texts: My nickname violate the Google+ Names Policy, how about my privacy?

texts:
I would like to use my nickname instead of full name when commenting on random posts within Google network.

However when I wanted to enforce that (by changing my Full Name into nickname), I found out that:

  The nickname that you've chosen appears to violate the Google+ Names Policy.

I believe they meant this policy.

However I am worried about my privacy and this was applied quite recently.

By which law I am enforced to share my personal details (such as my full name) on forum publicly to on-line people which I even don't know (when commenting on random posts)?

In other words, based on what law Google tries to enforces its restrictive policy, if any?

Can I do anything in that situation (e.g. my privacy is protected by any law), so I can enforce on my privacy rights without removing my Google Plus account? I'm from UK if that's matter.


texts: What potential lawsuits does the recent Expensify fiasco expose the company to?

texts:
As some of you may know just by checking your mailboxes, David Barrett, the CEO of Expensify, recently sent out a political endorsement e-mail to all of Expensify's users (supposedly, 10 million people).
I'm not interested in discussing the (un)professionalism of such an e-mail or the validity of statements contained therein. I'm interested in the fact that it is an unsolicited political e-mail. As a side note, it is not an e-mail that is a call to vote - it is a call to vote for a specific candidate.
The author of the e-mail claims that the First Amendment gives him the right to send it, but this e-mail was sent globally and utilised a database of e-mail addresses of users who have not given consent to receive political messages.
It feels illegal to me, but I don't know anywhere near enough about law to know whether it actually is.
I'm curious as to what possible liabilities did this expose the company to and in what jurisdictions.
Full e-mail content available here


texts: Does a minor own the proceeds of a tax forclosure auction if they own the property being auctioned?

texts:
In the state of New York a minor is the legal owner of a building (don't worry about how they came to own a building, but just assume they do).
At some point the property taxes on the building become past due and the building goes for auction.  The property taxes owed were $15,000.  But someone bids $50,000 for the building.
I assume the county would take $15,000 from the sale, but who would be the owner of the remaining $35,000.   Would it be the the minor, minor's legal guardian, or some other entity.


texts: If there is a work that is out of copyright (was published in the 1800s) but I can only find it in an online repository, can the repository claim a copyright or other limitation on my use of their scanned copy?


texts: A technician injected malware into my computer without my knowledge

texts:
So this fixer that I asked to fix my busted front audio ports injected my PC with KMS-R@in in order to get rid of the activate windows watermark without my consent/knowledge, and it gave me Floxif.E and Floxif.H, and updated the drivers to fix the back ports, which wasn't even what I asked him for, is there any legal action I can do to make him take responsibility?

By the way, his store's affiliated with/backed by ASUS.


texts: Can't a state in India challenge the Parliament in court?

texts:
In an ongoing case challenging the centre's decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for government welfare schemes, the Supreme Court bench asked the West Bengal state counsel:

  "In a federal structure, how can a state file plea challenging
  Parliament’s mandate? We know it is a matter which needs consideration
  but you satisfy us how a state can challenge it?"

  “You satisfy us how the state has challenged it. We know it is a
  matter which needs consideration,” the bench said, adding that the
  Centre’s move can be challenged by an individual but not by states.

  The bench, instead, asked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to submit a
  plea before it as an individual.   “Let Mamta Banerjee come and file.
  We will entertain her as an individual,” it said.

Source: Aadhaar case: Supreme Court pulls up West Bengal govt, says ‘how can State challenge Parliament’s mandate’, The Indian Express, October 30, 2017

This strikes me as preposterous. The government is not a military organization where people must follow their superiors' orders without challenge. Further, during a dispute between a state and the centre, who else can adjudicate other than the Supreme Court?

  The Supreme Court has original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction.
  Its exclusive original jurisdiction extends to any dispute between the
  Government of India and one or more States or between the Government
  of India and any State or States on one side and one or more States on
  the other or between two or more States, if and insofar as the dispute
  involves any question (whether of law or of fact) on which the
  existence or extent of a legal right depends.

Is the bench correct in asking the state government to justify its right to challenge the central government? Clearly the Court's problem is not with the subject of the challenge, but merely about who is raising the challenge.


texts: Can a person legally search for work, or other resources to facilitate future immigration, while visiting under the Visa Waiver Program?

texts:
I have a friend who wishes to immigrate to the US in the future. However, they do not currently meet any eligibility requirements for a green card nor do they have a sponsor for a non-immigrant visa at this time. They will be coming to visit the US soon, under the Visa Waiver Program.

While they are mainly coming for tourism and social purposes, my friend also hopes that the visit can be used to find proper sponsorship for a green card or work visa. However, I understand that the VWP does not allow for dual-intent like a work visa generally does. This raises some questions.

If employment is found prior to their currently-planned trip, is it possible to change/cancel the VWP permit to have a green card or work visa granted for the trip instead?
While in the US under the VWP, may they apply for US-based jobs and attend interviews (under the condition that work does not begin while still under the VWP)?
If employment is found while on this trip, will they need to return to their home country before a green card or work visa can be granted? If so, for how long?


texts: How to say "a.s.a.p." in a formal contract

texts:
I want to send a worker a contract that I will pay "a.s.a.p.". Is there a better way to write it in a contract? I feel it is better to specify a date, but it might look even worse than a.s.a.p. to write "within two weeks" or "before the end of the first week in July"?

There is not a conflict, I just want to make clear that I'm not trying to trick the guy into a business and not paying him.


texts: What is the legal interpretation of "does not bear all of the following"?

texts:
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, the definition of an abandoned vehicle includes:

  Motor Vehicle...That is left unattended on or along a highway or other public property for more
  than forty-eight (48) hours and does not bear all of the following:

  a. Valid registration plate.

  b. A current certificate of inspection.

  c. An ascertainable vehicle identification number.

There are two possible meanings of this phrase:

The vehicle does not bear (a), does not bear (b), and does not bear (c).
The vehicle does not bear all of (a), (b), and (c); in other words, the answer to "Does it bear all of the following?" would be "No".

Now, I am guessing they mean (2), because vehicles are usually supposed to have all three of these things.

However my question is not about this specific case, but about the legal terminology: Is there an accepted unambiguous understanding of this phrase in law? Which of (1) and (2) would be correct?


texts: California's Leonard Law - to what extent does it apply at religious schools

texts:
Here's the full reference in the California legal code. The main section:

  (a) A school district operating one or more high schools, a charter school, or a private secondary school shall not make or
  enforce a rule subjecting a high school pupil to disciplinary
  sanctions solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other
  communication that, when engaged in outside of the campus, is
  protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the
  United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California
  Constitution.

There's a clause related to religious schools:

  (c) This section does not apply to a private secondary school that is
  controlled by a religious organization, to the extent that the
  application of this section would not be consistent with the religious
  tenets of the organization.

In my layperson research most references I found blanket discount the entire section because of clause '(c)', saying the entire section (known as Leonard Law) doesn't apply to religious schools. To me that doesn't seem correct.

Yes, at a catholic school students couldn't hold a "pro-abortion" rally on campus because abortion is inconsistent with a tenent of the church.

On the other hand, a rally in support of a teacher or student that was just dismissed (or expelled)... there's nothing there that goes against the tenents of the religion.


texts: What is the purpose of stipulating recitals are part of the agreement?

texts:
The Recitals shall be part of this Agreement.

What is the purpose of including such a clause in an agreement?

Is there any legal effect above and beyond not including that phrase? If so, what is it?


texts: Is there a legal reason for the tag line "The post XXX appeared first on blog YYY?"

texts:
Recently, I noticed that every blog is including a line at the bottom that says:

  The post XXX appeared first on blog YYY

where XXX is the blog post in question and YYY is usually the post owner's blog (as opposed to someone else's blog). It looks like it is giving credit to its own blog.

My question is if there is any legal reason for doing this. Does adding this line gives the contents more protection? Or is it for other reasons such as SEO?


texts:
Does the right against self incrimination have any bearing on FOIA requests?

I mean, if I request something from a government official, and the documents relate to criminal activity or theoretically criminal activity, does the 5th amendment come into play at all?


texts: Illegal to leave child younger than 14 alone in Illinois?

texts:
I saw in an article a list that implied that in Illinois it is illegal for parents to leave any of their children unsupervised at any time by an adult if the child is under 14 years of age.

Is this true?


texts: Third Party Employment Background Check, WA State

texts:
I am filling out information for an employment background check through a third party agency called Orange Tree (I am located in Washington State). Their website says this:

How far back background check go depends on several factors, such as
your company policy, state reporting limitations where the candidate
works or where the employer is located, and the Fair Credit Reporting
Act (FCRA). Most criminal background checks have a look back period of
seven years.
The FCRA prohibits Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) like Orange Tree
from reporting the following:
Civil suits, civil judgments, and arrest records that antedate the
report by more than seven years. Other criminal records that resulted
in a conviction, any adverse information that predates the report by
more than seven years. Some states have different reporting
limitations than the FCRA, for instance they may limit reporting of
convictions to seven years, limit reporting depending on the level of
the offense, prohibit reporting of non-convictions, or limit reporting
based on the expected salary of the new hire.

The bolded portion leads me to believe that they can only report criminal records they find within 7 years.
I am at a part in the background check that asks me to divulge "admitted offenses" that occurred within the last 10 years.
My questions are:

What becomes of the records that I divulge that are more than 7 years, but less than 10 years old? Can they return them to my potential employer?

If I divulge a particular arrest or incident in this section, but the background check fails to locate the official record, can they report the matter to my potential employer?

Also, this may require a question of its own, but - I pulled up my record through the Washington State Patrol to help answer the background check as accurately as possible and one incident has the date wrong entirely, and more than one incidents do not appear on the report entirely.


texts: Can a jury's vote be nullified , if majority of the jury is found to have leaning towards a certain political and racial group hence causing a bias?

texts:
In U.S. multiple ways have been politically implemented through which minorities don't have a huge representation , even in the jury. So , can the person who is trying to be convincted of a crime , ask to nullify jury's vote , unless the political and racial views of each jury member is clearly stated .

In the vice news documentary - https://youtu.be/3oIKv_TIk0I , It has been mentioned that the group of people who burned down a mosque , are asking the judge to change the location from which  jury has to be selected because the area from which their jury is to be selected is less conservative and if such a condition has been provided then will it not be unconstitutional , because doing so will bring down justice wrt political alignment.


texts: Does 18 USC 1542 contain a materiality requirement?

texts:
18 USC 1542:

Whoever willfully and knowingly makes any false statement in an application for passport with intent to induce or secure the issuance of a passport under the authority of the United States, either for his own use or the use of another, contrary to the laws regulating the issuance of passports or the rules prescribed pursuant to such laws; or
Whoever willfully and knowingly uses or attempts to use, or furnishes to another for use any passport the issue of which was secured in any way by reason of any false statement—
Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 25 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate an act of international terrorism (as defined in section 2331 of this title)), 20 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 929(a) of this title)), 10 years (in the case of the first or second such offense, if the offense was not committed to facilitate such an act of international terrorism or a drug trafficking crime), or 15 years (in the case of any other offense), or both.

18 USC 1425:

(a) Whoever knowingly procures or attempts to procure, contrary to law, the naturalization of any person, or documentary or other evidence of naturalization or of citizenship; or
(b) Whoever, whether for himself or another person not entitled thereto, knowingly issues, procures or obtains or applies for or otherwise attempts to procure or obtain naturalization, or citizenship, or a declaration of intention to become a citizen, or a certificate of arrival or any certificate or evidence of nationalization or citizenship, documentary or otherwise, or duplicates or copies of any of the foregoing—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 25 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate an act of international terrorism (as defined in section 2331 of this title)), 20 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 929(a) of this title)), 10 years (in the case of the first or second such offense, if the offense was not committed to facilitate such an act of international terrorism or a drug trafficking crime), or 15 years (in the case of any other offense), or both.

Neither section addresses false statements explicitly, but courts have found that 1425 has a materiality requirement, namely that immaterial false statements do not violate the statute (see US v. Alferahin).
Is it safe to say that a similar analysis would apply to section 1542?  Has any court ruled explicitly on this question?


texts: Received emails from previous domain owner

texts:
I've recently bought a domain name which is written differently than an already existing domain name. That already existing domain is owned by a company.

I've set up a wildcard redirect for all emails addressed at my domain. However I started to receive emails that seem to be sent in error, and were meant for the other domain name.

I first thought people simply mistyped the domain name and thus the emails landed at my domain. But judging by the amount of mails I receive, and tho whom they are addressed to (employee-acronym@mydomain.com) and also the content of said mails (hotel booking confimations, plans, even bank statements!) I am pretty sure that the domain was previously owned by that very company.

Now I'm planing to contact said company and tell them that I happen to receive emails that were meant for them. My question is, do I have to fear any legal consequences if I do so? I will of course delete all the mails and I haven't forwarded them or so. But I've still received them and It's been quite a while since I received the first one.

For the record: None of the mails contained a clause that stated, that the content of the mail is confidential.

Another question: Are they allowed to demand a transfer of the domain back to them, even if I legally own it now?


texts: How do I authenticate that a warrant and its bearers are authentic?

texts:
Questions...

How can I tell if the warrant is authentic and authorized by an authentic court?
How can I identify that the persons approaching me with the warrant are indeed authorized law enforcement officers?
Am I legally allowed to confirm the above before complying with the contents of the warrant?

I live in Massachusetts.


texts: Use deadly force while under the influence?

texts:
I recently completed a CPL/CCW class in Michigan and had a random thought. I understand it is illegal to possess a firearm while under the influence of alcohol, but what are the ramifications if deadly force is used in scenarios when it wasn't necessarily by choice?

Suppose I am in my own home, drinking late at night, and an intruder breaks into my home. I have a reasonable belief that they intend to do myself or my family great harm.

If I were to use deadly force on the attacker, would it still be considered justified in the eyes of the law?

I definitely understand it could prove more difficult to prove I had no other choice since my judgment may have been compromised, and that could be another issue entirely.

But in regards to my right to own a firearm, would I automatically lose that right since I possessed and used the firearm while under the influence?


texts: Rental contract: can one add an eviction clause?

texts:
Given that the rental agreement between a landlord and a tenant is in the form of a contract, would it be possible for the contract to include a clause allowing the landlord to (e.g.) cut off the power to the rental property as well as move out all of the tenant's possessions, in the event that rent is outstanding for over (e.g.) 14 days?

Also, would this sort of clause be considered unconscionable?
What if a 3rd party (acceptable to both tenant and landlord) decides
the non-payment is done in bad faith, and not as a result of genuine
hardship?


texts: Findings on a home inspection: No wording in agreement that I have to pay for findings. Do I need to?

texts:
We had a home inspection done, but a week before closing our buyers want an inspection and “all findings coming off of the sale price”.
We have a paragraph in our Agreement of Sale that gives our buyers the right to obtain an home inspection:
“The Buyers have examined this home and found it suitable for their particular needs. They relied on their own judgment and inspection. They have opted to not obtain a home inspection at this time.“
There is no language in the agreement about us (the seller) having to legally fix anything or provide compensation upon the findings of this home inspection.
Are we allowed to say no to a list of their last minute “findings” because there is no contingency listed in the agreement anywhere for what to do on the results of a home inspection?


texts: What is the legality in the UK of a minor transporting alchohol?

texts:
We are discussing in work a colleague who will be 18 in February, the work just gave alcohol to all Adult staff and so it was asked, could colleague A (who is 17) transport the alcohol he could have been given, home, to deliver to his parents?

A short google brings this interesting tidbit
It is only illegal for persons under the age of 18 to consume alcohol in a public place according to the Children and Young Persons Act 1933
Source(s): Legislation.gov.uk

but you know how unreliable people on the web can be with the actual law.


texts:
The Linux Foundation is a registered trademark of The Linux Foundation.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

But Linux is a substring of The Linux Foundation.

Is it OK for someone to claim a trademark including another trademark as a substring (such as The Linux, My Linux, Free Linux, etc.)?


texts: Is social distancing compliance the area of responsibility of the Police?

texts:
An excerpt from: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/volusia-county/os-ne-daytona-beach-shooting-investigation-20200524-wtjxnox26fhpxdriov5ccetlj4-story.html

  Chief Capri said despite the various incidents, authorities “never
  lost control” of the area and were able to disperse crowds as they
  popped up.

  “I know people were scared and I know people were upset about the
  numbers of crowds there,” he said. “We don’t take this lightly
  especially with the crowds gathering together right now as we got the
  coronavirus still going around and people not practicing social
  distancing. But I’m not the social distancing police — that’s not my
   job.”

Under what conditions is it the responsibility of the police to enforce social distancing?


texts: Copa Airlines overbooking - delay compensation

texts:
Short story: we went to Peru on vacation with my wife (2 persons)

we bought our tickets at AirFrance
outbound flights (Budapest-Paris-Lima) operated by AirFrance were ok
return flights were messed up because of an overbooking by Copa Airlines
we arrived at 22:55 instead of 16:20
we had had booked seats in the value of c.a. 90 Eur in the missed transatlantic flight, which we did not get in the new flight

Longer story:

The return flights would have been:

Lima-Panama City (operated by Copa Airlines)
Panama City-Amsterdam-Budapest (operated by KLM)

We were offered a new flight at the check-in in Lima, which we declined because too late arrival in Budapest. At the boarding we were halted at the gate and were not allowed on the plane anymore (involuntary denied boarding). They took the boarding passes, but we kept the luggage stickers. We waited c.a. 4 hours without information, then we got the new stickers and were escorted to a KLM gate, where we could claim our new boarding passes after another 1 hour. We were not asked, whether the new travel arrangement would be ok for us. We did not get food or drink, had to buy ourselves. The actual return itinerary was:

6h wait Lima
Lima - Amsterdam by KLM
6h wait Amsterdam
Amsterdam - Budapest by KLM
arrival in Budapest at 22:55
a relative gave us a lift home (>1.5h drive), because this late there is no public transportation to where we live

Source of my confusion:
I have read this site and this site, but I can not decide whether it applies to our case, because the flight was not within the EU and the problematic flight was not into or out of EU. But we booked the flight through AirFrance and our final destination was in the EU.

Questions:
Do these EU regulations apply in this case to Copa Airlines? Do I have a valid claim to any of the above airlines? If yes, according to which regulations? How much could we reasonably expect/request (is it regulated somehow)?

(Extra, not necessary a law topic, would moneysavingexpert or refund.me be able to help in this case?)

Edit: I just noticed, that there are no flight numbers in the text:

KL3025 LIM-PTY, operated by Copa Airlines
KL0758 PTY-AMS, operated by KLM
KL1977 AMS-BUD, operated by KLM


texts: Can I be tried for something that's a crime in another state?

texts:
Florida Criminal Code 893.13(2)(a) says that

  Except as authorized by this chapter and chapter 499, a person may not
  purchase, or possess with intent to purchase, a controlled substance.

and if I parsed the code right, it is a third degree felony to possess more than 20 grams of marijuana. In Washington state, it is legal to possess and purchase up to 28 grams of MJ. Suppose I purchase a legal amount in Washington, then travel to Florida (leaving my dope in Washington), but somehow Florida learns of my purchase in Washington. Is there case law (or any statute) whereby can't they prosecute me for committing an act that is illegal in Florida? It needn't be drugs.

I know (or ought to know) that they don't "have jurisdiction": I am specifically looking for case law that officially establishes that in order for a government to have authority to prosecute an offense, the act had to have been committed within the geographical territory controlled by that government. Is there official law that expressly says this, or is this just part of the common historical understanding of "jurisdiction"? This need not be US law only.


texts: What is the speed limit in a school zone the moment it becomes active?

texts:
Let's say a vehicle enters an inactive school zone going exactly the speed limit of 30mph. Then the school zone (20mph) turns on while the vehicle is still inside.

What is the current speed limit for that driver?

If it is 20mph, is there any allowance for drivers to adjust their speed or are they instantly breaking the law?

My interpretation has been that the speed limit remains 30mph in this case for the vehicles that entered an inactive school zone.


texts: Is it truly illegal for the US Armed Forces to hire someone whose IQ is less than 83?

texts:
In this video, Jordan Peterson says that

[...] anybody into the Armed Forces if they have an IQ of less than 83

Is this true? What law is this supposed restriction based on?


texts: Is there any evidence of (attempted) bribery of Ukraine by Trump

texts:
I asked on out Politics site, Why is Trump not being impeached for bribery?, and one answer (with 5 upvotes currently) said

  The answer to this one is simple - the only logical reason to drop this article of impeachment is because there is no evidence that bribery, as it is legally defined, took place. Adam Schiff's definition of bribery is wholly irrelevant ...

It certainly seems to me - a layperson - that there appeared to be, at least, attempted bribery (or, possibly, corecion).

How do the legal experts here see it - not opinion based, obviously - given publicly available information, is there a case for bribery?

I can see that the Democrats might consider that there is a case, but not want to muddy the waters with too many articles of impeachment, or that poster on Politics may be correct.

Does anyone see a legal case for (attempted) bribery in the publicly available information?


texts: Can I be charged for dental services that were never provided?

texts:
I was going to have my daughter's wisdom teeth removed at a local dental office.  Upon arrival I signed a sales receipt to have our Smile Generation account charged $864 for the wisdom teeth removal; however, on the receipt, it states, "“I am confirming that the above procedure(s) HAS/HAVE BEEN, OR WILL, OR IS/ARE TODAY BEING Performed on me by the names office.  I authorize Smile Generation Financial to remit the above amount to the above Office for payment for the procedure(s) indicated above.”
The word "Today" to me means this sales receipt would only be valid if the procedure was actually conducted on the day specified on the bill of sales; however, we have not had our daughters wisdom teeth removed, but they still charged us the full amount.  It's been months now and Smile Generation is wanting their money; however, the dental office is not responding in regard to reimbursing our account.  Do I have any legal recourse in this situation?


texts: Am I allowed to use H.264/MP4 video files in a commercial game?

texts:
I use Adobe Media Encoder to convert my files to h.264/mp4 files. Am I allowed to use these converted files in a commercial project?
webm is another option, but in comparison to mp4 files, they are harder to work with. mp4 works perfectly.
Thank you.


texts: If someone forgets that they committed a crime, are they still guilty?

texts:
Let's say that a person, we'll call him Bob, decides to go out and kill someone. The police hear about the murder, but they can't figure out that Bob was the killer.

A few weeks later, Bob still hasn't been found out. However, something happens to Bob (could be an accident, stroke, etc) and now he has a severe case of amnesia.

He doesn't remember that he killed anybody at all, and goes about his daily life after recovering.

The police later discover that Bob committed the murder, and promptly arrest him. Bob is very confused, and doesn't recall killing anybody. But yet, he did in fact carry out the murder.

Is Bob guilty of the crime he doesn't remember committing?

If a location is necessary to answer the question, we'll say that he resides in the United States.


texts: Am I subject to an "Ad Velorum" tax penalty for an unused, out-of-state vehicle?

texts:
I changed my permanent residency from South Carolina to Georgia on 04/21/2020, as that was when I had a Georgia license issued. I've lived in Georgia in a leased apartment since then. My car, however, has remained unused in South Carolina since then, as I haven't required use of it since the pandemic started.
I now wish to register the car in Georgia, where the car is subject to a 1-time "Ad Velorum" tax. This tax is levied for all cars getting registered in Georgia. The tax law states that I am required to pay this tax within 30 days of obtaining residency in Georgia. Because I didn't register my car within 30 days of my residency change (because it sat unused in South Carolina), I am now subject to a ~$100 penalty for not paying the tax.
My question is, am I still subject to the tax penalty even if the car was not used in Georgia since I became a resident? It was logistically impossible for me to retrieve my car during the time period since I've been a resident. Technically, the car has only been in Georgia for 5 days, which is well under the 30 day time limit to pay the Ad Velorum tax.


texts:
On a TV program, they described a case in the USA where a man went missing, presumed murdered; four years later the police was told that he might be buried in his garden, the home had meanwhile be sold to new owners, so the police asked them politely for permission to dig up their garden, and the new owners agree.

What would happen if the owners disagreed? Would the police get a search warrant (when it is quite clear that the new owners of the house are under no suspicion whatsoever)?

Now if the new owners disagreed because there are things in their garden, like marijuana plants, that they don't want the police to see, would there be any way to let police in without getting into trouble for these plants?


texts: Will 28th-year copyright renewal by an assignee be locate-able based on the original registration?

texts:
I'm attempting to demonstrate that a film registered in 1947 did not have its copyright renewed by the registrant in its 28th year, and thus would have fallen out of copyright and become public domain (because it was published between 1922 and 1964 before the law with respect to renewal changed). The film itself is already present in several public domain archives, so there is good reason to believe this is the case; however, one needs to be certain about these things before publishing a work that incorporates the original.

I can pay a firm to do a search of registrations and renewals based on the data present at the Library of Congress (the data is not present in the LOC's online search due to its age), or I can pay them a lot more (4x) to do a more exhaustive search for assignment of the copyright to other entities as well.

My question is this: if the production company had assigned or transferred their copyright to another entity prior to the 28th year, and that other entity had renewed the copyright themselves, would we still expect that renewal to be reflected in a search of registrations and renewals for the copyrighted work?

Alternatively, is there a better approach to demonstrate that a work is now public domain?

(If so, then presumably the less-exhaustive but much-less-expensive search should be adequate to show that the film did not have its copyright renewed in 1975 and therefore became public domain.)


texts: Can a person legally convert to any religion including very minor religions in India or disavow all religion?

texts:
Say a person in India wants to change his religion in Government certificates like the Aadhar card (UID) to say "Pastafarianism" or "Ancient Greek Religion" (think Zeus) or "Scientology".

Does the religion have to be registered or recognized or approved in some way by the Indian government or any authorities?

Can they enter any name in the religion box in these government certificate or ID applications?

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-leave-the-religion-column-blank-on-application-forms-in-India-If-not-what-do-atheists-usually-do

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-need-to-mention-our-religion-in-exam-application-forms

https://www.quora.com/In-every-document-or-form-in-a-religion-column-why-isnt-there-a-column-for-atheist-apart-from-Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-etc
Does India force you with the choice of a few official religions in the govt cerificates and ID's.

Can a person state their religion as
"not willing to disclose" or
"none"?

I know that in regard to civil code everyone is a Hindu if their civil code isn't on the list.


texts: Is it legal to kill or trap a skunk in Oregon?

texts: Do you need a permit? I’ve exhausted my search and don’t have a good resource. Is something like this county-by-county?


texts: Defective puppy from a state without a Puppy Lemon Law?

texts:
I recently bought a purebred puppy from a seemingly reputable breeder* in West Virginia. Five days after bringing it home (to PA), it had a seizure. It has had three more in the three weeks I've had it.

From what I have been able to gather on the internet, W.VA does not have a puppy Lemon Law.

The breeder seemed to be quite good and initially offered (verbally) to give me a full refund, but now is claiming that the pup has been having seizures because of over-vaccination. ("Vaccinosis" is not recognized in the allopathic veterinary literature as a real diagnosis, but is much discussed on all-natural sites, similar to the anti-vaxx info, though, truth be told, some of it seems reasonable. But that's a rabbit hole right now.) I'm not even sure if I return the pup that I'll get any of my money back.

What is my best recourse?

*I used to breed Border Collies, and feel competent to assess breeders (my stupid hubris...) I called other breeders who vouched for her (granted, it's a rare breed, so there aren't a whole boatload of breeders and they all seem to be "good buds") and inspected her home/breeding facilities/puppy care and socialization areas/practices before reserving a puppy, so please no comments about that. I feel bad enough that I've fallen in love with an epileptic puppy - or worse, one with a neurodegenerative disorder - whose estimated mature weight will be 140 pounds.


texts: Is the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act violative of fundamental rights?

texts:
On July 31, 2019, Government of India published the concerned Act in its official gazette. Article 4 in the Act has penal provisions which turns the act of declaring instantaneous unilateral divorce by a Muslim man to his Muslim wife a criminal offence.

Now, inter alia one problem I see with this Act is with Article 1(3) which states:

  (3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 19th day of September, 2018.

That clause turns this law into an ex post facto criminal law. As I understand, Article 20(1) of the Constitution of India prohibits the governments in India from enacting an ex post facto criminal law. Here's what the relevant clause states:

  (1) No person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of the Act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have
  been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence.

So, is the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 (aka Triple Talaq law) violative of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution?

It is to be noted that the Act came into existence to prevent the violation of Article 14 and 21 (fundamental rights) guaranteed by the same constitution.

Backstory: the Bill for the law was first introduced in the winter session (2018) of the Parliament of India in the wake of the Indian Supreme Court's judgement (August 2018) which declared such instantaneous divorces unconstitutional and asked the Government of India to frame a law to protect the rights of the concerned women.

The Bill lapsed automatically following the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-19). Following the constitution of 17th Lok Sabha in mid 2019, an amended Bill was tabled in the Parliament and was passed by both of its Houses, and received the assent of the President by the end of July.


texts: Speaking a different language when on trial

texts: If a native English speaking person on trial decides to exercise his right of freedom of speech by speaking in a foreign language (i.e. Chinese), does the court have to hire a translator?


texts:
I watched many American movies in which they tell about a person who writes a personal real life story of his best friend without his acknowledgement.

And the movies said that person is wrong and in some cases his best friend can sue him to the court.

Is writing a real-life story about a person is illegal in USA?

If so, does it matter if that person changes the names of the characters in the story, so that no-one can have an evidence that he was writing about his best friend?


texts: Trademark infringement potential VS no exclusive use of words in a trademark?

texts:
I am seeings various trademarks with disclaimers along the line of:

  NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "WORD" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN

So for example, the WORD is part of two words trademark, lets call it TWO WORD. What does the disclaimer do to the trademark in this case, where they state that they do not have any claim to the word WORD apart from the mark as shown?

Can I still use it for my own use? Can one claim the domain name for that trademark? Can one use the trademark in another industry? What are the limitation of such trademarks?


texts: So when I die I want my friend to keep my body parts in a jars and maybe make a mask out of my face or some thing like that. Can I do that? I’m only 17 so idk if my parents would have a say or if a will would even work for me being in parental control. Anyways thanks


texts:
Given Maxine Water's "abhorrent" conduct in Minneapolis (the judge's word, not mine) and the subsequent guilty verdict against Derek Chauvin, appeal(s) seem a virtual certainty.    If a higher court finds that Chauvin's right to an impartial jury was violated, could he be subject to a retrial?
Did the prosecution oppose the defense's request for a change in venue?   Could such opposition have any impact on the appeal process?


texts: How does a subsidiary "upstream" a contract in the following scenario?

texts:
Company B is an 80%-owned subsidiary of Company A. Company B has just signed a contract with Company C. Company A wants the contract (its rights and obligations) for itself.
Can Company A acquire the contract from Company B by taking over 100% of Company B, thereby making it a wholly owned subsidiary? Can it use some other mechanism such as a purchase transfer or assignment of interests to acquire the contract? Or must Company A keep Company B's contract separate even if B is a subsidiary? Must company C agree if this expands the scope of the contract (which was initially for all of "B's" needs of a particular product, and A wants it to supply of all of its needs?


texts: What are the intellectual property rights around an idea for film?

texts:
Consider this hypothetical scenario. Person W (for Writer) wrote document X summarizing other documents publicly available; document X is copyrighted and available to the public in exchange for an email signup.
Person M (for Maker) meets the Writer and they both have the idea of adapting document X for film. The Maker works on it on the side for a few years and releases a pilot episode in the public domain with copyright to the Maker and the Writer.
The Maker requests the help of person D (for Director of film) to make the full series. The Director proposes a quote Y with a budget and time involved. At a meeting of all three parties one month after, the Director proposes a storyline Z with three times the budget and time involved. (Also, the Director has taken two other jobs in the meantime.)
The Maker decides to go ahead with the film series without the Director to meet the timescale mentioned in quote Y. The Writer gives the Maker a license to use document X without mentioning exclusivity.
The Director mentions that they have been in conversation with the Writer and they float the idea of continuing to work together without the Maker. The Director tells the Maker, "I thought the point of the project was that I would work with the Writer directly." The Director has already brought one of their contacts on board and also wanted to bring a producer.
What intellectual property rights are relevant here? Specifically:

does the Maker have a right to the original idea of adapting document X for film?
do the Director and the Writer have the right to work on storyline Z independently of the Maker?
having requested both quotes, does the Maker have a right to producing storyline Z?

Please edit as needed if some information is irrelevant. I did not mention countries since my impression is that film rights tend to be world-wide.


texts:
I am from Mauritius and was supposed to take employment in Germany on the 23rd January in Dusseldorf. I was told by my company, who confirmed with the foreign office, that i should not require a visa to enter Germany and upon landing, i should go to the Foreign office to apply for residence permit.

Unfortunately when i landed, the border officers didn't let me through and told me to go back to my country an apply for a visa.

I did and today when i went to fetch my passport i was told that my visa application was denied because i was refused entry once.

What is the next step i should do in order to get my visa? Many people have advised me to seek help with an immigration lawyer who is familiar with the German immigration.

Help please. Do i still h ave chance of getting a visa? Are there any kind of appeal i can make?

Thanks


texts: On what basis did the UK courts prevent the media from publishing stories on Philip Green's behaviour?

texts:
Allegations of various sorts of inappropriate behaviour were made by several employees of Philip Green. These claims were settled and the settlements included NDAs. There is no allegation that these NDAs were improperly obtained (i.e. proper legal advice was obtained by the employees).

The media were prevented from revealing Philip Green's name by an injunction. (I don't know how they found out about it, perhaps that is relevant). Lord Hain used parliamentary privilege to reveal that the stories were about Philip Green and consequently the press are now free to talk about it.

My question is: given that the NDAs were between the employees making the allegations and Philip Green on what basis did the courts prevent the media from revealing his name? They were not party to the NDAs so surely cannot be bound by their terms. Presumably I'm free to tell my friends if I think its Philip Green, what's the difference? Could he take out an injunction against me?

For the purposes of this question please ignore the rights and wrongs of the NDAs or the use of parliamentary privilege.


texts: Can a local government charge a fee to enter a public downtown area during an event?

texts: Legally, can a local town or County in the U.S. (Florida) block off access and charge a fee to the citizens to enter a fenced in downtown area during an event?


texts: What does it mean to "retain title" (or not) of a patent?

texts:
I've already asked a question here about the Public Law 95-517 (The "Bayh-Dole Act"), so thanks to the response there I now have some understanding about this act. But what does it mean if a contractor who produces some patented works subject to this act elects not to "retain title"?

A specific example of this is US Patent 7,773,362. In the patent there is a section titled Statement as to Federally-sponsored research, which states;

  The invention described herein was made in the performance of work
  under a NASA contract, and is subject to the provisions of Public Law
  96-517 (U.S.C. 202) in which the Contractor has not elected to retain
  title.

The emphasis was added by me. What does this mean? Is the patent still protected? Who "owns" it?


texts: Multi nationality couple, which nationality the baby would have?

texts:
How can I know which nationality would have a baby born from parents from different nationalities?

The baby would have the nationality of the mother.
The baby would have the nationality of the father.
The baby would have the nationality of both mother and father.
The baby would have the nationality of the country where he or she born.
It depends on the laws of each country.

I think that the correct answer is the last one but I'm not sure; I suppose that in order to a baby to be acknowledged as a new born citizen in the country of the mom or the dad she or he should be registered in each country.

Where I can get more information about this? (I'm interested in the laws of UK and Spain).

EDIT.

To make things more complicated, one of the parents is from Catalonia. Now the relations between Catalonia (a Spanish region) and Spain are tense, and Catalonia would try to move towards independence from Spain... I don't know how this would affect to the nationality of the newborn.


texts: Does Iran allow promotion of Sunni in their country?

texts:
As far as I know Iran officially hold Twelver Shiism as the state religion.

With that saying, does Iranian law prohibit people (especially in massive political/social movement) that promotes practices of Sunni?


texts: Do licenses created by a company dissolve, void, or simply invalidate if said company bankrupts / sells assets?

texts:
So I made a previous question about a dissolved or possibly bankrupted company that I wanted to use assets of for a fan-made remaster / remake of their game.
The said company has given access to their art / assets under this agreement:

This Fan Kit License is an agreement between you and Bytebin LLC. By accessing or using the Fan Kit, you agree to be bound by and comply with the terms of this License and the Deepworld Terms of Service (http://deepworldgame.com/terms).
Deepworld has an amazing community and we wish to allow our players to be as creative as possible when sharing Deepworld experiences, information, and opinions. We encourage you to use the Assets contained within this Fan Kit to enliven any Deepworld-related websites, Facebook pages, apps, or other online spaces ("Fan Sites"), as long as it is in accordance with this License. If you violate the agreement, we may contact you and try to resolve the matter, or pursue legal action if we are unable to come to a resolution. Bytebin may, in its sole discretion, terminate the right to use the Fan Kit for any reason whatsoever with or without notice.
USAGE
Bytebin grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Fan Kit solely for the purpose of enhancing Deepworld-related topics on your own Fan Sites.
RULES

You are not permitted to charge a fee to visit, use, or acquire your Fan Site.

You are not permitted to sell any products that feature any of the assets, including those you have made alterations to.

You ARE permitted to monetize your Fan Sites with advertisements.

If you monetize with advertisements, you are not permitted to use or display any of the Fan Kit assets in your advertisements or imply that Bytebin sponsors your Fan Site.

You are not permitted to manufacture or distribute physical items such as T-shirts that bear any Deepworld trademarks or assets.

You may make modifications to the assets, but Bytebin still retains full ownership and copyright of your derivative works. Alteration does not change any of the other stipulations of this License.

All Fan Sites must include a Bytebin copyright and agreement notice: "Deepworld assets are Copyright 2014 Bytebin LLC. Bytebin is not affiliated with and does not endorse, sponsor, or specifically approve this site."

Bytebin reserves all rights not expressly granted in this agreement.

I want to know if a license is upheld, even if a company goes bankrupt, or is dissolved. Are said licenses transferred if the assets are sold?
I noticed this specific line in the license:

Bytebin may, in its sole discretion, terminate the right to use the Fan Kit for any reason whatsoever with or without notice.`

Which I'm assuming in layman's terms means "We can cancel your right to use the assets at any time, with or without notice"
Although we never DID receive notice, I still don't think they ever "terminated" the license, it was part of a fan kit available to community to use in Websites and Games. (Art and assets)
I'm not super focused on the details of this specific license (Although that would be nice to know about), Im more solely curious about how this license functions after the company is dissolved.
Assuming since the dev team and founders have terminated all social accounts and the company ran out of money to host servers, it seems they went bankrupt. However, I have not found any account of a new shareholder or owner of the assets, its highly unlikely they sold the assets, they most likely split it up between the different artists and the developers of the game.
And assuming all of that together, the company still technically exists, as its members are still "in contact" and still own the game and its assets, is it possible I can still "use" this license in a legal environment to some extent?
I highly doubt this license allows for the creation of an entire game with original art, or even an app, it seems to mainly focus on using the art in Websites.
What can you guys tell me?


texts: Do sanskrit-mottos from religious texts violate secularism in India?

texts:
In India many Government Institutions, agencies, Judicial Bodies etc use mottos from religious texts primarily Hindu texts like Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads etc.

Does this violate concept of secularism followed in India ?

Some mottos -

Supreme Court - यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः (Yato Dharmas Tato Jayaḥ) [from Mahabharata ]
National motto - सत्यमेव जयते (Satyameva Jayate) [from Mudaka Upanishad ]
Research and Analysis Wing - धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः
(Dharmō rakṣati rakṣitaḥ) [from Manusmriti ]


texts: How easy/hard is it to make an adverse possession claim on a vacant lot in Virginia, USA?

texts:
I know each state differs in adverse possession laws but reading into Virginia, it sounds very easy to do. All one has to say is they maintained some portion of land for 10 years undisputed and now they can claim they "own" the property.
My mother owns a vacant land and I notice someone is mowing the lawn. One of the claims of adverse possession is that they make the land theirs undisputed ("Planting your flag" so to speak) and they make it known to the supposed owner that they maintain and control the land. However, whoever is mowing the vacant land is doing so in secret and without letting us know it.
From what I understand in most adverse possession case, someone builds a structure or improve a portion of a property as theirs. For example, a farmer might plant crops in a land which is basically something you can't keep hidden and the owner would have more than enough time to dispute it with survey or otherwise. Then there are cases of building a shed or structure or fence over/just before someone's property line and one can make a claim that a part of a property is theirs. However, to claim an entire property, I never really heard of such a case but I don't know the law enough to really know.
I'm just worried that after some time they could come over with some sort of paperwork or something and claim that the land belongs to them because they maintained it for so long. Can anyone explain what sort of ways someone could make an adverse possession claim and just how successful they can be?


texts: What constitutes election interference for non-immigrants?

texts:
Supposing I am in the US on a non-immigrant visa, what actions on my behalf would constitute election interference? For example, I understand that purchasing election merchandise is illegal, but would (for example) discussing elections with a US citizen also be illegal, as it may seem I'm influencing the voter?
My jurisdiction of interest is California, but would appreciate a generic answer for state/federal elections.


texts: Were there any cases where one tried to falsify evidence with DeepFake?

texts: Were there any cases, anywhere in the world, where one tried to falsify evidence with Deepfake, which is a technology powered by AI to create fake facial videos?


texts: Is it technically legal to take a young child into an opposite sex rest room?

texts:
It's pretty standard procedure for parents or guardians to take young children into whatever restroom is appropriate for the adult, regardless of rather that matches the sex of the child.  I'm curious what the official legal rules are for escorting individuals into different rest rooms.  Have laws explicitly spelled out that children under a certain age are allowed into any restroom, or is this one of those cases were it's technically illegal but no one cares enough to argue against it?

If I (a male) was caring for a special needs individual who is older but at a young child's mental level of development and/or unable to use the restroom without assistance would It be legal for me to bring the individual into the male restroom in order for me to assist her in using it?

I'm more interested in Federal law, but if these laws are usually state level then I'd be interested in my home state of Maryland.


texts: Is it legal to publish a third-party server software that allows people to host their own dedicated server for a game?

texts:
One of our favorite online games recently got all its servers shut down so that it isn't playable anymore. As a few friends and I are quite experienced at programming and reverse engineering, we have started to reverse engineer the game and develop a compatible server software that, together with a patch for the client of the game allows people to host their own game server and players to connect to that server for online gameplay. The server software is 100% our own code, same applies to the patch that only changes the network interface of the existing client. Now, would it be legal to publish this server + patch on the internet? Or would that constitute a breach of copyright law / a violation of intellectual property?
We are situated in the EU (Germany), the publisher of the game has their headquarters in California.


texts: How far does professed ignorance of a critical fact go to prove professional negligence?

texts:
Plaintiff is suing a surgeon for complications that arose from the application of anesthesia. Assume that this has already been established as the cause of the injury. The following exchange takes place:

Lawyer: You performed open heart surgery on the plaintiff, didn't you?*
Surgeon: Yes I did.
Lawyer: Did you put the patient under general anesthesia before the operation?
Surgeon: I don't remember.
Lawyer: Do you normally put a patient under general anesthesia before open heart surgery?
Surgeon: Usually, yes.
Lawyer: But not this time?
Surgeon: I don't remember, one way or the other.
Lawyer: When was the previous time you performed open heart surgery without general anesthesia?
Surgeon: I don't remember.
Lawyer: You have records of your operations, yes?
Surgeon: I have records of the surgeries I performed. They don't contain references to anesthesia.
Lawyer: You have one or more nurses assisting you, right?
Surgeon: Yes.
Lawyer: And your nurse might be able to recall whether or not you used anesthesia?
Surgeon: She might.
Lawyer: Which nurse assisted you on this operation.
Surgeon: I don't remember. The hospital has 100 nurses. Anyone of them might have been on duty at that time and place. I guess if you asked all 100, you might get an answer.

Can the above professed ignorance by itself prove professional negligence by itself, that is, res ipsa loquitor? If not, what further proof would be needed?

*It doesn't have to be open heart surgery, only a procedure that normally requires general anesthesia.


texts: When Microsoft packaged Internet Explorer with Windows, they were sued for antitrust violations. However, today every operating system has its own built-in browser, including ones by the companies that complained about Microsoft (Google, Apple, Mozilla Corporation). What is the legal difference between what Microsoft did and what other companies are now doing today? Why do the courts target Microsoft when Apple was and still is taking advantage of its monopoly? Why can't Microsoft receive financial compensation for the damages Apple did to Microsoft?


texts: It it illegal/prosecutable to know about an illegal activity in another country, but inside the same company?

texts:
Say there is one large company that consists of many smaller companies. The former is 100% shareholder of the latter, so there is no doubt about who owns what.

One of those smaller companies exists and is registered as such in a different country.

Can the owning company be prosecuted in its country for something the smaller company does (of its own accord or as instructed to by the owning company) inside the other country? For the sake of argument, I'm not talking about murder or anything grotesque, but rather an illegal activity in the sense of civil laws about e.g. software use and intellectual property and/or copyright, which often differ subtly between countries across the world. No products or anything else containing anything "illegal" is transferred to the owning company's country (which would be obviously prosecutable).


texts: Non-profit donations for organizational overhead

texts: What percentage of a tax-exempt nonprofit's donations can be used for overhead costs in California?


texts: can two different brands have the same name and similar products in two different countries?

texts: I have the perfect name for a new clothing brand. But, i found that another clothing brand in a completely different country has the same name as mine. What should i do?


texts: 'Right to be forgotten' denied due to insufficient identification

texts:
I registered for a free online service with fake data while being underage.
Years later I request to have the account deleted, using the e-mail address I registered with. However, to identify me as the account owner they request various information like the day of registration or my identity card.

Some of this information is just lost due to the amount of time that passed since the registration or last use of the service and some never existed in the first place as these are fake.

How much information can the company request in order to identify me?
Is there still a way 'to be forgotten' if I cannot give the requested information to identify myself?
Do I lose my right to be forgotten if some or all of the data provided was inaccurate/fake?
Should I tell the company that the data is inaccurate or that I was a minor at that time? Does this increase the chance of being forgotten?

I am most interested in the EU (Germany) but would also be interested in the USA or others as well, if there are different answers.


texts: Can Banks legally use Encrypted Ledgers like in Private coins?

texts:
Seeing so much news about blockchains and banks I have a question that I may need your help.

Taking in consideration the Bank Secrecy Act, can a Bank use a completely Encrypted Ledger? KYC is still required, deposits and withdraws will still be reported if one deposits/withdraws more than $10k. But the bank has no idea about users' balances or their transactions. So, the bank uses an encrypted ledger that doesn't have a key to be decrypted. Namely, the ledger is encrypted in a way in which transactions are encrypted and unlinkable. Only the users can decrypt their balances and spend their funds with a... hardware token. Using this hardware tokens users can give a proof to the bank that the balance was right. Something like how is done in blockchains solutions focused on privacy.

Can public/private banks in the future use encrypted Ledgers?
If yes why banks didn't do it until now.
If no, why banks can't use encrypted Ledgers?


texts: Is sewage in Maryland, USA a utility and what protections come with that?

texts:
The title of this question might need some work, because my question is really two-fold.

I live in a rented Townhouse in Maryland, USA. Water and Sewage costs are separated because the county provides well water for free, but not sewage.

A few days ago I received a bill from a sewage company "NWP". The bill is a single charge with no details. Just "Sewage Fee ".

The number seemed shockingly high for what I have paid for water plus sewage in the past, so I called the company and discovered that I am being billed for the usage of the entire "community" split based on the number of residents in the Townhouse (just my wife and I). The company also told me that it was impossible for them to even tell me how much my unit is using because there are no meters installed.

So my first question is whether or not this is even legal. I'm not sure if sewage is considered a utility like water and is subject to the legal protections, and I also don't know where I would find those protections (I just recently moved here from a different state). My gut tells me this shouldn't be allowed because it discourages conservation. I can't conserve usage because when the bill comes, I'll have no idea what I actually used. But this is just a gut feeling and I'd like to know section and paragraph if I'm going to do anything serious with this.

My second concern is that this isn't mentioned anywhere in my lease. The only time the lease ever mentions sewage at all is one time at the top with the line:

  Tenant Pays For: TENANT PAYS FOR GAS AND ELECTRIC, AND SEWAGE

The "Utilities" section does not mention Sewage in any way and it is absent from the rest of the document.

I was told during the tour and today at the office that I only pay for my own usage. Unfortunately this was verbal and is not in the lease. After I escalated at the office to the manager, the manager admitted that this is a lie, but since it's not in writing, I think they know they're safe.

If I had known that I was on the hook for my neighbor's heavy water usage, I would not have signed, and the lease completely hid this information from me. Do I have any case for breach of lease terms or something like that? I feel like socializing sewage costs is important enough to have been noted in the lease, and it would have affected my decision.

In summary:

Is it legal to socialize sewage where I am not provided with my own usage? If not, how should I proceed?
Is there anything I can do with the fact that this was not mentioned in the lease terms?

Thank you.


texts: If I enter into a contract that a previous contract I entered into says cannot be entered, what happens next?

texts: What happens if the person of the second 'not allowed' contract sues me for breach of contract? Or if the person of the first contract sues me? Is the second contract nullified? Is the term of the first contract not allowing the second nullified?


texts: Is employer required to honor an oral vacation approval?

texts:
Someone close to me, let's call her Jane, has a problem with an employer in Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Jane's elderly mother (let's call her Ingrid) is planning to visit Jane from overseas, with great difficulty and expense. Jane would like to spend time with her mother while she is in Canada.

Before buying Ingrid's flight tickets, Jane has approached her manager and asked for vacation time during Ingrid's proposed visit. The manager has approved 1 week of vacation (orally) and so flight tickets were purchased and other arrangements made. These would be very difficult and expensive to change.

Now, about a month later, the manager has reversed his decision and is refusing to grant Jane the vacation time - the earliest time the manager is willing to approve is long after Ingrid's visit. Can the manager legally reverse his earlier oral approval? Would the availability of witnesses to the oral approval make any difference?

(I realize that the chances of finding a specific expert in Ontario labor law on this site is a long shot, but any answer based on a common-law jurisdiction would be much better than no answer at all. I am reaching out to some Ontario lawyers in parallel, but it would be great to get an answer here as well even if it is not specific to Ontario or even to Canada).


texts: Can academics break the law with their research?

texts:
Are there any U.S. or U.K. laws that prevent academic research papers or journals from being published? Can academics outline the methodology of illegal activities?

For example, could a computer security researcher publish a paper on unknown server vulnerabilities?


texts: Can a buyout clause for a US LLC's partner be invocable x years in future?

texts:
Consider a US based LLC with a buyout clause for a partner where the company is allowed to kick the partner out but if they do then they will have to pay him/her 30% of current year's profits. In this case, if the partner gets kicked out in 2017, he gets 30% of the profits for the year 2017. This is fine.

Now let's consider a similar buyout clause but which allows the partner an option to take the 30% of profits of a year 10 years from now. So that if the partner gets kicked out today in 2017, he/she is allowed to wait until 2027 when he receives 30% of the profits made in the year 2027.

Is this actually something that is legally allowed (that is, if the company doesn't pay the partner in 2027, will courts consider this buyout clause valid)? What happens if the company is restructured by then in ways so that this is no longer considered fair?


texts: Can I use public domain MIDI files commercially?

texts:
Lets say I made professional music with the hope of selling them from public domain MIDI files. The files would have been modified slightly with the notes arranged slightly differently. Would that be legal?
Are the files from this site legal?
To clarify, I took the files off of this site, put then into GarageBand, changed the instrument the files were playing, and then looped a ten second clip of it adding drums, bass, etc. I moved the clips around to create my own spin on the files.
Please note: I am aware of the definition of “public domain” and what it means if something is in it.
I live in the US


texts: What Intellectual Property rights apply to the output of a machine learning algorithm?

texts:
Doing some research for an entrepreneurship class.  We are building an email classifier for a logistics company to automate part of their customer service process.  We are having some discussion on how to properly license this technology, and whether it should be hosted on the cloud or on their internal servers.

Specifically, my questions are:

1) Who actually owns the rights to the trained machine learning classifier output by the machine learning algorithm?

2) Since the company itself owns the data, can they claim rights to the output?

3) If the service is hosted on their servers, is there any way to protect against them hacking the classifier and re-deploying it themselves?


texts: Could a prosecutor hint the jury about past dismissed cases?

texts:
In Can you present a clear record if you do Driver Safety Course in Texas?, it was determined that after taking a Driving Safety Course, a record of such action is placed upon one's driving record.

Taking the course in Texas could be for either dismissing a ticket, or for obtaining an insurance discount.

If one has a jury trial for speeding, and claims to have a spotless driving record (which happens to show the course), would the prosecutor be allowed to contradict such statement, and, either directly or indirectly, inform the jury that the record may or may not be clean?

(Additionally, would the driving record itself has to be shown to the jury?  Could they ask what the presence of the course means?  Jury selection itself would be a separate question.)


texts: Is it piracy to download a copy of a book that my university has?

texts:
If my university's library has a book available for students, is it piracy/illegal if those students download some copy from the internet in PDF?

There are some books I would like to study but they are too big to carry around and it would be nice to be able to read them on an Android tablet anywhere.


texts: Website shows which Powerball ticket combos have been picked

texts:
Recently it has been big news that the Powerball lottery has grown to record jackpot sizes and if no winner by Saturday it could hit 2 billion dollars. There are roughly 2.92 million possible combinations to pick from and last I saw an article stated almost 85% of all possible combinations have been bought. However, I assume many of those must be duplicate combinations.

I was wondering, would it be legal to make a website that allowed users to submit which combination they purchased and find other combos not yet purchased? I assume if this was widely adopted the lottery would lose money as the jackpot would end faster as it would be less likely a winning number would go unpurchased.

I would obviously claim no affiliation but Powerball is a trademarked name. What if I found a way to serve the same purpose without using their name. What if I used ads that let me make money off of this website?

Without getting into discussion on usefullness of this or whether this would affect anyone's odds what would be the legal ramifications to a site like this?


texts:
Several companies have changed policies requiring you be 21 years old to buy firearms.

I am wondering if refusal of service of persons under 21 s similar to a  baker/florist refusing service based on religious beliefs?

Question: Can private companies deny buying firearms for persons under 21?


texts: Can I hire a lawyer with contingent pay in the US while from abroad?

texts:
We have purchased some equipment online in a pre-order from an U.S. based company. It was divided in 2 different orders: one order of 11 units (with the promise of 1 extra unit for free), and one order of 8 equal units and 2 larger and more expensive units. The two orders had different delivery times, but we were promised a maximum delivery date each, prior to purchase. The amount of money spent was enough to buy a property in our country.

The first order came with months of delay, which devalued the equipment considerably, and they were aware this would bring serious consequences for us. They also failed to deliver the promised 1 free unit together. 1 of the units came faulty, and 5 others stopped working with just a few weeks of use. When we contacted them regarding the one year warranty, our emails were simply ignored.

The second order was never delivered, and they ignored all our contact attempts. More than 2 years have passed, and we never heard from them again.

There are also other details involved, like a promised big compensation for the delay, our purchase of unneeded extra parts, the profit that was never made due to the equipment becoming obsolete with the delays and faults, and also moral damages, since this was actually my mothers' life savings, which she asked me to use to buy this equipment in order to help me. We know this purchase turned out to be a very naïve decision from our part, but this money was a considerable part of her life savings, and this brought us a lot of stress and left me depressed and unable to work for months, and since then my productivity has decreased a lot too, up to this day.

This company eventually closed, but the owner has opened other similar companies, and he closes them as needed, and keeps scamming people abroad under different company names. The information we found regarding him is that he lives a lavish lifestyle, and has scammed many other people, and even other partner companies.

The government of our country has not shown interest in helping, since we live in a underdeveloped country. The police claims this is a legal problem, rather than a criminal problem (undelivered goods, problems with warranty, etc.). We have also contacted the small claims court in the jurisdiction this individual was living (hoping we could split it in two claims, one for each order), but the answer we received was that it would require us to be personally in the United States.

Our question is: how should we proceed in hiring a lawyer in the United States without living there, since spending some months abroad would require an even larger investment from us? And considering also that we could be willing to pay or share a commission only if there is a favorable result!


texts: Are there laws protecting borrowers from predatory practices in early loan payoff

texts:
In many cases, when you have a loan, you are able to pay the entire loan off early with a lump sum, rather than continuing to make regular, scheduled payments over an extended time period. The general process by which this occurs is that you go to your loan provider and ask them to tell you the loan payoff amount if you paid on a certain date. This will calculate any outstanding balances, plus any accrued interest between then and the date such that when you give them that money by that time, you will be paying off the entire loan as it is at the time they get the payment.
Are there any laws governing the loan payoff process, and in particular, laws to protect the borrower for predatory practices?
A possible situation I'm considering is the following. The lender will tell you your payoff amount for a specific date and requests that you mail in a check. You send your check (and it is postmarked by the specific date) and their processing department decides to sit on the check and wait to cash it. In the meantime, your loan has continued to accrue interest such that your payoff amount no longer pays off the loan. In the worst case scenario, you think your loan is done, you stop checking in on it, and five years down the line, you're hit by a collector asking where their accrued interest payments are. In the best case scenario, your payoff amount is cashed late and you still have $5 left of accrued interest. You send another check to pay off that $5 but by the time it's cashed, you have another $0.30 to pay off and the cycle continues. There's also the issue that the lender may consider the date they received the check (rather than the post-marked date) as the official date the check is paid off, leading to the right amount not arriving at the right time (and the above ad infinitum scenario playing out).
Are there laws that protects the borrower by making lenders honor loan payoff quotes or governing when a payment should be counted as received (e.g., by the postmark date vs the actual arrived-on-our-desk date)? I'm sure there are other shady scenarios predatory lenders could use so I'm interested in more information than just the example scenario I described above.


texts: Is it illegal to make notes or comments in Council Meeting minutes?

texts:
In the Municipal Government Act of Alberta, section 208 states:

  208(1) The chief administrative officer must ensure that

  (a) all
  minutes of council meetings are recorded in the English language,
  without note or comment;

Meeting minutes are a legal document which is signed and sealed. If the CAO were to include notes or comments in the minutes, does this make the minutes an illegal document?


texts: Need to read sample Closing Argument for special education impartial hearing

texts:
I have been advocating for my special needs son in a special education impartial hearing.  (In other words I am acting pro se.)  I must now write a Closing Argument.  I have a pretty good idea about what points I want to make, but I want to read one or more sample Closing Arguments, to get an idea of the tone, the format, how granular to make it, whether to just number the points, or to use more of a hierarchical outline (1, a, b, c, 2, a, b, c, etc.).  That sort of thing.

The hearing officer said that the first section will be "Proposed Findings of Fact".  He said the second section will be some legal analysis.  What is that second section typically called?  I mean, what title or heading should I give that section?

I have tried googling but I keep finding hearing decisions.  That's interesting reading, but I really need to read a couple of Closing Arguments.

How do I find them?

I am especially interested in cases having to do with initial eligibility.  The category Other Health Impaired if possible.  High cognition students.

But I can still benefit from looking at some that don't have anything to do with my son's situation.


texts: Does a new Blue Card in the same country resets 18 month period?

texts:
I have a question, for which I can't find an answer in the Internet. Right now I live and work in Germany, and I'm a holder of Blau Card for 14 month now.
In the next month I will get a new travel passport from my native country due to expiration, and I will need to get a new Blau Card because of it.
My question is: will this operation reset 18-month period of Blau Card holding needed for visa-exempt basis work in another EU member and qualification period for EU long-term residence permit?

If you have already held an EU Blue Card in another EU Member State for at least 18 months, you can enter country on a visa-exempt basis in order to work.

All periods of residence of 18 months or longer with the EU Blue Card count towards the qualification period of EU long-term residence permit


texts: Can you really ignore a summons just by avoiding it?

texts:
In the first episode of Jessica Jones, the title character is tasked with delivering a summons to a strip club owner who is accused of maintaining an unsafe workplace. (A pole dancer got a concussion after the pole broke.)

The character, who has some sort of superpowers, has to deliver it because the owner's bodyguards make it impossible to actually hand over the summons.

Can you really avoid being summoned just by refusing to physically touch the paper?


texts: Period present in the country from OECD model tax convention

texts:
In the model OECD tax convention, which is a base for many European double taxation agreements, article 15. 2a) states a condition under which a person living in country A but working for a company based in country B doesn't have to pay taxes in country A

the recipient is present in the other State (A) for a period or periods not exceeding
in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period commencing or ending in
the fiscal year concerned, and

How are the days counted? If I arrive on 24. February and leave on 25th, is this one or two days?
Should "present" be interpreted literally, eg. if I go for a short holidays away from country A, am I not "present" for purposes of this article even though I may receive salary / be registered / have a house available, etc. during this time?
If so, how to prove this practically, in particular in case of Schengen countries where countries don't keep exact records on when people move around? In a case of disagreement, whose responsibility is to prove the state of things (eg. I am registered in country A for 200 days, but claim I was away in country C for 20 days, do I have to prove so or does the tax authority need to prove it's not true)?


texts: How does Venmo mitigate liability for illegal transactions?

texts: Venmo allows money transfers between individuals for arbitrary goods/services/gifts. My understanding is that they/their parent company handle payment processing, escrow, and payout themselves. When people inevitably use it for illegal means, what kind of liability does Venmo face? How do they mitigate this? Does it make a difference that they use a wallet scheme and hold funds in escrow rather than make direct transfers?


texts: Is it legal in the US to force you to buy insurance (as a bundle) for something you already have insurance for?

texts:
For example, a company that rents out car parking spaces requires that I will also buy insurance for the property inside my car, while I already have insurance for the property inside my car.
For example, the company may require that the coverage for the property inside my car may only be part of home owner insurance, but not car insurance.
If the coverage for the property inside my car is part of my car insurance, the company does not accept this coverage and forces me to buy another policy that covers again the property in the car, which is already covered by my car insurance.


texts: Accessing Internet Connected Devices with Default Credentials

texts:
In a world of ever increasing numbers of internet connected devices people are having more and more of their appliances exposed to the outside world: cameras, fridges, thermostats etc.

Many of these are left with the default passwords enabled and are easily searchable on websites such as Shodan.

My question is this, is it legal to access such a device for the sole purpose of determining if the default credentials have been used so that you can alert the owner of this security vulnerability?

For instance: by default, a Raspberry Pi has SSH enabled with the login pi and password raspberry.

I'm particularly interested in the take on this in the UK and any precedents.


texts: Do faculty own the copyright to course materials they create even if their contract or university IP policy specify otherwise?

texts:
An answer on Academia.SE claims that

  in general, any lectures, slides, textbooks, or scholarly articles you [as faculty] write belong to you and not your school, and this is true regardless of whether the school posts a policy on its web site claiming otherwise, and even regardless of whether they get you to sign a contract stating otherwise.

and cites Weinstein v. University of Illinois and Hays v. Sony Corp in support of this statement.

However, it seems to me that Weinsten v. University of Illinois explicitly considers university IP policy in making the determination of whether the scholarly work under consideration was "work for hire". First it says

  The statute is general enough to make every academic article a "work for hire" and therefore vest exclusive control in universities rather than scholars. See DuBoff, An Academic's Copyright: Publish and Perish, 32 J. Copyright Society 17 (1984). The University of Illinois, like many other academic institutions, responded to the 1978 revision of the copyright laws by adopting a policy defining "work for hire" for purposes of its employees, including its professors.

then it quotes the university policy on work for hire, and then it makes a determination based on whether the university IP policy on work for hire can be interpreted to apply to the particular work under consideration:

  The University's copyright policy [on work for hire] reads more naturally when applied to administrative duties. Perhaps the University forms a committee to study the appropriate use of small computers and conscripts professors as members. The committee may publish a report, in which the University will claim copyright. We do not say that a broader reading is impossible, but such a reading should be established by evidence about the deliberations underlying the policy and the course of practice

Furthermore, the more recent Bosch v. Ball-Kell refers to a

  directive in Weinstein, to look for evidence of intent from the history and deliberations that occurred in implementing the University's policy.

Thus it is not clear to me whether the so-called "teacher exception" to work for hire applies if the university's intellectual property policy or contract asserts ownership of copyright of course materials.


texts: Council "misplaced" copy of contract - is this a data protection breach (UK)?

texts:
My Girlfriend changed jobs recently, and as such had to provide the local council with a copy of her employment contract to support claims for low-income support benefits.

Now, it seems they have lost it.

This is a document provided in confidence to an official department, which contains details including home address, workplace/working hours, full name, DoB, etcetera.

I'm fairly sure that this is the sort of information which could be used to steal her identity.

Another concern is that someone could essentially track her movements, plan to break into the house, anything. She has had problems with stalkers in the past.

Would this constitute a break of the data protection act? (We are UK-based)


texts: Why do laws that give penal fines or fees not specify that the amount be adjusted for inflation?

texts:
For example, the United States National Firearms Act of 1934 specified that anyone wanting to buy a machine gun had to pay a $200 fee for a tax stamp. According to this inflation calculator, that was equivalent to $3274.69 today.  Thus the fee has gone from a significant deterrent to legal machine gun ownership to a minor inconvenience.

Rather than periodically updating fees and fines for inflation, as legislatures often do, why not specify that the fine be an amount with equivalent buying power to x amount on the date the legislation takes effect?


texts:
I have a Great Idea™ and I've found a trustworthy individual who can help me realize this. We're both private citizens in differing nations with no current employers.

If I get them to sign an NDA, do I have to get it notarized for it to be binding or recognized by court?


texts: Can a website incur liability for linking to a funding campaign for a lawsuit against it?

texts:
A large website that hosts user-created content has recently announced that it is redacting links to a fundraising campaign for a lawsuit against it "under direction from [its] legal team." Is there a theory of liability under which there is some legal risk for hosting said links?

Assume any action would be under Second Circuit and New York state law.


texts: If represented by lawyer at divorce trial can I myself examine expert witness?

texts:
The witness for the opposing party performed the valuation of business.  I happen to be in the same profession (I have not introduced my own valuation because of the potential conflict of interest) and feel qualified to ask the "technical" questions re. the expert's methodology, assumption etc.  I could spend time educating my attorney as to what questions to ask but it would have taken time (which is of the essence) and i believe I am still more competent to ask the immediate follow-up questions depending on the answers given.
Thanks for advice
origami


texts: Quoting a case law if original decision cannot be found

texts:
Decision X was taken long ago and is not accessible online to the public. There are several (> 10) recent decisions that describe and quote X, and they are available online to the public.

Is it allowed to quote X in my defense (municipal court, not a criminal offence), even though I cannot provide the complete decision?

Is it pertinent to quote the other decisions that rely on X?


texts: Is there any option for the spouse of a US citizen to obtain work pending a green card?

texts:
My daughter married a Canadian citizen a year and a half ago, and they began the process of applying for permanent residence status for him so that he can live and work in the US.  The Covid pandemic has put the face-to-face interview on hold, and the government doesn't seem interested in relaxing that requirement so his green card is delayed indefinitely.
They both have passports, and with the marriage certificate have been able to cross the border to see each other periodically.  However, the conventional wisdom they are adhering to is that he cannot apply for work in the US, and cannot stay longer than 6 months at a time, so they are choosing to live apart for now.  (They are both living with parents and would probably need to combine incomes to maintain a comfortable standard of living)
I wanted to help them consider options that just might allow for an interim solution to their woes.  A quick search turned up that a K1 visa is available for Fiancés of US citizens that would allow one to work.  It also shows several other different categories of temporary work visas available.
I am looking for work myself now, so I am getting pretty familiar with the type of questions employers ask.  If “US Person” status is not required they often ask if sponsorship is required to work.  When my son in law first applied my daughter was a full time student and didn’t have the income required to sponsor him.  Therefore, I agreed to be his sponsor.
I plan to continue researching, but was hoping that someone with more experience might have a suggestion that could point us in the right direction.  Along those lines I have a few questions regarding the best, (fastest...) path forward so that they can move in and start a life together:

Is the K1 visa even an option now, or are they beyond that point already?
If not, is there another visa type available for spouses short of a green card?

Is there anything legally preventing him from applying for, and accepting a job in the US right now?
a.  Might a written job offer give him to the status needed to obtain the required work visa to actually start working?
b.  Can he legally answer that he does not require a sponsor because I am his sponsor?

Even if he is unable to find work, surely as the spouse of a US citizen he ought to be able to stay in the US for longer than six months pending final approval of permanent residence status.  Is this not the case?


texts: My app uses another website. Is it legal?

texts:
I would like to create an application/website which is automating some processes on another website A. So my application would basically use website A like a normal user would (there is no API available).

Is offering an application like this considered illegal? Since I would not have a permission from website A to do this.

The website is hosted in France.


texts: Why do some states only allow kWh pricing by regulated utilities?

texts:
I was reading this article on EV-charger pricing schemes.  There are some vague references to states requiring per-minute pricing, but 0 explanations of that thing.  A little research has suggested that it is not the case that states require per-minute pricing on EV chargers, but that they only allow per-kWh pricing by regulated utilities.
What is the reasoning behind these laws?  I get that the sale of electricity by the big players is regulated because sanctioned monopoly stuff.  Is this restriction on others just part of the monopoly grant?  What's the deal here?


texts: If I rent an apartment and work in one state, can I keep my "permanent" residency in another?

texts:
I am renting a condo and working in Georgia, but my permanent residence is in NJ at my parents house. Do I have to change my address, license info?
(I have a 1 year lease in Georgia. I have a job in Georgia. I plan to come back to NJ at end of year.)


texts: Is lying about a candidate protected speech in the United States?

texts:
Per Wikipedia:

  False statements that are on matters of public concern and that defame
  public figures are unprotected if either the speaker has knowledge
  that his statements are false, there is a negligence in the statement,
  or there is "actual malice" to inflict harm.

How does this apply in our present age of lies about candidates and officials being spread constantly?

For examples, Barack Obama was clearly and definitively born in Hawaii, and has not been a gay prostitute. Hillary Clinton did not say that parents have a secondary role in raising children. These are clearly "false statements... that defame public figures".

Do the legal definitions of negligence or actual malice apply to the originators and/or repeaters of these false statements? Would a law punishing defamatory statements about public figures be likely to stand up to legal scrutiny?


texts: Sentence given when a Summary only offence has imprisonment over 6 months?

texts:
I was reading into the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006.
At the sentencing section, I note the following:

(a)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12
months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both;
(b)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.

I thought that in a Magistrates' Court, the Magistrates could not sentence somebody to over 6 months imprisonment per offence, and in the case of numerous offences the total combined sentence could not exceed 12 months.
Based on this, how could a defendant be sentenced to 12 months on summary conviction for just a single offence?


texts: How are UK contracts without force majeure clauses adjusted for covid-19 delays?

texts: I have a scaffolding license with my neighbours which permits me to scaffold in their garden for an agreed period for an agreed price. The issue is that my construction work has stopped due to the UK lockdown and I would like my license to be paused. I don't have a force majeure clause in the contract and I don't want to keep paying the neighbours whilst no work is going on. What should I do?


texts: Can companies be held liable for people attempting to imitate advertising stunts?

texts: I own a small apparel company that operates an e-commerce shop. Our target demographic is young adults, and as such our brand and marketing material features an edgy and cool style. A lot of our material features various kinds of stunts, e.g. motorcycle tricks, backflips, freeclimbing, etc. We also have a section of our site where people can submit videos, and each week we choose to feature someone's video. These videos can be anything and don't have to include any kinds of stunts. However, I've had several people warn me that if a kid severely injures himself or dies while trying to make a video or get a cool picture to post on social media, our company could be held liable. To what extent is this valid concern? Is this something that is a common issue, and if so, what are the usual results?


texts: Asked to assist when company in administration (UK)

texts:
A friend of mine works (worked) for a company that has gone into administration (in the UK).  She has been asked to still come to the office for a few days to help out with the accounts.

I was just wondering if this is allowed, legally? But thinking about it, someone with knowledge of the company systems and procedures should be able to help close the account, but albeit under the watchful eye of the... receivers(?), and not asked to do anything without their knowledge?

Should she get advice from somewhere?

Thanks.


texts: Criminal transmission of COVID-19? Knowingly exposing vulnerable individuals

texts:
This is a related question. The difference here is that the other question is asking about criminal negligence; someone doing something without considering the harm it may cause. My question is about the potential of someone more or less deliberately infecting someone who is vulnerable.

A young, and otherwise healthy individual, Alice, has a breathing disorder (Asthma.) I recognize that there is not enough data on COVID-19 as it relates to this particular condition to draw an authoritative conclusion. However, being as it is specifically a breathing disorder, and COVID-19's danger relates to breathing damage, I feel it would be beyond reasonable to assume that Alice is in the more vulnerable fraction of the population.

Put the other way, it should be difficult to argue a simultaneous belief that Alice was not in the vulnerable fraction, while also knowing Alice had such a breathing condition.

Alice has family, friends, roommates that are not exercising social distancing from Alice. These individuals are plainly aware of Alice's preexisting condition. It is presumed that at least one of these individuals know they are infected and are not telling Alice.

Put differently, they are everything but publicly admitting they are trying to infect Alice.

What are the legal implications for Alice's entourage?

The law does specify STD/HIV transmission as criminal transmission of a pathogen, because of the invariable fatality, but it seems to only codify specifically that. I could find nothing involving generic highly contagious infections that have largely unknown fatality rates, which Alice is almost guaranteed to eventually contract anyway.

The only thing that comes to mind is "Typhoid Mary" Mallon. However, she was never actually convicted of anything, just punished by forced confinement.