Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with legality

Am I crazy or what?

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:44:24 -0800

Am I crazy or what? Not long ago, I'd voluntarily checked myself into a mental hospital for severe depression caused by a bipolar disorder of some stripe. Over the course of five days, I was given a cocktail of antidepressants and monitored (asked dumb questions) each morning.

Not knowing the limits of confidentiality, I'd mentioned owning a firearm during an early evaluation. When I decided to voluntarily check out, one of the formalities that I couldn't avoid was signing my gun over to a friend for thirty days. I did this, and reclaimed it after a month, as was allowed per the explanation of my case manager.

I'm assuming that because my stay was voluntary, and the remission of the firearm temporary, that I am not considered to have been committed to a mental institution, or adjudicated as mentally ill.

One of my favorite hobbies is taking a big group of friends to the shooting range. That's why I bought a gun, and all my friends own them as well. I didn't buy it so I could snuff myself out or hurt anyone else. What I'm unsure of is whether it's legal for me to own this weapon, and whether I'm eligible to purchase another, or to apply for things like ATF pyrotechnic licenses.

If you wanna lecture me, go ahead. I appreciate the concern, but am not really interested in ditching one of my few joys.

Something to get off my chest

Sully — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:07:23 -0800

If I strap a suitcase to my chest so that it's open, almost like one of those trays that an old-style 'cigarette girl' has, and walk on the street downtown, selling little odds and ends, is it legal? I wouldn't be selling cigarettes, maybe little handmade zines, candy, quirky items that you might find on Etsy. I ask this because in my head, this is kind of a grey area, legally.

I have googled garage sales, and in some places they want you to tell the city that you're going to have one, but in other places they don't care, or the law goes unenforced. But then the other day I passed these tables on the sidewalk downtown and the people there were looking for donations and signatures to shut down puppy mills and cruelty to animals. I asked them how it was they were just on the street outside this major dept. store and they told me that they had to apply to the city for a permit. Which leads me to think that I would need a vendor's permit too.

But then I think about the people who sell stuff on Craigslist, then meet in some parking lot to do the trade. Technically they are selling something too.

I guess what I am asking is, is it okay to sell stuff off your chest on the sidewalk if you are just walking along with the wares displayed on your chest-tray? Has anyone heard of such a thing before?

How does Scare Tactics Work?

mazniak — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:49:35 -0800

How does Scare Tactics work? I find the show Scare Tactics fascinating, but I can't determine if it is legit. It seems to be a huge liability scaring people like that, especially in the States' litigation happy society. Also, if a person does not like how they reacted to the scare, can they refuse to sign over their right to have their likeness broadcast? I would imagine it would be a very risky procedure to set up and execute the scare if there was a possibility that something might go wrong or the target would refuse to sign over their likeness. Anyways, anyone has any other insider knowledge about the show I would love to hear it.

Who gets arrested when our "urban outdoorsman" sign holders break the law?

whiskey point — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:01:56 -0800

What are the legalities of utilizing a homeless person/vagrant/urban outdoorsman for marketing purposes? I've read up on "Bumvertising", but other than some negative feedback from homeless persons advocates (wikipedia) what happens when one of these "employees" happens to do something illegal? (Many people in our area make decent money holding "please help" signs at major intersections/interstate off ramps in our area during the summer)

To any of you Mefite lawyers, unorthodox employers, or anyone with vast amounts of knowledge: Who would be at fault if, say, someone holding a sign with a company's message on it were to break a law? I'm thinking like stab someone, etc. while being handed a coupon?

Who would be at fault?
•The marketing agency?
•The business being advertised for?
•Simply the person holding the sign?

The sign holder would be compensated with cash/gift cards/food, for the record.

Another question: What happens if this person is involved in an accident (being struck by a car, heat exhaustion, other job hazard)? What are there rules for this type of temporary, guerrilla employment?

Are COPS Cameramen legal?

fogster — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:32:37 -0800

On TV shows like COPS, what gives the cameraman standing to enter a private citizen's home? To avoid confusion, I should mention that I'm asking solely out of curiosity, not seeking a legal opinion. I suspect that, after the incident, the TV producer will ask for your permission to use it (probably in return for compensation), but I'm not asking about that.

What I'm asking is about the cameraman coming into your home at all. It would seem to me that a FOX cameraman accompanying police wouldn't be allowed to follow them into your home. But it happens often on the show. So how does this work? Has the fact that a commercial film crew followed police into one's home ever been used, in some way, as a defense in court? Has the show ever been sued (successfully?) over the cameraman coming into private homes?

Yes, the majority of content occurs in public, like traffic stops or street brawls. I'm not asking about those.

Is it Safe?

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:11:26 -0800

Question regarding the real-life legality of Marijuana dispensaries in California. A friend of a friend invested in semi-passive ownership in some dispensaries, and apparently it’s paying out very handsomely for him... I may have a chance to invest as well ($50K for an assumed 120% annual return), but I am very skeptical about the legal implications of it. Yes, I know that Prop. 215 passed in 1996, and that there are thousands of such pharmacies, but how do they really work? Any personal experience with ownership around here? Or as Christian Szell asked in Marathon Man: “Is it Safe?”

D-I-Y Christmas Bonus?

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:25:29 -0800

Today at work, a closet was being cleaned out, many items were being tossed in a trash cart. I noticed that a few of these items were unopened, brand new (though out-of-date) items, and out of curiousity, checked to see if they were worth anything. I noticed that a few of them were going for not-insignificant amounts of money on ye olde eBay, and "rescued" them from the trash, thinking about creating a D-I-Y Christmas Bonus out of them by putting them up on eBay. Other co-workers have done similar things, selling a fair amount of old equipment at garage sales, etc, and none of my immediate peers seemed to think anything of it. Mrs. [anonymous], however, seems to feel that it's ethically wrong to do so, and more importantly potentially legally wrong. Does the hivemind have any knowledge of the legal (and/or ethical) implications of this D-I-Y Christmas Bonus? (For reference, we're probably talking $300 total, here.)

Did the Company ask me to do something illegal?

MichaelKnight — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:19:14 -0800

Did the Company ask me to do something illegal? Either way, how can I say no? I work for a large Company. The Company has a new software division which is attempting to create a certain type of software that they can then sell to us, the branches, and possibly outside businesses.

However, this new division writes shitty software and our branch revolted and was allowed (by the higher ups, since the shitty software division was taking so long even get the us) to go with a third party vendor for this much needed piece of software. It's a piece of software that any business in our industry needs. This third party vendor's software, while not perfect, is pretty good and has been around for several years, works well and allows us to many things we were previously incapable of doing.

This piece of software, lets call it DocuPub, from the third party vendor, is a type of software the Company's new division is attempting to create from scratch. They are not doing a good job of doing this, though they keep promising the higher ups that they can create this software and when they do, incredible, wonderful things will happen and they'll change the world. Management has mostly bought it, but there appear to be limits to management's patience as this software constantly misses deadlines for completion and is hated by the other properties that have been forced to use it.

Last week, while on vacation, I checked my work email and found I had gotten an email from a programmer at the Compnay's software division, cc'ed to his boss, asking me to describe how DocuPub works, it's workflow and could I describe the process and better yet, send along screen shots of the process. I am not a programmer, but do understand most of the concepts of how DocuPub works and have helped set it up for our branch.

It's obvious to me that the shitty software division is attempting to learn how to write a competitor to DocuPub by "borrowing" from DocuPub. This bothers me and sounds illegal. Is it? If not, how do I handle this request, as I do not wish to help the shitty software division steal ideas and concepts from a reputable business? What's the correct, corporate way of saying no, while not appearing to say no and appearing to help? Everyone at the corporate office knows I'm the most knowledgeable with DocuPub. I am prepared, if pushed, to flat out say no and point out that the shitty software division writes shitty software and they should be able to think of these things themselves.

Help me not go to jail, and get new technology!

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 20:35:17 -0800

Is it legal to buy gift certificates with business money in order to have the money out of the business in 2007, and redeem the gift certificates for hardware in 2008? More inside. My small business has some legitimate purchases it wants to make before the end of 2007. This mainly includes a few new laptops. Said laptops are due for a major revision in mid-January 2008, but we really want the money spent before the end of 2007 since we've already been taxed on it. Is it legal for the business to buy gift certificates in 2007 and then redeem them in 2008 (to avoid paying taxes on the money we put on the gift certificates in 2008)? This seems kind of borderline shady, but I'm not sure why and any actual documentation someone could point me to would be nice, because I haven't been able to find any. We definitely don't want to do anything illegal or questionable. Help if possible! Thanks.

PO Box Business Out of State

rougy — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:09:27 -0800

PO Box Businesses I'm starting a webservice business. I'd like the address and the bank account to be in Wyoming, for tax reasons, but I myself do not personally want to live in Wyoming.

The business may allow me to travel extensively and live almost anywhere in the world, which is a perk I'd like to take advantage of.

Is it legal, possible, or even wise to establish a business in Wyoming when the only thing that is really associated with the business is an address and a checking account for online transactions?

I've just heard about "registered agent providers" but I'm not sure how to get one or if the cost would off-set the savings in state tax.

Thanks much.

Cat vs. Landlord

web-goddess — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:44:45 -0800

Can our Sydney landlord really demand that we get rid of our cat? When we signed the lease for our apartment four years ago, I asked the letting agent whether we'd be able to get a pet. "No." Okay, fine. A year later, the lease was up and they came do an inspection. We're good tenants. They put us on another lease. We decided we wanted a cat. Every single person I asked in Sydney (including the Sydney Morning Herald) said that pets in Sydney apartments were basically "Don't ask, don't tell" and that we should go ahead and get one anyway. So we did. In fact, you all helped us adjust to life with Puss Puss. She's totally indoor; she's quiet; she's never crapped on the floor. Yeah, there are a few worn spots in the carpet, but you'd expect that anyway after four years, right?

So last night we got the dreaded letter in the post box. It was addressed to everybody in our block and said that the letting agency had become aware that some tenants were keeping cats. (And something about "litter" being seen in common areas.) As this is in breach of the rental agreements, we're all supposed to get rid of them.

1) I'm not even sure this is pointed at us. There are at least two cats that run around outside loose in our block (and have tags). My first thought was that the "litter" might refer to their scat, and them possibly digging in people's gardens.

2) Even if it is pointed at us - can they actually force us to get rid of her or even evict us? I've done a fair amount of Internet searching, and so far everything I've come up with applies to other states. This page seems to indicate that in the ACT at least, a "no pets" clause violates the spirit of clause 52, and the Tenants Union "contends that having a pet or pets is a normal, common part of using rented premises for residential purposes." According to Findlaw, the Victorian Tenants Union has the similar belief that "you cannot be evicted unless your landlord can prove your pet is causing a nuisance, damaging the property or endangering the safety of neighbours."

Yeah, we broke the agreement. No need to point that out. The issue is whether that's even a fair or legal clause to begin with. Additionally, well, I feel like we DESERVE to have a cat. We're good tenants. We've never been late on a rent payment, and it's gone up several times. We don't have loud parties. We have a cleaner and we keep the place looking good. We're responsible pet owners who keep their pet clean, immunized, and indoors.

So what do we do? Have any of you been in a similar situation? My immediate plan is just to disregard the notice until they force the issue. But what are the options? I'm thinking I can put the case to them that we should be allowed to keep her, and that we're happy to pay an extra bond or submit to inspections or whatever. Or are we doomed to have to decide between our cat and our apartment?

Can I make my former newspaper take my content offline?

Astro Zombie — Thu, 10 May 2007 18:06:21 -0800

So I got fired today for nonsensical reasons. I worked at a small newsweekly, where I was a designer, but also for whom I did quite a lot of writing. I never had an explicit contract, and the terms of my work as a writer were never made explicit. Stories that I wrote were posted to the newspaper's Web page, and now I want them off, as I know longer want to be associated with such a miserable company, and do not want them to continue to benefit in any way from my writing. As I understand it, republishing someone's work to the Web constitutes reprinting in a new medium, and it is an author's right to deny that content to the Web. Of course, it has already been published. I have emailed the editor and told him to take my contents down, but he claims there was an "implied contract" that allows the work to be up there.

So what is the deal? What are my rights to my own content here?

Truck 4 Sale.

Totally Zanzibarin' Ya — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:56:47 -0800

Should I 'lease' my truck to my friend? Here's the situation - I have a truck that I wish to sell. My friend wishes to buy it from me. Due to a divorce, his credit rating is not good and cannot get a loan. I am going to sell it to him for approximately $5,500. He has offered to pay me in monthly installments ($300) until it is paid off. Does this sound like a bad idea? Is it even legal? Would I still be the legal owner until it was paid off? Is there any way to transfer my loan?

Apologies for the 'piggy-back' questions.

Miraculin fruit legality?

null terminated — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:55:57 -0800

How legal is Miraculin? After reading this great post on Miraculin (which makes anything acidic taste sweet), I decided to pick some up. Turns out it works better than advertised. I've wanted to share it with friends around here, but they are very straight-laced and understandably cautious (it does sound like a scam).

What I'm looking for is a piece of paper that says "Miraculin is legal to consume". (I'm in New Jersey, USA). This is to help convince people to come to this "fruit party" and also because I don't want to get anyone in trouble due to an obscure fruit importation restriction that I'm unknowingly violating.

Somebody save me. I need some super help on legaly downloading Smallville.

Kickstart70 — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 12:26:03 -0800

We just moved, and the one single show that my wife loves (and I don't mind much actually - minus its whiny soap opera moments, but I think Chloe is nice to look at) is Smallville. The newest episodes are not on the TV channels here. We're in Canada. I want to download the newest episodes ASAP after they appear. I want that to happen legally. I'm a Mac user, so I have iTunes available, but it doesn't allow TV show purchases in Canada. When we were in Vancouver BC, the show was on weekly, new episodes. Now that we're in Quesnel BC, the only shows available on TV appear to be reruns of last season.

Alternatively, I am connected to Gnutella, but I'm not sure that downloading Smallville there falls under the definition of timeshifting, which otherwise I believe is legal. Especially since those exact episodes don't appear on TV, at any time, here.

Can Sony really regulate Grey Market international sales?

stratastar — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:42:47 -0800

PS3 Legal Filter: Sony is purportedly blocking gray market sales of the PS3 from external markets into Europe. What is the legal validity of this? Of course you can find... So my friend is planning on squatting outside a bestbuy for a PS3 in hopes to sell it soon after. He has told me about some legal efforts Sony has taken to block grey market sales of the unit into Europe (because its timetable release has been pushed back, probably because of the introduction of the BlueRay technology). This got me thinking: under what legal validity can Sony stop grey market sales, especially in an avenue such as ebay?

I researched a bit about what they did and found things such as: this.

They article quotes the Sony Spokesman as saying: "Ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards."

Perhaps this flew in an EU court, but how does this have validity or jurisprudence over an international trade avenue such as ebay?

Just curious...

Not goin' to the chapel, but we're gonna get married

pdb — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 10:44:29 -0800

How do we get married in Multnomah County, OR? The Future Mrs. pdb and I are planning to be married in May of next year. Being not-at-all religious, we want a friend of ours to do the ceremony after being ordained by the Universal Life Church.

Once said friend becomes ordained, though, what has to happen to make a ceremony performed by a ULC-ordained person a "legal" marriage in Portland, OR? I understand about the marriage license process, that's the easy part - I'm concerned with making sure our officiant is recognized by the county/state/whatever.

The Multnomah County website is almost spectacularly unhelpful in this regard, and the Multnomah County Clerk either doesn't exist or has an unlisted phone number, as the number I was given for the clerk's office has been disconnected.

Any MultCo Mefites out there have any ideas how we go about legitimizing our wedding in the eyes of the county?

Selling used undies?

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 22:26:51 -0800

Selling used, ahem, clothing online. I met a woman who sold used underthings on the good ol' web and made a killing. What are the laws regarding this, and how does one go about selling? Legitimate, trustworthy sites? Tips? Warnings?

I realize that it's probably better to sell plasma or lemonade, but to hear that an attractive woman can make $200+ on a pair of $5 Wal-mart undies is just too attractive a thought to dismiss on the grounds of perversion.

What is Osama bin Laden's legal status?

biffa — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:23:23 -0800

What is Osama bin Laden's legal status? What would happen if he rolled up in a third party country (i.e. not one the US is currently occupying)? What if it had no extradition treaty with the US? (I assume there is a legal and a realpolitik answer to this question.) Could he be signed over the the international Criminal Court rather than the US? Is there solid evidence that he has actually committed crimes?

Copyright vs. Satire. Tell me about the extent of fair use.

BrodieShadeTree — Tue, 09 Nov 2004 11:38:51 -0800

Copyright vs. Satire: How far can one extend the 'fair use' or satire legalities when it comes to using similar imagery in advertisement? (more inside) Essentially, I came up with a funny commercial idea for my business, where I would like to mimick/satirise the iPod commercials. (Bright backgrounds, silhouetted characters) My products, which are in NO WAY similar to iPod or techno oriented in any way, would be featured similarly in a humourous way.The comercials would be local market only,with a smallish viewership. So my question is this. Can I use that imagery in a similar but unrelated way without placing myself in legal harms way.

Copyright Law Question

Sinner — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 15:35:41 -0800

Lawyerfilter: I'm curious about the legality of replicating content (designs, catchphrases, etc) from a given medium into another. For example, I love the "Real Genius"-inspired shirts that founditemclothing.com is producing ( "I Love Toxic Waste," "International Order for Gorillas," and "Surf Nicaragua,") but I'm wondering if it's permissible under the law. Thanks in advance to anyone willing and able to take a stab at explaning it.

Fan editing of films using macros

Tlogmer — Mon, 02 Aug 2004 17:01:15 -0800

You know that fan-edit of the Phantom Menace without Jar-Jar? Well, I was thinking... What about a fan edit of Back to the Future II without the "Nobody calls me chicken!" crap. I was oblivious to the other weak points of the movie when I saw it as a kid, but even I hated that shit. But wait!

It's illegal to distribute an unauthorized version of a movie. But what about distributing some sort of program (set of macros for a program?) that edits the copy of the movie someone already has on their computer? Is this even possible? If not, how many years until it is?

UK Speed Traps

twine42 — Sun, 25 Apr 2004 15:36:46 -0800

Google has let me down - are speed trap detectors legal in the UK? Some sites seem to think they were made legal in 2001 but some sites say they are legal to own but not to use. Can someone tell me what's correct?

Buying used software - am I in danger of doing something illegal?

wendell — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 19:22:44 -0800

I paid 25 cents at a Public Library Used Books-and-Stuff Sale for a CD-ROM of "Flash 2" with a registration card for "Flash 5 Upgrade". Am I in danger of doing something illegal, futile, or just flashy?

Prostitution is illegal but porn acting is not?

Item — Mon, 22 Dec 2003 08:02:54 -0800

Why is being paid for prostitution illegal but being paid to appear in pornography legal?