualities as a
legal judgment? I do know of the distinction between law and politics; some judgments reflect judges' political opinions than real law.


texts:
I am a software developer and plan to use some icons from Jenkins CI in one of our commercial products. Jenkins CI is is distributed under the MIT license, which is designed for software and source code. As of my understanding of the MIT license, in software you can just leave the license header in the source files untouched and don't need to make a copy of the license accessible to the end user. Is that right so far?
If so, how does it apply to the images distributed as part of software under this license? How do I acknowledge the license the right way?

This is the license text:

  The MIT License (MIT)

  Copyright (c) 2004 Kohsuke Kawaguchi, Sun Microsystems Inc., and a
  number of other contributors.

  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
  a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
  "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
  without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
  distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
  permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
  the following conditions:

  The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
  included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
  EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
  MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
  CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
  TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
  SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.


texts: We think a former employee stole our code and started his own company with it. What can we do?

texts:
What can we do?

With respect to this topic, I found this anecdote.  But I don't work for Facebook, and we have nowhere near the clout or the user base they do.  I'm not 100% sure why Facebook was able to nail this kid so harshly, but obviously billions of people use Facebook whereas our smaller company is not such a security risk

Nonetheless, can we sue our former employee?  I'm surprised this kid even got jailed for it; I'm not interested in putting my former friend and colleague in prison.  We just want them to stop stealing our business

We have a one-man legal team and are just a startup

Other resources I've looked at:

https://embeddedgurus.com/stack-overflow/2012/02/why-you-really-shouldnt-steal-source-code/
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/02/16/a-guide-to-patenting-software-getting-started/id=35629/
https://www.quora.com/Why-don%E2%80%99t-people-just-steal-open-source-code-do-a-quick-restructuring-and-sell-it-commercially-as-their-own-Is-there-a-way-to-prove-if-you-think-someone-is-using-your-OS-code-in-a-closed-source-code-format-for-profit
https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/154155/should-you-keep-a-copy-of-all-the-code-you-write
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-05-29/chinese-citizen-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-treasury-software


texts: Is the no shop agreement before joining a company is legal?

texts:
I have been interviewed and selected by a company , let's name it "XYZ Consultant". I accepted the job offer from them. They asked me to accept a "No-Shop Agreement" over email before sharing the final offer letter.
As per the agreement, the company would pay me a sum of 50,000 as a pre-joining bonus on acceptance of offer letter and if I will : decline the offer letter and will not join them , I need to pay them a sum of 1,00,000.
Due to some family emergencies, I had to drop the offer letter.
Now as per the "No Shop Agreement", I was liable to pay 1 Lac. I paid 50,000 back to them as a part payment but not in a condition to pay them rest 50,000.
Can someone help me understand the legal bindings for this and is it actually legal to bind someone to join the firm?
Other details : I am an IT employee and the firm that hired me is a private company. Jurisdiction : India
Regards


texts: Is creating an open source github program for a undocumented api from any app/website legal?

texts:
Recently I had an idea on creating an app from a few undocumented api i had found.
Let's suppose I created an reddit app with features and customization abilities. Is is illegal? Can I createit and make it open source (available on Github only) ?


texts: Can I use the same LLC for different business activities?

texts: For example, can I use the same LLC to drive for Uber and for working on computer repairs?


texts: Do Google/Apple have total control over apps on their store?

texts:
Can App stores remove specific apps at their discretion?  Or do they have to set forth rules about what is allowed and then follow those rules?

One thing tells me that it is their store, so they can do as they please. After all, if I had my store I would like to have total control over it.

However, they have terms, and other companies might put millions into developing something according Google's terms, but that Google might not like and want to kick out after some time. So what can happen in this case? Can the company take legal action against Google for removing something by proving that it is not against any law or their terms of service?

It is worth noting that Google reserves the right to change terms at any time.


texts: Test law for constitutionality without risking jail?

texts:
I was always sort of told that the constitutionality of a law could not be tested except by a "real" case. In other words, you had to violate a law to get it tested in court, and thereby risk jail time or other criminal penalties.

However, I saw today that somebody in New York seems to have found a way to test the constitutionality of a law without  breaking it. In the news article it says he is the "plaintiff", not a defendant, so apparently there is a way to sue to challenge a law's constitutionality. Is this something particular to New York, or is it possible to do whatever this guy did in other states, too?


texts: What kind of lawyer should I seek to write a general contract?

texts:
I want a contract written that stipulates that one party agrees to provide a service, and the other party agrees to pay for said service.

What kind of lawyer should I seek to help me with this? Most lawyers seem to specialize in a certain field. Is there a specific field that deals with this?


texts: Signal violation in vehicle not owned by driver

texts:
Guy runs a red light in a vehicle he doesn't own. Owner gets all the information and a slip to identify the driver. Can the owner just send a letter like this and have the violation(s) dropped:

I, the owner of said vehicle, am not the driver (see attached redacted copy of driver's license) in the photo provided. I will not be held to answer for the driver.

The driver and the owner are friends. This all took place in California. Both people are Californian residents.

Some relevant exposition:

Yet traffic cameras do not always produce probable cause that a particular person has committed a crime. To get around this “problem” (as a certain law-and-order president-elect might call it), several states have created an entirely novel phylum of law: the civil violation of a criminal prohibition. Using this nifty device, a city can charge you of a crime without any witnesses, without any probable cause determination, and without any civil due process.
In short, municipal officials and their private contractors have at their disposal the powers of both criminal and civil law and are excused from the due process duties of both criminal and civil law. It’s a neat trick that would have made King George III blush. - Adam J. MacLeod

It's interesting too, that the driver identification slip is not to be sent to the county in which the violation occurred, but to the location of the traffic system's place of business, which is in another state.

Also, if you're interested, maybe you could help come up with something clever to put in the "For:" section of the check I'll most likely end up writing. I'm thinking "due process" with a line through it.


texts: Could a Scottish court 'block' a parliamentary shutdown?

texts:
It has been reported recently that a group of UK parliamentarians have petitioned the Scottish Court of Session, the top civil court in Scotland, to grant an interim interdict and an emergency hearing to the case filed last month (PDF). The matter at issue is "the lawfulness et seperatim constitutionality of Ministers of the Crown advising HM Queen to prorogue the parliamentary session":

This has been reported as "MPs ask Scottish court to block Westminster shutdown".
Does a Scottish court have the authority to issue such an interdict, or to hear such a case? How would the court enforce any ruling made or interdict granted?
I would have thought an more appropriate venue for such a case would be the High Court of England and Wales (parliament sitting in Westminster, in London, England) or the UK Supreme Court (it being a matter which affects the whole UK for the top civil court to hear), though I am not sure cases can originate in the latter.
A ruling is expected today (2019-09-04) which may offer additional insight.


texts:
Scenario:
You're travelling on the highway with stop and go traffic. As a driver (Car A) you are distracted (starting at the sky, changing the radio, on your cellphone, whatever). Suddenly traffic in-front of you comes to a stop and you gently rear end the car in-front of you (Car B). The car behind you (Car C) does not stop in time either and rear ends you. All drivers emerge from their cars and communicate. Car B makes it clear that Car A was at fault for hitting him. Due to a language barrier communication with Car C is not very clear. There is no damage to any of the cars and no insurance claims are filed.

Aftermath: 2 months later you go to change insurance companies and they bring up that you were at fault in this accident. You were reported at fault by Car C who in fact rear ended you (no claim was made, only at fault accident reported).

Question: Are you at fault for the fact that Car C read ended you? Can this accident which is now appearing on your insurance be disputed as Car B  did not report anything? Essentially I'm just wondering what the odds are that this can removed from Car A's record.


texts: May known (for both party) implicit limitations change the scope of a contract?

texts:
This question has an employee with two different employers, each employer fully knowing the situation, and each contract has a clause telling that all the software produced by the employee (even outside work hours) belongs to each of the employer.

Now, the employee wondered if he had signed himself in a position were he could be forced to give one of his employers something that the employee did not own (the code he did working for the other employer).

Common sense would tell that each of the employers know that the employee does not own the code he is producing for the other employer, so they cannot ask him to give something that is not his to give. And since they knew about this limitation at the moment of signing/giving permission to get a second job, does that mind that they lose their right to pretend ownership of the other employer's code? Is this situation codified in some law term?


texts: Words/sentences prohibited in legal/administrative documents

texts: I'm trying to find if there exist a list of words who cannot be written (forbidden - or highly avoided) in US legal documents ?


texts: What rights do inmates have during natural disasters?

texts:
The water level behind Oroville Dam, CA, recently went way up due to heavy rain, and the rarely used "emergency spillway" was used for the first time in the dam's 50+ year life.  It sustained significant damage and authorities tweeted out, “Auxiliary spillway at Oroville Dam predicted to fail within the next hour. Oroville residents evacuate northward.”  Officials' fear of a catastrophic flood prompted the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.  Washington Post coverage concluded with a note that "Inmates at the Butte County Jail also had been moved to Alameda County, about 170 miles away."  As of this writing, no such flood occurred, but for the sake of this question suppose one had, before the inmates were evacuated.  Suppose that the guards saw (or were taken out by) some imminent danger and are out of the picture, though the inmates don't necessarily know why - they just notice water coming in and rising inside, relatively quickly.  They don't know how high it will go; maybe nobody does.  What rights do they have?

If they try to escape, is that a crime (e.g. attempted/actual Escape) they'll be prosecuted for later?  If they succeeded, but were traumatized by it being an extremely dangerous situation and no longer trust the state to take care of them and provide the protection from those kinds of dangers that they thought was part of their duty, are they still practically required to go back into that situation, with the State getting a free pass?  If they get out, for how long can they remain free (and if the jail is severely damaged, to where would they be required to go?)

At 20:14 in this Radiolab segment, an inmate who was first released due to prison overcrowding is described as having been "lost" during Hurricane Katrina, and the attorney general's office has no idea where that person is, end of story (?).   There may be other, more direct answers based on actual situations of what happened after Katrina, or in some fires, etc.; it seems likely this sort of thing has actually happened when jailers faced a disaster without having or using sufficient advance notice.

The question is focused on California, but answers/examples from other jurisdictions might be interesting too.


texts:
I am a web designer that works with a range of clients on a project basis. I complete a project and then offer my services at any hourly rate for any other work required in the future.

Do I have a legal responsibility to ensure any projects are GDPR compliant which are:

finished before 25th May 2018?
finished after the 25th May 2018?


texts: Are insurers in EU member states required to issue vehicle insurance?

texts:
I am trying to find out if the owner of a vehicle does not only have the obligation but also the right to vehicle insurance and if such a right is implied or guaranteed by EU directives.

DIRECTIVE 2009/103/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL states that:

  (3) Each Member State must take all appropriate measures to
  ensure that civil liability in respect of the use of vehicles
  normally based in its territory is covered by insurance.
  The extent of the liability covered and the terms and
  conditions of the insurance cover are to be determined
  on the basis of those measures.

Should the phrase "all appropriate measures" in this section be interpreted as an obligation for member states to ensure that citizens have access to vehicle insurance?

The summary of the directive further states:

  [The Directive] requires all motor vehicles in the EU to be covered by
  compulsory third-party liability insurance

I did not look into legislation of other member states but in the case of Malta, I wasn't able to find anything that suggests such a right.


texts: Can an employer require employees to cash a check?

texts:
In Arizona, United States, can an employer require an employee to cash a check? This might be useful, as if an employer writes a check for labor/services rendered, the employer has an unfulfilled obligation hanging over their head until the check is cashed.
I'm not necessarily saying to not pay the employee, but trying to see if there is any way to pressure employees to cash a check, possibly enforcing a legal obligation to cash a check upon/before employment, or before services/labor is rendered, by having an employee sign a contract/agreement, possibly with a time frame to cash checks given.


texts: Kidnapping if two children run away, and one turns 18?

texts:
So let us say that if there were two minors that ran away together.

If one of them turns 18 after they have run away, could the 18 year old be arrested for kidnapping?


texts: Can the victim of a crime throw a court case?

texts: Can the victim of the crime just turn down a lawyer and when asked to testify just plead the 5th so the defendant can not go to jail?


texts: Can a social network be sued for violation of freedom of speech if an official government account is banned?

texts: A spanish political party announced they are suing Twitter in Spain and United States for violation of freedom of speech after an account of them was banned. Details of which arguments are going to use werent disclosed, but I just remembered United States president was forbidden by an United States court to ban Twitter followers because his account was a government account and that would be a violation of freedom of speech to the followers. Could a social network be sued for violation of freedom of speech with the same argument, that they can't ban a government account because that hurts the freedom of speech of the citizens of a country?


texts: The legislative limitations on web pages mirroring

texts:
Are there legislative limitations on web pages mirroring?

Let me explain the task. If to publish some article with HTTP links in any web site, the source of information that has been used could be checked immediately by clicking on the links, (Wikipedia do such as to provide the changeability of objectivity of the information). However, in time the source web page that has been used as reference could be deleted, as result it becomes impossible to check the source of information. The way out is to create the mirror of source web page and include this mirror in own web site. So even if source web page will be deleted, it’s still possible to refer on the mirror.

Let me give an example of the conflict situation. Mr. A in a fit of temper published on his home page the unfavorable information in respect to himself, then later comes around and delete this information. However Mr. B, who has the interest to Mr. A, already quoted the deleted information with http-link and also just in case created the mirror of the home page of Mr. A. Although Mr. A already delated the information, Mr. B still can use the mirror to refer on source of information. All that left for Mr. A to resque his requtation is to hire the high-payed lawyer and prove the false fact that mirrored information has been edited.

OK, it was the private example, however to exhaust this theme, it’s required to consider also the conflict situations with organizations. Here is another instance. Do you remember the Snowden's exposure about global surveillance system? E. g. Mr. C going to publish the essay about these systems based on Snowden’s information on his home page. He will be refer on newspaper articles that has been published also in the internet, e. g. “The Guardian” or “The New York Times”. But if CIA threats “The New Yourk times” and demand to delete the publications about surveillance systems, of course the newspaper administration will do it. However Mr. C created the mirror of “The New York times” news page and it will be available to check if from web page of Mr. C. What will be then, I can just suppose, but let us come back to original question and discuss the law related with web page mirroring.


texts:
Wag! is an app for dog sitting services.
According to their terms, once you get acquainted with a pet care provider through Wag! platform, you cannot obtain for life pet care services from the dog sitter,  off their platform. If you do, Wag! can charge your card a $1,000 referral fee and the same applies to the dog sitter.

EDIT

Note that the mentioned contract provision has no expiration. You are subject to $1,000 payment whenever during your lifetime you should happen to ask for a pet care service to someone met through Wag!. Is this legal?

The provision is akin to a non-compete clause where the dog sitter agrees not to start a separate business in competition against their employer. In that case $1,000 qualifies as a compensation for breaching the agreement. However dog sitters (like Uber drivers) are not Wag! employees, and by the way these clauses are not permissible in all jurisdictions.
This is might be the reason they use the term 'referral fee', anyway, the fee is many times more the value of the referred pet-care services: imagine to pay $10,000 for a second hand car and $50,000 for someone helping finding the seller. It is reasonable to assume nobody  would willingly accept to pay such a huge fee and the only reason to enter the contract is the misrepresentation of the associated costs.

All that given:

How such a clause is to be construed (in a court)?
If they charge customers credit cards with a $1,000 referral fee, what type of legal protection will they have?


texts:
I am an Australian citizen.

Many years ago, whilst travelling on holiday to the US I signed up for a Bank of America e-banking account.
It had no monthly fees and all was well. Every time I went on holiday I would deposit money into the US account and use it freely to pay merchants/businesses in the US.

Recently the bank abruptly removed its e-banking account and apparently migrated its e-banking customers to a core checking account with a $12 monthly fees if the account is less than $1500 US.

Are banks legally allowed to do this?
In particular, no notice was provided on the upcoming monthly maintenance fee. I had not been sent any information via email or mail about the new account fees. It was only when I logged into the account and saw the fee automatically deducted from my account that I found out about it.

Secondly can the bank forcibly decide to charge these fees placing the account into the red/negative.


texts: Do favors by friends and family create a monetary debt?

texts:
If someone has a business and has a favor done to help out with the business, by a spouse, other relative, or just a friend. Can the favor-doer later-on sue the business owner for money for it?
I'm not referring to a case where there was some explicit implicit debt. This doesn't sound right, so I'll explain - I'm not referring to a case where the business owner says something like "I'll compensate you for it" or even "this is going to be good for you" or the like.
(If the answer is yes, my next question would be what does the business owner need to do to prevent this. A written contract? A simple letter by the favor doer? But I guess that should be a separate question later if the answer is yes.)


texts: Can one disclaim or renounce a British peerage after holding it for a year?

texts:
According to the Peerage Act 1963, anyone may disclaim a hereditary title of nobility within one year of inheriting it, or within one year of the passage of the Act.  Since the latter deadline has long since lapsed, is there currently any way to disclaim or renounce a peerage after having held it for more than a year?
For instance, say the Earl of Exampleshire, who has held the title since 1990, becomes a fervent republican and wishes to completely dissociate himself from any noble rank.  Short of lobbying for and obtaining new legislation (possibly in the form of a private act), or being attainted for a heinous crime, is there any legal mechanism by which said Earl could rid himself of his title and all its attendant privileges and obligations?
If the only realistic options involve the consent of the government or the legislative action of Parliament, and the government/Parliament refuses to cooperate, would the Earl have any recourse to the European Court of Human Rights?  That is, is there anything in the European Convention on Human Rights that could plausibly be construed as applying to such a case?


texts: Is it legal to keep a small amount of cash I found on the street?

texts: I found a £5 note on the street tucked under some leaves a few months ago while walking a route I regularly walked. There was nobody around and there are no shops near to where I found the note for me to give it in. So was it legal for me to keep this small amount of money and if not what should I do about it?


texts: If a plea was entered and later found the penalty for the charge was cruel and unusual, could the plea be withdrawn?

texts:
If a plea was entered and it was later found that the penalty for the charge was cruel and unusual, could that plea be withdrawn?

If so, are there any authorities around this scenario?


texts: Is a lie + "under penalty of perjury" enough to be perjury?

texts:
Suppose I took a piece of paper and wrote on it:

2 + 2 = 5
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on [date].
[my signature]

Would I have technically committed the crime of perjury?  If not, what more is needed for it to be perjury?
NOTE: I say "technically" because I know that I'd never be indicted or prosecuted because of the above.


texts: How ironclad are businesses's terms and conditions?

texts:
I was wondering how binding my websites Terms and Conditions are.

I specify a few things there, including a return policy and terms of use.

I am in California. I'm starting to sell to the U.S. and then Canada, and then the whole EU.


texts: Am I entitled to a contracted payoff when my company terminated my contract?

texts:
I was doing a programming job for a US company as a consultant by a contract.
After a few months at day X they sent me an email with termination notice (i.e. fired me at day X), closed all my accounts and accesses at day X also and after that they paid me salary up to day X inclusive.

But the termination condition in the contract states the following:

  Term and Termination.

  Consultant shall serve as a consultant to the
  Company for a period commencing on the date hereof and terminating on
  the earlier of (a) the date Consultant completes the provision of the
  Services to the Company under this Agreement, or (b) the date
  Consultant shall have been paid the maximum amount of consulting fees
  as provided in Exhibit B hereto.

  Notwithstanding the above, either party may terminate this Agreement at any time upon three (3) business days’ written notice. In the event of such termination, Consultant shall be paid for any portion of the Services that have been performed prior to the termination.

So the question - must they paid me for +3 days more?

Yes I didn't make any services for them after day X, but as I understand they should have written the termination notice 3 days beforehand and pay for these 3 days too regardless how much services I did during this 3 days.


texts: What information about a person are private and what are public?

texts: What information of a person I may write on my web site without special permission from that person? Lets take 'Steve Jobs', you can find a lot of websites where you can find date of birth, name, parents, biography and so on. I am sure that most of that sources do not have requested any special rights for that. However Steve Jobs without doubt is public figure. But what if I do it on my website for some person "not so" public. Where is a border? What info about a person is not personal and may be published?


texts: What happens to ongoing EU small claims (under 5000 euros) court cases after brexit?

texts:
I plan to take my ex landlord to court, who has now given me an Austrian contact address. I have not started the proceedings yet, so I imagine that the case might not finish until after 31st October.

My question is, if I started the court proceedings, would they continue after the 31st October even if we left the EU, or would the ongoing court proceedings simply be dropped?

EDIT: Just to clarify - I am not planning to make a claim via the UK courts, it will be via the EU courts; i.e. https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_small_claims-42-en.do


texts: Can others simply repost my Creative Commons YouTube video?

texts:
I posted a video on YouTube under the Creative Commons (CC) license. Some guy then simply reposts the entire video on his channel.

I file a copyright complaint, asking YouTube to take it down. But YouTube then rejects my request with this reply:

  By marking your video with a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence, you granted members of the YouTube community an irrevocable licence to use your video. Although you may change the video licence at any time, any use of your video content while it was licensed as CC-BY will remain on the site, and we cannot honour your request to remove this video.

I thought the idea of CC was to encourage others to adapt and remix my content. Not simply copy it wholesale and just re-upload it to their channel.

So can others simply repost YouTube videos licensed under Creative Commons?


texts:
Based on some cursory internet searches, I understand the following:

If you create a cover song, you still need a license for it from whoever owns the original song.
If you want to put a song in a video game (or movie, or video, etc) you need a synchronization license, which cannot be compelled, only negotiated for.

So if I create my own cover song to put in a video game, which steps do I need to follow? Does that mean I only have to seek out a synchronization license from whoever owns the original song? Do I need to do anything else with anyone else?
United States, but the creator lives in the Netherlands. Label is in Germany.


texts: Is the prohibition of narcotics mandated by an international treaty?

texts:
Possession of narcotics is of course illegal in many jurisdictions. Recently there has been talk of relaxing or eliminating prohibitions on the sale and possession of drugs.

Are there any international treaties or supranational legislation that would be breached if, say, the United Kingdom legalised narcotics? If so, which countries are similarly bound?


texts: Is the following a form of "jury nullification" and if so can it be overturned legally?

texts:
Regarding the O.J. Simpson trial, an (African American) commentator said something like, "O.J. was guilty of murder, but it also appeared that he was being framed (by e.g. Mark Fuhrman), and therefore the jury voted to acquit, rather than support a wrongfully obtained conviction."
Suppose this had been an opinion expressed (after the fact) by one or more jurors, rather than a "third" party. Would this be a form of "jury nullification"? Would this be grounds for a mistrial on the theory that no "reasonable" jury would make such a finding?


texts: I have a lease that indicates my lease lasts till I die, with the terms that all bills (RE Tax, HOAs, utilities, all repairs, including a new roof if needed, all appliances,etc,etc,) ..  This was understood by both parties.  Can the house be sold without my permission ??


texts: Legal standing for a Police Officer to force you out of a private vehicle

texts:
Lets say you're sitting in a fast-food parking lot eating the food you just purchased from the establishment. Your windows are rolled up and the vehicle is turned off. A police officer pulls into the lot and stops behind your car and turns on his spot light to view the license plate and also block your view with the light. He exits the vehicle, walks up to your window and starts demanding ID. You show the ID without rolling down the window. He starts ordering you to exit the vehicle. He gives the reason of "someone called about suspicious vehicle" or says that you are a "suspicious person" but you are not doing anything illegal, you are positive he did not observe you drive the vehicle at any point, and you are eating food with packing, labeling and logo from the location you are parked at.

Are you legally obligated to exit the vehicle upon request? If so, please state the law/statue that gives him standing.

If not, please explain how a U.S. citizen needs to articulate this fact to let the officer know you are not exiting because you are not legally obligated.

Here is a recent video showing a similar situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYmpDa1MBdA


texts: Is selling IOS game hacks illegal through some platform?

texts: so basically we have a website and we sell monthly subscriptions. The website has a lot of different game hacks and some tutorials for hacking. So, the question is, is this completely illegal? because we are not selling hacks directly, instead we are selling website subscriptions and the users who pay for it can then access the hacks. I live in the United States and am not sure about the laws here


texts: Can I amend boilerplate contracts by mail?

texts:
I am party to a number of contracts (website terms of service, for example), where a service operator writes the contract, and I agree to the contract by using the service. If the other party wants to amend the contract, they make available to me a new version of the contract, and the new contract is binding when I next use their services.

Intuitively, two should be able to play at this game, no? I can write up my own contract, or an amendment to the existing contract, and give them reasonable notice, and it should become binding on them if they continue to provide services to me when I request them. Under this theory, it's their responsibility to read and understand my contract, and refrain from doing business with me if my terms are not to their liking.

Is this likely to hold up in court? Or, better yet, is it likely to convince the other party to comply with my contract? Or is this sort of agreement-by-performance only binding in certain contexts, or for certain types of services? (For example, is the situation different between a web site that I browse and a service I subscribe to that sends me something in the mail every month in exchange for money?)

If in theory a contract can be amended by giving notice of terms and waiting for the other party to perform, what kind of notice is reasonable to give a large entity like a corporation? Presumably shooting off an e-mail to their automated support system would be insufficient.


texts:
Are lethal autonomous weapon systems legal?

I want to know whether this technology is illegal, or not - specifically in the UK, but globally as well.

I know the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons held a conference in December, regarding the legalities of this technology, but did not hear of anything being determined. I also think the US has some military law regarding "meaningful human control."


texts: As a part of an interview process, I've been asked to solve a take home challenge. Before I can access the data, I've been asked to sign a NDA. The NDA is generic stuff which says everything belongs to the company, etc. etc. What is curious to me is that throughout the contract, I'm being referred to as a "contractor". Is that normal? I'm not being paid or compensated in any way to solve this challenge.


texts: Does city municipal code apply to the towns that are part of it in New York?

texts: I was reading the Towing Municipal Code for the City of Rochester (New York, USA) and was curious if the municipal code applied to my jurisdiction. Specifically I reside in the Town of Henrietta and I'm curious if the above towing code applies here, but maybe you can answer in a more general sense? What I'm looking for is a Yes or No and a reference for that answer, thanks!


texts: What restrictions/limitations can take place to apartment parking mid-lease?

texts:
Backstory:
I had moved into a new apartment back in February, 2015. The building was brand new, but the business running it doesn't seem to be. In the Summer of 2015, a music festival started taking place every Thursday in a park across the street. During these days, nearly all available parking locations (within 3 blocks) are filled. I complained to the manager and asked for alternative parking solutions. I had also noted that there were non-residents parking in the resident-only backlot and even some vehicles parking illegally (in white-lined areas and some in handicap spots without placards).

Nearing the last few weeks of the event, they had sent out an email mentioning that the backlot would now be paid permit-only parking. Although a mere $5/month, it was aggravating since the issue was the lack of places and now anyone who didn’t pay is being even more restricted on parking locations. This seemed like a cash grab. Fast forward to now; I noticed about a week ago that they put up the permit-only posts in front of the apartment now. I hadn’t received an email or any type of lease addendum, so I had got in touch with them asking what was going on. They got back saying that the front stalls are now permit-only parking too and share the same cost as the ones in the back.

Questions:

Can parking restrictions like this take place at any time, even mid-lease?

The first instance being in Fall, 2015, where they started charging $5/month for parking; the contract didn't have the $5/month clause that it did when revised for my February, 2016 renewal.
The second instance being these past few weeks where they've essentially converted available street parking into permit parking when the clause was agreed, and still denotes, that the exterior parking lot was the only permit-based parking.

Is there any way to fight back since my rental agreement is now slightly diminished due to losing some “features” it once had?
Would my time consulting a tenant lawyer have any hope at this rate or is this possibly a lost cause?

The contract in February, 2015, had the following clauses:

  “Indoor parking spaces are available for $40.00 per month. Only one
  indoor parking stall is allowed per apartment.”

  "The resident, their visitors and family family will obey any parking regulations promulgated in the future for the safety, comfort, and convenience of the residents and others using the premises."

  "While guests are permitted to use the exterior (Apartment Complex) parking area, Residents are encouraged to become familiar with the City of (My City)'s parking rules and regulations for the benefit of themselves and their guests. The City of (My City)'s parking rules and regulations can be found at (Website)."

The contract in February, 2016, included this new/updated clause:

  “The exterior parking lot will be for (Apartment Complex)
  residents only. Parking passes for the lot will be sold on a first
  come, first serve basis at a cost of $5.00/month. For on street
  parking, please review the City of (My City)'s parking rules and
  regulations which can be found at (Website).”

Update:
It's come to my attention that parking across the street next to the park is no longer viable either. Those places are 2 hour parking and are effective at all days/times of days, except holidays. They suggested to look into off-site parking...

Does this claim that there is actually no free parking change anything?

Please let me know if any further details needs to be provided or if there's anything that needs clarification.


texts: Would a booklet of music and film quotes infringe on copyright?

texts:
I am considering creating a booklet with quotes from pop media for commercial use. Something like a list of one-liners from songs from the 80s for example or movies.

Would this be legal? I am aware of fair use, but it seems that this could fall either under fair use (since it's a form of commentary) or under copyright infringement (since I use it for commercial use and use the essence of the artifacts).


texts:
I've started a US / California corporation for my company and have almost instantly come up to an issue I do not know how to address.

In order to open a Bank account, the board (just me) has to agree to open an account with XYZ bank and to resolve to open that account. That resolution needs to be part of the meeting minutes.

My problem is, the bank I'm opening an account with let me know that they have their own resolution that they need signed that needs to become a part of my meeting minutes, but they do not provide this document until after the bank account is opened.

I'm in a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" scenario. I can't open an account without a resolution but I didn't get a resolution document until after the account was opened.

The resolution document provided by the bank states things such as "we resolved to open an account with XYZ bank at a meeting held on _______".

So - Do I back date this to before the account was opened or do I use today's date and have to hold another board meeting (with myself)?


texts: Can an employer require employees be Christian?

texts:
One of the "essential duties and requirements" for this job posting on Stack Overflow is:

  Maintains a personal, active relationship with Jesus Christ and is a consistent witness for Jesus Christ

Given that the job is with a Christian evangelical organization, this seems like a reasonable requirement: after all, it's in their interest to hire subject matter experts.

But under what circumstances is that requirement legal or illegal in the United States, and specifically North Carolina?


texts: Why does the law give immunity from crime, to children below age 12?

texts:
I understand if children below the age of 7 were granted immunity, because they don't understand very well, what crime is.

Children above age 10 definitely do understand. So why does the law absolve them? If that's the case, then there are many other adults who have a weak understanding of right and wrong. They could have been absolved too.

Are children absolved because if they were jailed or kept in a remand home, it could have a deep psychological impact on them? Or is there some other reason?


texts: Suspicion of crime = theory or hypothesis?

texts:
Suppose a person is found dead, and it's investigated as a possible murder.

How would such a case be characterized in criminal law - a murder hypothesis, murder theory, murder mystery?

EDIT: As noted in the comments below, it would be helpful to know what such a case would be called even after it was officially closed (after not being solved for a long period of time, for example).

To cover my bases, I should also add a second possibility: It is known for a fact that a person was murdered. The only question is WHO DID IT? (If that makes things too complicated, I can delete this and revert to my original question.)

Would the same terminology be applied to each case?


texts:
I have attempted to learn what I can (IANAL) from reading the article: Conflict of Laws Principles: Everything You Need to Know.

The article indicates multiple (2+ jurisdictions).

  Conflict of laws signifies the difference between the laws of two or
  more jurisdictions that are applicable to a dispute in question. that
  are applicable to a dispute in question.

If there are two conflicting state laws of the same jurisdiction (for example both in Florida):

is nomenclature different (i.e. not "Conflict of Laws" and is labeled "XYZ")
are the principles for determining which law applies the same with said Florida example

A good answer would walk through the thought process of the example provided at: HOA meetings transcripts


texts:
Can the President of the USA revoke a pardon issued by his/her predecessor?
Relevant Article II, Section 2, Clause 1:

he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.


texts: How do provincial liquor and sales tax laws apply to railways and civil aviation?

texts:
The question was inspired by and raised during my research on a question on Travel.SE concerning the minimum age for alcohol service on board international flights; but here I'm exclusively interested in travel within Canada.
Main Questions:

Do provincial laws on sales and supply of liquor apply to services of alcohol on board a plane or a train subject to federal jurisdiction? If so, which province's law apply, and to what extent?
Does the law treat aircrafts (in air) and trains (on ground) differently? Does it matter if the plane or train makes any stop in the province?
Which province's sales tax (HST/PST/QST), if any, apply to in-flight and on-train purchases? I would assume the destination since that's the assumed place of consumption, but it seems that it would be very complicated for trains.

I'm more concerned regarding the legal reasoning and constitutional justification than direct answers alone.

I looked up liquor licences for Alberta, BC, Quebec and Ontario. WestJet and Air Canada hold Alberta liquor licences as public conveyance. WestJet and a few other airlines hold liquor licences in Quebec, but I did not find Air Canada in the list (though it may be under a subsidiary's name). In British Columbia, Air Canada holds a licence for "aircraft" but I did not find other airlines.
I did not find Air Canada, WestJet or other air carriers in the list of licensees in Ontario but it appears that Ontario simply does not require such a licence.
It appears at least some provinces try to apply the liquor laws to air carriers, but the compliance seems irregular.

What confuses me more is which province's law, if any, applies to airborne aircrafts.
In general, the minimum age of alcohol service is 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. It is 19 elsewhere in Canada. There is no federal law regulating the minimum age of service.
WestJet said in a tweet (emphasis mine)

The legal drinking age for all flights with WestJet is 18 as we are an Alberta based company.

Porter Airlines, an operator registered in Ontario, indicates on its website

Cabin crew must not serve alcohol to anyone less than 19 years of age in accordance with Canadian Aviation Regulations and provincial laws.

In a relevant Supreme Court case, Air Canada v. Ontario (Liquor Control Board), the Court ruled that provincial liquor laws applied to purchase and storage of alcohol by airlines in Ontario (ground). However, it did not address the question of sale.
The Ontario Court of Appeals suggested that

[...] Because airborne premises are not within Ontario, ordinary liquor sales licences cannot apply to them.  What would be needed to bring the airlines within the scheme of the Liquor Licence Act would be a class of licence that authorizes the keeping of liquor in Ontario.  But as matters stood during the relevant period, Ontario law recognized no licence of that kind. [...]

But the Supreme Court did not comment further on if airborne premises are actually within the province. This issue may have further complications for sales tax rates.
For trains I am also uncertain.
VIA Rail's policy is 19 years old minimum regardless where the train is physically located; I believe it's just a company policy to simplify the rules.


texts: Whether to give credit/attribute or not for pixbay.com images ?

texts:
I am making some training videos to teach some concept of computer for commercial purpose means,  I might be sell these videos in future.

In these videos, I have used the images which I have downloaded from pixbay.com

I want to know whether, attribute  or credit has to give for those images which I have used in my video ?

here is the link , where they have mentioned the rules which have to follow to use the images.

I have gone through the this link, most of the rules I have understood,
but still I want expert advice , to know whether I have to give attributes or credits of those images which I have used in videos. ?


texts: If I can defend myself without passing the bar exam, why can't I hire someone who has not passed the bar exam?

texts:
I can waive my right to an attorney and defend myself in a court of law even if I have absolutely zero experience.  Why then, can I not hire someone who does not have a license to practice law?  As long as they're honest about that fact, what is the difference?
Obviously neither are smart, but only one is banned.


texts: Should I copyright my original code before registering the current version?

texts:
I have a question regarding best practices when it comes to code copyright.

The company I'm working for would like to register their code in the US Copyright Office. However, they first published their website a year ago and this is a more recent version of the code.

I've done research but I can't find a lot about what the best practices are - is it better to copyright only the more recent version of the software? Or to create a separate claim for the first published version, and file another one for this recent one?

I understand that you don't have to register your code with the US Copyright Office for it to be copyrighted, but this is something that the company would like to do.

Any help is appreciated

Thank you


texts: How long do you have to collect a unpaid debt?

texts: If a client refuses to pay an invoice for work completed, how long do you have to file a claim? I have a written contract but they sent me a letter canceling the agreement.


texts: Leave Germany for few months after having registered

texts:
I am a an Italian university employee in Munich. I have rented a flat until the end of November and I did the "Anmeldung" in the offices of the burgeburo.

Now I need to leave Germany for 4 months due to a job travel.

Clearly I will not have an apartment in Germany for those months.

Should I do the "Abmeldung"? Am I still officially a resident in Germany?


texts: Using the trade name of a defunct competitor

texts: Let's say SuperCool, Inc. sold cooler under the name "SuperCool" and the company went out of business. The trade name "SuperCool" is well-known within the niche, but it was never registered in USPTO. Would it be OK for a different company to appropriate the name for their own product?


texts: Is there any principle of contract law regarding failure to take a step towards fulfilling a contract?

texts:
For instance, an offer letter is sent to the successful bidder of a government contract, in which it is stipulated that that they desposit 50% of the premium/bid prior to XX/XX/2020. The successful bidder communicates its acceptance, but fails to follow through with the deposit. Subsequently, the government body "withdraws" its offer letter.
My question is asked from the perspective of the government body. If the party to whom the offer letter is issued fails to take any step towards fulfilling its end, can it be argued that there was no meaningful acceptance as for all intents and purposes, no part of the offer that was 'accepted' has been performed? Therefore, can the government body 'rescind' the offer and argue that there was no contract to begin with because there was no 'acceptance'?


texts: Can you be arraigned for felony charges that you have not been arrested for?

texts: The question I have relates to the fact that a warrant was issued for my arrest. When I received notice if this, I then notified the court that I have received such notice. At this point the court appointed clerk scheduled me on the docket to be arraigned. After being arraigned on felony charges, I had attended two separate continuances. Then the judge had noticed that I have never been arrested for the crime that I had just pled not guilty to at the arraignment. Upon noticing this the judge orders me for a book and release. Is it normal to be arraigned on charges when you have never been arrested for the crime?


texts: Is it legal for the President of the US to ignore a subpoena?

texts: In 2012, Obama was subpoenaed in the case Farrar, Lax, Judy, Malaren, and Roth v. Obama. However after a failed attempt to quash the subpoena on the basis that a sitting president cannot be subpoenaed (which Judge Malihi rejected and ordered the President to attend court) the White House decided to simply ignore the subpoena and neither Obama nor his lawyer attended the hearing. Was it legal for Obama to ignore this subpoena? (I recall that Nixon was also subpoenaed and the Supreme Court found that he had to comply.)


texts: Where does the legal principle of "can't benefit twice" come from?

texts:
I've been told there is a legal principle (in UK law, specifically England) that a person cannot be allowed to benefit twice from a court's decision. I've found criminal law which addresses that, and inheritance precedents, but this is a civil case. Specifically an insurance company is trying to avoid paying benefit, relying on an argument that lawful tax avoidance was used to defer tax on certain funds, and so requiring them to pay benefits in relationship to those funds would be the equivalent of allowing the policyholder to benefit twice - first in avoiding tax, and then again by receiving insurance cover for the loss of those funds. I have been told that this inability to benefit twice is a well-established principle of english common law - but I can't find it.
Certainly there's no issue with the insurance company needing to pay the benefit twice, and if they are allowed to benefit by avoiding paying on the policy then they would be benefiting from the policyholder's careful and lawfulapproach to paying only the tax required under the law.
No doubt this is basic law 101, at least I hope so!  If anyone could point me to actual law, and also real cases where this might have been applied in any similar way in a civil case, I'd be very grateful.


texts: Does a victim being asked questions by police need a lawyer?

texts:
First, this is not a situation I or anyone I know of is in. It's a hypothetical, and an attempt to clarify common legal advice in the USA like "never talk to the police without a lawyer."
Let's say Steve is the victim of an attempted mugging. The mugger, Meany McRobberface, does a bad job handling his weapon (gun, knife, fists, take your pick) and Steve manages to get the upper hand, and restrain McRobberface until police arrive. The officers arrive to see Steve using force against his would-be assailant, and detain both men, formally arresting the aspiring mugger.
The police ask Steve to come in for questioning. However events happened, he is "clearly" the victim, and was responding in self-defense to an attempted mugging, possibly involving an armed assailant. Does Steve still need to lawyer up as soon as he's asked to come in? What about questions he's asked on the scene, should he refuse to answer until he can speak to a lawyer then? In case the answer depends strongly on the state, let's look at California and New York State.


texts: Litigation Asset protection: Should I hold equity in my home or rental property?

texts:
I currently own a house (which has a significant mortgage) and a residence which I rent out (which I have almost paid off).

The equity in my rental unit is a key part of my retirement savings.  I own the rental unit through an LLC so that if I get sued as a landlord I won't lose my house.

If I move the equity from the rental LLC into my home, would that prevent any renter who might sue me from accessing it in a judgment?

The properties mentioned are located in Utah.


texts: Expired tag sweep in a private apartment parking lot in Florida

texts:
My apartment complex sent the following:

Loree Residents -
On Monday (9/25) Loree Management in-part with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, will be conducting an expired tag search for all vehicles parked within our community. This is required by law. If your vehicle is 'tagged' for an expired tag, you will have until Wednesday (9/27) to renew your vehicle tag registration, otherwise, it will be towed at the owner's expense. Thank you for your cooperation.
Loree Management.

Is it legal to tow a car in private property while it's parked for not having a good tag? if I'm not mistaken you can have a tag without registration as long as you don't use it and the DMV knows that the car is not being used.


texts: How do I take my child's school district to court (NY)?

texts:
I received an emailed letter from the superintendent of my child's school district, notifying me that I am prohibited from entering my child's school without a prior appointment.  Failure to comply with the prohibition will be considered trespassing.  I suspect the decision is retaliation for my special education advocacy.  The decision was based on my supposedly having gone to a teacher's classroom before school, without signing in, to talk with the teacher.  In fact, I signed in, and went to the teacher's room to ask him to contact me at his earliest convenience.  But there had already been a warning letter a few weeks ago (because I signed in and went to the nurse's office to ask the nurse to notify me in future when my child makes a non-routine visit to the school Health Office, e.g. after a sprain in P.E.).  In neither case was I threatening or disruptive.  (However, that doesn't prevent these people from claiming that they felt intimidated, and once they start talking about feeling intimidated, then they start talking about feeling threatened, as though those were exact synonyms.)

I can file a "310" appeal to the state Commissioner of Education; however, this is slow.  There is a backlog.  Note there is a 30 day statute of limitations and the burden of proof would be on me to show that the superintendent acted arbitrarily and capriciously.  Here's the FAQ.  There is a page about stays.

I am aware that I can file a complaint with the Dept of Ed Office for Civil Rights (OCR), but they have an even worse backlog and this option would be even slower.

The FAQ say one can go to court instead.  I would like to consider the option of going to court instead, but I don't know where to start.  What would be the jurisdiction?  What would my court action be called (some sort of "suit" perhaps)?  Where do I find instructions?  Would court be quicker than 310?  How does the degree of difficulty of proving one's case compare?  What about affidavits and witnesses -- how does that compare?  What would a court case cost?  (310 is free, I believe.)

If you only have a partial answer, that's okay, any info you can share would be appreciated.

In both cases I would proceed without a lawyer.


texts: What is the legislation which prevents dual-nationality in Malaysia?

texts:
Most people in Malaysia know that dual nationality is not allowed, for adults at least, and generally refer back to the Constitution.

However, the relevant part of the Malaysian constitution states:

23(1) Any citizen of or over the age of twenty-one years and of sound mind who is also or is about to become a citizen of another country may renounce his citizenship of the Federation by declaration registered by the Federal Government, and shall thereupon cease to be a citizen.

24(1) If the Federal Government is satisfied that any citizen has acquired by registration, naturalization or other voluntary and formal act (other than marriage) the citizenship of any country outside the Federation, the Federal Government may by order deprive that person of his citizenship.

which suggests that you can voluntarily give up Malaysian citizenship over the age of 21, or the government can revoke a person's citizenship if they have another, but the use of 'may' suggests that the constitution does not require a person to give up citizenship if they take on citizenship of another country.

As such, there is probably some other legislation which prevents dual nationality, but it is not immediately obvious - does anyone know which Act/Regulation applies?


texts: Can I legally break my lease without repercussion if my apartment is in disrepair?

texts:
I recently rented a basement apartment, since I got there I noticed things wrong with it:

Massive amount of spiders
No light or railing on the staircase
Kitchen light sometimes does not work
fridge handle broken
cupboard hinges broken
ceiling tiles stained and some won't stay in place

I have contacted my landlord about these, and some he has taken action on (he called the pest control company about the spiders) the rest he has done nothing, he even said he would replace the ceiling tiles and the property manager said he would fix the cupboards, but nothing has been done.

Am I in the legal right to break the lease?
If so, how do I do it without repercussion?


texts: Are the premises of a consulate entitled to the same diplomatic protections as those of an embassy?

texts:
Embassies, as defined in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, enjoy certain legal protections for the purposes of protecting their premises and (some) staff from interference by their receiving countries.

I'm specifically referencing such protections as restrictions on representatives of the receiving country entering the premises, i.e. a police officer cannot enter an embassy without the permission of the embassy.

Do the same protections apply to the premises of consulates?


texts:
I know it might sound quite bad. But here I explain the whole situation.

I'm developing a mobile application based on visiting different places. And I would store in some database (surely AWS) all different locations each user has been in. By location, I don't mean I would store coordinates, just all cities in which he/she has checked in (really no coordinate would be stored).

I've been told to be really cautious with this because of recent GDPR law.

But to be honest I know hardly anything about law and its interpretation.

So my question is if I can store this kind of information (as it is not really precise data) and if I should ask for user's explicit consent.


texts: Is copying an infringing derivative an infringement against the original work's author when copying the original would generally be legal?

texts:
Suppose someone creates an unauthorized music video to accompany a popular song, thus making an infringing derivative (assuming fair dealing or other exceptions don't apply in this case). This derivative author then gives you permission to copy their derivative. Independently, you have a legal right to copy the original song (an example would be you live in Canada where personal-use copying of music is generally legal).

It then appears that you aren't infringing the derivative author's rights since you have their permission, nor are you infringing the original author's rights since there's an exemption within the law.

It seems weird to me that there might be a legal possibility for you to own an unauthorized derivative by performing what appears to be a completely legal copy action, so I'm wondering if I missed something here.

Is the copying of the derivative work legal? Does the answer change depending on whether you have knowledge that the derivative is infringing? I'm most interested in answers covering Canada or the
European Union.

Edit: I've since stumbled on a journal article by William J. Braithwaite that basically discusses my question in pgs 213-220, minus the portion about copying the original being legal. However, it discusses Canadian copyright law as it was in 1982 and is rather inconclusive.


texts: If a medical provider refers a patient to another medical provider/business, do they have to disclose any financial interest they may have?

texts:
If a medical provider refers a patient to another medical provider or medical business (e.g., an imaging lab), do they have to disclose to the patient any financial interest they may have in the referral?

I am mostly interested in the following locations in the United States:

California, United States
Massachusetts, United States


texts: How to prevent potential employer from stealing an idea persented in an interview without giving credit?

texts:
I will be interviewing with Google in the upcoming months, I plan to share an interesting Idea for something I want to implement during my 20% time during the interview, because showing that one can come up with new product ideas has to help in an interview.  In theory Google could then refuse to hire me, but implement my idea I presented to them and profit off of it without crediting me if they chose to.

Now I'm not really concerned about this, even assuming Google deemed my idea worth implementing I don't see Google trying to steal it (It's not worth the bad press that would result).  Furthermore this particular idea is essentially only viable if implemented by Google, meaning even if the idea was stolen I wouldn't really be at a lost since I can't do anything with the idea without Google.

However, I am curious what the legal status would be if I was concerned about my idea being stolen.  Would someone in the theoretical position of having someone implement a product they pitched (without getting a contract signed ahead of time) have any recourse to try to get recognition for their idea?  Would there be any steps, short of forcing an interviewer to sign a contract before pitching your idea, someone in such a situation theoretically could take prior to presenting their idea to help ensure they got recognition for it?

I imagine the answer is no, but maybe I'm wrong :)


texts: Can a landlord refuse to use my 1099 as a proof of income because of its source?

texts: I am applying to lease an apartment in California. My source of income is S/S and secondary income from investment savings in the purchase Fractional Interests in Trust Deeds. The "compliance officer" is demanding an explanation of how I derive income from this financial product. I have been with the same broker who manages and services my portfolio since 1976. However, no matter how I try to clarify how this product functions, he does not understand. I have submitted to them 5 years of 1099 INT forms prepared and reported to IRS from my broker along with a quarterly statement for 2018. Why does it matter how the product functions?  The 1099's are proof of earned income an. The "compliance officer" refuses to use the 1099's as proof of income. Can he legally refuse to acknowledge the existence of 1099's and reject me as a candidate?


texts: Why aren't email providers liable in some way or another for scams operated via accounts on their domains?

texts:
Suppose a spam email tells you that you've earned $1m. To get the funds the email goes on to tell you to email joe.schmoe@gmail.com. My question revolves around why Gmail doesn't block "joe.schmoe@gmail.com" on the spot when it detects such an obvious fraud (which it correctly marks as spam), so that less savvy users don't take the unfortunate step of getting defrauded out of their savings with little to no recourse.

A real life equivalent might seem to be a driver who waits for the hitchhiker they picked up while the latter does a bank heist, and continues on with their passenger after they're done. Surely such a well meaning albeit naive driver wouldn't stand a chance in court if they said that it's because they've a section 230-like protection.

Also, given the amount of spam I receive that actually use Gmail accounts, I presume -- but have not checked -- that the accounts do not get disabled quickly by Gmail and others. (Some do answer, with amusing results.) This is on the basis that fraudsters would use an actual domain name if email account providers did block these emails quickly.

Why do Gmail, Hotmail, etc. get away with enabling bank wire fraud? Is section 230 indeed the reason that they do? Has this ever been tested in court as a class action in the US or elsewhere to see where it leads?

To clarify what is being asked:

This is not about blocking e.g. Gmail accounts that send spam, nor is it about detecting spam. Rather, the question is about blocking e.g. xyz@gmail.com in emails that Gmail already identifies as spam (with near 100% accuracy) in a format that revolves around:

  Congratulations, someone gave you lots of moneys. Please email xzy@gmail.com for instructions on how to collect it.

Further, the question is not why doesn't Gmail stop such emails from being sent. Rather, it is: Is section 230 indeed the reason that they get away with not shutting down accounts like "xyz@gmail.com" in the above example quickly when they detect such emails without being held liable? Has this ever been tested in court as a class action in the US or elsewhere to see where it leads?


texts: Do I have to notify the other party of changes I made to the contract before signing it?

texts:
Short version: I have received a final release form for a vehicle write-off payment from an insurance company and need to sign it and send it back. It's just a pdf form with my name and such filled in, not signed by anyone from the insurance company. If I make changes to the form before signing it, do I have to inform them of this fact and/or point out the changes I've made?

Long version: I was involved in a motorcycle accident and my bike was written off. I have an ongoing personal injury lawsuit that's being handled by a law firm, but I'm working directly with the insurance company of the other driver (the one at fault) to settle the value of the bike and protective gear. They are probably the worst company I have ever had to deal with and it has taken me 9 months, roughly 30 emails, and about 10 phone calls to finally reach an agreement with them on a $4000 dollar bike, and get the release form. Sometimes they simply ignore me for 1-2 months at a time, all phone calls go to voice mail, emails just don't get replied to. I've been passed between 5 different people at the company over the course of this claim. I contacted the federal insurance ombudsman office, who told me they can't do anything because I have no contract with the third party insurance.

I now finally have the release form from them, but the form seems ambiguous about what exactly am I releasing them from. It says "This release is in respect of damages for property damage" at the top, but then makes several mentions of injuries, like "release from action of any nature for injury or damage sustained as a result of the accident". I sent the release form to my lawyer handling the personal injury lawsuit and asked them if it's OK to sign it and whether it will affect the case. His reply was "just email them back and confirm the release is only for the bike". I don't want to sign the contract as-is regardless of any email assurances, I want the thing I'm signing to specifically say what I'm actually agreeing to.

I'm not trying to change the spirit of the contract or sneak anything unexpected in. Normally I'd simply contact the other party and explain that I want the contract verbiage to be changed to make it clear that I'm releasing them of the property damage, but NOT personal injuries. However, I'm loath to get mired in another year of beating my proverbial head against this insurance's wall. I'm hoping I can just remove all mentions of injury, send it back to them signed, get my payout, and finally move on with my life as far as the motorcycle itself is concerned. Am I legally required to inform them of these changes, though?


texts:
I was reading Can a company trademark a public domain name like "Arkham"? not sure if this is the same.

I'm working as volunteer at OpenClipart.org, site that provide Public Domain vector images (it use Creative Commons Zero license).

I was asked multiple times if someone can use our clipart as logo. I always answer that he should modify the clipart because someone else may use the same clipart for his logo. But what about trademarks? Can Public Domain image be used as is for a logo? Or should it be derived artwork?

What should I answer to person that ask about using PD (CC0) clipart as logo or if he can trademark it?


texts: Help with "Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License"

texts:
I have a dataset to be used for Data Science research. This dataset (will be referenced henceforth as the "Original Dataset"), is licensed (to the best of my knowledge) under CCA-NC-ND.
I have worked towards creating a specialized subset where the said subset-partition (henceforth "New Dataset") was created solely from the Original Dataset using some algorithmic procedures. The New Dataset aims at standardizing certain aspects while adding to the richness of the Original Dataset's information content.
My question is this: am I legally allowed to publish the New Dataset?


texts: Hold Harmless-Want on half of LLC and NOT self

texts: I recently applied to a position to teach yoga, as an independent contractor.  I have formed an LLC, and now the gym would like me to sign a hold harmless agreement.  I want to make sure the LLC is signing the agreement, and not myself so that any potential claims would have to be brought through the LLC.  Is it enough to sign the hold harmless as "manager of [LLC name]"?  I also filled out the W-9 with the LLC name in addition to my own.


texts: Terms for torts committed under theory of promissory estoppel?

texts:
The promissory estoppel doctrine allows an injured party to recover on a promise upon which he relied, and then suffered a loss as a result. ... All that must be proven is that a promise was made, and that in relying on that promise, a party suffered a loss as a result.

What are terms for the tort or cause of action for which one might claim damages under the doctrine of promissory estoppel?

For example: under the theory of "negligence" a tortfeasor or his actions might be called "negligent," and one might sue for relief from "tortious negligence."

But under the theory of promissory estoppel, what words apply to the tort and tortfeasor?  E.g., does one sue an "unreliable" tortfeasor for "tortiously changing his mind?"


texts: How do I file for a Trademark or Service Mark in a US state?

texts:
How and where do I simply file for a state trademark?

Should I do a service mark instead?

I am trying to file a business name and a slogan, so I'm expecting to do two separate filings. I am in California.


texts: Storing chat messages in a private database with user consent

texts:
The Situation

I am currently creating a Telegram bot for me and some friends that stores all chat messages we send in our group chat in a database so that we can retrieve advanced chat statistics. I live in Germany.

Arising Questions

Now my first question is if it would be legal to save group chat messages from my friend group, regarding that:

everybody orally agreed to me storing all the messages on my private server
I have access to all the messages anyway since they are stored on the Telegram servers and I can read them from my account whenever I want, so I'm at least not reading any messages that are not for my ears

Because Telegram Bots are publicly available and can be used by anybody, another question arises:
If another person I don't know uses the Bot to get chat statistics, could I get in legal trouble for storing their messages even though I explicitly stated that said data collection is necessary and ask for their consent?

If so, could I take measures to prevent this while still letting anybody who wants use the bot? Or would I be better off just hard-coding that only messages from me and my friend-group can be stored?
I don't want to collect tons of private messages from random strangers and wouldn't advertise the bot or anything. This is more about the theoretical possibility that anybody who wants to, could hypothetically message the bot even though it is not meant for them or invite it in their group chat and their messages would of course be stored as well.

My vision for the Bot would be (since I believe that chat statistics might still be an interesting feature for many group chats) to offer the source code on GitHub along with some setup instructions so that anybody can set up their own personal instance of the statistics bot on their own private server with their own database. Could I then still get in legal trouble for providing the source code that others could possibly use to store large amounts of private chat data from third parties (or would that be entirely their fault)?


texts: Can I use non-commercial software for a project that may earn money in the future?

texts:
I am using syntevo's SmartGit software for hobbyist projects, which falls under their non-commercial license so I can use the tool for free:

  3.2.1 If a SOFTWARE Non-Commercial License is agreed-upon with the licensee, the licensor grants to licensee the non-exclusive,
  non-transferable and permanent right, which is limited according to
  the terms of clause 7 and terminated according to the terms of clause
  3.2.1.1, to have the SOFTWARE used on a arbitrary number of single-user computers or on a central server or via terminal server
  clients, simultaneously by a arbitrary number of users, solely for
  non-commercial purposes. A purpose is considered non-commercial only
  if the SOFTWARE is exclusively used

  to actively work on open-source projects,
  for learning or teaching on a public academic institution,
  in the spare time to manage projects where you don't get financial compensation for (hobby usage),
  by public charitable organizations primarily targeting philanthropy, health research, education or social well-being.

Now one of my projects may grow beyond the scope of a hobbyist game, and I was wondering where exactly the threshold lies between commercial and non-commercial use.

Specifically, if I start development of the game with commercial use in mind, but I don't make any money (no kickstarter, no external funding through government grants, etc). I don't employ anyone yet and I am making everything on my own. I don't have a publisher or anything like it but I am starting to build a community. I have a regular day job unrelated to game design.

Somewhere on the scale "hobby usage" --> "hobby, but possible commercial intent" --> "fully commercial development" the usage rights switch from non-commercial license to commercial license.

Can anyone help me draw that line?


texts: Can someone get protection under Double Jeopardy for a crime by arranging to be put on trial with fake evidence that is then disproven?

texts:
Lets say I just killed Bob (I'm doing a lot of that today).  The police suspect me but currently have little evidence that I killed Bob.  However, I haven't hidden the murder weapon and body well and can't move them now, so it's just a matter of time before someone finds them and provides the police with enough evidence to convict me.

To avoid jail time when the body is found, I try to protect myself with a claim of double jeopardy.  I have two friends claim to have witnessed my killing Bob and I leave a suspicious weapon that looks like it could be the murder weapon somewhere the police will find it.  With all this evidence, the police decide to press charges and have me arrested.

Only after my trial starts do I reveal my pre-planned proof that the evidence is false.  My friends fly back to their home in some country without an extradition treaty before calling the judge and telling them that they made up the story about seeing me kill Bob.  I present proof that the suspected murder weapon was purchased after Bob disappeared and a better explanation for why it looked so suspicious, etc.

With my being able to disprove all the central pieces of evidence, the jury finds me not guilty of Bob's murder.  Not long afterwards, Bob's body, and the actual murder weapon, are found.  This new evidence is damning and with it, they likely could convict me, but I claim double jeopardy when they try to charge me.

Of key importance, I argue that the last trial was for the same murder. My friends were claiming to witness me murder Bob at the very time and place that the actual murder took place (maybe they even did watch the murder).  The police had already suspected me of murdering Bob at this time as well, and had presented some, less effective, evidence at the first trial that they possessed due to the fact that I had actually murdered Bob.

Can I get away with murder?

Does the answer change if the police can prove I planted the original fake evidence which I used to inspire the first murder trial?


texts:
We are taking care of a deceased family member's estate and to get rid of an old vehicle we placed an online ad - we were asking $150.  Someone responded and we accepted their offer - all via email.  Now our extended family has decided that they would like to keep the old vehicle for sentimental reasons.

So we contacted the prospective buyer and told him that we are sorry but we are no longer selling the vehicle.  His response was that we have a contract and that he will be filing a breach of contract.  He claims he has already spent $200 prepping for the vehicle - materials to restore it.  No money was exchanged between us and the vehicle never left our possession

Does the prospective buyer have a valid argument?  Do the emails constitute a contract?


texts: In the US, is ink transfer from poster to canvas a copyright infringement (outside of Ninth Circuit)?

texts:
I ask because Canada and the EU's top courts have come to different conclusions. In Allposters,  C‑419/13, the CJEU ruled that though the adaptation/derivative right was not harmonized within the EU, the ink transfer could be considered a reproduction and thus a copyright infringement. Conversely, in Théberge v. Galerie d'Art du Petit Champlain inc., 2002 SCC 34, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that reproduction required multiplication ie. additional copies must be produced. Additionally, Canada's adaptation/derivative rights aren't as expansive as the US and also require multiplication, therefore there is no copyright infringement.
I understand that the US derivative rights is generally wider, but is it wide enough to encompass the ink transfer from poster to canvas? Additionally, does the US require multiplication for reproduction? The relevant portion of the statute isn't entirely clear to me (17 USC 106):

Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;

My case-law searching fails me for the multiplication question, but for the derivative question I've found a similar fact pattern. Albuquerque A.R.T. Co. operated a business model where they would take printed artwork and fix it to ceramic tile (no ink transfer, but there's no multiplication either in this case). Unfortunately, this has resulted in a circuit-split which I believe is still unresolved, with the Ninth first ruling this an infringing derivative in Mirage Editions, Inc. v. Albuquerque A.R.T. Co. and the Seventh explicitly disagreeing in Lee v. A.R.T., ruling it not to be a derivative.
This makes it incredibly likely that the Ninth Circuit would see ink transfer from poster to canvas as an infringement. However, it's not so clear outside the Ninth. Since ink transfer is a bit more of a transformative process than merely mounting existing work onto a new medium, maybe that brings it within the scope of being a derivative work nationwide?


texts: Discrimination arguments against the Ministry of Education that imposes an ethnicity to pupil

texts:
Imagine the fictional Republic of Tratatoria is ethnically composed from Barmaliens, Turariens and Gluzariens.
The Minister of Education of the Republic of Tratatoria considers himself as Gluzarien.
He decides to rename the history object in the schoolbooks from "History of Tratatoria" to "History of Gluzariens".
The Ministry translates the books in all ethnic languages.
What legal/international law arguments/precedents could be used to demonstrate that the Ministry is discriminating its own citizens?

Real Case (Moldova)
Please see here


texts: Could a president sue a person for defamation during their time in office?

texts:
In this hypothetical (unless it's happened in the past), a prominent citizen or news agency makes statements about the president, or his decisions or policies, that are knowingly inaccurate or false while he is in office. In the opinion of the president and his counsel in this hypothetical, these false statements harm his reputation or otherwise cause damages to him or his administration.

Given that there are always people who openly criticize a president's decisions, to varying degrees of accuracy or hyperbole, would the president ever have the option of bringing charges against said person(s), this situation?

Are there laws specific to the executive branch in this case, or for government officers in general?

Note: I'm not referring to any president in particular, and don't wish for this to become a political debate.


texts: Can I use chess diagrams in my book without infringing any copyrights/having to pay any royalties?

texts:
I am thinking about writing a book that has chess diagrams in it. For the fonts I am using the "Chess Merida" font, which is the "default" chess font used in almost all chess books. I want to make sure I'm not infringing on any copyright by doing so, and I have no experience in copyright laws so I'm asking here.
Basically there will be multiple chess diagrams in the book, an example is given below.

There is really no simpler way of drawing a chess diagram.
On the other hand, I have seen several websites using this format, but then prohibiting commercial use of the diagrams. For instance, this chess diagram editor allows one to edit the exact same kind of diagrams as my example, yet the website says
"... is free for non-commercial amateur use only."
So that made me wonder about copyright laws relating to chess diagrams. Obviously, I don't want to get into trouble by publishing copyrighted diagram types. Moreover, I'm not sure whether there are any royalties to pay to someone (who?) for the use of the Merida chess font.
So can I use such diagrams in my book without getting into trouble?

EDIT: if it is not free for commercial use, does this mean that all chess book authors pay royalties to chess font editors?


texts: Is this a violation of copyright? WW2 Infamy Speech

texts:
I was watching FDR's Infamy Speech on Youtube which he makes after the Pearl Harbor attack, and noticed that it seems to belong to www.periscopefilm.com. You can see it at the start of the video:

At their website sure enough the video is available for licensing, and it seems you have to pay to use it.

I found the exact same video at archive.org
Link

I'm wondering, for it to be shown on this site, does this mean that they have bought a licence?

Also, what gives them the right to own this video and prevent anyone else using it. I assume it's not in the public domain because you have to licence it from them, but I'm confused about some things because I don't know the law.

The speech was made in 1941, it was a speech made in congress. How is it that periscope.com have the right to a filmed speech made in congress from 1941 to the exclusion of use by anyone else? This is the bit I found confusing. It's a government speech and so should be freely available? Or am I wrong?

Also, if you see the video itself, it's watermarked with periscope.com, is this video entirely their property? Where does the original video exist? Or is it because they themselves had a film crew in Congress in 1941 and filmed it themselves?


texts: Cookie consent compliance: disabling JavaScript and keyboard accessibility

texts:
I've noticed that most cookie consent solutions are JavaScript based, and when you have JS disabled, the cookie consent settings may not be accessible.
Speaking of accessibility, some cookie consent solutions are not keyboard accessible, meaning that people with certain disabilities would not be able to manage their cookies either.
Is this compliant with GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, and the CCPA?


texts: Are programming language names copyrighted?

texts: Say I want to create a programming language with some name, but there already exists another programming language with the same name. Could I get in trouble (legal or otherwise) if I create another programming language with this same name?


texts: Publishing an old journal with possibly offensive content

texts:
I am in the process of transcribing my Grandfathers journal from Mesopotamia in 1920-22.  In it he uses mildly derogatory terms regarding local population which would undoubtedly not be used today. They could be considered racially offensive comments by some but I don't believe the comments to be grossly offensive.
My intention is to publish them on a website.  Is that likely to be a legal problem?


texts:
I have received an email from Amazon reporting a security breach on my account (which I do not believe it is genuine and it happens often because of my dynamic IP).

I have requested further details (IP/Location/User Agent/How did they identify it as a breach) but they refused to give me those details.

Is that legal? Is there anything I can do to force them to release the details? I want to make sure it is not an actual security breach.


texts:
I wonder whether 3D models & textures by NASA are public domain. Their GitHub repo implies so:

  We offer these assets for your use, free and without copyright.

Or according to Wikipedia, speaking of "pictures":

  Under United States copyright law, works created by the U.S. federal government or its agencies cannot be copyrighted. (This does not apply to works created by state or local governments.) Therefore, the NASA pictures are legally in the public domain.

I therefore assume they are, yet I would like to be certain. Are the contents of said repo available under the public domain, as the author of this issue assumes? How far is the "public domain" equal to WTFPL/CC0?

Update: after browsing the repo, I found the following meta.json, which claims: "license": "NASA Open Source Agreement Version 1.3" as well as "description": "collection of 3D models, textures, and images from inside NASA". This is confusing me; is this license equal to public domain?