texts: Can my apartment neighbor install a camera that looks at my door?

texts:
I recently noticed that my neighbor installed a camera that looks from inside of his apartment straight on my door. This could be interpreted like that camera is pointed at whomever is potentially standing at his door, but it is also pointed straight at my door. This camera can also see inside of my apartment through the window, so I have to keep its blinds closed.

This is in California, and in a very safe gated neighborhood with nearly no crime. When the delivered package is left outside the door nobody would take it even if it is left there for weeks.

I don't feel comfortable that somebody can collect information on when I come in and out and with whom.

Is there anything I can do? Is this legal to install such camera?


texts:
As I understand it, a quorum is the minimum necessary for business to get done in a meeting.  My understanding is that a quorum merely prevents business from taking place without meeting the required number of members present.  It is not an grant of authority for things to take place when you do happen to meet the minimum threshold.

For example, the quorum may be set at a majority of members.  But without a rule stipulating that a majority vote wins, a quorum is not sufficient to tell you whether or not a majority can carry a motion.  To go further, the quorum certainly does not override any requirement that a supermajority carry any motion.

In sum, my understanding is that a quorum shouldn't be read to explain what number is necessary to carry a motion.  My understanding is that a quorum merely denotes the number required for any business to take place at all.


texts: What is defined as low or minimal risk artificial intelligence, and which obligations does it have in the EU Proposal for AI Regulation?

texts:
The 2021-04-21 Proposal for a Regulation on a European approach for Artificial Intelligence (Proposal for a Regulation on a European approach for Artificial Intelligence.pdf) mentions:

The regulation follows a risk-based approach, differentiating between uses of AI that create (i) an unacceptable risk, (ii) a high risk, and (iii) low or minimal risk.

What is defined as low or minimal risk artificial intelligence, and which obligations does it have in the Proposal for a Regulation on a European approach for Artificial Intelligence?
I couldn't find it despite spending quite some time in the document.


texts: In England and Wales, how can a plaintiff remain private and confidential?

texts:
Suppose that a plaintiff wants to bring a lawsuit but keep his/her identity confidential, in either a criminal or a civil case.

The plaintiff refuses to tell either the general public or the media who he/she is. When is this possible? Who decides this request for privacy? Does the plaintiff ever have to choose between appealing a case to a Supreme Court (example), and preserving anonymity?   For example, the plaintiff may fear public general condemnation, reprisals, for his/her safety.

I ask this for England and Wales, but please feel free to discuss other countries.


texts: Difference between divorce judgement and decree in Maine

texts: I'm receiving mixed answers as to whether a divorce is final in the state of Maine with a divorce judgement.  Is the divorce judgment the final paper or is there a decree coming as well?


texts: I am in the midst of writing a play based on the Persian poem Layla and Majnun by Nizami Ganjavi. To do this I plan to make use of quotes from an English translated version of the poem. Archive.org has a copy of the poem which it lists as of being Public Domain Mark 1.0. From my understanding, this would indicate that using quotes from it will be allowed (with attribution) without contacting the original copyright holder. Is this correct?


texts: Is a company liable if an employee intentionally ignores company procedures?

texts:
In the United States, how egregious does an employee’s actions need to be to override Respondent superior/Vicarious liability and hold the company blameless?

A hypothetical example:  Bob is a full-time employee of Acme Services, LLC.  One of Bob’s responsibilities for Acme’s construction company clients is to verify that equipment rental invoices match delivery records before notifying the client to approve the invoices for payment.  For all of the clients except one, Bob follows the procedures properly.  For Client C, Bob does no verification and has the invoices paid as presented.  Neither Bob nor Acme realize any benefit from this action.  Acme conducts periodic audits of its client accounts (selected at random), and eventually the mishandling of Client C’s account is discovered.  Bob is fired (his excuse for his actions is that he disagreed with the political views of the owner of Client C).  A full audit of Client C’s account shows they have overpaid various vendors.

If Client C sues Acme Services for damages, can Acme (or their liability insurance carrier) in turn sue Bob (with a reasonable chance of prevailing)?

Can Client C sue Bob directly without also suing Acme?

Could Bob or Acme (or both) face any criminal liability?


texts:
My question is this simple - can an API (Application Programming Interface) be licensed? How does such licensing work? I mean, to have the source/binary licensed under one licence and the API under another one (or even the same one).

Example usages:

source closed + API licenced
open source + API licenced

I have found following examples of API licensing:

Google Maps API Licence
Mapillary API


texts: What are the legal implications of providing software only with a copyright notice?

texts:
What does it mean when software is only provided with the following legend:
"Copyright (C) 2016 John Doe Inc. All rights reserved."

What are exactly the legal consequences of "All rights reserved"?

Let's say I want to provide my SW to a customer w/o granting him any rights?
No source code sharing (only object code - SW is a JAR file).

Do I still need an additional SW License Agreement or is the Copyright notice above + a Disclaimer of liability sufficient?


texts: Definition of a Household or Device in the context of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

texts:
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) applies to a business if it meets one of:

Has annual gross revenues in excess of twenty-five million dollars...
Alone or in combination, annually buys, receives for the business’s commercial purposes, sells, or shares for commercial purposes, alone or in combination, the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices.
Derives 50 percent or more of its annual revenues from selling consumers’ personal information.

It also defines that "Consumer means a natural person who is a California resident".
The term Household is not explicitely defined.
Is it safe to assume that the term Household is limited to households composed of California residents?

Similarly, Device is defined as "means any physical object that is capable of connecting to the Internet, directly or indirectly, or to another device."
Is it safe to assume that the device must belong to a California resident?


texts: I come from EU. My question is: can I legally travel to US and work there even if I am a minor? If yes, what are the requirements and what are the steps I need to take?


texts: Does U.S.C Title 18 Section 2512 apply to "wireless auditing tools?"

texts:
Tools such as the "WiFi pineapple" are rising in popularity in penetration testing and hacking communities. These devices are designed to allow and explicitly marketed as being able to intercept WiFi communications. They are sold online to anyone who wants one. My question is weather or not these count as "communication intercepting devices" as defined by Section 2512. A well known version of this type of tool, the WiFi pineapple (https://www.wifipineapple.com/) specifically advertises the ability to intercept communications. To clarify, I'm trying to find out why they get a seeming exemption, and what would be too "far" to be legal for my own experimentation with wireless security hardware. The why it is fairly important so I know where to start for my own research.

Is it illegal to Manufacture, distribute, possess, or advertise the WiFi pineapple or similar devices, per Section 2512?


texts: Is it legal to disclose a technical vulnerability publicly that might cause a monetary loss to millions of people?

texts:
I'll cite an example that came to my mind to crisply explain the essence of my question. It might contain some extreme assumptions not rooted in real world examples.

Computer scientist John Doe who is working on his own pet project detects a vulnerability in a mobile hardware related to fingerprint storage while analyzing bunch of social media posts. He found that whenever a user posts something from their popular social media application, the device adds some data to that post that leaks the information related to their fingerprint. Anyone with fair technical understanding can then reproduce the fingerprint from such posts. These fingerprints are the gatekeepers to all the funds that are stored by the users on their devices.

John Doe is now in a dilemma (legal not ethical). He is uncertain whether revealing this vulnerability publicly is legal or he should do it discreetly to the manufacturer. This smartphone manufacturer has 40% of the market share and this public revealing might lead to loss of funds for all the users who have used this fingerprint storage option.


texts: Does "insider trading" apply to private companies?

texts:
In America, "pitching" to investors is how capital is often raised.

What I don't understand is why this is legal: You supply private information to the investor, who decides to buy stock in your company based on this private information.

Is the fact that the company is private what makes this legal?


texts: In which circumstances can law enforcement of one country cross the border of another one?

texts:
Say someone have made a criminal offense in one European country (say France), the (suspected ?) criminal is in a car or any others means in which he can escape law enforcement officers pursuing him in this country and cross the border of another (say Switzerland)

Can law enforcement of this country cross the border of this other country catch him and bring him back to the initial country by force ? If not what will happen ?
Is this applicable with other countries (member of the EU) like Germany or Luxembourg ?


texts: Can I sue a restaurant for serving me meat in vegetarian dish?

texts:
I am a vegetarian for religious reasons. I was at Chipotle on Saturday and ordered a sofritas rice bowl which is "vegan approved". To my surprise, I found a chunk of chicken in my bowl when I was halfway through eating it. Made me feel sick to the stomach realizing that I may have eaten chicken already.

Went back to the Order desk and showed the server meat in my bowl. They immediately offered a refund and asked if I wish to file a complaint. The manager brought out a complaint form and filled for me. Gave me a copy as well. I did not take any refund. just walked out, I was very upset.

My question is: Can I take a legal action against Chipotle?


texts: Are UK NHS prescriptions covered by sale of goods act (or equivalent)?

texts:
In the UK the NHS provides free-of-charge health care, with a few exceptions e.g. a patient has to pay about £8 per drug on prescription.

An NHS doctor prescribes a drug that is unsuitable for a particular patient (tablet form, for a patient that cannot swallow tablets), and the doctor knows this in advance. The patent discovers this when at home, but can not return drug (for safety reasons).

The issue is rectified by a new drug being prescribed, however the patient is expected to pay a 2nd time.

If the Sale of Goods Act applied, then the patient could return the drug as not suitable for the particular purpose.

Does the Sale of Goods Act, or some other statute, apply or is the NHS exempt?


texts: Can your landlord raise rent for running a business?

texts:
Say you run an academy from your house. Can your landlord raise rent? Nolo.com says

  Also, in most states your landlord can’t use a rent increase (or evict you or decrease services, either) in retaliation against you for exercising a specified legal right.

Is running a business exercising a legal right? It is legal, anyways. This is a month-to-month (lease-at-will) rental in Florida.


texts:
I received a letter of intent to sign and the signature block has a line after "Accepted" as though I should put something there.

  <Legal Entity Name>

  ACCEPTED: _______________

  BY: ______________

  Date: ______________

This is new to me. After a cursory search I could not find any info or even any examples of this. What goes there?


texts: Can a discrimination act be a charge filed by a prosecutor?

texts: Can a discrimination, e.g. based on gender, race or age, charge be filed by a prosecutor or a prosecutor's office in the US?


texts: I am trying to renew my NJ Drivers License but have problems regarding proof of address. I am  a Catholic Priest who belongs to a Religious Order, ( the Franciscans) and I do not have a credit card or have a bank account and my housing is provided by my religious community. I pay no bills so I do not have these for verification of my address- I meet the 6 point ID verification with my current NJ License (4points) and my DD 214 military discharge papers (2points) The problem is proving where I live - I am unable to renew my license by mail as the renewal form says I need to renew at the DMV. Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated


texts: What's the point of a subpoena if you can just invoke the fifth amendment?

texts:
I always thought a subpoena was an order to produce evidence or testimony, but I recently realized that you can just invoke the fifth amendment if you're served a subpoena.

Given the complicated nature of laws and that any evidence could be potentially incriminate you even if you're not originally involved in the case, what's the point of a subpoena? What does it accomplish?


texts: Effect of SCOTUS sales tax decision on origin-tax states

texts:
I have only read news stories about the SD v Wayfair decision, and I have 2 related questions.

According to Intuit, there are 12 states that attempt to charge sales tax on all transactions completed by businesses operating in the state, regardless of where the customer is; this is called origin-based sales tax. It is the opposite of destination-based sales tax laws that attempt to collect the tax for the state in which the customer resides.

First, how did Quill v ND apply to origin-based sales tax states? It seems by definition that an entity located in Ohio, for example, had nexus in Ohio and would collect Ohio sales tax on transactions with Ohio residents. But was it also required to collect Ohio sales tax from customers residing in other states?

Second, how will SD v Wayfair apply to origin-based sales tax states for (a) customers residing in that state (say, Ohio) and (b) customers residing in other states?

I hope that all made sense. Thanks!

P.S. What is it about the Dakotas and sales tax cases?


texts: Is it allowed to use a copyrighted music track on a video, but without integrating the audio into the video?

texts:
It's generally known that if you use a song to create a music video, you must have obtained a master use license to publish the track as a part of the music video, and also a synchronization license to synchronize your video with the music.
However, what happens if you make a music video using the song, and then you remove the audio from it when publishing? That way, to view it as intended, the viewer will need to obtain a personal license for the music, for example from a streaming service, and start the music track at the same time as the video starts. The video metadata could point viewers to ways to legally listen to the song, and that it is recommended to view the video with the audio in the background.
What license, if any, would this usage require? My intuition is that this still requires the synchronization license, as the video is still synchronized to the audio, it's just that they're stored separately. On the other hand, an argument could be made that a sync license is made available for a specific recording while this video works with any cover version.
I'm interested in answers both specific to the youtube environment as well as for general distribution.


texts: Mask mandate for unvaccinated employees and privacy

texts: Is it legal for an employer such as a public school (in the US) to impose a mask mandate on only unvaccinated employees, or would that be a violation of those employees ADA or HIPPA rights?  It seems like an employee could easily claim they are singled out be being required to wear a mask.


texts: Can a person be charged in absentia in the English and Welsh jurisdiction?

texts: In England and Wales a person can certainly be tried in absentia, but can they be charged in absentia?


texts: Is it legal to ignore "Do Not Track" for data subjects who fall under the GDPR?

texts:
The "Do Not Track" (DNT) flag is an optional header field in HTTP requests sent by web browsers to web servers. It requests that the website not track the user, or not track the user across different websites (the ambiguity remains unresolved, according to Wikipedia).

The GDPR provides a number of lawful bases for processing personal data, one of which is consent. If a website is relying on consent for collecting data about the user, would it therefore be a breach of the law to ignore the user's expressed preference in the form of the DNT flag?

I ask because it seems that DNT is widely ignored, at least in the US. As I am in the EU, and have DNT set in my browser, I wonder if anyone who tracks me across the Web is thereby breaking the law.


texts: Is surveillance video discoverable in an invasion of privacy case in New Jersey?

texts:
A neighbor was doing some work near the border between two properties so a security camera was put up to monitor for any trespass or damage which had been a problem in the past with this person. Because the lots are small and close other parts of nearby houses and backyards can be seen.
The footage was used as evidence in a lawsuit. The person who put up the camera was not a party to this lawsuit but is now being sued for invasion of privacy.
A discovery request was made for all available footage from this camera. Does this need to be provided?
Would the defendant's attorney need to review the footage before objecting to the discovery request?
Even if you believe that there is nothing incriminating on the footage it seems like a bad idea to just have something over that could be used against you. Isn't the burden of proof up to the plaintiff?


texts: Can I get my money back from a collections agency if I can prove that the initial company was negligent with notifications?

texts:
I am not sure if this was a technical error, but I ported a Frontier phone number which was being used for Fios. That caused the account to be closed. A few days before, I had paid that account in full, so I thought all was good. I had them open a new account and restore my internet following this issue, and I paid the new balance in full every month, all unaware that there was still an outstanding balance on the first account.

On 2 August, I got a verbal notice from a collections agency, and they were the ones who told me about where they got their information.

Is this likely to appear on my credit report, and can I dispute this even after agreeing to pay the amount I owed, plus an additional fee to the collector?


texts: Is everything in a contract a "term"? What about meta info?

texts:
I was noticing on some contracts it says "attached is a 2 page addendum with 15 terms".
Say the addendum states "if a discrepancy is found between this addendum and the rest of the contract, the addendum takes precedence" or other such meta information. Does this count as a term?
For example in a residential lease, would the bellow addendum have two or three terms (not sure if the last counts)?

Addendum

tenants are responsible for yard maintenance
tenants are not allowed pets
if a discrepancy is found between this addendum and the rest of the contract, the addendum takes precedence

or should it be

Addendum
If a discrepancy is found between this addendum and the rest of the contract, the addendum takes precedence

tenants are responsible for yard maintenance
tenants are not allowed pets

Another example is a severability clause ("if something is unenforcable, the remainder remains enforceable"), would that count as a term?


texts: Could copyright be placed in bearer format?

texts:
Related: Who owns copyright on works found in a storage unit/attic?

It's well agreed in the above case that simply coming into ownership of a manuscript, even an original one, does not grant copyright.

Is it legally possible to create a bearer document granting copyright ownership? This would work similarly to bearer paper in other contexts, such as stock. The person who legally owned the bearer paper would automatically become the owner of the included copyright.

For example, suppose I write a novel that I never publish, instead stuffing it under my bed. I write out and sign a bearer deed granting copyright in the work to whomever legally owns the deed, and then slip it under the pillow of my favorite niece on her 18th birthday. When I die, my son argues in court that the transfer of copyright by bearer deed is "unrecognized in law and entirely null and void" and asks the court to subject the copyright to probate as part of my estate. Is there any precedent to indicate what would likely happen?

To be clear, this question does not cover theft in any way. Ordinary bearer paper (e.g. bearer checks, bearer stock certificates) do not grant ownership to persons who have stolen the certificates, but only to their legitimate owners. What would happen if someone physically stole/sticky fingered/yoinked, etc. the bearer deed to the copyright of my novel is out of scope.


texts: Not paying property rent due to unlivable condition

texts:
I'm living in an apartment complex in Chicago suburbs. I was paying rent continuously throughout the course of the lease. But it has been 2 months that I'm surrounded with huge number of pests, mostly roaches and ants. I raised it to them now and pest control people come by once in a while and do some treatments. I have all my stuff bundled in a corner, and kitchen is empty. I have hard time sleeping at nights as I'm scared of the roaches coming over my body.

I don't want to pay the rent for this last month as the living condition is defined as "unhabitable". I'm not familiar with the specifics of the law, but can I NOT pay the rent? And what is the exact reference to the law?


texts:
Do pharmacies have the legal obligation to keep the prescription for 10 years in the United States?

I am mostly interested for in the states of California, and Massachusetts.

I am asking as this was a claim I heard from a CVS pharmacist in Massachusetts, and I wonder whether it is true or a technique to increase the odds that the customer comes back.


texts:
This stems from the Kyle Rittenhouse discussion:
Wisconsin prohibits possession of rifles by minors, but the same section seems to say that it only applies when the rifle is "short-barrel".

Can a minor possess an AR-15 rifle in Wisconsin?


texts: My friend's dog attacked my car on their property. Who will be responsible for damages?

texts: I went to my friends house. The dog was nice when i got there. When i left, the dog decided to attack my car and he bit the rear end of the vehicle. Who will be responsible for the damages? My insurance or theirs?


texts: Can an auto insurance firm ( US) raise rates based on old age?

texts:
My auto insurance went up 30% this year. I am 82 and my wife is 77.

As far as I can recall, we have had just 1 or 2 claims in the last 50 years. 10 years ago, my wife backed into a parked car causing no damage to her car but dented a door and fender on the other car. About 15 years ago I had a tailgate repaired; I paid, but I don't remember if it was the deductible or the whole cost. Our cars are ordinary, a 2004 and a 2011.

I don't see anything in our history to warrant a 30% increase. So I am thinking it is our ages.


texts: How's a "mere failure to perform future obligations" equivocal and equally consistent with not exercising the right to repudiate the contract?

texts:
O'Sullivan & Hilliard's The Law of Contract (2018 8 ed). p. 376.

  15.54 Acceptance of a repudiatory breach must be clear and unequivocal, but need not be by
  express words. As the court said in Heyman v Darwins (1942):

    The other party may … ’accept the repudiation’ by so acting as to make it plain that,
    in view of the wrongful action of the party who has repudiated, he claims to treat the
    contract as at an end, in which case he can sue at once for damages.

  This acceptance must generally be communicated to the other party (described as a
  ‘basic and well known principle’ by the Privy Council in Sookraj v Samaroo (2004)) or
  at least ‘overtly evinced’ to him, but can the innocent party accept the repudiation by
  mere failure to perform its future obligations? In State Trading Corpn [not a typo] of India (1989), the Court of Appeal suggested not, since ‘such conduct would be equivocal and equally
  consistent with a decision not to exercise the right to treat the contract as repudiated’.

How's the emboldened phrase true?

Suppose a promisee contracted to do/not do something. If he then doesn't/does it, can't the promisor infer that the promisee's mere failure to perform future obligations consists with the promisee's decision to repudiate the contract?

Westlaw has The State Trading Corporation of India Limited v M. Golodetz Limited:

  This brings me to what I would respectfully regard as a red herring in the argument on behalf of STC which the learned judge considered at p. 188 of his judgment. STC sought to counter the arbitrators' finding that on 23rd December the sellers had brought the contract to an end (in the popular sense) by submitting that STC's silence or continuing unwillingness to open the letter of credit between 19th and 23rd December might in itself be regarded as an acceptance of the sellers' assumed breach of condition. In my view this is not a tenable proposition. What is commonly referred to as an acceptance of a repudiation must be communicated to the party in breach or at least overtly evinced: see e.g. Chitty on Contracts, 25th ed. vol. 1 para. 1598, Heyman v. Darwins (1942) AC 356 at p. 361 and The Mihalis Angelos (1971) 1 QB 164 explicitly at p. 204 E per Megaw LJ. The decision of the High Court of Australia in Holland v. Wiltshire (1954) 90 CLR 409 shows that an unequivocal overt act which is inconsistent with the subsistence of the contract may be sufficient, without any concurrent manifestation of intent directed to the other party. But saying and doing nothing at all, other than a continuing failure to perform, cannot constitute an acceptance of a repudiation even if the grounds for such an acceptance then exist. Such conduct would be equivocal and equally consistent with a decision not to exercise the right to treat the contract as repudiated.

  It follows that I cannot accept that STC's silence and inactivity between 18th and 23rd December can be regarded as having had any legal consequences. No doubt they were reluctant, if not unwilling, to pay a large sum in U.S. dollars against documents for a cargo lying at the bottom of the sea, perhaps in particular since it was insured in India and therefore not necessarily in some external currency. Such a reaction would be commercially understandable although legally incorrect.


texts: What is the status of Microsoft "ribbon" licensing as of 2017?

texts:
In 2007, the "fluent UI" or ribbon had IP rights asserted and required a license from Microsoft. That license is now no longer available, the page only stating 'retired'.

What is the status of using a ribbon UI on Windows or any other platform? Is Microsoft still asserting IP rights, and is a license required?

Note that there are many questions online about this, but no answer, much less a sourced one stating Microsoft's official position. This leaves many developers in a state of uncertainty.

As of 2017:

No documentation on MSDN anywhere mentions a license.  Consider, for example, the MFC ribbon overview.
The VC++ 2017 MFC CMFCRibbonBar class, the only ribbon installed with VS2017, links to the retired license in its header. This header has not changed for many years. Its documentation does not mention a license.
The Visual Studio 2017 license does not mention the ribbon.
The Windows 10 SDK license does not mention the ribbon (checked against 10.0.15603.137, downloaded 2017-04-11.)
Some believe this means no-one who did not sign a license before it was retired are able to legally use a ribbon.
A 2009 comment in a forum (not a good basis) states there are "no unusual licensing requirements".
There has been no statement by Microsoft of a change in its attitude the the ribbon, arguably meaning that now a license is no longer available, no developers can use a ribbon.
Microsoft uses a ribbon in its macOS Office applications, but has not indicated if other developers may use a ribbon on non-Windows platforms
There is significant doubt if the ribbon is valid IP.

This leaves all developers who did not sign a license prior to it being retired in limbo and uncertainty, not knowing:

If they can use the inbuilt WinAPI ribbon control on Windows 10 without a license
If they can use a third party ribbon control on Windows without a license
If they can use a third party ribbon control on macOS or Linux
If they can use a ribbon for an application that competes with a Microsoft application (either Office, or other.)

  Please cite sources, and prefer the kind of sources you could quote if
  it became legally important, above sources that are a comment on a forum. I'm seeking a
  definitive answer, and won't mark a "it's probably ok, you'll get away with it"
  answer as correct.


texts: Is this possible? I dont mean sell shares of a company that makes apps but shares of an app itself without a company.


texts: Would ripping DVDs for individuals violates the copyright law?

texts:
I have the following scenario:

A friend of mine asked me to rip a few DVDs that he has and he wants me to place the digital asset (video) on the cloud and asked to give him all the rights to play it from mobile phone.  Would such action be considered as copyright violation even if I still posses the physical disks?  What if my friend can play only on one device at a time - is that still a violation?


texts: Estate Trust and Obligations to Inform Beneficiaries

texts:
I understand that a trustee is obligated to execute the terms of a trust and manage the trust assets on behalf of the beneficiaries. However, if the beneficiaries are not aware of certain details, it would seem to me that they would not be able to effectively determine that the trust is being managed properly.

When the principal in an estate trust dies, is there an obligation for the trustee to inform listed beneficiaries of any of the trust details? If so, at what point must that be done? To which beneficiaries must the trust details be disclosed? (I understand through hearsay that some beneficiaries have large entitlements, while others have minor entitlements.) To what extent must the trust details be disclosed?

This is in the state of California.


texts: Is consent of the man to the act that caused a pregnancy necessary to establish legal parental obligations?

texts:
The question is a bit awkwardly phrased maybe, but what I'm wondering is this: if a woman gets pregnant without the consent of the man whose sperm it is (say by stealing it, or an accidental "used the same bathwater" kind of deal), is that enough to make the man legally responsible as a parent? If a DNA test establishes that a man is the biological father of a child, is there anything he could argue that would result in him not being legally responsible for the child?

I'm interested in the law of any European or North American countries, and evidentiary questions don't really matter to me; if you know about those too and would like to include them they may be of interest to someone else of course.


texts: Is it legal to use leaked documents for open source development?

texts:
Lets say a specific data structure is only documented in a confidential document, which can not be found over the official websites.
If a developer can find a copy of this document via Google (on an indexed server), is it legally allowed to implement the data structure in open source projects (and make it public with that)?
I am wondering because technically, the developer using this data structure and document has never signed a NDA with the owner of this document. But has simply found it online via Google. So the document was not even obtained by "breaking" or hacking into any systems.
Besides, is there a difference with which country the developer works?


texts: Why may liability be a hindrance to self-driving cars?

texts:
One aspect that has been barrier as a hindrance for the adoption of self-driving cars has been liability.  For example:

Who is responsible for a driverless car accident?, BBC News, 8 October 2015

  Uncertainty over liability for a driverless car crash is seen as one of the biggest barriers to adoption.

Wikipedia describes liability as the legal bound obligation to pay debts, such as damages due to causing an accident.

That means that either:

The owner/passenger is liable.  S/he pays the insurance premium and if s/he is at fault at an accident, the insurance company pays the damages.
The manufacturer is liable.  The manufacturer may either get insurance, or self-insure.  In either case, the manufacturer has insurance costs.  These insurance costs are probably passed onto the owner/passenger.

In both cases, costs for the owner/passenger are the same.  If the owner/passenger is liable, s/he will pay less for the car but more for insurance.  If the manufacturer is liable, the owner/passenger will pay more for the car but less for insurance.  In the end, it's the same cost for the owner/passenger.

If the cost are the same for the owner/passenger either way, then why is the question of liability a legal barrier for the adoption of driverless cars?  Why would the aspect of liability require any legal changes?


texts:
Normally, an element of the tort of fraudulent misrepresentation, the tort of negligent misrepresentation, statutory securities fraud offenses, and a criminal fraud offense based upon a misrepresentation (e.g. perjury) is that the misrepresentation was "material."

One fairly common circumstance in which tort and fraud claims based upon misrepresentations come up is when information is provided on a form or affidavit in connection with a business transaction which contains many required response items, only some of which are material to the parties.

Suppose that the form or affidavit that is completed is true in all respects material to the parties to the transaction (e.g. the representation that the person signing a document has the authority to do so is true), but the form or affidavit contains information in support of that true fact (e.g. detailed information concerning the time and place of execution, and the language of corporate bylaws providing that authority) that are completely and intentionally fabricated.

Has any criminal offense been committed?

Does anyone have a valid basis to bring a tort claim?

Would the conclusion be different if the representation was warranted to be true in a contractual agreement?

If there is no enforceable violation of any law in this situation, is an intentional lie to overcome an artificial bureaucratic hurdle legal? If not, why not?


texts: Do I have copyright control of a transcript I created listening to a YouTube video?

texts: If I transcribe the words to a song I listened to on YouTube, do I have a legal basis to sell the transcript?


texts:
See the last section of this website.
It discusses about Ireland's mandatory requirement that non-EU family members of an EU citizen who want to join them in Ireland should have resided in another EU member state.
This requirement is not set in the EU free movement directive. So it was challenged.
Does anyone know the outcome?


texts: Is making my co-tenants sign a contract to pay their share of the bills helpful in court?

texts:
I share a house with three other people, and as I was the first to move in, I had to sign up for some of the bills with my name. However, some of my co-tenants are rather slow and unwilling to pay their share on time, and I'm getting worried that I might be taken for the proverbial ride, especially when university terms finish and some of them might leave before our tenancy contract is finished (it is until the end of summer, so they'd be forced to pay the rent, but I would have no way to make them pay the bills).

I had an idea of printing out some forms stating that the people who sign it would thereby agree to pay the bill in full (specifically internet bills, where whether you use it or not the price stays the same). Would this be of any help in court? I hope it won't come to this but I want to have some sort of backup plan if things go awry.


texts: Being detained for a hypothetical sentence

texts:
Is it likely that a person could be arrested for verbally stating that they wish they could be sharp enough to commit a huge crime, in front of a policeman?

For example (and of course it depends on the jurisdiction), would I be arrested if I say a thing like "I wish I was able enough to steal billions from the bank"?

Jurisidiction: UK, US, Italy.


texts: Does adding a non-committal verb bypass defamation/libel?

texts:
So I went to CNN's website today at 6:40est today and saw a headline "Google fires male engineer for reportedly saying Women shouldn't work in the tech industry"

Mind you it was just a headline and not the content of the article, but at the same time anyone who read the memo can tell you that it was a patently false statement. Now not even 10 minutes later it seems that it was pulled.

But the question being can defamation/libel be bypassed just by saying such words as "I think", "Reportedly", "Allegedly" while alleging a patently false statement and be safe from charges of defamation in the US?


texts:
I work in a full time permanent role but have recently started working in another part time (evenings/weekends) role as a contractor. Both are in the same field (software development) and both employers know about each other and are fine with the arrangement as the working hours and business sectors do not overlap or conflict.

The second employer has sent me a contract of employment which I have read and I am happy with, except for one clause which seems slightly too vague for me to be fully comfortable with.

  IP and confidentiality: Any server development programming created by you during your employment by [redacted employer name] automatically belongs to [redacted employer name]
  The IP for your work is assigned to our company and you agree to abide by confidentiality laws during your employment.

I understand and accept the reasons for such a clause, it is perfectly normal in software development. However the wording concerns me. Since I am working for two distinct employers and have similar clauses in both contracts. Any software I write while employed by both obviously cannot be owned by both.

My primary question: Should this clause include a statement to the effect that it only applies to code written as part of the projects to which I have been assigned by this employer?

Secondary question: How can I avoid the situation that one employer decides to try and use this contract to take ownership of software written by me for the other?


texts: Affordable Care Act - Are Members of Congress Exempt?

texts:
I am curious as to whether Members of Congress are subject to the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act says they are:

  MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN THE EXCHANGE.—

    (i) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding any other
    provision of law, after the effective date of this subtitle,
    the only health plans that the Federal Government
    may make available to Members of Congress and
    congressional staff with respect to their service as a
    Member of Congress or congressional staff shall be
    health plans that are—

      (I) created under this Act (or an amendment
      made by this Act); or

      (II) offered through an Exchange established
      under this Act (or an amendment made by this
      Act).

    (ii) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

      (I) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term ‘‘Member
      of Congress’’ means any member of the House
      of Representatives or the Senate.

      (II) CONGRESSIONAL STAFF.—The term
      ‘‘congressional staff’’ means all full-time and parttime
      employees employed by the official office of
      a Member of Congress, whether in Washington,
      DC or outside of Washington, DC.

However, the first sentence of this passage confuses me:

  Notwithstanding any other
  provision of law

Does this mean that Congress could pass a bill exempting Members of Congress from the Affordable Care Act? Or am I misunderstanding the line?

If Congress is able to pass a provision exempting, or adding other options as health plans, to Members of Congress, have they?


texts: Is preferential treatment illegal? If LE can employ a judgement call into decision making, are there established limits?


texts: Are insurance companies liable for employee theft of customer data?

texts: Assume that Alice is getting a quote from an insurance company, but something goes wrong in the company's system while processing her quote. The company logs a defect and assigns it to Bob, one of their software developers. In order to analyze the defect so that he knows how to fix it, Bob retrieves the logs from Alice's quote. While Bob is looking at the logs to find out why the problem occurred, he also writes down Alice's personal information (name, address, social security number, etc.), which he later uses to commit identity theft. Assume that due to the nature of the defect, Bob needed to be able to see the complete log of the quote as it went through the insurance company's system. Is the insurance company at fault for Bob stealing Alice's identity? How are things different if Bob doesn't work directly for the insurance company, but rather for a separate company that has a contract with them?


texts: Legal action that can be taken by nannies?

texts: If the child being watched (9-10 years old) by a nanny frequently physically attacks the nanny, sometimes causing severe pain, can the nanny take any form of legal action? The nanny in question is a fully legal citizen of United States.


texts: Can a judge put me under oath for closing statements?

texts: For a municipal traffic ticket trial in USA, can a judge put me under oath as I am about to give a closing statement? I declined to testify and accepted to give a closing statement instead. The judge said, “all right. You know what? I’m going to put you under oath anyway. Raise your right hand...” I raised my right hand and acknowledged penalty of perjury. He said, “I’ll accept that as being under oath.”


texts: Is Stack Exchange allowed to unilaterally change previously published content license?

texts:
The original thread can be found here: Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow are moving to CC BY-SA 4.0

As far as I understand, Stack Exchange can move on to CC BY-SA 4.0 for content published in the future, but they are not allowed to unilaterally change the license of previous publications. Several threads have been created requesting answers regarding this issue from Stack Exchange, however, the only answer from moderator did not give any meaningful explanation.

Since this is a legal issue, I would like to ask of Law Stack Exchange community to give expert opinion on this matter.

Can Stack Exchange change the license for previously published content without the consent of users?


texts: Legal status of spectrum analyzers in the United Kingdom

texts: What is the legal status of spectrum analyzers in United Kingdom? Is it considered 'interception', despite only analyzing the magnitude of a frequency?


texts: Is Schmähkritik illegal in Germany and what could happen?

texts:
Jan Böhmermann made a Schmähkritik about the president of Turkey, Erdoğan. Is that illegal, what could happen? Could Erdoğan actually sue ZDF and the satirist? What would happen, if he would do that?

And how/where should he sue him? He lives in Turkey and it's a German satire show.


texts: Pleading guilty for a moving violation from several years ago. Points still apply? NYC

texts:
I received a ticket for a moving violation back in 2015, in Brooklyn, NY, and recruited a local law firm to help me fight this traffic ticket.

The firm's strategy was to keep postponing the hearing until the officer who issued this ticket would not show up, making the case dismissed.

Several days ago I received a call from the law office saying that the hearing had actually happened this year, and that I have been found guilty.

They also claimed that points for this violation are now expired because the ticket was issued in 2015.

My questions are:

How true is their last statement about expiring points?
Would car
insurance companies look at expired violations to increase my premium?


texts:
So, I shipped an item to a buyer.
When the product was delivered, the buyer told me by email the color of the product is different from the colors showed in the photo on my store. He attached me the photo of the product he get, but there isn't much difference. The product in the photo is in light red, while the product on his photo is in dark red.

That aside, in my ToS, I cleary specify that the colors of the photo in the store are only illustrative and the colors of the product the clients are going to get may differ a little bit. He accepted this term when he purchased the product, by ticking a checkbox.

Just because I hate chargebacks, I told him I was willing to give him half price refund and he can keep the product. He refused, and he started a claim on Paypal.

Now on the claim he is saying to paypal just lies. He doesn't talk anymore about different colors, he say the product was broken and dirty when was delivered, the package he accepted was already open, and that he was asking me for a refund all of the time but I never answered to his questions, even if I was the first one to suggest him an half price refund and keeping the product and I always answered as soon as possible, we sent each others about 10 emails.

I don't know what to do anymore. I'm making very few sells online, usually just a couple of sells every month, and all my earning are nulled by this kind of people that I'm facing very often. And it doesn't matter what I say to Paypal, what proof of ToS acceptance I sent them, they always side with the buyer. For example in this case, how can I prove to Paypal what he is saying are just lies? I would NEVER send a dirty or not working product, but what can I do to prove it? Nothing.

So, I would like to know how to deal with Paypal in such cases. How to proves he is saying lies?


texts: Can a prosecutor add evidence to increase punishment after a guilty plea is entered?

texts: My next question is, after a defendant is indicted can the prosecutor keep adding to the case just so that they can increase the defendant guidelines? And after the defendant pleas guilty, can they still keep adding to that case, if so is that legal? Because the defendant plead guilty to what's in the case at that they made a plea and not to what was added after the plea.


texts: How distinct (un-continental) are the UK tax and accounting law and court decisions in tax and accounting cases?

texts:
UK has common law system which is based on the case law. But meanwhile there is ongoing efforts to codify some laws - e.g. there is https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/23/contents Value Added Tax law - I am reading this and I find it fairly detailed and quite similar to VAT laws of civil law systems. And similar codification happens all the time. In fact - I guess - there are quite a new laws/acts and their amendments all the time and that is why my guess is that for the practical matters UK law is being codified and in the format it more and more resembles the law of the civil law countries. Am I right? If there are practical differencies in the codified areas then - what are those differencies?
This my question is closely connected with my previous question Is there any (which?) English speaking jurisdiction that uses civil (continental) law system? which explains why I am interested in the English language jurisdiction that would have civil law system. Maybe UK has already quite codified law system that for the practical (not the philosophical) matters resembles that of the civil law system - similar to one in Germany, France, etc.
I am specifically interested in the tax (VAT) and accounting law. I guess that these areas are quite codified in UK. For the general civil law, inheritance law etc. it can be quite different, there the case law still can prevail.
My assumption is that the level of codification is the main difference between the practical matters of civil and common law systems. And so - with the effort to build comprehensive codes (e.g. like US Code) this difference narrows down and the difference remains only in the philosophical matters only (of which I am not aware and I am not competent to speak).
What I am trying to achieve: I am trying to use Artificial Intelligence to parse laws and case laws into the formal rules from which I am trying to generate tax calculator that can automatically evaluate and classify transactions and that can calculate the applicable tax on them. I am specifically interested in the tax accounting for the purchase-sale transactions and tax calculator for the payroll taxes. Nothing more.


texts: Is there a general term corresponding to "predial" as in "predial tax" and "predial larceny" in U.S. law?

texts:
I came across the term "predial" which seems to be largely used in the state of Louisiana (mixed civil & common). Predial larceny (or praedial larceny) seems to figure primarily in the Caribbean. So is there a corresponding term for "predial tax" in other states? What is theft in the fields called in other states, or just "larceny" and "theft", undistinguished from other kinds of theft?
What about the UK?


texts: Do I need to be actively prohibitng individual mediums to publicate my copyrighted work?

texts:
Maybe I was just overreacting, but as far as I was aware of coprighted work without any mention about permissions means by default, I'm not allowed to use, republicate, edit or display it.

In this post OP asks if his edit on an image is enough to avoid copyright violations, while embedding the original image and linking to his edited version.

How much of this image do I need to modify in order to avoid copyright violation?

He also indirectly mentioned the author has not put this work under any explictly stated therms, so beeing just automatic copyrighted.
What implyed (but here is probably the point where uncertainity made be beeing wrong) for me, him not having any explicitly granted permissions to publish this work.

This was enough urge for me to post this meta article, whichs reactions confused me.

This should be urgent closed!

Since I'm some one who is absolutely pendantic about copyright permissions, I'm even emailing (probably anoyed) publisher of googled example images before I'm using them here to stay conform to the CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

But that reactions now sound to me like automatic copyright means I can feel free to use the work as long not directly prohibited by the author.

Is it that way?
Can I post randomly pictures of other authors publishing it under CC BY-SA 3.0 without violating copyrights as long it is not recorded in any way, that the original author prohibits this(to me)?


texts: What are the laws on taking a photograph in someone’s bedroom and posting it online without permission from homeowner?

texts: Someone takes a photo of themselves in their friend’s bedroom, without their friend’s knowledge or consent, and posts it online. Some of the art on the wall is handmade by the friend, and was not meant to be shared online. Does the friend have any rights in getting social media to take it down?


texts: Quebec language law and "French First" requirement

texts:
Suppose I am developing an application for company A which will be used by A's employees worldwide. A has offices in Quebec, Canada. I am aware that local laws exist in Quebec which protect workers rights there to work in French.

As part of the process of internationalizing the application, which of the following are required by that law, if any:

The default language is French
The default language can be English, but it must be possible for a user who speaks only French to change the language to French
The default language can be English, and it may be required that the user know some English or to have taken specific training to know how to change the language
same as above, but no training

Also, to what degree does the law require localization of non-alphabetic information such as: large numbers, dates, currencies, punctuation, and the like, where a French-speaking employee in Quebec would customarily use conventions different from those adopted by an English-speaking software developer in America?


texts: Could a song that uses different, but phonetically identical lyrics violate copyright?

texts:
There is a YouTube video of a song called "Hapi Berth Dey", which the user says is to the tune "Good Morning to You", which is in the public domain.

The video never explicitly mentions "Happy Birthday", and says that this song is "about an Egyptian river goddess finding a place to sleep on top of two sheep and a deer named Harrison, who also happens to be governor of Algiers before the French conquest in 1830".

Nonetheless, it is phonetically identical to Happy Birthday:

  Hapi berth dey two ewe,
  Hapi berth dey two ewe,
  Hapi berth dey deer Harrison,
  Hapi berth dey two ewe.

The words and the creator's stated intention of what the song is about do not resemble "Happy Birthday", but the lyrics (all of which are real words) are phonetically identical. In other words, they look different on paper, but when sung are the same.

Assuming for the sake of argument that "Happy Birthday" was irrefutably protected under copyright law (just the lyrics, since the tune "Good Morning to You" is in the public domain), would "Hapi Berth Dey" or a similar phonetically similar song be in violation of copyright?


texts: US regulations regarding internet gambling

texts:
According to my sources, the SAFE Port Act makes online gambling illegal. According to this source, the act

  [...] had attached to it a section making it illegal for banking institutions to allow their customers to send money to offshore gambling sites.

And according to a blog post on fbi.gov,

  What’s allowed? Some free online games, fantasy leagues, and Indian gaming sites that aren’t strictly defined as Internet gambling.

  It’s also illegal for businesses to run gambling websites and to solicit online bets. Even companies handling transactions for cyberspace bettors can face federal charges.

I need clarification on what forms of gambling websites are legal vs. illegal. And what about gambling items in a videogame?


texts: Can one be prosecuted in the US for buying stolen goods if one was unaware that it was stolen?

texts:
I have a practical example question that this applies to, so I'd like to know the answer in general, but specifically how it applies here.

Let's say I find something I'd like to buy on Craigslist, being sold on the order of $1000. Let's say I text with the guy, we meet up in public, and I buy the item with cash. Then let's say, it turns out it was stolen, the guy gets caught, and confesses to the police/victim and tells them my name/phone number/transaction details.

I have several similar/related questions about this scenario:

How would this proceed? It seems like it would be very difficult to prove (short of getting public surveillance footage) that I even bought the item. What if I just said "sorry, I never ended up buying it." Surely they couldn't/wouldn't get a warrant to search my house?
Let's say they somehow do prove that I bought it (very contrived, but the guy was recording our conversation or something). Could I be prosecuted if I didn't know it was stolen? That's what this section seems to be saying, but that sounds crazy to me, because it would mean basically buying anything puts you at risk.

I ask this because I was getting a little paranoid and was thinking about the implications of this: I'm imagining a scam where someone sells me a "stolen" item and then the "victim" (really their accomplice) says "I found out that you bought an item stolen from me, but the thief got away" and presents me with irrefutable evidence (e.g., a receipt for the item with its serial number) that the item was his. He could potentially threaten me to return it to him, and then I've lost my money (since the "thief" is in the wind) but they still have their item.

It's unlikely, I know, but I'm wondering what the legal implications of this would be. Thank you!


texts: USA: Can a witness take the 5th to avoid perjury?

texts:
Lawyer Alice is questioning witness Bob. Bob is not on trial, and no one has accused him of a crime. Alice demands Bob answer a particular question with either a "Yes" or a "no." Bob believes that doing so would mislead the court so greatly that he attempts to use a complete sentence, only for Alice to interrupt him and demand the one word answer. In frustration, Bob simply takes the 5th, to avoid what he believes is perjury.

What will happen to Bob now that he's taken the 5th? Will he be held in contempt of court, or will the judge be concerned and try to probe further? Assume Bob is unaware of the concept of rebuttal questions.

In case the specific fact pattern is required: Bob witnessed Charlie be hit with a baseball bat, which resulted in Charlie knocking over (and breaking) a vase. Alice is asking if Charlie broke the vase. In Bob's mind, a "yes" answer is a lie, the blame lies with the assailant. A "no" answer is a lie, as Charlie's fall did cause the vase to break.


texts: What is the purpose of increased penalties?

texts:
What is the purpose of increased penalties under various specific circumstances?

i.e. some cities/states have higher penalties for traffic violations that occur while texting on a cellphone, or selling drugs within 200 yards of a primary school.

What is the purpose of these increased penalties?  Are they intended to decrease the occurrence of such violations (and do they actually have this effect?) Or is it just a way for politicians to claim they are "tough on crime"?


texts: What can a school/camp do if a minor in their charge walks out without permission?

texts:
Lets say a child is left in the care of a school, camp, or similar organization.  At some point, against the instructions of the guardians involved, the child proceeds to walk out of the building and away from all individuals charged with their protection.
Can the camp use physical force to prevent the child from leaving without being guilty of an assault due to their use of force?  If a camp can not prevent the child from leaving then what is their responsibility for the safety of the child?  If the child gets harmed after willfully leaving the guardians tasked with protecting them are the guardians guilty of a lack of due diligence in protecting the child?
Does the age of the minor matter?  For instance picking up a toddler who is wandering away from a day care seems an acceptable use of force to protect the minor, but trying to prevent a 15 year old from walking away from a high school seems like it would require an excessive use of force.
I'm asking both about a school system and about non government bodies, like a camp or day care, charged with caring for a child.


texts: Can cloud services providers be asked to turn over data from foreign countries?

texts: Can cloud providers be asked to provide data from other countries to the government/law enforcement for security purposes? Can Amazon be asked to provide data from non-US countries for any security reason, substantiated or not?


texts: What is the correct format for quoting a SE site?

texts:
The Creative Commons site about the type of license that SE uses states what you need to include in the attribution. What is a format that can be used to quote all SE questions/answers/comments on all sites under this law?
In summary, I’m looking for something that is easy to copy paste and would be legal to use for quoting SE sites.
Note that I know very little about law, so if there is something I missed in my question please do not hesitate to point it out.


texts: Intellij IDEA Community Edition - commercial proprietary software developing

texts: Can I use free Intellij IDEA Community Edition for the developing, if I'm working on the proprietary commercial product?


texts: Why are law firms with non-lawyer owners/directors uncommon?

texts:
Most law firms exist as partnerships of their main lawyers who are the owners/directors.

Why isn't the model popular where a non-lawyer but talented leader/organizer/visionary just puppets lawyers on the payroll who represent clients of the firm? Are lawyers too smart and/or noble to be puppeted that way?


texts: Is it legal to mention famous singer and song title in autobiography?

texts: I've been writing an autobiography about sexual abuse that happened to me throughout my childhood. The abuser was the dad of a famous singer. Once I was old enough (18) to leave home and file charges (I carried the abuse in silence as a child), my singer relative had become very popular. I didn't want to ruin his fame. Fast FWD 35+ years...the abuser is dead, the singer is still around, and I have a need to write this book without biting my tongue anymore. My story will not be about this singer, but yet feel it's important to mention the reason for me keeping silent all these years. I by no means am accusing them of any abuse or knowledge of it. Is it legal to mention the singers name? I'd also like to use one of their song titles as a subtitle. Is that legal?


texts: Is it possible to have a "future" settlement in case of divorce?

texts:
This is a shame question. But my spouse and I usually have conflict and the spouse wants to ensure we have an agreement in place for future potential divorce (e.g. money, kid..). It is the way the spouse wants to hold it against me so I don't violate a certain terms in the marriage and try to hold the marriage together.
Is there such as as "legal document on future settlement in case of divorce"? For example, the spouse wants to write in there a big bite out of my assets (not 50/50) IF I cause the divorce to happen.
If there is such thing, do I get notarized then?


texts: Advertise how many employees you have on a low budget

texts:
Say (in order to seem like a more established company) someone wants to advertise "We have over 100+ employees!".(but wants to avoid false advertising!)

But the company has a budget of only $1000 a month to pay 100 employees..

Can the employer not hire 100+ hourly employees then only schedule 2 of them to work 1 hour per week on a budget under $1000...

Is there realistically a legal way to "hire" 100+ employees on a budget of under $1000 so that you can advertise truthfully?

This would hypothetically be in Pennsylvania.


texts: 3 way mortgage, need judges decision to sorting out ownership

texts:
I bought house with partner (A) & friend (B).  Partner (A) moved out after 1 year, (have document signing over their share to me) friend (B) lost job & moved out after 2 years.  After 25 years (now 27) cannot find (B) as mortgage (interest only) now finished.  I need to get Judge to take friend (B) off deed to sell or re-mortgage in my sole name.  All tenants in law. Believed that (B) moved to Texas, & deceased in 2008.
Solicitors have suggested getting the judge to take trustee (B) off deeds, on grounds of not being in country for over 12 months & not contributing to mortgage for 25 years.  Lenders have put mortgage "on hold" with me paying monthly payments until this is sorted. How can I get in front of a judge to make this order? Without using a solicitor.


texts: What measures can the EU take if there are irregularities in EU parliament elections in a member state?

texts:
There are reports of EU citizens denied their voting rights in the UK during the 2019 European Parliament election in the UK.

I assume there are ways to report them in the UK.

But what can the EU do in such a case? Can it e.g. force a member state to rerun the elections?


texts: What are techniques used in law to robustly incentivize people to tell the truth?

texts:
In many different situations, people will have an incentive to lie in court while the other parties cannot verify whether they are lying or not.

I'm wondering whether there are techniques that can be used to (relatively robustly) incentivize people not to lie, even though what they say cannot be verified/falsified.

For example, one technique that might be used is:
- We will ask you 10 questions. We know the answer to 5 of these questions, but you don't know which of the 10. If you tell us a lie in even one of the 5 cases, you will go to jail.

That person will be incentivized to tell the truth in almost all 10 cases, since statistically, if it lied in half of them they would almost certainly go to jail. In this way, we incentivize the person to tell the truth even in the cases where we can't verify the answers.

Are there methods that are used to achieve this?


texts:
PREMISE:

I'm writing a novel about a man who creates a legal entity intended to last 1000 years, and I'm not sure how to classify it.  For lack of a better word (and total ignorance on my part), I call it a Trust.  This trust would manage the estates of clients of a cryonics corporation, which would freeze their bodies and resuscitate them in 1000 years, then return their estates along with a millenia of compound interest!

QUESTIONS:

What would be an appropriate legal classification?
How could this entity be structured so it could manage multiple estates?
Could this entity choose to keep, say, 30% for internal use e.g. resuscitation research?
How could this entity be made "recession-bulletproof," such that it could survive collapse of civilization?
Could it be given autonomy under the direction of a single person, or even sovereignty along the lines of a Mars colony?
Could it be immune from legal jeopardy if it chose to accept clients who volunteer to be frozen before they die?
What might happen to the estates if the economy is radically altered, e.g. a scarcity-free system where money is obsolete?

Obviously this is highly speculative. I'm mostly concerned with the early formation of the Trust (the first 3 or 4 points above).


texts: Can the Prisoner's Dilemma be solved with a civil contract?

texts:
The Prisoner's Dilemma is a well-known game theory problem that translates well into our real life experience. The idea is that two people who will optimize their individual and collective outcomes by cooperating can, under specific circumstances, decide not to cooperate.
Can the two prisoners solve their dilemma by mutually binding each other to silence with an enforceable civil contract of the nature of a Non-Disclosure Agreement?
Prisoner's Dilemma Description

Two members of a criminal gang are arrested and imprisoned. Each prisoner is in solitary confinement with no means of communicating with the other. The prosecutors lack sufficient evidence to convict the pair on the principal charge, but they have enough to convict both on a lesser charge. Simultaneously, the prosecutors offer each prisoner a bargain. Each prisoner is given the opportunity either to betray the other by testifying that the other committed the crime, or to cooperate with the other by remaining silent. The offer is:
If A and B each betray the other, each of them serves two years in prison
If A betrays B but B remains silent, A will be set free and B will serve three years in prison (and vice versa)
If A and B both remain silent, both of them will only serve one year in prison (on the lesser charge).

Edit
I don't think the following analysis applies:
It would not "solve" the problem, because the contract would not be enforceable. See this question on enforceability. In particular, Lachman v. Sperry-Sun Well Surveying Company, 457 F.2d 850

A bargain, performance of which would tend to harm third persons by
deceiving them as to material facts, or by defrauding them, or without
justification by other means is illegal.

But I do not think that analysis applies because there is no deception or fraud involved. Both parties have a fifth amendment right to not self-incriminate. The agreement would be for both parties to exercise their constitutionally protected rights by remaining silent. Prosecutors often solve this with immunity agreements for "unindicted co-conspirators" plus subpoenas to compel testimony and otherwise cooperation with investigation. However, I don't think that tactic can displace an individual's constitutionally protected right to "remain silent."


texts: What avenues exist for licensing software code to one's employer while retaining the rights to use it in other projects?

texts:
Let's say someone works on personal software projects on their own time while also working for a software company. One day a situation arises such that the source code of one of these personal projects would be very useful within the context of the employee's primary job.
What legal avenues exist for the employee to include the source code in the employer's codebase while also retaining the right to use the source code in future projects of their own?
Let's also say, the employer is based in NY and the employee works from home in MA. And, there's no clause in their job contract that would imply the employer automatically gains the rights to code the employee writes on their own time.
One such avenue would probably be to release the source code as open source under the MIT license, for example. This should work, but presumably will require that the the employer permanently include the MIT license text inside their codebase if the source code needs to be altered to fit their needs.
Are there other ways?


texts:
In Federal Rules of Civil Procedure what is the purpose of getting Protective Orders from discovery request?

Same question ask another way.  What are Protective Orders intended to protect the asking party from?

Thanks in advance.


texts: At what point in a US airport have I been "admitted" to the US for legal purposes?

texts:
I understand that prior to crossing being admitted to the US the rights I take for granted on US soil do not apply to me. But it isn't clear to me when passing through a US airport where "admission" has occured. Unlike, for example, the UK, where clear signage unambiguously marks an actual border, US airports have a confusing series of stages to pass through.

At what point in passing through these stages have I technically been admitted to the US, and acquired the full legal protections I expect there?


texts: In Australia, Is it legal to sign a document as somebody else?

texts:
I have received several documents from a company demanding money (incorrect sums of it). I noticed that while the document always contains the same persons name on the signature line there appears to be 3 different signatures between documents (like other people signed them for him).

Is it legal to send a document with your signature claiming to be somebody else?
Is it legal to allow somebody to sign a document "for you" (using your name)?
Is it legal for a single individual to use multiple signatures when signing legal documents (ie, is there a requirement your signature be identifiable or consistent)?


texts: Is lawyer going to be prosecuted if it is proven that he/she certainly knew that his/her client is guilty but continued to deny it in court?

texts: If, say, during the process a client, who is accused of committing a murder, admits that he did it to the lawyer and demonstrates some undeniable proofs, like video of him committing a murder in a private conversation, but asks the lawyer to prove that he didn't commit it and the lawyer follows the demand, withholds the evidence and lies and makes his/her arguments to the court that his/her client is innocent. If all the aforementioned actions are disclosed (especially the part about the evidence), are there any problems that may arise for the lawyer?


texts: Is a social media bot/user script illegal?

texts:
Say there is a desktop application software with the purpose of automating certain tasks on social media sites and the developer plans to operate in the US.

The desktop application essentially opens websites in a webview (just like a browser would) and runs various JS commands such as navigating, clicking and typing.

The program never collects personal information or login details from users, it simply asks the user to login normally and then it begins interacting with the website through the same window that the user is already using naturally.

The program never accesses any restricted files, only what is public on the web, and then interacts with it. The program never modifies any files on external servers.

Example:

  it CAN naturally navigate Facebook and click the like button
  it WONT send packets or code to change likes on Facebook servers
  it DOES use automation to help real users interact with other people's content
  it DOES NOT assist users in creating fake accounts or providing false information to social media sites

Thank you in advance, if there is any more information that would be helpful, let me know.


texts: What is the US standard for reasonable detention duration for immigration checks?

texts:
The CBP has the authority to conduct inspections within 100 miles of borders.  This region engulfs major cities (NYC, LAX, etc.) as well as populous states like Florida.  If the response to an agent's inquiry regarding citizenship is that the response indicates citizenship and there is an absence of probable cause (criminal or immigration-wise):  What is the thought process to decide what is or is not a reasonable detention duration?

I would like to understand the thought process & standard so as to apply it to the Galicia detention.

It should be noted that the ACLU indicates US citizens are not required to carry proof of citizenship.


texts: Does California maintain its own record of minor traffic tickets incurred by out-of-state drivers?

texts:
Convictions for reportable moving violations in California are reported to the CA DMV [1]. For drivers licensed in California, this will result in a number of points, dependent on the specific violation, being assigned to the driver's record [2]. However, if the driver is not licensed in California, the violation will be reported to the state in which he/she is licensed [3], and certain states do not assess points for minor out-of-state violations (e.g. MA [4], PA [5]).

In the case of a driver licensed in one of these states being convicted of such a minor moving violation in California, does California maintain its own record, so that if the driver subsequently moves to California and becomes licensed there, these points would be applied to his or her record?

Unfortunately I cannot directly link to the cited sources above due to lack of reputation. Instead, I have collected relevant links in a GitHub Gist here. I'd be grateful if someone could edit these into the question.


texts: Regarding Canada Sponsor eligibility for Parents and Grandparents

texts:
Under the Canadian Parents and Grandparents sponsorship program, one of the eligibility requirements for the sponsor is that "they must be earning above a certain threshold salary for 3 tax years before applying to sponsor under the program." See this.
I wanted to know whether the prospective sponsor is required to show sufficient earning in Canada necessarily? Would it suffice to show that the sponsor has been earning above the threshold since 1 year in Canada and since the 2 years before that in the US?
My question is, that if I am earning above the threshold in the US for 2 years now (or take 1 year), can I meet the requirement by working and earning above that threshold in Canada for 1 year (or 2 year respectively?)
Kindest regards.


texts: Paying Kindergarten for the kid of my wife

texts:
Currently living in Germany (Baden Württemberg) and married to a German girl having a kid.

Before, my wife was not working, so the country was paying the kindergarten for her kid, but now as married, I am paying for the kindergarten for her kid.

Under German law am I liable for the child's education costs even though I am not the biological father?


texts: Why was the Equity of Redemption = property worth — still owing mortgage debt? And not only the latter?

texts:
Source: Introduction to Law in Canada (2014). pp. 288 Bottom - 289 Top.

    In simplified terms, a mortgage is a kind of charge against land that secures a debt owed
  by the landowner. The modern concept of a mortgage differs from the traditional concept.

  Traditionally, a mortgage involved transferring the landowner's title to the land to the lend-
  er. The lender would hold this title as security against the loan, with a promise to transfer
  title back to the owner once the latter had repaid the mortgage loan in full. If the owner/borrower (the mortgagor) missed a payment or otherwise went into default, the lender (the
  mortgagee, often a bank) was entitled to keep the land unconditionally. However, in equity, the mortgagor was given a period of time to come up with the balance—in other words,
  a redemption period (see the discussion of the Court of Chancery, in Chapter 2). The owner's right to redeem his property came to be known as the mortgagor's "equity of redemption"; it was valued at the worth of the property minus the amount of the mortgage debt still
  owing. Hence we now refer to a property owner's "equity" in the property, which refers to
  the net market value of his unencumbered interest in the property.

Why wasn't the Equity of Redemption instead only the amount of the mortgage debt still
owing? This is what the mortgagor must pay, NOT the sentence coloured in gray.


texts: Sweden, evicting a flatmate whose name is not on the lease

texts:
Me and my two flatmates are renting an apartment from our landlord through an agency. The only name on the lease is the one of Flatmate 1: each month we give him the money and he pays the whole rent to the agency. Flatmate 2 has been acting terribly since the start of the pandemic situation and endangering us, for example: going to public places when we asked her not to, not washing hands, taking trips, etc.

Also considering Sweden's response to corona, I am afraid we don't have legal grounds to kick her out. But since her name is not on the lease and it's basically as if Flatmate 1 is letting us stay here, how does it work? Is it legal to just give maybe a two weeks/one month notice to her and tell her to find another place in that time? Or is there a timeline we need to respect to not face legal consequences? Thank you very much.


texts: Is begging a laid-off employee to stay an offer of employment?

texts:
About a month ago, I asked a question over on Workplace. TL;DR: I was informally told I was being laid off, but when I asked HR about rights and benefits, they were totally unaware of any layoff.
Looks like I was right to be suspicious, because there was no layoff. Now my immediate supervisor is begging me to "extend" my employment. I've already given them an extra two weeks. (I guess I'll find out on the 19th whether I'm actually being paid...) Now I'm being asked for another "extension."
I've already made financial and personal decisions with the understanding that I'm being laid off. My supervisor does not have unilateral authority to make job offers. Does being asked to "extend" after being "laid off" constitute a job offer for purposes of claiming unemployment? In other words, if I refuse to be jerked around like this, have I "quit"?


texts: How do I blow the whistle for discrimination that I'm part of and partially responsible for?

texts:
DP = Discriminated Person

I've spent the last several years helping multiple Silicon Valley, Austin and other tech companies discriminate against qualified persons of color, females, and the disabled. I'm tired of it. I want to blow the whistle, but what should I watch out for?

Not saying I'm proud of it, but I want to blow the whistle on how it was done. Here are some of the ways I helped do this:

Create "unicorn" job listings that very few people can actually fill. When a DP applicant applies and is not able to fulfill the strict job requirements, pass them up. However, when a non-DP applicant applies with a satisfactory level of experience and skills, take them.

In the event that a DP applicant matches a unicorn role (rare), interview them and require senior-level skills in multiple other disciplines for the role.
Ensure that the DP applicant is asked lots of obscure questions unrelated to the job. If they fail on a single question, it's enough to disqualify them from the process.

Punish DP candidates who make it through the hiring wall by giving them unrealistic goals and deadlines, and holding them to a much higher standard than everyone else. Usually they'll get fed up and quit, but if they don't we can fire them for "unsatisfactory performance." Never had an issue with constructive dismissals because we stack the "evidence" against them from the beginning. Many times we outright fabricate it.

If they somehow get past this, we just deny them promotions for various reasons.

Create strict "culture fit" rules that DP applicants generally can't fit into, and pass them up based on "not a cultural fit" reasons.

These controls basically ensure DP applicants never really get a chance, and if they do, everything is stacked against them. It helps the companies save lots of money on accommodations, and prevents a significant amount of lawsuits.

I've helped successfully defend against multiple EEOC lawsuits simply by showing the candidate was not qualified for the position, or didn't perform their job well enough. Either we stack the evidence against them from the beginning, or outright fabricate it.


texts: Focus on arson in New Mexico Constitution -- why? typo?

texts: In the State Constitution of New Mexico, Article II Section 24 Rights of Crime Victims, all the victims' rights are listed specifically for "a victim of arson" (see https://law.lclark.edu/live/files/7714-new-mexico). Why? Was this a typo that never got fixed? Did arson previously mean something more general than starting a fire? Did they want to particularly protect against arson for some reason? I assume that in reality other crime victims have similar protections, but why the focus on arson? Thx!


texts: W-4 filled out, no taxes take out of paycheck?

texts:
I filled out a w4 upon hire and employer never took taxes out of my check. Is it legal for them to have a w4 on file and not take taxes out your paycheck?

ETA: Exempt was not specified on the W-4 and no taxes were taken out of the paychecks at all.


texts:
I am getting spammed with marketing emails from Tough Mudder. Their unsubscribe link takes me to a page where I have to either accept the fact they will send me emails or unsubscribe from everything, including important event information that has been paid for.

http://communications.toughmudder.com/marketing/Global_OptOut

That page states "We'll be launching a preference center soon!" however, it has said that for as long as I can remember (over a year). I complained and they replied with "We unfortunately were not able to launch our preference center due to unforeseen circumstances."

I would like to receive important information about events I have paid for and opt out of all marketing emails. Do marketing emails require consent, if so are they breaking the law now that GDPR is active?


texts: Use of public DNS servers for private DDOS stress test

texts:
I read on this Cloudflare's blog post that hackers use misconfigured DNS servers to amplify their attacks.
The principle is to flood the DNS with queries, and "ask" the DNS to forward their answer to the victim to DDOS.

I planned a DDOS stress test at my company (with the agreement of my boss).
 I am pretty sure abusing DNS servers for my private audit is illegal,
but I cannot find terms and conditions for these DNS providers, so are there laws regulating the use of these services, to limit abuses.?

I am under the french jurisdiction, but if you have foreign example it may be interesting.


texts: Can I sue a company for testing Captcha when unsubscribing from email?

texts:
With all the data protection stuff these days I was wondering if it is possible to sue a company for making a user pass a CAPTCHA test when unsubscribing from email.

I don't know the law surrounding this issue but the user experience is horrendous:

I get an email that I don't want from a company I don't really care about into my personal inbox. They provide a link below, as legally mandated I believe, for me to be able to unsubscribe from their mailing list. I am directed to an external URL where most companies quickly confirm the saved preferences. Why should I need to pass a CAPTCHA when an email was clicked directly from my inbox? This is mostly hypothetical right now, but I am wondering if there are any laws (e.g., GDPR) that would make this actionable.


texts: Is arbitration an "action or proceeding"?

texts:
Section 1681h of the Fair Credit Reporting Act grants limited qualified immunity to creditors, stating that:

[...] no consumer may bring any action or proceeding in the nature of defamation, invasion of privacy, or negligence [...] except as to false information furnished with malice or willful intent"

It is well-established that such claims are prohibited in litigation. However, this statute was drafted in mid-1990s, prior to the ubiquity of arbitration clauses in consumer contracts. Does 1681h prohibit a consumer from stating such a claim in arbitration?


texts:
There are 4 people at this house. Drugs and a gun were found. The police decides to arrest and charge the person who was closer to the gun and drugs. DNA samples taken from the gun show two different dna fingerprints, but none belonging to the person they arrested.

Later, the police says the suspect confessed. The suspect says he didn't confess. There was no one around who can say if the confession is true or not.

I have three questions:

Can this so called confession be used against the suspect in court?
How can someone be charged with possession of drugs and a gun when he didn't have anything on him?
If the police came into an apartment to search without a warrant, can the case be thrown out?


texts: In international law, does the absence of individual responsibility for an act lead to an absence of state responsibility for the same act?

texts:
Say, a soldier acted in a particular manner which leads to the State being responsible under International Humanitarian Law. However, the soldier himself is deemed not to be responsible (say, due to mistake of fact). Will the State continue to be responsible for this act?

To me, it seemed somewhat weird to have a situation where no individual person is deemed responsible for an act, but the State still is. I sadly wasn't able to find much material looking at this question from this perspective.


texts: Is it illegal for a leasing agent to share previous tenants direct debit form?

texts:
I am a tenant of a residential property in Victoria Australia. I requested my rental ledger and direct debit form to apply for a new property.

My rental agent has (accidentally???) sent me the direct debit form for another tenant's property, which includes the full names of tenants, address, bank details, service agreement and signature for this property.

Was this illegal?


texts: Doctrine of balancing the relative conveniences of the parties

texts:
A defense claim of Equitable Estoppel is invoked:

...Claims are barred in part of by the Doctrine of Equitable
Estoppel...enforcing the Governing Documents as alleged by Petitioners
would be oppressive and unreasonable.  Furthermore Petitioner's claims
are barred by the doctrine of balancing the relative convenience of
the Parties

Despite Googling the matter, a simple explanation of the bolded notion is sought:

examples are helpful
links are appreciated

Although IANAL, an explanation at a STEM Bachelor's degree level is appreciated.


texts: Limitations for importing from China to US

texts:
If a US small business company would want to import products from China ( possibly tax-free or low-tax, mostly beauty, cosmetics and fashion products - below $10,000), what are the limitations, taxes, and procedures to follow?
Can you maybe refer me to the applicable law (e.g. USC)?


texts: Who has responsibility for tax records after the death of a tax preparation professional?

texts:
My girlfriend's grandmother recently passed away. She ran a tax preparation and accounting business out of her home. She was in possession of decades worth of tax forms (returns, etc.) and similar documents that belonged to clients over the years, many of who are inactive. We have been unable to get a straight answer about our obligations for handling these documents.

The accounts/clients from her business were sold to another woman. Is it legal for us to transfer everything to her possession?

What if she refuses to take the documents? Is it legal for us to destroy/shred/etc. the documents?

She was licensed/registered in Oregon, USA.

Update

After contacting the IRS a second time, and speaking with regulatory bodies in Oregon, we took the following actions:

The woman who purchased the active clients took possession of the relevant records.
Records older than 10 years could be destroyed (though we still chose to try to return them)
Individual records more recent than 10 years:

Attempted to contact the owners and allow them to retrieve their documents.
Provided a 7 day grace period to respond before destroying their records.

Commercial records more recent than 10 years:

Used the Oregon Secretary of State business search to find active businesses and offered to return the documents: Oregon SOS Business Search
Inactive businesses not associated with an individual client were destroyed

Food for thought:

About half of the businesses wanted the records, and the rest wanted them destroyed. Most individuals were very eager to retain their records, and grateful that we did not destroy them.


texts: Can you get sued for someone else modifying a website you own?

texts:
I own a website and domain and i've given someone access to modify it (developer). I am not a business and the person who has access is not paid for the job.

Recently the person who has access uploaded swastikas on the website. I was asleep at the time, so the swastikas were public for about 1-2 hours, after that i immediately removed them and also removed the persons access to modify the site. I live in germany where it is illegal to use symbols like a swastika (StGB § 86a).

Can i get sued for someone having put swastikas on my website for such a short period of time? And if yes, how bad would the punishment be?

Thank you for your time.


texts: Can I freely redistribute attachments in emails? [USA]

texts:
Say a friend sends me a 3 minute video of his family vacation in Hawaii.  Let's say the video is perfectly innocuous and has nothing compromising. Just boring family stuff.

I then forward it to a bunch of other people without his permission.

Is this legal? Does my friend have any grounds for legal action against me?


texts:
Does this contract meet the requirements to be enforced by a court? If not, what challenges might be raised?

Promissory Note
Principal Amount: £500.00 GBP
Date:

For value received, the undersigned (the “Promisor”) at _________, promises to pay to the order of _______(the “Promisee”) at ________ the sum of £500 shall the Promisor fail to meet his target of 47.5 work hours per week between 6th - 26th June 2016.

Sum shall be paid in full within seven days of the end date of said period.

This agreement will be governed and interpreted according to English law. All disputes and claims arising under the Agreement (including non-contractual disputes and claims) will be subjected to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Promissor (name):
Promissor (signature):
Date:


texts:
This is an entirely theoretical question, but I am not sure how it is explained.
Consider someone committed a crime, but due to lack of evidence the charges are dropped. A lot of people would say they are innocent, but that is not the case as they did commit the crime. But they were also not found guilty due to lack of evidence. They they are basically in no where land in the middle.
How is that explained legally?


texts: Is there tax in Michigan for packaged food (steaks) sold door to door?

texts: I had some guys come to my door last week to sell some frozen steaks in vacuum packages.  They said they would have to charge tax on the retail value.  Is this correct?


texts: When Does A Vehicle in Repossession Status Become GTA?

texts:
My question is when does a vehicle in repossession status become Grand Theft Auto?

I'm an IT professional living in Oregon where I work for a gov't agency.

Around January 2019, my co-worker, "Joe" had a mid-life crisis. He got divorced, quit his job and flew overseas to live with a woman he met on-line.

About 2 weeks ago, Joe returned. He's trying to find an IT job and eventually bring his fiancee over. My supervisor had lunch with him. Before Joe left, he told us he had bought 2 used vehicles. My supervisor said that Joe told him that he stopped paying on them when he left the country. He just called the loan company and asked if he could start paying on them. They said he could but it was too late - the repo paperwork had been issued.

Joe is living on a friend's rural property outside of town. He has the vehicles stashed there.  It doesn't sound like he's going to turn them in. I'm concerned that if he gets charged with two felonies, he'll have trouble getting a job flipping burgers, much less an IT job.


texts: If police collected evidence based off of a call they suspected, but couldn't prove, was fraudulant would the evidence be upheld?

texts:
I'm asking this hypothetical situation mostly as I was considering writing a story with the premise and want the story to be legally accurate, but also because I'm frankly curious how the law would handle such a situation.

Let's say someone (call him Bob) got sick of police being unable to act against individuals everyone 'knows' to be committing a crime due to lack of sufficient evidence to get a warrant.  One day he decides to take matters into his own hands and he calls into 911 with a made up claim that he witnessed a crime take place and a gunman drag someone into a known crack house.

As I understand it when the police arrive they will have sufficient justification to enter the crack house without a warrant to intervene with a crime believed to be in progress.  They won't find evidence of the original, made up, crime, but once they have entered the house they will likely see evidence of other crimes.  Since they were there in good faith the evidence of other crimes within 'plain sight' in the house would be fair game and could be used to make arrests and/or get a warrant to search the rest of the house for more evidence.  Despite the fraudulent nature of the original claim arrests could be made since Bob was not an agent of the police.  So far this is covering legal concepts I think I understand.

Now lets say that the police were never able to trace the original fraudulent call to Bob, and Bob gets it in his head to act as a the world's least interesting vigilante.  He starts regularly making fraudulent calls claiming to witness a crime in progress to the police to give them justification to enter locations that are commonly believed to have illegal activity within them in a hopes of helping the police to collect enough evidence to make arrests.

While Bob changes the number he is calling from and as much of his MO as he can each time the police would noticed a pattern of fraudulent claims and have reached the point that they can usually guess when a call is a fraudulent one made by Bob, but they can never be certain it's him or that a crime isn't actually happen.  Assume the police have actively stated they do not support or condone Bob's actions, have made a public plea for him to stop, and are trying (but failing) to find and arrest Bob as well.

I assume the police would continue to respond to the claims in case the call is real and a crime is actively in progress.  Is there a point where they would no longer possess sufficient cause to enter a premise to investigate a believed crime in progress due to their suspicion the crime may not be legitimate?  If they do have justification to continue to enter the premises then at what point, if ever, would evidence witnessed as a result of responding to the potentially fraudulent calls not be admissible?