texts:
Is it required by law to have a prescription to get an MRI scan in the United States? If state specific, I'm interested in California and Massachusetts.

I'm reading conflicting, unsupported information:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/community/t/need-see-doctor-get-mri-scans/23315:

  You need to see a doctor for a prescription to get an MRI scan of any type.

https://ask.metafilter.com/96943/Is-it-possible-to-get-an-MRI-and-have-it-read-without-a-referral:

  Yes, it's possible. It's very expensive, and a lot of radiologists won't even consider trying to interpret such a study without a referring doctor's request, because of the malpractice liability. (You cannot have the test performed without paying for its interpretation, as far as I am aware.)

https://www.quora.com/Can-I-get-an-MRI-or-a-CAT-scan-without-a-referral-if-I-just-want-to-see-what-my-brain-looks-like-What-can-it-tell-me-about-myself:

  In general, you must have a prescription for an imaging procedure.

https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/132726/are-medical-prescriptions-for-medical-imaging-or-physiotherapy-sessions-written#comment329220_132726:

  it is not illegal to give an MRI without a referral, and in the US you could probably find someone who would do it as long as you could afford the very high costs.


texts: Would it be illegal for Donald Trump to short twitter, then leave the platform?

texts:
Presumably if Trump were to stop tweeting and move to a different social media platform (e.g., Instagram), Twitter's value would decrease significantly (source estimating Trump's value to Twitter).

Would it be illegal for him to short Twitter stock and then make this switch? If so, why?


texts: What is the copyright status on an undated record?

texts:
What are the rules concerning undated records that don't have a copyright or release date?

The album in question has been released by a now defunct reproduction recording company (shuttered in the 1960s?) by Replica Records.

What would be the copyright date for this album and its exploration date?

It was released in the USA.


texts: Downloading an image from wallofcelebrities.com

texts:
Is Wallofcelebrities a legal place to download images from?

I would like to get one of Kayla Compton, but I'm not sure if these photos are being illegally distributed.


texts: Is web scraping legal without authentification?

texts:
I am currently learning how to web scrape the web and I encountered a major problem.

It seems that every website has some part of its terms of use talking about web scraping being strictly prohibited.

My question is:

Let's say that I scrape a website like Glassdoor or Indeed which has all the public information, without logging into an account. By doing that, I technically do not break the terms of use because I never agreed to respect them in the first place, right? Is it legal? Am I right or wrong in that instance?

Thank you.


texts: Can I sell computer source code that I reuse in other applications that I still sell?

texts:
I have several different versions of the same software (written in .Net/WPF) that interact with different brands of hardware. I decided to discontinue one of the platforms. The company that sells the hardware for that platform approached me about purchasing the software source code from me so they can continue to sell the software to their customers.

So, I would rework the UI and rebrand it so it doesn't look exactly like the other versions of the software, and they could claim it as their own. My question is, is there a way for me to sell and give them the source, without putting myself in legal danger since 50% of the source code is still in use with the other versions of the program I will continue selling?

The client is fully aware of the situation, and is not interested in exclusive rights to the code. They just want to be able to take it over (and modify it if need be) so they can continue to sell it.


texts: Question about copyright, plagiarism and attribution

texts:
If I'm going to describe the origin of the word "dinosaur" and I say that the taxon Dinosauria was formally named in 1841 by paleontologist Sir Richard Owen, and that the foregoing description is copied and pasted directly from Wikipedia (which it is), I think we can agree that it's:

a type of plagiarism.
improper, possibly dishonest or negligent in not attributing the source.
violates the license terms of Wikipedia's content, which is (roughly speaking) CC BY-SA.

If I paraphrased the quote using my own words I think we can agree to points 1 and 2, but maybe not point 3 (I'm not sure, maybe someone can clarify).

The tricky thing about this is summed up in the following question:

Assuming that nearly all my knowledge is accumulated by reading books and hearing things (whether publications, broadcasts, or people) which may be copyrighted or have license terms, in what circumstances could content that I publish reasonably  be assumed to not need attribution?

Following on from that, I can say from my general knowledge that the speed of light in a vacuum is about 186,000 miles (or 300,000 km) per second. However if I wanted to give a more precise figure I would look it up either in an encyclopedia or in a dictionary and round it off to the closest mile or kilometer per second. Once I've checked about 5 sources to get a more precise figure, I would be tempted either to pick one and attribute the one source, or simply state that figure without attribution either because I might feel it's a number that I've learned or the number I've arrived at is synthesized from about 6 sources, and simply don't want to cite each one.

Probably a better example is the meaning of a word. In a personal creative work I might give the meaning of the word "rapprochement". I may feel I can already give a good definition because I know the meaning of it. But just to be sure I consult 5 dictionaries, maybe some other sources, and formulate a definition based on a synthesis from my previous general knowledge and the recent sources I consulted. In circumstances such as these what are the obligations to cite a source for your information? I guess the question is based on the fact that nearly all knowledge is sourced from something or someone that/who was not you, and I'm just wondering whether I'm wrong in thinking that I don't need to attribute a source if I'm telling you something that I read in an article yesterday. After all, I don't need to attribute a source, for plagiarism or license violations purposes, for something I know from reading an article five years ago, or from reading from Collins Dictionary five years ago.

Also, I can say the four largest moons of Jupiter were discovered in 1610. I had to look that up, but no one knows that, nor where I got that information from.

I'm talking purely from a legal point of view. I realize that if I say something it's in my interests to give citations of where I got that information from just for the purpose of appearing trustworthy, but I'm not talking about that. I'm purely talking about legal obligations.


texts: Forum Copyright - TOS Contradicts itself

texts:
For one reason or another, I would like to delete content posted by me on a specific forum.

There are two sections in the TOS that both contradict themselves, which is why I am asking for advice here.

The first section that appears on the topic:

PROPRIETARY RIGHTS.

"[Forum] does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, works of authorship, applications, or other materials (collectively, "Third Party Content") that its users post."

However, the next sentence then says:

"By posting Third Party Content to any public area of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant to [Forum] an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said Content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said Third Party Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing."

From my (Very uneducated) understanding, this means that I am still the copyright holder of the (unique) content that I have posted, but the forum has the full rights to display the content, which is a right I cannot revoke.

If I'm the owner of the content, surely I have the right to request its deletion?

When I asked, they said no, however, I'm 100% sure that there's a very fast way to remove all posts at once.

This isn't really a big deal, I was just interested in learning a little more about the situation.

(Both I and the registered company are located in the UK)

Thanks


texts: Selling artwork containing famous quotes

texts:
If I am designing typographic posters, is it okay to base a piece on a famous quote said by a celebrity?

In this case, it is by an author. However I don't think the quote is taken from one of her books, I think it's just something she said at some point.

Is it likely that there could be legal issues if I were to be selling artwork that was based around this quote?


texts: Is it legal to use TV network logos on my own discussion forums about those networks?

texts:
Let's say that I am making a forum utility to discuss topics of television ... ESPN, CSPAN, CBS, etc.

If the channel is called ESPN and the forum is made specifically to discuss what is on that specific channel then would it be legal to place an ESPN logo in the title of the forum?

If not, what would be a possible workaround?


texts: Is the removal of Jim Acosta's White House press pass a violation of the 1st Amendment?

texts:
Jim Acosta of CNN asked President Trump a question. Trump ordered him to put the mike down, and a young intern tried to take it off him. Acosta's press pass was subsequently revoked.

Let's assume the for the sake of argument that the White House justification (he "laid hands" on the intern) is false and Acosta's pass was revoked because he insisted on asking a question that the President didn't want asked. As I understand it, in a lawsuit those would be questions of fact to be determined by the court. I'm asking about the law.

This question looks at a closely related incident when Trump barred selected media outlets from presidential press conferences. The consensus in that case was the White House has wide discretion in deciding who to admit to press briefings, and hence allowing one newspaper rather than another is not a violation. However a comment to that answer noted that:

  viewpoint-based restrictions on privileges extended by the government are not permissible [...]

Does banning a reporter in response to an unwelcome question constitute a "viewpoint-based restriction"? If so, is this a violation of the 1st Amendment?


texts: Are foreign *assets* (not income), pre-dating moving to the US, taxable?

texts:
A person who immigrated to the US 10 years ago still has two bank accounts abroad that she did not close. No money has been added to the accounts since then, there was no activity and no interest generated, i.e. there was no income.
She has not reported the foreign accounts on a FBAR form nor on her tax returns, although it represents more than $10,000 total; she would like to regularize her situation.
The specific question is:

will these assets be considered as income by the IRS, even though the account money predates her becoming a US person?
Even if there was no income, is it possible that the person still had to pay other taxes related to foreign assets (i.e. does the IRS tax assets, not only income?)


texts: Applying for a patent in one country using a patented invention beloning to some else from another country

texts: Let's assume certain invention is patented in country A, but not in B (in the latter it should be considered novel and non-obvious). Can a random person (not the original inventor) apply for and be granted a patent in country B on that same invention (thus prohibiting the inventor to produce/sell it in B)?


texts: Recording Phone Calls in Florida and Obtaining All-Party Consent

texts:
According to FL Statute 934.03 (outside of limited exceptions), you are required to gain all-party consent to record communications deemed to have an expectation of privacy.
It seems this includes when a customer calls a business although I would argue in 2021 no one would be shocked to find out calls to a business are recorded. I digress.
The standard notification we are used to is the recording on connection:
This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes.
I'm not sure this is necessarily gaining explicit consent but it may be implied if a caller continues. I digress.
I'm curious about the other ways of gaining consent, implied or otherwise.

Could I include in all of my customer contracts that "Calls made to the Company are recorded for quality assurance purposes and, further, calling the Company implies your consent to being recorded."

What if this plays only once per unique phone number calling per month. Does that provide consent to recording all calls?


texts: Can confession stories be used as evidence in court?

texts:
I would like to tell my story that contain things that may or may not be illegal. I planned to upload it to youtube for educational and entertainment purposes. I'm afraid though that I might be prosecuted. Will it hold up in court if it's used as evidence against me? Is there some kind of disclaimer I can use?

For the curious, it's about how I learned about hacking, and what I used it for.

Extra information: United States. Illinois.

I plan to leave out exact details, as I know that I can't be charged for hacking in general, but rather hacked duhduhduh.com at exact time and date. I could also claim the story is fictional. But someone said in the comments that would probably lead to perjury charges. It's a story I would really love to tell because there's a lot of educational value to it, I just don't want to be charged for trying to share an experience I had when I was young and naive.


texts: Is there a legal / commercial term for a free offer that can't be demanded or expected

texts:
What is the name for a service offer that is limited in availability due to resources or which could be withdrawn if it is being abused or unreasonably expected?

Is there a standard legal or commercial term that covers this situation?

Something like:

limited availability,
pending resource availability...
no obligation (generally refers to the recipient)


texts: Use of copyrighted character in software, as a joke

texts:
I sometimes insert copyrighted fictional character's images from a franchise on the rarest of error screens ("should never happen" type of thing). This time though, I work for a company, making their internal software, not as a hobby.

While no-one will probably ever see the fictional copyrighted character in question, and even if so, it's there jokingly and is not in any way related to operation of the professional software I'm making, does it fit under fair use? Is legality of this something that I should worry about?

Edit: What if the image in question is my own drawing of the character?


texts: How'd parties 'negotiate around the remedy' to 'share the profits (or savings) from breach rather than allow the contract breaker total retention'?

texts:
Mindy Chen-Wishart. Contract Law (2018 6 edn). p 24.

I don't understand the red sentence. Kindly can someone

expatiate it?
or give an example with numbers?


texts: Telecom fee that is mentioned in the lease but no mention of exact amount (U.S.)

texts: My apartment lease says that the Internet has a telecom fee but there's no mention of how much the telecom fee is anywhere in the contract. In this case, am I obligated to pay this fee? Does it not invoke an issue where they can arbitrarily set the price? Does this fall under the category of lease addendum?


texts: I fancy myself an amateur lawyer. Can I represent someone in court, in the state of Maryland?

texts:
I live in Montgomery County Maryland. I am not a lawyer.

But I have significant legal experience. I have successfully sued people, watched many trials, I have successfully won dozens of trials for my own traffic violations. And I'm a former state legislator. So I have read and argued about lots of legislation. Sometimes I feel like an amateur lawyer myself. And a pretty darn good one at that.

My father recently received a ticket from an automated-traffic-enforcement system because he made a right turn without coming to a full stop. The fine is $75. But he doesn't want to pay it and I don't want him to pay it. It's more the principle of the matter than the fine amount.

Because of my extensive experience litigating traffic trials, I want to represent my father in his trial. But as I mentioned above, I am not a licensed attorney. Can I represent him nonetheless? When the judge goes through the docket and calls his case, can I stand up and say, "Your Honor, I'm here representing Mr. Ali in this case?" Or will I get in trouble for doing so?

This case is in the District Court of Maryland in Montgomery County.


texts: Is it work-for-hire if the hirer doesn't own copyright on collective work?

texts:
Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire#Law_in_the_United_States, work done by an an independent contractor may qualify under work-for-hire if it's a contribution to a collective work.

But what if the hirer doesn't actually own the copyright to the collective work?!  E.g., if it's a FL/OSS project that the contractor was hired to modify and extend, and the copyright on the existing collective work is owned by a third party?

Does this nuance at all alter the determination on whether or not a given work would qualify as work-for-hire when commissioned by a party that has no reasonable existing copyright stake on the collective work in question?


texts: Which country laws apply to user data? HQ location or Cloud data center location

texts:
Anyone here know which country laws apply to user data when a startup based in a different country (ex: UK), than where user data resides (ex: Switzerland) ?

Switzerland have better privacy (not perfect) than other countries, So I am deciding to store user data in Switzerland data center, so user data is protected by Swiss laws.

But I am not sure which country laws apply to user data?

Someone please help. Thanks in advance!


texts: Name and surname inverted in an housing contract with electronic signature

texts:
During a registration procedure for an housing website, I probably inverted my name and my surname (I don't remember exactly how the form was). Now, in the whole contract, my name and surname are inverted, and also the electronic signature option reports my name and surname inverted.
I have contacted the landlord, and he said that it is not a problem. Can I sign the contract or may I have any problem?


texts: In Ohio, what is the speed limit on an on-ramp?

texts: One time, on a long, straight, downhill on-ramp to an interstate highway, there was a cop pointing his laser at the cars that were going down the ramp on their way to enter the highway. The speed limit on the highway is 65 mph, while the speed limit on the street that the other end of the ramp is connected to is 35 mph, but no speed is posted on the ramp, however, and the cop seemed to be trying to take advantage of that ambiguity, perhaps trying to punish people for reaching the highway's speed limit too early. So what exactly would the speed limit be on such a ramp?


texts: May a landlord (having already paid the fine) seek damages from the actual perpetrator?

texts: If a tenant unintentionally causes a false fire alarm, and building management pays the fine (and associated expenses), what legal grounds would the building have to come after the tenant for reimbursement?


texts: What right do I have to use images of products which are published on the manufacturer's website?

texts:
I manage a web store which sells products, and I use the photos of the products from the manufacturer's website in the web store when showing the product and price etc to the customer.

I assume the manufacturer owns the copyright to those images, so is it possible the manufacturer could force me to remove the images, or even seek damages for me using the images?

I don't believe this is fair use, but what is the law regarding this?


texts:
I've created a new teaching method.

My research, back to 1922, has not found any other instance of it in history.

Yes, there are elements, names, that could be protected but of course that will not protect the method.

My method does not involve math but I'll use Common Core mathematics as a similar situation. Does someone own the common core teaching method?


texts:
I am a teacher in NJ. I am relocating to a new state over the summer and I will have to resign from next year's job (I haven't signed a contract for next year but it's expected that I resign anyway). I had to let me boss know I was leaving because the school I am applying for needed her as a reference before they could send my information to HR and make an offer. Now my current employer is asking me for my resignation letter and while I am still waiting for an official offer, in writing from the other school (I only have a verbal offer and a few emails that ask me to fill out paperwork to determine the salary step).

My contracts states the following: "It is herby agreed by the parties hereto that this contract may at any time be terminated by either party giving to the other sixty (60) days notice in writing of intention to terminate the same, but that in the absence of any such notice, the contract shall run for the full term named above. However, either party may terminate the contract prior to sixty (60) days by written consent of the other party."

Contract ends June 30th. Do I give my letter 60 days from the end of the contract, or 60 days before September? Should I hand in the letter by April 30th, or is June 30th still good? I am trying to make sure I am not legally bound to return in September. My boss told me that it would be 60 days before the end of the contract, but I wanted a second opinion.


texts: How broad can employment contracts be and still be enforcable?

texts: I've seen some very broad terms used in contracts that an employee is required to sign before they start working for a company (or government). For example I've seen a contract saying that the employee agrees to always give their best effort while doing their job. Does this mean that getting caught, for example, checking the weather instead of working, can result in a breach of contract? (Apparently, they can't get sued.)


texts: Is the California court ruling that coffee can increase cancer risk justified?

texts:
A court in California ruled against companies that may have to put a warning that tells customers there is a possible cancer risk linked to coffee by saying the companies "failed to meet their burden of proof on their Alternative Significant Risk Level affirmative defense". Is this ruling justified?

This is somewhat related to this answer since it addresses the health risk of acrylamide which is the court's argument for why coffee should have the cancer risk warning. Given the convincing data in the answer I linked, I'm finding it hard to see how the court justified this ruling.


texts: Ch 13 Bankruptcy: What happens if you owe too much to repay in 5 years

texts: As I understand it, Ch 13 bankruptcy protects a person by letting them repay their debts over a period of some 5 years.  What if a person has more debt than they can repay in 5 years? (In the state of Georgia, in the USA.) (Assume the person has filed for Ch 7 less than 8 yers ago, so the only bankruptcy available to them is ch 13.)


texts: Where could I find interest accrual rates for wage garnishments?

texts:
I am in the process of filing for a wage garnishment again a previous employer and one of the forms as asking me to supply the interest rate that the outstanding balance will be increased by if not paid.

I have a judgement against them that lists the total amount but nothing that mentions the rate if there were to be no payment.

The official text is as follows:

Is there some type of public standard rate out there that would be used in the event it is not explicitly mentioned?

Edit: I found this website : http://www.azd.uscourts.gov/efiling/post-judgment-interest-rates

It appears that I find the date that comes right after the judgement issue date and that is the interest rate? In this case it looks to be 2.34% per year?


texts: Is it legal not to have a working stopcock in the UK?

texts: I rent a ~50 year old terraced house in the UK, and had some plumbing work done recently. The plumber said the stopcock doesn't work, and so had to freeze the pipes to get the work done. This makes me nervous both for my own things and the insurance in case an accident should result in an unhindered flow of water. Is this something the owner is obliged to fix?


texts: Can anti-vaxers be sued for medical malpractice?

texts:
Vaccine stuff has been in the news lately.
It occurred to me that telling people not to get vaccinated could constitute medical advice.

Here is my question: if someone tells you not to get vaccinated, and then you get really sick with something you could have been vaccinated against: can you sue them?
If so: why do I keep hearing about "anti-vax communities" and "anti-vax propaganda"?  Why haven't these people been sued out of existence?

(this does not affect me personally; I have been vaccinated and I am not sick)


texts: Bathroom Lighting in the UK: Is British Standard BS 7671 a required LAW

texts: I've looked high and low on Google to find out if its law within the UK that bathroom lights or fittings are required to use IP44 rating or above. The only bits of information looks like a regulation and unable to find it out if its actual law for a home owner or landlord to install electrical fitting within ZONE 1 or 2 set out by BS 7671 (the IET Wiring Regulations)


texts: Am I allowed to ask a company to sign a contract?

texts:
I am an undergraduate student. I recently got an internship in a company in Mauritius. I started the internship 3 weeks ago but I have a concern. The company has not created any internship contract/agreement yet. During the interview process, we just verbally informed me that they are going to pay me according to the local standards. When I asked about the contract, they told me that we will do it later. It's been 3 weeks now and the company hasn't shown any proactivity regarding creating a contract.

My plan is now creating the contract myself, leaving a blank space where the company can input the amount they are going to pay me. Then, I will come to my manager and tell him to read it, escalate it to the concerned parties in HR, fill the blank and sign if the company agrees. Is it my right to create such contract?


texts: Is audio/video release form necessary for videos submitted voluntarily over email?

texts:
I am working on a project that requires me to email subscribers asking for video testimonials of our product. We will of course be using the testimonials for advertising, and this will be clearly stated in the email.

As someone without any legal expertise I imagine some kind of consent might be necessary to use and publish these videos. However, it seems rather silly to me to require a separate consent form, when the email already explains what the videos will be used for and anyone who does not consent would simply not respond to the email. Additionally, asking people to print, sign, scan, and email back a paper form when they are already doing us a favor would greatly complicate the process and is likely to significantly decrease response rate.

Can I assume that by submitting a video the submitter implies consent for us to use the video in the manner we described? Or alternatively, is there some kind of short statement I can include in the email to make sure we're covered?

I live in the US, and all subscribers also live in the US. It is possible that some video submissions may be from minors, and we would still like to use these submissions if possible.


texts: Is there legal precedent for restricting US citizens from interacting with each other on private property during a pandemic?

texts:
Many states (for example, Washington) around the US have issued an executive order prohibiting their residents from interacting with other citizens face-to-face, unless its a part of an "essential" activity:

  All people in Washington State shall immediately cease participating in all public
  and private gatherings and multi-person activities for social, spiritual and
  recreational purposes, regardless of the number of people involved, except as
  specifically identified herein. Such activity includes, but is not limited to, community,
  civic, public, leisure, faith-based, or sporting events; parades; concerts; festivals;
  conventions; fundraisers; and similar activities. This prohibition also applies to planned
  wedding and funeral events. This prohibition shall remain in effect until midnight on
  April 6, 2020, unless extended beyond that date.

Is there precedent in US law for such a restriction? Or perhaps someone already tried to challenge this rule during the current pandemic? Preventing citizens from going to each others home for a visit seems like the ultimate form of restrictions, so it would be interesting to see if it ever held up in court.


texts: Can police enter a dwelling to intervene in a suicide attempt in a state where suicide is not a crime?

texts:
I have often heard claims that the reason suicide (and attempted suicide) is criminalized (at common law, if not statutorily) in some states is that it allows law enforcement personnel to enter a residence if they have reason to believe a person is or has attempted to commit suicide - it grants them probable cause, since suicide is a crime. That is, the idea is that suicide laws are on the books not for the sake of prosecuting suicidal people, but rather for legitimizing interventions by law enforcement.

Does this mean, then, that in states that do not recognize suicide as a crime at common law, a police officer cannot enter a dwelling if they have "probable cause" to believe that a person currently is or soon will attempt to commit suicide (but not genuine probable cause for any other reason)?

I would have thought that police have some level of carte blanche to intervene in situations like this (which, if it were the case, would mean that it doesn't matter whether or not a state has laws against suicide), but I'm no lawyer.

(This question is about regular-old people-killing-themselves suicide, not euthanasia or other forms of assisted suicide, which I recognize is a whole different ball of wax.)


texts: Is it legal to have an abortion in another state or abroad?

texts:
Alabama passed new laws recently, making abortion a very limited option. In that context is it legal for a US national who lives in Alabama to

have an abortion in another state where it is legal in the circumstances she in in?
have an abortion abroad, in circumstances which are illegal in the US?

Does the "US national" above matter?

In other words: is the specific act of abortion illegal on itself in Alabama (or another state if it matters), just because of the geographic constraints - or is it related to the fact that someone lives in Alabama or, more broadly, is a US citizen (second bullet of my question)?

Or, yet phaserly differently: can someone who lives in Alabama just travel to another state and get an abortion, then come back safely (= Alabama law enforcement does not care) or is it still a felony to have an abortion outside of Alabama?

Note: Alabama is taken as an example following the recent law changes and their wide broadcasting in France. Any other state with a similar law will do.


texts: Are there laws or rules for how to protest in the US?

texts:
Looking at images of the recent Nazi rally in Charlottesville, I was surprised to see some protesters wearing protective helmets and shields.

Some research on google seems to suggest that protective gear is not that uncommon, and that there are even cases of firearms carried at protests.

Is this legal? Are there any laws in the US regarding how or when to protest? For example in Germany, protests have to be registered beforehand, all passive armament such as shields, helmets, or face coverings are always forbidden, and often there are other conditions such as a maximum size for banners. Do similar rules exist in the US?

Sorry for the poor tagging; I was unable to use the existing protest tag for some reason (guns or civil rights didn't work either)


texts: Rear Ended someone who was ticketed for not having a valid license?

texts: I rear ended someone who was ticketed for not having a valid license.  Am I responsible for paying for the damage on his car?  I was also ticketed for the rear-end.


texts: Can the recipient of a digital message legally publish the message?

texts:
It's pretty commonplace these days for people to take screenshots of text messages (or messages on other platforms) and post them online for the general public to see - be it on Twitter, Facebook, what have you.

Regardless of the commonality of it, however, I'm wondering if it's actually legal to do so in the United States? It seems that there could be a number of potential issues here:

Invasion of privacy (assuming the sender hasn't given permission to the recipient to do so)
False light (out of context, the texts could be misconstrued)
Copyright (as I understand, recipients have ownership of the physical message, but not the content - and messages are only content with no real physical side)

Do any of these ideas hold merit?


texts: I became internet bestfriends with someone and she took not just mine but some of my bestfriends photos that we posted on social media and she used them but creepily she printed our photos out and she also posted pictures of me on all of her social media accounts. Would it be illegal to use our photos without us knowing?


texts: Difference between information and opinion?

texts:
I saw this disclaimer.

  This article provides information, rather than advice or opinion.

I could understand that "advice" aka legal advice may be scary since that could lead to liability for incomplete/bad legal advice but what is the difference between "information" and an "opinion"?

What one calls "information" another one calls "opinion". How could there be any "information" that is so neutral, factual, that it is not an "opinion"?

Are these terms defined in law somewhere?


texts: Can I start a business in California without being a resident and without a physical location?

texts:
The details are that I would likely be a resident 4 to 6 months a year and that the business does not need a physical location as we provide local shipping services through independent operators -  imagine an Uber-style shipping company.

Does the scenario change if the business was, for example, a web design company?

If the answer is no is there a scenario where I could hire someone, a resident, to start a business and then sell it to me as an out-of-state resident?


texts: If a USA citizen marries a foreign citizen who has a kid from a previous marriage

texts: I have a niece who is divorced and we want her to get rehabilitated and one possibility is that she may marry a USA citizen. She has a 11-year-old son from a previous marriage. I looked in Google Search to find a general answer (there is no prospect yet, so there is no point in going to an immigration lawyer). She does not want to get separated from her son.


texts: Am I able to work in Germany but live in an overseas area of France?

texts:
There are a lot of areas which are basically 'France' but are not actually in the country. For example caribean islands etc. (Overseas France)

In my job I am not physically bound to any specific location. I thought maybe the 'Schengen-Agreement' also works for overseas areas and generally enables me to live in France but work in Germany. Is this the case? I plan to live and work there for ca. 6 month if that matters.

Edit: In my specific case I want to live in Guadeloupe and continiuing to work in Baden-Württemberg.

Edit2: I'm a German citizen (no additional nationalities).


texts: Can I refuse to integrate google/Facebook trackers on a website?

texts: I work as front end developer for a company in Germany and regularly get asked to implement trackers in the products. In my opinion it is immoral to sell out your users to tech giants (and probably to the gov't in some countries) to receive some marketing relevant metrics in return. As far as I know there is a thing called freedom of conscience in German workplace regulations.  Would this fall under that category? Can I refuse to integrate trackers without getting fired?


texts: Can I have a collections report removed from my credit history?

texts:
I have a collections report on my credit history. The credit card company raised the minimum payment without notifying me or raising the automatic payment I set up for the minimum amount. I hadn't checked on any of my credit card accounts for a while just waiting for the automatic payments to eventually pay them off. Since they raised the minimum payment, I was not making the minimum for months and they sent my debt to collections.
I would like to get the collections off of my credit report—not just making it say that the debt is paid, but removing the fact that it ever went to collections.
Is there any way to remove a collections report like this from one's credit history?


texts: Am I allowed to use famous peoples' faces in an app?

texts: For example, can I use David Cameron's face in an app, without permission?


texts: I am opening a small business making t shirts. I want to use the name of a Disney character on one of my designs as well as an image that is something the character holds in the film. I have hand drawn the item and would like a graphic artist to create it based on my drawing, so not using any of Disney's original work. Is there any legal reason I may not be allowed to do this?


texts: Does intent affect whether or not repudiation or fundamental breach has occurred?

texts:
Consider the case of nonpayment under a very simple contract, where the only promise made is that Person A will perform and deliver some specific work, and Business B will pay them a stated amount for it upon completion.  And to provide Person A with an incentive to terminate rather than sue for performance, say they also agreed to provide some small accessories to the main work after receipt of payment.  So Person A prefers to terminate if they get the opportunity to do so.

There's no dispute that the work has been completed and delivered, however Business B has not provided payment despite being invoiced, despite taking possession of the delivered work, and despite the passage of multiple weeks and the delivery of multiple notices that payment is due.  Person A then delivers a notice along the lines of:

  In relation to Business B's continued nonpayment of the invoice
  delivered on date and the notice delivered on later date regarding
  same, which advised Business B that its nonpayment has adversely
  affected Person A's finances, that payment was now past due, and
  which requested payment in full by close of business on the same day, I must inform you that no such payment has been received.
  Business B owes an amount of payable amount for work which was
  completed and delivered on date and has no reasonable grounds for
  withholding payment.  This amount is past due and payable
  immediately.

  This will be my final demand for payment of completed work, and any
  subsequent nonpayment will be taken as evidence that Business B is
  either unwilling or unable to uphold its obligations.  Failure to
  dispatch payment, in full, before close of business on today shall
  be construed as nonpayment, notwithstanding any excuse which may be
  offered.  For the avoidance of any doubt, with respect to the matter
  of payment time is of the essence.

Say Business B receives this and promptly replies stating that payment has now been issued.  However, Person A sees no evidence of any payment having actually been made.  This should give rise to Person A's right to terminate the contract due to repudiation and/or fundamental breach.

My question is, do Business B's actual or stated motivations have any bearing on Person A's right to terminate?  For instance, if Business B was just plain lying about having paid, that would certainly have no bearing (except that it may also constitute unconscionable conduct and/or fraud).

But what if Person A terminates, and it was the case (or Business B claims it was the case) that Business B made an honest mistake issuing payment, and for instance sent payment to the wrong account or accidentally scheduled it to occur on some future date instead of immediately?  Would that have any bearing on their repudiation of the contract or Person A's right to terminate?

Is there any avenue of defense against termination that becomes accessible to Business B by virtue of having claimed, in word, to have fulfilled their obligations whilst failing in deed to actually have done so?

Does the distinction between whether Business B has been dishonest, legitimately incompetent, or devious (in feigning incompetence) make any difference?


texts:
What happens when you get sued for civil matters such as breaching employment contract in one country, after you have already left to another country for good?
What is the general protocol for these kind of cases?


texts: Is urban exploration legal? Even if so, should I do it?

texts:
Intro

When I go exploring, I often find abandoned buildings, farms, factories. Near where I live, it's easy to find abandoned buildings in the mountains or the National Park.

I have an interest in Urbex. I admit some times when I go to the wild I'm actively looking for urban places and ruins to explore. I've been in some amazing places in my country, and I'm always looking for more. However, this is just an interest, not something I spend a lot of time thinking about.

Examples

Here's a few examples of places I've been (I don't own these photos):

Abandoned arabic building

Abandoned hotel (since the 80s I think), in the islands

Abandoned panoramic restaurant (since the 80s), right next to the country's capital

Abandoned thermal spa, popular during the beginning of XX century

Problem

How legal is it to enter these buildings? Can I explore with peace of mind knowing I'm doing nothing wrong or can this be considered trespassing, breaking & entering, burglary or even mischief, even if I'm doing nothing wrong?

I only enter a building if there is an open door (or window, gate, even holes in the walls or fences) and I never break anything. I like to have the same approach as I have in the wild: leave no trace. In my opinion, this is still the wilderness and you can actually find good examples of local flora and fauna inside these buildings.

Also, if there is a sign stating "Private property" or "No enter", I respect the signs and move on. There's plenty more to explore out there.

The arabic building from the picture above, for example, is abandoned but belongs to a complex of buildings on the same area, which I suppose belong to the same owner. As far as I know, there are people who own this building and who are easily identifiable, so I did not go inside.

I understand the laws will be different from country to country, but probably the principles will be the same? And how can I find the relevant laws and analyze them?

Thank you in advance, respect the world.

EDIT

To clarify, the photos were taken in Portugal; but since I also travel around the world (mainly Europe), I would like to know the general principles behind these laws. The answers given so far are interesting on this matter.

Also, one final note just to point the obvious: trespassing, burglary and other offenses can be considered serious crimes in your area. If you believe you might be committing a felony, you should stop and inform yourself first. I believe no one in here endorses illegal activities. :-)

SECOND EDIT

I understand that laws will be different from country to country, no need to keep telling me that. However, the answers given so far are all quite interesting and what I was looking for, so I will keep the question as is.
Thanks guys.


texts: What happens when a public institution in the US engages in segregation?

texts:
After the passage of Civil Rights Act what's the formal process to bring charges against schools, government institutions, or businesses that engage in segregation or other variations of "seperate but equal" policies. Say we were looking at a non-compliant public school during the transition from Jim Crow but under up to date laws, what is the case brought against them and the legal remedy that is pursued.
I chose schools as they are also somewhat government institutions, though if there is a significant difference in treatment on public/private then I'd also be interested in hearing how they differ, say how segregation policies would be punished if a city government or mayors office engaged in it vs private restaurant.


texts: What rules apply to searches of a private college dorm room by university police?

texts:
In the United States, private colleges often have campus police, who are employed by the school but are sworn law enforcement officers with full police power in a certain jurisdiction (which can easily extend beyond the campus). Colleges also have living areas for students, which are the home of the student while they're at school (if anywhere has a reasonable expectation of privacy, it seems like a dorm room would), although these are typically not leases.

Now: From what I can tell, US law says that if you have a reasonable expectation of privacy on some property, the owner of that property can't just give police permission to search it, nor can police ask the owner to search it. For instance, a hotel manager can't consent to search of a hotel room while the occupant is paying to rent the room. However, without a lease, the property owner can enter and search if they got the idea to do that.

In a university context, this seems to imply that a school administrator could search a dorm room for evidence of violation of school rules, but that city police would need a warrant or consent from the student. What's the rule for university police? Do they wear a "school employee" hat, which lets them search school property with permission from the school? Or do they wear a "police officer" hat, which (presumably) requires them to have a warrant? Or does it depend what they're looking for (so looking for drugs might need a warrant, while looking for space heaters might not)?


texts: Seek second opinion for failed vehicle inspection

texts:
I brought my car to a mechanic for an annual state inspection. The mechanic identified a defect which prevented them from passing the car. I brought the vehicle to a different mechanic, disclosed the that the vehicle had just failed, and disclosed the reason for the failure (which I disagreed with). This mechanic inspected the car, and it passed.
Did I commit a crime by seeking a second attempt on state vehicle inspection by a different mechanic? Did the second mechanic commit a crime by passing it, knowing that it just failed somewhere else?


texts: What rights does a private citizen have to aid in law enforcement?

texts:
Suppose you witnessed a robbery or theft from a store in the United States and saw someone running with the stolen goods, and you yell, "Stop, thief." Are you within your rights?

Suppose you see someone running, and the police chasing him. If you were brave or foolhardy enough to do this, are you allowed to try to trip or grab or push this person to slow him down so that the police can catch up, or would this be assault?

Do the above actions fall under citizens' arrest?


texts: On U.S. Treasury getting a percentage of sale of TikTok to Microsoft

texts: Regarding the potential sale of Chinese company TikTok to Microsoft, Trump "says he told Microsoft’s Nadella that U.S. should get a cut ‘because we’re making it possible for this deal to happen’".  Are there any laws that would enable Trump to make this a condition of the sale?  Conversely, are there any laws that would prohibit this?


texts: Manufacturer's warranty vs store warranty

texts:
I want to make sure I'm thinking about this correctly before I accuse directly.
TL;DR
The big box store is treating my item as covered under their store warranty, with their rules, and not as a manufacturer's warranty, with their expanded coverage.
They replaced the item this time, but I'm concerned they won't next time, under their rules. I want to deal with this now, rather than wait until it fails again.
Does the store have the right to say their rules prevail?
I want to say up front, Rheem has been wonderful to work with. Very helpful. THey've probably won a customer for life.
The store, not so much.
Details
Purchased a Rheem water heater with a 12 year warranty.
It fails in year 4.
Manufacturer says it is under warranty and they will replace it.
Just take it back to the store. I don't need a receipt. The store will call with the serial number and we'll approve replacement.
In theory.
In practice, the store refused to call the manufacturer, and insisted on a receipt.
As a convenience to the customer, the store has kiosks so the customer can reprint old receipts.
I was able to print one, but that only works if your wallet hasn't been lost or stolen and you replaced your cards. For those people, their warranty is suddenly void.
The other issue is that the manufacturer says that if you pay anything, even a penny, for the replacement, then the warranty period of 12 years starts over. The store claims that, no matter how much you pay, the warranty is never extended. The only way to get a fresh 12 years is to purchase the full item.
Clearly this isn't a concern immediately, but the device is more likely to fail after 8 years from now than it is before. So the manufacturer says they will cover it, but the store says they won't.
Lastly, I called the manufacturer back to ensure I understood correctly. Before I was even half way through my question, they asked, "Is this store xxx?" "Yes." "They always screw this up. They never call us like they are supposed to."
Steps so far:
Called the number on the company website to talk with corporate. It was a fax machine. And there a numerous comments, going back years, complaining about the only number being a fax machine.
Talked with the local store manager. He didn't see any reason they would take a return without a receipt, no matter what the manufacturer said. Didn't seem to comprehend the difference between a store warranty and a manufacturer warranty.
The store sold the item and sells me the replacement. Do they get to determine the conditions? Or does the manufacturer's terms control?
What are my options if the store refuses to replace it next time? It's too big to mail back.


texts: Any Terms of Service deemed invalid due to excessive length?

texts:
I don't know any people who read TOS.
I don't know any people who know people who read TOS.
The only people I know who do read TOS are people on the internet, lawyers and the like.
Quote from news "PayPal agreement is longer than Hamlet".
TOS printed is often more than 20 pages / 36,275 words.
Even if most people were to read TOS, they wouldn't have the legal skills to make an educated decision.
For most it's just "whatever, click, yes, let me proceed".
For many/most people engaging a lawyer which they can held liable in case of misinformation to analyze the TOS for them is unaffordable as well. At least when using as much services as a usual person does.

Because of any or multiple above (or other) arguments...

Has ever been the argument made in court that it unreasonable to expect people read through the legal jargon and therefore render the TOS invalid in part or entirely?


texts: US Federal Laws Pertaining to Banned Books

texts: I've been having trouble with my search for federally banned books.  Many searches show books which are banned in local libraries or by the state, but not nationally. The only book I could find that is still banned nationally is "The Political Mafia" by Irwin Schiff. Is there any resources to find out what publications are banned nationally? Also, what is the criteria necessary for the federal government to ban a publication?


texts: German Employment Law - Contractual penalties for not commencing a job

texts:
I have signed a contract with a German company, and one of the clauses says that if I am unable to start working for them, in the case of intentionally resigning, then they would charge me one month of paid salary (5000 EUR).

I didn't even work one day for them, and they only have my emails and physical address in Argentina, but they don't have anything else.

I have signed the contract, but meanwhile I found another job, in Germany too. And I would like not to proceed with them.

Do I really need to pay them one month of salary? Is this something legal to have in a contract?

They have told me that if I don't pay, they will take legal steps.

Here is the clause:

"The employee shall pay a penalty for breaking the  contract in the amount of the monthly salary, if he or she fails to take up the employment."

I just want to follow the law. How should I proceed?


texts: What Standing does a Default Defendant have?

texts:
Does a default defendant have standing to argue anything other than removal of the default and the dollar amount of damages?
Can a default defendant argue the validity or anything else about any pleadings in a case?


texts: Home warranty dropping the ball, during emergency situation. Any recourse?

texts:
I opened a ticket in December when my heater failed.  I called my home warranty company(HWA), opened a claim and asked for someone to come out and fix it.  They said it would be at least a week, because it wasn't cold enough to escalate it to an emergency.  The temperature outside with 29 degrees and, the temperature in my house was falling fast.  I contacted Horizon, one of the more reputable names in furnace service in the area.  They came out the next day.  They told me my heat exchange was cracked and they would not be able to repair it.  We picked the quickest option to get it replaced.  By then we had been sleeping in front of the fireplace for a week and my upstairs was 34 degrees.  I had to shut off the plumbing to the upper floors.  After replacing the furnace I contacted the Home warranty company about a reimbursement ($2000) and they told be that since it wasn't pre-approved they could not do anything.  Is there any legal recourse I have to take.  I realize I need pre-approval, but the situation they left us with was unreasonable.

By the way. This is in Merchantville (Camden county) New Jersey


texts:
There used to be many states, like Tennessee and Mississippi, that had anti-tipping laws. These laws made it illegal for restaurants, hotels and railways to allow their employees to accept tips and provided for fines for offending companies.

These laws seemed to have failed. Were they repealed, or just not enforced? What happened to the anti-tipping laws?


texts: Is a contract between two third parties actionable?

texts:
Kickstart claims "Kickstarter's Terms of Use require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill."1

And it goes further threatening the creator with lawsuit from backers:

But since "Kickstarter's Terms of Use" is a contract between Kickstarter and a creator, how a backer can sue a creator who fails to deliver a promised functionality for a product?


texts: What are the differences between "Malum In Se" and "Malum Prohibitum" Laws

texts:
"Malum In Se" and "Malum Prohibitum" are Latin phrases, but beyond their translations what differences do they carry with them in describing laws?

Malum In Se meaning "That which is wrong in itself"
Malum Prohibitum meaning "That which is wrong because it is prohibited"


texts: Are exercises in language books copyrighted?

texts:
Good afternoon,
I am working on a language app to learn languages, and I was thinking to include sentences and dialogues for the users to practice their languages.

My question is: can I re-use, and to what extend, similar exercises used in other textbooks?
Does that fall under the fair use for educational purpose?
And more in particular, I am wondering about the following 3 cases:

Are vocabulary lists for specific lessons copyrighted?
I know a single word (e.g. in Latin) + translation in English is not copyrighted, but what about whole series of words as vocabulary list?
E.g.: can I add to the "lesson 1" of my app the vocabulary list at the end of chapter one of a hypothetical book "learn Latin in 20 lessons"?

What about dialogues, especially very basic ones, like "What is your name? My name is Paul. Where are you from? I am from Canada"? are they copyrighted? or it depends, and how can I determine the threshold?

The app will focus mainly on ancient, dead languages, like Latin. I guess that sentences taken from ancient texts can be used freely as exercises. But what about basic sentences created by the author of a teaching book to illustrate specific examples? Or sentences from the initial exercises, which often are made up to illustrate specific grammatical concepts?
Are those sentences copyrighted, or again could I use the sentences of the exercise at the end of chapter one of the same hypothetical book "learn Latin in 20 lessons" ?


texts: Terminology for citizen (minor) with 'alien' parents

texts:
Assume a child was born in the US to foreign national parents.  The child remains in the US with relatives in Florida.  The child is to be insured: is there a concise term to communicate the notion that although the child is American by birth, the parents are not?  This notion is necessary to communicate to potential healthcare insurers.

Assume parents are not permanent resident and ‘winter’ in Florida


texts:
With the spirit of protecting community lands from private investors and other government actors, The Kenyan Constitution (2010) demanded for a community land law. This law was formulated in 2016 as the Community Land Act 2016.
The unregistered community lands are held in trust by the county governments on behalf of the community. Currently my pastoral-nomadic community are trying to register their community land as per the CLA, 2016.
Section 6.8 of the Act provides that the county government is prohibited from Selling, disposing, transferring, or converting for private purposes unregistered community lands.
This particular region and community in subject is being faced by county government threat of entering into agreement with NGOs and a wild life conservation organization to somehow LEASE the unregistered community lands before the community acquires their title.
My question is does LEASING fall in the category of these terms provided in the act:   Selling, disposing, transferring, or converting for private purposes?


texts: Would it be considered ethical for two brothers to work as executives at competing public companies?

texts:
Let's say Bruce is CFO at Exxon Mobil and his brother Clark works under the CTO at BP.

Considering possible implications of the fact that these brothers are expected as siblings to have a reasonably close relationship, would this scenario be considered strange, unethical and/or illegal?


texts: Is reverse proxy considered as a form of “public mirror”?

texts:
The Anaconda repo states that:

  Public mirrors of this are not allowed without express permission from Anaconda, Inc.

If someone builds a public reverse proxy to https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/ , is it considered as a violation of terms above?

A reverse proxy is a service that does not store upstream packages on a local disk like a mirror server, instead, every time a user requests a package from reverse proxy, the proxy server fetches it just in time from upstream and send it back to the user. From the users perspective, it behaves just like a mirror with more delays. However, reverse proxy is also broadly used in public networks.

For more details, https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/4471/agpl-violation-using-reverse-proxy is probably a good explanation.


texts: Would EVA foam under the carpet be considered an unacceptable fire risk?

texts:
I'd like to put some EVA foam under the carpet (above the floorboards) on the first floor bedroom of my house, to dampen the sound of foot steps. The fire safety building regulations (section B2) say that the provisions do not apply to upper layers of floors since they don't play a major part in the spread of fires. Does that mean it is ok to use or is there something else I am missing?

Also note that the bedroom is occupied by a lodger. I have two lodgers in total. It is not an HMO. I live in the UK.


texts: How can I ensure EU citizens can share my content?

texts:
I've been hearing things about the new Article 11 and Article 13 legislation which recently passed in the European parliament which regulate the ways that, for example, social media or news aggregation sites can summarize content when displaying links to or aggregating content from other sites.

I am not an EU citizen, and at any rate do not want for these limitations and regulation to apply to my content; I would prefer for something closer to US "fair use" rules apply, or, in many cases, my content is explicitly licensed under open source licenses which explicitly permit free sharing.

Is there some method, automated or otherwise, by which I can opt my content out of this legislation?


texts: Liability from unsecured wireless hotspot for security testing

texts:
Lets say I have created an "Offensive" security system. It runs on my own private network on my laptop any where I go. My private network has a wireless access point called "Malicious Wifi" and it is unsecured (Anyone can connect to it without a password).

My security system will attack any unauthorized devices that connect to it. The goal of the attack is to gain access to the system by any means necessary but without any interest of the internal  data of the device. Just to gain control of the device.

If I goto any location (Starbucks for example), and someone connects to my private (albeit unsecured) network out of curiosity.

Can I be held civil and/or criminally liable for any damages that arise from my security system attacking their device on my private network?

What if no permanent damage was done and no data was taken or used for malicious intent. Just temporary control of the device. Does this avoid or reduce potential liability?


texts: is a finger squiggle on an iPad truly binding?

texts:
We recently had a massive hailstorm and, following that storm, we saw an endless stream of roofing contractors knocking on our door. We're in Boulder County, Colorado.

A representative from one of those construction companies pointed out some damage and offered to meet with the insurance adjuster, which he did. Our insurance company wrote us a check to cover some of the hail damage.

After emphatically explaining how amazing his replacement windows are, he produced an iPad and asked me to "sign". I foolishly squiggled on the screen. Here's what it said:

  Quote is valid until ADD DATE HERE
  CCC has a "no return policy" on windows, doors, glass, and sashes.
  Project time line - Window delivery - 8 weeks, Prefinish work - 2-3 weeks, Install - 2 weeks.
  Standard Payment Terms are 50% down at time of order, 25% due upon delivery to CCC shop, and remainder due upon completion of work.
  Pricing based on payment by check or cash. 3% will be added for payment by credit card.
  If job cannot be completed (i.e. due to backordered items, remakes, etc) customer will be responsible for full payment for portion of job completed up to that point.
  If acceptable, please sign and return along with 50% down payment. Thank you!
  I confirm that my action here represents my electronic signature and is binding.

At the time I did not write him a check because I wanted to discuss the scope of the job with my wife. The windows in our house are a bit old, so it would make sense to replace them all at once, and not just the ones that sustained hail damage.

Admittedly, I don't know much about windows (or the legal ramifications of squiggling on an iPad screen). That evening, as a sanity check, I looked at Google/Yelp reviews for the window make/model and saw that almost every review had the lowest possible rating. I reached out to the guy and explained that we could not move forward with his recommendation, and I asked him to quote products that rated highly in Consumer Reports, which he did.

At that time, he had not ordered any windows from his supplier, so things weren't yet set-in-stone (even though I had stupidly squiggled on the iPad). A few hours later, we received a quote that was almost twice the previous estimate. Because of the large amount of money at stake, I decided to get a second quote. His quote was 76% more expensive than Lowes for exactly the same product. In cash terms, Lowes was $10k cheaper.

So, regardless of the squiggle on the iPad, I decided not to move forward with the exorbitant quote. When I mentioned this, he sent me an email saying:

  in order to break out of the contract we think it would be fair to charge for the time we have put into all of this. Heath ran the numbers and it came to $1,000

So, he knocked on our door, pointed out some damage, met with the insurance adjuster, (over) quoted the job, and is now asking for $1,000 (as a sort of "inconvenience fee"). Even though I screwed up by squiggling on the iPad, I think this is a somewhat predatory sales practice. From my perspective, he tried to rip me off and then sent me a bill for the trouble.

From a legal perspective, is my position defensible? I did squiggle, after all.

update

I took another peek at the electronic document I squiggled on and notice that it's in my wife's name. My name doesn't appear anywhere on the document. Presumably, I do not have the authority to sign legally binding documents on my wife's behalf. I wonder if that alone would invalidate the contract.


texts: Witness sabotaging a document with wrong signature

texts:
Suppose you are asked to sign a document (a will, marriage certificate, deed poll, etc.) as a witness. You secretly disapprove of the thing taking place and therefore attempt to sabotage the document by signing incorrectly: for example, not using your proper signature, or using a fake name (if they don't know your name -- e.g. pulled off the street to witness a marriage).

Does this actually invalidate the document (as not properly witnessed)? And are you committing a crime by doing it?


texts: Getting New York based company to delete my personal information

texts:
I registered with Topresume.com and uploaded a copy of my resume. I found their service to be poor and according to the Privacy Policy they may sell information to third parties. Is there any laws in the state of New York I can use to my advantage to compel them to delete the data they have on me, for example if I write to them telling them to delete all data regarding me must they do so?

According to their Privacy Policy "if a child under 13 submits personal information to us and we learn that the personal information is the information of a child under 13, we will attempt to delete the information as soon as possible" so can I just lie and tell them I was 13?

Also, in there terms (ToS) it states

  TopResume will provide the right to request and receive, once a year
  and free of charge, information about third parties to whom we have
  disclosed certain types of personal information (if any) about you for
  our direct marketing purposes in the prior calendar year, and a
  description of the categories of personal information shared. To make
  such a request, please send an email to contact@topresume.com and
  please include the phrase "Personal Information Privacy Request" in
  the subject line, the domain name of the website you are inquiring
  about, along with your name, address and email address. At our option,
  we may respond to such requests by providing instructions about how
  our users can exercise their options to prevent our disclosure of
  personal information to third parties for their direct marketing
  purposes.

Which to me sounds like it contains doublespeak but may mean they will not share information with third parties if they ask you to?


texts:
Does war have to be declared on a de jure state?

Even though Daesh is not recognized as a state by the world, it is (IMO) a de facto state.  (It has territory, population, government, and an ability to engage in relations with other states – even though other states are not so inclined.)  Are there any differences in the laws of war with regards to engaging a such a de facto state?


texts: Chain of custody with produced documents - email and files

texts:
I have litigation support application but I am not licensed to practice litigation support.

The application can read many standard load formats for what as been produced.

The purpose is you can take it to the court room and and have everything without an Internet connection.

Finally the question.

If a customer cannot load the data and the sends the raw data to me to load is that breaking the chain of custody?

It has already been Produced.  Has chain of custody passed?  Clearly I am not an attorney.

This is US.

There is no chain of custody tag

Since IANAL I am sure some of my terms are wrong.  Once a trial is granted each side can ask for data.  In the Enron case 800,000 documents were collected and I don't know how many were actually produced.  There will be a matter and they typically agree to certain file shares and certain email accounts.  And often certain words - it is often referred to as go fish.  If that come back to be 20 millions documents they will argue to trim the collection.  The collection starts the chain of custody.  The data is collected (e.g. hard drives), it is typically loaded into a litigation support application.  There will be a formal definition of responsive document.  In the Enron case it was certain type of trades.  Responsive documents are identified and redacted.  This is formally called review. Typically each page produced will have a bates number. Then the documents and agreed meta data are produced to the opposing party. There are a few common formats for these load files.  Along with the production will be a chain of custody showing what server(s) and people that had access.  It is formally called a production.  Like me as a programmer they don't typically even let me have access to the customer data.  If I have to get in I certainly don't change data but they would need to list me as someone that had access.  Not every produced document will be introduced as evidence.  The sides have to provide each other and the court a list of documents by bates number.  There is no formal chain of custody between the time it is produced and introduced as evidence that I can tell.  If the document has been altered it is up to the other side to say no that document has been altered since we produced it.

So lets say documents were formally produced to law firm A.  If they have trouble loading and need me to load the documents into my application would they need to tell the court and the opposing council a third party had access to the data?  How can I best manage the that?

These load files come can come in jacked up. Control characters that look like they were inserted intentionally. You may agree to certain delimiters and 1/2 through a file they will change. Or delimiters conveniently in a meta field.

99% of the time I would not even need access to the actual document.  I could just fix the load files with the meta data and have them load the actual documents.  But sometimes you get jacked up file names and file paths.  With the litigation support service firms I work with I have never had to access the actual document but I have a system guy I can tell here is what is wrong and here is what needs to be fixed.

Most of these ligation support applications are Web (HTML) based so it is hard to have a stand alone version that could be loaded on a lap top and take into court.  You cannot always count on Internet access in a court room.  Mine is an EXE where I can easily include the server side with the client and run it on a lap top.

Productions are almost never symmetric. If you are suing a pharmaceutical they may produce a million documents but as complainant you may only produce like 10.  And the pharmaceutical will produced jacked up load files.


texts: Can I use nodejs logo as part of my course cover?

texts: I'm starting a course about building website backends with NodeJS and I was wondering is it legal to use the NodeJS logo as part of my course cover?


texts: Can someone collect on an oral agreement that included an invalid tenancy

texts:
If someone were to offer up their lease in a living space that they were signed to without properly subleasing it through property management, are they legally allowed to collect rent in the state of Washington? The correspondence in doing this was done through text message and had no clear date of repayment outlined.

Edit for further clarity:
There was an agreement for a friend to live in a space that was signed for under someone else’s name for the summer. There was an expectation for the friend to pay the person who held the lease to pay for his time living there. Through none of this was the lease signed over to the friend who was living there. The original tenant was also not present for the entirety of this period.


texts: Constitutionality of laws restricting employment practices in the executive branch

texts:
There is a large body of US Federal law dealing with the employment of government workers. For example, there are laws detailing under what circumstances an employee can be fired and what notifications and appeals must be provided when an employee is fired.

Since, by these laws, Congress is attempting to regulate or control the conduct of the executive branch of the government, these laws could be construed as a violation of the Constitutional separation of powers.

Has the Office of the President of the United States ever attempted to reject Congressional laws regarding the management of executive branch employees and test the validity of these laws in court?


texts: Can police access data from a fitbit without a warrant

texts:
Question: Can local law enforcement officers demand and then access data/information from a fitbit device without a warrant?

The hypothetical here is that while being held and possibly prior to any arrest they can demand I take the fitbit device off and then proceed to access data/information from it. Similiarly they can access the device if it is not on me. For example laying in the passenger seat.


texts: Use of "evidence" like ISP metadata in divorce cases in Australia

texts:
There have been mentions in Australian news recently that internet "metadata" which was ostensibly collected for national security purposes may be made available for civil cases (abc.net.au). People's primary concern is that this could be used by rightsholders in copyright cases, but there are also mentions of it being used in divorce cases.

My question is why any evidence is necessary in divorce related matters in Australian courts - my understanding of "no fault" divorce was that no "evidence" is relevant, and a divorce requires nothing more than one party choosing to pursue one. If this is the case, why would evidence come into play? Without "no fault" divorce I could see records of internet use or other evidence being used to prove breaches of trust/pre-nuptial agreements, but if that's not required, why are people talking about internet metadata being used in these cases?


texts: Posting disgusting but true facts about a private person constitutes what crime?

texts:
Person A's life is a soap opera. He got tricked in to paying child support for someone else's children by a woman who married, then ditched him. He was then kicked out of his condo by his adopted daughter's boyfriend, who's a drug dealer. He got rolled by a prostitute in Las Vegas, etc., etc.
Person B created a website that shines a spotlight on this individual, repeating all these provably true stories. The catch: Person A is not a "public personage."
Person B presumably couldn't be charged with libel, since all of the charges are true. However, he is tarnishing a private individual's reputation. What crime(s) would this constitute in the U.S.?


texts: Using older version of JDK8 after January, 2019

texts:
I'm using Oracle JDK8 for some web services and it's a bit difficult to move to OpenJdk right now.

As public support for JDK8 is ending on January, 2019, is it possible continue using Oracle JDK8 without further update for commercial purposes?
Or  does a user need to subscribe to new model even though that user doesn't want to update?


texts: Does accused always plead not guilty in federal court?

texts:
I've recently been following the case of boxer Felix Verdejo, who pleaded not guilty yesterday in killing of Keishla Rodríguez. Cádiz Martínez, a second person indicted in the killing, also pleaded not guilty.
According to the reports, this 2nd person (Cádiz Martínez) participated in the killing, and has been cooperating with the FBI. His testimony is a big part of the reason why the boxer was arrested.
My question: Why would he plead not guilty if he's cooperating with the FBI? Since the death penalty is being considered, I assumed that he gave testimony in order to plead guilty and get a reduced sentence.
But then I read that it's a formality to plead "not guilty", and that's why I posted the question.


texts: How is the president Trumps payment to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet not extortion? Are you allowed to pay someone to keep quiet? How is that different that for getting paid from a company to keep quiet?


texts: What is the EU definition of a small part for children under 3?

texts:
I am searching for test on small parts for children under 3 years. I found the definition for the US (see below) but not for the EU. Page 87 of the Explanatory Guidance Document to Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC mentions:

This means that like the toys under point 4 (d), the packaging needs to pass the small parts test cylinder test 8.2 in EN 71-1:2011.

I found this page that mentions "EN 71-1:2011", but has no link.
How can I find the EU definition of a small part for children under 3?
For the US: I found this page from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission:

A small part is any object that fits completely into a specially designed test cylinder 2.25 inches long by 1.25 inches wide that approximates the size of the fully expanded throat of a child under three years old.
...
If a small part fits completely into the cylinder, and the toy or product from which it came is intended for use by children under three, the toy or product is banned because the small part presents a choking hazard.


texts: Is it legal to incorporate replacement parts for another product into a new product?

texts:
In particular, I wonder about the use of mobile phone camera modules. Due to demand, price for replacement camera modules for mobile phones is very low.

Is it legal in the US to purchase such replacement parts and use them for a new, completely unrelated product?


texts: Can you legally defend yourself against an attacking police officer?

texts: If a police officer physically attacks you, with or without intent to arrest, can you legally defend yourself? Assume that the police officer punches/kicks/grabs first, and you are not guilty of any crime before the attack. To what extend can you do so?


texts: Do I have the right to protect my personal property ?

texts:
In most part of US, people have the right to protect their own personal property with an appropriate amount of force.With this concept of personal property and a persons right to protect as background, the scenario is:-

An intruder enters your home using the internet, then intrudes into your personal computer which is inside the home,steals data and decamps.

Can the property owner use any form of force to protect their property using violence ? Would such an attack be considered lawful ? ( You called 911 and the dispatcher thought that the call deserved a 51-50 psychiatric  hold, while the intruder stole documents from your laptop and installed a ransomware)

How would you "defend" your property in this situation ? If you "attacked" the intruder, would it be deemed unlawful ?


texts: Penalty for recording conversation in PA

texts: I was in jeopardy of losing my job so when I was called into a meeting with my boss I recorded without their knowledge for my own use because I was so scared I knew I wouldn't remember the conversation and I wanted to listen later to be sure I made all the corrections wanted of me.  When asked during that meeting if I was recording, I did not lie. I said yes. I was asked to give a copy but wanted to wait to see if my boss would do as he said so I could correct my problems. He did not. Instead he called the company lawyer to see if he could fire me for recording and that is what he did. I am deathly afraid waiting for him to have me arrested. What kind of sentencing am I facing?


texts: What to file (in ID) to pre-emptively dismiss out of state (AZ) non-compete

texts:
I live in ID and have an old non-compete with a former client in AZ. I have an attorney handling the matter there. I want to preemptively fight it here too since the former client has issued a very threatening cease and desist letter in behalf of their client.
I am doing searches on Rocket Lawyer and other places for such a form but all they present is templates for a non-compete. Obviously I need to know the correct name of the instrument I am supposed to look for so that I can finally get successful search results.


texts: Can a civilian use tear gas to disperse a mob of protestors gathered around his/her car?

texts:
Let's say I'm driving down a major interstate highway and I see a group of ~100 or so people climbing over the highway fence and spilling out onto the highway. They have signs, I'm going to assume they're protestors. I bring my vehicle to a stop. Half an hour goes by, and the protestors are still blocking the road.

I lose my patience and start yelling inflammatory comments out the window ("Get the f*ck out of the road!"). The protestors surround my car and start banging on the windows/car. I'm getting anxious.

My car happens to be equipped with a tear gas release system which can blast a cone of tear gas through the front of the car. I have a gas mask. Aside from my car smelling terrible for a few days, what are the (legal) consequences of deploying said system in an attempt to get the protestors off my car?


texts: Who benefits of a tax reduction in subscription businesses? The company or the client?

texts:
Last year a client signed up for a yearly subscription of my product. He paid 14,99 € with 19 % taxes included.
This year the taxes are only 5 %.

How much does the client pay?
Why I asked: PayPal demands 14,99 € of my clients (I benefit of the tax reduction) and Stripe demands only 13,23 € (the client benefits of the tax reduction). EDIT: Both are gross prices with 5 % taxes included.


texts: What constitutes legal malpractice? What are the remedies?

texts:
A friend of mine was doing business with Company A, and asked a lawyer to draft a contract saying that if Company A failed to perform, my friend would be able to take possession of Asset X (the critical asset), as an indemnity so that he could do the job himself. The lawyer drafted a contract with Asset Y (a totally different Asset) as indemnity. Further, he attached several Exhibits to the contract that don't clearly relate to either Asset X or Y, and only confuse the picture.

Company A failed to perform, but won't hand over Asset X, and my friend doesn't have the indemnity that he envisioned because of the way the contract was drafted. (A first year law student could probably have done better.) That's the causation. The harm comes from the fact that my friend now has to sue Company A, which might not be necessary if the contract was solid. The breach of duty comes from the disregard of instructions to "securitize" Asset X.

Does this constitute legal malpractice, and if so, what are the remedies? These questions relate to New York State.


texts: License template for open-source software that requires to inform the copyright holder when a derived work is published

texts:
I asked this question on opensource.stackexchange.com, but apparently they have a very narrow definition of 'open-source' and what kind of questions can be asked there, so I hope I have better luck here.
I'm looking for a license that is mostly like the MIT license (granting the right to redistribute with attribution, with and without commercial intent) but with the added requirement to inform the copyright holder and granting him the right to publish the information, that the derivative work is a derivative of the original software.
Does anyone know of such a license that can be reused?


texts: Someone withdrew money from my bank account - what are my rights?

texts:
Someone withdrew money from my checking account (in several transactions) without my knowledge or permission.  I was able to see the withdrawal slips online, and my signature was forged.  I reported this to my bank as soon as I found out, and Chase said that the money would be reimbursed once they completed their investigation (within 10 business days).

It has now been 13 business days, and I have checked on the status twice and was told both times that there had been no status update, and they were unable to provide an updated ETA.

It's a fairly large amount of money, and I need to get it back as soon as possible.  I'm trying to figure out if I have legal footing here.  Does the law protect me from this type of fraud?  And if so, does it require the bank to respond within any particular timeframe?

I live in California.


texts: ISA — Clone ARM Legally — identical functional specs, but different op-code?

texts: We want to implement a processor that is functionally identical to ARM, but the op-codes it accepts are completely different. Hence, it cannot run an ARM binary directly. However, we can apply a simple translator, that translates from ARM op-codes into our op-codes. After translation, our processor will run the translated binary flawlessly. Does this violate ARM patent and/or copyright protections?


texts: How to make sure my website complies with things like COPPA?

texts:
I want to start an online browser game following all laws.

A few days ago I heard of COPPA - Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. In this link, they clearly explain in all details what must be done, and what kind of website must comply. As a person that knows (absolutely) nothing about law, I am glad to find this right-to-the-point text that tells me exactly what to do.

My question is, how do I find out if there are other things like this to follow? I am glad I heard of COPPA, otherwise I would have no idea I had to follow it. I am now worried that there might be other laws to follow that I don't even know they exist.

How to make sure I am following everything that must be followed? Is there some kind of "list"? I am using COPPA just as an example - I don't want to be restricted only to privacy laws. The thing is, I can't even dream of what other laws could exist. (I'm lucky to have found COPPA)

I am brazillian, the website would be hosted in Brazil. But I would like people from other countries to be allowed to play as well. (I don't know if this matters)

If you really need to know more details about the game to properly answer this question, let me know and I will add them - but I was hoping to a more general answer first, so I can analyse them  myself and decide what is needed and what is not. I am not sure if this question is too-broad the way it is now - if it is, I will add the details.

EDIT: I don't think this question is a duplicate from Where can I find a comprehensive document of computer laws?. Even though its title suggests that, both answers only refer to security and hacking. I am talking about the content of my website, and I am not "hacking" anyone nor doing anthing close to that.

EDIT 2: Just to clarify, I do not expect someone to show up with a complete list and solve my problem like magic. The thing is, as of now I have not the slightest idea of how to proceed.

I mean, (at least the majority of) existing MMO browser games (like Clash of Clans, Neopets, Club Penguin, OGame and such) must have done something to make sure they comply with all needed laws.


texts: Marriage certificate only shows maiden name

texts:
Before my husband and I got married, we filed for a marriage license at the court house, and it specifically had a line item for "name after marriage", in which I took my husband's last name. However, our marriage certificate we received only shows my maiden name.

Googling the steps to change a name after marriage, it's not entirely clear to me if this was a mistake (as in, the marriage certificate should show either my new name, or both names). Depending on which forum I read through, it seems like there is a mix of people who have their maiden name on their marriage certificate, their new name on the certificate, or both names.

Can anyone provide guidance? Is the maiden name on marriage certificate sufficient? This would be in Georgia, USA.


texts:
We all know, that Double Jeopardy applies in the US, stopping one from getting tried twice for the same act... by the same type of court. Double Jeopardy does obviously not apply to being tried by the state and the federal court system, where you can be convicted for drug smuggling by both the Federal and the State court as you broke both laws with the same act. Sometimes one of them is using the result of the other as evidence and to fast track the trial.

With the right setup, we know that up to 4 states, 2 tribal governments, and the federal court system could get you for murder on the Four Corner's Monument.

How would being in the US Military add to that? Could a military court take the same act (in the example murder, but possibly also noncapital crimes) and try you for the same or different charge to further increase the punishment?


texts: Can companies refuse to hire you if you've sued them in small claims court before?

texts:
This is a hypothetical question I thought of earlier today, I do not plan on taking any legal action right now. If I were to sue a fortune 500 company in small claims, would they be able deny hiring me in the future?

If so, that seems a bit unbalanced - small claims can only be used to sue for a few thousand dollars (state-dependant) and the potential loss of a job is much more valuable than that. How does the court system balance this out?


texts: Are Employers Obliged to let you Return to Work Early from Unpaid Leave?

texts:
I have been an employee at the company for over 5-year and I had requested time off work (4-months) to do sabbatical with some travelling. It was granted by my line manager. The request was made in person and then finalised in email.

However, fast-forward to now and due to the coronavirus pandemic, I have had to return home early from my travels, at great financial cost. As such, I am keen to start working again as soon as possible and can do so from home with ease. FYI, before leaving I was working from home once a week anyway!

I having had a call with my line manager, he says it won't be possible to return before the original return date, almost 2-months away. I am certain that in any normal situation (e.g. sans corona) they would be pleased to have me back early. After all, there was a reluctance to let me go in the first place. When I pressed him on why, I was told my pay wasn't in the budget for April and due to corona they were already down in their P&L.

However, the UK government is willing to reimburse companies pay 80% of people's wages if the coronavirus has stopped them from working, so this seems a weak reason.

Either way, this leaves me in a very strange situation: I am employee but I am not being payed.

Therefore my questions are as such:

Can my company legally stop me from returning to work, if it is not from something such as illness, etc? Alternatively, there is a mechanism in place that can allow me to return to work earlier?
If I am not allowed to return to work, what does this mean for my employment status? If I was unemployed I could claim certain benefits, however, I would consider myself employed so I feel rather in limbo right now!

Any advice on this would be REALLY appreciated.

TL;DR

I requested 4-months leave
I have asked to start again 2-months
early
I am being denied that
Do I have a right to start again early?/Are they obligated to allow me to return early?

Outcome

It seems that I am in a rather strange, but probably not entirely unique position, so I will detail some findings for those that might find them useful.

My employment status remains "Employed", as suggested in the answers. However, I wrongly assumed this excludes me from claiming Universal Credits. As I am not current earning I can still apply (in fact you can apply if you are earning, that just take this into accounts and give you less). Hopefully this is useful to someone else in my position.


texts: Is there any International Law that protects the rights of a defector spy?

texts:
I refer to the extraordinary case of Wang Liqiang, a man who is trying to claim political asylum in Australia. He claims that he was a spy working for the Chinese Communist Party. Then he fled to Australia and gave signed evidence to ASIO [the Australian equivalent of the FBI] . For anyone who may want to read more about that it's at Spy Claim

My question is for any spy defector who goes to any country, are there international treaties or agreements that force a country to consider their asylum claim, based on certain international criteria?


texts: To what extent has the legality of property taxes been tested in American courts?

texts:
In the United States, many State governments tax land property owners based on the value of the property. These taxes are assessed every year and must be paid or the state will seize your property and auction it to the highest bidder.

I'm wondering to what extent the legality of this practice (constitutional or otherwise) has been tested in American courts. America's founding was in part related to upset about some of the obscure taxing schemes of pre-industrial England. So called "double taxation" and even income tax are/were objectionable in the past. The annual taxing of property based on value seems suspect to me, so I presume some courts have tested it. I want to know what those cases are and the reasoning that concluded annual property taxing is legal.


texts: Why are residential leases so much in favor of the landlord in the US?

texts:
I've been reading example leases and was surprised to see how much power the landlord has in the US, at least compared to Canada. For example, at least in BC, landlords must allow tenants to sublet or assign their room and cannot charge a fee. I've seen leases in California that say if a tenant wishes to sublet they will be charged $650.

Reference:

  (3) A landlord must not charge a tenant anything for considering,
  investigating or consenting to an assignment or sublease under this
  section.

reference

  A tenant must have their landlord’s written permission before
  subletting or assigning their tenancy. A landlord can’t unreasonably
  refuse a sublet or assignment of a fixed-term tenancy for a period of
  six months or more.

I've also seen no pet clauses in American leases that says tenants must not permit animals inside or around the house, including insects. Isn't it silly to say no insects outside the house?


texts:
When using content released under an open licence such as creative commons, it might be required to provide attribution to the author.
For instance, if I were to use this image from Wikimedia Commons released under CC 4.0 BY-SA, I would be required to specify the username for the creator, as part of the attribution.
However, according to GDPR, usernames are identifiable information.
Does that mean that there are privacy implications in attributing the content? Or is the dealing of the information for the purpose of attribution fair and proper because the creator set a specifically open licence with attribution?


texts: In the United States, is there a difference between the terms "unlawful" and "illegal"?

texts:
I heard someone claim that the terms "unlawful" and "illegal" have different meanings. More specifically, they claimed that "illegal" acts are anything expressly forbidden in law (e.g. murder), while "unlawful" acts are anything not expressly permitted in law (e.g. wearing a hat).
This seemed unusual to me, and most dictionaries I could defined "unlawful" as basically synonymous with "illegal".
While there doesn't appear to be any real difference between the terms in "normal" speech, is there any difference in "legalese"?


texts: Do the GDPR Regulations apply to processing data of a citizen who has dual nationality?


texts:
A developer has submitted an outline planning application (major matters reserved for a later date) using part of our land as access to a larger site. We have a covenant on our land that would forbid an access road.

We are going to refuse any access but the planning department is still considering the application in an outline form even though we have expressed our refusal to co-operate.

Is there any legal way we can get him/the council to stop the application? We suspect he is aiming to get outline plans then start trying to convince us to sell, but we feel loyalty to neighbours who are objecting and will not sell.

Do we need an injunction or is there a breach of planning rules we can reference?