texts: Ex-parte communication between a Judge and Prosecutor - ethical breach or canon violation?

texts:
I was the defendant in a case and had the strange feeling that the Judge and Prosecutor were very friendly.

After the hearing and verdict (not in my favor) I found online, that while the case was being heard -- both the judge and prosecutor were panelists on a Federalist Society panel while my case was going on -- about the very law that I was being retroactively subjected to.

I have read the Florida Judicial Canon Code of ethics - and can't find the specific application -- although close.

It seems to me,  a reasonable person could assume there was an advantage that they discussed the applicability and Constitutional arguments of the law (and I don't know what else - it's not online anywhere.)

I was not notified, and therefore,  lack the benefit of knowing what was said.

I cannot help but think if I was privy to the conversation I would know much more about the way they both thought, and it would have been primary as to presenting a defense.

Even worse - he's just been nominated to the Federal Bench and changed his participation listed from "panelist" which all of the literature lists him as,  along with the prosecuting attorney to "moderator".

Is his participation in a discussion I  was not made aware of while the case was active, a violation?

How serious is it?

And if so what is the next logical step to take?

Thanks for reading this


texts: When does a lease become legally binding

texts: If I leased an apartment in Texas but signed the papers in CA and faxed them to the apartment in Texas, when or where does the lease become legally binding?  If I need to take them to small claims court could I do so in CA since the lease was signed in CA?


texts: Charging for time spent before an agreement was signed

texts:
This is from the consumer perspective, but I am also interested in hearing the lawyer perspective.

You meet with a lawyer about a probate vs. trust matter for a truly small estate (though I suppose this could apply to any matter). The meeting is under the lawyer's control. At the end of a 3 hour meeting an agreement is signed and a retainer paid.

You leave with a 4th generation copy of a 7-item checklist he ticked off during the meeting that is supposed to show what's already been done but isn't even ticked off correctly (such as the box for obtaining death certificates though he saw the one you brought to meeting).

Turns out to be a poor match, like a blind date gone seriously south. You're going to call about it but he calls first. S'ok. You both agree it's not going to work out. During the phone con he agrees that he would need to read the will and the trust to understand the situation (translation: he hadn't read a single one before the 3 hour meeting, nor did you expect him to).

He suggests payment for time and leave it at that. Seems reasonable.

Then you get a bill that includes time for two 1 minute voicemails (rounded up to 6 minutes each, of course), a half hour for an email exchange, the phone con about parting ways, and (ahem) preparation for the 3 hour meeting before you signed the agreement.

You're self-employed. You "get" that time is money. You expected to pay something.

But for time spent before you signed the agreement?


texts: Is a rental business liable if a rented product causes harm?

texts:
If a business rents out objects for use around the house (think things like ladders, tools, toys etc.) and someone hurts themselves using the rented item, is the rental business liable?

I feel this may have some additional subtleties to it.  For instance, if the rental business removed any safety warnings or something, so let's assume that the rental business is providing the product along with its original packaging and any other manuals and information that would have come with it were the renter to purchase the product, but provides no further information (that is, they don't provide their own training to the customer).


texts:
Let's say I have found a site where you can buy some products. The site follows a typical shop flow, e.g. a shopping cart and a checkout.
Now we assume that the developer made a bad decission and calculates the total amount on the client side and does not validate it any further on the server side, this amount is than passed to an online payment service.
Now let's say we edit this total amount to something different then the original amount, as an example 0.01€, and pay this amount via the payment service and receive the products. Later on the site owner notices the difference and tries to sue you, what would be the outcome most likely? (keeping the ethical aspect out)

Different country's have different laws so I share my thoughts with you from the german view (Other countrys welcome!):
As far as I know to have a valid contract both sides have to give a "willing declaration" (Willenserklärung) following the pattern

Offer + Acceptance = Contract

So is a dynamically calculated price shown on your screen a valid offer you accept by submitting the digital form?
Also one could argue that editing the field and sending it to the server makes it a completely new offer (stating what you're willing to pay) to the company and since they redirect you to the payment service without further notice they accept it.
I would say this falls under an implied acceptance (Stillschweigende Annahme):

Offer + Direct payment without further exchange = Receipt of Products (eg in a store)

To set some boundaries let's say that the amount is shown as Text and not in a editable input box and the amount send to the server in some way hidden on the client.

I don't know much about legals so feel free to ask if you need any other information


texts:
Suppose I found a flash drive in a public library.

Am I legally allowed to claim possession of it?

Is it legal to look at the contents in order to determine the owner (which potentially contains sensitive information and / or malware)?

Must I return the found item to the owner (if determined)?


texts: Assuming fair use - where do I legally get video content?

texts:
This question is in relation to US law.

Example:
I'm making a youtube video that will be commercialized. Assume it falls under fair use; it will contain small clips from several different movies but will mostly consist of original content

Again, please assume this falls under Fair Use.

How do I legally obtain the video clips for use in my project? Can I rip them from a DVD? Can I torrent them (while owning a physical copy)?


texts: Google ML Service Specific Terms Inquiry

texts:
I would like to get clarification on the use of Google’s Machine Learning Services according to its Service Specific Terms (section 12). I am working on an IVR solution that transcribes audio using Google Speech to Text API and synthesizes audio back using Google Text to Speech API.

Would an IVR application considered an embedded device such as cars, TVs, appliances, or speakers (not allowed)? or alternatively, it would be considered a personal computing device: smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops (allowed)?


texts: Users Over-Funding Accounts Legal Implications?

texts:
Some users of my company's service overfund their account in anticipation, I guess, that they will be using those funds over time. How an I to deal with those funds?

Is it fair to assume that most of those funds will be used over time and I can use those funds? Are there any rules of thumb on this?

Or, perhaps, users forget about their funds in which what is my responsibility to notify them about that?

Do I need to put those funds in a type of "escrow" account to be sure it is available for them should they ask for a refund?


texts: Is there any (which?) English speaking jurisdiction that uses a civil (continental) law system?

texts: I am trying to develop an artificial legal reasoning system. I am using the English language for it, but I want/need to develop it (firsthand) for the civil/continental law system, not for the common law / Anglo-Saxon law system. But currently it seems impossible to do this, because I don't know any English-speaking jurisdiction that uses a civil law system. Is there any such jurisdiction/country? Maybe a very small one, but still with its corpus of law and with some amount of case law (court decisions)?


texts: Website Partnership contract between two countries

texts:
I'm wondering what the general laws binding international partnership contracts are? For example, if the two people involved resided in different Countries what sort of legal issues would that arise?

Would both parties involved have to take into the laws of both countries, or only the country the company resides in? Say, for example if two people were creating a digital agency based on Website Design and Graphical Design and the web server was hosted in Norway, would that mean both parties would only have to take in the laws resigning in Norway, or still both countries?

I'm not looking at specifically tax related laws - more making sure that both parties are safe when it comes to monthly earnings and equal splits.

I'm wondering if you have any advice to get us looking / starting in the right direction?

Thank you


texts: When does a landlord-tenant relationship form?

texts:
When specifically is a landlord-tenant relationship formed? I know in some provinces a house is sold at the very moment the buyer shakes hands with the seller (though this is hard to prove, hence the paperwork).

If someone by email expressly agrees you can move into their house but at the last minute they cancel and don't cash your rent or damage deposit, and you haven't moved any belongings or received a key, and no formal lease with a signature was signed, hypothetically could the landlord be in breach of the agreement?

If interested, the back story is here.


texts:
Consider the following scenario.

I am an independent Turkish game developer and I make profit by developing games for ios devices and app store. I am not happy about the high income tax rate in Turkey so I open a company in another country(say Bulgaria for convenience) with low tax rate. I stay in Bulgaria for 1 year during the development of the game and then I submit the game to app store. After that I return back to Turkey. I pay the income tax of the money that I get from Apple to the Bulgarian government every month.

Can I transfer money from Bulgaria to Turkey and spend it freely in Turkey? I appreciate answers for other countries instead of Turkey  to get an idea.


texts: Can a bank foreclose on a home of a person who has been kidnapped?

texts:
Say that an American homeowner is traveling overseas and then he/she is kidnapped by a terrorist organization.

Does the American bank which gave that person the home loan have the legal right to immediately start foreclosure proceedings on that home after the first missed mortgage payment, or is there a federal law that prohibits American banks from doing this to a kidnapped person?

In other words, would this bank have to wait until the kidnapped person is either freed or declared deceased by the U.S. government before it can begin foreclosure proceedings on the home?


texts: In the US, if I chose to let someone die purely because I have the right to use my body however I choose, would I be charged with murder?

texts:
I'll elaborate on the title:

Someone asked me the question:

  Do you believe people should be forced to allow the use of their organs without consent?

And in order to respond, I wondered what a court of law in the US would rule in the following scenario:

  One day I find myself in the theoretical situation where someone is
  hanging off the edge of a building and wants to live, and I know with
  99.9% surety (lets assume this number is accurate and I admit that I somehow knew this beyond a doubt, for the sake of the theoretical
  scenario) that if I hold onto them until help arrives, my life won't
  be at risk, I'll simply have to strain my muscles for an hour until
  help arrives and they're safe. But I choose to let the person fall to
  their death, purely and solely because I believe I have the right to decline to use my
  body in any way I choose not to use it. I do not fear that saving the person puts me in any danger, and I admit this on record - furthermore it's reasonable to believe that that risk assessment is accurate. Also, it would likely be very painful for me to hold onto the person for the hour until help arrives.

Now, in the eyes of a US court, am I a murderer?

Furthermore, if the answer is that I would be considered a murder in the eye of the law, what if we change one detail of the premise: Rather than knowing I have a 99.9% chance of saving the person's life while avoiding any physical or mental damage, that number becomes 90%. Or 80%. Is there any language within the law that specifically defines a threshold beyond which it's reasonable to fear for my health and allow the person to die in order to protect my health?

I realize the answer could vary from state to state, and if you need to use an example state, let's randomly say I'm in California.


texts: Is it legal to develop a commercial player that a proprietary file format?

texts: I managed to reverse engineer a proprietary file format enough to be able to 'play' it. I am working on a project where I am building an app that reads these such a file and play it. Where do I stand legally if I want to sell this on steam or on a similar platform?


texts: No roommate agreement. One roommates wants to move out early of 1 year lease. Who pays rent?

texts:
Let's assume that two co-tenants jointly signed a 1 year lease with landlord. One co-tenant now wants to move out early after living there just 1 month. There is no roommate agreement.
What are the leaving co-tenant's obligations in terms of paying rent:

Fixed amount of days? Like 30 days after giving formal notice?
Until replacement roommate is found?
Until 1 year lease expires and converts into a month-to-month rent?
Something else?


texts: If a contract to purchase a home is modified after signing without a party's consent, will it be null and void?

texts:
My sister and I jointly submitted a bid to a house today for $580 000. After I signed the documents, she modified the bid to $600 000 without my knowledge.

Now, in this case, neither she nor myself will actually be paying anything towards the house if the seller accepts the revised offer so I am not taking action. But if hypothetically I have to pay $290 000 for 50% ownership of this house, and the contract is modified without my knowledge, could I sue her to declare the contract null and void and not lose the deposit or any money?


texts:
What kind of documents are eSign legal in the US, specifically Oregon?
This grows out of Are Digital Signatures legally valid? Do keys need to be published? where @Nbice369 asked this in an answer.


texts: What happens when a state statute is declared unconstitutional by a federal court?

texts: As far as I understand, when a federal court declares a federal statute unconstitutional, lower court simply adopts the same practice in the future and no repeal of the statute is required. But what if a state statute is declared unconstitutional in a federal court? Should state courts follow the precedent by the federal court?


texts: Are restaurants required to have a bathroom available?

texts:
In a restaurant:

If they have a bathroom, must they let paying or unpaying customers use it?
Can they deny use to people who have not bought anything?
There's a McDonald's that does not allow use of its bathroom after 11pm. Is this legal?


texts: When facing a filed claim that includes an injunction to prevent a person contacting certain customers, can the injunction be avoided by including a statement within an affidavit that states the person will not engage in the activities described i the injunction?


texts: What does international law say about the military action on a disputed territory?

texts:
Suppose, two countries 'X' and 'Y' were part of a larger country 'A'. They got independence from A or just got separated, say, in 2001. Both are members of the UN.
X and Y have a disputed area between them called 'P' which is under Y's control.
Then, after 10 years, in 2011, X suddenly attacks Y in an effort to occupy P.
Is it illegal for X to wage an war on Y? Why or why not?


texts: Why Does My Client Say They Need This Long Paragraph Under Their Web Forms?

texts:
Apparently their compliance department (they're a for profit college) says they have to have this under every form, but I've never seen anything like this:

  Clicking the contact us today button constitutes your express written
  consent, without obligation to purchase, to be contacted (including
  through automated means, e.g. dialing & text messages) via telephone,
  mobile device (including SMS & MMS), and/or email, even if your
  telephone number is on a corporate, state or the National Do Not Call
  Registry, and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Do you think they are wrong, and if not, what would be the reason? Is that law?


texts: Can a party argue they did not know a contract was changed before signing it?

texts:
This is a follow up to the question Can I cross out parts of a contract before signing it?

If a contract is given to someone and they modify it before signing, and the other party doesn't notice the modification until much latter (after both parties had full-filled/been full-filling their contractual obligations) would the part that had been modified be enforceable?

For example, if a manager emailed an prospective employee a contract containing the pay rate of $20/hr, if the prospective employee crossed out $20/hr and replaced it with $25/hr, then went to work and gave the manager the contract which he failed to carefully read, continued working for a few months, would the employee be entitled to $20/hr?

Since some contracts don't required a signature, what would count as the manager accepting the offer? I guess if it could some how be proven that the manager new the employee expected $25/hr and allowed him to continue work?


texts: Will a mobile provider cut off services?

texts: For instance, if a mobile phone provider received a court order/request for subscriber details because of ‘illegal’ activity, would they cut that subscribers services because of it or even make their connection slower?


texts: Employer-mandated participation in self-help meetings with strong pseudo-science and religious undertones

texts:
My employer has started a 7-week series of classes, to which all employees currently on the clock are expected to attend. We are paid for the time the same as if we had been working. The self-help classes are by a "Foot Zone" therapist, and so far have involved both pseudo-science and religious undertones and terminology specific to the LDS ("Mormon") faith. The subject matter falls far, far outside the scope of work at our small software company. (Here's an article about the speaker, Julie Cheney)

Both the CEO and our one HR employee (small company, about 40 employees) are fully in support of these classes. These two people backing these classes means that even if it's not technically mandatory, there's certainly pressure for employees to attend or to at least not complain openly about it.

Everyone in attendance was under the impression that it was mandatory, though at the end there was an unclear comment by the CEO indicating that it might not be truly mandatory.

I plan to have a 1-on-1 talk with my manager to bring up the problems I have with this series of courses. I expect he will then bring it up with upper management and/or HR. I have plenty of good points and I already know that this manager disliked the class fairly strongly.

In the US, and in Utah, are there any laws prohibiting or proscribing this sort of thing by an employer? Does it matter if they are mandatory, as opposed to strongly encouraged but technically not mandatory?

UPDATE:
As of Friday, Jan 8th, it's officially mandatory. Good grief.


texts: "Reverse Engineering" a plain text file format

texts:
If a file output from a non-open source program is stored in plain text. What legal implications are there for building a parser to read that file into my program?

Is there any legal distinction between one that is plain text vs binary vs encrypted?


texts: Free and informed consent for medical test

texts:
My company requires me to have life insurance for which I recently moved out of the provider's "free cover limit". Because of this I now have to submit to certain medical tests in order to have full cover.

In the document I received are the following lines:

  Your rights are
  1 - Not to be tested without your free and informed consent
  2 - To refuse to take the test. If you do this you application will be denied.

I am not really interested in having the tests done, but I am required to have the insurance and am thus required to have the test done. Doesn't this mean that I cannot give my free consent and am, in fact being coerced into giving consent?


texts: A person dies without a will in California, US, and one of several children proposes to take control of real estate. Under what conditions is this legal? How can such action be challenged, if it can be? Assume that title remains in the name of the deceased person.


texts: What is the legal status of predictive policing?

texts: How can you indict somebody for a crime that they didn't commit? But they might do.  I find that a baffling concept. How is it justified?


texts: Under what conditions could a police force enlist the help of a minor?

texts: Would it be illegal for a fourteen year old to assist the police in solving a murder in New York City? What kind of red tape would the department need to navigate in order to enlist their help?


texts: If one party wrote an agreement down on paper and the other party signed it, does that make it legally binding? For example, something silly like if Bob wrote on a piece of scrap paper that he will pay Alice $5 a day for her to walk his dog for the next 3 weeks, and they both sign it, then Bob decides he no longer wants the service.  Can Alice successfully sue Bob, if Bob stopped paying?


texts: How come the nude protesters were not arrested?

texts:
I read today about the Anti-Censorship Activists in New York (Warning! NSFW pictures inside link) who protested against Facebook while being totally nude out in the street.

I'm also pretty sure public nudity is not allowed in the USA.

How come they were not arrested or at least warned by police? Is there some exception to the law?


texts:
My wife and I have been building a playhouse for our kids on the backyard. Our neighbor keeps telling my wife that we must put up a fence and/or get lots of insurance because if her son gets hurt in our playhouse, we're liable.

My question: if we don't invite her son into our yard/playhouse, and he finds his way there, and gets hurt, are we actually liable for that?

My intuition is that we're not. Example: if I jump into my neighbor's yard uninvitedly, and her dog bites me, they are not liable for this incident. However, if their dog breaks into my house and bites me, then they are responsible for it.


texts: What can a father do to become the primary caregiver?

texts:
My girlfriend and I live in Indiana. Someday, we would like to get married and have a baby. And God could surprise us with a baby anytime before marriage too. Ideally, I would like to split parenting responsibilities like my parents did. But she said that all her life she wanted to be a stay-at-home home school mom like her mom was. Maybe we could work out a compromise, but let us say that we couldn't agree about parenting.

My understanding is that most marriages end in divorce. And legally, my future wife has the right to divorce me even if I did nothing wrong (no-fault). And then, according to the US Census Bureau, mothers usually get primary custody (unless she is on drugs or abusive, which she isn't). And according to the Indiana Parenting Guidelines, babies only get one night per week with the non-custodial parent. And even as a teenager, only alternating weekends.

Child support payments are based on custody, so I would need to pay her child support. And since she always planned on her husband financially supporting her, then I would need to pay her alimony too. And because of imputed income, I couldn't afford to take a lower-paying job with more flexibility.

I love and trust my girlfriend, but a cash incentive to divorce just doesn't seem to be in the best interests of our family. And caring for my children only one night a week doesn't seem to be in their best interests either. The issue of who is the primary caregiver seems to be awfully important. They have the right to enforce visitation, and they get first call on where they go to church and school.

Is there any way out of this situation? How can I ensure, starting now before my children are born, that their primary caregiver is me? It seems that prenuptial agreements do not cover child custody and child support. I would certainly try to get off of work to go to all of the doctors appointments and parent-teacher conferences. What about a parenting plan? Or moving to a different state? Am I only safe dating career women?


texts: Can I get around the law of not recording a phone call unless the other end knows by making the call on a speaker in my house?

texts: The living room in my house is monitored by CCTV with audio. Will that be admissible in court?


texts:
If there is a game programming tutorial incorporate a full, working example code of a specific algorithm, technology (ray-casting or parallax-scrolling...etc), but the author marks it with copyright, can it be used to develop a game then publish it? (maybe even for commercial uses)

( Sorry for language mistakes. )

(( A tutorial teaches something...so is it even possible to make copyrighted someting which is published to show the exact way how to do something? ))


texts: Is "intent" taken into account by US Law (in this circumstance)?

texts:
I could imagine that "I was just cleaning the gun and it went off" might be an acceptable defence against killing someone, but, in a comment to a question on our Politics site about trump inciting voters to to vote twice, someone said

Whether such prosecution is successful may well hinge on the intent of
the voter. If a voter is able to convince a magistrate that the
transgression was innocent, he may get off with a slap. OTOH, if the
voter says that he felt it was his duty to "test" the system or that
he was following DJT's instructions, a significant fine and jail time
may follow.

Is there any way that "intent" would make a difference in such a case?


texts: Can you operate a liquor service outside a prohibited area and make deliveries into the prohibited area?

texts:
There is one small holdout in Southern Alberta where prohibition of liquor is still in effect. Consumption isn't prohibited, but the sale of liquor is. There was even a recent plebiscite where the locals voted to maintain prohibition, so the Town cannot apply for a license, and no one can sell booze inside the prohibited area. Prohibition is legislated at the Provincial level. The Minister has to raise prohibition before any municipalities without a license can hold a plebiscite to get a license, but the Minister won't raise prohibition unless there is support from the community.

It's illegal to sell liquor inside the prohibited area, but is it illegal to to deliver liquor to a prohibited area? There is nothing in the Town bylaws that specifically address this (yet), but prohibition isn't at the local level, it's at the provincial level. If a delivery service were to warehouse their inventory outside of the prohibited area, and transact over the phone using credit cards, could they still deliver liquor to customers inside the prohibited area?


texts:
I go to my local post office nearly every day to drop off packages for online purchases.  A couple of years ago, I had a van full and it would have taken many trips to bring them inside.  I asked a clerk if there was an easier way.  The supervisor came out and told me to drive around back.  I came around back to the fenced (not gated) employee area.  No one met me.  So, I walked in.  He pointed me to the empty carts.  I took one, filled it up and brought it back inside and asked him where to put the cart.  I handed him my paperwork and left.

This was much easier for me.  So, I started doing it every trip (4-6 times per week).  The postal clerks all know me, see me and interact with me in the back room.  I go to the far corner where the supervisor has his desk to hand him the paperwork.  It seems like a decent arrangement.  Makes it easier for me.  No lines. And easier for them as I move the packages right to their sorting area.

Although it is clear to me that I am allowed there, I still feel a bit odd for being in the clearly labeled "employees only" area.  I would think that at any time, they could revoke this permission, but do not since it is mutually beneficial.

I had some "Facebook lawyers" tell me that one day, I will get arrested.  While I guess that could happen, I find it far more likely that if a postal police officer happened to be there one day, he'd question me, question the supervisor and either tell me that I cannot (or can) continue to access this area.

Does the long-standing policy of allowing my access grant me some-sort of (revocable) license to continue until told otherwise?


texts:
It has come to my attention that in some states such as Virginia, you may not be able to offer discounts on alcohol. Looking at the FAQ of a popular app that offers discounts at restaurants in VA I see that they say VA and PA (USA) don't allow you to offer discounts on alcohol:
http://www.spotluck.com/faq/   (#12)

Looking at the VA ABC laws, the closest I could find is "happy hour laws", which seem to just govern the way you advertise, and that you can't do BOGO alcohol:
https://www.abc.virginia.gov/licenses/retail-resources/happy-hour

Are there any resources that elaborate on how/why you can or can't offer discounts, such as in the way the Spotluck app claims they can't offer discounts off alcohol orders?


texts: What are the legal Ramifications if any, of ratifying the last remaining Un-ratified amendment of the Constitution?

texts:
There were originally 12 articles proposed for ratification in the "bill of rights" ten were ratified soon after. One was ratified in 1992 and the remaining proposal has no deadline or date of expiration to be ratified and requires only one more state to accept it in order to be added to the Constitution.

The interesting part of this is that it would potentially increase  the number of representatives in the house of representatives from 425 to approximately 6,400.

My question is as follows;

What are the possible consequences (positive and/or negative) and of the house of representatives being increased in such a drastic way?


texts: If one has committed illegal act A or B, but we cannot prove that A was committed or B was committed, is one generally proven guilty of a crime?

texts:
Imagine a scenario where you know beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody did something wrong, but you couldn't prove exactly what it was.  It could have been A or B.  But you cannot prove it was A and you cannot prove it was B.

EDITED TO ADD A SCENARIO:

Imagine a marijuana salesman is being charged with fraud.  His accuser states that he has been sold fake marijuana which constitutes fraud.  The selling of marijuana is also considered a crime.  Multiple witnesses attest to the fact that the marijuana seller was purporting to sell marijuana.  The evidence has been smoked.  There is no way to determine whether there was a fraud or whether there was an illegal sale of marijuana.  But the number of witness reports puts it beyond a reasonable doubt that one of the two occurred.


texts: What are my rights when I am robbed during a police search of my vehicle

texts: I was stopped by an officer for running a stop sign after showing all required documentation I was told to step out of vehicle. I was placed in handcuffs and told drugs were found in my car which I never saw after completing the search the handcuffs were  removed and I was told I would receive charges in the mail.I was happy until I stopped for gas and noticed my rolex watch and  a couple other items were missing .I called as soon as I went home and called and inquired about my missing property and was told that they never saw my watch or the other missing items and when I asked what to do the supervisor discouraged me from reporting the loss and reminded me that the officers had done me a huge favor letting me go


texts: Are the relative levels of fines and imprisonment disproportionate?

texts:
Most non-violent crimes are punishable by fine or imprisonment.  But the maximum term of imprisonment has often struck me as far out of line with the maximum fine.  For example, even if I am a minimum-wage worker I could pay the maximum fine in a small fraction of the time I would spend behind bars if sentenced to the maximum imprisonment.  Examples:

Florida 775.02 Punishment of common-law offenses: $500 or 1 year.
Pennsylvania 15.66 First degree Felony: $25,000 or 10 years.

Is there a custom or reason behind these ratios?

One explanation I can imagine is that the real ratio of fines-to-imprisonment was initially comparable, but dates back so many generations that inflation has taken them far out of proportion; and, further, whenever a new law is passed the existing penalties are referenced without thinking about the fact that one side has deflated.


texts: Inventorship of a utility patent application that incorporates a provisional application

texts:
I am listed as a co-inventor in provisional patent application AA/AAA,AAA. The other co-inventors are PersonA, PersonB and PersonC.

One year later my employer company filed a non-provisional utility patent application BB/BBB,BBB. This application claims benefit of previous application AA/AAA,AAA, incorporates AA/AAA,AAA entirely and has the same title of invention. Inventors list of BB/BBB,BBB is "PersonA, PersonB, PersonC and PersonD" (my name was not included).

Is it possible to force company or co-inventors to include my name into inventors list of BB/BBB,BBB?


texts:
Would this be a county or state court, or is there some other court in which to bring a suit against a Texas school district?  I believe some school districts straddle county lines, but I am not sure.

Which court is the correct court to file a suit against a school district issues in Texas?


texts: My lease agreement is ending in about a week and I want to move. However, my landlord is saying that I am unable to because I did not give him a 30 day notice stating my intent to leave the property. Without the notice he says that the lease is automatically renewed. After reviewing my lease it somewhat says that but there is a typo. It says that I must notify him at 'lease' 30 days prior to moving as opposed to 'at least.' Is this still enforceable? Am I stuck here for another year?


texts: To what extent do I have the right to quote other works to parody or reference them?

texts:
Do I have the right to have my character "blast off at the speed of light" as a reference to Pokemon's Team Rocket Trio?

Do I have the right to have my character lock another character in an office room, calling this the "Serious Punishment in the Serious Room", as a reference to The Stanley Parable?

Do I have the right to quote The Simpsons' "A Boozehound Named Barney" lyrics, adapting them to my characters, essentially doing with my characters what this DeviantArt submission did with MLP characters?

Do I have the right to pay a homage to Full Metal Jacket by having my character join a fictious army, then chuckle at the drill instructor's theatrically intimidating behavior, then, when the drill instructor asks him

  Do you think I'm cute, Private my character's name? Do you think I'm funny?

make him respond to the drill instructor "Actually, yes" - then have the drill instructor gut-punch my character and yell:

  You little scumbag! I got your name! I got your ass! You will not laugh! You will not cry! You will learn by the numbers! I will teach you! Now get up! Get on your feet! You had best unfuck yourself, or I will unscrew your head and shit down your neck!

Do I have the right to do other things of this kind?

I used to think I did. I thought I had the right to quote other works, as long as the size of the quote is insignificant in comparison to the size of the quoted work AND to the size of my work, for reference or for parody. Especially since I can see mainstream works do this too, for example this MLP's allusion to Splinter Cell - The allusion in this case seems clear enough to the fanbase.

What makes me doubt if the above reasoning is correct is the Edgar David's won lawsuit against Riot Games. While David's public image is not a work of fiction, I would suppose that the right of parody or reference still applies. Apparently, this is not the case.

What is the situation in the EU? What is the situation in the USA? Should I split my question into two questions, one asking about EU and the other one about USA?


texts: Is a tattoo providing medical instructions legally binding?

texts:
This article describes an 81-year-old woman who got a tattoo reading "Don't euthanize me" to express her medical wishes if she were incapacitated.

The Calgary grandmother recently had the words “Don’t euthanize me” tattooed on her arm.
“It’s drastic, but this very clearly says, ‘I’m going to live until God’s ready for me’,”

Would medical instructions tattooed in this way be legally binding in the absence of more recent legal documentation (e.g. an advance healthcare directive)?
For the purposes of this question, let's assume that the tattoo gave an explicit medical directive that would not be the default medical procedure (e.g. "do not resuscitate", "don't intubate me").


texts: How does self-defense apply to bodyguards?

texts: Suppose you have a bodyguard who sees someone is about to attack you. The attacker is not being a threat to the bodyguard but a dangerous threat to the bodyguard's employer (he could be killed) . Can the bodyguard act harming the attacker to prevent him from killing someone, even if he isnt the one who is being personally attacked or he will be punished if he does?


texts:
Party A ( from India, is the service provider) signed a NDA with a Party B ( from KSA, service buyer). The parties did not mention any termination condition in the agreement.

Now after 4 years, the Party A (from India)   would like to terminate this NDA. What is the  legally correct  way to do this ?


texts: Does the law require the payment of interest for appearance bonds?

texts:
I see that Sec. 293. [8 U.S.C. 1363] Of the IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT, it provides that the government pay 3 percent interest on bonds per year.

But in a criminal case in Texas, I can't find where the state must pay interest on appearance bonds in misdemenor cases there. Does it depend on the type of crime? Or is it normal for the state to not pay any interest while it uses your money while you await trial? In some cases 3 or 4 years.


texts: Can the POTUS really pardon via tweet? If so, what would one actually look like?

texts:
Is it true that the POTUS can make an official pardon at any time via a mere tweet? If so what would the tweet need to have/not-have to qualify as a legally legitimate pardon?

For example, if the POTUS wanted to pardon Snowden, would a tweet like "I hereby pardon Edward Joseph Snowden of his crimes against the United States of America." (or whatever) actually work? Would it actually work in court?


texts: ‘I will beat you up next week’ — Why aren't, threats to be violent in the distant future, assault?

texts:
Herring, Criminal Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (8 edn, 2018). p. 75

What does ‘imminent’ mean?

The victim’s apprehension must be of imminent harm. It is well established that a threat to be
violent in the distant future (e.g. ‘I will beat you up next week’) is not an assault.13 But what
about a threat to cause violence in the near future? Lord Steyn in Ireland indicated that a fear of
violence ‘within a minute or two’ might be sufficient to constitute an assault.14 This leaves open
the question of exactly where the line is to be drawn: is fear of violence in ten minutes enough,
an hour, a day? We can know only when we have further guidance from the courts.

...

...

13 But there are some specific offences that relate to threats to harm in the future, e.g. there is an offence
of threatening to kill in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, s. 16.
14 See also Smith v Superintendent of Woking Police Station (1983) 76 Cr App R 234.

Why isn't "a threat to be violent in the distant future (e.g. ‘I will beat you up next week’)" an assault? Please don't just answer "because courts have judged they're not, or UK Parliament hasn't criminalized this."


texts: What books do you use to study general jurisprudence in US?

texts:
I'm a russian law student. I want to have a look on your ways of studying general jurisprudence. I mean the discipline, that includes topics on what law, rights and state are, their genesis, laws of their functioning, the stracture of law, norms etc, etc. In Russia this discipline is called The theory of state and law. Also we have the discipline, that is called jurisprudence, that contains sort of same knowledge. Textbooks are called respectevily.

What books do you use to study these topics?


texts: If I add a copyright disclaimer to my app, am I exempt of charges?

texts:
I'm creating a Pokemon Wiki app for Android with a lot of data related to Pokemon, including images, names etc. I've seen in the Google Play store a lot of apps like mine that contains ads and in-app purchases. Also, I've noticed that all these apps have a disclaimer section where they indicate that

This app is not affiliated, endorsed or supported by Nintendo in any
way, also some images used in this app are copyrighted and supported
under fair use, Pokemon and Pokemon character names are trademark of
Nintendo, no copyright infringement intended. Pokemon (C) 2002-2020
Pokemon.

If I add this disclaimer to my app, will it be enough to avoid getting involved in serious legal problems with copyright and Nintendo if I add ads and in-app purchases to my app? The apps mentioned before have been in the store since 2015 and they haven't been removed yet.
Also I want to know if I'm protected in some way. I don't mind if Nintendo takes down my app after 1 year in the Google Play store, I'm only scared if they take legal actions against me and I have to pay money or go to jail.


texts: Can my employer deduct from my pay check?

texts: Recently my employer payed me a market salary adjustment. I thought it might be an error so I contacted HR. HR assured me it was my money and I was entitled to it. Now they are telling me it was in fact an error and I have to pay it back. Since I have proof in writing of them telling me it is my money am I required by law to pay it back? Are they allowed to deduct from my paychecks until it’s paid back? I made financial decisions with the money based on their information which are now going to very negatively effect me.


texts: Can a store sell merchandise I've left in the store?

texts:
If I purchase merchandise in a physical store, and then (accidentally or not) leave the merchandise at the store after I've paid for it, is the store allowed to resell that merchandise to another customer?

How does this scenario differ from leaving personal items at the store that I purchased elsewhere?


texts: Threatening to discontinue a service for a client

texts:
Say someone advertises for their website and says "Its 100% free to sign up" then have them check a checkbox acknowledging that the owner of the site can cancel the service for any reason when they are signing up.

Now 5 months later the owner of the site sends the user an email saying "If you don't start paying us $20 a month we will shut down your service". Is that extortion? false advertising? or in any way illegal?


texts: EULA for warranty and liability disclaimer

texts:
My browser extensions are licensed under GPL. But GPL serves for code distribution not program usage.

As an example, this extension is licensed under GPL.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nosquint/

But what happens if a user sues the developer for a damage that is caused by using the extension?

Which precautions can be taken for this kind of situations? Is another explicit EULA is necessary for such free GPL licensed extensions?


texts: What if I did something that was a crime, but has now become legal?

texts:
There was a question recently about what happens if I do something that is legal today but becomes illegal in the future. The obvious question is what happens in the opposite case? If I do something today that is a crime by today's laws, and next week the law changes and makes the act legal?

Can I be convicted by a judge for something that is today legal? Where everyone in the court room, including the judge, would be allowed to do it today? Does it make a difference if I got caught before or after the law change? Would a judge have legal leeway (that is it's up to him to decide if I should be prosecuted or not?) If I was already convicted, would I have reasons for an appeal with the argument that my actions are not illegal (anymore)?


texts: Could major news organizations have a case against President Trump for defamation / libel?

texts:
President Trump recently printed this:

  The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

and there are a large number of similar statement he's made on the subject.

I'm just wondering if the media outlets can prove a loss in correlation with his statements, and he can't back them up, if big media companies can sue Trump or even the US government (not sure how affiliation works there).


texts: Is a Restraining Order or an Injunction Dropped in a Medical or Other Emergency

texts:
I was recently browsing through social media when I came across this image. (See below)
As unlikely as it seems that this image is real, it did get me thinking, are Restraining Order or Injunction Rules dropped in a Medical Emergency or otherwise.
Some sources that I found useful while researching were:

https://www.darlingtons.com/blog/contempt-of-court-part-i-contempt-for-breach-of-an-injunction#:~:text=2.,is%20breach%20of%20an%20Injunction%3F&text=If%20a%20person%20disobeys%20the,facts%20of%20the%20given%20case.

Contempt of Court Act 1981

Restraining Orders - Section 5, Protection from Harassment Act 1997


texts: Can you use the Raspberry Pi 4 in your own product?

texts: Suppose I decided to create a product that used the Pi 4B as it's main processing unit. Then I made a business out of that product and had a million-dollar-company. Would the Raspberry Pi foundation sue me? Is it legal to use these computers in my own product that I'm selling? I know it's a bit more complicated than that. Suppose I was using (Linux based) Raspbian Buster, and I wrote my code in node js. No modules, APIs, anything but node. Then I used my own hardware, attached it to that, and there was my product. Would it be legal to sell? I'm no expert at law, so I'm asking this question it here. Thanks in advance!


texts: What is the copyright status of game screenshots?

texts:
Game art is under copyright of the designer or their company. When I play the game and take a screenshot, whose is the copyright?

Mine, because I played the game to that point and created the screenshot file;
The designer or their company, because they made the art?


texts: Should I ask author/publisher for permission if I want to create a free game out of the book?

texts:
I want to create a free and open-source (licensed with GNU (A)GPL v3) using the plot and maybe the title of the book. I won't sell it and will have no income from it. I have some questions:

Should I ask the heir of the book author (he died) for permission even if I won't sell the game? If no, what law/international convention does allow me to do so?

If I have to ask, would it be enough to get permission via email or should I sign a contract with the right holder?

If I got permission for non-profit use of the book plot (or if I  don't have to get that permission), can I collect non-binding donations on the game's website?

Thank you very much.


texts: Would working for a marijuana distributor remotely from outside of a legal state be open me to criminal charges?

texts:
I saw a job opening for a software developer position working in the marijuana industry. This is a job where I would not be directly handling or distributing marijuana. The company would be based in a state in which it is legal, and I would be working from a remote office here in New York state

Currently marijuana is illegal in New York (though there is an ongoing legislative battle over legalization). Even if it were legal here, at the Federal level it is still illegal and could be considered a felony from my understanding.

My question is, if I were to work at a job like this, doing nothing but developing software to help a company grow and distribute in a different state without ever handling it myself, would I be breaking any state laws?

As a note, I did see this question here which pertains to working for a company in general within a legal state. This question pertains more to working outside of a legal state but in a job where no marijuana is actually handled.


texts: Are any subjects or contents off-limits for publication in "free-speech" countries?

texts:
Even if a government claims to respect "freedom of speech," are there any topics that can be prohibited from publication?

Examples might be Uncle Fester books or WikiLeaks.


texts: Can I sue my employer if they terminate my employment while I'm laid off during the Coronavirus outbreak?

texts:
I am currently laid off from my job due to the Coronavirus outbreak. My employer informed my coworkers and I in a group meeting on the day before the lay-off that we would all be brought back to work when it is safe to do so.

If my employer was to not bring me back to work after the outbreak is over, perhaps citing a work performance issue or something along those lines, can I sue them for wrongful termination after they verbally promised all of us that we would all have our jobs after the Coronavirus outbreak is over?


texts: If a lease says that the tenant is responsible for minor indoor repairs, would replacing a broken faucet be considered minor?

texts:
In an instance where a tenant has a least that says "the tenant shall be responsible for all minor indoor repairs", could the tenant replace a sink faucet if it was leaking? Would the replacement of a sink faucet typically be considered minor?

My dad said that I shouldn't replace it because the owners may not like the new one, even though the new one is much nicer than the one that was in there. I have to admit that part of the reason I'm replacing it (besides it leaking) is because I enjoy upgrading my apartment even though I know I can't take the stuff with me when I move.


texts: How can a court avoid creating precedent?

texts:
There are a number of ways in which a judge may avoid following precedent – overturning or distinguishing a previous ruling, for instance.

However, is there any way for a court (particularly a superior court) to avoid creating a binding precedent, particularly in cases where it may not be desirable to do so?

For instance, if judges were required to rule in a certain manner due to (perhaps outdated) legislation, but they did not want their decision to be binding on subordinate courts, perhaps because statutes prevented them from ruling in favour some case where marriage equality rights would be upheld, but they did not wish to set that precedent.

While it is true that judgments based on statutes will be binding only while the relevant parts of that statute is in force, I suppose my question deals with the scenario where judges would prefer to rule in a certain way, however are unable to do so because of statutes that haven't been amended to reflect changing community values, and they do not want to set a precedent in the meantime.


texts: Do I need to pay duties when bringing items into country for storage?

texts:
I have a very interesting situation. I have a whole bunch of product cartons at Amazon warehouses in US right now. They were imported from China and duties were paid upon importing to US.
I am not selling them as quickly as planed and it costs me a lot in storage.
I was hoping to bring them to Canada and store in my garage, then ship them back to Amazon to sell.
How do duties for import/export work in this case?
Thanks in advance!


texts: Can copyright of a book be extended by the authors relatives?

texts:
The book in question is Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People".
This is a screenshot taken from the amazon listing of the book: https://i.imgur.com/pYt4ws9.png
This is the text as it appear in there,

Copyright © 1936 by Dale Carnegie.
Copyright renewed © 1964 by Dome Dale Carnegie and Dorothy Carnegie.
Revised edition copyright © 1981 by Donna Dale Carnegie and Dorothy Carnegie.

Dale Carnegie passed away on November 1, 1955. How was the copyright extended in 1964 and again in 1981 by Donna Dale Carnegie and Dorothy Carnegie (His wife and daughter)? Will they be able to do it again?
I was of the opinion that there is a fixed number of years for the copyright to naturally expire. In this case it should've been 95 years after publication.


texts: Can I legally quit an Inc as a stakeholder

texts:
I am a co-founder of an Inc. I registered the corporation in New York a few years ago and now I want to quit it.

How do I do so ?
Do I also have to fill the DTF-17.1 form before I quit ?


texts: If a parent takes an infant across state lines during lockdown, can the court consider it an act of Domestic Violence?

texts:
My professor is giving us this question for class with the following prompts...
Suppose the following of Victim (child) is true:

born premature due to the mother not going on bedrest as recommended
spent more documented time with parent B without any evidence of child abuse

Suppose Parent A is married and the biological parent :

made made multiple threats to take the child and deny the spouse/parent from ever seeing the child.
history of assaulting the other parent and then taking the child away and refusing to return.
filed a domestic abuse charge against the other partner mentioned filing assault charges
talked to lawyers for over 2 weeks before making a decision.
refused to wear masks in public or at work (hospital)
refused to require masks to be worn around the child
frequently puts the child in the care of others for 4-6+ hours without masks

Suppose Parent B is married to Parent A and the biological parent:

no prior arrest history
previously a certified lifeguard
has several finger clearance cards to work with children in an unsupervised capacity
CPI certified (Crisis Prevention Intervention) with a strong history of preventing adolescent and adult suicide attempts and successfully escalating homicidal patients during a psychiatric emergency
Certified teacher and industry expert by the state
has evidence of the kidnapper admitting to throwing laundry at them in the middle of night of the original assault (to deny the spouse sleep)
text-messages confirming she hit them (claiming defense)
was arrested due to the accusation, orders of release were issued (no face-face but communication allowed)
no additional orders of protection were filed, no pre-trial or conviction on the charge has taken place.
other parent has spent the majority of the time (documented) with the child and there is zero history of child abuse
Claims that Parent A was emotionally and psychological abusive for years resulting in job lose, isolation from his family, among other factors.
Claims to be the primary caretaker, with more documented hours with the child before and after the wrongful arrest took place
Submitted evidence proving beyond a reasonable doubt the kidnapping took place after talking to lawyer
Claims the relocation was done in order to inflict emotional trauma, claim status of primary caretaker by abducting the child for over a month before custody was legally established
Claims the opposing lawyers acted like hostage negotiators and has submitted phone records suggesting the lawyers coordinated the kidnapping, took advantage of the courts being shut down, and lied on two signed affidavit about key dates in order to mislead the court.

What criteria would the judge use to determine whether or not a kidnapping took place and whether or not there was an attempt to mislead the court?
Found this article and I was wondering is this is relevant in others states like CA,AZ or FL?


texts: Can I break a non-disparagement agreement on my own initiative to aid another in a civil suit?

texts:
Suppose a have a non-disparagement agreement with corporation X.  I happen to discover that someone (John) in a different state has filed a class action lawsuit against X.  I have information that may be helpful to John, but John may or may not know that it is there.

Now clearly, from what I read, if they were to ask me for this information during the discovery, I would be able (required in fact) to provide it.    My question is this: Am I allowed to contact John out-of-the-blue and provide him with, or at least direct him towards, this information?


texts: Building management company: Can I be charged for something not my responsibility?

texts:
Can a building management company charge me for work - cleaning up, fixes, etc. - that are the result of other residents' actions?

Eg If another resident(s) makes a large mess in a common area and there's a cost to clean it up - is it fair (correct legal term?) for me to be expected to pay?


texts: What is the responsibility of a co-signer upon death of a tenant within the first lease cycle?

texts: During the first lease cycle of a rental agreement, the tenant died.  Is the co-signer responsible for damages to the apartment, or do the charges revert to the deceased tenant's family members?


texts: Who owns the copyright to pictures I took of my work (not as part of my employment)?

texts:
I was employed for a local glass company installing shower doors. When I was finished I would take a picture of it with my phone. My employer knew I was taking the pictures and did not object. I never signed anything saying I could not use the pictures.

Long story short I no longer work for that glass company and I've started my own glass business. I'm also now in competition with my ex-employer. I've posted those pictures to show my potential customers pics of my work. My ex-employer is threatening to sue me for using pictures that I took of shower doors that I installed while employed by them. My question is who owns the copyright of those pics me or my employer? Taking pictures was not expected or demanded of as part of my employment.


texts: Why was Joe Arpaio not given a jury trial?

texts:
Joe Arpaio, the former Sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ, was found guilty of criminal contempt of court by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on July 31, 2017. Apparently Arpaio requested a trial by jury, but this was denied.

On what legal basis was Arpaio denied a trial by jury?

I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that the 6th amendment to the U.S. constitution guarantees the right to a trial by jury in criminal matters. Why does that not apply here?
I would be curious to know what the full legal story is here, as I can't tell from the media reports.


texts: carrying a plastic toy sword in public in Austin, TX

texts:
I plan to to a pub crawl with a couple of friends in Austin, TX and we will dress as fantasy characters in order to make things funnier. I plan to carry this "sword"  during that night.

I am not an US citizen so I'm not very confident with the law here. Am I allowed to do that? Is carrying a fake weapon a felony (even if it's clearly a toy)?

Thanks to everyone


texts: Moving from NJ to NM, buying a car in UT or ID on way to NM, how to make titling and registration work?

texts:
I currently live in New Jersey and will be moving to New Mexico at the end of the summer. My parents live in Utah and in-laws in Idaho. We will be driving to visit them on our way to New Mexico.

Looking online at used cars in Utah vs. New Mexico, we're thinking we might be more likely to find what we want in Utah. We will only be in Utah for one day though. So we thought maybe we could do the following:

Identify a car and have my parents purchase it.
Reimburse parents for purchase and pick up car the day we're in Utah
Drive to New Mexico.

However, as I started looking at registration and titling, it wasn't so clear to me that this would be possible. My question is, is what I am proposing to do possible on the legal (titling and registration) side of things?

Here is what I understand currently that will make this difficult or impossible, please clear up any misconceptions I have.

When I get the car from my parents, they would have to transfer the title to me, and that would have to be done at the DMV (they couldn't just sign the back of the title to transfer it).
I would then have to register the car in my name just to be able to drive it to New Mexico.
I would also have to get the car added to my insurance, both for insurance sake and because it's required for car registration.
Could I even register a car in Utah if I wasn't a Utah resident and my insurance was still based in New Jersey?
Does New Mexico require getting a new title on a car when you move into the state? Or would my Utah-based title still be valid?
I would then have to register the car in New Mexico and maybe pay taxes on it (though it looks like out-of-state tax paid to purchase the vehicle counts as a credit against New Mexico's MVET). This part seems straightforward, as long as I can get the car to New Mexico.
Would New Mexico care that I bought the car in a different state just the day before arriving?

Does any of this change if instead of Utah it happens in Idaho? We're spending more time in Idaho so we also have the advantage of more likely being able to be the ones to purchase the car rather than parents/in-laws.


texts: Can a user sell my software (MIT license) without modification?

texts: Basically, I was just wondering if I release a piece of open source software under the MIT license, does that mean that someone could take it and sell it onto people without doing any modification to it?


texts:
I was preaching and approached a lady. She said "no I do not want to listen" so, I left her. Then I saw some children. As I went toward the children, the lady started shouting. She stood up and threatened me that she would physically assault me. I went back to rebuke her that making threats is unlawful and it is also unlawful for her to tell me where I can go and who I can talk to, if the person I am speaking to has no problem with it.
Her shouting and screaming resulted in a crowd gathering around and one man decided to assault me. I managed to record this lady threatening me on my phone so I have evidence.  I also recorded the man threatening me who was the man that assaulted me.
The police were called. And they said: "Even though there is no law forbidding adults to approach children, it is not good etiquette" therefore they will not let me get justice for the assault.
They reasoned that I should let them get off with it and similarly they too should let me off with it (though I did nothing unlawful).
I reasoned with them that this is not the right course. The right course is to do justice, against oneself, a rich person, poor person, one's relatives and friends, and against a large criminal party. I said "if I have done something wrong, it's only right I should be brought to justice and I would rightfully be a witness against myself. If we do not do justice people will just do the crime again."
"The etiquette they follow, is not law and for a good reason as it causes oppression, and I think it is also against Human Rights."
I was told by the police that they were not going to charge the lady or the man or further investigate it, even though I had the evidence to prove my case, as etiquette is above the law.
My question is:
Is etiquette above the law? Is it possible to answer this question both comprehensively and specifically. I am a self-studying law student and would like to understand these sorts of situations in law.
This is in UK.


texts: Can I use a brand name in my book title?

texts:
I want to publish a book, which will be sold at a modest price. I will be self-publishing. I'm in the US.

My book is, by its nature, very specific. It is basically a "how to" guide for how to write in a certain voice. As an example, my book is basically something like,

"How To Write The Simpsons"

My question is, can I legally use this trademark (The Simpsons) in my book title?
If not in the title, what about in my book's pages?

The issue here is that the book is really focused on one show, not one genre, or even sub-genre. So, "How To Write Animated Comedy TV Shows" is not the focus of my book, and thus a somewhat inaccurate title. My book goes into considerable depth into writing for this one show, and exclusively this show.

The book references quotes and dialogue from the show, but other than these bits, it is totally original. In other words, 95% of the text is my original writing. I have really put a lot of time into it, and I am not simply trying to "milk" a brand name for my own gain, and this is obvious to anyone who reads the book.

If I can't use the brand name directly, am I safe if I am cheeky about it? For example, "How To Write For That One Show With Yellow Characters".
Or what if I write on the back of the book or wherever, "Author is not affiliated with The Simpsons whatsoever"? I certainly will make no indication that I am in any way affiliated with The Simpsons (because I am not).
In reality, do the rules still apply if I am not attacking a behemoth like 20th Century Fox and instead am infringing on a much smaller brand? (I'm asking this one out of curiosity.)

I really hope I can use the name in my book title. Otherwise, my target market has pretty much nil chance of finding/reading my book. I know absolutely nothing about trademark law. Please advise.


texts:
I was looking at the following case study, and was not sure if it fell under the category of "Reasonable Accommodation" which is what I was thinking of how it could be approached:

"An amusement park company has recently opened a ride/attraction that requires guests to put on headsets to fully experience the ride. However, many people who wear religious headgear such as Sikhs with turbans, Muslims with Hijabs, Jews with their Kippas, etc... are claiming that this ride excludes them unfairly as they are being told by the management that the only way they can go on the ride is by removing their religiously mandated headgear. Does the company have a duty to accommodate such guests by making a compromise of some sort? I.e., partially partaking in the ride, being given free passes, etc..."

Thanks.


texts: Can the Speaker of the House expel senators from the Hall of the House before all electoral votes have been counted?

texts:
A recent article in The Atlantic 1 goes through some rather dire hypothetical scenarios in which constitutional crises arise during the upcoming Presidential elections.
One of their scenarios considers a situation where the count of electoral votes (which takes place in the Hall of the House as required by the Electoral Count Act 2, but is presided over by the President of the Senate as required by the Constitution) has not been completed yet and the Speaker of the House expels the senators:

Before Pence can move on from Pennsylvania to Rhode Island, which is next on the alphabetical list as Congress counts the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expels all senators from the floor of her chamber. Now Pence is prevented from completing the count “in the presence of” the House, as the Constitution requires. […]

However, the Electoral Count Act has the following language in Sec. 7:

[…] Such joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the count of electoral votes shall be completed and the result declared; […]

The language of the Act is rather dense, so maybe I'm missing something, but to me this sounds that the Speaker of the House is not entitled to act as laid out in the Atlantic scenario?


texts: Who Has the Right to Access State Voter Records and How May That Right be Expediently Exercised?

texts:
A few days ago, I posted this question on the Politics Stack Exchange
I am modifying and reposting it here in the hope of receiving a more substantial answer.
In the United States, who (individual, group of individuals, political party) has access to state voter lists that indicate whether or not the given registered voters had voted in the last general election?
If an individual has such a right, what is the most expedient way of gaining access to these records, with the objective being to determine who among the registered voters actually voted in the last election?


texts: How do I find out who to contact for copyright permission for sheet music?

texts:
I want to make a website hosting a large collection of sheet music from many different artists to be viewed online, but I have no idea how to go about getting permissions to do this. If I had to take the time to manually track down the information for every single artist, somehow contact them, and arrange something for each song... well, I'm sure you can guess that wouldn't be possible.

I've seen other sites (e.g. https://www.musicnotes.com) that offer a large amount of sheet music for sale; presumably, they have not contacted every artist individually. So there must be some organization responsible for managing music copyrights, that is able to make bulk arrangements. Who are they, and how do I find them?


texts: Does reviewing material added by users revoke my DMCA safe harbor?

texts:
I run a site that has pages for famous people, brands, movies, etc. Each page has a "profile picture" that is added by a user (if no user has submitted a picture yet, a default image is used).

When a user submits an image to be used as a page's profile picture, a site moderator reviews it, and either approves it or rejects it based on whether it is not offensive and meets reasonable quality standards.

My question is, if the work turns out to be copyrighted, am I still granted safe harbor under the DMCA, even if I review the material before it is published?

From the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, Title 17, Chapter 5, § 512

"Information Residing on Systems or Networks at Direction of Users.—

(1) In general. — A service provider shall not be liable for monetary relief, or,
except as provided in subsection (j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for
infringement of copyright by reason of the storage at the direction of a user of
material that resides on a system or network controlled or operated by or for the
service provider, if the service provider -

(A)(i) does not have actual knowledge that the material or an activity using the
material on the system or network is infringing; or

(ii) in the absence of such actual knowledge, is not aware of facts or
circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent;

(B) does not receive a financial benefit directly attributable to the infringing
activity, in a case in which the service provider has the right and ability to
control such activity."

On my site I include the following disclaimer:

"We will screen your image to ensure that it is relevant to the page, meets
reasonable quality standards, and contains no obscene content. We will not screen
the image to ensure that it is fair use. We reserve the right to reject any
image that does not meet our quality standards."


texts: Am I allowed to use images from sites like Pixabay in my YouTube videos?

texts: If a person has a YouTube channel where that person displays their original music, and the channel is monetized (that is, the channel owner is making money from ads), is the channel owner allowed to put pictures in the videos from sites like Pixabay, Flickr, etc?


texts: Who owns the copyright to my image on my portfolio that I created?

texts:
I used to work in a design agency as a graphic designer/social media manager as an apprentice. I have done work for a client who is a take away/diner and since leaving the agency I have created new, altered images of the examples of work I created for them to use on my online portfolio. In this case I have super imposed a poster I created during my apprenticeship, onto a bus stop billboard in order to change the image and it not simply be a duplicate, in turn creating a completely new image for my portfolio.

Over the past few days I have noticed on this clients Facebook account, the design agency who I used to work for or the client themselves, have pulled all my new portfolio images for this client and are using them on the clients Facebook page.

So my question is, who owns the bus stop billboard image and other altered images of this work, as they have not asked me if they could use my new images and I have made these whilst freelancing purely for my own portfolio not client use? I have not been credited/paid for the use of these images, which comes across the agency I used to work for or the client are now claiming my new images (depending on who is currently managing the clients social media).

This is from the view point of UK law.


texts: What jurisdiction applies to invasions of privacy on social media?

texts:
Suppose user "M", a resident of Maine, posts on Facebook photos or other material that constitute invasion of privacy for user "W", a resident of Washington.

Suppose also that the assertion of invasion of privacy is reasonable enough that any applicable court will take it seriously.

If "W" decides to send "M" a cease and desist order – and possibly to follow up with stronger legal action if "M" ignores the cease and desist order, which jurisdiction applies?

Washington, because the person who asserts invasion of privacy, "W", is a resident of Washington?
Maine, because the alleged offender, "M", is a resident of Maine, and the alleged invasion of privacy was posted from Maine?
California, because the medium of the alleged offense, Facebook, is based in California?
Federal, because the case crosses state borders and no single state jurisdiction clearly applies?

Although it is not a consideration in the case I'm curious about, a possible further complication would be if "M" had posted the offending materials from yet another jurisdiction, taken photographs somewhere else, etc. I don't need to know this, but it may be useful for others with similar issues.

I would assume that the specific states of residence for "M", "W", and the company could be changed, and the answer would remain the same in terms of whether the jurisdiction is that of the offended person, the offender, and the company – at least for cases within the US. But I think expanding the question beyond US borders is beyond the scope of this question.


texts: They have refused to correct the mistake.  I have asked them about 3 times and finally given up and just cancelled my membership.


texts:
Long story short,

My ex stopped answering my calls and seemed to have blocked me. I had to move out two weeks ago but hadn't retrieved all of my belongings. When we lived together, I had some of my things packed away in a Tahoe in the parking lot. So two nights ago, I went to go get some of my stuff from the Tahoe and found most of my things and more stuff I had stored in the house.

When she found out that I took my stuff the next day, she called the police.

I feel like I'm about to be charged with grand theft, although it was my stuff and she was ignoring me to give it back.

What legal defense do I have? Would it be just breaking and entering because it was all my things or grand theft because I took back more than $1000 of my things from her truck without her permission?'


texts: Petitions for leave to file a complaint, in SCOTUS's original jurisdiction in suits by a state against a state

texts:
Denial of leave to file a complaint
The U.S. Supreme Court has just denied the petition from the state of Texas for leave to file a complaint against the state of Wisconsin.
Ten months ago they denied a petition from the state of Arizona for leave to file a complaint against the state of California.
In both cases, Justices Thomas and Alito said they do not have discretionary power to deny such leave because the Constitution says that when one of the states sues another, the U.S. Supreme Court "shall", not "may", have jurisdiction.
Why does this question arise? Why can't a state just file a complaint that the justices can decide to toss out, or not, as they judge fit, instead of first requesting leave to file a complaint. Suppose a state did just that. What would the Court do?


texts: Can you take an employer to court for false promise?

texts:
When I was interviewing for a contractor job, the hiring manager indicated many times that they would convert my position to full time job within one year. (I resigned from my full time job to take this contractor job due to his verbal promise).

During this time, I was offered full time jobs by other companies and I did not accept because of the promised conversion to full time. My manager even stated via Instant Messenger that my request was approved and I was going to be converted.

But, now he seems to be playing games and not being straight with me. One year latter, I am still not full time.

Do I have a case to go to court so that he cannot do the same thing to other potential future contractors?


texts: Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department

texts:
My car was towed in Seattle for an alleged parking violation.
I paid $350 to get it back and then went to court and had the
violation dismissed.  The police officer who wrote the ticket
and called for the tow did not show up for the court hearing,
there was no evidence of a violation, and I testified that I
was careful to park legally (and indeed I was conscious of the
"No Parking" sign referring to one spot about 50 feet away from
where I parked).  So, I believe the officer made some mistake.

Now, I'd rather not sue the government to get my $350 back
(you could simply say that I prefer not to have tax-payers,
including myself, pay for it), so intend to serve and sue the
officer directly.  I know where to find him and actually
will first give him a demand note to pay me the $350, but I
assume that note will get me nothing.

So, what's the most likely result of my approach?  Is there
precedent for taking an officer to court for a small claims
case like this?  Am I likely to have the case dismissed and
be forced to refile against SPD?

(Please don't let this distract from my question, but my philosophy
is that people hide behind groups/governments/companies too often,
and I'd like to push society to take more personal responsibility
for their own actions.  I have no problem with the police, my
problem is that one guy made a very careless mistake.  I feel like
he won't see the consequences for his actions if I make my case
against the entire SPD.  Whether it's to reduce taxes or to push
my philosophy, I know I'm struggling here just for a Pyrrhic
victory...so I'm 99% sure I will simply abandon this and sue SPD in
the end.)


texts: When does failure to pay become a material breach of contract?

texts: As a follow-up to Work for hire as a contractor without payment, can you withhold IP?, when does failure to pay become a material breach of contract?


texts: How do concepts like intent, discrimination, and bias apply to an Artificial Intelligence agent?

texts:
Background

I work at a financial institution in the United States and have been researching the regulatory impacts of Artificial Intelligence recently - specifically the simple purpose-specific systems we have today like Alexa, Siri, or the AI that navigates your Tesla when you switch on autopilot.  Based on some googling [1] [2], the current standards seem to be that there aren't a lot of specific regulations that apply to the AI agent (with the exception of self-driving cars), but the normal regulations that apply when using a human agent would apply if you substitute an AI-based decision process.  The top answer on a related topic here on StackExchange seems to support the idea that the regulations applied to the human apply to the AI agent as well (at least in Hong Kong).

We're currently shying away to research into the legal implications of AIs that can learn any task, much like a human.  These are sometimes referred to as Artificial General Intelligence (AGIs) and the most aggressive estimate I've seen in my research places them emerging sometime in the next 100 - 200 years.  A problem for future generations!

The Question:

This raises a couple of questions in my mind about a couple of legal concepts that have clear definitions when applied to a human or certain kinds of AI, but get fuzzy with other ones.  Specifically:

How do you determine an AI agent's intent?
How can you tell if an AI agent is biased in its decisions?
How would the concept of discrimination apply to an AI agent?  How would you prosecute it?

A Specific Example:

For instance, take the anti-discrimination provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).  In the case of a decision-tree based AI agent discrimination is obvious - if you add in a rule that makes different decisions based on race, gender, age, or other protected factors you have a discriminatory model.

In the case of a statistically driven Machine Learning model, this is less obvious.  For instance, a neural network based model could accept address data as part of its decision.  After examining hundreds of thousands of credit applications, the machine learning model could potentially derive information about income distribution from address or similar fields and end up discriminating against applicants that match certain traits.  In this case you accept no information on age, sex, or ethnicity but still discriminate based on these factors since the model found some problematic trends in the data that it was trained on.

Recap:

With this in mind, my questions are:

What are your thoughts on regulations that refer to intent or bias as they relate to AI agents - particularly ones that don't operate on explicitly defined rules?
Is there any precedent in this space that we could look to to guide decisions on AI risk?
Does anyone have thoughts on where regulation in this space might head?

Update (7/18)

I've removed the portions of this question with a technical lean and posted a question about the technical aspects of detecting and fixing a discriminatory model to ai.stackexchange.


texts: SLA liability in case client break some law

texts:
How does or can a Service Level Agreement (SLA) protect the provider from any liability in case the client knowingly breaks a law.

Example:
AWS is a web hosting provider that sells computing resources to clients.
The Clients can use these resources to host websites for example.
Let's assume a client uses such a resource to host an e-commerce site that sells illegal products (guns, drugs and such).
Another example would be that the client uses this resource to commit DDOS attacks (Denial of Service).

In what way a company like AWS can protects itself from any liability.
Again, in continuation to the above example here are the relevant agreements from the company:

service-terms

agreement


texts: Are intellectual property indemnity clause, which requires the employee to indemnify the employer, enforceable?

texts:
Jurisdiction is England (UK), and it's a clause in an employment contract (permanent).

The following question has been posted on reddit, and I happen to be on the same boat.

  I've been offered a job I'm really excited about, but I asked my friend [...] and she spotted something she said looked unusual in an employment contract.

  x.1: The Employee warrants that the use of the Works by the Company will not infringe the rights of any third party.

  x.2: The Employee shall indemnify the Company against all liabilities, costs, expenses and damages incurred by the Company in connection with any intellectual property infringement claim or other claim relating to the Works supplied by you to the Company during the course of providing the services set out in this agreement.

Apparently this is not an uncommon clause in a consultancy agreement or supply contract, but uncommon in an employment agreement. Which makes perfect sense - say I worked as a developer at Google developing the Dalvik VM. This clause would mean I, a mere developer, would have to indemnify Google against Oracle's suit. That seems really extreme.

Can such a clause be enforced in UK (England)?


texts: What is the legal age for drinking alcohol in Germany?

texts:
I heard that in Germany you can buy low alcoholic drinks from 16 years old, and from 18 years old you can buy strong alcoholic drinks.
What about drinking?
If I buy for 14 year old alcohol. Will this be a violation of the law? What about 16 years?
Thanks in advance!


texts:
I am trying to open a business where a client can trade their currency to me. For example, if a client has money in their PayPal, they can send it to me, then I will give the the equivalent in their local currency (removing scam).

I am wondering if this is legal (in the United States). A coworker said it's money laundering and not legal.

Any source will also help.


texts: Does the surveying term "right-of-way line" refer to a single line, or to a strip or swath?

texts:
I'm taking a class in real property law.  We have many exercises where we read a survey map and write a legal description in metes and bounds.  Many of the maps use the "centerline" of a road but some say things like "the southeasterly right-of-way line of StreetName."  What exactly does that mean, "right-of-way line"?

I checked Black's Dictionary and Black's Dictionary.  It talked about: Right to pass, easement, strip of land (the land itself). If it's a strip of land, typically how wide is the strip?

Are these rights of way recorded somewhere systematically?  If so, do surveyors have access to the full list?


texts: Can embedded software be patented in the EU?

texts: I know that no software can be patented in Europe. But what if I use software in an electronic board, and introduce that hardware?  Can that be patented?


texts: Can MetLife Override Intestate Succession of Pre-Deceased Beneficiaries

texts:
My grandma has a Life Insurance policy that she started around 1983 with Horne’s (now Macy’s) until 2003 when she retired.

The names Beneficiaries were my dad and grandfather (her husband). Both are now deceased. My grandmother survived both of them until Jan 2019.

In the state of Pennsylvania, there is a specific Intestate Succession that dictates grandchildren come before Siblings in inheritance.

I filled out beneficiary paperwork and submitted to MetLife, and spoke with MetLife several times by phone.

I was told by MetLife that in the case of pre-deceased Beneficiaries  MetLife applies Federal inheritance law, thus Siblings come before: Will statements or Intestate Succession.

We have an Estate open as well as an original Will. The only mentioned of any Sibling inheritance was only for a sister I really know of that is also now deceased.

I told MetLife I cannot legally confirm if my grandma has other siblings although there is a lady that started coming around when my grandma became ill that said she was her sister.

I am concerned some unwelcome Siblings or “sister” are going to inherit this Life Insurance totally undeserving because of MetLife whack policy. And my grandma is not here to defend herself, so I am doing all I can.

Is there anything MetLife is doing that is not kosher?

Do I have any rights in state law that can override their “Federal” rules.

Any other tactics or thoughts that I can look at to help remedy this?

I am calling their records dept on Monday to request documents that provide my grandmas signature stating the PA Succession is overridden and she agreed to that when the policy was opened. Not sure if they will provide.


texts: Can a store clerk let a customer use their ID to buy cigarettes?

texts: So while shopping in a store tonight I witnessed a store clerk allow a customer to use their ID to buy cigarettes. The store clerk ask me if I could allow the customer to use my ID. I clearly and quickly told her that, I could not do that. The lady claimed to be of age. To me as a person with an MBA, would without reservations would say it is ethically wrong. I can’t find anything that states it is wrong, even though I know it is legally wrong.


texts: Have I to specify the sentence and paragraph when referring to the law?

texts:
Asking for Ukrainian Law system (if there is difference).
For example, there is a law; in the law there are an article; in the article, there are few paragraphs, and I need to refer only to one of them; in addition, the paragraph, I need to refer, consist of only one sentence (so do I need to say about sentence in this case).
Would it be weird, or even incorrect, I will say/write like (I don’t know what is the short form of words “sentence” and “paragraph”):
According to the sent. 1 pr. 2 art. 4 The Law of Ukraine “Name of The Law”.
In Ukrainian language:
На підставі речення 1 аб. 2 ст. 4 Закону України «Назва Закону».?


texts: Can the UN Security Council authorize states to violate international humanitarian law?

texts:
Chapter 7 to the United Nations charter gives the Security Council (UNSC) the power to authorize states to use force in some particular case (for example, in the first gulf war the UNSC authorized the use of force against Iraq).

Now, normally any use of force by a state is subject to international humanitarian law (IHL – the laws of war). However, since the Security Council can authorize specific uses of force and not just blanket statements such as "force can be used," the question arises as to whether or not it can override IHL.

In theory, it would seem a little strange, particularly if we decide IHL counts as Jus Cogens (a peremptory norm of international law), but the charter explicitly states that Security Council decisions are binding on any state that is a member of the United Nations, and that any obligations a state has arising from the charter supersede other obligations under international law.

So, to make up a case for clarity, say the UNSC were to pass a resolution saying that because of the power of the Islamic State in Syria, not only is it legal for states to use force against them, but they no longer have to worry about killing civilians, since only by killing large numbers of people will the world be able to deter the terrorists. Would this decision be legal (and binding)?


texts: how do I know what kind of Utility Easement I have in my property?

texts:
I am planning to buy a property in a community and the survey shows that there is a utility easement in that property that spans 10 feet from the road. How do I know what kind of utility easement this is  and who owns it?

What are the kinds of easements that can affect future selling of this property in like 10 years ?


texts: What responsibilities do mobile phone operators have if a plan they offer is ruled illegal in court?

texts:
There was a recent court ruling by the European Court of Justice about net neutrality (source, unfortunately in German). Essentially the operators where offering plans with a limited full speed download but some specific services (for example facebook, spotify, etc) were excluded from the download count. So once a user had used up their monthly say 1 Gb of download at full speed, further downloads would be significantly reduced in speed with the exception of some listed services. These kinds of plans were ruled illegal because they breach net neutrality.
Question: What are the consequences of this for mobile phone operators?
They should stop offering these plans and change existing plans. But they presumably profited from these plans in the past, and while the court ruling is new, the law is not. So do they have to pay some kind of compensation to customers who had such a plan? Some kind of fine for offering something illegal? Or does the court ruling only have an effect from now on so the past is the past?


texts: How to replace “and/or” in sentences with multiple terms?

texts:
When writing a legal document, a contract, what is the proper way to replace and/or in a list with more than two terms to remove ambiguity?

For example, if I just have two terms:

  deliver apples and/or oranges

could be replaced with:

  deliver apples, oranges or both

so the valid results are:

[ "apples", "oranges", "apples and oranges"]

Now, I would like to do the same for the following sentence:

  deliver apples, oranges and/or pears

So the valid results are:

[ "apples", "oranges", "pears", "apples and oranges", "apples and pears", "oranges and pears", "apples, oranges and pears" ]


texts: How do I look up the trial experience of a lawyer?

texts:
I want to review the trial experience of a particular plaintiff lawyer in Ontario.  Where can I get this information?

. . . no answer

Then how does one look up a lawyer's trial record in other jurisdictions around the world?

Maybe I can adapt the method to Ontario.


texts: What rights do students of public universities have regarding professional misconduct / lack of rule enforcement?

texts:
I’ll try to keep the story short, but the university I attend has recently had a tense situation arise between a professor and a student. The professor clearly broke the University’s own rules on conduct and procedure for its staff. The student was uniquely targeted and harassed by the professor, as is clear from all available evidence.

MY chief concern is how the administration acted to remedy the issue. They issued a public email stating they would look into it, and that was it. Sent months ago, they haven’t offered anything else. The professor continues to work for the school. Even more scary, the student faces expulsion from the university because the small group of students that support the professor claim the defendant is a threat to their safety. They’ve also attempted “character assassination” on this student.

The administration hasn’t protected him/her whatsoever. Naturally, I want no part of a university that runs this way. I’ve been in contact with the administration and basically said if they don’t do anything, I want my tuition and fees back, and my records scrubbed from their system. If they fail to do so, I’m threatening a lawsuit.

I feel entitled to my money back because the faculty broke university rules, and the administration did nothing to enforce its own rules. Because of that, my future at the university is liable to the same harassment. Regardless, I’m most likely switching universities, and will absolutely go to court no matter what if the administration fails to act.`

What I’m curious about, is if this kind of case would hold up in court. Threatening a major university is nerve-wracking, but I feel an obligation to stand up for this student (who is undoubtedly innocent of any wrong doing, given the endless evidence).

Edit:
The above was a poor attempt at asking what kind of rights a student has in a public university. And if a student has any rights at all, what is the university liable for if those rights are infringed upon by its own faculty?


texts: Does failure to present a charge to a grand jury leave that charge open for future indictment?

texts:
In the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor the Kentucky  Attorney General presented a case to a Grand Jury, but the only indictment was for wanton endangerment. Recently this Washington Post story and this CNN story report that at least two jurors have said that neither murder nor manslaughter charges were presented to the jury, even when jurors asked abut such charges. Other sites carry similar stories.
I understand that normally when a Grand Jury declines to indict for an alleged crime, prosecutors may not present it again to a future Grand Jury. (I believe this rule is statutory, not constitutional.) But when, as here, the crime was not even presented to the jury, although the events were, could a later AG or special prosecutor bring such charges?


texts: Trade restrictions on open source software

texts:
Apparently the US has put Huawei on a trade blacklist that prevents US companies to trade with Huawei. With hardware and proprietary software it is straightforward how this can be executed (don't make any contracts, don't sell stuff/licenses).

With OSS this is a lot more complicated since there is no real deal or negotiation between the licensee and the provider of a license. Also, there is not a single copyright holder and copyright matters are often very complicated concerning OSS.

So the question is twofold: does the trade blacklist have any effect on OSS and if not, is it at all possible for the US government to limit the trade of OSS?


texts: Can I ask my employer for details held about me?

texts:
A company runs a transformation exercise. It asked for employees to fill out answers against questions, which are submitted to a portal and assessed by a number of employees and scored. These scores, along with the rationale the assessors recorded, were used to put the employees into various roles in the "new model", as well as some on performance plans where the scores indicated improvement was required.

The company fed back the assessments verbally. They have, at the moment, withheld the scores and rationale/assessor comments from the assessed employees. They have been asked numerous times, and there is some anecdotal evidence that line managers are being asked to refuse such requests.

This is in the UK. What mechanisms exist to allow the employees to gain that data, if any? Can the employees ask for other data, like e-mails written about them or instructions given? It seems like a Subject Access Request or GDPR would help, but despite asking on these specific terms, the employer has refused to provide answers. Who should the request, if this was possible, go to and what would need to be included?