texts: Is there any difference in meaning between the Boost and MIT software licenses?

texts:
MIT

  The MIT License (MIT)

  Copyright (c) <year> <copyright holders>

  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
  a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
  "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
  without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
  distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
  permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
  the following conditions:

  The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
  included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
  EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
  MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
  CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
  TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
  SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Boost

  Boost Software License - Version 1.0 - August 17th, 2003

  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person or
  organization obtaining a copy of the software and accompanying
  documentation covered by this license (the "Software") to use,
  reproduce, display, distribute, execute, and transmit the Software,
  and to prepare derivative works of the Software, and to permit
  third-parties to whom the Software is furnished to do so, all subject
  to the following:

  The copyright notices in the Software and this entire statement,
  including the above license grant, this restriction and the following
  disclaimer, must be included in all copies of the Software, in whole
  or in part, and all derivative works of the Software, unless such
  copies or derivative works are solely in the form of
  machine-executable object code generated by a source language
  processor.

  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
  EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
  MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND
  NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR ANYONE
  DISTRIBUTING THE SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR OTHER
  LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT
  OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
  THE SOFTWARE.

Whilst the MIT license cites that all copies of the software must have the license alongside them, it does not express what counts as a copy (i.e. are we talking the executable binary, or the source code?). It also refers to "substantial portions", which seems very subjective. The Boost software license on the other hand is much more specific.

My question is, taking into account the above, are there any meaningful differences between the two licenses? What implications might these differences have?


texts: Now that Brexit happened, is UK still in the EEA?


texts: Can I deny access to a jointly-owned property to protect my own property?

texts:
Long story short, I had a roommate and we broke things off in a very negative way.

We jointly rent an apartment in Los Angeles, but she has since moved out and taken ALL of her things. The only things that remain are my own. This is currently her last month with her name on the lease before we switch to my new roommate next month.

She however, refused to pass over the keys to myself and has held onto them. She essentially has access to the property at all times, whether I'm home or not, sleeping or not. All of the things on the premise are mine, and the only one staying here is me.

It's an incredibly frustrating and frightening situation as I am afraid for both myself and my property.

She already has come over once prior unannounced, entered the home and started riffling through my things while I was present. She stated that she is coming over on Saturday for unstated business.

Is there any legal argument for me denying her access to the premise for the protection of my own things? I realize that she has rights to the space, but does that imply she has rights to the things within the space?


texts: Cancelling the 3rd party service contracts

texts:
My business partner and I recently purchased a small Ltd company. Each of us holds 50% shares each. No changes were made and we simply purchased the business as it is, simply the ownership changed.
We have two third party service providers and we want to cancel their services because it’s too costly for us to continue with them, however we cannot cancel this because the previous owner has signed both contracts to run until 2022, and prior to purchasing the business we questioned the previous owner on this and they said we can cancel the contracts once the ownership changes. But this is not the case and the previous owner lied to us and did not disclosed any copies of the contact or documents on this. Is there a way to get the contracts cancelled? We have requested a copy of the contract and it does say it is a binding contract until the end of the term. Are there any laws or general regulations which we can use if the ownerships changes in a company the new owners can cancel the contracts?  Or should anything similar to this should be included generally in service contracts?


texts: Can a copyrighted work be asigned via an adhesion contract?

texts:
Let's say you're the author of a book. Then you want to post a chapter online on some website. Or upload it for ePublishing. It doesn't matter where, but let's say that somewhere in that site's eight-bazillion word "terms of service" agreement, that no one reads, but everyone "agrees to" when they create an account, it says:

  By posting anything on our site you assign us all copyright to the posted work...

Or similar language. Would they they then legally own you charterers, world, story, etc? Or would it be unenforceable?

And if so, are there any safeguards you could take to preemptively block such behavior, such as a disclaimer inside the book cover that reads something like:

  Copyright 1999 - Me. Copyright may not be assigned by adhesion
  contract, or any digital terms of service agreement, or via any online
  form, or by any means other than a signature of the copyright holder
  signed using a blue ink pen on physical paper or parchment. Any other
  contract or agreement that attempts or purports to assign copyright
  shall not be valid.

Cragislist recently tried (and is still trying in different ways) to get the copyright for whatever you post there via TOS. But if that's legal for them to do that, what's to stop someone like Amazon from "updating" their terms of service for eBook publishers (which of course their TOS says they can do), and making it say, "You assign to Amazon all copyrights for the uploaded ebooks". Or even, "by uploading an ebook for Kindle, you give Amazon Prime the right to make film adaptions of your work".

Is there a way to protect your IP from inadvertently being licensed/stolen/assigned via TOS "agreements", without having to waste your life reading huge one-sided online "contracts" that are "subject to change without notice" anyway?


texts: does pumping bad gas imply that we're required to return to that service station for the repair?

texts:
My wife filled her car's gas tank at a station that also provides auto repair service.

After driving a few miles, the car's engine started to run poorly, the engine service light turned on, and it had barely enough power to make it to the side of the road.

She called the dealer we bought the car from, and they warned her to not run the car further since it would ruin the engine. A couple days later, they towed the car, found water in the gas line and tank, and repaired it.

When we demanded that the owners of the original gas station compensate us for the tow and repairs, they replied that we were required to return to them for the repairs, not to the dealer.

Does buying gas imply a warranty on it (they mentioned "warranty" in one of their emails)? Were we legally obligated to return to the gas/service station for the repair?


texts: Can I use a GPL in a closed-source program by having a very large download file and a very small download speed?

texts:
Let's say I manage to expand (opposite of compress in this context) the source code of a GPL-derivative I made to an unusually large amount that is nearly impossible to download (let's say a googolplex EBs). Storage is not a problem for me as I'm generating the expanded file on the fly. Additionally, I'm limiting the download speed to 1 bit per year.
Can I be sued for violating the GPL?


texts: Can company hide an identity of creator for personal safety reasons?

texts:
Imagine that somebody plans to create a work of an art (say, a comic or computer game), that depicts various religious forces from an attitude that can be perceived as extremely critical by their representatives.

While it's generally safe to assume that followers of most major religions (say, Christians, Buddhists, Hinduists and so on) can take criticism without violence, potential author might be worried about reaction from radical Muslim community. Given somewhat recent example of Charlie Hebdo slaughter, it's not uncommon for this community to react inadequately to even mild criticism.

While choosing not to create such a work might sound like a solution, essentially it's just indirectly accepting the fear of death threats, "thinking of consequences" and so on — the ill constructs this work of art is meant to fight with.

So, the question is — is there any legal way (so, no fake IDs) to ensure personal safety of such an author, if author wants to create this product, and sell it via online distribution platforms? Would it possible to create a company that does not disclose the identity of who had created it and owns it, to act as an alias for a person? If yes, can it be still considered safe, or names can be still obtained via requests?

What kind of legal counselor should potential author contact to discuss this matter?

Exact jurisdiction does not matter as long as they allow foreigners to create companies with desired properties.


texts: Can I get my answers deleted from Stack Exchange?

texts:
According to a moderator statement in meta that I read, Stack Exchange claims a "license" on the answers and questions which a user has posted.

From a copyright standpoint can a claim be made or a DMCA takedown override this "license", whatever it is?


texts: Can a former United States president be criminally prosecuted for acts committed when he was president?

texts:
Just after voting to acquit Trump, GOP senate leader Mitch McConnel said:

We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one. (source)

However, given the past 4 years of discussion regarding the immunity of a sitting president, can Trump be prosecuted for alleged crimes he commited while being president, or is his immunity invalid only for crimes commited as a private citizen?


texts: What are the laws regarding eviction of adult children from residence in the UK?

texts: What is the process in the UK for parents to evict an adult child that is living at home with them if he refuses to leave willingly?


texts: Can sharing YouTube links violate copyright laws?

texts:
Suppose an app has a collection of links to YouTube videos about a particular topic (e.g., sports). Users can watch video by clicking on the Play video button. This will open up the YouTube video in the official YouTube app or browser if the user wishes to do so.

Could this violate any copyright law, or the YouTube terms of service?


texts: Is downloading copyrighted music for private use legal in Canada?

texts:
In 2003, the Copyright Board of Canada released this opinion.

They held that downloading a music file for private use was okay, no matter the source:

  There is no requirement
  in Part VIII that the source copy be a
  non-infringing copy. Hence, it is not relevant
  whether the source of the track is a pre-owned
  recording, a borrowed CD, or a track
  downloaded from the Internet.

However, they didn't really answer the question about whether the destination medium mattered:

  It is, however, for the courts of
  civil jurisdiction to ultimately determine
  whether or not there is an infringement of
  copyright for private copies made onto a
  specific medium,

Is this still controlling? Was it affected by the Copyright Modernization Act? Has any court clarified whether certain destination media are outside of the private copying exception?


texts: Work permit for a US based space and defence company for EU citizen

texts:
I'm looking into writing my bachelor thesis at a aerospace company abroad.

My question is if there are any special regulation regarding working for a aerospace company, with military contracts, as a student from Germany.

The company in question is a US company with locations in other countries (non EU).

On their application page they state:

  For security reasons background checks will be undertaken prior to any employment offers being made to an applicant.  These checks will include nationality checks as it is a requirement of this position that you be eligible to access equipment and data regulated by the United States’ International Traffic in Arms Regulations.  Under these Regulations, you may be ineligible for this role if you do not hold citizenship of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union or a country that is part of NATO, or if you hold ineligible dual citizenship or nationality.

With my only nationality being German I fulfill the requirements.
Acquiring a visa for studying/working as a student for the company non US location is unproblematic. Additionally I already passed background checks for arms manufacture based in the EU in the recent past.

Are there any additional "tripping hazards" which could prevent me working for the company?


texts: insurance refund check made payable to me and my ex husband

texts: we were to receive a $924. insurance refund due to overpayment on a house we sold. my ex husband had the check sent to his new address without telling me , signed his name and forged my name and cashed the check, when i found out about it and asked him  he admitted he forged the check and said there is nothing i can do about it. i called the insurance co they said its not up to them to police if its forged or not. do i call the police?  Should i call the bank that cashed the check? is small claims court really worth the trouble to get  half of $924?


texts: History and purpose of "Train Wrecking" prohibition in US federal law

texts: Recently, a California man was federally charged with "Train Wrecking" over an incident at the Port of Los Angeles1. I admit I was surprised that train wrecking is specifically a federal crime, since the act of intentionally derailing a train presumably runs afoul of various other federal (and state) laws. I'm curious if anyone knows the history of how this came to be part of US law and if there have been others charged with this crime before


texts: Freelance writer's article with biography completely signed away?

texts:
I have been accepted to publish on a large English-speaking site. Among their submission guidelines, I found that I would agree to give away:

  [..] a royalty free right to reproduce, publish, distribute, and write derivative texts (as well as translations and adverts) and the right to use your name, likeness or biography as well as publish information about you [..]

I have never seen this before? This essentially means that my name could be plastered all over the web, wherever they see fit to publish my article, translated or not.

And how am I supposed to interpret likeness in the statement above?

Is this really legal?

As an aside, I have been writing online for over 15 years.

Your input on this is highly appreciated.


texts: What are the copyright terms on patents?

texts: Are patents (and the attached text, diagrams, images etc) covered by copyright? Or are they, by virtue of being published patents, in the public domain?


texts: Is there any law (US, UK, or Canadian) that limits the scope of a search, so that unrelated crimes can't be prosecuted?

texts:
Are search warrants limited to evidence for a specific crime?

For example, assume a search warrant is issued based on probable cause of property theft. While executing this search warrant, the police find marijuana. Would this marijuana be admissible in court for a charge of possessing that marijuana?


texts: Is it legal to link or embed somebody else's content if I give credit?

texts:
I want to embed this website as part of a website. If the website is commercial am I allowed to do this if I credit them?

If not, is it legal just to link to them as part of tutorial page?


texts: Who is liable in case of a cybersecurity breach?

texts:
Been thinking about this for a while: Suppose a company is hacked and maybe a lot of customer sensitive or financial data is stolen by the hackers. Who is legally liable for any damages?

Is it the Company itself,
The software developers in case they had some sort of security software they where using and it did not play its role,
Or the customers for not being careful with their private information.


texts: Can someone be arrested in the UK solely on the basis of the Interpol Red Notice against him/her?

texts:
An individual has an Interpol Red Notice issued against him, requesting his detention and extradition. The Notice comes to the attention of the London Metropolitan Police, who discover this individual in London.

Is a constable entitled to arrest him solely on the basis of the Interpol Red Notice, or must the constable first seek out a warrant from a UK court?


texts: Is it discriminatory to operate a real-estate website catering for a specific non-English language in the US?

texts:
My understanding of US discrimination laws is that the wording of the real-estate listing must not discriminate by race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.

If a website complies with all of the above, but only supports one language, e.g. Spanish, Italian, Russian, etc. Is that considered discrimination?

If the website was to have an English version of its listings, but also the exact same listing translated into one language, i.e. English & Spanish only, is that discriminating against speakers of other languages?

This is assuming that all listings on the website comply with the discrimination laws and don't unfairly discriminate in any way. It's just that they would be written in one non-English language, or English + one non-English language.


texts: What should I do if someone signs up for an account using my email address?

texts:
People periodically sign up for various sites with my email address, both US and internationally.

Would it cause legal problems if I used the "forgot my password" option to reset the password and log into the account?

I don't want to (not actually evil), but when a site doesn't send a confirmation link to verify the email and contacting customer service doesn't fix the problem, there isn't much else I can do.

I've actually had one site tell me: "we cannot change the email address without authorization from the user". That's one of the cases when I reset the password and just changed the email address to that site's customer service email.


texts: What takes precedence, the law or first aid?

texts:
Earlier today a random question popped into my head, what takes precedence, law or first aid?
So, my thought was brought on by the teacher going over basic first aid. If someone has heat stroke, get them to a cool area. So, let's say you're in your backyard and your friend has heatstroke, your house is without air conditioning, while illegal, would it be justified to break into your neighbors house, who has air conditioning? Or maybe neither of you have a phone and you need to dial 911? Maybe they have a first aid kit that you need?
In other words, would breaking and entering be justified during a life threatening situation?


texts: Can I set an expiration date on works I publish?

texts:
I think the current "death + 70 years" expiration is absurd, and I doubt that by then any work I publish will be culturally relevant, much less marketable.

Suppose I publish a book or blog post today, and I choose the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 International license.

Is there any way I can say "I dedicate this to the public domain in X years"? Furthermore, is it possible to specify X years after I die?


texts: What is the legal principle which requires Apple to pay the Irish State €13 billion?

texts:
In 2016, the EU ruled that the Irish State provided state aid to Apple, which was deemed to be illegal.

As a result of this, Apple are required to back-pay €13 billion to the Irish exchequer.

From a oblivious viewer, this seems to be slightly unfair, considering that Apple was following the direction of the State's government (or governmental agency).

Is there some legal principle, or explanation, which means that even though Apple was complying with the understood law in that jurisdiction, they are now required to pay the EU tax fine to the Irish State of €13 billion?

From what I can see, this ruling mostly benefits the Irish State, and punishes Apple, despite the illegal state aid being an action of the state, and not the corporation.


texts: To what extent is this "Terms and Conditions" clause legally valid?

texts:
As far as I understand, certain types of clauses that are fully enforcable if added to a written contract are not enforcable as part of a "Terms and conditions" document.
For example, I can imagine that "the user hereby agrees to pay to Company X an amount of 10 Million USD in exchange for the services" would be enforcable if part of a written contract, but not as part of the terms and conditions of a software package.
However, my question is about the terms and conditions of a specific Canadian company, namely Voices.com (I've highlighted the important parts):

3. Payment Service: Payments for voice talent work must be made through Voices.com and not from Client to Talent directly. Payments for the purchase of voice talent are held by Voices.com until the voice talent delivers the product to the Client, and the Client confirms the work is complete. Voices.com will pay the Talent on its next scheduled payout date.
Users will not circumvent the Voices.com payment procedures. Prohibited acts include (but are not limited to) the following:

Submitting proposals to or soliciting Clients identified on Voices.com to contact, hire, manage or pay outside Voices.com.

Accepting proposals from or soliciting voice talent identified on Voices.com to contact, deliver voice talent work, invoice, or receive payment outside Voices.com.

Voices.com obviously wants Voice actors to be paid via voices.com, because that allows them to ask for a commission on the price. However they don't openly state their commissions, and they have recently been found to ask very high commissions between 40 and 80%.
My questions are:

Would I be liable for fraud (or something like that), if I as a voice actor contact a client whom I identified for an assignment on Voices.com, and receive payment for that outside of Voices.com (given that these are terms and conditions instead of an actual contract)?

If I follow Voices.com's terms and conditions for a CURRENT job, but receive payment for the NEXT job from the same Client directly (which I "identified on Voices.com), would that be legal? Or am I not allowed to pay outside Voices.com for future jobs either?


texts: Does paying a fee, even under protest, waive all right to contest its assessment?

texts:
If a government charges taxes or fees for a service, that a citizen believe it is not allowed to charge, and the citizen protests but pays the fee pending judicial review in order to mitigate damages, does the fact that the citizen paid that fee waive his/her rights to contest the issue and cause the question to become moot?

Citations, please.


texts: Printing and other rights in respect of a pseudonymously authored text posted online

texts:
A person posts a text to Usenet

that he has signed using an obvious pseudonym
that does not include a functioning address for himself
that does not refer to a publisher other than himself.

Together with the text he includes a notice saying

that further publication in any medium except as a Usenet article which is identically accredited and contains an identical notice is strictly prohibited unless he, proving his authorship, specifically issues a licence for such publication
that in particular printing rights are strictly reserved, which he defines as meaning that it should be assumed that printing his text is strictly prohibited unless he, proving his authorship, specifically issues a licence to do so.

A second person reads the text on Usenet and publishes it in print form or as an e-book without having been granted such a licence.

Would the author be able to win a claim against that person for copyright violation? Assume of course that he identifies himself and proves his authorship when making the claim.

I am interested in answers for both the English and the United States jurisdictions. I am not sure what grounds the second person might reasonably adduce in defence against such a claim, but they might include for example

that regardless of the content of the notice the text should be considered to be in the public domain by dint of having been posted to Usenet
that if a pseudonymous author chooses to make himself uncontactable, unlike the many anonymous and pseudonymous authors who can be contacted through their publishers, then his assertion that he reserves rights is absurd
other grounds.

Note: I have read R Deazley and K Patterson, Guidance Note: Copyright in Pseudonymous and Anonymous Works, 2nd  ed. (2017), which references statutes relevant to the English jurisdiction and also the Berne Convention but does not cover the case where a text is accredited to a pseudonymous author without a publisher being specified other than himself and where the author issues a notice of prohibition as described and retains the ability to prove authorship at a later date.


texts: Why is it common for settlment agreements to be confidential?

texts:
I've noticed a lot of settlement agreements have confidentiality clauses, stating that the terms and facts of the settlement agreement can't be disclosed. Why would someone want to do this? It seems overall unfair in the sense that if someone else is in a similar situation why shouldn't they seek a similar outcome?  From what I've seen this is more common in the US than other places.

Here's an example I found from docracy.com https://www.docracy.com/4488/settlement-agreement


texts: Are there an limitations imposed by Florida FS718 as to who can serve as a proxy? Specifically, is there any reason a non-owner can not serve as a designated proxy?


texts: Is there a rule for hospitals to hold child birth certificate if bill is not paid?

texts:
I have a visitor visa and gave birth at a hospital in Georgia and I couldn't get the birth certificate of my child because I didn't pay the hospital rule.

I already talked to the hospital's medical record office and the state's vital record office.

I talked to a lawyer now and he told me there is a NEW rule/regulation to hold birth certificate for visitors who didn't pay the bill. The hospital is asking me to pay 50,000 USD.

Does anyone know a NEW rule? If so, please the link.
What shall I do to get the birth certificate?


texts: Where can I find skeleton arguments for claims in England & Wales, preferably online and for free?

texts:
I ask NOT about court opinions. The UKSC doesn't publish them.

Can I get a copy of a party's 'skeleton argument' or case?
The UKSC does not publish parties' cases. [...].

Yet Gina Miller tweeted to   her skeleton argument for her Claim No: CO/3385/2019 at the QBD, on her solicitor's website.
Googling "Skeleton Argument of the Secretary of State" yields just 27 results,  e.g.

Warcop Public Inquiry.

government's skeleton argument in the Article 50 case in England and Wales, CO/1306/2016) at QBD.

Secretary of State's Open Skeleton Argument, Secretary of State's Skeleton Argument for permission renewal application, R (on the application of Campaign Against Arms Trade) v The Secretary of State for International Trade and Intervenors [2017] EWHC 1726.


texts:
Suppose someone enters into an apartment lease which specifically forbids guests for staying for extended periods of time. The leasee then violates the contract by hosting a guest for an extended period of time. The issue may surface after the lease ends when the guest is questioned about previous locations they have lived in a number of circumstances (applying for jobs, their own apartment, etc).

Are there possible legal repercussions for either party (leasee, guest) for violation of this policy after the lease has ended?

Update: the state is Illinois.

Update: this is also considering the case in which the tenant pays their own utilities.


texts: What is the significance of dissenting opinions in appellate court decisions?

texts:
Appellate courts often hear cases en banc and decide them by simple majority of the judges on the bench.  The majority will typically sign a single "per curiam" decision, which constitutes the judicial precedent (and hence law) on the question decided.

But judges who disagree with the majority opinion will often author dissenting opinions or statements which are published along with the majority opinion.  What significance, if any, do these dissents have for purposes of law?

For example, I was just reading a filing with SCOTUS requesting an emergency stay of a Pennsylvanian Supreme Court decision.  The filing includes not only the majority state court per curiam in question (ref A1), but also several dissenting statements from that court in that case (ref A5-).  Do those have any more weight before the SCOTUS than any other writing or argument that may be filed in support of the appellants' arguments?

Or, do dissents have any sort of intermediate authority – less than precedent, but more than any other argument would have solely on its merits – in terms of informing future legal decisions?


texts: Is a stock power form the same as the stock purchase agreement?

texts:
From what I understand I need to complete the stock purchase agreement inoders to fully/legally own all shares in my company. I understand that I need to fill out some sort of form or create and sign a document known as the stock purchase agreement.

I have found in my company formation documents, more specifically in the: Post-Incorporation Setup - Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement a form, under exhibit A, called the STOCK POWER. It begins:

  FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement between the undersigned (“Purchaser”) and CompanyName Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), dated [Date] (the “Agreement”), Purchaser hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto the Company _________________________________ (________) shares...

I am wondering if the blank here is the place where I would communicate somehow that I will be exchanging IP for the shares.
Also, is this the "stock purchase agreement" I have been needing to fill out?


texts:
I am a UK citizen and a US citizen owes me money. We have written confirmation of repayment, the US party has defaulted
Can I apply to Small Claims Court in the US without personally attending the Court? Hearing?

Thanks for any clear advice


texts: Pros and cons of binding arbitration vs. court of law?

texts: Some websites specify in their terms of service that disputes shall be resolved by binding arbitration rather than by going to court.  What is the pros and cons of specifying binding arbitration vis-a-vis a court proceeding?


texts: I emailed a law and data privacy professor regarding an issue I was having to do with internet privacy law. Will I get in legal trouble for this?

texts: I emailed an American law and data privacy professor to ask to help explain whether google could reveal my information if a court order was taken out to identify me. I was very over emotional in the email saying things like “what’s going to happen to me?” They didn’t respond as this was Dec 19th however later on I realised what an idiot I was for emailing them something that I knew already was a small problem and apologised for wasting their time on such trivial matters. Then I emailed them another apology asking for their forgiveness blaming my anxiety on my impulsive decision and the way I overreacted to the situation. Could I get into legal trouble for this?


texts: UK: Public Access Barrister vs Solicitor

texts:
The PDF entitled 'Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients' (from the Bar Standards Board) compares and contrasts Public Access Barristers (abbreviated as AB) and Solicitors. Two key differences are the question of an AB's ability to 'conduct litigation, and availability of an AB.

However, besides the similarities (eg 1 AB is cheaper than 1 regular B and 1 Solicitor) and differences mentioned in that PDF, what are the other similarities and differences?


texts: If I’ve no WhatsApp account am I still a node on their social graph? And if so can I request to be deleted?

texts:
I have never used WhatsApp so I have never shared my phone’s contacts with them or consented to their terms. Many of my friends and family do use WhatsApp and they will all have me in thier contacts under the same name and phone number. Therefore I must have node WhatsApp’s social graph?

It might be only my name and number that they have, but It’s certainly enough for them to tie it to my Facebook account and to infer a profile of me by analysing the activity of the social graph around me.

If this is the case do I have any right to ask WhatsApp to delete my node as I’ve never consented to be included? (I live in the UK).


texts: Can we use Marines' sign for personal signature?

texts:
So I'm asking here as a normal person, not as Marine Corps.

So as a marine fan, is it possible (legal) to add Marines' Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (EGA) sign before your name in the end of documents or posts?

Something like:

[ega_sign] Andy, 2018/9/13

Since according to 17 U.S.C § 105 which prohibits the US Federal government from holding copyrights. Which should mean that it isn't illegal to use USMC's sign (is it?).

Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (EGA)


texts: Copying a website's set of options when developing a new one

texts:
For example I want to create/develop new booking.com

All the options from booking.com will be used on this one.

I don't plan to steal the code or design, I will code and design it from scratch myself. No images/text etc will be taken from competitor.

What concerns me are the options (tools) that give property owners to input all information about their properties. Those will be identical as competitors, and without it the website would not have purpose.

Are the websites like booking and similar under some kind of copyright/intellectual property law?


texts: If a federal law caused a breach of contract, then how can the claim not need mention the federal law?

texts:
Source: pp 229-230, Thinking Like a Lawyer: An Introduction to Legal Reasoning (2010, 2 ed) by  Kenneth J. Vandevelde.

    The statute granting federal question jurisdiction to the district courts
  has been limited by a judicially created rule known as the “well-pleaded
  complaint” rule.19 Under this rule, the federal question must be a necessary
  part of the plaintiff ’s complaint. That is, a federal question raised by a defense
  does not bring the case within federal subject matter jurisdiction.
    For example, assume that a retail store sues a manufacturer for breach of
  contract because the manufacturer failed to ship some toys that the retail
  store had ordered. The manufacturer raises as its sole defense the fact that
  after the order was placed, the federal government issued regulations banning this type of toy. Although the result in the case may well depend on an interpretation
  or application of the federal toy regulation, that federal law was
  raised as part of a defense and not as a necessary part of the plaintiff ’s claim.
  The plaintiff ’s claim was for breach of contract and could be set forth in its
  entirety without ever mentioning the toy regulation. Thus, under the well-pleaded
  complaint rule, the court probably would not have federal question
  jurisdiction over the retailer’s claim.

  19 See Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company v. Mottley, 211 U.S. 149 (1908). [OP: I have already read this case.]

How is the bolded possible and realistic? Surely the plaintiff's counsel would expect and then anticipate the defendant's attempt to exculpate the defendant by deflecting all liability onto the federal government's law that bans the toys? Then:

The plaintiff would have engaged federal law in his cause of action.
The plaintiff’s claim for breach of contract needs to mention the toy regulation.


texts:
My daughter is a college student and is applying for an internship.
The small "socially conscious" company, which has about 5 or 10 employees,
is asking her to sign an NDA that looks way over the top to me.
Is this the norm these days?
In brief it says ...

  ALL information disclosed to the other party is Proprietary,
  except generally known information.  There's a long list of specifics:
  marketing techniques, publicity, etc. The agreement lasts until
  mutually terminated, meaning forever since very likely the company
  would never agree to terminate it.

This NDA includes everything my daughter is supposed to learn there --
marketing, social web development, etc.

Is this the norm these days?


texts: In court can you ask someone for all names they go by? How would question be phrased?

texts:
In a hearing the plaintiff has reason to believe that the defendant may have some type of pseudonym or sometimes use a variations of his name (like going by his middle name and leaving out the first).
What questions can the plaintiff put to the defendant to find the full enumeration of all of his names? I don't even know what some types of names are called, like "Catholic Confirmation Name".
Must the defendant answer, or could a judge decide if this is relevant? It could make a difference to evidence, for example if a letter was directed to "Joe Blow" but the defendants legal name is "Jim Joe" but they are one in the same person.


texts: Is one person creating multiple companies with similar names to competitors considered fraud?

texts:
In Wisconsin, there's an individual, let's call him Dan, in a city who has basically created multiple "off-brand" companies with incredibly similar names to their competitors.

These are made up examples, but let's say the industry was computer repair (it isn't), locally there might be a few competitors:

TechChampions PC Repair
PC Fix It Fast
Advanced Computer Professional Services

Dan has domain names and paid keywords for:

TechChampionship PC Repair
PC Fix it Quick
Advanced Computer Pro Services

None of his businesses have a physical storefront or office but Dan has these off-brand businesses listed as being in the same town/neighborhood of the respective competitor. If you look for a PC repair place in his area the first 7 to 10 results on Google are his copycat domain/businesses.

I can't speak to Dan's ability to do PC repair or his business model should one actually attempt to do business with him.

Is this practice fraud or otherwise illegal?


texts: Is remove and ignore a valid response for copyright infringement notice in the EU?

texts: There is a Hungarian non-profit organization in the EU, which has a website. One of the members posted an article on that website and use a copyrighted image as an illustration. The image was available on another site, which apparently had the permission for it. After a while the organization got an email from a German lawyer (from photoclaim) that they are violating copyright law and they should remove the image and pay. Looks like the price will be around $1000, which is more than the non-profit organization has on its bank account. The organization removed the image, but did not send any response so far. What happens when they ignore the email and don't respond? Can they be forced to pay? Can they make the member who uploaded it responsible for the infringement and give the contact info to the lawyer, so the member will be sued?


texts: I'm a natural born US citizen and wanted to live abroad preferably in the UK. If I became a citizen in the UK, would I lose my citizenship here?


texts: Marrying an immigrant and siging a prenup

texts: I've been dating a man who's a Mexican immigrant. We want to get married but he wants me to sign a prenup. He has condos and restaurants and I have nothing right now. Some of his properties and resturants aren't even on his legal name. So I thought it was weird him ask me that. He has an attorney that is writing up a prenup "supposeably" I'm just more confused. I'm just saying a hard time understanding, is that even possible? Could he ask me to sign a prenup while being illegal?


texts: Am I required to register as a foreign LLC in New York State?

texts:
I live in New York State. I have created an LLC in Wyoming. The "Principal Office Address" for the LLC is listed as my registered agent's address in Wyoming. The "Mailing Address" for the LLC is listed as my home address in New York State.

The LLC does not have any employees or office space. The LLC only exists to license intellectual property to a manufacturer.

I will be opening a bank account for the LLC at a Chase Bank in my local town in New York State. I will be receiving royalty checks from the manufacturer, and depositing them into this Chase bank account.

Do I need to register as a foreign LLC in New York State? If so, why?


texts: Are there restrictions on parental rights to limit a minor's association?

texts:
At what age does an individual gain the right to associate freely?  For example, could parents bar contact with volunteers from a LBGTQ group to a child if the parents were (by ideal/simplified hypothetical case) in no way harming the child?

I think this could apply to religious groups as well, but looking through the family law of a few states, it might also represent a special case.  Could parents bar their child from associating with religious groups (or a-religious) they oppose?

Is there a responsibility of any such group to get parental consent?

Going back to the two examples: Let's say an LGBTQ group was having a non-privileged support group meeting (no professional or licensed therapists present) and a local mosque was having a youth prayer meeting.  Would ether group be required or in someway at risk for failure to check whether minor X, whose parents informed the group they do not want their child in attendance, was present?

Does the risk change if the group is doing outreach at a public school (assume religious group using their access correctly by not obstructing or using resources)?

I assume this gets into the weeds of family law which can vary widely in different states.  If there were some archetype examples, I would appreciate it.


texts:
I have filed a petition with the New York State Review Office, to appeal the decision in my son's special education impartial hearing (using 2016 rules).  The process allows for the school district to file an "Answer" within ten days of the petition having been served on the district.  I am permitted to file a "Reply" within three days of the Answer having been served on me.  The rules say:

  "The petitioner may reply to the Answer of the respondent only with respect to any procedural defenses asserted in the Answer or with respect to any additional documentary evidence filed with the Answer."

I need some help understanding what I'm allowed to do in my Reply and what I'm not allowed to do.  "Procedural defenses" sounds like specialized lingo and that is the part I don't understand.  Here are some specific examples of things I'm not sure whether I can include in my Reply (some aspects of these might sound silly -- but the district feels that the child's special education eligibility hinges on these things; therefore they have become important):

The district asked two of the child's teachers to fill out a special questionnaire about behavior.  Teacher A's questionnaire showed frequent disruptive behavior; Teacher B's showed none.  The district lawyer made a big thing out of this in the Answer.  I have emails from this past fall (after the hearing sessions were complete, but before the decision was rendered) written by Teacher B about multiple incidents of disruptive behavior.  I would like to include this type of additional evidence in the Reply.
There are factual inaccuracies and distortions in the Answer.  I would like to address these in the Reply.
The district lawyer claimed, in the Reply, that the student's grades declined because he was involved in too many extracurricular activities.  She gave as examples the music ensembles that he plays in as part of his coursework, and a college prep program for students of color called STEP, which is a program financed and administered by the state education departement.  I printed a description of the STEP program from its website, and an email from the STEP program directed to parents of students in the program, showing that the primary activity students are offered when they get accepted into the STEP program is free weekly tutoring.  I would like to include these materials as additional evidence in my Reply, to rebut the Answer.
The Answer takes a number of statements in the transcript and the exhibits out of context, and then draws erroneous conclusions.  I would like to point out the specific things in the record that show that the conclusions are erroneous.
The Answer asserts "facts" that are not in evidence, and that aren't true.  For one of these things, the review officer could in principle ask the district to disclose certain student records to get to the bottom of the matter. I would like to point this out in the Reply.

There was no new evidence introduced with the Answer, just lots of distortions of the existing evidence.

I'm not asking for legal advice, just for help understanding the phrase.  I included examples in my question just to help people see where I'm confused.  You don't even have to focus your answer on the specific examples if you'd rather not.

Also note, my petition has already been accepted for review.  The worst that can happen if I include something that's not kosher in my Reply is that it will be disregarded.  However, even if that happened, the review officer will still go carefully through my petition and the hearing record.


texts: Is it legal to demand a user agree to an EULA after the product has already been purchased?

texts:
First I'd like to note that I'm primarely interested in Canadian law, but answers about the law in other countries is fine as well.
I've encountered this situation on multiple occasions, such as when purchasing an ereader, a phone, or getting software online. Typically, it is only after I have paid for and acquired the product that I am presented with the EULA, and informed that without agreeing to it I cannot proceed to use the thing in question.
My question is as the title says: is this even legal? Shouldn't I be made aware of all the terms and conditions prior to making the purchase? How is it accepted for companies to tack additional terms on to the exchange after it has occurred?


texts: Are orders to be followed only to the extent practical and doable?

texts:
If a competent authority issues an order that is (technically or financially or economically or legally) infeasible or absolutely impossible does an organization have to follow it?
For example if a party A maintains a document that is requested by order under a law, but the document belongs to party B and is stored in a way only accessible to B following contract or industry standards?


texts: Is it illegal to withhold someone's passport and green card in California?

texts:
June 17, 2019 - My uncle's daughter is the petitioner in Beaumont California (father and daughter relationship). Before my uncle left the daughter's house, He asks for his Philippine passport and U.S. alien-green-card but the daughter didn't give my uncle's IDs. So my uncle left together with his brother to live permanently in Vallejo, California. How can my uncle get his passport and green card back?

Update - July 06, 2019
My uncle and his brother went back to Beaumont and called a Police Officer to help out to get my uncle's personal ID's but my uncle's daughter didn't give back his ID's (Philippine passport, & Alien/green-card).  Her reason to the police officer was since she was the petitioner, she is responsible for his dad (my uncle) and the only he can get it back his ID's is when he return's to the Philippines for good.

Can we file in the city of Beaumont for small claims court to get his personal property back?
What are the procedures to file? What forms do we need to use?
My uncle is not fluent in English speaking, can we request a translator?

Thank you in advance for all your help.


texts: Must one accept an offer to fix a defect before suing for damages

texts:
A building contractor was hired to do certain work. The contract stipulated that the contractor would be paid in full once the work is successfully inspected by the city building compliance inspector. The work was inspected, the contractor got paid. Shortly thereafter a defect was found (non-compliance to building code that the city inspector should have noticed, but did not). The contractor acknowledges existence of the defect, and the fact that they intentionally created it, but disputes the seriousness of the defect, deferring to successful inspection.

The contractor offers to fix the defect. However, based on the fact that contractor intentionally hid the defect in the first place, and based on other interactions with the contractor, the client believes it unlikely that the defect will be fixed right.

Question: The client prefers not to expose their property to the risk of shoddy work, and instead wants to hire another contractor to fix the problem. It is expected that the original contractor will refuse to pay the client for the cost of the repair done by a third party. In that case, is building owner likely to be successful if they sue the original contractor for the cost of repair, even though they declined that contractor's offer to fix the defect?

The jurisdiction is Pennsylvania.


texts: Evidence for continuous residence to apply for UK citizenship as a EU student?

texts:
One of the requirements for applying for British citizenship through naturalization is:

  During the last five years you must not have been outside the United
  Kingdom for more than 450 days (about 15 months);

How is that proven as an EU citizen? Does the government already automatically know how long you stayed in the UK for (using their airport records) if you're a EU student?

Or do you need to show your flight tickets?

Please explain to me how this process works exactly. Thanks!


texts: Third Party Liability for representations

texts:
(I suspect this looks a bit like a homework question.  Its not.  I have tried to distill the question as much as possible).    I'm interested in how this would typically be answered in countries based on English law (the events happened in New Zealand)
Scenario -
Mr Debtor asks Mr Creditor for a loan on the basis that Mr ThirdParty will pay Mr Debtor money within a month.    Mr Creditor verifies this information with Mr ThirdParty and issues Mr Creditor a short term loan on the strength of this verification.
Mr Debtor defaults and it turns out that Mr ThirdParty did not pay Mr Debtor.
Does Mr Creditor have recourse against Mr ThirdParty and why ?
(I assume that there is no contract between Mr Creditor and Mr ThirdParty because no money remuneration was provided to Mr ThirdParty, but I'm not clear if Mr ThirdParty can misrepresent to Mr Creditor with impunity  )


texts: Would Bill Clinton be allowed to serve a 3rd term as President under this scenario?

texts:
Let's say hypothetically that the following events happen:

Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
Hillary chooses her husband Bill Clinton to be her running mate.
Hillary wins the 2016 election and becomes President, and Bill Clinton becomes Vice President.
Sometime during her presidency, Hillary becomes incapacitated and can no longer serve as President.

What would happen in this scenario?  Would Vice President Bill Clinton become President since he is next in line in the presidential line of succession?  Or would he be ineligible to become President since the 22nd Amendment bars a person from serving more than two terms as President?

Or would he not even be eligible to become Vice President?


texts: Is it legel to sell used bikes online as a business?

texts:
I am thinking about buying used bikes from China, shipping them to the US and selling them online. I would like to sell branded used bikes.

Is this legal? Are there particular copyright or customs issues around such a business?


texts: Are American "no promo homo" laws enforced?

texts:
Seven US states have laws that limit the discussion of homosexuality in public schools. Two other states previously had such laws.

How frequently, if at all, are these laws enforced or have previously been enforced, whether by forcing changes in schools or by punishing violators? I'm skeptical the laws are ever enforced because (a) I can't readily find news reports of anybody being prosecuted, and (b) several of the laws require teachers to tell students that gay sex is illegal, although it is actually legal throughout the US since Lawrence v. Texas (2003).


texts: Can I loan money to my LLC by directly paying for an expense (rather than putting the money in the LLC's account first)?

texts:
I have an LLC that is transitioning from one state to another.  A check has been written to empty the old bank account and has been deposited in the new bank account, but I do not yet have a debit card on the new bank account to make payments with.
The LLC needs to purchase supplies, about 400 dollars' worth.  I would like to purchase the supplies with my personal credit card, and document this as a loan to the LLC.
I understand that one should document such loans with a promissory note, and I intend to do that in this case.
Here is my concern--the whole point of doing the promissory note is as a defense against an audit.  If I were audited, and the auditor wanted proof that I had lent the company 400 dollars, would a receipt for the transaction (my purchase of the supplies, with my personal credit card) suffice?  Or would they say "That's not a legal loan.  You make a loan by writing a check or depositing money into the LLC's account."
And speaking of the supplies, do I also need to somehow prove that the LLC "took possession" of them (if I bought with the LLC's bank card the ownership would be obvious, but if my "proof that I loaned the LLC the money" is "well, here's the receipt!" can the auditor just say "that's just you buying parts for your own use as far as I can see".


texts: When was murder first made a federal crime?

texts:
My understanding is that most crimes that don't involve the US as a party, maritime law, special cases, etc, are handled by state courts, where the rules differ from state to state. But in certain circumstances these ordinary crimes can become federal cases. Yet the Constitution says nothing about crimes committed by citizens. So when were these rules established?

I'm looking at murder as a particular case of interest. If murder isn't forbidden by the Constitution, when were federal laws first established on how to handle it?


texts: Why exclude 13 world countries from international sweepstakes or giveaways?

texts:
Why are 13 countries excluded from various contests, giveaways, sweepstakes
run by many different types of organizations on the Web?

These countries are: Taiwan, South Korea, Portugal, Italy, Austria, China, Russia, Hong Kong, Greece, France, Japan, Spain, Czech Republic.

This is easily checked by searching the web with the following
keywords:

  -germany Taiwan, South Korea, Portugal, Italy, Austria, China, Russia, Hong Kong, Greece, France, Japan, Spain, Czech Republic

Note that I have added -germany at the beginning to exclude Germany, so as
not to get any list of the world countries.

What kind of legal problems would the inclusion of these 13 countries
raise? I realize this may differ according to the concerned country.

This question may be related to the previous
#SOreadytohelp - international giveaway without terms and conditions?. But
it is possibly more focussed in determining the precise reasons.

It is also interesting to note that most sites concerned by my remark do not seem to use the word "lottery" (not a systematic analysis, though ... and it may have other motivations).


texts: What constitutes consent to record a conversation?

texts:
I would like to record a conversation with another individual (who otherwise could assume privacy). In this case Maryland requires the consent of both parties to record, as shown in the diagram below.

With that said, I have read that in some States if you simply notify the other party that you are recording, if they choose to continue the conversation then that constitutes consent. How do I know if thats the case in Maryland when its not explicitly made clear what constitutes consent in the statues?

Furthermore, and more broadly, if there are states where simply stating this is not enough, then how is it legal for large companies (Comcast, Verizon, Pepco, etc.) to record telephone conversations in every state (after all when I call them from my telephone I get the same "this call may be recorded" message, regardless of what state I am calling from).

--

Edit: Regarding my broader question, from a little further research I have found an FCC rule (law? guideline?) which states that telephone companies may record phone calls if they use an audio beep or announce that the call will be recorded, but this only seems to cover telephone companies.


texts: Would there be anything wrong with writing a program to pull Google Flights data?

texts:
I live in Florida, U.S. and I would like to write a program (for personal use) which searches the Google Flights site for cheap flights. I am a beginner at programming so I have no idea if there are likely to be any issues with this. I tried looking through the terms of service and didn't find anything that I thought was prohibitive.

One thing I thought might be an issue is the number searches/minute, but I again didn't find anything about that.


texts: License to grant intellectual property of paper created in a company

texts:
Is there a license -Open Source license, maybe- which grants the intellectual property on a paper (how-to guide, for example) I have created in a company, even if I work for it?

I would like to make sure that based on the license it gets
recognized I am the author of the paper.
Also, I want to make sure any derivative work recognizes the original paper and author.
Finally,the license should recognize the paper was created in certain company (to avoid any industrial conflict with the employer).

Can you please advice?


texts: Where can a person go to in order to find out the laws about a particular subject?

texts: I am attempting to figure out everything I need to know before operating either an electric or gas-powered bicycle, such as whether I need to get a license or register the bike. Does there exist an authoritative source that I can go to in order to find out as much as I can? I have found the contact information for my local legislative information office. Is this a good place to go in order to find out what I need? Thank you.


texts: If running Linux on same physical computer as Windows, can one legally use Microsoft's files?

texts:
I bought a computer with Windows 10 pre-installed.  I then also installed Linux on the same computer so that I can choose between Windows or Linux at boot time (dual booting).  I also have it set up so that Linux can see Windows files, including C:\Windows\Fonts.  I personally like the Windows/Microsoft fonts better than the free alternatives, so I want to use them while running Linux.

According to the Microsoft License Terms:

  Applicability: This agreement applies to the Windows software that is preinstalled on your device, or acquired from a retailer and installed by you, the media on which you received the software (if any), any fonts, ...

  License. The software is licensed, not sold. Under this agreement, we grant you the right to install and run one instance of the software on your device (the licensed device), for use by one person at a time, so long as you comply with all the terms of this agreement.

  Device. In this agreement, “device” means a hardware system (whether physical or virtual) with an internal storage device capable of running the software. A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a device.

Under restrictions (what's no allowed) it list these things that I'm not sure apply:

  (i) use or virtualize features of the software separately;

  (iv) work around any technical restrictions or limitations in the software;

  (v) use the software as server software ... or install the software on a device for use only by remote users;

Would any of those restrictions apply to what I'm doing?


texts: Is it a crime to give away property without consent?

texts:
At work, if I deliberately place a sticker on a jar of nice coffee which says "help yourself", without the knowledge or consent of the owner of that coffee, and knowing the coffee isn't mine and and in the absence of any evidence that the owner wants it given away, am I committing a crime?

Its a stupid, antisocial thing to do so I wouldn't do it, but I am curious.  The person taking the coffee has no mens rea, they don't know that the owner has not consented.


texts: Im needing some advice for my sister who is dead set on trying to figure out a way to try to marry her fiancee who is her uncle. But my sister is 29 yrs old and she was adopted in tx at 17 and ive already told her its impossible to marry your uncle and arent thinking clearly. But shes stubborn though. Please back me up someone, i need advice so i can relay it to her to try and talk her out of this insane idea I need to know what the state of texas law states about this and other advice.


texts: Retired Police Officer (still state licensed) obligation to report a crime

texts:
*Texas
*Retired Police Officer, still holds state license (former chief of police in small suburb)
*family member of the officer tells him of an [alleged] assault against her
What is the oath or sworn obligation of the retired officer to report the crime and how long do they have to report it (if they are legally required too).
Please link to any state licensing site / page where it shows their obligation.
thanks!


texts:
My friend has an idea for a way musicians could exchange music they write in a more collaborative way. He's envisioning designing an app that would permit greater musical creativity between musicians.

Is this something that would qualify as a "method" and therefore patentable?

I'm almost sure the answer is no, but I can't put into words why.


texts: Someone has a video of me doing drugs. Is there legal protection against its release?

texts:
It's a bit like slander, except there is no false information. I wanted to Google whatever this may be called to see what my options are if this video is ever released. I'm stumped as to what to search for though.

A psychopath of a roommate in college has a video of me doing drugs. I wasn't aware there was a video. It was my first and last time trying drugs. I'm about to start my professional career and this degenerate of a man has the power to take everything I've worked for over the past 5 years away with a simple video. My family's reputation, my own reputation, and my professional career are now all at risk because of one stupid mistake I made. It doesn't seem to qualify as slander because I did in fact take drugs.

In Ireland


texts: Why is the structure of the US Code so poor? (And would it even be legal to reorganize it?)

texts:
In the process of researching the legality of coil guns in Massachusetts (University engineering project), I stumbled across Cornell's Legal Information Institute, which offers what appears to be a complete rendition of the entire United States Code, and decided to do a little exploring.

While I learned a lot of interesting tidbits of information perusing the U.S.C., I was amazed at how poorly it was structured. I know politics is sticky business, and not everything is going to be clean, but what I saw struck me as exceptionally bad.

In software design, there's a widely used phrase to describe certain particularly jumbled programs: spaghetti code. This term can be applied to programs which have poor data structure designs, are poorly organized, or simply just don't make logical sense in terms of the way they are laid out. The name comes from how these attributes can be applied to a bowl of spaghetti; it's jumbled and tangled together, and you would be required to really dig deep to find, say, the two ends of a single strand.

As someone who is very active in open-source programming, a development style that fundamentally breeds spaghetti code, my first reaction upon seeing the U.S.C. in its entirety was, "Oh my god, this is spaghetti code." The organization is so horribly jumbled.

For example, in regards to the Titles, why would topics that sound so incredibly broad, such as Title 6 - Domestic Security, and Title 12 - Banks and Banking, be in the same structural level as Title 23 - Highways, or Title 24 - Hospitals and Asylums?

Why do we have Title 14 - Coast Guard and Title 32 - National Guard when there is Title 10 - Armed Forces? The Coast Guard and the National Guard are clearly both a subset of the Armed Forces.

Why is a "machine gun" defined under Title 26 - Internal Revenue Code, when every single other type of firearm seems to be defined under Title 18 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure? It's not as if Title 26 is redefining a machine gun for the purpose of tax law; Title 18 actually states something along the lines of "Machine gun, as defined in Title 26 / Section etc etc".

I could go on and on about the various inconsistencies that I see in regards to how the U.S.C. is structured. Maybe I see it as more of a problem due to my involvement in software development, a field in which structure is paramount to success, but this just doesn't sit right with me. That leads me to my questions (finally):

1. Are there any underlying reasons behind the nonsensical structure of U.S.C. titles? Is it simply a case of "This is how it's been for awhile, don't fix what isn't broken." or is there more to it than that?

2. Pretend that over the next few election cycles, a super majority of software engineers and computer scientists are elected to the House and Senate. These people take structure very seriously, and they are very unhappy with the structure of the U.S.C. Barring the even more ridiculous case of Congress repealing everything and passing the exact same laws again, just under different Titles/Chapters/etc, would it be possible for Congress to arbitrarily merge, combine, and delete Titles, and to rearrange the location of laws, definitions, etc? Are there laws/regulations governing this?


texts: Help with legal interpretation: Employment termination bonus repayment

texts:
If you voluntarily terminate employment with the Company or for any reason fail to return from a non-job-protected leave of absence prior to one year of employment anniversary date, you will be responsible for repayment of the signing bonus in full to the Company on your last day of employment

If I started working on 1st Jan 2019, till when do I need to work in order to keep full signing bonus while leaving the company. Is it 1st Jan 2020, or 1st Jan 2021 ??


texts: In California, who has right of way when two cars try to get to the same lane at same time?

texts:
In a highway with 3 lanes, if a car driving in the left lane and another car driving in the right lane decide at same time to change lane to the middle lane, who has the right of way?

In Texas, according to Sec. 545.061, the car driving in the left lane gets priority, however I could not find anything in the California Vehicular Code that mentions this case.


texts:
I've always been under the assumption that doing such was illegal. I don't see any difference between downloading music from YouTube and downloading music from The Pirate Bay.

Apparently, there is this Software Recs SE question that talks precisely about downloading from YouTube.


texts: How do I get my misdemeanor conviction removed from public records websites?

texts: Awhile ago I was charged with a misdemeanor that ended up with me paying a fine and doing community service. I searched my name on Google the other day and so far only saw my charge on one public records website. I'm currently working on getting my record expunged. After I get it expunged will it be removed from public records websites or do I have to show them proof of the expungement so it won't affect me in the future?


texts: Facebook blocked my account until I consent to their new privacy policy under GDPR. If I consent now, will I be able to withdraw my consent later?

texts: I am going to delete my Facebook account in a month, I can't do it now because I still use it for work. I live in the EU and Facebook has blocked access to my account unless I accept their privacy rules, which means giving up GDPR protections. I worry that if I accept their rules now, I won't be protected anymore by GDPR, and that even if I delete my Facebook account in the future, that I won't be able to request my data to be fully deleted with full protections of GDPR. In other words, I worry that agreeing to their privacy policy will override GDPR and that I won't be able request to delete the data they have about me anymore. Is my worry justified?


texts: Are SLA's copyrighted or intellectual property?

texts:
I've noticed Software SLAs (Service Level Agreements) contain similar language to each other.

Question: Is a software SLA considered intellectual property, copyrighted or protected in any way from being copied word-for-word wholly or in part without attribution?

I have googled and searched this StackExchange specifically but did not find an appropriate answer, at least as far as I could tell.

(Not a lawyer.  Please forgive if this is obvious or if I improperly use any terms.  Scope of this question is US-only.)


texts: Does GDPR's physical address rule apply to my real world hobby art group?

texts:
I run an art group (in the UK) that meets up every other month to give feedback on each others' work. To share the meeting dates and to share the work we're giving feedback on that month, I have an email list.

From looking at other questions on this site (and elsewhere) it looks like I do need to be compliant with GDPR. This is fine for signing up and unsubscribing, but it looks like I'm also required to tell people a physical address.

This is a hobby group, not a business, so as I understand it, I'd need to do one of the following:

Pay for a PO box address to use out of my own pocket.
Use my home address.

Are there any other options? Or have I misunderstood and as a hobby group do I not need to supply an address?

Note: In case this is relevant, no money is involved - the group is open to everyone, there's no sign up fee, and we meet in public spaces like cafes.


texts: Is "If it's not forbidden, it's permitted" codified somewhere?

texts:
"If something is not forbidden by law, then it is allowed" is a principle that is usually taken for granted in everyday life. For example, there is no law explicitly permitting me to wear a top hat, but there is no law against it either, so wearing a top hat is permitted "by default".

Does this principle actually have a formal foundation in law?


texts: Is it possible to be a "derivative" party to a slander suit?

texts:
Suppose you are an employer. Employee A accuses B of committing a "firing offense." You fire B on A's say-so, without investigating to see if the charge is true. Maybe you trust, or even like A more than B.

It turns out that A slandered B, who is not guilty of a "firing offense." B can sue A for slander. Can B sue you for acting on A's slander in 1) an "employment at will" state and 2) a state where there is no employment at will?

And are there any western countries where the above facts would not support liability for slander, and therefore you could not be named in a derivative suit?

This question was inspired by this one on Academia, where the OP did not disclose his country.


texts: Driver's license renewal issue in Virginia

texts:
I was recounting an incident that happened to me several years back to a friend.  While the issue is "resolved," I never learned of the proper, legal way to resolve the issue.  I am curious if someone out there knows what should have been done.

I was in the process of purchasing a house, which of course takes time.  Before I was finished purchasing and taking possession of the house, the lease on my apartment was expiring.  Rather than renting the apartment on a month-to-month lease, which was extremely expensive, I decided to move into an extended stay hotel for a couple of months.  I moved into the hotel and subsequently changed my mailing address on the United Stated Post Office website to the hotel's address and room number.

While living in the hotel, I received a letter from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles notifying me that my driver's license was expiring after 7 years and needed to be renewed.  No big deal, I will just go online and renew it on Virginia's DMV website.  However, the DMV website would not let me renew.  I kept receiving an error that the address I entered was invalid.  I called the DMV and explained the situation, but got nowhere.  I was told to go into the DMV and talk to them in person.  So that's what I did.  However, the DMV had no idea what to do in this situation.  Here were the issues:

I could not use the hotel as my place of residence, as the DMV does not accept hotels as legal residences
I could not use my previous apartment, as I was no longer a legal resident
I could not use the address of the house I was purchasing, as I had not yet become a legal resident
I could not rent and use a USPS post office box, as the DMV does not allow PO boxes as legal residences

One DMV worker suggested I just let my license expire and get a new one after I moved.  That could have worked, if I wasn't in need of a valid driver's license for the following reasons:

I needed a valid driver's license to rent a moving truck
I needed a valid driver's license to drive the moving truck

The worker's at the DMV offered me no viable solution whatsoever.  They said they would get back to me.  Of course, they never did.

I had to renew my license.  I made a genuine and sincere effort to solve this dilemma legally and properly.  I reached out to the DMV repeatedly by phone and in person and was not given a solution. With no options or time left, I ended up with no choice but fibbing on the DMV website.  I rented a PO box from a shipping and mailing businesses that let you use their mailing address for your mail, so it appears as if you have a legitimate business address, not just a PO box.  Fortunately, the DMV website allowed me to use that address.  Of course, I changed my address to my house after I moved in.  So everything is taken care of now.

I am genuinely curious, as to what I could of or should have done.  The DMV which was supposed to help me with this situation, provided me with no viable answers.  Was there anything I could have or should have done in this situation?  I doubt I am the first person that this particular set of circumstances has happened to, but I suppose it is possible.


texts:
A hypothetical person lives in California, USA and signed a paper lease. The landlord returned the signed lease to the tenant in 10 days. The lease contains the exact schedule for monthly rent payments.
January  : $ xxxx.xx
February : $ xxxx.xx
...
December : $ xxxx.xx

The landlord made a mistake in the payment schedule for one month resulting in a one time 20% rent decrease in April.
The tenant moved in and started executing the payment plan specified in the lease.
Eventually the landlord caught the error and tried to collect the remaining balance of 20% for that month.
Does the landlord have a legal standing to claim a typo in the signed lease and try to collect the remaining 20% for March?


texts: Can a call center employee be forced to monitor a technical problem off the clock?

texts:
I work from home for a virtual call center. I provide my own equipment but am required to use their software to connect to them, which often has problems. When these arise, and they cannot be resolved within 30 minutes by their software vendor, I am required to clock out.

This happened to me 3 hours ago, and I am now in legal limbo. The software vendor told me to await a return call, not as yet received. I'm essentially on call now, or am I? I won't be paid for this time, so how long must I wait before I can no longer be expected to clock back in today?


texts: Does filing for guardianship require consent?

texts:
A person turned 18 some time ago and his parents haven't started filing for guardianship until now. I've heard that by law if parents haven't filed for guardianship before the child turns 18, the child is technically his own guardian, although I'm not sure if this is accurate. However, my question is this.

If someone's parents file for guardianship and go to court, will the parents need the child's consent to become the child's guardians?


texts: Is it ILLEGAL to download voyeuristic pornographic videos from websites?

texts: Is it ILLEGAL to download and view voyeuristic pornographic videos from websites. KNOWING that the subjects are 18+.


texts:
A pretty straightforward question, I think. When it comes to holding records that users consent has been provided, I can only imagine I would use some sort of php code to store data/records into .txt document?

However, I kinda doubt this could be used as a evidence in the future should it be required due to the nature of .txt file. Obviously, it can be edited at any time without any trace. Which kind of indicates the records about consent might have been put there manually after the claim has been raised by the user? As if, forging the evidence.

I tried looking into the information provided by the ICO itself, to find how to correctly store this kind of data (not how to collect it, but where to store it) but can't find anything like that.

Perhaps anyone has any clue where does the data need to be stored for it be accepted as an evidence if required?

Thanks a lot!


texts: Can I disobey a police order if I have reason to believe that to obey would put my life in imminent danger?

texts: Suppose I am detained by a police officer and ordered to remain in the exact spot. However, the officer doesn't notice that I am three seconds away from potentially being impaled by someone or something. Or, the officer knows and still refuses to allow me to move. Am I legally free to ignore the order to stay?


texts: In the UK what does "during your employment" mean

texts:
I just got a contract of employment for a new job and it has a clause that starts like this:

  all Intellectual Property generated by you during your employment
  will be owned by the Group.

When it says "during your employment" does that mean during working hours or everything I do including evenings and weekends?

As currently worded the rest of the clause basically says "we own everything you make". Even Facebook posts and this question would belong to the group.

I sometimes work on open source project, I write for an RPG publisher, I'm half way through writing a novel. All outside work time.

Would this clause hit those sort of activities?


texts: Does posting short memorable scenes or songs from a movie constitute copyright violation?

texts:
On Youtube I often see videos of songs or other short memorable scenes from various movies posted. Since these are non-transferable I assume this is technically a violation of copyright, even if it's done for a very popular movie.

Is it a violation of copyright to post or watch such clips?


texts: Would it be fair to say that the 14th Amendment had the effect of simplifying laws pertaining to citizenship in the U.S.A.? Can the contrasts between the nature of citizenship before and after the 14th Amendment be briefly summarized?


texts: Using rules and text from a book in a game

texts: I'm creating a piece of Software that is designed to assist dungeon masters when playing Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.  I've been trying to determine who much information/text from the main rule book I'm allowed to incorporate in the software.  I've done some digging around already and have found that game rules cannot be patented.  However, there are many instances when the rules have very strict definitions and would require an almost verbatim copy from the rule book to the software which I'm concerned would violate copyright and constitute plagiarism.  How are these types of situations interpreted and is there a litmus test I can apply to determine how to proceed with these situations?


texts: Airline should refund ticket in event of security risk?

texts:
I'm a physics student and researcher who travels a fair amount to communicate with scientists in my field, and I recently booked a non-refundable ticket through Turkish Airlines to get from Boston to Geneva next week.

I was aware that Turkey was not the most stable region, but all travel warnings at that time regarded southeastern Turkey; my flight has a 16 hour layover in Istanbul, which is on the western side of the country. I was told recent events would not be a problem, both by Turkish acquaintances and service representatives of Turkish Airlines. However, that was when I booked the March 25th flight at the beginning of the month.

When the bombings in Ankara (central Turkey) occurred last weekend, I called Turkish Airlines to cancel my flight, suspicious that violence was moving westward. After four separate customer service calls, they finally gave me the following breakdown of my non-refundable ticket:

$360.00 USD for fuel taxes (non-refundable)
$129.00 USD minimum ticket cost (non-refundable)
$96.76 USD refundable ticket cost

Which adds up to $585.76 USD, only $96 of which is refundable. I complained to their customer service representatives that the circumstances were such that I should not feel compelled to take a flight when there was a reasonable chance I would find myself in serious danger during my travels to Turkey (this was the only reason which would have driven me to cancel my flight). Their response was that they had no evidence of danger in Istanbul or Ataturk airport, and that I would be safe during my 16-hour layover. However, I was suspicious, and felt that this was not exactly a statement the Airline could guarantee.

Last night, I called again because the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul issued a travel warning yesterday (March 17), saying that U.S. Government buildings and tourist areas might be targets for acts of terrorism. I called Turkish Airlines again and complained; they redirected me to a Customer Care Relations form which I could fill out to request a full refund. I did so. The airline usually takes 48 hours to respond.

This morning, Istanbul was victim to a suicide bombing in a populated tourist area. At least 36 were injured, and five were reported dead. I am concerned that after hours of effort, I will not be able to obtain a full refund, even though there is now evidence of a clear and present danger in Istanbul. Given that I have had to book another last-minute flight through a safer region (Canada to Geneva), I would expect Turkish to at least refund the cost of my ticket, or provide me with a credit for future travel (although I am so concerned with the way they do business that I do not think the latter is acceptable anymore).

If they do not provide me with a full refund, my next step will be to go to small claims court. My question is whether there is a court precedent for my situation. Is there any chance I will get my money back in filing a claim?

In my view, the situation is like this: suppose you buy a cake from a bakery. You pay up-front for the cake, and are told that the purchase is final. This sounds reasonable, because you trust the business owner to provide you with a product which is, at the very least, safely comestible. However, when you stop by a week later to pick up the cake, the baker tells you that there is a reasonable chance the cake has cyanide in it, and that you would endanger yourself in the act of consumption. The baker then refuses to provide you with a full refund for your purchase. This situation seems unreasonable to me in the exact same way that my current situation does. What are your thoughts?

Thanks so much for your help.


texts: Can state keep a part of my cash bond if found not guilty?

texts:
In Texas speeding is a class C misdemeanor. If someone takes this to trial and the state requires a cash (bail) bond (twice the maximum find amount plus court costs) they must pay it to the county or the state.

They will keep this bond until the trial is over or the case is disposed.

If found not guilty, or the judge dismisses the case in the defendants favor, can the state or the county then require / deduct a 20 dollar processing fee before they return the bond to you? What law (in Texas) gives them the right to just take part of the money they required you let them use for several years?

I was under the impression that when the state loses they don't get to require payment from the accused.

Also, since the amount does not exceed 20 dollars, does that preclude the use of  the 7th Amendment to force them to allow a jury trial to justify this?


texts: What's required to sell a home owned contract-for-deed that was previously owned by a person now represented by a conservatorship?

texts:
One party has owned a home for several years contract-for-deed in Minnesota. The previous owner has in the interim become involved in a conservatorship (due to declining mental health), represented by the current owner and siblings. The current owner wishes to sell.

What is required normally of the previous owner in a contract-for-deed sale at closing, and what additional requirements does the conservatorship impose? How might the process be expedited to accommodate an impending closing date?

I attempted to add contract-for-deed and conservatorship to the tags array, but neither exist. Please feel free to edit.


texts: Claiming intellectual property theft with no contract?

texts: I was involved in a relationship of which I designed logos and product labels for a few companies. At that time, I was not knowledgeable of intellectual property laws. Also at that time, Due to my ignorance, I didn't have them or me sign any documentation to sign over intellectual property. In this instance, am I still able to claim intellectual property theft if I do not want them to use said graphics anymore if I have proof that I am the one that created these designs?


texts: GDPR Legislation and user invites by email

texts:
I want to understand what the implications are for user emails with the onset of GDPR.

It's a bit of a strange question but here is the scenario.

We run a Software as a Service platform when a user can invite other users to a team. They do this by email, at which point we have a user's "personal information" in the form of their email and we have issued them an email invite. We have to keep the email address on record for a period of time, say 7 days, for that invite to be accepted at which point we delete it if no action has been taken.

I understand the restrictions on me in terms of not marketing to this email address etc. I want to understand if I am even allowed to send the invite email in the first place. That is to say, if someone hasn't explicitly given me their email address, am I allowed to use it.

Logic would indicate that this should be fine as it really makes the user experience of inviting people very poor, however, the question has been asked by a member of my team and so I thought I'd seek some clarity.


texts: How would having discretion in a matter, immunize a trial judge from appellate review?

texts:
Source: High Court of Australia Justice Edelman's speech on 2015 Dec. 9's Transcript:

In the first of those essays in 1990 in Oxford, Bingham focused upon judicial discretion. He deliberately avoided the deep debate on that topic, from which Oxford was only just beginning to recover and perhaps still suffers. The opening paragraph of that speech began with an anecdote that caused Bingham great concern:

A judge of my acquaintance once told me that when, in the course of trying a case, he encountered any problem of unusual difficulty, it was his practice to glower at counsel in his most forbidding manner and demand "Is this not a matter within my discretion?" On counsel agreeing that it was – which it seems they readily did – he would sink back in his chair with relief, relaxed in the knowledge that no matter which he decided his decision would be immune from successful challenge on appeal.

The theme of his speech was to rail against undirected and unreviewable discretions.

Am I right that the judge's question on discretion, "glower[ing]" and "forbidding manner"  are scare tactics to spook the barrister to take extra care in answering? Did I overlook anything?

I don't understand the bold. A matter being in trial judges' discretion, would immunize them from appeals based on  justiciability, but not from appeals alleging error in facts that satisfy  conditions) or in law?


texts: Does the adultery law in New York affect the person being used to cheat with?

texts:
I found a public website regarding this law (New York Penal Law Sec. 255.17 Adultery), this one:

https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._penal_law_section_255.17

Let's say someone's wife cheats on her husband with my friend. My friend is not married, and does not have a spouse. If the husband files a police complaint in the state of New York regarding this adultery, can my friend be charged with the law? The law is worded to sound like only people with spouses can be charged. Thanks for any help.


texts: Can disabling Windows 10 updates be considered a crime?

texts:
There's a pretty (in)famous post on Russian Microsoft Answers site (just search by UID to see it referenced in many news stories) where user asks how he can disable Windows Update through registry due to space constraints on his notebook. There are two responses from two different MVP/Moderators to it, both stating that doing so is illegal and thus question will be locked and OP will be banned from site for discussing illegal use of MS products.

Grand_Ross's response states that OP presumably breaks Articles 1229 "Exclusive Right" and 1235 "The Licence Contract" of Russian Civil Code (in English) and sternly recommends OP to brush up his knowledge of law because "ignorance is no excuse!"

Geks52 cites Windows 10 EULA's 6. Updates, and highlights this part: "By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice."

This looks very very wrong to me.

1229 has absolutely nothing to do with usage of legally obtained product.
EULA clearly only require you to agree with updates without notice, but nowhere does it forbid you to disable them. Thus 1235 is not applicable.
Additionally, when you can disable WU through registry or policy, it obviously means that Microsoft explicitly programmed handling of those settings and thus activating them is intended use.

So, do those accusations and threats have any weight or is it some kind of little man syndrome, considering that MVP/Moderator is really just a glorified user himself and not an official Microsoft representative?

I'm interested in both answers according to Russian law and international practice - can such reasoning stand in US, EU, or pretty much anywhere?


texts: Does a non-stock company in Virginia need to have a Board of Directors?

texts: Do the articles of incorporation and/or bylaws need to mention how the board of directors is selected, of can it be in another document, or can the nonprofit organization not have a board of directors? Can the board of directors be called something else, Executive Board for example?


texts: How can a cash sale result in a voidable title?

texts:
§ 2-403. Power to Transfer; Good Faith Purchase of Goods; "Entrusting".

Please look at the statute above. It is fairly short. There is a link to it here: https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/2-403

I am confused by what is meant by the part that says "cash sale". Please explain it to me and tell me what a "cash sale" has to do with voidable title. Doesn't cash sale just mean you are paying cash for something? That sounds perfectly innocent to me.

EDIT: is it possible that by putting quotes around "cash sale" this was a tongue-in-cheek way of saying counterfeit money? I don't think statutes are ever tongue-in-cheek, right?


texts:
Under what circumstances (if any) can an error of process doom a plaintiff's claim?

Process errors can include things like failure to serve notice or motions in a timely or correct fashion, or failure to file a timely response or petition.

My understanding is that a court can dismiss a case or decide it against a plaintiff for such errors of process, and that such decisions based on process failures are not usually granted an appeal.

If a plaintiff loses a case based on process errors before a trial but is still within the statute of limitations for his claim, can he always (or never) "start from scratch?"  Or, put another way, can one lose one's right to seek redress of a grievance by failure to follow the rules of court?

For example: Suppose a plaintiff is suing (either criminally or civilly) pro se, so there is no attorney the court can sanction or the plaintiff can blame.  After a drawn out process the court gets tired of the plaintiff's ignorance of process, grants a defense motion for dismissal, and refuses a plaintiff's petition for reconsideration.  Can the plaintiff go back to "square one" and file an identical but new case?  If so, it seems like that might be considered to pose an undue burden on the defendant.  If not, it seems like the plaintiff is being denied rights due to rules that are, in general, arbitrary even if expedient.


texts: Must I honour a (non auction) sale on ebay

texts:
A buyer bought an item (buy it now) but were so rude to me I cancelled the sale. The buyer is threatening to sue for damages. Is this even possible?
I should add there were a number of other factors involved here, including the fact that the buyer was based abroad (and I have my account limited to preventing sales outside the UK), they got around this by providing a UK address to ebay (which may or may not be real - see edit - almost certainly fake), but they wanted it sent abroad.
It listed as a "collection in person" item, and the buyer insisted on sending their own courier.
In short, I was TOLD to package it up, which I refused to do as it was not a small item and would have taken considerable time to pack properly, but it was very low value -in short - not worth my time.
Edit: I note now the buyer has changed their ebay address from UK to US, although ebay believes they are based in a 3rd country. I suspect they buy or attempt to buy from different countries, changing their ebay address each time to get around the sellers' rules.


texts: Difference between a trust and trustee in a trading trust?

texts:
In my commercial law class, the teacher said that a trust carries out the operations of a trading trust while the trustee is responsible for the day to day activities.
Aren't both of those things the same? What's the difference between a trust and trustee in a trading trust?


texts: Can I register current vehicle on another state for my wife to use it and buy another in the state I am currently In?

texts:
I currently stay and work in Texas and own a vehicle which is titled and registered in Texas. My wife is in West Virginia currently working. Due to some circumstances, she couldn't get a car there. For this reason I am planning to register a current vehicle that I own in West Virginia which will be on my name and let her use and thinking of getting a new car for me in Texas.

My question is: Is it legal and what are the things I need to consider if it is legal?

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you in advance.