texts: Caching third party images on my website?

texts:
I've built a website (actually, an API, but that data will be used on a website) that provides people with real time data they can use in their own websites and apps.

One part of that API is a list of useful images from third parties. such as charts and graphs. In the past these images would just be proxied through without modification, so the user would essentially be downloading the images, on demand, from the third party server.

This works fine, however some of these images take forever to load (in one case, 45+ seconds) or aren't always available, so I'm considering downloading the images locally to speed up load times and increase availability.

There's two parts to the API. The first is the locally cached set of images (e.g. example.com/images/cloudcover.jpg), the second is an endpoint a programmer can call that will return a list of images which includes the local URL, AND the original URL (e.g. example.com/api/v1/images)

Some of the images come from sites that have text such as:

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this website may be copied without explicit permission from the owner.

Which seems pretty clear-cut. No copying without explicit permission.

However I'm not sure about my use case, which is to cache these images and serve up the cached version.

In 2018 Google was forced to remove the "View Image" button from their image search results due to issues over caching so I think that may affect things, but I'm not sure.

Any clues would be greatly appreciated :)


texts: Could the US government force a VPN provider to start logging?

texts: Lets say that the US Government had a subpoena to get logs of user activity. However, assuming the VPN provider was not previously logging, could the government ask the provider to start logging, in hopes that the user who the subpoena was intended for would continue to use the VPN?


texts: Personal copying of source code from a programming book

texts:
Many books on computer programming publish source code listings and example programs as part of the printed book to demonstrate some aspect of the language. When I'm learning from such books, I typically copy one or more examples from the book into my computer in order to run them, study them, run them using a debugger, etc. I copy the version from the printed book and do not use any other included media such as CD-ROMs or Web sites. I had always assumed this sort of copying for personal use on my own computer would not be considered copyright infringement, but now I'm not so sure.

Sometimes, the book does mention an implied license near the beginning that clarifies how the source code can be used. In this case, the license normally allows copying for the sort of purpose I'm talking about. But in the large majority of cases, there is no license mentioned at all pertaining to how the source code included in the book may be used. If there are electronic media provided with the book (CD-ROM, Web site, etc.), the electronic versions of the source code typically do mention a license, but I do not typically make use of such media, so for the purpose of this question I want to ignore them.

In one unusual example, there is a well-known programming book that explicitly forbids any personal use of the source code in the book on a computer without first obtaining a license:

  You must read this section if you intend to use the code in this book
  on a computer [...]. Without the license [...] this book is intended
  as a text and reference book, for reading and study purposes only.

It then goes on to clarify the granted personal use license:

  If you personally keyboard no more than 10 routines from this book
  into your computer, then we authorize you (and only you) to use those
  routines (and only those routines) on that single computer.

However, I cannot accept this license due to the restrictions. For example, I may want to keyboard more than 10 routines. And I may want to use some method of copying other than to "personally keyboard" them (e.g. automatic dictation software).

My questions:

For the case that a book does not include a license that mentions copying the source code from the book version, is it allowed for the reader to make personal copies of the source code to run on one's own computer?
For the case that a book does include a license, but that license is found to be unacceptable by the reader, is it allowed for the reader to make the personal copies? Does the fact that there is a license offer that the reader does not agree to make any legal difference as compared with case 1 (no license offered at all)?

Assume that the source code to be copied would normally qualify for copyright protection (i.e. do not consider trivial source code examples that by themselves may not be eligible for copyright), and that the reader either owns or is borrowing (e.g. from a lending library) a legal copy of the book.


texts:
There's a company near where I live called House of Air; it's a trampolining thing so, naturally, it has a waiver which explains as specifically as possible the many and varied ways you could accidentally die / become completely paralyzed.

Naturally, it makes for light and fun reading.

Most of it makes perfect sense, until this part (emphasis mine):

  Waiver of Liability for Ordinary Negligence of House of Air

  In consideration of permission to use the property, facilities,
  equipment, and services of House of Air, today and on all future
  dates, I (on behalf of myself, my child or ward, my spouse, heirs,
  personal representatives, my estate, my parents and assigns – referred
  to hereafter as “RELEASING PARTIES”) do hereby waive, release,
  discharge and covenant not to sue House of Air, LLC, the United States
  of America, and The Presidio Trust, and their respective owners,
  directors, officers, employees, volunteers, independent contractors,
  agents, affiliates, successors, assigns, and equipment suppliers —
  referred to hereafter as “PROTECTED PARTIES”) from liability from any
  and all claims arising from the use of the House of Air facilities
  including any injury resulting from the ordinary negligence of the
  PROTECTED PARTIES.

I should specify- I'm in the U.S., so I'm guessing that has something to do with why that's in there.

But still, why on earth is it specifying that I can't sue my country? I haven't read all that many waivers of liability, but nonetheless this isn't the first one I've read, and I've never seen that particular clause before.

I am somewhat nonplussed.


texts:
Some countries are treating dealing in Bitcoin as seriously as drug-dealing and money laundering [0]. Suppose that

you are a citizen of another country (and normally live in it) that does not have any wide-ranging laws against Bitcoin.

you have a Bitcoin account in your own country (e.g. an authorised online crypto exchange).

You then go on holiday to a country that does have such laws against Bitcoin, but you do not get involved in any buying/selling while you are there.

Assuming that the country you are visiting somehow comes to find out about your Bitcoin account back home, even though you never got involved in any buying/selling while you were on holiday, can that country's laws be applied against the Bitcoin account in your original country (or any other country)? In other words, for that particular country you are visiting (and as long as you are present in that country), is it an imprisonable felony for residents and visitors alike to have a Bitcoin account anywhere in the world?

[0] Draft law proposes 10-year jail term for dealing in cryptocurrency (7 June 2019)


texts: Can I claim against an entity who is in breach of a GPL license against a third party?

texts:
A company based in Taiwan has created derivative works (in particular, an operating system for their range of embedded devices) based upon many works licensed under the GNU GPL v3 (potentially from many different countries), has published the text of the GNU GPL v3 in their work, and has previously published the GPL-licensed source code used in creating their derivative works.

However, this Taiwanese company has ceased publishing the GPL-licensed source code despite having modified it in order to continue development of their derivative works, which are then conveyed to the end-users of its products, placing it in breach of the GNU GPL v3 license covering the open-source code used to derive its software.

As a software developer (based in Australia), I wish to develop software solutions that operate within the GPL-licensed portions of the Taiwanese company's operating system.  However, since the Taiwanese company has not released the relevant GPL-licensed source code as the GNU GPL v3 license requires it to, I am unable to develop my own solutions for this platform.

That is:

A potential (Australian) client asks me to develop a software solution "that must run on (the Taiwanese company)'s newest operating system."
Because the Taiwanese company has not released the relevant GPL-licensed source code for a significant amount of time (years) - and has never released source code for the most recent major version of its operating system despite it having been released around a year ago - I must answer my client, "No, (the Taiwanese company) has not released its GPL-licensed source code as it is legally obliged to do, and until it does, neither I nor any other entity other than (the Taiwanese company) can do so."

As a result, I cannot enter into a contract with the potential client to perform the desired work, and the client must either contract (the Taiwanese company) to do the work, or change hardware platforms to one for which the relevant tools for me to do my work are available, at considerable expense to themselves.)

Due to my inability to develop software solutions for the Taiwanese company's OS, caused by that company's breach of the GPL license that covers portions of its OS' source code, am I able to claim against the Taiwanese company for loss of income, in that its breach of the GPL license(s) of the works from which it derived its OS has led to my inability to perform work based upon its derivative work that, under the GNU GPL v3, is also required to be free and open-source?


texts: Chilling drinks in stores prior to purchasing them?

texts:
I'm sure we've mostly all noticed some "not cold" items like drinks and stuff in stores that are on display, but not readily chilled.
Given that I grab it and hide/tuck it in one of the store's freezers for a short while before buying it, would this be suspicious? Bad? Immoral? A crime? A policy? Some other apprehensible or questionable move that would socially scorn me?
I mean assuming the store does not carry it already chilled, what does the law say about using the store's resources to chill it beforehand/before buying it, obviously assuming I am going to buy it before drinking it once chilled? It sounds innocent enough but also a bit sly...
I've never heard once of anyone facing any scorn or major issues/legal problems from this.....


texts: Does EU sui generis database law protect only databases created in the EU or also foreign databases?

texts: The EU has it's sui generis database law that provides intellectual property protection that goes beyond copyright. Does this apply to databases that are created outside of the EU and used within the EU?


texts: Can my landlord refuse to renew our lease due to downsizing of purchased lots?

texts:
Some background information first: I'm a father of three, and I've been running a store with my wife in the same shopping center in southern Florida for 20 years now. Around 13 years ago, we moved into a different location in the same center, and in the process expanded to two lots. About 5 years ago, we again expanded, this time to three lots. We've consistently paid our rent on time, and we've been all-around good tenants as far as we know.

The situation

Time hasn't been kind to our business, and we can no longer afford to lease three lots in the shopping center. To stay in business, we contacted the shopping center management company to notify them that we would only be able to renew our lease for two lots this period, instead of the previous three.

Weeks passed without any response from them, and with the lease renewal date (April 31st) coming up soon, we took all of last weekend to do some construction and shrink our storefront back to two lots, rebuilding the wall separating us from the third lot in the process. As of today, our shop is again completely contained within two lots, and it's as if the third lot is unowned.

Today, someone from the management company notified us that, if we did not renew our lease for all three lots, they would "not be interested in renewing our lease," period. In a nutshell, they're making us choose between either renewing all three lots or leaving, and since we can't afford three lots anymore, this means we're out of business.

Needless to say, we're not all that excited about the idea of packing up and abandoning our 20-year family business, so we're trying to seek whatever legal recourse we can.

What we've done

As of today, we've hired a lawyer, and we've made it clear to the management company that they should only correspond with him from now on.

My question, in a nutshell: is it illegal in any way for the management company to refuse to renew our lease completely unless we maintain the three lots? We're facing the loss of our business as we know it, so we'd appreciate any sort of relevant advice on this.

To add on to that: if it turns out there's nothing we can do and they don't renew our lease, what are our rights as tenants then?

(Disclaimer: we're not planning on using this thread as legal counsel (we've got a lawyer for that) but we'd appreciate some useful facts or advice from people more knowledgeable than us on the topic.)


texts: Can you pray for the opponent party to be sanctioned in California?

texts:
In California Superior Courts, what would be some common grounds to ask the judge to sanction the opponent party?

Under what circumstances would such motions be granted, and how often do any such motions presently succeed?


texts: Can FedEx bill the recipient of a package for a "Clearance Entry Fee", without consent?

texts:
Some time ago, I received an unsolicited birthday gift from a relative as an international package via FedEx (USA to Canada).  Then, several days later, FedEx mailed me an invoice for a "Clearance Entry Fee" for having processed the customs paperwork for that package.  Apparently, it's their policy to charge these kinds of fees to the recipient.

I acknowledge that FedEx did some work that benefitted me (though I would value that paperwork-handling at less than the 15 CAD that they are billing me).  However, I didn't order the package myself, nor was I informed that accepting the package would incur an associated fee.  As far as I am concerned, I never consented to anything!  Am I legally obligated to pay that fee?  By what reasoning?

If FedEx can bill me for that kind of hidden "service", then it seems like anybody could extort money from anyone else.  For example, could I pick up a piece of garbage from my neighbour's lawn and send them an invoice for a "garbage-clearing fee" — and threaten them with a collections agency if they don't pay?  Can I choose to set that fee at any amount I like?

And, assuming that I don't have a legal obligation to pay FedEx, how can I get them to stop harassing me?


texts: Why California codified "A trustee may not require a beneficiary to relieve the trustee of liability..."?

texts:
Full text of California Code Section reads:

  ARTICLE 1. Trustee’s Duties in General [16000 - 16015]
  ( Article 1 enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79. )

  16004.5.  [click for link]

  (a) A trustee may not require a beneficiary to relieve the trustee of liability as a condition for making a distribution or payment to, or for the benefit of, the beneficiary, if the distribution or payment is required by the trust instrument.

  (b) This section may not be construed as affecting the trustee’s right to:

    (1) Maintain a reserve for reasonably anticipated expenses, including, but not limited to, taxes, debts, trustee and accounting fees, and costs and expenses of administration.

    (2) Seek a voluntary release or discharge of a trustee’s liability from the beneficiary.

    (3) Require indemnification against a claim by a person or entity, other than a beneficiary referred to in subdivision (a), which may reasonably arise as a result of the distribution.

    (4) Withhold any portion of an otherwise required distribution that is reasonably in dispute.

    (5) Seek court or beneficiary approval of an accounting of trust activities.

Were there cases or complaints that lead to passage of this as law? or How might I find out the legislative history?

I'm looking for specific events leading to this, not a general explanation.


texts: Which takes precedence: International Right of Self-Determination, or Country's Constitution?

texts:
In Brazil there's a movement, named Sul Livre (Free South), that claims for the independence of the country's Southern states. And this is not the only one: there are a lot of similar movements that claim independence of some state or region, but this one is specially featured because there are historic issues about independent movements in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, that led to a major war in the Brazilian empire times, plus a lot of disagreement in this region about federal tax collection and distribution, and a lot of other major issues.

On one side, the self-determination of the people is understood, in light of international law, as a peremptory norm (jus cogens).

On the other side, Brazil's constitution says, in its first article, that "The Federative Republic of Brazil, formed by the indissoluble union of the states and municipalities and of the federal district, is a legal democratic state [...]"

Considering the long historic of repression of independence movements in Brazil (only two in dozens of them succeeded in the last 500 years, one of those being Brazil's own independence); plus the fact that the Free South movement itself was forbidden and the first engaged people imprisoned during the military rule, it's probable that if asked our Supreme Court would decide in favor of the constitution.

Which of the two principles takes proper precedence? Is there any case law that might illuminate the question, or historic examples that show one or the other option being more "correct?"


texts: Can an officer wipe snow off a windshield to verify a registration or parking permit?

texts:
In my New Jersey residence it is required to have a parking sticker to park on a residential street, a sticker placed left-rear of the vehicles.
This particular day there was snow on the vehicles, and the officer verifying parking stickers was wiping snow off cars.

My question is, are officers allowed to touch or wipe vehicles by removing snow to verify parking permits?

Also are they allowed to touch or lift the wiper blades to place a ticket?


texts: What counts as material or non-material damage under the GDPR?

texts:
In Art. 82 GDPR: Right to compensation and liability it states:

  (1) Any person who has suffered material or non-material damage as a result of an infringement of this Regulation shall have the right to receive compensation from the controller or processor for the damage suffered.

I am interested as to what would count as either material or non-material damage. I couldn't find a definition of it anywhere which explained it, but I am interested what the courts would deem to be compensatable.


texts: Legality of creating your own backup copies of video games you own

texts:
As far as backup copies of games you legally own are concerned, is there clear stance on what would be considered illegal? Nintendo's legal page pertaining to this matter states the following:

  Can I Download a Nintendo ROM from the Internet if I Already Own the
  Authentic Game?

  There is a good deal of misinformation on the Internet regarding the
  backup/archival copy exception. It is not a "second copy" rule and is
  often mistakenly cited for the proposition that if you have one lawful
  copy of a copyrighted work, you are entitled to have a second copy of
  the copyrighted work even if that second copy is an infringing copy.
  The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation
  relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic
  game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction
  of the authentic. Therefore, whether you have an authentic game or
  not, or whether you have possession of a Nintendo ROM for a limited
  amount of time, i.e. 24 hours, it is illegal to download and play a
  Nintendo ROM from the Internet.

I don't understand how a logical conclusion to the sentence (in bold), can be the following sentence (in bold and italics).

Does it imply that if you created your own backup copy of a game, in which you did not obtain from someone else on the internet, it is still not illegal?


texts: Why can the plaintiff not serve papers themselves onto a defendant? I'm honestly curious about the rationale behind this

texts:
Since defective service has its own consequences, a plaintiff has an incentive to service correctly, so I'm curious why a neutral party has to serve in some places like California?
Also, to what degree can the plaintiff not be involved. For example, if the plaintiff gets a neutral person to serve the papers on their behalf, and plaintiff + server are taking a walk on the street where defendant lives, and plaintiff points out "yeah that's the person" and the server serves the defendant. Is that OK? Since the server technically wasn't the plaintiff, even though the plaintiff was still right there?
Or if the plaintiff is a company, does this mean all employees of that company cannot serve papers, or only the company leadership?


texts: Can a company's terms of service prevent consumers of using their right of withdrawal (europe)

texts:
There is a company (from england) that provides services online that has the following in their terms of service:

Subscriber agrees that its assent, given electronically, will have the same legal effect as if it had been personally signed by Subscriber. To the extent permitted by law, these Terms of Use are intended to supersede any provisions of applicable law, which might otherwise limit their enforceability or effect, because they were entered into electronically.

That way a subscriber wouldn't have the right of withdrawal, which means that you can cancel the subscription, but you won't get your money back for the first period.
Can any terms of service prevent a customer from exercising any right at all? (in europe)


texts: Patent ownership for inventions by employees on unpaid COVID leave

texts:
According to the employment contract, anything an employee comes up with, at any time (e.g. during weekends and completely unrelated to work) is the property of the company. It seems harsh but as prospective employees we were told it is "take it or leave it".
Suppose an employee was now put on unpaid leave due to the pandemic. They then come up with an invention that they wish to patent.
What is the legal position if the employee was put on unpaid leave? Who owns the patent?
What about if the employee used the workplaces' facilities such as workshops or labs to build a prototype? Perhaps even paying out of their own pocket for the engineering staff to help him/her build a demonstrator?
This company is based in Israel.


texts: Can a revoked degree cause problems for permanent residence?

texts: Suppose a person has been granted permanent residence in Canada. Further suppose residency was granted partly on the basis of the person's academic degree. Now suppose the degree is revoked by the university that issued it. (The university is not in Canada.) Will Canada revoke the person's permanent residence?


texts: How many children can sleep in a room of a given size in Illinois?

texts:
I'm going through a parenting plan modification. Currently my kid has overnights, and there are three kids (7, 11 and my son 4) sleeping in a 108 sq ft room with three beds... I do not think this is adequate.
Is there any legal limit on how many children can sleep in a room of a given size in Illinois?


texts: Is a firearm magazine a regulated part in Austria?

texts:
I've looked at the "Weapons Law of 1996" (in german), specifically §2 (2), which states that regulations of firearms also extend to the barrel, the drum and the breech.

I am uncertain if this also extends to magazines, given that I can simply go into a gunstore and buy a magazine for a category B weapon without any sort of validation.

In relation to that: Would I be able to buy a magazine online and have it shipped to me?


texts: My school have monitored my emails - I sent a distasteful email. Can I get in trouble?

texts:
I live in the UK.
I recently sent an email to a group of my friends (only close friends) about an incident that has happened recently at my school through the school email (which operates through Outlook).

A member of staff has been arrested on suspicion of a crime (that I don't wish to mention) and is under continuing investigation. I mentioned this incident in a joke in this email.

The school have sinced tracked this email down - they've been monitoring emails for keywords since this case - and have now started questioning me about it.
What should I do? I fear this could have some serious implications - could I get in legal trouble or will it have to be maintained within the school?
Thanks!


texts: I live in a condo association, i have 2 parking spaces that came assigned with the property, im an owner. if I want a friend, neighbor, anyone to park in any of my parking spaces, lets say because im not at home and I just let a friend to park in there while Im working, can security remove the car from my parking space?


texts:
My father is an artist who is considering building a sculpture for an organization. as part of the contract he is prohibited from making copies of the sculpture in the future, or any works that are not "materially different".

  Nothing in this Agreement shall, however, prevent the Artist from making other works of art that are materially different than the Artwork using combinations of the same materials and in different configuration".

What does "materially different" mean in this case? How different do future sculptures need to be to qualify?


texts: Can a server justify a permanent establishment in a tax manner?

texts:
Let's assume I am located in Germany, but I am operating servers in some other country, for example Ireland. My fictional business is running these servers to rent them out to others (like hosting others websites, databases and similar stuff). So, basically I would provide my customers a service - which, however, mostly consists of giving them access to my servers and to keep the servers up and running (such as fixing broken hardware, installing updates, ...).

By "my servers", I mean hardware equipment which I own and is permanently assembled in some space in a larger datacenter (in another country, not the country where I am residing). Thus, I am renting a shelf (a so called server rack) in the datacenter to place the servers there and also pay for internet and power to run them.

Thought, I had to be physically present to install them there, most of the maintenance work can be done remotely. (Well, actually, I could also pay somebody to install them there and wouldn't need to present. In case it would change something from a tax perspective: assume I did it myself.)

Now my actual question: In which country would the income of this arrangement be taxable?

The OECD Model Tax-Convention (which a lot of international tax treaties are based on, including Germany-Ireland) seems to relate that to the definition of "permanent establishments" and that each profit must be assigned to one establishment and then be taxed in that country. The above sample would thus consist of two permanent establishments from which this business is run: the servers in the data center in Ireland and my home-office in Germany from which I'm operating most of the time.

But, how would one now attribute the profits to each establishment? In my opinion, the servers clearly are the main income-generating asset and thus most (or all) income should be attributed to Ireland. On the other hand, one could also argue, that without my administrative work these server would not be able to generate income.

(The above sample is fictional, especially the choice of countries. The choice, such as Germany-Ireland, has just been made to be more specific in case it would matter for the answer. An answer doesn't need to be specific to these two countries. I'm more interested in the general answer to this question.)

Some additional, maybe helpful notes: The closest publication on this matter I found so far is an OECD working paper on the matter of taxing e-commerce income from 2001: "ATTRIBUTION OF PROFIT TO A PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT INVOLVED IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TRANSACTIONS".

However, this publication doesn't answer the question when the servers are the core of the business (such as in the above sample). Instead, they look at it from a perspective where the servers are just part of a larger business, such as when operating an online shop on those servers. Thought, they come to the conclusion that some of the profits are attributable to servers too, while most of the profit would be attributed to the actual selling and distribution of the products (probably determined by the location of the warehouse).


texts: Can a writer who wants to maintain his personal anonymity as a book's author publish the book in a manner that would allow him to maintain full control of the copyright and distribution without revealing his true name? Something like, IDK, assigning the copyright to a corporation with unlisted shareholders?


texts: What was wrong with the warrant application in Malley v. Briggs?

texts:
The beginning of the Court's opinion in Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335 (1986) describes a wiretapped phone call that led police to obtain a warrant against Plaintiff James Briggs:

"General conversation re. a party they went to last night . . . caller says I can't believe I was token [sic] in front of Jimmy Briggs -- caller states he passed it to Louisa . . . Paul says Nancy was sitting in his lap rolling her thing."

Police brought drug-possession charges against the plaintiff, but the grand jury declined to indict. Briggs then brought a Section 1983 claim for malicious prosecution, and the Court held that the claim was viable if the officer should have known "that his affidavit failed to establish probable cause, and that he should not have applied for the warrant."
It may not even be the point of the case, but does the Court's decision give any indication that the affidavit did or did not meet that standard?


texts: If I have backed out of moving into my apartment, is my lease still binding/ am I entitled to a refund if my guarantor never signed the lease?

texts: so I am 22 years old and from the state of New Hampshire. So I'm a recent college graduate and during the last 2 years, I have rented through the same leasing company with no problems. Fast forward to this past May I graduated and was planning on renting through the same company again and had signed the lease over the summer for a different apartment with the hopes of everything running smoothly. Keep in mind its a college leasing company so they do require a guarantor. I was planning on using the same guarantor as the previous years, but they did not support my move so they decided not to sign the lease this time around. Before I had known they weren't going to approve, I had paid this fall's semester in full ($4,000),on-time and before my move-in day. Due to a lack of job-security/COVID, I had to keep pushing forward my move-in date to the point that I decided to back out of my lease and not move as a whole. Also, I did not pay my security deposit and I did not pay for any renters insurance for the apartment yet/at all because of the uncertainty of when or if I was going to be able to move in. As well, in my lease, it says I am not allowed to move in without renters insurance. Therefore, I was wondering if I was entitled to any money that I had put forth because I did not have a guarantor sign my lease?


texts: How should I prepare in terms of dress and language to testify at a bail hearing?

texts:
So there's this situation, where a relative of mine has been arrested and caged up with charges of a white collar crime. In order for us to fight the prosecutors, we must bail him/her out first. I have been asked to testify at that hearing through a video conference call. What are the things that I should prepare for this session, in terms of order of dress, language, content?
The family member is a very good person, and was simply wrongly accused of a crime. Roughly what things should I say to convince the judge to let him/her go?


texts: Can phone conversations be used in court as defense?

texts:
I live in California where all parties involved in the phone conversation have to give consent before phone conversation can be recorded.

My question is - how the information discussed over the phone could ever be used as evidence in California? The goal would be to handle it to either Police, IRS or Court in hopes that they would do something about it

Is really the only option to say in the call that conversation is recorded? But then the other party will probably stop talking with me...
Or would it be enough to have some third-party to silently sit in the call and later testify about the information contained? Are there procedures to follow so that it would not be "your word against my word" evidence?


texts: Downloaded a Kindle book despite the payment not going through

texts:
This is a question out of curiosity only. I have an Amazon account and I use it to buy Kindle books. I have bought multiple books with it.

I have paid for a Kindle book but I didn't have enough money on the card. I downloaded the book via Kindle, but the transaction is pending to my bank.

Now I am reading the book. Am I stealing from Amazon?


texts: Am I responsible for my spouse's careless behavior?

texts:
My spouse is a great person, but careless.  I am what many would call overly cautious.  If my spouse's carelessness causes an accident (spouse is walking the dog and the dog knocks an old lady down, or spouse hits someone in the car), am I responsible for any legal (financial or otherwise) fallout?

I assume this varies by state, but I wonder about the general case, because we change states often.


texts:
I am part of a university student organisation in Texas, and we have an EIN, a bank account, and a PayPal account. We only exist at one university, and are not affiliated or associated with any larger organisations except for the university department we're under. In any given year, we bring in about $2,000-$3,000 from dues payments, merchandise sales and whatever other fundraising we do. What are our tax or filing requirements?
I am asking this question because in 2018, a executive of the student organisation obtained our EIN and currently this is all that we possess: the EIN and nothing more, no articles of formation or whatever might've been provided. I don't know if we have been supposed to file taxes/other paperwork each year since then, or what our requirements in the future are. I don't know if there will be new requirements once we start to bring in more money each year. Is anyone able to point me to resources from the IRS to help? Let me know if you need any more information! I am also able to ask questions to the person who set up the EIN, if needed.


texts: Can my landlord charge me without advanced notice or evidence?

texts:
My roommate requested that our carpet be cleaned and told management that my dog had damaged the carpet. That was a lie, but my management went ahead and cleaned the carpet without doing an inspection first.

They notified me of the cleaning and charged me for it on the basis that my roommate told them I had damaged the carpet. It wasn't true that I'd damaged the carpet, and my landlord has no evidence that the carpet was ever damaged.

Can my landlord charge me without evidence?
Can my landlord legally charge me for that something they already did without my permission?


texts: Can a court judge override a jury decision?

texts: My knowledge of law is minimal, I'm curious about edge cases in the jury/judge dynamic. When can they override each other, interesting situations where decisions that would typically be made by one party gets made by the other?


texts: Isn't a lease violation enough to evict someone in Texas?

texts:
I made the mistake of picking one of the worst apartment complexes an educated nuclear family can choose in the state of Texas.

I have reported problem neighbors in the past and have been told, "thanks, we will send them a lease violation". And it is just now that I am reading through a Tenant Council fact sheet that says any infraction of the lease in Texas is grounds for eviction.

Well, I had one neighbor shine a laser light on my chest, shine that same laser light through my bedroom window where I sleep with my child and spouse at 1am in the morning to the extent I have a police report, but yet it still was not enough data to evict them. The leasing manager said keep reporting stuff to the police so they have an overwhelming amount of info on to which evict them.

I am starting to get a sense that the message is I am not going to evict someone just because they are being a nuisance to you and lose that money.

Now I am feeling like this leasing manager was pulling my chain all this time. At this point, he is gone, this apartment complex has been bought and sold three times already and I just feel like this stuff can't be legal, the constant buying and selling, the incompetent leasing managers that are put in place, the allowing of everyone and their mother to live on the property even though they are not on the lease which causes a safety issue, the lack of security cameras.

I would like some clarification on what Texas has to say about all this.


texts: How is a USA marriage dissolved if neither spouse is resident in the USA?

texts:
Consider the following sequence of events:

A couple get married in a St. Louis, Missouri courtroom in 2002 (at which time they are residents in the USA).
The couple begin living in a foreign country in the following year. They register their marriage in the foreign country through the appropriate legal mechanisms
Within three years, they are no longer US residents.
The couple separates after four years. They hire a local lawyer to annul the marriage in the foreign country, and this is done.
The marriage is still valid in the USA, according to a US Embassy.
A significant time later, the couple wants to dissolve the marriage in the USA too. However, neither the US Embassy nor any lawyers they consult with, either overseas or in the USA, can give them a straight answer as to how to effect such a divorce. The couple is told that there are "complicated jurisdictional issues" involved. For example, Missouri law seems to require that at least one of the spouses wanting to file for divorce must be resident in Missouri.

How is this ex-couple supposed to file their (uncontested) divorce in the USA?

EDIT: Let me clarify what I mean by "annulment". The marriage was registered in a notary in the foreign country so that it would have legal validity there. The "annulment" I refer to was then the standard process for "reversing" this registration, so that the marriage no longer held legal validity in the foreign country. The lawyer hired to do this actually referred to this process as a "divorce", so "annulment" was a bad choice of words on my part.


texts: Can I legally publish a compilation of copyrighted material without licence? How?

texts:
I have bought a book A which contains much content, and a second book B which relies on some of that content. I took the time to compile only the content from A that is relevant for use with B into a new work for my own private use (PDF file).

Now I would like to make my derived work of A publically available, so that future users of B do not have to spend time again to perform the same work I already did. I assume, that I can not legally do this, but am asking here to be sure.

Assume I would be ready to publish my derivative work non-commercially and give up as many rights on it as neccessary to publish it. Is it then possible for me to legally publish my derivative work?
Maybe by claiming fair use?

Would it make it more legal in any way if I were to add a disclaimer "By clicking download, you verify that you already own A and B.". That is comparable to websites which require you to be 18+, for example.

I am interested in U.S., Swiss, and if available international EU-jurisdication.


texts: Does the US president have the authority to ban TikTok?

texts: Donald Trump, the president said that he wants to ban TikTok. Would such a ban violate the first amendment? If not does he have the power to act via executive order or does it have to go through Congress?


texts: UK - Joint Tenancy - Renewal/Replacement Tenant Fee

texts:
A fixed-term 6 month joint AST agreement ends in April 2020. The agreement had three tenants listed on it. One tenant is leaving (former tenant) two are remaining.

The former tenant notified the Letting Agent 2 months prior to the tenancy agreement ending that they would be leaving the property. The two remaining tenants have found a replacement tenant and notified the Letting Agent that they had found a replacement tenant.

The Letting Agent has requested the new tenant pay a "Tenant Replacement Fee". The new tenant queried this as the Tenant Fee Act 2019 permits letting agents to charge up to £50 for a "variation, assignment or novation of a tenancy", however as the agreement ends prior to them moving in, they feel that this does not apply and that it is classed as a tenancy renewal. The Letting Agent says they can charge thebfee regardless of the tenancy ending as the former tenant is being replaced.

Under the Tenant Fee Act 2019 a Letting Agent can not charge fees for setting up nor renewing contracts.

Is the tenant or the Letting Agent correct? Is a Letting Agent permitted to charge a "Tenant Replacement Fee" at the start of a new contract?


texts: Is employer responsible for tree damage to car parked in their lot (New Jersey, USA)?

texts:
During high winds a tree branch fell on my car while parked at my workplace. The cops were called, but the responding officer said that it was private property and my employer's responsibility. He told me to take pictures and I got the impression that it wasn't "an act of god" kind of situation. It seems there were at least 2 similar incidents in the past few years with previous employees. The store manager was unhelpful and said it was my problem.

This makes me wonder in a situation where a tree falls on a car in a private lot is it considered an act of nature? or does liability fall to the owner?


texts: In a public university, can the head of department forbid a specific student to enter the department without stating a law or policy?

texts:
There are two situations to consider:

In the first situation, the student has not done anything wrong. If it was a private establishment, as in Can the manager of a commercial establishment forbid someone to enter?, a manager could forbid someone to enter at his own will. But I believe this case is different.

In the second situation, the student did something wrong that, in principle, could support the decision. But the student is not informed of this reason. He is simply banned from entering the building.

(I am primarily interested in the case the university is in Canada, but I would be interested in how it works in different jurisdictions.)


texts: Under what aspect of International Law could the Allies divide up Germany into Western and Eastern spheres of influence?

texts:
After the defeat of Nazi Germany the Allies, in particular, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union at Potsdam came to an agreement concerning the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany, its borders and the entire European theatre of war. France was not considered as an occupying power and was not invited to the conference at Potsdam, a posh suburb of Berlin.  It addressed Germany's demilitarisation, reparations, and the prosecution of war criminals.
Obviously, Germany was divided into two halves; one under the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union, that is East Germany; and one under the Western influence, Western Germany.
Q. Under what aspect of international law could the allies accomplish this division?
According to Wikipedia, the agreement was not a peace treaty according to international law and was superseded by the Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany, signed in 1990.


texts: Can I disclose terms of a settlement when I don't accept it?

texts:
I've been involved in a Mass Tort lawsuit against a drug company for several years. Recently, a confidential settlement agreement was reached between the law firm representing me and the drug company. I don't intend to agree to the settlement because the terms are simply unacceptable. My question is, if I don't accept this agreement and I cut ties with my lawyers, am I under any obligation to keep quiet about the settlement terms?

The case is being tried in New Jersey, but I'm located in another state.


texts:
I have 14 marla (3150 sq. ft. or ~294 sq. m) of land in Tanda Urmur, in the Hoshiarpur district, connected to a road. This land is to be acquired by the government for widening the road. The market value of the land is rs. 100000. per marla. The government is paying rs. 80000. per marla as compensation.

Is it a right compensation? The land is situated in a rural area. I want to know what is the compensation of land situated in a rural area acquired by the government given to the landowner.


texts: GDPR: Applied Security vs Employee Contracts

texts:
An Organisation has 10,000 employees.
All 10,000 employees have unrestricted access to ALL Customer PII data stored by the Organisation.
Only 200 employees require access to the PII data for the purpose of their Job.

The 10,000 employee contracts cover an agreement with the Organisation that the Employee will not abuse any PII data.

Does the contract protect the Organisation, removing the need to implement Technical measures to restrict data access to the relevant 200 employees?


texts: How can the Belgium law allowing Belgium-funded research to be made open access be retroactive?

texts:
Belgium recently passed a law allowing researchers to make any of their article open access if the majority of the research funding came from Belgian public funding. The law is retroactive.

How can the retroactivity be legally enforceable in the common cases where the researchers signed publishing
 contracts with non-Belgium publishing companies?

Here is the law:

  Art. 29. Dans l’article XI.196 du même Code, inséré par la loi du
  19 avril 2014, il est inséré un paragraphe 2/1 rédigé comme suit:

  “§ 2/1. L’auteur d’un article scientifique issu d’une recherche
  financée pour au moins la moitié par des fonds publics conserve, même
  si, conformément à l’article XI.167, il a cédé ses droits à un éditeur d’un
  périodique ou les a placés sous une licence simple ou exclusive, le droit
  de mettre le manuscrit gratuitement à la disposition du public en libre
  accès après un délai de douze mois pour les sciences humaines et
  sociales et six mois pour les autres sciences, après la première
  publication, dans un périodique, moyennant mention de la source de la
  première publication.

  Le contrat d’édition peut prévoir un délai plus court que celui fixé à
  l’alinéa 1er.

  Le Roi peut prolonger le délai fixé à l’alinéa 1er.

  Il ne peut être renoncé au droit prévu à l’alinéa 1er. Ce droit est
  impératif et est d’application nonobstant le droit choisi par les parties
  dès lors qu’un point de rattachement est localisé en Belgique. Il
  s’applique également aux œuvres créées avant l’entrée en vigueur de ce
  paragraphe et non tombées dans le domaine public à ce moment.”.

Google translate:

  "§ 2/1. The author of a scientific article from a research
  financed for at least half by public funds, even
  if, in accordance with Article XI.167, he has assigned his rights to a publisher of a
  periodical or has placed them under a single or exclusive license, retains the right
  to make the manuscript freely available to the public for free
  access after twelve months for the humanities and social sciences
  and six months for other sciences, after the first
  publication in a periodical, subject to mentioning the source of the
  first publication.

  The publishing contract may provide for a shorter period than that set
  paragraph 1.

  The King may extend the period laid down in paragraph 1.

  The right provided for in paragraph 1 can not be waived. This right is
  imperative and applies notwithstanding the law chosen by the parties
  so long as a point of attachment is located in Belgium. It
  also applies to works created before the entry into force of this
  paragraph and not fallen into the public domain at this time. "


texts: What does 'Right to Erasure' actually cover?

texts:
According to GDPR, any person has 'Right to Erasure (Recital)' and have his/hers sensitive information deleted. Does that mean that an organization can keep all non-sensitive data for a user?

For an example, if there is a Database record:

         Phone|  Option|     Actived|  Deactivated|  ...
(555)-123-4567|       A|  2017-04-12|   2018-01-10|  ...

If all sensitive information is deleted and information is reduced, such as:

         Phone|  Option|     Actived|  Deactivated|  ...
(XXX)-XXX-XXXX|       A|        2017|         2018|  ...

This process of hiding users data is considered anonymization and as such should not be applicable. On the other hand, this approach will ensure that information about users who had option A activated last year will be kept without storing the users personal information.

However, by matching multiple sources, someone COULD potentially still find out what this number was.

Does this mean that reasonable effort was put into securing the users sensitive data or does 'Right to Erasure' mean just that, delete everything about that user? That seems like it would seriously harm a lot of organization analytic.


texts: Posting School Yearbook photos on private Group FB page made up of former students

texts:
I am co-Administrator of a private FaceBook group of former students who attended my high school. I frequently take photos with my camera of photos printed in our high school yearbooks & post them in the group. Members enjoy seeing the old 50+ year old photos of students & teachers.
 One lady announced on the private FB page that I was breaking the law by posting photos of people without their permission. That I had no right to do so. I told her the yearbooks were sold to the public, so there was no expectation of privacy, plus I was taking the photos with my camera from the printed pages. (Many of the students are already deceased.)  What is the law?


texts: American citizenship that got lost in the family

texts:
I am a non-American individual and think I have a right for American citizenship.

The father of my grandma (dead) was American (he was born there), but my grandma (alive) did not get citizenship for some reason.

So neither my mother nor I have got American citizenship.
Is there any way so I can get American citizenship from the father of my grandma?


texts: Trademark holder doesn't grant permission due to 'high request volume'; any risks?

texts:
I requested permission for MATLAB's trademarked logo usage on my site, https://dragonnotes.org/ , from MathWorks (trademark holder) - who responded,

  "Due to the high number of these types of requests that we receive, we are unable to evaluate and respond to each request on an individual basis and thus unable to provide permission."

What are the implications for my site? Does MathWorks still hold the right to take action, and what would such an 'action' constitute?


texts: Is it legal to drive a vehicle with the driver wheel on the opposite side?

texts:
A few years ago I was in Belgium for a music show. Given that the singer was famous, people came from other countries, including buses from the UK. Naturally the driver seat on an UK registered bus is on the right side, but when it entered France and then Belgium the driving lane was on the right side (and not in the left, as in UK). It seemed to me very accident-prone to drive on the wrong side of the road, but there were a lot of buses and also smaller vehicles.

My question is: was any traffic law infringed? Is it legal to drive a vehicle with the driver seat on the opposite side? I specifficaly mentioned France and Belgium, but I would be interested as well in other countries where this type of situation might happen due to proximity with neighbouring countries where the drive lane is on the opposite side.


texts: is a state-run monopoly a market participant?

texts:
Hypo:

A state wishes to tax alcohol to raise revenue while at the same time protecting their local producers. They have settled on accomplishing this by prohibiting the sale of liquor in privately-owned stores while allowing the sale of liquor in government-owned outlets only.

They are able to do this under the 21st Amendment. However, constitutionally, taxing out-of-state alcohol while leaving in-state-alcohol exempt goes against the dormant commerce clause.

Are the state-run outlets safe from the Dormant Commerce Clause as a market participant even though they are a state-run monopoly? And if so, can they levy a "tax" by making in-state alcohol cheaper than out-of-state alcohol?

NOTE: I will not accept answers that rely on alternatives to the hypo like "why don't they just give subsidies to the local producers?"


texts: ISP / Internet Cafe liability for copyright infringement in NZ

texts:
I recently visited an Internet Cafe in New Zealand that has "Popcorn Time" installed on their computers.  "Popcorn Time" is software designed to torrent videos and play them in more-or-less real time.   I am confident that were I to use this software at home I would be in breach of copyright.   The Internet Cafe does not save this data, except to cache it.  The Internet Cafe installed the software on the computers as part of an image they deploy.

Section 92B of the Copyright Act 1992 appears to shield ISPs from copyright infringment.   The act also defines (for this purpose) an ISP as a person who "offers the transmission, routing, or providing of connections for digital online communications, between or among points specified by a user, of material of the user’s choosing"

Is the Internet Cafe considered to be an ISP with respect to this act?

Section 37 of the Act deals with "Providing means for making infringing copies".   Is my understanding correct that, not withstanding any provisions related to being an ISP above,  the Internet Cafe would be liable for copyright infringement as they installed Popcorn Time on their computers, thereby "in the course of business, offers or exposes for sale or hire - an object specifically designed or adapted for maaking copies of that work, knowing or having reasaon to believe that the object is to be used to make such infringing copies"?


texts: Responsibility when making claims about the license of a work

texts:
Imagine that some person X is running a website where they provide access to some creative work and claim that it is in the public domain, or under a permissive copyright license.

Imagine that Y retrieves the work and makes use of it in a way which is permitted by the license and would not be permitted otherwise. For instance, Y redistributes the work, sells it, translates it, etc.

Now, imagine that the work is actually not at all under this permissive license, and X's claim to that effect was wrong. Now, the actual copyright owner on the work, Z, notices Y's illegal use of their work, and sues them for copyright violation.

Can Y defend themselves by pointing out that they thought their use was permitted because of X's claim? Or are they fully responsible for their use of the work?
Could Y attack X for their false claim about the license of the work? If yes, to what extent would X be responsible?
Would it make a difference whether X was acting in good faith or not? E.g., maybe X really thought the work was under that license and were wrong, for instance because they had copied it from some other source with a wrong license claim. Or maybe X had not really made any effort to check the origin of the work, and they should have known that the license was not as indicated.
In the shoes of X, is there a way to distribute some creative work under a free license without promising that you have checked its copyright status carefully? E.g., say that you are allowing its use under a free license as far as you are concerned, but you don't promise that other parties like Z may not have a claim to it?

This last question is motivated by situations where a creator X takes a copyrighted work by Z, makes some derivative of it with an unclear copyright status (e.g., a mashup, parody, etc.), and wants to distribute it and say "I'd like to put it under a free license but I don't promise that Z doesn't have a valid copyright claim against reuse of the work." This is important because in many cases Z will leave X alone (e.g., because they are distributing the derivative work noncommercially) but could pursue some third-party Y if they started selling the derivative work by X.


texts: Withholding information about a problem as extortion - computer security research

texts:
Over at Security.StackExchange, a discussion broke out over the use of the term "extortion" in a situation where an anonymous security professional sent an email to a business to say that they found a vulnerability in the business' website, but the security professional asked for money upfront before they would discuss any details.

The rest of the context of the email suggests that it is likely a scam (they likely have nothing of value to offer), but I want to put that aside. The actor could or could not have an actual vulnerability to discuss.

Does the situation satisfy the general legal understandings of "extortion"? I see that New York State law and this discussion about extortion in the Doha Declaration suggests that it could be, but it might not fit perfectly.

There is an implied threat of future harm to the site or business, not by the actor themselves necessarily, that a specific, potentially existential problem exists that anyone could take advantage of. And because all security vulnerabilities are exploited by people, whether by malicious intent, accident, or mistake, then extortion laws that say that the loss/damage could be caused by another, appear to be relevant here. Protection racket discussions seem to also be relevant.

We could reframe the situation to something non-technical:

PersonA calls PersonB, who is on vacation, and says, "I know you are away from home. There is something wrong with your house. Pay me money and I will tell you what is wrong."

Ethics and morality aside, does the situation cross over into a general legal understanding of extortion?

This has an impact on how security professionals contact people with whom they have no pre-existing relationship with, to discuss the vulnerabilities they find, while hoping to offer commercial services.


texts: Right to court-appointed attorney for driver license suspension?

texts: Do I have the right to a court appointed attorney if I can not afford an attorney and I am not facing jail time even though I am facing suspension of licence and points against them.


texts: Selling digital tickets who owns the data?

texts: If I sell digital tickets in the UK using an online platform, and they provide the means for me to download that data, who owns that data? Is it the person who paid for the ticket, the platform or me the event organiser?


texts: Validity of automated GDPR subject access requests

texts:
If a software product was distributed that automated the creation and sending of GDPR subject access requests, do these request impose the same legal requirements on the data processor as if the requests were created and sent manually?
For example, when I visit www.express.co.uk and reject all optional cookies I get data stored on my browser for domains google.com and gigya.com [see below] as well as express.com.  It seems to me obvious that these organisations are processing my PII, and therefore I can make a subject access request to them with the information below, and they are legally required to respond to such a request within 30 days.  If I was release a browser extension that automated the process of writing and emailing a subject access request to any domain that sets a cookie other that that in the address bar would these requests carry the same legal weight as if they were made by a human?
I note from ico.org.uk that "The GDPR does not specify how to make a valid request" which would seem to allow automated requests.  If motivation is important, the objective of developing and distributing the browser extension would be to raise the cost of using web activity tracking techniques such that they are used in fewer inappropriate circumstances.  The objective of the user may be the same, or may be more personal.
Content saved on my browser other than requested domain (ID's changed, structure maintained)

google.com

Cookie (identical content for both accounts. and adservice.google.com):

NID:"204=E858vg4uiUKytc3sSrlAWuC123456789KUClG7y-ipTwdQ4I9098765uPflA7k-9Nlqz5XejOF09986543u0Fqs7pyA-olmulYz7ge0v1234567qUBOnL_G_3-uP-uY123456778g2u12-R1234567893qac7M"

Sesssion Storage:

oauth2_cs::https://www.express.co.uk::23456451934-ch6e69vj9h84567890ibm.apps.googleusercontent.com:"{"cachedValue":{}}"

gigya.com

Cookies:

gmid:"Psdtlw123456789nR5SeKfwCLu5-6BBi1234567o"
ucid:"IE1234567x_Vq_V123456Q"


texts: Can a landlord countersue tenant after tenant wins regarding over-charge of cleaning fee?

texts:
Suppose a tenant T sues their landlord L because of unlawful withholding of T's deposit - the landlord did not follow procedures in charging T the cleaning fee, and deducted $125 without any explanation even upon T's request. T has a case here.

After winning this, can the landlord sue T for the cleaning fee again? He is threatening to counterclaim saying that he has evidence (only after pictures, no before pictures) and roommates' testimonies (but they are also co-responsible for the cleaning) but they are all groundless and he can't prove that they were committed by me.  Also, at this point if L files a counterclaim, it will be 30 days after T's move-out. So the question is, if L did not provide an explanation or an itemized list for the charges, can he counterclaim about cleaning?


texts: Instituting a suit in another jurisdiction

texts: Can I institute a lawsuit in the US where both parties live, but for a contract of sale of real estate signed in a foreign country by representatives of the parties living in the U.S.?


texts: Employer ask me to work at a different location with very little notice (less than 30 days)

texts: My employer just release a news that company will move to another state (30 miles away) and the move date is Mid-February. The employer doesn't plan to have any compensation for employee's commute cost, gas, or salary. Is this reasonable? Is there something we can do as employee? Thank you so much for your help


texts: Advertise that buying one product will support the creation of a different product

texts:
Lets say i'm a video game developer, and I am coming out with a hot new game called 'X'. The time it takes to produce X is years and years. Through those years, I spent a month to take a break making game 'Y'. Y is a complete game. Can I say to potential customers of X, that "hey, Y is out, and you can buy that to support me, and support the continued creation of X".

I personally don't think it should be illegal, because it's true... but i'm not sure that's how the law works so that's why i'm asking here. Thanks!

ps. this is just an example... and just broadly speaking, I am asking if it is evidently illegal or not.


texts:
If someone would legally be considered DEAD for a period of time¹ and during that period of time they would commit an illegal act, in the UK, could they, during a lawsuit, claim to be innocent because they were dead and thus couldn't have done anything, let alone something illegal?

¹A doctor declared them dead after an injury but they recovered without anyone knowing. (living people can be legally dead)


texts: Is Automatic renewal of Custodial Contract signed 10 years ago by board member that only had one year authority enforceable?

texts: We just awarded a new janitorial services contract and sent a termination letter to the old contractor.  The old contractor produces a near 10 year old agreement/contract signed in 2009 with an automatic renewal provision signed by a previous HOA director that only had the authority to obligate the the Association for one year at a time (2009-2010).  Our bylaws limit our authority to obligate these type of contracts to one year.  We did not know the contract even existed.  The contract value is $2,100 per month.  We cover the board with professional liability insurance.  Enforceable?  Professional Liability Coverage Claim?


texts: What are consequences for defendant failing to meet orders of civil court?

texts:
I read that a civil court judge may order that a defendant, for example, pay damages; or, another example, provide particulars relevant to the pre-trial pleadings.

But what if they don't comply? What are the consequences for ignoring the orders of the court in the context of a civil trial? (I live in British Columbia and I'm trying to understand BC Supreme Court procedure.)


texts: Would "Stop a Douchebag" be legal in the US? Why is it legal in Russia?

texts:
In Russia, there is a movement called Stop a Douchebag, whose prime activities are as follows.

Prevent people from driving on sidewalks.
Prevent double parking.

The participants in this movement seem to adhere to very respectful speech. However, I am wondering whether their method would be legal in the US and why it is legal in Russia.
The group's punishment consists of gluing large stickers — which cannot be easily removed — on the windshields of the offenders' cars. Sometimes, offenders say something along the lines of "My car is my personal property. On what grounds are you damaging my personal property?". The generic reply is "Call the police if you wish and they will decide."
While this seems a legitimate reply, I am wondering what the legal standing of such events would be in the US. In particular, would it be legal to glue such a sticker on the windshield of someone else's car? Why is it legal in Russia?


texts:
For quite a few years, europeans have held european citizenship. But what is the actual meaning of the phrase in law?

By that I mean, is a (say) person born and lifelong resident in Germany, a european citizen in the "strong" sense of effectively having dual german-european citizenship? Could they surrender German nationality and yet still remain a european citizen? Or is European citizenship a derived/secondary kind of thing, that the person doesn't have independently, but only has by virtue of they being a German citizen and German citizens having the status of European citizens for the time being?


texts: What power does the "Committee to counter active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence over peoples and governments" have?

texts:
Sec 501 of H.R. 6393 established a "Committee to counter active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence over peoples and governments".

The bill says the duty of the committee is "to counter active measures by Russia to exert covert influence". They are also submit an annual report.

My question, what power does this committee have? Is submitting an annual report their only power, or do they have other resources/authority with which to achieve their duties?


texts:
Please, can someone explain the meaning and give some examples of Latin expressions:

'Quot generationes, tot gradus '

'Non omne quod licet honestum est' (and what's the difference between this expression and 'Male nostro iure uti non debemus'

'Actor sequitor forum rei'

'Nemo pro parte testatus, pro parte intestatus decedere potest'

I Would be grateful for any help, thanks!


texts: Want to learn more about arbitration - recommend books?

texts:
I don't know very much about how this works in practice in, say, the United States.

Roughly, my understanding is that there are party-appointed arbitrators and list-appointed arbitrators. But I don't know, for example, how list-appointed arbitrators get or stay on the list.

What are the best books to read to learn about arbitration in theory and practice? What are interesting real-life arbitration cases? Is it truly always the case that the arbitrator is neutral? It seems to be that an employer chooses to put arbitration in their contracts, for example, in part because the employer has greater power to choose an arbitrator whose views match their own.


texts: How can the the USA legally ask illegal immigrants to pay taxes while denying them any legal basis of citizenship?

texts:
According to a report released by The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy in February 2016, they state that:

  11 million illegal immigrants in the United States are paying annually an estimated amount of $11.64 billion in state and local taxes, on average an estimated 8 percent of their incomes.

Q. What is the legal basis of asking illegal immigrants in the USA to pay 'state and local taxes while denying them any basis for citizenship?

Q. And underlying that, the ethical and moral justification?


texts: Why does double jeopardy apply even when the acquittal was due to insufficiency of evidence?

texts:
In the United States, the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. constitution has been held to prohibit retrying a person for a crime they were previously acquitted of, even if the acquittal was merely due to an insufficiency of evidence.  To quote Wikipedia on the subject:

"Retrial is not possible if the verdict is overturned on the grounds of evidentiary insufficiency, rather than on the grounds of procedural faults."

The problem with this is, it is very easy to think of circumstances in which some, or even much, incriminating evidence might not come to light until after the trial (and possible acquittal).  One big category would be evidence only made useable by scientific and\or technological advances that hadn't yet happened at the time of the trial; for instance, DNA profiling, which could easily provide damning evidence against a suspect, was not available until the mid-1980s, meaning that there could potentially be any number of criminals running around from before then who couldn't be convicted at the time because evidence that would have been damning, had it been useable at the time, wasn't useable yet, because the techniques for using it simply didn't exist yet.

So why does double jeopardy prevent someone from being tried again, even if new incriminating evidence is found after the fact?  It would seem to me that the discovery of new evidence at a later date would serve as proof that the defendant wasn't fully in jeopardy in the earlier trial, since it would show that the prosecution was handicapped by not being able to use evidence that existed, but which had not yet come to light...


texts: Can a lawyer be charged with Custodial interference pursuant to ARS 13-1302?

texts:
The law is stated here
If a lawyer or a nonlawyer provides legal advice to family member, advocating they take a child out of state, without filing an order of protection, an emergency order, petition states the defendant's belief that the child was at risk if left with the other parent, then are they potentiality for engaging in custodial interference?
The argue in favor of the lawyers being at fault is based on the following matters of fact:

ARS 13-1302(A) applies to persons who have interfered in custody according to the definition set forth in 13-1302(A).1.
ARS 13-1302(A).2 specifics that the interference occurs "Before the entry of a court order determining custodial rights, takes, entices or withholds any child from the other parent denying that parent access to any child.".  What does that mean? Especially to parties who fail to submit any reasonable legal define before an absconding / kidnapping takes place.
ARS 13-1302(C) doesn't apply to lawyer because both condition have to be true and given none of the lawyers are the parent or have custody rights
ARS 13-1302(E) applies to a person other than the parent or agent of the parent or custodian or agent of the custodian.


texts:
In the case of Loving v. State of Virginia, the Supreme Court struck down state laws forbidding interracial marriage (I think there may have been 22 states with such laws).  The couple had married in the District of Columbia.

Would the state have refrained from prosecuting them if they had married in a state whose laws allowed interracial marriage, because of the full-faith-and-credit clause in the Constitution?  Generally, what degree of "faith and credit" does D.C. get?  And did that bear upon the Loving case?


texts:
Can  a medical provider be paid to display some advertisement for medical services/treatments/products in their office? If so, does the medical provider have to disclose that they had received payments to display such medical advertisements?

I am mostly interested in the following locations in the United States:

California, United States
Massachusetts, United States


texts: Is it legal to create an app, that "streams" a specific game from a website?

texts:
It's hard to tell what I mean in just one sentence. For example: If I would create a mobile JnR-App, with Super Mario Textures, Nintendo can sue me. But now, for another example let's take "Gravity Guy" by Miniclip. There is no mobile app for the current operating systems, last time it has been updated 6 years ago and now you can't play it on newer phones. But you still can play the game at their Website for free.

Now what if I create an Application, that uses a web-browser engine to "stream" the game, so you can play it. The website gets cut off, only the game is visible. Could Miniclip sue me for that?

I don't talk about other things like a name for the app. If I would call it "Gravity Guy", they can sue me, I mean the specific scenario "The app connects to Miniclip and opens the game in fullscreen, so I can play it". While connecting and opening, the user only sees a Loading-screen

EDIT: With streaming, I just mean that a javascript game you normally have in your browser gets displayed in fullscreen on your phone. The game is not by me, but as the app is just a browser for it, it shouldn't be illegal I think


texts: What would most likely happen to this National Guard Commander?

texts:
In the TV Shower Designated Survivor:

  A state governor goes rogue and begins rounding up Muslims. Eventually in response, the President orders their state national guard to be federalized, but their commander refuses. The governor is tricked into coming to Washington D.C. where he is arrested. Due to the governor being arrested, would the national guard's commander also be served with an arrest warrant? What charges would he face?


texts: Do I have to pay an untimely electricity bill?

texts: My gas and electricity utility company has not billed me for any of my use since I moved in to my apartment 6 months ago. To this day, I still have not gotten a bill. If they decide to bill me in the future for all of the past months that I have not been billed, am I legally obligated to pay? How long can they go without billing me before I don't have to pay their eventual bill if any? I am in California and the utility company is a public utility company called SDG&E.


texts:
What power does the supra-national European parliament have regarding the control of Golden Visa/Passport schemes run by many EU member states?
The EU report on the Investor residency and citizenship Schemes urges member states to take safety steps like rigorous checking for money laundering etc.., or things like sharing of the data about the rejected applicants to each of the member states (so that a rejected applicant does not succeed in applying in another state). This is primarily to safeguard the whole of the EU from potential criminals/terrorists.
EU is apparently urging member states (in its report) to take proper measures for a safe Golden Visa scheme and has also decided to form a committee that will itself monitor the issues and take appropriate actions to make these schemes safe. The EU apparently cannot interfere in National legislation of member states to remove these schemes that have the potential of fraud and other security risks. It just directs member states to be careful as a golden visa scheme introduced by national legislation directly affects other member states due to free movement rights.
But can the EU altogether scrap each and every golden visa scheme (currently around 20 member states run such schemes) of all member states? Does the supra-national parliament legally have the sort of power to do a thing like that?


texts: Is it illegal to keep an encrypted version of illegal data?

texts: If I encrypt copyrighted data to which I have no right with a private key known only to me, am I infringing the copyright by holding only the encrypted version?


texts: Taking over liabilities/debt without consent

texts:
If A and B are in a contract, with B liable to A, and a third party C takes over the liability of B to A without the consent or involvement of B, is the contract between A and C legal?

I tried looking under 'assignment' but can't seem to find any precedent for this situation.


texts: What is the legal standard of proof required for US citizenship?

texts:
Suppose a person was claiming US citizenship by virtue of being born in the US, but had some difficulty proving that they were born in the US. What would be the legal standard of proof needed to prove citizenship? Let's say they were trying to obtain a passport or avoid deportation and the matter went to court.

To make the question more concrete, suppose, for example, that a child was born on a ship or aircraft that was heading to the US and the timing of the birth corresponded approximately to the point where they crossed the 12-mile territorial limit of US waters. Now there is some real uncertainty as to whether or not the birth occurred in the US. The line is not marked and everyone was too busy to keep track of the exact time and location of the birth.
Obviously, different pieces of evidence could be provided. Perhaps some witnesses recall seeing land already before the child was born or noted that the aircraft was already descending.

This (extreme) example would be a situation where the facts cannot be established with certainty. If only a preponderance of the evidence can be established, would the person be treated as a citizen?


texts: What can I do if neighbor is blocking my solar panels intentionally?

texts: I live on a 2.5 acre lot. I installed a ground mount solar array 6 years ago. Then 4 years later my neighbor planted over 39 tall cypress trees which are blocking the sunlight. Is there any law in Maryland that protects the solar owner?


texts: Could Senators convene congress by objecting to the closing of a pro-forma session?

texts:
Here's the hypothetical:
Congress is adjourned, but the Example Caucus wants it to convene again as soon as possible. Congress plans to take recess for more than three days, so they've scheduled senator Bob to do a pro-forma session.
Ahead of the session, Senator Alice and Senator Abe of the Example Caucus quietly take their seats in the chamber. When Senator Bob asks for unanimous consent to convene, they are quiet. But when Senator Bob asks for unanimous consent to adjourn, they object!
Now check me on this next part:
The Senate is therefore not adjourned, is that not so? And since Alice and Abe have a 2-1 majority over Bob, it is pointless for Bob to call for a vote to adjourn. As Alice and Abe and Bob argue, the rest of the Example Caucus files into the chamber. Now the Senate is in session (a regularly scheduled session, in fact), and they have a quorum.
They can now conduct business, can they not?
I'm trying to find out if this would work, but I have no idea if it would. If I've based the hypothetical on false assumptions and this is all silly, I apologize. I meant no harm. I'm not well versed in law that's why I'm asking.


texts: Can a contractor have scheduled work canclled for no reason?

texts:
I work as a contractor for a company. A (small) dispute arose over an invoice I submitted. Out of retaliation the company cancelled my scheduled shifts. Are they allowed to do that? This is in Canada. It happened in BC but the governing law on the contract says Alberta.

The contract doesn't really specify anything about this, however the company does have a policy against cancelling confirmed shifts.


texts: Is it legal to lock a minor inside the house?

texts: My son is 15 and has autism/adhd.  Sometimes we have to lock the doors to prevent him leaving as his behaviour can be unacceptable in the community. Is this legal?  And when does it become illegal (false imprisonment presumably) - at age 16 or 18?


texts: Can a company trademark a public domain name like "Arkham"?

texts: The town of arkham was invented by H.P.Lovecraft for his horror stories. They are now largely public domain. The town name of Arkham, therefore, is public domain. Yet WB Games have launched a continuing series of Arkham: Something games for their Batman license. This would suggest that they are using a public domain name for a running line of flagship game titles for a (I assume) flagship genre franchise. That seems odd. Just as Atlantis cannot be a trademarked name, neither shoud Arkham. Of course, they can use it, but is anything keeping others from making Arkham: Pony Rider or Arkham Flyfishing, since the name is public domain??


texts: Can photographs of landmark properties be used commercially?

texts:
Can photographs of historic landmarks be used commercially?
For example, let's say a bank used a picture of Marble House in Newport RI in advertisements of their banking services. Could the trustees of the society that owns Marble House legally prevent the bank from using the image of their property?
For the purposes of this question, assume that the photograph is a view that is not available from a public location, for example, it is a view of the back of the house.


texts: Counterparty fails to respond to discovery, should I make another pleading or object at trial?

texts:
I have a civil trial coming up. I have been accused of speeding in a motor vehicle and plan to defend myself against this false charge.

I made a motion for discovery which was for very basic information about the event, essentially a description of how the trooper determined that I was speeding. The court granted my motion and the trooper has received it and signed for it, however the trooper did not provide me with a description of his method and, in fact, told me during a pre-trial conference that he would not provide me with such a "narrative".

Is it my best strategy to simply go to trial and object at the trial that the prosecution has failed to comply with the motion for discovery, or do I need to make an additional pleading ahead of time?

If I make a pleading, there is the risk the trooper might take the motion more seriously and provide the requested information. However, if I go to court directly, I am concerned the judge might say, "Well, you needed to file pleading XYZ with the court ahead of time if you wanted complain about the non-compliance with discovery."

So, the basic question here is a point of law: if a party fails to comply with a granted motion of discovery in a civil/administrative trial, does an additional pleading of some kind need to be made ahead of time, or will the failure to comply automatically become grounds for dismissal at trial?


texts: Can a doctor from one country prescribe medicine to a person in another country?

texts: Can a doctor from one country prescribe medicine to a person in another country if they both are connecting through an online medium?


texts: Is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 included in the United States Code? Why can't I find §4201?

texts:
There are numerous texts stating that there was a Section 4201 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 in 2010. There are also numerous texts stating that OPA 90 §4201 was amended into the United States Code. So, why can't I find it on the GPO.gov website or the Cornell Law website? Title 33 stops at §3857.

Why isn't there a §4201 of Title 33 on GPO.gov and/or where can I find §4201 of OPA 90?

Or am I wrong? Is OPA 90 not part of U.S. Code?


texts: What are the conditions surrounding character witnesses in trials?

texts:
I'm interested in how certain trials work in US Law, particularly when it comes to Character Witnesses.

How do defence teams go about selecting character witnesses, in particular when it comes to murder trials? For example, Carol Ann Boone being a character witness for Ted Bundy, she was surely biased and therefore should she not have been dismissed as a witness?

In this stream, does that mean that family members/friends/lovers are instantly ruled out when submitting character witness, due to ingrained biases?

Also, if chosen as a character witness what background would be required? For example, could someone impaired mentally be able to (through mental health conditions or addiction)?

Apologies if this has been answered already.


texts: Are digital copies of official documents lawfully represented?

texts:
In order to reduce my (personal) paperwork and its governance, I was thinking to scan all my official documents and save them somewhere digitally. This way, my closet would not be filled with papers from years back (which I'm not keen on throwing away) and I could create some sort of digital classification system which would make my life a lot easier too.

Example documents are: receipts, guarantee vouchers/certificates, documents of my bank/insurance company, pay slips, etc. The objective is to reduce the pile of papers, so I would throw away the paper copies.

Of course, I can't do this if digital copies are not acceptable in court and other official (legal) activities (i.e. legally binding). Are you aware of an (international) regulation that approves what I would like to do, or should I stick with the traditional paper saving approach for now?


texts: employer lying about not selling the company

texts: the employer i work for has stated they are not selling the dealership but there are very strong rumors and someone that works for another dealer that stated they are buying our dealership. the regional manager came in and had a meeting stating that they are not selling, our manager just quit out of the blue, and there have been corporate contractors on the property marking areas for what looks like financing. also the office clerks came through marking and taking inventory of all company owned tools and equipment. just curious if they do end up selling and have lied to us this whole time if there is a case or not.


texts: I am looking into emancipation and was wondering what the process looks like. I live in PA. Any information will help.


texts: Is or isn't it illegal to reveal a/the whistleblower's name?

texts:
According to Politico:

But [US Senator Rand] Paul told reporters Tuesday he is "more than willing to and probably will at some point" name the whistleblower.
"There is no law preventing anybody from saying the name whether you're in the media or you're an elected official," he said.
Sergio Gor, a spokesman for Paul, added, "The whistleblower statute protects the accuser from being fired but says nothing about skeptics revealing his name. There is absolutely no statute that prevents anyone, other than the inspector general from releasing the accuser’s name."
"There is no law preventing anybody from saying the name whether you're in the media or you're an elected official," he said.

So, it is this claim correct, basically, is the whistleblower protected from retribution, but there is no law prohibiting his identity being made public by anyone (except the IG apparently)?


texts: Employer is paying me hourly, but not paying me overtime

texts: Can an employee be Exempt and hourly?  Currently I work for a private company in Houston, TX as an Director of Nursing - Case Manager, I get paid hourly, but don't get paid overtime. Can anyone please advise? Thank you


texts: can I submit a new insurance claim on roof damage after unpaid claim unrepaired

texts:
I am a long time member on the developer/code side of StackExchange, but this is my first time on the legal forum, and I confess that I hate questions like this over on the developers' forum -- that is, vague and meandering. But I can't even come up with proper, concise question to search for pre-existing answers in a meaningful way. I apologize because if you're reading this I do realize your time is valuable.

If anyone can help me even with just the proper framing and wording of the question, I can press ahead with answering it myself.

Question:
If I have a existing property claim on roof damage from a hurricane in 2008 that was never paid, can I make a new claim on new damage now 7 years later? Does the insurance company have the right to reject it.

Details:
Back at the time of the original claim, I wanted to upgrade my roof, so I was waiting to save up more money to add to the value of the claim and replace the roof. Metal instead of shingles. Insurance would not pay full value of the claim until I provided proof of actual repair. The original emergency claim adjuster told me over and over again that it's "my money" and there's no expiration on the payout. I called several years in a row to confirm this and was told the same thing. Then one year I was told no. State Farm said they are not required to pay the claim under Florida law. So I never replaced my roof. Now it's leaking after an intense storm (not a hurricane, yet possible to argue it was effect of tropical storm).  I'm wondering if there are any loopholes or bureaucratic options that would recategorize my claim and allow me to collect full payment.

Disclaimer(s): Yes yes yes I should have just taken the money and repaired the roof instead of trying to upgrade it, but the insurance rep told me again and again that it wouldn't expire, so I thought I was safe. Yes I would love to be able to do it over again and not be typing lengthy questions into StackExchange.

Thank you for your time and any help.


texts: Can an employer reprimand an employee for posting negative reviews on social media?

texts: If an employee posts on social media that a company is bad to work for, can they get fired or reprimanded for it? What if they gave specific examples, like how the employer reduced their wage without an explanation?


texts: Are there any resources for creating terms and conditions for websites?

texts:
I am currently on the process of making a forum based website that will contain users emails, passwords and possibly names. When The users signs up they will need to accept the terms and conditions but at the moment they are empty. Are there any resources on creating terms and conditions of any pre-built one's that are available?

If not may someone please provide me with the base lines.

Sorry if this is posted on the wrong section but I felt this was quite serious.


texts: How many counts of libel for the false statement: "John is at-large from assault charges"?

texts: Assuming that John has neither been charged with assault nor is evading such charges: Can John sue for two separate counts of libel (one for claiming that he is charged with a crime and one for stating that he is evading criminal charges) or can he use for just one count of libel, based on following statement made about him: "John is at-large from assault charges"?


texts: The differences : 'industry' includes establishment, undertaking, work, trade, business and any other workplace;

texts:
In this Act, 'industry' includes establishment, undertaking, work, trade, business and any other workplace;

As a non English native speaker, sadly, I can't gasp the differences of the meanings of the words completely. Help me.


texts: If an apartment complex has a contract with a towing company to tow illegally parked cars does a manager have to be there when the car is the sign for each card is being towed at the time of being towed?


texts: Is there duty to mitigate damages by killing and replacing injured animal instead of curing it?

texts:
Say somebody ill-treated my animal which I kept as a pet. It got severely injured. To survive, it had to stay at the veterinary for 2 weeks. The bill was 20x times higher than the market price of the animal.

If I then attempted to claim damages, would my claim be rebuffed on the basis that I should have "mitigated" the costs by just killing the animal and buying a new one?


texts: Is lying to get "gardening leave" fraud?

texts:
A group of my friends was celebrating one of our group securing a new job, and he was complaining about having to continue working at his old job for his 3 month notice period, we started discussing humorous ways that he could force his company to immediately terminate his contract.

One of the group mentioned that his company had a policy for employees who had accepted a role with a competitor of immediately escorting the employee off the premises and placing them on gardening leave.

Assuming my employer had a similar policy, and I secured a role with company A (who aren’t a competitor of my current employer), but I told my manager that I had secured a role with company B (who are a competitor) in an attempt to secure gardening leave. Have I committed fraud?


texts:
I do not want to serve a complete notice period (3 months) for the MNC (multi-national company) in India I currently work for. I would like to serve only one month notice period, and although I am ready to pay for not completing the full notice period, HR is not allowing me to do this. Instead, they keep insisting that I need to complete the full notice period. This is creating an issue for me and it is not allowing a smooth transition for my new job.

What legal action can be taken?


texts: Is probable cause of a crime necessary for a subpoena to be issued?

texts:
In order to get a subpoena, wouldn't the prosecutor have to show probable cause that a crime was committed?

According to news outlets (example), Mueller has subpoenaed a Trump organization.

I did some research and the answer seemed to be 'yes', but I was talking it over with a friend of the family who took some law classes and the answer was 'not necessarily'.

So is probable cause that a crime was committed necessary for a subpoena to be issued?


texts: What happens if nobody "stands in defense" of a lawsuit against the US government as administrations change?

texts:
This answer to the Politics SE question What happens to lawsuits against US presidential administrations when the administration changes due to an election? has been well received and so I've accepted it. I don't fully understand what it says but it seems that the explanation I need is more of a point of law than of politics.

In its entirety:

  The suit is going to be not against the individuals in the administration but the government as an entity so the lawsuit proceeds. However, the new administration may choose not to defend the lawsuit, in which case the court may allow another interested party to stand in defense of the lawsuit (which happened with some of the suits against the ACA that the Trump administration declined to defend).

and my comment there:

  ...I don't know what those mean or what actually happens as a consequence but perhaps those might be better taken up as new questions in Law SE? For example what actually happens if nobody "stands in defense" of this kind of lawsuit?


texts:
Say you have signed the full and final settlement agreement between the claimant and the defendant for a fixed settlement fee in front of your presiding officer in a civil court.

What happens after the defendant pays the settlement fee to the claimant, and after the claimant receives the payment the claimant want to withdraw the settlement or make the settlement void?