question_title stringlengths 15 182 | score int64 -12 227 | link stringlengths 57 135 | license stringclasses 2 values | question_body stringlengths 38 15.9k | question_id int64 1 94.7k | answers list | tags list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Why is drunk driving causing accident punished so much worse than just drunk driving? | 23 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94665/why-is-drunk-driving-causing-accident-punished-so-much-worse-than-just-drunk-dri | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>When people drink and drive and then cause an accident especially where if someone dies they get years and years in prison but just the act of drunk driving is punished way more lenient. Shouldn't the 2, drunk driving and drunk driving then causing accident be similarly punished? I feel like a lot of times it's luck whether an accident happens.</p>
| 94,665 | [
{
"answer_id": 94666,
"body": "<h3>Moral luck</h3>\n<p>You have raised the issue of <em>moral luck</em>, a long recognized problem in criminal theory. The classic expositions of this issue are by <a href=\"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nagel\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Thomas Nagel</a>, in his chapter, &q... | [
"criminal-law",
"driving",
"sentencing"
] |
What counts as consideration in contract law? | 0 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94671/what-counts-as-consideration-in-contract-law | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>What counts as consideration in contract law? Does consideration from party A have to be to the benefit of the party B?</p>
| 94,671 | [
{
"answer_id": 94672,
"body": "<p>See generally <em>Hamer v. Sidway</em> (1891), <a href=\"https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/archives/hamer_sidway.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">124 NY 538</a>, citing indirectly <em>Currie v Misa</em> (1875) LR 10 Ex 893:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>'A valuable consideration i... | [
"contract-law",
"legal-terms",
"consideration"
] |
Question Concerning Responding to Employer of Minor Daughter Paid Under Minimum Wage | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94683/question-concerning-responding-to-employer-of-minor-daughter-paid-under-minimum | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>My high school daughter worked for about a year for an employer who owns a tutoring company in our town. Due to friction between my daughter and the employer, my daughter recently quit but she realized that she was being underpaid for much of this year (2023) because the minimum wage here in California is currently $15.50 for 2023 but she was still getting paid $14.00, the California minimum wage for 2022, when she recently quit (in August 2023). Now according to my daughter there is a provision in California law which allows employers to pay only 85% of minimum wage for new workers with no prior experience for their first 160 hours of work. For 2023, that "new worker" wage level would work out to $13.17 per hour, but my daughter said that she exceeded her first 160 hours of work for the employer back in March 2023. So, basically, my daughter was being paid under the proper CA 2023 minimum wage for over the past 4 months.</p>
<p>When my daughter contacted her former employer about this problem, the employer was apologetic and emailed back saying that a financial transaction to her to correct for the underpayment would be sent as soon as my daughter emailed back an enclosed payment settlement form. The settlement form basically says "I hereby agree that the net payment of $XXX represents the full and final settlement of my account with Company XXX", and there are signature lines at the bottom of the form for my daughter's signature as well as my signature as her parent.</p>
<p>I'm currently thinking "Why should I, the parent, need to sign anything here?". The employer underpaid my daughter and she acknowledges that she underpaid my daughter, so it seems that she is responsible for paying my daughter the money she already owes her for the work that my daughter already did, regardless of whether I sign any form or not. Any thoughts on all of this?</p>
| 94,683 | [
{
"answer_id": 94687,
"body": "<h2>Read the terms</h2>\n<p>It’s quite likely that, if you took this to court, the employer would be liable to pay your daughter interest on the underpayment and possibly be fined by the state for failing to follow the law.</p>\n<p>The terms probably are offering to pay the ba... | [
"employment",
"california",
"teenager"
] |
Can Hawaii secede from the U.S. through legal means? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/67110/can-hawaii-secede-from-the-u-s-through-legal-means | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Can Hawaii secede from the U.S. through legal means or is it forbidden by U.S. law? I am asking, because I doubt the U.S. would accept the result of a referendum that rules that the Hawaiians want to secede from the U.S. just like Russia or China wouldn't accept it.</p>
| 67,110 | [
{
"answer_id": 67111,
"body": "<p><strong>Currently, there is no legal means for a state to secede form the U.S.</strong></p>\n<p>A quick Google search yields <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/27/so-you-want-to-secede-from-the-u-s-a-four-step-guide/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">So you... | [
"united-states",
"constitutional-law",
"federalism"
] |
Legality of privately bibby Stockholming to save land costs | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94678/legality-of-privately-bibby-stockholming-to-save-land-costs | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>It seems that the principal impetus of moving migrants onto barges like the Bibby Stockholm is to save the costs of renting property in which to accommodate the migrants on dry land.</p>
<p>Rental costs are no doubt high as anyone will know.</p>
<p>But what is the legality of mooring semi permanent barges such as the Bubby Stockholm off the British coast, whether for the government or for private citizenry?</p>
<p>If anyone is allowed to construct and moor barges like that off the coast and then not have to own or rent property to inhabit, then what stops private citizens from residing on such structures?</p>
| 94,678 | [
{
"answer_id": 94712,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/england-and-wales\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'england-and-wales'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'england-and-wales'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-england-and-wales-tooltip-container\">england-an... | [
"united-kingdom",
"property",
"any-jurisdiction",
"law-of-the-sea",
"coast"
] |
Can defendants arraigned in federal court sometimes be "out on bail" secretly with no way for the public to know about or verify the bail? | 4 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94691/can-defendants-arraigned-in-federal-court-sometimes-be-out-on-bail-secretly-wi | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>In <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/a/80782/16047">this answer to my Politics SE question *Is former president Trump "out on bail" as Chris Christie asserts? If so, were campaign funds used?</a> which ends:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Bail is a particular type of bond in which the defendant submits an upfront payment that will be held until he returns to court, but there's no indication Trump was asked to post bail.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>there is a discussion about what "but there's no indication" means, including:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Isn't posting bail generally a matter of public knowledge? We often hear about person X was released wrt case Y for Z amount of money. Which would bolster this answer.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Generally yes, it's disclosed to the public. I just don't know if it's legally required to be disclosed, or whether the judge has discretion. Law is weird...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Chuckles that <em>Politics</em> SE would think <em>Law is weird</em> aside, this has piqued my curiosity.</p>
<p>Christie is a former US attorney with extensive experience in arraignments for corruption and similar crimes, and would be keenly aware of the difference between bond and bail. Further, the "out on bail" statement was made on national television amidst a discussion on truth and honesty in politics.</p>
<p>And yet I can't tell if the "out on bail" assertion is true, false, or currently unknowable with any certainty.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> Can defendants arraigned in federal court sometimes be "out on bail" secretly with no way for the public to know about or verify the bail?</p>
| 94,691 | [
{
"answer_id": 94696,
"body": "<p><a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.13.1_2.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Here</a> is one of the three Trump appearance bonds. As you can see, it is a personal recognizance bond, and not a dollar amount bond. ... | [
"federal-courts",
"arrest",
"politics",
"bail",
"arraignment"
] |
What role does the person who signs post incorporation paperwork have in the company? | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/30604/what-role-does-the-person-who-signs-post-incorporation-paperwork-have-in-the-com | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I am a minor and my mother would be signing both the incorporation documents, I am under the impression there is no problem there as she would have no role.</p>
<p>Since she signed these documents, does she hold any additional duties or responsibilities as a result of that signature? How can she relinquish those responsibilities?</p>
| 30,604 | [
{
"answer_id": 30616,
"body": "<p>Running a C-Corp is no easy matter, I would suggest first you look very hard at why you want to do a C-Corp vs an LLC with an S-Corp election. There is a lot of documentation/formalities that if not followed allow somebody to \"pierce the veil\" and bind the principles lega... | [
"united-states",
"corporate-law",
"minor",
"incorporation"
] |
A 3 point credit is applied to your driving record for a 2-year period | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/90548/a-3-point-credit-is-applied-to-your-driving-record-for-a-2-year-period | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Does the following statement mean that the 3 point credit is only good for 2 years and after that the credit points will disappear?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"<a href="https://www.alberta.ca/driving-responsibly.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">If a Government-approved defensive driving course has been successfully completed prior to accumulating 15 or more points, a 3 point credit is applied to your driving record for a 2-year period.</a>"</p>
</blockquote>
| 90,548 | [
{
"answer_id": 90549,
"body": "<p>Yes, that's what that means. But if you continue reading the article that you referenced, you will see that demerit points themselves also expire after 2 years:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>When 2 years have passed from the date of a conviction, the demerit\npoints assessed for t... | [
"driving",
"alberta"
] |
Is there a viable cause of action for exposing someone of academic misconduct? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94693/is-there-a-viable-cause-of-action-for-exposing-someone-of-academic-misconduct | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Is there a viable cause of action for exposing someone's academic misconduct from a country different than the one the exposed person lives and works.</p>
<p>For instance if you live in a European country, the exposed person also lives in a different European country and the site that exposes him is based in America such as this case:<a href="https://rwincblog9.wordpress.com/2023/06/15/11/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://rwincblog9.wordpress.com/2023/06/15/11/</a>, are the elements of defamation made out?</p>
| 94,693 | [
{
"answer_id": 94694,
"body": "<p>If A defames B, the fact that the parties live and work in different countries is not a bar to a defamation lawsuit. This is not changed when platform C is headquartered in a third country. A choice of law question does arise, which is important because B can always sue A,... | [
"defamation"
] |
Is use of force in defense of another legal if the person being defended opposes the use of force? | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94684/is-use-of-force-in-defense-of-another-legal-if-the-person-being-defended-opposes | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Bob threatens John with a gun. Alice, who is also carrying a gun (legally), draws her gun and aims at Bob, intending to shoot him in defense of John, who is unarmed. John says to her, "Don't shoot him!" Alice shoots Bob anyway. Is this legal?</p>
<p>Assume that it would have been unquestionably legal had John consented or remained silent.</p>
| 94,684 | [
{
"answer_id": 94688,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/england-and-wales\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'england-and-wales'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'england-and-wales'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-england-and-wales-tooltip-container\">england-an... | [
"assault",
"any-jurisdiction",
"defense-of-others"
] |
Leading customers to use cheaper solution invented for another domain instead of expensive patented solution. Infringement? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94667/leading-customers-to-use-cheaper-solution-invented-for-another-domain-instead-of | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Let's say there is a patented product A for domain A and there is a product B that does the same work but is invented for a different domain B.</p>
<p>If a company in domain A shows its customers that they can also use product B for domain A, is it an infringement of the patent? The intention is obviously to lead users to be able to access the cheap solution. In case it is an infringement, what if a Youtuber makes a tutorial and shows how to use the cheap solution to the domain A to people? I don't think there is a way to prevent this even if the company does not want it.</p>
<p>For example, there is a broadcasting camera tracker which cost around 100k~200k but a similar product that does the same work but was invented for robotics is just 1k.</p>
<p>What's your thought?</p>
<p>Added:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Patent of the product A, intended for the broadcasting industry: <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/AU2013257788B2/en?assignee=ncam&oq=ncam" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://patents.google.com/patent/AU2013257788B2/en?assignee=ncam&oq=ncam</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>An example of product B, used for different domains. <a href="https://www.intelrealsense.com/tracking-camera-t265/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.intelrealsense.com/tracking-camera-t265/</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>A similar algorithm is used on both products. According to the patent, it sounds like using product B for the broadcasting industry is infringing their IP. I want my customers to be able to buy a tracker for under $200.</p>
| 94,667 | [
{
"answer_id": 94675,
"body": "<p>There are several issues - one is that patents are given for specific ways of solving a problem, sometimes very narrowly different from other ways of solving a problem, not for a result. There are usually many ways to achieve a result.</p>\n<p>Another, that you bring up, is... | [
"patents"
] |
Is it trademark fair use to use company name/logo on your resume? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/33876/is-it-trademark-fair-use-to-use-company-name-logo-on-your-resume | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I have an online resume website that I created, and I list the logos of companies I've work with over the course of my career. Rather than a dry date list of work experience, I'm just listing the names and logos of the companies on the website. I even have a disclaimer stating this in no way represents endorsement or sponsorship.</p>
<p>I assume this use of the names / logos is considered fair use, an anyone can put a companies name or logo on their resume to state where and who they've work with when talking about their work experience / history. This is exactly what I'm doing here, and what happens when people fill out their LinkedIn profiles too.</p>
<p>Is is considered trademark fair use to use a company logo on your resume?</p>
<p>My website is an online resume / portfolio to use as a digital resume outside of LinkedIn or other places. For reference, it's located here: <a href="http://chrispietschmann.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://chrispietschmann.com</a></p>
| 33,876 | [
{
"answer_id": 94676,
"body": "<p><strong>No, it's not fair use</strong>. It's also not nominative fair use (the fair use equivalent for trademarks) as another answer suggests.</p>\n<p><strong>Why is it not nominative fair use?</strong></p>\n<p>There are three conditions for nominative fair use (taken from ... | [
"trademark"
] |
Is performing another's duty a valid form of consideration? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94670/is-performing-anothers-duty-a-valid-form-of-consideration | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Under state law parents have a legal duty to among other things educate minor children until they graduate from high school or an approved equivalent. The state also provides for public schools which are mostly taxpayer funded (the final two years of my high school education would have cost my parents about $1,500 in unavoidable fees).</p>
<p>Both of my parents signed nine legal documents that spelled out every party's responsibilities ad nauseam. My high school agreed to pay for 50 credit hours at a local college and accept those credits as the complete fulfillment of my high school graduation requirements.</p>
<p>My guess is that the district received some manner of a discount. But were my parents to purchase this it would cost them about $47,000.</p>
<p>My father is trying to abrogate the deal he signed -- so far he hasn't met with success because the paperwork itself clearly states that all of the signatories (me, Mom, Dad, my counselor, and the principal) must agree to and countersign any modification to the agreement.</p>
<p>He states that since I am receiving the benefit, an education valued at about $47,000, and he "could have" satisfied the state's educational requirement in another way (sent me to a parochial school or <em>laugh</em> homeschooled me) the contract(s) he signed are invalid because the fact that he doesn't have to pay required text book fees, technology fees, lab fees, diploma and registration fees doesn't count as "consideration" so it isn't a binding contract.</p>
<p>PS: My father is so <em>smart</em> that he felt no need to have a lawyer review anything before he signed it.</p>
| 94,670 | [
{
"answer_id": 94673,
"body": "<p>Contracts are routinely held to be valid even when there is negligible or literally zero financial “gain” (compensation, which they take into consideration in order to enter into the contract). A document purporting to be a contract might be held invalid if it is a bare pro... | [
"contract-law",
"education",
"school",
"compensation",
"school-law"
] |
Why is research grade ethanol seemingly exempted from excise duties while pure ethanol ment for consumption isn't? | 4 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94632/why-is-research-grade-ethanol-seemingly-exempted-from-excise-duties-while-pure-e | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>At <a href="https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sigma-Aldrich</a> I can buy <a href="https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/NL/en/product/mm/818760?dclid=CLuHvemp04ADFU_KuwgdoKIHgw" rel="nofollow noreferrer">one liter of unadulterated ethanol</a> for just 26.60 EUR. This ethanol contains no additives and is pure enough for analytical purposes. Its made by fermenting grain or sugarcane. The solution contains 95.5% ethanol.</p>
<p>However, when I try to buy the same amount of consumer grade ethanol, then I suddenly have to <a href="https://www.heliosholland.com/Alcohol-96-1-liter" rel="nofollow noreferrer">pay 73.63 EUR</a> because of excise duties. This is strange because the research grade ethanol from Merck is about as pure as the consumer grade one.</p>
<p>In the EU <a href="https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/denatured-alcohol-not-human-consumption_en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">pure ethanol is only exempt from excise duties when it is denatured in some way</a> but the ethanol sold by Merck / Sigma-Aldrich doesn't seem to be denatured in any way. It is not marketed as a biofuel either. Its an ethanol solution that's nearly as pure as the consumer grade ethanol but it somehow is still exempt from excise duties. Why is that?</p>
<p>EDIT:</p>
<p>Apparently the website can show different prices depending on the country you live in. Here's a screenshot of the prices I'm seeing. I live in the Netherlands.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/bYEx2.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/bYEx2.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Here's the price at checkout. Some tax is added but I don't think its excise duty related. The total price is still far lower then the price you pay for consumer grade ethanol.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/vtWFh.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/vtWFh.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
| 94,632 | [
{
"answer_id": 94636,
"body": "<h2>Because there’s an exemption</h2>\n<p>Which requires denaturing.</p>\n<p>But there’s also an exemption to the exemption for when denaturing is not appropriate. Such as for laboratory use.</p>\n",
"score": 10
},
{
"answer_id": 94642,
"body": "<h2><a href=\"h... | [
"european-union",
"tax-law",
"alcohol",
"biosafety"
] |
Work time when unable to work due to power outage (germany) | 10 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/88843/work-time-when-unable-to-work-due-to-power-outage-germany | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I'm working in an office space where I don't have fixed daily hours but a weekly amount of hours in my contract. Electricity is necessary to do my job (on computers).</p>
<p>We had a power outage due to a snow storm, resulting in ~2 hours without electricity. In those 2 hours, I took my 30 minute mandatory pause. When it seemed like the outage would take longer, the manager told us to either call it a day and go home, or wait it out and continue working when power was back. I waited it out and continued work after the outage. However, the company is of the opinion that the time we waited until the power came back is not work time.</p>
<p>I did a little research online and so far found that time spent in the workplace unable to work because of reasons beyond my own ability to work is at the employers risk. I know that I need to accept different tasks that would be possible during the outage and are doable by my abilities. However, I wasn't asked to do something else.</p>
<p>My question is whether the company or my research is correct and if the company can subtract 1.5 hours from my worktime ? Did giving me the choice of going home (which of course means doing overtime on other days to meet the weekly quota) or staying put the risk in my lap ? Should I have actively asked to get other work assigned ?</p>
| 88,843 | [
{
"answer_id": 88850,
"body": "<p>If you were in the office, and ready to take instructions what to do from your manager, then you were legally working and need to be paid. There's plenty of things you can do in an office without electricity unless it's too dark. If the manager didn't ask you to do anything... | [
"employment",
"germany",
"workplace"
] |
Who has ultimate responsibility for a child injured on a school trip? | 9 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94643/who-has-ultimate-responsibility-for-a-child-injured-on-a-school-trip | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>A school is going on an excursion. The child is given the permission slip to take home and get signed by his legal guardian, but he forges the signature instead. On the excursion, he gets injured. Who is legally responsible for the child? Is it the school (since the waiver is void, and by default the school is responsible for the child when a roll is taken) or the parent (since the school sincerely thought the parent had signed the waiver and if the waiver was correctly signed then the parent would be responsible)?</p>
<p>Preferred jurisdiction Australia; I will accept any answer however.</p>
| 94,643 | [
{
"answer_id": 94653,
"body": "<p>So many things were not addressed, so a precise answer is not possible.<br>\nBut to try to raise the proper questions you should be thinking about:</p>\n<p><strong>Should the school have known the permission slip was forged?</strong><br>\nWas the forgery particularly bad, a... | [
"australia",
"minor",
"school",
"duty-of-care"
] |
How many indictments before imprisonment? | 0 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94661/how-many-indictments-before-imprisonment | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Donald Trump, ex-president of U.S.A., has many indictments on him, but yet he is still roaming as a free citizen.</p>
<h2>Questions:</h2>
<ol>
<li><p>How many indictments does it take for Donald Trump to be imprisoned?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Can a person who is indicted, before running for president, become president?</p>
</li>
<li><p>What's the purpose of indicting Mr. Trump if indictments are only an accusation?</p>
</li>
</ol>
| 94,661 | [
{
"answer_id": 94663,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<ol>\n<li>How many indictments does it take for Donald Trump to be imprisoned?</li>\n</ol>\n</blockquote>\n<p>An unlimited amount. Imprisonment is usually authorized as a result of a conviction rather than from an indictment.</p>\n<p>Pretrial detention following ... | [
"united-states",
"prison",
"us-president",
"indictment"
] |
Who is at fault in a car accident when running a red light? | 6 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94655/who-is-at-fault-in-a-car-accident-when-running-a-red-light | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>This question is prompted by me sitting at a green light today while multiple people streamed through from the opposite direction, turning to their left, against a red turn arrow. (Throughout this question, assume right-side traffic, as in North America, and no one-way streets.)</p>
<p>If I have a green light and enter a clear intersection, then it would seem obvious that an unseen red light runner on the cross-street, coming from my left/right, would be at 100% fault for hitting me and causing an accident.</p>
<p>But suppose I am sitting at an intersection waiting to go straight through and facing a red light, while traffic on the opposite side of the intersection has a green left-turn arrow, and are turning across my intended path.</p>
<p>The left-turning cars lose their green arrow, get a red arrow (or red light, or other signal that they no longer have the right-of-way), and I now get a green light, but the line of cars still continues, turning left and driving across in front of me, running their red left-turn arrow.</p>
<p>If I now enter the intersection and an accident occurs, who is at fault? Is it the opposing car for obviously running a red left-turn arrow? Or is it me for performing an unsafe action, even though I had a green light?</p>
<p>I can imagine that I would be allocated some/all fault if I can see all these cars driving in front of me but still enter the intersection, yet at other times there is some car wanting to turn that is lagging all of the others and it enters the intersection after I have already entered it (and I don't see them coming, making it like the original red light runner scenario I mentioned above). In such a case I would expect the turning car to be at fault. So there would seem to be an area where fault allocation moves from one driver to another.</p>
<p>I'm mainly interested in US interpretations, but any jurisdiction would be interesting to me.</p>
| 94,655 | [
{
"answer_id": 94656,
"body": "<p>The apportionment of fault will be highly case specific, based on ordinary principles of negligence.</p>\n<p>In one example, the fault was apportioned with 60% of the fault to the late left turner and 40% of the fault to the driver advancing imprudently into the intersectio... | [
"united-states",
"traffic",
"accident"
] |
What is a "lead defendant" in U.S. law? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94650/what-is-a-lead-defendant-in-u-s-law | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>In its <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.105.0.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">opposition to the government's motion for a protective order</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_prosecution_of_Donald_Trump_(classified_documents_case)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, Waltine Nauta, and Carlos De Oliveira</a>, Waltine Nauta's defense refers to Donald Trump as the "lead defendant". I'm wondering whether this is a precisely defined legal term. The term is apparently in common use, including in official government communication (e.g. <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/lead-defendant-massive-la-gang-racketeering-case-sentenced-30-years" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/lead-defendant-pleads-guilty-case-targeting-international-cocaine-trafficking" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, <a href="https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2022/11/30/lead-defendant-pill-production-conspiracy-sentenced-federal-prison" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>), but I can't find a definition for it anywhere.</p>
<p>The term seems to appear neither in the <a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/federal_rules_of_civil_procedure_december_1_2022_0.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Federal Rules of Civil Procedure</a> nor in the <a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/federal_rules_of_criminal_procedure_-_december_2020_0.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obergefell_v._Hodges" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia article on Obergefell v. Hodges</a> says "Wymyslo was substituted as the lead defendant, and the case was restyled Obergefell v. Wymyslo", but none of the documents in the references for that statement contain the term "lead defendant". The statement seems to indicate that the lead defendant is the first one in the list of defendants, whose name is used for the case style. If so, does this have any legal relevance beyond the style?</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.3.0.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">original indictment</a> and the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.85.0_4.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">superseding indictment</a>, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira are referred to as "Trump's co-conspirators", whereas Trump himself is never referred to as a "co-conspirator". That might suggest that Trump is alleged to be something like the "lead conspirator", but the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/371" rel="nofollow noreferrer">conspiracy statute</a> makes no distinctions among the conspirators.</p>
<p>So my impression is that "lead defendant" is just an informal term for the defendant whose name appears first in the list of defendants, and that this carries no legal implications. Is that correct?</p>
| 94,650 | [
{
"answer_id": 94652,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/england-and-wales\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'england-and-wales'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'england-and-wales'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-england-and-wales-tooltip-container\">england-an... | [
"united-states",
"legal-terms"
] |
Typo in disclaimer - worst case scenario | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94634/typo-in-disclaimer-worst-case-scenario | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I've noticed a typo on an investment company's disclaimer in a brochure, to the effect:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This company and its research affiliate June continue to have such
dealings and June also have other ongoing business dealings with other
firms whose products are included herein.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Clearly some one replaced all instances of "may" and replaced with "June."</p>
<h2>Question</h2>
<p>In the event that anything relating to this disclaimer does make its way all the way to court, what would the implications be? Would this be insufficient to cover the legal liability it was originally written to, given that it's now effectively garbled and ambiguous?</p>
| 94,634 | [
{
"answer_id": 94641,
"body": "<h2>Garbled and ambiguous?</h2>\n<p>I guess it took you all of 20 seconds to work out what it meant. Why do think a court can’t do that too?</p>\n<p>Documents contain typos, that doesn’t necessarily make them ambiguous.</p>\n<p>The automatic correction of typos is known as the... | [
"united-states",
"liability",
"court"
] |
If someone robs a bank at which (s)he has an account, can the bank deduct that amount from the robber's account? | 13 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94629/if-someone-robs-a-bank-at-which-she-has-an-account-can-the-bank-deduct-that-a | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Bob has $100,000 in an account at First Example Bank. Bob robs the bank, taking $50,000, and he escapes. He is never caught, but the bank is 100% sure that he is the one who robbed the bank. Can they deduct $50,000 from his account to cover the loss, effectively turning the robbery into a withdrawal? Obviously, this doesn't make the robbery any less illegal, but it does offset the bank's loss.</p>
| 94,629 | [
{
"answer_id": 94630,
"body": "<p>If there has been no trial establishing Bob's guilt, the bank does not know that it was Bob who did rob the bank.</p>\n<p>Even if the bank has Bob on the security video feed, claiming that, "As my name is Bob, I will shoot anyone who does not follow my instructions&quo... | [
"theft",
"banking",
"any-jurisdiction",
"robbery"
] |
Someone withdrew money from my bank account - what are my rights? | 8 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/4701/someone-withdrew-money-from-my-bank-account-what-are-my-rights | CC BY-SA 3.0 | <p>Someone withdrew money from my checking account (in several transactions) without my knowledge or permission. I was able to see the withdrawal slips online, and my signature was forged. I reported this to my bank as soon as I found out, and Chase said that the money would be reimbursed once they completed their investigation (within 10 business days). </p>
<p>It has now been 13 business days, and I have checked on the status twice and was told both times that there had been no status update, and they were unable to provide an updated ETA.</p>
<p>It's a fairly large amount of money, and I need to get it back as soon as possible. I'm trying to figure out if I have legal footing here. Does the law protect me from this type of fraud? And if so, does it require the bank to respond within any particular timeframe?</p>
<p>I live in California.</p>
| 4,701 | [
{
"answer_id": 4818,
"body": "<p><strong>I reported this to my bank as soon as I found out, and Chase said that the money would be reimbursed once they completed their investigation (within 10 business days).</strong></p>\n\n<p>Chase was likely indicating that the money will be reimbursed within 10 business... | [
"california",
"finance",
"fraud",
"banking"
] |
What are the legal ramifications for someone whose birth was concealed? | 11 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94604/what-are-the-legal-ramifications-for-someone-whose-birth-was-concealed | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I understand that in the US, concealment of birth is against the law. I looked it up, and apparently it is a felony in most US states. (FYI I'm asking because it pertains to a work of fiction I'm writing before anyone gets the wrong idea about me!) Here's the question...</p>
<p>What are the legal ramifications towards an individual whose parents are deceased <em>but</em> they committed concealment of birth when the individual was born. As a result, this individual has no SSN and might not legally exist. Could they be in legal jeopardy in any way? Can the US or their state of birth (lets say WV) compel them to register in some way?</p>
| 94,604 | [
{
"answer_id": 94607,
"body": "<p>Does this person have witnesses to his existence? Particularly before the age of five?</p>\n<p>Under 8 U.S. Code § 1401, native-born citizens include</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>a person of unknown parentage found in the United States while under the age of five years, until sho... | [
"united-states",
"birth-certificate"
] |
In what forum would Iran sue Pakistan in for damages? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94649/in-what-forum-would-iran-sue-pakistan-in-for-damages | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>According to reports, Iran may claim $18 billion in damages from Pakistan for an unfinished pipeline if Pakistan does not complete its part of it as agreed. What forum would such a claim take place in?</p>
| 94,649 | [
{
"answer_id": 94651,
"body": "<p><a href=\"https://financialtribune.com/articles/energy/117363/tehran-to-take-islamabad-to-court-over-breach-of-gas-pipeline-deal\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">According to reports</a>, one potential forum is the <a href=\"https://iccwbo.org/dispute-resolution/dispute-resolu... | [
"international",
"jurisdiction"
] |
Where when and how did the idea of “reasonableness” originate? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94119/where-when-and-how-did-the-idea-of-reasonableness-originate | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>What period did it come into regular legal usage?</p>
<p>Did it originate as a judicial device first or did it begin as something that would be explicitly coded into statutes?</p>
| 94,119 | [
{
"answer_id": 94120,
"body": "<p>See Harold J. Berman, "The Origins of Historical Jurisprudence: Coke, Selden, Hale" (1994) 103 Yale Law Journal 1651, p. 1691, n. 101:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>the translation of "reason" into "reasonableness" and the exaltation of "common se... | [
"legal-terms",
"legal-history"
] |
When did indictments stop saying people were "moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil"? | 9 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94553/when-did-indictments-stop-saying-people-were-moved-and-seduced-by-the-instigati | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Criminal indictments used to use much more detailed and flowery language than they do now. I was surprised to learn, while looking at some early U.S. documents, that they had retained a feature of indictments from English common law. For some crimes, the accused was said to have done the deeds</p>
<blockquote>
<p>not having the fear of God before his eyes but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For example, this was said of Aaron Burr in three documents from New Jersey, New York, and the Federal courts:</p>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-26-02-0001-0281" rel="noreferrer">NJ indictment for the murder of Alexander Hamilton, 23 October 1804</a>: "The Jurors [...] upon their oath present that Aaron Burr late of the Township of Bergen in the County of Bergen esquire not having the fear of God before his eyes but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil on the eleventh day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and four at the Township of Bergen in the County of Bergen aforesaid and within the jurisdiction of this Court, feloniously Wilfully and of his malice aforethought did make an assault upon Alexander Hamilton in the peace of God and of the said State then and there being."</li>
<li><a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-26-02-0001-0270" rel="noreferrer">NY coroner's inquest for the same, 2 August 1804</a>: "Aaron Burr, late of the Eighth Ward of the Said City in the Said County Esquire and Vice President of the United States, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the Instigation of the devil [...]"</li>
<li><a href="https://www.famous-trials.com/burr/159-indictment" rel="noreferrer">Federal indictment for treason, etc., August 1807</a>: "Aaron Burr, late of the city of New York, and state of New York, attorney at law, being an inhabitant of, and residing within the United States, and under the protection of the laws of the United States, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the same United States, not having the fear of God before his eyes, nor weighing the duty of his said allegiance, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil, wickedly devising and intending the peace and tranquility of the same United States to disturb and to stir, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion and war against the said United States [...]"</li>
</ol>
<p>I believe that criminal indictments do not currently contain this language, but a web search showed several other American examples from later in the nineteenth century. Evidently this stopped at some point, but when and why? (For England and Wales, this would have happened <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/5-6/90/enacted" rel="noreferrer">no later than 1915</a>, and indictments today are quite straightforward in content.)</p>
<p>In particular, I wonder if changing feelings about the establishment of religion might have led to removing devil-references. The <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/New_York_Constitution_of_1777" rel="noreferrer">NY</a> and <a href="https://www.state.nj.us/state/archives/docconst76.html" rel="noreferrer">NJ</a> constitutions both had language around religious freedom and lack of a state religion, and of course the Federal constitution has its First Amendment - but perhaps people originally saw these references to God and the Devil as being basically neutral, and later changed their minds.</p>
<p>Alternatively, perhaps the language was dropped because it was unnecessary detail, or in some way detracted from the accused being culpable (i.e. why are we going to punish you if the Devil made you do it?).</p>
<p>I'm interested in any answers that are backed by evidence about when the changes were made, and what legal theories motivated them.</p>
| 94,553 | [
{
"answer_id": 94646,
"body": "<p>It appears that:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>This language was seen as a bit ridiculous and unnecessary even at the time, and more so as the 19th century progressed.</li>\n<li>The main objection is that the language is redundant or merely decorative. There was a general trend to make in... | [
"united-states",
"criminal-law",
"legal-history",
"indictment"
] |
Is a "login timestamp" considered as personal data according to GDPR? | 11 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94638/is-a-login-timestamp-considered-as-personal-data-according-to-gdpr | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>If software is saving the timestamp of the last login <strong>of a user</strong>, would that timestamp itself be considered personal data by GDPR?</p>
| 94,638 | [
{
"answer_id": 94640,
"body": "<h2>You ask the wrong question first</h2>\n<p>What do you save in the database? Let's take an example of a door:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you have a legitimate interest to know/save who passed this door?</li>\n<li>Do you have a legitimate interest to know/save when the door was opene... | [
"gdpr",
"privacy",
"software",
"personal-information"
] |
How far can cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence agencies go? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/90443/how-far-can-cooperation-between-law-enforcement-and-intelligence-agencies-go | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p><a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1164085/sidtoday-dea-the-other-warfighter.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1164085/sidtoday-dea-the-other-warfighter.pdf</a></p>
<p>This is a report explaining that DEA was aided by NSA's surveillance system at the time they were persecuting a wanted criminal Gonzalo Hinojosa while he had been in Panama by using data obtained by NSA's systems. The report suggests this person was very evasive and dangerous perhaps this is why DEA collaborated with NSA.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/dea-and-nsa-team-intelligence-laundering" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/dea-and-nsa-team-intelligence-laundering</a></p>
<p>Another example of LE and NSA cooperation.</p>
<p>Shouldn't NSA be concerned only about foreing intelligence without doing anything related to LE? If there is a reason for such cooperation to exist, how far can cooperation between a LE organization go with an intelligence agency of the same country? And what type of criminal actions substantiate to do this? Terrorism, child abuse, et cetera.</p>
<p>For example, if FBI wanted to research more about a wanted person inside another country out of their reach, may it use NSA's systems to track down this person's movement with cellular networking? Or spy on his Internet activity with surveillance systems mentioned?</p>
| 90,443 | [
{
"answer_id": 90446,
"body": "<h2>As far as the legal powers of the organisation(s) allow</h2>\n<p>By this, I mean that if what the DEA was doing was allowed under the laws that govern the DEA, and what the NSA was doing was allowed under the laws that govern the NSA, then they can cooperate as much as the... | [
"united-states",
"criminal-law",
"any-jurisdiction",
"surveillance"
] |
Is there any country in the EU that forbids ritual cattle slaughter? | 6 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94612/is-there-any-country-in-the-eu-that-forbids-ritual-cattle-slaughter | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Is there any country in the EU that forbids ritual cattle slaughter?</p>
<p>If so, where are the halal and kosher certified meats sourced from?</p>
| 94,612 | [
{
"answer_id": 94613,
"body": "<p>Quite the contrary. In most European countries, shechita is - at least under certain conditions - legal.</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/UzeDf.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/UzeDf.png\" alt=\"Map of ritual slaughter laws\"... | [
"european-union"
] |
Does withholding non-medical information affect medical consent? | 11 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94565/does-withholding-non-medical-information-affect-medical-consent | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>In an episode of the medical drama 'House', a patient needing a liver transplant is offered a live donation from her girlfriend. During the episode there's a continual argument over the ethics of whether they should tell the donor that the patient was about to break up with her prior to the hospital admission. I am wondering whether the doctor and patient, both strongly believing that the donor would withdraw consent if she knew, would be liable to lawsuit or even committed a crime by hiding this information? Would the doctors be obliged to tell the donor or even be allowed if they wanted to as it is not sensitive medical information?</p>
| 94,565 | [
{
"answer_id": 94566,
"body": "<p>The primary question is whether remaining silent would constitute a breech of medical ethics. The pertinent ethical principle is <a href=\"https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/ama-code-medical-ethics-opinions-organ-transplantation/2012-03\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer... | [
"united-states",
"medical",
"consent",
"law-in-fiction"
] |
Is it illegal to hire by age in the US? | 0 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94628/is-it-illegal-to-hire-by-age-in-the-us | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Maybe one of the fields that has the most "ageism" is programming and software engineering jobs.</p>
<p>There were multiple times I hear of the CEO or SVP at the final approval stage: "we want to hire a more junior person", and rejected the candidate and the 10 hours of interviews by 6 tech people and 3 manager level people.</p>
<p>Some say, before age 35, a person is most creative and productive, and it is all about productivity.</p>
<p>In reality, when you are 25 or 28, you are more likely to stay up working till 3am, sleep, and wake up at 9am and continue to work. However, most companies claim they want 40 hours per week and work life balance, so they won't burn somebody out in 1.5 years and then have to dump them.</p>
<p>Also, programming and software engineering isn't like painter or poet or novelist. They don't need that much creativity. They are more like engineers building roads or bridges, where experience is important too.</p>
<p>One other reason I can think of is, if the manager is 32, he wouldn't want to hire somebody 38 or 45, because then that person appears more like a manager than he or she is. (and that a 28 year old is more like to listen to the 32, and a 45 year old is probably less likely).</p>
<p>And just because they want to hire somebody 35 or under, isn't it ageism and therefore, discrimination by age, and therefore illegal in the US?</p>
<p>I even talked to a lawyer that says, "if we sue, that means these cases are flying all over the sky" (and therefore it is like people quietly accept them).</p>
<p>It also appears that the CEO or SVP are bold enough to even at the final offer approval stage, say "rejected. We want a more junior person."</p>
| 94,628 | [
{
"answer_id": 94631,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<p>The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects\ncertain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from\ndiscrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge,\ncompensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employme... | [
"united-states",
"discrimination",
"age"
] |
Was this a case of negligent homicide, and have any other offences been committed here? | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94622/was-this-a-case-of-negligent-homicide-and-have-any-other-offences-been-committe | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p><em>Disclaimer: I do not aim to take a position on the ethics of this situation with this question. This question, and all details of the hypothetical case at hand, merely arose from a discussion I recently had, and the law surrounding it intrigued me.</em></p>
<p><strong>Facts of this hypothetical case</strong></p>
<p>Joanne is the mother of Jordan, who is fourteen years old. She is a single mother after she left her ex-boyfriend, because he abused her. She's a manager at her local supermarket. She is also a content creator on the platform OnlyFans, where she makes large sums of money posting explicit content of herself. Jordan was unaware, until a certain point, that her mother had an OnlyFans account.</p>
<p>One day, at school, Jordan's peers reveal to him, in brutally humiliating fashion, that they have discovered his mother's OnlyFans account. Not only that, but an unknown source has leaked some of the content she uploads there. This leads to intense bullying. For a fortnight, Jordan is too embarrassed to speak about it to anyone. However, he eventually opens up to his mother about the bullying, and that it has been caused by her content on OnlyFans. He pleads with her to, at the least, engage in what he considers damage control, and delete the account, and that the extra money isn't a necessity. Despite this, Joanne refuses and continues to upload and sell content on OnlyFans.</p>
<p>The onslaught of teasing and bullying against Jordan continues. After around a month, he musters the courage to discuss his plight with his teachers. Much to his disbelief and frustration, the teachers say that, while they have noticed ‘unusual’ behaviour towards him, in class, for a while now, and while that behaviour may have indicia of bullying, they don't have enough evidence to take any action that would make a difference. In fact, they find the entire ordeal incredibly awkward themselves (though this they do not explicitly mention).</p>
<p>Around a month and a half have elapsed since the first instance of bullying, and the bullying has not ceased. Jordan contemplates moving schools, but he convinces himself that it's futile, because, to him, everyone around his age in his town knows about his mother's OnlyFans account. Ultimately, after an acrimonious argument with his mother, in which he pleads one more time for her to delete her OnlyFans account, and she refuses, Jordan takes his own life.</p>
<p><strong>Questions of law</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><p>In England and Wales, could Joanne be found guilty of gross-negligence manslaughter?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Does any American state have a statute under which Joanne would be liable for her son's death?</p>
</li>
<li><p>In any jurisdiction, could anyone but Joanne, in light of the aforementioned circumstances, face liability for Jordan's death?</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks in advance for any responses, and I apologise in advance if you find either the hypothetical or the questions asinine.</p>
| 94,622 | [
{
"answer_id": 94625,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<p>Does any American state have a statute under which Joanne would be\nliable for her son's death?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Probably not. None of the mother's conduct seems like a basis for a homicide prosecution.</p>\n<p>Suicide is only prosecuted, in states that ... | [
"united-states",
"england-and-wales",
"negligence",
"homicide",
"manslaughter"
] |
Can a woman living in Brazil collect child support from someone in the United States? | 7 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94599/can-a-woman-living-in-brazil-collect-child-support-from-someone-in-the-united-st | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>The baby was born in the United States but has been living in Brazil for 6 years. The mother is a Brazilian citizen.</p>
| 94,599 | [
{
"answer_id": 94602,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<p>Can a woman living in Brazil collect child support from someone in the\nUnited States?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Yes. There would need to be first, a legal establishment of paternity if that is not already in place, and then an application to a court for a child ... | [
"united-states",
"child-support",
"brazil"
] |
Is deliberate radio interference a crime? | 11 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94617/is-deliberate-radio-interference-a-crime | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I know that it is forbidden by FCC regulations to deliberately interfere with radio communications, but is it a crime?</p>
| 94,617 | [
{
"answer_id": 94621,
"body": "<p>Yes. <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/333\" rel=\"noreferrer\">47 U.S. Code § 333</a> (part of the Communications Act of 1934 as amended) bans willful or malicious interference. <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/501\" rel=\"noreferrer\... | [
"united-states",
"criminal-law",
"radio",
"fcc",
"communications-law"
] |
Are Drone Intrusion Prevention Systems (Drone IPS) systems illegal? | 14 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/17225/are-drone-intrusion-prevention-systems-drone-ips-systems-illegal | CC BY-SA 3.0 | <p>A <a href="https://twitter.com/JGamblin/status/831592230959788033" rel="noreferrer">drone intrusion prevention product</a> being advertised at RSA Conference this year has piqued my interest, and I'm trying to determine whether it and other drone IPS systems are illegal.</p>
<p>For background, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_intrusion_prevention_system" rel="noreferrer">WIPS</a> is a device which looks for unexpected WiFi access points nearby and purposefully sends <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_deauthentication_attack" rel="noreferrer">de-authentication</a> packets in order to prevent them from working. In August 2015 <a href="https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2015/db0818/DA-15-917A1.pdf" rel="noreferrer">the FCC ruled</a> that doing this to hotel guests was illegal, citing Section 333 of the Communications Act 1934. This appears to tally with <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/general/jammer-enforcement" rel="noreferrer">the FCC's guidance</a>. However, it has been pointed out to me that this precedent may not be applicable as the ruling was in relation to internet service being denied.</p>
<p>One could potentially also argue that such actions are in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) under the same provisions which make denial-of-service (DoS) attacks illegal. UK law also has provisions under the Communications Act 2003 and the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA), with similar advice given by OFCOM (<a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/radio-spectrum-and-the-law/jammers" rel="noreferrer">1</a>, <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/interference-enforcement" rel="noreferrer">2</a>, <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/radio-spectrum-and-the-law/jammers" rel="noreferrer">3</a>) as the FCC gives.</p>
<p>Drone Intrusion Prevention Systems are a similar concept, designed as security devices which identify drones in the vicinity and inject commands into the control channel in order to disable them. The advertised use-case is to prevent an attacker from using a drone to spy on people's screens, or gain entry to a secured facility. The apparent functionality is that the system identifies a drone in the area, and an operator can choose to have the system disable or otherwise inhibit that drone's functionality.</p>
<p>One could argue that injecting commands into the control stream would constitute a violation of both the CFAA and CMA since it causes a computerised system (the drone) to stop functioning or be taken over without the consent of the drone operator.</p>
<p>A key thing to note in both cases is that the denial of service is not indiscriminate in terms of jamming the radio spectrum: devices operating on that band will continue to work unless specifically targeted.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/333" rel="noreferrer">47 U.S.C. § 333</a> states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter or operated by the United States Government.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is clear to me that indiscriminately jamming a radio band is illegal under both the US and UK Communications Acts. What is not clear to me is whether interjecting additional commands is illegal, nor whether a drone user operating within the vicinity of such a device counts as "authorized" under this particular facet of law. From what I have read, the term appears to refer to communications which are not themselves in violation of the Communications Act, but I'm not certain whether this matters.</p>
<p>Are these devices illegal under US/UK law? Is there any precedent in this matter?</p>
| 17,225 | [
{
"answer_id": 23698,
"body": "<p>For the USA, the FCC has a few words to say on the subject:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>“Generally, “jammers” — which are also commonly called signal blockers, GPS jammers, cell phone jammers, text blockers, etc. — are illegal radio frequency transmitters that are designed to blo... | [
"united-states",
"united-kingdom",
"computer-misuse-act",
"radio",
"fcc"
] |
I want to know if i have the right to push someone if they slapped me in self defense | 0 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/56683/i-want-to-know-if-i-have-the-right-to-push-someone-if-they-slapped-me-in-self-de | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I have a question, about 3 or 4 months ago, i was just outside chilling with some of my friends and then some girl came and slapped me, all i did was push her back in self defense. I just want to know if that is legal or not. I live in Germany, thank you.</p>
| 56,683 | [
{
"answer_id": 56688,
"body": "<p>If you pushed her back <strong>after</strong> she slapped you <strong>and</strong> it is not clear that a second slapping would occur (<strong>or</strong> she slapped you, because you pushed her)</p>\n<ul>\n<li>then it is <strong>not</strong> self-defence\n<ul>\n<li>you (<s... | [
"germany",
"self-defense"
] |
Easy way to check if libel has been committed? | 0 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94594/easy-way-to-check-if-libel-has-been-committed | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>We have an article about someone's activities that I believe was written carefully to avoid libel:</p>
<p><a href="http://pdacamp.com/Sam-Wolanyk-and-Tangod-Up-In-Blues/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://pdacamp.com/Sam-Wolanyk-and-Tangod-Up-In-Blues/</a></p>
<p>Now the party in question is threatening to sue (but of course refuses to point to which sections he believes are libelous)</p>
<p>Is there an easy resource to get legal advice on whether this falls under libel or not, or do we have to pay the $$ to "lawyer up" if we want to be safe?</p>
| 94,594 | [
{
"answer_id": 94598,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<p>Now the party in question is threatening to sue (but of course refuses to point to which sections he believes are libelous) ... do we have to pay the $$ to "lawyer up" if we want to be safe?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>If you get sued, you will definitely... | [
"united-states",
"libel"
] |
Murder due to temporary insanity | 8 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94585/murder-due-to-temporary-insanity | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Due to an unfortunate event outside of his control, "Juan" temporarily goes insane. Due to his insanity, he commits an extremely heinous crime (say, for example, a school shooting.) Still a raving lunatic, he surrenders to the police.</p>
<p>While awaiting trial, Juan receives medical treatment that causes him to stop being insane.</p>
<p>Legally speaking, what happens? From what I understand, an insanity plea results in being committed to a mental institution indefinitely. However, Juan is no longer insane and doesn't require further treatment.</p>
<p>N.B. This question was originally worded quite differently. My revision was primarily to remove unnecessary details; the core of the question remains the same.</p>
| 94,585 | [
{
"answer_id": 94589,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/canada\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'canada'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'canada'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-canada-tooltip-container\">canada</a></p>\n<p>The terminology in Canada "not... | [
"united-states",
"insanity"
] |
In American criminal law, do prosecutors who seek to prosecute a defendant need to have evidence of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt? | -3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94541/in-american-criminal-law-do-prosecutors-who-seek-to-prosecute-a-defendant-need | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Would the judge in a criminal trial consider a prosecutor's statement that some evidence is representative of a defendant's guilt is a <em>false statement</em> by seeking the evidence to be inferred as <strong>conclusive</strong> without being thoroughly tested?</p>
| 94,541 | [
{
"answer_id": 94546,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/united-states\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'united-states'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'united-states'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-united-states-tooltip-container\">united-states</a></p>\n<p>... | [
"criminal-law",
"criminal-procedure",
"prosecutorial-discretion",
"prosecution",
"burden-of-proof"
] |
If a parent withdraws a minor student from school, or prevents them from attending, is that a criminal violation of a mandatory attendance law? | 4 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94609/if-a-parent-withdraws-a-minor-student-from-school-or-prevents-them-from-attendi | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Both of my parents signed an agreement with my high school to permit me to complete my high school graduation requirements in college. They both also signed a college enrollment form that specifically gave me permission as a minor and their dependent child to attend the college. My (high) school district is paying for the classes and a bus pass.</p>
<p>My father has stated his intent to renege on the agreement.</p>
<p>Since I am a minor, have not graduated from high school, and the grades from those 16 college classes and 2 labs were agreed to be accepted by the district as the graduation requirements for high school, isn't either withdrawing me from class, or preventing me from attending so that I fail, without enrolling me at another high school, or submitting a state mandated "intent to homeschool form" a violation of my state's compulsory attendance law that requires that all minors who have not yet graduated from high school attend school or show proof they are being homeschooled?</p>
| 94,609 | [
{
"answer_id": 94619,
"body": "<p><a href=\"https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=28a.225&full=true\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Washington has such laws</a>. RCW 28A.225.010 states the exceptions to the compulsory attendance requirement, which includes: is attending private school or extension ... | [
"parental-rights",
"students"
] |
GDPR and privacy policy compliance for software used internally by customer company | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94614/gdpr-and-privacy-policy-compliance-for-software-used-internally-by-customer-comp | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>We are developing software that are sold to and used by other companies. In the software, certain types of personal data, like name, email and phone number, can be stored when a user registers. The data is stored on a server owned by our customer. Our customer owns all the data. Our software shows this data in certain places within our software itself, but does not share it with any other third parties, or store it on our own servers, or use it in any other way.</p>
<p>What are our requirements when it comes to providing a privacy policy for our software, to be compliant with GDPR? Will our software only be considered a tool used by our customer in which they collect personal data, and hence not require us to have our own privacy policy accepted by the users in addition, or will we have to have a privacy policy explaining what personal data which our customer is able to collect through our software?</p>
<p>All users of the software will be employees of our customer, if that makes a difference. They will therefore have their own privacy policy agreement with our customer (their employer) already.</p>
| 94,614 | [
{
"answer_id": 94616,
"body": "<p>Alice's business sells database management software.</p>\n<p>Organisations buy or licence the software, deploy it on hardware they control and use the software to help store and, process and analyse 'personal data' within the meaning of GDPR.</p>\n<p>Alice's business has no... | [
"gdpr",
"privacy",
"software"
] |
Is it legal for companies to pay salaries or bonuses as lootboxes? | 5 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94561/is-it-legal-for-companies-to-pay-salaries-or-bonuses-as-lootboxes | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>The South Korean branch of video game publisher Nexon made headlines online when it <a href="https://www.insight.co.kr/news/298391" rel="noreferrer">gave out a small bonus to its employees in the form of lootboxes.</a> A monthly bonus coupon was given in August 2020 to employees. The employees would type a keyword in a chatbot to activate the coupon, which would add a random amount between 2000 and 100000 points to one's balance.</p>
<p>Is giving out bonuses as lootboxes or any other way that relies on pure luck rather than my achievements in work legal in other jurisdictions? Would the legality be different if it were salaries and not bonuses that were given out this way?</p>
| 94,561 | [
{
"answer_id": 94578,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/germany\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'germany'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'germany'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-germany-tooltip-container\">germany</a></p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Is it legal for ... | [
"corporate-law",
"any-jurisdiction",
"salary",
"employee"
] |
Is there such a thing as 'attempted copyright infringement' in the UK? | 5 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/93804/is-there-such-a-thing-as-attempted-copyright-infringement-in-the-uk | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I've recently read an article about a proposed bill that would criminalise attempted copyright infringement in the US. link - <a href="https://www.wired.com/2007/05/ippa07/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.wired.com/2007/05/ippa07/</a></p>
<p>I was wondering if the UK had any legislation on this. Any help is much appreciated. Cheers!</p>
| 93,804 | [
{
"answer_id": 93810,
"body": "<h2>Yes</h2>\n<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/australia\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'australia'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'australia'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-australia-tooltip-container\">australia</a></p>\n<p><a hre... | [
"copyright",
"united-kingdom",
"criminal-law"
] |
What is the place of birth of a child born in the embassy? | 15 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/87148/what-is-the-place-of-birth-of-a-child-born-in-the-embassy | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>If someone living at an embassy abroad gave birth to a child on the embassy grounds, then what country and what place will be indicated on the birth certificate?</p>
<p>To clarify the question, let's assume that we mean the US embassy in another country. But I'm also interested in how a similar situation will occur in the embassies of other countries.</p>
<p>I saw a <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/29903/are-people-born-in-a-foreign-embassy-on-us-soil-american-citizens">similar question</a> but it is related to citizenship, but I only ask about birth certificate</p>
| 87,148 | [
{
"answer_id": 87149,
"body": "<p>The place of birth on the birth certificate is where the child was actually born. Indeed, usually it will be more specific than city and state or province and will also identify a hospital or residence or other place where the birth happened.</p>\n<p>So, for example, if a c... | [
"birth-certificate"
] |
How would a potential Juror report another as not suited to be in a jury? | 10 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94596/how-would-a-potential-juror-report-another-as-not-suited-to-be-in-a-jury | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>The only time I was ever called for jury duty while waiting with potential Jurors I spoke to one who essentially said that she believed that a trial would only happen if the cops had definitive proof and as such anyone who made it to trail was surely guilty. I tried to point out that was antithetical to the very concept of innocent until proven guilty but she stayed committed to her view.</p>
<p>As it would happen I, and all the others waiting with me, were dismissed without ever being called in as potential jurors and as such her sentiment didn't mean much that day. However I'm wondering if we had been needed, and the women in question didn't exclude her self by stating she believed anyone on trial was guilty during jury selection, what would the appropriate steps, if any, I as a fellow juror could have taken to indicate I felt the sentiment expressed by the women should be known and potentially rule her out as a juror?</p>
<p>Assuming I could have said something during jury selection would my speaking out have resulted in my also likely being removed as potential juror?</p>
| 94,596 | [
{
"answer_id": 94606,
"body": "<h2>Don't be prejudicial</h2>\n<p>You have no idea if this person would be suitable to be on a jury based simply on this conversation. You need to wait until you are sharing the jury room and look at the way they actually behave.</p>\n<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/new-south-w... | [
"united-states",
"jury"
] |
Where does the idea of entitlement to make submissions to a court originate? | -3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94591/where-does-the-idea-of-entitlement-to-make-submissions-to-a-court-originate | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>The court originally derived its authority solely from the supreme sovereignty of the crown. But if the royal power is so supreme, then why are subjects allowed as a matter of apparently solemn entitlement, to make such detailed submissions as to how this power should be exercised?</p>
<p>Doesn’t the idea of supreme power come with it a degree of propriety, and often even a degree of pride in the to dispense such power as capriciously or arbitrarily as one likes?</p>
<p>Doesn’t the idea of lengthy detailed and formal submissions such as to a court in themselves, let alone in the current system wherein the court is apparently all but required to review and consider all of them in great rigour and detail, other than from privileged trusted advisors, imply a level of condescension toward the authority, effectively the total opposite of propriety, reverence and discretion?</p>
<p>So what is the historical basis for this idea that all parties are entitled not only to make, but also to have rather quite vigorously considered, all of their submissions, which effectively amount to telling the court, and so by extension the king or queen, how they should be doing their job?</p>
<p>What place is it for a lowly subject to tell a king how best to exercise his power when they are not even in the King’s cabinet or privy council etc?</p>
<p>Even this this question is framed rather in terms of the English/commonwealth/common law framework, perspectives on the current state and historical development of other legal systems are also most welcome.</p>
| 94,591 | [
{
"answer_id": 94601,
"body": "<p>This is just an instantiation of the ancient legal principle <em><a href=\"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_alteram_partem\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">audi alteram partem</a></em> (hear the other side).</p>\n<p>James Tully says (in "<a href=\"https://www.erudit.o... | [
"legal-history"
] |
Landlord claims I missed a rent payment from over a year ago, I don't have easy way to confirm a payment from that far back. What are my obligations? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94593/landlord-claims-i-missed-a-rent-payment-from-over-a-year-ago-i-dont-have-easy | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I'm renting a room from a person, not a large organization; it's a monthly rental. He claims he just saw I had missed my monthly rent payment from April of last year. I don't have an easy way to check back more then a year ago to see if I made the payment.</p>
<p>Now realistically I don't see this going to court one way or another; I have every intent to figure things out and if I really did miss a payment pay it now. However it makes me curious what <em>is</em> the legal obligation in such a case? Is my inability to definitively prove I gave him money a year ago make me responsible if he says he doesn't show the electronic payment on his end? Or is there some sort of statue of limitations on his being able to claim a missed payment?</p>
<p>I live in Maryland.</p>
| 94,593 | [
{
"answer_id": 94595,
"body": "<p>If you want to be argumentative about it, the burden of proof is on the person making the accusation. This also means the burden of production is, too. Underlying the whole matter is a claim that you've engaged in "breach of contract," namely failing to pay rent. ... | [
"united-states",
"rental-property",
"rent"
] |
Does copyright law prevent the destruction of works? | 6 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94433/does-copyright-law-prevent-the-destruction-of-works | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Does copyright law, in any jurisdiction, prevent the owner of a physical instance of a copyrighted work from destroying it?</p>
<p>Are there other laws that allow the creator to prevent destruction of artworks by their owners?</p>
| 94,433 | [
{
"answer_id": 94434,
"body": "<h2>You own it</h2>\n<p>In general, if you own an object, you can do what you like with it if you otherwise comply with the law.</p>\n<p>It is possible that a particular object may be protected under heritage or similar law, but if it isn’t, and you comply with environmental a... | [
"copyright",
"any-jurisdiction"
] |
Playing a game I didn't purchase (until now) | -1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/52056/playing-a-game-i-didnt-purchase-until-now | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>For about 6 months I've been playing my brother's copy of the original DOOM and DOOM 2. He purchased it on Steam, however there is no DRM lock-in on the actual IWAD gamefiles (all that's required to play the games).</p>
<p>I became curious, at what point is it considered piracy. Lets begin with, I am playing it on his computer whenever he authorizes me to do so. Surely that can't be illegal. Later, I make a separate user account on Windows to play the same game (Steam has a feature of "Library sharing" on the same computer). </p>
<p>Lets then say that I install Linux on his computer and play the same game, just from a different OS and user account. Is that still legal? Its still on his physical computer, and we cannot both play it at the same time due to there only being one computer. The instance of Linux is entirely there for me, not something he cares to use. </p>
<p>Later I clone the Linux partition with all my files onto my own laptop, and play DOOM from there. At this point, we have 2 separate computers with the same exact original copy of one game. I'm guessing that isn't permitted by the EULA (not that anyone cares).</p>
<p>My question is, where does the law draw the line? At what point does it become against the license policy? </p>
<p>PS: I did actually end up buying the entire series, because I decided to record the MIDI music turning them into MP3's (and FLACs). </p>
<p>I am located in Canada, and forgot to metion I am playing this via source port "GZDoom" licensed under GNU GPL3+ and MIT. Only the gamefiles (IWAD's) are subject to standard copyright.</p>
| 52,056 | [
{
"answer_id": 52070,
"body": "<p>At the point where you copy the game files, including the WADs, onto a new machine the original licensee (your brother) does not have access to, you are infringing copyright.</p>\n<p>Merely copying the files onto a Linux partition won't constitute infringement as it's the s... | [
"eula",
"online-piracy"
] |
What is the origin of the term “court” as a reference to the judicial institution? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94588/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-court-as-a-reference-to-the-judicial-institutio | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Does the legal usage of the word court as in a court of law derive from the idea of a royal court, as an expression of the idea that the original courts of law were ultimately simple vehicles for the exercise or discharge of royal authority on behalf of the royal sovereign?</p>
<p>If not, then what is the origin of the use of the word court to denote the judicial institutions that we call courts of law?</p>
| 94,588 | [
{
"answer_id": 94590,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<p>Does the legal usage of the word court as in a court of law derive from the idea of a royal court, as an expression of the idea that the original courts of law were ultimately simple vehicles for the exercise or discharge of royal authority on behalf of the ro... | [
"legal-terms",
"legal-history"
] |
What's the default copyright transfer for a magazine article, in absence of a written contract? | 6 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94568/whats-the-default-copyright-transfer-for-a-magazine-article-in-absence-of-a-wr | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Suppose an author sells an article to a magazine in the United States, but without a written contract and without any oral discussion of what rights were being sold. The magazine comes out containing the article, and everyone is happy. Now, many years later, the magazine wants to include the article in a new bound volume of the magazine's contents, without further permission from or payment to the author. Can the author object?</p>
<p>In light of 17 USC sec. 204(a), I assume the burden of proof would be on the publisher to show a written agreement to transfer more than the right to publish the article once. And since there is no written agreement, the publisher would lose if the author took it to court.</p>
<p>So, it seems like a simple answer. But in the law I'm always amazed to discover different angles and factors I hadn't thought of. Hence this post.</p>
| 94,568 | [
{
"answer_id": 94570,
"body": "<h2>None</h2>\n<p><strong>Transfer</strong> of copyrights or exploitation rights <strong>always</strong> requires a written contract.</p>\n<p><strong>Licensing</strong> does not require a written contract.</p>\n<h2>HOWEVER....</h2>\n<p>"An author sells an article to a mag... | [
"copyright"
] |
Why are some sections of the US Code formatted so weirdly? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94580/why-are-some-sections-of-the-us-code-formatted-so-weirdly | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <h1>There are actually two questions here.</h1>
<p><strong>First</strong>, why are sections not in order? You have 28 USC §1 through §6, which talk about the Supreme Court, then you have §41 to §49 (appeals courts), then §81 to §144 (district courts) immediately afterwards.</p>
<p>Why is this? Does Congress do this sort of thing to emphasize the "separation" between the types of definitions, or is it just the case that they're "reserving" numbers in case they need to add something (like §40 before §41)? Other examples of this:</p>
<ul>
<li>17 USC §101 through §122, followed immediately by §201 to §205;</li>
<li>22 USC § 1 through §136, followed immediately by §141 to §183;</li>
<li>18 USC § 2381 through § 2391, followed immediately by § 2421 to § 2429.</li>
<li>51 USC § 10101 followed by § 20101, "implying" they skipped 10,100 sections (except they didn't).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Second</strong>, why do certain portions of the US Code look like, well, these oddly listed names? Did Congress just run out of numbers or were they trying to "squeeze an entirely new section" in but couldn't quite make it?</p>
<ul>
<li>16 USC §470x-6, § 470aaa, § 590z-11, §668ss</li>
<li>15 USC §77bbbb, 79z-6, 80b-21</li>
<li>22 USC §2799aa-2</li>
<li>42 USC §300mm-62, 1397mm, 2000aa-5, 2000bb-4, 2000gg-6</li>
</ul>
<p>To me the US Code looks like, well, spaghetti code. And I know lawyers are the ones who look at it and I think they probably couldn't care less about how it looks as long as the law is there, but I'm just curious as to why they opted for the approach of sticking random letters on some of the numbers.</p>
| 94,580 | [
{
"answer_id": 94583,
"body": "<p>Many of the titles in the U.S. Code <a href=\"https://uscode.house.gov/codification/positive_law_codification.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">are not positive codifications</a>. Instead they are consolidations, classifications, and editorial codifications made by the Offi... | [
"united-states",
"legal-history",
"legislative-drafting"
] |
How could someone whose trades are being copied be liable to the person who is doing the copying? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94567/how-could-someone-whose-trades-are-being-copied-be-liable-to-the-person-who-is-d | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p><a href="https://web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=nft-copytrader-tricked" rel="nofollow noreferrer">It is reported</a> that someone was copying the trades of a noted NFT trader. This noted NFT trader profited from this by making an inflated bids on one of his own NFTs, and when the copycat replicated the trades on other NFTs they were purchased for ~10 times the usual rate.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ThinkingETH/status/1687888745465536513" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The copycat (ThinkingETH) has since described</a> the loss as "stolen funds", and <a href="https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1687916676380033025?s=20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">someone said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I unironically think @ThinkingETH might have good legal claims to get their ETH back from the bot 'trick' if they hire a skilled litigator. Legally the issues are a bit more nuanced than they might be normatively from the standpoint of cryptotwitter.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is there a case here? Is there some nuanced issues that could mean that the seller is responsible for the seller to have "stolen" from the buyer? Is there a civil case to be made that the funds should be returned? Any jurisdiction would be interesting, as it seems to matter little where these events occur.</p>
| 94,567 | [
{
"answer_id": 94569,
"body": "<h2>This type of fraud is called <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shill#Auctions\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">shill bidding</a></h2>\n<p>Unless the rules of the auction allow it, a vendor is not permitted to bid on their own item. Even when they are, such vendor bids m... | [
"contract-law",
"theft",
"cryptocurrency"
] |
Is avoiding captcha illegal? | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94577/is-avoiding-captcha-illegal | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>This question came to mind reviewing <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/a/76858283/6213883">this</a> SO answer. There is this <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/1411/are-captcha-solver-farms-illegal">similar question here</a>, but it's 8 years old, and covers only the UK and north America.</p>
<p>So, I would like to know if, in the European Union, or at least in France, whether bypassing/avoiding captcha is illegal or not.</p>
| 94,577 | [
{
"answer_id": 94579,
"body": "<p>It’s not “bypassing the captcha” that is the problem, but accessing a server in a way that you are not allowed to.</p>\n<p>Say you are a human being, you visit a website, there’s a captcha, and your eyesight is quite bad. The website is ok with humans using the site. So ask... | [
"european-union",
"france"
] |
When does s3(1) of the Defamation Act *not* apply in malicious falesehood cases? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94574/when-does-s31-of-the-defamation-act-not-apply-in-malicious-falesehood-cases | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>To successfully bring a claim for maliicous falsehood in the UK, one has to show that one has suffered "special damages", which are actual damages suffered as a direct consequence of a malicious, false statement.</p>
<p>However, one does not have to do this if s3(1) of the Defamation Act 1952 applies. This is below:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In an action for slander of title, slander of goods or other malicious
falsehood, it shall not be necessary to allege or prove special
damage—</p>
<p>(a) if the words upon which the action is founded are
calculated to cause pecuniary damage to the plaintiff and are
published in writing or other permanent form; or</p>
<p>(b) if the said words
are calculated to cause pecuniary damage to the plaintiff in respect
of any office, profession, calling, trade or business held or carried
on by him at the time of the publication.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But surely this section of the Act would always apply. The loss suffered as a result of a statement is always going to be economic (e.g., lost investment, sales, etc.) and the statement being malicious means that it was intended to cause damage when it was made.</p>
<p>Thus, whis this section of the Act considered to be an exception to the general rule, when in fact it would seem to apply in all cases?</p>
| 94,574 | [
{
"answer_id": 94581,
"body": "<h3>The section exempts the plaintiff from having to prove or even plead special damages when they instead plead and prove that the words were intended to cause pecuniary (even if not yet realized) damages</h3>\n<p>This statutory exception has also been adopted in Canadian jur... | [
"united-kingdom",
"defamation",
"tort",
"damages"
] |
Can teachers search our dorms without our explicit consent if they have "suspicion"? | 24 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94486/can-teachers-search-our-dorms-without-our-explicit-consent-if-they-have-suspici | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I am a girl attending a boarding high school in the US. In June, some students who returned to the dorm early saw some male teachers exiting their rooms. They reportedly ran back to the school building without answering any questions when they saw the students. That night, multiple students shared that their drawers were seemingly searched and in some cases underwear and other things were missing.</p>
<p>In the monthly school meeting the search became the main topic. Eventually a high-ranking teacher attempted to clarify what happened. He claimed that they "had suspicion" that someone was hiding illegal firearms in their room, but they could not narrow it down so they had to search all the rooms, both the boys' and the girls'. They declined to explain any further on the reasoning behind the suspicion and merely added they reported it to the police and received permission. The session was then dismissed much earlier than usual.</p>
<p>The speaker was visibly shaking so I doubted that was the real reason. The distrust only grew when we contacted the local police and an officer told us that they never received such report from our school.</p>
<p>The rhetoric has changed ever since. Here is a non-exhaustive list of excuses they came up to cover up the situation.</p>
<ol>
<li>Local police authorized search due to firearm suspicions - debunked, never alerted the police</li>
<li>A majority of all students agreed to the search - debunked, no school-wide poll</li>
<li>The student council unanimously agreed to the search - debunked, no such topic was discussed</li>
<li>A majority of all parents agreed to the search - debunked, no such notice to parents</li>
<li>A majority of parents in the school board agreed to the search - debunked, never happened</li>
<li>The teachers were substituting dorm workers on vacation to fix dorm equipment - debunked, workers were present</li>
</ol>
<p>The list goes on and on and I find it pathetic that they are still not apologizing even though two months have passed and we are in vacation. I wonder, had at least one of the excuses listed above been true, would that have validated male teachers from intruding our private space? If our parents or our student representatives agree, can they really enter our rooms even though we were never asked nor notified about it?</p>
| 94,486 | [
{
"answer_id": 94489,
"body": "<p>A private school in the US is not bound by the 4th Amendment requirement for searches to be "reasonable", just as parents do not need a search warrant to search your room. Instead, limitations would arise from contract law. This typically means that per the contra... | [
"united-states",
"privacy",
"jurisdiction",
"search-and-seizure",
"school"
] |
Can a company demand employees use part of their paycheck to buy their services? | 5 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94544/can-a-company-demand-employees-use-part-of-their-paycheck-to-buy-their-services | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>A retail chain my friend worked for wanted to boost sales of a membership that included benefits like free shipping and preferred pricing. They gave each employee a small bonus on 1 paycheck equal to the price of the membership and employees were told the bonus was to be used to buy a membership for themselves. Apparently, they believed it would help employees sell the membership if they experienced the benefits themselves.</p>
<p>From the company's perspective, sales of the membership at POS were an important metric for the company; there were long-term company goals for membership sales. Presumably they gave employees money for the membership instead of the membership itself so they could transact more sales and claim to be closer to hitting their total sales goal.</p>
<p>Was it legal for the company to make this additional payment while requiring it be used to buy their own service?</p>
| 94,544 | [
{
"answer_id": 94552,
"body": "<p>If the employee has the choice - bonus and membership, or no bonus - then I expect the offer to be legal. Since it is a real bonus and part of your salary you will have to pay income tax on it.</p>\n<p>What might be illegal, but not your concern, is if your company tells in... | [
"united-states",
"payment"
] |
How can I ensure I am contacted when a specific relative dies or is hospitalised? | 8 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94439/how-can-i-ensure-i-am-contacted-when-a-specific-relative-dies-or-is-hospitalised | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I have an Uncle in declining years that lives a state or two away. Is there any protocol for having local emergency services call my cell should my Uncle be taken to hospital, becomes unconscious, passes away?</p>
<p>I have spoken with him, know his wishes, and call weekly, but circumstances may arise. How would I receive a call if he is not able to call me or communicate with emergency personal?</p>
| 94,439 | [
{
"answer_id": 94449,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<p>How would I receive a call if he is not able to call me or communicate\nwith emergency personal?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>There is no ironclad method. The law does not specify how authorities should determine contact information for next of kin. As a practical m... | [
"united-states",
"medical",
"new-jersey",
"emergencies"
] |
Can I use my browser to change the prices of things I buy online? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/1239/can-i-use-my-browser-to-change-the-prices-of-things-i-buy-online | CC BY-SA 3.0 | <p>I can use Chrome's inspector tools to modify my local copy of the html on websites I visit. After changing the prices on a page in this way, for some websites I believe I can actually proceed through a checkout process, and buy items at whatever new altered price I want. </p>
<p>What kind of trouble can I get into for this - if any?</p>
| 1,239 | [
{
"answer_id": 1244,
"body": "<p>You can get arrested for theft and/or fraud. This is not some new way to steal items; changing price tags started approximately the day after price tags were invented. Some state laws handle it explicitly, some implicitly; for instance, Maryland defines "deception"... | [
"united-states"
] |
Vietnamese branch of international company with too few sick leave days | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/78533/vietnamese-branch-of-international-company-with-too-few-sick-leave-days | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Suppose that a person A recently got a job in Vietnam from an international company based in Europe. FIt ism my understanding that the minimal sick leave days required in Vietnam is 30 days, but this company has it in the single digits.</p>
<p>Is this company violating Vietnamese labor laws? If yes, what can A do about it?</p>
| 78,533 | [
{
"answer_id": 78541,
"body": "<p><strong>Such a person is not necessarily covered by Vietnamese employment law.</strong></p>\n<p>It is common for employees from one country to work in another - that does not automatically make them subject to the second country’s employment law. Temporary overseas assignme... | [
"labor-law",
"vietnam"
] |
Does any state legislature explicitly prohibit the use of playing cards in school? | 15 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94537/does-any-state-legislature-explicitly-prohibit-the-use-of-playing-cards-in-schoo | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I am a Math teacher in a private school in the US. A majority of students consider probability and statistics a very boring topic and tend to focus significantly less compared to other topics. So last semester I reworked the curriculum and started playing games with decks of playing cards. I encouraged students to calculate probabilities, expected values, etc then come up with strategies to improve their odds of winning. I saw a meaningful boost in both engagement and grades.</p>
<p>I shared this teaching method in a message group. Some public school teachers liked the idea but had reservations about the legality of the content. They were worried about playing cards' connection to gambling, which could "raise the eyebrows of school boards and other authorities". As far as I know minors playing card games is fine as long as there is no money or other things that have monetary value on the line.</p>
<p>Of course school districts could decide to ban such content if they considered it undesirable, but is there any education-related legislation in any state that explicitly states that "material that incites or resembles real-life gambling" cannot be used in schools, blocking them from being introduced to the classroom in the first place?</p>
| 94,537 | [
{
"answer_id": 94540,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/england\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'england'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'england'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-england-tooltip-container\">england</a></p>\n<p>Quite the opposite; although p... | [
"united-states",
"education",
"gambling",
"school"
] |
Theoretical vs. Actual Speed Limit | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94538/theoretical-vs-actual-speed-limit | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>One of the peculiarities of Texas is that it's normal for people to drive 5-10 MPH over the speed limit while on the interstate. Provided they're not doing a speed trap, the police generally don't care.</p>
<p>Another of Texas's peculiarities is that most drivers don't respect reduced speed limits for construction zones unless there's a speed trap or it's dangerous to go normal speeds.</p>
<p>As a result, if you drive the speed limit, you can conceivably end up driving 15 mph slower than everybody else in construction zones. This is unsafe for you and everybody else on the surrounding road.</p>
<p>Say that you're going the speed limit, and someone hits you because you're going 15 mph slower than the prevailing traffic conditions. Are you liable? You're following the speed limit, but by doing so you made yourself a danger to those around you.</p>
| 94,538 | [
{
"answer_id": 94551,
"body": "<p>The situation in Texas is complicated. Driving faster than the posted maximum speed limit is not in and of itself a crime; rather, per <a href=\"https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TN/htm/TN.545.htm#545.352\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Texas Transportation Code 545.352(a)</a>,... | [
"united-states",
"traffic",
"texas"
] |
Is it illegal to take pictures of the police in public in Germany? | 35 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94506/is-it-illegal-to-take-pictures-of-the-police-in-public-in-germany | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I visited Cologne last year. I was taking a selfie with my phone's inner camera in front of a monument. I was unaware that my phone's outer camera was facing police officers conducting checks. One of them noticed it and approached me. He saw the picture of me with the monument instead of them, apologized for his misunderstanding then went back to work.</p>
<p>Is it an offense to photograph the police in Germany? I searched multiple websites but people gave very different answers and opinions, even on the same forum. I've never been charged for such offense anywhere in the EU but Germany is well known for its strict privacy laws and I do not wish to break any laws.</p>
<p>If it is indeed illegal and I get fined for it, will my past record add extra burden every time I visit Germany such as extra checks or questioning? Or is it something I can brush off since I live in Schengen anyway?</p>
| 94,506 | [
{
"answer_id": 94507,
"body": "<h2>No, but...</h2>\n<p>It is not an offense to photograph people, especially if they are just caught at the edge or out of the center of the photography. <strong>However</strong> you do not have a right to photograph people either. In fact, under German law, you have to gain ... | [
"privacy",
"police",
"germany",
"photography",
"schengen"
] |
What, if any, is the tolerance built into speed limits in India? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/78385/what-if-any-is-the-tolerance-built-into-speed-limits-in-india | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Jurisdiction: India
Legislation: Central Motor Vehicles Act</p>
<p>Sub-jurisdiction: Maharashtra
Legislation: Mumbai Motor Vehicles Act</p>
<p>Speed limits in India are according to the referenced article below. In many nations, there is actually a grace of +5km/hr, or similar value so that any inadvertent gain (e.g. slope of carriageway, downwind) does not result in a fine.</p>
<p>Is there any similar grace/speed tolerance in India?</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_India" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_India</a></p>
| 78,385 | [
{
"answer_id": 78389,
"body": "<p><strong>What, if any, is the tolerance built into speed limits in India?</strong></p>\n<p>None in statute (that I can find), but the police may have an informal policy<sup>1</sup>\nto allow for other factors like inaccuracies in one's speedometer and misreading the needle d... | [
"india",
"speeding"
] |
In France, can the insurance not apply if my motorcycle has racing parts? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/in-france-can-the-insurance-not-apply-if-my-motorcycle-has-racing-parts | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I have a motorcycle in France that is insured. For clarification, I do ride on road and not on a circuit.</p>
<p>Doing some maintenance, I changed the air filter to a racing one that says to increase air flow (and therefore performances). In the description of the filter is written "Competition use on closed circuit only." and the filter has a different color to clearly indicate it's a racing one. For precision, there is a similar air filter said to be for "performance" that does not contain the "Competition use on closed circuit only." line in the description nor the special color and with smaller indicated air flow.</p>
<p>In case of an accident (responsible or not), can my "all-risks" insurance not apply because of this ?</p>
| 94,527 | [
{
"answer_id": 94528,
"body": "<h2>Racing parts generally lack EWG certification and thus roadworthiness certificates</h2>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.tuningblog.eu/fr/cat%C3%A9gories/wiki-de-r%C3%A9glage/Permis-d%27exploitation-ewg-235351/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">A part needs to have an EWG registratio... | [
"liability",
"insurance",
"france",
"motorcycle"
] |
Is there a bright line for witness, prosecutor & judge intimidation? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94493/is-there-a-bright-line-for-witness-prosecutor-judge-intimidation | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/special-counsel-alerts-court-trumps-social-media-post/story?id=102037053" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ABC News reports:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Trump on Friday afternoon had posted a message to his social media
platform, Truth Social, saying, "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER
YOU!"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am curious as to how the legal community will process the tweet. I'd like to understand if there is a "bright line" so as to determine if it has been crossed.</p>
| 94,493 | [
{
"answer_id": 94494,
"body": "<p>The only bright line regards the First Amendment. <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1512\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">18 USC 1512</a> articulates a line that is not to be crossed, but it is not clear where the line is as regards speech (subsection (a)(1)... | [
"freedom-of-speech"
] |
Is it generally legally allowed for UK police to lie to people in the regular course of discharging their policing duties? | 7 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/84483/is-it-generally-legally-allowed-for-uk-police-to-lie-to-people-in-the-regular-co | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Generally speaking can one count on the words coming out of a British police officer in uniforms mouth as truthful? Under what circumstances is it permitted not to be? Is there any special circumstances or authorizations that are required for them to be permitted to lie? If so, what are these?</p>
| 84,483 | [
{
"answer_id": 94532,
"body": "<p>It seems to not be allowed for a UK police to lie.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/contents\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984</a> makes it illegal for the police to mislead a suspect in order... | [
"united-kingdom",
"england-and-wales",
"police",
"police-power"
] |
"In person" in UK practice | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94504/in-person-in-uk-practice | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>If the record of a UK civil hearing identifies a party as being "in person", does that mean that the defendant was physically present or that the court had not been informed that the defendant had professional representation?</p>
<p>There are actually three hearings involved. In (1), a court ruled in favour of the plaintiff "in default", I believe the defendant did not attend. In (2), the ruling was vacated due to an administrative irregularity without either party's direct involvement. In (3), the plaintiff's application for the vacation to be vacated (I'm sure there's a better way of putting that...) was rejected, but despite this being primarily between the plaintiff and the court the defendant was identified as "in person".</p>
<p>I've had a fairly detailed explanation of what happened from the plaintiff, but I'm trying to work out what the defendant's position regarding the third hearing was.</p>
| 94,504 | [
{
"answer_id": 94519,
"body": "<p>I don't think the record keeping of the lower courts that grant the majority of default judgments is consistent enough to confidently say what "in person" means, especially without a copy of the document to read in its full context. However, it probably means that... | [
"united-kingdom",
"legal-terms",
"civil-procedure"
] |
What is a "strata lot"? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94514/what-is-a-strata-lot | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>In relation to real property, what is a "strata lot"?</p>
| 94,514 | [
{
"answer_id": 94515,
"body": "<p>A strata lot is a unit of real property resulting from the division of property into lots as per a "strata plan" under the <a href=\"https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/98043_00_multi\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>Strata Property Ac... | [
"legal-terms",
"british-columbia",
"any-jurisdiction",
"real-property",
"strata-property"
] |
When does a cogeneration plant feed power to the net, according to the german KWK-G 2015? | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/29850/when-does-a-cogeneration-plant-feed-power-to-the-net-according-to-the-german-kw | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>§7 (1) of the current german <a href="https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/kwkg_2016/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">KWK-G</a> (Law concerning co-generation plants) makes a huge difference for power fed into the grid, or not. Say an installation consumes 150-200 kW contiually, and operates a 100kW el CHP - so there's never any net backfeed into the net. This describes a typical sewage gas CHP at a wastewater plant. Is this cogeneration plant feeding into the net according to §7 (1)?</p>
<p>The relevant wording is <em>"Der Zuschlag für KWK-Strom, der in ein Netz der allgemeinen Versorgung eingespeist wird, beträgt: ..."</em></p>
| 29,850 | [
{
"answer_id": 94523,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<p>(1) Der Zuschlag für KWK-Strom, der in ein Netz der allgemeinen Versorgung eingespeist wird und auf den die §§ 61e bis 61g und 104 Absatz 4 des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes in der am 31. Dezember 2022 geltenden Fassung nicht anzuwenden sind, beträgt...</p>\n<... | [
"germany",
"legal-terms"
] |
Is the District of Columbia a "territory"? | 4 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94521/is-the-district-of-columbia-a-territory | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Within the boundaries of the United States there were at various times "organized incorporated territories", that were not a part of any of the states and whose governments were organized by acts of Congress rather than by a state constitution drafted by statesmen within the state and enacted by the voters of the state, and that, unlike the states, had no voting representatives or senators in Congress. (Somewhat like the three territories of northern Canada today, I think?) Is the District of Columbia simply an instance of that phenomenon, or is there some essential difference?</p>
| 94,521 | [
{
"answer_id": 94522,
"body": "<p><a href=\"https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-8/clause-17/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Art. I Sec. 8 Cl. 17</a> states that "The Congress shall have Power"</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such\... | [
"district-of-columbia"
] |
Strata bylaw about secondary suite in Lower mainland area | 0 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94454/strata-bylaw-about-secondary-suite-in-lower-mainland-area | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>The townhome is in Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada and the strata by-law states</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Secondary suites within Strata Lots are prohibited. Should any Owner of
a Strata Lot be found to have constructed a secondary suite within his or
her or any other Strata Lot located in the Strata Plan, the Strata Council
shall be entitled to take any one or more of the following actions:
(a) take all necessary steps to remove the secondary suite;
(b) notwithstanding section 25 (1) of these Bylaws, levy a fine not to
exceed $50.00 per day for each day the Owner is in contravention,
such fine to be added to and form part of the month’s assessment
or levy to be collected by the Strata Council from the Owner of the
Strata Lot and the Strata Council are hereby authorized to take all
necessary steps to collect such amounts from any Owner;
(c) evict the tenant in accordance with section 138 of the Strata
Property Act;
(d) seek a declaration from any Court of competent jurisdiction with
regard to the enforcement with limitation and/or an injunction to
prevent the continuation of the secondary suite within a Strata Lot;
and upon receiving such declaration or injunction, costs shall be
the responsibility of the Strata Lot Owner contravening the
provisions of the Bylaw and shall be recoverable on a solicitor and
own client basis by the Strata Corporation; and
(e) should any portion of Bylaw 2 (2) be deemed unenforceable by any
competent jurisdiction, then for purposes of interpretation and
enforcement of the Bylaw, each sub-paragraph hereof shall be
deemed a separate provision and severable, and the balance of
the provisions contained herein shall remain in full force and effect.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The unit already has a living room, bedroom, bathroom and Laundry which are legal and approved by the strata.</p>
<p>If we were to rent it out, we are considering adding a kitchenette ie a Refrigerator, Small Induction top stove/Rice cooker/Electric Hot pot/Coffee maker and microwave i.e. Regular kitchen appliances other than a full size gas.</p>
<p>Will this be flouting the by-law? Would adding the above setup for a small kitchenette make it a secondary suite? Could that be problematic in any way?</p>
<p>**Strata does not define any rental restrictions in BC by the law.
They have just the secondary suite restriction.</p>
| 94,454 | [
{
"answer_id": 94464,
"body": "<p>You will need look up the definition of a "secondary suite" and include that in your question for a better answer.</p>\n<p>Where I live this is called an ADU, for Auxiliary Dwelling Unit. The definition of an ADU specifies permanent facilities for sleeping, sanit... | [
"canada",
"british-columbia",
"hoa",
"strata-property"
] |
California being more powerful than the federal government | -5 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94143/california-being-more-powerful-than-the-federal-government | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>The federal government has the power of administrative wage garnishment. This allows it to complete a levy by filling a form rather than filing a collection lawsuit and using courts. It is still an administrative procedure, there is still a form to issue.</p>
<p>The California Franchise Tax Board bypasses this entirely. It is mechanistically able to levy my chase bank account for $3000 just by calling chase and never even mailing a physical judgement.</p>
<p>Under procedural behavior, California has more power to levy bank accounts than the federal government does, it doesn't even need an administrative process to do it. This is probably unconstitutional as California can "get levies out" faster than the federal government and "win" the race to get funds first.</p>
<p>Does this violate the Supremacy Clause?</p>
| 94,143 | [
{
"answer_id": 94146,
"body": "<p>Your premise that California's tax collection powers are greater than federal tax collection powers is basically wrong.</p>\n<p>Both California and the federal government carry out most of their due process functions within their respective tax collection agencies in an adm... | [
"california"
] |
Are Technological Standards bodies required to be approved by the government? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94510/are-technological-standards-bodies-required-to-be-approved-by-the-government | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>In the interest of cross vendor compatibility, the method by which different technologies interoperate is often standardized. This means that a non binding agreement is made between multiple parties to abide by rules set forth in a documented standard.</p>
<p>Examples of this include The USB Device Working Group, Jedec, The C++ Standards Committee, and PCI-SIG.</p>
<p>While presumably in the public's interest, these groups appear to be a fragrant violation of antitrust laws. Do they require a special license to operate?</p>
<p>If so, what would such a license look like and what agency would issue it?</p>
| 94,510 | [
{
"answer_id": 94512,
"body": "<p>Standards-setting by industry groups is not inherently anti-competitive and these groups do not require a licence from the government to operate. They are a prototypical example of "private ordering" (see David J. Teece & Edward F. Sherry, "Standards Sett... | [
"us-federal-government",
"antitrust-law"
] |
Can privacy regulations prevent my alma mater from sharing the fact that I graduated there? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94509/can-privacy-regulations-prevent-my-alma-mater-from-sharing-the-fact-that-i-gradu | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I graduated from some private high school a long time ago. During my years there, I have experienced and witnessed a variety of dubious practices that violate students' rights. I always wanted to leave but never had the necessary resources nor support to execute my plan. Due to this I never associate myself with my school, not even in my resumés.</p>
<p>Recently I received an honorable mention in an invention competition. I was so proud of myself until I searched the name of the competition on Google. On page 1 a familiar name popped up. It was my school's name. When I clicked on it, I saw my name in a school blog post.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>John Doe's remarkable feat in Blah Blah Invention Competition</p>
<p>John Doe, Class of 2000 has won an honorable mention in ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I was so surprised that they heard the news in the first place, considering the fact that I cut off all contact with the school admin and peers after I became an adult. I didn't want my name on that page, especially given the fact that some alumni have started to come out about what they suffered in school in recent years. Can I prevent them from using the fact that I graduated their school on their website by citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act(FERPA) or others? Or is this fair game per first amendment grounds and am I out of luck?</p>
| 94,509 | [
{
"answer_id": 94511,
"body": "<p>The privacy rule is spelled out <a href=\"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-A/part-99\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a>. Subpart D addresses disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records, saying when consent is required vs. not r... | [
"united-states",
"privacy",
"personal-information",
"school",
"ferpa"
] |
What legal designation status does the Ukrainian flag possess, and what recent changes has it had to its status? | 0 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94503/what-legal-designation-status-does-the-ukrainian-flag-possess-and-what-recent-c | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Under the town and country planning act, flags have three possible designations.</p>
<p>What is the designation of the Ukrainian flag, and what has been its most recent changes of status?</p>
| 94,503 | [
{
"answer_id": 94505,
"body": "<p>The flag of Ukraine is a "Class H" advertisement under Schedule 1 of the <a href=\"https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/783\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007</em></a>, seconda... | [
"england-and-wales",
"flag"
] |
Which law rules polygraphs inadmissible in UK? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94490/which-law-rules-polygraphs-inadmissible-in-uk | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Where does it say that polygraph tests (lie detector tests) are inadmissible under law in England and Wales?</p>
<p>I am mostly interested in their usage being disallowed for criminal (both Magistrates' Court and Crown Court) and civil matters. However, if they were allowed elsewhere, such as for employment tribunals, that would be useful knowledge.</p>
| 94,490 | [
{
"answer_id": 94492,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/canada\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'canada'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'canada'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-canada-tooltip-container\">canada</a></p>\n<p>See <em>R. v. Béland</em>, <a href=... | [
"united-kingdom",
"criminal-law",
"england-and-wales",
"civil-law",
"common-law"
] |
whether entitled to reward or not | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94465/whether-entitled-to-reward-or-not | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Tam lost his wireless airpods in the campus. He advertised online and near the campus, a reward of $50 to who returns the lost earphones.</p>
<p>Sania found them and went to return it. But next day she saw the advertisement and claim the reward. Advise Tam.</p>
| 94,465 | [
{
"answer_id": 94473,
"body": "<h2>Sania is entitled to a reward of 7,50€.</h2>\n<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/germany\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'germany'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'germany'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-germany-tooltip-container\">... | [
"australia"
] |
If for some reason the Canadian Parliament had the idea to impeach and convict someone, what would be the legal implications of that? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94287/if-for-some-reason-the-canadian-parliament-had-the-idea-to-impeach-and-convict-s | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I am 100% aware of what a no confidence motion is. This is emphatically not what I am referring to.</p>
<p>Impeachment is an unambiguous right of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to have, having been used for centuries even though nobody has been convicted in the last 200, starting in the Good Parliament of 1376 with the impeachment of Baron Latimer. The Commons can impeach and the Lords can convict anyone except the King of anything which is illegal under the laws. The King can pardon fines and imprisonment but cannot pardon the bar from office if the Lords applies such a thing as per the 1701 Act of Settlement.</p>
<p>Nobody has ever been impeached before in Canada.</p>
<p>Canada clearly has words in the Constitution to make its own similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and impeachment was attempted only 19 years before confederation in 1848. The accused survived a Commons vote, but nobody doubted the legal authority of the Commons was still valid.</p>
<p>Assume that the speaker either goes along with it, or else is sacked by the Commons and a pro impeachment speaker put in their place, or the Commons resolves to amend the rules letting them bypass a speaker who is an opponent of impeachment.</p>
<p>Then what?</p>
| 94,287 | [
{
"answer_id": 94364,
"body": "<p>Section 18 of the Constitution Act 1867 states:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The privileges, immunities, and powers to be held, enjoyed, and\nexercised by the Senate and by the House of Commons, and by the\nmembers thereof respectively, shall be such as are from time to time\ndef... | [
"common-law",
"impeachment"
] |
Can students transfer to a new high school purely on their will? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94495/can-students-transfer-to-a-new-high-school-purely-on-their-will | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>My high school life was subpar at the very least. I was constantly bullied and never received the necessary protection from school staff. This coupled with dwindling grades created a negative feedback loop. My health was degrading both mentally and physically so I consulted the school counselor. She was unwilling to provide any help let alone documents needed for a transfer. My custodial parent wasn't any more supportive either, so I gave up on the idea and kept going to school, barely meeting the requirements for graduation.</p>
<p>It's been almost two decades since I graduated and left NYC, but bad memories still haunt me to this day. From time to time I wonder whether I might have been able to switch schools without the school's nor my custodial parent's consent, had I known better.</p>
<p>Can students struggling like me submit transfer applications on their own to move to another school unsponsored? Does the availability of such choices vary by state?</p>
| 94,495 | [
{
"answer_id": 94496,
"body": "<p>The primary question is whether the target school can/must accept you. A private school is not compelled to accept you, a public school might be. Because of the law compelling you (as a minor) to go to school, some public school will have to accept you as a student. However... | [
"united-states",
"new-york-state",
"new-york-city",
"school",
"students"
] |
Are surveillance laws in EU member states necessary and proportionate? | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94468/are-surveillance-laws-in-eu-member-states-necessary-and-proportionate | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>On the 10th of July the EU Commission adopted a new adequacy decision, as a successor to the failed Safe Harbour and Privacy Shield agreements, to allow data transfers from the EU to the USA. The two areas this covers are legal redress if data is wrongly handled, and the question if the surveillance laws that allow the US government to collect data are "necessary and proportionate".</p>
<p>As a citizen of a EU member state I am happy that these questions are addressed. What I do wonder is if we (as in "we, the EU") ask more from others than we are prepared to deliver ourselves, because of course every EU member state has their own surveillance laws and agencies, and constitutional protections only apply to their own nationals, and the GDPR applies only to EU residents. It does not seem like we offer any protection e.g. to the data of US nationals that is processed in the EU (I might be wrong here, but such laws are certainly not broadly discussed if they exist).</p>
<p>I am also not sure if national laws are always particularly proportional - e.g. in my native Germany, the Bundesnachrichtendienst has a right by law to listen in to telecommunication world wide; while it says that complete surveillance is unlawful, the constraint is that they have to restrict themselves to not tap into more than 30% of global telecommunication networks at the same time. If your constraint exceeds your actual capabilities, then for practical purposes you do not have a constraint at all.</p>
<p>So, would surveillance in the EU pass muster under the GDPR, or does the EU ask for protections for its citizens that it is not willing to grant to foreigners?</p>
<p>I am not asking for a line-by-line discussion of specific laws, that would be impractical, but I am curious if if this has been discussed as a part of the process that resulted in the GDPR or the adequacy decisions, and if so, if the discussion had any influence on the proceedings.</p>
| 94,468 | [
{
"answer_id": 94477,
"body": "<h2>These are only tangentially related to the GDPR</h2>\n<p>A government entity processing data in accordance with a member state law is <em>ipso facto</em> in compliance with the GDPR.</p>\n<p>That’s because lawful government data processing is a legitimate reason for proces... | [
"gdpr",
"surveillance"
] |
Citizenship of a US State (or German Land, or Canadian province, or US/Canadian territory) | 7 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94352/citizenship-of-a-us-state-or-german-land-or-canadian-province-or-us-canadian | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Does any of the US states or aforementioned entities maintain a legal status comparable to that of citizenship/nationality, specific to people who are for example born in that state or have acquired that citizenship by rules fixed by the state?</p>
<p>Something like that would include, for example, specific protection abroad (= out of the state, incl in another US state) by the state's government, additional rights within the state as opposed to those only having the federal citizenship, or the state for example trying to impede or decide how is conducted a federal suit within its boundaries on people having their citizenship...</p>
<p>I think this is somewhat the case for Indian reservations, which are more independant with the federal government than the states are.</p>
| 94,352 | [
{
"answer_id": 94360,
"body": "<p><a href=\"/questions/tagged/germany\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'germany'\" aria-label=\"show questions tagged 'germany'\" rel=\"tag\" aria-labelledby=\"tag-germany-tooltip-container\">germany</a></p>\n<p>German Länder do not provide a... | [
"federalism"
] |
Does the right to a speedy trial extend to the prosecution? | 8 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94478/does-the-right-to-a-speedy-trial-extend-to-the-prosecution | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the defendant the right to a speedy trial. In comments related to Donald Trump's latest arraignment, his lawyer suggested that Donald Trump doesn't want a speedy trial.</p>
<p>Has a ruling ever held that the right to a speedy trial extends to the prosecution, or that the defendant cannot waive this right? The unlimited ability to delay the trial by the defendant would open the door to all sorts of abuses.</p>
| 94,478 | [
{
"answer_id": 94479,
"body": "<p>The Sixth Amendment is very specific: "[T]he accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy[...] trial." There is no such constitutional right given to the prosecution, and such a right would not serve the public interest. Defendants very often waive their right to a s... | [
"united-states",
"sixth-amendment"
] |
Does the First Amendment shield the previous president from the August 2023 D.C. Indictments? | -2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94453/does-the-first-amendment-shield-the-previous-president-from-the-august-2023-d-c | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>The former president is <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">charged</a> with:</p>
<p>Count 1: 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Conspiracy to Defraud the United States)</p>
<p>Count 2: 18 U.S.C. § 1512(k) (Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding)</p>
<p>Count 3: 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(c)(2), 2 (Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding)</p>
<p>Count 4: 18 U.S.C. § 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights)</p>
<p>As I understand it, the charges are based on what was said by Donald Trump. Is there a standard / caselaw that provides a speech litmus test to determine whether any of said counts are violated?</p>
| 94,453 | [
{
"answer_id": 94455,
"body": "<p>The constitutionality of each of the charges is well supported and there is no really viable First Amendment defense to any of them.</p>\n<p>There is literally a <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/criminal/file/1029066/download\" rel=\"noreferrer\">U.S. Justice Department ha... | [
"united-states",
"criminal-law",
"freedom-of-speech",
"elections"
] |
Restriction of freedom of expression in the case of sympathy for terrorist organisations | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94469/restriction-of-freedom-of-expression-in-the-case-of-sympathy-for-terrorist-organ | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>There is a number of organisations which are listed by the US government as terrorist organisations - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_designated_terrorist_groups" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a></p>
<p>What are the legal implications of this in relation to the 1st Amendment? If, for example, there is somebody who is non-violently expressing sympathy for the goals of an organisation declared as terrorist by the US government, is that illegal in the US?</p>
| 94,469 | [
{
"answer_id": 94474,
"body": "<p>The U.S. Department of State maintains the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) and along with other government departments are charged with the process of making said designations. Under U.S. Law, it is illegal to provide material support to any FTO with Materia... | [
"united-states",
"first-amendment",
"terrorism"
] |
What is the judicial rationale for introducing the grainger test to qualify beliefs? | -3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94292/what-is-the-judicial-rationale-for-introducing-the-grainger-test-to-qualify-beli | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/10?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Section 10 Equality Act 2010</a> seems very clear that “belief means <em>any</em> religious or philosophical belief”. (Emphasis added)</p>
<p>Yet, the employment tribunal in <em>Grainger</em> set down a five limb test which functions to exclude certain philosophical beliefs from protection of the act.</p>
<p>But how can that be read to exclude “any” beliefs from protection, however frivolous, or however unsavourily transphobic or fascist they may be? More to the point, how did the tribunal account in this for the word “any”?</p>
<p>(Note: I am referring mainly to the judicially set down “grainger test”.)</p>
| 94,292 | [
{
"answer_id": 94472,
"body": "<p>As revised, I think this question is really asking <em>why</em> the judge in <a href=\"https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2009/0219_09_0311.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>Grainger plc v Nicholson</em> [2009] UKEAT 0219_09_0311</a> laid down the test that he did, ... | [
"united-kingdom",
"interpretation",
"judiciary",
"equality-act-2010"
] |
What are the consequences of "band" membership under Canada's Indian Act? | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94457/what-are-the-consequences-of-band-membership-under-canadas-indian-act | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Canada's <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-5/FullText.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Indian Act</em>, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-5</a> recognizes "bands," "members of a band," and "Band Lists."</p>
<p>A band may control its own membership according to membership rules it creates for itself, and with the consent of the majority of the electors of the band.</p>
<p>What are the consequences of membership in an <em>Indian Act</em> band?</p>
| 94,457 | [
{
"answer_id": 94458,
"body": "<p>The consequences of membership in a band include the following:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>this is one path to entitlement to be registered as an Indian in the Indian Register (see s. 6(1)(b)) and all the consequences of that registration;</li>\n<li>eligibility for certificates of poss... | [
"canada",
"aboriginal-law"
] |
FOIA website - 90% of requests are "Under Agency Review"? What am I missing? | 0 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94201/foia-website-90-of-requests-are-under-agency-review-what-am-i-missing | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p><a href="https://foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/search/advancedSearch" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/search/advancedSearch</a></p>
<p>The vast majority of entries on "Under Agency Review" with no details, requester names or requester organizations. Even requests submitted back in 2020. What am I missing? <strong>Does the FOIA just never get round to 90% of requests or is there something else?</strong></p>
<hr />
<p>ETA: My question is different than the one answered here: <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/65173/foia-request-takes-too-long">FOIA request takes too long</a></p>
| 94,201 | [
{
"answer_id": 94452,
"body": "<p>Government compliance with FOIA is notoriously bad. I found the following article in the Duke Law Journal illuminating: <a href=\"https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3846&context=dlj\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">FOIA, INC.</a>. There are some... | [
"united-states",
"foia"
] |
Is termination of (employment) contract binding, without regarding estoppel/waiver | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/86740/is-termination-of-employment-contract-binding-without-regarding-estoppel-waiv | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I am speaking in the sense of employment contract, but I believe the same scenario is applicable to all kinds of contracts.</p>
<p>The employer exercises their power to terminate Alice, and pay in lieu of notice as required by law (and also contract). Employer and Employee signed a document stating the above.</p>
<p>However a few days later, the employer changed his mind and decided that it is a summary dismissal, and he will not pay in lieu of notice (as it is not required by law and employment contract).</p>
<p>Let's assume for academic purpose we can not argue from the point of waiver by election/waiver by estoppel, and the legality of summary dismissal itself.</p>
<p>What I want to ask is</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Can the employer switch from termination to summary dismissal? (which I believe is yes, as most judgement I see only argues employer cannot go back in his word because of waiver)</p>
</li>
<li><p>Is the termination document a binding contract, especially considering</p>
<p>a. Does it have a consideration, i.e. can the termination itself be a consideration?</p>
<p>b. Does it constitute an agreement, as employee cannot actually refuse it?</p>
</li>
<li><p>My ultimate goal is actually only to get the payment in lieu of notice, are there any other way to do that, other than argue on the legality of summary dismissal / waiver?</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>In general, is there any way to protect termination of contract, if termination itself is not binding? I am sure I miss something as I cannot believe the world works like that.</p>
| 86,740 | [
{
"answer_id": 86756,
"body": "<h2>The signed document is almost certainly a contract</h2>\n<p>See <a href=\"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/6263/what-is-a-contract-and-what-is-required-for-them-to-be-valid\">What is a contract and what is required for them to be valid?</a></p>\n<p>It contains all t... | [
"contract-law",
"employment"
] |
What is jury nullification? | 33 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/108/what-is-jury-nullification | CC BY-SA 3.0 | <p>What is jury nullification and what are its origins and history? What actions by a juror would be considered nullification?</p>
| 108 | [
{
"answer_id": 112,
"body": "<p>Quoting from <a href=\"http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/nullification.html\">here</a>,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Jury nullification occurs when a jury returns a verdict of \"Not Guilty\" despite its belief that the defendant is guilty of the violation char... | [
"legal-history",
"jury-nullification"
] |
Property and Intestacy when married | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94421/property-and-intestacy-when-married | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>What happens to property without a will while it is in probate?</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/individual-retirement-arrangements-iras" rel="nofollow noreferrer">IRA</a> with a named beneficiary is exempt from probate.
A house in joint tenancy does not pass through probate.
However, say a car is titled in only one spouse's name.</p>
<p>What would actually happen with the registration, title, etc?</p>
<p>The car can not be used by the living spouse?</p>
<p>The auto itself goes into probate?</p>
| 94,421 | [
{
"answer_id": 94424,
"body": "<p>Any property of a decedent which does not evade probate because of a transfer on death deed is subject to probate. It turns out that this probate avoidance in New York <em>can</em> include one automobile within a family, <a href=\"https://dmv.ny.gov/forms/mv843.pdf\" rel=\"... | [
"new-york-state",
"wills",
"probate"
] |
Conditions of a signed lease | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94444/conditions-of-a-signed-lease | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I've been renting a house for about 7 years now. For the first year we had a signed lease. After that, its never been renewed. I just pay rent every month. No problems.
My question ... do the condition of that signed lease apply now?
For example, the lease contained a late fee of $50 if the rent was more than 4 days late.
Would that still apply?</p>
| 94,444 | [
{
"answer_id": 94447,
"body": "<p>You are likely now a holdover tenant, as you have stated that you continue to pay your original monthly rental payments. Check original lease and investigate what happens at end of lease.</p>\n<p>P.S. As your original question does not state a rent increase, may want to pay... | [
"tenant",
"residential-lease",
"new-mexico"
] |
Can one use a personal injury lawyer when the police won't act? | 12 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/67417/can-one-use-a-personal-injury-lawyer-when-the-police-wont-act | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Based on a true story: Bob's car is parked in the street. Ted is driving down the street recklessly with Alan as a passenger. Ted sideswipes Bob's car doing quite a lot of damage, but takes off.</p>
<p>Next day, Alan shows up at Bob's doorstep saying, "You wanna get the guy who sideswiped your car last night? I was the passenger in that car and I was scared witless and I banged my head hard when he hit your car." Bob says, "Heck yes" and Alan takes him to Ted's house where Ted's vehicle is parked. Bob gets pictures of Ted's vehicle showing the damage and paint scrapings from Bob's car. He's got this evidence plus Alan as a witness.</p>
<p>Bob calls the Austin Police Department and after a couple minutes the cop says, "You know, we're not going to do anything about this." "Why not?" "Because we're losing 40 cops per month, and we can't hire more. We have only 3 cops for all of downtown Austin just not. Our response time for an active shooter is 18 minutes. We don't have the manpower for this."</p>
<p>Bob is lamenting about this to one of his friends. The friend says, "Why don't you engage The Hammer?" (The Hammer is a personal injury lawyer who has billboards all over Austin and commercials that run every 2 minutes on daytime TV.) He goes on: "Give the The Hammer all your evidence and let him treat it as a civil case. He can get to the court system, sue the pants off of Ted and you don't have to go through the police."</p>
<p>So my question is: Is Bob's friend on to something? If cops won't act in a criminal case, is possible and sensible to hire The Hammer to get restitution?</p>
<p>Additional information: Bob's car was a project car, and wasn't registered, licensed, or insured at the time.</p>
| 67,417 | [
{
"answer_id": 67422,
"body": "<p>Bob can certainly "engage" a personal injury lawyer, but it is highly unlikely that they would take the case...</p>\n<p>Let's take a look at the facts...</p>\n<p>In Texas, you are required to register every vehicle unless it is damaged beyond repair or destroyed (... | [
"civil-law"
] |
Is it legal for a train company to create an art gallery using photographs of the graffiti on their locomotives and train cars? | 35 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94333/is-it-legal-for-a-train-company-to-create-an-art-gallery-using-photographs-of-th | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>I have been wondering that since a train company owns its locomotives and train cars, then I am assuming that this means that they own any graffiti that has been painted on their locomotives and train cars.</p>
<p>I have recently read that it is illegal for someone to put graffiti on any train company equipment, since it is an act of vandalism, so this makes me think that that any graffiti artist(s) who created graffiti on train equipment cannot get a copyright(s) on the graffiti that they put on train equipment.</p>
<p>If the graffiti thus belongs to the train company, then I am assuming that this means that the train company automatically owns the copyright(s) to this graffiti, and they would thus be free to take photographs of this graffiti and could display and/or sell these photographs to the general public, if they wanted to do so.</p>
<p>Is it legal for a train company to create an art gallery using photographs of the graffiti on their locomotives and train cars?</p>
| 94,333 | [
{
"answer_id": 94342,
"body": "<p>Copyright law doesn't say the art isn't copyrighted if it was made unlawfully.</p>\n<p>It seems the art can be copyrighted and the act of making it can be a criminal offence.</p>\n<p>I'm not aware of any such copyright cases that have gone to trial.</p>\n<p>A fairly well kn... | [
"united-states",
"copyright",
"intellectual-property",
"business",
"property"
] |
In an opposite-sex sexual assault case, is "I'm homosexual" a valid defense? | -4 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94436/in-an-opposite-sex-sexual-assault-case-is-im-homosexual-a-valid-defense | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Let's say Alice is sexually assaulted by a man, and circumstantial evidence pinpoints Bob as the attacker. Can Bob claim that, because he is homosexual/asexual, he does not find Alice sexually desirable and so cannot be the attacker?</p>
<p>I'm unable to find anything on this via Google. The closest is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_panic_defense" rel="nofollow noreferrer">gay panic defense</a> which is still not what this question is about.</p>
| 94,436 | [
{
"answer_id": 94437,
"body": "<p>This is not a true defense. It would only go to the credibility of the defendant's account claiming that he was not the perpetrator.</p>\n<p>Nothing prevents someone who is homosexual or asexual from sexually assaulting someone of the opposite sex within the meaning of the ... | [
"sexual-assault",
"sexual-offences",
"defense"
] |
Full text of Act of Settlement, 1781 - during the early company rule in India | 2 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/93674/full-text-of-act-of-settlement-1781-during-the-early-company-rule-in-india | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Can someone please tell me where I can find the full text of the Act of Settlement, 1781 passed by the British Raj in India?</p>
<p>I tried finding it on the internet but couldn't find it.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
| 93,674 | [
{
"answer_id": 93677,
"body": "<p>I believe you will find it on page 210 of <a href=\"https://books.google.ch/books?id=r4RaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA210\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this volume of the <em>Statutes at Large</em> in Google books</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>An Act to explain and amend so much of an Ac... | [
"legal-history",
"indian-constitutional-law"
] |
Can Musk threaten X11? | 5 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94396/can-musk-threaten-x11 | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>Twitter, recently changed hands and became owned by Elon Musk, who decided to change its name to "X".</p>
<p>There's the FOSS X11 desktop environment being developed for various Unix and Unix-like systems, and is hosted at <code>x.org</code>. Many operating systems provide X11 GUI packages under the "umbrella" name of <code>xorg</code> (which means installing this package will automatically install other dependencies on those systems)</p>
<p><strong>Q</strong>: Is it possible, that some kind of trademark dispute can lead to X11 losing its <code>x.org</code> domain name, and/or other formed/formless assets?</p>
| 94,396 | [
{
"answer_id": 94407,
"body": "<p>This is unlikely to be a problem. There are <em>many</em> companies that have already registered software-related trademarks prominently involving an <code>X</code> or the name <code>Xcom</code>. That Twitter has changed to <code>X</code> branding does not substantially cha... | [
"trademark",
"domain-name"
] |
Under what legislation has former U.S. President Trump been indicted for "conspiracy to defraud the US"? | 3 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94400/under-what-legislation-has-former-u-s-president-trump-been-indicted-for-conspi | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>It's reported by <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-66248859" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BBC News</a> that Mr Trump is charged with four counts, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>conspiracy to defraud the US</p>
</li>
<li><p>tampering with a witness</p>
</li>
<li><p>conspiracy against the rights of citizens</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Focusing on the first bullet point to avoid asking multiple questions<sup>1</sup>:</p>
<p><strong>What legislation introduces and/or covers the offence of defrauding the US?</strong></p>
<hr />
<p><sub><sup>1</sup>Although I would be interested in knowing more on the underlying legislation for a charge of conspiracy against the rights of citizens which I might post as a follow-up question</sub></p>
| 94,400 | [
{
"answer_id": 94401,
"body": "<p>Count 1: 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Conspiracy to Defraud United States)</p>\n<p>Here the indictment's introduction alleges that Trump perpetrated:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>A conspiracy to to defraud the United States by using dishonesty,\nfraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defe... | [
"united-states",
"criminal-law",
"indictment"
] |
If my product (open source or proprietary) requires Oracle GraalVM to work and bundles Oracle GraalVM, can I charge money for my product? | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94429/if-my-product-open-source-or-proprietary-requires-oracle-graalvm-to-work-and-b | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p>If my product (no matter open source or proprietary) requires Oracle GraalVM to work and bundles Oracle GraalVM, can I charge money for my product?</p>
<p>According to the link of GraalVM Free Terms and Conditions (GFTC) including License for Early Adopter Versions:
<a href="https://www.oracle.com/downloads/licenses/graal-free-license.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.oracle.com/downloads/licenses/graal-free-license.html</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>(b) redistribute the unmodified Program and Program Documentation, under the terms of this License, provided that You do not charge Your licensees any fees associated with such distribution or use of the Program, including, without limitation, fees for products that include or are bundled with a copy of the Program or for services that involve the use of the distributed Program.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If I charge users a fee, how do I define whether the fee is associated with my product or Oracle GraalVM?</p>
| 94,429 | [
{
"answer_id": 94430,
"body": "<blockquote>\n<p>If I charge users a fee, how do I define whether the fee is associated with my product or Oracle GraalVM?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p>provided that You do not charge [...] including, without limitation, fees for products <strong>that include</strong> ... | [
"licensing"
] |
Is the recording of an audience singing in public copyrighted? | 1 | https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94384/is-the-recording-of-an-audience-singing-in-public-copyrighted | CC BY-SA 4.0 | <p><strong>A church records their service on audio</strong>. The service, open to the public but behind the closed doors of their building, is performed before a live audience who voluntarily attend. The church then sends out a copy of the recording to paying subscribers around the world.</p>
<p>The recording includes announcements, speeches, prayers, musical and theatrical entertainment, and a sermon all of which I would assume are copyrighted by the church entity since it is their employees and volunteers who made and produced it. Likely everyone who contributed gave consent to record their work, except perhaps members of the audience who were distinctly asked to pray out loud for the group's benefit.</p>
<p><strong>Also included is the singing of gospel songs by the audience</strong>. The audience is prompted and led by a song leader who is possibly accompanied by a piano player on some or all of the songs. Assume the piano player is a paid employee.</p>
<p>My question is: <strong>Is the singing by the audience copyrighted as part of the larger or complete work?</strong></p>
<p>Probably in the same category: Are the prayers solicited from the audience also copyrighted?</p>
<p>The question seems unclear in this regard: It is highly unlikely that the church asked any member of the audience for their permission to record their singing much less to distribute it. Assume they did not. No audience member signed a waiver granting the church copyright permission over their vocals, foot-stomping, or hand-clapping.</p>
<p>To further muddy the waters, some of the songs sung by the audience may be copyrighted while others are in the public domain. I assume the audience's singing is about common for a diverse group - so not necessarily "original" or "creative".</p>
| 94,384 | [
{
"answer_id": 94388,
"body": "<h2>There is copyright in the recording (probably)</h2>\n<p>The person who first fixed the material in a tangible form owns the copyright. Presumably, whatever legal entity the church is, as it was made by a volunteer as a work-for-hire. That is because they were the ones who ... | [
"copyright"
] |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.