texts:
-See below for German version-

A tenant's fixed term rental contract has expired, yet on the first day after the expiration, when keys were supposed to be returned, the tenant has not made any efforts to vacate the property.
Under German Law, this means that the contract automatically gety extended indefinetely, unless either party objects and notifies the other party of this extension either in the contract or within two weeks of the tenant failing to vacate.

How does the landlord best object to this extension, in the case where this did not already occur in the contract?

Specifically, would a writing delivered by registered mail be enough to object?

Can the landlord then immediately file an action for eviction with the local court? Or does the two-week period first need to pass?

What happens if the tenant suddenly decides to vacate the property? An action of eviction needs to be pre-paid by the landlord. Is the tenant then liable to cover these expenses plus any lawyer expenses?

Many thanks!

Ein Mieter hat es versäumt eine Wohnung nach Ablauf eines befristeten Mietvertrags zu räumen. Der Vermieter hat dies am ersten Tag nach dem Ende des Vertrags erfahren. Nun tritt eine stillschweigende Mietverlängerung in Kraft, welcher einer der beiden Parteien binnen zwei Wochen widersprechen kann.

Wie geschieht dieser Widerspruch am besten?

Ist ein Einschreiben an den Mieter genug um in über einen Widerspruch zu informieren?

Kann der Vermieter dann unmittelbar Räumungsklage einreichen, oder erst nach Verstreichen des zweiwöchigen Zeitraums?

Wenn der Mieter sich nun doch dazu entscheidet auszuziehen, eine Räumungsklage aber jedoch schon eingereicht wurde, muss der Mieter die Kosten für diese Räumungsklage samt Anwaltskosten tragen?

Vielen Dank


texts: We are having issues with our neighbors. I play music from my iPad at night to help me sleep, using headphones, and my neighbor has been hijacking it and playing discordant sounds to wake me up in the night is this illegal?


texts:
We have a small business with the following situation:

3 partners with the following share distribution: 10%, 45%, 45%.

One of the 45% partners has made €75k loan to the company which is convertible into shares.

The company is currently valued at €150k.

Among other changes, we're doing, that partner wants to lower the threshold for extraordinary resolutions from 90% to 64%.

He told me that 64% is standard, although I haven't found any evidence of this being the case.

Here's my concern:

if he decides to convert the loan, that would dilute the two other partners and he would get 72.5% of the shares.

Is that correct? and has anyone seen 64% as a 'common' threshold?


texts: On what basis might Trump's executive order on immigration be illegal?

texts:
On 27 January 2017, US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order entitled 'Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States'.

On 30 January 2017, the acting Attorney General at the time refused to defend it in court because it was unconstitutional or otherwise illegal: [news article].

On what basis(es) might this executive order be illegal?


texts: Will New York City's new law prohibiting questions about salary history protect residents who are applying for jobs outside the city?

texts:
As the title. I read through the law but I am not clear on whether it covers residents of the city, companies that employ workers in the city, members of either group, etc.

That is, is it a limit placed on employers operating within the City's jurisdiction, a protection granted to City residents, or both?

  This bill would prohibit employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s salary history during all stages of the employment process. In the event that an employer is already aware of a prospective employee’s salary history, this bill would prohibit reliance on that information in the determination of salary. When employers rely on salary histories to determine compensation, they perpetuate the gender wage gap. Adopting measures like this bill can reduce the likelihood that women will be prejudiced by prior salary levels and help break the cycle of gender pay inequity.

Background on the law
City Council page
Text of the law (pdf)

(I don't think this question is too specific.. FWIW I do not employ or hire people. If I did I'd be talking to my lawyer.)


texts:
How is perjury proved in a rental arbitration hearing?  The testimony is sworn.  Of course, people make mistakes, mis-speak etc.  But if verbal sworn evidence is self-contradicting does rise to the level of proof to show that not only does the narrative not fit but that the story was fabricated?

This is strictly a "he-said, she-said" type scenario.  Arguably, one story makes sense, the other does not.  How can that be taken to the point of showing fraud through perjury?

Without a recording or transcript, of course.  Just to make it that much harder.

This is related:

  perjury is "the offence of willfully telling an untruth or making a
  misrepresentation under oath".


texts: Can a foreign company be charged fees or taxes if their website is hosted in the US?

texts:
I am wondering if a foreign company be obliged to pay fees or taxes if its website is hosted and served by servers located on US ground?

Does it matter if monetary transactions are made on that website/application?


texts:
I received 2-90 day packages of diet pills in the mail. They were not ordered by me. I was not charged (yet) but the packing slip showed $104.50 as cost. There was an account set up with this company using my name.

I have some serious medical conditions. I am being monitored by specialists to not do damage to my kidneys. I am obese and need to lose weight. I am also working with specialist on weight management. Is it legal for someone else to purchase diet drugs and send to another person?
I live in SD.  The diet pills are manufactured exclusively for B EPIC.  The name on the package is ACCELER8.
Will it affect my kidneys, yes.  My calcium and calcium citrate levels are being monitored.  These pills contain Magnesium Citrate, Calcium Citrate.  There are a lot of different kinds of roots, bark, extracts, Hops, Melatonin.


texts: How does contributing to a FLOSS project work from a legal perspective?

texts:
Some points I know:

Contributors own copyright over their contributions, which means the author (= the owner of the repo and original author) cannot re-license the code (= change the license of the code) without asking every contributor.
That's why some companies require you to sign a Contributor License Agreement which - easily said - transfers your rights to them, so that they can do what they want with the code (relicense, make proprietary, ...).

Questions:

When making changes to another repo (you've forked) do you release your changes under the license (usually a file called LICENSE or similar) of that repo?
If so there is one abnormality: If contributing to an MIT licensed project means you release your changes under the MIT license, this still does not mean the contributor has to be attributed in the new code base, but this is a requirement of the MIT license.
If I fork a (MIT licensed) project where contributors contributed to it does this really mean I fork one project which is licensed under one MIT license or does it rather mean I fork one project licensed under multiple MIT licenses of all contributors? So is this rather splitting of a cake or can I consider the project a big block of a license?

I think a step-by-step explanation (from forking the repo until the Pull Request is merged) would be useful.
Bonus points for any kind of metaphors.

This question has been cross-posted in open source Stackexchange as it overlaps.


texts: A person accepts money to write a check, but cancels the check and refuses to return the money

texts: In the state of NM if a family member in need of a muzzle accepts 500$ to write a check for rent and cancels the check after its already been turned in, and then refuses to return the 500$, is this illegal? Can they be dealt with or is it outside of the law?


texts:
I graduated in December 2015, and had someone take over my lease. They were rather destitute at the time, so instead of paying their security deposit upfront to replace mine when they moved in, I drafted an agreement we both signed explaining that the new tenant would pay the landlord his security deposit before the end of the lease, which ends today 5/27/2016.

I haven't received anything from my former landlord yet, and was looking to take the new tenant to court in order to get my money back, but I have a few questions.

Pertinent information that may help:
This all happened in the state of West Virginia
The new tenant is currently employed 40 hours a week at McDonald's

The dollar amount in question is 480.00, would this be worth going to court over when considering court fees?
In a case like this would a lawyer be necessary or too costly for the money lost?
Do I stand a chance to win? The document I wrote was written with good will giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, so it is lacking any sort of legalese
What happens if I win, and he can't pay?

I can comfortably walk away from the money if it is a lost cause, he saved me 2,375.00 dollars in rent money by taking over my lease, the only reason I truly want to pursue this is for the principle of the matter.


texts: Using (presumably) copyrighted materials in reviews

texts:
I run a film and TV show reviewing blog using the Google Blogger service.

On this blog, I frequently use pictures taken from the film/episode/TV show that I am reviewing in the article.

The pictures that I use are always gathered by simply using the Google Image search to find a picture that suits my need. As such, the pictures come from a large variety of sources, including others peoples reviews, promotional material and even frames from advertisements.

Is the use of these images on my blog protected under Fair Use, regardless of the source of the original images? What about if I started earning money from my blog?


texts:
What does an the point #7 in § 46.2-2101 (VIRGINIA ACTS OF ASSEMBLY) exactly mean? Citing from the web (link here):

  § 46.2-2101. Exemptions from chapter.

  The following are exempt from this chapter:

  ...

  Electric personal delivery devices as defined in § 46.2-100.

The linked text amends "Electric personal delivery device" (EPDD) and few other terms to the Act. Therefore I do not understand WHAT exactly is the EPDD exempted from? For me the statement negates everything about EPDD that was written above which does not really make sense.

It would only make sense to me that EPDD would be exempted from any general clauses in the document except where EPDD is specifically mentioned in the text... Would be nice to have this assumption confirmed by someone else.


texts: Video surveillance of dedicated laboratory rejected by single employee [Germany]

texts:
We have a dedicated laboratory with very expensive and sensitive equipment. When handled incorrectly, they can cause serious harm to the user or others in the laboratory. Our department consists of 5 people who have access to this laboratory.
Therefore we introduced a couple of safety regulations (only supervised people are allowed to enter, entry-list with date/time, etc). As next step we wanted to install an surveillance camera. The camera is configured that it takes a photo if it detects movement and stores this photo 7 days. We also ordered the corresponding warning stickers that this area is under surveillance. There are no fixed workplaces inside the laboratory. Its plainly for manufacturing, testing and experiments. Everyone in our department has an separate workplace in an non-surveilled area.
We (our department, 5 persons) had a vote if we think this surveillance is ok. Only one guy voted against. He does not want to be surveilled when he works in this laboratory. Its the same guy that always leaves the laboratory like a mess. As we voted 4:1, we are now employing the surveillance measures. However, this guy causes a commotion, throws ramblings about DSGVO and that it is illegal.
Is this really illegal in Germany? It's a dedicated room, a critical area with special safety precautions and requirements. No one has an fixed workplace in this room. We use the photos taken by the surveillence camera only if something went wrong (i.e. accident, intrusion or messy laboratory).


texts: Is contract valid if only one side signed it?

texts:
The company sent me the contract, I signed it and returned back to them, so now they should sign and send me the copy.

In Germany, what if they decide to not sign and withdraw the process. What one can do in this situation, is there any law?


texts: If I accidentally send a package to the wrong person, is it still my property?

texts:
Suppose the following were to happen. I've got a package on my desk. I am planning to send it to person A with intent to give them ownership of it. Instead, by mistake, I send it to person B.

Is it still my property? Obviously I can ask for it back - but if I ask after the package has been received, and person B refuses to send it back, do I have legal recourse? Or, alternatively, does person A have legal recourse against person B?

Next, would the situation change if I gave person B advance notice (e.g. send an expedited letter that arrives before the package does, or a phone call) that they are not the intended recipient for the package?


texts: What is the punishment for taking over a federal building?

texts:
From a legal standpoint, what sort of punishment could I expect should I decide to protest the U.S. Government and take over a remote federal building with 100 of my closest friends and militia members?

Let's assume:

This takes place in the U.S. State of Oregon
Someone with authority has asked me to quit my occupation and leave
At least one of my followers has openly described us as ready to do violence, though not directed at any specific individual
I and my compatriots are carrying weapons where they're (most likely?) not allowed to
I stay there for a week and decide to go home

I know the answers may be a bit subjective in that there is probably a wide range of statutes that could be brought to bear.  Let's also assume that shipping me and my 100 friends off to Guantanamo as a bunch of terrorists is off the table.

Given this, what relevant federal statutes are there that could be used against me and what penalties do they proscribe?


texts: Lawsuit over the breach of Terms and Services against a non-resident

texts:
So, there's an automation tool for a well-known US-based online platform.

Can that platform sue a non-US-based company (or an individual residing outside of the USA) over a breach of its Terms of Services (or, rather, for providing services that facilitate other people, including US residents, breach ToS).

I've read that a court summons should be served to the defendant, which would not be possible unless they visit USA. Is that true?

Thanks!


texts: What might be the consequences of not declaring foreign student debt when applying for a mortgage abroad?

texts: When moving to a foreign country I know of many people who have decided not to declare their foreign (United Kingdom) student debt. What might be the consequences for doing so and how might a provider legally go about finding about such debt? I'm interested in answers directly about the Netherlands or similar EU countries.


texts: Is it legal to work for commision only in Canada?

texts: I am interested in the province British Columbia, in Canada. Is it legal to work a job that pays only based on commission and has no base pay? I heard not as per something in here but am unclear if it matters if it's contract work... http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96113_01


texts: Jack Dorsey just sold his first tweet. But was it actually owned by him? What constitutes "ownership" in law?

texts:
I'm pretty sure Dorsey owns the copyright on his exact words (if they are capable of copyright and not just a pre-existing or generic text that's been used by others elsewhere), and that Twitter has a licence to use and monetise the tweet. But I don't know if ownership of a tweet is the same as copyrights holder, or licensee.
Ownership is usually synonymous in some sense with having exclusive rights to exploit and control.  But does that apply to the tweet, after all, a tweet is not the same entity as the words it contains (nor is a book the same legally as the collection of words it contains).
If a tweet could be equated to it's words, then ownership would not be possible and what Dorsey actually sold was his copyright.
Is that what happened? Is a tweet (as distinct from the words it contains) legally capable of being owned? Could a tweet and the words in it be sold independently and have different owners/copyright owners, and does that have meaning in law?
Is the concept settled,or has it been tested in law (perhaps in a different/analogous field)?


texts: Can a wall only be part-party? (England)

texts: I own a semi-detached house 10m tall. A large garage on the detached side shares the bottom 2m of the wall. It belongs to the neighbours, who will build a house to replace the garage. Is the whole side wall considered a party wall, or only the bottom 2m?


texts: When and how, after being arrested, can a person hire their own attorney?

texts:
I've never been arrested or been a party in any legal case (other than minor traffic violations) that warranted getting an attorney, so having never hired legal counsel, forgive me if this is an ignorant question.

If someone is arrested and doesn't "have an attorney", are they allowed to find their own before being questioned, or are they forced to use a public defender until later? If they are allowed to find their own, when during the process do the police allow a person to find their own counsel?

Also, how does one find an attorney from jail? Do the police just throw the yellow pages at them or are people supposed to have memorized the phone number of an attorney they've never hired? Or, is it normal for people to have a relationship with an attorney just in case they get arrested?


texts: Am I legally Required to Pay For Order I had done and Have not Picked Up?

texts:
I talked directly to an employee at a local manufacturing company, over email, about a custom small project. They wrote up a quote and I agreed to it. However, they never acknowledged my acceptance, and I hadn't heard from them in 4 weeks. I received a call saying my order is ready for pick up. A week into no response, I decided I didn't want to do the project anymore. Am i legally obligated to pay for and pick up the product? I never signed anything.

EDIT: Important information regarding the quote. The quote mentions "delivery 2 weeks ARO". There was no payment or receipt and the work was not completed within 2 weeks. It also mentions, payment in cash on delivery.


texts:
When I joined my current company, I signed a pretty standard non-compete, assignment-of-inventions type of agreement.

Now, some significant time later, a new round of investors/management is getting involved with the company, and their attorneys want staff to sign a new, slightly different agreement.  To my non-legal eyes, it looks like effectively similar boiler-plane.

As HR came around desk-to-desk to collect the new agreements, they also mentioned that a different investor and attorney wants yet another agreement!  And we should expect that one in a week or so.

While I do not have an issue with the general idea of a non-compete agreement, I'm concerned that three separate, multiple, overlapping agreements may, in total, have some conflicting or contradictory language with unknown or unintended consequences.

Can you explain the potential reasons for multiple agreements requested by multiple different attorneys?  How concerned should I be about this? Or is it just lawyers being nit-picky during their due-diligence during an investment?


texts:
A visitor to the UK stays with a UK citizen, offers cleaning services in exchange for room & board. Would a work visa be required for this?

Thank you


texts: Is it legal to rewrite a book written in 16th century English in modern American English?

texts: I would like to rewrite an old story, written in the 16th century, in the hope that more people may benefit from its message. The latest reprint was in 1971 in Great Britain.


texts: Is a debt canceled if the creditor refuses a settlement offer?

texts:
I've been told by several people on several occasions -- in several jurisdictions within the US -- that if you owe someone money, you can offer some stupidly low amount of cash (most versions include numbers from $1 to 25%) to settle the debt. If the creditor refuses that offer (or in some versions of the claim, if they don't word their refusal just so to make it a counteroffer), then the debt goes away.

Is there any validity to these claims?


texts:
This is civil in the US.  I work for a company that does litigation support - discovery.  We have secure servers that we (the company) pay a lot of money for.  Based on the case load we may need to scale up fast so must have expensive excess capacity on hand.

We lost some deals to bids that were less than our cost. I traced them out and almost positive they are using cloud computing.  The reputable hosting companies typically have a statement about secure servers and signing for a chain of custody if they receive physical media.

I ran the cost and we can get server capacity on a cloud like an Amazon or Azure for literally pennies on the dollar and get (or release) capacity on demand.

The owner claims cannot satisfy chain of custody if the data hit a cloud. Is that true?

I know two questions is not protocol for this site but what if the cloud account is owned by the customer?  We just sell software/service.  Now the customer would most likely need to give us access to the data but very easy to only give us read only access - they control the cloud account.  Anyone doing review would have read only access.  Could a customer sign a (valid) chain of custody if the data hit a cloud?

I am clearly a techy.  The original disc is still in a physical chain of custody.  What is produced to the court is page by page tiff (or other rendition) redacted (or not) and stamped with a bates number.  I know the law is the law and does not need to make sense but the original is not what is produced to the court.  I am not getting touched a cloud would invalidate.  Can you not just sign that Azure/Amazon was part of chain custody?  It is not like the hammer that was used to crush the skull.  Discovery data started as a clone of the collected physical disc or it was produces by the opposing party (still a copy).


texts: Microsoft Licensing | CAL, External Connector, Per Core/Processor

texts:
I am really new to this community (I am just active on Stackoverflow) and i hope you can help me with my problem.

An example:

I have a webshop hosted on my Windows Server 2012, and customers are able to sign up and buy some stuff. So they are authenticated to my server and those accounts are saved in a database (Microsoft SQL Server).

And thats the point where my problem starts. I know that I need one CAL license for every person logged into my server. And that means for me, that i have to buy a CAL license for every user account. But how should i be able to buy e.g. 100,000 cal user licenses for 100,000 users? Or even a bit more concrete, if the amount of customers registered grow´s steadily how should I ensure providing the exactly right amount of CALs?

I found this site "Client Access Licenses and Management Licenses".

And if I have a look at the rows "Windows Server" and "SQL Server" I can see that those servers are licensed per core / per processor. Does that mean I dont need CAL licences If i only run a database and a webserver (IIS)?

Because there is this site as well: Licensing How To: When do I need a Client Access License (CAL)?

And there it says:

  5 – Do I need a CAL when my Windows Server is used to run a web
  server?

  Windows Server 2012 R2 configured to run Web Workloads ** do not
  require CALs or External Connectors.  Web workloads, also referred to
  as an internet web solution, are publically accessible (e.g.
  accessible outside of the firewall) and consist only of web pages, web
  sites, web applications, web services, and/or POP3 mail serving.
  Access to content, information, and/or applications within the
  internet web solution must be publically accessible.  In other words,
  they cannot be restricted to you or your affiliate’s employees.

  If you have Windows Servers configured to run a “web workload” these
  users will not require CALs or External Connectors.  However, let’s
  say you are using Windows Server to setup an online store where
  customers can buy widgets.  You have front end Windows Servers setup
  to support your website, and backend servers (e.g. commerce servers)
  setup so customers can check out and buy your widgets.  The front end
  servers used to host your website would generally be considered as
  running “web workloads” and CALs or External Connectors will not be
  required to access these servers.  Once the customer adds a widget to
  their shopping cart, creates an account and enters their credit card
  and shipping information to complete the sale – they are now
  authenticated via your back end commerce servers/application (non-web
  workload).  Since users are accessing the backend commerce servers
  which web workloads are not running – CALs or External Connectors will
  be required for users to access these back end servers.

And that means to me I that have to buy a CAL for every registered user....

Now which of my assumptions are right and which are wrong?
Do I really need one CAL for every customer or is the "per processor licensing" enough?

it would be a great pleasure to me if you could help me!!


texts: Indemnity to help in another's defense? What does that mean?

texts:
I am reading through legal materials, and I came across this line:

"We reserve the right to exclusive control over the defense of a claim covered by this clause. If we use this right, you will help us in our defense."

This is regarding indemnity in the company's ability to relinquish all legal actions taken directly toward it in the event that someone using their platform is to be sued. Can anyone tell me specifically what these sentences mean -- especially the last one? I mean more particular to plain English.

This is not asking for legal advice -- it's asking for interpretation of a statement in legal terms.


texts: Is a landlord required to hire a licensed contractor?

texts:
Is a landlord required to hire a licensed contractor for tenant's repairs? If the landlord is licensed, may the landlord legally perform the repairs?

Let's assume the work being performed is substantial - like replacing all the electrical in the kitchen, or relocating the plumbing for the sink.

For clarification, this is in the USA - if the state matters, then let's say Florida. (Though if the state is important, then I think an answer of 'depends on the state' would be more relevant)


texts:
My house comes with a covenant to pay a maintenance charge for some nearby land. Part of this charge is a fee paid to the managing agent for the service of doing the management.
This year they have stated that the management fee will increase by 5%. Their explanation was:

All our management fees have increased by 5% this year, in line with other managing agents.

The Competition Act 1998 Section 2 says:

[...] agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings or concerted practices which—
(a)may affect trade within the United Kingdom, and
(b)have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the United Kingdom,
are prohibited unless they are exempt in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
(2)Subsection (1) applies, in particular, to agreements, decisions or practices which—
(a)directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions;

Am I right in thinking that an increase above inflation "in line with other managing agents" is a "concerted practice" to "fix selling prices" and hence a violation of the law?


texts: Controller processor roles for a SAAS for schools

texts:
Assume the following situation:

There is a cloud-software (SAAS) which is used by a school for basically three things:

Edit: The SAAS was designed with children facilities in mind: Nurseries, daycare-centres, schools, children sport-clubs.

The administrative users of the school manage the school's base-data with it, meaning children, teachers, parents, classrooms, and the relationships between those
Teachers may log in, an post homework, pictures to a timeline, and log absence or presence information of children
Parents may log in to see what teachers posted about their children, report an excused absence, send messages to the teachers, or see any other information shared by the administrative users or the teachers

The SAAS-provider stores the data on servers in the EU, and uses a EU-based transactional mail provider. A DPA is available from both, and the SAAS has signed them.

As to my understanding the company providing the SAAS-software (provider) in this case is the processor.

The controller would be the client of the company (the school) because they decide which data it puts into the system.

There is no relationship between the SAAS-provider and the teachers or parents. They are managed (and their access rights are controlled) by the school administration.

Based on this, the following questions arise for me:

Am I right in assuming that in this case the school is the controller, and the SAAS-provider is the processor?
This would mean that, under GDPR-law, the SAAS-provider needs to provide a DPA and sign it with the school?
The responsibility of having the DPA signed lies with the school, and not with the SAAS-provider? The provider must provide it, and sign it if requested by the school?


texts: Do I have to link to the glyphicon website?

texts:
The Bootstrap homepage states :

  Glyphicons Halflings are normally not available for free, but their creator has made them available for Bootstrap free of cost. As a thank you, we only ask that you include a link back to Glyphicons whenever possible.

- it asks me to "link back to Glyphicons" - is this legally binding ?


texts: If the seller of the house leaves their belongings inside, do they automatically become the buyer's possession when the transaction is complete?

texts:
I've had a peculiar situation recently while buying a house in Washington:

During the initial viewing I've noticed that the garage is full of boxes with various items
After signing the purchase document the boxes were still there
During the final pre inspection (one week before closing) the boxes were still there and my closing agent notified the seller about it
After closing and getting the keys, the boxes were still there
The seller finally picked up their stuff a few days afterwards

But this made me curious - could I have refused to let the seller to pick up their stuff after officially becoming the owner of the property? The common sense perspective is that the house is transferred "as is" and since the seller was warned about the remaining boxes, they should've picked them up before completing the sale or else they've forfeited their rights.


texts: Why does the prosecutor get both the first and the last word at trial?

texts:
In the U.S., rules of court have the prosecutor in a criminal trial giving the first opening statement, followed by the defense's opening statement; and then the final closing statement, after the defense's closing statement.
Giving the prosecution both the first and the last word seems like obviously tilting the scale of justice in its favor, and against the accused.  If so it would seem to violate the legal principle in dubio pro reo and associated customs and practices to assume an accused is innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  At the very least an outsider might think it more fair to have opening and closing statements in the same order: I.e., if the defense speaks last at opening then it also speaks last at closing.
What are the origins and reasons for this custom of giving the prosecution the first and last word at trial?


texts: I've been working with a person in the UK and recently fell into some issues. There's breach of contract being thrown around. I'm just wondering which jurisdiction it would fall under: UK or international? There's no professional contract, just emails. There weren't any clear terms and estimates weren't always given upfront. Now, I'm being charged for more money for editing and money already paid. Just like to know what is legal. thank you.


texts: What is the difference between juridiction and law in a specific region?

texts: The Wikipedia page of jurisdiction does not help me much to comprehend the concept. In my understanding it basically "law in specific region". I understand the concept is much more than that, but I don't know exactly what. Can you give some examples or analogies? And is there anything that is shared between all jurisdictions?


texts: Does the Fair Housing Act protect more privileged groups

texts:
A legal professional friend of mine recently told me that when a cooperative housing organization is considering whether to offer a lease to an applicant, it is OK for those deciding to make statements of the form "I don't want another white guy living here," but not "I don't want another black woman living here."

The logic, I'm told, is that the Fair Housing Act's prohibition on discrimination only applies to socially marginalized groups. Is this so? Has a court specifically addressed whether housing discrimination against, say, white men, is also prohibited?

More generally, under what circumstances do US courts apply anti-discrimination laws differently according to the complainant's race?


texts: What is the difference between "tamper," "alter," and "mutilate"

texts:
For example the words given here

  Whoever falsely makes, forges, counterfeits, mutilates, or alters any passport or instrument
  purporting to be a passport, with intent that the same may be used;

or here

  knowingly removes, obliterates, tampers with, or alters an
        identification number for a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part;


texts: What are the penalties of making false police report in Germany?

texts:
my GF & I have discovered recently that our flatmate had made a false police report in Germany while she visited her partner there.
In her report she told the police that her bag was stolen while in actual fact she sent it back to us in Italy by DHL (Received yesterday), so that she could lie to her partner to stay with her longer.
We received the package today and since we do not want to be involved in any police related matter, can anyone advice the consequences and if it is serious, we would prefer to call the police and explain.
We have all the proof that showed the sender was our flatmate herself.


texts: Original unpublished, derivative work published, is original now considered published?

texts: Let's say it's 1910 and a photographer takes a photo but never publishes the original. Later someone else (with permission) uses that original photo to make a colorized postcard and publishes it. If the post card was published in, say, 1911, then it is public domain in the US, correct? But what about the original photo? Since the colorized version was published, is the original black-and-white version considered published as well? Or does it remain unpublished and therefore copyrighted for the usual creator's-lifetime-plus-70-years?


texts: Legal to demand payment for information of interest to criminal investigators?

texts:
Suppose I have a video surveillance system.  Down the road from me a serious crime occurred.  Investigating officers canvass the neighborhood looking for leads.  I, being a "good" American citizen, choose to not talk to "police" nor answer their questions.  The police, noticing my video surveillance system, ask to inspect any recordings that might have caught something of interest to their investigation.  Again, "flexing" my rights, I ask them to leave and not contact me again about the matter without a warrant.

Some variation of this occurs frequently in fiction, and, if those fictional stories are to be believed, it is generally impossible for crime investigators to secure either a warrant or a subpoena for either persons or devices that they believe only by circumstance might have information that could assist their investigation.  Is this correct?

Now, lying to an investigator, or altering, destroying, or concealing evidence, can subject one to various "obstruction of justice" charges.  So, of course, I do nothing to alter, destroy, or conceal my video surveillance.

But now, feeling a little high on my constitutional rights, I call the head of the investigating agency and say something to the effect of, "Some of your agents were down here today and seemed interested in my video surveillance footage.  I haven't examined it, and I am not altering it, so I don't know what's on it or whether it could help them.  But I paid good money for that system, and not for public benefit.  I'd be willing to give them access in exchange for $5,000."  Could this offer of potential evidence in exchange for money run afoul of any law?

(A less cavalier demand might be, "I'd really like to help, but I need $5,000 to pay my lawyer to ensure that my rights are preserved.")

Again, if fiction is to be believed, crime investigators only get access to this third-party evidence through persuasion.  They never volunteer to pay for access, and they are never asked.  So is this only because crime fiction writers lack imagination, or is there a legal reason?


texts: Will an upside down or mirrored image of trademarked logo infringe on the original trademark?

texts: If someone creates a logo of 100% mirrored logo (180 degress) or upside down version (180 degrees) of an existing trademark, is it illegal? is that infringing any copyright or trademark laws? or that new logo cannot be protected by copyright law or any trademark law? I want to know this just for educational purposes.


texts: Can I find out if my car received a ticket?

texts:
I'd like to know if my car has had any tickets issued against it over the last year (even if they have been paid off). The car was borrowed and I have reason to think it was ticketed but I can't ask the person who borrowed it.

Are tickets in a searchable database somewhere?


texts: Prevent family overriding organ donation wishes

texts:
In the UK, the NHS generally allows families of the deceased to override their expressed wishes to donate their organs.

Is there any legal mechanism whereby a person could prevent this from happening such that their organs were donated regardless of their family's consent?


texts: What to do if you are sued for company name that resemble an existing company name in the UK?

texts:
I've been sued by Oracle for company name under the provisions of section 69(0) of the Companies Act 2006 (the Act) in The Company Names tribunal in the UK.
My company name is JAVASCRIPT CONSULTING LTD.
Tribunal decision: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/company-names-tribunal-decision-javascript-consulting-ltd/decision-on-javascript-consulting-ltd
Did anyone had similar issues?
How could I resolve this situation?
I would be grateful for any advice.


texts: Can a U.S. election be overturned for foreign interference?

texts: Can a U.S. election be overturned due to foreign interference? In the last U.S. election, people were concerned that Russia played a significant role in getting Donald Trump elected, so I was wondering if the current state of the law in the U.S. could allow the result of an election be overturned. If it is the case, I am wondering that are the conditions necessary for the decision to pass, and how long after the election the decision can be taken and by whom.


texts: Is it illegal to wear a mask while on a public sidewalk in Florida?

texts:
According to Chapter 876 Section 12;

  Wearing mask, hood, or other device on public way.—No person or
  persons over 16 years of age shall, while wearing any mask, hood, or
  device whereby any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed, or
  covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter upon, or be or
  appear upon any lane, walk, alley, street, road, highway, or other
  public way in this state.

According to Chapter 876 Section 115 which I believe is how Section 12 applies;

  Applicability; ss. 876.12-876.15.—The provisions of ss. 876.12-876.15 apply only if the person was wearing the mask, hood, or other device:

  (1) With the intent to deprive any person or class of persons of the
  equal protection of the laws or of equal privileges and immunities
  under the laws or for the purpose of preventing the constituted
  authorities of this state or any subdivision thereof from, or
  hindering them in, giving or securing to all persons within this state
  the equal protection of the laws;

  (2) With the intent, by force or threat of force, to injure,
  intimidate, or interfere with any person because of the person’s
  exercise of any right secured by federal, state, or local law or to
  intimidate such person or any other person or any class of persons
  from exercising any right secured by federal, state, or local law;

  (3) With the intent to intimidate, threaten, abuse, or harass any
  other person; or

  (4) While she or he was engaged in conduct that could reasonably lead
  to the institution of a civil or criminal proceeding against her or
  him, with the intent of avoiding identification in such a proceeding.

So if a person is standing silently on a sidewalk, wearing a mask, with a cellphone, recording Police. Are they within their legal right to do so (Wear the mask in public)?


texts:
The Scenario
I bought a notebook online from a private person. As he lives to far away, we agreed on he sending it via DHL. I paid the money, he took the packet to the mail office, but the packet got lost on the way.
DHL started a search, but on my request refused to inform me about the state, with the reasoning that I shall ask the sender, as he holds the contract with DHL.

The Problem
The sender is not responding to my email, texting, or phone calls. How can I get my money back?
Is he required to give me back my money, since I did not receive the notebook? Or shall I blame DHL?

Both me and the seller live in Germany, so answers regarding German law would be appreciated very much :)

Details about the transaction:

I did pay by bank transfer/SEPA, the sender is an individual, he gave me a copy of his ID card, we made no special agreements on refunds or whatsoever


texts: UK - Is there a legal limit to the profit margin of an item or service?

texts:
A friend of mine is adamant that a business is legally bound to not exceed a "fair" price for an item or service based on the cost of materials and hours
of labour used. He claims that businesses have gotten into deep trouble over it.

I told him that this was nonsense: even if one could argue that such a system were morally correct and/or beneficial to the economy, it would be impractical to implement.

I'm interested in the UK mainly but other countries are acceptable.


texts: Is controlling one app from another legal?

texts:
Say I have an app that externally controls other apps, not immitating it, but simulating mobile phone events (simulate mouse touch, button click...) to assume control of it, and provide an alternative interface (UI) for it. Would that mean missusing the "foreign" app?

Let's make it more complicated - I will let the user take the responsibility on running the foreign app(s) using my external interface. I mean, I am not trying to forge anyone, or hide anything, just provide an external accessiblity interface. Is it still deep in the gray zone?


texts: Is carrying a 24" solid wood baseball bat on Halloween as a prop in public illegal in the UK?

texts:
If I was with a group of friends, we weren't causing any trouble, not intoxicated,

but a police car happened to drive by and seen the bat, would I be in trouble?

It's a 24" bat which I believe is the shortened version of a regular bat, solid wood.


texts: What is the Difference Between Click vs Tap vs Press?

texts:
In the context of doing business electronically, filling out digital contracts (such as via DocuSign) or for accepting terms of use on a website ...

Is there any difference from a legal standpoint between the terminology of

"Click here to agree" vs
"Tap here to agree" vs
"Press here to agree"

Can it be reasonably argued that someone on a touch screen with no mouse could not technically "click" the button (but could only "tap") and therefore did not agree? Given in the world of programming these are distinctly different events ("click" is not a "tap"), does this translate the same into the legal realm?


texts: Tax treaty and residence country taxation

texts:
Suppose you are a scholar that has a contract at a university in state S  for less than 2 years, and you are resident in your home country, say Italy. Then you successfully apply for tax treaty benefits, and your income in state S is not taxed.

If S is the US the controlling section is found in Article 20. If If S is New Zealand the controlling section is found in Article 20.

Are you supposed to pay taxes in Italy on your US income?

Are you supposed to pay taxes in Italy on your New Zealand income?

I am asking this as the two articles are worded a bit differently, and in particular the former does not explicitly require the US income to be taxed in Italy.


texts: What can I do legally to a friend of a friend who returned items damaged? Or stole them?

texts:
I'm leaving some things (a suitcase and a computer) with a friend of a friend for a month, so I don't really know the person too well.

I have some sketchy feelings about leaving my stuff with them but there isn't really a choice (can't leave it at home and no storage facility nearby, and can't take it with me).

We're going to write a contract, but I'm just curious about what I can really do legally if he claims he never gave me something (like the computer) or I found out something I kept with him ended up damaged.

Is there something in the contract we can formulate so he's held responsible? What if he refuses to pay for theft/damages?


texts: Why is the FBI raiding the house of a whistleblower over leaked SAT questions?

texts: How did this case trigger FBI involvement? Wouldn't that be a civil matter?


texts: Is there any jurisdiction which holds a website liable for policies of another website for hyperlinking to that website.Liability refers to any requirement like tracking number of link clicks or anything like that mainly.The hyperlink is to legitimate websites atleast at time of hyperlinking ok.


texts: Theory: Murder in neutral waters by person without citizenship?

texts: Theoretical question: Murder in neutral waters by person without citizenship? Will person be prosecuted? What if victim is also a person without citizenship?


texts: Would Hitler have been protected by Sovereign Immunity?

texts:
So, with all the talk of sovereign immunity lately due to the coronavirus lawsuits against the Chinese government, a thought occurred to me:

Would Hitler have been protected by sovereign immunity for his actions as Fuhrer, if he hadn't committed suicide in his bunker? If, after being captured by the Allies, would he have been able to argue in court that the charges against him should be dismissed because of sovereign immunity? Would such an argument have been successful, if it was heard in a fair court?


texts: Are students from Government Aided schools eligible for the 7.5% reservation in NEET?

texts:
TamilNadu government recently passed a bill that provides a 7.5% reservation for government school students in the NEET medical entrance exam. In TamilNadu, usually government and aided schools are treated in the same manner while concerning government schemes e.g)Nutrion meals, laptops schemes, etc...
My question is that, Is this reservation applicable for students studying in Government Aided schools too? I couldn't find any information related to this.


texts: What specific criteria must a custom built vehicle meet in order to drive on public roads?

texts: Assuming in the state of Michigan, I have seen this Secretary of State web page on assembled vehicles, however, the two forms attached (BFS-72) and (TR-54) seem very basic and non-technical for the most part. My question is is it really that easy to build a vehicle that meets the criteria, if so, are there any restrictions as far as obtaining insurance for such a custom-built vehicle, and lastly would it be able to be driven out-of-state?


texts: If I poop in a box and mail it to someone, what charges could I face?

texts:
NOTE: I want to emphasize that I don't plan on actually doing this.  I'm just curious about it because of the idea's sheer absurdity.  "Why" is not within the scope of this question.

Suppose that there's someone I really don't like.  To express my hatred of this person, I decide that symbolism would speak louder than words.  So I relieve myself in a box and mail it to them.

I feel like the exact consequences for this sort of thing would vary by state and municipality.  So here's my specific question: How would the following factors determine the legal consequences I face after this act?

The existing relationship (if any) between me and the recipient.
The service I use to mail the "package" (e.g. the Postal Service vs. a private carrier like UPS).
The state in which the sender and the recipient live.
Whether or not I also wrap the "payload" in something (a bag, a smaller box, Tupperware, etc.).
Whether or not this particular "package" is even legal to mail.

You can assume:

The recipient lives in America, but not necessarily in the same city or state as me (New York).
I provide a correct return address.
The package is not intercepted.  The recipient gets the package and opens it.
There's no political motivation.
I don't leave a written message in the box (no letter or anything).
The box is not damaged or weakened by my "payload".


texts: Can prosecutors add charges to get an individual to plead guilty?

texts: Can a prosecutor add additional charges to pressure a defendant to plead guilty to the original charges?


texts: Bank tell me it is safe to wait for real-estate loan offer

texts:
I'm trying to buy a real-estate and I have already signed a sales agreement.

The bank tells me it is slow currently to print an "Offre de prêt" (loan offer), and has given an "Accord de prêt" document (agreement to loan). This document is not enough to

This document is valid for one month and is dated a month ago from now. It also mention It also says that I should return the signed loan offer before next friday, but I don't have them yet.

Can the bank say tomorrow that their agreement has expired because I haven't signed the documents they didn't send to me?

The bank tells me they can't make any promise about when they will be able to print the loan offer, and I have to pay large compensation to the seller (tens of thousands euros) if I'm not able to give them the full payement in time.

What should I do regarding this document? Does it have any legal, enforcable value?


texts: What are some pitfalls and ramifications of publishing written content to Youtube as audio content

texts:
Someone has written content and wishes to read it aloud as audio-based entertainment. The content is of such a nature as could also be feasibly published in novel form.

If the content is published to Youtube, does it receive legal protection as a written work? Moreover, can the creator self-publish it in PDF form through a service such as Amazon while also maintaining ownership of the audio content? How easy is it for someone to republish the work as their own? Are there important legal ramifications relevant to the interests of the creator not being mentioned here?


texts:
If I make a Google Drive document publicly accessible, can others use that information as they wish or is there a specific license that applies? For example, if I record experimental data in a spreadsheet and generate a public sharing link, is this data now in the public domain available for any commercial and non-commercial use cases?

I chatted with the Google Suite support team about this but they did not know the answer...


texts: What governs the common law marriage status of polyamorous marriages?

texts: When common law marriages are enforceable, in a situation where three or more individuals live together as a "married" romantic group, what determines the married or unmarried status of the individuals?


texts:
I have read the question and answer here: Are parking tickets enforcable

But I would like to know that if a person got a parking ticket in Pennsylvania for a street sweeper violation and didn't know until they got a registered letter from the city.

In that letter, they state that a person can plead not guilty (and send in a bond amount) or guilty. Which leads me to think that it's a criminal offense and not a civil one.

If it's a criminal offense, wouldn't the burden of proof be on the city to prove that a particular person (and not just the owner) did the parking? Or is it really sufficient to serve the person who they think is the owner?

Can they really issue a warrant for arrest if the owner might not have ever set foot in that state before?

If personal service isn't made (as outlined in the above question) then is a parking ticket in PA really enforceable?

What if the owner of the car doesn't live in Pennsylvania and instead lives in Texas? Can they be extradited to PA from TX or placed under arrest somehow?


texts: As many others all over the world, I follow the Steven Avery case. Can you explain to me this matter? According to an article on the internet, "a federal judge has overturned the 1st Degree Intentional Homicide conviction for Avery's nephew, a decision backed up by a three-judge panel in a federal appeals court". I thought that this case must be treated within the frame of the law of the state (in this case Wisconsin). As far as I know B. Obama refused to grant a pardon from this reason. So why is the federal judge involeved in this case right now?


texts: Who owns the intellectual property that I complete outside of work?

texts:
I'm currently employed for a company as a software engineer. In my own time separate from my employment I write software. The software I write on my own has nothing remotely to do with my employment. My employment contract states:

  All work produced for the Employer by the Employee under this agreement or otherwise and the right to the copyright and all other intelectual property in all such work is to be the sole property of the Employer.

My question is regarding "or otherwise" in the statement above. Does it mean that work not produced for the employer is also the sole property of the employer? Or does it mean that work produced for the employer not covered by the agreement is the sole property of the employer? It seems ambiguous to me. Which is correct meaning?


texts: How do I let others to share my research paper but without modifying its content?

texts:
I'm about to publish a paper. It will be in PDF format. I want others to copy and share that file. But I don't want them to modify the content.

What copyright license I should use for that?


texts: Is it legal to publish a game that already exists but it was 100% developed by me

texts:
I am a lover of classic games and I've developed some classical games such as:

Connect 4
Monopoly
Trivial
Battleship

My main question is what will happen if I publish any of these applications in the existing app stores such as Play Store or App Store for Android/iOS.
Can I create my own games and publish them? Or I will encounter legal problems because these games have been around for years and are protected by the creators.
Should I use an exclusive design or can I rely on the designs of the original games?
Nowadays, I can see most of these games are published by different developers than the original creator of the game.


texts: How are businesses based outside, but doing business inside of the US taxed?

texts: I am looking specifically for how the U.S. taxes businesses that originate from another country, but are doing business within the U.S., with or without operations taking place at a permanent address in the U.S. The source for this information should preferably be a .gov website.


texts: Can a LGBT person sue the parents of a child who refuses to sell lemonade to them?

texts:
According to Wikipedia, running a lemonade stand is a business.

If a child has been instructed by his/her parents not to sell lemonade to a LGBT person, can the LGBT person sue the child's parents based on sexual-orientation discrimination? Or are home-based businesses exempt from having to serve everyone in the general public?


texts:
This is a follow-up from my previous question.

Following my discussion with HR about the ethical violation of my manager and some colleagues, I was suddenly fired without any prior notice from my current employer. They put a few false labels on me, and give me a termination letter. They also asked me to return the sign-on bonus back.

What are the US laws for firing an employee? Shouldn't I get an unemployed payment for a few months or something similar? I'm in Texas, US. In the employment letter, the phrase "at-will" is used.


texts:
The Android app "Showbox" allows users to stream the latest movies (still in the cinema) to their device for watching (but not keeping). Is this app legal to use in the UK?

EDIT:
After researching this elsewhere, it seems like there's a loophole and this is actually legal. So I wanted to ask the question here, to find out for sure.

EDIT 2:
Of particular note, the Showbox servers are hosted in Russia, therefore there is no one to prosecute.


texts: Could the FBI take action against me for owning a pirated game?

texts:
I bought a used PS4 game from Amazon Warehouse. Well, the disc is obviously pirated (https://imgur.com/gallery/57eGpAc) and so when I contacted Amazon to report the matter, I was instructed to throw away the counterfeit.

For those who may not know, Amazon Warehouse is not a third party seller but an extension of their own company. From their own site:

  Amazon Warehouse is a business of Amazon that sells quality used products and rents out used textbooks. We are a trusted destination for customers to find deals on used products at a discounted price.

Could this count as tampering/destroying of evidence in any way and could I be held responsible by the FBI? Additionally, does Amazon put me at legal risk since I am, unknowingly, buying illegal and copyright-infringed software?


texts: Are gameplay mechanics subject to copyright?

texts:
I'm willing to remake an old video game, first as a hobby project, but in the future I'd like to publish it online, for free or as a commercial project.

I've been reading for a while about copyright infringement, and despite not copying any artistic assets, lore, names, or things like that, I'm afraid I could run into copyright infringement.

The reason why I think so, is because I would be using some very specific mechanics that are key to the gameplay, and I suspect those mechanics can be subject of copyright.

Without entering into much detail, are there any kind of rules that apply to gameplay or game mechanics regarding copyright?


texts:
I came across a section of the Google Maps Terms of Service (link) that confuses me. I am currently developing a phone app and would like to use Google Maps. Is this section saying that Google owns my app?

Thanks for the help!

  Google’s Proprietary Rights.

  You understand and agree that Google and its licensors and their
  suppliers (as applicable) own all legal right, title, and interest in
  and to the Service and Content, including any intellectual property
  rights in the Service and Content (whether those rights are registered
  or not, and wherever in the world those rights may exist).


texts: Do civil and political rights impose immediate or progressive duties?

texts: I knew that the expenditure of civil and political rights imposes on States, as well as economic and social rights. For instance, a State should train police or other public officials to establish a safeguard system. But I would like to know whether civil and political rights are immediate duties or progressive realization?


texts:
I am unsure where I heard of this, but the basic premise is that if an individual in says "Sorry" either to law-enforcement or to another party, they are in effect, assuming fault for a given action.

i.e. car accident: two cars, one rear-ends the other. The presumably at-fault driver says "Sorry" and this is documented. Insurance companies would utilize such a statement as an admission of guilt.

To what degree is this claim true? Should a person in all potentially legal-situation remain silent and not communicate at all?


texts: How words affect apprehension in assault

texts:
Assault has four elements:

intent
apprehension
causation
damages

To meet the apprehension requirement there must be a reasonable belief or awareness of imminent harmful or offensive contact that would be a battery if completed.

My textbook discusses how words may affect apprehension. They say the following:

  Words may characterize or even negate a gesture – “if it were not for your white hair I would punch you in the nose.”

The book also says

  But words cannot present a tortious alternative – “your money or your life”

I am not sure what my textbook is trying to say by this. I think that in the first sentence it is showing an example of words that negate apprehension. The second sentence, however, confuses me. Explain what the text means by tortious alternative and whether the tortious alternative prevents apprehension or allows it.


texts: Legal Form Between Two People Starting Company

texts:
I'm starting a company with someone, however, we are working on creating a finalized beginning product first. What form(s) should I go about having us sign to essentially make it so neither of us can screw each other?

So I can't ditch the project with the product and neither can he?


texts:
How does Innocent Misrepresentation differs from Mistake?
Scriven Brothers & Co. v Hindley (1913) (quoted below) illustrates my bewilderment. Defendant made a false statement of fact, acted upon by Plaintiff, pre-contractually that definitely induced the P to contract. So isn't it obvious D made an innocent misrepresentation to P?
Thus why did the first 2 textbooks below discuss it in solely the chapter on mistake, not (again) in misrepresentation? The third textbook discusses it in solely Ch 2 on Offer and Acceptance, and never again, not even Mistake!

Poole, Shaw-Mellors. Contract Law Concentrate (4 ed 2019). p 38.

  FACTS: The Ds mistakenly bid for bales of tow believing they were hemp. At the auction the Ds had
  examined a sample, which happened to be hemp, and thought that all the bales were hemp because
  they all had the same shipping mark. This was accepted as a reasonable interpretation but so too was
  the auctioneer’s belief that the bales being sold were tow.

  HELD: There was no contract and the Ds did not have to pay for the tow.

  However, in Tamplin v James (1880) the purchaser mistakenly believed the lot of property being
  sold included some garden but had failed to check the plan which indicated that no garden was
  included. The purchaser was at fault and could not avoid the contract by citing his mistake.

Anson's Law of Contract (2016 30 ed). p 275. Note the 31st ed will be published in Apr 2020.

          Similarly, if A makes to B an offer which is ambiguous in its terms, or is rendered
  ambiguous by the circumstances surrounding it, and B accepts the offer in a different
  sense from that in which it is meant, then unless an objective construction requires
  otherwise, B may effectively maintain that there is no binding contract. In Scriven Bros
  & Co v Hindley & Co:37

    S instructed an auctioneer to sell certain bales of hemp and tow. These bore the same
    shipping mark and were described in the auction catalogue as so many bales in different
    lots with no indication of the difference in their contents. H’s manager examined samples
    of the hemp before the sale intending to bid for the hemp alone. At the auction, the tow was
    put up for sale, and H’s buyer, believing it to be hemp, made a bid which was a reasonable
    one if it had been intended for hemp, but an excessive one for tow. This bid was accepted
    by the auctioneer, who did not realize the buyer’s mistake, but merely thought the bid an
    extravagant one for tow. S sought to enforce the contract by suing for the price.

  It was clear that offer and acceptance did not coincide. S intended to sell tow; H’s buyer,
  misled by the auction catalogue, intended to buy hemp. The Court held that there was
  nothing in H’s conduct which would estop it from pleading that the parties were not
  in agreement as to the subject- matter of the sale— or, to put it in the language of the
  objective test set out by Blackburn J in Smith v Hughes,38 H had not so conducted itself
  that a reasonable man would believe that it was assenting to S’s terms. Accordingly, no
  contract had come into existence, and H was not liable.

O'Sullivan & Hilliard's The Law of Contract (2018 8 ed). p. 16.

  2.17 In Scriven v Hindley (1913), the claimant was selling bales of hemp and bales of tow at
  auction. However, he did not make clear which lot was the hemp and which lot was the
  tow. The defendant, thinking he was bidding for the lot that contained the hemp, actually
  bid for the tow. It was held that there was no contract for the sale of the tow, because
  the defendant’s apparent intent (to bid for the tow) had been caused by the claimant’s
  carelessness in not making it clear which lot was which. Therefore, because the objective
  principle did not apply, the court looked at the parties’ actual intention. The defendant’s
  intention (to buy the hemp) did not coincide with the claimant’s intention (to sell the
  defendant the tow) so there was no contract.


texts:
I was pulled over and the cop said that the reason was that when he ran the tags he couldn't find insurance on the car.

A former officer told me that, that is not a reason to pull someone over. He said if someone is speeding, ran a red light, made a wrong turn etc. those are reasons to pull someone over and THEN if it comes up that you don’t have insurance or they can’t find it I'm their system, that's when they can add that on as no proof of insurance. But he said simply pulling someone over because he doesn’t see insurance is an illegal stop.

Was that a legal stop? Then he asked for drivers license and proof of insurance. The car was not mine so I told him I didn’t have proof of insurance and I didn’t have my license on me. So he gave me a pen and pad to write down the name. I write down my sisters name assuming because it's her car he’d be able to find it's registered to her and he'd find the insurance I didn't know it was my first time ever ever stopped. Another office came and he asked for MY name in specific so I gave it to him and he said is that the same name you gave to the other officer I said no I gave home my sisters name because that's who's car this is.

In the end the original cop told me to step out, he searched the car (didn't find anything) and then arrested me for failure to ID and false information.

Should I have been taken to jail if I didn’t intentionally give him a wrong name? I told him I didn't intentionally give him a wrong name and in the end he still had my full name, address and date of birth.


texts: Requesting police report and criminal applications

texts: I am in Massachusetts and I got a criminal traffic citation. How can I request police report and criminal citations?


texts: What can I do if someone forges letters in my name?

texts: Someone has been forging letters to my children's schools in my name.  How can I put a stop to this?


texts:
Who owns the parking lot near the shopping mall and is it possible to skate there and near shopping mall where is very few cars and people? Do the guards have the right to ask you to leave the place?
I wonder what is the approach in the legislation of different countries


texts: Commercial Use of Recorded Output made by Speech Synthesis via Web Speech API on Chrome

texts:
I use the Web Speech API via Chrome to synthesize speech of my original text.
I record the output audio using some other software.

Do I own the copyrights to that recording? Can I sell the recorded audio file? Can I use it in my commercial YouTubes for instance?

According to Chrome's terms (as depicted here: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/privacy/eula_text.html), it would seem to me - I am indeed the owner of the recording, as Chrome's speech api is given as one of Chrome's services, which I can use to produce my own content. But - I would like to be sure.

The closest answer by Google I saw is here:
https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-speech-api/2013Jul/0001.html
Which says the web speech api can be used for commercial. My specific question is about the recorded audio file.

NEW:
We asked Google’s legal team about it, and they asked us to ask a private attorney.
So, we asked one of the leading copyrights attorneys - Attorney Rod Underhill from California about it. We published his full answer on http://ttsreader.com/blog/2017/05/10/copyright/


texts: Can you trademark a proper noun from a work of fiction?

texts:
We were just having a discussion whether Lush's naming of a mouthwash as "Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster" is benefiting from the popularity of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series, which led to the intellectual property concerns behind this. My two questions are:
1. Could the Adams estate legally challenge Lush in any way, for use of this name?
2. Would Lush be able trademark the name, given they are actually trading a product with that name?

I'm in the UK, but I'm sort of interested whether there are any interesting interactions of this sort between IPR law and products in works of fiction anywhere in the world.


texts: Why is there an apparent legal bias against digital services?

texts:
Over the years, many websites - mostly file-sharing websites - have been taken down due to the users using the service for less-than-legal activities. Most of these websites posted well-visible disclaimers on their website that such use goes against the intent of the website. Often the scope of operations went well beyond reasonably moderated on a user level.

At the same time, if someone were to use any other service or product for illegal ends, it is the individual rather than the company that is punished (whether it is guns, chemicals, or anything else).

Why does this apparent bias against digital services exist - and is it actually codified?


texts: I have a bill from a health care provider that I did go to but they are charging me for services I did not receive. They will not agree that they did not provide these services and continue to bill me. I believe I would win in small claims court, but I am afraid that they will report me to the credit reporting agencies at just the wrong time and then take too long to sue me. How can I force them to either take it to court or drop the charges?


texts:
I have owned a domain in the U.S. for last sixteen years. A foreign entity, who started operations in their country of origin (in Europe), filed a conflicting trademark in their own country in the 70's, but did not file a conflicting trademark in the U.S. until about five years after my domain registration.

When I registered the domain, I was unaware of the foreign entity. I have used the domain in question for my own business purposes, but it has no public web presence. Now the foreign entity, whose operations in the U.S. are growing, wants the name. The domain name is the exact name of the foreign business, and also the exact word listed in the U.S. trademark, and it cannot be considered a generic word.

Does an international trademark filing carry any weight in a U.S. court? Does the fact that domain registration precedes the U.S. trademark registration by several years create any negotiation leverage?


texts:
Paypal, as part of their banking license, perform random checks on accounts where they ask for Photo ID, Proof of Address and Proof of Age. However, if one is unable to provide this information, for whatever reason, they prevent you withdrawing your funds for 180 days.

Is this legal?

(Specifically in the UK if that's relevant)


texts: Can logical fallacies used in courtroom arguments be challenged?

texts:
Imagine a trial where a judge, attorney or witness says something that contains a logical fallacy or some similar form of deception.

Can that individual be challenged? In other words, could the opposing attorney object, saying, "What you said is a red herring," or "You just gave us a classic example of a strawman argument"?


texts: My city regulates fences to be no more than 6' in height. In many cases, the fence as a support for growing tall hedges that could exceed this height. I can't find a definition of a fence in my city codes - is it reasonable take the common definition of what a fence is and assume that a hedge won't be considered a fence for the purposes of height limitation?


texts:
Imagine I buy and sell coffee products, and have done so legally for many years.
However, the FDA decides that coffee is a carcinogen, an addictive drug, and extremely dangerous, and consequently places it on Schedule I drug, along with Heroin.

I continue to buy and sell coffee entirely unaware of the change in law. Then the feds come over, bust down my door and I am facing a charge of dealing schedule 1 drugs, and life imprisonment.

What is the legal situation here? Plainly I had no mens rea, I was entirely unaware of the change in the law, and reasonably would have expected my previously legal activity to continue to be legal.

However, I also know the epithet that ignorance of the law is no defense. So what would my legal situation be here?


texts: Does Waze qualify as a "share-the-expense carpool"?

texts:
Every instance of the word "livery" in my insurance policy's exceptions list is followed by an exemption for "share-the-expense" car pools (i.e. the policy is conventional in that it does cover accidents that occur during so-called "share-the-expense" carpooling.)
I know there's a broad precedent already in-place for what this sort of carpool definition may encompass. But has Waze Carpool per se been tried, and, if so, found lacking in this?
Several Reddit threads ([CA] /r/wazecarpool, [CA] /r/Insurance) have put forth the idea that it'd qualify, but nobody's actually confirmed it.
Waze Carpool considers itself “…a fresh way to share the road and the cost of commuting”, emphasizing that it's a way to  “Share the cost of gas and tolls”… but do insurance companies agree?

PART B - MEDICAL PAYMENTS COVERAGE
Exclusions
We do not provide Medical Payments Coverage for any "insured" for "bodily injury:"
…

Sustained while "occupying" "your covered auto" when it is being used as a public or livery conveyance. This exclusion (2.) does not apply to a share-the-expense car pool.

PART C - UNINSURED MOTORISTS COVERAGE
EXCLUSIONS
…
B. We do not provide Uninsured Motorists Coverage for "bodily injury" sustained by any "insured:"
…

While "occupying" "your covered auto" when it is being used as a public or livery conveyance. This exclusion (B.2.) does not apply to a share-the-expense car pool.

PART D - COVERAGE FOR DAMAGE TO YOUR AUTO
Exclusions
We will not pay for:

Loss to "your covered auto" or any "non-owned auto" which occurs while it is being used as a public or livery conveyance. This exclusion (1.) does not apply to a share-the-expense car pool.


texts: Could a voice response to (Amazon Echo) Alexa Skill be legally construed as a digital signature?

texts:
I'm currently developing an Alexa Skill for a client and would like to add the ability for the Alexa Skill user (where the skill user is anonymous, i.e. the skill is not linked to an account) to be able to agree to accept email and/or text messages. In the US various laws (i.e. Can Spam), and more recent acts protect the public from unsolicited communications by email and SMS text messaging by commercial entities. It's my understanding that the user must specifically agree to this happening, and the agreement must use some form of digital signature - for example a verbal agreement to SMS/email to a customer service rep isn't sufficient.
Any opinions on whether a digital acceptance could be legally acceptable using an Alexa response - although it's "verbal" the system is converting that speech utterance to text, i.e. it's not a conversational approval (which is prohibited) in the sense meant by the congressional acts.

Thanks


texts: Pretending to be from the "Freedom to Breathe Agency": impersonating an officer?

texts:
There's a woman going around claiming to be from the federal "Freedom to Breathe Agency", telling store workers that they can personally be sued for telling customers that they need to wear a mask.
Multiple people have said that she should be arrested for impersonating a federal officer. However, 18 U.S. Code § 912 - Officer or employee of the United States says:

Whoever falsely assumes or pretends to be an officer or employee acting under the authority of the United States or any department, agency or officer thereof, and acts as such, or in such pretended character demands or obtains any money, paper, document, or thing of value, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

IANAL, but I don't think tricking an employee into believing that they can be personally sued for asking a customer to wear a mask counts as "thing of value".
So what does "act as such" mean when the person claims to be from a non-existent agency?  Since there isn't any federal Freedom to Breathe Agency, there doesn't exist any way that an employee of it would act.
(NOTE: The woman claiming to be from the "Freedom to Breathe Agency" might very well have committed other crimes.  I'm solely asking about the crime of impersonation.)


texts: Realtor's 'For Sale' sign was on wrong property & I bought under impression it was as-shown

texts:
Clearly I didn't perform due diligence here...although the Control Map and Parcel number were listed correctly, and a surveyor re-walked the property (a vacant lot, ~1 acre in size) & provided me a copy before closing, I only walked the neighboring lot, under the impression that it was the one, since the realtor's sign was ~100 yards away from the correct one.
Moreover, the lot I purchased has overhead power lines running straight through the middle of the property, and their regulations (as a subsidiary of a federal utility Authority) state that easements are 15' to either side of the lines...rendering my new lot practically useless for building a residence.
When I first saw the lot listing on Redfin, there was not a mention of power lines in the description. When I used Street View on Google Maps at the front edge of where it showed the lot boundary, there was indeed power lines. So I called the realtor and asked, to which she replied "not that I'm aware of."
It's worth mentioning that this is in a fairly-rural area, and people I've talked with who live nearby have said that they ran into confusing aspects of where their actual lot was as well. Also, a person who has a house on the lot behind mine stated that the requirements for a building permit from the county have recently changed for that area, due to more frequent rockslides.
We closed on this lot less than 30 days ago. Would it be useful to file a formal rescission? Or, do I have any valid basis to sue


texts: How to manage landlord/landlady's aggression towards a child?

texts:
Our landlord/landlady (an elderly couple) came to us to demand that our 3 year old daughter stops playing at home because it disturbs the neighbours living on the floor below.

Kindergartens are currently closed in Germany, and this mean our daughter spends more time at home with us. When she's excited, she's more likely to run than walk as she moves from one room to another. Sometimes she jumps, because she's dancing to a song.

The noise is exaggerated since the floor is made of wooding material and the build is quite old. However, we never had any complains about our business at home, until recently. The complaining neighbours moved in only recently.

We are quite sensitive to the complaints, and advised our daughter as reasonably as we usually communicate with her. But we expected it would take days or weeks for her to adjust to this new request. After all, she is a child and not a robot.

However, the landlord/landlady came back a second time to relay the neighbour's complaints. They additional made comments like: we think your daughter is troublesome, and the administrator at her kindergarten (who is now recently retired and a friend of theirs) mentioned to us that she is difficult. That comment was a shock to us, as the minders at the kindergarten have so far given us excellent and sweet feedbacks regarding our daughter's conduct. We are also aware that she assumes a quite courteous attitude at her kindergarten compared to home where she expresses her emotions without a reservation.

As we continued to attempt managing the situation, they became even more aggressive stating your child is not normal and she lacks education. I finally told the woman to mind your business, as she was the last person I spoke to on the phone.

We can ignore their attempt to be disrespectful to us. But we are immensely unhappy about the comments the couple made about my daughter. We are utterly shocked. And my wife now feels uncomfortable about home.

We strongly doubt that our landlord/landlady were telling the truth. But we want to understand what makes them feel that they can make such statement to us. We are considering legal actions but we are not sure how to proceed without damaging relationships at our daughter's kindergarten as she appears to be happy there and has many friends already there.

Does it make sense to take action against the kindergarten in order to force the landlord/landlady to divulge their source of information which they claim to have about our daughter? Or directly against the landlord/landlady since we basically want them to "behave"?

See related question: Can a phone conversation be summoned from telecom operator as evidence in court of law.


texts: What happens if a story is not copy righted

texts: If a person makes a story up and doesn't copyright it can anyone copy it and then copyright it themselves?


texts:
Recently i passed by a large local mosque.  The mosque property was posted "No Gun Zone" at the property boundaries.

If a resident posted such signs on their property then missionaries, delivery people, etc could continue to come and knock on their door as has been common for ages.

Police offixers executing warrants would obviously not need heed the signs.  Similarly if police are responding to exigent circumstances.

What if there is no warrant or exigent circumstances and police are doing a "knock and talk".  Logically they could disarm before entering the property and do a compliant knock and talk.  But i doubt they would be willing to disarm.

My question is can a homeowner modify the implied lixense to come to the door to knock? If the modified license does not allow guns, is an armed police officers entry a trespass?

If an armed police officer came to the door and claimed to see, hear, smell contraband not detectable off property is that admissible?


texts: What are the formal steps that a legislator follows when enacting positive law?

texts:
Someone has a problem or unmet need.
That person approaches a legislator with the problem or unmet need.
The legislator follows a process to reason.
The legislator follows a process to verbally communicate an idea (the solution) and the consequences of doing or not doing something.

I am looking for these processes.

I am not looking for the legislative process i.e. how congress passes a bill.

Thank you.


texts: Called court to learn status of warrant but there’s no record of one

texts: I was hoping to resolve a warrant, as I should most definitely have one, in Colorado Springs, El Paso County.  However, I called the county's warrant office and the clerk said they did not have me in their system for a warrant. This is over a matter which occurred 2 years ago. Does this mean there is for certain no warrant, or that they are negligent in simply updating their database?


texts: How to legally use patented designs for new CAD invention

texts:
I would like to create a mechanical piece of hardware using commercially purchased goods, for instance, drivetrain components like constant-velocity joints and driveshafts which can be purchased. I imagine some of this is patented.

How can I obtain the rights to create 3d replicas of such objects in my modeling software of preference such that I can distribute my design with that product as part of it? I would be modeling these items either myself using mechanical drawings I'm provided or converting from various repositories on the internet.

Ideally, I would distribute the completed model under GPL.


texts: Can I include sample code in my own program without breaching copyright rules?

texts:
I made a program using NAudio (under Microsoft Public License) but including parts of the NAudio sample code. I want to distribute this program, probably as open source.

Is it legal if i distribute my program?

If so, do I have to do it under the MS-PL or can I use different licences (maybe putting the ms-pl code in a subfolder with a separate license.txt file)?

Can I insert my copyright notices in the program?


texts:
I am involved in a nasty domestic dispute with a family member.
This domestic dispute involves my knowledge of criminal activity by persons X, Y and Z. I reported this criminal activity to my local police department.

One of my family members is married to person X and became very upset when told that I had reported this information to the police. My family member sent me the following text message:

  You are messing with the wrong people. Person X is going to come after you bad. You have made a lot of people very angry. I would watch my back if I were you.

Is this remark a criminal threat against me?

Should I report it to the police?


texts: Did the UK Prime Minister just accidentally claim to have committed treason?

texts:
Section 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848 says:

If any person whatsoever shall, within the United Kingdom or without, compass, imagine, invent, devise, or intend to deprive or depose our Most Gracious Lady the Queen, from the style, honour, or royal name of the imperial crown of the United Kingdom, or of any other of her Majesty’s dominions and countries, or to levy war against her Majesty, within any part of the United Kingdom, in order by force or constraint to compel her to change her measures or counsels, or in order to put any force or constraint upon or in order to intimidate or overawe both Houses or either House of Parliament, or to move or stir any foreigner or stranger with force to invade the United Kingdom or any other of her Majesty’s dominions or countries under the obeisance of her Majesty, and such compassings, imaginations, inventions, devices, or intentions, or any of them, shall express, utter, or declare, by publishing any printing or writing or by any overt act or deed, every person so offending shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable to be transported beyond the seas for the term or his or her natural life.

The Prime Minister has written to claim of his own Withdrawal Agreement from the EU:

We are being told that the EU will not only impose tariffs on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, but that they might actually stop the transport of food products from GB to NI.

I have to say that we never seriously believed that the EU would be willing to use a treaty, negotiated in good faith, to blockade one part of the UK, to cut it off, or that they would actually threaten to destroy the economic and territorial integrity of the UK.

He goes on to mix language such as "actively undermining the Union of our country" and "we cannot leave the theoretical power to carve up our country – to divide it – in the hands of an international organisation." with remarks describing the EU as "friends".
The Prime Minister was both personally responsible for the very agreement he is now complaining about, and also responsible for it being pushed through Parliament at speed and with less oversight than would be normal for such an agreement. Many of the issues now being considered problematic were raised not only at the time, but years earlier.
My question is:
Do the Prime Minister's current statements mean that his previous actions in signing the Withdrawal Agreement were threatening to "deprive" the monarch of her territory, and that by pushing it through Parliament at speed and in the manner in which he did, that he "intimidated or overawed" at least one of those Houses in this regard?
As I have no legal training, I cannot trust my own interpretation of the Act: my interpretation would mean all republicans would be in prison for life, which clearly doesn't happen.
I am not asking if the Withdrawal Agreement actually has the effect that the Prime Minister claims it has, but rather what would be true if one assumes it has the effect that the Prime Minister claims it has.


texts:
There may be a need to take an HOA to court for breach of contract.  Before filing in small claims court, it makes sense to search the governing document for any requirements to resolve the matter in non-court venues.  What are the synonyms for non-court venues.  I Googled mediation and found these synonyms:

arbitration
conciliation
intervention
negotiation
reconciliation
intercession
interposition

Any additions to the list (please edit this post) are appreciated.

Are there any 'obvious' (to a seasoned professional) synonyms that have been missed?


texts: Is there legal recourse against revenge defecation?

texts:
TL;DR
If someone were to maliciously defecate in their roommate's room, perhaps hiding it under their bed or in a drawer, what kind of legal action could their roommate take against them.
Background
My sister-in-law (we'll call her Anne) has a terrible, horrible roommate (we'll say Jane) that actively makes her life miserable. Thankfully, Anne is moving into a new place in a month, but things are still very bad between them.
Earlier this week, Anne woke up with stomach pains and could tell she had diarrhea. She laid in bed for a while, but eventually got the energy to get up to use the bathroom. Jane has a habit of waiting to hear Anne get up, then rush into the bathroom and monopolize it for an hour+ (she absolutely does it on purpose). Anne has been forced to urinate in the kitchen sink a handful of times because of this. So when this happened on diarrhea morning, Anne laid on the floor trying to wait it out. Jane decided to take her 4th shower in 24 hours (she had also taken one at 4 AM for some reason), and, because the door was still locked, Anne was forced to poop into the kitchen sink and use the garbage disposal to wash it down. Afterwards, she and her sisters talked on the phone about how she should have just pooped in Jane's room, perhaps hiding it somewhere. Anne remarked that she may just do that anyway as a parting gift.
If she does poop in Jane's room, is there some sort of legal action Jane could pursue against Anne? How serious would it be? (Anne lives in LA)


texts: Can an out of state driver's license be used to verify DOB in Illinois for a state ID?

texts:
The DMV page to apply for a state ID or driver's license in Illinois states that you need to bring proof of your date of birth to obtain an ID card. It links to an acceptable documents PDF which under Group B specifies that an "Illinois Driver's License" is one acceptable form of identification among a handful of others. It does not list out of state identification. Below this list it states

Group B documents must contain the applicant’s full name and complete date of birth and must be verifiable. To be verifiable, it must be possible to contact the regulatory authority to confirm the authenticity of the document.

The PDF specifically says "Illinois Driver's License" but my out of state license lists my full name, date of birth, and it certainly seems like it should be verifiable by their definition.
Can an out of state license be used as proof of date of birth? If it cannot be used, why?


texts: Is it legal for me to build a large rocket in the U.S.?

texts:
So I want to build a rocket from an aluminum pipe, with the inside coated with pyrolitic carbon, and filled APCP finocyl bore and an avionics computer conroling the parachute In the nose cone. I was thinking maybe 40 feet long 2-3 feet around no payload section just a go pro, avionics computer, altimeter, wind speed measure, and parachute/charge in nose. How would I legally do this?

I have spent time researching it. However there is only Information on model rockets as in class 1, 2, and 3. Nothing on actual rockets like CSXT gofast rocket.


texts: Expiration for confidential technical knowledge

texts:
While working at previous employers I have been exposed to confidential technical information. As usual, this is covered in the confidentiality agreement that I signed. The agreement puts no expiration date on this, i.e. it says something like  "during your employment and any time thereafter".

Now in many cases, this information is quite old, i.e. 10+ years and I have no way of knowing whether the company would still consider it confidential, uses is or is even aware of it's existence any more.

Technical knowledge in general progresses fast so there is some "time value" on it: the older it gets, the less relevant and confidential it will be.

Is there a reasonable expectation of when the confidentiality requirement for for general technical information expires? It's not patented or protected in any other formal way.


texts: Where can I find the verdict of Harvey Weinstein's trial?

texts:
I want to find raw information about Harvey Weinstein's trial.
Verdict, protocol, court documents, etc.

Preferably from an official government source.

Help or links appreciated


texts: GDPR and logging which user accessed which personal information

texts:
If an organization stores personal information on their website/web application (e.g. database) GDPR states that that given organization should be able to determine and report who accessed what personal information if for example an inquiry is made. Does that mean that for example an user identifier of some sort should be add to HTTP request logging in server logs?

If yes, wouldn't that be against GDPR as after that a specific user could be profiled and followed? If the server logs gather user IP addresses for security reasons wouldn't gathering also an user identifier cause the gathering of IP addresses being then against GDPR as now the user and the IP can be directly connected?


texts: Discrimination outside protected characteristics?

texts:
I am an avid community user for a paid software. The users buy the software, but not access to support. The company makes a strong use of the friendly community in their product advertisements.
The community support (Discord, and a forum) comes with their own terms of service. To date, I've witnessed several people be banned from community services without disclosed reason, with no violation of the terms of use.
After the ban, they are ignored when they ask for explanation, and "third-party" users such as myself are refused any details under the ground it is private - even when the user in question is asking me to speak for them as they cannot reach the company directly.
The users I've seen have been helpful, had good reputation, have had no warnings, and are suitably confused by the actions taken against them. In the latest incident, the user had not been active for a month, not posting for longer, yet was banned for "reports from users that your behaviour and speech was inappropriate".
When they tried to work out why, they were repeatedly told "the decision is final", and when asking for what messages specifically they were banned for, they were refused it. Is it not necessary to describe what was inappropriate?
I've inspected discrimination law, but the grounds does not seem to be under protected characteristics. So, is there any illegal action being taken here? Is it legal to target and carry out a restriction on random users like this, without supplying adequate reason?
The company is based in France, are there any overseeing regulatory bodies, or legislation that is in violation?


texts: Are email agreements and already-move-in enough to form landlord-tenant relationship?

texts:
I recently rented a bedroom from a home owner in California.  We communicated through emails, so the agreement was also in the emails. Since she didn't sign a lease, she emailed that I have the freedom to leave anytime I want.

After I moved in, I realized she was treating me in inhumane ways, i.e. since my room is isolated from the main house, she didn't provide central heating like she promised.  There are other crazy acts she did to me.

Also, after I moved in, she requested a bunch of my private sensitive info saying that's the usual rental process.  Since she has been acting out of the line more and more and seems mental, I emailed her back and said I'd provide all the legal info necessary if she signs a rental lease, which will protect both sides.  Then she exploded and wanted me to move out.

Now, here is my question: I already moved in for a few days, and we have email agreements about the rental.  Are these enough to establish landlord-tenant relationship?

p.s. I'm concerned she might throw away my personal belongings when I go out. What should I do?