texts: S75 Liability of creditor for breaches by supplier in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (UK)

texts:
I had a verbal contract with a contractor and part of the payment for that contract was a credit card payment of £2k in a £10K contract. Payment by credit card as made halfway during thye prosecution of the contract.

However all the work - all was improperly done and not to code.
The whole project worth £30K was wrecked and irrecoverable. £30K including the original contract sum. As said, the contract sum was £10K. How was it wrecked? The construction was so shoddy it fell down after a few gusts of wind.  The foundation for the shed was so badly done the shed contractor refused to install it and went back. Deposit is now forfeit.

Can the credit card company be sued if the contractors' intention was fraudulent and has disappeared. No leaving address and all addresses used during the contract term and payment were relatives who subsequently denied knowing the
 whereabouts of the contractor.

Phone calls made by the contractor seeking payment falsely claimed work had been done that had not been done and phone call were messages left so it can be inferred contractor had a fraudulent intention.

Information: Original contract was for construction and gardening work All structural work after rain and strong wind were physically lifted and destroyed.  Foundation work for shed was so badly done that subsequent quotes from 4 contractors all said it had to be broken up and redone.

Whilst the contract was £10K, the materials purchase and site costs all came to about £20K adding up to £30K in total. All are receipted.

4 quotes were sought from other contractors to put right what had been done wrong  all came to the same range - £ 35K to £40K.

What remedies are available against the credit card company seeing that the original contractor has intentionally disappeared.


texts: Can anonymized data be collected under GDPR without consent?

texts:
I am having an Android App in which I want to track the usage of the app. But the usage will not have anyone identity for eg. I would collect one user used my app for around 10 minutes but who is that user I will have no clue.

Do I need to take a consent under GDPR before collecting those kind of data?


texts: What is the intention of the Meeting of Parliament Act 1797?

texts:
When looking at the Meeting of Parliament Act 1797, I cannot determine what it was designed to accomplish. It seems to me to be one of the following:

To grant powers to the monarch

Due to the language in the act, this was my initial interpretation. My understanding is, however, that the monarch would automatically have the named power unless there was some specific pre-existing law restricting such. Was this the case?

To grant powers to the Privy Council

This was my second interpretation. The use of the text "by and with the advice of the Privy Council" suggests to me that this act may be a way of formalising the use of this power by the monarch under the request of the Privy Council.

To restrict the powers of the monarch

The act states "His Majesty may issue his Proclamation for the meeting of Parliament in not less than 14 Days from the Date", perhaps meaning that the act only intends to take the monarch's existing power and prevent it from being used under certain circumstances?

Which interpretation(s) are correct (if any)?


texts: Legality of data "chunking" concerning child pornography

texts:
Recently, I've become interested in distributed, peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing, including BitTorrent (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent) and the InterPlanetary File System (ipfs.io) (IPFS). This question specifically concerns IPFS.

IPFS is very complicated for non-technical people, so I'll try and break it down for the purpose of this discussion:

In IPFS, you can add data to the global file system, which produces a "hash" (a string uniquely identifying the data) that you can share with others. Data in IPFS is content-addressed, meaning that instead of using URLs or locations for data, it uses fingerprints of the data itself. This has several useful characteristics:

anybody on the network with the same data can serve it to you, reducing the burden on a web server and eliminating the waste of bandwidth that is HTTP;
data can remain available even after the original host fails, which makes archiving data much more reliable on IPFS;
and there is no central system that can fail, like DNS resolvers, that can prevent the system from operating (aside from, of course, normal internet infrastructure).

When sharing on IPFS, you aren't actually sending whole files to peers; instead, these files are broken apart into "blocks" of data which are retrieved separately (and often from different peers altogether). These blocks are re-assembled at the end to form the complete data.

Now, suppose someone is sharing child pornography via IPFS. Under U.S. law, the mere possession of child pornography is illegal, so the sender is certainly acting illegally. The recipient of these files, after assembling the blocks to form the files, are now in possession of content that visually depicts minors engaging in sexual activity. However, would an intermediary node (hypothetically) that may have cached a block needed to form the violating data be guilty of possession? The block alone cannot represent the visual activity that constitutes illegal material, and in fact, the hash representing the block can represent any such block with the same data (since the hash identifies the data, not a location), so its entirely possible (if slightly improbable) that the same hash for a block used in child pornography could be a block used to represent part of a Disney movie. For example, these two sentences, broken down into uniquely identifiable chunks of two:

I have two cats in my house.
I |ha|ve| t|wo| c|at|s |in| m|y |ho|us|e.

and

You should burn in Hell.
Yo|u |sh|ou|ld| b|ur|n |in| H|el|l.

You'll notice that both sentences have a common chunk, "in". Under US law, would someone who possesses this block, "in", be responsible for its use in all contexts, such as in the second sentence?

Obviously, in real data these chunks are between 256 kilobytes and 2 megabytes, so the chance for collision is greatly reduced, but by design of the system, content addressing allows for the avoidance of duplicate data. My question is how that affects legal regulations concerning said data.


texts: The case of creating personal data by combining non-personal data

texts: In a company, two isolated departments process data that is not personal data. After processing, the documents go to the trash. They are found there by someone and it turns out that they identify people when put together - so they become personal data. Should the company that processed this non-personal data treat them as personal data? Do companies, on the basis of law, need to analyze the possibility of personal data being generated from non-personal data processed in it?


texts: Can a bank keep cleared funds against your explicit instructions?

texts:
Does any legislation exist which permits or requires a bank to hold on to cleared funds against the explicit wishes of the account holder?

Background

I recently transferred my home loan to a new bank. When the new bank paid down the balance on the old loan, they actually sent about $2200 more than the balance outstanding, leaving the account in credit.

Shortly after this occurred, I requested that the old bank withdraw the surplus amount for me, so that it could be deposited back with the new bank. They refused on the grounds that the loan account was being closed and I had to wait for that to occur.

Some weeks passed, and I received a letter from the old bank, which in essence said "we're keeping your loan account open indefinitely unless you advise us otherwise in writing, if you have a credit balance on your loan you may redraw it".  So I went back to the branch, and again asked for the credit balance to be withdrawn.

Again they refused, and we spent some time arguing the point. Their branch manager insisted that there's legislation in place which requires them to keep the credit balance.  I asked to see the relevant legislation, but of course the manager didn't comply.

I left them with the following written instructions after it became clear that they had absolutely no intention of actually helping me:

As far as I can tell, they've acted on exactly none of those.

So my question is, does any legislation exist that would give the bank grounds to hold my funds against my explicit wishes, or is what the bank's doing essentially theft?

Update

It took them a few days (5 business days, to be exact), but they eventually followed all of the instructions I provided (excluding #4, as they did not charge any fees).

Though based upon jimsug's answer, that may be less because of any legal obligation and more because they finally decided to do better at customer service.  My letter found its way to their complaints department, which took care of things.


texts: Buyers missed closing date due to delay in the sale of a contengency property -- What happens to the deposit?

texts:
This is a more focused, side-question based on some discussion in this post.

Our Contract Details:

Closing date of August 18th
The contract has a buyer contingency of them selling their condo
The closing date is going to pass before they're ready to close (requesting 2 week extension)

My question:  What happens to the initial escrow deposit? If this falls through (if we can't agree on an extension, etc.), can we contend to keep the deposit? Or are they free from any repercussion due to their contingency?


texts: Was new law created when the UK Supreme Court ruled against the prorogation?

texts:
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that:

a ruling on a prorogation was justiciable
and that the duration of the prorogation Boris Johnson advised the Queen to enact, was unlawful

Does this mean new law was created yesterday, by creating new legal precedent?


texts: Has a prisoner ever been sentenced to death for murder (or other actions) while incarcerated?

texts:
This is inspired by discussions around the game Prison Architect. A lot of players find themselves frustrated with certain prisoners and wanting to have them transferred to death row.
Has this ever happened in real life - has a prisoner has committed murder while incarcerated and been sentenced to death for it?
Ideally I'm looking for recent (20th/21st century) examples in the US, though will take any example where some attempt at a rule of law was followed. I'm not counting people being imprisoned and suddenly dying, for example.


texts: Does the estate have to cover one siblings utilities while they are living in the inherited property?

texts:
My sister has been living either off my dad or with my dad her entire life. My father passed away in November 2018 with no will. My sister, who is the personal representative, has continued to live in his house while not paying rent nor utilities for the last 19 months. She has also been collecting rent from two renters who live in the downstairs complex. The only proof I have of her collecting rent is my eye witness account and some messages I have had with the renters as she is not claiming this money. She is now trying to buy us out of the house for a steal.
My brother and I had to hire our own lawyer to help protect our share of the estate. He did inform me that she needs to pay rent, but said that the estate has to pay for her utilities as well as maintenance, summer and winter taxes and house insurance.
Is the estate really responsible for paying the utilities for the last 19 months? My brother and I have been wanting to sell the house but our sister has been dragging her feet and getting a free ride. Is there anything we can do?


texts: How hard is it for for Russia to get New Zealand to extradite people wanted for crimes in Russia?

texts: Does New Zealand have an extradition treaty with Russia? In any case, I heard recently that NZ is sometimes willing to extradite to countries that it doesn’t have treaties with. But how hard or easy is it in practice?..have many people been extradited from NZ to Russia, and many successfully fought a legal proceeding to make them sent there?


texts: How can an archive claim copyright on very old documents under English law?

texts:
A publicly-funded archive in England provides a service to allow members of the public to copy, with a copier on site and for a nominal fee, documents. The documents are very old, so that any person involved in their creation died long ago, and their copyright would normally have expired. The archive stamps the new copied document "Copyright retained by owner of original document", with the implication that the original document is on loan to the archive and this stamp is a requirement of the loan conditions.

Creation of the new paper copy by pressing a button on the copier involves no significant creative input. How can either the archive, or the original document owner, claim any copyright, either on the original document or the new paper copy?


texts: GDPR: Can I use an IP-address to show country pop-up without consent?

texts:
I've a question. We would like to show a pop-up to users outside Europe to inform them we also have an American website as soon as they visit the website. We check the location based on their IP-address. We don't store the IP in a cookie or a session, just to show the pop-up.
Is this possible without the consent of the user?
Thanks in advance!


texts: Can California landlords protect against tenants paying retainer instead of rent?

texts:
I've heard that in San Francisco, with a landlord that's not on top of his things, and a tenant who doesn't care about his credit report, it would be cheaper to withhold rent and pay a retainer instead of paying rent, and such a tenant will not be evicted if they select doing a jury trial.

Is there a way for a landlord in California to protect against such situation?


texts: How do I demonstrate a legal right or claim to my great-grandfathers death certificate?

texts:
Jurisdiction:  New York State (Broome County)

I am trying to obtain a copy of my great-grandfather's death certificate (died 1951 in Broome County NY) in support of a dual citizenship application.

As I am not a parent, sibling, or child of the deceased, I cannot request a copy of the death certificate.   However, no person parent, sibling or child of the deceased is currently alive. Therefore, NY State Vital Records indicated that I need a 'court order' to receive a copy of the death certificate.

There is plenty of information about different petitions for Surrogate's Court relating to wills, estate and probate proceedings and petitions that require a death certificate be attached.  However, I cannot find guidance on how to petition the court for a order that NY Vital Records provide a certified copy of the death certificate to me.

Any insight on the next steps to petition Surrogate's Court is greatly appreciated.


texts:
I understand that there are some documents that I have to sign in order to have a benefit, for example, if I want to join a club I may need to sign the inscription form, but I can refuse to sign and although I wouldn't be able to become a member, there is no other legal consequence.

What kind of documents am I truly forced to sign if I don't want to face legal consequences?


texts: Recourse for CAN-SPAM violation (impossible to unsubscribe)

texts:
According to CAN-SPAM, it should be possible to unsubscribe from a given vendor without much issue or fuss (emphasis added for the relevant part):

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business

  You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request.

I'm in Texas, I've tried unsubscribing from some list via their webpage, but it seems like the vendor's system isn't working properly, and I still continue receiving the emails past the 10 days.

Moreover, these emails come with misleading and deceptive e-mail subject headers, which I personally find disturbing and would classify as the real "fake news".

Do I have any recourse?


texts: What is the difference between sublet and sublease?

texts: What's the difference between sublet, subleasing and subletting? Are they all words for the same thing? If sublet is the name of the person who takes over, is that the same as subletor?


texts:
In broad general terms, under UK law, how would you begin constructing a defence that questions the validity of the law you are being charged under.

For instance say I was a black American woman sat at the front of the bus, and I was charged as such.

I don't wish to plead guilty of the non crime of being a black American at the front of the bus, neither do I want to deny that I did nothing wrong by sitting at the front of the bus.

I'm asking generally as a lay person concerned about recent developments in the UK, under the assumption that a legal system must contain some checks and balances to allow the electorate to challenge laws passed by the state if they feel the state has overstepped it's boundary and passed a dangerous law.
Breaking said law and being arrested as such as an act of civil disobedience will obviously result in a criminal hearing.

How could such a situation be used to challenge said law in court.

Thanks


texts:
Is it legal to create and send someone a computer virus if it doesn’t damage their computer? For example if a computer virus just spies on a persons screen, is that illegal?  I red on a Quora question that computer viruses aren’t illegal because it’s too subjective to say "a program that messes up a computer is considered a virus". I imagine the surrounding activities, like stealing credit card information when they type it into a website, are the illegal part.

I heard of some viruses that only mess up other viruses, so does a virus have to damage a computer?


texts: Is it possible for a juridical/legal person (a company) to have multiple nationalities?

texts:
While the answer to this question may be an obvious yes, my question is more related to what defines a legal person per se. A natural person can have multiple nationalities, but the "person" is always the same, irrespective of the country where this person may have acquired citizenship. For example, I guess that in the absolute majority of cases a natural person needs to provide at least a birth certificate in order to obtain nationality in other countries, therefore proving that they are, indeed, the same "natural person" that is also registered in their birth country.
However, does the same also apply to a legal person? I have the impression that, while the same company can open subsidiaries into different countries, they are regarded as different entities (each existing into each country that the main company has registered their subsidiaries).
Do countries actually recognize that a local subsidiary (i.e. Google Ireland) is the same company as Google LLC in the US? Or they are, most of the time, treated as separate entities?


texts: I reside in California, USA. I drive a small pick-up truck that is insured and owned by someone else. If it's not registered (doesn't get tags), but remains insured who is responsible to  for any ticket or moving violation I may receive? The operator (me) or the owner? Thanks.


texts: Is it ethical or legal for journalist to request info from school district staff against their own rules?

texts:
This below screenshot is from the top of my latest article. There is a crisis at a New Jersey school and staff members have pictures that definitively prove wrongdoing. Many are afraid to come forward for fear of their job and retaliation. It is indeed against district rules to share pictures with the press. That’s why two people, one a parent (not a district employee), another the president of the teacher union (an employee), have volunteered to accept this information.

I’m not “encouraging” anyone to break any rules. If they do give info, it wouldn’t be to the press (at least, it’s a distinct step removed). Also, since they will never tell me who they got the pictures from, I could never reveal my sources even if I wanted to.

As a journalist, is the below information an ethical or legal risk in any way? I’m not directly asking them to break the rules, but obviously it will ultimately be given to me for this upcoming article.

Given all this, Is this information safe to include? Can it be reworded or otherwise presented differently to better protect me?


texts: Is it legal for an apartment manager to give my personal info to a renter without my permission

texts:
I live in an apartment in New Jersey and I received an email from someone I don't know today. He said he lives in the same building and asked if I work from home and am interested in being his dog walker.

My friend who also lives here but doesn't work from home did not receive this email. So obviously the sender knows who works from home. But how did he get my email address and exactly know my status.

Is it legal for an apartment manager to give him my personal contact and work status without my permission. I am starting to worry about the information I have put on my rental application form.


texts: Can a Chrismas gift be taken back several years later?

texts: My now ex-girlfriend who does not live with me, yet who has stayed here for several weeks at a time as she resides in another state, gave me a TV for Christmas and, now that the relationship has ended, wants to take it back. Also she took it upon herself to redecorate a bathroom, shower curtain, several towels, a sign and several knick-knacks which she also wants.  Does she have a legal claim to these things?


texts:
Based on my understanding an "implied-in-fact" contract is one where a moving party acts to benefit the responding party, and where the responding party was aware of the expectation of the moving party to be compensated, and will be determined to be an actual contract based on conduct.

Whereas, an "implied-in-law" contract is an equitable theory in the absence of a contract that the court will determine is necessary to become a contract in order to prevent unjust enrichment.

My question is what's the difference between the term "quasi-contract" and "implied-in-law" contract?


texts: How do you get permission to use a copyright before the copyright holder has obtained their certificate from the government?

texts:
I'm in a musical, and I am helping the lyricist and composers to obtain their individual copyrights. The official certificate will not arrive for around nine months.

I'm also recording and producing the show's soundtrack, and putting it up online for sale. It will be ready to go up for sale in about two months time.

How do I obtain permission from each of these copyright holders, before they have received their certificate from the government?

Thanks.


texts: What federal and local U.S. laws are protecting people from eviction who have not paid their rent?

texts:
I saw this Wall Street Journal article, but I am still struggling to understand what federal and local laws are protecting people from evictions during this pandemic?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nearly-a-third-of-u-s-renters-didnt-pay-april-rent-11586340000?mod=hp_lista_pos3


texts:
I live in the UK. A few months ago, I registered at a gym. The employee there told me that I could cancel the subscription at any time. I didn't sign any contract, just gave my information.

Fast forward last month, I asked to cancel my subscription. They responded that "a welcome email was sent to me after my registration containing the terms and conditions of the gym and a 12-month obligation". Since I did not contest that email, I am bound by a contract.

I never received this email and I cannot find such an email anywhere (might had gone in the spam and then deleted, I'll never know). I asked them in writing (registered letter) to provide me of a proof that they sent the email to my account (including the email headers) or any other proof that I entered into a contract with them, but they haven't responded in 2 weeks.

Is what they did legal? For instance, if I send to someone an email saying "you will pay me £x per month for 12 months for this service and this is a binding contract unless you reply to me in 14 days rejecting", is it legally binding?

Can I cancel the payments unilaterally? They don't have any signed or verbal contract. Who has the burden of proving if I received the email or not?

This is not about the money. I am just upset by their business model. The employee clearly told me I would be able to cancel with 1 month notice which he now refuses to have said. Sending at email as a binding contract without verification of receipt is sneaky at the best.


texts: If a font comes installed on your computer can you use it commercially? If you use the font do you need to say what font it is? Are fonts copyrighted? (Am I using font wrong? Am I talking about a typeface?)


texts: What am I allowed to do according to Amazon TOS?

texts:
I found this on Amazon TOS:

  ... You may not incorporate any portion of the Amazon Software into your own programs or compile any portion of it in combination with your own programs ..

Now I'm wondering what this company is doing or Google/Bing as well. There are plenty of companies who scrape data from Amazon, eBay, Etsy or news websites, Stack Overflow, etc. and do something with it (either republish or analyse or similar).

So in the case of Amazon TOS: Would indix.com be doing something legal if they put the products data into their database? How about Google?


texts: Is Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 applicable for a person Scheduled Cast or Scheduled Tribe itself?

texts:
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
I want to know if this act is applicable against who disrespecting own family members who is come under Scheduled Cast or Scheduled Tribe itself.
Though act says that it's applicable if disrespecting one or it's family members.


texts: Can you duplicate copyright for a copyright transfer?

texts:
Normally, when you do a copyright transfer, you're no longer the holder of the copyright, and thus cannot make a copyright claim (in other words, cannot assert copyright in the source code; but can still nonetheless make an authorship claim, as many authors do).

Is there a way to share the copyright, e.g., for a natural person to assign the copyright to some other party on a shared basis, such that both parties could claim the copyright at the same time on the same piece of work?  Is it legal?


texts: Which US laws would webcam spying break?

texts: In the United States, which laws would spying on someone using their computer's webcam, without their permission and in private areas, break?


texts:
What are the different mechanisms, procedures, and protocols in place by states' board of elections to handle voting during emergencies? e.g. Hurricane, health, and riot.

I am under the assumption that a declaration of martial law by a governor, which suspend certain rights, could also suspend voting rights? However, would this gubernatorial power extend over federal elections?


texts: Can a physician refuse to transfer records directly to another provider?

texts:
I understand that as a patient, I have the right under HIPAA to request a personal copy of my medical records at a reasonable per-page cost.

I've received a letter from my physician's office stating that they will not transfer my records to my physician (who has changed practices) because they had a non-compete contract with her.

Typically here (New York state) doctor-to-doctor transfers have not cost me a penny. If I request the records be sent to me, they'll undoubtedly charge me the HIPAA direct-to-patient cost. Do HIPAA's portability requirements also apply to these doctor-to-doctor transfers, or am I stuck with requesting they be sent to me?


texts: Works published before which year are internationally in public domain?

texts:
Figuring out whether a work is in public domain can be quite complex as different countries have different rules and there are often a lot of (relatively) complex exceptions. There must however be a cut off point before which you can be sure beyond any reasonably doubt that the work is in public domain. Which year would this be? Or put differently: What is the oldest work which is not yet in the public domain?

And just for the record, I am aware that this might be a bit of a complex question, but it seems to be quite a reasonable question, especially if you would wish to use the work for some product that you wish to distribute internationally (e.g. this question made me think of it). Now, I do realize that other issues can come up (trademarks, later editions and moral rights for example), but to keep the question reasonable just ignore those (though as an aside they are fine).


texts: Small Claims Court UK - Small German Company owed less than E5000 EUR by UK company

texts: Can the German company make a claim through the British Small Claims Court or do have to use the EU Small Claims Court system?


texts: What is the VAT policy for nonEU company with EU customers?

texts:
Say there is an offshore (Belize, Seychelles) company that provides some online service (like antivirus)

Their service is subscription based which means that users pay for membership on monthly basis which gives them software license.

The customers come from all over the world including EU countries. Are they required to pay VAT? Do they have to register under the MOSS system? Is it their duty to make sure their customers come from EU? What if they didnt know this (payment gateway like PayPal and not them processes billing)?

And ultimately how will EU enforce this, if they do not register for VAT and pay? The company is outside their jurisdiction.

Does EU even have the right to tell nonEU company to pay EU taxes? The company operates online and purchases are done on nonEU servers thus contracts are made outside EU.


texts: On what basis might higher courts refuse to hear Trump’s appeals

texts:
Trump’s federal case was dismissed with what looks like a very clear ruling https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/Order-Granting-MTD.pdf .  He will undoubtedly appeal, hoping to be heard at the Supreme Court eventually.
Given the apparent weakness in his case, can the higher courts simply refuse to hear the case and if so, on what legal basis?


texts:
In the US, would you consider hearings before a Grand Jury part of the criminal procedure/process?

I would say it is not, because it happens before indictment, and I assume that there is not a criminal process if there is not a defendant. If so, how would you qualify it?

EDIT:  do I confuse process and trial?


texts: Can I add translated subtitles to a video licensed with a CC-BY-NC-ND?

texts:
If I take a video that is

Creative Commons 3.0: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

Can I add translated subtitles to it and post it? I'm not sure if that would be considered to be remixing it or not.


texts: If Van Gogh is in Public Domain, why there are restrictions in the Van Gogh museum?

texts:
I've been to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, and I was a little disappointed because there were no pictures of some of his most famous work - "The Starry Night" and "Starry Night Over the Rhône".

Well, it is well known that Van Gogh artwork is in public domain, according to this question.

And I also know that these artworks are in the MoMA (New York City) and in the Musée D'Orsay (Paris). But why can't the museum use a replica? Or sell derived artwork in the museum shop? Or in the art books sold there? Or even tell us about these paintings during the history and life of Van Gogh presented in the museum?

It was like these paintings never existed!


texts: Is there personal liability when a business gets sued?

texts:
I am working on some software for a business I want too open. I want to try my best at creating my own terms of use until I get enough money too hire a lawyer to help me through all the legal stuff.

If my business got sued and it lost, am I personally responsible for the assets? Is there a chance I could go to jail? Of course I don't want to be sued and I don't think I'll be sued but I want to know the worst case scenario. Is it that my business goes under or that I may have to pay out of pocket ect.

This business will be a website that

allows people to post videos and charge money for them
The business will take a certain percent of the money

I plan to do everything on my own and do not want to include anyone in this business. I live in Michigan, United States.


texts: Is storing only part(s) of an IP address compliant with the GDPR?

texts:
Let's say that ip address is something like xxx.52.114.191. Would be allowed to store into database 113.191? And let's say address is Nick Example, Some street 5, 33012 Florida, US. Would be allowed to store into database ple, eet 5, Florida?

We are having some lottery game at our website that user can try only once. The most reliable way to check if user already tried is to check ip address and home address. Since we are not allowed to store this information into database without consent I was thinking to anonymize ip address by removing first numbers and anonymize address by leaving just last 3 characters in the name and street name. Is that fine?


texts: How to make people follow city laws regarding dogs on a leash?

texts:
I live in Toronto. There is a by-law that all dogs should be on a leash when inside one of the city parks. But nobody follows this. People with big dogs let the dogs run free  and they sometimes get too close for comfort.

Pointing out the law to the owner results in unpleasant conversations, involving expletives. The owners treat the parks as their own backyard, without any concern for others.

What should I do? Should I consult the Toronto Parks department? I am not too sure of getting any answer.


texts: My religion discourages use of direct deposit, but my state allows employers to mandate direct deposit. How should I navigate this situation?

texts: Banking entities have been actively marketing to businesses in my state, attempting to get as many of them as possible to abandon traditional pay-stub-and-check payroll in favor of debit cards the employer compels the employee to take their pay through. Currently, as discussed in the answer to this question, federal law and my state's laws allow this practice. Unfortunately for me, my religious leaders are discouraging me from engaging in direct deposit, and are encouraging me to avoid services like automatic bill pay that would allow third parties access to my banking. As stated in the question linked above, the viewpoint taken by the law has been that someone with an objection can just seek employment elsewhere. That is unfortunately not true for me. Because of the overwhelming proportion of businesses in my area that are using these enforced debit card policies I am no longer able to reliably find an employer that will issue a paycheck. I would like advice on how to handle this issue without moving to another state or resorting to filing a religious discrimination case.


texts: Difference between employer vicarious liability and personal liability

texts:
The Health and Safety in Employment Act in New Zealand is a criminal provisions act. So employers can be both vicariously and personally liable for actions of their employees. When may an employer be found personally liable for an employee's action, and when might they be vicariously liable?

An example of a case where an employer was found to be personally liable is Linework Ltd v Department of Labour [2001] ERNZ 80.
In this case a supervisor didn't pay attention for a moment and an employee was electrocuted while working on power lines.

An example of a case where an employer was found vicariously liable is Department of Labour v Tranz Rail Ltd [2001] DCR 929.
In that case the rail company employed an independent contractor to mow the grass. He had the chute towards the footpath, and it shot out a rock which hit a passerby. It was found the contractor should have been supervised.

In both cases, the employer was liable. What factor determines whether the employer is personally or vicariously liable?


texts: "Congress shall make no law" vs "no person" in the Bill of Rights

texts:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
  prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
  speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
  assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The 1st Amendment (quoted above, emphasis added) prohibits Congress from making anti-free-speech/religion laws, but does not explicitly prohibit the States from doing so.

Most other amendments, however, are worded as follow (using the 5th Amendment as an example, emphasis added):

  No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury,
  except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the
  Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor
  shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in
  jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal
  case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life,
  liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private
  property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

There's no mention of Congress here. Presumably if you're a US citizen or even "a person" anywhere in the United States (not just a federal enclave), including States, territories, and presumably even possessions, you are entitled to these protections.

Of course, Section 1 the 14th Amendment largely renders this issue moot:

  All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to
  the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the
  State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law
  which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
  United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life,
  liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any
  person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws

although it limits these protections to "persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" not to "person" generically.

My questions:

Has the Supreme Court ever used the difference in wording between the 1st Amendment and other amendments to decide a case? In particular, cases between the 1798 passage of the 11th Amendment and the 1868 passage of the 14th Amendment?
In particular, did any part of the Supreme Court's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisholm_v._Georgia decision rely on the different wording in the amendments? I realize the 11th Amendment effectively invalidated this decision, though the later 14th Amendment largely annulled the 11th Amendment, at least in my opinion.
Currently, does the Supreme Court regard the Bill of Rights (excluding the 1st Amendment) as apply to the States because of their wording, because of the 14th Amendment, or is the issue largely moot now?

I have read:

What was the rationale to have the US Bill of Rights only apply at the federal level, not at the state-level?
Can U.S. states establish state religions?

but believe my question is substantially different from either.


texts: Couple Forced to Give Up Babies After Embryo Mixup

texts:
There was a recent story about parents who gave physically gave birth to children conceived through IVF, but through some kind of mix-up, gave birth to children who were not genetically related to them. Asian couple gives birth to Caucasian children. It states that they were 'forced' to give up the children. I thought that was interesting since I'd been under the impression that forcing children from their 'birth' parents was a very difficult thing to do in the United States.

Alas, I whipped out my Google wand and decided to try and find the legal precedent to support this. Unfortunately my googling skills are notoriously weak and I could only find stories about how even the strongest of surrogacy contracts are legally weak and questionably binding. And there wasn't even a surrogacy contract involved in this case. Could someone find the legal precedent on which these children could be 'forcibly' removed from the birth parents?


texts: Who owns a company if equity hasn't been allocated?

texts:
We haven't sorted out the equity between our cofounders yet so I was wondering in major corporation decisions who makes the final decision? If equity wasn't given does it mean every person is an equal partner?

The company is incorporated but we haven't dished out the equity. We're a team of 5 and the business person is making questionable decisions. I'm more of a tech person and our business co-founder is handling the business side such as incorporation.


texts:
What is a Kangaroo Court?

  A kangaroo court is a judicial tribunal or assembly that blatantly
  disregards recognized standards of law or justice, and often carries
  little or no official standing in the territory within which it
  resides. Merriam-Webster defines it as "a mock court in which the
  principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted". The term
  may also apply to a court held by a legitimate judicial authority who
  intentionally disregards the court's legal or ethical obligations.

  A kangaroo court is often held to give the appearance of a fair and
  just trial, even though the verdict has in reality already been
  decided before the trial has begun. Such courts are typically run by
  authoritarian governments, and can also be found in rural areas where
  legitimate law enforcement may be limited.

I took that quote from Wikipedia that helps to define the term but characteristics help identify a Kangaroo court as opposed to a legitimate court system?

By this definition there are quite a few courts that I am sure do not belong as the categorization of this as such but based on this definition would seem to apply.  Most notably the Supreme Court of the United states at times has made rulings that were completely contrary to the existing laws and the constitution.  Similarly the US Federal Circuits have also had several rulings that even though superior courts agreed the court stepped outside the law in its decision have chosen not to  overturn the decisions or have written decisions that have become defacto laws.

Why would these not be considered Kangaroo courts.  What is it that I am missing from this definition that would make the courts of Saddam  Hussien or Edi Amine Kangaroo courts?


texts: Can I get sued for copying a 1973 Swedish film?

texts: I am a newbie novelist and in my novel, I have copied a small part from the 1973 Swedish film Scenes from a Marriage. I am from India and the film is Swedish. I want to ask, is the film in public domain after so many years? If I get published can I get sued for coping that part?


texts: Does a performer have a responsibility to acertain copyright permission?

texts:
Hypothetical:  You are a top-flight vocal performer with numerous recordings, concerts and theatrical roles.
You are hired to perform as live entertainment at a major event (political convention, charity fund-raiser, etc.).  The organizers pay you to perform two specific songs.
You prepare and perform the two songs to the satisfaction of the event organizers.  It then develops that the event organizers had not secured the performance rights to the songs;  in fact, they had asked for them and been explicitly refused.
Did, you, as a hired contractor, have any duty to acertain the copyright status of the songs you were asked to perform?
Are you, after the event, subject to any legal penalties?
US, Canada, EU specific answers...


texts: Is taking advantage of someone else's lack of knowledge considered a fraud?

texts:
Say, Person A owns a rare postage stamp which is worth 2000€ according to the stamp collector community, but A doesn't know the worth.

Person B sees that A has a rare stamp and offers to buy it for a fraction of its worth. B offers A 100€ for the stamp and A agrees happily.

Later, A finds out the true value of the stamp and wants it back. A claims that B scammed them.

Is B guilty of fraud, simply for not telling A how much the stamp is worth?


texts:
I have been reading alot about user consent management according to the GDPR and one problem I can't see solved anywhere is managing withdrawn consent.

The user gives his consent to use his data and save personal information like his E-Mail address, IP address, ...

If the user withdraws his consent I would have to somehow store this decission in my database to make sure I always have proof of a prior consent and at which date the user has withdrawn his consent. But how do I keep track of a withdrawn consent if I can't save any personal information to identify this person anymore. Isn't this a contradiction? Always having the ability to prove everything but being forced to delete all saved data records?

Is there any part of the GDPR I am missing, that solves this specific problem?


texts: Covering up a non-essential part of a license plate

texts: I was given a license plate with "In God we Trust" above the numbers. Later I learned that this was supposed to be a choice, and I was given none. Am I permitted to place a sticker over this slogan? I would not be covering up anything else.


texts: If someone shoots you, whose property is the bullet?

texts:
This may sound crazy but it is inspired by What if a spacecraft lands on my property?
The answer there seems to be that you don't acquire another's property just by it appearing in your domain.
The conclusion I draw from this is that if someone shot you, they would legally be entitled to ask for return of the bullet.
If so, and return of the bullet were refused, could this be raised as a civil case and how would one assess the damages?


texts: Can I legally refuse entry to people with face coverings

texts: Can I refuse entry and/or service at my retail business (food service, grocery, book store, etc.) to individuals wearing face coverings? i'm specifically interested in religious coverings such as hijab/niqab/burka. If individuals ignore this policy, would it be trespass and would that mean I could call the cops to have said individuals removed?


texts: Is GP in breach of any laws or ethical standards by refusing to refer a seriously ill patient for community Intravenous therapy?

texts:
The NHS GP refuses to refer a seriously ill patient for community intravenous therapy. His reason is that the patient does not meet the criteria, but after speaking to the community intravenous therapy service they say that they don't have any criteria and all that is needed for a patient to get this service is to be referred to them by their GP.
Is the GP and their practice in breach of any laws or ethical standards if they don't refer a seriously ill patient for home intravenous therapy?


texts: Can a deleted Gmail message be used as proof?

texts: Suppose I have a message in my email client with full headers, but the message isn't available in Gmail anymore. In a copyright infringement dispute or something similar, can that message be used as some kind of proof? Can headers prove that the message and its content are legitimate?


texts: On YouTube, is using services like Windows 10 and other applications being Copyrighted?

texts: So I am starting out on YouTube and wondering about copyright. If I post a video on YouTube about fixing Windows 10 or Something to do with that, can that be copyrighted?


texts: Algorithm ownership in a “Startup” without an LLC

texts:
I am the "CTO" of a startup of 3 members. The main product will be a web application, and I have been developing it for the last 4 months -- no pay and under no legal agreement. One of my ideas for the application involved creating an algorithm, which I did and it works great. I see uses for it outside of the limited scope of our business.

My questions are:

Am I the owner of the algorithm? I have been working without pay and have not signed any legal documents, and am the creator of the original idea.

Do I need to file a patent for the algorithm and grant usage of the algorithm to the LLC that we are forming?


texts: What is meant by "right, title and interest"?

texts:
In contracts what exactly is meant by the words (both collectively and individually) "right, title and interest"?

Example from Docracy

  Assignor exclusively owns all right, title, and interest in and to the
  Assigned Property

Another example from Docracy

  The Recipient agrees to assign to the Company, or its designee, all
  right, title, and interest in and to any and all inventions

I tried reading the article https://www.adamsdrafting.com/right-title-and-interest/ but found it hard to understand. I just got that some of the words are repetitive. (out of curiosity is adamsdrafting a reputable source?)


texts:
IANAL (I am not a lawyer). I am a programmer and I want to make software with OpenSSL functions or even my own implementation of cryptographic algorithms, such as MD5.

However, I am worried that I may need to get a license.

Is exporting software with cryptographic functions legal in the United Kingdom?

  2) Subject to the following provisions of this license, any item specified in Schedule 1 may be exported from the United Kingdom, or from any other Member State by any person established in the United Kingdom, to any country specified in Schedule 2, provided the item is only for use:
  (1)
  by the exporter, or by any subsidiary or parent undertaking of the exporter in their own commercial cryptographic product development activities, or
  (2) by a business or academic collaborator in their own commercial cryptographic product development activities and pursuant to the agreement establishing the collaboration.

According to https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/697699/18-ogel-crypto-development.pdf (Open General Export License)

What does 'exporting' actually mean?

Does it mean putting my software on a website? Does it have to be commerical? Do I have to put "Licensed under the OGEL", despite me not even having a license? Is it automatically provided?

Will I get trouble by just making some software with cryptography (like a MD5 implementation or a library) in it, whether it's mine or not?

Well, am I? Anything more about the legal status? Seriously, I don't want to go to prison (criminal liability) or get sued (civil liability).

Does it matter if it's open source or not?

I already know about Section 49 (I think it's that one) of the Investigatory of Powers Act 2000.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.


texts: Who has to yield when waiting at the median lane in Florida?

texts:
It will be best to illustrate it. The red car was turning left from the bottom of the picture and is waiting on the median until the traffic is clear to enter the lane.
The yellow car is coming from the left of the picture after the red car is already there waiting and wants to turn left.

Red car is looking to the right direction to see when no traffic is coming and doesn't even see the yellow car.


texts: Can I photograph strangers voting at a polling station?

texts:
Can a photo of strangers voting in a polling station be taken and put on
Facebook if their ballot is not showing how they voted.  Specifically in
Texas ?


texts: How do you request for a TV show to be made available again?

texts:
Say you remember a show from your childhood and would love to watch it again.
It could be for sentimental purposes, because you want to write about it, or make a research paper, or want to adapt it for the big screen, etc.

Now, say that the right holders are either retired and very old, and haven't decided to make a VOD or a DVD or a BLU-RAY offer for this TV show that would allow you to legally purchase or watch it again.

Is there a way to request that the right holders make the works for which they own a copyright public?
I'm not asking how to get in touch with someone, but if there's a law that can make a copyright holder forced to release the works they own copyright to.


texts: What does Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866) have to do with personal freedoms?

texts:
There is a post floating around on Facebook that "quotes" the Supreme Court's ruling in Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866):

I'm certain that the author's interpretation of the ruling is strained (at best), but is there any validity to this interpretation? Does this ruling make something like a "mask mandate" unconstitutional?


texts: What is required in order to claim a tax deduction for use of a motor vehicle?

texts:
I have a question about Commonwealth income tax law.

Suppose I am an employee at a retail chain. Occasionally, my boss asks me to take stock from one store to another. I use my private motor vehicle to do so. I pay for the petrol, repairs, etc out of my own pocket. The employer contributes nothing to my motor vehicle.

Under what conditions can I claim an income tax deduction for costs associated with my motor vehicle?


texts: Can a US company employ Iranian person outside US?

texts:
I have seen this link about Iranians working remotely for a US company. But it's (1) old and (2) about working remotely while living in Iran.
I want to know that can I, as an Iranian, get employed in the European office of an American company and get the European country's working Visa?


texts: If someone hits your car while deliberately trying to stop you from merging in very slow traffic who is at fault?

texts:
On the highway typically you are at fault as you should merge only when it is safe and after signaling. I.E. the person who hit you cannot be held responsible for you choosing to merge without sufficient room.

In a very slow stop and go situation however, once you signal and begin to merge, often aggressive drivers will accelerate and try to prevent you from merging.

This is a different situation where you are in a controlled and low speed traffic regime. You begin to merge and then another driver sees you signal and initiate, then deliberately tries to prevent you from doing so, and then ends up hitting your car.

OP is from California but any input is appreciated.


texts: What provisions exist for stateless people in the US

texts: How does a stateless person (one who voluntarily renounced their citizenship while in country) provide identification, arrange travel visas, and get back into the US?


texts: Can the racial/ethnic makeup of a company be used in a discrimination case?

texts:
Suppose a company is made up 100 employees, and that 75 of them are from the same ethnic background or race, say Jewish, or black.

The company is in an industry that has nothing to do with that race, for example they are not designing Menorahs, or producing Kinaras. Suppose they are selling paper supplies.

How likely is it that this hiring pattern will be taken to be evidence of discrimination in hiring? Assuming the neighborhood is generally mixed and that people of all races are available for hire.

Are there legal defenses against an accusation of discrimination in  a case where hired employees represents a much smaller percentage of the surrounding population in terms of race / ethnicity?


texts: Whether to sign a lease agreement that is poorly worded/too broad if landlord will not change it?

texts:
I am looking at signing a lease on an apartment, but there are a few phrases that give me pause:

"Resident agrees that Resident is at all times responsible for the conduct and actions of all other persons regardless of any culpability or knowledge on Resident’s part."

I imagine that the intent is to say all other persons party to this lease or guests thereof, but there is no qualification like this actually in the lease.

The second phrase that I'm getting hung up on is this:

"To the greatest extent permitted by law, Landlord shall not be liable to Resident, even for negligent acts or omissions of Landlord or Landlord's agents or employees, for any damage or injury, whether to person or property, loss, or destruction to Resident's property, including but not limited to any damage or injury, whether to person or property, loss, or destruction of property sustained by Resident from any cause including but not limited to the causes and risks set forth herein."

This seems to me to exempt the landlord from responsibility, even in the event that he or she breaks into my apartment and shoots me, given that it is always permitted by law that a victim choose not to press charges. Is this correct?

Also, related to this, if the landlord is not willing to change the wording of the lease agreement, are these pretty standard things to see on a lease that I shouldn't worry about? (Maybe because they're not enforceable?)

Thanks very much


texts: Can a mail-forwarding service be used as the registered agent for an MN non-profit?

texts:
In order to incorporate a non-profit in Minnesota under statute 317A, the registered office and agent of the organization must be included in the Articles of Incorporation. Additionally, if the organization is to apply for tax-exempt status under IRS 501(c)(3), the addresses of the trustees of the organization must be given.

P.O. Boxes are explicitly disallowed from being used as the registered agent, which leads me to believe that the intent is to have a real entity that can quickly respond to any service of process. Additionally, mail-forwarding services usually assign an address similar to a P.O. box, such as by including a number or suite in the main address.

Still though, a mail-forwarding service would be able to get documents to the relevant people.

It might not be the best idea to use a mail-forwarding service for receiving service of process (due to the possibility of not being able to access the information easily, and the possible impermanence of the address), but I'm interested as to whether it would be allowed.

Is it possible to list the address granted by the forwarding service as the address of the registered agent when filing the incorporation of a non-profit in Minnesota? If so, is it possible that such an address would cause problems when applying for federal tax exemption under 501(c)(3)?


texts: How liable are rental companies for the safety of their tenants?

texts:
There was a break-in and armed robbery at a high-rise  in San Jose, CA USA, owned by a large property management company. Bodily injury was caused by assault. It happened in the middle of the night, and the police was called immediately, but they had a 10 minute delay getting into the building because the security guard was no where to be found. They entered someone else's apartment without permission and struck them on the head with a gun at gunpoint.
Based on video footage of earlier that day, the assailant was the guest of another tenant.  There is no system for guest tracking or who goes in and out.
I'm wondering what kind of liability does building management have in this case?


texts: Termite Infestation - What are my rights?

texts:
Back story

Moved into an apartment in Santa Monica, California, signed lease, buy new mattress and place it on floor. Buy new bed frame a week later and lift mattress to find termites burrowing into mattress and moving in and out back into the floor. I decided to vacate and took photos and provided evidence. I was only in the property for 10 days by the time I left.

The landlord claimed to dispute this claim as upon "inspection" couldn't find the issue till I provided photos.

They said they would give me full deposit back and let me out of lease as an "informal settlement".

I moved the rest of my things out and left the infested mattress which I told them would be the case. No issues raised. I left a cabinet and told them I can collect it. No response on that. I've cooperated on every account.

Then I said I would accept the informal offer if they also included compensation for the new mattress worth $249. They did not respond for a while. I asked again.

They rejected the "counter offer" and are now telling me they will provide "final accounting", which sounds like they are going to try take from my security deposit.

What I Know

Now I'm not lawyer, but I've done my home work:

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/landlords-obligations-termites-48037.html
and other sources suggest that this is a health and safety issue in California and that they are indeed breaking the law. It would also seem they should have informed me of infestations if they knew about them, and also if they didn't then their inspections aren't good enough. They also told me they'd send the "maintenance guy" around to spray for termite. I'm also aware this needs to be handled by a professional in pests.

What I'd Like To Know

Can they try to claim damages and deduct from my deposit?
Am I at all in the wrong here?
Am I able to claim compensation for the mattress?
What about the damages to my business due to the time wasted dealing with this?
What about personal expenses and damages? I'm now homeless and it's costing me money and time.
Have they got any leg to stand on here? Or are they out of order to try claim damages?
Is it illegal for them to try lease the place out knowing there is an issue without getting a professional in?
The place is technically uninhabitable, surely this trumps all?
Offering an informal settlement, then revoking it seems rather brash, is this poor conduct?

I'd appreciate any advice on this as I am a foreigner and still getting to grips with my rights here.

Thank you!


texts: Can a U.S. President pardon an accessory to murder if the murder occurred in a foreign country?

texts: If a U.S. citizen conspires to have another U.S. citizen murdered but the actual killing takes place in a foreign country, can the accessory to the murder be pardoned by the President?


texts: Is there an "official time" in the EU, and if so, which is it?

texts:
With regard to the Brexit today, I was asking myself when exactly it goes into effect. It should be 31st January, 2020, 23:59:59, but which time zone?

This leads me to the question, if there is an official - or default - time zone in the EU or even worldwide when a contract states a start or end date?

Is it undefined unless the contract specifies it?

P.S.: Not sure if this is more a political question..?


texts:
I have left the US for one year thus breaking my continuous residence. After that year, I stayed for 4 and half years in the US. Given that I am a green card holder and have applied for citizenship. Now USCIS requires me to provide evidence that I did not break my continuous residence.
My question:
Can I tell USCIS that the rule (4 years and one day) applies to me, and therefore I do not need to provide evidence?


texts:
I've noticed that several technologies are springing up that are alternatives to last-mile industry standards, like:

Mimosa https://mimosa.co/

Starry http://fortune.com/2016/01/27/starry-wireless-internet/

etc.

I have some knowledge gaps in this field so bear with me. I am assuming that the distributors of these technologies constitute what are called ISP's. Once these companies get a LAN hooked up and they need to connect to the internet, who determines how much they pay to connect to the internet?

Let's say the new last-mile technology is superior to what X large ISP is providing. So the ISP loses revenue to the startup in the last mile. But the ISP controls the data flow at a certain point(Internet Exchange Point??), and thus has the power to charge the last mile provider a certain fee.

If the last mile technology is far superior and the tier-1 company is losing revenue, does the tier-1 company have the freedom to charge the last-mile provider more than other providers that are also connecting to make up for losses? Is there any regulation at this point?

I'm having trouble finding any relevant issue on this, so any answers with sources/literature are appreciated.


texts: Besides Sudan, have any other foreign countries argued before the Supreme Court of the United States?

texts: This term the Supreme Court ruled in the case Republic of Sudan v. Harrison, in which a foreign country, namely Sudan, appeared before the Court to argue its case. Has this ever happened before?


texts: What type of organizations are exempt from EEOC regulations?

texts:
What type of organizations are exempt from EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity) regulations?

I know that very small businesses are usually exempt. How about non-profit organizations? How about federally funded non-profits?


texts: Citations of the Declaration of Independence

texts: I know that the Declaration of Independence is generally not considered law, per se.  But have its principles ever been cited in the reasoning for a ruling?


texts: Do user agreements with a company carry on after corporate mergers or splits?

texts:
I wanted to ask in regards to the eBay/PayPal split about a month ago.

Namely:

Do the user agreements continue once the companies split?

In my mind, because PayPal is splitting off into its own company and eBay is remaining as the same company: In order for a person to continue using PayPal, in effect he must agree to a new user agreement. New company, new rules and regulations.

If so, how would this affect users who are not in good standing?

With this said, After the split, users in good standing were asked if they agreed to the new terms and agreements. If they agreed, they continued without issue. If they didn't, they were to close their accounts.

But for users not in good standing (which PayPal calls "limited accounts") the option to close accounts are not available. I.e., PayPal does not allow one to close a limited account.

How would a user who was not given the option to agree/disagree with the new terms go about terminating the account (business relationship)?

There are more layers of context and background, but I wanted to boil down my questions to this for the time being.


texts:
Let's say, I'm starting my own company and consider to hire some people. May I or may I not put the ability to eat bacon as a job requirement for every employee? If I did so, how many lawsuits would I get?

If some candidates don't meet this requirement for some reason, would that be considered a discrimination or would it just look like these candidates do not fit the company's culture?


texts: Can my s corp have "Inc." in the name if I have a DBA?

texts:
I have a simple question regarding how DBA's work for s corp / c corp. If i have a company called "example example inc." and my DBA is "example", can I publicly call my company "example inc" or does it have to be named without the "inc." label?

Example:

"Apple Computer Inc." has DBA "Apple" -- Can they call themselves "Apple Inc" ? (Not a real situation, I know)


texts: If a good samaritan was partially impared but still the most capable of providing aid does he risk legal reprecussion in doing it?

texts:
This is inspired by the answer to this question: Is there a legal risk in giving emergency first aid?

Lets say that an emergency happens and someone is physically injured and needs immediate medical assistance.  There are two people present, one is a normal bystander who is already moving to aid the injured party.  The other is a EMT with training and skills that would usually make him far better suited to provide aid, but the EMT is currently legally impaired, lets go with the obvious option and say he is mildly intoxicated.

The untrained bystander intends to help as best as he can, but risks making matter's worse in this particular situation.  Good Samaritan laws protect him if he does make things worse so long as he acted an a manner a 'reasonable person' could be expected to have acted in.

The EMT would usually be held to a much higher standard, since a "reasonable EMT" is expected to be more capable of providing aid without making matters worse then a bystander.  However, in his impaired state this EMT is not as capable as he usually would and may still risk making matters worse if he tries to render aid while impaired. The EMT intervenes judging that that even in his partially impaired state he is still more capable of rendering aid then a bystander.

I'm wondering how the good Samaritan laws would apply to the EMT he ultimately did more harm then good, acting counter to his 'duty' to the injured party?  If the mistake was one that a non-impaired EMT shouldn't make would this EMT face repercussions due to his impaired state?

Would it mater how big the mistake was?  For instance if the EMT causes some harm, but it's deemed likely that the bystander would have caused a greater harm acting then the impaired EMT would, would he be protected as a good Samaritan?  If it's deemed likely that the sober bystander would have done less harm rendering aid then the impaired EMT is the EMT now at legal risk for misjudging the degree of his impairment?


texts: What are the requirements to offer legal consult as a forensic linguist?

texts:
I have extensive training in voice analysis and advanced degrees in linguistics -- but I wonder if I need a special certificate to serve as a forensic linguist on a court case e.g. performing accent recognition, speaker identification, etc.

Is this state-specific or is there a national-level or international-level certificate that would qualify me on a list of qualified experts available for legal service?


texts: What is the plain-English meaning of 'obliged to receive'?

texts:
I've come across this phrase several times when reading legal texts, and it's always confused me. If someone is "[not] obliged to receive [something]", does this more closely mean they are [not] "required to accept", or am I far off there mark here, and maybe we're using 'receive' in the sense of 'received pronunciation'?

Not just an academic question, I've actually found myself right in the middle of the exact situation of
https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/2013/699.010

And want to make sure I understand fully what that sentence means before I dive in head first.


texts: What is the difference between Libel and Libel Per Se?

texts:
Defamation is defined on various legal online resources (as well as here, and Libel is written and published defamation.

Libel is defamation and defined as a false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to someone's reputation, and is published as a result of negligence or malice.
Libel per se is libel without the need for any explanation, when "libel is clear on its face."

What is the self-explanatory aspect of Libel per se as opposed to the explanation that is needed with Libel?

What are some examples of the differences and/or the inter-relatedness of Libel and Libel per se?

Must you always shown to be Libeling in order to Libel per se?


texts: Artificially lowering home purchase price on paper (Ontario Canada)

texts:
In Canada, a mortgage lender will give you a higher interest rate for purchase prices over the $1,000,000 mark. Assuming you agree to purchase a home from a seller for $1,200,000, is it legal to agree that you will pay $1,000,000 for the house and have a separate contract to buy a piece of furniture / appliance / other chattel from them for the remaining $200,000? This way you A. secure a lower mortgage rate.  and B. pay less on the land transfer tax (tax buyer pays based on home price).

Even if this is legal by the letter of the law:

What is the likelihood of this working, assuming the seller is in agreement?
Are there any likely risks / problems one could face upfront or down the road as a result?
Would the significant difference between purchase price and home value (as assessed by the municipality) raise red flags such as cause the suspicion of money laundering etc?

I'm looking for the community's thoughts before I approach my lawyer on the matter.


texts: With bans on gatherings due to the virus, can the government close churches or are they exempt due to seperation laws?


texts: Is it GDPR compliant to hide a competition entry behind a requirement to sign up to a newsletter

texts:
I'm looking to run a giveaway competition on my website. The main aim of the competition is to get signups to our email newsletter. I'm therefore proposing that 1. a user signs up to my newsletter (with the usual caveats, opt-ins etc), then 2. once they are signed up they will be shown a separate, standalone option to enter the competition.
This would allow people already signed up to still access the competition entry as our system would know their email address is signed up with us.
I think I'm safe in that competition entry is not bundled with the newsletter signup, they are separate actions, but the competition is only open to those that are signed up to the newsletter. Is that GDPR compliant?


texts: What is the effective date of a new shareholder?

texts:
Suppose a soon to be shareholder (New Shareholder) subscribes to become a shareholder of an LLC (Company A) on 1 November 2000 through a subscription letter.

New Shareholder transfer cash to the company on 2 November 2000.

Company A legally transfers shares (SH01 and Share Certificate) on 3 November 2000.

On what date does the New Shareholder have shareholder rights in the company?

1 November 2000?
2 November 2000?
3 November 2000?


texts: Why did Fortnite get banned from the App Store?

texts:
Recently, there was this conflict between Apple and the Fortnite devs, because Fortnite introduced In-App-Purchases that did not use the standard App Store payments, so that the fees did not have to be payed.
But what were the exact legal reasons for banning the app from the App Store and how could have Epic Games prevented the situation?


texts: Is it legal to upload NASA's SRTM dataset to kaggle?

texts:
Short Version:
Is it legal to upload NASA's SRTM dataset to kaggle.com?
Long Version:
I'm doing a computer science and data science project on landslide analysis. For this, I'm considering a variety of features, including slope patterns. To computer slope I'm using NASA's
SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) global elevation dataset.
You can find this dataset here: https://e4ftl01.cr.usgs.gov/MEASURES/SRTMGL1.003/2000.02.11/
However the process of downloading this data is a bit messy/unorganized. Therefore there are many sites such as the following two which make the process of doing this easier such as the following two

http://viewfinderpanoramas.org/Coverage%20map%20viewfinderpanoramas_org3.htm
https://dwtkns.com/srtm30m/

I want to download the data and then upload it to kaggle.com, a data science hub. Is this legal? I would assume so since anyone can download NASA's SRTM dataset, but I've not many people provide the datasets for download through other websites.


texts: Is it legal to sell holidays back to employer in UK

texts:
I would like to know if it's legal to sell holidays back to employer in UK ?

My employer don't have any issue with this but I want to know if it's legal as I will be applying for ILR soon and need to declare this.

I am entitled to 25 days holiday each year + England bank holiday, and I am selling back 10 holidays while taking Paternity Leave for 2 weeks because of 2 reasons,

I will not loose part of my salary because of Paternity Leave as I only get a standard rate which is only £200 or so.
I am on Tier 2 visa and will be applying ILR so it will have no impact on my salary threshold. I earn around £38,000 and threshold is £35,600, so this reason has little impact but still.


texts: Reletting from the point of view of the new tenant (AL)

texts:
How does reletting (lease assignment) usually look like for the person who is taking over a residential lease? Should there be a reletting addendum? Should the contract include the lease agreement of the original tenant? Should it contain a list of the obligations that are transferred to the new tenant?

I am asking this question to understand whether my landlord can make me liable for the property damages caused by the original tenant. As the substituting tenant, I have signed a boilerplate rental agreement that says I am liable only for the damages caused after I moved in. It does not even say that I am taking over anybody's lease. However, there is an AS-IS provision in the following addendum: https://i.imgur.com/5V8ab46.jpg that scares me. The lease contains no definition of how this provision affects the lease, though. The contract also describes the reletting procedure, saying that the original tenant is responsible for all his damages, but as far as I know he has not been billed for anything.

I feel like the management just did not bother to inspect the properties or prepare proper paperwork to transfer the obligations, but wanted somebody to be responsible for remodeling in the end. At the same time hey charged the original tenant a hefty fee of $450 to cover their "expenses".


texts: Can defendants switcheroo whenever they want?

texts:
Here is a 1994 article describing an Illinois criminal trial where defense counsel pulled the old switcheroo and sat a different person with him at the defense table instead of the defendant. The defendant, instead, sat somewhere else in the courtroom.

After a witness misidentified the perp as the person at the defense table (not the defendant), the judge directed a not-guilty verdict to settle the case but sanctioned the defense attorney instead. The appellate and state supreme courts upheld the sanction (by a one-vote margin in both cases) but dissenting opinions noted counsel and defendant technically broke no rules.

From the article:

  The dissent said Mr. Sotomayor's intent was only to show the
  unreliability of the prosecution's witness. Moreover, seating a client
  at counsel's table is customary but not required. Nor is a lawyer
  obliged [...] to help a witness make an identification.

Now assume the switcheroo idea came from the defendant himself. Not his counsel. And note that although this tactic is unorthodox, it is apparently, "legal" and apparently, at least in this case, highly effective. Nevertheless, it rarely happens. Presumably, this is because attorneys are reluctant to risk their freedom and careers on behalf of a client. Who could blame them? So my question is as follows.

Can a defendant choose not to sit at his lawyer's table? Can he choose to have someone else sit there instead? In other words, could a defendant insist on doing a switcheroo over the objection of his attorney? Would the attorney be forced to either quit the case or go through with something they don't agree with? In such a scenario could the attorney be held responsible? Could the defendant be punished by the court somehow?

Edit:

The difference between this question and the one referenced in the comments is that this question presupposes switcheroo is the defendant's idea but counsel doesn't want to do it. It's more about the relative "power" of the defendant to "force" his attorney to participate in a "grey area" of ethical conduct. The other question has no element respecting this power structure dynamic.


texts: I was born in the UK in the 60s and I have a certificate of birth and a certified copy of an entry of birth both from the sub district of Sefton Park of Liverpool South district in the County Borough of Liverpool but my name does not appear in any of the UK archives and I currently live in a different country and have never personally used the birth certificate. Does this mean that I am not a registered citizen of the UK? Or is my birth certificate invalid? Why does my name not appear in my of the archive records?


texts: After the New York 2019 Reproductive Health Act, are there ANY penalties to late-term abortion?

texts:
The New York 2019 Reproductive Health Act lists conditions under which an abortion may be performed (before 24 weeks, woman’s life or health at risk, fetus not viable). And the Act completely removes abortion from the penal code, that is, completely decriminalizes abortion.

What penalty is there, then, for performing an abortion that does not meet the conditions, that is, for performing an abortion after 24 weeks on a viable fetus when there is no risk to woman’s life or health?

Where is that penalty specified? If no crime is committed, how would any penalty be imposed?


texts: What is the legal source of the banned immigrants list?

texts:
The recent presidential decree banning immigrants from certain nations refers to 8 USC 1187(a)(12), identifying aliens "from countries referred to in" that piece of law, which explicitly names Syria and Iraq as being on the list. The law also states that other countries might be put on the list, but does not name others. The decree itself does not list any specific countries as being on the banned list, but there seems to be media agreement that the list of seven includes Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen; it also does not include Cuba or North Korea. The relevant pieces of US Code indicate that the Secretaries of State or Homeland Security might maintain such lists, but I can't find clear and current evidence of any such list from which these nations could be identified. The list of countries seems to closely correspond to earlier versions of the "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list, but omits North Korea and includes states which were formerly but are not currently on the list.

Is there any currently-valid government list which identifies Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen (and optionally Iraq and Syria), and no other countries, in a fashion that can be subsumed under the provisions of 8 USC 1187(a)(12)? And, of course, a legally-authoritative source of the list would be needed.


texts: Would the federal decriminalization of marijuana under the MORE act supersede state-level criminal statutes?

texts:
Bill in question
I haven't been able to find a clear answer to this question.
I'm aware that there exists the Supremacy Clause which says that state laws cannot contradict federal laws. Another way of wording this question is: would federally decriminalizing marijuana mean that state criminalization is contradictory?
Prostitution for example is not a crime or even illegal under federal law, though it is a crime in almost every state. Given this example, it seems like marijuana would remain illegal under state law (if applicable), though I'm not confident about my intuition here.


texts: Are all crimes committed in Washington DC federal crimes?

texts: Since Washington DC is a federal territory, do all crimes committed there automatically become federal crimes?


texts: What was the basis in international law for the seizure of the Iranian tanker Grace 1?

texts:
As far as I can make out, the Iranian tanker Grace 1 was seized by Gibraltar whilst it was travelling through Gibraltar's territorial waters. See e.g. this article. The stated basis for the seizure was that it was suspected of violating EU sanctions by carrying crude oil to a sanctioned refinery in Syria.

What was the legal basis in international law for this? Even though the ship was in territorial waters, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea specifies that vessels should have either "innocent" or "transit" passage through international straits. There are some restrictions that coastal states can impose on ships, but none of them seem to relate to carrying cargoes in violation of sanctions. As far as I know the sanctions are EU sanctions and so only relevant to domestic law and not international law.

According to Wikipedia, the UK has ratified the UNCLOS whereas Iran has signed but not ratified it. I don't know if this makes any difference.


texts: Legal to become president if U.S. adds new state/territories?

texts: If the U.S. adds a new territory, are the people currently living there able to become president? Or does the territory have to become a state in order for the people to be eligible to become president?


texts: Can my landlord double-dip rent after my month-to-month lease termination?

texts: I had a month-to-month tenancy with my previous landlord, which I terminated via written 30 days notice. The lease will terminate on the 21st of this month. I have already paid pro-rated rent until the 21st of this month. However, I have vacated the premises and returned the keys and the unit in good condition. The landlord told me that he has rented out the new unit to a new tenant starting on the 18th of this month. Am I legally entitled to a refund of the pro-rated rent from the 18th to the 21st? And if so, would it be at the rate I was paying, or at the reduced rate that the new tenant is paying? I reviewed my lease and don't see specific language governing this situation.


texts: Does quoting documentation as comments in programming code qualify as Fair Use?

texts:
Here's an example of how I might document a function call to some external API, external library etc. Their API may have T&Cs, or the libary may force me to abide by a license, that's fine, but what about their documentation?

In the below example, I copy an extract verbatim from their website, in order to describe interaction with their code.

Does this qualify as fair use or fall under some other legal provision?

// This is a string from external documentation, copied off a third party website
// It describes something meaningful about the api/dll etc I'm going to be calling here

func (s *foo) GetBars(id int) (Bars) {
    // todo implementation
}

The MIT licence, which is pretty permissive, still appears to only apply to the software. I think it's reasonable to include documentation in the same repository as the same "software", but what about supporting documentation on a website? (Note that this argument wouldn't seem to apply to web APIs, lets take Githubs API terms of service as an example, because there is not really any software being licenced.)


texts: What actions are still crimes even if the victim gives consent?

texts:
It is often said that you cannot consent to being murdered. If you say to someone 'Please kill me' and they do, they can still be tried and convicted for some degree of murder or manslaughter. Furthermore, in many countries, assisting in suicide is also considered a crime, even if the person is fully mentally competent.

Are there any other crimes that the victim cannot consent to, in order to prevent them being a crime? It's worth adding that the consent is freely given with no coercion.


texts: Does a landlord have to rent to someone even if it makes the other tenants uncomfortable?

texts: Let's say I rent a 3 bedroom house in Florida to 3 women from a university in their 20's. Then one moves out and a 40 year old male applicant applies for the vacancy with great numbers on paper. I know that age the gender are not supposed to be criteria, but what is the right answer when the two existing tenants are uncomfortable?


texts:
I was driving my Out of State car in DC last year ( actually the car is in my Wife's Name but we are both listed as drivers on the Insurance Policy) when a Photo Camera issued 2 tickets for moving violations (11 to 15 miles over limit). I paid the fines ONLINE.

Will DC DMV report the violations to my Home State DMV?

If yes how would they know who was driving? I do not want anything on my wife's driving record. My Home state starts suspending license at 4 moving violations

Will they report it to my Insurance company?

Is this violation (11 - 15 over limit) considered minor?

Is there something I can do proactively?


texts: Can I legally scrape data from a website for use in my app?

texts:
I'm working on a little app that need AIS boats data. Without cracking something I've found that a website give it:

http://shipfinder.co/endpoint/shipDeltaUpdate.php?bounds=49.439658,0.061074,49.51333,0.228615

Is it legal to dump it ?

In our case, it's a free and open source mobile application.

Have a good day :)


texts: What crime is committed by submitting fake pictures to the court as discovery evidence?

texts: What crime has an alleged victim committed by submitting fake edited pictures as discovery evidence of injuries?


texts: Can my HOA force us to pay additional costs for unnecessary capital improvements?

texts:
TL;DR: Can an HOA force homeowners to pay a large 1-time fee for installation of a street gate and increased monthly fees for road maintenance on the private road that is already in the process of being dedicated to the county?

I live in a new affordable housing community with the majority of the homes classified under various affordable and "workforce" housing programs for the county of Maui.  Some of the homes went to the "open market" and were apparently sold at market value.  Some of the homes in the community are being built by Habitat for Humanity and others are being built by a trust that holds houses at affordable prices in perpetuity. None of these houses (roughly 1/3 of the total) are completed yet.  All of the "open market" and "workforce" housing has been built and is occupied -- about 2/3 of the total lots included in the HOA.

We are located on a single road that connects a much older neighborhood to the main highway.  This is an alternate (and possibly quicker) route for northbound traffic from this older neighborhood.  The road was only recently built and was submitted for dedication to the county, but the process is not complete yet.

The HOA board wishes to keep the road private and build a gate blocking access to/from the older neighborhood.  They wish to charge every homeowner a 1-time fee to build the gate and to start a reserve fund to pay for future road maintenance (which will show up in our monthly HOA fees).  Is this legal?  Can they charge us a 1-time fee for improvement projects?  What type of approval if any is required of the homeowners? We were told that the road was being dedicated to the county when we bought the homes. Do we have any recourse to prevent the HOA from "privatizing" the road (actually, they are try to prevent the road from being dedicated rather than actually privatizing the road)?


texts: Rights of Joint administrators of a property

texts: If legal heirs of a joint property have acquired the letter of administration of the joint property, can a single co-owner sell his share (in india)?


texts: What exactly does it mean for a case to be dismissed?

texts: A plantiff did not attend the hearing. Consequently the adjudicator dismissed his case. What does this mean? I roughly understand that it means the defendant is absolved of the charges and that the plantiff can not reopen the case (or charge for the same thing again) without proving he had a very good reason for missing the hearing  (e.g. was in a hospital).


texts: Can a digital marketplace restrict access to download content you purchased?

texts:
Let's say a company created the video game console X and sells games on that platform through a digital marketplace. You spent $200 on 10 games for this platform.

Then a few years down the line, the company creates another video game console Y and does the same, but they decide to pull the marketplace for X and prevent you from re-downloading the content you purchased.

Adding on to this, I know that you cannot refund digital products after you download or stream them and you are technically just buying a license to use the software, but I'm not sure if you can be completely revoked from access to them, except for clearly printed time gated content (such as rentals).

Is this legal in the EU, US, or Australia?


texts: Can one be prosecuted for sexting a minor overseas?

texts: Let's say a person(18yo) exchanges nudes with a 17yo (not a crime where I live) who is living in Britain where it would be a crime. Could the UK arrest and prosecute the person?


texts: Was not given notice of court date, checked months later and had a bench warrant

texts:
Several months ago (4-5)  I was involved in a major motorcycle accident in which I was rushed to the hospital.

I have since recovered, and just so happened to check my court records in which I discovered that I had a bench warrant.  I was apparently written up for not having insurance in this accident but was not notified in any way of this.  I did have insurance at this time and they paid me out for the accident.  What are my options in this case, and if I hire an attorney, would I be reimbursed for this?

This is in the United States and specific to the state of Hawaii.


texts: Right Timing for Legal Action Against Neighbor Construction Negligence

texts:
We own a multi-family rental row-home property in a US city.

An abutting row-home was being gutted and renovated. In the process, our upper back deck and roof were used without our permission to work on their project. Their materials were strewn all over, and a piece of plastic ended up covering the gutter on the roof.

There was very heavy rain, and massive amounts of water came in our property causing severe damage. Even though remediation came swiftly, we had tenants abandon their units and threatening to sue for frivolous concepts.

Insurance has been good so far, but we see that we are already facing very likely income loss as a consequence of the demands from the tenants for lease termination and return of deposit; possible delays in finding new occupants since we can't show the property; multiple trips to the city with more and more problems surfacing, etc.

We don't want to necessarily get entangled in a legal battle, but if needed we want to do it timely and properly.

So the question is, When is the best moment to seek legal counseling regarding any losses not covered by insurance? For instance, we feel like we have an open running tab, and until things come to a close we don't know what the ultimate financial damage will be.

Also, What type of lawyer specializes in this types of issues?


texts: What is the legal interpretation of "As satisfied by" in this passage?

texts:
I had a difficulty understanding the meaning of "as satisfied" in the following sentence:

  references in these Regulations to any requirement for any document to be written, in writing, to be presented in writing or for the giving of any notice are to be construed as satisfied by a document or Record in electronic form (being a document or Record generated, communicated, received or stored by electronic, magnetic, optical or otherwise in an information system or for transmission from one information system to another) and any references in these Companies Regulations to any requirement for a signature on any document or notice are to be construed as satisfied by an Electronic Signature which may be proved in any manner;

Does it mean that in case a file is required in writing, then an electronic version is also acceptable in this case?


texts: Why are headnotes presumed to be correct in England and Wales, but not USA?

texts:
Please see the question in the subject line.
I can post a separate question if you want, but are headnotes presumed correct in other Commonwealth jurisdictions? Canada? Australia? New Zealand?

However, the next place to go is to the headnotes, which briefly
summarise the facts and salient legal points. Because headnotes
are presumptively assumed to be correct in this jurisdiction (something
that is not the case in other countries, such as the US), many
students rely only on the headnotes and go no further in their
research. That sort of approach takes a mistakenly short-term
view of legal education. It is based on a belief that to do well in
the law (either in academia or in practice), one need only know the
facts and the outcome of a particular decision. In fact, the most
valuable, interesting and important aspect of a legal education is
learning how to reason. Law, like life, is seldom clear-cut.

Stacie Strong. BA English literature (UC Davis 1986), MPW (USC 1990), JD (Duke 1994), PhD Law (Cambridge 2002), DPhil (Oxford 2003). How to Write Law Essays & Exams 5th Edition (2018). p 20.


texts: Confidentiality in employer/employee relations - defaults in US law?

texts:
I may soon be employed by a US company (I've never worked for one before). My question regards confidentiality of information in the employer-employee relations, by default (= by law/legal precedent), when this issue is not explicitly addressed in an employment contract.

Which party is required to keep the confidentiality of what kinds of information/knowledge?

The fact that you're employed at the company
The employment conditions
General, supposedly non-sensitive information about the company, e.g. how many employees it has, or how big its offices are, or what the cafeteria serves for lunch.
Technologies the company uses, in the general sense (e.g. we host our own cluster rather than renting virtual machines on the cloud)
More potentially-sensitive information, but one the disclosure of which does not in itself cause any damage, e.g. names of clients (when it's not a private/delicate matter), technologies used and so on.

I'm pretty sure the employee is required to keep 5 confidential, and isn't required to keep 1 or 2 in confidence. But what about the employer? Can it disclose that information? And what about the other categories?


texts: How can "factual" intellectual property be protected?

texts:
As noted in this answer:

  Facts and information cannot be copyrighted. Just because a work is
  copyrighted, doesn't mean every part of that work is copyrighted, and
  factual information conveyed by the work is a part which is not
  subject to copyright.  Copyright on a collection of facts is limited
  to the selection and arrangement of those facts, and only if that
  selection and arrangement has some bare minimum amount of originality.
  See Feist v. Rural, 499 U.S. 340.

What intellectual-property protection is available under the law for scenarios like the following?

Half of a published book consists of factual descriptions of bullets, including proprietary measurements of ballistic coefficients (which are supposed to be an immutable "fact" about the bullet).  By publishing those data in a copyrighted book are they now in the public domain?  Or because they represent a specific estimate/measurement, and not an invariant fact (i.e., a different measurement could produce a slightly different value), are they protected by the copyright?
CUSIP numbers are widely used unique identifiers of financial instruments, but they are only available under license.  If somebody "leaked" these data to the public would the data then be in the public domain?  (I.e., does just one person violating their license in this fashion remove all IP protection for data covered by the license?)