texts: Can the Feds not put Bank Executives (or their employees) in Prison for Fraud?

texts:
I see stories such as this one quoted below where a Wells Fargo exec who headed phony accounts unit collected $125 million.

Basically the notion is that big fat cat bankers can swindle people out of BIG money and have absolutely no consequences, and they actually still benefit from defrauding others and be set for the rest of their lives.

  On Thursday, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $185 million, including the
  largest penalty ever imposed by the Consumer Financial Protection
  Bureau, to settle claims that that it defrauded its customers. The
  bank’s shareholders will ultimately have to swallow the cost of that
  settlement.

  Tolstedt, however, is walking away from Wells Fargo with a very full
  bank account--and praise. In the July announcement of her exit, which
  made no mention of the soon-to-be-settled case, Well Fargo’s CEO John
  Stumpf said Tolstedt had been one of the bank’s most important leaders
  and “a standard-bearer of our culture” and “a champion for our
  customers.”

  In a statement following the settlement, Wells Fargo said, “Wells
  Fargo reached these agreements consistent with our commitment to
  customers and in the interest of putting this matter behind us. Wells
  Fargo is committed to putting our customers' interests first 100% of
  the time, and we regret and take responsibility for any instances
  where customers may have received a product that they did not
  request.”

  Shortly after the financial crisis, big banks in the nation, including
  Wells Fargo, promised that their top bankers would not be able to keep
  large paydays if it was found that those rewards were gained through
  harmful conduct. It was supposed to be the stick to the carrot of Wall
  Street bonuses. But the latest example of fraud at Wells Fargo shows
  that the big banks are unwilling to wield those sticks, especially
  when it comes to their top executives

  source

It's quite obvious leaving decisions like this up to the companies that are found in violation of a federal regulation or fraud does not work to deter the fraudulent activity from occurring so to my question(s):

Can the feds not charge anyone from this company with a crime that
has "prison time" or "felony" consequences?
Do bankers ever go to prison in America for fraud of this amount (fraud is fraud)?
If the shareholders are paying for most of this settlement, then how can this not be fraud to the shareholders or the correlated stock (e.g. some disclosure when you buy the stock that you may have foot the bills for fraudulence with their employees)?

Maybe there is a simple answer to this that could clarify which I could've found on my own with a little research, but I'm interesting more in what attorney's, or other legal professional's, or the legal enthusiast's more than doing my own research on the topic.


texts: What is the value in adding an email confidentiality notice?

texts:
The company I work for adds a disclaimer on the bottom of each email.  I was wondering if it had any value.  I'll list part of it below:

  CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message is for the sole use of the intended recipients. ... may be privileged ... legal restrictions. ... not the intended recipient ... you are hereby notified that ... dissemination...

It's redacted above because there may be some restrictions as to what I'm allowed to put in a public forum.  Hopefully this is common enough that the gist of it is well known to readers of this question.  I just wonder how valuable it is to have on our emails.


texts: Is using or selling vintage footage from abandoned personal film reels legal without having a release?

texts:
Sometimes when I purchase vintage film equipment from auctions, estates,  etc., the cameras or boxes contain old 8mm or 16mm film reels shot by an amateur from decades ago prior to video. No photographer or owner is identified on them and are original positive footage, not negative, therefore most likely no other copies exist. Most of the footage is of landmarks, cityscapes or wide shots of people that cannot be positively identified.

Does the 75-year Copyright apply or because no ownership is known, does it fall under a different statute of limitations?

Shorter question: Can I legally use this footage professionally in projects or to digitally archive as retro stock footage for sale?


texts:
Suppose an individual had some rocks for landscaping dropped off at their house, and placed in the street in front of their house. Without any correspondence from the city on the issue, the city removed the rocks, paid to have them dumped as waste, and is now billing this hypothetical individual 200$.

Suppose upon investigating the city code, it would seem these actions are not in line with how the process is supposed to take place; namely, they did not notify this hypothetical individual that it was an issue that needed to be addressed. Suppose this hypothetical city code is verbatim the code found here:

http://4.17.232.139/vcode.asp?show=section&id=6145

or here, under Chapter 38: Section 81: Removal of Obstruction: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=262

Also suppose the superintendent in charge of this particular branch of the city government, upon being spoken to, claimed the city acted properly, and was otherwise dismissive.

What might one suppose would be the legal basis for challenging this decision? Is this a proper interpretation of these hypothetical city codes given this hypothetical circumstance? Thank you

EDIT: for whatever reason this SE requires 50 rep to comment, so in reponse to user6727's answer: The city has the home-owner on file, they know where to send the water bill to; they even had the address on hand to send this fine to. Therefore, it would stand to reason that "they we're unable to contact" the responsible party would not be a very solid legal defense, no?


texts: Who legally owns the "spare-time" work of an employee?

texts:
Businesses often state that anything made during work time or with work resources becomes property of the company.

What if the things worked on belong to another company? For example:

People at company A do stuff on their work time for an unrelated-to-business company B. Does company A have the rights to whatever their employees produce, even though it was for another business? How would this be resolved?

Another example:
Bob, at an IT firm, makes software in his free work time for another (non-related) company, which now uses the software that Bob made for their day-to-day activities. Can the IT firm that Bob fully works for take the software back? Or charge for use? Would the company care?

Bonus: What if he only did 10% of the software, then quit and finished the software after quitting? Does the original IT firm own the whole project? Or a part of it? Or something else?


texts: Are residential lease durations in Bay Area meaningless?

texts:
The vacancy rates in Bay Area are the lowest in the nation, and the rent much so often gets increased much faster than the inflation.

However, a lot of corporate complexes employ monthly pricing that's effectively set not on the number of total months you sign the contract for, but on the data mining and the moveout dates, e.g. both an 8-month and a 15-month contract might have the monthly rent be lower than an 11 or a 12-month one, and the total rate for X+1 months might as well be less than for X months, too!

However, California state law mandates that landlord must mitigate damages if tenant wants to get out of the lease, but at the same time, tenant is still liable for the whole duration of the lease as per the contract.  Yet if the tenant wants to move out early, what would be the chance that the landlord would advertise the newly empty unit below the present market rate?

Unless the rent prices don't increase or the market isn't hot, doesn't it imply that a Bay Area tenant is pretty much guaranteed that their total expenses for premature contract termination with a corporate apartment complex (on-premises leasing office etc) will not be more than something like about 2 weeks worth of rent?  I.e., that a corporate landlord with a 9-to-5 on-premises staff will pretty much never be able to prove in any Bay Area court that they've mitigated damages appropriately, past about 2 weeks of the unit being on the market?

Doesn't it then imply that if you only need a place for 5 or 6 months, it'll likely always be cheaper to sign a contract for 8 or 15 months (whichever random number of months is the cheapest per month) instead?  Doesn't this, in turn, make the whole contract term somewhat pointless?


texts: In the US, is it legal to download mashup songs from YouTube for personal use?

texts:
Let's take for example the song Viva la Pompeii, a mashup of Pompeii by Bastille and Viva La Vida by Coldplay, both copyrighted songs. As far as I can tell, the mashup itself is not copyrighted.
If I want to use a mashup song like this one (contains copyrighted music, mashup itself is not copyrighted), is it legal to use a Youtube audio downloader site or similar to obtain an MP3 file of it? My guess is no as it contains copyrighted music the video author doesn't (appear to) have rights to redistribute.
If that's the case, would it be different if I have purchased all the songs included? So in the above example, if I have purchased a legal copy of both Pompeii and Viva la Vida, does this change things?
Please note: I don't intend to monetize or redistribute in any way, I'm only concerned if it's legal for personal use. I'm specifically concerned with US law, though I would be interested to know if it's different in other countries.


texts: Do you have to pay capital gains tax on money earned before you incorporate?

texts:
This scenario is in the UK.

A person X makes 1.2 million in sales of an asset, before the end of the tax year the  invests all the sales into a newly created corporation and they become owners equity.

Should the X's corporation then pay corporation tax on the amount, or is X liable to pay capital gains tax on the 1.2 million as soon as they make the profit?


texts: Can a landlord confiscate and charge me for removal of my bbq?

texts:
I live in a shared house, with my landlord in the basement suite. I brought home a propane barbecue and the following day I noticed it was missing from the back yard. I looked around a bit and noticed it was in the garage (which I don't have keys to). I contacted the landlord and after a day he replied saying that I wasn't allowed to have a barbecue, and he will be hiring a junk removal (at my expense) to pick it up if it isn't gone in less than 24 hours.

My lease says nothing about barbecues and no one ever said there was a rule against them. The landlord said I should have asked before getting one. I'm not sure how to reply to this, I guess "I shouldn't have asked, you should have told me".

Is it legal for my landlord to do this? If not, what exact laws is he breaking and what can I do? Practically speaking, what's the best course of action? It seems a shame to end a perfectly good relationship over a $80 bbq.


texts: Proportion of copyrighted material that can be distributed without infringement

texts:
Is there a threshold or a descriptive proportion that is considered not copyright infringement but merely creative and educational use when distributing some copyright protected material along with your own material?

Suppose a research team had a data set, and corresponding to each data point, had a large chunk of copyrighted text. What proportion of this text would they be able to release as preview or demonstration of the material without it being considered copyright infringement?

I would like to cite Google Books, and the popular case of Google Inc. vs. The Authors  Guild, where, under Google's book digitization project, they show certain subsections of the book to the general public for no charge, but argue that it is not copyright infringement.


texts: Encryption export compliance document in iOS app store

texts:
I am using encrypted core data (a wrapper of sqlcipher for core data) in my application in order to encrypt the database, and later before submitting the app to the appstore, I happened to notice that such encryptions require encryption export compliance document to be submitted in App Store. So while reading the export regulations in iTunes connect, it says:

  "If you distribute an app that uses, accesses, contains, implements, or incorporates encryption on Apple's App Store internationally, this is considered an export of encryption software, and is therefore subject to U.S. export and other country import compliance requirements."

Does this mean that the compliance document needs to be submitted only when the app is submitted in the store internationally and not needed when the app is intended for a specific country? I am just submitting the app for a specific country, so do I need to take steps to answer encryption questions and upload encryption export compliance document in App Store?


texts: Inadequately supported chimney on neighboring property above our extension with no building regulations

texts:
I asked this question on Home Improvement Stack Exchange here, but they recommended I posted it here as it is technically a legal matter.
I live in the United Kingdom. When we purchased our house recently it what not brought to our attention at the time but the neighboring property has a disused chimney stack which appears to have been cut by a previous owner of our house to make way for a single-storey extension. This does not appear to have been done correctly as my understanding is that a gallow bracket should have been fitted.
To make matters a little more interesting our extension was built without planning or building regs approval approximately 20 years ago, but we do have an indemnity policy which we believe covers us which was taken out two owners previous in 2006.
My question is in two parts:

If a builder is brought in to rectify the issue we would no doubt need building reg approval but in doing so do we risk invalidating our indemnity policy and risk the local authority asking us to knock down the extension?
Would we require a Party Wall Agreement with the neighbors which consists of two leaseholders and two free holders?


texts: Is it allowed to collect additional personal data to comply with the information obligation (Article 14 GDPR)?

texts:
True story. A bank erroneously sends its clients' data to a company: name, surname, national identification number. The company becomes a "third party" in accordance with GDPR (Article 4 point 10) and is obliged to inform data subjects that they have obtained their data (Article 14 (2) b) and that they will want to destroy it, secure it or otherwise process it (Article 6 (1) letter f).

However, to inform the data subjects, the company would have to have their correspondence addresses. Because it has their national identification numbers, it can file a request to the appropriate national office, provide appropriate justification and obtain these addresses. Is it allowed, however?

Article 5 states:

  Personal data shall be (...) adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed

Article 11 states:

  If the purposes for which a controller processes personal data do not or do no longer require the identification of a data subject by the controller, the controller shall not be obliged to maintain, acquire or process additional information in order to identify the data subject for the sole purpose of complying with this Regulation.


texts: Why is American land use law so messed up? Is Nectow (1928) a reversal of Euclid (1926)? Is Pennsylvania Coal (1922) a reversal of Mugler (1887)?

texts:
In Mugler v. Kansas, the Supreme Court rules that prohibition of alcohol is not a taking. (Alcohol property rendered worthless.)
Hadacheck v. Sebastian says the zoning prohibits making bricks, but doesn't prohibit collecting the clay, so this one's not a taking. (OK, fair.)
In Pennsylvania Coal v. Mahon, the Supreme Court rules that the Kohler Act not allowing some types of coal mining is a taking. (Coal property rendered worthless.)
In fact, Pennsylvania Coal is often used as an example of police power regulations that "go too far"—when the Kohler Act regulates far less than prohibition.

Euclid v. Ambler rules that a property split between multiple zoning districts, though now impossible to develop, is a valid use of police power. (Value reduced significantly.)
Nectow v. Cambridge says that a re-zoning of a property and interfering with its sale is a deprivation of property and NOT a valid use of police power. (Value reduced to zero for one sale.)

Are these considered reversals? There are more examples of the Supreme Court going back and forth on these issues. Why does the Court do this?


texts:
So I am reading a fictional book, that takes place in Sweden, and there is a situation presented that strike me as implausible.

A female character is being "stalked" by another character, and received emails suggesting violence and also had her property damaged.  Also she had proof that someone entered her home when she was not home and stole things.  Presumably the stalker.

In response, this character then sought to arm herself, in her home, with golf clubs in various parts of the house.  The thought was in case of another forced entry she could bash the guy over the head with a golf club.

Instead she was encouraged to have armed security because if she killed the intruder, under Swedish law, she could very well be charged with manslaughter, and possibly murder if it could be proved that she placed the golf clubs around the house ahead of time.

Is this true in Sweden?  Can a person be convicted of manslaughter or murder if they kill an intruder that they suspect of ill intent?

The situation seemed implausible to me, and that the author kind of flubbed this one.


texts: What monetary award can be received when a bureau is negligent to punishing their officers?

texts:
Overview:

My partner has been going through a very drawn-out battle against the Portland police, mainly in regards to a single police officer. This officer had used various police resources and people to access personal information about my partner despite those inquiries having no lawful purpose. They also pulled information about family close to my partner too, which has been their own standalone case. This information gathering continued to happen on and off for years, some of which even took place after we told the city that we were concerned this may be happening — this was affirmed through an audit and investigation that took place.

This particular officer has also had a past of other misuse of police resources, some of which they've been punished for or put their job at risk of termination. Throughout our research, their action clearly violates policies and some of the guidelines deem these repeated actions as being immediate grounds for termination. However, the feedback we've gathered so far suggests that this officer not only wasn't terminated or adequately punished, but that they've continued to retain full access to these systems that were abused.

We're suspicious that there may be quite a few people in cahoots that is allowing this officer to avoid necessary punishment. Some of this suspicion comes from numerous contradictory claims in their communication compared to the documentation we received; the lack of transparency and effort when they were forced to report to other agencies (even ones above them); and that they have repeatedly went well beyond the deadlines of numerous statutes, resulting in some opportunities of tort to be impossible (we found these out afterwards, of course).

It's worth noting that we've contacted a few lawyers. Some claim this case doesn't align with what they practice or is much bigger than they can handle; others have claimed that it may not be financially feasible to fight.

Questions:

If we went after the city (or state) for something like negligence (or whatever term fits the broad issues above), is it likely that we can recover monetary damages (and/or attorney fees) since they seem to have sided with the officer?

My partner has diagnosed PTSD as a direct result of these ongoings.
This case impacted my partner's ability to continue with college and they needed to drop out. They intend to re-enroll as soon as financially possible.

Are there any laws that force the police bureau to only retain quality officers for the public's best interest?

Essentially, does the police bureau need a good reason for keeping this officer despite the guidelines saying they should be terminated?


texts: Can a seller/producer control future sales of a product?

texts:
Let's say I'm an international fruit distributor, and with at least a basic knowledge of economics I know I'm going to need to sell my fruit at a significant discount to less developed regions as opposed to more developed regions.

For example, I might sell pineapples to the French market for €1.20 each wholesale, while I might need to drop that down to €0.20 to sell to the Indian market. That's fine, I'm still making a healthy profit either way, but I run the risk that importers in either of the two countries are going to notice the discrepancy and ship my €0.20 pineapples from India to France, and compete with my €1.20 pineapples there.

Is there a way, as this supposed fruit distributor, that I can control ownership of the fruit I sell until they reach the final consumer? What if the good is intellectual over physical (e.g. music over fruit)?

I'm specifically referring to American and European law here, as I doubt restrictions on the cheaper regions' side are going to help much if at all.


texts: What is the purpose of including "without prejudice" in communications between parties?

texts:
In communication between parties in legal matters, the phrase without prejudice is often included. I've also seen it used in the phrase without prejudice, save as to costs.

What is the purpose and legal effect of this?


texts: Can a fan be considered an "air conditioning unit"?

texts:
Saw this apparently ridiculous statement from Airbnb on social media today,

  A fan legally constitutes an air conditioner

It's unclear by what law that might be the case - the situation took place in Mexico, and Airbnb is a US company. What I managed to find is Definitions concerning commercial air conditioners and heat pumps, which doesn't concern fans, and that "The [air conditioning] term excludes window units" (which suggests that a fan is in no way an A/C unit).

However, my experience at large companies suggests that support agents are trained to not make risky statements involving legal matters, so is there some legal ground for a fan to be considered an air conditioning unit?


texts: Personal liability forum shopping: When does US personal liability law apply? When can its application be excluded?

texts:
I am interested in the possibilities of forum shopping in regard to personal injury claims. (Tort and contract.)
For the sake of argument, let's assume a manufacturer M that manufactures electronics equipment. M is domiciled, operates and manufactures outside the United States. There are no obvious connections to the United States—though M may be using US banking institutions (e.g. PayPal) or US service providers (e.g. Amazon) for its website.
When may M or its officers or employees be liable for personal injury under US law? When can such liability be categorically excluded?
To get this question started I have a few possible scenarios:

Devices delivered to non-US customers at an address outside the US. -> No link to the US. US law should not apply, right?
Devices delivered inside the US. -> US law will apply.

That seems like common sense, but what about some tricky situations:

Devices delivered outside the US to US citizens living abroad or travelling.
Devices delivered to a non-US address but bought by a US resident that then has the device shipped to the US by a third party himself. (Mail forwarding.)
Devices sold to a non-US customer, delivered to a non-US address. The customer then sells the device on to customers in the US.


texts: Is the moon terra nullius, or do there exist property rights to the moon?

texts: Is the moon terra nullius or do any property rights exist for it in any shape or form?


texts: Can I use the word "Saga" in a video game name?

texts:
From what I understand King owns the word "saga" as it pertains to video games from this article - http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/17/5624980/king-settles-trademark-disputes-with-the-banner-saga-developer

But I can't tell from the article or from copyright record searches whether this is actually true, and since the developers of "The Banner Saga" settled out of court with King it doesn't help to explain either.

Would it be against copyright law to use the word saga in a name of a video game?


texts:
I paid for UPS to deliver three parcels but they double charged me for that delivery.
UPS charged me twice for that shipment, and refused to respond to my emails and calls asking them to refund the second charge for that single shipment.
Now UPS are holding my parcels in their warehouse after I got my bank to return the second charge.
What actions can I take against UPS to get them to acknowledge my queries about the double charge, and deliver the parcels I paid to be delivered?


texts: Getting a conservatorship in Ohio (United States)

texts:
My mom had a stroke a few months ago and I need to file for conservatorship as I understand it. She is not mentally capable to making decisions at this point nor taking care of herself; she is currently in a nursing home. I need to sell her property in the next 13 months because of Medicaid.

My siblings are all on board with this and my next plan is to get a lawyer, but I am not sure where I should get a lawyer.

Will we file with the Probate courts in the county where she lived prior to her stroke or in the county where I reside and she is currently?

EDIT:
So this post may be of help to people in the future... I needed written confirmation from the county where her home was located that the probate court was relinquishing jurisdiction over the case; the county where I filed continued the case because they needed that in writing. Also, I basically was told by the court that I had to get a lawyer because I needed to sell my mom's real estate and that it would be very difficult for a lay-person to successful do a land sale. Also, I couldn't find a bonding company that would bond me (even with GREAT credit) until I had a lawyer.


texts: If photos are PII under GDPR, how are most photos on the web legal?

texts:
It has been established that identifiable photos of individuals are Personally identifiable information.  They MAY even be Special Category Data.  It seems to me that ones photo is the most personal and the most identifiable form of data available.

Many sites not only collect and process photos, they publicly distribute them.  These range from major multinationals, through international academic organisations to small clubs.  I am probably on all 3 of these, and have not knowingly given any consent for my face to be distributed around the world.

What is the legal situation with this?  Is it just that this has not yet been challenged so is not proven illegal?  Is there some exception for this sort of data?  Is there something I am missing?


texts: I received a notice of toll violation, but I believe I paid my tolls. How to dispute?

texts:
I visited Illinois at the end of last year. I used Google maps to route my trip and made sure to stop by every toll booth indicated on the way.
I received a notice of toll violation, though. Looking at Google Maps, the tolls I allegedly missed are all on the highway, so I can't imagine I would have missed them. Google clearly indicated all of them, and every time I saw a tollway on the highway, I pulled off to pay. I paid in cash, though, so unfortunately, I don't have any proof that I paid.
I want to schedule a hearing, but I feel like I'm at a big disadvantage. Again, since I paid in cash at all of the tolls, I can't look up any bank statements to prove that I made payments. As I'm in Nebraska, I can't reasonably attend a hearing in person - I'll have to do it by mail. And looking at the website for scheduling a hearing, it gives this information:

If you submitted an unpaid toll payment within seven days of the violations, please call 800-UC-IPASS (800-824-7277) or visit a Customer Service Center for assistance.

If you were an I-PASS or E-ZPass customer at the time of the violations, please call 800-UC-IPASS (800-824-7277) or visit a Customer Service Center for assistance.

Lack of familiarity with our roads, signs, or tolling infrastructure are not considered grounds for the dismissal of violations. We appreciate that traveling from one jurisdiction to another often requires travelers to follow different traffic laws and practices, but hearing officers are charged with helping uphold the rules consistently across our 1.5 million daily drivers.

None of these apply to me, unfortunately. I honestly think that what happened was I paid in cash, and the system just didn't work for some reason and incorrectly tagged me as a violator.
Altogether, my violations add up to less than $70 dollars, so if I don't have a chance at winning a hearing, I'll just pay the fines. But if I can potentially beat these alleged violations, I would much rather do that. What should my approach be when I dispute this?


texts:
Full disclosure: This was a dumpster fire on Reddit, and I am just posting here to get a more nuanced opinion. I am not the original asker and I don’t know which US state.

Supposedly, there is a tech company that has instituted a rule that, when making decisions about hiring or promoting, they will only consider degrees that were obtained within the last 10 years. Is this legal?

I can certainly see an argument for this being age discrimination, but could there also be a counterargument that anyone can always go back to school, and in the tech industry there are legitimate reasons why a more recent diploma would be more valuable?


texts: Update a dead person's situation in Italy - Who can do it?

texts:
My great-grandfather was born in Italy and emmigrated from there when he was 16 years old. He married and died in Brazil, and his daughter (also born in Brazil) is my grandmother.

To obtain an Italian passport, I was informed by the consulate in my state of Brazil that the process could be faster if the situation of my great-grandfather in the prefecture was updated. That is, if someone could go there and deliver his marriage and death certificates (translated to Italian) and thus this would be annotated in his birth certificate.

I went there and delivered the documents. However, they phoned me 6 months later saying that they weren't sure that I was able to do this update (they checked my ID, however they did not ask for any proof that I am indeed his great-grandson). I was left wondering: Who can do that? Do I have the authorization to do it?

Thanks in advance


texts: Do (no-)waivers refer to the terms themselves or the right to enforce them?

texts:
No-waiver clauses in contracts basically state that the neglect to enforce something doesn't imply that it has been waived. Are we talking about the term itself being waived or the right to enforce it being waived?

For example, which is more correct:

The neglect to enforce a term does not mean the term has been waived
The neglect to enforce a term does not mean the right to enforce it has been waived?

Or are they the same?


texts: How and when can protected trademark be broken by someonse else?

texts:
I have an application called 2oobbllee.
I have received an email from owner of the Dobble trademark saying that I infringe its rights.
Is it true?

I opine that the choice of yours remains disputable. You are flirting with our name and there is no other reason for you to do that other than to capitalize as much as you can with the fame associated to DOBBLE.

Are they right? I don't understand that law.


texts: Regulations of Tempest protection of buildings

texts:
Tempest devices could via intercepting from far away the electro-magnetic waves coming out from one's computer detect what one does on the computer. Employing the Faraday cage principle, one could prevent such detections. A. Stanoyevitch in his book Discrete Structures with Contemporary Applications, CRC Press, 2011, p.301 writes:

"Buildings can be fitted using a special insulation procedure that protects against tempest devices, but any company or individual in the US who has this insulation must first obtain a license from the federal Government."

Could this be true? If yes, which laws are involved in this context?


texts: What constitutes FRAUD by a landlord before leasing?

texts:
I communicated with the Maryland leasing agent during Fall of 2018 by email as I was living in CA at the time. He offered a beautiful Penthouse apt. with all kinds of upgrades, a fireplace, balcony, floor-to-ceiling windows - sent dazzling photos and the perfect layout (floorplan) entitled "Your New Home." After arrival, I was escorted into the office to sign the lease documents and then was shown a DIFFERENT APT. The movers were on their way and my new job had started, and I was stuck, wondering if my memory was off. A couple months after when things settled down (nightmare move), I found the original floorplan/emails and they acknowledged it was the wrong one. I asked to move to a non-penthouse apt. that fit my furniture - this apt. has such a narrow living room that my recliner is in my dining room. there is no fireplace, balcony, upgrades, and small windows - it's dark and depressing, and I'm paying $1,000 more/month than a regular apt. No apology or offer, but I was told I can move to another apt. in the building when my 12-month lease is up!

I filed a Landlord-Tenant Complaint with Montgomery County. Although they're supposed to be tenant friendly, they have been useless, dragging their feet, saying nothing can be done that the landlord won't agree to. I gave notice in mid-October and am moving out the 7th of December (lease isn't up until 31st of Dec.) and I'm told I have to pay until then -- $3,200/month. The AC has never worked right; my refrigerator has needed repairs 3 times this year, causing expensive meats and vegetables to spoil; and the water is shutoff periodically for all-day repairs. Is there NO legal recourse? How can they get away with treating tenants like this?


texts: Distribute a XUL Application using Firefox binary

texts:
I'm going to release a XUL Application to my users. It's freeware (and maybe it will be opensource-ed later). Previously I used to package it with XULRunner and ship them all to the end user. Now I have to use firefox -app /path/to/application.ini instead.

However, these slight modifications are required:

I'd like to remove all unnecessary files and directories. Including these directories: browser, components, defaults, dictionaries, gmp-clearkey, icons, webapprt, and almost all .ini files. This is to save memory (around 18MB).
I want to rename firefox, firefox.app and firefox.exe to something else. Also, I want to change (or remove) the default firefox icon.
On Mac, there is an extra step. I'd like to remove 32-bit code from XUL library, using ditto command. This will save more than ~60Mb according to my tests. This is extremely useful as I don't want to have both 32-bit and 64-bit on the same bundle.

Do these modifications require Mozilla's written permission?

There is some information on this page: Mozilla Trademark Policy. However, I can't tell whether they require written permission or not.


texts:
Can a political party name be trademarked in the United Kingdom?

I appreciate that the name could be registered with the Electoral Commission, but the application process for that requires at least two applicants. Also, it would not stop the party name being used in areas outside the Electoral Commission's remit.


texts: I gave my landlord my a N9 form to end a 1 year lease due to allergies and she is refusing to accept it. Is that illegal do I have recourse with LTB?

texts:
I have a one year lease, I've only lived in the unit for 2 months. My landlord has lied to me multiple times by making verbal agreements then going back on them. Her lies included other tenants and now me and the other tenants do not get along. She offered an ethernet cable as a work accomodation prior to moving in and after moving in she said it was not included in the lease and tells the rest of the tenants she never promised me that causing problems with me and the other tenants.
On move in day the room was not ready to move in and she said to move in and someone will come after and fix the room, I did not want anyone coming into my room with my items because I've had issues with stalking and harassment (which she's unaware of because who wants the whole world to know about that stuff) and she offered me reduced rent..  after moving in she said how my concern did not constitute for reduced rent.
Recently, She accepted a tenant with a Husky and never asked if anyone has allergies and the person with the dog was in the room beside mine. She said by moving the dog to the basement that will solve the problem. That is not how allergies work and our only common area in the student housing is in the basement. The owner still let's the dog upstairs and the dog goes to both kitchens and everyone plays with the dog and touches everything and recently the dog found a new liking to poo right outside my door (which does not help my allergies) Due to COVID I work from home and I can't work from home because my symptoms are affecting my work I had to temporarily move into my parents house to work. I'm also being monitored by my company because of the ethernet lies my landlord told. I gave my landlord the N9 to end my lease August 31st because I will not be able to study with my allergies and she said I gave her the wrong document, denying my request to terminate. Now she hired a property management company because a family member is ill and said to contact them for any concerns that I have moving forward because we will not be able to contact her.
I contacted them because I had no other choice and they are refusing my termination notice as well saying I'm bound to the lease. They said they will try to remove the dog but based on my experience I do not believe them and I do not want to be forced to live in a unit that uninhabitable for me when school starts. The property management company is now saying that they will keep my last month rent of $550 and ask that I pay them $1100 as a fee to break the lease if I really want to go.


texts: Florida Law: Can email be used in place of USPS to receive notifications \ messages?

texts: I travel a lot and can not rely on USPS mail.  How could I substitute an e-mail address for a USPS physical address, with respect to a legal matter in Florida small claims court?


texts: When would an area variance not be for a self-created difficulty?

texts:
When pursuing an area variance in New York State, the local Zoning Board of Appeals applies a five-factor balancing test to determine if they should grant the variance. One of these factors is if the "difficulty" encountered by the applicant is "self-created":

[NYS Town Law §267-B(3)(b)] In making its determination, the zoning board of appeals shall take into consideration the benefit to the applicant if the variance is granted, as weighed against the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant. In making such determination the board shall also consider: [...] (5) whether the alleged difficulty was self-created, which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the board of appeals, but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance.

Please note that use variances have a similar "self-created hardship" test, but I'm asking only about area variances and self-created difficulties.
I don't understand what is meant by "self-created", even after some web research on the topic. I'm not sure where the dividing line is intended or expected to be between "self-created" and "not self-created" difficulties. I'm particularly interested in cases where:

the applicant purchased the property in question, with the zoning rules that cause them difficulty already in place

and either:

the applicant wants to build something that would not fit the zoning rules, and thus would need a variance; but
the applicant could also have built something for a similar use that would fit the rules, and wouldn't need a variance (i.e. a smaller structure, or a structure on a different part of the property)

or:

the applicant received a building permit; and
they or those they hired constructed something that deviated enough from the plans submitted for the building permit to violate zoning code in a way they would not have had they followed the plans perfectly

In these cases it seems to me the applicant got in their situation due to a series of decisions they, or people working on their behalf, took, and could have known exactly how this would violate zoning code. When, if ever, in these cases, could complying with the zoning code reasonably be considered not to be a self-created difficulty?


texts: Do I have the right to ask Github to hide my Contribution activity according to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

texts: Do I have the right to ask Github to hide my "Contribution activity" on my public profile page?


texts: Can the President issue an implicit blanket pardon for specific offenses?

texts:
Yesterday, President Trump made a speech applauded by law enforcement encouraging their rough treatment of suspects, specifically including a removal of protection from physical injury when a suspect is being loaded into a police vehicle for transportation.  The context of the speech indicated that the rough treatment should be especially applied on the basis of perceived national origin.

If some career prosecutor in the Department of Justice didn't or doesn't "get the memo" against investigation and prosecution of federal civil rights violations by police, could an officer accused of this violation successfully claim that this speech (and/or others like it) contained a presidential pardon?

It seems clear that no conviction needs exist at the time of the pardon nor does the specific crime need to be identified (e.g. Ford's blanket pardon of Nixon), nor does the specific individual being pardoned have to be identified (e.g. Carter's pardoning of draft dodgers), and that official pronouncements from this President do not necessarily come in formally structured executive orders (e.g. Tweeted ban on transgender military service).  These factors suggest the answer may be "yes," but I am not familiar with the actual requirements of what it takes to make a pardon valid.


texts: Which state's laws determine guidelines for voluntary termination of parental rights?

texts: A couple has a child out of wedlock. The father pays child support for several years, but the mother and child live in a different state from the father/where the birth occurred. The father wishes to terminate his parental rights in order to no longer pay child support. Which state's laws govern the termination of rights? Is it the one the child is a resident of, or where the child was born?


texts: Is normally illegal kink legal if consensual

texts:
My wife is older than age of majority and can freely give consent. She has a specific kink of wanting to be upskirted in shops.
If I have her consent, can I do this without getting in trouble?
If she revokes her consent during or after recording upskirt, will I get in trouble? (for example get consent, then recording, then revoke consent while recording)
This question only needs to be answered under Canadian law, but I also want to know how it is dealt in other countries where it is normally illegal (TIL upskirting is not illegal everywhere).


texts:
I moved into an apartment in northern New Jersey about a month ago. The apartment building contains 3 total units, one on each floor. I live in the 2nd story unit which was renovated right before I moved in. The “property manager” (landlord for all intents and purposes) lives on the 3rd floor, but his unit is being renovated so he does not currently live there.

It has been raining a couple days a week here recently and we noticed water is leaking into our apartment. We first notified the landlord about a leak two weeks ago.

Several more leaks have since occured, with the worst wave coming today after a heavy thunderstorm. We have notified the landlord each time we noticed a new leak, and he keeps saying either him or his contractor will take a look, but we havent received any summary of the action steps he’s taken on this.

After the heavy thunderstorm today, when my roommate got home from work he noticed someone was in our apartment and had attempted to clean up the water that ended up on the bathroom and living room floors, as wells as numerous additional leaks.

Ideally, what we want to happen is as follows: He starts communicating that he has received our complaints and tells us what he is doing to remedy them (and then actually fixes the issues) in a timely manner.

If the slow response continues, we want some kind of compensation (one month off rent?) for his lack of communication and attention to the issue. Ideally, we would like to stay in the apartment as it is very nice and in a great location. Ultimately, we think the 3rd floor renovations opened up the door for all these leaks and this shouldnt be an issue going forward, but regardless its been extremely inconvenient.

How can we get the landlord to accomplish either of the above?

If this is the wrong site for this question, please let me know and I’ll move it.


texts: In Canada, do employees have the right to not be listed publicly?

texts:
Let's say Microsoft Canada decided to put online their employee directory (name, title, phone number, work address), indexed by Google.

Let's say one employee does not want people to find out where he works for some reasons.

If requested, is it mandatory for Microsoft to remove the employee profile?

To make it more complex, what if the employee no longer works there?


texts: Is my wife required to attend a deposition?

texts:
My wife worked as a property manager for a private owner of an apartment building about 3 years ago. Her former employer has since sold the company, and the new owners are now being sued by a former tenant who lived there while my wife was the manager, although we don't know why.

She was served a subpoena by the former tenant's attorney requesting her to turn in all documents related to the case. Although she was responsible for record-keeping during the time she worked there, she does not have possession of any such documents now nor does she know who does since she is no longer employed there and the building is under new ownership. She explained as much to the attorney and we thought that would be the end of it.

She just now received an email from the attorney asking to schedule a deposition. She has already explained to the attorney that she has no information of any kind regarding the case and I do not believe she is obligated to do anything. A deposition with the attorney would be a waste of time since my wife no longer has anything to do with the apartment and has no association with the new ownership. Could she simply explain the situation again and refuse to appear at a deposition so we can end her association with this case for good?


texts: Why is the age of consent typically younger than the age of majority in many countries?

texts: I've always been puzzled at many countries allow teenagers to have sex with each other at 14-15 years old at the youngest but still forbid them from consuming intoxicants until they are 18 or 21. Why do they have some bodily rights but not others?


texts: Do some U.S. states' constitutions interpret the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment differently? If so, what do they say?


texts: What options are available to plaintiff if defendant breaks NDA and goes ahead with deal on their own?

texts:
I work on acquisitions/sales of companies. I showed ABC Co. ownership a potential acquisition (XYZ Co.) that they passed on. A few months later, ABC Co. themselves was for sale. ABC's private equity ownership group sold  ABC...and then the new private equity owners (with some ABC management still in place) bought the company I showed them. The NDA was still in effect and management team wouldn't have even known of the existence of the company had we not shown it to them.

What is the recourse here? To complicate things, I am no longer with the firm that confidentiality agreement was with. I have since opened my own shop. Thanks for any advice on this.


texts: Is a mortgage lender liable for missed tax credits?

texts:
I bought a house in Iowa in July 2016 and got a mortgage loan through a local lender. As part of the loan application, the lender applied for a tax credit program known as the 'Take Credit Mortgage Credit Certificate'. I paid $350 to the lender for the application, and met all qualifications. Link to tax credit:  http://www.iowafinanceauthority.gov/takecredit.

Now that it is tax time, I need information from the credit approval to receive the credit on my taxes. When following up with the lender (my loan originator no longer works for the lender), they tell me that the credit was applied for, but was neither approved nor denied before the closing date. I was never told about this prior to closing, so I had assumed everything was approved.

My question is, is the lender on the hook for the potential tax credits lost? The credit would have applied every year for the life of the 30-year loan. I cannot retroactively apply for the tax credit. Without this credit, I believe I am technically losing about $2000 a year, and that is just for the first 10 years. Can I sue for these potential losses?


texts: London: actions to take against a landlord who breached the law on many occasions

texts:
I have been living in London for several years now and experienced issues with one of my last landlords (professional one). I'm looking for your legal advice on what actions to take.

To give you a bit of background: it was an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement within a shared house. I had many issues with this letting agency with them breaking into my room without any notice, stealing the keys for the garden (when it was more than 40°C in the house), and many other things I can detail if needed.

But the worst was that, at a time where I was spending 2 days abroad every week for work, they rented my room, not respecting the one month notice period on the contract (because they were unable to rent the room next to mine and at some point found a bunch of guys who were happy to rent the two rooms... the house had 4 rooms in total) two weeks before the end of the leaving date. So basically one night, I came back from my business trip and found almost all my stuff in packages downstairs, someone in my room, and was left with no other option then to sleep on the kitchen table where I got bitten by ants all night long.

On the next day, I checked my stuff and found out that more than £500 of goods had disapeared. I emailed them and they told me they did not steal anything... I went to see the police, who told me that without CCTV in the house they could not proceed with a charge against my landlord for them stealing my goods.

I would like to get your opinion on the kind of action I can take against them as they breached the law/agreement on several points.


texts: Are there any kinds of laws that prohibit personally harmful speech?

texts: In response to this article from The Economist, I was wondering if there are any other countries that prohibit this type of speech? Not libel, since that relates directly to issues of the "right to a good name," nor any kinds of blasphemy or profanity laws. Rather, what I'm looking for are laws that are there to protect me from someone harming me, personally, the same way they would using violence, only with words instead, such as catcalling, cursing, or even verbal bullying.


texts: Is it legal to cover over a slogan on a license plate?

texts: Suppose you had a state slogan on your license plate, and you disliked it. Would it be legal for you to paint over it, or otherwise cover it? (Say, "Ski Utah" or "Water Winter Wonderland," if you objected to advertising, or "Live Free or Die" (New Hampshire) or "Taxation Without Representation" (D.C.), if I disagreed with the political message.) To be clear--you're not covering the license plate number in any way, just the slogan.


texts: Who has standing for wrongful death claims?

texts:
A person's estate, relatives, and dependents generally have standing to sue for damages under wrongful death statutes.
Do any other persons or entities have standing to sue for damages under those or any similar or analogous statutes?  For example:

A decedent's employer who has lost income due to business disruption from the unexpected loss of the employee?
An employee of the person who reasonably expected long-term employment?  E.g., a nurse who provided care for a chronic health condition of the decedent?


texts: Can a landlord submit a change-of-address on behalf of a former renter who refuses to do so?

texts: My family owns a condo, and I recently moved in. The previous tenant refuses to have his mail forwarded because, as he says, "I don't want the junk mail, and everything important is forwarded already." I am getting multiple catalogs and letters addressed to him and his wife still. Can I fill out a change of address form for this guy who just wants me to clean up his mess rather than unsubscribe himself?


texts: A plumber left the job in the middle, how do I close out the job

texts:
I gave a plumber $2,000.  That is about half of the price on his proposal.

The plumber is no longer on the job. (See https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/99203/plumber-asking-for-a-lot-more-money-after-starting-work.)

What steps could I take to do the following:
A. Make sure the plumber does not put a lien on my property for the full price.
B. Get a refund of the money not used.  (The plumber was here for 4 hours w an assistant and bought some 50 feel of 2" black pipe and fittings. That probably does not cost $2,000.)

Would taking him to small claims court be a reasonable way to get the job closed out?


texts: Does CC BY-SA permit denial of attribution if the requested pseudonym is political?

texts:
According to CC-BY-SA 4.0, § 3(a)(1), "Attribution. If You Share the Licensed Material (including in modified form), You must: [...] retain the following if it is supplied by the Licensor with the Licensed Material:"

identification of the creator(s) of the Licensed Material and any others designated to receive attribution, in any reasonable manner requested by the Licensor (including by pseudonym if designated);

Does this protect me if the pseudonym I wish to use is deemed to be political, but is otherwise protected speech in my jurisdiction? For example, would a site be able to deny attribution if my requested pseudonym was "Israel is an Apartheid State"?


texts: Can someone sue their partner for having an abortion?

texts: If a woman has an abortion against the will of the father, can the father sue the mother?


texts: Does company have the right to purchase my vested shares after I quit?

texts:
Here's some context in case it's relevant. I worked at a startup which issued shares (not options) to employees. A good chunk of my shares have vested over the 4-year vesting period. I have voluntarily quit without being fully vested. The company would like to purchase all my shares back. I understand that I don't get to keep my unvested shares, but I'm under the impression that the vested shares are mine to keep. I have already bought them and paid the taxes. I filled out IRS form 83b.

This is the relevant part of my shareholder agreement

  if such person’s employment is terminated without Cause, such person
      shall only be required to sell his or her Unvested Shares
      hereunder and shall not be required to transfer his or her Vested Shares.

I was not terminated. I voluntarily quit and left in good standing.
The shareholder's agreement doesn't seem to address what happens to employee shares if they quit.

What's the default here? That is, if there was no mention of share buyback, is the company allowed to purchase my shares without my agreement?

What recourse do I have if they insist on buying it back?

What happens if I simply refuse to sign any offer deal?

Thank you in advance for you time


texts: Do police officers in the USA have to carry the law/code book?

texts:
I have seen several videos recently where police officers in the USA approach or detain someone, and then open a binder with laws/codes of the area and show the people what they violated.
Question is, do police officers usually carry such binder? If so, what is it called?
Also, can a person call into doubt the officers actions by demanding to review that binder?


texts: Is PR advice from a lawyer to their client privileged?

texts:
From this tweet:

Wow. Marjorie Greene's attorney, @LLinWood, just accidentally texted to me his advice TO HER about how to spin my new article about her:

It is too long and all over the place.  Ignore it and give it NO play.  If forced to comment, just describe it as a "smear article that is nothing more than anti-Trump propaganda."

Would that count as privileged information, such that the lawyer had inadvertently waived privilege?  My understanding is that privilege only applies to legal advice, and thus wouldn't cover PR advise like that, but IANAL.


texts:
On Workplace.SE, "My employer wants me to a sign an NDA that is backdated more than 2 years" describes the following scenario:

OP is an employee working on a project
OP has been working (for 7 years as an employee and for 2 on this project) without an NDA
Their employer now wants them to sign an NDA for the project, backdated two years (i.e. dated two years ago to the start of the project).

The OP's jurisdiction is presumably Texas.

My question, is it legal to backdate an NDA like that? Is it a civil contract whose parties are allowed to agree (even retroactively) than an NDA is in place? Or could doing so (backdating such a document) be considered fraud, forgery, or anything illegal, or even for some reason ethically or morally wrong?

It seems to me that it might be legal (assuming that I as the employee were willing to sign it) because as an employee I'd assume that some NDA was in place even if haven't signed one (so it's as if the agreement or meeting of minds was in place even before it was documented).

On the other hand it also appears to be creating a false document, so, I don't know.


texts: What wording should I use to include non-binary pronouns in a contract?

texts:
I'm working off of a template for a Terms of Service agreement for an app, and I would like to modify it to use non-binary pronouns (they/their/them) instead of gender-specific pronouns (he/she his/hers him/her). What, if any, language should be included at the head of the contract to explain that they/their/them is referring to a single person rather than a group of people? Right now I'm thinking of something like

  In this document when referring to the Licensee, we use the non-binary
  and non-gender-specific pronouns “they”, “their”, and “them”. These
  pronouns are not intended to reflect plurality of the Licensee, and
  can be replaced by he/his/him or she/her/hers where appropriate to
  reflect the Licensee’s identity.


texts: Fee waiver form with ambiguous 'or' in list of terms

texts:
I recently got a residential mortgage with the help of a mortgage broker and one of the contracts I signed was a fee waiver form. This form specifies that if I take out some kind of protection with the broker then a fee that would normally be charged would be waivered.

One of the terms in the contractual agreement was the following:

The Client engages the Arranger to act on his behalf in order to arrange a term assurance, critical illness, income protection or private medical insurance policy (“the Policy”)

After taking out the mortgage, the broker has rightly contacted me to arrange some kind of protection. I specified that I wanted to keep costs down and would like to just take out a life insurance policy, which is around £5 per month. However, the broker says that he could not recommend that and says that as a minimum I would need to take out both life insurance and critical illness insurance, which is an extra £20 per month.

From my understanding of the above term, the 'or' implies that I can choose which kind of protection I would like to take out with the broker and I am not contractually obliged to take out both life insurance and critical illness insurance with him. Both of which have been quoted as not the cheapest on the market as the broker only has a range of providers that he can choose from. These providers obviously pay him a commission for taking out the protection.

I've attached the full fee waiver contract so you can check not just this term but the whole of the contract.


texts: Is it legal for a US Secretary to fund/defund projects based on political payback?

texts:
I thought about postingthis in the Politics SE but this is a legal question. In this article it appears that US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has explicitly told two legislators from Alaska that the way they cast their votes in the Senate have put federally funded projects planned for Alaska "in jeopardy". There are a lot of different ways this could be done, but ultimately it boils down to how the Secretary will/won't allocate funds for these projects.

The duty of the Legislative branch is to faithfully represent the people of their district/state when creating laws.

The duty of the Executive branch is to faithfully execute the laws that the Legislature creates when implementing programs.

The Founders designed it so that the Legislative branch would control the "Power of the Purse" as one of its checks & balances versus the Executive branch, yet here it seems that an Executive branch department is saying it will control the purse unless Legislature does what the Executive wants.

This seems to me to be a violation of the Separations of Powers at the very least but it also sounds like extortion or bribery for congressional votes. Another issue is that this kind of financial/political arm twisting essentially tries to force the legislators into representing the interests of the Executive over the interests of their constituents.

I do realize that political backroom deals for pork barrel spending and earmarked projects are also subject to the same arguments, but in those cases the process is much more visible and the entire Congress has a final voice in approving the specific allocations.


texts: Is a thief liable of paying the victim for the losses? How often this happens?

texts: When someone is convicted of theft, is the criminal liable to pay all the losses and expenses to the victim, including burden to the victim to report the crime, loss due to being deprived of the property, damages to the property (if returned), cost to acquire another property (if never returned) and the distress caused? If yes, is this reimbursement of expenses common or just happen under certain conditions?


texts:
I worked in Colorado, USA for a startup.

On a Monday morning we were informed that our investor decided not to continue investing in our company and so our payroll from that last Friday was paid for/fronted by the HR company. After a tumultuous week, we were informed on Friday that our company was closing and that we would not be paid the final paycheck owed us. In some follow up discussions, I learned that our investor's investments were "debt investments" and were "secured debt". I was told this means that in the bankruptcy his investments will be paid before being paid that final paycheck or for unpaid PTO. Given the size of this secured debt (over 20 million USD), it seems unlikely we will receive any payment for those. As far as I know the company has not yet filed for bankruptcy but has rather ceased operations. It sounds like some bills are being paid with new money from the investor.

When does a CEO (or the investor or the board) have to notify employees they will be unable to pay them for work already done?

Does an investor have a responsibility to ensure all employees are paid?

Do the employees have any recourse?

Is "secured debt" real? And does that reduce the likelihood of receiving a paycheck in a bankruptcy settlement?

Does any of this change if the company doesn't file for bankruptcy?


texts:
Can I patent a philosophy?

I'm very new to IP law and was disappointed to find out that the US now uses a first to file system like everyone else. Before spending money on legal services, I want to educate myself as much as possible.

I've been working on a philosophical concept which can be boiled down to a very simple qualitative formula. It is going to be the foundation for a number of entrepreneurial projects of mine. The simple formula is very high level. If a philosophy can be patented, I need to get an understanding of what level of detail and explanation is most appropriate.

Can anyone recommend reading/web resource on this subject, law firms worth discussing this with or other resources in the New York area?


texts: Does expedited removal apply to aliens presenting an Advance Parole document?

texts:
Under INA 235(b)(1)(A)(i), an arriving alien can be placed into expedited removal proceedings only if they are inadmissible due to fraud or misrepresentation or if they do not possess the required entry documents. Such aliens can be removed without a hearing, unless they apply for asylum. Most other arriving aliens are entitled to ordinary removal proceedings.

What I am not sure about is the case of an arriving alien who presents an Advance Parole document. Most such aliens will be paroled into the United States without issue; however, parole is granted at the discretion of CBP, so it is possible that the inspector may want to refuse entry. As an Advance Parole document arguably is not a valid entry document for either an immigrant or a nonimmigrant, I wonder whether CBP can place such an alien in expedited removal proceedings, denying them the ability to have their case heard before an immigration judge.


texts: Who owns the code when my employer wants something similar to my existing open source project?

texts:
I have a similar situation to this question.

My employer hired me knowing that I work on some open source projects, but for a long time, showed no interest in my open source projects. Now they want me to work on something similar to one of my projects.

Before I started working there, I planned to expand that particular project into a small side business. I might close the open source project as I turn it into a business. My employer does not know of my plans to start a small side business. My side project is not identical to what I would do at work, but it is similar.

My open source project has nothing to do with their products, so it would not compete against them. It would simply make some of their internal business and software development activities easier to do.

There are 4 tests for what is considered acceptable as a personal project.

I don't compete against company interests.
I don't work on it during company time, but on my own time.
I don't work on it with company resources, but with my own computer.
I don't reveal any company secrets.

My side project would certainly pass items 3 and 4. #2 is iffy because I can rewrite similar code at home as what I would at work. #1 is iffy because although the project is not even remotely related to the company's product, it does make the company a little more efficient.

Yet, I signed an agreement when I started saying I would turn over any intellectual property to the company that is developed during the course of my work.

Can I retain ownership of any open source code I write which is similar to what I would do at work?


texts: Can the GDPR be used to ask free race photographs?

texts:
A lot of time pictures of participants are taken during a sports event. These are often sold afterwards for e.g. 10 euro each. Some people just share the watermarked image on social media.

But my question is: is it possible to use the 'right of access' to get all personal information from the photographer including the photographs.

If not, how far does the 'right of access' goes?


texts: Is it possible to find all U.S. federal laws digitized and online?

texts: Are all of the federal laws in the United States digitized and available to the public through some free ".gov" website? Is it possible to download them all into, say, PDF?


texts: What options does a judge have to control an unruly defendant?

texts:
If a defendant is unable or unwilling to control himself (in terms of interrupting procedure), what options does a judge have besides physically gagging or taping the mouth shut?

Clarification via Context

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/03/us/cleveland-judge-mans-mouth-taped-shut-trnd/index.html


texts:
I have created a simple spyware on which whenever a form is submitted on any website, it will serialize the form data then send the data to my email address.

I am only currently using it on my own devices in which whenever someone(friends/family/etc.) borrows my device, I just threaten them that I will be able to get their passwords by just using my device.

I am planning to release it on GitHub with MIT License. Will I have a responsibility on how others will use it? Will I get sued for creating it?

Is this legal? I am not going to jail by doing it, am I?


texts: What case was Justice Breyer referring to in the argument for Trevino v Thaler

texts:
Trevino v. Thaler, Oral arguments

  MR. OLDHAM: Well, Your Honor, I think you
  could do one of two things. You could always certify
  the question with the Court of Criminal Appeals if you
  thought that the question -- that the answer turns on
  what the Texas procedures are and that the parties
  disagree with them.

  JUSTICE BREYER: I tried that once in a case
  involving Pennsylvania, and the result was such that I
  resolved never to do it again.

  (Laughter.)

  JUSTICE BREYER: But -- but don't say never.
  All right. So one thing we got --

  JUSTICE ALITO: That was a case in which --
  that was the case in which the Court unwisely reversed a
  certain Third Circuit decision.

What case were Justices Breyer and Alito referring to?


texts: Can I use a photo of a person on my website about their fraudulent practices?

texts:
There's a fraud conducting business in my state and I want to create a website that warns others of his fraudulent practices.

On the website, I would like to place a photo of this individual.  The photo belongs to me.  I was wondering whether there are any limitations on using photos of private individuals on websites.


texts: What constitutes comercial use of software?

texts: I'm writing a module for the internal company website of my current employer. Does that constitute comercial use?


texts: Converting to a minority religion in India?

texts:
What if one wanted to convert to minority religion in India.

The problem is it may not have a registered religious organisation associated in India.

Is religious choice in India restricted a few religions?

Does one have to create an organization and get itself registered?


texts: Can I waive the "slayer statute" in my will?

texts:
In most jurisdictions, a killer cannot profit from their crime, i.e. if someone kills someone else, they cannot inherit from them.

If I create a will, can I specifically ignore the slayer rule? Can I leave my assets to certain persons regardless of whether or not they caused my death?

Please include case law or statutes (if they exist). I am interested in answers for any jurisdiction within the United States, but answers in other jurisdictions are acceptable too.


texts: Am I legally bound to transfer apartments if I don't like the new lease?

texts:
I am in the state of Texas and I inquired my apartment complex about transferring to a downstairs apartment.

The night before the transfer I get this new lease that is $30 more a month, plus a prorate that will have me paying close to $200 more for this month alone, plus a $250 deposit which I actually paid $500 deposit when I first moved in.

None of this was discussed beforehand, I asked if I could transfer, they said sure, I said that's it, nothing else? They said nope, you are all set.

So clearly this is a non-starter, the move is supposed to happen tomorrow, is there anything legal they can use against me if I just say, no thanks I will stay where I am?

By the way I have not signed anything and my current lease does not expire until November of this year.


texts: Do police have a civil duty to do their job?

texts:
If someone steals my car and the police refuse to respond, and in fact prevent me from taking action to recover the car.
Can police be sued for not doing their job? I.e., if I spend millions of dollars on a breach of trust case, will I win?


texts: Are there any essential differences in the nature and quality of the following defenses?

texts:
A has clearly been injured, and has the bruises to prove it. He sues B for hitting him and causing those bruises. As far as I can see, B may have several different defenses.

Yes, I did hit A, but was doing so in self defense. A came after me with a knife.

No, I wasn't the one that hit A, but I saw C do it.

No, I didn't hit A. His injuries were caused by a fall.

Do these defenses have different "supporting" requirements, e.g. different burdens of proof? Or if B claims 1) are there things like "reasonableness" tests? E.g. If the "knife" had been a child's plastic knife instead of one with a steel blade, could B's defense be weakened to a degree that is not possible for the other defenses?


texts: What is the speed limit with only one sign?

texts: Ignore the side road I added (opps!) Basically if I am driving down the screen what is the speed limit? It is a workzone but the sign is only posed going up. The road goes back to 55 after the work zone.


texts:
Let's say I have access to a... certain... database. I want to make it accessible to the general public, since I believe it would serve the public interest.

The content is non-creative - numeric public knowledge facts, so it wouldn't be protected under copyright law. It also doesn't contain personal data.

I know that some countries in the world protect databases with specific laws. This is the case in the European Union and the UK for example, but not on the US.

If I currently have this data stored on a computer within the US, can I license it under the Open Database License and release it to the public?

Would it make a difference if I'm not physically located in the US, or am not a US citizen?

Even if there are possible legal consequences for me, would the general public be able to legally use the database?


texts: The comparative degree and superlative degree: what to do when comparing uncertain number of things?

texts:
According to Do's, Don'ts, and Maybes: Legal Writing Grammar - Part II:

  Use the comparative degree to compare two persons or things. Use the superlative degree to compare more than two persons or things.

But what if the number of persons or things is uncertain?

EDIT: One of the concern is whether using the superlative degree implies the number of things to be more than 2. For example, in a contract, A promises to buy some trucks from B in some future date, but the number of trucks depends on some events in the future. B also promises to do add some additional equipments on the heaviest truck. If the contract reads

  B shall equip the heaviest truck with a GPS navigator.

Does it imply the number of trucks is more than 2? If so, what can be done to remedy this?


texts: Can a dentist charge you without telling you the price in advance even though I asked for it?

texts:
I just moved from Florida to California. I went to my new dentist for a dental cleaning. I have dental insurance. I asked him, if he would tell me in advance the price, if I have to pay something. He answered, "Of course." I also asked him, if he was in-network with my dental insurance company. He answered, "Yes."
He billed $118 to the insurance company for a liquid that I thought it was mouth wash. The dental insurance paid $43, and I got a letter from the dentist that I have to pay the difference, $75.
As he never told me the price in advance, should I have to pay? If not, what would I need to do?
At this time, my plan is to pay, and look for a different dentist.
The only reason that I am thinking to do that is because I think that if I do not pay my credit score would be damaged. Also, hiring a lawyer would be more expensive.
However, I feel that he broke our contract not telling me the price in advance. I do not think that is reasonable $118 for a liquid that I thought was mouth wash. What can you tell me?
I found a question, that even though is not the exact case, gave me a lot of information.
Can a dentist charge for a treatment without written paperwork?
Additionally to the fluoride, that is the name of the liquid, he charged for X rays and the cleaning what was covered by the dental insurance. My previous dentist uses 45 minutes for the cleaning. This dentist used only 15 minutes.
My previous dentists never charged me for this "treatment." I think that what this dentist is doing is illegal, but is it illegal?


texts: Can I get my citizenship without physical green card

texts:
Am wondering if i can get a US citizenship without a green card(hard copy), I had one but it got stolen. (have a police report for it)

I can apply for a replacement but since my interview will be in few days, I think it might be a waste of money.


texts:
My husband and I filed a chapter 13 about a year ago and recently paid it off 100%.  I started reviewing our files after looking at online mortgage monthly statements because I couldn’t completely unstand all the fees and charges.  My lawyer requested I pay all her fees upfront which we did.

I asked my lawyer about the mortgage fees and asked her for a detailed explanation.  I had to ask her for it because the mortgage company will not send me the information and said to contact my lawyer to request that information.

A month before sending in the complete payoff the mortgage put in a motion for a release of stay.  My lawyer said the only way the mortgage lawyers have agreed to withdraw the release if I pay them $850.  I asked my lawyer to provide the detailed explanation of fees and she told me to just pay the money and if I want to review or dispute any mortgage charges/fees I could hire a new lawyer after the chapter 13 is over.  I insisted that we were going to continue to send money to the mortgage company if we don’t understand what the fees are for.  At that point, my lawyer sent me an email canceling our meeting to discuss my questions and she said she’s going to file a withdrawal from my case the next morning.

I have two questions:

What are the possible effects of continuing to send additional funds to a mortgage company for questionable fees and charges? Does this waive possible objections to those charges?
What is an appropriate response to an email from a lawyer that says she’s going to withdraw from my case, because I would like to understand the additional fees and charges my mortgage company is charging (over and beyond the plan payment/payoff)?

My concern is that by sending money for the fees that I do not understand and have not agreed to means we agree to them and will not be able to address once the chapter13 is closed.


texts: Can a federal judge rule a higher sentence than the state attorney/prosecutor proposed in the US?

texts:
Suppose a US federal attorney/prosecutor brought a case before a US federal court and the defendant is accused of committing a federal crime. The law says that the defendant can be imprisoned up to 5 years for that crime.

Can the federal attorney propose to the court/judge that the defendant should be imprisoned only for 2 years (for example), in case the jury agree on a gulity verdict? Is the court/judge bound by this proposal or can the court/judge still rule a higher sentence than the US federal attorney proposed?


texts:
Recently I notice two game in one is appstore and another one is google play store. but there different company but using almost same logo.

My question: is there a violation of copyright?.


texts: Must a landlord warn potential rentees about previous pest infestation?

texts:
Must a landlord warn potential renters about previous pest infestations?

I am mostly interested in the following locations:

California, United States
Massachusetts, United States
Paris, France
Seoul, South Korea

I have a particular interest in bed bug infestation.


texts: Why is it illegal to drive with only parking lights, even during the day?

texts:
According to the California Vehicle Code, "No vehicle shall be driven at any time with the parking lamps lighted except when the lamps are being used as turn signal lamps or when the headlamps are also lighted."

Why is it illegal to, for example, use the parking lights as daytime running lights (if the car doesn't have DRLs)?


texts: When is reposting company secrets illegal

texts:
Background:

Recently, some cards for an upcoming Magic the Gathering Set(trading card game) were leaked to the public a month before Wizards of the Coast(the company that makes Magic) intended to tell the public about the cards.

There's a lot of controversy in the Magic community right now, about these leaks, and Wizard's of the Coast's response to the leaks.  If you want to read more about it, you can go to a magic fansite.

Question:

Assume the following:

You have absolutely no contractual obligation to the company that has anything to do with company secrets.
You are exposed to information about a product, including photos of that product that the company is going to release to the public.
Let's assume your friend told you this information.  You don't know where your friend got this information.
The public knows a new product is coming out, but they don't have the specific information that you've been exposed to.
The company definitely does not want information of this product leaked to the public.
The company definitely does not want you to know this information.

Then:

Is it illegal to leak that information to the public?
If so, then if enough people know that information, does it become legal to spread that information?


texts:
One of the many recent Romanian governments tried to introduce a restriction for getting the driving license:

  Romanians will no longer be allowed to get driver licenses unless they
  finish compulsory education first, according to a draft Government
  decision.

As far as I know that is 10 grades/ years.

I am trying to find out if any European country has such a precondition, as it sounds rather restrictive. For EU the conditions seem to boil down to being a citizen, a minimum age, medical requirements and passing a test.

Question: Is there any European country that requires or required its citizens to have completed the compulsory school as a driving license precondition?


texts: As between lawyer and client, who gets to call the shots on strategy and tactics?

texts:
This question is a followup on my earlier one.
Suppose plaintiff is suing for compensation and/or damages in a tort case.
I would guess that the client would have the greater say on strategic matters. For instance, whether to settle or to continue litigation. Probably on which, of several possible defendants, to sue.
On the other hand, I would guess that the lawyer would have the final say on day to day operating decisions, which motions to file, which procedures to follow, what level of discovery to pursue, etc. The client usually doesn't have the expertise to make such decisions, and even if s/he does, "a doctor or lawyer who treats themselves has a fool for a client."
Are the above distinctions more or less the correct ones? Is it true that the client mostly dictates strategy/priorities, while the lawyer has most of the say on tactics?


texts:
On Facebook, there are various landlords communities. I have seen landlords post messages such as:

Do not rent your property to this person, first name, last name, how this person looks like and etc.
Some would even post a picture of their tenants.

They dubbed this technique as Name N Shame.

I am wondering if it breaches people's privacy by exposing their private information and even their pictures.


texts:
Where I am, we had the first few centimeters of snow today. On the way to work, some speed limit signs were unreadable. Now, I knew what they said because I drive this way every day, but if I didn't, what speed limit would I need to obey? Could I get points /lose my license of going over the posted limit even of I can't read the signs?

This is for Germany, and I am looking for answers for that jurisdiction.


texts: I am asking from the standpoint of international law, has the right of appealing against a judgement become a part of customary international law? What if one is wrongfully held liable in a civil case, after a trial ridden with errors; would it be a human rights violation not to have the ability to appeal against the judgement?


texts:
My father passed away, and I want to put the house under my mothers name.
The loan servicing company is asking for a transfer of title document.

I am unsure what that is, or how I would go about attaining one.

Side information: the house is in NJ


texts: Effects of getting traffic tickets when drive in New York with an international driver license

texts:
Several days ago, when I drove in New York State with a Canadian driver license, I got two tickets. One is for speeding (I drove at 84 mph at a 65 mph zone); the other is for not restraining my baby (16 month old) in the safety seat. I plan to get a US driver license soon. I was wondering whether those violations will induce the increase of auto insurance associated with my (future) US driver license. In addition, I would like to know what the approximate fine will be because the forms that I received from the police did not say the fine.

Thank you


texts:
At the outset of  case (
Teevee Toons, Inc. v. Gerhard Schubert GMBH, 2002 W.L. 498627 (2002).
 ), I read genuine issue and summary judgment. I know that summary judgment is judging without full trial and jury. but I can not find relations between genuine issue and summary judgment. Could you please show me some examples about genuine issue and explain it to me?


texts:
A relative of mine has worked at a small company for the past 10 years as a senior design engineer.

The MD (and owner) of the company asked him to go and spend the day with another employee filling out some paperwork, which wouldn't normally be part of his job spec. When he returned to his office a few hours later his desk, work computer, everything was cleared out. The MD has stated that there is no longer a need for research, and commented that this employee wouldn't be here for much longer.

However this seems quite intimidatory and I would guess this is an attempt to avoid paying redundancy by the employer. This employer has a history of employee lawsuits matters.

Can anyone suggest a course of action? Or are there grounds for legal action?

Location: Ireland.


texts: Do Twitter disclaimers saying "opinions are my own" give any legal protection to the account owner?

texts:
A larger number of twitter accounts have a biography stating that tweets are their own opinion not that of their company. An example:

  Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer

Does this actually protect the employee from being reprimanded because of a tweet?

I've done some research and the only semi-reputable site I could find is this Forbes article stating that a disclaimer will not protect you. However when researching the attorney they quoted, Dan Schaeffer, I find nothing other than the bio posted on his firm's website.


texts: In the United States (Michgan) is it legal to publish IP Addresses that were trying to hack my web server?

texts: I have a private web server that gets attacked a lot (brute forces, nmap scans). I would like to compile a list of the IP addresses that were trying to hack my server and publish them on my website. Is this legal? I realize that the IP address could belong to a botnet (so the owner of the IP address is unwillingly knows that it's comprised).


texts: Can only the government official who appointed an employee fire that employee?

texts:
In the PolitiFact article Can Donald Trump fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller?, law professor Ric Simmons is quoted:

  The Supreme Court has stated (outside the special counsel context) that only the government official who appointed an employee has the power to fire that employee.

To what extent is this statement, supposedly by the US Supreme Court, true?

I would like to learn more about this, but I was not able to find any relevant cases or other material. Non-examples include

Myers v. United States (Congress cannot require Senate advice and consent for POTUS to remove appointees)
Humphrey's Executor v. United States (POTUS can only remove quasi-legislative appointees for cause)
Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (statute held that PCAOB's board members could be removed only for cause by SEC members; SCOTUS changed to at will)


texts: Is it legal for a company to not allow me to download my data unless I pay for the premium plan?

texts:
I started using a website on the free version knowing it was somewhat locked down. But after using it for a while I learned that I cant download my own data unless I pay for the premium plan. I am totally fine with the free plan being locked down and not having all of the features, but not allowing me to download my own data doesn't seem right.

I guess the underlying question is do I own the data on a website that I created an account? Does that change if I pay for that service?


texts: Has there ever been a serious lawsuit seeking reparations for slavery?

texts:
Slavery was an abomination, corrupting both the enslaved and the enslavers. Given that we have the Modern Slavery Act, has there ever been a serious lawsuit seeking reparations for slavery? If so, by whom and when?
Jurisdiction, worldwide; but given its infamy, the United States in particular.
edit
At the end of the American Civil War, four hundred thousand acres was taken from the former slaver owners along the coast of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, giving each free slave forty acres of land. This act of reparation was instituted during the then President Abraham Lincolns tenure but reversed by his successor, President Andrew Johnson after Lincolns assassination.
Thus, there is precedent for such an action.


texts: Commercial usage of governmental or university data (USDA)

texts:
Since I started using food and fitness apps I always was wondering where their data is coming from. Some of the apps are referencing sources that often are websites like:

http://www.glycemicindex.com (University of Sydney)
https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

Well, I browsed the websites and googled a lot to find some information about the license used but I haven't found any information. Do the apps steal the data, pay for it or is it okay to use it (even commercially) if they mention the source?

Maybe this question sounds odd for US citizens but I'd be very glad if someone could clear things up for me.


texts: What happens when a contract was signed but a party can't fullfill their obligations due to circumstances outside their control (COVID)

texts: I signed a contract with a venue for a 150 person wedding.  Due to COVID, that is now impossible and illegal in the state of California.  Being that the venue cannot guarantee that we could proceed with a 150 person wedding, can that contract be void?


texts: Is it legal to deny a priest a job because he's atheist

texts: Hypothetically, if you had an Atheist looking to make money by becoming a priest, would the church be legally allowed to deny him the job because of his religion (or lack of), assuming he's still willing to talk about God as if he is Christian? I am to understand that you cannot deny someone a job on the grounds of religious beliefs, I'm wondering if it works the same way for religious figures in churches. (This can be applied in many other ways, a Muslim looking to become a Christian priest, etc.)


texts: Is it Legal to drive while listening to headphones?

texts: Are there any laws that prohibit the use of headphones while operating a vehicle?


texts: Would deinstitutionalising marriage violate the UDHR?

texts:
In debates over same sex marriage it is sometimes proposed that marriage be completely deinstitutionalised in favour of state recognised civil unions. This would not be a return to common law marriages, but for marriage to have no legal standing at all, and for "husband" and "wife" to have no more legal relevance than "boyfriend" or "girlfriend". "Marriage" would become an optional and voluntary social term for anyone who wants to use it.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:

Article 16
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Would deinstitutionalising marriage in this manner violate the UDHR? The declaration could be read as requiring states to institutionally recognise marriages, or only that they not have laws that would contravene these rights.


texts: private guest-house owner, can he/she demand more payment which was not agreed upon previously

texts:
Bear with me as I am not an expert on the law, I have a a question regarding private guest-house / airBnB owners and what their rights are and what they may not be allowed to do.

Before I start, I should mention that this is more out of interest, something similar happened to me a while ago, I simply left a negative review and that was it for me. But recently a friend of mine had the same issue and my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to learn what the law is on this.

Say you book an apartment through booking.com (or any other booking website) and pay the amount in advance (no refund possible at this point). Say you arrive late at night (outside the indicated check-in time) and the owner then asks you to pay extra for the check-in, is he/she allowed to do that? In my friend's case, there was no mentioning of a late check-in fee but you can also not refund the booking so you are sort of forced to pay the extra amount if you don't want to loose the payment you have already made for the apartment. What does the law say on this?

In my case it ended there but in my friends case the airplane got delayed and as a result my friend arrived 2 hours late at the property. In the meantime (while on the airplane), my friend received angry emails (capitalised words, every sentence marked with several exclamation mark, the whole array ...) saying because of the late arrival the late check-in fee has doubled which my friend was then forced to pay (which were equal to 2 nights rent, so it was a significant amount which was not agreed upon before and again, there was not really an option to avoid this fee (other than, again, losing the down payment and looking for a different hotel at 5 in the morning with all your luggage). Again, is the owner allowed to just arbitrary set prices and force you to pay (as the owner knows that you don't really have another option). It feels a bit like exploitation, just wondering if there is a law on that.

OK, so now to the interesting bit. I understand that booking.com (or the website you booked through) is just a facilitator of sorts, so they don't need to mediate between you and the apartment owner (and from experience it seems that's exactly their strategy), but if we look more closely at the problem, effectively you were making a booking through their website based on incomplete information. I understand that this is the owners fault of not providing this information, but is booking.com (or again your favourite website) not, at least, being sloppy with due diligence by pretty much saying "your problem, not ours, we only run this website and don't care if you have to pay extra"? I have a feeling that they are operating within the margin of the law, but that then means that you are pretty much at the mercy of the apartment owner and if he/she wants to drain your vacation funds there is nothing stopping him/her?

And one more thing, if make your booking in country A for an apartment in country B through booking.com, which law should be considered? The one from country A (where you booked from), country B (where you are going to) or maybe where the website you bought it through is registered? (possibly a third, different country)

Oh and just one last thing, thankfully it didn't happened (to neither me nor my friend), but out of curiosity and on that topic, what happens if the owner decides to withhold the deposit you paid? Again, there seems little that you can do. I guess you can take pictures of everything but in the end it will be your word against the owner, it seem pretty easy then for them to just cash in some extra money if they wanted to do so.


texts: Is it legal to store copyrighted content on other mediums for personal use?

texts: Suppose, I have purchased a DVD of movie and my PC's DVD drive has problem. Is it legal to copy content the DVD of movie to a flash memory and then use it on my PC?