texts: Self-quarantine of neighbor broken, if infected, can I sue (civil)

texts:
Hopefully this is an allowed question. If not, I will delete.

My neighbor returned from overseas recently (if necessary for answering, Somalia). How she managed it, I don't know, or care. They are supposed to Self-Quarantine for 14-days. I literally ran into her at the grocery store (cart to cart) where she was not masked.

If I am infected (with COVID) and name her as a possible vector, and she is positive as well, what are my options, legally, assuming it came from her to me, and not me to her?


texts: Do Net Neutrality's "Reasonable network management" and "No paid prioritization" allow for tiered services?

texts:
In CA's recently passed SB822, "Paid Prioritization" is not allowed, but "Reasonable Network Management" is allowed.

MUST NOT

  “Paid prioritization” means the management of an Internet service
  provider’s network to directly or indirectly favor some traffic over
  other traffic, including, but not limited to, through the use of
  techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, resource
  reservation, or other forms of preferential traffic management, either
  (1) in exchange for consideration, monetary or otherwise, from a third
  party, or (2) to benefit an affiliated entity.

MAY

  “Reasonable network management” means a network management practice
  that is reasonable. A network management practice is a practice that
  has a primarily technical network management justification, but does
  not include other business practices. A network management practice is
  reasonable if it is primarily used for, and tailored to, achieving a
  legitimate network management purpose, taking into account the
  particular network architecture and technology of the broadband
  Internet access service, and is as application-agnostic as possible.

According to EFF:

  Reasonable network management means that ISPs can slow things down,
  speed things up, and even block things in the interests of making sure
  a service like remote surgery works as intended.

Suppose an hypothetical ISP wishes to provide a two tier service for end users:

Real time (user), always close to 100 Mpbs
Economy (user) , minimum average 10 Mpbs, max 100 Mpbs traffic permitting

and another two tier service for providers:

Real time (prov), always 100 Mpbs to customer (*)
Economy  (prov), minimum average 10 Mpbs, max 100 Mpbs to customer (*)

(* provided the intervening third party networks allow that bandwith)

(1) Is it correct that SB822 allows for for such a business model, provided that the same services are offered to all users and providers without discrimination?

(2) Why have the ISPs never attempted to institute non-discriminatory tiered services?

The example account types are not meant to be realistic - this question is meant to query the legal principle.

There is no "net-neutrality" topic, so I chose "internet", "contract-law" and "consumer-protection" instead as a rough stab to satisfy the topic requirement.


texts: How can you get back intellectual property from a bankrupt startup?

texts:
I have written some software for an American startup that has since gone bankrupt. The intellectual property consists of:

Software code
Patents that have me listed as their inventor, but that, according to online patent registers, are still assigned to the now defunct company

The company, having had investors, has apparently auctioned off all of its assets, including the intellectual property. I therefore have the following questions:

How can I find out whom the intellectual property now belongs to? For
the patent, is this possible through the patent office?
If the assignee has not been changed in the patent register, is it
possible to reassign the patent to myself, since the company has
apparently neglected to do so?

I would also be happy about other general advice for this situation. Can you just call the current owner and ask to buy the IP back? How does one go about that?


texts: If so, by whom, and under what circumstances? What are the consequences? Would a federal judge with a lifetime appointment lose it as a consequence?


texts: Copyright Law for Logo Design that Incorporates a Royalty Free Vector Design

texts:
I am designing a logo for a for profit company. This logo design consists of letters that represent the name of the company but also incorporate a silhouette of a city skyline merged with these letters. I found a simple city skyline silhouette through a Google Search. I modified it slightly and incorporated it into the logo design. The image vector was listed as royalty free. I have since learned that "royalty free" obviously does not mean it is free to use in the manner that I intended. I have found this same image in more than one place, with different contributor/artist names listed in association with it.

The company I am making the logo for intends to use it obviously to represent their business, but also intends to place the logo on clothing and other items that potentially may be sold by the company as merchandise in addition to their regular course of business.

Will there be problems with the logo if it incorporates the image described above? And if so, are there any ways around it, other than trying to design my own city silhouette to replace it?

Here is the link to the original I downloaded to use and the site from which I downloaded it: https://www.kisspng.com/png-birmingham-skyline-silhouette-royalty-free-skyline-750511/preview.html

UPDATE: I sent the following email to this site regarding the image in this link, https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/birmingham-silhouette-vector-6709511

To whom it may concern:

Is it allowed for me to download and use the shape of the city outline incorporated in this image (see ID and link below), modified slightly, as part of a larger logo design to be used by a for profit company? For clarification, I do not intend to use this entire image, but only the solid black portion to be merged with letters of the company logo.

I attempted to contact the Contributor/Artist directly, but did not see that contact info on your site. If you can provide it, and it is necessary to contact said artist, please let me know.

Image ID: 6709511

Their response was:

Dear Brandy,

Yes you can use our images in this way,
Best Regards  /  Admin Team

Based on the Answers I have received so far, it is clear that the best option is to just bite the bullet and create from scratch the silhouette of city skyline I want to incorporate into the logo. That said, the Company I am making the design for has seen the original design and really does NOT want it changed, unless I can convince them of the legal ramifications for not doing so. Would this site's terms and provided image make any difference in what I am trying to accomplish for this company? (I assume that based on your answers, that because the image in this latter link is similar to images that i have found elsewhere that it means their authorization to use the image "in this way" is in doubt).

Thanks again,

Brandy


texts: What is a software developers liability for medical devices

texts: I am an employee of a contract employer being contracted out to a medical company writing software for medical devices.  What is my liability or who shoulders the legal expenses if a product I wrote software for malfunctions or is involved in an injury or accident?


texts: Does annexation of state apply to territories under dispute e.g. Kashmir?

texts:
I am not clear on the legal definition of annexation. Can we say India is annexing Kashmir, or Jammu and Kashmir? Or does the word strictly apply to two nation-states only? Many definitions are contradicting each other.

Oxford and Cambridge say annexation is forcibly occupying a land, but Wikipedia says forcibly acquisition of land of one state to another, and state here I assume means nation-state that is a country.


texts: Can the "agent's immunity rule" apply to individual principals too?

texts:
Under the agent's immunity rule, an agent is not liable for conspiring with the principal when the agent is acting in an official capacity on behalf of the principal. (Applied Equipment Corp. v. Litton Saudi Arabia Ltd., supra, 7 Cal.4th at p. 512, fn. 4.)

This usually applies only to corporate principal, however, do courts also apply this rule to individual principals?


texts: can small loans be considered gifts for tax purposes?

texts:
let's say someone wishes to loan money to his brother, but has little expectation of repayment and no intention of pursuing the matter if his brother defaults. would the irs consider this a gift, a loan, or a gift loan?

details:
14k$ at 12% interest for a fixed term of 3 years as a strictly oral agreement without any signed document. let's assume there are some emails or text messages discussing the issue, but nothing documenting a final agreement.


texts:
Let's say the statute of limitations on wrongful death is 3 years. 5 years pass. Then, the statute of limitations is completely removed.
Can the lawsuit be filed now? Does the statute permanently invalidate the case the first time or does it depend on current law?


texts: Conflicting terms and the definition of a «child»

texts:
This is similar to this question but applies to a specific scenario.

In the Norwegian allotment garden community I belong to, a young child recently lost her mother to cancer. The statutes say that a “spouse, child or grandchild” can inherit the parcel, but also that a member of the community must have reached age of majority. To a layman such as myself, this may be interpreted as a potential conflict, quoting Wikipedia:

  Legally, the term child may refer to anyone below the age of majority or some other age limit. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines child as "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".

The paragraph saying that the “spouse, child or grandchild” can inherit was modified most recently. Previously, it said “spouse, child, grandchild or parent”. Thus, when a minor lost her parent, a grandparent could assume ownership until the child reached age of majority. However, parents were barred from inheriting because this facilitated transition between adult siblings, which was seen as undesirable.

I assume the child must move if either of the following are true:

A «child» can, in legal terms, refer to an adult son or daughter.
The most recent change in the statutes has precedence.

However, the Convention on the Rights of the Child state that “The best interests of children must be the primary concern in making decisions that may affect them (…)”, so again to a layman, that could indicate that if there are indeed conflicting terms, the favour should go in to the child.

The board of the allotment garden community has decided that the child must sell her parcel. Given the wording in the statutes, especially the legal definition of a «child», and the order in which the paragraphs were written, is the case clearly in favour of a forced sale?


texts: What is legal and what is illegal when accessing a virtual machine in another geographic area?

texts:
I've been looking for what is considered illegal if you have a vm in different geographical area.

For example, if there is a blocked website in my geographical area, can I access it from the vm in another geographical area?

If I created a website and wanted to test it in different geographical area, would that be legal?

Streaming a free service provided in a certain geographic area from another geographic area would that be legal?


texts: How much testimony is necessary to prove beyond reasonable doubt for traffic stops?

texts:
How much testimony of an officer is necessary for traffic stop in USA to prove beyond a reasonable doubt? How specific does the officer's observation have to be?

For a failure to maintain lamp traffic ticket, if the law requires three brake lights (left/center/right), does the officer have to specifically testify which light was out?

If the observation of the officer is only "I pulled the vehicle over for a lamp being out in the rear of the vehicle", is that beyond a reasonable doubt?


texts: What standards must US ISPs currently uphold in the quality of their speed and ping?

texts:
I'm curious. After a generous amount of googling, I couldn't find any laws or codes from the FCC regarding the standards of quality regarding internet speed and access.

What laws are currently in place which set the standards for advertised speeds of internet verses actual speeds and where can I read about them? If there are no laws, what keeps my internet provider from advertising 1,000,000 Mb/s and giving me 10 Mb/s?


texts:
X bought property recently in MA.
X does land survey for the purpose of building fence.
Survey reveals:
(1) row of small plants of neighbor Y is inside X property.
(2) old fence between neighbor Y and X is inside X property.

Y was living there for more than 20 years, and claims both (1) and (2) have been there for more than 20 years.  Plants in (1) are young but Y claims older plants were there before and they cared for them.

Y claims they have "adverse possession" and refuse to
(1) move small plants to let X put fence up to property line
(2) relocate old fence.

What does the law say?

If Y is right, how does X prevent such things from happening?  For example, if X buys new property, how can X prevent future neighbor from claiming chunks of land in X property as their own?  A survey could have revealed (2), but (1)?  X could have genuinely thought the plants to be theirs.


texts: If police don't know which apartment has criminal evidence, can they search all of them?

texts: Suppose the police have probable cause that there is evidence of a crime in an apartment that is part of a complex, but they can't figure out which apartment it is. Can they search all of them with a warrant?


texts: Is it legally fine to name a project or a library with a famous person name?

texts:
I wonder if there are any legal reasons for that to be not ok?

There are many precedents, e.g. Sinatra, Kafka, Shakespeare, Django etc , so are there any limitations ? (living people etc)


texts:
I play this online web browser game, and I created a bot that I use to automate in-game actions. Of course using scripts/bots is prohibited in game rules and leads to banishment if detected.

So my question is: legally speaking, is it illegal to sell this bot to other players? Or charge them a monthly fee for using it?

If marketing it is legal, is there anything else that's illegal when dealing with online games and botting ?


texts: Apple AppStore app rejection and Freedom of speech/press

texts:
My question relates to one Apple App Store guideline:

  Referencing third-party platforms in your app or its metadata is not appropriate on the App Store.

I understand this to mean that it is prohibited to show any information about other platforms in the application. So, the developer is prohibited from mentioning such words as "Android, Windows, Linux, BlackBerry OS, Web OS" and many others.

I am developing a technology news application that aims to include news about other platforms on the market. Per this guideline I am allowed to show only Apple-related news in the app.

The app has been rejected.

How does this rejection relate to the freedom of speech and press, which is present in many countries' laws as a basic human right. Can it be considered as a censorship? Or if Apple owns the platform, it can dictate any rules and I have to obey them as a developer?


texts: Using © on a website when I don't own all the copyright

texts: I'll keep this brief. Currently, I'm working on a website and wish to put "© 2017 [My Site]" in the footer, but a fair chunk of the content will essentially be owned by others. I don't expect to have any legal issues with this, but would like to credit them in the footer. Would I also add "© xxxx - xxxx [Company]" or something else? I don't want to be claiming that I own the companies in question.


texts: Who holds the copyright on code generated by Microsof't's .NET Framework?

texts:
Can software developers claim the copyright of code that was generated by the framework, which may not be created/owned by the developer?

For instance, .NET is a software framework made by Microsoft, and it typically generates a lot of code to start a project. Sometimes a developer needs to modify the generated code to better fits his/her needs. Can the developer claim copyright of the code that was not modified by him/her? Does the developer only own the copyright of the code that was actually written/modified by him/her? Does Microsoft have the copyright of generated code?


texts: What law governs providing online services

texts:
I have a following question. Let’s say I want to provide a service of fitness coaching. In my country(Czech Republic) to do so, you must have a certificate issued by the Ministry of Education, before you can start the business. So far so good no issue there. But let’s say I want to provide the service online. At that point I still present myself as fitness coach, but if I get a client from another country, what if I don’t meet the qualifications In his country of origin?

And further more. I have the business registered in Czech Republic but I am traveling to a different country. Therefore at that moment I am providing the online services (let’s say an online session) I might be physically in a country that I do not have the legal qualification to provide the services.

And the worst case scenario, what if the both of us(me and the client) are in the same country? And the only thing that connect me to the country I have license to provide the service is the business I “bill” the client through?  Is any of this an issue?


texts: License agreements: if I can use X by doing Y, can I use X without doing Y?

texts:
To hopefully make this question more clear, here is an example:
Software company X creates software product Y under the freemium business model — the user of Y is allowed to use it at no cost with some restrictions, but must pay for extra features.
In the license, it is stated that by purchasing the extra features of Y, the user is allowed to use the extra features. However, it does not explicitly state that the user cannot use the extra features if they do not purchase them.
Does this create a loophole in which the user can legally use a modified version of the software that allows the extra features to be used without payment? If something is not explicitly denied, is it allowed?


texts: Is it legal to detain someone to prevent a possible crime that might be committed?

texts:
A draft memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security states:

  "Detention also prevents such aliens from committing crimes while at large in the United States and substantially increases the likelihood that aliens lawfully ordered removed will be removed."

Is there any legal basis or precedent to detain someone for the purpose of preventing the mere possibility of unspecified crimes that might be committed?


texts:
I’m considering leaving my country. I’m married to a person who I cherish and love and we got married in our country of birth in a legally recognized, religious marriage and what I mean by that that we both have a religious heritage, we registered our marriage legally in our country of birth and residence, and it’s not a civil marriage.

We are both educated and we are both employable and employed, but one of us has a far greater work experience which made them have better pay and a greater amount of assets mostly acquired before marriage. In our country of birth, co-habitation is illegal and lengthy engagement periods aren’t culturally accepted, and the burden of the marriage expenses falls on the male spouse to deal with. The law “mainly” states: what’s mine is mine, what’s yours is yours, and what’s ours is ours especially when assets were acquired before marriage including the matrimonial house. Also, our country of birth doesn’t recognize civil divorce if the marriage wasn’t civil in the first place.

My questions are the following:

What happens if one of us applies for divorce outside our country of birth?
What happens if one of us applies for divorce in our country of birth?
How property is divided especially pre-marital assets such as pensions, house brought into marriage, saving accounts, inheritance / expected inheritance, and investments?

Our marriage is doing well but it is still young, and even though we both trust each other but we both don’t believe in absolute trust due to life lessons. Another reason I'm asking this question that I would have entered into a domestic contract before marriage (pre-nup) if my country of birth laws were different to protect any assets I brought into the relationship.

Thank you very much for your help :)

(Clarifications) : A court will consider our relationship a marriage but our country of birth will not consider the civil divorce legal. I'm concerned with assets acquired before marriage, the matrimonial house which was acquired before marriage, the pensions as one of us has a bigger pay check, and whether a court of law in our new country take into consideration the laws of our country of birth when dividing property especially that we entered this marriage while implicitly agreeing that we have separate property before and during our marriage.

In our country of birth, property is what you have your name on it which requires no domestic contract to be signed before marriage.


texts: What happens if an individual exceeds the maximum to be donated to a presidential candidate?

texts: For 2020, the maximum donation is $2800. What trouble will someone be in if they break that rule, either on accident or purposely?


texts: GDPR & CCPA compliance involving terms of service violation

texts:
If a user writes a comment on a website that gets flagged and removed+archived are we still obligated to delete the user content and/or the association of that comment with the person? According to GDPR and CCPA are we obligated to delete/disassociate user created content even if the user has violated the terms of service?

Wouldn't it be disadvantageous legally speaking if a user later on opened a law suit and we had no record of our interactions with that individual because we deleted their content in order to comply with these laws?


texts: What can I do if my attorney misses a court deadline?

texts:
In California civil court cases:

Will court extend filing deadlines for me if I can prove that my attorney was unresponsive?
Are attorneys liable for the consequences of missing court deadlines?


texts: Can media illegally downloaded in banned regions be legally used in regions where it is not banned?

texts:
Suppose you live in a region where the government has banned the purchase of some media (e.g., songs, movies, or software).  So you cannot legally purchase licenses from the owners; the only way to obtain them is on the black market where copies are pirated.

If you take a pirated copy to a region where it is not illegal to purchase it, is it then legal to possess and use the media?


texts:
How can I report animal right violation that takes place in the business located in Germany? It’s a beauty salon that uses animals for some treatments.
I live outside Germany and unfortunately have no relatives there who could help or advise me.


texts:
It's a well know fact that very few people read the Terms of Service when accessing a public WIFI network. The internet is full of hilarious stories like:

22,000 people agree to clean toilets for WIFI because they didn't the terms

7,500 Online Shoppers Unknowingly Sold Their Souls

Where people put funny things in the TOS of their WiFi Network and no one reads it. But, what I'm wondering about what kind of damage someone could do. For example, could a hacker include a clause in the agreement that gave them permission to access any accounts the end user logged onto while on the WiFi network? Are there laws/regulations that would prevent such abuse?


texts: Can a company refuse service to a share holder?

texts:
Assume a large public company.
Would the director, or majority share holders of a company be able to legally refuse service to a share holder (on non protected-class grounds)? Would the quantity of shares owned have any difference?

I'm asking in regards to UK law, but would be interested to hear if it's any different in the states.


texts: Can a contract specify that it will be followed by the law of a state neither party resides in?

texts: I have had a client approach me with a contract that includes a section specifying that the contract will be governed with the laws of a specific state, but neither the client nor myself live or perform business in that state. Does the section still apply? (This is within the United States)


texts:
In 3.2 of the Android SDK EULA, it says that I am not supposed to develop for non-CTS compliant versions of Android. Does that mean I can't test on a phone that's not CTS-compliant, or does that mean my intended target device should be CTS compliant? Thanks in advance.

Here are the exact wordings of the relevant parts of the agreement

  1.3 A "compatible implementation" means any Android device that (i) complies with the Android Compatibility Definition document, which can be found at the Android compatibility website (http://source.android.com/compatibility) and which may be updated from time to time; and (ii) successfully passes the Android Compatibility Test Suite (CTS).

  3.2 You may not use this SDK to develop applications for other platforms (including non-compatible implementations of Android) or to develop another SDK. You are of course free to develop applications for other platforms, including non-compatible implementations of Android, provided that this SDK is not used for that purpose.

(My issue is that I use a MI5s running the developer rom, which does not past the cts because it is not the stable release. I'm pretty sure the stable version does pass the CTS tests because xiaomi does have google installed on the global roms)


texts: Is a supermajority requirement for raising taxes constitutional?

texts:
In a number of US states, in order to enact new taxes or increase taxes, a two-thirds majority vote is required in the legislature or through a ballot proposition.

Some supermajority requirements, like overturning vetoes or amending a constitution, are content-neutral. The tax-increase supermajority requirement is not, since there is no similar requirement for lowering taxes. Since one of the main divisions in US politics is the attitude toward tax-and-spend policies, the supermajority requirement in essence makes a Democratic vote be worth half a Republican vote.

Doesn't that contradict the "one-man, one-vote" principle? Could it be challenged on constitutional grounds?


texts: Encrypted emails sent by employee under FOIA

texts:
Under the Freedom of Information Act, messages sent by government employees and officials can be disclosed in response to a FOIA request. If an individual whose communications were covered by FOIA encrypted their messages with a third-party program (e.g. GPG) before sending them from their government email address, what would happen if those messages were subsequently requested?

The emails would be available, technically, but they'd be unreadable because of the encryption. Would the FOIA prevent further investigation? Or would the requester be able to compel the employee to, say, disclose their private key*?

  *I'm assuming that the sender encrypted the message to both their own and the receiver's key here, but it's interesting to think about what would happen if they only used the recipient's key. Would the request then be able to compel disclosure of the recipient's private key?


texts: Is there a way to search a specific subject across state law?

texts: I'm doing research comparing a specific type of law, for example regarding marijuana possession, across states. What is the best way to search state law? Do I need to go state-by-state to find a state-specific database, or is there a better way? I'm finding this not to be straightforward at all - very unlike searching federal law and legislation.


texts: Can a doctor withhold test results due to non-payment?

texts: My niece took her daughter to a doctor for medical tests.  The doctor said the tests indicated a disorder that require therapy.  But the doctor won't release the test results until he is paid $500. Can doctors hold test results for payment?


texts: Can i get tenant evicted from my property if there is no eviction clause in lease?

texts:
I have rented my newly bought property in Illinois state to a tenant a few months back. The rental transaction happened with the help of real estate agent. I have not yet met the tenants. I am not happy with the tenants because of below reasons so i would like them to evict the property.

Never paid the rent on time. First month rent she paid before moving in, for second month she paid on 18th and 3rd month rent she paid on 11th. I have asked her to set up automatic payments for alteast 4-5 times. Gave her all kinds of options like Chase Quickpay, Zelle, mailing the hard copy of check, but she has her reasons for not getting anything to work even after 90 days. In the lease we have the rent due date of 5th of every month after which she will have to pay 5% interest per day.
Even after asking to change the Gas biils to her name and address, she havent done it yet. I am still getting the gas bills to my address. Worst she havent paid the bills, i send her the screen shot of the bills every month.
Worst of all today i received an email from the association saying there are numerous complaints about the tenant from neighbors and police visits are frequent and i will have to attend the next board meeting to discuss this.

Important to note here that there is no eviction clause in my lease for any of above issues. Any help will be greatly appreciated.


texts:
So just wondering, will it be legal to use a few lines of song lyrics as your service/company's slogan? For example, "You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine" (Katy Perry's firework) as a slogan for something like fund-raising platform? Like maybe a whole song is copyrighted (not familiar with copyrights on songs), but is it possible to legally use part of it if you like the meaning?

If can, how about adding TM or registered sign next to it? Since most slogan has it.


texts: does storing emails on public blockchain violate CCPA?

texts:
My understanding so far is that if people themselves put their email addresses on blockchain, then it's lawfully made available to the general public by the consumer and therefore is not considered personal information.
1798.140.v.2

(2) “Personal information” does not include publicly available information or lawfully obtained, truthful information that is a matter of public concern. For purposes of this paragraph, “publicly available” means: information that is lawfully made available from federal, state, or local government records, or information that a business has a reasonable basis to believe is lawfully made available to the general public by the consumer or from widely distributed media, or by the consumer; or information made available by a person to whom the consumer has disclosed the information if the consumer has not restricted the information to a specific audience. “Publicly available” does not mean biometric information collected by a business about a consumer without the consumer’s knowledge.

However, CCPA is for businesses. is there a privacy law for person-to-person?


texts: Eligibility of UK citizenship/residency for long time visa holder

texts:
My situation is as follows:
Born in Hong Kong in 1995, have a BN(O) passport.
Spent 2010-2018 in the UK on a tier 4 visa (high school and undergraduate studies).
Returned to HK between 2018 Aug - 2019 Sept
Came back to the UK in 2019 Sept on a tier 5 youth mobility visa and am currently studying for a masters.
Having spent a long time in the UK, I have tried looking through the relevant gov sites to figure out whether I am eligible for citizenship or permanent residence or ILR, but it is not clear to me what my options are.
Thanks for any help!


texts: Can a photo that contains a trademark be used by a political campaign?

texts:
There's a current kerfuffle regarding a campaign photo used by the Biden campaign.

The photo shows the logo for the Washington Redskins in the original photo but removed in the photo displayed on CNN.  Since the original story, though, the Biden campaign has said that they supplied the altered photo to CNN and the campaign had removed the logo because it is "copyrighted" and that such a step is "a very common practice on campaigns."
The original photo is still located on Facebook where it was initially used to celebrate Father's Day.
Is there anything about copyright, or trademark, law that would require such editing?


texts:
How can I find glass cutting patents? Apparently they use a different numbering system than ordinary patents. For example, according to glass collectors, the following patent was registered:
63,795 / “Exotic Flower” / William P. Moran / 18 Jan 1923 / 15 Jan 1924

However, U.S. patent 63795 does not correspond to this patent.


texts: Is there copyright issue in the following condition?

texts:
Organisation A conducts exam every year,question paper goes out with student(There is no copyright claim on paper by A). Company B collects them and publishes them with some charge. Now, if company C tries to provide some content which need question papers to be shown, can C use B's product?

It is quite difficult for C to assemble those papers by self at present moment.


texts: Does releasing a work into the public domain disclaim any warrants?

texts:
My understanding is that the releasing statement assigns "ownership" of the work to the public at large. But obviously one could not sue "the public" if (say) PD software crashed due to a defect and cost one's business a day's salary of a software engineer to clean it up.

So does releasing a work into the public domain disclaim any liability? And if not, why not?


texts:
I am concerned the wording that appears in 21-8-402 5.B.vii may be too vague.
Included below for your convenience.

  (vii)

  (a) Anything with a value of one hundred dollars ($100) or less.

  (b) The value of an item shall be considered to be less than one hundred dollars
  ($100) if the public servant reimburses the person from whom the item was
  received any amount over one hundred dollars ($100) and the reimbursement occurs
  within ten (10) days from the date the item was received;

I do not see a requirement, as written, that the reimbursement be of equal value to the initial gift. This seems to invite a means for misconduct that goes against the spirit of the law. This same choice of language appears elsewhere in Arkansas Law.

I am seeking one of two things

1) Some clarification of the AR Code or other source that verifies there can be no misuse of this clause by unethical individuals.

2) A verification that this clause, or one like it, has been the basis of unethical conduct previously.

Should the second scenario be validated, I will post a follow up on what would eliminate such a loophole, but that is being excluded from here.


texts: Customer signed the contract and initialed the line items where indicated.  After customer left employee realized contract didn’t print and hit print again; when printed the initialed items did not show any initials.  Employee initialed the line items with customer initials.  What are the ramifications to this action?


texts: If a murder was committed in Antarctica and it was unclear who did it, who would investigate?

texts: If a murder were committed in Antarctica and it was unclear who did it, what country/agency would investigate? And, if the guilty party were identified, who (if anyone) would have the authority to arrest them?


texts:
Suppose that someone walks on to my land and refuses to leave. Trespass is not a crime, so (as I understand it) the police can't help. I'm not allowed to use physical force to eject them because that would be assault. Assuming that what they are doing does not rise to the level of aggravated trespass or any other crime, what recourse do I have?

Edit: in answer to a comment.

I don't have a specific type of land in mind. Intuitively trespass on someone's back garden seems different to trespass on a farmer's field, but I haven't seen anything in law which makes that distinction. If there are such distinctions then it would be useful to know what they are.

I'm also unsure exactly what the limit of the word "building" is in burglary law. Does a garden fence or wall count as a building? If so, does scaling a garden wall count as the "entering a building" component of burglary?


texts: Can a person be vaccinated against their will in Austria or Germany?

texts:
Is it legal for someone to be vaccinated against their will in Germany and Austria?
Are there reasonable circumstances, under which this would be legal (e. g. if the government declares martial law and civil law is suspended)?
My question is different from these 2 (1, 2) because it is about Germany and Austria (not US).


texts: Can an apartment complex force place insurance on a renter's account?

texts: Some apartment complexes require renter's insurance in accordance with their lease terms, but can the apartment complex force insurance on the renter's account?


texts: Can a university require me to use hardware authentication to pay bills?

texts:
I am a graduate student at a university in California.  The university is planning a policy change which will require me to use a "hardware token" (a little device which generates one-time passwords) to login to any university online resources, including the services which allow me to view and pay bills.  I find this rather concerning, because I often find myself needing to access university resources at unpredictable times, and I cannot guarantee that I will have the hardware token available when I need it.  Do I have a legal grounds for complaint?

It seems to me that if it were legal to require people to use hardware tokens for accessing and paying bills, then everyone would do it (e.g. banks).  But it is quite unreasonable to expect people to have hardware tokens for every service they use.

To be clear, I'm not proposing to sue my university, only to complain and encourage them to provide alternatives to the hardware token.


texts: Do we have attempted fraud laws like we have attempted murder?

texts:
I once saw an advertisement in some online sites. It basically says, call this number so we can help you with your purchase.

Say Alice sell something at Bob's Marketplace.

Now, Eve, put an ads in comment section. Anyone can do this actually. However, potential buyers that are not careful probably don't see that and think that the message is genuine. They think if it's not genuine than Bob's must have deleted them. Bob usually do that but often too late.

Contact me at Eve's number for faster customer service.

Eve is fraudulent. She doesn't work for Bob.

Say Charlie saw Eve' ads in comment section.

What happens is, if someone whatsapp Eve, Eve will say they have items and will sell it at below market price, and ask for Charlie to transfer money to Eve's account.

Eve will say things that's obviously a lie. Eve will say she works for Charlie, she will say she has items she doesn't have, the bank accounts may be real but most likely fake.

What will happen is, if Charlie send money to Eve's account, Charlie won't get anything.

Eve is fraudulent.

It's like buying stuffs from eBay. If you use eBay system you can complain if you don't get your item and eBay would refund your money.

However, Eve is not a seller at eBay. Eve is just someone that comment on Bob's market place and make it look as if she works for Bob.

Eve tries to induce Charlie to send money to Eve's account. Once the money reach Eve's account, Eve will withdraw it, empty the account, and run. In Indonesia, criminals often have fake bank accounts.

However, Charlie is smart. He knows Eve is lying.

So he doesn't send money.

Instead Charlie reports Eve's to cops.

Will the cops arrest Eve?

Someone told me that if Charlie didn't rely on Eve's statement, then no fraud occur yet. So Eve didn't commit any crime. Eve commit any crime only if Charlie is defrauded.

The thing is Eve is pretty much law proof.

If Charlie is dumb, Eve got money.

If Charlie is smart, then Eve doesn't commit any crime.

How would your jurisdiction handle cases like this?

If this is a murder case it's easy.

Eve put poison in Charlie's drink. Charlie doesn't drink. Eve is still guilty of attempted murder. But what about if Eve tries to defraud Charlie?


texts: Can customer initiate chargeback AFTER judgement won in court?

texts:
I am a small business owner in Alabama. We had a customer who was happy with the repairs we did to his vehicle. After picking up the vehicle he brought ANOTHER vehicle to us to customize and he was happy with that work. Unknown to us he needed to apply for a salvage title for the vehicle. He realized when he went to apply for the salvage title that only certain repair places can do the work for a salvage title so the great person he is decided to blame us and sue us in small claims court.

We are baffled as to why, but he won the judgement. The judge seemed to ask him all the questions that I would have asked him. Everything the judge asked and said in court seemed as if she was pointing out all of our points showing we performed the work requested and that he was happy enough to bring us more work but alas, we lost. Even more annoying is there was no reasoning for the ruling as the judge is not required in our small claims courts to give the reason, which I would like to know so we can learn from this to protect our business in the future. PS: (although I wanted to appeal for principal, I’m learning as a new business owner that the time and money involved doesn’t always make sense so we begrudgingly did not file an appeal).

Onto my question:
The customer won the judgement. We have not paid the judgement yet but we’re just recently notified of winning.

Today we received notification from square that the customer has requested a chargeback.

My question is if the customer took the steps to get the courts involved, can they now ask for chargeback? Our initial thought is it should be handled through the courts to ensure the proper steps are taken through the court to show our payment of said judgement.

If it should be handled through the court instead of the customer now initiating a chargeback, what should my response be to American Express (the card that the customer used)?


texts:
I intend to scrape (download all articles) from a newspaper website which has some terms and conditions listed in its footer. The part which seems to be in my interest is as follows:

  You shall not copy, reproduce, republish, disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer, download, post, broadcast, transmit, make available to the public, or otherwise use the content of this website in any way except for your own personal, non-commercial use. You shall not adapt, alter or create a derivative work from any content of this website except for your own personal, non-commercial use. Any other use of the content of this website requires the prior written permission of XYZ

So does this also mean that I cannot scrape data from website and perform some analyses (machine learning and stuff) and use it to generate a report for

Research purposes
Commercial purposes


texts:
First off,

The question is an actual Earth (American version, if jurisdiction matters) legal one
It was inspired by Star Wars Episode VII, "The Force Awakens" related question on SciFi.SE site.

As such it contains spoilers for an important plot twist in the film, so please continue reading at your own risk.

Let's pretend that Millenium Falcon is a regular, Earth human trading freighter ship, registered to US flag.

It has an owner-captain (Han Solo), and a First Mate  (Chewbacca) who is second in command. Both are US citizens.

Question: If the owner-operator dies - and absent any specific documents like a will, or joint ownership papers - does the First Mate inherit the freighter, in preference to the "standard" inheritance chain - wife and children? (assume that the wife is alive and can claim inheritance, to avoid complicated legal fallback scenarios)

If it matters, let's assume it's registered in whichever state LucasFilm (or Disney) headquarters are.


texts: Can I possess a locked unloaded handgun at a campsite in a county park in California?

texts:
I thought I found the answer in California Firearms Laws Summary :
"Unless otherwise unlawful, any person over the age of 18 who is not prohibited from possessing firearms may have a loaded or unloaded firearm at his or her place of residence, temporary residence, campsite or on private property owned or lawfully possessed by the person."
However, the same section has this note:
"If a person’s place of business, residence, temporary residence, campsite or private property is located within an area where possession of a firearm is prohibited by local or federal laws, such laws would prevail."
California gun laws are, generally speaking, very restrictive, and I don't know whether any "local or federal laws" would prohibit a person without a CCW permit to bring it to a campsite in a county park.
The specific park I'm interested in is the Sanborn park in Santa Clara County.


texts: Does a "withdrawal of application for admission" constitute a "refused admission" in the US?

texts:
In 2001 I attempted to re-enter the US after vacationing abroad. I had been working in the US and had forgotten that my H1-B was expired and in the process of being renewed. At the border, I was told that I couldn't re-enter the US and I signed a "withdrawal of application for admission" form. I was told by the immigration officers that this was an alternative to being deported which would not constitute a "refused admission".

Later I got my visa renewed and was able to re-enter the US. I am now a permanent resident.

What should I answer on official forms that ask "have you ever been refused entry to the US"?


texts: Are any permits required for an unofficial learning pod of homeschooled children?

texts:
A relative of mine lives in Washington and would like to start a "learning pod" for their children which would work as follows:

One parent contracts a teacher to work for them full time
All the other parents pool in money to help pay the salary
Kids from 8-10 households gather in someones home (they're lucky to live in a rural area so there's tons of space) and learn as they would in a normal school
No contracts would be signed and no one except the teacher is profiting from the arrangement. If required the parents can wire the money directly to the teacher to avoid the organizer having control over finances. Likewise the space is being provided free of charge.
No one will officially call it a "school" or advertise it as such (in fact, there would be zero public advertising). On paper all the kids will be homeschooled and not enrolled in any educational institution whatsoever.

Would any permits be required for such and arrangement? If yes, would anything change if one of the parents play the role of a teacher and no one is paying any money whatsoever for any services?


texts: False advertising in order to hire people

texts:
A corporation is in desperate need of extra help during the holiday season. So it tells employees that if they come to work on time every day, they'll get a weekly bonus of $200, beginning October 1. It also takes its pitch to prospective employees on the radio, promising them the same bonus if they hire on.

The catch? They won't begin paying the bonus until November. However, it will be retroactive.

Towards the end of October, the company says the bonus won't begin until October 22. People who hired on three weeks earlier are thus cheated out of $600 they had been promised. It's also revealed that the bonus will be heavily taxed, making it just $150 a week.

In addition, the company now says the bonus can be modified or terminated at the company's whim. Thus, people who hired on expecting to get a $200 bonus for eight weeks are now cheated out of the first three weeks and possibly out of the last nine weeks. For all they know, they might get one payment of $150.

The union (Teamsters) won't do a thing about it, claiming it's not a contract issue. The Department of Labor passes the buck, saying "This is a problem you should discuss with your union."

Would it be possible to get help from some other agency or perhaps file a class action lawsuit?

First, I need to know what sort of crime I just described is. Would you just call it false advertising? Someone told me it's a classic example of bait-and-switch, which would take it out of the Department of Labor's jurisdiction.


texts: Do we have to wait for legislators to ban bump stocks?

texts:
Do legislators actually have to take the step of banning bump stocks, or could the ATF (or other government agency) unilaterally state that the addition of one to a weapon means that it now has all of the attributes of a Machine Gun as defined in the National Firearms Act of 1934?

  "Machine gun." (b) The term "machine gun " means any weapon which shoots,
  or is designed to shoot, automatically or semiautomatically, more
  than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of
  the trigger.

My intuition is that if the answer is "yes," then owners of bump stocks could still own them without breaking the law, they just won't ever be able to apply that accessory to their weapons without running afoul of the National Firearms Act and risking a $2,000 fine and 5 years in jail. Is this understanding of how the law works correct?


texts: Is there a reason lawyers are hesitant to use the media against an adversary?

texts:
I'm not a lawyer, so I'm only familiar with a small cross section of civil suits, but it seems to be a general trend that lawyers are very hesitant to publicize any part of a case. Even when the adversary has huge vulnerabilities because of the nature of the civil suit, the lawyer insists you keep quiet, in order to "not make them mad."  Instead, you pay the lawyer to keep filing documents and orders, asking for "christmas lists," etc,  while they other side does the same, and in the end, it's often a war of attrition, and the little guy loses.  However, anecdotally, it seems that a number of cases resolve themselves within hours or days after an appropriate post on social media or call to a journalist.     Corporations that rely heavily on their public image and understand their exposure will suddenly see that balance shifted against them and do everything they can to settle as humanely and quickly as possible.

My first conclusion is that using social media cuts into the usual business of lawyering, and so culturally, this would not be welcome around law firms.  Is there a better explanation for this?


texts: In Switzerland, is accident insurance legally required to have medical care vetted by a third-party doctor?

texts:
I work in Switzerland, so I'm legally required to have accident insurance.  I had a bicycle accident about three months ago and sustained a few injuries, including an ongoing rotator cuff problem for which an orthopedic surgeon prescribed physical therapy.
Recently I got a letter from my accident insurance company saying they'd sent my MRIs to some other doctor, a doctor whom I've never seen, and this doctor ruled that I couldn't possibly have any ongoing effects from the accident.  Therefore, said the accident insurance, as of date XYZ they would no longer pay for medical care.
I have two questions about this:

Is this actually legal in Switzerland, to let such a decision be made by a doctor who's never seen the patient?
The insurance company talked as if the outside doctor's diagnosis was not merely legal, but in fact legally required.  Is it?


texts: Roommate/co-tenant said she would renew but lied after I sign lease - invalid lease?

texts:
So, my roommates and I planned to sign a lease renewal as co-tenants in NYC. While some of the roommates already signed it, the others changed their mind last minute. This unfortunately means the tenants that did sign must cover the costs of the open rooms, which we're struggling to do because we were under the impression that all the original tenants would stay and split the apartment costs. So we regret signing the renewal.

However, the lease addressed the names of all the original tenants. So if some parties leave their signature fields empty, does that make the lease incomplete and valid/void for everyone?


texts: Can Trump use executive order to lower the Medicare age?

texts:
I was reading this opinion piece about the new Trump presidency and healthcare legislation. They mention an interesting thought at the end:

  it if Trump decided to ... lowering the age-limit for Medicare to zero by executive order.

The question is simple: would this be legal? Once Trump is inaugurated, can he create "Medicare for all" with the stroke of a pen?


texts: Can you lose your right to be a Latvian non-citizen?

texts: If you're a non-citizen of Latvia, and acquire a citizenship of another country, do you automatically lose your (right?) to be a non-citizen of Latvia?


texts: Can expunged records be discussed by an employer during a reference check

texts:
I know that legally there is nothing wrong with disclosing all details of an expunged criminal record, and that employers are allowed to say anything that is true.  However, are there any laws that specifically prevent an employer from disclosing details of an arrest that has been expunged specifically during a reference check.

My employer was able to obtain a copy of my expunged record and is now relaying this information to all my future employers, thus preventing me from getting a raise.


texts: Can a solicitor challenge a binding financial agreement they don't agree with?

texts:
My ex and I separated last year, with everything between us being very amicable.  I have always been the higher earner.

We both have recently agreed that I would buy out my ex's share of the family home, which is where I still live (I have been paying the mortgage repayments and all other related expenses for the property.  On applying for finance, the bank required a binding financial agreement between us. I would assume that this was to make sure that there are no sudden nasties later on.

Both of us agreed that the only thing we wanted to settle on with our separation was her share of the house, which is half of the value of the house less the remaining mortgage, forgoing a share of the value of my superannuation (for clarification, the agreement equates to a 54%/46% split of total assets, which effectively consist of the house and combined super).  She went to a solicitor to get this drawn up on our behalf, who strenuously advised against such an agreement.  We are both very comfortable with this decision, and said that yes, this is what we want.

The solicitor stated that they would work directly with her instructions, but "have a professional duty to warn you of their concerns".  In the email they sent regarding the agreement, they had this particular paragraph:

  We would also reserve the right to take our own professional advice as to our efforts on your behalf.

What does this mean?  Are they implying that they would attempt to challenge our agreement, even though neither of us wants this to happen?  I'm moderately sure that they are simply wanting to protect themselves professionally from any risk, but this really made me nervous.

So my question is, Can a solicitor (in Australia) challenge a binding separation agreement they don't agree with?  We are both shaking our heads at the moment, we have an excellent relationship with shared custody of our children and neither of us wants this to happen.


texts: GDPR: Transmitting results from secondary to primary care records

texts:
In the UK, results of a blood (or other) test taken at a hospital (in secondary care) are stored in the hospital's records but are not automatically forwarded into primary care records (GP records) unless this is explicitly done so by staff at the hospital.

Article 20.2 of the GDPR states: "The data subject shall have the right to have the personal data transmitted directly from one controller to another, where technically feasible."

It is clearly technically feasible, since it is occasionally done.

Can I make a request under article 20.2 to ask my hospital to forward any test results I want to my primary care record (my GP)?

When I say "have the result forwarded", more specifically I mean copied so that the result ends up in both systems.

Background:

I can view the results of all tests taken at my GP in an online portal (SystmOne portal).
However, results of tests taken at my local hospital only appear in this portal sometimes, if the result has explicitly been forwarded by the hospital to my GP.
I would like to ask the hospital to forward All results, so that I can easily view them in the online portal.
I'm aware I can make a subject access request to the hospital for the results, but this takes several weeks and isn't as convenient.
Additionally, this isn't just a "convenience of viewing my results" concern, it's also a concern that if my GP is unaware of some results that are held only by the hospital, and haven't been forwarded because they have been overlooked, surely that could cause problems in some cases.

The advice from the Information Comissioner's office states [1]:

  What responsibilities do we have when we receive personal data because of a data portability request?

  When you receive personal data
  that has been transmitted as part of a data portability request, you
  need to process this data in line with data protection requirements.
  In deciding whether to accept and retain personal data, you should
  consider whether the data is relevant and not excessive in relation to
  the purposes for which you will process it.

One could argue that the results of any test are relevant to an individual's healthcare and therefore, upon receiving the results, the GP would have a responsibility to retain them.

1: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-to-data-portability/


texts: Why did Jim Garrison investigate the Kennedy assassination?

texts:
Mr Garrison was the district attorney (DA) for the state of New Orleans and the assassination of President Kennedy happened in Dallas, Texas.

Why would a New Orleans DA be interested in this? Isn't it way out of his jurisdiction? Can any DA investigate any event in any state?


texts: Why 'representation or warranty', not 'representation or condition'?

texts:
Why's "warranty" coupled with "representation", not 'condition'?
Context
In Canadian and English law, representations differ from warranties1. Thus they aren't doublets, as
Ashurst's distinguishes them beneath (as do Cripps LLP, Osborne Clarke, Blake Morgan, Walker Morris).

A warranty is a term of the contract, a breach of which gives the innocent party the right to claim damages but not to treat the contract as repudiated. A warranty can therefore be contrasted with a condition, which entitles the innocent party to treat the contract as repudiated, and an "intermediate" (or "innominate") term, which may entitle the innocent party to treat the contract as repudiated depending on the nature and consequences of the breach.2

p. 613 in Contract Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (2018 8 ed) instances one use of 'representation or warranty'.

The principles applied by the courts when deciding whether or not a clause is reasonable
have been discussed earlier (pp. 427–434, Chapter 13, Section 3). It is probably wise not to
attempt to exclude liability for ‘any representation or warranty’ because such a clause may,
as a matter of interpretation, extend to a fraudulent misrepresentation and an attempt to
exclude liability for fraudulent misrepresentation must be unreasonable (see Tomas Witter
Ltd v. TBP Industries Ltd [1996] 2 All ER 573; for a contrary view see Zanzibar v. British
Aerospace (Lancaster House) Ltd [2000] 1 WLR 2333, where it was held that the words ‘any
representation’ were not apt, as a matter of construction, to encompass a fraudulent misrepresentation given that liability for fraud generally cannot be excluded, see p. 612, earlier in
this section). It is, however, safer to state that the exclusion or limitation applies to any representation other than one made fraudulently

^Perhaps they are in US law too? Tina L. Stark. Drafting Contracts: How and Why Lawyers Do What They Do (2013 2 ed). 18.3.

Therefore, they should be pared down to
one word—unless the drafter intends a substantive difference, as in the
phrase represent and warrant.


texts: How is bias avoided in the selection of members of Constitutional benches in India?

texts:
In India, cases involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution of India are resolved by specially appointed Constitution Benches. This comprises of 5 or more judges of the Supreme Court.

What is the process of appointing these benches? How is impartiality ensured? Are there any published critiques of this selection system, or recommendations to improve this process?


texts: What's the point of prohibiting leading questions when unfavorable answers can result in witness being declared hostile?

texts:
From what I understand, during direct examination:

It is assumed that the witness you called is favorable to your case, so you cannot ask them leading questions (in order to avoid coaxing them into giving the answers you want).
However, if the witness ends up being not favorable to your case, then you can have the judge declare him to be a "hostile" witness, therefore allowing you to ask leading questions.

But then, what in the world is the point of prohibiting leading questions by default?
If they're giving you favorable answers already, then you don't need to ask them leading questions.
And if they're not, then you can ask them leading questions anyway, so what was the point of prohibiting that in the first place? I don't really understand the logic.


texts: Placing bricks on a sidewalk to instigate protests

texts:
Larry is a Marxist-Leninist-Bolshevik revolutionary who wants to instigate a communist revolution in the United States. One day, before a contentious election, Larry unloads two tons of bricks in front of the United States Capitol. He then waits.
Alice, who is a Maoist-Trotskyist-Soviet counter-reactionary agitator, happens to walk by the United States Capitol that day. She picks up one of Larry's bricks and throws it at the building. She is immediately arrested by one of President Donald J. Blumpf's heavily armed counter-revolutionary guards.
Should Larry be arrested too?
Edit for clarity: I'm asking if Larry, who dumped bricks on a sidewalk next to a government building with the intention of instigating a protest, committed any crime. This is not the same question as the one found here.


texts:
Are retractions of rejections common or would they prompt for the same offer to be made? In case of a written agreement, would a retraction of an oral rejection require a new writing if the offeror wants to keep the offer open?

Would the reason of the rejection matter? What of unilateral mistakes of the offeree's interpretation of a contract?


texts: Why did the Supreme Court vacate the ruling that Trump could not block Twitter users?

texts:
In 2019, an appeals court upheld a decision that President Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking users from his Twitter account.
Two days ago, the Supreme Court declared the case "moot" and vacated the appeals court's ruling. An article gives the following reason:

The high court dismissed the case because Trump is not in office so there is no longer a live case or controversy.

I do not understand this reasoning. Why not leave the appeals court's ruling on the record, because it is always possible a future president will try to block users while communicating with a personal social media account? Now if the issue pops up again in the future, a president will be allowed to block users for multiple years while the issue gets re-litigated from scratch.


texts: Who's legally responsible for vet bill in pet injury, owner or pet sitter?

texts:
A friend agreed to pet-sit my dog, Taishi, while husband and I were away for 3 weeks. To compensate her for doing this, we told her she could live in our apartment and eat any food we had without question and use our TV and our internet as much as she liked without question. She agreed to this arrangement.  I never told her not to take the dog on public transit somewhere but it never occurred to me that she would. She decided to take my dog to an off-leash park. While out, she claimed, "After we got off the escalator, I looked down and saw Taishi's paw was bleeding. I don't know how it got that way. I took him to the vet and it cost $XXX dollars. I paid the bill but you need to pay me back." (It was some amount $200 or less. I forget how much exactly.)

She informed us of this while we were away and expected me to either find a way to send her the money from China, where we were, or give it to her the week we got back. I tried not to say too much about it because we were away and she still was caring for the dog and I didn't want trouble.

When we got back, I refused to pay for the vet bill because I wasn't the one who injured the dog in the first place. I told her that her desire to walk my dog was correct and admirable but there was no requirement to take him to the off leash park nor did I ever instruct her to do so, so his injury was entirely on her.

She said it was cheap of me to risk losing a friendship over a mere $XXX and if I really valued the friendship, I'd pay her back. I stuck by my attitude that she put my dog in an injurious situation, since this didn't happen in my own apartment, and thus I didn't owe her repayment. She then told me she borrowed the money from her mother and I need to pay her back so she could pay back her mother.

I told her that if she was willing to give me her mother's address, I would write a check for the full amount, payable only to her mother, and include a letter as to why her daughter had borrowed the money in the first place, as I didn't trust this person to have told her mother the truth to the purpose of the borrowed money. She told me in a panicked tone not to do that, to just give her the money and she'd be sure to pay her mother back. I stood firm and said the only way her mother was getting this money was with a direct check in her mother's name only and a letter explaining the reason for this check. She got huffy mad and ended the friendship, making sure to tell people I was a selfish and mean person in the process.

I don't regret the loss of the friendship. I explained what happened to other friends and they told me I wasn't a very nice person and that since I own the dog, it's my responsibility to pay for any vet bills he incurs when friends are looking after him. I then asked that if someone was babysitting a human child (under the pretended idea I had one, for illustrative purposes) of mine and the child got injured in their care, would I or the caretaker be responsible? They said that of course the caretaker is responsible but a dog is not a human child and I was comparing apples to oranges so it's not the same.

What is correct? If a pet sitter takes your pet somewhere unnecessary and it gets injured, should they be required to foot the vet bill or is it the owner's responsibility for that bill?

If you say the owner should be responsible, explain how that's fair when the pet sitter is already being fairly compensated for pet sitting and the pet only got injured because the pet sitter took it someplace that was entirely unnecessary?


texts: In a contract, what is meant by "each and every"? Isn't this the same as just "each"?


texts: Who bears the burden of proof of a mitigating circumstance if the statute does not state it?

texts:
If a statute states a mitigating or negating circumstance to a criminal charge, who has the burden of proof, the prosecution or the defense?

For example, if a state statute says that it is criminal for a person to threaten another, but in the same statute it says that such a threat will not constitute a crime if the threatened person was trespassing on the defendant's property, then who bears the burden of proof that the threatened person was trespassing (or not trespassing).

In other words, if the law has an exception to a criminal charge, who must prove that the exception does or does not apply? What is the precedent?


texts: Restrictions on machine learning models trained on materials licensed with creative commons

texts:
My question is somewhat similar to this one, but I am interested in a case where there is no explicit allowance for models that are unable to reconstruct their training data.

To be concrete let's focus on training data licensed with creative commons v4 (BY, BY-NC and BY-ND.)

Suppose I create a machine-learned model by training it on tens of thousands of materials made available by these CC licenses.  I then use the model and its outputs for commercial purposes.

Have I made use of the training material in the BY sense?
Have I made commercial use of the material in the BY-NC sense?
Are the model or its outputs derivative works in the BY-ND sense?

It is not possible to recreate any of the training materials from the model or its outputs.  A typical person familiar with the training materials would not be reminded of any specific one by the model or its outputs.

EDIT: As a rider that only occurred to me afterwards, would the model and its outputs fall under fair use?


texts: What actual speed limit applies if a temporary low speed sign is placed on only a high speed express lane?

texts:
Suppose the express lane on a freeway has a 30 miles per hour work zone sign. After this sign, the entire freeway's speed limit is 85 miles per hour.

What is the exact speed limit for the road if the low speed limit is only on the express lane?


texts: What are one's options, if he is incorrectly listed as defendant in civil lawsuit?

texts:
A little background:

Two employees working for a competing beauty salon left it and came to us to rent out two stations. Since day one we have had landlord-tenant and not employer-employee relationship with those two persons, because:

every month they pay us fixed station rent,
they get to keep 100% of their profits,
we also have a clause in rental contract that explains that we get to keep our already existing customers and walk-in customers, unless customers are explicitly looking for them.

Few days ago we got a notice from court that this competing beauty salon is suing us along with those two former employees alleging that we have stolen their "trade secrets", which in this case is customer contact list. Obviously, the plaintiff is not aware of the fact that we are their landlord and not employer. They are suing all 3 of us for monetary damage due to lost profits.

Also, to my surprise the competing beauty salon is represented by a legit lawyer registered at http://www.calbar.ca.gov/

To make it clear, I am not asking for legal advice. I am currently inquiring if our business insurance would cover legal defense and, most likely, will end up seeking professional legal defense. However, in the mean time I have 2 generic questions about court process in California to understand the process better:

If someone is incorrectly listed as defendant, then what is the correct way to remove his name from lawsuit? Should one ask plaintiff to voluntarily remove him as defendant? Or is it safer for defendant to file something like "motion to dismiss"?
If plaintiff's lawyer has not done due diligence and is misrepresenting relationship between listed defendants, then would that qualify as frivolous lawsuit? Would this lawyer risk sanctions imposed on him by State Bar of California? Would the plaintiff have to cover legal defense expenses for the defendant that was incorrectly listed?


texts: Determining enforceability of terms in fixed-term employment contracts in the USA

texts:
In the USA, employment is usually at-will, meaning that either the employee or the employer can terminate the employment relationship at any time for any (legal) or no reason.

However, it remains possible to enter into agreements for fixed or definite terms of employment. As far as I am aware, there are not many regulations specifically targeting the allowable terms of these sorts of agreements.

  What legal principles or precedents exist, if any, exist that might affect enforceability of terms of fixed-term employment contracts in the USA?

I am specifically curious about terms such as:

duration (1 year, 5 year, 10 year, 20 year, etc.)
employee status (W2 vs 1099 vs ...)
termination (for cause, by written agreement of both parties, none, etc.)
remedies for breach (acceleration of payment for entire period, liquidated damages, specific performance, etc.)
compensation (raises, indexing to inflation or not, benefits, etc.)

To be clear, I am envisioning any answer that provides a unified summary or survey and not lists of individual outcomes. If this is improper, please restrict the scope of this question to include only the "duration" term and I can ask other questions for other terms.


texts: How can I use a trademark name in my app title?

texts:
I am a student software developer in NY, USA. As a learning project, I created a mobile application for calculating scores of my favorite crossword board game and posted it on the famous online markets. I am making no money on it. The name of the application is the following "[CROSSWORD GAME NAME] Score Calculator".
6 months after I published my app, I received a copyright infringement letter from the [CROSSWORD GAME NAME] company. The reason for complain is following:

This developer uses [CROSSWORD GAME NAME] trademark as the dominant portion of the name of their apps, which is not distinguished by any other mark that would identify an alternative source for the goods/apps.

I suggested the new name for my app "Calculator for [CROSSWORD GAME NAME] Score" to the company's trademark lawyers. In my understanding, the newly proposed game name would be considered nominative fair use of the trademark.
But the lawyers opposed to my suggestion:

It is not acceptable, nor is it nominative fair use of the [CROSSWORD GAME NAME] trademark. Nominative fair generally applies to comparative advertising, parody and noncommercial use of trademarks.  Including someone else's trademark in your own trademark (which is what an app title is) does not fall within the nominative fair use exception because you use [CROSSWORD GAME NAME] trademark as a trademark for your product – an app – and the statutory language in 15 U.S.C. 1115(b)4) specifically states that the defense applies only where “the use of the name, term, or device charged to be an infringement is a use, *otherwise than as a mark" (*emphasis added). An app name functions as a trademark for the goods.

If I remove the game's name from my app title, I'm afraid people won't be able to find my app anymore. I see that many other apps on the markets whose app title includes the game name.
Do you think it is possible to use "Calculator for [CROSSWORD GAME NAME] Score" despite what their lawyers say?
If not, how can I keep the game's name in the app title? How is it different from a book entitled like "Become an expert in [GAME NAME]" ?


texts: Is there any legal provision in India that bans watching obscene material in private?

texts:
So far as I understand, Sections 292, 292A, 293 and 294 of the Indian Penal Code specifically criminalize circulating obscene material, unless such material is intended as art, education.

Is there any law in India that prevents a person from using/viewing such obscene material within privacy of the 4 walls of his/her home? Is it a crime for him/her to do it?

(For instance, watching pornography in private, though circulating it is a crime).


texts: Does GDPR affect individual contributor license agreements for opensource projects?

texts: I am wondering, if GDPR affects OSS projects that have an Individual Contributor's Licensing Agreement / (a.k.a. ICLA, or just CLA), such as for example Apache 2.0. The gathered information when signing one of these (name, address, phone, e-mail) as a code contributor is not shared with third-parties, but is required in order to avoid copyright claims.


texts: Is it illegal in the US to release software containing cryptography if there is no master key or backdoor or data retention?

texts:
If I made a proprietary piece of software that provided AES-256 encryption for IM, voice chat, and file transfer would this itself be illegal? The way it'd be set up is people would run the service entirely on their own. There would be no retention of data by 3rd party or even on the person's machine. It would be stored in memory for smallest time possible then dumped away. It would not be saved. There'd be no backdoor, master key, etc. The ONLY way to read the data would be to have a connection to the server with a valid key to read data sent from other people connected to it. It seems this is a project idea to keep on the shelves as in the US and all over the world something like this would be extremely illegal. The only way to obtain the key would be from the server operator him/herself, or if you knew someone who had a valid key that connects to that server and they shared it with you.

To clarify even more:

I want to know if itd be illegal to create and release a software that effectively encrypts internet communication such as IM and voice chat, and any file transfer end to end--in a context where there is no way to read the data unless your client has the key to decrypt received data in the event you are connected to a server, or intercepting data sent from clients or server and trying to decrypt it yourself with brute force. Those are the only 2 ways. Otherwise you'd have to lift the key somehow from the server machine or client machine in the event the person has their USB still plugged in(unless it's on harddrive of course)and you can somehow read from it from a remote location or acquire the Harddrive/USB itself or have access to the physical client's or serve machine itself. In other words, in the event of a police investigation regarding something that when on that was illegal during the use of the app... authorities would have to go to some pretty pretty great lengths to get anywhere. But they'd have to catch the crime happening live, as no text, voice, or file transfer data will EVER live on the server's harddrive or client's harddrive(just in memory as briefly as possible). The only other way would be screenshot. The only other way I can think of would be to catch suspect using the app, get their computer that has the app on it with key in place to use with the server, and get the people connected to the serve to somehow admit to crimes without them knowing the police are on the other side of this suspects client and not that person. Once again, some extreme lengths. I wouldn't want to be responsible for any of that. If people took it and used it for bad that needs to be their problem, not mine. If theres a chance I could owe money, or serve jail time, theres no way it's worth it.


texts: Can Rand Paul be sued for negligent transmission of COVID-19?

texts:
Note: I am not wanting to make this political.  Please do not attempt to address political aspects of this situation or rail one way or the other.  My question would be exactly the same if the facts of the situation faulted a Democratic senator.  Or indeed anyone.  The facts of the current situation raise an interesting question that will no doubt become more and more common in the weeks ahead:

Under what circumstances can someone be sued for negligent or reckless transmission of a global pandemic?

What if, in the current situation, I was Mitt Romney?  And we don't know yet whether Mitt has gotten infected by Rand, but let's just assume for this question that he has, so we have a concrete example.  Surely someone has, even if not him.

*The specific allegation in this situation is that Rand continued to use the Senate Gym and Pool, and also continued to hang out in close quarters with other senators while he was still waiting for his COVID-19 test result to come back.  Mitt Romney was one of the people who came into contact with him at this time and is now self-isolating out of an abundance of caution (an abundance of caution that Rand did not demonstrate -- hence reckless disregard for others life).  Rand's test does prove that he was infected with COVID-19 during this period after all.

Could I, as Mitt, now sue Rand Paul for negligent and reckless transmission of COVID-19 to me?

Note that Rand denies allegations of reckless or negligent transmission and I do want to fairly point that out, but in actuality the truth of the allegations can only be decided in a court.

So it does seem to me that Mitt could sue Rand in this instance, and a court would determine what Rand's legal liability is?

What limitations are there to keep lawsuits over negligent transmission from themselves becoming a kind of pandemic?

Bonus question, can employers be sued for creating a work environment that promotes transmission by refusing to offer paid sick leave?


texts: How can two people be innocent until proven guilty if their stories conflict?

texts:
So Bob accuses Alice of stealing his horse. Alice accues Bob of lying slander.

They can't both be right. So one is innocent the other is guilty.

But according to the law they are both innocent until one is proven guilty.

So the law is in conflict with logic.

How can this be?

Another situation. One of two twins steals a chemical weapon which is caught on CCTV. We know one of the twins is guilty. But in this situation wouldn't the logical thing be to assume both are guilty and send them both to jail in order that the guilty one doesn't activate the chemical weapon?


texts: Tariffs for ordering goods from switzerland to Germany

texts:
I am a passionate Magic: The Gathering player and as is commonly known some of the older cards can have values of 100€ of euros. I am thinking about ordering such a card from switzerland for the price of 799€.
What I am concerned about is if I have to pay any tariffs and/or taxes since Switzerland is not part of the european union.
I know however that switzerland is part of many EU agreements and treaties, and I am wondering if there is one such treaty that affects my situation.


texts: Can a US employer hire someone as a salaried worker, require them to work long hours, and then fire?

texts:
I have a friend who began a job at a large firm as an auditor at the end of 2017. The nature of this work is that there are two seasons: a busy season (Q1 and part of Q2 of any given year) and a slow season (the rest of the year). This feature of the work is part of what is advertised to new employees. This friend worked the busy season (60-80 hr weeks) and was recently fired as the slow season (20-40 hours) approached. Is it lawful for an employer to terminate an employee under the (here false) pretense of receiving some benefit (here shorter hours) for extremely difficult work (very long hours) at the beginning? This is of course assuming that the employee was doing fine work and was only fired since their use had already run its course. It feels as though this should not be allowed since, as an employer, I could continually higher people to do difficult work in the promise that something great will return later. It seems like a way to (essentially) hire hourly workers and require them to work overtime while not paying overtime (after reading the laws I believe this friend was exempt from overtime pay).

If it helps, the state is Washington.


texts: How does Judge Sabraw’s injunction on family separation impact the Flores consent decree?

texts:
US District Judge Dana Sabraw just issued a court order prohibiting family separation of people crossing the border illegally and requiring reunification of those families.   Here is what it says in part:

(1) Defendants, and their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and all those who are in active concert or participation with them, are preliminarily enjoined from detaining Class Members in DHS custody without and apart from their minor children, absent a determination that the parent is unfit or presents a danger to the child, unless the parent affirmatively, knowingly, and voluntarily declines to be reunited with the child in DHS custody.
(2) If Defendants choose to release Class Members from DHS custody, Defendants, and their officers, agents, servants, employees and attorneys, and all those who are in active concert or participation with them, are preliminary enjoined from continuing to detain the minor children of the Class Members and must release the minor child to the custody of the Class Member, unless there is a determination that the parent is unfit or presents a danger to the child, or the parent affirmatively, knowingly, and voluntarily declines to be reunited with the child.

So if people are held in DHS custody, they have to be kept together with their kids, and if they’re released from DHS custody, they have to be released together with their kids.
But my question is, how does this impact the Flores settlement?  For those who don’t know, in 1997 the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to a settlement in a case called Flores vs. Reno, which prohibits children who have crossed the border from being held in federal detention facilities for longer than 20 days.
So under this new court order, what happens after 20 days?  Does DHS have to release both parent and child together after 20 days? Or does this court order allow DHS to detain both parent and child longer than 20 days, thereby overriding the Flores settlement?


texts: Is [company] breaching any data protection legislation in Canada needing my wife's details to authenticate MY account?

texts:
I created an online account in my name with a large Canadian retailer. My wife enters her credit card details to pay for the shopping. When I log in to the website it greets me with my name.
When I call customer services however, they ask for the name of the customer. I give them my name. They always insist on talking to my wife about MY account because it's her name on the credit card - it seems they have chosen the incorrect field for the customer's name.
Is this company in the wrong? Are they in breach of any data protection legislation?
I would just like to be able to talk to them about my own account!


texts:
I have heard about certain cases involving the public trust doctrine. There have seemingly been cases where lakefront property owners are trying to change the law in the U.S. to have their property expanded. My understanding is as of now property owners own the land down to the high water mark (in most states. Some states seem to have different definitions of this while still asserting public use). The beach or seashore between high and low water marks belongs in public trust.

So basically the public has the right to access the beach between high and low water marks. For example, according to Wikipedia Massachusetts and Maine allow the public to access the seashore between the low and high tide lines for "fishing, fowling and navigation."

If this applies to all the shoreline in the U.S., given that the laws haven't been changed in states, why are there still "private beaches"? Are properties labeled as "private beaches" not accessible to the public? Or should the question be: Is there such a thing as "private beach"?


texts: What is the liability of a person who signs as a witness?

texts:
I've seen this answer and this answer, but the answers don't entirely explain some things.

For example, long back my boss wanted my signature as a witness signature on a contract for one of his property deals. All other signatures were already on the contract, so I wasn't really a witness to the signatures. My uncle advised me that "if you were not a witness, then you don't have to sign". So I didn't.

My boss however had told me that a witness has no liability, so there is no issue in signing. Is that true?

For example, in this form, the witness has to mention their name in full and give their full address. In another form I've seen, the witness just has to mention their name and sign there.

From this website I got:

  The underlying purpose of having a signature witnessed by a third
  party is for evidential reasons.  The witness would be able to confirm
  that the signature on the agreement is indeed the signature of the
  party whose name appears.

  In India a contract may be effective without any signatures being
  witnessed, although it is always advisable to have a contract attested
  by witnesses.  In some countries, in order to be legally enforceable,
  the contract may have to be signed before a notary public.  As
  different jurisdictions have different rules, always check the
  position before finalising the contract.

  When a signature is witnessed, as well as signing, it is sensible for
  the witness to write their name in block capitals and insert their
  home address.

and from this answer, which says:

  In India the undermentioned persons can be appointed as a Notary:   a)
  a person who has been practicing at least for 10 years or   b) a
  person belonging to scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes and other
  backward classes and has been practicing for at least seven years, or
  C) a woman who  has been practicing at least for seven years as a
  legal practitioner or   D) he has been a member of the Indian Legal
  Service under the Central Government or   E) he has been at least for
  ten years -   I) a member of Judicial Service or   ii) held an  office
  under the Central Government or a State Government requiring special
  knowledge of law after enrollment as an advocate;or   iii) held an
  office in the department of Judge, Advocate General or in the Legal
  Department of the armed forces.   Source: The Notaries Rules , 1956 as
  amended and subs by GSR 8-7-97and 5/1/2000.  as amended by
  (Amendment)Rules, 2014. This is not an exact reproduction of the said
  rule but is only broadly for information. Pl. read rule 3 for details.

At least the above points make sense, because a notary is a person who knows the law, has the authority to be a witness and can even give the notary stamp for a confirmation. But if a common person signs as a witness, they might not even know what they are doing and might not know what their liability is, especially if the signatures were not done in front of them.

So when a person requests for a witness signature, should they in good faith, first call the witnesses and sign in front of them? If the signature was not done in front of the witness and the witness still signs, what is the liability on the part of the witness? Can any punitive action be taken on the witness (the witness might not even mention their full/correct address)?
If there is no liability, then couldn't a person simply put some fake signature and name, purporting that some witness had signed it (in case the document is genuine and they see no reason why someone would actually call the witness to establish the truth)?


texts: What is the proper way of completing the stock purchase agreement?

texts:
I recently set up my company (C-Corp). In order to complete the stock purchase agreement, I had to deposit a check in the company's bank account addressed to the company.

What I did: I walked into my company's bank's local branch with the check filled out and addressed properly, gave it to the frontwoman telling her I needed to deposit this in the company's account as part of the stock purchase agreement. I am unsure as to whether she understood, given that she just added the deposit to the company's account with no special note (The note for deposits seen online).
Note: I did keep a copy of the check for my own papers as well as the company's'.

My question is: Did I do it properly? Should I now complete the stock purchase agreement paperwork, listing the date of the purchase?

Just to make it clear: I used my own check.


texts: Is it legal to pay a company to employ you in the UK?

texts: That is, the company employs you and pays you wages in return for money (even though you do no work for them).


texts: Over 3 years to put me back in my house after a fire at the personal cost of over 90k. Who do I sue?

texts: Over 3 years ago I had a fire in my home that is still not ready to move in. After the abatement (6 months) the first contractor decided not to do insurance anymore. Decided not to take the contract, but had made a bid the insurance accepted. The insurance limited me to choosing a contractor that would accept the bid, but I couldn't find anyone. Desperate, I asked the insurance if there was anyone they work with. The company has had the job for 2 years and 10 months. They dont show up for months at a time and keep failing inspections. At the time of hiring, they told me it would be 6 months. In addition, the insurance told me to get a 6 month lease. The fire was Nov 2, 2016 and it is now Jan 3 2020. Where i live, no one gives a 6 month lease and rents are extremely high. This resulted in the loss of use money being used up in 12 months. Do I have a valid claim? Against the contractor? The Insurance. If I dont get into my home soon, I will be homeless.


texts: Can someone by prosecuted if they commit a crime outside of all jurisdictions?

texts:
Scenario: Fred and his wife Sue are crossing the Atlantic Ocean on their yacht and are hundreds of miles from the closest nation. They jump into the water for a quick swim, and while in the water, Fred drowns Sue.
Out of confidence, he even live streamed the crime on the internet as he is sure that no jurisdiction can prosecute him since the crime occurred outside of all nations and even outside of a boat that is registered in a nation.
Is he right?


texts: Can one still smoke (e-cigarettes) when smoking is prohibited?

texts:
In USA, mostly everywhere smoking has been prohibited for a pretty long time now.  You cannot smoke in buildings, in libraries, in many city parks and bus stops, whilst dining or partying outside on a patio of a bar/nightclub in many cities, private apartments in some cities, anywhere on campus of pretty much every major research university (prohibition usually comes as a condition of "compliance with external cancer research funding requirements", and goes as far as not even providing any designated smoking areas at all anywhere on the whole campus) etc.

However, with the proliferation of electronic cigarettes, it's been increasingly common that someone always thinks that it's OK to smoke in a confined space next to you.  Recently, I noticed that the smokers don't even refer to this as "vaping" anymore, but call it straight for what it is — "you smoke?", can be overheard as someone shows off their electronic equipment within a no-smoking area.

It is unclear what's the rationale for such decisions by some members of the public (considering that nicotine is highly addictive), however, a few years ago, I came across a list of smoke-free laws, where sometimes electronic cigarettes were specifically outlawed, whereas other times they were never mentioned; this has also been common on some no-smoking signs at some establishments, which sometimes expressly prohibit electronic cigarettes.

Casual research showed absolutely zero jurisdictions where electronic cigarettes were specifically legislated as being allowed — they're always either expressly prohibited, or not at all mentioned.  Logically, as nicotine is widely known to be highly addictive, it would seem reasonable to expect that the prohibitions aren't merely meant to address the risk of cancer.

From the legal standpoint, is it at all reasonable to expect that smoking electronic cigarettes is prohibited by generic "no smoking" laws and/or signs, or would it be legally allowed unless certain other conditions are met as well?
Does it at all matter that there is no known jurisdictions that allow one type whilst prohibiting the other?  E.g., it's basically always the case that either both electronic and traditional cigarettes are outlawed, or there is simply no mention of the electronic ones in the laws and/or the signs.


texts: Do shareholder agreements have to be identical within the same company?

texts:
I am being told that the various potential shareholders must sign an identical shareholder agreement.

I have a problem with a clause relating to confidential information and have been told it cannot be changed specifically for me and that it must be identical for all. Is that true?


texts: International marriage and divorce law (Australian marrying a non-Australian)

texts: If an Australian marries a non-Australian outside of Australia, what is the legal status of their marriage in Australia and the implications for the Australian party in the unfortunate event of divorce?


texts: Are partner notification laws in conflict with HIPAA?

texts:
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requires health care providers only share medical information with family members under the patient's consent.

However regarding HIV/AIDS many states make it compulsory to notify sexual partners and / or needle-sharers of the diagnosed. (Source: CDC)

Are they in conflict? Can anyone refuse to disclose to partners his HIV status by HIPAA?


texts: Can one apply to be a Hooters Girl for a free settlement?

texts:
As per discussion at Is it legal to let people search for professionals by gender?, it was mentioned that customer satisfaction and preferences alone do not justify a Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications defence to a discrimination claim.
Diaz v. Pan Am. World Airways, Inc. and
Wilson v. Southwest Airlines Co..

It's also been mentioned that Hooters BFOQ defence has never went to trial, always going for settlement.

Doesn't it imply that anyone can just apply to be a waiter at Hooters, and upon being turned down for obvious reasons (of not being a Hooters Girl), seek a "free" settlement?