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[ { "answer_id": 5740, "body": "<p>The parties don't need to explicitly agree on the price beforehand, unless a law explicitly requires it for a specific kind of transaction. Contracts do not need to have all terms explicitly spelled out for those terms to be binding; it is expected that dental care has a cost, and if you don't explicitly specify the cost then it's assumed you're willing to pay a reasonable fee. They can't charge you six million dollars for a bandage, but there's a <em>very</em> wide range of fees considered \"reasonable\" for a doctor to charge. If you care more about the price, it's your responsibility to work these things out yourself before saying \"yes.\" The dentist does not need to make you sign a written contract saying it's your job to check, because when you agreed to the care without asking about the price you <em>already</em> agreed to pay whatever would be charged (subject to the fact that courts will not enforce an unconscionable contract).</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/transparency-and-disclosure-health-costs.aspx#Legislation\" rel=\"nofollow\">California law</a> requires hospitals to provide someone without insurance a written <em>estimate</em> of healthcare costs upon request, as well as requiring any hospital with a master list of charges for services to make it available to the public and to give anyone (on request) a list of average charges for 25 common outpatient services. It does not require medical charges to be set out in advance without a request, just like other fields of commerce aren't generally <em>required</em> to do that.</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5741, "body": "<h3>Contracts require \"meeting of minds\"</h3>\n\n<p>I disagree with another answer to this question. Specifically, the part that says:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><em>Contracts do not need to have all terms explicitly spelled out for those terms to be binding;</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That is incorrect. In fact, contracts have to meet several requirements in order to be valid, binding and enforcable. Most of those requirements are irrelevant to this question... However, one of those requirements is that the parties must have a <strong><em>meeting of the minds</em></strong> as to what they are agreeing. If there is no meeting of the minds on all the terms, then there is no contract. This is a common way contract disputes arise. Lack of clarity of the terms of the contract. And this is how contract disputes land in the legal system.</p>\n\n<h3>Contracts are statutory; without one, payment becomes a matter of equity</h3>\n\n<p>However, no contract does not mean you don't have to pay. You have to pay as a matter of <strong><em>equity</em></strong> which is a common law principle. The contract would be a statutory basis for owing payment. Without a contract, equity and common law kicks in. Specifically, the principle of <strong><em>unjust enrichment</em></strong> becomes the issue. So a court would have to determine the <strong><em>fair value</em></strong> of the services rendered and you would then owe the fair value.</p>\n\n<p>You could just avoid the potential for a later price dispute by agreeing to the price before hand. But, as the question points out, this is not always done in practice.</p>\n\n<h3>Settlement terms revert to the court</h3>\n\n<p>That said, if you don't agree on price before hand the other party doesn't just get to charge whatever they want. If they charge more than you are willing to pay, then force them to sue you and a judge will determine what you owe. Both sides will have to present evidence supporting their determination of the value of the services rendered.</p>\n\n<p>But, as mentioned, this can be avoided by either agreeing to the price in advance or an after-the-fact negotiation to arrive at a fair price for settlement.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "california", "consumer-protection" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5738, "body": "<p>As with all contracts, <strong><em>how</em></strong> binding depends on <strong><em>all the facts and circumstances</em></strong> relevant to any challenges to it's validity. Generally speaking, though, all written contracts are binding <strong><em>prima facie</em></strong> (on their face) provided all parties are of legal age and the contract itself does not prescribe any illegal act. (There are also other requirements not germane to the question.)</p>\n\n<p>There is no requirement for an address to be included in a contract in order for it to be binding.</p>\n\n<p>I am not an attorney. I am not your attorney. So please do not act on anything I or anyone else writes in this forum. Please consult an attorney if you need legal advice.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "contract-law", "california", "binding" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5734, "body": "<p>You sue <strong>BOTH</strong> the contractor <strong>AND</strong> his insurance company.</p>\n\n<p>Your interest is in being made whole. It doesn't matter who pays you — whether the contractor pays or the insurance company pays. As long as you are made whole. One scenario you want to avoid is holding a judgment against a contractor who doesn't have the money to pay you then turns around and claims bankruptcy or skips town. That's why you sue both. You want to have a judgment against the insurance company too in case the contractor can not or does not pay you.</p>\n\n<p>Also, check your jurisdiction but you might need to sue in Circuit Court because the limit of jurisdiction for small claims court might be set at $5,000 as it is in many jurisdictions.</p>\n\n<p>You should sue for the highest amount possible. Then negotiate downward if warranted. Your invoices for materials and labor from your recent renovations and any photographs you might have taken would be your evidence to support your claim exceeding the ACV.</p>\n\n<p>If you sue them, they will negotiate.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "real-estate", "insurance" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5730, "body": "<p>Cops in the US aren't powerless if they didn't catch you in the act of a violent crime. They may detain you on reasonable suspicion that you committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime; powers of arrest vary a bit by state, but in general they may arrest pursuant to an arrest warrant, or for any offense committed in their presence, or when they have probable cause to believe that a felony was committed and the person they're arresting committed it. </p>\n\n<p>If a cop doesn't have reasonable suspicion based on articulable facts (not a hunch, not \"he's in this neighborhood while black,\" but actual facts that give rise to the reasonable suspicion), he cannot legally seize you and prevent you from leaving. However, the question of reasonable suspicion is not one he needs to justify to the person he's detaining; it's something which is meant to be challenged in the <em>courts</em>, and attempting to judge it for yourself on the street will result in you becoming familiar with some of the tools cops have on their belts. A cop doesn't strictly need to answer \"am I being detained,\" but if they say \"yes\" then there's really nothing you can do about it. </p>\n\n<p>Because cops can't stop you without reasonable suspicion, they can't force you to identify yourself without it. With it, some states let them force you to identify yourself (and all allow them to do so while you're driving). Cops can <em>never</em> force you to answer questions that might incriminate you; if a cop asks you if you've been drinking, you have the right to refuse to say \"yes\" or \"no.\" You can't legally be punished for exercising your rights; that's not to say you <em>won't</em> be (if a cop gets angry at you and tases you, that's not legal, but you still got tased), but it's not legal to be.</p>\n\n<p>If the person refuses to answer questions, and the cop doesn't have grounds to do anything more, the cop has two excellent legal options: first, the cop can continue to ask questions for a bit (although detentions on reasonable suspicion can't go on too long), and second the cop can let you go.</p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5737, "body": "<p>Police must find <strong><em>reasonable suspicion</em></strong> to detain you. And they must find <strong><em>probable cause</em></strong> to obtain a <strong><em>search warrant</em></strong> or <strong><em>arrest</em></strong> you.</p>\n\n<p>That said, all police encounters can potentially be problematic. See the two following questions and answers.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/a/1362/794\">You don't know. You can't know. And you can't force the officer to tell you</a>.</p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/a/1344/794\">Running away from the police</a>.</p></li>\n</ul>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "united-states", "criminal-law", "canada", "police" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5723, "body": "<p>You are in the right. Your only mistake, perhaps, was doing anything via telephone. Everything should have been done in writing. Fortunately there are <em>a lot</em> of consumer protection laws and government agencies that will help you rectify this if you are willing to do the work.</p>\n\n<p>There is a formal process for disputing anything on your credit report. Contact the big three credit agencies to begin that process. I haven't done it myself, but I don't believe it is more onerous than sending a letter containing the details you posted here as well as copies of supporting documents.</p>\n\n<p>Collections agencies are regulated by at least one government agency in each state and numerous laws. Contact the collections agency and tell them you're going to report them if they don't rectify the adverse report within 10 days. If you do it by phone follow-up with a letter. Then report them if they don't. A quick web search will tell you who their regulator is and what rights you have.</p>\n\n<p>The only claim you have against the doctor is if you were covered by insurance and he accepted the insurance at the time. If so his fees would have been governed by an agreement with the insurance company. It's tough this long afterwards, but in theory you could take up the matter with the insurance company, the state medical licensing board, and (not that it's really worth anything) the BBB.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "fraud", "medical" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5720, "body": "<p>The assailant had committed a crime. The waiter (or anyone else) could have arrested them and detained them until they could be transferred to lawful custody (police). Reasonable force is allowed.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "united-states", "human-rights", "assault", "ohio" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5717, "body": "<p>In Australia, Australian Consumer Law (and the various state Trade Practices Acts) prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct. <a href=\"https://www.accc.gov.au/business/advertising-promoting-your-business/false-or-misleading-statements\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">This includes any kind of false or misleading statement, and explicitly includes false testimonials</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It is illegal for a business to make statements that are incorrect or likely to create a false impression. This includes advertisements or statements in any media (print, radio, television, social media and online) or on product packaging, and any statement made by a person representing your business.</p>\n<p>For example, your business must not make false or misleading claims about the quality, value, price, age or benefits of goods or services, or any associated guarantee or warranty. Using false testimonials or ‘passing off’ (impersonating another business) is also illegal.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Notwithstanding the above, puffery is also affirmatively permitted.</p>\n<p>For example, in <a href=\"http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/FCA/2013/731.html?stem=0&amp;synonyms=0&amp;query=misleading%20testimonial\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>Volunteer Eco Students Abroad Pty Limited v Reach Out Volunteers Pty Limited</em> [2013] FCA 731 </a> the court found that the operators of a business had contravened the Trade Practices Act (the State implementation of the national Australian Consumer Law) by publishing testimonials that were made by people who had never used their service (tours). The cited authority is also relevant (<a href=\"http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2006/1066.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Australian Competition &amp; Consumer Commission v Advanced Medical Institute Pty Ltd (No 3) [2006] FCA 1066</a>).</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "fraud" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5714, "body": "<p>The school must comply with relevant legislation and regulations within its jurisdiction.</p>\n\n<p>Unless there is something specifically forbidding their suspending a student who makes insulting remarks on the internet, they will generally be permitted to take reasonable disciplinary action.</p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5715, "body": "<p>In the United States, education is largely handled by the States. A similar, but broader question, concerning suspensions is this <a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/1270/what-regulations-govern-suspension-of-students/1271#1271\">one by jimsug</a>. In it, you'll find a helpful compendium of U.S. student disciplinary laws.</p>\n\n<p>As an example, Illinois recently allowed suspension for bad behavior via electronic means.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/united-states\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged &#39;united-states&#39;\" rel=\"tag\">united-states</a></p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "internet", "liability", "education" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5708, "body": "<blockquote>\n <p>Adobe grants every individual and organization in the\n world the royalty-free right, under all Essential Claims that Adobe\n owns, to make, have made, use, sell, import and distribute Compliant\n Implementations. If a licensee brings (or participates directly or\n indirectly in the bringing of) a lawsuit or similar action against any\n other party claiming that a Compliant Implementation infringes an\n Essential Claim, Adobe may revoke the rights granted above to such\n licensee. Upon such revocation, such rights will be deemed to have\n never been granted.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.adobe.com/pdf/pdfs/ISO32000-1PublicPatentLicense.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.adobe.com/pdf/pdfs/ISO32000-1PublicPatentLicense.pdf</a></p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "licensing", "intellectual-property" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5122, "body": "<p>The firearm will have been sold to the corporation and delivered to both the corporation and the individual. If the individual is under-age then the supplier has committed an offence.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "united-states", "corporate-law", "property" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5700, "body": "<p>If developed on your own time with your own resources only, it's your property to do with as you please - subject to any NDA, non-compete, etc. and assuming you're not violating your company's IP.</p>\n\n<p>You do not need to register a copyright for one to exist - simply by having created the code you own its copyright and all associated rights (see above).</p>\n\n<p>You can certainly transfer your ownership and copyright on the code to your employer for compensation. In at-will employment states, refusal to do so if your employer won't pay might get you fired, but that's the worst they could do (unless one of the exceptions in the first paragraph applies and you offer your code for sale to third parties, in which case they could realistically sue).</p>\n\n<p>Until they pay for the code, do not show them the source and do not work on it during regularly scheduled work hours and do not load it on your work computer or devices. If they get your code and start using it, the situation gets really ugly for you - you could sue but good luck proving anything. Their not having the code is your leverage right now.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "copyright", "software" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5692, "body": "<p>Note first that Ars Technica is quoting from <a href=\"http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/AGdraftkings.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">a cease-and-desist letter</a> sent by the Office of the Attorney General of New York State. So we really should hope that it's accurate.</p>\n\n<p>Indeed, the quote is correct, and the HTML New York Constitution on the NY Department of State site is out of date. The \"seven facilities\" clause was inserted as an amendment by the <a href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/New_York_Casino_Gambling_Amendment,_Proposal_1_%282013%29\" rel=\"nofollow\">New York Casino Gambling Amendment, Proposal 1 (2013)</a>, passed by voters in November 2013. It also appears in the <a href=\"https://www.dos.ny.gov/info/pdfs/Constitution.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">PDF version of the Constitution</a> linked from the previously mentioned HTML page; it's in Article I, Section 9. Prior to this amendment, casino gambling was entirely prohibited in the state.</p>\n\n<p>The HTML version is dated January 1, 2014; the PDF version is dated January 1, 2015. I would have guessed that an amendment passed in November 2013 would have become effective on January 1, 2014, and so should already have been included in the 2014 edition; but perhaps I am wrong.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "new-york-state", "constitutional-law", "gambling" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5697, "body": "<p>Diplomatic immunity means that diplomats are immune from prosecution in their host countries. It does not necessarily mean that they can be sued or prosecuted in their home country. Whether the diplomat is subject to the home country's laws and courts is up to the home country.</p>\n\n<p>In most cases, it seems, diplomats can escape prosecution altogether by reason of their immunity. If the home country wishes to dissociate itself from the diplomat's actions, it can waive diplomatic immunity to enable prosecution in the host country's courts.</p>\n\n<p>There are some interesting examples, some of which touch on your question, in the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_immunity\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia article on diplomatic immunity</a>.</p>\n\n<p>With respect to your example of an apartment lease, it appears that a diplomat might not actually be immune, since the <a href=\"http://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961</a> provides for some exceptions to immunity, including</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A real action relating to private immovable property situated in the territory of the receiving State, unless he holds it on behalf of the sending State for the purposes of the mission</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Interestingly, the Wikipedia article lists two prosecutions under home-country legal systems that both involve Romania, and both involve fatal accidents in which the driver had been drinking alcohol. (In one case, Romania was the sending state, and in the other, it was the receiving state.)</p>\n\n<p>In one case, the driver was an American Marine assigned to guard the US embassy. He was tried in a court martial, presumably under the US military code, which no doubt penalizes drunk driving, but that's just a guess. The court may well have applied Romanian law.</p>\n\n<p>In the other case, Romania apparently prosecuted its chargé d'affaires in Singapore after a fatal automobile accident. It's not clear whether he was charged under the Romanian or Singaporean law.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "international", "diplomatic-immunity" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5691, "body": "<p>The definitions (in context) are:</p>\n\n<p><strong>giving</strong>: cause or allow (someone or something) to have (something, especially something abstract)</p>\n\n<p><strong>authority</strong>: the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience</p>\n\n<p>So:</p>\n\n<p><strong>giving authority</strong>: cause or allow (someone or something) to have the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience</p>\n\n<p>And</p>\n\n<p><strong>authorize</strong>: give official permission for or approval to (an undertaking or agent)</p>\n\n<p>They are functionally equivalent.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "statutory-construction" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5665, "body": "<p>I am not a lawyer and I have never even been to the UK.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Can my landlord force me to stay?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Certainly not! But he might be able to get a court to force you to pay.</p>\n\n<p>The term is odd but I don't see why it wouldn't be enforceable. It's legal for you to remain in the agreement during that period and you agreed to it in exchange for fair consideration. That you regret the terms now isn't a strong argument for releasing you from your obligations.</p>\n\n<p>Can you ask them for permission to leave on the 19th? I understand that's not a full 14 days' notice but they might be sympathetic. Of course they probably won't be since the whole point of this policy is that they won't find a new tenant this close to the holidays. That said - if you can find a suitable replacement tenant who is ready to move in on the 19th or the 20th, they might be willing to let you go early. It would be a net positive for them - a win-win.</p>\n\n<p>I would not recommend intentionally trying to get evicted. Morality aside, that sort of behavior might tarnish your reputation and make life harder for some period of time.</p>\n\n<p>Try to find a solution that is good for everybody. Put yourself in your landlord's shoes. You're using his property and now you're angry at him because he's holding you to the lease agreement? What if you had become angered at the rent or at the no-smoking clause? Would those be legal in your country?</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "united-kingdom", "contract-law", "rent" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5659, "body": "<p>Dated signatures are not required to form a contract. However, it is evidence of <em>when</em> the person signed the contract and therefore agreed to be legally bound to it.</p>\n\n<p>This aids in resolving disputes about whether or not the contract has commenced, although thorough drafters will also include the date that the terms of the contract are to commence (especially in employment law) as an explicit clause.</p>\n\n<p>A person who purportedly breaches the contract has a defense if the purported breach occurs prior to their signing of the contract. A person who is seeking damages for breach of contract can use the date to prove that the person who has breached the contract was aware of and had agreed to be bound by (and perform their obligations under) the terms of the contract.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5657, "body": "<h2>Contract Law</h2>\n\n<p>A lease is a contract so let's go back to basic contract law (this is an Australian perspective; your results may differ).</p>\n\n<p>A contract is a legally enforceable agreement. You can agree to whatever you like so long as it is legal; without getting into <em>that</em> particular patch of weeds, you can agree on terms and consequences for breaching those terms (which are, of course, simply more elaborate terms).</p>\n\n<p>If someone breaches a term of the contract then the non-breaching party can:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Waive the term on this occasion i.e. accept this breach</li>\n<li>Waive the term on this occasion and in the future i.e. effectively remove the term from the contract</li>\n<li>Seek an order for specific performance i.e. a court order that the breacher must comply with the contract on pain of contempt of court</li>\n<li>Seek an injunction i.e. an order to <em>stop</em> the breacher doing whatever they were doing, the mirror-image of a specific performance order</li>\n<li>Seek a Mareva order i.e. an order to freeze assets</li>\n<li>Seek an Anton Piller order i.e. an order not to destroy evidence</li>\n<li>Seek damages including for general, nominal, expectation loss, reliance loss, disappointment and distress.</li>\n<li>Terminate the contract but not if the breach is of a warranty rather than a term of the contract.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h2>Your examples</h2>\n\n<p>Applying this to your examples:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>no smoking in the house</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>See above.</p>\n\n<p>Practically the only damage the landlord has suffered (unless they burn the place down) is the smell of tobacco (or whatever) in the place i.e. the cost of getting it cleaned. This is unlikely to be considered a breach of a term of the contract sufficient to warrant termination. Even if this was rewritten so that eviction was a consequence, tenancy law would probably make this unenforceable.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>$5 will be charged for any unreturned keys at end of tenancy</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You are allowed to recover damages. You are allowed to specify in the contract a genuine pre-estimate of what those damages will be. $5 looks like a genuine pre-estimate of the cost in time and money of getting new keys and would be enforceable. $100 looks like a penalty and wouldn't.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>no noisy parties</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Where is the damage? Who suffered it? Only the person who suffered it can claim it. If the neighbours were to sue the landlord then the landlord could join the tenant as a defendant and (hopefully) rely on this clause as an indemnity.</p>\n\n<p>It is equally likely this term would be thrown out for being undefined: what the heck is a \"noisy party\" and who decides? If I'm alone I can ply my stereo at 11 because its not a party? How many people have to be there before it is a party? If there are enough, how loud is noisy?</p>\n\n<h2>Contingency thinking</h2>\n\n<p>The contract is what the parties agreed. If the can't agree on what they agreed then someone, probably a judge, is going to have to. Since disputes are expensive it is always better to agree on as much as you can while the issues are academic rather than after they have become points of contention. Terms along the lines of \"I wont do this but if I do then ...\" will lead to far fewer disputes.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law", "rental-property" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5655, "body": "<p>The facts would probably support a conviction for manslaughter; you cause the death of another person through recklessness. If a motive could be established so that it could be shown that you planned to cause the person's death in this manner then a murder charge could be proved.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "united-states", "homicide" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5640, "body": "<p>In the UK, you can only stop a running company if you do no business whatsoever for some time; details will be on the Company House website but I'm quite sure it is for more than a year. No business whatsoever. </p>\n\n<p>That means for example that you can't pay a bill to a hosting company for hosting your blog. Someone (for example the company owner privately) would have to put the blogging site in their own name for some time. </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if you go bankrupt or sell your business, that blog could be an asset that you would sell. </p>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 5634, "body": "<p>(In the USA) They are not. It's a 1st amendment right to have it up. </p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "united-kingdom", "business", "bankruptcy" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5622, "body": "<p><em>Disclaiming</em> liability might offer some protection, but there's no general immunity from being sued. You might do what many large companies do and assert a mandatory arbitration clause in your license. (Many argue that such clauses actually form a larger barrier to being pursued for liability, especially when damages are small.)</p>\n\n<p>You don't <em>need</em> to insure yourself unless required to by some contract. (E.g., it's <em>conceivable</em> that some app store will require that all apps be published by entities that carry some level of liability insurance, but I don't actually know of any such cases (yet).)</p>\n\n<p>You can, however, <em>choose</em> to buy professional insurance policies that cover claims against you and/or your business resulting from unintentional harm.</p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5653, "body": "<p>I think that there are probably general concepts related to product liability worth looking into here. I know this site is intended to ask legal questions--but honestly if you are concerned about such a specific issue related to your software, I would recommend a brief chat with a lawyer.</p>\n\n<p>I can say that on our website, <a href=\"https://blueline.blue/accounts/register/#\" rel=\"nofollow\">BlueLine</a>, where we distribute a tool to help lawyers automate certain legal writing tasks, we use a general disclaimer: that reads \"You agree to hold TJG and all of its directors, officers, employees and agents harmless for the following:...Any damages caused in the course of relying on BlueLine to produce work product, including but not limited to loss of documents or delays caused by bugs or outages in BlueLine’s services.\"</p>\n\n<p>Whether or not the contractual term would be upheld is a question you would have to get specific legal advice on. But I thought this was a useful example of how at least one other company dealt with this issue.</p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "software", "liability" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5624, "body": "<p>You have the right to withhold this information; they have the right to withhold a passport.</p>\n\n<p>You <strong>do not</strong> have a right to a passport; it is a privilege and that privilege may be withdrawn at the discretion of the State Department for all sorts of reasons. </p>\n\n<p>As a US citizen you have a right to travel within the US; you don't need any papers for this. However, if you wish to cross an international border then both the country you are departing and the country you are arriving in will decide the circumstances under which you can.</p>\n", "score": 4 } ]

[ "citizenship", "passport", "travel" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5637, "body": "<p>Congress and the president control processes such as passport issuance by passing laws, which are subject to judicial review. Within the framework of the three-way checks and balances, therefore, the federal government as a whole is responsible for determining the rules for such a process.</p>\n\n<p>The income tax process is also defined by federal laws. Since the federal government controls both processes, it is free to create interdependencies between those processes. For example, it can require passport applicants to give their social security numbers if it wants to be able to cancel the passports of those who are delinquent in paying their taxes.</p>\n\n<p>The \"bill by congress\" does not become binding law until signed by the president, as you no doubt are aware. Independent government agencies may create requirements for inter-agency business by agreement, as long as that does not conflict with the law. Some statutes will say things like \"... or as so-and-so may by regulation provide.\" This hints at the existence of another important code, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). These are mostly (or perhaps entirely) regulations promulgated by the executive branch, pursuant to authority granted by the constitution or by statute.</p>\n\n<p>For what reason could a US citizen possibly be denied a Social Security Number? The only cases I'm aware of where someone is ineligible is the case of a foreigner who is not allowed to work in the US. Such a person is also, of course, ineligible for a US passport, so there is no conflict in the requirement to disclose the SSN in the passport application.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "united-states", "privacy", "bills" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5636, "body": "<p>I am not a lawyer and I have never even been to the UK.</p>\n\n<p>You will not go to prison if your neighbor's dog attacks you and it dies as a result of you defending yourself.</p>\n\n<p>You might go to prison and/or owe the owner damages if:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You are somewhere you do not technically have a right to be.</li>\n<li>It can be shown you could have retreated from harm but chose instead to stand your ground.</li>\n<li>The force you used was deemed excessive - it showed intent to harm the dog more than necessary to protect yourself</li>\n<li>You contributed to the confrontation in a way that a reasonable person would think might cause trouble</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You might be able to protect yourself from problems by:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>taking pictures or videos of the dog behaving badly or aggressively</li>\n<li>note dates and times when you observe the dog behaving badly or aggressively</li>\n<li>formally contact the dog's owner with your concerns and/or evidence in which you assert your rights to access the areas you walk through and your right to defend yourself in the event that you are attacked by the dog</li>\n<li>if possible, change your route or schedule to avoid the problem entirely</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Good luck</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "united-kingdom", "criminal-law", "self-defense" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5629, "body": "<p>Growing marijuana is very often legally classed as \"manufacture of a controlled substance.\" In criminal law, \"manufacture\" tends to be explicitly defined to include cultivation, but this is in fact a reasonably common use of the term (it doesn't <em>have</em> to mean producing with machinery). And so it's extremely unlikely that anyone will be convinced that you even <em>might</em> have thought the agreement didn't cover growing marijuana. The intent of the parties is fairly clear there.</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5630, "body": "<p>In general a contract is a shared understanding of an agreement between the parties - the words on paper are only necessary as evidence of what that understanding is.</p>\n\n<p>If someone can convince a court that any word made a difference to how you understood the contract, then that could affect the ruling.</p>\n\n<p>In this example I agree with cpast that a court would be unlikely to believe that 'manufacturing' was understood in a way that excludes growing plants.</p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "contract-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5626, "body": "<p>It is almost certainly illegal.</p>\n\n<p>I was unable to find UK provisions but the penalties for stealing an Australian passport are 10 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 1,000 penalty units (at time of writing a penalty unit was $170 so, $170,000) (<a href=\"https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2015C00523/Html/Text#_Toc432143513\" rel=\"nofollow\">Section 32(4)</a> of the Australian Passports Act 2005). Under this law, the crime is knowingly having it in your possession when you know it isn't yours. Obviously, normal familial relationships would not be prosecuted (i.e. one member of the family carrying all the family's passports). Certainly, if the true owner asked for it and the possessor refused, that would trigger the crime.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, it is completely pointless - all the original owner has to do is report it stolen and apply for another one.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "human-rights", "ownership", "civil-legal-system", "passport" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5609, "body": "<p>Saying that illegal activity is not allowed means that illegal activity is a breach of the lease, so it allows the landlord to evict the tenant if there is illegal activity.</p>\n\n<p>The landlord/tenant law with which I'm familiar already specifies that certain illegal activities are grounds for eviction, but it is possible that there are other illegal activities that would not be grounds for eviction under the law, but could be grounds for eviction if mentioned in the lease. Finally, there are probably some very minor illegal activities that would not be grounds for eviction no matter what.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law", "rental-property" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5621, "body": "<p>A contract need not be written to be valid and enforceable. However, if there is no written contract, then in a dispute the burden of proving (via a preponderance of evidence) a contractual obligation falls on the party asserting it. In the scenario you describe it <em>sounds</em> like that would be impossible for the processing company.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "united-states", "contract-law", "california", "business" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5619, "body": "<p>There are several possibilities: One, these companies have paid an unknown amount for a license. Two, since you cannot patent the effect achieved by an invention but only the way to achieve that effect, it is possible that these companies found a different method to do the same thing that Amazon has patented. Third, patents are sometimes very specific. It may be that companies do something that is very similar to what is patented, but not actually the same. Fourth and fifth, companies might not be aware of the patent, or might be convinced that they won't be caught. Sixth, they might for some reason have the idea that they could win a court case. </p>\n\n<p>In the three patents that you quote, (two) and (three) seem likely. It also happens that companies believe quite strongly that (two) or (three) apply, and the patent holder might believe this as well, but they agree that a license is purchased for an undisclosed amount - which might be $1. If (a) Amazon tells you that they have a patent, or (b) Amazon tells you that they have a patent and Google has licensed it, (b) sounds more impressive. </p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "intellectual-property", "patents" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5610, "body": "<pre><code>Where can the patient report this infraction of the HIPAA requirements?\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>You file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If you believe that a covered entity or business associate violated\n your (or someone else’s) health information privacy rights or\n committed another violation of the Privacy, Security or Breach\n Notification Rules, you may file a complaint with OCR. OCR can\n investigate complaints against covered entities and their business\n associates.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The U.S. Department of Health &amp; Human Services website for complaints is: <a href=\"http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/</a>. From there you can file the complaint either electronically via the OCR Complaint Portal, or on paper by mail, fax, or e-mail.</p>\n\n<p>The language from the Final Rule (<a href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/02/06/2014-02280/clia-program-and-hipaa-privacy-rule-patients-access-to-test-reports#h-27\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">CLIA Program and HIPAA Privacy Rule; Patients' Access to Test Reports</a>) that describes enforcement is section V part L:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Comment: Commenters asked whether a laboratory could be subject to\n penalties for charging more than the reasonable cost-based fee allowed\n by the Privacy Rule, for failing to comply with an individual's\n request for completed test reports within the appropriate time period,\n or for failing to comply with an individual's request altogether.</p>\n \n <p>Response: HIPAA-covered laboratories that fail to comply with the\n Privacy Rule's access provisions are subject to an enforcement action\n for noncompliance by the Department, which may include the imposition\n of civil money penalties.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Walkthrough to file a complain through the <a href=\"https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">OCR Complaint Portal</a> (which is linked on <a href=\"http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/</a>), in the case mentioned in the question:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/HbSLX.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/HbSLX.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/P1UFB.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/P1UFB.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/QC4qC.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/QC4qC.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/GmknU.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/GmknU.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/7qXDR.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/7qXDR.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/QQNij.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/QQNij.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/FFdwD.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/FFdwD.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/KQKS6.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/KQKS6.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/NY6FJ.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/NY6FJ.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/TskJG.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/TskJG.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p>Done!</p>\n", "score": 4 } ]

[ "united-states", "health", "data-ownership" ]

[ { "answer_id": 3648, "body": "<p>The circuits all over the place on this one but I don't see these facts fitting according to the strictest rule.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It is within the discretion of the police to decide whether delaying\n the arrest of the suspect will help ensnare co-conspirators, as\n exemplified by this case, will give the police greater understanding\n of the nature of the criminal enterprise, <strong>or merely will allow the\n suspect enough \"rope to hang himself</strong>.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><em>U.S. V. Garcia</em> 79 F.3d 74 (7th Cir. 1996)</p>\n\n<p>See also <em>Hoffa v. United States</em> 385 U.S. 293 (1966)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A suspect has no constitutional right to be arrested when the police\n have probable cause.</p>\n \n <p>The police are not required to guess, at their peril, the precise\n moment at which they have probable cause to arrest a suspect, risking\n a violation of the Fourth Amendment if they act too soon, and a\n violation of the Sixth Amendment if they wait too long. Law\n enforcement officers are under no constitutional duty to call a halt\n to a criminal investigation the moment they have the minimum evidence\n to establish probable cause, a quantum of evidence which may fall far\n short of the amount necessary to support a criminal conviction.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>EDITING THE ANSWER in light of some comments.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Florida recognizes sentence manipulation and outrageous government conduct as defenses. <em>United States v. Ciszkowski</em>, 492 F.3d 1264, 1270 (11th Cir. 2007) Outrageous government conduct and sentencing factor manipulation focus on the government's behavior. Outrageous government conduct occurs when law enforcement obtains a conviction for conduct <strong>beyond the defendant's predisposition</strong> by employing methods that fail to comport with due process guarantees. Under this standard, the conduct must be so outrageous that it is fundamentally unfair. See <em>United States v. Ofshe</em>, 817 F.2d 1508, 1516 (11th Cir.1987) </p>\n\n<p>In the Ciszkowski case, the defendant was charged with murder for hire as part of a sting. As part of the sting, the government provided Ciszkowski with the gun. The gun had a silencer, the silencer converted his crime to a more serious offense. Ciszkowski argued that he did not know the gun had a silencer and accused the government of sentence manipulation. He lost. The court tells us that the standard for establishing that the government's conduct is <strong>sufficiently reprehensible</strong> to constitute sentencing factor manipulation is high as gives us some cases where the court declined the finding.</p>\n\n<p>See <em>United States v. Bohannon</em>, 476 F.3d 1246, 1252 (11th Cir.2007 (government's selection of age of \"minor\" victim for sting operation was not manipulation even though the selected age resulted in enhancement under guideline);</p>\n\n<p><em>United States v. Williams</em>, 456 F.3d 1353, 1370-71 (11th Cir.2006) government's purchase of crack cocaine rather than powder cocaine was not manipulation despite sentencing differential);</p>\n\n<p><em>United States v. Sanchez</em>, 138 F.3d 1410, 1412-13 (11th Cir.1998) (government informant's selection of a fictitious amount of drugs to be stolen by defendants was not manipulation of the quantity)</p>\n\n<p>Now, about this doctor. The reason this is might be troubling is that this doctor might have entrapped the suspect. For example, if the suspect went to the dr and just wanted some aspirin but the dr convinced him to ask for vicodin and pain killers in some excessive amount (I don't know, I do not want to make up facts). This could be entrapment by a citizen acting purely on his own; if this is the case there is no entrapment. See <em>Worley v. State</em>, 848 So. 2d 491 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003) </p>\n\n<p>However, when the person making the inducement is acting as an agent of the government, courts may allow an entrapment defense. <strong>The government is responsible for the actions of its agents.</strong> But keep in mind that you still need to establish both elements of entrapment. </p>\n\n<p>Per <em>United States v. Isnadin</em>, No. 12-13474 (Feb. 12, 2014):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The entrapment defense involves two separate elements : (1) Government\n inducement of the crime, and (2) lack of predisposition on the part of\n the defendant. The defendant bears an initial burden of production to\n show that the first element, Government inducement, is met. Once the\n defendant makes this initial showing, the burden shifts to the\n Government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the <strong>defendant was\n predisposed to commit the crime</strong>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>For any of these defenses to work, the guy who was filling the prescription can not have been predisposed to commit the crime except for the actions of the government and its agents inducing him.</p>\n", "score": 10 } ]

[ "criminal-law", "human-rights", "constitutional-law", "process", "sentencing" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5611, "body": "<p>They could maybe get away with this as nominative fair use. <em>Playboy v Welles</em> is the go-to case on this where the ninth district held that nominative use is fair use when (quoting from wikipedia):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The product or service can not be readily identified without using\nthe trademark (i.e. trademark is descriptive of a person, place, or\nproduct attribute); </p></li>\n<li><p>Only so much of the mark may be used as is reasonably necessary for\nidentification (e.g. the words may be reasonably used but not the\nspecific font or logo); and </p></li>\n<li><p>The user does nothing to suggest sponsorship or endorsement by the\ntrademark holder - which applies even if the nominative use is\ncommercial.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>They problem is that they are using the logo which might fail part two of this test. Maybe. Under <em>Playboy</em> they can definitely use the words, but using the logo may be pushing it. The only way we can know if the use is fair use is if they end up in court and a judge decides one way or another. Until then, they are relying on the trademark holder.</p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5041, "body": "<p>Assuming the logos are trade marks, the purpose of a trade mark is to distinguish that businesses goods or services from another businesses.</p>\n\n<p>Providing that the use of the trade mark is such that a reasonable person would not be confused about that and providing further that there is no confusion that the owner of the trade mark is not endorsing what is said if they are not then such use is OK.</p>\n\n<p>With the specific situation that you describe there is certainly the <em>possibility</em> that \"As featured in\" might be confused with \"recommended by\" in the mind of a reasonable person. This would depend on the specific facts of the case.</p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "copyright", "trademark" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5598, "body": "<p>It is not a crime to have encrypted files for which you don't have the password anymore. </p>\n\n<p>You get into trouble if you do all these at the same time: You become a crime suspect. The police suspects that your computer contains evidence of the crime. The police gets a warrant to search your computer. Encrypted files are found, with a reasonable suspicion that these files contain evidence of a crime. And then you have refuse to or have no ability to decrypt the files. </p>\n\n<p>I'd recommend that if you think the risk is too high then you try decrypting the files in question, and if you can't decrypt them then you might as well delete them since they are no use anyway. </p>\n\n<p>In the end it's the same as walking around town with a gun in a way that is legal (for example in the USA that should be possible). If by coincidence you walk along some place where at around the same time a gun murder happens, then you might be in trouble. If it is known that you walked there with a gun, and the gun cannot be found (and you cannot show that the bullet didn't come from your gun), you might be in trouble. Even if you did nothing wrong. </p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "international", "european-union" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5595, "body": "<p>If you have no knowledge and can't possibly have knowledge because the data is totally private, you should fall into the safe harbor protection of 17 U.S. Code § 512 - Limitations on liability relating to material online. </p>\n\n<p>See this answer here which covers a lot of the information you are looking for: <a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/4119/legality-of-proxy-sites-and-dmca\">Legality of Proxy sites and DMCA</a></p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "online-piracy", "data-storage", "data-ownership" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5570, "body": "<p>Typically, \"core\" elements of a work of fiction are protected by copyright. I'd be shocked and surprised if Pynchon's works aren't trademarked, and the various venders you mention likely pay a royalty of some sort.</p>\n\n<p>What's more likely is that you're not a party to those arrangements, so you're simply not aware of them. That doesn't mean they don't exist.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "copyright" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5562, "body": "<p>A Google search for <em>landlord tenant Ontario</em> turned up several sites mostly directed to tenants, but which may nonetheless be helpful to you.</p>\n\n<p>The first site, however, was that of the more neutral Social Justice Tribunals of Ontario, and one page on their site addresses your question specifically: <a href=\"http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/ltb/faqs/#faq7\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/ltb/faqs/#faq7</a>.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, the 60-day notice refers to the notice for telling a landlord of the tenant's intention <em>not to renew</em> a lease. When a tenant wants to \"break\" a lease, the page mentions the possibility of assigning the lease to a new tenant, but other than noting that the landlord's consent is required, the process for lease assignments is not discussed.</p>\n\n<p>The tenant appears possibly to have misunderstood the requirements and procedures surrounding lease termination. You could try discussing this with them, but it is quite possible that you'll need to consult a landlord-tenant lawyer.</p>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 5591, "body": "<p>Regardless of what the law allows, the BEST result is if all parties come away from the scuffle \"undamaged.\"</p>\n\n<p>You must, as landlord, act aggressively and immediately to obtain new tenants. You must ask your current tenants to work to the best of their ability to FIND new tenants to assume their lease.</p>\n\n<p>If you get new tenants, and the month's rent keeps showing up at your bank account, then all is WONDERFUL, right? </p>\n\n<p>If you do nothing, and it goes to court, the crown justice is going to...shall we say...\"notice\" that you sat on your hands and made no effort to cure the deficiency. OR...she will notice that indeed, you did your best. That will make all the difference, should you ask the crown magistrate to award damages.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "canada", "residential-lease", "human-rights", "landlord" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5587, "body": "<p>Without more detail, it's hard to know what you mean. Under reasonable circumstances judges do want to understand new evidence at hearings. However they have wide latitude.</p>\n\n<p>A judge doesn't, technically, have to read everything you submit. For example, in <em>Chevron Corp. v. The Weinberg Group</em> (D.D.C. 2012) Judge Facciola stated, \"Here, I would have to review 9,171 pages of documents. That seems inconceivable given my advanced years\" (the background was a requested privilege review).</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/united-states\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged &#39;united-states&#39;\" rel=\"tag\">united-states</a></p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5589, "body": "<p>Judges are pragmatic creatures. I am of the opinion that one in ten pages of motions and other documents I have proffered to judges in the last 5 years have been read in their entirety. The other 9-in-10 have been skimmed at best, ignored at worst.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "bankruptcy" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5585, "body": "<p>If he is a professional engineer, then he is almost certainly (supposed to be) licensed and insured. You could probably recover damages simply by reporting them to his insurer. Also, some states have insurance pools that provide for claims against professionals that they license.</p>\n", "score": 4 }, { "answer_id": 5582, "body": "<p>Yes, you could sue for breach of contract and/or negligent misstatement.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "liability", "damages" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5000, "body": "<p>For sensitive information, you could send an electronic copy via a shareable link in a cloud drive service (Google Drive, Box, etc.) and then restrict the link to the recruiter's email or make it a temporary link.</p>\n\n<p>Alternatively, you could use the following code in Adobe Acrobat to make a resume PDF expire at a certain time (credit at the bottom):</p>\n\n<p>While in Acrobat, select <strong>Set Page Action</strong> from the Document menu. In the <strong>Page Actions</strong> dialog, select When this happens -> Page Open -> Add. For the type of action, select <strong>JavaScript</strong>. Click on <strong>Edit</strong> to add your script. Copy and paste this script into the editor window: </p>\n\n<pre><code>// PDF JavaScript to make it a \"TRIAL EDITION\". \n\n// Set the date you would like it to EXPIRE ON. \nvar d1 = util.scand(\"mm/dd/yy\", \"7/1/04\"); \n\n// Let the script do the work... \nvar expire_on_X_days_left = 0; \nvar d2 = new Date(); \nvar diff = (d2.valueOf() - d1.valueOf()) / 1000; \nvar daysleft = ((diff / 60) / 60) / 24; \nif( daysleft &gt; expire_on_X_days_left || daysleft == expire_on_X_days_left ) \n{ \n// Comment this line if you would like it to NOT MAKE A BEEP! \napp.beep(1); \n// Uncomment this if you would like a message to be displayed. \n// app.alert(\"This document cannot be viewed anymore.\"); \nthis.closeDoc(); \n} \n</code></pre>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>JavaScript walk-thru adapted from this <a href=\"http://www.experts-exchange.com/Web_Development/Document_Imaging/Adobe_Acrobat/Q_21757762.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">answer</a>, by Brian (thedude at bri1.com); </p>\n</blockquote>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "united-states", "california", "privacy" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5577, "body": "<p>In the U.S., you can legally photograph anything you want that is visible from the public. This includes photo/video taken on private property when you're not trespassing, and on city/county/state/federal property.\nIf you take photos of someone and it's not for commercial use, you can do anything you want with them.</p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5522, "body": "<blockquote>\n <p>... can I post it online to show off my photography skills and also write about it in a blog?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, its your photograph, do what you like with it.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>... is there any legal action they can take against me, if I do post it, or even have the image but never use it?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, they can take legal action against you ... they won't win though.</p>\n\n<p>These questions give essentially this answer:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/3540\">Is it legal to post a photograph that I captured of a stranger in the street?(AU)</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/4617\">Model release for image without faces(AU)</a></li>\n</ul>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "privacy", "photography" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5575, "body": "<p>Generally a witness only witnesses the fact that X signed the document; they do not witness the content.</p>\n\n<p>The primary purpose is to make it very hard for X to argue that they didn't sign. However, some documents (affidavits, statutory declarations, certain types of contracts etc) are required to be witnessed to be valid.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "contract-law", "witnesses" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4967, "body": "<p>This question expresses two misconceptions: first being that the terms of service agreement language cited governs whether Facebook uses the ID \"at all,\" and in fact they likely need to use the ID to identify BOTH users who are opt-in, AND users who are opt-out. So the ID is going to be present regardless...and second, that presence of the ID notwithstanding,this is not a question of \"legality.\" Ignoring their own terms of service is not \"against the law,\" it's \"against the contract.\"</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "privacy", "terms-of-service" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4968, "body": "<p>From the comment banter under the question, I see that the school has enlisted a third party service to manage transcripts.</p>\n\n<p>There are several primary reasons for this: first, it offloads a large record-keeping job from the school administration, it provides a level of standardization to the transcript format, and finally, perhaps most importantly, it provides a verifiable chain of control for the document that excludes the student.</p>\n\n<p>This last is the most important.</p>\n\n<p>It also sounds like both the school guidance counselor AND the representative at the third party are misguided as to your rights to the information, and their responsibilities vis a vis the information.</p>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 4964, "body": "<p>Their response sounds preposterous.</p>\n\n<p>I can't imagine a public school would be allowed to withhold transcripts. A private school might be a different matter. (Your question doesn't clarify which.)</p>\n\n<p>If I were you, I would consider this response to be an error made by a low-level, perhaps undertrained, employee. I would set an appointment to meet in person with their immediate supervisor and bring a copy of your original request, their response and a new request written by you and addressed directly to the supervisor. If that fails, I would go to successively higher levels of authority (e.g., vice-principal, principal, school board, city council, board of supervisors, mayor or board of directors if a private school) until somebody does their job and gives you that transcript.</p>\n\n<p>If the records were, say, lost in a fire for example or their servers were accidentally wiped, I would demand they use their best efforts to reproduce to the best of their ability what the transcripts <strong>would</strong> or <strong>should</strong> say. You can use your old report cards, personal recollection and the memories and grade books of your old teachers to do so. Have it signed by an official person and always keep a copy in your files.</p>\n\n<p>If that still doesn't get you relief, I would consult an attorney or your local legislative representative (city council member, state legislature representative or state senator). That's ridiculous.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "new-york-state", "education" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5513, "body": "<p>The judgement actually gives reasons:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The criminal law insists that every person driving a car must attain an objective standard measured by a skilled, experienced and careful driver. That is shown by McCrone v Riding ... the</p>\n \n <blockquote>\n <p>standard is an objective standard, impersonal and universal, fixed in relation <strong>to the safety of other users of the highway</strong>. It is in no way related to the degree of proficiency or degree of experience attained by the driver.</p>\n </blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>And the judgement goes on to quote R v Evans [1962] 3 All ER 1088:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>if a man in fact adopts a manner of driving which the jury think was dangerous to other road users in all the circumstances, then <strong>on the issue of guilt</strong> it matters not whether he was deliberately reckless, careless, momentarily inattentive or even doing his incompetent best. [Such considerations are] <strong>highly relevant if it ever comes to sentence</strong>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Primarily, it is to protect other road users.</li>\n<li>It is only on the matter of guilt that skill and experience are irrelevant. When it comes to sentencing, it may be a factor.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>And, if I might add my own interpretation, part of the reason that the skill of the driver is irrelevant is that the other users of the road cannot know whether a driver is skilled and experienced - they must therefore be able to expect this, and the law reflects this expectation. As much as we complain about other road users, we only complain <em>because</em> we expect them to meet a certain standard - we most likely would not complain if we truly expected them to be incompetent.</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5501, "body": "<blockquote>\n <p>Why is this so?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Because that is the law.</p>\n\n<p>When you have a duty, the standard you are held to is that of a reasonable person in that circumstance. For a driver, that is a qualified, competent and prudent driver; if you don't behave as one then you have <em>prima facie</em> failed to discharge the duty.</p>\n\n<p>Note that this standard applies equally regardless of experience or status, a learner driver must behave as well as an experienced driver; if this scares you, don't learn to drive. Similarly it applies to other duties: a doctor is held to the standard of a reasonable doctor irrespective of if they are an intern or a VMO. Likewise an engineer, plumber or tailor.</p>\n\n<p>From the point of view of people to whom you owe the duty this is perfectly sensible. If you choose to get behind the wheel of a car why should <em>I</em> be put at greater risk just because <em>you</em> are inexperienced?</p>\n\n<p>You can, voluntarily, have yourself held to a higher standard by, for example, holding yourself out to be an expert. An expert engineer is judged against expert engineers, not reasonable engineers, for example. Notwithstanding, you can't be held to a lesser standard.</p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5502, "body": "<p><strong>tl;dr:</strong> The courts have tended to sharply limit attempts to characterize the reasonable or ordinary person as having particular caveats (age and gender are notable exceptions).</p>\n\n<p>As an example, drawn from provocation, consider:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://law.justia.com/cases/wisconsin/court-of-appeals/1979/78-553-cr-5.html\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>State v. Kilmas</em>, 94 Wis. 2d 288 (1979)</a> (in which the court declined to define an ordinary person with psychological issues)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200102/ldjudgmt/jd011213/smith-1.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Regina v. Smith</em>, A.C. 2001</a> (in which the court declined to define an ordinary person with alcoholic tendencies)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/courses/la205_criminal_law_and_procedure_1/Cases/DPP_v._Camplin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>D.P.P. V. Camplin</em>, A.C. 1978</a> (in which the court suggested only considering age and gender)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/4th/27/1230.html\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>People v. Steele</em>, 27 Cal. 4th 1238 (Cal. App. 2002)</a> (in which the court declined to define an ordinary person with PTSD)</li>\n</ul>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "common-law", "negligence", "remedies" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5558, "body": "<p>This (as always) depends on jurisdiction, but usually - <strong>No, just taking the money is not legal.</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>In most jurisdictions, if you have a claim (the rent, in your case) against a debtor , and the debtor does not pay, you are not allowed to take any enforcement action (taking property, coercing the debtor) yourself.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, you must obtain a court or administrative judgement confirming your claim. Even then, often only a court officer or the police may actually enforce payment of the debt.</p>\n\n<p>This is mostly to protect the debtor from unwarranted enforcement action (such as taking more than you are owed, or collecting a disputed debt).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>For example, in Germany, to enforce a debt the creditor must first obtain what is called a <em><a href=\"https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vollstreckungstitel_%28Deutschland%29\" rel=\"nofollow\">Vollstreckungstitel</a></em> or just <em>Titel</em> (title) - an official document confirming that there is an outstanding claim. This is on top of any contracts already existing. A <em>Titel</em> is obtained either through a regular court judgment, or through an abbreviated, administrative process called <em>Mahnverfahren</em> (essentially, you ask the court to send the debtor a letter about your claim, and if the debtor does not file an objection, you get the <em>Titel</em>).</p>\n\n<p>Once you have a <em>Titel</em>, the creditor can enforce it any time they choose (with a <em>Titel</em>, the statute of limiation is extended from the usual three years to 30 years). However, actual enforcement must be performed by an officer of the court (<em>Gerichtsvollzieher</em>). Only they may do things such as collecting the debtors property, force open doors and even imprison uncooperative debtors.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know the exact situation in the USA, but I believe it is roughly similar. For example, the equivalent of a <em>Vollstreckungstitel</em> is a <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writ_of_execution\" rel=\"nofollow\">Writ of execution</a>.</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5541, "body": "<p>No, it's not \"legal\" to take money from someone, even if it's owed...unless a court tells you it's ok.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "real-estate", "theft" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5556, "body": "<p>Generally no - playing with the font and or spelling will not be enough to overcome rejection of a trade mark registration for confusion.</p>\n\n<p>Hire a trade mark lawyer.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "copyright", "trademark" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5465, "body": "<p>Good question.</p>\n\n<p>A trade mark simply protects the company's exclusive right to use it to identify their goods and services. (R) means that the trade mark has been registered, TM means that, while not registered, the company is claiming a trade mark. Trade marks do not have to be registered to be enforceable.</p>\n\n<p>You are certainly not infringing their trade mark by what you are doing and you are not laying claim to the trade mark, so there is no requirement to use the symbols.</p>\n\n<p>Best practice <em>is</em> to use the symbols and identify who they belong to: \"Intel and Core are trade marks of xyz\".</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5554, "body": "<p>No, unless you work for Intel.</p>\n\n<p>\"(R)\" and \"TM\" are used by the holder of the trademark to indicate that it is a trademark. They are used methodically by trademark holders to ensure that there can never be a successful claim that the holder does not intend for the symbol to be a trademark by its own use of the symbol in a non-trademark context. You'll notice that nobody else puts (R) or TM after other people's trademarks.</p>\n\n<p>Unless you work for Intel, you have no legal duty to protect Intel's trademarks. You should, however, state that \"Intel\" and \"Core\" are trademarks of Intel at the end of your paper.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "trademark" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5552, "body": "<p>When you communicated your acceptance of the terms; that is, when the fax transmission was complete.</p>\n\n<p>The lease will be subject to Texas law: you could start a case in California but the court may decide or the other party may successfully petition to have it moved to Texas.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4922, "body": "<p>Yes.</p>\n\n<p>People can be bound by any mark they represent as their signature. People who can not write can be bound with an \"X\", for example. So there is no need to go through the trouble and formality of getting a notarized document.</p>\n\n<p><em>This is not legal advice. And I am not an attorney. If you need legal advice to help you with a particular case, hire a real lawyer. Treat the advice you get here the same way you would as if it came from a group of random strangers at a neighborhood cookout. And never take legal advice from strangers on the internet.</em></p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "signature", "michigan" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5549, "body": "<p>Regardless of whether the marriage is legal in A, you can get married in the US. No permission from A is required. If Las Vegas is where you want to do it, here is what you need to know:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Requirements</p>\n \n <p>Neither blood tests nor waiting periods are required if you want to\n tie the knot. The legal age is 18 for both men and women (proof of age\n is required) and licensing fees are $77. Civil ceremonies can be\n performed at the Marriage Commissioner's Office at 309 S. 3rd St.\n Chapel fees vary depending on the services provided. </p>\n \n <p>Marriage License</p>\n \n <p>For marriage license information visit the Clark County Marriage\n License Bureau or call (702) 671-0600), 201 Clark Avenue (located on\n the northwest corner of Clark Avenue and Third Street). Marriage\n License Bureau hours are 8 a.m. to midnight, including holidays. </p>\n \n <p><strong>You can get married in Vegas even if you're not a U.S. resident</strong>. Most\n countries require a certified copy of your marriage certificate ($15)\n and an apostille from the Nevada Secretary of State ($20). Contact\n home country's Consulate office located in the U.S., to inquire if\n additional certifications are required.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.lasvegas.com/planning-tools/weddings/online-marriage-pre-app/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.lasvegas.com/planning-tools/weddings/online-marriage-pre-app/</a></p>\n\n<p>When you return to A, your marriage may not be legally binding, according to the laws of A, but that has no bearing on your ability to get married in the US. </p>\n", "score": 4 } ]

[ "united-states", "marriage" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5539, "body": "<p>No. Towns, counties and villages are governed by the Town Law, the County Law, and the Village Law, respectively:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/TWN\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/TWN</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/VIL\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/VIL</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/CNT\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/CNT</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>There are some exceptions to this; notably, the five counties that compose New York City are generally excluded from the County Law.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "new-york-state" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5536, "body": "<p>It varies by state, for example:</p>\n\n<p>Connecticut<br>\n<em>State Bar Association of Connecticut v. Connecticut Bank &amp; Trust Co., 140 A.2d 863, 870 (1958)</em><br>\nThe practice of law consists in no small part of work performed outside of any court and having no immediate relation to proceedings in court. It embraces the <strong>giving</strong> of legal <strong>advice</strong> on a large variety of subjects and the <strong>preparation</strong> of legal <strong>instruments</strong> covering an extensive field.</p>\n\n<p>See <a href=\"http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/cpr/model-def/model_def_statutes.authcheckdam.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/cpr/model-def/model_def_statutes.authcheckdam.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p>In Utah they wrote it into a Rule: </p>\n\n<p>Rule 14-802. Authorization to practice law.<br>\n...<br>\n(b)(1) The “practice of law” is the representation of the interests of another person by informing, counseling, advising, assisting, advocating for or drafting documents for that person through application of the law and associated legal principles to that person’s facts and circumstances.</p>\n\n<p>see <a href=\"https://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/ucja/ch14/08%20Special%20Practice/USB14-802.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/ucja/ch14/08%20Special%20Practice/USB14-802.html</a></p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4897, "body": "<p>Correct me if I'm wrong, but even though the question is little detailed, I'd propose a few inputs on the matter.</p>\n\n<p>First, it's important to differ <strong>crime</strong> and <strong>judicial punishment</strong> the same way we divide <strong>criminal court</strong> and <strong>civil court</strong>. It's important to note that <em>usually</em> a crime requires intent (with obvious exception of crimes against life); that is, to commit a crime you are required to be <strong>motivated</strong>, be interested in the outcome, to have the <em>intention</em> to do it. On the other hand, <strong>civil courts</strong> won't bother to limit themselves to your wishes, if damages were caused, damages might required to be repared.</p>\n\n<p>What we can conclude is that it's more likely for the owner to be held accountable for the <strong>damages</strong> he caused in a civil court rather than a criminal one. Although the website was hacked, the information stored there is in the owner's responsibility. The more sensible the data stolen is, the more damages it might cause.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "criminal-law", "hacking" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5531, "body": "<p>For the record, factual impossibility is rarely a defense to a crime. In <em>United States v. Thomas</em> the court decided that men who believed they were raping a drunken unconscious women were guilty of attempted rape, even though the woman was dead at the time.</p>\n\n<p>In this case there is no facts that made the offense impossible to commit. The suspect clearly submitted a false prescription and obtained the drugs he or she wished to obtain. There is no impossibility. Instead the police officer, as the saying goes, has the suspect \"dead to rights\".</p>\n\n<p>This is not legal advice. Consult an attorney for that.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "criminal-law", "constitutional-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5516, "body": "<p><strong>tl;dr:</strong> No. </p>\n\n<p>The physical item is not the property of music group or the label---they merely receive proceeds in accordance with the contract. Rather it is the property of the retailer, who had to purchase it in order to put it on the shelf. Removing the item from the premises during normal hours is shoplifting, a type of larceny.</p>\n\n<p>Criminal law is not suspended because an item's promotional materials might be (unreasonably) interpreted as an invitation to commit a crime.</p>\n\n<p>Entrapment is an affirmative defense when <em>law enforcement</em> induces a person to commit a crime the person would have otherwise been unlikely to commit. Without law enforcement involvement, there's no entrapment.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/united-states\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged &#39;united-states&#39;\" rel=\"tag\">united-states</a></p>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 5524, "body": "<p>An important point to note is that you cannot contract or otherwise deal outside the law. If an action is criminal then a private agreement cannot make it not criminal.</p>\n\n<p>A person is in lawful ownership of an object cannot authorise someone to steal it - by authorising someone to take it they have transferred ownership by gift so the object was not in fact stolen. A person who does not have lawful ownership does not have the ability to give it away.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "criminal-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5313, "body": "<p>An employment contract is a <strong>contract</strong>. In general, they are more heavily regulated than other contracts but they are still a contract.</p>\n\n<p>If an employee unjustifiably breaches a term of their contract then the employer (subject to whatever regulations apply) can terminate the contract; this is colloquially known as firing the employee. <strong>If the employer has suffered damage</strong> as a result of the breach, they me sue for restitution.</p>\n\n<p>This is the key point - the breach must have caused the employer damage that a court would recognise. If the employee views pornography or installs unapproved software, the employer would need to show that these acts have caused it damage. Circumstances where these could cause actual damage would be extremely rare.</p>\n\n<p>A better example would be a rogue trader in an investment bank (e.g. Bearings); the employer (if they survive) would have a real case there. Of course the employee would probably have insufficient assets to pay any judgement but that's a commercial issue, not a legal one.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law", "employment", "corporate-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5503, "body": "<p>It depends.</p>\n\n<p>Confessions, in whatever form, are problematic because the person who made them can simply say later \"I was lying\" or \"My phone was stolen, someone else said that\". Social media posts and texts are not made under oath. It may come as a surprise but not everything posted on social media is 100% true.</p>\n\n<p>If the info they contain is not something that anyone other than the perpetrator would know at the time they were posted then they may be sufficient on their own. In conjunction with other evidence it may secure a conviction.</p>\n\n<p>Failing that, it could certainly assist an investigation.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "criminal-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5490, "body": "<p>The UDID (Universal Device IDentifier) identifies a device uniquely. Apple doesn't know who is the owner of the device. If you read a bit further, <em>if</em> the UDID gets combined with personal information, like your name, then it becomes personal information with accordingly stronger protection. </p>\n\n<p>The UDID is used for example if you lock your phone after it is stolen - the UDID gets added to a database of locked phones, and if the thief tries to reinstall the software on it, that is refused because the phones UDID is reported stolen. Similar, if a company buys 100 phones to be used only by the company, the UDIDs of these phones are registered so that trying to reinstall the software on the phone will always connect that phone to the company. </p>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 4817, "body": "<p>No, it's a direct association with a particular device just like a license plate is associated with a particular car. Neither, <em>on its own</em> identifies a person.</p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "privacy" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4830, "body": "<p>Yes you lose the non-citizen status. See <a href=\"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-citizens_(Latvia)\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-citizens_(Latvia)</a></p>\n\n<p>Specifically the 3rd prong of the following:\nThe non-citizens are \"citizens of the former USSR (..) who reside in the Republic of Latvia as well as who are in temporary absence and their children who simultaneously comply with the following conditions: 1) on 1 July 1992 they were registered in the territory of Latvia regardless of the status of the living space indicated in the registration of residence, or up to 1 July 1992 their last registered place of residence was in the Republic of Latvia, or it has been determined by a court judgment that they have resided in the territory of Latvia for 10 consecutive years until the referred to date; 2) they are not citizens of Latvia; and 3) they are not and have not been citizens of another state.\" as well as \"children of [the aforementioned] if both of their parents were non-citizens at the time of the birth of the children or one of the parents is a non-citizen, but the other is a stateless person or is unknown, or in accordance with mutual agreement of the parents, if one of the parents is a non-citizen, but the other – a citizen of other country\"</p>\n\n<p>If you acquire citizenship you become a citizen of another country. This causes you to lose this status of non-citizen.</p>\n\n<p>Why not just become naturalized in Latvia and then become a citizen of another country?</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "citizenship", "naturalization", "non-citizen", "dual-citizenship" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5480, "body": "<p>Regarding the situation in Germany, it is not a crime by itself to travel to Syria (or in fact any other country), nor to take residence there. When people are arrested after such a trip, it is because they are suspected of having committed a crime during their stay. In this context, the crime could be, e.g., murder, abduction, or rape, but there are more specialized crimes, too, such as:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>Forming terrorist organisations</em> (<a href=\"http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__129a.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">§&nbsp;129a StGB</a>; <a href=\"http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p1217\" rel=\"nofollow\">translation</a>)</li>\n<li><em>Preparation of a serious violent offence endangering the state</em> (<a href=\"http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__89a.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">§&nbsp;89a StGB</a>; <a href=\"http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p0903\" rel=\"nofollow\">translation</a>)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><em>Preparation of a serious violent offence</em> includes participating in a terrorist training camp where people are taught how to use weapons, construct explosive devices, etc. The definition of the crime was recently extended such that it is already punishable to make an attempt at leaving Germany with the intention of travelling to and participating in such a training camp. It is important to note that this intention would need to be demonstrated in court in order to get someone convicted; and someone travelling with different intentions, such as a journalist, would obviously not render oneself liable to prosecution.</p>\n\n<p>Outside of criminal law, there are other measures that the authorities may take to try and prevent people from travelling abroad if they are suspected future terrorists. As these are administrative measures and not criminal prosecution, the requirements for evidence are less strict.</p>\n\n<p>It has long been possible under German law to deny someone a passport (<a href=\"http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/pa_g_1986/__7.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">§&nbsp;7 PaßG</a>; <a href=\"http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_pa_g/englisch_pa_g.html#p0087\" rel=\"nofollow\">translation</a>), or to revoke a passport that was already issued. The idea is that, without passport, the destination country or any transit countries are going to reject the traveller. This didn’t work too well in the case of Syria because a national ID card is sufficient for German citizens travelling to Turkey, which shares a land border with Syria. Therefore, also very recently, it was made possible to deny or revoke an ID card in much the same way as a passport (<a href=\"http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/pauswg/__6a.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">§&nbsp;6a PAuswG</a>; no translation currently available).</p>\n\n<p>(Note that the translations I linked to are official but non-authoritative. In particular, be warned that the translation for §&nbsp;89a StGB at least does not yet reflect the latest amendments.)</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5475, "body": "<p>In the Netherlands some political parties want to forbid traveling to IS territory, but it's not (yet) forbidden. They arrest people who want to fight in Syria for preparing murder, rape and what else they do out there. Judges have actually convicted people who were preparing to travel to Syria/IS-territory for it. If you did go to Syria they might prosecute for whatever you did which can include attempted murder, aiding murder or maybe even murder. The prosecution will depend on what the authorities can prove. </p>\n\n<p>So no, it's not forbidden to travel there in the Netherlands (yet) and arrests are done for whatever crimes you committed there or at home after your return. Not all are arrested, but they are being monitored and watched intensely.</p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5483, "body": "<p>Yes, but not, to my knowledge, through the action of criminal law.</p>\n\n<p>The British government is using its prerogative powers to revoke the passports of those intending to travel to Syria and those believed to be there already. It also adds them to a \"no fly\" list circulated around the EU. </p>\n\n<p>If British citizens who are suspected of visiting Syria wish to return to the UK, they must submit to an investigation by government officials before travelling. At the time I last wrote to my MP about this issue (about nine months ago), she said the government plans were to exclude persons suspected of terrorist activities for up to two years while the investigation was made.</p>\n\n<p>There are also crimes which British citizens can commit while abroad, such as murder (See <a href=\"http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/100/section/9?view=plain\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/100/section/9?view=plain</a>). Recently a British man was convicted in London of murdering a US soldier in Iraq. </p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "united-kingdom", "criminal-law", "germany", "france", "spain" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5477, "body": "<p>Yes, they can do that, as long as they tell you about it in advance.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Your employer can require you to take all or any of your holiday at a particular time, as long as they give you the right notice at the right time and take into account certain agreements between you.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/time-off-work/holidays-and-holiday-pay/#h-can-you-choose-when-to-take-holiday\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Source</a></p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Employers can:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><p>tell their staff to take leave, eg bank holidays or Christmas</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>restrict when leave can be taken, eg at certain busy periods</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p>The notice period for this is at least twice as long as the leave they want their staff to take.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/booking-time-off-\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Source</a> (official government site)</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "united-kingdom", "contract-law", "employment" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5459, "body": "<p>It is generally legal to tip anyone; it is just not culturally done. Lots of things are legal, but culturally inappropriate.</p>\n<p>As an aside, tipping waiters in Australia is only done for <em>exceptional</em> service; not as a matter of routine. This is culturally different from say the USA.</p>\n<p>From <a href=\"http://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publications/benchbks/criminal/bribery.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the Judicial Commission of NSW</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The common law offence of bribery is constituted by the receiving or offering of an undue reward by or to any person in public office, in order to influence that person’s behaviour in that office, and to incline that person to act contrary to accepted rules of honesty and integrity. The offence can be constituted by the mere offer of a corrupt inducement, even if the offer is rejected.</p>\n<p>The offence of bribery can be constituted by the making or offering of a payment with an intent to incline a person in public office to disregard his or her duty at some future time — the occasion for the disregard of duty need not have arisen at the time of the offence, and it need never arise: R v Allen (1992) 27 NSWLR 398 at 402.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>A gratuity is not a bribe: it post-dates the service provided and was not foreshadowed. However, if it is part of an ongoing relationship, that may be problematic.</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5449, "body": "<p>I have never heard that it's illegal to tip a teacher or a doctor. That sounds absurd to me. Tipping would only present a problem where there is a question of AGENCY, particularly with respect to public services (i.e. municipal/state agency, etc.) </p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 5481, "body": "<p>There's no law against tipping a teacher or a doctor. But it's \"not done\" in those cases because it is not the custom of the profession, whereas it IS an accepted \"custom\" for waiters, at least in the United States.</p>\n\n<p>Almost alone among professions, it is legal for a restaurant to pay waitstaff only 60% of minimum wage. The rationale is that the waiter/waitress will earn at least 40% of minimum wage through tips. Meaning that it is considered an accepted and \"usual\" part of their compensation. This is true for practically no other profession.</p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "common-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4806, "body": "<h3>What is the minimum an online service or software vendor are required to do to protect personal data?</h3>\n\n<p>In the UK that is covered by the <a href=\"http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29\" rel=\"nofollow\">Data Protection Act 1998</a>. The full Act can be downloaded <a href=\"http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/data.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a> (pdf)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The <a href=\"http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29\" rel=\"nofollow\">Data Protection Act</a> controls how your personal information is used\n by organisations, businesses or the government.</p>\n \n <p>Everyone responsible for using data has to follow strict rules called\n ‘data protection principles’. They must make sure the information is:</p>\n \n <ul>\n <li>used fairly and lawfully</li>\n <li>used for limited, specifically stated purposes</li>\n <li>used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive\n accurate</li>\n <li>kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary</li>\n <li>handled according to people’s data protection rights</li>\n <li>kept safe and secure</li>\n <li>not transferred outside the European Economic Area without adequate protection</li>\n </ul>\n \n <p>There is stronger legal protection for more sensitive information,\n such as:</p>\n \n <ul>\n <li>ethnic background</li>\n <li>political opinions</li>\n <li>religious beliefs</li>\n <li>health</li>\n <li>sexual health</li>\n <li>criminal records</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Source <a href=\"https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/the-data-protection-act\" rel=\"nofollow\">Data protection</a> </p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<h3>Guide to data protection - Information security (Principle 7)</h3>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This part of the guide offers an overview of what the Data Protection\n Act requires in terms of security, and aims to help you decide how to\n manage the security of the personal data you hold. We cannot provide a\n complete guide to all aspects of security in all circumstances and for\n all organisations, but this part identifies the main points. We also\n provide details of other sources of advice and information about\n security.</p>\n \n <p>There is no “one size fits all” solution to information security. The\n security measures that are appropriate for an organisation will depend\n on its circumstances, so you should adopt a risk-based approach to\n deciding what level of security you need. In brief – what does the\n Data Protection Act say about information security?</p>\n \n <p>The Data Protection Act says that:</p>\n \n <p>\"Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and\n against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal\n data.\"</p>\n \n <p>This is the seventh data protection principle. In practice, it means\n you must have appropriate security to prevent the personal data you\n hold being accidentally or deliberately compromised. In particular,\n you will need to:</p>\n \n <ul>\n <li>design and organise your security to fit the nature of the personal data you hold and the harm that may result from a security\n breach;</li>\n <li>be clear about who in your organisation is responsible for ensuring information security;</li>\n <li>make sure you have the right physical and technical security, backed up by robust policies and procedures and reliable, well-trained\n staff; and</li>\n <li>be ready to respond to any breach of security swiftly and effectively.</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>...</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>What level of security is required?</strong></p>\n \n <p>The Act says you should have security that is appropriate to:</p>\n \n <p>\"the nature of the information in question; and\n the harm that might result from its improper use, or from its accidental loss or destruction.\"</p>\n \n <p>The Act does not define “appropriate”. But it does say that an\n assessment of the appropriate security measures in a particular case\n should consider technological developments and the costs involved. The\n Act does not require you to have state-of-the-art security technology\n to protect the personal data you hold, but you should regularly review\n your security arrangements as technology advances. As we have said,\n there is no “one size fits all” solution to information security, and\n the level of security you choose should depend on the risks to your\n organisation.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>...</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>What level of security is required?</strong></p>\n \n <p>The Act says you should have security that is appropriate to:</p>\n \n <p>\"the nature of the information in question; and\n the harm that might result from its improper use, or from its accidental loss or destruction.\"</p>\n \n <p>The Act does not define “appropriate”. But it does say that an\n assessment of the appropriate security measures in a particular case\n should consider technological developments and the costs involved. The\n Act does not require you to have state-of-the-art security technology\n to protect the personal data you hold, but you should regularly review\n your security arrangements as technology advances. As we have said,\n there is no “one size fits all” solution to information security, and\n the level of security you choose should depend on the risks to your\n organisation.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The following link goes into a lot more detail on this topic.</p>\n\n<p>Source <a href=\"https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/principle-7-security/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/principle-7-security/</a></p>\n\n<h3>Further Reading</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Guide to data protection</a></li>\n</ul>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "software", "security" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5479, "body": "<p>Your question is misleading: You are not thinking about sharing \"a photo\", you are thinking about sharing <em>many photos</em>. That is very unlikely to be legal. </p>\n\n<p>However, there is a URL scheme for Apple Maps, which is intended by Apple for sharing locations on Apple Maps. (Google for Apple Maps URL scheme) which can be used by applications. </p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "terms-of-service", "legal-terms" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5474, "body": "<p>The trivial answer is yes, at least under certain circumstances, as the example you give shows.</p>\n\n<p>First, the concept of substrings is not particularly useful in trademark law. IF that were the case, then we wouldn't be able to have a company called \"<a href=\"http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&amp;state=4806:i6tmj0.8.1\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Gaudiest Clothing Brand</a>\" because it contains the substring <em>audi.</em></p>\n\n<p>But, you might say, what about looking at <em>words</em> instead of <em>characters,</em> as with the example of \"Linux\" and \"The Linux Foundation.\" In that case, I offer the example of \"Target,\" which is a word found in <a href=\"http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&amp;state=4806%3Ai6tmj0.1.1&amp;p_search=searchss&amp;p_L=50&amp;BackReference=&amp;p_plural=yes&amp;p_s_PARA1=&amp;p_tagrepl%7E%3A=PARA1%24LD&amp;expr=PARA1+AND+PARA2&amp;p_s_PARA2=target&amp;p_tagrepl%7E%3A=PARA2%24COMB&amp;p_op_ALL=ADJ&amp;a_default=search&amp;a_search=Submit+Query&amp;a_search=Submit+Query\" rel=\"noreferrer\">literally thousands of US trademarks</a>.</p>\n\n<p>You'll notice that the first item on this list where word mark is simply <em>target,</em> rather than a phrase containing that word, doesn't even belong to the <a href=\"http://www.target.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">well known chain of stores</a>. This brings us to another <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark#Fundamental_concepts\" rel=\"noreferrer\">important aspect of trademark protection</a>, which is that the mark's purpose is to identify a producer of goods, a provider of services, or particular goods or services themselves. You could probably start a bookstore called McDonald's, <a href=\"http://www.mcdonaldsbookexchange.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">unless you're near Redmond, Washington</a>, but you certainly would not be able to use that name for <a href=\"http://www.mcdonalds.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">a chain of hamburger-based fast food restaurants</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Back to the subject of Linux, one possible explanation here is therefore that <em>Linux</em> is a trademark for an operating system, while <em>The Linux Foundation</em> is a trademark for a non-profit foundation that is concerned with the operating system. The trademarks don't represent competing entities. Consider, for example, the disclaimer on <a href=\"http://volkswagenownersclub.com/vw/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">volkswagenownersclub.com</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>VolkswagenOwnersClub.com is an independent media publication. VolkswagenOwnersClub.com and its owners are not affiliated with or endorsed by Volkswagen AG or Volkswagen of America, Inc. Volkswagen is a registered trademark of Volkswagen AG. All rights reserved. All information Copyright 2006-2010 </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(Also consider, for example, the case of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Apple Corps, Ltd. and Apple Computer, Inc.</a>.)</p>\n\n<p>As far as I can tell, however, \"Volkswagen Owners' Club\" is not directly relevant to this question, because it is not a registered trademark, and the question concerns two registered trademarks. I am not sure whether two such trademarks could coexist if there were an adversarial relationship between their owners.</p>\n\n<p>In this case, hwoever, the trademarks are used together because the owners have a collegial relationship. They work for a common goal, the promotion of the product identified by one of the trademarks. The foundation's use of the trademark is therefore undoubtedly with permission. In fact, the Linux foundation is <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Linus Torvalds' employer</a>, and <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Foundation#Goals\" rel=\"noreferrer\">one of the foundation's purposes</a> is <a href=\"http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/linux-foundation-trademark-usage-guidelines\" rel=\"noreferrer\">to manage the Linux trademark</a> that Torvalds owns.</p>\n\n<p>Now the question of derivative trademarks, such as <em>My Linux</em> is clouded by the fact that Linux is an open source operating system. In principle, you can't modify a product and then sell it using its original trademark unless you have permission. For example, I don't suppose I could rebottle <a href=\"https://www.coca-colacompany.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Coca-Cola</a> with some added salt and pepper and sell it as *Phoog's Coca-Cola\" unless I had permission from the owner of the trademark.</p>\n\n<p>With Linux being an open-source project, however, the terms of the open source license probably explicitly permit people to use the trademark under certain restrictions if they offer, for example, a customized distribution of Linux</p>\n", "score": 5 } ]

[ "trademark" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5470, "body": "<p><strong>tl;dr:</strong> It seems doubtful an antitrust claim would succeed.</p>\n\n<p>Twitter would likely file a motion to dismiss under Fed. Rules. of Civ. Pro <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_12\" rel=\"nofollow\">12(b)(6)</a> for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. To your benefit, the judge would tend to construe all of your factual allegations as true (<em>i.e.</em> that Twitter excludes some websites but not others). Then, given this construction it would ask whether your claim is \"plausible on its face,\" where plausibility means \"pleaded factual content allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.\" <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-1126.ZO.html\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Bell Atlantic v. Twombly</em>, 550 U.S. 544 (2007)</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Note, in this second step, we're not only looking for factual sufficiency, but also legal sufficiency. The antitrust claim would likely falter for lack of legal sufficiency.</p>\n\n<p>Your legal sufficiency would need to come from an alleged violation, so say you alleged an antitrust violation under Section 1 of the Sherman Act (<a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sherman_antitrust_act\" rel=\"nofollow\">15 U.S.C. §§ 1-7</a>, amended at 12-27). In this case, you'd want to show 1) an agreement 2) that unreasonably restrains competition and 3) impacts interstate commerce.</p>\n\n<p>If there isn't an agreement (<em>e.g.</em> Twitter just chooses to plug SoundCloud), that makes antitrust success even less likely, so imagine you were able to show evidence of an agreement. Then the trouble would be showing this is an unreasonable restraint of competition. Antitrust is a really complicated field, but the short version is: partnership and product placement agreements aren't necessarily violations of antitrust law---especially when the companies aren't in the same market. While there certainly differences, your question is similar (from a legal concepts perspective) to the one <a href=\"http://evolver.fm/2012/01/13/developer-cries-foul-at-anti-competitive-facebookspotify-partnership/\" rel=\"nofollow\">LetsListen</a> informally made with respect to Facebook.</p>\n\n<p>Aside: another issue is that a Twitter--SoundCloud collaboration isn't a within-market merger, which means the usual antitrust analysis in the <a href=\"https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/merger-review/100819hmg.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Horizontal Merger Guidelines</a> doesn't translate perfectly.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/united-states\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged &#39;united-states&#39;\" rel=\"tag\">united-states</a></p>\n", "score": 4 }, { "answer_id": 5453, "body": "<p>This is likely not a law question: the developer has probably not had their player card WHITELISTED by twitter. Twitter has a mechanism to protect their users, by which embedded players have to pass a validation (to make sure it isn't malicious, etc.)</p>\n\n<p>This is not a mechanism to advantage certain users/sites over others, it's a mechanism to prevent malicious content.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "united-states", "class-action", "antitrust-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5374, "body": "<p>I'm posting an answer hoping it is not the final answer, but rather in the hopes that it inspires a better answer itself. The open source or \"public domain\" exception cited in my question has some constraints placed on it. For example, software that falls under <code>1-1.E.2.e</code>, <code>1-1.E.2.f</code>, <code>1-8.E.2.a</code> and <code>1-8.E.2.b</code> are not covered by the exception. So, here is a summary of every one of those sections, and the sections that those sections reference:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Section 1-1.E.2.e</strong> - \"Technology\" for the installation, maintenance or repair\n of materials specified by 1-1.C.1. </p>\n \n <p><strong>Section 1-1.C.1</strong> covers Materials specially designed for use as absorbers of electromagnetic waves, or intrinsically conductive polymers, as follows:</p>\n \n <p>... Not included because my software has absolutely nothing to do with materials of any kind. Entire section is about qualifying a type of material this rule applies to.</p>\n \n <p><strong>1-1.E.2.f</strong> - \"Technology\" for the repair of \"composite\" structures,\n laminates or materials specified by 1-1.A.2., 1-1.C.7.c. or 1-1.C.7.d.</p>\n \n <p><strong>Section 1-1.A.2</strong> covers \"Composite\" structures or laminates, having\n any of the following:</p>\n \n <p>... Not included because my software has absolutely nothing to do with materials of any kind. Entire section is about qualifying a\n type of material this rule applies to.</p>\n \n <p><strong>Section 1-1.C.7.c</strong> covers Ceramic-ceramic \"composite\" materials with a\n glass or oxide-\"matrix\" and reinforced with fibres having all of the\n following:</p>\n \n <p>... Not included because my software has absolutely nothing to do with materials of any kind. Entire section is about qualifying a\n type of material this rule applies to. </p>\n \n <p><strong>Section 1-1.C.7.d</strong> covers Ceramic-ceramic \"composite\" materials, with or without a continuous metallic phase, incorporating particles, whiskers or fibres, where carbides or nitrides of silicon, zirconium or boron form the \"matrix\";</p>\n \n <p><strong>Section 1-8.E.2</strong> Other \"technology\" defined as follows:</p>\n \n <p>a. \"Technology\" for the \"development\", \"production\", repair, overhaul or refurbishing (re-machining) of propellers specially designed for underwater noise reduction;</p>\n \n <p>b. \"Technology\" for the overhaul or refurbishing of equipment specified by 1-8.A.1., 1-8.A.2.b., 1-8.A.2.j., 1-8.A.2.o. or 1-8.A.2.p.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I've omitted copying quite a bit of text, but I kept the title/summary portions to illustrate that all of the exceptions to the open source or \"public domain\" exception have something to do with software related to restricted physical materials. There are some other exceptions to the general exception, notably the \"Information Security\" constraint, but note that the \"Information Security\" constraint applies specifically to Entries 1 and 3, and the open source or \"public domain\" exception is defined in entry 2. </p>\n\n<p>Just for fun, the definition of \"Information Security\":</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Information security\" - Cat 5P2\n All the means and functions ensuring the accessibility, confidentiality or integrity of information or communications,\n excluding the means and functions intended to safeguard against\n malfunctions. This includes \"cryptography\", \"cryptographic\n activation\", cryptanalysis, protection against compromising emanations\n and computer security.</p>\n \n <p>Technical Note:</p>\n \n <p>'Cryptanalysis': the analysis of a cryptographic system or its inputs and outputs to derive confidential variables or sensitive data, including clear text. (ISO 7498-2-1988 (E), paragraph 3.3.18).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>After reviewing each of the constraints placed on the various exceptions, I believe the spirit of the law here is to control:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Closed source \"Information Security\" software that defines or uses cryptography, regardless of whether the linked crypto software is open source or not.</p></li>\n<li><p>Closed source or open source software that is even remotely related to the study or production of physical materials that you require an export permit for. Basically, if the program even mentions a material that you'd need an export permit for, you probably need an export permit for the software, regardless of whether it's open source or not.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Again this is not meant to be a final answer. I'm simply posting more information about the question and my thoughts on it, hoping to assist in creating a better answer than this. Plus, a whole lot of rep is going to go down the toilet without another answer. :)</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "canada", "export", "cryptography" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5460, "body": "<p>In general, you can work as many jobs as you can cope with.</p>\n\n<p>Your employer (any of them) can only interfere if:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It affects your performance,</li>\n<li>Your other job infringes on their business e.g. your second job is in competition with the first. So working for 2 software houses is no good but if your second job is as a bartender, that would be fine.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>This is the case even absent a specific clause in your contract. Further, any clause that purported to go further would be unenforceable as an unfair restraint of trade.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "contract-law", "canada" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5457, "body": "<p>Translation:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Except where the law allows you to, you cannot reproduce any part of the software or the documentation.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\"Must not\" is an imperative: you are prohibited.</p>\n\n<p>Statutory rights would be rights under the applicable law, the jurisdiction where the licence is granted certainly and possibly others.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "licensing", "legal-terms" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5443, "body": "<p>In addition to consulting an attorney you might also consider sending a strongly worded letter or email. Outline the facts and ask them to stop using your number immediately as you did not authorize it. You might mention that if you don't receive a written promise (at minimum) from them within, say, 48 hours you will have no choice but to hire an attorney and you might seek to collect damages, attorneys fees and all other legal remedies available to you.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "internet", "employment", "business", "privacy", "liability" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5450, "body": "<p>The only year-based constraint that comes to mind for US contracts, is that any contract that will last longer than the span of a year has to be a written contract (cannot be oral). Contracts can and do certainly last longer than a year. In many contractual circumstances, it's appropriate to have a periodic assessment or \"escape hatch\" that either party can use to politely and reasonably unwind their position...and a calendar year is a convenient signpost.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5442, "body": "<p>Yes.</p>\n\n<p>You can create a company that owns the app and sell shares in that company.</p>\n\n<p>Also, depending on your situation, you might also consider a simple revenue sharing agreement instead of a corporation. This is revenue (top line, before expenses) not equity (like shares would be). Shareholders are never entitled to dividends in a corporation. Dividends have to be voted and approved by the board of directors.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "business", "shareholders" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5435, "body": "<p><strong>A piece of paper with writing on it is NOT a contract!</strong></p>\n\n<p>A contract is the terms and conditions that the parties agree that they will be bound to. A written contract merely serves as evidence (really good evidence) of what those terms and conditions were.</p>\n\n<p>For this to matter, it would have to be part of a dispute about the contract. If the parties looking at the term know and agree on what it means then that is what it means. If there is a dispute about this term then a 3rd party (e.g. judge, arbitrator) will look at the term and the context of the contract (both the written contract and the actions of the parties in giving effect to the contract) and decide what they think the parties meant.</p>\n\n<p>For the example given, I don't think there is any room for dispute about what is meant and it would be disingenuous of either party to claim that there could be. \"Time is of the essence\" is a commonly used legal phrase with a well understood meaning - it explicitly makes time a condition of the contract; generally, time is a warranty. A condition is a term for which termination of the contract is a possible remedy; you cannot terminate for breach of a warranty. \"Time of the essence\" is either a typo or, if deliberate, is clearly trying to get across the same concept.</p>\n\n<p>TL;DR</p>\n\n<p>100% enforceable.</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5430, "body": "<p>Yes. It's still enforceable.</p>\n\n<p>Usually, that phrase bolsters the enforceability of the expiration date in real estate contracts. Usually, purchase agreements but it can apply to leases too.</p>\n\n<p>For example, if the contract offer says it expires at 11:59pm on November 30. Then if you don't sign it before Midnight December 1, there is no contract binding your counterparty and they can cancel the offer. Actually, the offer is most likely self-cancelling if not accepted by the deadline.</p>\n\n<p>That said, it's usually best for both parties to correct any typos or errors you see.</p>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 5438, "body": "<p>In litigation, courts tend to completely ignore typos and gramatical errors that don't impede the meaning.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5437, "body": "<p>In the USA, there's a concept known as a \"mechanic's lien.\" The lien applies to repairs done to a vehicle (an asset). In the USA, this applies over a broad class of items.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "england-and-wales", "costs" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5428, "body": "<p>If you are stopped while driving and issued a ticket, say a speeding ticket for example, the officer always asks you to sign a form accepting the ticket (not an admission of guilt).</p>\n\n<p>I've always suspected there might be some trouble (legal or otherwise) if someone refused to sign that document.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "united-states", "virginia" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5414, "body": "<p>I haven't found a recent case like this where it constitutes <em>evidence</em>. </p>\n\n<p>Military members didn't have an express right to remain silent until somewhere in the 1950s, so one chances are there might be cases prior to that point. The present right is codified in <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/831\" rel=\"nofollow\">10 U.S.C. 831</a>, which is Article 31 of the UCMJ.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there is certainly a well documented adverse inference effect. While jurors aren't supposed to take the silence into account (<em>e.g.</em> when a defendant elects not to testify or exercises a right against self-incrimination), it's a difficult thing to do, practically speaking.</p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5416, "body": "<p>From the point of view of another jurisdiction; Australia does not have a statutory or constitutional right against self-incrimination, however, such a right is recognised in the common law.</p>\n\n<p>Juries are specifically permitted to draw inferences from silence where the defendant is in the position to know material facts that are not otherwise in evidence. For example, there was a Queensland case (name escapes me for the moment) where the facts were that a husband and wife had hired the defendant as a deck-hand on their yacht and sailed into the South Pacific. No further news was heard of the couple but the defendant and the yacht turned up without them whereupon the defendant was charged with their murder, tried and convicted. The trial judge instructed the jury that they could draw inference from the defendant's silence when he was clearly in a position to know what happened and chose not to offer any explanation. The court of appeal held that the direction was OK.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "united-states", "human-rights", "fifth-amendment" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5411, "body": "<p>It is likely that the law applying will be <strong>both</strong> that of the USA and your country. If you went to court this would be one of the things you argued over.</p>\n\n<p>For example, Australian Consumer Law applies to any goods or services sold to a customer in Australia irrespective of where the vendor is located. Your jurisdiction may have similar laws.</p>\n\n<p>At first blush you must comply with the term of the contract preventing reverse engineering. They would be within their rights to terminate the licence if you don't.</p>\n\n<p>However, they probably have an obligation under your equivalent to the ACL to supply a product that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>is merchantable</li>\n<li>is fit for purpose</li>\n<li><strong>does what it says it will do</strong></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If it doesn't then you have a right to terminate and get your money back, sue for damages and your country's government may prosecute.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "licensing", "eula", "damage-mitigation" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5409, "body": "<p>Not all preorders are fraud.</p>\n\n<p>For fraud, generally you want to show that someone:\n(1) falsely represented some material fact, (2) knew it was false, (3) intended for the victim to rely on it; and then the victim (4) reasonably relied on it and (5) was injured.</p>\n\n<p>It's probably the case that some crowdsourced ventures are deceptive, but preorder is a fairly common practice---phones and video games, for example. However, an example that's closer to your question is aviation, where aircraft preorders are frequently funded to incentivize particular features or timelines.</p>\n\n<p>Whether it's allowable to do a <em>funded</em> preorder generally comes down to a question of contracting terms. Law is generally pretty deferential to contracts. For example, the Kickstarter <a href=\"https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-use?ref=footer\" rel=\"nofollow\">Terms of Use</a> make it clear that you enter into a contract, not with Kickstarter, but with the project sponsor. The terms of this contract will govern recovery when things go awry.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law", "fraud", "commerce" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5399, "body": "<p>In Germany, you must not drive faster than reasonable under the circumstances. Since there is a sign covered by <em>snow</em>, that should keep your speed low. Since there is also a speed limit sign and you don't know what the speed limit is, that should also keep your speed considerably low to be on the safe side. </p>\n\n<p>I'd recommend that you make a judgement call what you would consider a reasonable speed limit at that point (you have a driving license after all, so you should be capable of making that judgement call) and assume that you overestimated a bit. Then take off a few more km/h for the snow. </p>\n", "score": 6 } ]

[ "driving", "germany", "speeding" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5387, "body": "<p>There is no problem authorizing the pharmacy to conduct the sale. Directing or ordering the sale might be a problem, but it's the pharmacy's objection that matters (not the alleged criminal's). Usually, the pharmacy has an interest in cooperating with these activities and does not object. Hence, no problem. </p>\n\n<p>It seems to me that shoplifting would be a good analogy. A pharmacy has an interest in stopping theft. The police may survey a suspect while giving the pharmacy instruction to allow shoplifting to occur. The pharmacy cooperates with this because it's entirely in their interest to provide the police with the evidence they need.</p>\n\n<p>Now, if the cops demanded a few bottles of oxy to sell during a sting, yeah, a pharmacy could certainly challenge the reasonableness of that seizure. The pharmacy, not the accused.*</p>\n\n<p>You mention a reverse sting in the comments. There are plenty of examples of judges using fairly strong language against police who go too far, but the law is pretty new. In other words, reverse stings are getting popular and cases with certain facts need to make their way through various courts in order to be decided in favor of the accused.</p>\n\n<p>*You might be on to something with this question, along with the other one about outrageous conduct and the case where cops manufactured their own drugs. Ordering a unwilling pharmacy to provide drugs for a sting might be as outrageous as manufacturing drugs, but that is an extremely fact-specific question. </p>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 5398, "body": "<p>A pharmacy can refuse a police order to subvert their normal and customary policies with respect to drug purchases by suspected criminals.</p>\n\n<p>i.e. if a pharmacy would decline to fill a prescription because of their normal policy, they are within their rights to refuse to do it merely because the police asked them to. Alternatively, if their normal and customary policies would have allowed the purchase, then they might indeed participate with the police.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "criminal-law", "police", "constitutional-law", "us-constitution" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5396, "body": "<p>First off, a deficiency like this isn't about \"who is guilty.\" Nobody is \"guilty.\" Nobody put that 20-lb window blind up there thinking \"what fun it will be when somebody gets whacked by this booby-trapped fixture!\"</p>\n\n<p>I'm going to make a couple assumptions, which I'll rely on for my answer. First assumption: you're in an apartment complex, with a manager and maintenance dept. Second: they have insurance. Third: there is an indemnity clause in your lease that states that you accepted the residence \"as is\" pursuant to a move-in inspection. Fourth: you're not actually looking to make a \"payday\" out of this.</p>\n\n<p>Given those assumptions, we'd move on to actions. First, go to the ER or urgent care facility closest to you and get treatment.</p>\n\n<p>Second, write a letter to the landlord/manager/agent/association, that due to a \"hidden hazard\" in the rental unit, you sustained an injury that required medical treatment. Detail the nature of the injury and the nature of the hidden deficiency. (i.e. \"I proceded to operate the closure for the blinds, and they fell on my head\").</p>\n\n<p>Third, give the landlord/manager/agent/association opportunity to respond. Likely, they have insurance that will cover this. Chances are, they will send around a guy to check it out, an Insurance Adjuster will show up to ask you a few questions, and they'll cut you a check to cover your medical bill, and perhaps any lost wages or other costs (cleaning up broken glass? carpet stained with blood, etc.) you incurred.</p>\n\n<p>Fourth, if they fail to respond in a satisfactory manner, you can bring the case to small claims court, and charge them with negligence. Expect to be able to document everything, including photos of the fallen unit that show what was wrong with it, that show that some repair/installation was done that DID NOT COMPLY TO LOCAL CODES. If it was code-compliant, it's very unlikely that you will persuade the court...unless your landlord/agent/association fails to show up.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "united-states", "texas" ]

[ { "answer_id": 3398, "body": "<p>Exactly the same thing that stops the same rogue lawyer from putting on a mask and robbing a bank. One is the crime of fraud and the other the crime of armed robbery but they are both crimes.</p>\n\n<p>People commit crimes all the time; that is why nearly 1 million people in the U.S. are in jail right now - some of them may even be in there for crimes they actually committed!</p>\n\n<p>Were your lawyer to commit this crime he may get caught or he may not; if he does he's going away for a long time and can never work as a lawyer again. So it's simply a matter of risk assessment; oh, and ethics</p>\n", "score": 8 }, { "answer_id": 5394, "body": "<p>There are many, many things wrong with the premise. First being the fact that when there's lots of money involved, there's a proportionately large amount of scrutiny involved. </p>\n\n<p>One of the big problems with the \"lawyer hides the will in return for a kickback\" scheme is that it isn't just a fraud on the parties named in the document, it's a fraud on the court. The probate court itself is an injured party, and if there's anything that can make a court angry, it's being the victim of fraud.</p>\n\n<p>Another hole in the scenario: Just because a lawyer was chosen to draft a will, doesn't mean that lawyer has any connection whatsoever to the probate process itself (beyond perhaps producing an archived copy of the will document itself, if such an archived copy still exists).</p>\n\n<p>Bear in mind that in all scenarios discussed, there's a \"prisoner's dilemma\" for the other participants. </p>\n\n<p>So, for those and lots of other reasons, the scenario you describe is unlikely. It's not terribly UNLIKELY however, that wills executed through the years by eccentric millionaires go undiscovered, languishing in the archives of law practitioners who were hired one-off to draft a will, never to be heard from again.</p>\n", "score": 4 } ]

[ "united-states", "wills", "witnesses" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5382, "body": "<p>I can't think of any law which prevents you from repeating a presumably impromptu question that someone says publicly. It occurs to me that a person at an academic conference might argue that their strung together words are really cutting edge and therefore not to be repeated by anyone but themself, but then they shouldn't have spoken them in public. On the one hand, the very point of academic conferences is to share ideas. On the other, maybe people sharing ideas assume they are only sharing with fellow attendees, not with the entire internet!</p>\n\n<p>I think the problem is not a legal one, but a professional and interpersonal one. In other words, etiquette. Meaning that someone who does this won't end up in court, but might end up being mistrusted and disinvited from future events. Inasmuch as that's the case, proper etiquette will be dictated by those who travel in the social circle. </p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "united-states" ]

[ { "answer_id": 3949, "body": "<p>Generally, no - lyrics of a song are intellectual property, and the mere act of publishing them, especially if commercialised through advertisements, can be grounds for a claim of copyright infringement to be brought against the website operators.</p>\n\n<p>For example, in 2012, <a href=\"http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/cacdce/2:2009cv06160/452250/219/\" rel=\"nofollow\">a company that displayed websites without a license from the rightsholders was awarded $6.6 million</a> in statutory damages and legal costs.</p>\n\n<p>As for whether it is fair use, it will depend on the precise circumstances. The mere publishing of the lyrics without license is unlikely to be considered fair use - in general, it must educate, or stimulate creativity.</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "united-states", "copyright", "fair-use", "intellectual-property" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5380, "body": "<p>Certainly in Australia it would be <em>legal</em> to ask; it would also be legal to discriminate on this basis (i.e. it is not discrimination on a protected basis). However, it would be culturally inappropriate. It is probably both legal and appropriate in Japan.</p>\n\n<p>It is worth noting that a great chunk of culturally inappropriate behavior is <strong>not</strong> illegal. </p>\n\n<p>For example, it would generally be legal for a current or previous employer who was not subject to the Privacy Act (most small business) to disclose your salary; they just don't.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "employment", "privacy", "discrimination", "salary", "japan" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5379, "body": "<p>If this is a consumer transaction covered by Australian Consumer Law <strong>\"I think\" = \"I know\"</strong>. Any other interpretation would mean that the vendor had engaged in deceptive and misleading conduct - that is, acting in a way where a reasonable person could be deceived.</p>\n\n<p>For your examples:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You would be entitled to the 2nd fob.</li>\n<li>Even in the second case, you would be entitled to the 2nd fob. This is because he accepted the onus to check, if he didn't, or didn't advise you of the result, then his conduct has allowed the misapprehension of \"I think\" to remain.</li>\n</ol>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 5375, "body": "<p>I would think tone of voice would probably matter, especially emphasis on the word 'think.' </p>\n\n<p>I would also think context would matter. Is the car dealer supposed to be an authoritative source for information? If so, then he has informed you of what he thinks and it is reasonable for you to act based upon that authoritative source of information. If not, then the context would have to suggest that he is merely acting as a messenger for information on the car, not a source of authoritative information. It would then therefore not be reasonable for you to act based upon what he says he thinks.</p>\n\n<p>\"I think, but I'll need to check\" definitely puts the onus on you not to act until the checking is completed.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "contract-law", "definition" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5370, "body": "<p>If I'm charged with a crime for misuse of a pesticide based on an EPA regulation, but it turns out my use was actually tiny and either not worth prosecuting or not enough to get a conviction, my neighbor can still sue me if his dog died after eating a rose that my pesticide spilled onto. </p>\n", "score": 3 }, { "answer_id": 5372, "body": "<p>Basically, someone can sue you in a civil action and hope to win if he was harmed in some way, and the responsibility could be linked to you. This could happen even if it was accidental, or there were some other extenuating circumstance that would make it \"de minimis\" criminally. </p>\n\n<p>One reason is that the standard of evidence in a civil case is \"preponderance of evidence, while in a criminal case, it would be \"guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.\"</p>\n", "score": 0 }, { "answer_id": 5376, "body": "<p>In cases of negligence, you will be generally responsible for any damage you caused, but it is quite possible that no criminal action is taken. That's what would happen in most car accidents, where it is rare that criminal charges are made stick, while you are still responsible for damages. </p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "civil-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5363, "body": "<p><strong>tl;dr</strong></p>\n\n<p>No, entrance decisions are the purview of the federal government. Governors do have the ability to lobby the federal government.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Background</strong></p>\n\n<p>The courts have found that State attempts to restrict resident or non-resident aliens encroach upon the federal government's exclusive control over entrance of aliens. <a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/403/365/\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Graham v. Department of Pub. Welfare</em>, 403 U.S. 365 (1971)</a>. It is important to note that State scrutiny levels dealing with undocumented immigrants may be context specific <em>See, e.g.</em> <a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/457/202/case.html\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Plyler v. Doe</em>, 457 U.S. 202 (1982)</a> (children and education).</p>\n\n<p>The federal government's authority over immigration is further solidified by the Supremacy Clause of the <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevi\" rel=\"nofollow\">U.S. Const. Article VI</a>. <em>See</em> <a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/426/67/\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Mathews v. Diaz</em>, 426 U.S. 67 (1967)</a>.</p>\n", "score": 4 } ]

[ "united-states" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5362, "body": "<p>The notion of a peer for purposes of the jury is someone who \"walks in the same shoes\" as the defendant or litigants. A freeman was to be juried by other freemen, a Peer of the Realm by other (capital P) Peers, a landsman by other landholders, and a marine by other sailors.</p>\n\n<p>The ancient origins of a judgment by jury were rooted in removing allegations by the defendant, alleging unfairness of the process, since the defendant himself was a party to the selection of those who would weigh his actions before the law and mete out punishments, the defendant could have confidence that he wasn't being railroaded. </p>\n\n<p>In the USA, we've done away with the codified, defined social definitions such as peerage and royalty and owned/indentured vs. free...so we are all, as far as the law defines, equal peers. </p>\n", "score": 6 } ]

[ "legal-history", "jury" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5357, "body": "<p>There is no legal obligation to do this. In general, the author is providing the relevant info in one place; order and formatting depend on the style you are using.</p>\n\n<p>There are a large number of completely different referencing systems used in academia. For example, business schools typically use the Harvard style while medical schools use the APA style.</p>\n\n<p>You might want to post this on academia.se</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "copyright" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5355, "body": "<p>As the organizer/administrator of a world-wide music production collaboration site, I've encountered something just like this. The answer we came up with was based on a \"least resistance\" kind of analysis, which found that trying to obtain and administer co-copyright between a content creation-enabling venue and the content creators themselves, was an absolute nightmare, in our case particularly because jurisdiction was so broad and diversified.</p>\n\n<p>The answer for us was thus: \"our content-creation-enabling venue makes no claims nor assertions with respect to original copyright of content produced by our members. All copyrights and other rights in any and all working materials and finished products remain vested in the authors themselves. Content creators/authors agree, by use of the venue, that they grant the venue a non-exclusive license to use the working materials and finished products developed within the site for any purpose, including but not limited to display, education, creation of derivative works, promotion, or other uses that relate to the ongoing mandate and mission of the venue.\"</p>\n\n<p>The key here is that you don't really want to own the copyright...you just want to protect your ability to use the content on an ongoing basis. Besides, demanding that a minor sign over copyright in creative works is a demon-in-wait, only looking for a chance to become litigation.</p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "copyright", "california", "minor" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5354, "body": "<p>A reasonable hypothetical example of where your clause \"C\" would be applied: A defendant is written a citation for \"spitting on the sidewalk,\" in violation of a hypothetical Portland city ordinance. In presenting extenuating details, the defendant indicates that the expectoration occurred because she had taken a bite of vended food that was belatedly discovered to have been infested with maggots.</p>\n\n<p>The notion of encountering rotted food would clearly not have been contemplated by the definition of the \"spitting on the sidewalk\" ordinance, where the notion of having a cheekful of chewing tobacco definitely would be.</p>\n", "score": 4 } ]

[ "evidence", "definition" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5346, "body": "<p><strong>tl;dr</strong></p>\n\n<p>Overturned precedent doesn't automatically imply any change in outcomes for the parties involved in the subsequent case. If eligible (details, details...), the party that stands to gain can sometimes request this be taken into account. Regardless of a particular case's status, it does mean people need to figure out what went wrong and take that into account next time.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Background</strong></p>\n\n<p>A case might get overturned if it</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>was flawed; or</li>\n<li>conflicted with a newer decision; or</li>\n<li>created unjust results or burdens</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>When a cited case gets overturned, the cases that cite it get a ``flag'' in a precedent research database (<em>e.g.</em> West uses yellow or red flags). The flag means there has been some negative treatment.</p>\n\n<p>Negative treatment can mean lots of different things. This is because cases typically aren't yes-no; they often have many different aspects. So when a case gets \"overturned\" the first question to ask is: what part was overturned? Let's call that the \"dirty\" part.</p>\n\n<p>If subsequent cases that cited it were referring to the \"clean\" part, then there's no issue. If the subsequent case cites the \"dirty\" part, it becomes \"dirty\" as well.</p>\n\n<p>Assuming the precedent used to decide the case was \"dirty,\" there's no automatic implication. That said, there are a couple ways the party most negatively impacted <em>might</em> be able to get it back in front of a judge. Those mechanisms can be a) somewhat technical, b) jurisdiction-dependent, and c) rely on particular conditions being satisfied.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/united-states\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged &#39;united-states&#39;\" rel=\"tag\">united-states</a></p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "precedent" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5344, "body": "<p>Generally speaking, copyright flows from the end of a pen (or at the A/D converter of a digital recording device). However, owning the copyright to a specific artifact, such as a digital video clip, does not trump all the other rights and claims that may be made regarding the materials captured within that clip. Which means that there are several rights all in play at the same time, and those rights may conflict. The legal term for getting enough rights so that you can do what you want with the rights you own is called \"clearance\" by those in the industry, and \"collective rights management\" by Wikipedia (see <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_rights_management\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_rights_management</a>).</p>\n\n<p>The long and short of it is that it is not enough for you to \"own\" your video clip if you want to use it somehow. Depending on how you want to use it, and your tolerance for risk, you need to get every party who might lay a claim to any copyrighted or trademarked material within your video clip to agree that they are OK with you using it in whatever way you say you want to use it.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes you can ask for, and receive, a \"worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to use XYZ material in any way, imagined or not yet imagined\". Other times, you might have to settle for more limited rights \"a performance of the video at the ABC Bar in New York City, on December 31, 2015 only, for a fee of $10,000 paid to XYZ Rights Holding Company,\" and agree to a whole bunch of other stipulations to boot.</p>\n\n<p>There are entire industries that make furniture and automobiles for Hollywood studios so that they don't have to ask for the rights to feature an IKEA kitchen table or a Ford station wagon in a movie. That's how bad/hard the clearance problem can be.</p>\n\n<p>If you are lucky (and risk-tolerant), you might only need permissions from the band and the film maker. If you are unlucky or not risk tolerant, you might need permission from every person captured on camera, and from every company that made every item that appear anywhere in the film. Good luck!</p>\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ "copyright" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4552, "body": "<p>If you wrote for example \"I had thoughts about taking the axe from my garage and decapitating my neighbour\", and your neighbour read that, he would reasonably be worried and contact the police. I would take that as a death threat, and the death threat is by itself illegal. There would be some range where I could claim that you were making a death threat and making excuses to avoid legal responsibility. </p>\n\n<p>You can have all the thoughs you like, you can write them into your private diary where nobody can read them, but as soon as you publish it, it becomes \"speech\" and some speech is illegal. </p>\n", "score": 4 }, { "answer_id": 4660, "body": "<p>In the US, you can supposedly simply add a sentence opener such as \"In my opinion...\" or \"I wish...\" and that removes there being a statement of fact (with the first option) or intent of action (with the second). Though, it may be different under British law. </p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "united-kingdom", "england-and-wales", "mental-health", "legal-research", "research" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5338, "body": "<p>Seems to me that this sort of evidence should be excluded as hearsay. In fact I'd be shocked if a judge would accept any out of court statement by a parent as an indication on a child's emotional state, much less one as dubious as a Facebook post. But what do I know about family court. </p>\n\n<p>\\rant</p>\n\n<p>That said, there is some jurisprudence offering guidance in the area of damage determination. Namely that Facebook posts are not admissible to show a person's emotional state. </p>\n\n<p><em>The fact that an individual may express some degree of joy, happiness, or sociability on certain occasions sheds little light on the issue of whether he or she is actually suffering emotional distress.</em></p>\n\n<p>I'm on a mobile device so I can't flesh out this answer more but the above quote is from a case - Giacchetto v School District. It contains some opposing viewpoints also. The discussion is about first person social media postings but should more so apply to these second party statements. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.technologylawsource.com/files/2013/06/Giacchetto-v-Patchogue-MedfordUnion.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.technologylawsource.com/files/2013/06/Giacchetto-v-Patchogue-MedfordUnion.pdf</a>\nSection (B)(1) on page 4. </p>\n", "score": 1 }, { "answer_id": 4649, "body": "<p>Hire an expert witness who will testify to that effect.</p>\n", "score": 0 }, { "answer_id": 5334, "body": "<p>\"friend of the court?\" Judges HATE that people vote against them in the public forums...maybe you leverage the judge in this...get the judge to repudiate testimony from the \"madding crowd\" of social media...the defacto \"hanging jury.\"</p>\n", "score": 0 } ]

[ "united-states", "ohio" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5250, "body": "<p>In some jurisdictions you will be able to view the docket (docket number, filings, etc.) of any case; however, if your question pertains to verdicts, those are not published. Not for small claims, nor any district court matters. Some jurisdictions don't even publish superior court verdicts, except those where the district court appealed to the superior court for an appeal or ruling en banc relating to an issue of procedure. Nearly every state will post their Law Court cases. If docket info is all you seek, go to the court's website, and if they have it there will be a link or searchable database.</p>\n\n<p>If it is verdicts you are looking for, you will need to research either the old fashioned way (go to the court, view the case file and if you want copies, have cash or check ready for anywhere between $1 to $5 for the first page with each additional page running anywhere from .50 to usually a dollar or two. Or, you can pay to use a background search service like Intelius to do it for you.</p>\n", "score": 2 }, { "answer_id": 5238, "body": "<p>It's going to vary by state and county. The technical capabilities (fueled by budgets) of the court will dictate how much information is searchable online. </p>\n\n<p>Your best bet is to do some internet searching for the state or city name and terms like docket, filings, electronic. </p>\n\n<p>If you have a specific locality, update your question and perhaps someone can give you the exact URL. </p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "small-claims-court", "legal-research" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5329, "body": "<p>I just means <em>according to</em>.</p>\n\n<p>As written, and with the information given, it's not clear that any party to the contract would be bound by California law generally, regardless of where the party lives or is located. However, reason would dictate that the contract is laying out the exception to the Assignment to Inventions in black and white so that everyone is clear, and the purpose of this language is to emphasize that the exception exists because California law requires it. It also means that, even if the language wasn't there, the exception would still apply.</p>\n\n<p>You might ask, of all the laws that govern this relationship, why is this one included, with the <em>pursuant to</em> language? The reason is that another law requires it!</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>2872.</strong> If an employment agreement entered into after January 1, 1980, contains a provision requiring the employee to assign or offer\n to assign any of his or her rights in any invention to his or her\n employer, the employer must also, at the time the agreement is made,\n <strong>provide a written notification to the employee that the agreement does\n not apply to an invention which qualifies fully under the provisions\n of Section 2870</strong>. In any suit or action arising thereunder, the burden\n of proof shall be on the employee claiming the benefits of its\n provisions.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Circling back to the question of who does the law apply to, and under what law are the parties bound, that should be laid out somewhere else in the contract. Quite frankly, the question of which laws bind a party to a specific contract starts to look like legal advice.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "contract-law" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5315, "body": "<p>Your HR department is wrong.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm\" rel=\"nofollow\">Title VII</a> prohibits employment discrimination\"because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.\"</p>\n\n<p>It is difficult to see how the questions and tasks you are considering could lead to this sort of discrimination.</p>\n\n<p>I do not think asking them would break the law; it seems clear that it would break your company's policies. You are obliged to follow the policy even if it is misguided - \"Into the valley of death rode the 600\".</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "united-states", "software" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5314, "body": "<p><strong>Contracts do not have to be signed to be legally binding!</strong></p>\n\n<p>They do not even have to be written down!</p>\n\n<p>What is required (among other things) is that the parties demonstrate their intention to be bound by the contract. If one person offers a contract (in whatever form) and the other person consents to its terms (in whatever form) then they have a contract.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When is an electronic signature (IP address, timestamp, and checkbox or PNG of the signature) on a contract legally binding?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>When it is done in such a way that it signifies a consent to be legally bound.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Can a contract be legally binding if it is hosted by one of the parties and said party can modify its contents at any time?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes.</p>\n\n<p>If the contract one party the power to modify it unilaterally then it can be modified unilaterally within the scope of that power and that contract (you would be an idiot to sign such a contract for anything significant). All contracts can be modified bilaterally by agreement.</p>\n\n<p>If one party changes the contract when they do not have the agreement of the other or the power to do so unilaterally then that is fraud and does <strong>not</strong> change the terms of the contract.</p>\n\n<p><em>Keep your own copy!</em></p>\n", "score": 1 } ]

[ "internet", "contract-law", "signature", "digital-forensics" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4619, "body": "<p>Variations on this question come up a lot:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/659/how-do-laws-affect-photography-of-non-humans-in-public-when-people-may-be-in-the/725#725\">How do laws affect photography of non-humans in public when people may be in the frame?</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/247/what-are-the-legal-repercussions-of-taking-a-strangers-picture-in-public/989#989\">What are the legal repercussions of taking a stranger&#39;s picture in public?</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/1369/what-is-considered-public-in-the-context-of-taking-videos-or-audio-recordings/1380#1380\">What is considered &quot;public&quot; in the context of taking videos or audio recordings?</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/3540/is-it-legal-to-post-a-photograph-that-i-captured-of-a-stranger-in-the-street/3620#3620\">Is it legal to post a photograph that I captured of a stranger in the street?</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The last of these is closet to your question but I think there is enough distinction that it is not a duplicate.</p>\n\n<p>You do not give a jurisdiction; my answer is for Australia.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You can take pictures of whoever you please so long as <em>you</em> are in a public place or have the permission of the controller of a private place - there <strong>is no right to not be photographed!</strong></li>\n<li>You own the copyright in a photograph; the subjects of the photograph have no rights to it.</li>\n<li>You cannot use someone's image for <em>commercial purposes</em> without their permission (i.e. a model release). Using the image as an image is <strong>not</strong> commercial use. You can sell the image, you can use it in a book and you can put it in a web photo library: you can't use it to promote or sell another product or service that is distinct from the image in such a way that there is or may be the perception that the subjects of the photograph are endorsing that product or service.</li>\n<li>For completeness, you cannot use or sell images of child abuse - not that this is an issue here.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Think about it: if you couldn't take pictures of people without permission there would be no television or newspaper news. <a href=\"http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/grand-final-crowd-photos-send-us-yours/story-fni0cx12-1227080652420\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Here</a> is a request from a major Australian newspaper for images of grand final crowds, they do not ask for model releases. If you look at the first image in the article (see below) it is clear that the 4 subjects have consented to be photographed (not that that is needed) but the people in the background haven't; I am reasonably sure no one signed a model release. Now, if the Daily Telegraph use this to sell their newspaper then that is OK; if they use it in an advertisement for a brand of face paint, wigs or novelty sunglasses it isn't.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/BN570.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/BN570.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Am I completely unable to sell this picture, or is it a fuzzier subject?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Sell as many as you can; good luck to you.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If they were to find this picture and sue me, would I be open to unlimited liability or only for e.g. reasonable royalties?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You would not be liable for anything</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If I didn't charge anything, but gave away prints, would that be any less problematic?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It would have the same level of problematic i.e. none.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>For that matter, is it even really legal that I took this picture without permission?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes it is legal.</p>\n", "score": 2 } ]

[ "photography" ]