texts: File copying and deletion before employee leaves to competitor

texts:
This may be a mundane question but I cannot find an answer for it, as the law is not my area of expertise.

If an employee is under contract and copies files (on mass to a personal cloud storage) for the purpose of using them at a competitor, in the future, despite that their contract says the files are the companies property, they have clearly broken contracts and the law.

However, if the individual discovers this is breaking their contract and deletes the file before handing in their notice, are they still breaking the law if the files have not been shared or used?

UK and EU law


texts: Are homeless people protected by antidiscrimination laws?

texts:
I was in a restaurant in New Jersey (USA) recently and witnessed the owners telling a (possibly) homeless person that he couldn't come inside because he smelled too bad. Is this legal?

More generally, are restaurants and other stores allowed to refuse entry to people for "looking homeless"? I often wonder about this in NYC, where I can imagine store owners wanting to create a "high-class" atmosphere in their store, but at the same time facing possible discrimination laws (and of course ethical issues).


texts:
Is the crime of theft committed if it was proven to be an accident? For example you moved houses and somehow accidentally took your neighbors lawnmower? What if you returned it quickly, what if they asked you if you had it and you first said no? I'm interested in things that are generally under a few hundred dollars.

Maybe a simpler example is you were transporting boxes for your work and realized you had forgotten to take one out of the car. Is this considered theft or must it have been proven intentional?

Does the burden of proof lay on the plaintiff to show it was on purpose, or the defendant to show it was by accident?


texts: What is the equivalent to "fair use" in Europe?

texts:
I'm preparing to publish an open source library.

In order to research local law, I wanted to know if there is an equivalent term for the USA "fair use" in European law?


texts: How to find Statutes at Large pincite for a new law?

texts:
Is it possible to find the page in United States Statutes at Large that corresponds with the Public Law section for a new statute?
The specific law in question is:
Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-315, 134 Stat. 4932.
For an article on my educational website, I resorted to using underscores for the Statute at Large pincites. For example:

Key Points for C&P Exams
The first three Key Points are all found in Section 2002 of the bill, the full citation of which is:
Matters relating to Department of Veterans Affairs medical disability
examinations, H.R. 7105, Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D.
Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, tit. II,
subtit. A, sec. 2002.
Note: That is the citation for the enrolled bill as amended by the
House of Representatives on 16 Dec 2020. The citation for section 2002
of the law is:
Matters Relating to Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Disability
Examinations, Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health
Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-315, §
2002, 134 Stat. 4932, __ (Jan. 5, 2021).
Congress passed the bill on 16 Dec 2020, after the House agreed to a
Senate amendment:
Resolving differences -- House actions: On motion that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the Senate amendment, Agreed to by
voice vote, 166 Cᴏɴɢ. Rᴇᴄ., no. 213, H7169–7204 (daily ed. Dec.
16, 2020).

Using the above example, how can I find the page number(s) in United States Statutes at Large that correspond with Pub. L. No. 116-315, § 2002?
I found the Statutes at Large citation for the law on the Potomac Publishing website, under "New Laws".
I am guessing that at present I would need to pay for a Lexis or West publication to find this information, but I wanted to make sure.


texts:
I was surprised by this comment on liability.  The context was about self-driving cars, and why it is such a big deal whether the owner/passenger is liable, or the manufacturer, in case both are insured.

  Because I can jail whoever is liable, and insurance does not cover in cases of gross misconduct -- so liability matters, and as you point out the product manefactures has liability as well, but that is regardless of the car is driverless or not. – Soren

In what context can Soren jail whoever is liable?  I thought debtor's prisons were mostly a thing of the past.  Is jailing someone for failing to pay a fee for which s/he is liable still practiced in any country in Europe or North America?

(NB: I do not literally mean that Soren personally jails whoever is liable.)


texts: How to describe harassment by opposing lawyer in hearing?

texts:
I was recently involved in a special education impartial hearing.  I was pro se.  The school district's lawyer harassed me when I was testifying, and one of my expert witnesses, as well, with her body language, her volume, and constant interruptions.  99% of her objections were overruled, but it was extremely unnerving.  I would like to describe her behavior in my written closing argument.

What is a good way of describing this behavior?


texts: Whose is the ownership of a device bought by one party and reimbursed by another?

texts:
I came across a situation recently which left me wondering what the legal outcome was. It's a little academic, since it'll never actually come to pass, but I'd be interested in hearing the legal theories behind it.

The TL;DR of the story:

I moved into a rental property. The existing wifi was terrible, so I spent a couple of weeks going back and forth with the landlord and the ISP to sort it out. Despite it being an ISP issue, the ISP offered us £50 to sort the issue out ourselves. I came up with a solution that stayed almost within that £50, proposed it, and the landlord and ISP were happy.

Said solution involved buying a few bits of network hardware. The landlords were happy with this, but they said that instead of them buying the hardware for me with the ISP's 'contribution', I should buy the hardware and they would reimburse me up to a maximum of £60 (the ISP's £50, plus a 'goodwill gesture' from them of £10 max).

Long story short, I bought the hardware for around £58. I'm still waiting on the reimbursement, but it'll come through as soon as the banks clear it.

And now to the question. Whose is the ownership of these various bits of network hardware?

Mine, because I bought them and just received the same amount back from the landlord (i.e. there was no transfer of ownership due to reimbursement); or
Theirs, because they paid me the £58 with the intention of that paying for the hardware (i.e. the reimbursement transfers ownership to them)?


texts: Siblings Want To Charge Me Rent To Stay In Our Inherited Property For One Year

texts: My 3 siblings and I inherited our parents house in 2011. The home has no mortgage. I have paid my 1/4 of the taxes each year since 2012 have never missed a payment. I have also paid my 1/4 of the insurance and have never missed a payment. Renovations have be done in the home. I contributed my 1\4 each time. One sibling has never contributed to the insurance. another sibling was given money to make repairs, but never provided proper receipts. Now that I need to move into the home for one year in order to recover from loss of income since the COVID-19 shut down my job, my siblings want to charge me 10,000.00 for one year of rent. Can they legally charge me rent?


texts: Using BSD licensed in closed source software

texts: As far as I'm aware, it is ok to use BSD licensed source code in a closed source application for commercial purposes, but do you have to reference the BSD licensed code at all? In other words, do you have to make people aware in the EULA that the software contains parts of BSD licensed code?


texts:
What happens if you go to another country break the law there, but it's not illegal in the country you live in?
Example:
Person A goes to vacation to country 2. Person A is from country 1, where you can use sneakers whenever you want.
In country 2 one is allowed to use sneakers on Saturdays 8am-3pm.
Then person A uses sneakers in country 2 on a sunday and gets caught. The punishment of using sneakers outside the law timelimit would be 90 days. What would happen?


texts: Can a minor get a copyright registered in India?

texts: Can a person below 18 register copyright in India?


texts: Does Manafort v. DOJ, Rosen and Mueller have any merit?

texts:
Does Paul Manafort's suit against the DOJ, Rod Rosen and Robert Mueller have any merit? Paul Manafort Sues Mueller and Asks a Judge to Narrow the Russia Investigation - The New York Times.

The DOJ's order of the Appointment of Special Counsel (Order No. 3915-2017) specifies that The Special
Counsel is authorized to conduct the investigation and

  (i) any links and/or coordination bet ween the Russian government and
  individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump;
  and

  (ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the
  investigation; and

  (iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 CFR 600.4 a

Manafort's lawsuit alleges overreach and incursions on the part of the DOJ (Manafort-Mueller-Civil-Suit) and seeks to limit the scope of the investigation.

Aside from the idea that Manafort's lawsuit may simply be public relations and he is free to push back at the DOJ's investigation, does Manafort make any valid points about overreach and the legitimacy of the investigation?

What could be some liabilities of this suit and Mueller's answer?


texts:
If i am a director of a private limited company, can i resign from my director position using a resignation email ?

Is there any chance that the company could take legal actions just because there was not any signed written letter ?

Update: About the second question, here's an example scenario.

Lets say i am a director of a pvt. ltd. company.
Resignation is given via an email directly to the CEO (who holds 100% of shares) with a notice period of two weeks.
By now, notice period is ok.

Company background

The company provides a service to customers as a lifetime service.
Due to some reason, company can't proceed with those already provided services.
This service failures are being occurred after my notice period.
Now, CEO says, even if i send the resignation letter he did not accept it, i am still liable to the company and its services.
Though he previously said send an email as a resignation letter then go.
Also before my resignation, another director resigned only using a resignation email.
I have only signed usual director registration form and some other documents that needs to create company's bank account.


texts: Is Judicial overreach constitutional in India?

texts:
I recently came across an article reporting that the India's Supreme Court has passed a judgement which has the effect of diluting the THE SCHEDULED CASTES AND THE SCHEDULED TRIBES  (PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES) ACT, 1989, enacted by Parliament, the apex legislative branch of Indian Government.

Earlier, a private individual could be arrested immediately when the victim filed a complaint. Now, the judgment provided for a seven day period where the SSP (District Police Chief) would direct DSP to inquire into the matter and based on the findings, the latter would either arrest the accused or dismiss the allegation. Furthermore, public servants are now granted pseudo-immunity i.e. no automatic arrest, as their appointing authority would now have powers to sanction the arrest if they are an accused.

In an earlier stance, the same court passed a judgment which also seemed to dilute the provisions against domestic violence.

My question concerns with Separation of Powers, a fundamental feature of Indian Constitution as well as of modern Democracies. Judiciary as I understand should not and must not pass orders or judgement which are of the nature of enacting or amending executive actions or legal statutes. Judiciary may struck down or read off those parts of a concerned text if they violate Constitution. Even Article 142 of the Constitution, which Supreme Court tends to use liberally to impart justice, doesn't explicitly empowers it to engage into such [mis]adventures.

What I want to know is :

Whether such judgment can be construed as ultra vires of the Constitution?
Alternatively, is judicial overreach constitutionally permissible?
If not, what recourse can the Indian Parliament undertake to nullify such judgment/order?
[Optional] Had there been such cases in other Democracies? Were they too ultra vires?


texts: Will I sued for recording someone without their consent?

texts: I want to know if I can be sued in the Philippines for recording someone without letting them know? I was being ganged up by my own family and decided to hide under my blanket when I decided to record them so that I have evidence that they are abusing me. It's not a video recording but an audio recording so they don't know that I was recording them.


texts: Legal aspects of using logos from a LaTeX package in resume

texts:
I was thinking about using Skype and LinkedIn logos from fontawesome package to provide corresponding contact details in my resume. But I am not sure if I am violating any rules. Can anyone throw some light over this? Should I use them or not?

Following is how a portion(at 800% zoom) of my (planned, not finalized) resume looks. Please indicate in yes/no/(any other explanation) whether the logos appear in an appropriate manner.


texts: In the United States, under what circumstances is ignorance of a law or legal principle a defense against legal action?


texts: Can I call the police in a non-emergency but sticky situation?

texts:
A friend of mine recently posted about the following situation:

Alice is on public transport when she is approached by Bob, who asks her unwanted questions (e.g. where do you live, do you want to go out with me this weekend, etc). Alice attempts to avoid Bob by alighting, but Bob alights as well and keeps talking. Can Alice call the police? What about an uninvolved third party? If it matters, Bob is unarmed and the country is Singapore.

My original inclination is "yes". However it looks like calling the police worldwide should only be done in emergency situations, e.g. the Singapore police website says one should only dial 999 when a crime is in progress, someone is hurt or in danger, and so on. Bob in this situation hasn't actually become violent, and while Alice is understandably frightened, she isn't actually in danger.

If the answer is "no", how should Alice shake off Bob? "Walk to a police station" seems like the obvious answer, but there might not be one nearby.


texts: What's the difference between the Colorado baker case and Alex Jones getting banned?

texts:
I'm not american, and this has stuck with me for some time.

Recently, Alex Jones was banned from a lot of platforms, most recently Twitter. I saw a lot of news about it, and my general understanding is that the companies are simply not providing their service to that individual, something they have complete right to do.

But also, there was that Colorado baker case, and there was a whole lot of discussion if he could or not deny service to the couple.

My question is how these two cases are different and how US law states if a company can or can't deny a service to someone.


texts: What penalty would Google or Apple face if they didn't remove TikTok from their app store?

texts:
Let's say that the situation stands as it is now in the future—TikTok is not bought by a US company and no changes are made to the existing executive orders or other steps taken by the US government. What would happen if, after the prescribed time, Google and Apple did not remove TikTok from their app store?
What penalties, if any, could be inflicted on the two companies for not removing the app from their app stores, and under what legal authority?  Would the companies be able to argue that they are not making transactions simply by not removing the app from the store?


texts: How would a minority share holder VETO power be provisioned in a company constitution?

texts:
To protect minority shareholder and potentially attract investors, a company would give minority shareholders the power to veto certain decisions. Typically decisions that would erode their shareholding value.

How would this be provisioned in the constitution while not giving them too much power to veto anything out?

For example, one can veto out any corporation restructuring, dilution of the
shareholdings, appointment of officers, election of directors, borrowing and lending and more.

Thanks


texts: What if the user disagreed with the Terms of Service, but still registered on a website?

texts:
This is purely hypothetical, based on an anecdote told on a web design lecture a long time ago.

Most websites nowadays require you to click on a little checkbox that usually says I agree to the Terms of Service when registering on a website, presumably to avoid any liability that may accrue because of your use of the site.

However, some sites allow the user to register without marking this checkbox (in the mentioned anecdote, one website accidentally allowed this simply because the check didn't work in certain web browsers), in which case, to my understanding, the user never actually agreed to the terms.

Should the user proceed to sue the website owners, could he argue that he never agreed with these terms simply by proving that it's possible to register without marking the famous I agree checkbox?


texts: Can I leave a EU country (Germany) with an expired visa but with a another already being created?

texts:
The case of my friend is: she lives in Germany, has a visa that is already expired, and she already paid for a new one and it is being produced, but the waiting time is 2+ month. She can't wait anymore and wants to go home (Ukraine) for several months.
The plan is: when the new visa will come we will send her the new one via a package.
The main issue I see is the going out of the country. Could there be some problems, fees, or restrictions for her situation?
I would appreciate every bit of information or any link that you could throw at me. Thanks!


texts: What is prospective relief and executory decree?

texts:
In Plaut v Spendthrift Farm the court decided that a federal statute that requires federal courts to reopen final judgments that were ordered before the statute's enactment is unconstitutional on separation of powers grounds.

“[O]nce a judicial decision achieves finality, it becomes the last word of the judicial department…. and Congress cannot retroactively command Article III courts to reopen final judgments.”

After appeals are complete and decision is final, the judicial branch had finally spoken and legislative power is no longer effective. Congress may not declare by retroactive legislation that the law applicable to that very case was something other than what the courts said it was. The legislature can affect the outcome of a case by amending the applicable substantive law so long as all direct appeals had not been exhausted.
There is, however, an exception to this.

"Prospective relief under a continuing, executory decree remains subject to alteration due to changes in the underlying law."
“When the intervening statute authorizes or affects the propriety of prospective relief, application of the new provision is not retroactive"

I do not understand what this exception is trying to say. What is prospective relief and what is an executory degree? And what is the propriety of prospective relief?


texts: Recourse to resistance in citizen's arrest

texts:
I am curious about citizen's arrest, at least in how it applies in the U.S., particularly the recourse the arresting party has in case of resistance/evasion. Let's say you see an assault/battery take place, after which the perpetrator attempts to flee. Can a civilian apprehend them and detain them until law enforcement arrives?

Also interested in what constitutes a legitimate justification for such an action. Do you have a right to detain any individual until police arrives and what are repercussions for "false imprisonment".

Yesterday, I witnessed something that could be considered an assault in a major thoroughfare in a major U.S. city. A seeming minor but fully grown (probably 16-17) was riding around on a scooter in a square intimidating and harassing passerbys. At some point, he rides by an older guy and does something that looks like a punch in the shoulder. The old guy was okay but that still qualifies as an assault, no? Since there was no police officers around, could any citizen have arrested the kid?


texts: Missing budget due to employer-sponsor misunderstanding: is that breach of contract?

texts:
As per title, 50% of the budget for my salary is missing due to an employer-sponsor misunderstanding. The sponsor is giving 0.5 full time expecting that my employer would take care of the rest. On the other hand, my employer was expecting full time budget from this sponsor. My contract does not mention where the budget should come from, but I was CC'ed in an exchange of emails between the employer and the sponsor about this.
I am in the USA and my contract is at will (termination with 15-day notice).
If this is not sorted out, it will lead to contract termination. In this case, would I be entitled to make a claim for breach of contract?
EDIT: I was hired two months ago, fully budgeted by the sponsor. The budget issue has just come out for the upcoming fiscal year.


texts: In Mississippi, is there a law that states your home and auto have to be insured with the same company? I was getting quotes from a company for a rental property we own, and was told that in MS they could not insure that property without insuring our residence and vehicles with that company.  I've never heard that, so I wanted to make sure there wasn't some law or statute that said that this was the case.


texts: Is there a license that lets only the company the rights to earn money with the code, but does not forbid others to use it?

texts:
Is there a License that permits only the company that published the code to earn money using it, by selling products or services that include that code?.
The license should let in addition the ability for everybody to change the code and use it as they see fit, and be copyleft.


texts: Can an operating system make terms for apps that run on it, or can third parties do the same?

texts:
This is in continuation to the question here :If an app is built on a GPL Operating System must it also be GPL?
Say a user is using a default calendar app and the operating system provides an inbuit method or prebuilt executable to call the default calendar and open it. A person builds an app that, as a side-feature required for its functioning, opens the default app using operating system facilities openly provided to everyone like console commands.
Can the operating system provide terms for such apps which are legally enforceabe like payments to be made to Operating System deveopers? Can the calendar maker do so also?
Lastly will making a console call (opencalendar) [where opencalendar is an operating system executable] or in code (someoperatingsystemlibrary.opencalendar();) create a copyright issue and will it make developers liable for practices of the operating system and calendar? Answers to the last sentence are optional.


texts: Can a license agreement apply to a physical object?

texts:
I purchased this board from Digi-Key for $27.97.

Later, I noticed on the ST website that there is a license agreement for the board.  (To be clear, I did not agree to the license when I purchased the board from Digi-Key, not even in a click-through fashion.)

What disturbs me about the license is that it seems to apply not only to the software/firmware, but to the physical board itself.  And it states that:

  STMicroelectronics (“ST”) grants You the right to use the enclosed Evaluation Board offering limited features only to evaluate
  and test ST products solely for Your evaluation and testing purposes in a research and development setting.

It's not clear that my use would be "evaluation and testing," since I intend to actually do something useful/practical with it.  (i. e. I am a maker and intend to incorporate it into a project I'm building.)

Furthermore, the license says that the board may not be resold.  Although I'm not really intending to resell it, I would generally consider something I bought to be fair game to eBay when I'm done with it and don't need it anymore.  How does this restriction fit with the Doctrine of First Sale?

I intend to use open source software on the board, to the extent possible.  Though there are possibly some bits of the firmware (maybe the bootloader, for example) which are closed-source and cannot be replaced.  Does the existence of this firmware on the board mean that ST Microelectronics can control what the board as a whole is used for?

As a hypothetical, could the manufacturer of a washing machine include a "license agreement" which prohibits selling the washing machine to someone else when you don't need it anymore?  (And if the answer is "no", what makes it different than my situation?)


texts: Can lifeboat passengers claim the necessity defense if they are charged with murder for cannibalism?

texts: Suppose a ship at sea suddenly develops problems and the passengers are put into life boats. One boat carrying 20 people gets lost. After 8 days without food and water, the passengers decide to kill one of the passengers and eat him. They kill a 7 years old boy and feed on him. When they get back to shore, they are charged with murder. If the passengers plead necessity as a defense, will they succeed?


texts: Does or should a prosecutor in the US interview the victim and the suspect, if they are physically available, to file charges?

texts: Does a prosecutor ought to interview the victim if physically available and the suspect if physically available to file criminal charges (in the US)?


texts: Prevailing law when land is impermanent?

texts:
I live in an area where new land is developing from the slow deposition of soil at a river mouth.  As the land grows out of the water, it is covered for less and less time each day by the high-tide or by the river outflow, and some areas that were once never exposed are now well above the high-tide mark.
I believe, although I might be wrong, that in Australia the seabed is controlled by the Commonwealth no matter what state it borders. What is the status, in Australia, of the kind of newly developing land I have described ... and what approach prevails in other federated jurisdictions?


texts: If a judge appears to be biased, can a lawyer request that another judge be present in the courtroom?

texts: Hypothetically, in a court of law, if a lawyer notices that a particular judge is biased and unfair, can he request that another judge be present to ensure that there's no bias?


texts: Do barter transactions need to be declared for tax purposes, and how is taxable value decided?

texts:
What is the legality of bartering goods and services in a non-business setting? Say I'm on Craigslist, and I trade my car for a service or another product.

Do I need to declare that on my taxes, and if so, how do I assess the market value of those goods or services?


texts:
[ Source for English law : ] Adverse Possession means someone occupying land belonging to someone else, without permission. If someone does this continuously for a number of years (normally 10 or 12 years) then, in certain circumstances, the land may become theirs.
[ US Source : ]
Adverse possession is a doctrine under which a person in possession of land owned by someone else may acquire valid title to it, so long as certain common law requirements are met, and the adverse possessor is in possession for a sufficient period of time, as defined by a statute of limitations.

I already understand, and so ask not for, the definition. Instead: what motivated the use of adverse to describe the legal notion? What semantic notions underlie the prosaic and the legal meanings?


texts: Can an prospective employer ask for information about your previous salary and base their offer on that?

texts: Can a public-sector employer ask for information about a prospective employee's previous salary? Can they base their offer to the employee on that information? Can the offer be below the advertised salary range?


texts: Dismissed before start date due financial history in background check

texts:
A month back I signed a contract with a company as a software developer, the company in question is a financial institution based in Sweden with a german office.

Recently they finished their background check and found that I have a small personal debt, around 200 euro. I have read on various places that such background checks in Germany is illegal. Also that this is not a valid reason for dismissal, as I wouldn't be handling any finances for the company.

My question is if I have understood it correctly, namely that:

Is it legal to perform background checks into financial/credit history
Is this a valid reason for dismissal, as it's still a financial company.


texts: Foreign company failed to honor a merchandise cancelation

texts: I purchased two rugs in Morroco while on vacation.  I live in the US.  Eight hours later, I left a phone message and email with the merchant to cancel my order.  I made serveral attempts to stop shipment, via email, and with DHL.  I contacted my credit card company to dispute the transaction.  I never received paperwork from the merchant regarding their cancelation policy.  I made it painfully clear to the merchant NOT to send the rugs, I wanted to cancel, and I was disputing the purchase.  They sent the rugs anyway. I refused the order when it came to my house.  It was shipped back.  The credit card company closed the dispute in the merchants favor.  The merchant has my money and my rugs. They will not respond to any correspondence.  What recourse do I have?  Can I sue for my money back?


texts: How to deal with patents that others hold?

texts:
I am an aspiring inventor and in the best case scenario I will be developing smartphones but something that is a huge hurdle for me are the patents that other people hold. I mean one company patented a UI with rounded corner rectangles! Is there any way I can create mainstream devices that have patented parts without being sued?

This is the video that brought the problem to my attention -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0uv5jFaJFk


texts: Is it legal to charge for compensation instead of reporting a crime against my company?

texts: Suppose that it came to my attention someone had stolen from my company, or committed some other crime that only hurts my company. Is it legal for me to send a letter asking for compensation in return of not suing nor pressing charges?


texts: Is there an equivalent of small claims court in Switzerland (Basel canton)?

texts:
I'm in Switzerland, and I'm involved in a dispute over about 300 Swiss francs.  I can anticipate needing to take it to court.
In the US, there exists "small claims court" where, instead of the time and expense of a full civil trial with lawyers and a jury, the two parties tell their stories to a judge, who makes a ruling immediately.
Does such a thing exist in Switzerland?  (Specifically I'm in the Basel-Stadt canton.)


texts: If a federal bill reduces a sentence for a crime, can a prisoner get relief at the state level?

texts: If a federal bill reduces a sentence for a crime, can a prisoner get relief at the state level, possibly by stating the original sentence was cruel and unusual punishment?


texts: Would it be legal for a diabetic person to extract and use insulin from pig pancrea?

texts: Ignoring all considerations of efficiency and possibility, would the FDA restrict a diabetic person from buying slaughterhouse scraps (pancrea), extracting insulin from them, and using that insulin to regulate their blood glucose levels? Are there grounds for such restriction? Would they consider restricting the scrap provider?


texts: ISO 12100 no longer a normative reference in Machine Directive

texts:
Introduction

Within European industry, every machine manufacturer has to comply with Directive 2006/42/EC, otherwise known as the Machine Directive (MD).

The MD is implemented by CENELEC's EN 60204 standard, sometimes known as IEC 60204. The most recent version came out in 2018, the one before that in 2006 and the one before that 1997. It's been around for a while.

Observation

While comparing the 2018 version to the 2006 version, I noticed ISO 12100 (specifically parts 1 and 2, 12100-1:3004 and 12100-2:2003) is removed from the normative references (Annex ZA, but also chapter 2 of the standard). Considering ISO 12100 is or used to be one of the most important standards on risk assessment and safety integrity requirements (required for determining how 'safe' a complex system is), I'm confused by the MD simply dropping the reference from its normative list. It has now moved to the Bibliography, which doesn't hold the same value.

Question

Last I checked, everything 'normative' in these standards is basically law. Did the value of ISO 12100 change within the scope of the MD so far that compliance is no longer required? Relevant parts are now part of the 60204, but not even close to everything.

It's entirely possible I've misunderstood something here, but are we no longer required to comply with ISO 12100 like we used to?


texts: Did lawyer breach Law Society of Ontario Rules of Professional Conduct 7.2-2, by requesting dismiss because I picked another close jurisdiction?

texts:
I self-represent in Ontario Small Claims Court. When I filed Form 7A (Plaintiff's Claim) online, I relied Superior Court of Justice map. Screenshot got no "Richmond Hill". Thus I picked Newmarket online.

Defendant's Rambo lawyer wrote this in Defence. I added the link.

THE CLAIMANT COMMENCED ACTION IN THE WRONG JURISDICTION

The Defendant requests that this action be dismissed according to Rule 6.01 of the Rules of the Small Claims Court, O. Reg. 258/98.

The Claimant commenced action in Newmarket. The Defendant carries on business [I skip address for privacy] Markham, Ontario. The correct jurisdiction is Richmond Hill.

Looks like Defendant's lawyer willfully ignored  Rule 6.01(3).

(3) If, when an action is called for trial or settlement conference, the judge finds that the place where the action was commenced is not the proper place of trial, the court may order that the action be tried in any other place where it could have been commenced under this rule.  O. Reg. 78/06, s. 8 (1).

Why didn't he just request court to amend jurisdiction?

Did Defendant's lawyer violate Rule 7.2-2 Law Society of Ontario's Rules of Professional Conduct? Before serving me Defence, he never provided me "fair warning" to amend jurisdiction.  I feel he's taking advantage of my inexpertness, by asking the judge to dismiss my action for this issue that clearly is not "going to the merits or involving the sacrifice of a client's rights."

7.2-2 A lawyer shall avoid sharp practice and shall not take advantage of or act without fair warning upon slips, irregularities, or mistakes on the part of other legal practitioners not going to the merits or involving the sacrifice of a client's rights.


texts: Is cracking software with server emulators illegal?

texts:
Let's say I have a program that needs you to login with a paid account in order to use it, and it sends authorization data to a server (username and pass) using this example link (I show example credentials): http://foo.bar/checkUser?user=PKTINOS&pass=password

In this sample, the authorization link returns "Success" if the credentials are valid and "Failure" if they are not.

And let's say I have another 3rd-party program that redirects that link to my own URL, e.g., http://bar.foo/checkUser, that happens to always return "Success."

(This would allow you to use the program with false credentials.)

Would that violate any law?


texts: What can I do if someone posts nude pictures of me on the Internet?

texts: I live in Michigan and my ex girlfriend lives in Indiana. She took a picture of me fully nude and we broke up. I guess someone got her phone and now they are posting nude pictures of me to people I know. It's really weird to explain it to everyone I know, but also really frustrating to have this going on. I did not give anyone permission to do this. They have also said they're gonna kill me. What action can I take?


texts: Are you disobeying a lawful order to stop if you're already fleeing?

texts:
This is frankly quite a silly and obviously hypothetical question.

Could you be charged with disobeying a lawful order assuming you are already breaking that order? Realistically, if you are fleeing on foot from a police officer and the officer yells "Stop Running!" are you expected to obey that as a lawful order? Pertaining to that scenario, would you be charged with resisting arrest AND disobeying a lawful order? I realize this question obviously ludicrous, but is this just one of those legal anomalies?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Could a poll's claimed results be defamatory?

texts:
In the Trump campaign's letter demanding that CNN retract its poll claiming Biden leads Trump, the letter claims:

  The poll is intentionally false, defamatory and misleading, and designed to harm the Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. campaign.

For the sake of the argument assume that CNN did lie, and that the raw poll data shows that Trump is ahead of Biden.  Would that legally be defamatory?  IANAL, but my understanding is that for a statement to be defamatory is would have to be about something the plaintiff did (or didn't) do, and so wouldn't apply to poll about what other people are planning on doing in relation to the plaintiff.


texts: If I co-signed a contract and the contractor can't pay the interest, can I sue him for my damage?

texts:
As many have adviced here: https://money.stackexchange.com/q/66311/32249 ,
but no one did so far, I'll ask it over here, as I'm curious aswell:

All I read is "Co-signing is the same level of risk, as giving the loan from your own money." But if it is my own money and I lent the money, I could sue the person if they would not pay as it was negotiated.

Is this given for co-signing aswell?
Can I sue someone for the financial damage I took due to co-signing their loan?

Or does this depend on the circumstances making him not able to pay(in which case I would consider this even worse compared to giving the loan by yourself)?

@the comment, notifying me that I can sue anyone for anything: I was assuming it is implying that I'm asking about this beeing appropiate in respect of law. Not that I'm asking about beeing physically able to file it.

If this is widely location dependent, assume it to be as tagged, but a common answer is prefered if possible.


texts: Does Nixon derailing Vietnam peace negotiations in the run up to the 1968 elections constitute treason?

texts:
Does Nixon intentionally derailing Vietnam peace negotiations in the run up to the 1968 elections constitute treason?

  Nixon campaign ... sought to block a peace treaty in what one long-term Washington insider called "activities ... beyond the bounds of justifiable political combat." [Anna Chennault] arranged the contact with South Vietnamese Ambassador Bui Diem whom Richard Nixon met in secret in July 1968 in New York.... Republicans advised Saigon to refuse participation in the talks, promising a better deal once elected.

PS. See also Nixon’s alleged treason 1968.


texts: Register an inherited Trophy of War handgun?

texts: My grandfather recently passed away.  He was a veteran, and owned a Nazi P38 Luger handgun, registered as a Trophy of War, manufactured in 1941.  It appears I may inherit the Luger.  We are both from CA, and I have no reason I would not be allowed to own a handgun (not a felon, 39 years old, no mental issues).  We have all the paperwork from the DoD showing the handgun is a registered Trophy of War.  But I don't know how that applies once the item is passed to me.  Does it lose its Trophy of War status once its handed down to me?  Would it need to be registered as a handgun in the state of CA?  Or is it old enough to qualify as a collectable?  I've found conflicting answers on the web. The weapon is not modified in any way, and to the best of my knowledge is in working order and capable of firing.  I would appreciate any advice or pointers anyone can offer.  Thank you for your time and assistance.


texts: If police get a search warrant, does it have any limitations? Must the person turn over all passwords?

texts:
I'm not sure how to phrase this question and I guess it depends on circumstances. Say the police suspect you of building a bomb and a judge issues a warrant.

To what extent can they search you and your belongings? Can they search your entire computer? If they find encrypted files can they detain you until you decrypt them? If they find a password safe can they force you to give them a password and then can they log into all accounts you have stored in it? If you don't give them the password but they find it written down somewhere, can they still use it?

Out of curiosity, do police ever actually do this? Find a password protected file on a computer and go through all the papers in the desk and try all possible passwords until they find one?


texts:
I need a license agreement for a product. Many similar products have their license agreement available online. I would like to take one of the better fitting ones and adapt it to my needs (adapt company name, product etc).

Is there a copyright on a license agreement document? Would I be breaking it by doing such a derivative work?

If the overall meaning is what I need, should I get a lawer to just rephrase it in order to avoid the copyright?


texts: I believe to know that an employee at a company that I'm customer at, I believe has accessed my customer profile and gotten personal information, such as my full name, ID number and address. I know that I have the right to know all data on my profile that the company reserves. That includes logs. Can I get some advice on what exactly I should do?


texts: How far does a US state's sovereignty extend? Can the State legalize all drugs within its jurisdiction?

texts:
In United States, individual states are considered sovereign. Meaning they can create their own laws to govern their own people. Federal government makes laws that control the interaction between states, and insures that constitution is upheld.

To enforce compliance with federal programs, congress uses the the spending clause to limit the amount of federally available funds to a given state.

Besides cutting the funding, can the federal government do anything to a state, when the state creates internal rules(not conflicting with the constitution) that are contrary to federal government's ideas?


texts: What constitutes Commercial Appropriation of Likeness?

texts:
Imagine a corporate executive named John Doe who's worth about $100 billion and ranks as one of the tree most famous people in the world. I want to write a tell-all book about him, focusing on corruption. I'm going to make the case that he's a cutthroat businessman who knows how to bribe people and manipulate the law.

My book is titled "John Doe 101." The front cover features a photo of John Doe. (The photo is public domain.) The book features several pictures of John Doe, including photos and caricatures.

I also make a companion poster titled "John Does's Tips for Getting Rich by Cheating People." It features a caricature of John Doe above a list of ten tips and sells for $5.

I then make a flyer advertising the book and poster. The flyer features a picture of John Doe.

Could any of the above be characterized as unlawful commercial appropriation of likeness?

My guess is that everything I've described is perfectly legal except perhaps the poster.


texts: Fine without any reminder, after not having honored contract obligations

texts:
This is a follow-up to this question:

Fine and contract-renew after NOT receiving an invoice

A year has passed, and the organization behaved exactly the same. They sent me a fine to pay, without sending me any notice at all before.

Now, since I don't believe that these people are doing they work right, I did find the obligations one is supposed to honor after signing their "membership", and checked them all. I strongly believe that contracts work both sides, and as it turns out, in their constitution it is written:

Die Mitgliederversammlung hat mindestens einmal im Jahr stattzufinden.
Sie wird vom Vorstand einberufen. Die Einberufung hat schriftlich mit
einer Frist von mindestens zwei Wochen unter Angabe der Tagesordnung,
des Tagungsortes und des Zeitpunktes zu erfolgen. Gleichzeitig ist die
Aufsichtsbehörde zu benachrichtigen. Das Einladungsschreiben ist jedem
Mitglied einzeln zuzustellen und gilt als zugegangen, wenn es an die
letzte vom Mitglied benannte Adresse gerichtet ist.

Which if translated, means (well, the important part) that they have to invite every member to a meeting at least once a year. They never did, and apparently last meeting was more than 1 year ago.

Is there any law that will let me avoid paying at all (not the fine, not the yearly quota) since they:

a) didn't send me a Rechnung (invoice)
b) broke the article of their constitution

  EDIT: After reading the selected answer, I ended up sending an email
  to the German watchdog authority (Oberfinanzdirektion) of the region I live in explaining the situation (I'm no
  lawyer) and making it clear that I didn't also use the services of the
  Lohnsteuerhilfeverein this year.   They actually followed up, and today I received the confirmation that my membership-quota for this
  year is not to be paid. The email sounded like the
  Lohnsteuerhilfeverein was doing me a favour, but since it came from them and not from the authority, I think they are indeed in the wrong.


texts: Can a private business require a doctors note from a customer?

texts:
A holiday has been booked and paid for, but due to medical reasons must now be cancelled. The company booked with offers a cancellation fee so that if a booking with them is cancelled, then a full refund will be issued less the initial deposit.

However, the business has demanded that a doctor's note be provided to prove there are medical grounds for the cancellation before they will issue the refund.

Is it legal for a private business to request a doctors note? All research I have tried to conduct on the subject deals with employers and employees, which is not relevant to this situation. This is with regards to UK law.


texts:
Is there an official UK law that gives the spelling of each word?

For example, in the Netherlands, there is a spelling law (Spellingswet), and they also publish the Green Booklet to make it accessible to the people.

I wonder if there is a similar thing for British English.


texts: Is it legal to have someone dispose of garbage for you?

texts:
I have a bunch of miscellaneous stuff in my garage I want to get rid of. I have been meaning to take it to the dump but just haven't found the time. Items include

old sink
old toilet
miscellaneous boxes containing other empty boxes, old kids' toys that are broken, etc.

On a yard sale group on Facebook, someone is offering to pick it all up and dispose of it for roughly $50. That is what I have estimated it to be if I were to take it to the local dump myself.

Obviously I do not know the person but I suspect they have access to a large trash area at their workplace or other private property; they claim they have a legal means of dumping the items which I have not questioned further. I doubt it will be taken to the dump because there wouldn't be much profit in it for them.

Is it legal for me to go ahead and pay him to dispose of it? Am I open to legal repercussions for paying them to load up all my stuff if they disposed of it for me without going through the local dump? Would this count as me "selling" those old items and having no further responsibility for the items?


texts: Who gets the tax credit, if I say yes to "Would you like to donate a dollar to xyz" at the cashier of a shop in the U.S.A.?

texts:
I often get asked by some fast food restaurants and other businesses to make a donation to  such and such cause when I try to pay at the cashier.

If I say yes, who gets the tax credit?

Me or the business?


texts: Does a quitclaim deed imply that the grantor has some interest in the property

texts:
Just found out that my wife's grandfather had intended to sell a vacant lot he owned to one of his sons (my wife's uncle), but through some error this never happened.  For the past 15 or so years since he died, the lot has remained in the grandfather's name and not the uncle's.

Now the uncle wants my wife to sign a quitclaim deed, which she has no problem signing, but we do not know if taxes have been paid on this lot.

Does signing the quitclaim deed acknowledge that my wife does have an interest in the property and, more importantly, does this mean that she may be responsible for a portion of the back taxes?


texts: Do law students customarily role-play in order to improve their skills in criminal court?

texts:
I am not a lawyer nor do I intend to become one. I'm asking in order to understand the justice system.

Lawyers, like any profession, presumably improve their skills through experience as well as theory.
Question
How do new or in-training criminal lawyers customarily gain this experience?
Do they

Typically informally play out a court scenes with peers in imaginary trials

Have mandatory  supervised role-playing scenes or simulations of trials

Have optional supervised role-playing scenes or simulations of trials

Learn by attending court in support of a more experienced lawyer

All of the above

Some of the above. If so which?

None of the above

I am interested in English-speaking courts using the judge and jury system as exists in the USA and the UK.


texts: Tenant/Landlord - Not locking the front door violate tenant's right to a livable place? (California)

texts:
For Housing, between tenant and landlord in California:
Does not locking the front door on a regular basis count as a violation of the tenant's right to a livable (safe and habitable) place?
If so, what methods of recourse does the tenant and landlord have?
Can the tenant break their lease due to this reason?

The front door has working lock and deadbolt.
Tenant is free to get a lock on their own bedroom door. They are paying for just their bedroom, and "access" to common areas.


texts: Is trial by combat legal in the United States of America?

texts:
I am neither American, nor a lawyer.
Rudy Giuliani is both.

The former New York mayor walked on stage to “Macho Man” before calling on Trump supporters to settle the dispute over the election via “trial by combat.”

source
I imagine that as the ex-mayor of New York, and someone whom the leader of free world relies upon in legal matters, he would know the law, but, just in case …
can anyone confirm whether trial by combat is legal in the United States of America?
If so, how would it work? Would it be Trump vs Biden in person? Or could they each choose to nominate a champion to fight in their place?  Would it be to the death, or just until one cries quarter? What weapons would be used? Where would the venue be? Since it would be a state matter, would any combatant who is fatally injured be entitled to a state funeral?


texts: Is it legal for my mum to share the household's browsing history with an external company without my consent?

texts:
Background Information

My mum uses lots of different websites for surveys, watching videos and other ways of generating a little bit of cash. However, she uses a particular service to share the entire household's browsing history with another organisation, so that she can earn a little bit extra money. She started doing this without even telling anyone and when I found out, I did not agree with it or consent to it, but she questioned what I have to hide and of course, I did not want to answer that question.

Is it legal for my mum to share my browsing history without my consent?

Side Notes

I am located within England, UK.
I am 16 years of age.


texts: Concealing Medical Conditions from Employer

texts:
If an employer asks an employee or prospective employee to fill out and sign a health declaration form (very common in the medical field) like this.

If the employee is afraid that revealing their health condition will subject them to discrimination or breach of privacy, may they conceal their condition?

For example, Alex is being employed by Hospital X to work in their kitchen. Alex suffers from Bipolar disorder but is currently fully capable of work. Prior to beginning work, Alex is given a health intake form. May he fill out X to indicate that he has no conditions if he is afraid of the negative consequences that may result in disclosure?

I am not asking if it is legal for the employer to give such a form. I am only asking about the employee filling out the form whether it is legal or not. Protesting or calling discrimination is often not effective in this case.


texts: How would copyright infringement apply in this case?

texts:
After seeing that a lot of manga reader websites are making advertisement money out of other people's copyrighted works, I was wondering how would it be to make a similar site, but where the advertisement income would be sent back to its appropriate owner. The transactions would be stated in a transparent way to show that I am not the one making money off those works.

Since I would not be able to get the permission to publish their work, it would be clearly a purposeful copyright infringement. However, if people were to ask for a take down since they are being published elsewhere, I would willingly take them down and leave a link to their site. Now, I have two questions:

Would they ask for a take down for any other reason, when various other manga reader websites are making money off them?
Considering that myself is not going to be making any money off their work, does this still fall into the category of criminal act? If so, are there more than take down notices that can happen? (C&D? financial punishment? imprisoning?)


texts: Can my landlord prohibit me from having visitors with dogs?

texts:
My apartment manager has suddenly told us that we can't have friends with dogs visiting (not overnight visits, just for an hour or two).  Is this legal?

This is in California, USA. There's nothing about animals in the lease. We've only had friends with a dog visit twice in the last couple of years, and there were no dog damage/noise/anything problems, so I'm not sure where this is coming from other than the manager just having a general issue with dogs.


texts: Can a juror be held in contempt if he/she sexually harasses another juror during a trial?

texts:
During a trial, if a juror complains to a judge that another juror has been sexually harassing her/him either inside or outside of the courtroom, can the judge hold this accused juror in contempt of court?

I have been searching on the Internet for an incident such as this one but have not found one yet. I would like to know whether the judge had held him/her in contempt of court, or if the judge had simply replaced him/her with an alternate juror, or if the judge had to declare a mistrial so a new jury would be selected to hear the case.


texts: "Reasonable doubt" and conditional probabilities

texts:
Let A be the event that the accused is guilty and B is the event that evidence / testimonies are presented against the accused.

  In the U.S., does "reasonble doubt" refers to a juror's subjective belief about the conditional probability P(A|B)? ("P" here refers to probability.) Or "reasonable doubt" refers to the unconditional probability P(A)?

Further clarification: with Bayes's rule:

P(A|B) = P(A and B) / P(B) = P(B|A)*P(A) / P(B).

In the U.S., which of the probabilities above (if any) do the prosecutor care about? What about the defense?

Edit for extra clarity:

I'm not saying how a juror actually thinks or should think about "reasonable doubt." I'm asking if reasonable doubt can be cast in this light.


texts: How to interpret or parse this confusing 'NOT' and 'AND' legal clause

texts:
In the following legal clause:

  They shall not confer the right to attend any meeting of members and
  to exercise one vote for every share held.

Does the NOT negates both ANDs as in:

  They shall not [confer the right to attend any meeting of members and
  to exercise one vote for every share held].

Or is the NOT and AND separate, as in

  They shall [not confer the right to attend any meeting of members]
  and
  [to exercise one vote for every share held.]


texts: Must a private institution regularly test its water supply?

texts:
I attend a private university. Today, they notified students via email that, due to recent events, they decided to test the water supply of on-campus residences, and found that their lead levels were above the recommended EPA amount.

After email inquiries, they then admitted that there are no prior records of tests of the water supply.

This seems incredibly irresponsible to me, as it seems obvious that any institution responsible for maintaining places of residence must ensure that their water supply is up to standards. Are there laws related to this?

The water supply comes from the public system.

UPDATE

So, it seems that the town is responsible for the water supply, but the university would be responsible for the plumbing. What responsibilities does it have in that respect?

Also, the state is New Jersey.


texts: Can a law enforcement officer temporarily 'grant' his authority to another?

texts:
The emergency services dispatch of Small-town, USA receives a call from a citizen near city limits. The citizen placed the call after he drove past a roadkill deer off to the side of the road. It is clearly mortally wounded, and will not survive, but was not killed in the impact, and is slowly dying. To my knowledge, a LEO is the only one with the authority – save a wildlife related authority – who could discharge a firearm for the purpose of euthanizing a wounded animal. So my question here is:
Can an officer legally authorize the citizen to shoot the animal instead?
(Since the call is so far out it may not be worth the police resources if there are other calls to handle.)
If so:
Does this apply to dispatch as well? Can the officer allow dispatch to tell the citizen that he has permission?


texts: GitHub pages and GDPR - controller, processor and DPA

texts:
I want to set up a very simple static site (no Google Analytics, no forms, no cookies, no tracking) using GitHub Pages with a custom domain.

The only potentially personal data that the site will collect is the IP and the browser footprint.

My questions are:

I am not who "determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data". Actually, I will have no access to that IPs (GitHub collects them and, AFAIK, they don't provide any logs): am I still the data controller and GitHub the data processor?
If I am the controller, do I have to sign with GitHub a DPA (Data Protection Agreement)? It seems to be a little bit overkill in this case.


texts: GDPR and online forms: how to prove that the data owner opted in?

texts:
How can the data processor who collect personal information using an online form prove that the person who entered her data gave active consent, for instance by clicking a checkmark?

Imagine a a registration form, where the user enter her information, and those are sent to and stored in a database.
The data processor can see that the bit of data corresponding to the opt-in is there (e.g. the value in column consent in the table submissions is TRUE for the given entry). But how to tell if that is there because the user actually performed some kind of actions or not?

Using only the information in the database, that is technically not provable. Or am I missing something?


texts: UK (and EU) Ban on Credit Card Charges, does that cover Business to Business (b2b)?

texts: The UK Government are bringing in a ban on credit card surcharges on 13th of Jan 2018 (based on a EU directive), but I can't find any information whether this includes b2b or not.


texts: If I gave a reporter permission to record a phone call, do I have a right to receive a copy?

texts:
A reporter (for a large online news source) has recently deeply plagiarized work that I did, last year, and I'm filing a complaint with his Editor-in-Chief. He did record the lengthy call, and I'd like to know if I have a right to obtain a copy of that recording.

If it makes any difference, I'm in California and he's in New York.


texts: Displaying a website in a webview inside a mobile application - copyright infringment

texts: Is it a breach of copyright to create a mobile application which simply displays another website in a webview as it is available online?


texts: What major rights and obligations will UK citizens, residents, and corporations forego in Day 1 of a Hard Brexit?

texts:
Disregarding for a moment the political and economical repercussions of a Hard Brexit...

What are the immediate legal repercussions of a Hard Brexit, from a stand-point of rights and obligations of legal entities (individuals or otherwise), prior to further modifications of the laws?

My very basic understanding based on 3 years of hearing about it are:

UK laws derived from EU law continue to prevail until modified
Other country's local EU-derived laws will likewise prevail until modified, however, as currently written, those laws will
immediately cease to recognize the UK as an EU member
Because of #1 and #2, there are some asymmetries in outcome. For example: Tariffs on imported (EU to UK) goods stay the same, because
the local tariffs prevail until modified by new laws (#1); Tariffs
on exported (UK to EU) goods immediately increase, because EU
countries' local laws immediately recognize the UK as a non-member
state (#2).
UK citizens abroad in an EU country may lose the right to be there, and essentially become instant illegal aliens (using a U.S.
term), because of #2, unless they obtain a visa like any other non-member citizen
UK non-citizen residents who are EU citizens may continue to reside legally in the UK, because local UK laws derived from EU law continue to
prevail until modified (as per #1).
Likewise for corporations ability to do business; in parallel with #4 and #5: Non-UK corporations doing business in the UK will be able to continue to do so, while UK corporations doing business in EU countries would now need comply with "non-member rules," similar to American or Japanese companies. But what specific rights to UK companies enjoy today relative to their American or Japanese competitors when operating in the EU?
The legal status of the Irish border will be what was negotiated in the 1997 Good Friday agreement, which is of an open border, even as individuals become liable for visas and tariffs when crossing (which no one will enforce, but still legally required).

Is this analysis correct, as it relates to the asymmetry of legal outcomes?

What other rights and obligations are directly impactful to any legal entities?


texts: Can schools legally withhold transcripts of a student that violates the honor code?

texts:
I just think of this problem because I finished some independent study course in BYU and I am a coffee-addict (I am not Mormon for sure).

By common sense it shouldn't happen while I know that not everything nonsensical is forbidden by law.

I have confidence that BYU will not withhold my transcript. I just want a discussion of what the current law is and is it appropriate (or does so-called religious freedom goes too far). Just of academic curiosity.


texts: So I am designing a mobile app that transposes music for the user. The user can only transpose four notes at a time, and they are required to input the notes themselves. Are there any copyright laws of any kind that might cause problems with my app?


texts: Would economic and healthcare-related pressure constitute duress in the annulment of a marriage?

texts:
I've found the legal definition of duress to be quite well-specified in the case of criminal law, but little of that seems directly applicable to the civil domain. That said, I'm unsure as to if a situation like the following might qualify:

Let us suppose Alice and Bob are in a relatively new relationship, but very much in love. However, Alice is unable to work due to a serious, but treatable (although not under government-sponsored healthcare) condition. Bob, on the other hand, has a decent job with excellent insurance coverage, but it extends only to family and spouses (ie, not domestic partners). Under normal circumstance, the two would never consider marriage so early-on, but the combined stress of Alice's condition worsening or the economic pressure of Bob paying for her treatments out-of-pocket has lead the couple to see marriage as the only viable option.

If their relationship comes to an end at some point, would they be able to seek annulment under duress instead of facing the legal ramifications of divorce?


texts: Is there any case law on counsel perpetrating ruses on witnesses?

texts:
This question relates to an earlier question I asked here, but I am looking for a broader answer citing case law.  I would like to know if there is any case law relating to the legal limitations on allowing counsel to conduct a ruse against a witness for the purposes of testing their evidence.  I am particularly interested in situations where the judge is not aware of the ruse (until it is revealed) and so the ruse also temporarily misleads the court.

There are many examples of this that occasionally occur in fictional legal dramas, such as the example below.  I include this only as an example, but I am interested in any situation where counsel perpetrates a ruse on the witness, and the judge is misled by that ruse in the process.  Presumably this raises the potential for counsel to get in trouble for misleading the court, but I would like to know if there is any case law testing the limits of what is an allowable ruse and what goes too far.

An Example: In the movie A Few Good Men, defence counsel is examining a witness who is trying to hide the existence of a military flight.  Defence counsel tells the court that he will call airmen working ground-crew that day as rebuttal witnesses.  He then continues the examination.  Neither the witness, nor the judge, are aware that his rebuttal witnesses are a ruse.

  Judge Randolph: I don't understand. You're admitting evidence of a flight that never existed?

  Defence Counsel Kaffee: We believe it did, sir.  Defense will be calling Airmen Cecil O'Malley and Anthony Rodriguez.

  Prosecutor Ross: These men weren't on the list.

  Defence Counsel Kaffee Rebuttal witnesses, Your Honor, called specifically to refute testimony offered under direct examination.

  ... then later ...

  Prosecutor Ross: Airmen Cecil O'Malley and Anthony Rodriguez, what exactly were these guys going to testify to?

  Defence Counsel Kaffee Unless I'm mistaken, they were going to testify under oath that they had absolutely no recollection of anything.

My question: Is there any case law (or other sources of law) testing the limitations on situations where counsel conducts a ruse against a witness, and the judge is also unaware of the ruse, and is therefore also (temporarily) misled?


texts:
Section 67 of the Municipal Government Act states:

  References to repealed bylaws

  A reference in a bylaw, enactment or document to a bylaw that has been repealed by the revised bylaws is, in respect of any subsequent
  transaction, matter or thing occurring after the revised bylaws come
  into force, to be considered to be a reference to the bylaw in the
  revised bylaws that has been substituted for the repealed bylaw.

Meaning if a bylaw references another, and the bylaw it's referencing is replaced by another, then the reference is to be considered to be referencing the new bylaw.

What happens if a bylaw references another bylaw that has been repealed, but was not replaced by a new bylaw?


texts: Forging a signature on a legal document, NY

texts: What is the penalty for forging the signature of a Psychiatrist on a NYS Article 14 9.55 form, enabling an outpatient mental health care provider to summon police assistance in transferring a patient to a hospital for emergency evaluation? Also, could the same act be legally defined as medical negligence?


texts: What are the laws on showing another company's logo in commercial photos?

texts: On a webpage we would like to have a background image demonstrating our product on different devices. The current images we have contain an Intel logo and an iPad (logo not visible but clearly an iPad). Is it OK to use these images without permission?


texts: Is there any advice for deciding which law firm should I go with a case about losing money in stock investments

texts:
I lost a lot of money investing a listed company which might have violated the law. However, after searching on Google/Twitter I noticed that there are many law firms able to provide law help to me, for free.

I have finally got in touch with two law firms and they both told me that I can only work with one of them. It sounds fair enough and I'm okay with that. They both give me one month to make the final decision.

How could I make the best decision for myself? Is there any public data like how successful a law firm is? Since I've lost a lot of money, I hope to make a perfect decision at my best.


texts: How does Seth MacFarlane get away with defamatory commentary?

texts:
How does Seth MacFarlane/Family Guy/Fox get away with defamatory words/depictions that harm the reputation of brands/companies/logos/mascots/characters/real people?

Or, do they get sued a lot and just deal with it?

I want to write a book with corporate characters but don't want to have lawsuits showing up at my front door. What do I do to avoid lawsuits?


texts: What benefits to the freeholder and what disadvantages to the leaseholder does a long (1000 year) lease have over the freehold?

texts:
I am interested in a property and approximately 300 acres of associated land in the UK. The  has a 1000 year long lease with a peppercorn ground rent and no service charge. I understand that every case is different and you aren't psychic, I have not as yet seen a copy of the lease which will answer this question in relation to my specific case, but I am interested in the general case.

What benefit does selling such a leasehold confer to the freeholder, which sale of the relevant freehold would not?
Does such a lease provide a clue as to the situation in which the leasehold was sold?
Possible (but likely incorrect) example: The seller was in shared ownership of the freehold and they were granted a long leasehold to prevent needing to renew the lease, but allow the person rights over the land.
What general disadvantages does owning such a leasehold have in comparison to owning the freehold, other than the possibility for a specific lease to limit the leaseholders rights over the land?


texts: Is there always a legal way to make an open source product integrate against the will of a proprietary vendor?

texts:
This question is tightly related to other questions here. I'm asking for the USA. Rather than questioning a method of evasion, or predicating the question on any specific contract let's assume there is a company called Evil Corp that

has a EULA that prevents reverse engineering, and generally falls in line with the sophisticated and modern hole-free boiler plate that Oracle and Microsoft and Google use.
has people's data.
has competition in the market and outside the market (that is to say isn't a monopoly)
sells their product with licensed use.

Is there anyway to ease migration outside of Evil Corp? Can the EULA, copyright, and patent law be such that it is illegal for consumers to create an open source product that integrates seamlessly with Evil Corp's products? To what degree are people allowed to create alternative distributions, and write tools to integrate with proprietary products.

Are there any consumers to push back with?

I know historically of a few examples, such as the right to root a phone, but I don't understand the legal underpinnings and I know there is a distinction in law for software, services/licensed use, hardware, and data.


texts: What happens if an EU software company violates an EU software patent?

texts:
What happens if an EU company develops an Android App and that App and a US company claims that the App violates a patent that the company filled in the US?

Is the EU company in the clear as long as the don't violate an EU patent?


texts: Offering Non-Business Free WiFi - Legal Considerations?

texts:
Ontario, Canada.
I'd like to operate an open, free WiFi hotspot for public consumption, not associated with any business.

Per Wikipedia :

  In Canadian law, unauthorized access is addressed the Criminal Code, s 342.1, which provides that: "Every one who, fraudulently and without colour of right" obtains "computer services" from an access point is subject to criminal charges.

However, I'm finding it difficult to find information on legal considerations for the reverse - intentionally allowing anyone to piggyback off a wireless network.

Security is not a concern, except perhaps between wireless clients.
I don't intend to log connection details, unless the law requires (?).
I may or may not setup a captive portal with terms and conditions, if it lessens my liability.

I expect that I would ultimately be responsible for what goes out my Internet connection.

However, what other legal considerations am I missing ?
For example, does Canadian law in this case require that I maintain certain network logs ?


texts: Is the "Library of Babel" violating copyright?

texts:
The Library of Babel is a database of millions of random strings of text. Among this randomness, passages from other sources inevitably appear, such as the book of Genesis or works by Shakespeare, or this question. You can also search the library for specific strings.

If a copyrighted work appears in the database, is it breaching copyright? If not, can I use that text without breaching copyright (provided I indicate my source is the Library of Babel)?

You can find the Library of Babel at https://libraryofbabel.info/


texts: What happens to Donald Trump if he refuses to turn over his financial records?

texts:
Headlines for 2021 February 22 read "Supreme Court Approves Subpoena for Trump's Financial Records".
Since the Supreme Court has now ruled on the matter, I am not aware of any other body to which Donald Trump can legally appeal.
What happens to Donald Trump if he refuses to turn over all the financial records for which he has received a subpoena?


texts: Is the withholding of funding notice allowed?

texts:
I run an independent business. The nature of my job means that I rely on annual funding from various organisations in order to keep a steady income. One organisation in particular, on which I’ve relied for a significant chunk of my annual income for the past ten years or so, have not yet told me if they will be funding me this year. I inquired about this 11 months ago and we have been in ongoing contact about it since then.

My question here isn’t about them funding me or not. It’s the fact that I have had to wait so long to receive conformation of anything; surely this breaks some code of conduct? I am being kept in the dark about whether I will receive the money that I need to stay alive.


texts: How to do court admissible DNA testing when both parties live far apart?

texts:
Suppose two people are located in the United States and they wish to prove they are related through DNA testing.
They want the test results to be admissible in court so they must use certified labs with chain of custody (rather than Ancestry.com or similar).
Also suppose the two people live 1500 miles apart, so it is not easy for them to both go to the same test facility.
Is it common to gather the DNA samples at two separate test labs and have one of the labs either send the raw sample or the results to the other lab to generate the report?  Or is there some other method commonly used that preserves chain of custody?  In other words, how would a court normally specify this be done?


texts: Is the Defendant Legally Entitled to an Itemization of the Damages they Are Being Sued For?

texts:
I live in California and am being sued by someone in Small Claims court who moved into my apartment for about two months with the intention of becoming a formal 'roommate' but, ultimately, had to relocate because the landlord declined her application to be added to my lease which, at that point, violated my rental agreement with regard to the addition of subtenants being subject to the owner's approval.

The grounds for her lawsuit are that I "rented her an apartment without permission" and is now seeking $10,000 (the statutory maximum in Small Claims court) for "relocation expenses and legal fees".

While I do question that premise entirely my question is regarding the nebulous nature of her so-called damages with regard to her just claiming them to be expenses borne of her having to move. Is it sufficient for a Plaintiff to simply declare a sort of 'summary' of their damages without providing any greater detail to the Defendant such as an itemization of the actual expenses for their review? She claims that it is and that she has no obligation to provide me with any line-item detail apart from whatever she might reveal to me during discovery the day of the trial.

I'm just curious as to whether or not there is some sort of statute that would entitle a defendant to a more detailed accounting of what they are actually being sued for?  If there is such a provision, how would that be enforced if the Plaintiff, for whatever reason, decides the cannot or will not furnish the Defendant with that information? What happens if the Defendant loses? Do they then just get slapped with a $10,000 judgment with no recourse to acquire some sort of accounting detail that is more specific than the handful of words the Plaintiff uses to summarize their damages on the Summons and Complaint form?


texts: Does one have the right to an eviction notice period (ordentliche Kündigung) in this situation?

texts: Assume person A owns an apartment and lets person B live there without a renting contract (so B's address is legally there). If now person A kicks B out, does B then have the right to a notice period (ordentliche Kündigung) or not? Would anything change if person A had a sudden reason for doing it such as a sudden diagnosis of a serious illness?


texts: "No Purchase required" contests and promotions

texts:
My question is about promotional contests/sweepstakes in the United States.

Like many, I have received e-mails and hear advertisements directing me to buy something at a store with the promise that I will be entered into some prize drawing (free coffee for life, $1,000, etc.). They always seem to mention that there is no purchase necessary and the contest is only open to people of a certain age. Here is except from a common disclaimer:

  NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. OPEN TO LEGAL
  RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES (D.C.) 18 AND OLDER. ENDS ON . . .

I suspect the no purchase necessary disclaimer is to avoid gambling laws; however, I am not sure and I don’t know which law.

So, why is there a disclaimer? If it’s a gambling issue, what is/are the specific law(s)?


texts: Can I make YouTube videos where I read parts of a book aloud

texts:
I'm learning languages and in my opinion, one way to improve my skills is to read books aloud. Making it a habit would help me with my vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, etc.

I also think there might be some people online who would be interested in listening to books that I read aloud.

Therefore, I wonder, can I read parts of a book aloud online? Could I publish these videos on YouTube? Is that legal? I don't mind reading from older books, as I read those books might be public domain


texts: Can a person buy a handgun and handgun ammo legally at 18 from a private sale in Virginia?


texts: Do digital works need to be sent to the copyright office?

texts: In the US, if I release a video game (or other digital work) online do I need to send a physical copy to the Copyright Office?


texts: If legislative intent is considered when interpreting laws, why don't lawmakers attach a note to the law explaining their intentions?

texts:
When a judge is deciding whether a law applies to a particular case, they often look at historical documents or transcripts of legislative proceedings to determine whether the lawmakers would've intended the law to apply in this case. For instance the Federalist Papers are not part of US law but are often used to determine the Founding Father's intent behind parts of the Constitution.

If intent is clearly an important part of law, why isn't there an official system to record it? Lawmakers could simply write down their intentions in a non-binding memo that gets stored with the law. A document written in more natural English (like a court Opinion) that doesn't change the letter of the law but states intent of the law would give the Judiciary something more to work with when it comes time to interpret. This would ensure that the law is applied correctly in the future. It wouldn't leave the justice department combing through secondary documents and trying to guess at the intent.

Would there be any problem with doing this? Could lawmakers do it for the next law if they wanted? Does any state or other country require or encourage this?


texts: Responsibility of Microsoft for a bug in MS Excel

texts:
Our company is using a licensed version of Microsoft Products, including MS Excel 2016. We suffered some financial damage because of incorrect financial calculations, that occurred as a result of the bug in the program. The bug was detected by our team afterwards, after detailed manual inspection of the formula. We checked other users and they all had the same problem was with all of them.

Is Microsoft responsible for the damage caused by the bug in its product? I mean, if Microsoft acknowledges the bug or it is otherwise proven to exist that it actually is a bug and actually causing the financial damage, what will be the legal approach and will Microsoft bear responsibility?


texts: How is place of establishment determined under EU law for insurance purposes?

texts:
Under EU law, the country that gets to levy insurance premium tax upon a legal entity is the Member State in which the risk is situated.

Art. 13(d)(ii) of the Solvency II Directive specifies how to determine the country in which the risk is situated:

  if the policy holder is a legal person, [the risk is situated in] that policy holder’s
  establishment to which the contract relates;

This seems rather straightforward in the case of a company resident in its country of incorporation. However, how is establishment determined when this is not the case?

Suppose that a technology company is incorporated in EU 'Country A' and has its servers and official headquarters there. The company insures the product which the servers provide. The company's directors live in EU 'Country B', where it is effectively controlled from a branch office and is tax resident.  In such an example, is the place of establishment Country A, where the company is incorporated and where it's servers and primary address are, or in Country B, where it is effectively managed from?

In such an example, the servers are established in 'Country A' (where the company is incorporated), but the company (which bears the financial risk from which it has sought an insurance contract to protect itself) is tax resident and effectively controlled in 'Country B'. How is establishment determined?


texts: Are sidewalks on a university public or private property?

texts: Specifically, am I allowed to travel on sidewalks on a university when I want, as I would be able to do outside of the university (which I know to be public property).  If the state in question does not have a "stop and identify" law, am I required to provide identification if being detained on a university sidewalk?


texts: Is there a law about mixing alcohol in eatables in India

texts:
I am considering starting a shack/small restaurant. I am considering adding items that will have alcohol mixed in them.

What is the law around this in India? I am not considering selling alcohol. It would only be mixed in small amounts.

If there is a law around it, what is it?


texts: So, someone has been accusing me of pedophilia since I have an attraction to young animals. I know that it's pedophilia if the person is attracted to young human children, but does it count as pedophilia if the person is attracted to animals instead of humans?


texts: Should an "add on" charge of "resisting" be automatically dropped if the main charge is acquitted?

texts:
Suppose someone gets arrested for a crime they know they didn't commit, and in the process of being arrested, the also get slapped with a resisting charge.  My question is, if they are totally innocent and the court acquits the accused of the main charge, should the added on charge of resisting be dropped automatically since they should have never been arrested in the first place and thus never been put in the situation where they could get a resisting charge?

For example, imagine someone gets arrested for some crime and in the process, is so shaken up and has such a distrust for officers in that area he/she is being arrest at, that the person actually does resist but mainly for their safety like to see what is going on.  However, since they are totally innocent of the main crime, why then should the resisting "stick"?  A valid defense would be "I should have never been arrested in the first place, therefore the resisting charge should also be dropped".  If I was a judge, I would say that is a valid point.  If police go around arresting people with no proof and then slap on an extra resisting charge, to me, if the main charge is acquitted, then the secondary charge of resisting should automatically be acquitted as well without going to the jury.


texts: In Australia are there any legal concerns with parents giving school teachers gifts?

texts:
Throughout primary school and kinder I've noticed that around Christmas and sometimes the teachers birthday some parents organise a pool of money to purchase a gift for the teacher.  This can result in the teacher receiving a gift in the range of $200 to $300 dollars. In the corporate world, I'd be expected to register this.

Are there any legal concerns here, and from what angle. Corruption, Income, Taxation something else?

Also is it different if a parent individually gave a gift?


texts: Waiver of Mandatory Minimums: why would that be up to the prosecutor and not a judge?

texts: Under Florida Law, the 10-20-Life waiver of mandatory minimums is at the discretion of the prosecutor.  Why is this not at the discretion of the judge and at the discretion of the prosecutor?


texts: What are general rules for appropriated logos (Whether you are selling them as a design, or using them for marketing)?

texts:
I have a clothing brand I've been working on (no official LLC yet, so I'm worried about any legal trouble). I've been doing full custom artwork for it mostly, but I've been working on a design that parodies the STP oil logo.

I know there is the 30-40% parody law in terms that a design must be changed, but can I legally sell an item that has a graphic of something that appears to be a parody, or could be traced back to the original?

Note: This will not be the logo of my LLC, I already have that in the queue for trademarking. This is simply a piece I want to pay homage to a logo that I really like.

(posted on Graphic Design Stackexchange, but was reccomenede to take it here.)

Thanks for the help!


texts: Cheapest way to get a court order for Amazon

texts:
My company is being severely defamed by a post on a website hosted by Amazon's cloud hosting service (AWS). Amazon declines to remove the website/post without a court order. The site's owner (anonymous) simply doesn't answer any of my requests. What is the cheapest way to get the court order to Amazon?

I'm based in Singapore and anything related to the US legal system is extremely expensive here.


texts: Can Congress overrule Marbury v. Madison by statute?

texts:
Can the United States' Congress pass a statute (by simply majority of both houses, then signed into law by the President) which says:

  Using the power granted to us by Article III, Section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court is henceforth regulated as follows:

  Neither the Supreme Court nor any lower federal court, under their appelate jurisdiction, will declare unconstitutional or otherwise adjudicate unconstitutional any law passed by Congress; neither the Supreme Court nor any lower federal court will hear or otherwise engage in cases or controversies in which one or both parties put into discussion the constitutionality of a law passed by Congress, or ask for a law or a statute passed by Congress to be declared unconstitutional.

Congress would do so by exploiting its power under Article III, Section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution:

  the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and
  Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress
  shall make

In case of a positive response to the question above, can Congress do so also regarding the Supreme Court original jurisdiction, although apparently the Constitution gives Congress the power to make exceptions and regulations against the Supreme Court only for appellate jurisdiction?


texts: Can a person who isn't a member of the military be the prosecutor in a military tribunal hearing?

texts: Can someone who isn't a member of the military server the role of prosecutor in a case heard by a military tribunal?


texts:
Can the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination be invoked in a civil deposition?

Assuming it can be, what potential consequences may the invocation have, if any?


texts: Obtaining an address for servicing notices from my ex landlord

texts:
I will be suing my landlord about a week or 2 after I leave, and I am wondering if, from a legal perspective, I can still use the same address for servicing of documents & notices, as on our rental contract. Since they (probably?) aren't obliged to keep us up to date with their address after we leave I am in doubt I can make this assumption. The 2nd option would be to use HM Land Registry and use the address that is on there. Which one should I use for servicing of notices?

Any advice would be much appreciated.


texts: Can an owner ban a person from a property when a contract is in place?

texts:
Recently I angered the owner of a UPS Store that I have a contract and service agreement with. He canceled my service agreement. He also declared I was banned from the property for life.

The problem I'm facing is I have packages en route. According to our contract after termination or end of the service agreement, I can choose to have the packages stored at a daily rate for periodic pick-up or forwarded at my expense.

In keeping with the contract and not wanting an irate person to have my new address, I told him, I would like any packages that arrive to be stored at my expense.

Can he really ban a patron with a contract that obligates him to serve the patron?

In case it matters:

there has and will be no violence
there have and will be no threats (by me)
this occurred in California

Thanks!

Update
I'm including the contract, because of the inquiries. I don't wan't it to distract from the actual question in the title, regardless of whether my situation is deemed different.
Contract


texts: Disability discrimination - channels and asymmetry

texts:
So, I was recently experiencing a situation where I couldn't seem to get a satisfactory experience using an organization's on-line customer service channel.

The only alternative presented to me at the moment is to use their phone line. I have an intense dislike of using the phone1. They also don't seem to offer any generally visible "customer complaints" email address2.

This got me wondering - a great many organizations seem to offer "easy sign up, difficult or impossible cancellation" scenarios. Where the "undo" action is available over fewer/a single channel. Is there anything in UK law that should make this illegal, considering people with disabilities who may not have equal access to all channels? Or any legal cases that try to look into this?

1And I have a disability that I would easily be able to say that having to use this would be an additional hardship for me, but I want to ask the general question.

2I presume I'll be able to find some suitable access via a chat tomorrow when I want to raise my complaint - I need to cool off


texts: Could this interpretation of open source be compatible with GPL 2?

texts:
Supposing I made a fork of a project licensed under GPL 2 and made some modifications to it, could I then release source only by request, for only snapshots and not the stable build, without making the source fully public? Or would I be in breach of the license?
(This interpretation of the GPL is not mine. I'm asking because I've seen this in action, and I don't understand how this is compatible with the license.)


texts: Is there any legal limit on how long my employer can ask me to travel?

texts:
I'm a salaried employee at a Fortune 500 and my contract says nothing specifically about travel (and no mention of anything like % of time traveling in the req etc.)

I was asked to go on a 2 week trip that was then extended to 4 weeks and now I'm being told it could be extended further. Is there any legal limit to how long I can be asked to be out of state on travel? Can my employer just keep indefinitely extending my trip?


texts: Other means of payment related to property taxes

texts:
Probably my question is related to one of my previous ones, but it is most likely not the same.
If a foreigner who doesn't live in the US as main residence and therefore doesn't have tax residence there (i.e he's not liable to US income taxes) own a house in NYC, can he receive property taxes bills (or demands of payment or any technicay fitting name) via mail and then pay them via banking, or home banking in case he cannot pay them in the US?


texts: Are the abbreviations "IANAL" and "TINLA" legally valid substitutes for their full forms?

texts:
tl;dr:

I've often seen the disclaimer "I am not a lawyer" abbreviated as "IANAL".

And I've often seen the disclaimer "this is not legal advice" abbreviated as "TINLA".

Is it legally just as effective to use the abbreviations as disclaimers by themselves, instead of using their full form disclaimers?  Or are people wasting space and time by adding "IANAL" or "TINLA" to their writing?

too long; don't read:

There seems to be plenty of debate about whether such disclaimers (either in full form or abbreviated) are even required at all, for example, in these questions.  (FWIW, I think equivalent disclaimers apply site-wide within Law Stack Exchange, as stated in the Tour and Help Center.)  But I'm probably using the wrong terminology, because everything I find in Internet searches pertains to style/grammar of abbreviation usage generally, or to using vs. avoiding these specific disclaimers generally (regardless of form), whereas I'm wondering about the validity of the abbreviations specifically, as valid legal substitutes for their full forms.

In other words, if someone writes just "IANAL" or "TINLA"...

Does it have the same legal effect as if they had written "I am not a lawyer" or "this is not legal advice" (respectively)?

Or...

Is it legally equivalent to having omitted the disclaimer entirely, i.e. effectively useless?

Not sure if this rabbit hole is relevant, but thinking about it some more, I wonder if it might boil down to questions of a more general nature:

(A) Within a self-contained written work, does an abbreviation have the same legal effect as its full form (even in the complete absence of the full form or any other explicit definition of the abbreviation from the written work)?
(B) Are there specific requirements regarding which abbreviations qualify to legally represent which specific full forms?

At the time of this writing, Wikipedia's List of legal abbreviations states that:

  It is common practice in legal documents to cite to [sic?] other publications by using standard abbreviations for the title of each source. Abbreviations may also be found for common words or legal phrases. Such citations and abbreviations are found in court decisions, statutes, regulations, journal articles, books, and other documents [emphasis added].

Though these statements are currently unsourced[citation needed] and may not represent a worldwide view of the subject, they seem to suggest that (A) might be true.  Is there a formal legal definition for this somewhere?

For (B), definitions for "IANAL" and "TINLA" seem to be absent from common legal definitions at this time, for example, Wikipedia's list and some of the online resources linked there:

ALLACRONYMS Legal Abbreviations
Cardiff University's Index to Legal Abbreviations
The Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.'s Common Abbreviations and Legal Citation Examples
for Selected Federal Government Documents

Yet definitions for "IANAL" seem to be commonly found online, and similarly for "TINLA" (perhaps less-so, but still common) – so common as to be entirely unambiguous, by my assessment.  So is this sufficient for them to qualify as valid legal abbreviations for their respective full form disclaimers of "I am not a lawyer" and "this is not legal advice"?


texts: I am POA for my father who recently moved to Long Term Care after being to sick to take care of himself in state of Washington which require me to cancel all his apartment obligations and move him to facility which takes state assistance, does he have to  pay early termination fees on his internet etc?