texts: How is the passing of an estate's property handled when the recipient has also died?

texts:
This is a theoretical question so I may not have thought it through completely.

We have a grandmother who has died, leaving behind a will that is several years old. In it, she has given an asset (does it matter what type of asset?) to her brother.

At some point after the writing of the will and before the death of the grandmother, her brother dies and simply passes all of his possessions to his wife and sole surviving relative.

Does the grandmother's bequeathed property pass to the wife, or does it remain part of the grandmother's estate and the executor of that estate may determine how to handle it?


texts:
This is something I've run into several times now. A lot of biological samples are shared for research with a caveat in the MTA that they are "not for commercial use". What exactly does this cover? The specific example I'd like to know about is where DNA samples are used to validate a diagnostic test that might eventually be developed for commercial use. When does this become commercial? If I use materials for something that I don't expect to be commercial but I later want to develop it commercially, what happens?

I've asked the people sharing the materials but generally this results in "I don't know, better play it safe", partly because in many cases multiple partners and historical MTAs are involved and no one person wants to take responsibility for a decision. I'm looking for pointers to a clear set of criteria ("good subjective" - from personal experience of what works), ideally with an explanation of the wider legal context and any key legislation or decisions.

I'm in the UK but the samples are coming from (and going back out to) partners in South America (Brazil) and Europe (Greece, Italy, France).


texts: Who is held accountable in case of violation of JSON license's specific 'no evil' clause - the end user, the distro, or both?

texts:
The JSON license, as well as the jslint (and the 'jshint' derivative) license, is an otherwise unmodified version of the MIT License except for one peculiar clause which reads:

  The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil.

As a result, some software developers and distributors take the (IMO) unfortunate route of not using, or not distributing, the software components licensed under these terms (that is, except for those who managed to get an exception clause added to them).
One such example is Debian. In a open issue to the jshint repository, some users voice their complain that the atypical clause prevents Debian from packaging jshint in their official repositories.

What I want to ask is: say the Debian Project were to distribute jshint in their official repositories. Assume this act is qualifiable as 'good' (not evil). No violation of the license so far, I suppose. Now consider the case of a Debian user who uses his Debian computer to practice evil (for instance, extortion, terrorism, you name it).

Who would be liable for violation of the license terms? The Debian user, who performed the wrongdoing; the Debian Project, who distributed the software; or both?

In other words: if a court were to take the clause at face value and enforce it, would the user be the sole defendant, or would the Debian Project also?

The clause states "The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil" - but I assume the distribution of the software by the Debian Project qualifies as use (right?). In that context, is the Debian Project liable for whatever evil their users might be willing to execute by means of a computer running the Debian OS?

Or, I suppose, the same question in other words would be: Is it a risk for the Debian Project to distribute jshint in their official repos?


texts: Confiscation of cellphones in public schools

texts:
School started today. I'm just reading the code of conduct about cell phone usage. It states that on first violation of the policy the device will be confiscated and held until a parent (me) comes to pick it up. Fine by me. It goes on to say that any subsequent violations will result in confiscation until the end of the school year and the school will not even return the device to me, the rightful owner and the child's parent.

  For the first infraction, confiscated electronic equipment will only
  be returned to the student's parent. If an item is confiscated a
  second time, it will be held until the end of the school year. No
  Exceptions!

I should note that I'm being asked to sign a paper saying I agree to these terms. I'm not planning on signing this paper. By choosing not to opt in to these terms, does the school still have the right to deny me my property until the end of the school year if it is confiscated a second time?


texts: Can I fight a charge from forgetting to cancel a subscription?

texts: I just got charged a substantial fee for renewing some domains that are years old, (old enough that my card on file had expired, so I don't know how they even managed to charge it) that I had completely forgotten about until the charge appeared on my card. I called them up, and they explained that domain renewals are non-refundable and it's my own fault for not telling them I didn't want the domains renewed. Can they do that? I was thinking about calling the credit card company and asking for a chargeback, but I'm concerned that might put me in the wrong...


texts: What is the legal difference between 18 and 21?

texts:
I know at 18 someone is no longer a minor. But what is the reason for someone not getting full legal rights until 21? Examples: Alcohol, tobacco, etc.

What gives the government the power to allow a 21 year to do something and forbid it for an 18 year old, since neither is a minor?

For example, could a state legislature pass a law revoking a peoples right to drink at 50?

In summary what I am trying to get at is what is unique about the age 21? Or can the government restrict rights at any arbitrary age?


texts: In the law of Torts, what is a factual matrix and how would you categorise the factual matrix from a respective case?


texts: Is a school in loco parentis when students are outside of school?

texts:
I am a senior in high school and like many other classes we are doing a "scavenger hunt" (teams of students have to compete various tasks and earn points for these tasks) outside of school.

Our school got wind that there were illegal things (e.g., filming a sex act of a girl under the legal age of consent, and the use of marijuana) on the scavenger hunt list. They are now launching an investigation with authorities and have called/emailed all senior parents.

I am in no way in trouble and do not mind the scavenger hunt being cancelled, I just want to know if the school has the right to do this?


texts: Is litigation against one's employer protected?

texts:
Let's say we are in California and I have a dispute with my employer. My employer has, or so I believe that it has, breached our employment contract and caused me damages. I then talk to my employer about possible remedies, or possible legal remedies through litigation if none provided.

Now, the employer decides that this rebellion is not to be tolerated and demands that the employee enter a new contract that specifically prohibit the employee from seeking such remedies, either directly or otherwise, regarding said dispute. If the employee does not sign the contract, then he or she will not be continually employed.

I understand that "at-will" employment can be terminated for virtually any reason except in the case of protected classes, activities, etc.

Is it within the company's right to make such request, such that further and continued employment is contingent on the employee not bring about litigation against them?
If it is illegal for the company to ask such a thing, what kind of law covers this? Or rather what do people call this? My search for employer retaliation and protected activities mostly return with results about EEOC, and I do not know which direction I should go search for.
If the employee leaves the company because he or she do not want to sign the paper that "you will not ask for remedies...", is this wrongful termination?


texts: Can copyrighted work be distributed for free if it was done so by the owner previously?

texts:
Once upon a time a UK music band put one of their songs on their website for free download. Time has passed, the website has changed drastically and the song is not available there anymore. Neither it is sold by anyone anywhere.

Would it be illegal for those who downloaded the song when it was available, to put it now on file sharing resources for free download?


texts: Under U.S. Law, what does "Notwithstanding" mean?

texts:
I am being asked to sign an non-disclosure agreement and one of the sections focuses on the ownership of any "works" (defined broadly to include everything from ideas to tangible products) which I might produce while employed.

The first two paragraphs in the section state very clearly that everything I produce belongs to the employing company.

The third paragraph seems to grant me the right to produce non-competitive products as long as I do it on my own time and do not use the company's equipment or trade secrets.

As an budding entrepreneur, I will not sign this agreement unless this third paragraph overpowers the statements of the previous two.

Unfortunately, the third paragraph begins with a phrase that I don't know how to interpret...

"Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, any provision of this Agreement which provides for me to assign any of my rights to a Work shall not apply to any invention developed on my own time without using  equipment,  supplies, facilities or trade secrets..."

So here is my question...

Does the phrase "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement" mean...

a). "Subordinate to everything else contained in this Agreement..."

...or...

b). "Overriding everything else contained in this Agremeent..."

...or...

c). something else entirely?


texts: Is recent diplomatic service abroad an impediment to becoming president of the United States?

texts:
Here is Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

Does this "fourteen years" phrase mean that someone who has recently spent some years stationed abroad as an ambassador of the United States cannot become president? Or are such persons considered to be maintaining a permanent residence in the U.S. while having a temporary secondary residence abroad? Was such a theory as the latter considered to justify Thomas Jefferson's eligibility?


texts: Example to clarify "probable cause" for a search

texts:
In Los Angeles, California, the victim of a robbery identifies his attacker as being
one of three identical triplets (and the victim saw nobody but the one attacker).
If the three triplets all live in separate homes, can the police get a search
warrant for any of their homes (assuming no other evidence/motive)?
I would say each has 33% probability of being guilty, so my interpretation is
that there is not "probable cause" (i.e., 50%) to search anyone's home...really?


texts: Is an offer of a discount an acknowledgement of guilt of negligence and misconduct?

texts:
I have the following excerpt:

I have looked at the bills related to the service calls and can offer discount.

This party is being sued for negligence and misconduct in providing services. However, they are denying the allegations. Does the above excerpt show that they are acknowledging that they are guilty? What is the significance of that statement in a court claim against this party?
Additional context:
This is an excerpt from a reply to a request to cover the amount of damage. The full explanation lists a couple of factors, but the party does not take the responsibility. At the end of this explanation, they offer the mentioned discount.


texts: Can a patient record interactions with their care providers under HIPAA?

texts:
A friend of mine is currently in a hospital where the staff have told her (verbally) on multiple occasions that "her stay will be covered by her insurance". Yet, she received several thousand dollars in medical bills recently, from the institution itself and not her insurance company.

She has received some things in writing, but not as much about the financial process as she would have hoped (and nothing related to the bill she currently has). Thus, she is wondering if she can record her verbal interactions with hospital staff in order to hold them accountable if she is told that insurance will cover the costs, but she still receives a medical bill.

This could be seen as an invasion of privacy of the care provider(s); yet it pertains to her case and since they have sidestepped conversations about giving her the official financial paperwork, or written consent that what they say is actually true (they could be saying it's true just to get more money out of her), it seems that this would be legal to do.

As far as I understand it, HIPAA is meant to protect patients from care providers disclosing their medical information. Nothing I've read (HIPAA Patient rights; HIPAA disclosures to family and friends) has anything about a patient's right to disclose their own information to whomever they want (in this case, family).

Can she legally record her conversations with her care providers under HIPAA? If so, what would be required on her part in order to ensure that said recordings would hold up in court if, in fact, staff were intentionally or unintentionally lying to her in order to bill her?

Yes I know it's highly unlikely that they would bother not billing insurance and try to screw her over. It's a long story, insurance claims have been difficult, just trying to figure out how to help her not rack up $10k+ in medical bills due to unintentional or intentional fault on the side of the care providers.


texts:
There is a new New Privacy Policy Requirements For Mobile Apps In China. One of rules is "They must be in a pop-up message, either on your landing or login page."
Can a full screen be alternative? I am looking for official confirmation that it is has to be pop up, and a full screen alternative is not law compliant.
I am designing for giant company which want/has to be fully law compliant.
Here is a link to the new requirements: https://www.appinchina.co/blog/new-privacy-policy-requirements-for-mobile-apps-in-china/


texts: How do I check that my work is not "work made for hire"?

texts:
I work as a secondary public school teacher in the US. I teach a fairly niche subject, that has few resources for. I am working on writing my own textbook set for this subject area. It will include a textbook, workbook, and teacher's guide. I work on this on my own time during weekends, evenings, summer holidays, etc., but the work benefits my own teaching, as I use the same material in my actual classes.
Someone warned me to check that I won't lost my rights to this work under "work for hire" or "work made for hire".
I checked my contract, district personnel handbook, site-specific handbook, and union collective bargaining documents, but find no mention of them having a right to ownership of works I create while under their employ. Is it still possible that my situation could be considered "work made for hire" under state or federal laws?
Are there any additional steps I should take to check whether I need to worry about my employer taking ownership of the work?


texts: No notice Tenant eviction in North Carolina upon forclosure legal?

texts:
I was rvicted from my home by police due to Landlord's property foreclosure. I was given no notice to move by anyone prior to this nor did any formal or informal eviction take place.
The lady in the clerk's office told me that it is perfectly legal for this to happen at the drop of a hat here in Rutherford county North Carolina. She told me that the tenant protection act nor any North Carolina state laws pertain to me because I did not present a copy of my lease to the clerk of court and request a file be created and opened in my name and such life they placed into this file the day that I came here three years ago.
The real estate company overseeing for the bank had refused to let me get any of my belongings from this property.
I have talked with a very inexperienced attorney at Pisgah legal services who has no time for my questions and tells me she does not know what I should do.
I know this cannot be legal. How can they just rip me out of my home after work one day with no notice whatsoever and just throw me on the street and keep everything I own??
Is this how tenants are removed upon foreclosure of a rental property? People have just been driving up and going in and hauling my things away. Thieves. They have removed and take it to the scrap yard two lawn tractors for window air-conditioning units which were room size and two that were large 25,000 and above BTU unit as well as a fully drivable RV that was being restored in numerous other smaller items.
I don't know what's going on here or what to do about this the officer was extremely rude and everything I own is on this property as well as everything my son owns our parents ashes are out there. everything. How can this be and how can it be that I'm just supposed to take my one pair of pants and walk away after years of being here?
The Real estate representatives knew I was here because they had been here before about a month before because they pulled in my driveway and saw me standing there and backed out quickly and the officer that did this had been here one time before to serve a civil summons on the property owner and I had a conversation with him and let him know she no longer lived here and told him where she lived therefore he knew I lived here too but regardless he told me he had already called animal control to Come assist him getting me off of this property so yes he knew I was leaving there. They all knew we lived leaving there.
I cannot afford to retain a private attorney and I need guidance I need help in a bad way and I have become homeless at the drop of a hat for no reason other than the property went back to apparently the bank. I rent month to month and have for a few years now. I have not been told to look for a place to take my mobile home or anything at all by anyone I have my home out there,two cars, and everything I have ever owned is out here and they tell me now that that's just too bad.
I am 52 years old in Rivertowne in North Carolina  I'm trying to stand up for myself but I have absolutely no idea how. What should I do every official I'll try to talk to here just dismisses me and just tell me that they don't know.


texts:
I have noticed that for some time in France, most of the university rankings have taken into account the percentage of women and men in the scores assigned to establishments (the closer the percentage is to 50%, the higher the score is).
I wonder if this new criterion might encourage universities to discriminate against the majority sex.
It’s known that most of universities make everything possible to have the highest score in rankings because of reputation and funds and that discrimination is really difficult to be prove in selection.
Therefore my question is : Is taking gender into account in university rankings is considered as incitement to sexist discrimination following French laws?
Is there reverse discrimination laws that makes those practices legals?
Is there discrimination laws that makes those practices illegals?


texts: Can a president be evicted from the White House?

texts: Currently, there are impeachment investigations going on for the POTUS. Lets say the POTUS is formally impeached and Trump is removed from office. However Trump refuses to leave the White House on claims that the "witch hunt" impeachment is false and not legally valid. Is it possible to remove the President from the White House by force?


texts: Massachusetts wiretapping law when the other party informs of possibly being recorded?

texts:
The State of Massachusetts has a wiretapping law that is describe by DMPL.com as follows:

  Massachusetts's wiretapping law often referred to is a "two-party
  consent" law. More accurately, Massachusetts makes it a crime to
  secretly record a conversation, whether the conversation is in-person
  or taking place by telephone or another medium. See Mass. Gen. Laws
  ch. 272, § 99. Accordingly, if you are operating in Massachusetts,
  you should always inform all parties to a telephone call or
  conversation that you are recording, unless it is absolutely clear to
  everyone involved that you are recording (i.e., the recording is not
  "secret"). Under Massachusetts's wiretapping law, if a party to a
  conversation is aware that you are recording and does not want to be
  recorded, it is up to that person to leave the conversation.

  This law applies to secret video recording when sound is captured. In
  a 2007 case, a political activist was convicted of violating the
  wiretapping statute by secretly recording video of a Boston University
  police sergeant during a political protest in 2006. The activist was
  shooting footage of the protest when police ordered him to stop and
  then arrested him for continuing to operate the camera while hiding it
  in his coat. As part of the sentencing, the court ordered the
  defendant to remove the footage from the Internet. From this case, it
  appears that you can violate the statute by secretly recording, even
  when you are in a public place. However, in a 2011 case, the U.S.
  Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that recording police
  activity in public is independently protected by the First Amendment,
  and that it is unconstitutional for the state to prosecute those
  recording the police in public under Massachusetts's wiretapping law;
  this ruling might protect secret as well as open recordings.

  In addition to subjecting you to criminal prosecution, violating the
  Massachusetts wiretapping law can expose you to a civil lawsuit for
  damages by an injured party.

I am breaking this law 100% of the time when I use my cellphone because I have an app that auto records all the phone calls I make or receive. I do so to keep a record of important conversation I have with companies (for cases where they back off from their promises). Now, usually when I place the phone call I hear an automated system say something along the lines of this phone call may be recorded for blah blah blah.... Am I still breaking that law if they told me they "may be" recording? Am I still legally obligated to inform the other side that I am recording?

In the case that I have to inform them regardless, can I use the same technique they use and inform the automated system (for x press 1, for y press 2, etc) that they are being recorded - will that cover my bases? Or I have to inform each time I get a real person on the line? And each time I get transferred to someone else?


texts: Does the United Kingdom have any copyfraud legislation?

texts:
A quick and (hopefully) simple question:

Does the United Kingdom have any Copyfraud legislation?

The linked Wiki page shows that the U.S. probably does, but it doesn't seem to be a specific offence in the U.K.

I have a list as long as my arm to ask why but I don't think it is necessary to bring all that up at this point.

Failing that: is there any legislation in place that could give the same result, albeit probably in Civil Law?

Please do complain if I'm not making any sense. I shall try harder.


texts:
In my mother's estate there are 5 beneficiaries. When my mom passed away we were unable to get a check from the bank until her will was probated, so we all put in the money for my mother's burial and now my sister who became executrix will not reimburse the burial money to us.

Hiw can we get our money back from the estate, do we sue her or the estate or both?


texts: What happens if a sheriff department ignores a writ from a judge?

texts: If a judge issues a writ to a sheriff department to arrest or evict someone and the sheriff department refuses to take action, what happens? Is it criminal for them to intentionally ignore a writ?


texts: In light of the Alice case, are patents for ideas such as HotOrNot still considered enforceable?

texts:
The Alice case seems to have set the precedent for invalidating a number of software/internet patents. I am curious what this implies for ideas (as well as implementations) which are obviously unique, specifically, in the case of such things as such as HotOrNot, user-rating/ranking systems, etc.

Rating associated members in a social network

Self images for viewing and rating (or voting) by viewers


texts:
Lets say I design an entertainment app and when I finish the app I realize that there is a lot of fowl language and want to use a GNU library for something like checking for curse words.

Would using a library as such be a problem legally for selling my product later? (or having it as a closed source project)


texts: What's the difference between a clause, provision, condition and term?

texts: In a contract, what's the difference between a clause, provision, condition and term? They seem to all refer to the same thing to me - which is basically any self contained point or requirement.


texts: Can anything go into a website's TOS just like a normal contract?

texts: To my understanding a website's terms of service is just like a regular contract. You agree to it by click "I agree" or simply by using the website. So hypothetically could a website scam people by including a term in the TOS such as "you will pay us $5.00 per page you visit in our domain"? Realistically people usually don't read TOS thoroughly for each website they go to.


texts: What exactly does a small common interest club with 100 members need to do to comply with GDPR requirements?


texts: Why does Google require consent from users in order to process ads personalization data?

texts:
Recently, Google was fined under the GDPR by France's CNIL data protection authority. The authority found Google's processing of personal data for ads personalization lacked transparency, was inadequately informed to users and did not obtain valid consent. Specifically, CNIL said

Users are not able to fully understand the extent of the processing operations carried out by GOOGLE. But the processing operations are particularly massive and intrusive because of the number of services offered (about twenty), the amount and the nature of the data processed and combined. The restricted committee observes in particular that the purposes of processing are described in a too generic and vague manner, and so are the categories of data processed for these various purposes. Similarly, the information communicated is not clear enough so that the user can understand that the legal basis of processing operations for the ads personalization is the consent, and not the legitimate interest of the company.

Article 6.1 of the GDPR lays out the conditions under which the processing of personal data is lawful. It seems the subparagraphs most relevant to Google's processing of personal data for the purposes of ads personalization are:

6.1.(a) the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes;
6.1.(b) processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;
6.1.(f) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.

It seems that the satisfaction of 6.1.(b) or 6.1.(f) would preclude the need for Google to obtain consent to process personal data. The terms under which Google processes personal data for the use of ads is stated in their Ads Data Processing Terms, with the types of personal data in scope for those terms listed here. If a user registers to Google, personally identifying their searches, are they not also agreeing to these terms, thereby satisfying 6.1.(b)?
Additionally, I don't fully understand why it is not a legitimate interest for Google, an ads-serving company, to process personal data for the purpose of ads personalization?


texts: What crime has someone committed if they "kill" someone who is already dead?

texts:
Was watching a police drama (a classic "Taggart" episode) where this was a plotline.

A wife shot her husband while he was "sleeping", and subsequently confessed to his murder.  Yet (this being Taggart) it turned out that the husband had actually been dead at the time she shot him, having previously been stabbed by another party.

If this situation were to occur in real life (exceptionally unlikely as this might be), what, if any, crime would the wife have committed? And what punishment would she face?  Presumably, she presents as much danger to society as someone who had actually killed their husband would do (since she has proven that she is prepared to kill someone, even if she actually didn't), so if part of the purpose of sending criminals to prison is to remove dangerous people from society, logically there is no more or less of a reason to lock her up than there would be if the husband had been alive when she "killed" him.  On the other hand, the other purpose of sending criminals to prison is to get justice for the victims of crime, and in this case, she has not actually committed the crime.

Taggart is set in Scotland, where Scots Law applies, but answers from different legal jurisdictions would be welcome.


texts: Are forged signatures on company documents illegal?

texts:
Are forged signatures illegal on company documents even if they're forged by the director of the company?

Example: I looked over some documents for a small company founded by three persons, I believe that the two of the three signatures used during the documentation to found the company were written by the same person. The false signatures also seem to be used in six different companies that all seem to start up then dissolve within months. These signatures were also used for tax exemption in the UK.

I don't know if it's illegal since I believe he is the owner of said company that is writing all three signatures.


texts: When amending a complaint to include an additional party, is the new party's name included in the title page?

texts:
To clarify - should the new party's name be added directly on the cover/title page, or is it left as it is but moves to add the new party in the content of the amendment?

This is in NY state, civil court. This would be an amendment by right.

And a couple of additional questions: 1. While there is a motion to dismiss pending, does there need to be a separate response to the motion or would the amendment itself suffice? 2. Can the amendment be made without having served the additional defendant? and if not, since service may take much longer, how should the court be notified so that the right to amend as a matter of course is not relinquished?


texts: What can I do if the tenant has vacated the apartment but didn't pay last month bill for electricity?

texts: I have an apartment which I gave to 3 students on rent. This month they vacated the apartment without paying the last month electricity bill. I have no written agreement but did police verification. So, what can I do now? Can I lodge a fraud complaint against them?


texts: Are there truly legal limits on US interest rates?

texts:
I was puzzled when I recently watched an ad for Pay-Day-Loan (or the like) that in the disclaimer specifically mentioned that they didn't provide their service in New York due to legal limits on interest rates.  So I looked it up and found this page which suggest that while New York has a limit on interest charged of 16% then many other (majority) has a similar limit with many being 8-10%.

Store cards and credit cards are often linked to an interest rate of 20% of more -- while the page suggest that for California where I live the limit is 10% -- so are they breaking the law or is a credit card simply not a "loan" and qualify under these rules?

Similar, the New York's limit of 16% does not look like the most stringent -- for example Texas is 10% and West Virginia is 8% -- so is there anything which set New York apart compared to other states when it comes to interest rates?


texts: Does public domain have international limits?

texts:
I've read that the length of time required for a copyright to expire can vary from country to country. If a country were to hypothetically set the length of time for a copyright to expire (and thus enter the public domain) to one second, does that make it legal to freely distribute any work of art produced in any other country at any time, within the borders of that country?

In other words, if a country did this and a citizen of this country built a server filled with recent Hollywood movies, would users in that country legally be allowed to download those movies, and would the US have any right to seize and shut down that server (as they have done with torrent sites in the past)?

I suspect in reality no country would do this due to international sanctions that could be placed on them in retaliation but I'm just wondering where this stands from a purely legal standpoint.
Thanks!


texts: Do international sanctions have an impact on Open Source Software?

texts:
Background

Recently I was reading about embargoes and sanctions on Iran (also this link) and before Sudan, and it got me thinking about how they could impact Open Source Software. Sanctions being applied not only by USA but sometime by other states and unions of countries (EU for example).

I know that equipment from, say, an American manufacturer, could not be supplied to North Korea (for example an Oracle Server or a Cisco router) pending legal action. Thus i wondered if there was anything that restricted the use of an American made Open Source Software in say, North Korea.

What I understood

On the Open Source Initiative website, they state that :

  Can I stop "evil people" from using my program?

  No. The Open Source Definition specifies that Open Source licenses may not discriminate against persons or groups. Giving everyone
  freedom means giving evil people freedom, too.

The notion of "good people" and "evil people" is beyond the scope of this question, but this tells me that anybody, anywhere could in fact use it without any troubles at all (talking about only the usage of the software).
However, naively, even if I would see the MIT License as an Open Source License, I see it as well, naively, as a License created under US Law by an American Institution (MIT License).

My question is divided as this:

Can developers from a state under such sanction, use Open Source Software as they want ?
Could developers of the Open Source Software be sued for the use of their creation by the states under sanction ?
If a team of developers of another country were to help the developers to use the Open Source Software (support, online help etc.), could they face legal action ?

NB : I am a software developer in Europe, I do not have prior knowledge of international or laws in the USA.


texts: Court order to obtain US death certificate

texts:
My father was born in England and adopted as a young child. He never knew who his real parents were. I have recently found out who his mother and father were using DNA tests. I have obtained his original birth certificate from the UK Records Office.
His mother was in the army (ATS) and later emigrated to Tucson, Arizona where she died. I would like to obtain her UK military records. To do this I need her death certificate. The Pima, Arizona records office will only give copies of death certificates to descendants. I applied as her grandchild and sent them birth certificates for myself, my father and his mother along with my father's adoption certificate.
They said the relationship was not proven because his adoption certificate is a "sealed record" that they treat as his birth record and it does not mention his birth mother. They said the only way they could give me the death certificate was if I obtained a court order:
"Any court order as long as it is a certified court order and in a language we can read, or have it translated. In other words a court order from England will work as long as it is certified that Vital Records can issue a death certificate to you."
I have searched online and think I need to get an injunction.
Does anyone have any information on how I could get a court order as described from a UK court?
Thank you


texts: Can I file a job discrimination lawsuit against a company that repeatedly rejects me?

texts:
Context: I've been working as an IT specialist for > 15 years (some years full time in the office and last few years as a freelancer) and have a higher education degree in IT. I have Asperger's and comorbidities of a bipolar and anxiety disorders.

I had job several interviews in a US company (I'm not a citizen nor resident of US, but they knew that and the job was supposed to come with H1B visa), and they repeatedly rejected me for no apparent reason (for at least 3 times).

Q: Is it possible to file a lawsuit against them for job discrimination?


texts: Is it illegal to use a fake name and address when buying from a competitor [USA]

texts:
The industry I am in is digital (nothing is mailed). There is a competitor in my industry and I want to compare our products with theirs. However I don't want them to know that their competitor is buying a product from them.

If I use a prepaid gift card and fake name and billing address would this be illegal?

This would be purely to compare products from a marketing standpoint. No reverse engineering or copyright infringing.

Edits to answer comments (too new of a user to use comments):

For the sake of this question lets say there is nothing in the ToS that states I must use a real name/ address

The industry is small and they would know who I am. I am also just interested in the theoretical legal question as well.


texts: Can I legally call myself a software engineer without a professional engineering license?

texts:
I recognize that certain types of engineering disciplines are very heavily regulated. As I understand, these types of engineering have a legal definition that requires licensure, without which one cannot claim to be an engineer in that discipline. For example, someone with training in civil engineering can't call themselves a mechanical engineer without obtaining a license to practice civil engineering. This licensure requirement is intended to promote the health, safety, and well-being of the general public.
Do software engineers need a license, or can I call myself a software engineer right after graduation?


texts:
I am reading the article "The Measure and Mismeasure of Fairness: A Critical Review of Fair Machine Learning". In here there is a concept of "acting with animus", I wonder what this means in legal terms. For example (bold font added by me):

  equal protection law—as established by the U.S. Constitution’s
  Fourteenth Amendment—prohibits government agents from acting with
  “discriminatory purpose” (Washington v. Davis, 1976). It bars policies
  undertaken with animus (i.e., it bars a form of taste-based
  discrimination, since acting with animus typically means sacrificing
  utility)

and again

  under the statutory disparate impact standard, a practice may be
  deemed discriminatory if it has an unjustified adverse effect on
  protected groups, even in the absence of explicit categorization or
  animus

Is it something like the will to damage minorities? How do you prove it?


texts: Legality of using a phone for GPS in Oregon

texts:
Oregon recently passed HB 2957 B, which modifies the law regarding using electronic devices while driving.  From the text of the law, it appears to ban:

  (a) Holds a mobile electronic device in the person’s hand; or

  (b) Uses a mobile [communication] electronic device for any purpose.

where "Mobile Electronic Device" is defined as the following:

  (c)(A) “Mobile electronic device” means an electronic device that is not permanently installed
  in a motor vehicle.

It's later said in the bill that:

  (4) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution of a person under this section that the
  person:

  ...

  [(d)] (b) [Is] Was 18 years of age or older and [is] was using a hands-free accessory;

where "hands-free accessory" is defined as:

  [(a)] (b) “Hands-free accessory” means an attachment or built-in feature for or an addition to a
  mobile [communication] electronic device[, whether or not permanently installed in a motor vehicle,]
  that when used [allows a person to maintain] gives a person the ability to keep both hands on the
  steering wheel.

I'm curious about the ramifications this has with using phones as navigation devices specifically.  The following are all common ways to use a phone as a GPS:

Holding it in your hand while driving to use it.
Putting the phone in a cupholder and either:

Looking at the screen sometimes
Listening to it read out directions to you

Using some sort of phone mount to hold your phone, and either looking or listening to the directions.

It's my understanding that 1 is undoubtedly illegal under this, but I'm unsure of the legality of 2 and 3.  I'm particularly concerned about the legality of 3 - while it appears to be hands-free accessory, I'm unsure what "an affirmative defense to a prosecution of a person under this section" means.  Moving forward, how could someone interested in using a GPS comply with Oregon law?


texts: How can courts resolve logical paradoxes?

texts:
I was discussing OXY USA Inc. v. Schell with a friend, and he came up with this puzzle:

Supposing Company A is facing a lawsuit, has received a judgment against them in a district court, and has filed an appeal. During this time, Company A is also looking to sell the relevant business and associated liabilities to Company B, but Company B insists on an unusual term of sale: should the appeals court dismiss Company A's appeal of the district court's judgment as moot, the sale shall be void. Company B does not intervene in the case.

Now, plaintiffs, pointing to the sale of the business to Company B, move to dismiss Company A's appeal as moot. The appeals court faces the following problem:

Should the appeals court grant the appeal, Company B will have no stake in the outcome, and so the appellate decision will be purely advisory. On the other hand, should the appeals court dismiss the appeal as moot, Company B will in fact incur liability for the judgment and thus will have a stake in the outcome.

How do courts deal with self-referential situations like this that create paradoxes?


texts: How to reject tenant applicant because co-applicant was rejected?

texts:
I'm rejecting a tenant's application because of his credit report. I do know what that denial letter should look like.

I'm sending his co-applicant a rejection letter too but I'm not sure of the correct  legal language to include.

Anyone know?


texts: What effect does Brexit have on Britons' Right to be Forgotten?

texts:
As I understand it, the Right to be Forgotten was promulgated solely as an EU regulation1.

Assuming that the UK follows through and leaves the EU, would search engines no longer have to remove results related to British subjects?


texts: What would happen if someone wanted to sell something affected by a confidentiality agreement?

texts:
For example Bob makes an invention. Joe comes along and argues that Bob's invention infringes on some of his intellectual property. They agree to a settlement where confidentiality is required. What would happen if Bob wanted to sell his invention? Would it make a difference if it was a company instead of an individual?

Wouldn't a buyer need to know the details of the settlement so they could comply with it? I am guessing such settlements normally would contain terms like "You will not infringe any further than what you have already (and you will pay us $XYZ for us not to take you to court)."

For example if someone buy's the company from Bob, then Joe comes back and tries to sue for the same thing again, if the settlement agreement was made confidential and couldn't be transferred to the new owner, how could they defend themselves from being sued again for what the previous owner had reached a settlement for?


texts: Are marketplace lenders subject to fair lending laws?

texts: Are 'marketplace' lenders, such as those using Lending Club or Funding Circle, etc., subject to fair lending provisions, such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act or the Fair Lending provisions of the Fair Housing Act? (Though I realized there are probably few mortgages through these sites.) If so, what are the obligations of lenders under the law, and what is the enforcement mechanism for violations?


texts: What recourse do I have if I can't meet a tight deadline to complete on a house purchase?

texts:
I've recently put down a reservation to buy a new-build flat in London, UK. This is one of the last flats available in the block and the builder is in a rush to complete and get the money as soon as possible. They set a deadline to complete the transaction of one month from the time we put down the reservation. This is much sooner than my partner and I would have liked, but we're accomodating their schedule, at a cost to ourselves: for example, my partner has taken time off work in order to attend an inconveniently scheduled appointment with the mortgage broker on a day's notice, and we will have to take a loss on a several weeks' rent as we were not able to find another person to take over our current lease in time.

As the scheduled completion date draws nearer, I'm beginning to worry that any minor setback will push us past the deadline. The dates that have been set by the builder are incredibly tight and don't allow any room for error. For example, the bank requested a reference letter from my employer, and the builder's schedule allowed 24 hours' notice to my employer to provide it. I work in a large corporation with a small and inefficient HR department, which has other priorities. It took a full day of emailing and calling to plead with them to get them to turn around the letter in that short period of time, and it very nearly didn't happen despite my best efforts.

According to the terms the builder set, if we fail to complete by the date they set, they have the right to cancel our reservation. The builder has been vaguely threatening about what will happen if we don't meet the deadline but has not said specifically what their plans are. I'm worried that even minor delays that are outside of my control could result in us going over the scheduled time and thus losing our reservation, the money we've put down, and the flat itself. As a first time buyer, I'd also like to make sure I have enough time to fully research and understand every step, rather than having to make important decisions under pressure.

My question is, what recourse do we have if we go over the deadline and the builder imposes a financial penalty and/or cancels our reservation? Does it matter that the deadline that they imposed in the first place was unreasonably tight and did not allow room for anything to go wrong?


texts:
Assume someone wants to rent a townhouse but doesn't have good enough credit. So this person asks a co-signer to co-sign for the townhouse. The co-signer lives across the country so travel to the townhouse for them is costly. The rental is approved and the person moves in.

Some time goes by and the co-signer learns that the police have been called to the townhouse for numerous occasions.

The co-signer wants to find out what were the reasons. Co-signer feels that the renter isn't being completely up front about things.

Co-signer wants to write the city and issue a FOIA request that requests copies of the police reports for that address, giving a copy of the lease to prove Co-signer is on the lease and should be allowed to see them.

Is this a proper use of a FOIA request or would another method be more appropriate for asking? Should the request be mailed, emailed or faxed?


texts:
We've had 4 sets of neighbors kids grow up around us with no issue. Nice kids, nice parents, etc.
The latest family has two young boys who like to camp out on my lawn and in my garden. I'm aware of the law regarding an attractive nuisance, the need to secure a pool or treehouse etc. In this case, the kids aren't the issue. The parent has been known to be litigious, and I'd like to protect myself in advance from getting sued for something nonsensical, like his son running where he shouldn't and hurting himself. Like any New England property there are small decorative retaining walls as well as large granite stones serving that function.

Short of fencing in the entire perimeter of my land, is there any preemptive legal thing to do? Basically saying "Look, you kids are running all over my property. I've warned them that thy can get hurt falling on a rock or wall. Now, you are warned as well. Please remind your children to play in their own yard." If nothing like this, how to handle this situation?


texts: When are non-indemnification type clauses needed in a contract?

texts:
In a lot of long contracts (the type people normally skim over) I often see sections about liability and indemnification. In general what are these and why are they necessary?

Can someone give a simple example of an indemnification clause and what could happen if it wasn't in the contract? Is the main idea with a indemnification clause that it specifies who is responsible if it is found something illegal was done? If there is a breach in the contract, then you go to court, and if something illegal is done, it doesn't matter what the contract says, so I don't really get the use of an indemnification clause.

How does "holding someone liable" relate to indemnification, are they synonyms?

I am building a website for someone and am thinking if I should include this in a contract.


texts:
After a rough year building a startup, the CEO decided to ask me, the CTO, to not work anymore, we did not get along at all. I still own shares of the company and we were working with legal on buying me out, but in the meantime, the CEO decided to just kill the company.
I am still the owner of everything related to IT, and he is now asking me to give him admin rights on the google account, which basically will give him the opportunity to kick me out, read my email or misuse my email.

Shall I accept the request ? I am thinking of deleting all my content (mostly my mail, maybe my drive), and sending an official mail stating that I am no longer using my mail, in order to avoid identity theft or so. And yes I do not trust him at all.


texts: If Marbury v Madison was overturned, would this eliminate Judicial Review in the United States?

texts:
Background

Marbury V. Madison established the practice of Judicial review in the United States, though the principle existed before the case.  This gave the Supreme Court power to invalidate laws, or portions of laws, that it found unconstitutional.  By the same token, it limited the Supreme Court to a court of appeals with respect to writs of mandamus and not as a court with original jurisdiction on the matter.

Marbury v. Madison, like any other Supreme Court case, is subject to being overturned either by the Supreme Court, or by amendment to the constitution.  If this were to happen, that means the Judicial Act of 1789 regains full force of the law, and presumably the power to issue writs of Mandamus with original jurisdiction. But there is another part of the case that led me to ask this question...

Question

If Marbury v Madison was overturned, thereby reinstating in full the Judicial Act of 1789, does this also mean that the Surpeme Court loses the power of Judicial review?  And, if so, does this loss of power apply to all cases where it has been applied?


texts:
I was told about a sexual assault. It was horrible, but it didn't involve actual intercourse or sexual contact beyond touching with clothes on. Either way, the victim is traumatized by what happened.
However, she's not my family member is afraid to tell her dad or anyone else that she was assaulted. I don't want to intervene in her life and go against her wishes by talking to her dad behind her back. I also want to give her the time to process what happened and hopefully gather the courage to do it herself.
With that said, I think her dad has to eventually know what happened and that a police report needs to be filed. So considering that I heard about a crime, can I be held liable if I never report it even if the victim never reports it herself or tells anyone else? Do I have to go to the police?


texts: Do I own derivatives of my music if I released it under CC without the SA provision?

texts: If I release music under the Creative Commons 4.0 license, without the ShareAlike provision (CC-BY-NC), do I still have the right to use derivatives of my own music however I want, as the creator of the original piece of music? For example if someone remixes my music and then releases the remix as "all rights reserved", do I still get the right to use their remix since I created the underlying music that is being remixed?


texts: Is it really illegal for someone who's not a postman to use a mailslot in the USA?

texts:
According to an answer given here "It is illegal for anyone other than the USPS to put mail in someone's mailbox" From https://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/tx/2010/tx_2010_0909.htm

  By law, a mailbox is intended only for receipt of postage-paid U.S.
  Mail.

This sure is a strange law. Why was it made? So it's illegal for someone to deliver their own mail in the US? What about non-mail items, like locking the door and putting the key through the mail slot, is this technically illegal in the US?


texts: Private phone call recorded by company phone in UK

texts:
I work for a Company in the UK, and routinely recording conversations between customers and myself providing that they (the customer) give consent.
A private phone call on my personal mobile phone between another agent and  myself was accidentally recorded on my company device in which we had a conversation where we had a discussion about the company.
This conversation was listened to by my business manager who then started disciplinary proceeding against me and my colleague. This resulted in both of us losing our jobs.
Can the company use a private conversation between people which was recored accidentally and not meant for other people like this?


texts: Using North Korean Artists' Music - Copyright Issues

texts: I am interested in using North Korean artists' work (mostly music) for commercial purposes. I cannot contact them so I don't know how to handle copyright issues. Even if there are such problems in this case. Are North Korean artists even protected by copyright laws internationally given the uneasy situation between the DPRK and the rest of the world?


texts: Can you sue yourself for wrongful-death without admitting manslaughter?

texts:
Prompted by a comment in another question, the story of a woman suing herself came to my attention.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/02/19/utah-appeals-court-allows-woman-to-sue-herself-over-fatal-car-crash/

Suit yourself: Utah court lets woman sue herself over fatal wreck
A Utah woman will be the plaintiff and the defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit that has legal experts scratching their heads.
Barbara Bagley was driving her family's Range Rover Dec. 27, 2011 on Interstate 80 near Battle Mountain, Nev., when it slid on sagebrush on Interstate 80, and flipped. Her husband, Bradley Vom Baur, was sent flying from the vehicle, suffered major injuries and died nearly two weeks later in a hospital, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Bagley, 48, suffered a concussion, broken ribs, a shattered wrist and two punctured lungs. One of her dogs, a Shetland sheepdog named Dooley, ran from the scene and wandered the desert for 53 days before being found.

Someone mentioned in the comments to the article the full name of the case:

k_runner Feb 20, 2015
For those who follow particular cases, this one is "Barbara Bagley and the Estate of Bradley M. Vom Baur v. Barbara Bagley" or simply "Bagley v. Bagley."

But more interesting is another comment:

MrTrout Feb 19, 2015
If she is suing herself for negligence which resulted in the death of another, then the state should arrest her and charge her with manslaughter (ie- negligence resulting in the death of another). She is basically admitting she caused the death of her husband through negligence. From a legal perspective, seems pretty straight forward to me.

Indeed, if she sues herself in a civil case for negligence (resulting in death of another), doesn't she automatically have to admit the guilt, and wouldn't / shouldn't she be immediately charged for manslaughter by the state?


texts: if a politician blocks a constituent on Facebook, is it a breach of the constituent's first amendment rights?

texts:
Our local mayor in Lafayette Colorado, Christine Berg, just resigned to "spend more time with family". Then, a couple of days later, I notice that she's being sued by a constituent for blocking him from her Facebook page. I suspect these two events are related.

The constituent claims that blocking him [from trolling] her Facebook page was a breach of his first amendment rights. The details of the complaint can be found here: https://www.scribd.com/document/397680254/Complaint-filed-by-Cliff-Willmeng-against-Lafayette-Mayor-Christine-Berg#from_embed

This 21-page legal document references other cases and argues for compensation for "emotional pain, [...], mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, medical bills, [...]", amongst other things.

I'm an ex-pat and have no background in law. I feel that the mayor is a genuinely good person and this is a bit absurd, i.e. if there was a law against barratry in Colorado, a lawsuit for blocking someone on Facebook should qualify.

Does anyone have a view on whether a political figure can be sued for blocking a follower on Facebook?


texts:
I found the following statement about work-place harassment from another stackexchange:

If this is the US, in order to qualify as harassment legally, the behavior in question also has to be based on a protected characteristic (i.e. sex, race, age, etc). Calling a staff member "selfish" because they are Jewish = harassment; calling a staff member "selfish" because you don't like their shoes = not harassment.

Is it true? Where I can find a complete list that includes all the possible words?


texts: Is selling alcohol from one individual to another for profit illegal without a license?

texts:
Consider this scenario:
Joe works at a liquor store. Shortly before the store closes a potential customer calls in, and asks if Joe could purchase the products so that the customer can buy it off him after the store has closed (because the customer could not get to the store fast enough). Is this legal?
Would it be different if it was Joe who proposed the idea to the customer? What if Joe used his employee discount or charges the customer a higher price than he paid?
I'm curious which laws may be broken. Joe would not have a license to sell liquor, which I think would be required.


texts: Is it possible to require removal of attribution under BY-SA for distributions not yet created?

texts:
CC BY-SA 4.0 §3(a)(3) requires that attribution of licensed material be removed if the licensor requests it.

As the licensor, is it possible to make this request in advance of the redistribution of licensed material? For example, if I don't like the manner in which X is using my work, can I ask them to remove any attribution to me they have provided on existing redistributions, but also on any redistributions of my work that they may provide in the future (without either party knowing what they might be)?


texts: Seating in a restaurant: discrimination?

texts: I am an Asian. I went into a restaurant. There were full of empty tables. I tried to seat in one of these table. Then the madame of the restaurant came to me and asked whether I would be having a lunch. I explained I was having a coffee. Then the madame told me to move to the back seat of restaurants without proper tables and chairs. Is it a discrimination?


texts: What limits are there to the powers of individual judges in the United States legal system?

texts:
Based on what I have heard, judges in United States can cancel the traffic ticket of an individual or imprison another simply because something they don't like in some person.

(Here I would not expect the judge to admit that they did not like something in the person (such as social status or race) but might instead claim that their decision was because of, for example, something in persons behavior.)

This question was prompted by the many cases where individuals (often African-American) have been imprisoned for decades and later found innocent.

So what I wanted to know is what limits, if any, are set for judges in U.S. courts.

Could a judge cancel his own or (without requiring court appearance)
his relatives traffic ticket?
Could a judge declare an individual as guilty simply because they
want to, esp. if the case does not have much direct evidence either
for or against an indictment?

(I am not interested in what they are expected to do, or how they are expected to behave in their position, but what they are able to do without accountability.)


texts:
As I understand it: Battery is the act of intentionally touching or applying force to another person such that the person suffers harm or offense.

Q1: What is the correct verbiage to communicate to an enforcement office that you want to press assault charges against a suspect that has physically struck a victim?  Assume you witnessed the battery.

Q2: What obligation do officers have once a victim has indicated they have been assaulted and the victim seeks to press charges?

Q3: Under what, if any, circumstances are officers required to arrest a battery suspect?  Does an arrest require that the victim suffer visible physical injury?

Assume a Juris Diction of Florida / New York City


texts: Is it damages to cause someone's premiums to increase?

texts:
I bought a car as an "or" title with someone. She signed it over to herself without telling me while I paid the insurance. So I think there are damages there.

Additionally, which is what I am asking about, she got in an accident that doubled the premiums in all my policies. Is this also damages? Can I sue her for frauding the insurance as well as (apparently deliberately or carelessly) causing my premium to increase?


texts: What laws prohibit winning prizes in international contests?

texts:
In the https://flutter.dev/create contest, the rules say this:

  Persons from the following countries or regions can submit but will
  not be considered eligible for the contest due to local rules,
  including exclusion from judging and prizes: Italy, Brazil, Quebec,
  and Mexico.

What laws in these countries or regions prevent winning prizes in an international contest?

Edit: there are no chance elements in the contest, but part of the judging criteria is subjective.


texts: Is it legal to download and modify videos from YouTube licensed under creative Commons?

texts:
I want to download and modify YouTube videos (licensed under creative Commons) programmatically and further use it for commercial purpose on other sites. Is it legal to do so ?
Please provide relevant reference also.

Refer following link for related FAQ:
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2797468?hl=en&ref_topic=2778546

I am  concerned with following lines mentioned in above link. "These videos are then accessible to YouTube users for use, even commercially, in their own videos via the YouTube Video Editor."


texts:
I noticed in Assassin's Creed : Odyssey that they implemented a feature very similar to Shadow of Mordor's nemesis with mercenaries . By that I mean automatically and randomly generated ennemies with weakness and complex features.
This IGN article seems to confirm this hypothesis :

Game Director at Ubisoft Quebec, Scott Phillips, says the team “Wanted to have a system where the world was constantly living and constantly challenging” players, so they created a dynamic system of mercenaries within the world of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, somewhat similar to that of Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis system.Each mercenary has strengths and weaknesses and unique attributes ranging from animal companions and gear to high skill with a specific weapon, and while there are many hand-crafted mercenaries that can be found around Greece,they’re also randomly generated from a pool of modular fight moves and stories as a way to offer a more elite enemy for players to fight.

I was surprised to hear someone from Ubisoft admitting that the feature was similar to what someone else did in a previous game.
I found this American Bar Association article  which explains that game rules are not copyrightable :

Section 102(b) of the Copyright Act states: “In no case does copyright
protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea,
procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle,
or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described,
explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.”1 In using the word
“or,” the statute lists these exclusions—ideas, procedures, processes,
systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, or
discoveries—disjunctively. Thus, each has independent force and
effect. This means that neither ideas nor functional elements—such as
procedures, processes, systems, or methods of operation—are
copyrightable.

I won't lie, it is not clear to me even after reading the whole article what is copyrightable and what is not. I decided to look up one of the very best rip-off in history with Instagram's story system and I learnt that since IG's and Snapchat's story system were visually different, it was legally OK for IG to use it.
Could someone shed some light on the differences between software and video game copyrights, or globally anything that could help me understand how copyright works in the video game industry? Specifically whether it is "features" or "code" or something else that is usually copyrighted?


texts: What is the legal distinction between Twitter banning Trump and Trump blocking individuals?

texts:
For reference, this recent NPR article contains all of the information that inspired this question.
The lawsuits referenced in the above article center on then-President Trump blocking individual users on Twitter from interacting with or seeing his tweets. Lower courts apparently ruled that Trump's twitter feed is essentially a public forum, and therefore, blocking users was unconstitutional because it amounted to viewpoint discrimination. There haven't been (as far as I know) any lawsuits against Twitter for their banning of Trump while he was President. Clearly, any such lawsuits would likely be ruled moot now, but it stands to reason that if Trump isn't allowed to prevent people from interacting with him on social media, then Twitter shouldn't be allowed to prevent people from interacting with him either.
One possible distinction here is that Twitter wasn't practicing viewpoint discrimination since they effectively blocked everyone from interacting with President Trump without regard to viewpoint. However, if the President's presence turns a social media account into a public forum, then preventing the president from having an account seems to be a form of viewpoint discrimination in itself. Really, the whole thing is very strange since it seems to suggest that Twitter (a private company) has control over whether or not certain public fora are allowed to exist. To me, that sounds like those fora were never really "public" at all (meaning Trump should be able to block people from his personal account), or if they were, then Trump's viewpoint was being discriminated against and Twitter has an obligation as the purveyor of this public forum to protect his rights.
Why are Trump blocking individuals on Twitter and Twitter effectively blocking everyone for Trump by banning him treated differently under the law?


texts: German Rental Contract error. Can landlord back charge 18months?

texts:
Berlin Landlord made an error in the contract, and now wants all tenants to correct the error by paying sum's going back 18months. Can they?

A little more detail:

A friend moved into a new apartment in Berlin 18months ago.
Last week, they received a demand, to be paid within 15days, with back dated charges for all 18months.
The contract he (and other tenants have) references the size of the apartment in sq meters, it references the total monthly rent to be paid, but does not reference a formula on how the total monthly rent was calculated.
The reason for the demand is the landlord discovered they calculated using the wrong sqm cost.
I believe the landlord might be able to increase rent going forward, but not back date 18months. True/false?

Thanks


texts:
This scenario is based on a real life event but is a purely hypothetical question (because this isn't remotely worth going to court or even arguing over).  The situation seems surprisingly complicated, so it made me curious what, if anything, the "legal" answer may be.  Consider the following scenario:

Tenant rents out a house which comes with a washer+dryer.
Lease specifically stipulates that Tenant is welcome to use washer/dryer but that Owner is not responsible for fixing them if they break.
Tenant moves in and discovers that the washing machine is, in fact, broken (it never worked even before Tenant moved in)
Conveniently, Owner recently purchased the property and has a seller's warranty available, which will cover repairs on the appliances (including washer/dryer)
In an attempt to be helpful, Owner calls the company that provides the warranty.  The washer is declared dead and a new washing machine is provided by said company.
The warranty requires a deductible for this replacement.  Since Owner declared that they would not be responsible for fixing the washer/dryer, they refuse to pay the deductible for the visit.  Tenant pays for the deductible on Owner's Warranty.
If it matters, the deductible is less than the cost of the replacement washing machine.

In short, the owner stated they would not pay for repairs or replacement on washer/dryer.  As stated in the lease, when the washer broke the owner did not pay anything for the new washing machine - the tenant did.  However, the owner's warranty was still used to acquire the new washing machine.  Therefore, who owns the washing machine?


texts: How Do Determine if Signer of a Contract is Authorized to Sign?

texts:
Suppose I send out an agreement to a potential client. Someone at the client's offices signs and dates the agreement (using an online electronic contract management service).

Some employees may believe they have the authorization to sign Agreements when they don't. Or, they had authorization to sign, but it was taken away form them. Or, they may have authorization but up to a dollar amount limit. If any of those employees signs an agreement then it might be difficult to collect fees. The services I'm providing could be in the $15-$20 range per employee. If the company doesn't pay, the cost of hiring a lawyer to get my fees would be greater than the actual fees I'm owed.

How do I determine if the signer is authorized by the client to sign legally binding contracts?

Thanks, Ed


texts: Can I drive in Colorado as an out of state minor?

texts: I have a driver's license in another state where you can drive when you are 15. Can I use that license in Colorado if I haven't turned 16 yet, considering that you have to be 16 to get a license in Colorado?


texts: How different does something have to be so it doesn't infringe on a copyright?

texts:
I'm an engineer and I wanted to make a toy for my 3 year old daughter for Christmas. She loves Little Einsteins but since that was 12 years ago, they don't really make many of the toys anymore. Any that are still available are held by collectors and sell at a premium ($100+ for a smaller one).

I wanted to make her Leo's baton as that is her favorite character. I have a 3D printer and making something like that won't be an issue. My idea is making something that resembles it physically but not identically and has a few buttons that will play a couple of soundbites from the show when pressed (the baton on the show does not do that). It won't have any logos, iconography, or anything tying it to the show on the outside.

If it's a legal issue, I can just change the soundbites to something generic but it would mean more to her for it to be a Little Einsteins thing. Will the physical likeness itself be a possible enfringement?

This isn't something I would be selling or making money off of and since they aren't produced, the toy isn't easy to come by.

NB: if I'm not stepping on any toes and make it as described for my daughter, could I document the build and put it online (a blog or social media)? Could I share the 3D model* on a website under the Creative Commons License (no money or anything is gained)?

I'm sorry if this seems like a dumb question, I'm not familiar with copyright law and I don't want to get myself in any trouble.

*Models are required for 3D printing


texts:
Some background:

I've stumbled on a few so to say "dead" articles. Articles that have great content but the website where they are published is "gone". Thanks to the Internet Archive we can get the content but search engines aren't indexing them so you can't get there via searching.

The question

Can I publish the content from those blogs let's say in Medium (given that I can't contact the author to ask for permission)?

Edit: I want to give full credit to the original authors.


texts:
What are the restrictions on NTFS and in what ways can I use NTFS?

Can I boot from NTFS without worrying about Microsoft suing me?

Is it based on if I have a Windows license?  I asked a similar question on superuser and programmers.


texts: Copyright law vs software transformation

texts:
As wikipedia says,

  A major limitation on copyright on ideas is that copyright protects only the original expression of ideas

Suppose there are two companies: A and B, that produce software. Now, suppose that A published some commercial program, but obfuscated it, so that its functionality is unchanged, but the machine code produced looks completely different than in unobfuscated one. Subsequently, company B bought this program, deobfuscated its code and started selling it.

As I understand, the original way of expressing ideas by company A was by publishing obfuscated code (the original version was not published at all). Since after deobfuscation by company B, code looks completely different, does it qualify as another way of expressing the same ideas and is legal, or has company B broken the copyright law?

The above question concerns the case when B is selling the original program code that was extracted from published obfuscated version. But imagine that B transformed the code published by A to a completely different form different from both original and obfuscated one, but preserving functionality and sells it. Has company B broken the copyright law in this case?


texts: Lease requires tenant to be partially responsible for repair costs

texts: I've found a house to rent and was reviewing the lease and found a couple of clauses that give me some concern. The primary is a provision that we, the tenant, are responsible for the first $75 of any repair. I've never seen anything like this and I'm a bit put off by it, but I don't know if my issues with it are simply my own hangups or if there is a questionable legality to it. Is this an enforceable and legitimate clause that doesn't conflict with their legal responsibilities to maintain the property?


texts: Should the HR department suggest legal firms after I've been made redundant?

texts:
I have been made redundant from a big investment bank in London. Being not a native of the UK I am new to the process and have nobody to ask advice from.

HR told me that I would need to contact lawyers for them to review the documents given by HR. At the end of it they suggest two law firms they are used to working with from what they told me. They also say that they will reimburse up to £500 in lawyers' fees. From my perspective, it looks a bit suspicious that they give me the name of these two law firms.

Is this normal or usual, and is it legal?


texts: Is there ever a case where invoking the right against self incrimination is in itself incriminating?

texts: Does the invocation of the 5th amendment ever constitute evidence of having committed a crime?


texts: How to file a lawsuit against a Canadian national from the UK?

texts:
My uncle is a British national. Around 8 years back he helped his distant relative living in Canada who was in a financial difficulty by giving him a loan of approx £30K with an agreement that he will repay the full principal amount along with interest in 2 years' time. The relative has not repaid the loan and has not responded to attempts to contact him.
My uncle would like to formally lodge a complaint and summon him but don't know the legal procedure as the relative is not in the UK and is not a UK national.
I would like to know if it's possible to file a lawsuit, and if so, where will it be filed.


texts: Is it against HIPAA regulations to not include records received from other clinics when a patient asks for a copy of their medical records to be sent to a new clinic? In other words, is it ok to only include the medical records for what occurred at our clinic?


texts: Color-blind handicap discrimination and EU law?

texts:
Every year in the USA, nearly 700,000 car accidents are reported by police as stop sign violations, accounting for 2/3rds of crashes.

Stop signs are mostly red and for the 4.5% of people that are color blind, they are less visible than other road signs. Occasionally on stone and foliage backgrounds against the sun, in peripheral vision, red signs can represent many seconds of delay in awareness when arriving at a blind junction and can be dangerous.

Less people would crash if all panels should have yellow, cyan and magenta regions on them too, some designs that are visible to color blind and ordinary people.

Would it be possible to take the national/EU transport authorities to court to complain about risking lives and discrimination? Am I missing something?


texts: Am I required to return a package that was sent to me in error?

texts:
tl;dr: Do I have to return a package that was sent to me that I've already been refunded for?
Background:
In early October, I pre-ordered the Microsoft Band 2; a fitness monitor. It wasn't scheduled to be released in Canada until late November (~20), so I didn't expect it anytime soon. Near the end of October however, I received a tracking number from Microsoft, and had my credit card charged for the full amount of the product. Sure enough, it had been sent a month early, apparently in error. I checked the tracking page, and marked my calendar for the 2nd of November, excited I was getting it early.
Well, the 2nd came and went. To my frustration, the package ended up getting stuck in customs for days. Then, I received an email from a "Chuck Norris" (I'm not kidding) that Microsoft had realized their error, and couldn't allow me to have the package early. Instead, my order was cancelled, refunded, I was given a $20 credit for their online store, and told to reorder the Band if I still wanted it. I decided to wait. The package was sent back to China, and sat there for about a week. This picture tells the whole story nicely:

Yesterday though, I received a shipping notification. As you can see from the history above, it's since cleared customs, and is scheduled to be delivered today at noon (about 6 hours from now), despite me having received a full refund and credit.
What are my options when it arrives? Am I allowed to receive it, then notify Microsoft of the error and offer to pay? Ideally, I'd like to brush it under the rug and not pay (I think Microsoft has enough money to forget about a couple hundred bucks), but I realize that that could bite me down the road.
At the advice of @ratchetfreak, I read Microsoft's "Terms of Use and Sale", and couldn’t find anything about orders shipped in error. The only somewhat relevant thing I could find was if there's an error on their website relating to my order, they reserve the right to charge me the correct price (12.) (which I'm fine with).
I live in Calgary, Canada.
Update as of Nov. 14:
The shipping history is still exactly as the picture above; "in transit" in Winnipeg. It appears to be a glitch in their systems unfortunately, as I suspect it was stopped at customs; again.

Update 5 years later: I never got it, as this parcel was stuck at customs for seemingly forever before being sent back.


texts: Percentage guidelines for unreasonable vs reasonable attorney's fees?

texts:
I'm aware of a provision in the ABA model rules for lawyers starting:

  A lawyer shall not make an agreement for, charge, or collect an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses.

If I engage a lawyer to collect lets say $100,000 in trust distributions owed me, is there a % (percentage) guideline as to what would be considered an "unreasonable fee"?   How about for "reasonable"?

I'm not talking about a contingency percentage, but bills for hourly work...


texts: Can a police officer enter with no warrant or cause, and must I comply with orders if one does?

texts:
This is a hypothetical question.

I am in my garage on a Saturday reloading ammunition and cleaning several guns for a range trip the next day. It is hot and I had the large garage door open.  As always when I have my safe open and guns on the bench I was wearing a loaded pistol in a hip holster.

A cop apparently just driving by stops and gets out of his car and comes into the garage. I asked him what he was doing and if he had paper on me or any reason to be there and he said no. He just wanted to see what the guns were about.

At that point he demanded  that I give him my gun and move away from the open safe and the guns on the bench, for his protection, and to put my hands up. I told him to stop immediately and leave my property.

He did NOT have a warrant or any piece of paper with my name on it issued by a judge or justice of the piece giving him the right to enter my domicile or seize my property.

I further told him that my home security system was recording all this. He again told me to put my hands up and move away from the guns on the bench. I again demanded that he leave and that he had no right to detain me in my own home.

At that point he pulled his gun and pointed it at me. I had not yelled, acted in any way other than calm and had not reached for my pistol or any of the guns on the bench or in the safe.

He told me that I had to stop the recording and that he wanted the recording that currently existed. I ended up being arrested for menacing, resisting arrest and a bunch of other stuff.

My question is when he drew his weapon was he operating under the color of law and if I had defended myself by drawing and firing would I have been liable for criminal charges?


texts: Can the TSA still give you a pat down even if you change your mind about flying?

texts:
I recently discovered that the TSA will pull you aside and inform you that they have to give you a full pat down for failing to empty everything out of your pants pockets before going through the scanner. I had to go through this procedure because I had failed to remove two folded up paper towels from my pants pocket. I often use a paper towel as a substitute for a handkerchief.

I am wondering if I had refused the pat down and had instructed them to return my belongings because I had decided at that moment to travel to my destination via an alternate means such as via a car or bus, would they still have the authority to pat me down?


texts: Does DMCA applies on decompiled assets from apk

texts:
Actually this question ( Does DMCA cover apps? ) does not cover my answer. Actually I have made an android app which is published on play store. I had trained some machine learning models which I used in my app and they were present in my apk. Recently I realized that some developer from China has decompiled my apk and used my machine learning models in their app. But cleverly they modified my models content with some fake data, and on runtime they put the right data within the model to make them work. I cannot access the right data to make the model work because it is encrypted in c++ files.

I am wondering is there any way I can file DMCA take down notice against the developer. Or it is considered the "Fair use" in terms of DMCA ( I am new to this act ). Please help me.

Thanks


texts: Are boarding deadlines indicated on an airline's website legally binding?

texts:
E.g. Air France lists boarding deadlines on its website:

15 minutes before the departure time, between Paris-Orly and metropolitan France destinations.
20 minutes before the departure time, for all other flights.

If the actual boarding deadline for the flight is before that deadline given on its website, is the passenger entitled to compensation?


texts: Registering an app with a copyright office

texts:
So the big goal that I want to achieve is to have a proof that I made an app for any thing that might come up later. After asking and researching I found out that I can register a copyright for my app with a copyright office to claim ownership of my app.

A little bit about apps:

Some of you might or might not know that an app is just a set of files : java, xml, .... that contain lines of code. And when the app is finished you can out put the app as a single APK file, and that APK file is then put on the play store for people to download (of course the app considered here is android app).

Questions:

1) How do I register a copyright for my app, do I provide the individual files to the office or the single APK file?

2) Do I need a lawyer to do so?

3) Lets say I include third party libraries in my app, then these libraries have their own code included in my app. Do I provide these to the office too?

4) Any other ways to prove ownership of my app?


texts: Can information posted without a license and meant to be spread be assumed to allow commercial use?

texts: Our organization has a cyber threat intelligence server, which we use commercially. There are a number of feeds posted by various organizations or individuals which contain things like malicious IPs, phishing domains, etc which are meant to be used as blocklists. These are free and available to the public. However, in 9 cases out of 10 there is no explicit license attached, nor any explanation from the maker as to who is actually allowed to use the feed and for what purposes. Can we assume that we are allowed to use it? What steps could be taken to ensure it? Some of the owners of the feeds cannot be contacted despite several attempts. We are located in Canada.


texts: How to get a court order for deceased relatives birth certificate?

texts:
What's the process for getting a court order in Canada for a deceased relatives birth certificate?

There is no will or executor of the will and the birth certificate is for genealogy purposes.


texts: Will landlord be held liable for failing to meet NJ Security Deposit reporting laws?

texts:
I am dealing with a NJ dispute. I am on the tenant side. Any clarity would be greatly appreciated. Or if you could point me in the right direction to get some answers.

The landlord must notify tenant of security deposit bank details within 30 days…if they do not, does it become the tenant’s responsibility to request it?
Is there a “notice of cure” that needs to be supplied by tenant allowing LL time to produce the security deposit notification? Is that for 30 days or more/less?
Would this hold up if the tenant was NEVER given any notification (no name of bank, statement, annual interest payments or deductions, not notified when account holding funds was changed - nothing) from day one, through a 6-year tenancy?
Once the request for documentation is made - upon termination of lease - does that preclude the LL from their original responsibility of supplying this information 30 days after the lease was signed and 30 days if the account where held is changed?


texts: Is receiving support from an enemy (i.e. reverse treason) a crime?

texts:
I think committing treason, in the U.S. constitution, can involve giving aid & comfort to our enemies.  What if the enemy gives aid & comfort to you instead?  Is that treason?  Is it covered by a different crime?

(This is inspired by a recent Presidential candidate asking, maybe sarcastically, a foreign power for help over his opponent's documentation.)


texts: I am curious if it is illegal for someone who refuses to swear or affirm. I am wondering since a friend of mine tried to have someone to affirm and swear to tell the truth regarding an abuse investigation being done by my friend but the suspect refused to affirm and left the scene. Is this legal or not?


texts: Can I use the rating of different restaurants from different websites like Yelp on my own website?

texts:
I am thinking of creating a website with restaurants ratings.

You would be able to search for restaurants and in the result list you would see the name of the restaurant and the ratings of different websites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Facebook, and Google (for that restaurant).

I am little confused about the rules here.

First, I have read that if you use facts from websites it's not copyrighted and it is fair use.

Second, I see Google results with the Yelp rating (with stars) in the search result.

Third, they are plugins for WordPress that let you show ratings (https://wordpress.org/plugins/widget-yelp-reviews/, https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/yelp-widget-pro/)

Fourth, in Yelp API TOS they have:

  Enhance your app with Yelp ratings, reviews, photos and much more

With a check mark in front.. But later it says:

  display or use Yelp user review ratings (numerical, star or any other representation of the Yelp user review rating calculation) alongside or in conjunction with restaurants where Eat24 is not providing ordering and delivery services (i.e. don’t use Yelp user review ratings for the benefit of an Eat24 competitor);

I only want to use the overall rating of a restaurant not every single rating of each users. Does that include review rating calculation and Yelp user review ratings?

So is my idea fair use of these websites data or is not because of the TOS?


texts: Are vigilantes actions on DDoSing child porn sites illegal?

texts:
There still exist many illegitimate child porn sites on the web.

Some vigilantes organized and DDoS those child porn sites, typically because they think the government is inadequate to seize the child porn site owners, are these vigilantes themselves committing a crime?


texts: Any protections or precautions for discussing a patent idea with my spouse if she has IP clauses in her employment contract?

texts: We live and work in Boston, Massachusetts.  I work for Company A in computers and my wife for Company B in medicine, both of us with clauses for intellectual property ownership in our employment contracts.  Hypothetically, if I had a medical patent idea generated solely by me, would I need to take any precautions before discussing it with my wife to avoid giving her employer any claims to it?  Or are there general protections because we're married?


texts: Can resisting arrest be a standalone charge without others?

texts:
In this answer, Cicero writes:

  Resisting arrest must be ancillary to some other charge. You cannot just be charged with "resisting arrest" unless you are actually being arrested on some other charge (or interfering with someone else being arrested).

Is that true?

Can somebody be successfully prosecuted for "resisting arrest" only, without also being prosecuted for some other crime?

(Cicero's answer is for MA and the question is focused on NY, but answers can address any jurisdiction and disclose the jurisdiction.)


texts:
I have been trying to find a definitive answer about what you are legally required to provide an officer at an OVI/DUI checkpoint in Ohio.

I know that Ohio is a "Stop and Identify" state. However, that only applies if you are reasonably suspected of committing a crime. Also, that is just name, address, and date of birth.

So are you required to identify yourself at an OVI/DUI Check Point?

Are you required to provide registration, proof of insurance and a drivers license?

I know you can invoke the right of silence and refuse consent to search but what do you actually have to answer?

Please only respond if you can provide actual state documentation or a case that sets precedent.


texts: If you pay with something other than money, do you have to pay tax?

texts: As an example, let's say a friend of yours is selling their car, and they also need some DIY work doing on their house. If you do the DIY work for them, and they give you the car as payment, do you need to pay tax on this?


texts: Does settlement of an HOA liens wipe the slate clean?

texts:
A house in Missouri was being sold and the owner wanted to negotiate a lower payment to settle the HOA liens because the buyer would not offer him enough money to cover both the HOA dues and the mortgage.(The amount offered actually wasn't enough to cover either amount in full)
The HOA liens was filed prior to the mortgage, which is owned by a private mortgagee, not a bank. The mortgagee had recently filed a new mortgage that replaced prior mortgages, after the HOA had already filed its liens. So I know the liens takes priority over the mortgage at this point.
The HOA agreed to a payout to release the liens that was lower than the total balance on the account.
Does that remaining balance disappear with the liens settlement and release, or does the difference between the amount paid to release the liens and the original account balance remain for the new owner?


texts: Is a text offering to cancel a lease binding?

texts:
If you are having an on-going issue for more than a year and your landlord sends a text stating

  If you want to break the lease, you can forfeit your deposit and move out by the end of the month

is it binding?

Would it still be binding if you chose to break the lease and move out the following month when the same problem persists?


texts: Is it legal for employers to ask for social media handles?

texts:
is it legal for employers to ask for social media handles in job application or pre-employment forms? If it is unrelated to the job?

I understand for jobs like marketing, modeling etc. where a large social media following increases the cash flow, in that case it makes sense to ask for the handles as the person will be a face of the company. Hence the request and assessment could be written under job requirement.

But for a position completely unrelated to one's social media presence, is it legal?

Looking at North America and Europe ; Canada, USA, Germany


texts:
I was arrested on charges in North Carolina. During the ongoing investigation, but prior to trial, the local news ran a piece showing my mug shot. They didn't say my name, but did say some bad things about me, and what was allegedly found on my property.

This was done a few weeks before jury selection, and I am worried that my potential jury has already judged me before the trial.

Is it legal and/or proper for the news station to do this? Does this impact my ability to get a fair trial?


texts: I have read and understand 6 months probationary period rule, that employee exceeds 6 months of probationary period shall be regularized otherwise informed by the employer to not continue. Now the question is employee is informed ahead that he/she will be regularized, however wished to decline because he/she doesn't agree with the new contract/rules. Now,  does the employee has the right to do so?


texts: Is "expiring" business software considered sabotage?

texts:
I developed a software system for my employer.  Because this was outside my job description the owner agreed to pay me monthly to maintain the system.  Because I knew the owner had a tendency not to pay I included an "expiration feature" to disable the software if I wasn't paid.

I left the company but I advised the owner that I will continue maintaining their system.  However, they didn't pay me for 3 months, so the system expired.

Is an undisclosed expiration feature like that considered sabotage?


texts:
Some have argued that Jeffrey Epstein shouldn't have been prosecuted in the U.S. because he committed his crimes in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

However, the U.S. Virgin Islands constitute a U.S. territory. On the other hand they have their own District, Superior and Supreme courts.

So was Epstein prosecuted in the U.S. rather than the Virgin Islands?


texts: Do medical staff report wounds from rubber bullets like they do for gunshot wounds?

texts: This question comes from a curious debate I'm in the middle of. Thankfully it's a completely wound-free debate (physically speaking). But I'm not certain if a rubber bullet wound is 'real' gunshot wound legally speaking. Have there even been court cases or public policy referencing it?


texts: When to authorize someone and when to sign a contract for processing personal data

texts:
There are two ways for the data controller to let someone else process the data he controls:

authorise him or her to do so,
sign a legal contract making him or her a 'processor' (Article 28 GDPR).

Now, when to authorise and when to sign a contract? Why are employees authorized instead of signing processing agreements with them?