texts: Is there a difference in "termination of employment" qualifying event trigger between group health insurance and 401(k)?

texts:
My job uses a Professional Employer Organization to handle payroll and benefits.  This is a coemployment relationship, not temp/staffing, nor subcontract.  The PEO is the issuer of my W-2 and listed as the Plan Sponsor of my 401k.

Late last year, there was a switch to a different PEO.  The new PEO has similar but different health insurance and 401(k).  I'm enrolled in the new benefits package and have elective deferrals into the new PEO's 401(k).

Before the event, employees were told we would have the opportunity to transfer 401k balances out to IRAs (or in my case, a solo 401k), when the time came, we were told that this was a plan merger, and due to no lapse in employment or plan eligibility, there's no qualifying event enabling withdrawal.  So we are forced to allow existing balances to transfer to the new custodian.  The blackout period for this hasn't started yet.

There appear to be a few flaws in the explanation we've been given, which makes me think it's a power play by the new custodian to get more assets under management, and profit from percentage-based recordkeeping fees (0.32% which applies to both core funds and SDBA -- I want to escape these by transferring out).  In particular:

All the W-2 forms (with "Retirement Plan" checked and contributions shown with codes D and AA) were issued with the EIN belonging solely to the old PEO.
The Summary Plan Description for the old 401k lists the old PEO as "Plan Sponsor", not my workplace employer
The Summary Plan Description for the old 401k is named after the old PEO -- it's their plan, not a scenario where my workplace employer had their own plan and the PEO was custodian/recordkeeper.
I received COBRA continuation offers from the old PEO concerning the group health plan which I had.  These offers specifically state my "group health coverage ended on (date) due to the following qualifying event: TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT"
This is not a merger between PEOs -- the old 401k plan continues to exist and be used by client companies still with the old PEO.

Another page included with the COBRA information states

  As a result of the Client Service Agreement between (workplace employer) and (old PEO), effective (date), your employment relationship with (old PEO) is terminated.  All wages or other compensation earned by you after that date will be paid directly to you by (workplace employer).

It also mentions

  If you currently have a 401k loan being administered by (old 401k custodian, which is a subsidiary of old PEO) please contact the (old 401k custodian) call center at (phone number) for any options you may have to prevent the default of such loan.

I don't have a 401k loan, but to me, this supports the interpretation that my 401k has also undergone a "termination of employment" qualifying event, making withdrawal via direct transfer possible.

I tried to read the ERISA statute to see if the named Plan Sponsor was important to whether this event constituted a change in employment vs a 401k merger.  But as far as I can tell, ERISA doesn't ever define "covered employment", so I can't figure out whether breaking the relationship with the Plan Sponsor ends covered employment.

Can an event be a "termination of employment qualifying event" for health plan purposes without also being a "termination of employment qualifying event" for 401k purposes?  I'm aware that health care has many other qualifying events (marriage, birth of a child, spousal coverage, etc) that don't affect 401k, but "termination of employment" does affect both.

Can I compel release of my balance by virtue of the paperwork I received?  Or can they claim that the paperwork is just a form letter, doesn't apply to my situation, and that's why I'm instructed to call?  Unfortunately, phone agents aren't working in my interest and may not tell me all my options.


texts: Signed lease but no money or key exchange, it is binding

texts: I signed a lease for a house sight unseen as I did a Skype walk through and saw pictures, so I liked and agreed on the house base on word of mouth terms from the agent. I get to the house and it is not at all like the pictures and the stairwell in the house is a huge safety hazard for children. I refused to move into the house based on safety reasons. I have no signed contract from the landlord either. Is this legally binding?


texts: What branch of government is responsible for the voting system?

texts:
Specifically, what branch of the federal government would need to be involved most to change the presidential voting system from its current electoral college, first-pass-the-post model to a popular instant-runoff voting model?

And what is the best course of action for an individual to take to make that happen (short of befriending a billionaire or running for office)?


texts:
This question is specifically about Google's reCAPTCHA, but may possibly apply to many other CAPTCHA solutions that are collecting "personal" data.

I was reading briefly about ePrivacy regulations and I have found very good resource about PECR and cookies at ICO. I have tried to contact ICO via their Live chat, but unfortunately they don't provide any legal advice. However, they said - "If you're collecting personal data, then you must comply with GDPR."

From what I could find online and from what I can see in browser, Google's reCAPTCHA is collecting client's hardware and software information in order to analyse if the client is human or robot. Some of the cookies are sent to google.com. Some unofficial sources say that Google even use their GA tracking cookie to identify human vs. bot. In my understanding this approach can be seen as tracking or fingerprinting.

So I'm wondering how is it actually from legal point of view? Do we really need to obtain user's consent before we can use Google's reCAPTCHA on website served to EU citizens?

ICO says, there are exemptions for

  session cookies providing security that is essential to comply with data protection security...

Can be reCAPTCHA considered as tool for providing data protection security?

My point is that no bot will ever give consent to reCAPTCHA, so what is way out of this riddle?

UPDATE (2018-05-07)
I noticed Google updated their EU user consent policy, that is linked from reCAPTCHA admin, located here:
Their terms of service:

  ...it is your responsibility to provide any necessary notices or consents for the collection and sharing of this data with Google. For users in the European Union, you and your API Client(s) must comply with the EU User Consent Policy currently located at http://www.google.com/about/company/user-consent-policy.html.

So assuming the consent is required, I would like to rephrase my original question:

If I offer ways to give consent and/or deny reCAPTCHA; Is it legally acceptable to include and execute reCAPTCHA on website by default without prior consent?


texts: Filing business taxes with just a social security number?

texts:
I read this:

  Every business that pays employees or is required to file any business tax returns is required to obtain an EIN.

Source: https://justworks.com/blog/itin-ssn-or-ein-whats-the-difference

Is this true? I am a sole proprietor and have filed business taxes on a Form 1040 with just a social security number.  I did not obtain an EIN, nor did anyone say I had to, when I did business taxes.

I always just use SSN. Is it illegal to file business taxes as a sole proprietor with just an SSN?


texts: State of Legal Residence - is this person filing taxes right?

texts:
I have a friend who left home at 18 to join the Marines.  He used his parents' address for mail.  He then worked for various overseas companies (doing oil related things) and continued to use his parents' address for mail, tax forms, and employer records.  Now he lives in the US again, but in a different state than his parents.  He says that since he moves every year or two, his parents' address is his "state of legal residence" and he uses it on tax forms, for insurance (he works remotely now), etc.

I'm guessing after a year or so de-facto state of legal residence changes (even though he has a history of moving often), and he should use his physical address on tax forms, insurance, and everything else.  Is he right, or am I right?


texts: Officially voiding a contract after both parties agree to void it

texts:
Two parties agreed to be bound by a contract after (electronically, not digitally) signing an online contract which both parties have downloaded to their PC.

Now the parties had a good ol' chat and agreed to amend the contract and re-sign.  How can the previous contract be "officially" voided?  After all, any party could retain a copy and claim it was never voided.

Is it sufficient to keep a log of communication about it?

Hello John,

We both agreed for the contract #123 dated 1 January 1970 to be voided.
Would you be so kind to put that agreement into writing by replying?

How about if the contract was signed in an automated system.  Could the system send-out a link to John's email address with a unique link saying the following?

Hello John,

Bob would like to void the contract #123 dated 1 January 1970.

Do you agree? If so, please click this link and then check the box and hit
"OK, please void" to indicate your agreement.

(Your IP and timestamp of acceptance will be stored on our servers.)

Are these all fair valid ways of going about it?

Regarding the latter, what if John forwards the email (that contains the entirely unique link only known to him) to someone else who accepts although he didn't want to? What if John claims it wasn't him?


texts:
If you want to show a friend who you voted for, in Louisiana to prove you voted for Rispone (the Republican candidate), you are perfectly OK. But, if you do it in nearby Georgia to prove you voted for Stacey Abrams, you could be in hot water. I am not disputing this. Why is proving you voted a certain way with a picture illegal in some places but telling a friend (or the Internet on social media) by word of mouth generally isn't?

Note: I used both parties candidates to be unbiased. I noticed that states that allow this (such as Louisiana) tend to be red states while states that don't like New York tend to be blue states.

Extra: are there laws that prevent people from voluntarily disclosing who they voted for without pictures?


texts: When signing a contract, are modifications agreed to in seperate documents striken out or valid?

texts:
This is a follow up to If a party says something about interpretation of contract, is it binding?

If the parties agree to a material change in a contract, but for whatever reason sign the original document, does the change the agreed to still apply?

For example someone is asked to sign a NDA. The NDA is very broad saying "never talk about anything you learn while in this position". If the person asks "can I talk about things that I learned after they become public knowledge" and they receive the answer"yes" but this all happens in a separate communication (e.g. a chain of emails). Would signing the original agreement invalidate the public knowledge part? What if the contract has some sort of integration/merger clause?

Another example is Bob is offered a job and asked to sign a boilerplate employee contract. The contract states that payable hours are only those done in the workplace. Bob asks his manager if he can be compensate for travel time and the manager says yes. If Bob signs the original boilerplate employee contract, does he wave his right to get paid for travel time?

I ask because I know sometimes administratively it may be difficult to change a contract. For example if it's boiler plate or if it's done online and requires replaces a file on a server etc. Is it sufficient just to have written communication even if it's prior to the signing?

This is different than the linked to question at the top, because that asks about clarifying an interpretation, but here I'm wondering about a more substantial change to a contract.

UPDATE: thanks to all who answered. I cannot pick a single correct one...


texts: Can contractors in the USA publicly encourage each other to charge more?

texts:
I've been in a few niche online forums and chat rooms that specifically forbid their members from discussing anything about the rates they offer as contractors. Some claim it's price fixing and outright illegal, others that it's too gray of an area they just don't want to be anywhere near.

I can see where they're coming from: various descriptions of price fixing I can find on google seem to use broad strokes, suggesting any coordination intended to affect market value of a service amounts to the crime. But then I also see professionals talking about it on bigger social media platforms like Twitter, encouraging their peers to price themselves higher (apparently it's common for newer software contractors in particular to undervalue their services and underestimate their costs). These comments, often turning into extended conversations mentioning specific numbers, don't seem to have any problems.

Where between explicit market manipulation and well-meaning mentorship is the line drawn?


texts: Are the limitations on freedom of contract in common law countries unbreakable?

texts:
We normally have to adhere to regulations when:

Buying labour (employment: minimum wage, parental leave etc.)
Renting out property (tenancy: notice periods, property standards etc.)
Selling goods (consumer guarantees)
Offering online services (personal/data privacy)
Etc. etc.

We know that at least in some cases it is possible to break free from those restrictions. For example, instead of employing people we can do business with them i.e. have contract for services (as opposed to contract of service). We can put any bizarre privacy-related provisions in the EULA of our apps and websites (although I heard the EU regulations can override them). Perhaps we can try selling goods/services on the express condition that consumer guarantees do not apply.

So, in modern common-law countries (say the Five-Eyes UK, US, CA, AU, NZ), how impossible is it to contract out of any regulation? To what extent is it common for the law to limit the freedom of contract and dictate what terms you can/cannot contract on? How challengeable/constitutional those limitations are? In most cases, is it just a matter of writing a good/smart contract to break free from the limitations, or is the freedom of contract just limited full stop?


texts: We entered into a 2 year lease agreement in July 2016. I have since discovered that the end date is wrong in our lease. It should have been June 2018, not August 2018. My landlord is being is not being respective to there was a mistake. But I do have a recent email from the landlord stating that the lease was for 2 years. Any suggestions on steps I can take in North Carolina.


texts: What happens if a company denies repair of a digital device under warranty?

texts:
I hope I'm posting this on the right board.
I would just like to ask for advice on this issue of mine regarding a telecom company (PLDT).
So the thing is, My mother signed up for an internet plan with an included android tablet which is meant to be payed monthly for 3 years. After 8 months the device malfunctioned due to it being infected by a virus (adware mostly). The company refuses to fix the device since they claim to only acknowledge physical defects or damages, not software.

I can try to fix the tablet myself (voiding the warranty) but the firmware flash files have not been made public because the device is an obscure tablet from Huawei.

She is still going to be billed for 28 more months. Despite the fact that the device is unusable making the internet plan also useless.

My question is, what can we do about all this? (barring just paying the bill)


texts: Is there anything illegal (U.S.) about sending clients something factual about former employer?

texts:
I have posted a bunch of other questions on here regarding my situation with an ex-employer/friend who owes me pay ($100K+) for my work on deals that have closed, meaning he has the money in-hand. He is refusing to pay me what I am owed.

My question here is pertaining to legal repercussions for certain actions, for example, if I were to send an email to a former client I have a relationship with updating him on what happened after I left the deal/company:

"Dear Client,
Small talk, small talk. Additionally, I am writing to make you aware that my former employer, Mr. Dick, is refusing to pay me my commission fee on your deal that closed 5 weeks ago. You are aware that I originally worked with you and signed the engagement letter with you. When I parted the company I asked to remain working on your deal (see attached) but was asked not to while being assured I would be paid (see attached) when it closed. As you can see in the attached screenshots, Mr. Dick clearly states to me in no uncertain terms your name, your company's name and that I would be paid once the deal closes. It has now been 5 weeks since the deal closed. After multiple requests Mr. Dick is withholding my payment, refusing to pay me and daring me to get a lawyer and sue him to get paid. I understand that this doesn't reflect on you and there is nothing you can do about it but I thought you should know..."

...or something similar to that. He is refusing to pay me and while I have talked to a lawyer on my end and may be forced to go that route, my intention here would be to put some pressure on Mr. Dick. Additionally, I have the option of sending a similar note to a client list of 500.

It is not the best option but I believe it is the kind of pressure that might cause action. I would like to know if there is anything illegal in that or it could be dangerous to me in any way. Everything stated is factual and will include evidence of such. Before sinking (at least) $5K into a lawyer it seems like it might produce results.

Tell me why this idea is okay legally and may pressure Mr. Dick to pay me what I am owed or why this is an incredibly stupid thing to do! Thanks.


texts: How are affirmative defenses of duress and necessity treated in U.S. law?

texts:
Duress and Necessity are two common law "affirmative defenses" that can be argued for acquittal of a criminal charge.
However I can't find clear law or precedent for either in the United States.

Are they viable defenses in practice?
Does any jurisprudence provide particular guidelines to their application in criminal law?
Is "duress" limited to circumstances of a threat of "imminent harm"?  Or are less imminent circumstances of coercion – e.g., extortion, blackmail, or psychological manipulation – viable affirmative defenses under legal doctrine of duress?


texts: How does the GDPR differ from national data protection law?

texts:
Before the GDPR came into effect, I had to deal with both the German Bundesdatenschutzgesetz and the Italian Codice in materia di dati personali, and recall them having very similar provisions (though I am not a lawyer). When the GDPR arrived, I found it equally similar to these two.

As far as I can tell, the major changes of the GDPR are maximum fines for violations, as well as some refinements (e.g. what data falls under “special categories”, the processing of which is subject to further restrictions).

Now, with the GDPR in force, I frequently hear statements (from people who are also not lawyers, all of them in a German context) to the effect that the GDPR changes everything, and every practice based on national data protection law becomes obsolete. My reading of the GDPR is a different one—IMHO the measures required for compliance with national data protection law are not very different from those required for GDPR compliance, save for a handful of exceptions or refinements.

Have I overlooked something here?


texts: What legal responsibility does a mother have to the father of her child?

texts:
Inspired by (and therefore using the same tags as) Does the father have the rights to keep the baby that the mother wants adopted?

In particular, is a mother required to inform the biological father of her child that the child exists?

By "biological father" I mean the man with whom the woman conceived the child through natural sexual activity, regardless of whether he is the child's legal father.

Does the answer change if the mother is married to

the father?
another man?
a woman?


texts: Why did the Supreme Court set a 3-year time-frame? Sebelius v Auburn Regional Medical Center

texts:
In Sebelius v. Auburn Regional Medical Center, the decision was that (a) the jurisdiction really did not belong to the agency but to the legislation and so they didn't agree to there being a 180 time limit and (b) that the time limit should be no more than 3 years.

My question is if the legislature should have jurisdiction to decide the time-limit then why did they dictate 3 years instead of asking the legislature to set it.  Were they just trying to save some time by coming up with an appropriate time-frame?

Sebelius v. Auburn Regional Medical Center. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved March 11, 2018, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/2012/11-1231


texts: If I make an image (sort of logo) to give someone for money, and I allow them to use it publicly etc but with only one restriction, to resell it. Is there a name for such a license?


texts: It is worth it from a legal standpoint to electronically scan documents in color?

texts:
I make scans of documents in case I lose the original paper versions of the documents, and also normally put the resulting scans under version control. A lawyer told me this is considered "secondary evidence", as in, for example, http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/secondary+evidence. I.e.

  A reproduction of, or substitute for, an original document or item of
  proof that is offered to establish a particular issue in a legal
  action. Secondary evidence is evidence that has been reproduced from
  an original document or substituted for an original item. For example,
  a photocopy of a document or photograph would be considered secondary
  evidence.

My question is whether, assuming the original document contains color, it is worthwhile to do color scans or not.

On the one hand, making color scans occupies more disk space, and is generally a slower process. And putting files under version control is more problematic if the file size is larger. Color scans also do not make for great B&W printouts.

On the other hand, given a color scan, one can make color printouts, and these color printouts might make for more convincing fascimiles of the original than a B&W printout would.

So, my question is, does a court prefer color scans / color printouts
vs B&W scans of original documents, or not? My location is in India, but I won't attempt to make this India specific. If anyone cares at all, hopefully there is some international concensus about this.


texts: Do teens have to pay tax for the funds they get from crowdfunding?

texts: So Kickstarter allows non-adults to start a fundraising campaign with parents agreement. But how about the taxes after they (teens) received their funds? What type of taxes does Kickstarter's funds count as. Do teens have to pay taxes for their fund (like maybe as income)?


texts: Do the police need probable cause or a search warrant to search a rental car being driven by someone who didnt rent the vehicle?

texts:
I'm not seeking legal advice, but rather I'm seeking others thoughts and reasoning on a case that has been disposed of already, which seems to be a violation of constitutional rights afforded to individuals against police performing illegal search and seizures, without probable cause, permission of the driver or "owner" of the vehicle or even a search warrant.

A friend of a friend was recently pulled over while driving a rental car that was rented in my friend's name. The driver (aka - friend of a friend) was not listed on the rental car contract as a person allowed to drive the rental vehicle.

He was stopped by police and the vehicle was searched inside and out, with the officers telling the driver he was not even allowed to legally drive the vehicle, and since he was in a car rented under someone else’s name, and without him listed as a driver on the contract, they didn't need his permission, didn't need probable cause and didn't even need a search warrant to tear the car apart under the suspicion he was transporting a controlled substance.

It came out in the court case that followed, that the driver basically "appeared suspicious" to the officer, and this was the entire reason behind the search of the vehicle with no probable cause or search warrant and no permission to search the rental.

Should the driver have the same rights in a rental car that he's not a listed driver on the rental contract, as he would if he was in his own vehicle; which should protect him against illegal search and seizures by police with no probable cause, as police stated in their own words at his trial?

To be clear, this wasn't a stop and frisk, this was a complete search of the entire vehicle


texts: On the intellectual property of animals, a story of monkeys and cats!

texts:
The story of the monkey who took a selfie is, by now, probably widely known. Summary: a court said that the owner of the camera is not entitled to rights because the picture was taken by the monkey, not the human.

My question is the following: I saw a video of a cat playing  the piano.
(Hear me out...)

(Her name is Nora).
Now, I understand the video is the property of its author: a human being.

But what about the "music". Just the notes.
I also understand that if the "music" was taught by a human being (like what happens sometimes in a circus) the music is the human's, but in this case, when (it seems) the "music" is really "played" by the cat (rather randomly), is it copytight-able ? I understand the anumal cannot actually have the property, but can his owner?

EDIT: I fogot to state one way this question can be tricky:
One difference is that the photographer didn't own the monkey, but the cat is definitely owned.

(The countries are UK and US)


texts: Can application for leave to appeal be determined by the judge whose decision is being appealed?

texts:
Appeals to the next level court may first require leave to appeal.
Say in New Zealand, where a party wants to appeal a decision of the High Court to the Court of Appeal, they may need to apply to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal. Whether or not leave is required depends on the statute that governs the matter.
Moreover, in some circumstances, leave to appeal needs to be applied for to the same level court where the decision to be appealed was made. Section 56(3) of the Senior Courts Act 2016 goes:

No appeal, except an appeal under subsection (4), lies from any order
or decision of the High Court made on an interlocutory application in
respect of any civil proceeding unless leave to appeal to the Court of
Appeal is given by the High Court on application made within 20
working days after the date of that order or decision or within any
further time that the High Court may allow.

(emphasis added)
So, say Bob is suing Rob in the High Court. Rob applied for a direction (for example, he wants to join Alice to the case). Bob objected. Judge Judy made an interlocutory order where the direction that Rob sought is granted. Bob is unhappy and wants to appeal to the Court of Appeal. But to do this, Bob first needs to obtain leave from the High Court. If this is declined, then and only then Bob can apply for leave appeal to the Court of Appeal directly (upon the grant of which he can finally file the appeal itself).
Now this may create an interesting collision. What if the application for leave to appeal filed in the High Court gets in the hands of the same judge that made the decision that the appeal is against?
As per answers to this question, judges will not enjoy if their decisions get overturned. Therefore, they may be personally interested in rejecting the application for leave to appeal, especially if the decision was made publicly available.
The High Court has published its Recusal Guidelines here. One possible ground for recusal in this situation goes:

5. Recusal where opinions earlier expressed
5.1 A judge should consider recusing him or herself if the case concerns a matter upon which the judge has made public statements of
firm opinion on the issue before the court.
5.2 An expression of opinion in an earlier case or in an earlier stage of a proceeding is not of itself a ground for recusal.

So, given that judge Judy's decision has been published, does that hit 5.1 above in a way that 5.2 does not overweight it? Should judge Judy now consider recusing herself from hearing the application for leave to appeal?
Can judge Judy not hear the application for leave to appeal for any other reason?
This question is not tightly attached to New Zealand — answers re other comparable jurisdictions are welcome.


texts: New employer asking permission to run a background check

texts:
I received a job offer (for a software engineer position at a small, remotely distributed company), verbally agreed to it on the phone, signed the offer, and then received a copy with the manager's signature.
At that point, a person from the human resources department of the company asked me to complete the first page of an I-9 form and also sign a document saying this:

Please read and sign this form in the space provided below. Your
written authorization is necessary for completion of the application
process.
I, ____________, hereby authorize [Company] to investigate my
background and qualifications for purposes of evaluating whether I am
qualified for the position for which I am applying. I understand that
[Company] will utilize an outside firm or firms to assist it in
checking such information, and I specifically authorize such an
investigation by information services and outside entities of the
company's choice. I also understand that I may withhold my permission
and that in such a case, no investigation will be done, and my
application for employment will not be processed further.

I don't have a criminal record or any financial troubles and can't think of anything about my "background" that I'd need to hide, but I strongly value privacy just out of principle and have these concerns:

What am I allowing them to search? What are they wanting to do (or access) that they wouldn't be able to without my permission?
Would they be legally required to keep their discoveries confidential?
Would I be allowed to see the full results?

P.S. The offer letter says it's governed by the State of New York.


texts:
A hobby of mine is reading up on  the latest IT nasties, and i came across 'The USB Killer'.

'The USB Killer' is designed to look just like a USB Thumb drive, but when plugged in it causes a lot of damage to computer components including the mothorboard, or almost anything which supports USB. This leaves them, in most cases, completely useless.

Would any offence be committed for:

Having this on your person
Buying or selling this
Leaving it around for people to plug in to a computer

In British law there are two sections which clearly cover this.

  Section 36. Unauthorised acts with intent to impair operation of computer, etc. punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a fine or both.

  Section 37. Making, supplying or obtaining articles for use in computer misuse offences, punishable by up to 2 years in prison or a fine or both.

Is there anything similar under law in USA or International Law?


texts: Do speeding tickets constitute crimes to the federal DHS?

texts:
I was looking over the instructions for filing a form N400, application for naturalization to become a US citizen.

One of the questions they ask is if a person has ever been arrested, convicted or even detained for a crime. They specifically state they want to know even if the person was only detained but never even charged with a crime.

They then ask for a certified copy from the court proving the final disposition of the matters. They ask for this information going back to the beginning of your existence.

In Texas, speeding is considered a criminal matter and is a class C misdemeanor.

Would the DHS really expect someone to know the disposition of all of their speeding tickets going back for over 25 years? And expect someone to go back to each court no matter what ones there are and request certified copies of each outcome?

Or can speeding tickets from Texas (which are criminal) which are dismissed, disposed of, probation completed, etc? be regarded as too minor of an issue to be reported to the DHS on the application for citizenship?

I ask because if a person happens to live in a state where the matter is a civil infraction, I'd expect that they not have to report them, while someone from a state where they are criminal would?


texts: Is an adult - brought by parents to the US illegally as an infant - still considered an illegal immigrant?

texts:
Background:

A friend of the family (currently aged 65 and a CEO of a medium sized firm) who lives in the USA, has recently confessed that he was in fact born outside of the USA, and his parents illegally brought him to the USA when they crossed the border many years ago.  He was 1 year old at the time.

Question:

This leads me to wonder.  In cases where a baby's parents have illegally brought a baby to the USA, and the baby has grown up in the USA and built a career here, would the grown adult be forced to move back to the nation they were born in?


texts: Hello:  I have never had an issue with obtaining any test result from any lab or imaging facility until now.  My doctor ordered x-rays to be taken in his office on 1/24/19.  The only appointment available to speak with him about the results isn't until 4/3/19.  I went to his office and spoke to the office manager about getting a copy of my test results and she denied me a copy.  I had my ID in my hand and I said that I have never been denied a copy of ANY test results and I shouldn't have to wait until April to get them.  She replied that it is office policy and that the only way a patient will have access to their results is when they see the doctor.  I was furious!!  I called my insurance company and I informed them of this and they called the doctor's office and was told the same thing.  My insurance company said that unfortunately they don't get involve with the policies or rules set by doctors' offices.  Is this legal?  And what can I do about it without starting another fight "in person" at the doctor's office? Thank you!


texts: Is lying about having a degree on a resume criminal?

texts: In the Untied States, if someone was caught claiming to have a college degree that they do not have on their resume, could they be criminally charged?


texts: Couple of questions regarding duress and rape in a hypothetical scenario

texts:
There's a criminal scenario I'm writing for a novel.

Let's say I'm a perp and kidnapped a pair of siblings.

I threatened one to rape the other at gunpoint and I had to shoot at his foot to make him comply.

The catch is that rape is the only crime punishable by death in this hypothetical U.S. city. All the other crimes are at worst, life imprisonment.

From what I hear, duress is unacceptable as defence in reality. Is this true?

If so, will the threatened person be guilty of rape? Would I also be guilty of rape since I had threatened him and shot him for not complying.

Also, what are my list of crimes as the perpetrator?


texts: What (combination of) licenses is popular for public/shared proprietary software (“Feel free to contribute, but only we can make commercial use”)?

texts:
A software product (a web service) is being developed.

In essence, I want the software code to be hosted publicly on GitHub. Anyone should be able view, download, modify, use for personal use, and contribute back with improvements as they want, meaning most of the "open source" principles - but not all, as...

...Only I may make commercial usage of the software code.

But the more I search on the Internet, the more confused I get about this topic. According to me, this situation has to be a common desire by developers or organizations, but yet it seems hard to find a clear answer to exactly how an organization can achieve this.

I have a hard time believing that each person or organization has to call in a lawyer that writes a custom license each time, right?  In other words, reinventing the wheel all the time.

Isn't there a straightforward, popular, or common license or license model that achieves this?

Perhaps "dual licensing" is the only way to achieve this? If so, are there any examples of GitHub projects that do this?


texts: If you get denied at MEPS, and serve in a military campaign, how do you get the EEOC to administer your benefits?

texts:
According to EEOC regulations you can't get discriminated for equal employment opportunities for employment, and some civilian agencies are the military equivalent, so with that said you can't be denied the benefits that military can receive for being employed in the civilian equivalent job, so how do the benefits get administered where the VA would normally administer the benefits?

I have the following:
bad eyesight (unwaiverable)
campaign service medal


texts: Is an uncocked semi-automatic with ammo in the clip considered “loaded”?

texts:
A semi-automatic must be racked, to put a round in the firing chamber, before it can be fired.

Is there a legal definition of “loaded” that considers option 2 of the following states of loadedness as not being “loaded”?

Empty
Ammo in the clip, but not in the chamber (pulling the trigger would do nothing)
A round in the chamber, safety on
Ready to fire (safety off)

Obviously option 2 is not relevant to a revolver, which only requires a trigger pull to bring the next round in front of the firing pin.


texts: How a criminal speeding citation of 104 mph in a 75 mph zone will affect my immigration status (F1 visa)?

texts: I recently received a criminal speeding citation for driving at 104 mph in 75 mph zone in Arizona. I have clean driving history without any prior citation or accident. I am an international citizen on an F1 visa. How will this citation affect my current and future immigration status?


texts: Can the government force you to change your license plate?

texts:
There was an interesting story on hacker news today: A man with the vanity plate NULL ended up gettings thousands of dollars of parking tickets because of a computer glitch. When he complained about this to the DMV they told him to change his plate.

He says he won't and it sounds like this will be working its way through the courts. Is there any precedent though for the government forcing a person to change their plate? Obviously this brings up free speech issues, but there are also legitimate governmental concerns.


texts: How does one value an estate before being able to access details?

texts:
Question arising out of this answer.

In the UK, one needs to value the money, property, and possessions of someone who died, before one can apply to represent the estate for official dealings.

Assume the decedent has one or more bank/financial services accounts, does not regularly forward balance statements to next-of-kin, and did not leave a recent paper statement in an easily discoverable location (e.g. the decedent received electronic statements), which seems likely to be common.

How does a next-of-kin access the bank records needed to value the estate?


texts:
I'm a member of a college fraternity that has a vending machine their basement that sells cans Miller High Life.

It's not accessible to the public and it doesn't accept cash, only fraternity members have ID cards that can buy from it. When a fraternity issued ID card is swiped, the machine records the id number and at the end of the month a bill is issued with a charge $0.75 per vending machine purchase.

We are in the United States and some of our fraternity members aren't 21 years old. I assume this is a problem since you can't sell alcohol to minors and the machine is recording an ID number of the sale proving that booze was sold to someone under 21. Who in the fraternity would be prosecuted if this became an issue?

Would the machine be safer if it just accepted cash (so that no electronic paper trail was created), with a big warning sign WINK WINK that anyone under the age of 21 was strictly prohibited from purchasing from it?


texts: Can I sample my synthesizer's sounds to use in my own commercial game releases?

texts:
I bought a synthesizer (Yamaha CS1x) back in 1997. Recently I've been developing games for Android and iPhone and need a sound effects source. The CS1x might be useful. Is it legal for me to sample sounds from my synthesizer to use in my games for commercial release, or do i need a license?

I ask because the sounds presumably belong to Yamaha.

Then again i can't imagine professional musicians pay license fees to the synth manufacturers to use the synth sounds in their music, do they...


texts: Is it legal to watch online videos of TV shows or music videos?

texts: On video sharing sites, like YouTube, is it legal for a person to watch music videos, TV shows or movies? I'm wondering if this counts as copyright infringement. I know the person responsible for uploading it is breaking the law.


texts: GDPR unbelievable legitimate interest. What action to take?

texts:
If a website is claiming legitimate interest in data collection in a way that is unbelievable is there any action that a web site visitor can take?
For example, if one was to visit The Daily Mail you will be presented with a cookie consent lightbox, and the first of the "Special Purposes" (that you cannot opt out of) is "Ensure security, prevent fraud, and debug", and there is a list of 389 Vendors that "rely" on this purpose.  This list includes HUAWEI Ads (with a broken privacy statement), IntelliAd (which lists its products under the categories Performance Marketing Suite, Search, Tracking, E-commerce), Clever Advertising, FanDom and multiple sites that are blocked by uBlock Origin.
Now I suppose it is possible all these organisations are actually involved in providing security, but it seems unlikely.  If one was concerned that they making false claims, and so processing personal data with neither consent or legitimate interest, what action could one take?  I am thinking of making a SAR to each of the 389 vendors listed, requesting the exact details of their use of my PII for security, but I am not sure that they would be required to provide anything useful.


texts: Accident at Ace Chemical Processing - New Jersey

texts:
It is 1988, New Jersey.
In the area commonly known as Gotham, a poor engineer, let's name him John Doe, is forced - under the threat of death and bodily harm on denial - to take part in a small crime of breaking and entering the Ace Chemical Processing Plant. His assailants force him to wear a mask that seriously limits his field of vision. Guards of the plant open fire on John Doe and those that force him to take part at gunpoint.
A person in a bat costume joined the scene during the firefight. We believe this to be the alter Ego of Billionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne. Corroborating testimony by members of the criminal syndicate under the name Justice League is outstanding, but we could not serve the Subpoena.
His mere presence, combined with the death of one of his assaulters, makes poor John Doe jump over a retaining fence into a chemical waste retaining pool that is not covered as standards require, and flushed - against regulations - its contents into the nearby bay.
The chemicals permanently disfigured John Doe. In later analysis, Doctors at Arkham Asylum determined, that the psychoactive substances in the pool most likely aided in destroying his sense of morals and empathy, as well as inducing a love-hate for the costume of Mr. Wayne.
The Jury is to refer to the sepia-colored pages in the documentary "The Killing Joke" and not be handed any full-colored page, as they happen well after the events of this night and have no relevance to this case. A video rendition of the Evidence was created by the defense, but we like to point out this original, undoctored set of photographs that depict the actual incident:

As you clearly see, Mr. Doe, seriously hampered by the attire he was forced to wear and frightened for his life, is doing his due diligence to retreat from the plant, and the accident is the fault of the man in a bat costume we believe to be Bruce Wayne.

Is Ace Chemical Processing liable for the damage to John "The Joker" Doe, and recover damages or treatment expenses from Ace Chemical Processing or Mr. Wayne? Are they contributary liable for the crimes this shattered person will commit after the exposure?
Plaintiff concedes that he had no reason to be at Ace Chemical Processing but for the threat of being bodily harmed.


texts: Can a company modify and use the source code of a GPLed library without selling it or releasing the modification?

texts:
I have a specific case here for which I could not find a clear answer here or on other pages. I am working for a company that is interested in using an open source code licensed under GPL v2.1. The software has machine learning and database components. The machine learning models are used, often in combination with the database, to solve specific tasks. My employer would like to use it internally for its own research. However, we would like to update it so that it works better for us. The modification would aim at improving the models and the database content, so that they are more accurate for the company. This will of course also force us to change the original source code so as to make use of the models. The modified version would be made available on an internal service platform that scientists will use only for internal research. There is no intention of selling/redistributing the software commercially.

Does the company have to release the updates, since technically, the models and the database will be plugged into the source code?
If we were to (a) refactor the code to make it flexible so that it would allow any user for dynamically plugging their own sets of machine learning models they train and a modified version of the database, and (b) release the refactored source code under GPL v2.1: Would we have to release the ML models or any addition to the database content. Your help would be appreciated.

Best,
D


texts: Illegal detainment by private citizens when there's a unlocked but alarmed emergency exit

texts:
Scenario: the private citizens in charge of a building (or floor of a building) forbid everyone inside from leaving, and have locked all exits except for the emergency exit.  However, the emergency exit is tied to an alarm, and this is happening in a jurisdiction where it's illegal to set off the alarm of an emergency exit when there isn't actually any emergency.

Can those inside legally use the emergency exit to leave, even though it isn't an emergency?
If those inside can't legally use the emergency exit, are those who locked all the other exits innocent of illegal detainment?  After all, everyone inside could leave by the emergency exit if they so desired, so they aren't actually trapped.


texts: What are the taxes I need to pay for revenues from an online tutoring business based in Washington State?

texts:
I initially plan to conduct business without any incorporation. That is, I plan to report my business revenues as personal income on the 1040 and file a Schedule C-EZ (or Schedule C, depending on how much I make). I have done this before for in-person tutoring before, so I am familiar with the process.

I was wondering, if I choose to take on clients in other states or countries than my state of residence Washington State, do I have to pay income/revenue taxes to those other jurisdictions?


texts: If a lease is scanned with the landlords signature on it, is it valid?

texts: I intend to move into a rental home and the landlord filled out the lease and signed it, then scanned it and emailed it to me. Is the lease valid? Does it become valid as soon as I print it and sign it?


texts: What's my entitlement if prize not received

texts:
Let's say I pay money to enter a raffle (assuming raffle is legal as I understand it may not be legal in all states) and win the raffle.

The prize is either an item of value or the value of the item if the item is no longer available.

Now if the raffle holder decides not to award either prize, am entitled to the prize/value of prize or a refund of purchase price of ticket or nothing at all?

I know there would be several things to factor in, but is there any kind of example that would give me an idea how a court would view a lawsuit of this situation?


texts: To successfully sue for breach of contract, what evidence does the plaintiff have to provide to prove that a contract existed?

texts:
My wife is being sued for breach of contract in the state of Washington, in the United States of America.  The allegation is that she opened a credit card account, made a single charge, and failed to pay it off.  I have no knowledge of what she may have done, and because it was 4 years ago she has no memory of the event.  (And I think she is being totally honest.)
We suspect Identity Theft, but would pay what is owed if the plaintiff were able to show that it is a legitimate claim.  We offered as much, and expressed in good faith a desire to meet and settle out of court.  The attorney ignored us, and proceeded to file a motion for summary judgement.
The plaintiff is a collection agency, not the original bank where my wife allegedly opened the account, and they have not been able to produce a signed credit card application or any other evidence showing that she knowingly and willingly entered into an agreement with them.
I think that this is a no brainer, (no contract no claim, right?!) and I have drafted a lengthy rebuttal to every erroneous statement of fact they have listed in their motion for judgement.  Before I go through the bother of submitting a motion to dismiss to the court I just wanted to ask if my presumption is valid.
If all they can produce is a photocopy of a bank record of an account in her name, and cannot prove by her signature (digital or otherwise) that she knowingly and willingly entered into a contractual agreement, and we swear under oath that we have no knowledge that she ever did, and allege that the most likely explanation is that she is a victim of identity theft, what are the chances that the judge will dismiss?
Wouldn't breach of contract require, as a minimum, material evidence that a contract was in play?!


texts: Need overarching term for laws and regulations

texts:
Because of space limitations, I need a concise way to say

  laws and regulations

Would "statutes" work?

(If you need more context, I am citing both IDEA and New York State Commissioner Regulations Part 200.)


texts: Can I legally use "pokestopclub.com" for a commercial website?

texts: I want to register a domain name like "pokestopclub.com". I think PokemonGo is registered trademark, but the term "pokestop" is not.  Can I legally use "pokestopclub.com" for a commercial social network where people will share info about PokemonGo Pokestops and Events involving PokemonGo games? If I include Obvious Signs indicating NO Official Connection with PokemonGo trademark owners will I reduce chances of litigation?


texts: Who can give the police consent to search my property?

texts:
If the police want to obtain consent to perform a search of a property, who do they have to obtain it from?

Can my friend who doesn't legally own the house, or pay rent, but is just staying with me for a few days consent to search?

What if one of my guests, who doesn't live there at all, answers the door with me, and I say they may not search but the guest says they can?

What if initially the guest lets them in and they start searching but when I find out I object?

What if someone who doesn't live in my house and wasn't invited to my house (just wanders in while I'm having a party) allows them in?

What if a cat-burglar gets surprised by them and pretends he lives there, and consents to search?

I'm interested in the US generally, but if this is something that varies across states, a breakdown of what is typical, with examples from a few states, would still be a good answer.


texts: Legal implications between Member- and Manager-Managed LLCs

texts:
Upstate NY (USA) here, if it makes a difference. If you Google "llc member managed vs manager managed", you'll get 10,000 lame blogs that all say the same thing:

Member-Managed (more common): All members take part in day-to-day operations/management of the LLC; and
Manager-Managed (less common): Only a subset of members, or even non-members run the LLC day-to-day

But no where does one very important question get answered: is there a legal/enforceable difference between the two, or are they just conceptual?!?

Meaning:

Are there legal/procedural/financial differences?
Or, is it just a concept, and what the Operating Agreement states is what actually dictates who runs the LLC day-to-day?


texts: Can I cashout 25 BTC without proof of provenance?

texts:
Back when Bitcoin was worth under 10 USD, a friend sent me 25 BTC as a gift.

Since that time, I moved them around different wallets and don't believe I still have the original wallet where I received them. I also don't have any hard proof that they were received as a gift (it was just worth about 250$ at the time).

I'm worried about AML laws. If I understand correctly, the wire transfer from the Bitcoin exchange (e.g. Coinbase) to my bank account could be deemed suspect and I would be required to provide proof of the provenance of the funds (reverse burden of proof). As I don't have such proof, I could potentially lose all the money and go to jail.

Are my worries legitimate? Let's say I withdraw them successfully, how long do the AML people have to investigate (e.g. is there a statute of limitation)?

PS: I'd be withdrawing to either my US or Canadian bank (I'm a Canadian citizen).

PS 2: I have previously shared that problem elsewhere and was told "why are worried if you didn't do anything illegal?". What worries me is that in case of AML, it seems that the prosecutor doesn't have to prove that a crime was committed.


texts: Job interview presentation about patented work by previous employer

texts:
In the interview process of some tech companies there is a time slot allocated for a presentation to the members of the team, which is expected to be about a topic you have directly worked on.

Some of the work I have done in the past has been filed for patents by my previous companies. It is my understanding that I am not legally allowed to use the work in another company product, but can I still discuss the details of the patent in a presentation in order to show my value as a candidate?

Does it make any difference for the work to have been applied for patent but pending approval?


texts: Does a restriction of trading mean that regular buy/sell is prohibited?

texts:
Im not sure if this should be in finance or here, but recently reports have come out that China has (or is aiming to) ban trading of cryptocurrencies. Colloquially as an America this means to me:
Nobody can buy crypto
Is this accurate?
Am I wrong in this interpretation? Is it, instead:
Nobody can register as a day trader (which in the US comes from trading a security multiple times a day and requires a certain balance), but buying and selling as regular investment is still allowed?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/cointelegraph.com/news/hong-kong-regulators-set-to-ban-retail-bitcoin-trading/amp


texts:
I did some searching around, specifically on this website actually, and I am a bit confused on this:
If you were to reverse engineer a private server and make no money off of it (except maybe donations to keep the server running), could you get a law suit filed against you?
The reason why I'm asking is because I see a lot of different answers that range from maybe to you're violating the copyright laws. There's a private server I play on called Wonderland Online Reborn. They remade the game and it's been out for a while and they've had nothing pressed against them to my knowledge. The game that they, "rebirthed," shut down a few years back, hence the name wonderland online reborn. The company that shut it down is quite greedy and had a lot of pay to win mechanics, wonderland online reborn removed all the pay to win mechanics and now it's simply something you play for fun and the servers are kept running by donations.
Another similarity to this is Toontown rewritten, why aren't they taken down? Specifically because they're not making money off of it? Becuase they've changed enough things for it to no longer be considered copyright infringement?
I'm just confused, I'd like to know the actual answer/ answers. A game I am quite passionate about kind of sucks right now and will probably die soon. I would want to know if I'm allowed to remake that game (even if just for myself) if the server code ever got leaked or if I could reverse engineer the server code.


texts:
Short Version

I have several books of programming exercises that I am working through. I would like to post some of my solutions to Code Review. Can I include problem statements along with my solutions without running afoul of copyright law?

Longer Version

Most of each post would be my own work, but I would be including the statement of the problem/exercise from a book. My understanding of fair use is that if I were to do this for a single question/exercise then that would constitute fair use. However if I were to write my own solutions manual which included all of the exercises/problem-statements from the the book then that may violate fair use. Assuming that's an accurate description, I'm still unclear on whether or not posting all (or a significant number) of the questions from a single book to Code Review would violate fair use, since they wouldn't form a single document.

Is the number of such posts I make a factor when determining fair use? Could I post every question statement or would that be going too far? Does the fact that the questions are posted to the same site (StackExchange) mean that they can be considered as a single collection?

References

I posted an almost identical version of this question to the Code Review Meta site, but asking whether or not this would violate their posting policy:

Can I include problem statements when posting exercise solutions to Code Review? (without violating site policy)

Here is a related post from the Academia StackExchange:

Is it acceptable to take some exercises directly from the text book when preparing exercise sheets?


texts: Can a rental car company require you to forfeit your right to fight a fine?

texts:
While driving a rental car recently (rented and driven in Florida), I rubbed a traffic camera the wrong way and received a fine.
I was only told about the fine in a letter weeks after returning the car. When I reviewed the evidence (the video and images) I became convinced that I did nothing wrong and that the camera was overzealous and should not have issued a ticket in this case.
Even though I wanted to fight the fine, the rental car company still billed me for the amount, and the city which issued the ticket said the case was closed and cannot be reopened because the fine had been paid.
I confronted the company and demanded a refund of the fine amount because I never had the chance to fight it. The rental company says that in the contract, I agree to be responsible for any fines and therefore gave up my right to fight it.
Is it legal for car rental companies to slip in Terms and Conditions that force customers to give up basic rights?


texts: Companies that self-insure for employee health plans in the US - reporting requirements?

texts:
In the US, do companies which self-insure for the health care plans they offer employees have any duty to make a publicly accessible financial report on their health care plans? That is to say - are they required by any law to report on their income (premiums) and expenditures (paid claims) and the resultant profit or loss?

For instance - say that Mc'Neal Tires Inc. has Healthxco Inc. administer its company health care plan, and they self insure. Employees pay premiums which go to Mc'Neal Tires Inc., employees submit claims to Healthxco Inc. who decide whether to approve and pay or deny claims, and approved and paid claims are billed to Mc'Neal (possibly with some mark-up or additional fees, as negotiated between Mc'Neal Tires and Healthxco). Would Mc'Neal Tires Inc. have to publish a financial report on the plan? Would Healthxco Inc.? If Healthxco, would they have to report their business with Mc'Neal Tires Inc. separately, or could they file one report that includes all the business they do?


texts: OpenJDK. Could the license legally be changed to a commercial one?

texts:
I am aware of the new commercial licensing model for Oracle JDK. I also have operational experience with OpenJDK and Oracle JDK.

I have tried to find conclusive evidence that Open JDK can and must always remain free. I see that Open JDK is a trademark owned by Oracle.

Can someone please refute the possibility (risk) that the Open JDK licensed might be changed to a commercial license?
Any pointers to legal paragraphs in the Open JDK license agreement or similar would be a great help.


texts: Is the police obligated to immediately arrest anybody whilst undercover?

texts:
Say a police officer is undercover (we'll stick to America). They are trying to find evidence of someone committing a crime? However, the person unknowingly admits to the officer that they plan to commit a less serious crime, (for example the police could be bust a drug smuggling operation, but the person has punched someone in the face).
Is the police officer legally obligated to report the crime or are they allowed to continue on until they have found the evidence they need to prosecute for the larger crime?


texts: Using the Wizard of Oz' Scarecrow as a symbol

texts:
According to Wikipedia, this photo of the Wizard of Oz' famous scarecrow is in the public domain.

Suppose I used the scarecrow as a symbol of farmers in a book, with the Tin Man serving as a symbol of workers. I might use public domain images of each, or I might hire an artist to draw line-art images or cartoons.

On a page where I discuss the decline of agriculture, I might feature a Scarecrow photo or icon as a symbol of farmers. Similarly, an article about labor violence might feature a Tin Man icon.

Is it possible that such usage could be deemed illegal? For example, the photos or derivative images might be legal, but whoever owns the right to the movie The Wizard of Oz might claim I have no right to use its characters as symbols, mascots, etc.


texts: medical software: liability vs indemnity in UK?

texts: if one is doing a medical software for other company then one needs indemnity (client may have to pay to fix errors) or liability insurance (patient may be badly diagnosed)? or both?


texts: Does insider trading exist for land or property assets?

texts:
Insider trading is defined as "the illegal practice of trading on the stock exchange to one's own advantage through having access to confidential information" and is illegal pretty much everywhere to make stock markets more fair.
Are there similar restrictions for the trading of land or other property assets?
For example, lets say I own a railway company and want to build a station in a sparsely populated, imaginary county called Notrainsville. If I buy a lot of land in Notrainsville super cheap, announce my plans to build a station and start construction, and then sell it for a much higher price (cuz the station makes it worth more money). Is this illegal?
Another example: Lets say I'm friends with Elon Musk and in casual conversation, he mentions that he found an asteroid with $5 trillion worth of diamonds, which he plans to mine. Of course, this would hugely deflate the value of diamonds so I sell all the diamonds that I own for investment purposes immediately. Is this illegal?


texts: What is the charge for minor hit and run?

texts:
A car scratches one parking and one standing car slightly (with less then 5mph speed) and drives off. Afterwards the police come and inspect the vehicle and take samples of the scratches.

The person has had no prior issues with police or with driving.

What is the likely charge for such a minor hit and run in Germany?


texts: Can I use a Disney character name as a nickname for one of my staff members in an interview video?

texts:
I am working as a graphic designer for a small team of researchers in a national research organization. One of our team members is affectionately called "Baymax" from the film "Big Hero Six".

I am currently creating a promo video that demonstrates the technology we are working on. This video is interview style and I would like to have a title card that displays the researcher's name and then underneath that his internal nickname "Baymax". I am wondering though if this falls under fair use or if it is a bad idea.

Thank you!


texts:
My brother once sold a used motorcycle.  Years later, it turned out the buyer had never registered/titled it, and my brother was responsible for the abandoned vehicle costs.

I now want to sell an older (but quite functional) used car.  The process is that the seller signs over the title, and the buyer provides that to DMV when the car is registered.  So, as in my brother's case, if the buyer skips that step, it seems like the seller is exposed.  I have no idea how often that occurs, but I do see a fair number of cars with just one plate (state requires two), which makes me wonder.

Is there anything the seller can do to protect themselves, short of doing the transaction in the DMV parking lot?  Is a bill of sale signed by the buyer sufficient?

(If it needs saying I would remove the windshield registration sticker and the plates.)


texts: Can I booby-trap my property against police?

texts:
Inspired by this question: Suppose I'm paranoid (perhaps justifiably) that law enforcement personnel might conduct a warranted raid of my property.  So I setup booby-traps that are designed to either:
A. Destroy any evidence I think they might look for, or, more extremely,
B. Destroy the property and anyone on it in the event that it is raided.
We know from here and here that I owe trespassers some duty of care.  Being an (otherwise) law-abiding citizen, I post explicit warnings within the perimeter of my property, which I have secured against trespass by anybody but a very determined attacker.  I.e., the only way the police could see the warnings is if they have entered for a raid, at which point the warnings state, "If you go any further into this property you will trigger devices that will destroy the property and kill all persons therein."

Sure enough, the police get a no-knock search warrant, breach the outer perimeter, and stop at the warnings.  At this point can I be compelled by a court to grant safe access for law enforcement to carry out the search warrant?
And if, despite the clear warning, the police decide to press on with their search and an officer is injured or killed, can I be held criminally or civilly liable for that casualty?

Notes & clarifications from comments:

I'm revealing my mens rea in this question, but objectively I have merely secured the property and warned determined trespassers. The police can lawfully search, but do I have a duty to make my premises safe to search? Am I ex ante liable for their injuries, given the suitable warning? Or can they say, "If you don't make it safe to search, you're liable for our injuries?" At which point haven't they compelled me to incriminate myself, meaning that I can disarm the traps but all the premises' contents are then "poisoned" evidence?
Practically speaking it's not hard to rig thermite to destroy evidence without endangering anyone not in close proximity.  But then, destruction of evidence is a crime, and I'd rather not destroy my valuable stash of whatever. Or, again, maybe I don't have anything to hide but on principle I really don't want police in my house.  So part of the motivation here is to determine: can one construct a scenario that would flat-out deter the search?
One analogy that might illuminate this is to consider a hazmat factory: It is secured, it has warnings, and if police barge in and start tossing things without adequate protection they could be injured or killed.  So in real life – even just approaching suspected meth labs – the police bring in hazmat specialists.  They don't say, "Please render your lab safe for us to search," and I don't think they say, "We got hurt raiding your lab, so that's on you."  In this hypothetical there is no specialist they can call because the exact threat is unknown, and designed to be unknowable in advance.  In fact, I could just be bluffing and not have any boobytraps.
Another reference point that occurs to me: when police are confronted with non-trivial explosive devices, whenever possible it seems they prefer to just clear a safety perimeter and destroy the device than to try to approach and disarm it.
One last point of reference I came across: There is one such example in existence in the U.S.: Fugitive John Joe Gray has kept police from entering his property to arrest him for 16 years, simply because no sheriff has considered it worth the risk.


texts: Is performance of a copyrighted written music copyright infringement?

texts:
Suppose If play some piece from sheet music that contains Copyright information such as:

  Information: Copyright 2006 ABC Music Co. ... Reproduced by permission of DEF Music. All rights Reserved.

or such as:

  This piece is published under license from XYZ.

I understand that I am not sharing the written music but playing it on my instrument. Is uploading of it on any sites like Youtube or SoundCloud wrong?

I read this and the part under "For other sounds, including field recordings...", I can say that it is spontaneous (played live) of me and I myself made it and no one else is in it. But "Does the recording contain any music or excerpts from other copyright works?(e.g. Movie Dialogue)" is confusing.

I saw this question which I think says that it is wrong and this which says I should get a license. Of course these are my interpretations.


texts: Is downloading videos you already own illegal?

texts:
In Canada, format shifting is explicitly allowed under the new copyright modernization act. I have a program and hardware that allow me to convert VHS tapes to digital copies.

From what I understand about owning movies, is that you buy a new movie, what you are actually purchasing is a license to view that movie on your own home, you never own the movie itself, because of the copyright.

I could take the time to convert all my VHS, but there's no guarantee it would be the same quality as when I first purchased it.

If you can only own a license to watch a movie in your home, and format shifting is not an infringement of copyright, then is it legal for someone to download digital copies of movies that they have already purchased a license to view in their homes in another format?


texts:
I'm faced with a problem with Google Play. We have an application which was complained by trademark violation. This situation a little questionable by our opinion but lawyers say that our application name probably violates IP (intellectual properties) of the complainant.

Just for example. Imagine that someone registers the trademark "news". You want to name your application as "business news" and here you are - you violate IP of owner "news" trademark and you should use another name. It's some foolish rules but I can't choose others and I have only this one.

So, now about my main problem:

Google removed our application from Google Play for Russia (our application targets to Russia users, moreover only for one city). Google suggest to contact with the original complainant and discuss their claims.

I changed our application name (there was a reason for removal) and I tried to contact with the complainant (and received single one response that they received my email and will think). I sent them a few emails more but they keep silence since from first response (about 2 weeks).

Then I contacted Google Play supports. I explained that I changed the application name and tried to contact the complainant but they keep silence. I received this response:

  You may contact the original complainant at the email address provided
  in your Google Play Trademark Notice. If the original complainant
  contacts us specifically authorising your app to be republished in
  Russia, and your app does not otherwise violate the Developer
  Distribution Agreement and Content Policy, we will reinstate the app
  in Russia.

  If your account is still in good standing and the nature of your app
  allows for republishing, you may consider releasing a new,
  non-infringing version of your app to Google Play under a new package
  name. We are unable to comment further on the specific basis for this
  removal or provide guidance on bringing future versions of your app
  into policy compliance. Instead, please reference the REASON FOR
  REMOVAL in the initial notification email from Google Play.

Also, I asked whether we can send a letter of guarantee which should prove that we do not violate others IP (from this moment) or, as an alternative, can a local court make a decision about the application removals? But Google keeps the previous position.

I want to restore (not republish) my application but I don't know what can I do. This situation scares and upsets me.

Seems others (not only big companies but actually anyone) can complain about me and then keep silence. I don't see ways how can I influence the situation and protect my application on Google Play from reasonable and/or unreasonable attacks. I think that "Google way" (every time republish the application) is inappropriate but I don't know other ways at this moment.

What do you think? Can I do something?


texts: Is it legal to hire an employee, but pay them as a free agent?

texts:
Say I apply at McDonald's and give the conditions that I wish to work under:

1.No income is withheld from me -- thus I am self-employed.

2.I work like every other worker, but get paid a fixed amount agreed upon.

3.I am responsible for taxes myself.

4.I ask specifically for no benefits other than money.

5.It could be contract-based, but doesn't exactly have to be.

Could an employer legally do this?


texts: Can a country start sending troops before declaring war?

texts:
Can a country send invasion forces before an official declaration of war?

So, if the US wants to invade France, can they, under international law, officially declare war by the time their aircraft carriers are already half way across the Atlantic, with clear orders to invade? Would it be different if they were going through their own territory, or a third country's, with permission?


texts: If an artificial intelligence was smart enough to handle all business activity and affairs could it be given ownership of a company?


texts: How can it be legal to prohibit marriages based on religion and nationality?

texts:
As far as I know marriages between jews and non jews are prohibited in Israel. Even Israel citizens have to go to Cyprus to marry.
How did this law come into existence? Is there an enforceable international law that regulates such laws?


texts: Does using Java or Mono open me up to the possibility of being sued by Oracle or Microsoft?

texts:
Given the recent lawsuit between Google and Oracle due to Oracle's claims of the unfair usage of the Java API's in Android.

I have a large amount of Java and C# code for certain back end processes on my systems and on my phone (Android).  I am about to extend some of my code to Raspberry PI and other micro / SOC devices.

I do no plan on selling my code etc... But this might become a group project at some point.

Because I am using Java for these projects and the code is running on my mobile devices and other devices (SOC that might be using Java ME), can I get sued or in trouble in anyway according to the Java license on fair use an use for commercial use?

Now on to the second question:  If I am doing all of this in C# using the Mono Framework, can I be sued by Microsoft for using the frame for commercial use etc?

The third question:  According to each one's license, which one is more open source and has less patents?

*** Note:  Commercial use in this case might be something in the line of running a website / Cloud platform or installing the systems etc... and making revenue from that.


texts:
As the title says, am I allowed to use other web applications from my own one (to generate data or to convert files), even though they don't provide an API (which I had to build myself), as long as their terms don't explicitly forbid such behavior?

I know it is a short description, but the question really is that simple.
I could not find the answer elsewhere.

Thank you in advance.


texts:
Everything about the US legal system is based on police lineups and a unanimous decision by 12 of your peers.
But surfing a popular physics website I stumbled across   phys.org

"Under ancient Jewish law, if a suspect on trial was unanimously found guilty by all judges, then the suspect was acquitted. This reasoning sounds counterintuitive, but the legislators of the time had noticed that unanimous agreement often indicates the presence of systemic error in the judicial process, even if the exact nature of the error is yet to be discovered. They intuitively reasoned that when something seems too good to be true, most likely a mistake was made."

And then the article just gets even more surprising from there.

This isn't a winger website, this is proven scientific material which is either peer reviewed or will be very soon.

I am curious what kind of an impact a talented attorney could have with this kind of material?
How flawed are we really?


texts: Privacy policy for a non profit emailing list?

texts:
I am have recently created a website, where users can supply their email to receive mock programming briefs, once a day, for 32 days.

I would like to know what I need to include within a privacy policy in order to comply with the current DPA and the future GDPA regulations (I am situated in the UK).

Here's some more information on the service:

I store the users email address and a record indicating which brief they are scheduled to next receive.
The server holding this information, and sending the emails, is hosted by Heroku. I have selected to use European servers to host the project, but I do not know if there is the potential for American servers to be used instead.
The information is stored volatile, meaning that in the event of a server shut down all currently stored records are lost.
At the end of the 32 days, the email address is removed from the database. However, I have also made a mechanism for removing a users address available, which would immediately remove a supplied address from the list.
At no point do I make any gain (financial or otherwise) from the service, nor advertise or send any other email to the user other than those 32 briefs.

Finally, similar websites, such as ThirtyLogos.com, do not seem to contain any such privacy policy, but do allow the user to unsubscribe from the mailing list.

Any advice would be much appreciated. The service is not currently live, but I would like to make it publicly available, once I have determined whether I need a privacy policy and if so what to include within it.


texts: Limits on contract work without pre-agreed price/contract (UK)

texts:
Say you hire someone, such as an electrician or plumber, without price even being mentioned by either party. The contractor later bills you: you're taken aback by the price. Maybe the expected rate is £100 and you get charged £1000. More fool you, right? Fair enough.

But is there any practical limit in English law? £1,000,000, your house? Is there any reasonableness limit in law?


texts: Any strong barrier for private universal healthcare?

texts:
I'm posting this in "Law" because I'm specifically not looking for economic reasons.
Here's the context: Imagine people were very highly motivated to provide healthcare to anyone that needs it, so they start the equivalent of a national insurance that indiscriminately gives money for those who don't have it and need it. Basically, they do what they'd want the government to be doing, but as a non-government institution.
I did try some research, but found nothing close to this proposition, aside from a post here. Other things all refer to the high cost, so I'm wondering about other blockages not related to cost. In other words, if people were willing to pay the price, could it be legally done?
Would there be anything, aside from monetary cost, preventing this from working?


texts: Do the words "take advice" / "taken advice" imply the advisor is a lawyer?

texts:
As per the title, I am (as a non-lawyer) helping someone in a dispute where fraud has occurred.
If I'm helping the person write a letter to one of the involved parties based on my advice, if I help her produce a letter which says she has "taken advice" (and I am the one advising her), would this be construed as a claim she has received advice specifically from a lawyer?
Put another way, if someone claims to have "taken advice", and the advice they received was from a non-lawyer, is the claim misleading?


texts: Can this 7% annual interest penalty on NJ security deposit be applied after the lease has ended?

texts:
Below is the penalty to which my question refers.

The landlord NEVER gave info on where the deposit was held (at the
outset or annually) as is required by law.
The landlord also changed the account where the deposit was held over
the time in question and was required by law to notify tenant of the
change but never did.
Tenant asked landlord (in writing) for dated proof that both of these
things were complied with as the law dictates and landlord could not
provide.

Can/Does this apply after the lease has ended? Meaning, can the 7% be collected along with the return of the security deposit?

Since it is an annual 7% penalty, if the lease was 5 years is the penalty added for each year? And if so, should it compound? Or does this not apply at all because it can only be applied to rent and is not owed to the client otherwise?

PENALTY Notice of Deposit of Security Funds

Landlords are required to give tenants a statement in writing including the name and address of the investment company, bank or savings and loan association along with the type of account, current rate of interest and amount deposited within 30 days of receipt of a security deposit. This notice may appear in the lease. The landlord must notify tenants within 30 days of transferring the security deposit money to a new landlord or moving the security deposit to another account or bank. If notification is not given or if the security is not deposited or invested in accordance with this law, the tenant has the right to require that the security deposit, plus 7 % per year be applied toward any rent due. This request must be made in writing. However, after giving the landlord written notice the tenant must allow the landlord 30 days to comply with the annual interest payment and notice requirements. The 30-day allowance is not required if the landlord failed to properly deposit the initial security deposit money. At no time thereafter, while the tenant occupies the unit, can the current landlord ask for or collect another deposit.


texts:
If I'm taking notes on a book I'm studying would I technically be infringing copyright if I didn't properly cite the source on the piece of paper the notes are on? I got curious because I was watching a youtube video and someone explained something so well I copied it down verbatim into google docs. Is this breaking copyright?

I guess what I don't get about fair use is it says it can be used for study, so does that mean as long as you don't actually use it you're ok? For example you're learning how to speak German and you make notes from your book, this is ok but if you actual speak German then you're using it so fair use doesn't apply? Obviously this isn't how it works so I'm curious as to how it does.


texts:
In a recent case involving an accusation of extortion, a Federal judge set aside a guilty verdict by the jury.

Why was the case even being heard by a judge, rather than an appellate court?

From the news story, it appears that the judge was second guessing the jury, in other words he apparently decided the facts of the case did not merit a conviction. I thought the only time a judge or appellate court can reverse a jury on a question of fact was if there was a "gross miscarriage of justice". Has that standard changed? Can judges now set aside jury verdicts if they just disagree with the jury's interpretation of the facts?


texts: Is there duty to report crime that may be committed soon?

texts:
Rob approaches Bob and offers him a job: to commit a certain specific crime. Bob rejects.
Question 1: At this point, does Bob have any legal duty/obligation to report Rob to law enforcement authorities?
Some time later Bob finds out that the crime he was offered to commit has been committed by someone. Apparently, someone has accepted Rob's offer, or Rob has committed it himself.
Question 2: Now, does Bob have any legal duty to report Rob?
Question 3: If the answer to Question 1 is "yes" and Bob did not report back then, does the fact that the crime has been committed make Bob's inaction a more serious offence? Would Bob get any discounts for that offence if he reports Rob after the crime?
(Any jurisdiction).


texts:
I was wondering of the USA legalities of maintaining recorded video with audio when it comes to cops pulling you over while driving for whatever reason?

I wasn't sure if you have to verbally tell them they are being recorded, have a big sticker that's visible to them telling them this, or if they even need to give some sort of consent or be told about this up front?

If I wish to post this on YouTube.com or online later do I need their consent to do so without obfuscating their faces? If they tell me to stop recording and to turn it off, is this a violation of constitutional rights and do I have to do this legally?

I certainly don't want to get into any trouble for video and audio recording police traffic stops in an illegal manner, but I know they can body or dash cam record the public without our consent so wondering if there's a double-standard here or if I have a right to do this and whether or not I need to tell them verbally or have a big sticker, etc.

I'll split this question up into more separate questions if needed but I wanted to give some context with other questions, etc. so hopefully this will be helpful to people that may have answers to it.


texts: No written contract. Do I have to pay undisclosed early termination fee?

texts:
A credit card payment processing company agent approached my business and offered to try out their service for free for a month as a trial.
However, I decided not to use it after this one month trial, and request to cancel.
Now they have already charged $840 as cancellation fee and PoS deprecation fee. Since there was no contract, I don't agree to pay these fees. Do I really have to pay them?


texts: If I buy assets (inc customer data) from receiver of a UK company, how does GDPR apply?

texts:
I’m considering buying the assets of an insolvent company that has gone into administration / receivership.

Included in the assets is a customer database.

How does GDPR apply?

is the purchasing company allowed to contact the customers of the old company?
are there specific considerations or rules?
do we, effectively, become the legitimate owner/processor of the data?

I’m very cognisant of our responsibilities to the consumers, irrespective of the legalities, in so much as we wouldn’t want to upset or offend them but making inappropriate contact even if it were legal. As it happens the businesses are aligned in their mission and we can give these customers the opportunity to continue to use a service they’ve lost. We would of course handle the comms politely, deferentially and cautiously.

My question is only about the legal rights and responsibilities when purchasing stressed assets that include PII.


texts: How to write a contract for a future purchase

texts:
I'd like to make a contract with my associate to buy something from them at a future time. In the financial world, options like these (for stocks and commodities) are traded all the time. I'm looking for something very similar, but because the thing I'm trading is not a traditional financial instrument, I won't be going through a broker.

Where can I find some reference material for how to write such a contract with proper legal language? The purchase is also very small so I would rather not hire a specialized lawyer just for this, as the lawyer's fee would be many times more than the purchase amount.

You can assume I have read https://law.stackexchange.com/a/6264/19001. I am still asking this, because I am wondering specifically about appropriate language for an option contract, pertaining to:

Timing (expiration, early exercise, European vs. American style)
Responsibility (how to specify which person has right to exercise, is it possible to make exercise mandatory)
How exactly the article to be traded must or can be described (for example commodities specify a baseline quality for the commodity)
Whether the price of the contract is specified in the contract
How to proscribe automatically voiding the contract in certain situations (such as if exercise becomes impossible)

To be clear about my situation, I'm actually planning something similar to a covered call. However, it might be nice if I could set it up so that at expiration, the contract MUST be exercised unless certain conditions are met, while before expiration it MAY be exercised if the relevant party wishes. The subject of the contract would also be a unique item rather than a commodity, so it would be nice if exercise could be satisfied by trade of only that specific item rather than any item of the like kind.

The goal here is that:

It's detailed enough that we're unknowingly assuming legal risk because it doesn't cover some weird corner case
It's not so complicated that we're unknowingly assuming legal risk because we can't understand it
That I do not have legal ownership of the item until such time as I choose to officially exercise the contract


texts: Are clothing designs described in literature protected by copyright?

texts:
Here's an example (source is Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex)

Yes, [the t-shirt] is so cool. There's a picture of a boy who for some reason has no neck and only three fingers on each hand, and behind him in this sort of graffiti style is the words RANDOMOSIY.

If someone wanted to print t-shirts of this design and sell them, would they need permission to do so?


texts: EDIT: Prevent copy right/trademark infringement by not using company logo, but

texts:
I want to prevent copy right infringement and therefore I don't use logos or fonts of companies on a site where I want to list them.

So it came to my mind to just use a standard open source font and mention the companies by name, but use their logo colors for the text and background.

I want to use the names (html+css) on my personal website to show a list of companies I have been working for on past projects.

With this in mind, does it represent a trademark violation?

For example:

Would this be legal?


texts: Who would have been guilty of what in this scenario?

texts:
Some background first:
When I was in college for engineering, the student-run IT department in the general dorm absolutely insisted on seeing every device on the network, and all the traffic too, to the point of banning even "dumb switches" (which are still smart enough to figure out which port a specific device is connected to, and only send its traffic to that port) and issuing hubs instead (which blindly broadcast everything they receive to all of their ports, so that the IT guys could see what I sent to my networked printer).
This was when Windows XP was current, which allowed unrestricted access to its Public folders by default.  (they are PUBLIC, after all, right?)
Put that together, and we have a bunch of college kids with officially-mandated direct access to the other students' Public folders!  (there are several things in that bold part, that the combination of should raise flags)
Also at that time, the Public folders were the default save location for a number of things.  So quite a few of them had what appeared to me to be extensive music collections, which leads to:
The question:
I decided to be honest, and NOT copy that music for myself, but if I had, who would have been guilty of what?
My understanding of copyright law suggests that:

The student that I copied from would be guilty of unauthorized distribution, and could be fined accordingly, despite knowing nothing of what was going on or even how it was possible, simply because it was in their Public folder and thus made freely available to others.  Nevermind that "Public" was simply their software's default save location, and they again knew nothing of the ramifications.  Thus, this poor student gets slammed, completely out-of-the-blue, for something they had no idea about.

The developer/owner of that music-management software may also get sued for making it easy for this to happen.  (Public by default)

The dorm's IT department might get a not-so-nice call as well, from a high-powered lawyer, about making it easy for this to happen.  (requiring access)

*I* could simply claim ignorance, that the officially-enforced arrangement implied permission, and that I had accepted the offer on good faith.  I would then get off with little more than an order to delete everything that I had taken.  (and whatever the IT guys decided to do with me for their troubles)  Unless of course I had distributed it myself, knowingly or not, in which case I'd be in the same boat as the student that I had stolen it from.

Is that true?  Did I put the concepts together correctly?  Or am I all wet?


texts: Am I allowed to create an audio book from a printed book published by Routledge?

texts:
I have the permission of the authors to create an audio version of a book published in 2015. The audio version would be licensed under a Creative Commons license.

The book is published by Routledge under the following conditions:

  © 2015 selection and editorial material, Giacomo D’Alisa, Federico
  Demaria and Giorgos Kallis; individual chapters, the contributors. The
  Introduction, Epilogue and chapters 14 and 36 are subject to copyleft
  licensing.

  FROM THE CONTRACT

  3 Copyright
  3.1 The copyright in the Editor’s part in and to the Work and any Contribution written by the Editor for inclusion therein will remain
  the property of the Editor but nothing in Clause 3.1 (this clause)
  shall affect any rights separately granted by Contributors to the
  Publishers. The copyright notice to be printed in the Work will be in
  the name of Giacomo D’Alisa, Federico Demaria and Giorgos Kallis for
  selection and editorial material and in the case of Contributions, the
  name of the copyright owner of the particular contribution with year
  of first publication.

  (a) In consideration of the payment to the Editor of the fee and/or
  applicable royalty percentages of the Publishers’ receipts set out in
  Clause 9, the Editor grants to the Publishers the sole and exclusive
  right and license to adapt, produce and publish, and to license others
  to adapt, produce and publish, the whole or any part of the Editor’s
  part in and to the Work and any Contribution written for inclusion
  therein or any abridgement, adaptation or translation of the Editor’s
  part in and to the Work, in all forms and media, in the English
  language only throughout the world for the full term of copyright,
  (including all renewals and extensions of that term). …


texts: Is it illegal to produce something with an illegal copy of a software?

texts:
If someone has an illegally downloaded copy of a software that is used to produce something (for example, Photoshop for producing (/editing) pictures or FL Studio for music), is it illegal to produce something with it?

If you know someone who has an illegal copy of Photoshop (I'll use Photoshop as an example since pretty much everyone knows it), and you create something with it, have you done something illegal, or something that could be considered illegal? Does it matter if you didn't know that it was an illegal copy?

In this case, by production I mean producing something just for yourself, or sharing it with other people but without gaining any money from it. "Production" also includes editing, in the sense that if you edit a picture with Photoshop, you've produced something with Photoshop.

I'm from Finland but I doubt that there's anyone here who could shed some light on this from the viewpoint of the laws of Finland, so all answers, no matter what country's laws they are based on, are welcome.


texts: Does the intent of justifiable fair use supersede the implication of unjustifiable intent?

texts:
The question Legal status of "no copyright infringement intended" has an answer that states in part,

Ultimately, I don't think such a notice does anything to aid the defendant's argument that they "should not have known" their use was infringing. Nor do I think it furthers an argument of "reasonable and good faith belief" by the defendant: ...

I have a follow-up question regarding this: if a person stated "no copyright infringement intended" and then when sued, claimed a fair use defence which was not accepted, would the intent of fair use supersede the statement of awareness?
The aforequoted answer seems to suggest any awareness of copyright existence prior to actual infringement amounts to willful infringement. Put another way, does the (overt) intent to use copyright material justifiably under fair use supersede the implication of unjustifiable intent?


texts: Can a local police officer (or local DA) charge someone with breaking a federal law?

texts: Can a local police officer (or local DA) charge someone with breaking a federal law or can they only charge suspects with violating state laws?