texts:
Let's imagine there is a building on fire. And a girl is trapped on a 3rd floor. She jumps out of a window cause this is the only way to escape and lands on a fireman who just came to the site.

And.. Kills him by crushing into his body.

Can she be accused with involuntary manslaughter? Why/why not?


texts:
I am not a law professional, but before approaching a lawyer I would like to learn a bit about UK case law on right of way through neighbours' properties.

The facts: in the deeds of the property there is a right of way through a neighbour's property, set to be at least three feet wide. The same appears in the title deeds of the neighbour obtained from the land registry. Over the past year, the neighbour has reduced the walkable area to barely one and a half feet, and placed flowers beds, tools, and garbage partially obstructing the passage. They are also very unresponsive and insists in not clearing the way to the full three feet requirement despite repeated oral and written requests. In case, I need the whole three feet to transport construction and garden materials (including waste) to and from my property, and I find myself blocked at the moment.

The question:
I would like to learn what the reference cases are in this situation before I approach a lawyer. Previous legal experiences suggest that I do my own research first.

Where can I find such information?
What are the relevant cases I should read?
In particular, are there cases about enforcing a right of way to what is stated in the deeds?

My prior research:
I managed to find this information about right of way easements:

https://www.landregistry-titledeeds.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/information/private-rights-of-way.asp

but it did not quite address my question. I also found a few examples of how law firms successfully resolved disputes, but not what case law they referred to.


texts:
My real property instructor wrote, "Connecticut and Rhode Island are divided into geographic regions called counties, but they do not have functioning governments, as defined by the Census Bureau."

I live in New York.  I wonder what hat would be analogous to our counties in CT and RI?  (I asked my instructor but he declined to answer.)


texts: Can I leave an organization to bring an end to their contract to work directly with a company?

texts:
I work for an organization that holds a consultation agreement with a company. I work for the organization and directly assist the company. However, I will be the only employee working on the project (who happens to have extensive knowledge of the project, and hiring a new person would be costly). If I were to work directly for the company, it would cut many costs for them.

Currently their consultation agreement has no termination clauses, so from what I understand they can cancel within a reasonable notice. However, if I submitted a two week's notice to resign from the organization I work for, would the company be able to cancel the contract on terms that the organization failed to provide? I know this sounds a little evil, but it is honestly a positive benefit because the organization is taking very unfair advantage of the company.

Thanks!

Edit: additional info, I am the only employee after another major employee of the organization left due to improper management that had some affect on the company.


texts: When is making and selling "snake oil" illegal?

texts:
There's an interesting story in the news lately about a company selling "Bio-frequency healing" stickers, made from "the same material used in NASA space-suits", that supposedly heal us using some sort of energy. It's mainly in the news because of how obviously absurd the claims are, and even NASA has commented saying that the whole idea is scientifically laughable.

I'm sure these magic stickers don't cause much harm, if any, to the user. Would a company still be doing anything illegal by selling something which can be scientifically proven to not do what they claim it does?

I understand some related legal concepts, like a person not receiving a product as it was described (like a used car with undisclosed problems, in the "Lemon Law", for example). But I'm wondering if there's anything specifically related to this type of business?

To put it more simply: how and/or when is making and selling snake oil against the law?

Note: I am from the United States, but I would also be interested to hear other major countries' laws related to this issue.


texts: What happens if someone bounces a cheque in US?

texts:
From my knowledge, if A gives cheque to B and cheque bounces, then a warrant is issued against A.

Is the warrant issued anytime cheque bounces by default ?
Or B has to press charges against A for cheque to bounce ?


texts: Did Ready Player One have to get licenses for the usage of all its video game characters?

texts: Ready Player One is a recent book and upcoming movie that makes heavy usage of famous (and less famous) characters from video games (also movies and shows). Did the book have to get permissions and license from the copyright holders of all those creators? Would the upcoming movie have had to get fresh licenses for its usage? This sounds like it would be prohibitively expensive since they use many extremely popular characters.


texts: What happens to Rights and IPs after a company dissolve?

texts:
So I'm currently trying to figure out what happens to IPs, Copyright, Patents, Trademarks, etc. that a company owns, if said company decides to dissolve itself and cease all operations entirely.

Are these assets "lifted" and free of use? Are they still "Protected" for a certain period of time? Generally, what happens?

The question is in context of a company that developed an old PC video game from 2004, which then dissolved itself back in 2015.

I'm currently trying to figure out if the rights to use said "Game Assets" would be legal now, and if not, who to actually reach out to in the case of a company no longer existing or operating at all.


texts:
A person is serving a sentence for a felony in Texas. They serve a while and are released on probation (not parole). One of the conditions of probation is that they not drink alcohol.

During the probation they are arrested for a class C misdemeanor public intoxication.

The person notifies their probation officer. The probation officer can revoke the probation and send them back to prison.

I'm sure this plays out a lot. But my questions are:

How does this work given that an arrest is just an accusation and not a conviction. If the person was really not guilty in this case; and was just sleepy or groggy on prescription medication?

The person was sitting in a car in a parking lot waiting for someone to come and get into the car and drive them home. They weren't really public.

If the class C could be dismissed by the court, would it help try to make sure the probation isn't revoked?


texts: In the US are jurors actually judging guilt?

texts:
Is it true that in US law jurors are not actually judging guilt, but rather whether the case against a person has been made in accordance with the concepts of all reasonable doubt? This meaning that US laws allows the possibility for an innocent person with an inept defense to be found guilty and also a guilty person faced with an inept prosecution being found innocent.
Is this concept discussed somewhere in the US Constitution maybe?


texts: Is it tax fraud for an individual to declare non-taxable revenue as taxable income? (US tax laws)

texts:
Hypothetically, A wants to pay B a considerable amount of money.

In order to reduce the paper trail, A pays me the money and I transfer it to B.

To further obscure the paper trail, I declare the payment from A as income for work (non-existent) done by me for A, enter it on my US Income Tax return as taxable income, and pay the resulting tax.

I have submitted a false tax return, but it leads to an increase in tax paid.  Is it still a crime?

Edit: No money laundering.  A legally possesses  the money and has a perfectly legal (and very private) reason to pay it to B.


texts: Which local bylaw allowed the Wigan Casino to host all-nighters?

texts:
The Wigan Casino night club (1973-1981) was central to the Northern Soul movement. Club goers were known to use amphetamines so they could dance and enjoy music until morning. In the documentary This England by Tony Palmer, a young man being interviewed claims that it was a loophole in a local bylaw that allowed the Wigan to host all nighters: https://youtu.be/MDTL57_lmgE?t=562 (his claim is at 9:22)

  "I don't think the fact that it's Wigan is terribly important. It's just that it's an easy place to get to. And with a slip up in the local bylaws, the Casino can stay open all night from Saturday to Sunday, as long as it doesn't serve any alcohol."

The police were fully aware of amphetamine use at the Casino, shown in this news article (halfway down the page) which was posted on a Northern Soul fan forum. The relevant quote is:

  A drug squad officer is sticking to his claim that 98 percent of youngsters at Wigan Casino’s “all-nighters” are on drugs. […] Casino owner Gerry Marshall yesterday condemned the officer’s statements as ‘utterly ridiculous.’ “There is no drugs problem at Wigan Casino. We have our own Casino drugs squad made up of our own people and they sort anything out. We have only thrown out half a dozen people whom we have suspected of taking drugs.” said Mr. Marshall.
  A police spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said D.c. Swallow was preparing a report for the Chief Constable following the Recorder’s comments. A Wigan Council spokesman said they had not received the letter from West Yorkshire police but added: 'We can only act if there has been a breach of the terms of the lease.'

Although the article mentions 'West Yorkshire' police, the Wigan seems to have been under the jurisdiction of Greater Manchester police in its later years. As pointed out by user Henry in the comments below,

  Wigan would have been covered by the Lancashire Constabulary from 1969
  to 1974 and Wigan Borough Police before 1969.

Given that the police had checkpoints in the area to search clubbers, nearby chemist shops were broken into, and drugs were increasingly criminalized, it’s hard to imagine how the venue survived merely because of a local loophole.

Which law would have allowed the Casino to continue hosting all-nighters, despite disgruntled local authorities?


texts: What's the difference between a single solid white line and a double solid white line?

texts:
What's the difference between a solid white line and a double solid white line on the United States?

I read on https://www.wwinjurylaw.com/blog/2016/november/can-i-cross-over-the-solid-double-white-lines-ne/

  California Vehicle Code Section 21460 (b): Double white lines. (b) If double parallel solid white lines are in place, a person driving a vehicle shall not cross any part of those double solid white lines, except as permitted in this section or Section 21655.8.

That sounds the same as a single solid white line to me. I'm mostly interested in California.


texts: Would Germany extradite someone for looking at blasphemous content online? Hypothetical question.

texts: If someone watched or looked up something online that is offensive to a particular world religion, and he was in an "unfree" country and then he travelled to Germany, would Germany  extradite him upon request from the country he was in? What if it was very offensive/blasphemous? Hypothetical question.


texts:
If a group of friends goes out several miles into Everglades National Park and does some target shooting. Are they violating Florida Statute 790.15?

What about if they were on any "Public" land that is NOT a national park?
What about if they were on "Private" land?


texts: Is it legal in India to sedate someone without consent and put them in an ambulance?

texts:
Suppose you have a family member who has a serious issue (like alcoholism or drug addiction) which they refuse to get help for, and it gets to the point where they pose a serious threat to themselves.  Then would it be legal to give them a sedative without their knowledge to put them to sleep, and then call an ambulance to take them to the hospital?

The country whose laws I'm interested in is India.


texts: Clean Hands doctrine and Plausible Deniability

texts:
There is a question on the Superuser forum wherein a bad actor is trying to trick someone into connecting to an access point, presumably so they can sniff information.   They are doing this by setting up an access point with a very similar name to their victim.

Were the victim to turn the tables and deliberately make use of the provided connection, using a VPN to neutralise the threat, would they have "plausible deniability" being that the name of the access points were very similar (but bearing in mind they are using a VPN)?

Also, assuming this matter ever went to a court (which I assume is unlikely), could the user use a defense that the other party did not have clean hands?  Would it matter if it was dealt with as a Criminal and Civil matter ?

I'm interested in the general concepts underpinning these concepts more then explicit statutes, so pick a jurisdiction if it can help the mental processes!


texts: What was the rationale to have the US Bill of Rights only apply at the federal level, not at the state-level?

texts:
Originally, the US Bill of Rights did not apply at the state level; only the federal level. For instance, the right for a criminal to be represented by counsel, granted by the 6th Amendment, did not originally apply to state level criminals.

The process of incorporation of the Bill of Rights reversed this and made these rights apply to state level. But why wasn't it this way to begin with? What was the original rationale to have the Bill of Rights only apply to the federal level?


texts: What is the Copyright situation with Foreign games like Mahjong?

texts:
I've been working on a pc/mobile game that deals with various party games, and I'm hesitant to start adding in any well known games like Mahjong or Shogi because I am unable to find any concrete answers on what the copyright situation is.
I've been able to find some analogous information on things like chess, where the art/rulebook/pieces are copyrighted, but the board and moves are not, so you can change what the pieces look like and face no legal issues.
I've also seen things like with Disney and the Grim Fairytales, where the Fairytales are technically public domain, the adaptations are not, so various parts of them are subject to Disney's copyright. They may not be able to win a case, but they could bankrupt you in court if they so desired.
I assume the case is similar with Mahjong because it's thousands of years old, but the pieces art could be copyrighted, so I would have to make similar but not identical art?
I know there's no cut and dry answer to this, but any food for thought would be appreciated. Thanks in advance guys!!


texts: At what point does "peaceably" in the First Amendment not apply with regard to unlawful assembly?

texts:
Background
In some U.S. States such as New York, there are laws against unlawful assembly like the law described below:

240.10 Unlawful assembly. A person is guilty of unlawful assembly when he assembles with four or   more  other  persons  for the purpose of
engaging or preparing to engage   with them in tumultuous and  violent
conduct  likely  to  cause  public   alarm,  or  when,  being  present
at  an  assembly  which either has or   develops such purpose, he
remains there  with  intent  to  advance  that   purpose.
Unlawful assembly is a class B misdemeanor.

I can see how committing the crimes themselves are, from the view of a common person like me, illegal. But simply assembly seems to push a grey area of the  first amendment of the United States Constitution:

Amendment I

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

At what point does "peaceably" not apply to an assembly? Maybe in the "clearly comitting a crime" situation I stated above may cross that line.  But specifying which kind of speech is threatening would then require dealing with another grey area of the first amendment: abridging freedom of speech. It is this unclear area of assembly that has primed  me to ask the question:
Question
At what point is "peaceably" no longer applicable to an assembly with regard to the "unlawful assembly" laws in the United states?


texts: 4th Amendment Electronics Data Privacy at Borders

texts:
What are the contours of when electronic devices (phone / laptop) can be searched / seized?  Specifically:

An American lands in JFK and CBP demands to search electronics, under what circumstances does the authority have standing to search / seize (review & copy) the information in the device?  Assume that the citizen has not committed any criminal act nor is she acting suspicious or setting of any flags.  Does the 4th amendment requiring searches / seizures to be reasonable no longer apply at border checkpoints?

What are the contours of expecting privacy in this scenario?


texts: Is it illegal for the US government to compete with private industry?

texts:
I've heard several people say that it's illegal for the US government to compete with private industry. The specific context was about developing and providing software (desktop programs, mobile apps) that would be a direct competitor to products that are already available on the commercial market.

I tried to do some research to find the official wording of this law or policy, but couldn't find anything. I did find that Sen. Thune is trying to introduce S.506 - Freedom from Government Competition Act but it doesn't seem that Act has been passed/enacted at this time. So, are there currently rules about this?


texts: Friend wants to put me on his insurance, how can this bite me in the ass if we get into an accident?

texts:
UNITED STATES, WASHINGTON STATE, PIERCE COUNTY, TACOMA CITY
I have a house mate who is disabled due to a stroke and cannot drive his car. He suggested to me that I can drive his car and in return i can use the car to get groceries. He said that he wants to put me on his insurance and that he would need my full name and a copy of my drivers license. I told him I would think about it.
Could this cause me any problems if things go wrong? For instance if we get into an accident? My license is fine, it's active, current, and not suspended or revoked. I just want to ask if it is legal for me to use his car with his permission if I were to use it to get groceries when he is not in the car with me.


texts: Why didn't Nicholas Sandman name any individuals in his lawsuit against the Washington Post?

texts:
Why didn't Nicholas Sandman (Sandmann v. WP Company LLC, Dist. Court, ED Kentucky 2019) name the individuals working at the Washington Post who published the alleged libelous statements, as parties to the his lawsuit?

What was the advantage gained by not naming them?


texts: Is it legal to use pictures I take of places on a website without the property owner's permission?

texts:
First off, this question could probably be worded better. Here's my situation:

I'm a web developer and am creating a template to sell on a popular online marketplace called themeforest.net. The demo of this template is going to mimick a golf course website and is mainly geared toward golf course owners looking to create a website for their course.

Here's an example of a similar template.

I have a ton of high res pictures over the years of golf courses and instead of buying some to use I figured I could just use the ones I've taken myself.

My question is that I'm not sure if I can use these pictures without the individual golf courses permission.

I found a similar question here although that particular one was more for taking pictures of people's homes.

The pictures would be included to use for free in the templates I sell.


texts:
I've come across the term Transition Bond Company, and I'm trying to figure out what it is – in relatively plain English, since I lack any legal background whatsoever.

The context in which I've seen the term used is in connection to regulated utility companies in the US (e.g., electric companies).

Any explanation?


texts:
This question has been asked before, but it doesn't bring up several important points. As things currently stand, deleting a Facebook message only removes it from your inbox but the recipient still has access to it (unless they delete it as well). If the recipient doesn't delete your message, it will stay on Facebook's servers indefinitely. The best argument for not forcing Facebook to delete messages from both sides is that the recipient may still want to have access to them later. There are also potential criminal issues to consider. If the message is in anyway connected to illegal activity, authorities may want to have access to it in the future. However, these are some points to consider:

1) All computer systems are susceptible to hacking. There have already been several data breaches related to Facebook messages. If Facebook can't keep our data secure, they're obligated to remove it at some point.

2) Never in the course of human history has everything you said been saved and recorded forever. At some point, it's reasonable to want your data to no longer be accessible.

As far as illegal activity is concerned, there are other ways to mitigate crime. And with regards to the rights of the recipient, they can save and store the messages for posterity's sake. However, that doesn't mean messages have to be on Facebook's servers forever.

So here's my question: Is anyone anywhere trying to litigate this? At the very least, can Facebook be required to create an easy mechanism for deletion? For example, allowing for automatic deletion requests to be sent to both parties? By the way, Mark Zuckerburg already has this feature. https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/6/17203114/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-messages-deleted-messenger-inbox


texts: How unique does a name need to be in order to have it trademarked?

texts:
With the amount of information and ideas on the Internet, it is difficult to come up with words (even fabricated ones) that haven't been used in some context before.  Let's say that in the course of creating a corporation, the person filing the paperwork searches the Internet for their proposed business name (and trademark).  There are likely some search hits: a college project from a few years back, a fictional weapon from some online novel, or a project name from an abandoned (and never trademarked) system from a small company.

Does the entity incorporating move on to even more obscure names, or are they safe using their chosen (and rare and untrademarked) name?


texts: Do default Apache logs violate the GDPR?

texts:
Joe is a completely novice Web developer who sets up an Apache server on its defaults, which include collection of log files which basically say "this specific file was requested by this specific IP address using this specific client string at this specific time, and the request succeeded/failed."   Joe might not even be aware of this logging and might not ever use it.

Joe's Web site is Web 1.0: information published in a form others can read.  It has no capabilities for typical users to create an account, log in, or enter data beyond the HTTP GET requests their browser automatically sends when the user navigates to/from/on the site.  It doesn't even need cookies.

Joe's server and operations are outside the EU and his primary target audience may be too (e.g. Joe is a local activist in a non-EU country, and the Web site is that of the activist group, or a small nonprofit, or even a local restaurant which might serve ethnic food from a specific European tradition).  However, it may be that some people in the EU are interested in what Joe is saying/doing, and visit Joe's web site to read what's posted there.

This page and others I've seen indicates that IP addresses are considered personal information under GDPR.  It seems that Joe's server is collecting that data without notice and consent from each user.

It doesn't seem that this site would qualify as "purely personal" in the same way as a personal blog might.

Is Joe in violation of GDPR, just for having posted a simple Web site with an Apache server on defaults?


texts: Does failure to mention mean exemption in taxation

texts:
I've got some legal question, this might be just a semantic/language question. My colleagues and I have been arguing about this for some time now, because there's some level of ambiguity in the legal article below:

Context :

The company is a non-stock/non profit international organization, therefore there are globally and locally recruited staff.

Problem :

Assuming that this is the only legal article encompassing taxation, and no other mentions can be found, particularly in no. 3, wherein it states there that Non-Filipino citizens are exempt from paying income taxes.

It explicitly states that non-Filipino - European, American etc. are exempt. But does this imply that Filipino citizens are required to pay income taxes? I mention required with the common understanding that all individuals receiving compensation/income by definition are "profiting" from the employment.

There are no mentions of Filipino being "required" or "exempted", thus the ambiguity on whether Filipino citizens should pay or not.


texts: Using #hashtag on social media - does trademark protection apply and is it possible to get sued for damages?

texts:
Due to trademarks I cannot call my new company AppleComputers or CocaColaBeverages (obviously).

What if I start using #AppleComputers hashtag in my tweets or posts on Instagram?

In other words: Is using a #hashtag of a trademark infringement?

I think that this area of law is new and there might not be many precedents...

Bonus question: Does the intention matter? What if I make it clear that I'm not associated with Apple? Even if in my mind I make it clear, who decides (Judge, Jury, Attorney, Prosecutor) whether it was clear enough?

EDIT / UPDATE: An example (just made it out) might be Greenpeace using #StopShell #StopExxon #StopBP #StopFossilFuels... My general question is use of the hashtag in social media channels. Domain / website can be seized but the hashtag will prevail...

(the concept of creating resilient channel of communication)


texts: Legality regarding Medals of Honor in motion pictures/television series

texts:
As I understand, per 18 U.S. Code § 704 - Military medals or decorations, it is illegal to produce replicas of Medals of Honor, or any United States military decorations.

However, as I have seen in a multitude of American motion pictures and television series, Medals of Honor along with other medals appear frequently.

I would like to know how it is legal for the production to either produce or own such replicas.


texts:
Can I sue from California, in small claim court, someone in England who is British?

I live in California and this guy sometimes comes to CA for business. He stole money from me in the U.S.


texts: Where can I find a list of companies that aggressively sue over copyright infringement?

texts:
I am hoping to find a list of companies that aggressively sue or have sued over copyright infringement. For example, a quick Google search shows a number of lawsuits by Disney.

Does anyone know where to find such a list?


texts: What happens if a person has evidence that an accused party is innocent, but to give that evidence would be self-incriminatory?

texts:
Suppose that Person A is accused of a crime. Person B (unbeknownst to anybody but themselves) actually committed the crime. Suppose further that Person B is called as a witness in the case of Person A.

Would there be a way for Person B to make it apparent to the court that any conviction of Person A for the crime would be invalid, without simultaneously putting themselves on the hook for the crime?

I am asking this primarily in the context of the right to avoid self-incrimination. Could Person B say something along the lines of "I know for a fact that Person A is not guilty of this crime, but I refuse to explain why I know that, on grounds that it would incriminate me". Or, is there no way for the court to accept that Person A's conviction would be unsafe, whilst simultaneously respecting Person B's fifth amendment rights?


texts: How soon after relocating is it possible to file a lawsuit in a federal district court?

texts:
In the US, if I relocate from one judicial district to another judicial district in another state — how soon after relocating is it possible to file a lawsuit in a federal district court?
(I plan to sue the federal government over a citizenship application being processed beyond the time frame set by the federal law)


texts: Can I use a workaround I developed to bypass the internet filter at work?

texts:
I found a workaround (by writing some code) to bypass the internet filter at work.
Is that considered hacking? Or perhaps violating the company's rules.
Am I the one to be blamed for finding a loophole or is it the filter-team to blame since they didn't do a very good job blocking them.


texts: Do TAA members have to use TAA lease contract?

texts:
It appears that the TAA Apartment Lease Contract could only be used by a TAA Member.

However, what about the other way -- does a TAA Member have to use the TAA Lease Contract?


texts: Outside of regular self defence, when is fighting legal?

texts:
I know this is a weird question. I'm curious as to what counts as assault, in the sense a person would be likely found guilty of it in court. Generally assault is considered fighting someone who did not want to fight you. So does this mean if two people agree to a fight, it's legal? This seems to be the case with MMA where there wear virtually no safety equipment.

What if an aggressor gets up in another persons face, then would the person be able to hit first? I saw this in a youtube video: a police officer responded to a 911 call. The person who he called was a army drill sergeant and started yelling at the police officer and getting up in his face (like in movies like Full Metal Jacket). Though the drill sergeant technically didn't touch the police officer, the officer hit him in the face, pinned him and arrested him. Though there were other factors like the drill instructor seemed to be on drugs.

If a person does something minor like throws water at a person or shoves a person would that count as assault? For example in sports games you occasionally see a player or coach shove someone. If there was a prank like shoot someone with a water gun, could this be assault if they didn't agree to it?


texts: Can a company restrict the period in which a contract termination can be submitted?

texts:
I live in Germany and have a yearly contract for the Adobe Creative Cloud. This contract can only be canceled 30 days before the one year period ends. They say, that a termination notice prior to those 30 days cannot be noted in their system.

Are companies allowed to restrict the period in which I can submit a termination request to cancel a contract?


texts: Legality of second-hand selling and swapping

texts:
I was wondering if there are any restrictions in some parts of the world to sell second-hand/share items such as books/CDs due to copyright/intellectual properties?
I'm asking because I know that in my country selling such items or giving it to people is legal because it is just considered as selling one copy of your personal item and not copying the info inside of it.


texts: What counts as "Reisebedarf" at German gas stations?

texts:
According to the Ladenschlussgesetz, gas stations in Germany are allowed to be opened during the night and Sundays, but are only allowed to sell gas, car things (like oil) that are needed for people to travel onwards and

  Reisebedarf

(my attempt at a translation: travel necessities)

Now, I have been at a gas station on Sundays and at night many times and it did not appear like they change what they sell for those times. Meaning they still sell, for example, alcohol, frozen pizzas, flowers, shaving gel, etc.

Is "Reisebedarf" defined anywhere?


texts: What to do about neighbor's dangerous retaining wall

texts:
Several years ago, a neighbor built a retaining wall on the property line.  It is a really cheap retaining wall and made from wood.  The wood is now rotten and the wall is falling apart.  Worse, cars are parked on top of the retaining wall.

The neighbor just put his house up for sale.  I'd rather force the current owner to deal with it than the new owner.

The current owner is not a reasonable person so I don't expect him to do anything voluntarily.

Any suggestions for how to force the neighbor to fix the wall before sale?


texts: What laws are void when one goes out of their way to do something?

texts:
I want to ask for various examples where something is typically legal, but becomes illegal when someone forces or manipulates a situation as a loophole around the law. For example, if someone from a state with an age of consent at 18 crosses state borders to have sex with a minor because their states age of consent is 16, in this case we'd call that sex tourism.
Are there other such examples? I'm particularly interested in the Kenosha shooting situation because it's very clear the teenager crossed state borders to antagonize protesters solely to force a self-defense situation. Is forcing or manipulating a situation just to have an excuse to use lethal force against the law?


texts: What makes laws against wearing masks constitutional?

texts:
Related to this question, "Does a statute of limitation apply to Virginia's mask law?"; how does the law in question pass constitutional muster?

The law states:

  It shall be unlawful for any person over 16 years of age to, with the intent to conceal his identity, wear any mask, hood or other device whereby a substantial portion of the face is hidden or covered so as to conceal the identity of the wearer, to be or appear in any public place, or upon any private property in this Commonwealth without first having obtained from the owner or tenant thereof consent to do so in writing.

There are exceptions to the law for holiday costumes, professions, safety and bona fide theatrical productions or masquerade balls.

How is this law not a violation of the first amendment?

If I want to protest for or against President Trump and decide to wear a Trump mask, isn't that speech protected by the first amendment?

Does constitutionality rest on my intent? I'm not intending to conceal my identity even though that is the result. My intent is to make a political statement, which is clearly a constitutionally protected right.


texts: If I take FMLA and use sick time and vacation time during my leave, would I still be able to receive any monies from NYS thru its Paid Family Leave? Or since I am being paid, I would not be eligible for additional remuneration.


texts: Under COPPA, if a person says their age on a site and apparently were younger than 13 when they joined, does the site have to do anything?

texts:
If a user on a website with a 13+ age rule as required by The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, such as Stack Exchange, signs up in year 1, then says in year 3 that they are less than 15 (and thus were less than 13 when they signed up), does the company running the site legally have to do anything, such as deleting the data from before they were 13?

I know that this law is de facto almost powerless; I'm just curious about how it's supposed to work.


texts: Does copyright on a resume prevent you from sharing it?

texts:
As I understand it a resume is automatically considered the intellectual property of its author, and the author has a right to determine how it will be copied ie. distributed. Does this actually hold any practical significance?

Does this mean that when someone sends you their resume, it is unlawful to pass it on to others unless the author gives permission?
Can you get sued if the resume finds its way to someone the author did not intend to see it, and the author suffers some harm as a result?
Is distributing a resume in the context of professional networking considered as implicit consent to allow sharing with anyone under the US legal system?


texts:
I just read this article because I am interested in the Wild West that is Drone regulation.

At several points in that article, the term privacy is used (privacy regulations, privacy stakeholders, and so on), but without any concrete specifics, such as:

  The NTIA ... said that the [their] underlying goal is to help stakeholders prepare a set of guidelines for drone use, but not impose the guidelines on drone users.

This is so utterly vague! Privacy can mean a lot of things, such as:

The collection of, storage and access to flight and other recorded data during drone operation; or
Regulations/policies surrounding where drones can fly (over private property airspace or not); or
A drone/drone operator's right to reveal information about themselves mid-flight (for instance, can the FAA or an air traffic controller interrogate drones for identification, metadata, etc.)?

So I ask, from a regulatory/legal perspective, what does the phrase privacy stakeholder mean, and how might it apply to this article, and more generally, to the drone industry?


texts: What is a contract and what is required for them to be valid?

texts:
What is a contract?

What elements are required for validity?


texts: Does war with a national debt holder affect national debt

texts: Theoretically, if the US went to war with a country who held its debts, does that affect the debt?


texts: How do I get a wellness check done on my sister?

texts: I live in Las Vegas NV.  I need a wellness check done on my sister who lives in Red Bank, NJ.  She is elderly and her son is trying to control her and her money. Will the police go check on her?


texts:
On October 2, 1937 the Marijuana Tax Act was enacted. On this same day, a man named Samuel R. Caldwell was arrested by federal agents for selling Marijuana to Moses Baca, who was also arrested.

Is this still allowed, whether federally or on the state level? Can you be arrested the day a law is enacted?


texts: Are "non performing" loans still "secured?"

texts:
Let's say a borrower lends most of the value of a house to a borrower. The lender does so because s/he can use the house as collateral for the loan.

Suppose the borrower goes into default/nonpayment for a number of months, or years. Does the lender have a time limit to repossess the house before s/he loses the house as security, especially if there are "Junior" mortgages behind it?

Suppose the original lender sells the loan after the borrower has stopped paying. Is the loan "impaired" in any way for the new buyer? Specifically, does the new buyer who bought a "non-performing" loan retain the security in the house?


texts: Clauses for collecting payment before the contract effective date

texts:
I'm new to contract law and have a scenario where I need to draft a digital contract to collect payment as soon as contract is signed but remaining terms of the contract will become effective some time in future.
From what I have read so far, it looks like a contract can have different contract execution date (signature date) and I can introduce an effective date clause which can mention the date on which terms will go into effect. Is there a commonly used clause that I can use to enforce collection of payments before the effective date? What would be a correct way to draft such a contract? Any examples would be appreciated.


texts: Can a co-op tenant shareholder exclude people from common areas if they refuse to abide by house rules?

texts: In New York City, can a co-op tenant/shareholder refuse to allow a guest or contractor of another tenant/shareholder into common areas of the building if the person is violating the co-op's house rules by refusing to wear a mask in the common areas of the building?


texts: Ramifications of Texas' election lawsuit

texts:
It's a generally accepted principle that each state is responsible for running its own elections.  This leads to a lot of variation between different states - some states let felons vote, some don't; some states allow same day registration, some don't; different states require different forms of ID; etc.
If one were to assume that the legal theory behind Texas' lawsuit against Pennsylvania and other states is upheld by SCOTUS, how would this variation be affected?  Could Pennsylvania sue Florida for subverting the change to the FL constitution to let felons vote?  Could Georgia sue Kentucky over it's "or be known by a precinct officer" form of voter ID?
How far could this go?  Is there a possibility that all the potential suits and countersuits could result in forcing a nationally-uniform set of voting laws, or is this lawsuit narrowly tailored enough that it wouldn't have repercussions like that?


texts: How does shareholders' limited liability work in practice?

texts:
Given that:

  A shareholder in a limited company is not personally liable for any of
  the debts of the company, other than for the amount already invested
  in the company and for any unpaid amount on the shares in the company,
  if any.

— how much would the shareholders be liable in the following scenarios:

A)

Bob creates Bob Limited where he owns 100% shares. He does not
invest anything — just creates the legal entity. At no point he needs to pay anything to anyone for the shares;
Bob Limited starts trading, makes some profit and buys some assets;
Bob Limited incurs a large debt, fails to pay it off and gets sued.

B)

Same as above except for that Bob sells half of his shares to Matt for $50 before the company incurs debt.

I guess the jurisdiction does not matter much in this question, but if it does, let's assume the USA and/or New Zealand.


texts: Can I get user submissions on a website and ask that user to post it on my website?

texts:
I'm planning to write an automated tool that will get some informations about a service being sold on auctions sites and send an email to the owner of the website to ask if he wants to also post on my service.

I looked for words like "scraping" and "crawl" in their Terms of Service and Policies to verify if there were some interdiction about it and didn't find them.

Moreover, I won't steal the data, but ask the customer if he wants to post the same data on my service. So the user will have to submit a (pre-filled) form in order to submit his domain on my service.

But still, I'm wondering if I'm allowed to do that.
Moreover, is it possible that the auction service can sue me directly or will they first send me a cease and desist letter?

Thank you for your help.


texts:
In 1777 the politicians of Vermont published a litany of grievances against the government of New York and declared that thenceforward they considered Vermont a separate state pledging no allegiance to New York.  Then they existed as an unrecognized state for 14 years before being admitted to the Union as the 14th state, first under their constitution of 1777 and then under their revised constitution of 1786.  In 1777 they quickly asked the Continental Congress to be accorded representation in Congress, and being turned down largely because of objections from New York (repeatedly during 1777 through 1785) they took the position that Vermont was not a part of the USA (and in fact engaged in separate peace negotiations with the British, in which they said they would submit to being a British colony if the British would protect them from New York; those negotiations led to some prisoner-of-war exchanges).  (Recall that no one ever defined the boundaries of the USA until the preliminary articles of peace were signed in November 1782, and they included Vermont within the boundaries.  They had to do that because New York claimed Vermont was a part of New York.)

When Vermont was admitted to the Union in March 1791 (after the legislature of New York decided in 1790 to give up that state's claims on condition that Congress decided to admit Vermont) no new state constitution took effect and no new governor assumed office, nor new justices of the state's highest court, etc.  The state government simply continued.  Governor Thomas Chittenden, sworn in in October 1790, continued his term of office. (Chittenden was actually re-elected annually from 1778 to 1788, but then Moses Robinson served a one-year term as governor from October 1789 to October 1790, then Chittenden was again re-elected repeatedly until he died in 1797.)  The act of Congress admitting Vermont to the Union did not say anything about creation of a new state or a new state government, but rather said "The State of Vermont" had "petitioned the Congress" for admission.

So it appears that under Vermont law, no new state was created but an already existing state got admitted to the Union, and federal law said nothing to the contrary.  (Congress passed several bills pertaining to Vermont in February and March 1791.  One of them admitted the state to the Union; one created a federal court in Vermont; one established a port of entry and customs house or something like that, where people entered the state from Canada; one fixed the number of representatives Vermont would have in Congress; and one provided that the U.S. census, conducted elsewhere during the previous year, should be extended into Vermont.)

So does the full-faith-and-credit clause of the U.S. Constitution require every state to grant full faith and credit to to official acts of the State of Vermont during its years as an unrecognized state?  Is there a sort of tacit retroactive recognition?

(Vermont's constitution got revised again in 1793, and I suspect one reason for that was that it was no longer appropriate to have a list of grievances against New York in the state constitution.)


texts: How does a landlord establish that a tenant is liable for damages?

texts:
Suppose landlords are blaming a tenant for a pipe leak hidden behind dry wall that the tenant did not cause and are using it as justification for claiming the whole of a tenant's security deposit plus thousands of dollars in additional damages. How can the tenant be held liable for this damage given that the tenant claims that they did not recognize the problem since visible observations of the problem only manifested themselves gradually over time and did not affect their habitation of the dwelling?

How would a landlord establish that the damages directly resulted from conduct not reasonably expected in the course of habitation of a dwelling on the part of the tenant? What legal means does a tenant have for defending against such a situation?


texts: Is it legal to exclude any "adhesion contract" regulations? (CZ)

texts:
I found this in the license agreement for the JetBrains products:

  12.8. You declare that You have had sufficient opportunity to review this Agreement, understand the content of all of its clauses, negotiate its terms and seek independent professional legal advice in that respect before entering into it. Consequently, any statutory "form contracts" ("adhesion contracts") regulations shall not be applicable to this Agreement.

Can they legally exclude the "adhesion contracts" regulations which are in place (at least AFAIK) for contracts exactly like these?

If it makes any difference: They state that the governing law will be that of the Czech Republic.


texts: what happens legally If my landlord lied verbally about a clause in the contract before signing it

texts:
Recently something happened that got me wondering about the legal implications of it.
About a year an a half ago I moved to a flat in the UK. Of course there was a contract. There is a clause in the contract that states that the tenants are responsible of maintaining the quality of the items (listed) in the house and replacing them (unless there has been a fire). This is worded longer but has this information.
When I was considering signing the contract, I read the clause and decided to ask the landlord what would happen if something breaks "because is old". The conversation was more or less as follows:

Seating in the Landlord's living room in his own house, me, my girlfriend, Landlord and his wife, reading the contract.
Me: About this clause, what would happen if something breaks?
Landlord: If it breaks... what do you mean?
Me: Well, if the thing is old, sometimes they just break. Would you pay for it in that case?
Landlord and wife, together: Yes, yes of course.
We sign.

Recently something broke (after 1.5 years) and we called the landlord. After about a month of doing technicians etc the result ended in needing to buy a new one. While discussing moderately about how long is taking to fix thing my landlord told us that we shouldn't complain, because he is paying for it, and we should be the ones paying. While asking why he says that if he mentioned that he would pay for it he said "you should have read the contract, its in the contract that it is your responsibility to pay for it".
It seems that nothing bad will happen, but I am curious about the legal implication if he decides to make us pay for it.
We asked about it and he said it, but of course, its not literally written like that. However, one of the reasons we signed that contract was because of that verbal agreement (can it be called like that?).
In British law, is there somehow a possibility that that conversation can be used to defend us? Or as it is not written is as if it didn't happened?
Would this mean that a landlord could actually tell a lots of lies about a contract (for example to someone that has limited reading capabilities, or like me, someone that is not used to English law "slang" as its not their mother tongue) and "cheat" the tenant to sign?
I guess one possible (and likely) answer to this is "its the tenant responsibility to understand the contract, and the only things that apply are the ones in the contract".
Disclaimer: I'm not looking for real legal advice, just curious on how far the law extends here.


texts: What counts as an illegal application fee under Mass law?

texts:
I'm planning on renting an apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The realtor says that to "hold the apartment" I need to pay 1st month's rent along with my rental application and proof of income.

It is unclear if this is refundable or not.

At the time of lease signing, the security deposit and brokers fee will be due as well.

Is this first payment considered an application fee since it is being charged at the time of application, even though 1st month's rent is often legally required at the time of signing?

I've heard and read that application fees are illegal in Mass, but can't find the relevant statute. The first link below seems to answer for the City of Boston, but I'm looking in the City of Cambridge, and I'm not sure if this is a city ordinance or state law.

https://www.boston.gov/departments/neighborhood-development/know-your-rights-when-you-rent-boston

https://www2.cambridgema.gov/CityOfCambridge_Content/documents/Smart_Consumer_Practices_For_Tenants.pdf


texts: Would there be any legal risk to informing bank that you have been given an account number your believe is compromised?

texts:
This question was asked on the financial stack exchange.  The basic premise is that someone is giving another individual 'their' account number and telling the individual to take money out of it to pay his bills.

What most likely is happening is the individual giving the account number is giving someone else's account (which they stole) to the man, and will later ask the may to send back some of the money due to some made up excuse for needing to pay some emergency, thus the man is the one that takes money that isn't his (and will be forced to pay it back), while the fraudulent individual gets the man's money 'clean' that they can keep.

If I was in this situation my instinct would be to take the account information, then contact the bank in question and inform them that I suspect the account may be compromised, so they can contact the actual owner and arrange to change the account number to prevent the fraudulent individual from getting money out of the account.

I'm wondering if one was to do this would they be opening themselves up to potential legal trouble, perhaps for having access to another individuals account number when the owner of the account didn't intentionally give it to you?

I'm not sure where the asker of the question lives, but for the sake of the question assume the individual and bank are both located within the US.


texts: If two spouses are named in an agreement but only one signs, is it valid?

texts:
Say there is an agreement between a company party (call them The Company), and a married couple party (call them Spouse A and Spouse B). Spouse A and Spouse B are both named in the agreement, but the agreement is only signed by Spouse A.

Is the agreement enforceable?

Say that there is added context, wherein it's proven that Spouse B refused to sign the agreement. Does that have any effect on the enforceability?


texts: Sister living with me, but should my parents pay me?

texts:
My sister is living with me and my partner due to her and my dad not getting along. She's 15 and my mum also lives with our dad.

Should I be getting anything from our parents for letting her live here, feed her, let her have her friends round etc.. I am basically taking over the mother role and they don't seem to care what happens with her .. sad .


texts: How to satisfy GDPR's consent requirement for IP logging?

texts:
Countless websites are served by webserver software (Apache, nginx, etc.) which logs the source IP address of every web page visit.  The GDPR considers an IP address "personal data" that is subject to the GDPR.  The GDPR requires consent of the subject for collection or storage of personal data (in this case, IP addresses in a log file).  How is a website owner supposed to acquire consent by way of the website if the very act of visiting the website page to acquire consent records the "personal data" about which consent is being granted?

Obviously, the option is available to website owners to configure their webservers not to log IP addresses, but that has security implications.  Do these security concerns suffice to absolve a website owner from requiring consent to log IP addresses?  Is a prominent notice (on every page, until dismissed) sufficient?

How is the GDPR supposed to be interpreted with respect to the extremely common and prevalant practice of IP address logging?

(I have read Would GDPR affect my own personal website? and the answers at the time of this writing are not sufficiently satisfactory.  Article 6, paragraph 1 does not make the question of automatic IP address logging without explicit consent clearly acceptable or not.  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679&from=EN )


texts: What are the legalities of online research involving illegal services?

texts: I want to do a thesis paper involving illegal online resources. I don't want to be persecuted for these things though. What are some of the steps I would need to take to legitimately go about researching said illegal areas of the internet. Who would I need to contact to gain permission to legally research these sources without any legal ramifications?


texts: Can Meng still be charged of fraud for not disclosing that Huawei owned part of Skycom?

texts:
Yet Meng’s legal team has now shown that the documentation submitted by the US to the High Court of British Columbia was incomplete. Other
parts of the same document, not included in the US government’s
filing, show that Meng was open about the nature of Huawei's business
in Iran to HSBC and did not try to cover up the business relationship
with Skycom.
In which case, being informed of the situation, the bank
should have blocked the Skycom transactions or cleared then through
other systems and not the US banking system should there be a risk of
violating sanctions, her team said. Instead, HSBC continued to settle
dollar remittances to Skycom through the US banking system and has
placed the blame on Meng.
The US was aware that HSBC had violated the regulations, but instead
of targeting the bank, they earmarked Huawei and Meng, who have no
direct trading relations with the US. This approach does not conform
to legal logic and the action is clearly driven by politics, her team
said.

https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/latest-disclosure-shows-hsbc-evidence-against-meng-wanzhou-is-misleading
One of the reasons why the Canadian court decided that the concept of double-criminality applied was because Meng was alleged to have committed bank fraud, but the article seems to suggest this is not correct, then can Meng still be charged of bank fraud for not fully disclosing Huawei's ownership of Skycom?


texts: What are the implications of the USA not having an official language?

texts:
The USA doesn't have an official language, though in practice everything is in English and some things also in Spanish (and once in a while some services are provided in other languages too).

I don't really understand what it means for there to not exist an "official language", though.

You can't read road signs, contracts, or anything else you might need in a 'normal' life without knowing English. And you can't really successfully demand that they be provided in an arbitrary language of your own choice (you can't expect people to speak every possible language).

So what exactly are the implications of not having an official language?
In other words, how would anything have been different if the USA had English (and maybe Spanish) as its official language(s)? What would the legal implications have been?


texts: Can we set up our company in a different country in order to protect our IT and assets from litigation?

texts:
I'm working with a startup in a country where laws are loose at best. After reviewing the privacy laws that bind us by doing business in this country, there seem to be an endless amount of ways that we could be in violation without any malicious intent because of the vagueness of the language.

My idea to pitch to my partners is to set up the company in a country where laws are more explicit and the legal system is robust which holds all of our assets, processes payments, and where all the ownership lies, then use a local pass-through entity in the country we are targeting that has all of the liabilities of handling the sensitive information, but with which we are not technically affiliated.

Given this situation, is such an arrangement viable from a legal perspective in terms of protecting our assets and ourselves from liabilities and litigation?

EDIT Feb 19, 2018

Great answers and responses. Given me a great deal to think about.

Just a few points of clarification:

In the future our business will likely expand to markets other than "A", however, that is likely many years in the future. This consideration could render the question moot I suppose.
Since "B" is a purely hypothetical, my first choice was Singapore.
The legal system in "A" is fundamentally corrupt, its really just a contest of who has the most resources/connections.


texts: Is it illegal in Germany to spread a list of locations that allow you to violate compulsory mask wearing

texts:
I was recently sent a website which, among other terrible health advice, links to a custom google map which allows users to enter locations where they can shop/go to without wearing a face mask (due to COVID-19) and not face any consequences. Since wearing face masks is mandatory in Germany, are there any laws that are violated by:

creating such a map in the first place (although it is user-entered content) and
linking to a map from one's own website?

Additional information: The website's legal notice (An Impressum, which is mandatory in Germany) attributes the website to a woman living in Germany.
Reasons why I think this could/should be illegal:

It gives advice on how to circumvent public health related laws
If enough people utilize this website, it could seriously endanger lots of people


texts:
The headline for an article in today's New York Times reads: "Court Ruling Could Make Taiwan First Place in Asia to Legalize Gay Marriage"

My question is whether this can truly be considered "legalization." This seems to be the case based on the definition of the word:

  to make legal; especially :  to give legal validity or sanction to

But for some reason I have the feeling that only those with legislative power (rather than interpretive power) can truly "legalize" something. I would argue (not very confidently) that if a court decides that something is legal based on interpretation of the currently existing laws, than that thing in some sense has always been legal. I think I'm wrong about this, but I just want to make sure.


texts: Does the UK have a legal precedent for "inherence" with refunding digital goods (& associated contracts)?

texts: For example, if one were to purchase a digitally distributed video game, then a year or two later purchase DLC (or other content reliant on the game to be used), if a refund was obtained on the original purchase of the game itself, would the seller be obliged to also refund the DLC purchased afterwards, given it would otherwise be rendered useless by virtue of the base game no longer being available to the buyer?


texts: Is it legal to publish information about the server on a shared hosting webspace?

texts:
I have a shared hosting webspace on a linux server.
I am showing the uptime of the server on my website, because it's interesting to see...

I am now questioning if it's is legal to publish any information about the server to the public?

For example:

the files on the server
hardware information (cpu temperature, free disk space, ...)
software running on it (displaying version information could be a security risk)
other users on the server
content of configuration files


texts:
Al Capone was convicted of failing to file a tax return.

According to Wikipedia:

  Assistant Attorney General Mabel Walker Willebrandt recognized that
  mob figures publicly led lavish lifestyles yet never filed tax
  returns, and thus could be convicted of tax evasion without requiring
  hard evidence to get testimony about their other crimes.

These days, if you file late, you get penalized financially, not go to prison.

Would Al Capone's crime merit imprisonment today?


texts:
I would like to use a custom font in the game I am developing. I found out that the most common license for commercial use is SIL. This license indicates that:

Original or Modified Versions of the Font Software may be bundled,
redistributed and/or sold with any software, provided that each copy
contains the above copyright notice and this license. These can be
included either as stand-alone text files, human-readable headers or
in the appropriate machine-readable metadata fields within text or
binary files as long as those fields can be easily viewed by the user.

Does this mean, that I have to indicate this copyright notice inside of my game (since it is going to be compiled) somewhere in credits? Is this even a common practice?
I have deliberately checked credits in several mobile games (Android) and didn't find any credits for a font. I didn't find the credits on the play store either.
I am not reselling the font, I am using it to display some text. Do the conditions of this license apply in such a case?


texts: Are there any jurisdictions in the world where dueling is still legal?

texts: Is there any place in the world where it is still legally possible to kill someone in a duel and not be charged? If not, when and where was the last place to outlaw the practice?


texts: I know a presidential veto on a law (or bill, since they didn't sign it) can be overruled by a two-third vote in both houses. Is the same, or a similar process, available to overturn a pardon?


texts: Can land lord prevent room sharing overnight due to religious reasons? We both pay rent separately and have two separate rooms

texts: Landlord is trying to prevent bf and I from sleeping in one room overnight. We both have our own rooms. However I mostly just use it to change and store my stuff. He made a written agreement after I moved in and asked me to sign it.


texts: Can official information protected by attorney-client privilege be shared with personal lawyer?

texts:
During a homeowners association executive session, the board members were given a briefing protected under attorney-client privilege. A board member is now concerned about his/her personal liability due to the (in)action of the board as a whole. The Association's lawyer (hired to represent the Association, not individual homeowners) presented the board members with information about prior case law which directly affects how the Board should handle a specific topic. Before giving his presentation, the lawyer stated that the "following information I am going to share is protected by attorney-client privilege. It is being given to you in the official context of being elected board members. You may not share this information outside of this meeting without the express permission of the Board by way of vote."

Can an individual share with his/her personal lawyer, attorney-client privilege protected information learned while acting in his/her official capacity, in order to determine personal liabilities?


texts: To what extent is Carolyn Bryant Donham legally responsible for the death of Emmett Till?

texts:
I read that there is a campaign in the United States by Civil Rights/BLM campaigners to arrest/charge Carolyn Bryant Donham, who lied in 1955 and claimed that she had been wolf-whistled at and grabbed on the wrist by Emmett Till, a Black teenager who was subsequently lynched by two men.  At their trial, she testified that she had been sexually harassed by Till, and the men were acquitted.  Donham admitted to lying in an interview with a journalist.
What I find hard to understand about this campaign is that, even if she did lie, it's hard to see how she can be legally held responsible for two men taking it upon themselves to then murder him in revenge.  Can a person be held responsible if their lie leads to a murder?  If I falsely claim that person A did something relatively minor and negative to me, and person B then murders person A to avenge me, am I really (legally) responsible for that?
Of course, I'm assuming that she could be theoretically tried for perjury, but I doubt that would carry a huge sentence for a comparatively minor crime committed while young. Or is there a special charge for making false claims which are likely to lead to malevolent acts by others?  Presumably, living in a society which was extremely racially-polarised and where lynchings were commonplace, she would have known that if she lied, negative consequences could occur - is that a relevant fact?


texts: Do local authorities require planning permission?

texts:
Are local authorities required to make planning applications in similar ways to private individuals/companies when making changes to city infrastructure?

Recently my local council have removed a lay-by and bus shelters from bus stops on a very busy (red-route) road which is documented as having very low air quality. The removal of bus shelters (ostensibly because sex workers and IVDUs use them - which I have never observed, compared to 5-10 people that are often waiting for a bus in them) has already made me more inclined to get in my car and drive myself rather than waiting in the rain for however long the bus takes to show up - adding to the potential pollution problem.  Similarly the removal of the lay-by means that the busses (which during peak hours are probably every 4 minutes or less) completely impede the flow of traffic when the stop to allow passengers on or off worsening the pollution further.

There were no notices posted about the potential for these works, and a search of my local authority's planning portal brings up no applications related to these alterations.  (It does however have active applications, for which a decision is expecting this coming Thursday for the inclusion of advertising billboards within the now removed bus shelters!).   As such, local residents have not been consulted on these changes and we have not had any opportunity to lodge objections to the changes to the local transport infrastructure.

Should there have been some notification of these changes to local residents, with an opportunity to register objections? If so, what recourse do we have now, after the fact?


texts: Could an executive selling shares be considered a breach of fiduciary duty?

texts:
When major executives sell large numbers of shares, these sales are often very public. Generally, massive stock dumps are a sign that the executive feels the value of the company has peaked, and is likely to drop. In other words, every large sale of stock is implicitly a public announcement of lack of confidence in the company by the executive.

Legally, executives have a fiduciary duty to their companies, in that they are expected not to take actions harming the company and its value in any major way. Considering a large sale of stock by a company executive tends to lower public confidence in a company, and thus lower the value of the company, could such a sale itself be considered a breach of fiduciary duty?


texts: Am I allowed to use lethal force against some one who is lawfully threatening my life?

texts:
Following on this question:
Am I allowed to kill a person threatening me? CA, USA

What if you are the target of lethal force?
In this case your own life is threatened, even though you created the situation that warranted the use of lethal force against you.

So what if now the hostage-taker kills the guy who tried to stop him with lethal force. And after that the hostage-taker gives up. Would he be guilty "only" of the crime of hostage taking or would he be guilty of murder as well?


texts: How do I "prove" I am not a Massachusetts resident for state tax purposes?

texts:
I am in the process of moving out of Massachusetts. According to my reading of the Massachusetts's DOR's "guidance," I have to "prove" I am not domiciled in Massachusetts if I want to not be taxed by Massachusetts. The problem is that the rules for what constitutes a "resident" is ambiguous, and believe it or not, the law appears to have "examples" in it, as though a judge would just read these examples and then make more or less arbitrary decisions about whether a person is a resident or not. For example, I am moving to a house in a different state, but temporarily I will still own my current house in Massachusetts until I sell it, which might take up to a year to do. Will some judge say I owe Massachusetts taxes because of this? The law is ambiguous.

Obviously, this appears very un-legal to me, and I am wondering how to deal with it. I have three fundamental questions:

Is the burden of proof really on me? I thought the prosecution had the burden of proof.
Do I need to "claim" in written form that I am not resident any longer, or can I just leave and stop sending in tax forms.
Since the law is ambiguous, how can I possibly "prove" I am no longer a resident, or gain acknowledgement of that proof.

Note that I will have no Massachusetts sourced income or bank accounts in Massachusetts after I leave. I will just have my old house temporarily and some post office boxes.


texts: Refusing service based on sexual orientation

texts:
LegalZoom wrote an article about whether businesses can refuse service here: https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/the-right-to-refuse-service-can-a-business-refuse-service-to-someone-because-of-appearance

They wrote that "a baker refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, saying that it violated his religious beliefs. The court held the baker liable, saying that his reason was just a pretext for discriminating against gays."

But in the same article they state "the federal law does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, so gays are not a protected group under the federal law."

So "the pretext for discrimiating against gays" is a non sequitur because it doesn't exist.

But they wouldn't give the details about what case it was. If they were talking about Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission they got it totally wrong...

Is LegalZoom wrong?


texts: Using screen recording of client's products in promotion

texts:
I work at a company that creates software that developers use in their frontend. We have a free and open source version of our software and a paid, non-open-source version. It is easy to detect if a product uses our product (or not) and doing so doesn't require insider information.

We already have a section on our website that shows an image preview of client's products and links to their websites. This is done to promote those companies but also to show off what our product can be used to do. None of our clients have had an issue with this and some even request for their new products to be added to this list.

However, I don't believe that we have anything explicitly in our licensing/user agreement saying that we retain the right to promote websites that use our product.

Is it legal to make a video compilation of websites that use our product for promotion of our company? We would provide a link to their website like we do with the image showcase section of our website. We would only be showing brief clips of client's products, strung together for a short video. All products that we show would be publicly available and currently live at the time of making the video.


texts: When is a permission required to attack a system?

texts:
Never attack something you don't have a permission for!

This is one of the golden rules of penetration testing, yet it's surprisingly unclear. What exactly counts as an attack, and when do I need permission?

Let's consider some examples:

Example 1

I want to log in on example.com, and accidentally type my password incorrectly, yet the website authenticates me successfully. Baffled, I try again, this time with a completely wrong password. Again, the website authenticates me successfully. It seems to me as if the back-end doesn't check the password at all! Would I have needed permission for this?

Example 2

I buy myself a set of Bluetooth speakers. They come in a cheap "basic" and a more expensive "premium" variant. The only difference is that the more expensive ones have better sound quality.

After opening the cheap ones up, I realize that they are built identically to the expensive ones, and just have a jumper on the circuit board that determines whether the speakers are "basic" or "premium". I change the jumper, and sure enough, the sound is better now.

Realizing what I have done, I ask myself whether I needed permission from the vendor for this.

Example 3

I use a website like TIO to execute some code. Out of curiosity, I try system("cat /etc/passwd") and sure enough, I get a file in the passwd format. I poke around the system a bit more to find the webroot and write a file into it. Again, I can open this file now. I could basically do anything on the web server, including modifying the website, visible to other users.

Did I need permission from the website owners for this?

Example 4

My 12 year old cousin shows me a browser game he likes to play. As a joke, I log in as admin'; -- and the admin interface revealed itself to me in all it's unescaped, unprepared glory.

Did I need permission from the game's owners for this?

As shown in these examples, I didn't do anything malicious, and the difference between legitimate use an an attempted "attack" is difficult to tell - at least on closer inspection.

As such, is there a clear line when exactly permission is necessary?

This question was originally asked in Security.SE. I am mostly interested in answers relevant to laws in the European Union.


texts:
I live in South Africa, I have some research work that holds very good financial potential. This research to be conducted will be done in a group headed by me, how can I protect my idea from being stolen?
This research is available elsewhere but not in my country.
What possibly, legally speaking can I do to protect my idea and research?


texts: Universities - Public Area or Private Area in U.S.?

texts:
Can Universities irrespective of whether they are public or private universities be considered a public area?

If they are considered a private area: Can they deny anybody from entering their property, even though in a lot of cases they are being funded by the government ?


texts: Landlord wants access to CCTV footage after we leave and possibly in realtime while we live there

texts:
Not sure if this question belongs here, so apologies in advance if I have made a mistake.
My landlord has asked me to purchase a CCTV camera to be placed above the front door. We have had a few disturbances in our area recently and they said that they would like to install it to ensure that we are safe and to give them peace of mind. We have chosen one of these new cameras that save the footage to an SD card and can also be accessed in real-time via a phone app. My landlord will be the one paying for it.
My landlord has asked that we do not delete the footage when we leave the property, as they want to "re-run it". I don't feel comfortable about this as I feel as though it is an invasion of my privacy. I am a young woman and don't feel comfortable about my landlord going through the footage with no real reason. What is the law surrounding this? Can I delete the footage from the camera after we leave, but save a copy for myself, so if they request the footage from a certain date (for whatever reason), then I can provide it?
Finally, what is the law surrounding providing my landlord with real-time access to the camera via the phone app? I feel even more uncomfortable providing this for obvious reasons, and I worry that this will be next on the list...
EDIT
Sorry for the lack of clarity, I am UK based. The camera will be placed above the front door. Our front door is facing a garden entrance, and so to get to the front door, you must enter via a garden gate which is directly in front (maybe two or three metres) of the front door. The gate is an iron gate and so you can see a very small portion of the street outside if you look from the front door. So in short, the camera will see people coming in through the garden gate as they approach the front door, and may see people passing by the garden gate on the street.


texts: Is the public road limited to the ground?

texts:
this is a simple question: is the public property only limited to ground level ?
By this I mean if I hang items by the window of my room (I live right on a street, no private under the window) is it still considered to be in my own private property or not ? In the former case, can I be incrimanted for somthing ?

Sorry if the terminology is wrong, I work in a field so foreign to law...

Thanks!


texts: Do Americans have a constitutional right to decline being tested for COVID-19?

texts:
I am wondering if Americans have a constitutional right to decline being tested for the COVID-19 virus.

Consider a scenario in which the state police create a checkpoint on an interstate highway and begin administering a COVID-19 screening test on every person in every car that goes through this checkpoint. Do Americans have a constitutional right to decline being tested and be allowed to pass through this checkpoint, or does a national crisis/emergency negate an American's constitutional rights and thus every person must comply with being tested?

EDIT

To help clarify my inquiry, what I particularly would like to know is if you are directed to exit your vehicle by a state trooper at this highway checkpoint so a doctor/nurse there can administer a test on you to see if you have COVID-19, can you decline to exit your vehicle and also decline undergoing this medical test? Do Americans have a Constitutional right to decline complying with such a directive?


texts: What are my obligations when a merchant ships me the purchased item and issues a refund?

texts:
I recently ordered a large (80-pound, big box) and expensive ($300-400) piece of equipment via Amazon from a third party. After a week I was told the item was out of stock and they were canceling the order. I placed an order for the same item again via Amazon from a different third party (at a higher price and much later shipping date).
Today, I received shipping notification that a package from the manufacturer and with the expected weight will arrive at a time that matches the first order. I also received notification from my bank that a refund has been issued for an amount that matches the first order.
While I can't yet rule out the idea that the second order has shipped 6 weeks ahead of schedule, the assumption I am making is that the first order has actually both shipped and been refunded. Thus, I expect to have an item that I haven't actually paid for show up at my house in less than a week.
Returning the item would be quite expensive. I wouldn't mind paying the first merchant their original price as long as I can cancel my second order...but that's not a given yet. It's also not something I'm willing to do until the first one actually arrives. I have no interest in having two of these items, or in paying to ship one of them back.
Am I obligated to either pay to ship the item back or to pay the first merchant for the item?
This question is similar with these notable differences. I never asked for a refund; the seller issued one entirely on their own. This item is both expensive to purchase and expensive to ship. I'm in the US.


texts: UK Courts Question: What was the judges final decision that may be cited as precedent in these cases?

texts:
Sheriff Court at Kirkcaldy: David Boyack v The Royal Bank of Scotland  ( this case was referred to in the "Office of Fair Trading (Respondents) v. Lloyds TSB Bank plc and others (Appellants) and others (Respondents)" 2007
link

The other related case is the ROGER MARSHALL and  GILLIAN MARSHALL vs  RETAIL INSTALLATIONS SERVICES LIMITED, TESCO PERSONAL FINANCE PLC &
BARCLAYS BANK PLC? (case no B94YJ831 heard at the County Court at Cardiff on 30th September 2016)
link

Even this site gives no answer and that site was recommended in this answer
 on Stackexchange:Law   Where can I find actual UK law paragraphs?

I have searched google  to no avail.?


texts: What happens if a judge renders a wrong verdict by misinterpreting the law?

texts:
There are probably numerous instances, but I'll use the one I'm most familiar with.
You sue a debt collector for violating your rights, as illustrated in the linked video.
There is a 12 month statute of limitations for you to sue, which extends from the most recent violation. There have been "numerous" violations. The judge wrongly throws out your suit because it has been more than twelve months since the first violation (but not the most recent one, as provided for by law). (See the comments to the video, not the video itself.)
Suppose the ruling is incorrect on its face. What do you do to vacate or overturn it? I would guess that this might involve an appeal, although one commenter suggested a motion to reconsider. Is this a relatively routine process of pointing out the error or is it one where the judge might fight "tooth and nail" against having a ruling overturned even if it is obviously wrong?


texts: Copyright IP of own effort and the boundaries of "Capital asset" in IRS tax law, wrt. donations

texts:
In "Instructions for Form 8283"1, it says you can donate and deduct:

  Intellectual property. The FMV of intellectual property
  must be reduced to figure the amount of your deduction,
  as explained earlier. Intellectual property means a patent,
  copyright (other than a copyright described in section
  1221(a)(3) or 1231(b)(1)(C)), trademark, trade name,
  trade secret, know-how, software (other than software
  described in section 197(e)(3)(A)(i)), or similar property,
  or applications or registrations of such property.

In section 1221(a)(3) of U.S. Code § 1221 - Capital asset defined (extra bold/emphasis mine):

  (a) IN GENERAL For purposes of this subtitle, the term “capital asset” means property held by the taxpayer (whether or not connected with his trade or business), but does not include—

  (3) a copyright, a literary, musical, or artistic composition, a letter or memorandum, or similar property, held by—

  (A) a taxpayer whose personal efforts created such property,
  (B) in the case of a letter, memorandum, or similar property, a taxpayer for whom such property was prepared or produced, or
  (C) a taxpayer in whose hands the basis of such property is determined, for purposes of determining gain from a sale or exchange, in whole or part by reference to the basis of such property in the hands of a taxpayer described in subparagraph (A) or (B);

My question is about section 1221(a)(3)(C); my understanding is that it is meant to prevent simply giving over an IP to a family member or friend, and thus bypass the condition of 1221(a)(3)(A): "a taxpayer whose personal efforts created such property" 2. But I'm not sure what paragraph (C) actually means, and how it avoids this bypass. Specifically my question is to explain this passage ( 1221(a)(3)(C) ), and to explain if it would apply to say for example, if two friends exchange IPs "of their own effort", in a barter exchange, and then turn around and donate their newly owned assets.

[1] U.S. Code § 170 - Charitable, etc., contributions and gifts - actual law this is derived from, AFAICT
[2] I got this impression from It Does Not Compute: Copyright Restriction on Tax Deduction for Developer's Donation of Software:

  [97] Rules are in place to prevent the creator from avoiding the section 170(e)(1)(A) restriction. If the creator gives the copyright or composition to a friend or family member (or anyone else), and the donee then makes a charitable contribution of the property, the donee's charitable income tax deduction will be restricted in the same way as if the creator had made the contribution


texts: Can I take mail that is addressed to me from someone else's mailbox?

texts:
Today the United States Postal Service was supposed to deliver a package at my home. When I went to go get it this afternoon, the mail had not yet come. So, I waited a bit and then walked up the road to stretch my legs while I wait. Just as I got up to the top of the road, the mail arrived. I saw the mail vehicle pull up the row of mailboxes around a quarter past 4:00 and then drive off. I couldn't actually see her put the mail in the boxes because I was always off. So, I head down the hill to go get the mail, excited to receive my package. But when I got there, the mailbox was empty. There was absolutely nothing in it.

When I got home, I got an SMS message from USPS that said my package had been delivered at the mailbox at 4:12 PM. WHAT?!?! I was just up there and there was nothing. I made another trip back to the mailbox and inspected it to make sure that I hadn't missed something, but nothing was there.

Then I began to wonder if it is in my neighbor's box. The neighbors just above us have a mailbox to the immediate left of ours and the number on the mailbox is just one number different from ours, so I can see how it would be quite easy for the person who delivers the mail to get confused and put it in the wrong box.

So my question is: Is it legal to open someone else's mailbox and check for your own mail? I called the post office, but they are closed. The neighbors are only there on the weekends. If I am allowed to open someone else's box and I do find mail addressed to me there, can I take it?


texts: A invites B onto their property. B finds a mislaid item. Can B keep it or does it go to A?

texts:
Mislaid property is property that the owner intentionally set down in a place where he can again resort to it, but then forgets where it is. Mislaid property must be turned over to landowner, who tries to find the true owner. If none step forward then landowner has the right to possess it against all but rightful owner UNLESS if found in a part of the property open to the public or the finder was invited (in which case finder over all but rightful owner).

I want to know if the part in bold is correct or not according to majority opinion in common law.

Assume that the landowner is NOT the true owner of the mislaid item.


texts: How can one fight an unfair/corrupt employer/union (working hand in hand)?

texts:
EDIT:

My original title focused on the union, but I changed it to include the employer. They're both working hand in hand against the interests of the employees/dues-paying union members.

Imagine a Corporation (C) that's affiliated with a union (U). They agree on a contract that says extra work should go to more senior people. If the company needs to call people to work an extra shift, it is supposed to call the most senior people first.

However, the company blatantly ignores the contract, recruiting the LEAST senior people.

When an employee with seniority with high seniority files a grievance, C and U both lie, intimidate and stonewall. For example, the union claims the company won't give them its payroll records, making it impossible for them to know who worked when. And when the company finally hands the records over - three months later - the union won't let the grievance see the records.

The union also makes grievance jump through all kinds of hoops. If you file a grievance, you're expected to do all the detective work - cite a particular less senior worker, with details (time, date, location) and have it signed by a witness. The irony is that there could be a dozen less senior people who worked that day, a fact the payroll records could easily prove.

But the union refuses to go on a "fishing expedition."

Long story short, grievances are typically solved six to nine months after they're filed, and the grievants never expect to get more than about 30% of what they're owed.

The state Dept. of Labor says "contact the National Labor Board." The National Labor Board says a contract - and its interpretation - is between C and U; they can do whatever they want.

Is that really the end of the road, or is there some kind of legal or quasi-legal action one could take? If you know the company and union are both withholding information, lying, delaying payouts, etc., can you cite them for violating any particular laws? What about a union that "interprets" and enforces the contract two different ways, giving its cronies all their support while thumbing their nose at everyone else?

It appears that the only recourse would be legal action, but it's hard to determine whether any laws have been violated. Moreover, the employee can't afford to hire an attorney. Would this be case that the ACLU or some other organization might help with?


texts: Are there any legal repercussions for writing open source code that ends up being used as a botnet?

texts:
For example, there is a whole project tutorial on how to build one, as well as plenty of examples of people writing their own.

If open source software (such as the above) was taken by a bad actor and actually used (such as GoBot2), would the author of the original code be legally responsible for anything?

Secondly, would disclaimers such as "This project should be used for authorized testing or educational purposes only." actually hold up in a court, if a developer was prosecuted?


texts: Can this scheme be used to avoid forced disclosure?

texts:
Summary: Possible way to avoid the requirements of giving away the decryption key. Will this work?

Many countries have laws forcing citizens to decrypt their private data if they are being suspected of some illegal activities. If one refuses, he is to be punished.
Now the idea to avoid this. For simplicity the person having private information will be myself.
1. The data stored locally is encrypted.
2. Encryption/decryption key is stored at the remote server controlled by some third party. It can be my lawyer or person/company outside the country's jurisdiction.
3. Regular mode. I authenticate at the remote server, download the key, decrypt my local data, work with it.
4. Emergency mode. I was detained and told by a law enforcement officer or judge to disclose my files. Then I either enter a secret "under pressure" password or my lawyer alerts the third party.
After this the remote server no longer returns me the key. Instead, some agent (person, not software) of the third party monitors the situation and will put the system to the regular mode only after making sure that I am released and all charges dropped.
I honestly tell the police that I don't have the key and describe the scheme.

Question: Will this work?

Related questions about possible loopholes.
Is there any reliable way for a third person to learn if all charges against someone were dropped?
Can I be compelled to contact someone and tell lies?

PS. This is purely theoretical question. Laws may differ by country, any input is appreciated.

Upd. The primary interest is US laws but please feel free to add more details on any other jurisdiction you are have good knowledge of.
And my gratitude for all who contributed so far or will do ater.


texts: Do I have to submit DNA again after first sample failed?

texts:
Question (short version):

My probation has been transferred to my home state via Interstate Compact.  Can the sending state still compel me to resubmit a new DNA sample?

Background:

I was convicted of a crime in New York State (New York City), but I live in New Jersey.
As part of my plea agreement, I received probation.
Once convicted, I submitted the mandatory DNA swab (pursuant to NY State law and the conditions of my probation).
I reside in New Jersey, so my probation was immediately transferred to NJ via Interstate Compact. (As far I know, this means that I have no further legal connection to NY.)
I still travel to NY regularly, and stay overnight, as I have family there. Before each overnight trip, I request (and am granted) a travel permit from my NJ probation officer.
4 months after my conviction and subsequent transfer to NJ, my former NYC Probation Officer contacted me, stating that the initial DNA sample that she'd taken was unable to be processed by their lab, and that I should come in (to NYC) ASAP to submit a new sample. She also sent a letter to my NJ Probation Officer, making the same request.

Question (detailed version):

Am I obligated to return to NY for another DNA collection? Does NY have any jurisdiction over me now that I've been transferred to NJ?

I acknowledge that I was required to submit the sample initially, which I did. Did my obligation end there, or am I required to resubmit until NY State is satisfied (bearing in mind that I neither reside in or am supervised by NY State)?

Thank you!

Update in response to questions: Let me state that (1) I've already discussed this with my NJ PO (she asked me to go to NY and submit a new sample, though I'm not sure whether she really cares whether I do), and (2) I'm looking for legal facts about my situation (e.g. what I'm legally required or not required to do), not advice on what I should do.


texts: Under what laws did Israel evict Palestinians from their homes?

texts:
According to the BBC news last night, the latest violence in Israel / Palestine began after Palestinians were evicted from their homes in favour of Israelis.  It seems highly draconian.
What laws does the Israeli government have (or use) to evict people from their homes?


texts: Very Minor Car Collision with No Damage, Hit Car Left

texts:
Today, I tapped another car on the highway. The driver got out, and I immediately asked if he was okay. He said he had a bloody lip but that he was otherwise okay. we checked the cars for property damage but found none. He also checked his work laptop and it worked still. He then looked at me, nodded, and said "Drive Safe." We both got back in our cars and I anticipated exchanging information, but he drove off. The police were, of course, never called. To the best of my knowledge, he has no information about me.

Obviously this is a fantastic break for most people and a relief. However, I am wondering if there is any possible liability on my end. He was the one who left the accident scene unprompted, and I sat there bewildered. Perhaps he lacked auto insurance or had some ulterior motive for leaving. He seemed rushed. Regardless, should I report this as a cover-your-ass? And what are my risks for doing so or not doing so?

This took place in Illinois.

Thank you.


texts: What does it mean that, for commercial use of this font, "a license is highly recommended"?

texts:
I intend to be running a web application in the browser for commercial use.
The font I am considering at the moment is: Akzidenz Grotesk which can be downloaded for free provided it is for personal use. For commercial use, the website states:

Akzidenz-Grotesk is totally a free font for personal use. No license, sign up or registration is required for your personal use. But in case of commercial use, a license is highly recommended or you can buy this font by clicking here.

The confusing part to me is the wording:

a license is highly recommended

as if it is purely optional.
When consulting the EULA at the website they are linking to their language is very clear that they are not joking about their license. For my purposes it seems that I need to resort to a Web Fonts License.
The case seems pretty clear and cut to me that the website freefontsvault.com has erred in the details provided; but still, I would like to have some confirmation if there is something obvious I am overlooking?