texts: Why do software licenses use passive voice?

texts:
I've been researching user-readable software licenses, and it strikes me that even as they get simpler and cut words, they always start with a wordy passive-voice construction:

MIT: Permission is hereby granted ... to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software")

ISC: Permission ... is hereby granted

BSD: Redistribution ... are permitted

Zlib: Permission is granted to anyone

Why do the licenses use this same sort of wording even as they simplify in other places? Is there a legal advantage to using it in favor of the more obvious you may?


texts:
I'm new to the world of law and trying to get a high level picture of things. Am I right to think of the structure of information (at least in the patent realm) as:

USC title 35 = high level source, compilation of laws
MPEP = detailed guidance on interpretation of the USC title 35
Guidance docs and cases = further colour on the interpretation of law along with Interim updates to the MPEP, until the MPEP is updated.

Do all titles of the USC have an associated manual along with supporting guidance documents?
How often does the manual get updated?

Delving a little deeper: I understand that the manual of patent examining procedure serves to provide guidance for use by USPTO professionals in applying the laws set forth in USC 35.

I don't see mention of the judicial exceptions (abstract ideas/laws of nature/natural phenomena) in the USC. Is the MPEP along with guidance documents such as these/relevant cases the only place to find information on them?


texts: Can you post a picture in your business to embarrass or defame a customer?

texts:
I paid a debt to the late husband of a woman who now owns the local hardware store. Without talking to me about the debt, she posted my photograph of me that she copied off my Facebook account. She put my name and that I owed a large amount of money and had not paid.  The debt was paid to her late husband, there was never a signed contract or receipt: we made the deal with a handshake and settled the deal the same way with no paperwork.
Is it legal for her to post my photograph in her place of buisness defaming me?


texts: After being pardoned, can one be forced to testify in civil and criminal cases?

texts:
After being pardoned, can one be forced to testify in civil and criminal cases with no protection against self-incrimination?

My example is how Trump has pardoned former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; does Arpaio's protection against self-incrimination disappear if he accepts the pardon for his conviction of a federal crime?

Can Arpaio be compelled to testify in cases brought against him, such as federal and state cases that concern his past actions as sheriff?

I.e., such as civil or criminal cases concerning Arpaio's department's past treatment of prisoners, instances of racial profiling and immigration-related cases?

Can Arpaio be compelled to testify against co-defendants in the same case(s) he was being prosecuted for that were nullified by the pardon?

Is there a difference between between civil and criminal cases as to what he can be compelled to do? And a difference between state and federal cases?

Can Arpaio decline the pardon in order to protect himself from being forced to testify?

And, can Trump preemptively pardon Arpaio, as the pardon states for any other offenses... that might arise, or be charged, in connection...?


texts: Is it a violation of GDPR law to email personnel gathered from hunter.io?

texts:
I'm a web developer working on a project for a client. The project is a directory of sustainable companies (enviromental-friendly companies). The project is only launching now.

The companies listed on the website are companies the client knows they exist and has gathered from websites such as HubSpot. The client then gathered emails for the personnel that are working in those companies.

The companies are added to our database and the company personnel have the option to claim the company and change in its profile. The client wants to send emails to the contacts that he has (which he got no consent from) that our website is hosting a profile of their company and they should feel free to claim it.

Would this be in violation of GDPR law?


texts: Is the British Queen not allowed to sit on a foreign throne?

texts:
I read on http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-03-30/heres-why-queen-elizabeth-ii-didnt-sit-on-the-iron-throne :

  “Apparently the Queen of England [sic] is not allowed to sit on a foreign throne,” explained Benioff during an interview with Late Night host Seth Meyers. “This is an esoteric rule we didn’t know about until that moment.”

Is the Queen of the United Kingdom not allowed to sit on a foreign throne? If so, does that apply to fictional thrones?


texts:
Isn't it a crime if someone repeatedly rates a product with very low spam ratings for many years?
I was told that this is Unfair competition and covered by civil rights but still cannot believe it.
Is there another way to stop a person from doing this without investing many thousands in an expensive lawsuit?


texts: Is it possible to be a Belgian civilian without a first name?

texts: I work for a company in the Netherlands and someone who wants to fill in our job application form tells us he cannot do so because according to him, he does not have a first name. This makes things hard because we require people to fill in the form to apply for a job and once that person visits us, we check their passport or id card to verify both first name and surname. The person seems to be convinced that he does not have a first name and does have a Belgian ID card but logically without the first name printed on it. Is it actually possible having a Belgian ID card but not having a first name? Is it possible not having it printed on the ID Card?


texts: Suppose an effective truth serum existed. Could defendants in the following situations have their confessions ruled inadmissable?

texts:
Suppose a "Hollywood style" truth serum existed, whereby if a person is given the serum, that person is compelled to truthfully answer any question put to them.

The following facts are true in all of the scenarios:

Clyde Criminal commits a crime
Victoria Vigilante catches him in the act, injects him with truth serum, and leaves him for the police
Victoria Vigilante leaves, Officer Olivia arrives a few minutes later

Clyde's best bet is to exercise his right to remain silent until the serum wears off. But what would be the value to the prosecutor of Clyde's confession if he confessed under these various circumstances:

Before Olivia speaks, Clyde confesses to the crime.
After Olivia reads Clyde his Miranda warning, but without being asked any questions, Clyde confesses.
After the Miranda warning, Olivia asks Clyde "What happened?".  Clyde confesses.
After the Miranda warning, Olivia asks Clyde "What happened?". Clyde says "I would prefer to remain silent, but I can't stop myself from telling you..." Clyde then confesses.
Before Olivia arrives, Victoria questions Clyde and records his confession. Victoria then leaves Clyde and the recording for Olivia to find.


texts: Description of 3rd party cookies in the privacy policy for GDPR compliance?

texts:
In order to comply with GDPR's right to be informed section, some sites try to describe what specific cookies that 3rd parties supply do.  Is it OK to just list what cookies these parties set, and instruct the reader to "Google" for more information on their specific usage, as this is obviously something that will continuously change.

So for example for Google Analytics we might have something like this:

  Please search (For example search for "Google Analytics website cookie usage") for information on what these cookies are used for, as their use cases, and the platform facilitating these, are continuously being updated.

Would also be nice if the regulators that designed the GDPR guidelines signed up for a forum like this, so that we could get answers from the source of the regulations.


texts: Who is liable for copyright infringement in an "unofficial book" with copyrighted images, the publisher or the author?

texts:
This question  contains an example of a potentially infringing work, but I  believe it is fine because the book does not contain copyrighted images and is basically a discussion of another book.

My understanding is fair use applies as described by another Stack Exchange answer here.

I've seen "unofficial books" at Barnes & Nobles that contain copyrighted images such as the one below. I believe the images infringe copyright in such cases, as the author is not the copyright holder.

Who is likely to get sued, the publisher or the author?

I feel like the publisher should know better than to publish copyrighted  material. Is it their responsiblity?

Disclaimer: This is an example. I don't know if the book above actually has permissions to use the art. For the sake of this hypothetical question lets pretend the artwork was not authorized.


texts: Would this be considered as Theft under the UK's jurisdiction?

texts:
So say you have a car, and I steal your car, but with the intention to return it back to you after 2 years. It means I do not wish to "permanently deprive" you of your car. I will treat the car with care, so that when I return it back to you, it will remind as intact as possible. Therefore, the "goodness or virtue" of the car remains.

Intention permanently to deprive is one of the two main requirements of mens rea for theft.

I know in practice the verdict is not always predictable, as judges sometimes distort the clear wording of the act to achieve justice. But according to clear wording of the act, the defendent in the scenario doesn't have the sufficient mens rea right? So would this still be regarded as theft? Even tho common sense tells you it does?


texts: US code used to say 'the unit of electric current shall be the ampere'; what legal consequences did that have?

texts:
Up until 2006, U.S. law said the following (in 15 U.S.C. 223, which was repealed in 2007):

  § 223. Units of electrical measure

  From and after July 21, 1950, the legal units of electrical and photometric measurement in the United States of America shall be those defined and established as provided in the following paragraphs.

  Resistance—ohm
  The unit of electrical resistance shall be the ohm, which is equal to one thousand million units of resistance of the centimeter-gram-second system of electromagnetic units.

  Current—ampere
  The unit of electric current shall be the ampere, which is one-tenth of the unit of current of the centimeter-gram-second system of electromagnetic units.

  …

And so on for the volt, the coulomb, and several other units.

(These definitions predate the introduction of the International System of Units (SI). For all practical purposes, the units defined this way are identical to the corresponding units of the SI. For those who are curious, there is a pretty good Wikipedia article that explains the relevant scientific issues.)

My question

What were the legal consequences of 15 U.S.C. 223 while it was still in force? For example, if Acme Electric, Inc. started issuing contracts that used e.g. statvolts rather than volts, could someone (either a private or a government agent) have compelled them (through the courts if necessary), solely on the basis of 15 U.S.C. 223, to stop using statvolts and start using volts?

Or did 15 U.S.C. 223 merely imply that no one could object (e.g. by denying the validity of a contract) if Acme Electric, Inc. did use the volt and the ampere? This would be similar to how 15 U.S.C. 204 says that no one can get into trouble for using metric units in general.

(This question is a follow-up to a previous question on this StackExchange.)


texts: Can a natural US person hold citizenship while remaining non-juridical?

texts:
What law should be referenced regarding when and how a natural person becomes a juridical person in the US?

According to Wikipedia:

  While human beings acquire legal personhood when they are born, juridical persons do so when they are incorporated in accordance with law.

How does this incorporation tie into citizenship and in what ways is the contract legally binding under commercial or common law?


texts: Avoiding the appearance of insider trading

texts:
Can one conceivably be accused of insider trading without being considered an insider at the company you work for? Is that classification by your company more just a way of categorizing employees and protecting them from themselves (with the insider black-out periods) or is it basically impossible for someone who isn't classified as such to be accused?

My personal scenario is I am NOT on the insider list. But I do work in some capacity with Finance. I make a lot of trades of our own stock and am usually successful at buying low and selling high / I think I'm mostly lucky.

Example: Right after Brexit I bought all the stock I could afford cause it tanked and I saw no logical reason why it should. Like most companies, it went back up later - yeah!


texts: Are business owners liable for harm inflicted by homeless spikes?

texts: Businesses in cities install hazards, hard spikes or sharp bench dividers, to ward homeless from using flat surfaces near the business as a dry place to sleep.  If a homeless person were to use this area to sleep anyway, out of necessity to keep dry, and were injured upon the hazards, would the business owner be liable for their harm?


texts: When is it Illegal to Lie in Inter-Personal Relationships?

texts:
I casually date someone.  We split restaurant bills and have consensual sex.  I lie about my income, health, age, name, and marital status to them.  Is this lying illegal?

Already looked at When it it illegal to lie? and other answers. I've tagged as family-law but feel free to edit.

added: this is a hypothetical scenario


texts: Is it legal to short a company's stock and then blog about why you did it?

texts:
In America, is it legal to short a company with which I never had any affiliation and then write a negative blog post about it affecting the company's stock price?

More specifically, suppose everything in this blog post is accurate, but kind of difficult to prove. Experts are needed to determine the truth, and the experts are, say, 9:1 in favor vs against it being true.

Can this company drag me through the courts for libel? Is there any kind of SEC violation possible here (stock manipulation, or something)?


texts: What was wrong with the 2010 Flash Crash?

texts:
While looking for recent market crashes, I came upon 2010 Flash Crash. However, I am unable to understand what wrong the alleged perpetrator, Navinder Singh Sarao, did.
Entering an "order to sell stocks (or shares)" and "then cancelling those orders", should not a crime, should it? A trader (or an investor) can change his or her mind at any time before the order goes through.
I am not saying that nothing went wrong, but just trying to understand.


texts: Is it Illegal to shred Sheriff's department records in Georgia?

texts:
A recent New Yorker Article describes an incoming sheriff, replacing an old (corrupt) sheriff on his first day:

  "when he unlocked the doors to the sheriff’s office on his first day
  on the job, January 1, 2017, he found nine industrial-sized trash bags
  full of shredded papers. Jail trusties—model inmates who did menial
  jobs at the sheriff’s office—told him that they’d spent two weeks
  destroying paperwork, at the previous administration’s instruction.
  “They had wiped stuff off the computers,” Dix said. “They had even
  taken notebooks off shelves and shredded the documents.”

I know states often have data retention laws for public records.  Does Georgia have any data retention laws, and could the old Sheriff be charged with a crime for destroying documents, or potentially even evidence?


texts: Is it legal to work for a foreign company you own that has no entity in the USA

texts:
As the question stipulates.
If a US citizen living in the USA wants to work for a foreign company he owns and that has no US entity. Is this legal?

He would basically be in a situation where he's doing everything as if he were residing in that foreign country but simply residing in the USA.

I know that the US consider taxable income to be income generated on american soil. So filing taxes in the US would be a requirement. But is the setup even legal? Or is it an obligation for the foreign entity to open a US entity and pay through it?


texts: Are SMS Spam Opt-in messages required for Third-Party Non-Marketing Texts?

texts:
I have a service where customers can purchase non-marketing SMS Text Messages that will be sent to their friend (customer provides the friend's phone number).

Since these text messages have been purchased and do not have marketing content, but are being sent to a third party (ie. the friend, not the original customer), do they still count as "Spam" and require opt-in verbiage, such as "Data&MsgRatesApply" or "Text STOP to opt out"...or does the purchased and non-marketing nature mean that these spam opting messages are not required?


texts: Once I've paid a Performing Rights Organization (eg. ASCAP) for a public performance license, how do I obtain the actual music files? Do the licensing companies provide them, or do I need to purchase them from a music retailer? Can I use a streaming service like Spotify? The FAQs on the licensing sites are unclear about this.


texts: Auto-generating every possible melody to forstall copyright: will this work?

texts:
This article describes a scheme to have a computer generate every possible "8-note, 12-beat melody combo" and release it under a Creative Commons license so that anyone can use it (not exactly public domain, but close enough for practical purposes). The idea is that from now on it will not be possible to copyright a basic melodic theme because it will already have been written in a tangible form.

Will this really forestall copyright infringement suits?

Edit: to clarify. Suppose I write a melody, and someone else claims that they wrote the same melody and hence have copyright on it. Can I point to the existence of the melody in this generated corpus as a defence?


texts: What can a presumptive father do to terminate all responsibility toward an unwanted child?

texts:
Couple conceives a child. Although the couple is not married legally assume the couple is happy and wants to remain together. They are a long standing couple and have no desire to split up. Child was conceived due to a failure in birth control.
There is no question or denial of paternity.
Father does not want the child.
Mother does want the child.
Assuming abortion is legal in all instances. I know a mother can choose to have or abort a child without the father's consent. Should she morally be okay with that. (My goal is not a question on abortion) But what rights does the father have should he not want the child? If the mother decides to birth and keep the child, against the father's wishes, what legal responsibilities does the father have regarding support?
Removing abortion itself from the issue....
What can a father do to legally terminate all responsibility toward an unwanted child??
A mother may have several different options available to her, however what does the father have? It would seem ultimately the father has no rights to refuse an unwanted child. Is this true?
(Note: I'm not even attempting to support or condone "deadbeat" parents in any way. Or provide an "out" to men that want to shirk responsibilities. That's not the question. If there is a responsibility to support a child, it should be honored in all instances without exception.)


texts: Using information from copyrighted images legal?

texts:
I'm looking at a large collection of images of graphs. I want to use the information in the images, not the images themselves. I've made a small program to extract this information, but I was wondering if it would be legal for me to use this information for commercial use? The images all have a copyright symbol on them, but I haven't been able to find it in a copyright database, so I doubt it's registered at the moment.

From a ton of googling, I would think that the information in the graphs is not subject to copyright, only the actual image of the graphs?

I think it's also possible that the specific collection of images could be copyrighted. What would happen if I simply removed some of them, so that it's now a different set?

The graphs on the images are specific measurements of specific things (like size, weight, etc.)


texts: Working for a second company on a employment-based US visa

texts: If someone is in the US on an employment visa such as H1B or O1 sponsored by their first company, can they work their free hours for a second company based in US without having to file for a new petition or visa (even if work is unpaid)? If not, then if the second company is foreign-based, can they work for them instead?


texts: Ensuring Promised Equity is well secured when joining a start up

texts:
I am currently working for a start up and we have been talking about an equity deal, where I would be compensated with some percentage of the company plus salary.

I want to ensure everything is done correctly and I am actually able to secure the equity I am promised. I am willing to hire a lawyer if needed, but don't want to be thousands on lawyer expenses without knowing a little bit about what needs to be done.

Right now, everything is up for discussion, nothing is off limits and basically what I am looking for is a percentage, say 10% + salary. Once we agree on this figure, how does one ensure the promised equity is actually secured?

In the event, the company declares bankruptcy, the CEO decides to sell, transfer or step down, how would I be able to ensure that I am given whatever I was promised. Lastly, assuming I currently own 10% of the company, how and when can I actually 'claim' the equity and convert it to cash, if needed?


texts: How did marriage certification deviate away from the older idea of common law marriage?

texts:
I'm seeking to better understand the history of how marriage licenses came about, and specifically, the transition from cohabitation and public announcement of the marriage to requiring a literal certification of the marriage from a civil authority. I'm told that English common law allowed marriages to be certified and tracked by local parish vicars who did not communicate with one-another when checking to see if someone had already been married, and that this role was taken over by the state governments around the time of the formation of the United States. If this is true that seems to be a topic that would have a large amount of lore surrounding the adoption of such a change as a handover of marriage certification between "the first two estates" of society.

My interest was kindled by an actual historical legal case in the United States, where a woman named Ella Chase believed herself to be in a common law marriage but was informed by the courts that her husband was permitted to "remarry" without getting a divorce. For more information on her case I have provided the following:

The Story of Ella Chase

Goat on a Cow


texts: Can a copyright holder legally remove another holder from license copyright, then expand it to all contributors?

texts:
The original author of a MIT-licensed project "merged" a large set of changes I authored, which included an addition of my name to the copyright line of the license. Later on, the original author removed my name, because we had a disagreement and he decided my name shouldn't be there since he never explicitly authorized the addition. The catch is that, although he removed my name, he added "all contributors" to the copyright line. Is the removal of my name legal?
edit: I should also note that the original author acknowledged me as co-author of the project after my large contribution (I have historical proof of this).


texts: Can specific information be needed for verification in CCPA?

texts:
If a site is registering users with name display , email and password (I am not reffering to stackexchange . ) The name is available for public display . The site provides access to account when people provide access to email and their password . Lets say an user loses a password or email . For password it is ok . For email if the user loses does the site need to provide access to account if user can write the name and password ? It is under the CCPA California . The reason I am asking is than combination of name and password is forgable copyable . I mean any user can guess the password and the combination may or may not be unique .
Example to clarify : A user signs up with name "a" email a.a.a.a@a.a and password aaaaaaaaaa . A person furnishes name and password . The site given has only one account with name "a" and password aaaaaaaaaa . However can they say as name is public user must furnish email . Is it legal under CCPA California ?


texts: Does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights override the United States Constitution?

texts: Does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights override the United States Constitution when it comes to the rights of civilians?


texts: Why isn't stalling an impeachment considered an obstruction of justice?

texts:
First and foremost, is it correct to consider the process of impeachment and removal, in the US Constitution, a process of justice, but one administered in a political context? (That is, the opposite of a "recall election".)

If it is so, then how is a refusal to "send" an impeachment to the Senate not an act that obstructs justice?


texts: Can a community college hold commencement at a church?

texts:
The commencement ceremony at my community college is set to take place in a church. I have a meeting with a school administrator to talk about changing the venue because I want the ceremony to be in a secular space.
Is it legal for the school to use a church for a commencement ceremony? Are there any laws in north Carolina about school events being held in religious buildings?


texts:
I own a semi successful proxy website. It was created initially to assist co workers in the web hosting industry for troubleshooting propagation of new websites.

Recently I have been receiving DMCA complaints through Google. From what I see sometimes my proxy is used to access illegal content like a movie website and then that link is shared on forums or Facebook etc. Google caches these pages and companies like Sony finds them and sends a complaint.

My question is, am I required to some how hard code out these links every time? The links are not saved anywhere on my end, the series of characters in the url simply load the requested page.

I have been disputing the complaints simply because I do not want Google to blacklist my site which they could do if I received a lot of these complaints.

To be fair, if I received an email from the companies themselves I would make a system that blocks links, but with a DMCA I think blocking the link would imply wrongdoing and would cause the complaint to stick in Google's system.

Here is an example of the DMCA notices I get from Google:

  Notice of DMCA removal from Google Search

  To: Webmaster of my site

  Google has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital
  Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that some of the material found on
  your site allegedly infringes upon the copyrights of others. We’re in
  the process of removing the allegedly unlawful materials from Google
  Search results.

  The notice that we received, with any personally identifying
  information removed, may be found on the website of Chilling Effects,
  a third-party aggregator of legal complaint notices, at
  chillingeffects.org link full of links to illegal movies

  Please note that it may take several weeks for the notice to be posted
  on the above page.

  What you can do next:

  File a Counter Notice If you feel that your sites or pages were
  mistakenly removed due to a DMCA request filed against you, Google can
  reinstate these materials into our search results upon receipt of a
  DMCA Counter Notification. Speak to a lawyer If you have legal
  questions about this notification, you may wish to speak to your own
  lawyer.


texts: Free websites to help me find influential or contentious state/local cases in the United States?

texts:
I am looking for free websites that contain (potentially partial) catalogs of state and local court cases in the United States, and allows me to filter and/or sort by any of the following:

The judicial vote margin for appealed cases
Some kind of expert/subjective/automated/experimental measure of the case's influence
Some kind of objective measure of how often the case was cited
Some kind of expert/subjective/automated/experimental measure of the case's political contentiousness

Does anything like this exist? My intent is to be able to look for things like "top 5 most politically sensitive cases in bla county superior court from 2000-2010." Determinations like that would be deeply subjective, but maybe subject to some kind of systematic approach?


texts: Can contract text itself be subject to copyright?

texts:
I am a business owner and I have a competitor who plays dirty in general. My competitor is very greedy and does not want to spend money and pay lawyer.

So she took my contract, I use to serve customers and used it as a template for her contract, copied it word to word. A few details are changed, like payment requisites and maximum allowed service periods, but otherwise it's the same contact and I some time ago I have payed a lawyer to create template.

So, is contract text itself subject to copyright? What are my options?

P.S. Answers for European jurisdictions are more welcome.


texts: Is Mark Zuckerberg subject to questioning by every U.S. senator, or only select ones?

texts:
I have been watching the live questioning for the last 2-3 hours and wonder about the Senate's hearing process: Do all of the senators get to question Mark, or just a limited number of them?  And if the number is limited, how are the senators chosen?

(From some of the questions, it feels like some senators don't even know what Facebook is.)


texts: How do the rights and responsibilities of a shell company differ from corporations organized in other ways?

texts:
For instance, does a shell company need to have a separate board of directors and bylaws, or can it be controlled through the governance of another company? Can such a company be managed by and answerable to only a single individual?
One of the reasons for using a shell company is that "Shell companies can be used to transfer assets from one company into a new one, while leaving the liabilities in the former company." My understanding is that a shell company might be reasonably used as a trustee for a trust, or to as a holding company of an operating company, or intangible assets.
Does that mean that a shell company that is constructed to have no assets and no liabilities can sign contracts and take corporate actions on its own behalf, or can it only act as a conduit vehicle for the transactions of other companies? And what paperwork is necessary to perform this conduit function? Something like contracts or corporate resolutions?


texts: Would police in the US have any alternative for handling a confiscated computer with a hidden partition?

texts:
I've heard some fellow geeks (who are always obsessed with computer privacy) talk about how 'amazing' a hidden partition is for privacy.  I don't really see the point of all the trouble if I'm not actively engaging in illegal activities on my machine, but for now I'm more interested in rather or not such a hidden partition is as foolproof as these individuals claim; specifically would it really render any law enforcement powerless to do anything.

Without  going too deep into the technical factors involved the idea is to have another partition (ie part of the computer reserved to install and run software on) where the partition is both encrypted and not listed in the boot sector, where partitions are usually stored.  The net result is a hidden partition, no one can see or access it without using some special boot technique, such as using a CD or thumb drive to change how the computer boots up, to connect to it.  if you don't plug in your magic thumb drive before you start your computer then in theory it would be impossible to tell you have another hidden partition or connect to it.

I know enough about computers to know this hidden partition isn't quite as foolproof as claimed, as inferring the existence of a hidden partition shouldn't be impossible on a technical level.  The fact that a large part of the computer isn't allocated, effectively preventing use of part of your computer's storage, should be enough to make an analyst at least suspect a hidden partition may exist, doubly so if someone mostly used their hidden partition so that their visible partition was rarely used or too small to be useful.  Once a hidden partition is suspected some analysis of 'randomness' of the 1 and 0 on the unallocated space could be used to provide extremely strong evidence that there was encrypted data saved there, with a very large area of encrypted data in turn being very suggestive, but not definitively prove, that a hidden partition is being used.

So say that a suspected criminal, who used one of these hidden partitions, had his computer confiscated.  Let's further say the polices' technical folks are on the bar and noticed the evidence which strongly suggests, but could never definitively prove, that the suspect was using a hidden partition.  The police would, of course, like to get access to this hidden partition to see if anything incriminating is saved on it, but their going to need the magic thumb drive to view anything saved on it.

I suspect the police could not compel the criminal to hand this over directly, as the evidence, no matter how suggestive, would not be be absolute proof that the hidden partition existed.  Though if the police were able to find some other proof of a hidden partition, such as conversations the suspect had with someone where the suspect refers to his use of such a partition, they may be able to meet a sufficient burden of proof to compel the suspect to make the content of the partition available to them?

Would there be any other options that the police may have to deal with such a suspected hidden partition which may contain incriminating data?  The two obvious ones I could think of are:

getting a second search warrant to allow them to search for the thumb drive used to connect to the partition.  I imagine that they only need reasonable suspicion of a hidden partition to get a more extensive search warrant?  Though I doubt that would be too useful since a criminal would presumably destroy such a device immediately after their computer was confiscated to prevent police from getting hold of it?
Could the mere (strongly suspected) presence of a hidden partition be used against the suspect?  for instance in a criminal trial could the prosecutor argue the fact that the suspect was apparently going to great lengths to make it impossible to see what he was using his machine for as evidence that the suspect likely was doing something unlawful with the machine?


texts: If someone tells you to trespass, can you trespass?

texts:
Sometimes I watch encounters where a person tauntingly but clearly telling another person to come here,[here as in his own property], or come here if you are a man, etc etc..

Is it legal to go on to his property as you have his permission?


texts: Property held as joint tenancy with right of survivorship still needs probate?

texts:
I bought a house with my brother. The deed says joint tenancy with right of survivorship. My brother died, and I want to sell the house. The underwriter for the title company says my brother's estate must first be probated.
Not looking for legal advice, because the underwriter's opinion cannot be changed, but I'm curious why the estate still needs to be probated.


texts: Under English law, if someone's lawyer sends you a letter "not for publication" is it a tort to publish it?

texts:
If in the English jurisdiction a lawyer instructed by another party sends you a letter marked "not for publication", are you committing a tort or other wrong if you publish it without their consent? Please assume it contains no creative, artistic or otherwise commercially valuable content, and that publication does not put anybody at physical risk.

For example the letter might say something such as "we deny the allegation made about us in the media but we are telling you off the record and we do not wish you to publish or publicise our denial".


texts: Can someone collect damages without providing receipts?

texts:
This question could apply to any part of the United States, but particularly to California, which is unusually consumer friendly.

Suppose I am involved in minor car accident (basically a fender bender). It's small enough that some drivers would let it go, but under California law, at least, the other person has the right to insist on even minor repairs. So the person quotes me a price. I dispute it by saying "I can get this done for $200 less. Can you provide a receipt.

The other person can't provide a receipt. Do I have to pay the other person's quoted price? Do I have to the "$200 less" if I can document it?


texts: Is allowing kids to leave their bike out on their lawn an example of attractive nuisance?

texts: I know plenty of friends who have allowed their kids to leave their bikes in the front yard.  I'm wondering what would happen if a random child were to steal a bike left out and get hurt playing with it.  Would the parents be liable due to the attractive nuisance doctrine?


texts: Rent contract say that pets are not allowed. Possible repercussions if bringing the pet anyway?

texts:
We are two living in an apartment in Tirol where the contract says that there are no pets allowed. Now, for an unrelated reason, I need to have my cat with me. My roommate is ok with having him here.

I asked my landlord if he could allow me to have him but he said no.

If I decide to bring him anyways, and my landlord finds out, what are the possible repercussions?

Things to keep in mind:

I'm too much emotionally attached to him to give him away.
I don't have any friend near who could have him, nor I would give him to an animal shelter.


texts: Obtaining parcel GIS data controlled by a private company that uses public information/funds to maintain it?

texts:
I am trying to obtain GIS parcel data for non-commercial purposes. So far, most counties provide this information on their public GIS portals. San Luis Obispo and Orange County said they cannot provide the data because it is maintained by a third party (ParcelQuest) and therefore is licensed. However, the public agencies display the data (shapefiles) I need in web maps along with attribute information on their own websites:
Orange County: https://www.ocgis.com/ocpw/landrecords/
San Luis Obispo: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=3e0adee3aabd4805bd13f0d4705a4193
If I am interpreting the California Public Records Act (California Government Code §§ 6253) correctly, this data has to be provided to any citizen who requests it since the public agency is paying the private company with taxpayer money to maintain it and the public agency displays it on their own website. It even says on the ParcelQuest website they update their data "daily straight from the county assessor".

(f) In addition to maintaining public records for public inspection during the office hours of the public agency, a public
agency may comply with subdivision (a) by posting any public record on
its internet website and, in response to a request for a public record
posted on the internet website, directing a member of the public to
the location on the internet website where the public record is
posted. However, if after the public agency directs a member of the
public to the internet website, the member of the public requesting
the public record requests a copy of the public record due to an
inability to access or reproduce the public record from the internet
website, the public agency shall promptly provide a copy of the public
record pursuant to subdivision (b). (Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 695,
Sec. 1. (AB 1819) Effective January 1, 2020.)

6253.3.   A state or local agency may not allow another party to control the disclosure of information that is otherwise subject to
disclosure pursuant to this chapter.
6253.31.   Notwithstanding any contract term to the contrary, a contract entered into by a state or >local agency subject to this
chapter, including the University of California, that requires a
private entity to review, audit, or report on any aspect of that
agency shall be public to the extent the contract is otherwise subject
to disclosure under this chapter. (Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 62, Sec.
2. Effective January 1, 2009.)

Any guidance would be appreciated.


texts: Why is the Queen of Canada known as Elizabeth II?

texts:
The regnal numbers of the monarchy of the United Kingdom are combined from the regnal numbers of the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland. Hence, as there was a previous Queen Elizabeth in England, the current queen is known as Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is a common mistake to call her the Queen of England: she is not, as England is no longer a kingdom in its own right, but instead forms part of the singular United Kingdom.

However, Canada, Australia, and Jamaica, among others, are kingdoms in their own right, with their own monarchies (which merely happen to be vested in the same person). Elizabeth is not Queen of England, but she is Queen of Canada, Queen of Australia, and queen of many other countries.

In these countries, why is she known as Elizabeth II? Elizabeth I of England never ruled any of these countries.


texts: E2 Visa company converted from LLC to C-Corp

texts:
I'm just about to apply for a E2 visa for my LLC corp formed in Wyoming.  I've been accepted into a startup accelerator program that requires us to be a C-Corp.  Will changing the companies structure from a LLC to a C-Corp affect my visa?

Thanks!


texts: Is it illegal for a police officer to buy lottery tickets?

texts:
I work retail and one of my jobs includes upselling lottery tickets. I was told by a police officer (clearly on duty & uniformed) that it was illegal for them to buy one while on duty as it is considered gambling.
Is this true?
This is in the UK, specifically England.


texts: Are there databases of case-level lawsuit settlement amounts?

texts: I am looking for case-level settlement information (amounts, time it took, etc) for an academic research project. I'm not picky on the specific area of law -- any area would be fine, provided that I can observe the actual settlement amounts, the initial claimed damages, and the timelines.


texts: Can I sell my notes on a book without copyright infringment?

texts:
I read a machine learning book. I invested a lot of time to make extensive and clear notes. Some concepts required a lot of research to understand. I have explained some concepts in my own way. Further I have implemented some algorithms from the book.

If I sell my notes, will it be a copyright infringement?


texts: What are the legal repercussions of ignoring US Census 2020?

texts: I got a mail saying "your response is required by law". They ask me to go to my2020census.gov and fill out survey. I understand it is important. Yes it helps   community yadayadayada. From the legal standpoint (not moral, ethical or whatever), only legal point of view, what will happen if I ignore it? Is it illegal?


texts: What can be done if a contract states that no legal action will be taken if there is a breach?

texts:
I drew up a an agreement between former associates regarding a film project after things started to go south with the project.

They wrote a script and shot a film based on my initial script (including using the same names, characters, locations). I stated in the document that their version was derived from mine and should either project continue, both versions had to not conflict with the other and to change.

Another agreement was they could only show their version at film festivals and used for online reels, plus my name had to be on all Marketing materials, but anything other than that was not allowed. If the contract was breached, there would be no legal confrontation and would deal with it in a professional manner (which was not fully expanded upon).

They have since breached the contract by presenting a single viewing of it as an anniversary show (not a festival with other films) and did not tell me nor included my name when they advertised.

While the agreement had stated no legal confrontation would happen, I can't imagine I can do much other than tell them and should money be made for some reason, because it was my initial script and concept, I could seek monetary compensation.

Please advise on what my options are.

Thanks!


texts: What power does a tenant have when another tenant is smoking and partying in the property?

texts:
My girlfriend is a university student in Northern Ireland and has been living in a shared house since September 2017. After a period of time, her 2 housemates invited a guy around a few times and he became friends with them. The new friend then started staying over in the last available room in the property without notifying the landlord or the estate agents. That is, he was squatting. He contributed nothing to the rent, heating, electricity or internet bills and on a number of occasions stole food items from my girlfriend’s cupboard.

Two months passed of this guy living in the house and paying nothing, all the while he invited his friends around, who my girlfriend did not know nor did she give him permission to invite them round, resulting in a general degradation of the property. This has been caused by this group of people throwing parties nearly every night and smoking in the ground floor bathroom. Eventually both my girlfriend and I had had enough and she informed her landlord and estate agent.

The landlord took no action against the gentleman and instead allowed him to sign a tenancy agreement and legally move into the property which has resulted in him basically believing he can do whatever he wants in the house because, as he put it to my girlfriend, “I pay rent here now.”

I have asked this guy to refrain from smoking in the house and my girlfriend has also asked him numerous times, to no avail. I have also informed him that it is no longer a matter of politely asking that I am now telling him to stop smoking in the property as it is illegal to do so under the National Smoke Free Legislation for the UK. He has continued to smoke in the property and party.

So my question is what can my girlfriend do, as a tenant of the property who has been there longer and without incident, to sort this problem out? Are there any other laws that I have missed, are there any options that she could possibly pursue should the landlord/estate agents do nothing? She is going to speak to the estate agents tomorrow (Friday 9th February 2018) about this but I want to make sure they don’t just fob her off and do nothing about it.


texts:
I live in the United States.  I am helping someone who just started an online store selling tee shirts.  In my research to come up with a plan regarding cold call email marketing, I came across GDPR.  Her target market is the US, but she is not opposed to selling to anyone in the EU either.  She wants to send advertisements via email to potential customers to introduce her store.  In reading about GDPR, I understand the fines can be astronomical for contacting someone who is a citizen of a country governed by GDPR.  That is the scenario, here are my questions:
If her intent is to market to US based customers only and has a disclaimer on the ad, will that protect her from violating GDPR?  Her disclaimer would look something like this:
"GDPR Disclaimer - This advertisement is intended to introduce potential US based customers to XYZ company...yada yada yada.  If you have received this email and if you reside in a country controlled by the GDPR law, this email was not intended for you and was sent to you in error.  There is nothing you have to do, you are not subscribed on any list and you will not receive any further contact".
She has obtained a list of hundreds email addresses from the internet.  She has no idea who owns a given email address nor what country they reside in.  Cold calling (not spamming) is allowed here in the United States.  The fact that GDPR strongly discourages it (or outlaws it...not really sure which one when it comes to GDPR) should not preclude her from trying to reach potential customers in her own country.  There are some domain extensions she would avoid entirely (such as "de" for Germany) as she would have the assumption any email in that domain would be for Germany and thus controlled by GDPR.  Other domains are not that clear cut.  The "com" domain is mainly US commercial, but "gmail.com" is a email provider which is global.  How can I know if a given email address (for instance "jsmith@gmail.com" is for a person in the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan or wherever?  "jsmith" doesn't even really have to belong to someone with a first initial of "j" and a last name of "smith".  It could be an alias for someone else.  My point and my question is this.  My friend doesn't want to violate GDPR, but at the same time she doesn't want to be precluded from marketing to potential customers in the US.  How does she know if an email address is controlled by GDPR.  It seems to me that there would have to be a way to know this or it cannot be enforced up to the point when it is discovered.  Does this make sense?  Is there any repository (online database) that would tell me is a given email address is owned by person who is in a country that is controlled by GDPR?  It seems to me that there should be.  She should be able to comply with the law by submitting her (say 500) list of email addresses in a query to a GDPR database and it kicking back the 20 or 30 addresses that are protected.  In that way, she knows who she can market to and who she can't.  As I understand it, there is no such repository so she has to guess which email addresses she can use and which she cannot.  That is really unfair and it would essentially block her from reaching out to her intended audience out of fear she should send to someone in a GDPR protected country without intending to or knowing it.


texts: Is creating a new operation system that is capable of running windows/mac/linux programs legal?

texts:
If one could create a new operation system that could run/support
all the programs that run on Windows/Linux/Mac or whatever operation system one could find, could Microsoft, the creator of windows, for example, sue the creator of this new operation system?


texts: Landlord's obligation to attempt to clean an appliance before replacing

texts:
I recently moved out of an apartment I lived in for 2 years. I don't know how old the stove top was when I moved in, but it was not new. While I lived there, the stove top got some small stains on it from water boiling over pots. Before moving out, I somewhat attempted to clean it but did not succeed because I was short on time and figured the worst I would get would be a small cleaning charge.

Now my former landlord is taking $300 out of my security deposit to replace the entire stove top because they have deemed the stains to be impossible to remove. After hearing this, I did some googling and found many methods of removing those types of stains and I have doubts that the cleaning staff even tried to remove those stains and they are basically using my to try to do free renovations.

In the state of Virginia, does the landlord have any legal obligation to prove they attempted to clean the appliance before charging me for a replacement? Additional do I have any right to see a quote or proof of the cost of the repair?


texts: Is it legal in Oakland, CA for a master tenant to profit from a subtenant?

texts:
Can a master tenant in Oakland, CA charge a subtenant in a room a higher price than the value of the room based the proportion of the room size to the whole house?
I.e., if master tenant has been there many years at a now-lower-than-market rate, can the master tenant charge a current rate for a room and profit from it in Oakland, CA?
In this scenario, the room in question that would be rented out to a subtenant is not the room in which the master tenant lives (not subletting).
Example with numbers: is it ok in Oakland, CA for a master tenant to pay $2000 per month for a home with 4 bed rooms, and charge three subtenants $1000 for a room (one subtenant per room), where the master tenant would make $3000 in "revenue" from all three subtenants?


texts:
I am an amateur photographer [Edit: Working in Washington state, in the US] and I am looking into selling my work. One of my favorite photos contains two people I don't know, and I'm concerned about the legality of selling prints without a model release. Let me know if I'm asking in the wrong place or asking for too much.

The picture (portion included below) is of two men sitting on a park bench. Their backs are to the camera, and their faces are mostly turned away, but my understanding is that personality rights cover more than identifying features.

This was taken in a public park; there is no chance of ever finding these people to get a model release. Am I completely unable to sell this picture, or is it a fuzzier subject? If they were to find this picture and sue me, would I be open to unlimited liability or only for e.g. reasonable royalties?

If I didn't charge anything, but gave away prints, would that be any less problematic?

For that matter, is it even really legal that I took this picture without permission?

Thank you!


texts: How do conditional pardons at the end of a president's term work?

texts:
Looking at the list of Trump's final pardons, I notice that two of the pardons are conditional.  My question is, what happens if the conditions for a conditional pardon either aren't met until during next president's term, or they are broken during the next president's term?
Could the new president decline to execute the pardon even if the conditions were met?  Could he maintain the pardon even if the conditions were broken?
I'm interested in the mechanics in general, not just Trump's pardons.


texts: How can you have a "quorum of 11" when the Grand Chamber requires 15 judges?

texts:
Nigel Foster. EU Law Directions 6 ed. 2018. p. 60

2.5.1 Composition and organisation
The CoJ presently consists of 28 judges, one for each member state (as from 1 July 2013) and 11
Advocates-General (AGs) (as from 7 October 2015) (Article 252 TFEU), nominated and appointed
by unanimous agreement by the governments of the member states for a renewable period of six
years.

...

The Court can sit as a full court with a quorum of 17 judges, a Grand Chamber of 15 judges with a
quorum of 11 to hear cases involving either member states or Union institutions, or in chambers of
three or five judges and of which there are 10 in total.

Alina Kaczorowska-Ireland. European Union Law 4 ed. 2016. p. 98.

Both text-books imply that the Grand Chamber requires 15 judges. See Foster – isn't the "quorum" 15? How can there be a "quorum of 11"?

See Alina – If you have a chamber of 5 judges, how can quorum be 3? If quorum is 3, then you have a chamber of 3, not 5!


texts: GDPR: event registration form and email communications

texts:
I need to set up a registration form for an event in which the main communication channel between the registered users and the organizers is the e-mail. E-mails could be sent before, during and after the event with informative purposes about such event (i.e. no marketing).

Basically the registration is not possible if the user doesn't want to receive e-mails. For instance, just after the sign up the user would receive a confirmation e-mail.

What should be the canonical way to grant the permission to send e-mails to the user according to GDPR in this case?

If I understood it well, putting a notice like Signing up this event you also consent to receive informative emails from us about the event would not satisfy the regulation about active consent.

Should it be better to give the user the option to agree to receive e-mails, e.g. through option-buttons (e.g. Do you agree to receive e-mails from us to keep you informed about the event — ○ Yes / ○ No) and then refuse to register the user displaying an error message like Sorry, we cannot handle your registration if you don't allow us to send e-mails to you?


texts: Employer listed incorrect end date in contract

texts:
I'm working as an independent contractor and the agreement I signed says my start date is May 12th 2020 and my end date is July 10th 2020.
I'm required to work 200 hours for the company between these two dates.
As I initiate the final goodbyes my employer is saying I have to stay on till July 23rd. Currently, I am at 175 hours of service due to Memorial Day and another short week and the work is part time.
Employer put the wrong date and now my contract is interfering with a vacation I planned around this contract.
Will I be held liable for the remaining 25 hours per the contract?
Out of good faith, I suggested that I would work July 13 to the 16th to help remedy any trouble caused by this contract and still be able to go on my vacation. This would add 20 hours to the total putting it at 195 hours.
My employer said that they would accommodate that and now he seems to be going back on his word and demanding I work till the 23rd.
I did not get acceptance of my offer mentioned as a remedy in writing.
Ideally, I would want a clean break this week because of how my employer is handling this situation but I think the right thing to do would be to stay on for the extra week: July 13- 16th.
My last and least optimal option would be to work one or two days during the July 20th week to meet the 200-hour requirement.
Finally, my questions

Am I liable for the remaining hours?
Or can I take advantage of this contract's end date and end my relationship with this company ASAP?


texts: Does a state has jurisdiction over a docked or moored boat?

texts: In particular, if a boat is docked or moored in California coastline do California laws apply or only federal ones?


texts: If a person dies in bankruptcy, do her assets go to her creditors or her heirs?

texts:
Jane declares personal bankruptcy. She owes her creditors $1,000,000.

Before bankruptcy proceedings have begun, Jane dies. In her will, she leaves her entire estate to her daughter Sarah. Her estate is valued at $500,000.

Who gets the money — Sarah, or Jane's creditors?


texts: Must a health insurance in the United States provide a listing of procedure and diagnosis codes that are covered upon request?

texts:
I wonder whether a health insurance in the United States must provide a listing of procedure and diagnosis codes that are covered, if requested by a policyholder?

In my opinion, the listing of procedure codes that are covered should be part of the health insurance contract, and subsequently be made available to the policyholder, but the health insurance I am in discussion with (namely Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts) seems unwilling to provide such a list (see below for the exact message they sent me).

I am mostly interested in the following locations:

California, United States
Massachusetts, United States

Here is the message I received from my health insurance, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, when I asked them "Where can I find the list of all procedure codes, marked as covered or not covered by my insurance plan?":

  We do not have a listing of procedure codes that are covered or not covered that we can provide you with.  We can check on certain procedure codes when they are provided to us, to see if they are covered based on medical policy guidelines.  If you have codes from your provider you can contact us to check on them for you, however, the best way to find out is for the doctor to call provider services to confirm coverage.

More details after further insisting:

  The procedure code alone is not what determines if a service will be covered, it is just one piece of the puzzle. Claims are billed with a procedure code and a diagnosis code. The procedure code is what tells us what service is done, and the diagnosis code tells us why. Not only does the procedure code need to be related to a covered service, but the reason for the service (the diagnosis) needs to indicate that the service was medically necessary. We do not have a list of all covered procedures and the related diagnosis codes and we are not clinically trained to determine medical necessity. Typically, it is the doctor’s responsibility to verify if the services are covered and that they are medically necessary.  We can research the procedure code that the doctor plans to bill with to see if it is a service that we would potentially cover, but we cannot advise you if it is medically necessary.

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE
To illustrate that this same problem goes beyond California and Massachusetts, here is an additional example from North Carolina where
the insurance company attempting to excuse itself from providing procedure codes.  The excuse is that the codes are "PHI" (protected health information).  Of course the entire contents of the EOB, not just the codes, are "PHI", so the reasoning is laughable.  And the letter is coming from UnitedHealthcare's "Regulatory Consumer Advocate"!


texts: Prove my work is not a trade secret violation

texts:
I have recently developed a medical software application. One of my previous employers X (from 4 years ago) sells a similar application. (You can see where this is going.)

X is now alleging that I might have stolen the code and created my own version but that is truly not the case: Every line of code has been written from scratch, and is entirely different from that of X.

X is also alleging trade secret violation (without even looking at the software) but everything this software does is based on public domain knowledge. Managing patients, Exams, Bills, etc. are all public knowledge. Specific tests that go in each exam have been made based on material read from books that I can prove.

My software simply provides a different way of managing practice that has not borrowed anything from X's software.

I did sign a confidentiality agreement with X.  But my system employs a non-secret process, and every feature in my system is based on knowledge generally available to all.

The agreement also has a non-compete that states I cannot work for a competitor while I am employed with X.

The agreement was signed in year 2001 in Oregon. I am now in Canada and my company is registered in Canada, trying to sell software in United States.

Anyone has experience going through a similar scenario who can help me prepare a good reply?

This is essentially what the letter from X says:

  X has recently learned that you are marketing a
  software product competitive with X’s software
  product which incorporates concepts, ideas, layouts, and designs from
  X’s software product. Similarities between your
  product and X’s product suggest that you have
  misappropriated confidential information from X,
  including software source code, as well as failed to return all
  confidential information to X upon your
  termination. To the extent you have created products using X's
  confidential information, those products are owed solely by X.
  Moreover, you are hereby notified that under
  your Confidentiality Agreement, you are prohibited from using or
  disclosing confidential information obtained and retained from
  X. Failure to comply with this obligation will
  result in immediate legal action against you and any persons acting in
  concert with you to seek injunctive relief, compensatory and treble
  damages, and attorney fees. X hereby reserves all
  rights, claims, and causes of action.


texts:
What are the necessary steps to protect a product name for a subscription based cloud application?

Primarly I want to target the EU-market, though theoretically the product could be used worldwide.
Outside of the EU, I specifically plan to target Russia, and the Russian speaking countries as well.

What I did so far:

I own the domain name which corresponds to the product name
I have started a trademark protection application (EUTM) with the European Union Intellectual property office. This includes the product name, product service category and a product logo.

In case the EUTM registration completes and confirms my trademark ownership, can I feel safe and market the product?


texts: College tuition includes room and board, what happens with child support?

texts:
If New York State declares that college tuition includes room and board, how does that affect child support while the kid is not living at home while at college?

This is child-support from the students' parent for the benefit for the student.

If the child is no longer living with me and I still receive child support, would I have to go to family court or speak with a lawyer to disclose this information and/or find out if I can still receive benefits for the child (student) while in college?


texts: I have a parcel in Ohio and use to own the house next to it. I lost my home and someone bought it but I still own parcel which I paid 10,000.00 25 years ago. I live out of state but have offered to sell for 4,000.00 to owners of my old house. They won't buy it because they use it. I have put up no trespass signs and they rip them down. I put them back up but they mow my lawn so they can use it. They have a swing set on it and a child's plastic playhouse. They put a fire pit in the middle of my property. What can I file in the courts? I have asked several times to have them remove swing set and quit mowing but they continue.


texts: Can stalking be charged for a one time threat in Victoria (Australia)

texts:
My friend has been charged with Stalking under section 21A of the Crimes Act 1958. The charge is

The accused engaged in a course of conduct, giving offensive material to the victim or any other person or leaving it where it will be found by, given to or brought to the attention of, the victim or the other person to intentionally cause physical or mental harm to the victim, including self-harm or to arouse apprehension or fear in the victim for his or her own safety or that of any other person.

The "offense" has happened only one time. His lawyer said even though it happened once it is sufficient to prove that it is stalking, but I researched on many sites and it has been mentioned that the course of conduct must constitute continued behaviour, which must have happened more than once. Following are the references:

https://www.gotocourt.com.au/criminal-law/vic/stalking-offences/ -- what must the prosecution prove sections n.

/#10 in https://www.judicialcollege.vic.edu.au/eManuals/CCB/46773.htm

Please tell me if the conduct did not happen more than once, is it sufficient to prove no guilt for stalking in Victoria, Australia?


texts:
I am in the process of developing an IOS application that displays paintings as part of it, ranging from the Mona Lisa to Picasso to Bob Ross's landscapes (there are many others in between). This app will cost money. I was wondering if I would be breaching U.S. copyright/intellectual property laws by doing this. I will be editing the works a bit as a core part of the application (minor stuff like adding a mustache on the Mona Lisa or a door in the middle of a Mondrian). Would editing the works like this be illegal?

At the top of the view, for example, it will say the name of the artist and the name of the painting, along with something like "All rights reserved". Would this be necessary or even make a difference?

This Stack Exchange question said that if at least 70 years have passed since the death of the artist, then it is no longer protected (or in my case and that of many others––limited) by copyright. If this is in fact true, would I be able to use the paintings for my purposes? I will make it clear that I am not the artist and that I take no credit for the painting.

Thanks a lot in advance for any responses!

All are greatly appreciated!


texts: Am I legally able to use lethal force against a police officer in defense of another?

texts:
Hypothetically, let's say I come across a police officer about to discharge his firearm at a person laying face down on the ground, hands in my clear view, clearly (to me) unarmed and apparently complying with the officer's instructions.  Am I legally able to use my own firearm to use lethal force against the officer to protect the apparently unarmed man?  How do laws that allow me to use lethal force against the general population apply when the individual I would be defending from is a police officer?

Am I obligated to do anything before firing, such as instruct the officer to drop his weapon?


texts: What recourse do I have when someone has bought an old domain of mine, and mirrored my content (badly)?

texts:
I am based in the UK and I have run the opendomesday.org website as a free, non-profit history site for many years.

When I originally built the site, about 8 years ago, I registered it at domesdaymap.co.uk. After a couple of years, I decided a .org domain was more appropriate for the project since it is non-profit. For several years I paid for the .co.uk address and redirected it to the .org address.

In about 2016 I decided I didn't want to pay for the .co.uk address any more, since all it was doing was redirecting, so let it lapse.

Now I find that someone has re-registered the http://domesdaymap.co.uk address. This is not in itself a problem, but the problem is that they have set up a mirror of all my content there.

What can I do about this? The copied content has my name on, and people are contacting me to tell me that the content is broken (which it is).

I don't mind someone else owning that domain, but I do mind my content being on it and being broken.

I have tried contacting the registered owner of the .co.uk domain without success.

What can I do?


texts: Can tech companies wishing to prevent secret backdoors discriminate in hiring against Australians?

texts:
Australia has passed a law which apparently requires tech workers to develop backdoors which can defeat a company's encryption and security features, without informing their employer, if ordered to do so (and it is now a crime if they refuse, or inform their employer about what they have done).  As far as I can tell, this Australian law applies to Australians living abroad.  (Much of the broad language may also apply to non-Australians living outside Australia, but the jurisdictional claim seems a little weaker there).

The US, and other countries, have laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring based on national origin, with some exceptions.

Can a US employer discriminate against (refuse to hire) Australians as a step toward protecting their company and products from having the Australian government force in a secret backdoor?

Update, originally intended but made more explicit following comment from @paulj: Please be sure to include consideration of individuals who are both Australian and US citizens, if that is permitted.


texts: No evidence is required for an indictment by a grand jury?

texts:
I just read the indictment of Christopher Collins, a congressman, for relaying insider information on a company with publicly traded stock, and for "lying" to a federal agent, ie for denying he relayed the information. So, in other words, to deny commission of a crime is a "lie" apparently if the agent thinks you committed the crime.

In any case, what surprised me was that the indictment had no evidence in it. There were no affidavits by first party witnesses and the physical evidence, emails and text messages, were completely unprovenanced and obviously edited and not in any kind of original form as they would come from a telephone company. Moreover, the apparent witnesses to the crime were only referred to by codes such as "CC-3" and there were no affidavits by any of these people, either signed or anonymous. The indictment was essentially 30 pages of innuendo and empty allegations unsupported by any concrete evidence.

So, maybe I misunderstand the idea of an indictment. I thought that to bring someone to trial, the indictment had to include evidence, not just charges. However, the indictment linked above just seems to have charges in it. Is my understanding incorrect?


texts: Can the President of the US pardon everyone?

texts: Can the President of the United States pardon everyone? For example, let's say a criminal organisation is committing crimes, after awhile they get raided by the police, everyone gets arrested and convicted, can the president of the US pardon everyone in that organisation?


texts: is it possible to have a dual citizenship even if I'm not a national of these countries?

texts:
I am planning to apply for Italian citizenship after having lived here for three years, but I am also about to marry a US citizen.

Will it be possible for me to have Italian citizenship and in the future to obtain US citizenship?

The problem is that I am not a national of either of the two.


texts: How does copyrighted material distribution and diffusion work on a legal level?

texts:
I work in technology, building platforms for companies, which comprise the creation of the technological product and production of the applications.

I only want to work on businesses that I believe are fully legal. I am not a law expert but try to maintain a good level of understanding of laws related to technology. I think I have a good understanding of copyright in technology, but in this case there are a few things I can't figure out.

I have been asked to build a content distribution platform, quite similar to how Spotify works, but on a business to business level. It is geared towards businesses opened to the public, typically stores. The company operates in various European countries.

It works like so: the company sources some audio content, mostly through online platforms like iTunes, buying the content, according to my understanding with a normal user account. Then they distribute the audio files to their customers premises (they can be stored locally on various platforms like a computer or a mobile phone). And then the customer plays that audio content on their premises, to the public. The service is very similar to a radio or Spotify being played in a store for the customers to enjoy.

The company assures me they are in their full right and have been operating like that for some time now. They argue that the store that is diffusing music is the one legally responsible before their respective country's copyright collection society.

Can the company really put all the legal burden on the ones diffusing the copyrighted content?
I thought the distribution was also subjected to licensing. For instance, I thought platforms like Spotify need to get the license from the record companies before they start distributing copyrighted content. I thought commercial radios also needed that.

What makes me wonder is also the fact that the Apple store refuses to allow the application in their store due to legal issues. They assume that the company does not have the authorization from the third parties to let users download their content. I have no idea how Apple knows that Spotify has the rights from the third parties to allow the download of audio files and not the company since they did not ask to see the licenses first. But anyway, it makes me think some legal work must be done before distributing the content.

I would like to understand the legal aspect of each step (getting the content, distributing it and diffusing it).


texts: Is a car insurance quote obtained from an online tool legally binding?

texts:
I've had an insurance policy with an insurance company for just over 6 months, I've recently been looking at getting a new car and decided to buy one, Before I bought it I checked online how much it would cost to swap my insurance over to the new car (the insurance company let you swap insurance over online and calculate the extra amount you owe depending on engine size, etc automatically) I checked and it said it would cost an extra £36 for the rest of the year.

I purchased the car today and checked again and it said "we cannot insure you for this car", I spoke to them and they said there is nothing they can do.

I have proof (screenshot) that it quoted £36 less than 3 days ago but now they can't insure me on the car.

My question is - Can I take legal action against the insurance company as I wouldn't've purchased the car unless they had said I can swap the insurance over (which they did)?


texts: Are there countries that prohibit charging interest?

texts: Is it true that Saudi Arabia prohibits charging interest? What about UAE? Are there any states actually prohibit interest rates?


texts: What are the benefits of trademarking a logo along with a name?

texts:
I am currently trying to trademark a company name on the USPTO (The United States Patent and Trademark Office). However, I see an option to upload an image (logo) with my trademark application.

If I upload the logo, will the logo and name be trademarked? Can I save the cost of a trademark fee by doing them simultaneously?

Does doing them at the same time yield the same results as trademarking them separately?

Thanks


texts: Could the teacher be liable if a student stole a chemical thinking it was dangerous?

texts:
I'm asking this question for my mother who is a science teacher in junior highschool in france.

Recently during class one of her student (11 yo boy), let's call him Bob, stole a chemical that had been prepared for an experiment. It was pretty harmless but Bob thought it could be dangerous (starch).

Afterward Bob poured the content of the tube in a water jug during lunch.
This time it wasn't dangerous and it was noticed before anyone drank from it.
The headmaster is inclined to let this go with detention.

My mother on the other hand does not want this guy in her class again. She has some pretty nasty stuff like hydrochloric acid (not pure and she is planning on getting rid of it, but I mention it as an exemple). Even if nothing happened Bob did stole the starch thinking it could be dangerous. It's basically a poisoning attempt but he mistook the dangerous stuff with the harmless stuff.

She is very careful to lock away anything that could be dangerous when it's not in use. If it has to be used she is the only person allowed to run the experiment.
Still, she can't keep track of 30+ students at once and she knows that someone dedicated enough could steal something.

She thinks that it's unfair to the other students to stop all experiments altogether because of one crazy guy. But at the same time she is both worried for her safety and the safety of her kinder students.

I have two questions regarding this event:

Could she be liable if anything happened even though she is ultra careful?
Should she stops running experiment with this class if she can't get Bob to leave the class?

Thanks for your answers!

Edit regarding accepted answer:

Given that she feels that the school is not giving her the means to safeguard her student from "extreme pranker" she decided that she'd just stop any experiment in classes with Bob. (Being liable is only a small part the issue here as she'd be devastated if one of her students was hurt).
She hopes she can get some support from other parents. But it's not relative to law anymore as it's more highschool politics.


texts:
When reading about T.J Miller, I noticed one sentence

Student conduct proceedings were held, the results of which are sealed (...)

What is the legal framework for such "sealing" of information? Can it be "un-sealed"? (in case an investigation was to be performed)
Note: the Wikipedia article is just an example, I am not interested in that particular case but in the US concept of "sealing" some documents (legally speaking)


texts: Is it legal to show myself holding a fake severed bloodied head of a living person for profit?

texts:
Q1:
If I decided to make an image of myself holding a (fake) Kathy Griffin's bloodied severed head and took a full colored newspaper ad with that picture in order to promote myself, would Kathy Griffin have any cause to ask police to investigate me for a threat against her or for inciting violence against her?

Unlike threatening a private person, making a credible threat against POTUS is not protected speech because of Title 18 USC paragraph 879.

Q2:
If Griffin would be justified in feeling threatened by my hypothetical ad (as described in Q1), would her (now infamous) picture with a fake severed head of POTUS not be justified in being viewed and treated as the same type of threat?  Is there an extra exception because she is known for her provocative style of performance which uses politics for shock value?  Is this (perhaps) uncharted waters from the legal standpoint?  Perhaps because the constitutionality of the above statute has never been tested?

Similarly, why would her depiction not be investigated as incitement of violence?  What's the standard there?  If any acts of violence are committed by 3rd parties as a result of seeing that picture, will she then bare any culpability?

I know there is a few questions here, but if someone with better knowledge of relevant case law can bring some clarity to whether she can conceivably be in legal jeopardy, I am curious to know what your thoughts are.


texts:
I am challenged to apply article 49 (derogations) for an international organisation, according to art.4 (26). Basically the attempt is to claim that when a user is entering data on some web application of the international organisation, it is a "transfer", so chapter V would apply.

My understanding is:

art.44 general principle reads ""Any transfer.... shall take place only if ... the conditions laid down in this Chapter are complied with by the controller and processor...", which already implies the involvement of a controller and processor. In the interpretation of the "transfer" as data entering, the controller/processor does not exist or should coincide either with the Data Subject or with the international organisation, which sounds weird to me.

Is it stated clearly somewhere that the international organisation cannot be also the controller in the framework of the Chapter V articles?
Is it stated clearly or deducted in some ways (from law) that the Data Subject cannot be him/herself the Controller of his own information that he/she... transfers(when entering data) into the international organisation web application?

Art. 13 (1)(f) clearly references Chapter V articles (46, 47, 49) in a context where it is the controller which transfers the data to the international organisation.

Does it help (and on which legal grounds?) to exclude that chapter V articles apply in the case of a Data subject transferring(entering) data into an international organisation web application?
Again, which legal grounds exclude the Controller in the Art. 13 to coincide with the Data Subject?


texts: validity of passports after stamped deported

texts: if a person is deported from a country where he used to work to the country of his origin and his passport has been stamped DEPORTED   IS the passport still valid for visit to other countries


texts: Could the USA force all porn sites onto .xxx domain?

texts:
I've been working on various methods to block content from my home network and realizing all the holes in my schemes.  But it occurred to me that it would be pretty simple if all the porn was on .xxx because then I could just force all network traffic on my network to use my DNS server never serve out the name for something that resolves to .xxx (I know this doesn't solve the "safe search" problem, but one thing at a time)

But I was talking with my wife about it and we were wondering if or why it might be a non-starter to lobby my Congressperson to do that.  It doesn't seem to me that the tld is tantamount to free speech, you can't get a .edu or .gov tld if you aren't associated with those orgs, couldn't you be forced to have a .xxx tld if you are associated with certain organizations?


texts:
I came across a tweet saying that there should be an Australian on the five dollar note, rather than Elizabeth II.

Legally speaking, is Elizabeth II Australian? Wikipedia mentions that she's Queen of Australia, but is she also an Australian, either as a citizen, permanent resident or via other legal rights?


texts: Can a Judical Misconduct Complaint be read or searched for?

texts:
I have read a news article stating that 15 misconduct complaints were filed against Justice Kavanaugh to the "federal appeals court in Washington, D.C."

I found that searching the "https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov" site yields the transfer papers, but not the complaints themselves (as can be seen in the attached image below).

From the transfer memos, I can see Judicial Misconduct Complaint Numbers to be DC-18-90066 (and few other numbers). How can I read the complaint itself?


texts: Is an 'honest', tongue-in-cheek ponzi scheme ICO still illegal to operate?

texts:
I've just come across what appears to be a deliberate parody ICO known as PonziCoin. It declares itself to be "The World's First Legitimate Ponzi Scheme", on the grounds that it is open and transparent about its intentions to funnel late investors' money into the hands of the founder and earlier investors. For some reason I can't fathom, at least some people appear to be investing real money in this.

I'm aware that actual Ponzi Schemes are against the law in most countries. The founder appears to be based in San Francisco so presumably US law applies here. The question is: is such a scheme against the law even if it never pretends to be anything else?


texts: What are my legal options against an illegal construction in a public place that I use?

texts:
Last Thursday night, while walking near a public prayer house that I usually visit, I was surprised to see some 20 people, some of whom are neighbors, doing illegal construction activities. Those involved destroying a wall and constructing another wall that blocks the back exit from the prayer house  - the exit leading to the parking lot lavatories.

The person in charge of the prayer house called the police. A policeman came and told the constructors to stop, so they stopped, but continued after the police went. He called the police again - same result. The policemen refused to arrest them because they said that illegal construction issues must be decided by the municipality first. Since the municipality does not work during the weekend, we had to wait about 2.5 days, during which they built a complete blocking wall with a locked door.

This morning I went to the municipality engineering department. They said that they will examine the issue, but it will take them some time because of the "Corona vacation" and a problem with their computers. During this time, the illegal construction continues unhindered.

Should we, the law-keeping people who use this prayer house, just wait indefinitely until the municipality does its job? Or is there anything else we can do in the meantime? For example, can we:

Bring our own constructors that will destroy the new illegal wall and return to the previous situation?
Lockpick the new lock put on the illegal door, so that we can at least use the back passage as we did previously?
Take away their construction equipment temporarily, in order to slow down their progress?
Any other options?


texts: What are the legal affects of not mentioning heirs or successors in this act?

texts:
The Meeting of Parliament Act 1797 starts with:

  Whenever his Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall be pleased,

The Prorogation Act 1867 starts with:

  Whenever (save as herein-after excepted) Her Majesty shall be pleased,

The former explicitly mentions heirs and successors, whereas the latter doesn't. Is there a difference, legally, between the phrasings? To me, the latter would seem only to apply to the reigning monarch at the time of the act's passing (or, perhaps, any female monarch in the future). Practically, though, this doesn't seem the case, bringing me to question why the phrasing is different at all, when such detail seems to be put into the way these are worded.


texts:
I've seen plenty of signs that say things like "Slower Traffic Keep Right," in fact some of them even threaten a fine if you disobey. So I think it is fair to assert that the US Department of Transportation recognizes that "fast lanes" are a real thing.

But isn't the speed limit still technically 55 (or whatever the limit is) for every lane? I mean, they would never put up a sign that said "Drunk Drivers Keep Left" or "Use Middle Lane if you have Jimmy Hoffa tied up in your trunk."

Are signs like these an acknowledgement that you are permitted, maybe even required, to speed?


texts: Would a contract to pay a trillion dollars in damages be valid?

texts:
Let's say you write a contract with someone, and you want to make sure they don't breach it. You could just have them covenant certain things, but then they'd only be liable for whatever damages you could actually prove in court.
Let's say you instead wrote that they'd pay you one trillion dollars if they breached the contract. This would mean that they would instantly be insolvent, allowing you to seize all their assets.

What's the advisable way to do this? Is there a legally valid way of stating "all the money you have, and then some", other than just writing a ludicrously large sum of money? What if the value of the dollar goes down?
Would this be enforceable, or would the contract risk being set aside for undue hardship?

I am asking for the context of a software license.


texts: How will Brexit affect ongoing court claims and existing judgements within the EU courts?

texts:
I am wondering how ongoing court cases and existing (i.e. pre-decided) unsettled judgements will be treated after Brexit?

Moreover, I would like to know how judgements decided after Brexit for court cases started before Brexit will be treated?

FYI - I am mainly trying to find answers for the European Small Claims procedure - i.e. https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_small_claims-42-en.do


texts: Is any photo of a toddler without a shirt on child pornography?

texts:
The mother of my goddaughter's has many times insisted that her girls (3 and 1.5 years old) cover their nipples before she can take a photo of them if they are doing something cute or photo worthy and happen to not have a shirt on (if your familiar with little kids you will know they end up topless semi-often).  She has claimed that this would constitute child pornography otherwise.

I am highly skeptical of this.  The girls have less in way of 'breasts' right now then I do as a grown man, and I'm not worried about being arrested for indecent exposure if I go swimming with just my swimming trunks on (though in my case inflicting any part of my pasty white body on another may count as a crime against humanity).

Could any image not taken with the intent to be sexual/provocative which happens to have been taken when a toddler wasn't wearing a shirt, but with diapers/pants on, really qualify as child pornography?

The godchildren live in Georgia, though she seems to be concerned about federal laws not state ones.


texts: Am I required to re-attach neighbours gate to my fence post?

texts:
I’ve had my my fence replaced including new posts, which I’m 100% sure is my my fence, post, and boundary.

Previously the neighbour’s gate was directly attached to my fence post, I’ve allowed it to be re-attached to the new post but was I legally required to do so?

Could I have simply removed the gate and left it on their side of the boundary?


texts: What legal document is used for listing business partners or company directors?

texts:
My friend and I have registered an LLC for the purpose of running an e-commerce website. The registration form for Colorado business application did not ask to list company directors, nor did the EIN process.

Is there a legal document we can create that shows the company name, info, and the names of the partners involved? Otherwise, I'm thinking, there is no legal claim a partner can make in regards to company ownership, or decision making, or profit entitlements, etc.

Any suggestions?


texts:
I am using WordPress and WordPress using TinyMCE version 4 and it's old and not the best for our projects if we include the latest version of TinyMCE (5) in our projects many issues will happen so we have decided to make a trick and this trick is to replace any word "tinymce" to "xEditor" this will solve our problems.
My questions what about the LICENSE of TinyMCE projects here's their LICENSE:
https://github.com/tinymce/tinymce/blob/develop/LICENSE.TXT
NOTE: We will write in the script files that this is a TinyMCE editor and we have renamed it to "xEditor" to be useful for our projects.


texts: What are the copyright restrictions regarding USA's icons/monuments?

texts:
I'm working on a project that will compile some of the most iconic elements of the United States of America (e.g. Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the Navy, the Air Force, the Liberty Bell, the White House, etc) into an illustrated book (illustrations done by me) with some brief descriptions of each icon/element. Are there any restrictions to selling a book containing this type of content?
So far, I've discovered that some of the military branches have copyrighted logos, but I am still looking for information on monuments and locations.
I would also be curious to know if I can portray the Navy with an aircraft carrier, for example, instead of the copyrighted logo without infringing on copyright laws.
Thanks!


texts: Small Claims Court jurisdiction over multi-property company

texts: If I want to sue a Property Management company, that is domiciled in a different city and county from various properties they manage: Can I sue them in any city where they have property, or do I have to sue where they list their company address?


texts: Can anybody create their own software license?

texts:
For example, there's the GPL license:
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html
And I assume they made it themselves.
Can anybody create their own license? That is to say, can I for example create my own license under which I can license software?
If so, then I have a followup question:
Can you mandate how a software will be released? For example, I'd make this kind of license:

This software is licensed under the [INSERT_NAME_LICENSE] you have the right to freely use, distribute and modify the software, under the
condition that any derivative software created based on this software,
or created by this software, will necessarily also use
[INSERT_NAME_LICENSE] and cannot be sold.

Also, would the following clause even be legal?

Using this software you agree that any work and intellectual property based on or created with
this software will be under the [INSERT_NAME_LICENSE] license, even
after any and all code from this software is removed in a future
update, or even if the work is rebuilt from the ground up

Basically saying that if you use software under the [INSERT_NAME_LICENSE] license to create anything, your creation will automatically be under the [INSERT_NAME_LICENSE] license, even if you completely remove all code created by the original software under [INSERT_NAME_LICENSE] in a future update, your derivative work and the intellectual property associated with it will have to be under the [INSERT_NAME_LICENSE] license. Even if they create the exact same work from scratch without the use of my software.
Is that even legal?


texts: Where can I find actual UK law paragraphs?

texts: In case I want to try to check plain English interpretations of the law against the actual law.


texts: My child's name is "Robert'); drop table *;--" Is he in trouble?

texts:
(Source:  https://xkcd.com/327/)

So with the upcoming birth of my first child, I suggested the name "Robert'); drop table *;--". While I was quickly told that wasn't going to happen, I have to wonder what could happen if he was actually named that.

For the less technical, this name contains what is called
a SQL injection attack. If the name is entered into a poorly designed SQL system, it could potentially execute a sql command and drop all tables (i.e. cause the organization's IT manager to have a somewhat bad day, depending on how good their backups are).

So assuming I am able to get this name on his birth certificate and get his SSN assigned under that name (let us assume that the government has been able to build their system such that this name can be handled without issue), what would happen if his name fulfills its intended purpose when signing him up for day care? In that while signing little Bobby tables up for day care, his name wiped out all their data, and because of their lack of a good IT policy, they have no backups, causing no small amount of trouble for the day care.

What would I be charged with or sued for in this case?

I assume I am on the hook for some sort of malicious destruction of data or somehow liable for the loss of data.

Would this being his name afford any sort of protection? Or would the fact that it was selected intentionally to cause damage be an issue?

Jurisdiction: United States, pick any state you feel like.


texts: Is citing precedent official in the US court system?

texts: Precedent from other similar cases is often cited in US court cases because the US follows stare decisis in keeping rulings consistent. However, is this based on how the courts tend to run unofficially, or is there an official document describing how precedent should be set, cited, followed, etc.? Basically, is there some official document that says that courts should consider "precedent" or does it just work that way because it has always done so?