texts: Legality of absolving martial arts class of responsibility if injury or death occurs?

texts:
Although people sign a declaration before skydiving, that they are aware they may die, the parachuting center can still be charged for manslaughter if the parachute doesn't open.

Does the same apply for martial arts classes?

This is the clause mentioned in the "Liability waiver" section of a martial arts class application form. Am not mentioning which martial art it is. Will just name it X.

  I am applying for instruction in martial arts activities involving
  strenuous exercise and personal body contact. I understand that
  because of this there is always an inherent risk of injury that cannot
  be eliminated. As a condition of being admitted to train in X at
  any training premises, I assume the risk of all injuries, losses and
  damages and do hereby hold the training center, its instructors and
  agents or persons otherwise connected with the X classes harmless from
  any and all liability (including legal costs) for all claims, actions
  or damages due to injuries, losses or damage suffered by me or caused
  to a third party by me during the course of X training, or arising out
  of the activities of the X classes, or any other activities occurring
  on the premises of the training facilities or elsewhere. I have
  been given the opportunity to seek legal advice regarding the terms of
  this document.

Even if there is a good amount of discipline during classes, if a student waives liability, that gives opportunity for a rogue student or egoistic or inexperienced master to do whatever they please. They can be rough. They can injure the student and claim that the student was not observant or quick enough.

Is it wise to sign such a document as-is or can I scratch off any of the conditions there, write a counter condition and sign at the side of the sheet? An example of a counter condition would be "...unless otherwise proven by witnesses that the injury/death was caused by negligence on the part of the student/instructor".

I also felt the sentence "damage suffered by me or caused to a third party by me during the course of X training, or arising out of the activities of the X classes, or any other activities occurring on the premises of the training facilities or elsewhere." was too ambiguous.


texts:
A public European school has an IT department with a person responsible for all mail related tasks, including the mail server.

Once that responsible sent an incriminatory email to a specific group of teachers, that use email accounts where the content is stored in the school mail server.

One of the teachers from the target group replied. From the content of the reply one can see what the responsible said initially is nonsense.

Then, the responsible deleted all the emails initially sent.

Is this allowed?


texts: Is there a term for a set of laws where breaking one results in breaking others?

texts:
Is there a term for laws or regulations that are written to refer to other rules in the set such that breaking one also breaks other laws?
An example is easiest way to show what I am describing:

Always drive at or less than 25 mph
Always follow rule #1
Follow all rules in this set

In this case, if one drives 30 mph, it breaks rule #1. However, it also breaks rules #2 and #3. Is this allowed? Is there a legal term to argue against it?


texts:
I added products to my digital "shopping cart" worth $700, I was going to pay for it and I'd filled in my adres and completed the form, however the site immediately directed me to the final phase of payment without actually paying for it, I got an email of verification.

Do they actually have to ship their products to me and under what conditions?


texts:
My 19 year old step daughter attended a party in Illinois. One kid slipped a pill in her drink which caused her to have a heart attack and die.
After watching this play out, this boy didn't even bother to seek  any medical aid for her, such as calling 911 or alerting that she would need help. He just left her all alone to die.
What charges could he face in the event the police find him and file charges?


texts:
We are a sports website covering news and have found a user on YouTube copying our written content and images and pasting it in whole in their videos.

We have put in a copyright claim and got some videos taken down but they have put in a counter claim saying it is fair use and they will Sir is if we don’t remove the initial claim.

Where do we stand on this as they are using 100% of our article content including images and not even putting in any original content of their own.


texts: What are my legal risks if I break a non-competition agreement with my current employer? (UK)

texts:
My contract says I cannot work for a competitor of my current employer upon termination of the contract and six months thereafter. There are no remedies mentioned in the contract.

I work in a small field of cyber-security and there are not many companies in this field in the UK. I never really paid attention to this section nor imagined it would be enforced but now coming to accept an offer from a competitor.

My role in the current company, they would argue, is substantial and I'm exposed to critical business decisions however I am not an executive and do not sit on the board.

Assuming I will go ahead and move to a competitor:

What legal risks am I exposed to?
What legal risks would my new employer would be exposed to (if any)?
Am I required to notify the new employer on the issue?


texts: Is it illegal for criminal defendant to approach the prosecution witnesses?

texts:
Is there any law that prevents criminal defendants (where they are remanded at large or on bail without corresponding conditions) or their lawyers from talking to the prosecution witnesses?
I note that s 8(1)(a)(ii) of the Bail Act 2000 says:

In considering whether there is just cause for continued detention,
the court must take into account ... whether there is a risk that ...
the defendant may interfere with witnesses or evidence

(emphasis added)
— which sort of implies that defendants cannot approach witnesses.
Also, the Giving Evidence guideline from the Ministry of Justice says at page 3:

If the defendant or anyone else tries to contact you or hassles you
about being a witness and about your evidence, contact the police or
the lawyer handling the case immediately.

Notwithstanding with all the above, I am struggling to find a law that would make it illegal for the defence or defendant to approach prosecution witnesses and talk. What am I missing?


texts: Where to register a DBA (company Doing Business As) name?

texts:
This question is about a company that is a Delaware corporation but which does business in California (has offices there, and sells to customers there).

If that company wanted to use a DBA, would the DBA need to be registered in Delaware, California, or both?

Also, in which county/counties in each state should the DBA be registered?


texts: Is it legal to name open-source software after established entities? (Bands, video game characters, etc.)

texts: Title says it all - is it legal for me to create an open-source video game engine, or any other open-source software, and name it after an established band, person or video game character?


texts: Large YouTuber: Copyright Lawsuit vs Fair Use

texts:
A channel with close to 1.5-million subscribers on YouTube, H3H3Productions, is being sued on the grounds that their video infringes another author's copyright.

Their channel essentially reviews other YouTube videos in the form of satire, mockery, and comedy. I've been watching them for over 6-months, so first-and-foremost I'm a fan. But after having thought about this situation for a few days, I'm not entirely sure if the lawsuit is unfair. In H3H3 videos, they don't just show small clips or images from videos that they make fun of; they show almost the entire work of the targeted author's video but in the form of small clips.

The format is essentially:

Show a clip/segment of the other person's video
Pause said clip
Change scene from the reviewed video to H3H3 making commnetary on that particular clip/segment
Pick up where you left off on the video and show the next 5-10 seconds
Rinse and repeat

From watching their videos, I'd estimate that H3H3 shows at least half of the other author's video more than 95% of the time. To be honest, when I watch the original work (which is rare) or have happened to see it before hand, I'd say that H3H3 uses more than 75% of the video they review within their own video.

H3H3 is claiming in their defense that the grounds of Fair Use is in their defense and thus does not breach any copyright. Does it?


texts: Hong Kong law; terminating tenancy after 1 day of renting due to bad neighborhood

texts:
We have signed a contract with an agent in Hong Kong for 6 months. As I understand it's not possible to terminate a contract legally in most cases in Hong Kong. Is there any law around this in the following case:

A couple moving in
6 months rent
Agent did not mention there is a prostitute place inside the same building
We signed the contract yesterday so e.g. stamp duty has not been paid


texts: Disputing Tenancy Deposit Scheme Adjudication Decisions

texts:
After years of complaining about the lack of care the landlord had for the property I was renting from them I finally got served an eviction notice.

I moved out, and 2 weeks later because of terms in the tenancy agreement I was still renting the property but there was a water leak from a bathroom pipe.

I was issued a demand for £4,500 worth of damage to the property which would partially be covered by the deposit which i refused to pay.

I went to my insurance company who told me that they would sort everything out until the landlord claimed that I had deliberately damaged the pipe in the bathroom.

At this point the Insurance company offered me only advice but would not handle the case.

I raised a dispute with the tenancy deposit scheme in order to recover my deposit giving lots of evidence showing that I had continuously complained about the bathroom the whole of of the time I had been living there, at one point the landlord sent their brother in law to fit a whole new bathroom (poorly I might add) and yet all of this was shot down by the adjudicator with the reason being ...

The landlords report states that I damaged the pipe so due to "the balance of probabilities" I was in breach of my tenancy agreement and my full deposit has been awarded to the landlord to cover renovation costs.

I am also aware the landlord intends to sue me for the rest of the cost I refused to pay outside of the adjudication process.

My understanding (which may be wrong) ...

In a civil case the law seems to state that if I am "probably at fault" (in this case, I had a set of keys which appears to be enough to implicate me) then I likely am liable.

In a Criminal case it would have to be certain that I did indeed cause the damage and proof to that nature would need to be provided in order for me to be deemed liable.

So, my question is ...

Given that the landlord claims I "criminally damaged" their property but never provided a single shred of evidence to back this up what can I do to fight this with no help from my insurer?

... or ...

Is there some way I can force this in to a criminal court or in the event that this can't be forced that way perhaps force my insurer to step in and help?


texts: Why are photos of people in public blurred?

texts: If one has no reasonable expectation of privacy while out in public, why are faces so often blurred out in photos and video? For example, on Google Earth.


texts: How best to extend UK Partner Visa from U.S.?

texts:
I have a UK partner Visa that is expiring on June 13, 2019. I am a U.S. citizen currently living in NYC. My partner is British and we have a 2.5 year old son.

What is the best (easiest and most cost effective) way to renew my Partner Visa? I have not worked in the UK since February 2017. A job might be opening up there and I've indicated that I do not require sponsorship.


texts: How far does copyright go in creature design?

texts:
I'm trying to make some dragons for my game and I'm wondering how far I can go with inspiration before I get in trouble.

Obviously, I can't just take a picture and make a 3D model that looks exactly like the picture. But what about taking ideas? For example this dragon has these iconic red fins on his neck and his tail and now I'm wondering if I could use similar fins on my own dragon or if that's getting me into legal hell.

I tried to google for Creature Design copyright but I could not find anything. Maybe someone here got some resources where I can find more info about that?


texts: Do cases of Jury Nullification set precedent?

texts:
After reading the answers from this question, What is jury nullification?, I was wondering if cases of Jury Nullification would set legal precedent within a given jurisdiction.

For example, a legal system with three tiers. a jury-trial found the defendant guilty at the first level, then the case was appealed to the second, where the jury (via nullification) acquitted. Would a similar case brought to the first level have to follow the precedent set by the higher court, or is there judicial discretion available when it comes to case precedent?


texts: Legal documents confirming previous/maiden name (uk)

texts:
My wife is enrolling at university, however her previous qualifications were earned whilst she had her maiden name. They say they want to see a marriage certificate to confirm the name change, but we've just moved house and can't find it anywhere.

Assuming the university will accept any legal documents confirming the change in name, what is the easiest/fastest/cheapest option? Would a marriage certificate reissue be the only option?

Thanks.


texts: Is it illegal to listen to Air Traffic Control transmissions in the UK?

texts:
According to Is it illegal for Joe Public to listen to ATC in the UK? over on Aviation.SE, although aviation transmissions are broadcast publicly, in the clear, unencrypted; it is illegal to listen to them live on a scanner or such.

What law prohibits this? I believe it dates to WWII fears of spies. I also believe the UK is the only country with such a law. You can freely listen to New York's JFK or Amsterdam Schiphol's ATC without a problem.

Has anybody been successfully prosecuted under this law?


texts: Can a single act by tried as different crimes (or different versions of the same crime) in different jurisdictions, to bypass double jeopardy?

texts:
Sparked by this comment:

  @Raven That is impossible. The crimes at the state and federal level are ?different crimes, enacted by different sovereigns and punishing offenses against different sovereigns. While they may cover substantially similar conduct, they are different offenses. There is nothing whatsoever tying the two statutes together, and no reason why a decision by the US Congress about a federal crime would change sentences for similar state crimes. That's not how US federalism works -- the two sentences were never connected. – cpast Nov 4 '15 at 4:59

If as cpast contends, federal and state crimes are different, can one be tried for the same act on different charges and not violate double jeopardy? On the same charges in different courts?

I've tagged this as US, due to double jeopardy being the main question, but anywhere else that has similar restrictions (and presumably a federalist judiciary) is also welcome.


texts: Do I need to accept House restrictions/rules?

texts: If I become member of a fitness center online and I accepted the general terms and conditions, but they did not mention house rules, am I legally accountable if I violate them and maybe more import, am I allowed to quit the contract if otherwise I would be bound to it for 1 year?


texts: Breaking stuff while doing someone a favor

texts:
Am I less responsible/liable for stuff that I break while doing someone a favor, and neither doing anything intentional to cause the break nor being negligent?

For example:

someone on the street asks you to take a picture of them with their phone. You drop the phone and cause a visible damage.
some friend asks you to drive his car since he's intoxicated. You haven't drunk and his home is near yours. In the way home you crash the car by being slightly inattentive and wrongly calculating the braking distance.


texts: Does any Florida statute preclude unlicensed contractors from building improvements on condo common area?

texts:
The Florida DBPR jurisdiction includes prosecution of unlicensed activity including building contractors.
Assume a significant nontrivial improvement in the form of a bulkhead is built for the purpose of supporting an embankment (small hill leading to drainage ditch) or supporting other existing structure upon which people may walk on and is the common area of a condominium. Said improvement is built on the common area owned by a condominium association.
QUESTION
Is there any Florida statute (case law example is appreciated) that precludes an unlicensed contractors to build non-trivial improvements, such as the example provided?


texts: What constitutes "contempt of court orders" in relation to a family judge's final decision and Rule 69 Agreements?

texts: Given a scenario where a judge in Arizona Family Court submits a final ruling that orders any modifications of parenting-time be required to go through mediation and given that one party demonstrates the intent to go through mediation instead of Rule 69, can an opposing counsel be found in contempt of the court's ruling?


texts: Could marriage of two people who share a half sibling but do not share parents constitute incest?

texts:
Suppose that two parents have a child named Sam before divorcing. Sam's father then marries another woman and has a daughter, Daisy, while Sam's mother marries another man and has a son, Matthew.

Because Sam shares a parent with each of them, Matthew and Daisy are both his half siblings. However, Matthew and Daisy are not siblings in any way, for they do not share any parents nor do they share stepparents.

Could Matthew and Daisy legally get married and have children if they are living in a state where incest is illegal? Would this count as incest at all?

I would also like to know if there is a term for Matthew and Daisy's relation to each other. (Quarter siblings? Some type of cousin?)


texts:
This video explaining this wikipedia article says that possessing a particular number can be illegal.  Is this true?

From the article (internal links and formatting removed):

  An illegal prime is a prime number that represents information whose possession or distribution is forbidden in some legal jurisdiction. One of the first illegal primes was found in 2001. When interpreted in a particular way, it describes a computer program that bypasses the digital rights management scheme used on DVDs. Distribution of such a program in the United States is illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. An illegal prime is a kind of illegal number.


texts:
What kind of legal philosophy states that rights and duties (law) derive from facts?

(In German SOLLEN for the former and SEIN for the latter.)


texts: Under which legislation was the NYC travel ban during the Jan 2016 blizzard permitted?

texts:
On 23rd January 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a travel ban on New York City roads as a safety measure ahead of heavy snow. James O'Neill, NYPD Chief of Department, stated that people violating this ban would be arrested.

What law(s) allow this ban to be imposed? Is there anywhere online I can read more about it, or view the exact wording? I'm interested in understanding the circumstances under which such a travel ban can be imposed, and what measures are in place to prevent the abuse or overuse of such bans. I'm also interested in understanding any arguments that may have been made about how the health/safety benefits of this ban outweigh the costs of restricting individual freedoms.

I've looked around online to no avail - Wikipedia's page on Freedom of movement under United States law doesn't mention it, and I can find information on bills to exempt certain parties from the legislation, but this doesn't seem to lead me to the law itself.


texts: How to create wholly proprietary (private) software license

texts:
This should be obvious, but I searched for a while and could not come up with a definitive answer:

What license should I use if I don't want software to be shared at all?

Let me explain the use case:

We are creating a software product that is partly being licensed to our client, but there are other parts which we do not want to be licensed or shared at all.  We want it to be proprietary.  I understand that we can and should simply hide it.  That is what we're planning on doing.  But I would also like to establish a license somewhere to explicitly say that everything associated with the packages under this area are not to be shared, and if they somehow came across it, that was mistaken.

(I.e., while keeping things secret is best, at least letting folks know they should never have seen it is a nice fallback.)

I am not a lawyer, and have until now always been able to use some sort of open source license or simply avoided a license since it was clear the software would always remain private.


texts: Is it a fault if an item cannot be repaired?

texts:
In the UK (and the rest of the EU), if you buy an item as a consumer, the seller is responsible for the item working for a reasonable amount of time. That time runs out eventually, and then you have to pay for a repair yourself. For example, a computer might be expected to work for two years.

However, even after two years I expect that I can repair the item (at my own expense) to use it for longer. If it turns out that a 26 month old item cannot be repaired anymore, can I successfully claim that this is a fault on its own, that this fault ("cannot be repaired after two years") was present when the item was purchased, and that the reasonable time that a computer can be repaired is significantly longer than two years?


texts: Not able go back to China with a B2 Tourist visa

texts: My relatives came to America from China (not Wuhan) in the middle of January, and they have a B2 tourist visa, meaning that they can only stay in the US for 6 months. They had planned to return at the end of the Chinese New Year holiday, but they are stuck here after their flight to China was canceled. Now, they have applied for many flights, but they were all canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Their B2 tourist visa will expire soon, but they cannot leave. What should they do? Should they go to a court, or will this be automatically excused by the US?


texts: Why ought a third-party promisee to a contract make his claim in the alternative?

texts:
Paul Davies. JC Smith's The Law of Contract (2018 2 ed). p. 135.

How's the red underline true? How's "third parties" ambiguous? The textbook refers to the Introduction that doesn't define "third parties", but Section 1 does:

  (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person who is not a party to a contract (a “third party”) may in his own right enforce a term of the contract if—

I don't understand why "C, when he is a promisee, would be well advised
to make his claim in the alternative." Wouldn't judges follow the Law Commission's standpoint as I underlined in purple? Davies doesn't expatiate why courts wouldn't?


texts: Are universities legally allowed to adjust, or deny private loans?

texts:
I'm curious about my rights to my own private loan. (Co-signed by my brother) After getting my tuition and fees, I took out a loan to cover the remaining costs after aid.

I do live with my parents - however, they purchased a car and cell phone in my name and then told me that I must pay for it myself. And because those bills are attached to me, my credit will obviously go down if I don't pay them. My parents do not support my living at all, even though I live with them.

With that being said, I also have to add on car bill, gas, groceries, etc onto that private loan. I do not have time for a job, as I am taking 18 credit hours. So I desperately need the money in order to survive while going to school.

Now, my school is denying my loan with the amount that I am asking for. They told me that if I want to take out that loan then they will only accept it if I reduce it.

In my own personal opinion, they do not know the circumstances of my financial/home life, therefore shouldn't have any say in what I take out of a private loan. I am not doing this to buy clothes, unnecessary things, or anything that isn't absolutely needed. Which I have explained to them, but they do not care.

I tried to search for any laws about private loans, but I am not an expert in law at all.

Could somebody please help me? If you know anything about whether or not they are even allowed to do this, that would be helpful.


texts: What are the restrictions for sales to raise revenue for non-profits?

texts: We are located in New Jersey USA and are considering forming a non-profit for Internet based on-line health care and consulting.  We are not involved in politics and will not be making any political contributions.  What are the restrictions in sales of services and diagnostic products if any?  Also, what are the restrictions on salaries, benefits, and bonuses?  We are thinking of 501c3 but are flexible.


texts: Can we write anything in a Terms & Conditions agreement?

texts:
I'm wondering if anything can be written in Terms & Conditions agreements and, if some rules apply, what are they (preferably in the EU)?

There's this famous South Park episode HUMANCENTiPAD where characters agree EULA without even reading them and end-up in a really bad, but legal, situation.

This example is of course exaggerated but let's say there's a Free Wifi somewhere and connecting to it shows me a page where I have to accept Terms and Conditions to be able to access the whole web.

Can they legally write some terms like spying on user's traffic, reading messages, save credentials for later use, etc.?

Or are these kinds of terms abusive, thus wouldn't legally be valid in such agreement?

If they're considered as abusive, where are the rules defined to flag a clause as such?

Thanks for your answer.


texts: Firearm ownership after an involuntary mental health commitment

texts:
Seven years ago, I was involuntarily committed by court order for a mental health issue. However, it was a one-time occurrence, I have not been hospitalized since, and I've made a full recovery. Can I legally purchase a firearm? The following sources give conflicting information. According to this article, you are only disqualified if you are currently under any court order for involuntary treatment. Therefore, at least according to this information, I should be able to pass a background check.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/08/05/michigan-gun-control-ohio-texas-shootings/1919891001/

"State and federal laws bar certain other people of legal age from legally buying handguns, including anyone not a citizen or legal resident, anyone under a court order of involuntary mental health treatment or deemed legally incapacitated under state law, and anyone subject to a domestic personal protection order under state law."

However, according to 18 USC 922 (d),

"It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person... (4) has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution."

I hope that a few mistakes in my twenties don't permanently disqualify me from owning a gun, and I wish federal law didn't treat all mental health commitments the same. But there is no requirement for states to report their involuntary commitments to NICS. If I do fail a background check, do any states allow you to appeal the decision by providing a letter from a psychiatrist stating that you no longer suffer from a mental health condition?


texts: Does Sunday work requires a permit in Italy?

texts:
One of the episodes of Top Gear (Series 18, Episode 1), where they're testing some supercars in Italy, involves them being stopped by the police officers.

The characters feared speeding; turns out, they were stopped for working on a Sunday without a permit!  (Only in Italy!)

Is it true that you need some kind of a special permit to work on a Sunday in Italy?

P.S. Prompted by the comment in Do you need to obey an obstructed traffic sign?


texts: Web Application and its Copyrights classification

texts:
I wanted to know the facts behind the Web Application Hosting and its classification respective to copyrights. I know the streaming of Video / Audio over Internet its comes under OTT (over-the-top) i.e., Internet Broadcasting.
I wanted to know the Website (Static/Dynamic web application) Hosting and consuming its comes under the broadcast or Internet Broadcast or from which classification? especially in India and European countries.
No where was it clearly defined.


texts: I signed a non-refundable contract for a group stay at the Westin Grand Berlin for May 8, 2020. The group had to cancel the trip due to COVID-19 pandemic. The hotel sent me an invoice for the balance and threaten to forward it to their legal department if it's not paid immediately. Germany closed their boarders and does not allow tourists into the country. Can they sue me for the payment?


texts:
I'm a bit confused by the usage of the phrase "common law" on this site. The Wikipedia article initially describes it as an abstract concept. The first paragraph reads:

  Common law (also known as case law or precedent) is law developed by
  judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals that decide
  individual cases, as opposed to statutes adopted through the
  legislative process or regulations issued by the executive branch.

Later on, the phrase also seems to refer to a specific body of English law established by court precedent:

  Common law originated during the Middle Ages in England,[7] and from
  there was propagated to the colonies of the British Empire [..]

This is more consistent with what I'm seeing on this site where specific laws are being cited as part of common law. So my understanding is that the phrase "common law" can refer to either the concept of laws established by court precedent or it can refer to a specific body of laws that have been established that way.

What confuses me now is the relationship between common law in different countries. I usually see the phrase being used here simply as "common law" without qualification such as "U.K. common law" or "Virginia common law".

Should I just be inferring that from context? Is there a single body of "common law"? Are there distinct bodies of "U.K. common law" and "U.S. common law" for example? If so, how are they related? Do judges in common law countries cite court decisions in other common law countries?


texts:
When their father died, my wife and her two siblings inherited a townhouse in northern Philadelphia. All of them lived outside of Pennsylvania so they were thinking about renting out the property.

There was however some concerns about the overall condition of the house and uncertainties about their legal responsibilities if they become landlords. So until now they have not gotten the house to what they felt was a suitable condition for renting it out.

They did however find out a couple of days ago when one of their friends visited the property that the padlocks had been changed and that there seemed to be squatters in the house.

The question I needed to ask:

What legal processes need to be followed, if any, to get squatters out of a house in Philadelphia?


texts: UK Ambiguous Contract and Debt Collection

texts:
In the UK, if a service provider interprets a contract in a way believed to be unfair by the consumer (say for arguments sake they believe the consumer owes them £50), are they allowed to immediately try to recover the debt or must they go to court first?

If it is true they must go to court, do they have to notify the consumer and give them the opportunity to defend themselves?


texts: Indepdendent/Contractor vs Regular Employee

texts:
I was about to ask another question but think I should start at the basics. What exactly does it mean to be working as a contractor? Many jobs require you to sign some contract (e.g. non disclosure agreement, non-compete) but this isn't considered contract work. Also, is a freelancer considered a contractor?

I ask because many (labor) laws are different for regular employees vs contractors. For example in free lance contracts, what's the point of this:

(example from https://www.pandadoc.com/freelance-contract-template)

  Independent Contractor. Nothing contained in this Contract shall
  create an employer and employee relationship, a master and servant
  relationship, or a principal and agent relationship between Freelancer
  and Customer. Customer and Freelancer agree that Freelancer is, and at
  all times during this Contract shall remain, an independent
  contractor.

What does mean independent with regards to contractor?


texts: If a copyrighted article is published in a copyrighted platform, then who own the copyright?

texts:
For example, this article Law and Ideology is posted in the platform Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. In the bottom of the article it cites:

Copyright © 2019 by Christine Sypnowich christine.sypnowich@queensu.ca

And in the bottom of the site it says:

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is copyright © 2016 by The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), Stanford University

So who has copyright of this article? I guess the author, not the site's owner, but is this correct? Does the site's owner have any right on the article, besides being allowed to post or retract the article on the site? Can the site's owner use the article or grant permission for others to use it (e.g. to translate it) on behalf of the author?


texts: What are the Limits to what is Legally Binding

texts:
Awhile ago, a lot of news outlets reported on how the agreement between Martin Shkreli and the Wu Tang Clan regarding their sale of the only copy of their album included the (supposed) wording:

  The buying party also agrees that, at any time during the stipulated 88 year period, the seller may legally plan and attempt to execute one (1) heist or caper to steal back Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which, if successful, would return all ownership rights to the seller.

Assuming a contract did have wording in it similar to this, would this be legally binding? In a more broad sense, what are the limits--if any--to what can be legally binding within a contract?


texts: What happens if a murder occurs in space?

texts:
Let's say that there's a joint mission to the International Space Station, composed of American and British astronauts.

They get along well for the first few days, but tensions grow, and eventually an American crew member kills a one of the British group.

How would the investigation and trial be conducted? Who would investigate? What court would the defendant be tried in?

Is there some kind of "space rulebook" that spells out what to do with murder, or crime in general?


texts: Legal protections for an expired email domain

texts:
Recently, there was a question on Information Security which asked what could be done to protect the confidentiality of his contacts in the case that his custom email domain expires and someone else registers it. If this happens, the new registrant will be able to receive these emails. Because this was asked on the Information Security Stack Exchange, I was only able to provide a technical answer which boiled down to "there's nothing you can do short of not letting the domain expire", but I now wonder if there isn't a legal option that could be pursued as a last resort.
Is there any potential legal remedy which OP could use in the case that someone registers his domain, sets up an MX record, and begins receiving confidential emails intended for OP?


texts: Can a city hire someone to mow my grass (against my wishes)?

texts:
Recently the city sent a crew to mow my grass without notifying me or giving me any advance notice of any kind.  Did they violate my rights by sending these people without my permission? (Details below)

My front yard was in full compliance with local ordinance of 6" and below grass length.  My backyard was in violation.  I woke up to an individual walking past by back window.  Important note: my backyard is not accessible from the front without the gate being unlatched from the backyard.  I could not communicate with any of the individuals who "serviced" my yard. I did manage to figure out they were hired by the city, mostly from the bill they sent me.

Edit- City billed me directly (Bryan, TX). Bill lines up with "services" provided and address on city website.


texts: How frequently must one use controlled substances to be considered a user of that substance?

texts:
Specifically I'm referring to the NICS background check for buying a gun, but if other laws have other standards I'm interested in them as well.
If I took one puff off a marijuana cigarette at a concert 10 years ago, am I user?  What if that concert was yesterday instead?
If I smoked habitually 10 years ago, but haven't had a puff since, am I a user?
I know practically it would usually be impossible to prove someone took one puff a decade ago, but that doesn't change the legality of marking "No" on that question on the NICS check.
I ask because NY just legalized recreational marijuana, but the Feds still haven't, so many New Yorkers may be unwittingly lying when buying guns.


texts:
If a user refuses cookies on a website, then how can that website store that refusal? As far as I can tell, the GDPR requires you to store both consent to and refusal of personal data storage. But it seems to me that there is a catch 22 here: they specifically refused the storage of their data, and now the website is supposed to store that somehow.

How can you store that information in a compliant way?

My initial thought is to use a cookie, but would that be non-compliant? They did just refuse the storage of cookies on their device... And if I store it in a database somewhere, how am I supposed to associate that refusal with that user if I can't store personal information?

According to the accepted answer to this question, you can use a userId or some such. But first of all that is in the context of consenting, not refusing, to cookies; secondly, if that identifier is associated with a user, then by definition it is personal data (right?) and therefore storing that information would be non-compliant.

Regarding the storage of consent, is it enough to store that in a cookie on the user's device or do you really need to store it in a database somewhere? That really seems superfluous to me.


texts: My former employer is threatening to sue me

texts:
I live in Kampala, Uganda and for the past eight months, I was doing software development for a local company since late February this year.

Last month I resigned from my position and my employer seemed fine with it until recently when he started threatening to sue me if I don't write the remaining documentation for the projects I handled while in office.

I presume my contract expired some time back although my boss insists and says the contract is auto-renewed.
Previously, I requested that my contract be renewed but he said it wasn't necessary unless I wanted to leave the company.

  Consultancy Period: From 18th, February 2019 until 30th, May 2019 renewed every three months up to March 2020.

Does this clause mean the contract is auto-renewed as he said?

I didn't sign renewal or a new contract with him after May 30th


texts: Closed Source License with No Liability?

texts:
I’m writing a closed source program with a small group of people. We will be distributing it without the code, but I’m worried about two things:

If my program deletes the user’s files or causes any damage of any type, my team and I don’t want to be in legal trouble. Since it includes a web server we don’t want to get in trouble if the server breaks or goes down, causing business problems or anything else.
If the source code is leaked in any way, I want to not permit anyone who comes across it to distribute it. If that’s not possible, I don’t want anyone to distribute it modified.

Are there any rock-solid licenses that will solve these problems? I’m in the United States, but hopefully it would be applicable elsewhere. Sorry if this the wrong site, please transfer it if it is.


texts: Liability for selling electronics on eBay

texts:
Say I want to sell my computer on eBay. I'll make a profit and report the profit to state/IRS. No problem there.

What happens if the buyer makes a claim that it fried his cat or any personal injury / property damage claim? Am I personally liable in that they could sue and I could lose my car, etc.? Or is there a limit to potential liability?

Thank you!


texts: Is photographing or recording a person without their consent a “nuisance or annoyance”?

texts:
I am interested in the answer in general, but also particularly interested in how Western Australia’s Public Transport Authority Regulations 2003 section 13 would apply:

A person who acts in such a way as to cause a nuisance or annoyance to persons in or on a conveyance or a facility commits an offence.

According to an article by Australia’s national broadcaster, Backyard skinny-dippers lack effective laws to keep peeping drones at bay:

Ms Hyatt had returned home last week from an evening gym session, undressed and jumped into her secluded backyard pool.
She thought she was "skinny-dipping" in private. Within minutes, though, a small camera-mounted quadcopter drone was hovering close overhead.
Ms Hyatt is certain it was watching her …
…
If it happens again she can't prove it is the same drone — as would be needed to apply nuisance, harassment and stalking laws — nor the intentions of the operator.
…
With no regulatory agency, no tort of privacy, (nearly) no nuisance and inapplicable harassment and stalking laws, there isn't much law when it comes to peeping Toms using drones around our homes and private spaces.

Although this article mainly discusses drones, it is clear that it is really about recording using drones. As far as I can tell, the legal analysis should also apply to other forms of recording (or at least other forms of recording that are less intrusive than drones). This makes it sound like the answer is (nearly) “no”, at least in Australia.
But a Western Australian PTA Transit Officer (these officers have similar powers to police on public transport, so they surely receive legal training) told me the answer is “yes”.


texts: Is it legal for a shop to deny sale of age-restricted products to someone who shows two valid forms of I.D.?

texts:
I've read that a shop can refuse for any reason but I have a suspicion this may be discrimination in my case.
I'm a 23yr old black guy and I live in Ireland. I'm frequently told by family, friends, etc... that I don't even look over 18yrs old and look to be in my teens.
This has led me to getting denied alcohol in a store twice even with a valid identification. The first time this happened was when I was 19yrs old and the shop assistant asked me for another form of I.D. I didn't have it, so she refused the sale.
Ever since then I started carrying around my Irish passport as an I.D. and so far, it has worked. But last week I wanted to buy nicotine gum, which is age-restricted. I showed the sales assistant my age card and she didn't believe me, so I showed her my passport and she said that she still couldn't accept it.
Surely that has to be discrimination, right? I was even told by a manager in another Tesco that I would be fine with two forms of valid I.D.


texts: If I pay a disputed amount to my landlord, can I later sue in Small Claims Court?

texts:
California Small Claims/Landlord question:
My landlord has withheld my security deposit upon move out, and claims I owe additional charges for cleaning the apartment.  I've disputed these and plan to sue in Small Claims to get the deposit back.  However, due to the ongoing pandemic, I won't be able to show up in person for court until next year (Statute of Limitations is 4 years).
If I pay the amount my landlord claims is owed ($350), will I still be able to sue for the security deposit later?  I'd like to avoid this debt being sent to collections and having my credit score harmed, and possibly harming my ability to rent a new apartment in the future.


texts: I have this car that I don't technically have the title for because the person I purchased it from filled out the title like we had a $200 lien on the car (we paid cash outright) and now I can't get in contact with the person who I purchased the car from. I sent a certified letter and tried calling for months. The car has been broken down for years and has just been stuck in our driveway.  How do I get rid of the car?


texts: when is order of protection included in one's records?

texts: In doing a background check on a person when will an old order of protection be discovered, and when will it not be?  Perhaps it is based upon the reason generating it or some formal wording inside the order?


texts: Is it legal to point a domain to someone else's ip (website)?

texts:
The question is pretty straightforward: Is it legal to point a domain on the web to someone else's ip (website)?

The domain owner is not actually copying the content, but just opening the website in his or her own domain.

The resolution happens in the USA and the domain was bought at Google Domains


texts: What is the label associated with AirBNB?

texts: How does one write no AirBNB into a rental contract that AirBNB or the like is forbidden?  Is this merely a form of subleasing?  Assume a venue of Florida.


texts: Does EU geoblocking apply to businesses outside EU?

texts:
This
: https://support.stripe.com/questions/eu-geo-blocking-regulation-changes
states that EU has passed a law preventing geoblocking .Does this
apply to businesses outside EU. It is favourable to block the whole of the EU because of GDPR.


texts: If someone under investigation is told they are not a "Criminal Target", what are the ways that they can later become one?

texts:
Background

Back on April 3rd, the Washington Post reported that Donald Tump was not a Criminal Target in Special Council Mueller's probe.

  Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III informed President Trump’s
  attorneys last month that he is continuing to investigate the
  president but does not consider him a criminal target at this point,
  according to three people familiar with the discussions.

I was curious as to whether one can become a criminal target after they are told that they are not one.  The post states that Legal Experts speak of one way:

  A subject could become a target with his or her own testimony, legal
  experts warn.

Question

Given that someone under investigation has been told that they are not a Criminal Target of a probe, what are other events, circumstances, statements, legal actions, etc. would then make someone a Criminal Target?


texts: Is it normal for German Landlords to intercept internet traffic?

texts:
After reading https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/136543/landlord-will-be-watching-my-data-traffic-as-mentioned-in-the-lease-agreement I was wondering if this realy is common in germany?

From the answer:

  I would say that the restrictions are pretty standard for Germany.

Is it?


texts: Incorporate in Delaware with similar name

texts: Is it allowed & advisable to name our Delaware C-Corp JOURNAL INC (without a period after Inc) if JOURNAL INC. (with a period after Inc) is already registered? JOURNAL is a made up name here, but our preferred company name is also generic.


texts: Why hasn't Hastert's blackmailer been charged with a crime?

texts:
Under U.S. federal law, blackmail is a crime.  We know that former US Congress member Dennis Hastert was being blackmailed by someone, and we also know he commited the crime he was being blackmailed for.  That person is actually suing Hastert for full payment of the blackmail money.  How can this be legal?

While what happened to the victim is horrible, blackmail itself is horrible, and shouldn't be tolerated in a free society.  Why hasn't this been investigated?


texts: What are your legal responsibilities after the police have been called?

texts:
I was placed in an awkward situation recently where our neighbor called the cops on us. For reference sake, he was calling regarding a suspected domestic disturbance which occurred in the home behind ours, and he misidentified our home. However after he confronted me about it - he said he was going to call the cops (which he proceeded to do in front of me). When I began leaving he said it was a crime to leave.

I am aware that in certain situations (such as car accidents, or as the person who called 911) you may need to remain at the scene until speaking with police. However, I was unable to find information regarding situations where there is no immediate threat or crime that has been observed.

My question - What are your legal responsibilities when having the police called on you?


texts: guidelines for using fragments of film within other film

texts:
I'm writing a screenplay where a character is obsessed with a movie, and I want to show him watching this movie three times, each scene includes a segment of about a 60 seconds.
What would be the general guidelines in terms of copyright?
Can someone show a certain portion of an existing movie in another movie without having to negotiate copyright?
The jurisdiction would be USA.


texts:
This question comes specifically from a particular example. Within Ethics for the Information Age (Quinn), 5th Edition, there is a chapter on Intellectual Property, and while most of it is well-explained, this section on fair use confuses me:

Fair use Example #2
An art professor takes slide photographs of a number of paintings reproduced in
a book about Renaissance artists. She uses the slides in her class lectures.

In this example, it is ruled that the professor's slides are most likely not fair use, because

even if the original painting is in the public domain, the photograph of the painting appearing in the art book is probably copyrighted.

This leads me to my question: How can a photograph of a painting be a derivative work, and not a reproduction? As far as I can reason, there is absolutely nothing being added to the art, except possibly some filters or lighting differences, but without receiving any specifics to that end, I find this difficult to rationalize.
I'm not arguing whether photography in general is copyrightable, naturally, but I am questioning how a photo taken of a public domain piece, without modification and presumably appearing almost identical to the original work, can be considered derivative.


texts: Can a software contractor be indemnified against HIPAA?

texts:
I'm an independent developer. My client's app manages PHI for US based patient, which means HIPAA rules apply.

From what I understand, HIPAA sees my client's company is the covered entity, and I am a business associate. What my client didn't tell me, and I only recently found out, is that according to the Final Omnibus update, this means I need to be HIPAA compliant too, and am directly liable for fines and lawsuits in case of a data breach, which could be huge sums.

Is there any way that I, as a contractor, can circumvent having to sign a BAA, along with the hassle of setting myself up as being HIPAA compliant, and carrying the risk of being directly pursued for a HIPAA breach?


texts: When are advisory rulings ever not "private legal advice"?

texts:
I asked my state board of counseling professionals for an advisory ruling.  Here is the statute that says I can ask for an advisory ruling from them:

http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/5/title5sec9001.html
"Upon written request of any interested person, an agency (the board in this case) may make an advisory ruling with respect to the applicability of any statute or rule administered by that agency to him or his property or actual state of facts."

They denied my request for advisory ruling on the basis that "I requested private legal advice.  The board does not provide private legal advice."

When is an advisory ruling ever NOT able to be construed as "private legal advice"?


texts: In Washington state must a doctor report things that happened in the past?

texts:
Are Washington state's mandated reporting requirements triggered if a doctor discovers that their adult patient had been abused in the past? What if there are no longer any 'protected populations' at risk (no children, no vulnerable adults/elderly,...)?
What if the patient talks exclusively in hypothetical terms?


texts: Is an overly generic patent claim for turning metadata into displayed web pages actually valid?

texts:
The first claim of this patent application is:

An electronic content management and delivery platform, the platform comprising:
An ingestion system configured to receive a document;
a publishing system configured to extract document structure metadata based on content from the ingested document, wherein the document structure metadata identify the location and composition of elements of information of the ingested document and are stored connection with the ingested document, the publishing system further configured to format the elements of information from pages of the ingested document into markup language page elements that collectively preserve page fidelity of the document; and
a distribution system configured to deliver, via a network to end-user devices, markup language page elements to construct one or more pages of the document.

This is so generic, it seems to ban any type of document reception and conversion to HTML (a markup language) for purpose of displaying back in a web page.
But plenty of websites do this and I assume that they are all in violation just because they get a document and present it back like the above claim describes.
Is this understanding correct?


texts: Am I Allowed to Refuse a Rescue? What Issues Would That Cause?

texts:
Suppose my one-person boat sinks and I escape in my life raft.  Later, party X comes along and offers to rescue me.  Suppose, for whatever reason, I don't want to go with X.

Question: Am I obliged to accept X's offer anyway?

Related issues it would also be interesting to know: Is X obliged to insist upon it?  What if I died?--Could X be held responsible?  If not, how could X prove I refused?

N.B. better tagging would be appreciated.


texts: What happens if a beneficiary becomes the sole trustee?

texts:
For obvious reasons, a trust cannot be formed where a person is both sole trustee and sole beneficiary. Such a person would hold both the legal and the equitable interest, so there would be nothing held in trust.
My question is, what happens if this situation comes about after the trust if formed? E.g. A is sole beneficary and A and B together are the trustees, but then B dies or resigns. Does the trust automatically collapse since A now holds both the legal and equitable interest? Related, is there automatic vesting of the trust property in A if B dies (as opposed to resigns)? Section 40 of the Trustee Act 1925 seems to be silent on this point.


texts: Disbarment or lesser discipline, United States

texts:
I had a bitter criminal legal struggle with a prosecutor that consistently showed no interest in knowing the truth (me meeting with him initially before I had any public defender), taking things fully out of context if possible, not standing by the plea bargain offer I later accepted, and numerous other very difficult treatment for me. As far as I can tell, he is prejudiced against me based on his on-going actions (which my now hired private attorney agrees).

It turns out, before I had private attorney, a woman working with and for one of the public defenders, took my increasing complaints that I emailed first to the court of it's wrongs (fairly numerous) and then to her later as a copy, and gave it to the prosecutor, who then literally desperately used it to try to do me more harm.  My attorney told him he needs to immediately cease from reading these emails and place them in an envelope (and I believe return them to the public defender), because he was breaking attorney client privilege, and the prosecutor simply kept on and disregarded him. He then sought to inflict more punishment onto me using another angle if possible.

My attorney has "socialized" notifying the "disbarment agency" with him, however I want to know my rights in this matter. I don't particularly want this man/prosecutor harm, however there has been a gross miscarriage of justice in my case.  Are there levels of discipline?   I'd really like to just sit down with this prosecutor and get him to understand that he's really been endlessly attacking the wrong person in this situation.  How does disbarment work overall?  Are there "hand slaps" or various levels of discipline?


texts: Can a contract to kill help someone avoid murder charges?

texts:
My friend just poses this question to me. In this hypothetical situation, two people, X and Y sign a contract in which they both agree that X is allowed to kill Y. Then later, X does kill Y.

Here is the question: Can X be convicted of murder, if both parties legally agree that it was okay?


texts: Signed non-compete, no mention of one in offer letter (MN). Is it still enforceable?

texts:
First post on here after doing a ton of Google searching on this topic. Roughly five years ago, I began work at Company A. In my offer letter, there was no mention of my employment being dependent on a non-compete being signed (I still have the original offer letter). A week after I signed that offer letter, I was presented with my new hire information, which contained the employee handbook and a non-compete that I had to sign and send back prior to my first day. The first paragraph of that non-compete reads:

  Employee has received an offer of employment from Company, which offer was expressly conditioned upon Employee’s agreeing to the terms contained in this Business Protection Agreement (“Agreement”). If Employee executes this Agreement and commences employment with Company, Employee will be employed in a position of trust and confidence and will have access to and become familiar with Company’s products, methods, technology, services, procedures, and customers.

Is it required for employers to make mention of a non-compete in their offer letters, and if they don't, is the non-compete even enforceable?

Fast forward a few years, and Company A is sold to Company B. In that same non-compete I signed all those years ago, is the following:

  Successors/Assignment. This Agreement may be assigned by Company, and shall automatically inure to the benefit of Company’s successors and assigns and shall be enforceable by Company’s successors and assigns. This Agreement cannot be assigned by Employee, and shall be binding upon Employee’s heirs, executors, and administrators.

Even if this non-compete is now being enforced at Company B, is my original one even valid due to my employment offer never mentioning the requirement of a non-compete being signed?

*Edit. Thank you, everyone, for the replies. Here's a bit more detail on what the non-compete is specifying, in regards to post-termination:

Post-Termination Customer-Based Restrictions. Employee agrees that for a period of one (1) year after the termination of his/her employment with Company, without regard to whether such termination is voluntary or involuntary and without regard to the reason (if any) for the termination, Employee will not,
directly or indirectly, on his/her own behalf or as an owner, partner, principal, officer, director, shareholder, employee, consultant, contractor, agent or in any other capacity on behalf of another person or entity,
solicit, provide, or sell, or attempt to solicit, provide or sell, products or services that are the same as or similar to, or directly or indirectly competitive with, those that Company offers, to any of the following people
or entities:

(1) Any person or entity that was a customer of Company within the two year period immediately preceding Employee’s last day of employment with Company, and
(2) Any person or entity that was a potential customer of Company during the two year period immediately preceding Employee’s last day of employment with Company. A potential customer is defined as any person or entity that Company directly or indirectly solicited or attempted to provide products or services, or a person or entity that contacted Company regarding Company’s products or services.

Only reason I am bringing this up is because I found a case with a similar situation as mentioned in this post: https://www.noncompetereport.com/2017/11/minnesota-court-appeals-reaffirms-non-compete-must-part-job-offer-prospective-employee/

In this case, the court ruled that since a non-compete was not presented at the time of the employment offer, there was no consideration for signing it, and it was not enforceable as a result. Only difference I have not left company B to start my own company (or work for a different company) with the intent of soliciting customers of Company B; just looking to get some opinions.


texts: Can I legally dictate the disposal of my body after death?

texts:
Is there a legal document that can prevent my body from turning over to my family after my death?

When I talk to my family they say my thoughts don't matter. Their ceremonies will defile both my body and spirit.

They have promised to invite people that have done me grievous pain as a child.


texts: Naming free software and avoiding trademark collision

texts:
I have stumbled over a problem how I can safely name my software. I would like to have a name with a cultural reference, that is character names from older literature or folk tales. Now, there is the _____wood, which steals all names and trademark them as their own invention. So then, it may happen that Gretel becomes an illegal name like the English version Schneewittchen.

However, I then see that Voldemort, owned by the Harry Potter franchise, is used by LinkedIn on opensource software, which seems strange in this context.

My questions:

Can I safely use this kind of names on my software?
Does it matter where the software is used? I wish to put the software on GitHub.
Does the home country of the developer matter? I am not from the US.
Does the application purpose matter? Data storage is far from entertainment. However, what I am doing is some kind of game engine (not a game) that I use to learn about collision detection.


texts: Is newspaper publishing of a defendant's details considered doxing in the United Kingdom?

texts:
Does doxing apply to a newspaper that publishes a defendant’s full name and full address (minus the postcode) following a first hearing in the Magistrates Court?

Can a defendant who is yet to stand trial, and therefore yet to face the possibility of being convicted, have their details thus published in the local newspaper? Are there laws to prevent this and/or challenge it should it be published?

For context, the defendant has severe mental health conditions and is now afraid of being harassed.


texts: Is direct voting of bills/laws by the people allowed in the consitution(US)?

texts: I'm talking big issues like the recent vote by the British vote to exist EU. I'm talking federal bills/laws, does the US constitution allow these types of vote by the people?


texts: Effect of Cusco's Constitutional status as the "historical capital" of Peru

texts:
Article 49 of the 1993 Constitution of Peru states that Lima is the capital. It also states that Cusco is the "historical capital".

That Cusco is the former and ancient capital would be universally known without any provision in the Constitution, and tourists would still go there to see ancient buildings and ancient monuments.

Does the Constitutional designation of Cusco as the "historical capital" have any legal or otherwise practical effects?


texts: What can I as a citizen do to enforce a requirement to wear masks?

texts:
In my city, face masks are required by emergency order in all public places with violations subject to a $300 fine. Though the vast majority of people have complied with this order (indeed they mostly complied before the order went into effect), a stubborn few refuse to wear masks.

Generally calling the police about this is not effective, because the violator is long gone by the time they arrive.

What can I as a citizen do about this? Can I detain the violator? Can I sue them for endangering my health and the health of others?


texts: Is it lawful for a company to refuse a refund of a cancelled subscription service?

texts:
A couple of days ago, I was billed for my yearly Playstation Plus subscription service.

I wasn't notified ahead of time that it was due to renewal and so I could no cancel.

I cancelled immediately afterwards and requested a refund. I was denied because their T&Cs say there is no cooling off period for renewals.

Is this legal on their behalf? I will be pursuing it but it would be good to know what exactly my rights as a consumer are.


texts: Are parking lots allowed to ticket for a higher price than listed

texts:
I recently received a parking ticket when forgetting to pay at a parking lot. However, it seems they increased their ticket price without changing any of their signage.

The sign at the entrance clearly states a $70 ticket for failure to pay, but I was charged $80.

Are they allowed to do this? Didn't the signage infer an agreement on the terms of using the parking lot, and any applicable fees?


texts: Would it be illegal to have a fake gun turret robot on my front porch?

texts: I'm thinking something simple that can track people while they walk up that looks like it has a gun on it. I asked my city council and they said that if someone feels threatened on your property you could be charge with a crime.


texts: Self Defense- Lethal Force- Taser & Knife Vs. Fire Arm

texts:
I was thinking of buying a taser for self defense. However, if someone were trying to attack me such as pulling a gun out on me, I fear a taser will just leave a criminal pissed off and still wanting to kill me.

If lethal force is used (in self defense) in the form of a taser & a knife, is that Legally equivalent to the same lethal force of a gun.

Assuming all weapons are legal.
 Location-Pennsylvania


texts: Does an app's name become protected nationally by common law trademark rights the day that it's published?

texts: It seems common law trademark rights extend only to the geographical location in which the mark is used. However, when it comes to apps, there is no defined geographical region; you push it to the app store once and then anyone in America can download it. So does that mean that because the app is made available to anyone in America that, for apps, simply publishing the app and getting the common law rights will protect you just as much as registering a trademark for your app's name would.


texts: When can you no longer submit evidence in a civil case?

texts:
I was wondering if there was a point in a civil case where parties are no longer allowed to submit evidence, to my understanding all evidence is submitted at a pretrial, and after that it is disallowed. If someone could shed some light on this question it would be greatly appreciated as I did my research and found nothing pertaining to the topic.

For the sake of context; how does this apply in USA, more specifically California?


texts: Why do lawyers ask "Is it not true that ..."

texts:
I am aware of this previous related question Alternative to "Isn't it true that...?" when questioning witnesses
The most upvoted answer to that question gave alternative ways of speaking. My question is about why the, "Did you not ..., " and "Is it not true ..." formula came about in the first place and whether it has some specific justification or advantage.

I am currently watching a TV-recorded trial from the USA.
The prosecutor consistently asks questions such as, "Is it not true that on February 14th, you [performed some action]?  or  "Did you not say that ..."
It seems to me that answering Yes or No to such a question gives the same logical meaning, e.g.
Did you not say that Humpty Dumpty was an egg? Please answer Yes or No.
The answer could be "Yes (you are correct that I did not say that)"  or "No (I did not say that)."
Question
Is this form merely traditional  or is there some legal or psychological logic that makes the question somehow more effective than the straight versions as, "Did you say that Humpty Dumpty was an egg?"


texts: Is a presidential self pardon more likely to be valid if issued to a group instead of the president as an individual

texts:
My understanding is, the presidential pardon power is based on this passage of the US constitution:

The President ... shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for
Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of impeachment.

I've read that one issue* with the uncertainty about the legality/validity of presidential self pardons is the word "grant" wasn't really used in the context of "grant myself" at the time the constitution was written.
But the pardon power can also apply to entire groups of people. And the president can belong to a group. Based on this, would a presidential pardon become more likely to be legal/valid if it applied to a group of people that included the president, instead of just to the individual? Even if the group was very small and the attempt rather transparent (e.g. "the Trump family", or "current and former Presidents of the United States of America")?

*I'm aware that this is not the only issue, and a possible answer is that the "grant" issue is dwarfed by more relevant legal arguments.


texts: Insurance Company sending possible PHI to the wrong mailing address

texts:
I'm wondering if sending snail mail to the wrong address could ever be a violation of HIPAA?  Obviously, due to people moving and not updating their account information, this likely happens all the time

However, what if an insurance member has requested an address change from the insurance company (multiple times) but the company fails to update their address in the system and continues to send documents (Explanations of Benefits) to the wrong address?


texts: How do you find out what a dead relative's social security number was?

texts:
I feel somewhat self-conscious about asking this question, since scam-artists are often interested obtaining social security numbers.
However, my mother died.
I am unable to get a death certificate from the state of Arizona without providing my mother's social security number.
If anybody disbelieved me about my mother's death, I could easily put them in touch with the police detective who investigated my mother's death.
Any skeptics could also contact the Pima County Medical Examiner's office.
I paid the state of Arizona about $55 for a death certificate roughly one month ago. No social security number was asked for. However, I recently learned that the state of Arizona will not anyone a certified death certificate untill a non-governmental entity creates a death certificate.
The private citizen must file the death certificate with the recorder's office.

Within seven calendar days after receiving possession of human remains, a responsible person who takes possession of the human remains shall:

Obtain and complete the information, including the social security number of the decedent, on the death certificate required pursuant to this chapter and rules adopted pursuant to this chapter.

Provide on the death certificate the name and address of the person completing the death certificate.

Submit the death certificate for registration to a local registrar, a deputy local registrar or the state registrar.  The responsible person may submit the death certificate by electronic means in the format prescribed by the state registrar.

The problem is, I don't know my mother's social security number
I know my mother's legal name.
I know my maternal grandparent's legal names.
I know the name of the city my mother was born in.
I know everything about my mother, except her social security number.
How on earth do you convince the United States government to divulge a dead relative's social security number?
I want to make a death certificate and file it with the recorder's office.
Normally, a funeral director would do this, but I cannot afford one, and I am burying her myself.


texts: Is there a legal term for the following kind of "estoppel?"

texts:
There is the old tale of the miscreant who killed his parents, and threw himself at the mercy of the court because he was an orphan.

"Relief" on the basis of his being an "orphan" was denied because he created the problem (by killing his parents). I believe that this is a form of estoppel.

Is there a legal term for this type of situation, and if so, what is it?


texts: What's the purpose of large judgments against a defendant that clearly can't pay?

texts:
A few years ago I was on the jury of a civil trial wherein we ruled that the defendant should pay millions of dollars to the plaintiff. They were found guilty in the criminal trial and were not present at the civil trial. The defendant was not rich and likely had no way to pay anywhere close to the requested amount of money. What happens in that situation? And additionally, in a case where the jury has assessed that the damages caused by the defendant are worth millions of dollars, but they clearly have no way to pay it, what is the purpose of specifying an amount that big?

I can provide more details if necessary.


texts: Were Nazi atrocities legal according the German law of the time?

texts:
I have recently had a discussion with a German who claims that Nuremberg trials were entirely based on ex-post-facto laws, and all the atrocities Nazis did were legal according Germany's and international laws of the time. His arguments are quite erratic and self-contradictory. They are as follows:

Only citizens are protected by criminal laws, killing non-citizens is permitted. From my point of view, this is not the case in the majority of jurisdictions and there is no evidence Nazi Germany was an exception. Also this does not explain legality of killing euthanasia program victims who were German citizens.
German law declared Jews non-humans, look at Nuremberg laws. I found no evidece that these or any other German laws declared Jews non-humans. Also this does not explain how killing non-Jews, such as hostages was legal.
Killing by the order of state is not murder. Okay, but in majority of cases of Nazi atrocities there were no written orders. Even if they were, how they could overrule the law? I think, an order only switches the responsibility from the perpetrator to those who gave the order.
There was no international law before the establishment of the UN. Again, doubtful, because there were international conventions on treatment of POWs and rules of war.

So, my question is, whether these or other arguments to the effect that Nazi atrocities were legal according the German law, valid?

I am not asking whether the laws were enforceable or whether the victims could charge the perpetrators under Nazi regime.


texts: Is a monthly Patreon donation\subscription, a contractual obligation to pay someone?

texts: Let's say I have a prepaid card with a balance of 0$ and I am subscribed to a Patreon user for the recurring monthly donation of $50. Let's say I remain subscribed to the Patreon user for 10 months, do I have the contractual obligation to pay the user if it's supposed to be a donation? How does the law define contractual obligation and can Patreon sue me for the money that owed? If Patreon does not have the right to sue, can the Patreon user sue me or Patreon for the money owed?


texts: Using informations from wikipedia in a paid quiz game

texts:
I am trying to create a card game. Physical cards from paper will be used (no computer / mobile game). However, I guess that the form does not matter when considering the folowing question.

It will be a kind of a quiz game. I would like to use a lot of numbers that are available in articles on wikipedia.org. Consider e.g. the following article. It contains a list of 100 largest cities including the population for each such city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_largest_cities

I will choose some subset of these cities (e.g. 50 of them) that are suitable for my game and I will use the statistical numbers from this Wikipedia article. I will find tens of other Wikipedia pages and I will use statistical numbers of this type in the same way. The quiz game will be based on hundreds of numbers taken from tens of Wikipedia articles (articles of the list type like the one mentioned above). There will be no other source of the data.

I would like to sell the resulting card game.

My question is whether I can use the informations from Wikipedia in this way from the legal point of view.

The footer of all the articles I would like to use states that the text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License

I admit that I am always in doubts when trying to understand licences and applying their impact to my particular case.

I have several hypoteses of what the license means to me.

1.
As I do not copy the article itself nor a single sentence from it, my card game is not restricted by the license. The information (i.e. the statistical numbers about population etc.) can be used arbitrarily. I need not even state that I have found these numbers on Wikipedia. Selling such card game is not any problem either.

2.
The game must contain the information that I have found the numbers on Wikipedia. The articles I have used must be named. I must state that the game itself is subject of the same license. However, it is possible to sell the card game.

3.
As the game contains numbers that are recognizably taken from Wikipedia articles, the game must be considered to be a derivative work. Therefore, it cannot be sold under any circumstances.

Which one of my hypoteses is right? ...or are all of them wrong?

Btw. is there some discussion directly on wikipedia.org where similar questions can be asked?

Thanks for help.


texts:
As an extension of this question, I am wondering about occurrences I see often on my street.

I live on a one way street that is relatively quiet so people have no qualms about stepping off the curb and jaywalking to the other side of the street. At the same time, many drivers think that if they drive fast enough the wrong way down the one way, that they can get to the end and turn.

My question is, how would the law treat a case in which a pedestrian stepped off the curb suddenly so that they moved into the path of a car going the wrong way and was subsequently injured or killed.

Obviously both are breaking the law in terms of "moving" violations, but would there be a chance of the driver not being charged with manslaughter? How would this most likely play out?

Would like to hear answers for any jurisdictions in any country because it would be interesting to hear how they differ from the US.


texts: How can a jury know about jury nullification?

texts:
It appears that jurors are not allowed to be told that they can ignore the law and thus use their right of jury nullification.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#Canada

The contrary principle contended for by Mr. Manning, that a jury may be encouraged to ignore a law it does not like, could lead to gross inequities. One accused could be convicted by a jury who supported the existing law, while another person indicted for the same offence could be acquitted by a jury who, with reformist zeal, wished to express disapproval of the same law.
…
But recognizing this reality is a far cry from suggesting that counsel may encourage a jury to ignore a law they do not support or to tell a jury that it has a right to do so.

Since they're apparently still allowed to use this right, only not be explicitly instructed in court that they can use it, doesn't it produce the very problem mentioned above by Mr. Manning?  I.e., in any particular trial one juror may have prior knowledge of the right of nullification, in which case the jury may use it; while all other juries will carry out their obligation ignorant of it.


texts: Interpretation of lease automatic renewal terms

texts:
We have a disagreement between a business/commercial landlord and tenant over the renewal terms of the lease agreement. It is written as:

  "The term commences on the commencement date and expires one year later. The term shall automatically renew for an additional lease term of one year unless terminated by written notice of tenant".

The Landlord interprets this as a 1 year + 1 more year. The tenant interprets this as renewing multiple times, year after year, unless terminated by tenant.  Landlord wants to increase rent drastically and remove the automatic renewal language from the upcoming contract. Which is the proper view in Michigan?


texts:
Passport cards are popular for those who frequently go back and forth across the border.  Due to lack of address if you move frequently they tend to be less likely to be inaccurate or expired.

Is there any legal requirement that someone accepts a passport card if they also accept passports and drivers licenses?


texts: Accidentally used "to" instead of using "bcc" while sending out email [GDPR violation]

texts:
I, as the admin of a small mailing group, used "to" field instead of "bcc" while sending an email to 10 people.

One out of the 10 emails turned out to wrong, and of a lawyer, who pointed out that we have breached GDPR. Apparently, the person has given a wrong emaid ID and it went to this lawyer who is demanding to file a report to the data protection authorities.

While I totally agree that it is a breach under GDPR, what I am interested is to know the consequences and next steps.

P.S: We know all the 10 people personally whose emails are exposed under this breach.

UPDATE

The only PII breached is all 10 of them knows the email address of each other. The content of the email had nothing sensitive.


texts: Trump offered E. Warren $1 million - can she collect?

texts: Trump said he would donate $1 million to Elizabeth Warren’s favorite charity if she was Cherokee. Since she has evidence for it now, can she collect? What court(s) would/could she sue in if possible/necessary?


texts: Covid tracking app, forcing citizen to install it on insecure devices

texts:
Here's the hypothetical scenario, which in some countries might not be hypothetical after all:

The app. Because of Covid-19, the government decides that some citizens must install an app on their smartphones to track the spread of the virus. It might not really be mandatory for everybody, however there will certainly be some citizens that will be required to have the app installed on their phones.
The security. The app relies on bluetooth connections to be able to detect another person when a citizen is close to them. A lot of people own smartphones that are insecure because they are not up-to-date. In many cases they cannot even be updated because the vendor doesn't release the security patches on time, or the vendor only provides support for a few months after the purchase. Bluetooth is known to have had vulnerabilities in the past, and the latest one was fixed a couple of months ago. Examples: December 2017, billions of devices imperiled by new clickless bluetooth attack, and February 2020, Google fixes no-user-interaction bug in Android's Bluetooth component. They can be pretty serious, and citing the last article, "if left unpatched, the vulnerability can be exploited without any user interaction and can even be used to create self-spreading Bluetooth worms, experts said." Yes, it is very ironic: an app developed to control the spread of a biological virus might lead to the spread of a software virus, by proximity! Very ironic.
The precautions. The goverment and the app developers take no precautions to avoid the above-mentioned risks. The app will install and run without any warnings if the device is not up-to-date. The government doesn't warn the citizens that such application must only be installed if the device is up-to-date, and doesn't require citizens to buy a new smartphone if the current one cannot be considered secure. So unless a citizen is particularly tech-savvy, they won't have a clue they are exposing their personal data to a risk when they turn bluetooth on. On the other hand, a lot of people are clueless anyway and probably already have bluetooth on right now.

The question is: is this legal? I'm not sure how much the GDPR is relevant here, because the app might not process much personal data. These kinds of apps might just exchange pseudonymous IDs, and might not record much data other than that. However the app will be installed in a system that is full of personal data (the smartphone), even sensitive personal data (think of emails, messages, social media), so it definitely has an impact on the overall security.

Jurisdictions: EU (but I'm also curious about the US, for comparison).


texts: Can I modify a program under GPL to use an incompatible library and publish the source?

texts:
The GPL disallows linking to a GPL-incompatible library. However, reading the GPL it seems to me this only applies to distribution of binaries.

So, is it allowed to

modify a program under the GPL to use a GPL-incompatible library X (with calls to X, and modified build scripts), and
publish my modified sources under the GPL?

As far as I can see, the requirements to publish the "complete corresponding machine-readable source code" only apply to binary distribution (GPL 2 section 3). The part on modifying the source code (section 2) never mentions anything about "completeness", it just says "work that you distribute or publish". So it seems using a proprietary library does not impact the distribution of the source code, but maybe I'm missing something.

I am interested in answers for both GPL 2 and GPL 3.


texts: What does the phrase "or anyone close to you" mean in juror questionnaires

texts:
A silly example: "Do you or anyone close to you prefer pancakes to waffles?"
Does the phrase refer to

my immediate family (spouse, children, parents, or siblings)?
My extended family (grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins)?
Friends?
Work associates?

Google just gave me a bunch of example questions but no definition, so I'm just wondering if there is a generally accepted interpretation.


texts: Selling your personal vehicles versus being a used car dealer, what are the limits?

texts:
If you sell off a personal vehicle, or two, or three, you do not need any special licensing. However if you are a used car dealer you do. So how does the government determine which it is?

Are there strict limits or guidelines such as number of cars sold, how long you have owned the vehicle prior to sale, etc., or is it basically up to a government agent's discretion of whether to count you as dealing used vehicles without a license or just someone who has sold a lot of his/her cars if you are buying and selling vehicles?


texts: Is it illegal to upload a movie on facebook and allow only one friend to see it

texts:
I believe that it is perfectly legal to buy a movie and watch it at home with a friend. So considering this logic I was thinking about uploading a movie to Facebook as a post and allow only that friend to see it. Note that I cannot send him that movie as a private message attached file as there is a file size limit of 25 Mb.

So is it illegal?


texts: I'm currently developing a game for which I want to document my experience with online through my website. On the site, one of things I want to offer anyone who subscribes to my mailing list is access to my sourcecode repo via github. Basically, I want them to be able to play around with my source code for their own personal, educational use but I don't want them to be able to release any version of their own game from it, for profit or not. I found a creative commons license 'Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)' that seems to cover my goals. The only thing I'm unsure of is the 'NoDerivatives' portion. From what I understand this states no one can 'distribute' altered versions of the work but does this also imply that any modification for your own personal, educational use is okay? Or do I need to specify that explicitly on my site? If I do, can I just give universal approval by saying something like, "Though modification of the source code purely for your own, personal use is acceptable" after listing the creative commons license?


texts: Does the German GDPR require storing the data in a German datacenter for a tele-health company?

texts:
I co-founded a tele-health startup, we are expanding to Germany,
we have gone through the GDPR, and implemented most of it, however, we didn't quite understand the data residency part and found conflicting information online.
Should the data be stored in a German data center? is it a requirement?
Would it be ok to have it stored outside Germany?
How about outside the EU?
Thanks


texts: When will desuetude apply to Julian Assange's bail violation in U.K. law?

texts:
In most legal systems, there is a timeout after that a crime can't be punished any more. It is desuetude.

Currently, Julian Assange can't leave the Equadorian Embassy of the U.K., because he will be arrested for bail violation.

His previous charges (extradition to Sweden for sexual crimes) were dropped.

Does some type of desuetude apply in his case? If yes, when will he be free to go?


texts: Does musical satire really require permission from the copyright holder?

texts:
I was reading this article on American art-rock/new-wave band Devo in The New Yorker and came across this claim that puzzles me:

  It’s a little unclear why Warner, once they learned that Devo wanted to include “Satisfaction” on their début album, demanded that Devo get it approved by Jagger’s people. Cover songs don’t need anyone’s approval: you can cover anything you want as long as you pay the original copyright holder and don’t change the words. (Gerald) Casale thinks Warner may have been worried that their cover was so different that it might have been considered satire—a separate legal entity for which one needs permission. (Devo had run into a similar issue covering “Secret Agent Man,” and ended up using a sneaky runaround to get permission from his Japanese publisher since Rivers himself refused.)

Huh? So if Devo’s cover of The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was considered a satire it would have been a big legal mess?

I understand there are all kinds of laws surrounding sampling and such, but I was always under the impression that satirical takes on pop music are protected under fair use and do not require any legal permission from the copyright holder.


texts: Is there US law that can compel Apple to create software?

texts:
It is my understanding that US law has jurisdiction or routinely compels corporations (BA, VZN) to:

turn over customer data to law enforcement(VZN)
how to build systems (in regulated products: BA aircraft)
prevent products that may NOT be built \ exported

Is there any US law or precedent that can compel Apple to create new software that aids law enforcement investigations?


texts: In which states can railroad companies take land in eminent domain?

texts:
In Property, fifth edition, by Dukeminier and Krier, on pages 843–54, we are told that in Vermont, railroad companies have the power of eminent domain: they can take land that they need for building tracks. What they take is an easement, but it seems just barely short of fee simple: the land reverts to the permanent owner or successor only if the railroad stops running trains along the track and thereby abandons the easement, but until then it seems to be entirely theirs. Railroads seem to continue operating on a particular track for well over a century sometimes.

So my questions are:

In which states in the U.S. do railroads have this power?
Might that be the reason why many railroad rights-of-way are held in easement rather than in fee simple?


texts: How does the US legal system treat car accidents with pedestrian casualties?

texts:
2 years ago in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a guy was driving 105 km/h (max allowed 60) through red light and killed two teenage girls on crosswalk. He didn't even bother to stop. Instead, he called his sister and friend to get him to Serbia border where he fled to Serbia. Later he turned himself and was extradited to Bosnia where the trial began. Now the trial is over and he is accused of "causing general danger" and "not helping injured", but there is no mention of killing someone. The prosecutors want the maximum sentence for those two crimes which is, I believe, only 8 years.

So, how would the crime be treated in the US? What would be the charges? What is the maximum sentence he could get?


texts: Can I sue for being banned from the mall if I didn't do anything wrong?

texts: If I'm at a birthday party at a party rental in the mall and uninvited guests show up. They began getting aggressive and shouting. They leave before mall security and police arrive. The police then asks me to leave and I am no longer welcome at the mall because I was involved the the conflict. Neither the mall security nor the rental place asked me to leave and had to be told by 2 police officers and escorted by them and 2 security guards out of the mall. Can I sue and who?


texts: How can we reconcile the fact that common law, relative to civil law, give judges more power in interpreting law but less power in guiding trials?

texts:
In common law, judge-made precedents are more important than in civil law where judges are supposed to stick more closely to the written code. Thus, one may say that judges are given more power in common law traditions.
However, the picture flips in terms of how judges handle trials. In common law, judges are more like neutral referees and moderating the debate between the two sides, while in civil law, judges are supposed to take a much more direct role.
How can we reconcile these two facts? What is the logic behind this seeming contradiction?


texts:
Under the eligibility rules for applying for a UK residence card:

  You can apply for a residence card if you’re both:

  from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) the family member, or
  extended family member, of an EEA national who is a permanent resident
  or ‘qualified person’

I am from outside the European Economic Area but I have relative members: my aunt, uncle and cousin who are Netherlands citizens. My aunt is a former Malayisian (now should be considered as Dutch after more than 30 years living in Netherlands), while my uncle and cousin are Dutch.

So am I eligible for a UK residence card? But they don't live in the UK. They live in Netherlands.

But this is unclear: extended family member, of an EEA national who is a permanent resident - is it a permanent resident of UK or of any country of EEA?


texts: Procedure if two separate district courts issue nationwide and contradictory injunctions?

texts:
One issue that has not been conclusively decided by the courts is the constitutionality of DACA protections. For example, the Supreme Court has not ruled on whether or not DACA is constitution. Since President Obama created DACA through regulations that complied with the Administrative Procedure Act. However, the Trump administration might not have complied with this act and as a result a preliminary injunction was issued against the repeal of DACA. However, other state attorney generals, such as the Attorney General of Texas have argued that DACA is itself unconstitutional. The Attorney General of Texas filed this lawsuit in a different district court from the lawsuit seeking to keep DACA.

Suppose both lawsuits successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in their favor. One injunction requires the United States Federal Government to continue accepting applications for DACA relief (and if the applicant complies with procedures offer them relief from enforcement). While the other injunction requires the Federal Government to stop offering DACA protections. Suppose that both District Courts require that their orders have nationwide effect and that a stay of the injunction is not issued immediately or by the circuit court with appellate jurisdiction (and maybe the courts are in separate circuits). With the current Supreme Court standing at 8 justices, it is plausible that the justices could be split 4-4 on the issue of granting a stay.

What is the legal position the Federal Government must take (assuming the Federal Government wants to comply with orders of the judicial branch as much as possible and does not assert its authority as a separate branch of the Federal Government)? Would the government be required to continue DACA or must it stop the program?

Currently this has not occurred, but I imagine it is possible for this situation to occur at some later point in time or if by chance some things change in the future.


texts:
I am a french national currently residing in the US as a non-resident alien. I will soon move back to France.

Before that, I am considering buying a laptop here in the US instead of buying it in France, as it is significantly cheaper. It seems that french tourists visiting the US are required to declare and pay 20% VAT on goods they bought during their stay (above a certain threshold, which would certainly be reached here).

Question: if I buy a laptop in the US while I am living in the US, and then go back to France permanently at the end of my visa, am I required to declare it and pay the 20% VAT at the customs?

This would seem slightly ridiculous, as I suspect people living in the US for 3-5 years would not and could not declare everything they bought in the US during their stay at the expiration of their visa...