Questions tagged [commerce]
The buying and selling of goods and services
152
questions
75
votes
7
answers
35k
views
At what point can you walk out of a restaurant if they make you wait to pay the bill?
The other day, I ate at a restaurant; the food was fine, and I got to paying the bill. Their payment system went down. They couldn't accept cards; only cash, and I didn't have the cash on me for the ...
- 1,127
28
votes
4
answers
20k
views
If someone orders a pizza in the US and doesn't pay for it, could they be arrested?
If you were to order a pizza in the US and didn't pay for it afterwards, could you be arrested?
- 297
21
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What are the limits of the Commerce Clause?
In Gonzalez v. Raich, the Supreme Court held that the Controlled Substances Act could apply to home-grown marijuana that started in and never left California because it could still affect the ...
- 3,527
17
votes
2
answers
31k
views
"Not for individual resale" - really?
In at least the US and UK lots of items that are sold in multipacks come with a notice on them that often reads:
Not for individual resale
That always strikes me as slightly odd - it looks like it'...
- 293
15
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What is the copyright status of a journal article written more than 70 years ago?
I read (mostly on Wikipedia), that copyright to a written work expires 70 years after the author's death, or 95 years after the publication by a corporation.
Having said that, the status of journal ...
- 486
12
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Would it be legal for a US State to ban exports of a natural resource?
I am interested in whether a US state constitution could be legally amended to ban exports of specific natural resources (such as coal, lithium or copper) outside it's own state borders.
If such a ...
- 231
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Does the "Interstate Commerce Clause" prohibit local or state government from "boycotting" another state
Recently I read that some municipalities in California are restricting "official travel" to Florida and Texas, presumable over legislation they consider objectionable. In the past, I know ...
- 185
7
votes
2
answers
996
views
Why can ONLY federal authorities regulate interstate commerce?
The Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. It seems the federal courts have held that only Congress, and not state legislatures, can regulate ...
- 2,770
6
votes
1
answer
735
views
Do I have to pay for a drink if a vendor cannot accept payment?
Recently I was served a drink at the pub where I intended to pay by debit card and had no alternative payment method available (e.g. cash).
The card reader was faulty and I consumed my drink whilst ...
- 703
6
votes
2
answers
108
views
"Commercial use" clarification
This is something I've run into several times now. A lot of biological samples are shared for research with a caveat in the MTA that they are "not for commercial use". What exactly does this cover? ...
- 301
5
votes
1
answer
550
views
Why are residents of particular states barred from being Amazon affiliates?
Amazon's affiliate operating agreement contains the following clause:
In addition, if at any time following your enrollment in the Program
you become a resident of Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, ...
- 6,828
5
votes
1
answer
464
views
Do claimless advertisements need to have disclaimers?
My question concerns the requirement for advertisements to carry a disclaimer stating that they are advertisements, specifically in the United States. According to the FTC (though not in these words), ...
- 51
5
votes
1
answer
208
views
Is it illegal to sell duck eggs in Austria?
When I lived in Toronto I would often buy fresh duck and turkey eggs from the city's markets. Yesterday I tried doing the same thing at a market in Vienna and was told by the stall operator that it's ...
- 734
5
votes
1
answer
310
views
What does “potential for abuse” mean in the Controlled Substance Act?
According to the DEA’s Denial of Petition To Initiate Proceedings To Reschedule Marijuana from 2011, one reason for the cannabis plant’s Schedule I status is because it has “no currently accepted ...
- 425
5
votes
1
answer
350
views
Is having a wallpaper on an office computer personal or commercial use?
If one downloads a wallpaper on an office computer for the sole purpose of putting it on one's own desktop and watching it all day (as long as there aren't any windows blocking the view at least...), ...
- 221
5
votes
1
answer
332
views
When do I need a licence to play music in a public place and how do I get it?
I would like to know if restaurants, lounges, clubs and places like that need a licence to play music. I'm a developer and I would like to develop a solution that would allow them to play music in a ...
- 195
5
votes
1
answer
846
views
Are there any laws the require subscription services to be prorated?
I'm reading the terms of use for Gogo Inflight, and in the part about refunds it says they aren't going to prorate your service if you cancel, then it says, "subject to applicable laws."
Are there ...
4
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Can a restaurant or retailer be held to "posted" prices?
I walked into a fast food restaurant in New York City where a large poster in the front of the store advertised a new dinner special for $6.99. That was quite a bargain so I went to the counter and ...
- 6,410
4
votes
2
answers
642
views
Is it legal to search for commerce sites listing items at erroneously low prices and exploiting such errors?
Occasionally a website will post incorrect prices for items they are selling. (Maybe it was caused by a typo during their data entry process, or the result of a bug in their code.) Once they realize ...
- 201
4
votes
2
answers
409
views
Can a company legally disable a product on the basis it was acquired fraudulently?
I recently bought a product on eBay, that turned out to have been directly bought from the manufacturer with stolen credit card info.
A couple months after the purchase, the hardware, which "calls ...
- 43
4
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is it legal to make two competing brands of the same product without making the public aware of the common source?
Suppose I create rocket boots and brand them as "Super Jumpers". After a couple months of selling them, I stealthily create a new brand of rocket boots called "Mega Fliers".
I do not publicly reveal ...
- 43
4
votes
2
answers
502
views
Taking advantage of seller pricing errors
I saw a website which was selling things, but a few of the items were $0.00. If I was to buy the item, I'd only have to pay shipping for it. I'm no expert but I've been around the block and the ...
- 173
4
votes
2
answers
584
views
Confusion about USA export regulations regarding electronics
I am an electronic hobbyist based in Canada. Recently I bought different Microcontroller development boards from Mouser.ca (a huge online electronics distributor based in Mansfield, Texas). This is ...
- 41
4
votes
2
answers
190
views
Do Google/Apple have total control over apps on their store?
Can App stores remove specific apps at their discretion? Or do they have to set forth rules about what is allowed and then follow those rules?
One thing tells me that it is their store, so they can ...
- 43
4
votes
1
answer
201
views
If a mailman steals a package, who takes the loss?
If I buy something, say from Amazon, and the mailman steals it, then is it my loss or Amazon's?
In other words, for first class or priority mail, when does the mail piece pass from possession of the ...
- 6,828
4
votes
2
answers
885
views
Costa charging different prices for same item
Last week I stopped at services and ordered in Costa two coffees. One Caramel Cappuccino (£3.89) and one Speciality Vanilla (£3.99). When I got to pay and bill was £8.18 I figured something must have ...
- 436
4
votes
2
answers
117
views
Can I require someone to donate money to a charity I'm not associated with prior to donating an embryo to them in the USA?
I have a left over embryo from IVF which I plan to donate to someone else so they can have a child. However, I want to do the most good with this embryo as possible, and so it occurred to me that in ...
- 8,206
4
votes
0
answers
561
views
Is it legal for a retailer to modify a product to remove best before dates and batch numbers?
We manufacture and supply to retailers in the US, via a distributor, a trademarked liquid animal feed product. Recently we have discovered that one of the retailers has been wiping off the best before ...
- 41
3
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How does personal drug possession affect interstate commerce?
According to the Controlled Substance Act:
§ 801. Congressional findings and declarations: controlled substances....
...(3) A major portion of the traffic in controlled substances flows ...
- 425
3
votes
2
answers
278
views
Is there a Legal Requirement for Computer Companies to Include an Operating System when Selling a PC?
I asked a company if they could sell me a PC without an installed Operating System, as I plan to install my own. Their response was that "We have to legally include a OS with all of our systems. So ...
3
votes
2
answers
659
views
Can I legally guess my customer's new credit card expiry date?
As a merchant, I offer online subscription services to my customers. Often, my customer's credit card will expire, despite having an active subscription service to my product.
Is it legal for me to ...
- 141
3
votes
2
answers
412
views
Is it necessary to explicitly disclaim warranties on "private" sales?
When people in Germany and Austria sell their own second-hand goods (used clothing, toys, bicycles, etc.) via online classified ads or auctions, they almost always include a statement explicitly ...
- 734
3
votes
2
answers
772
views
GPL Licensed code as separate process
We are going to use a GPL licensed application as separate process inside a docker. So here's how it works:
Main app ships to client, it doesn't have any GPL code. Does have lots of things and ...
- 133
3
votes
1
answer
81
views
For products shipped across state lines, who gets the taxes?
Let's say a company registered in Delaware manufactures its products in Texas and sells them around the country online, and in person in New York.
What taxes, and from which state(s), apply when ...
- 2,137
3
votes
1
answer
162
views
Searching license to allow commercial use but not selling
I'm currently distributing my software to create websites under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 license. Now some people are selling my software as it is, which is allowed by this license. I don't like ...
- 33
3
votes
1
answer
202
views
What counts as "Reisebedarf" at German gas stations?
According to the Ladenschlussgesetz, gas stations in Germany are allowed to be opened during the night and Sundays, but are only allowed to sell gas, car things (like oil) that are needed for people ...
- 572
3
votes
1
answer
100
views
On U.S. Treasury getting a percentage of sale of TikTok to Microsoft
Regarding the potential sale of Chinese company TikTok to Microsoft, Trump "says he told Microsoft’s Nadella that U.S. should get a cut ‘because we’re making it possible for this deal to happen’&...
- 1,339
3
votes
1
answer
460
views
Are online retailers breaking EU/US law by using user's log-in information to charge different prices without explicitly notifying them?
I am aware that in most places firms are generally allowed to price discriminate, i.e. offer different prices for the same product to different customers based on personal characteristics. For example,...
- 132
3
votes
1
answer
430
views
Should a foreigner have a US-based company to sell through Amazon cloud-based warehouses?
Let's borrow and expand on Can a foreigner setup an unstaffed company in United States?.
Everyone knows that you can rent computing resources from Amazon.com in the cloud, but not many know that they ...
- 5,018
3
votes
1
answer
290
views
FOIA request and Commercial use - Sales Tax info
I was considering doing a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request and noticed the stipulation about putting the information gained to commercial use. That seems maybe a little broadly worded, ...
pspahn
2
votes
5
answers
450
views
A store security guard prevented me from entering a shop 30 min before the close, does he have the right to?
I tried to enter a shop that closes at 11 p.m. in France, at 10:30 p.m., and the store security guard prevented me from entering. Does he have the right to? If not, what could I do to go in? What do ...
2
votes
1
answer
160
views
Is the ORGVSM f*ck tee legal?
The ORGVSM f*ck tee is very explicit, and against many powerful luxury brands. One would think this was commercial disparagement (and perhaps other crimes besides, such as using the brand-name of ...
- 123
2
votes
2
answers
133
views
Are there any restrictions on the taxes or duties a U.S. state can levy?
The U.S. Constitution's "Commerce Clause" (Article I, Section 8) grants the federal government authority to regulate interstate commerce. The same section contains the "Taxing and Spending Clause" ...
- 21.7k
2
votes
1
answer
132
views
Has anyone been imprisoned for noncommercial copyright infringement under US law?
Has anyone who was not making money on copyright infringement been imprisoned for copyright infringement under US law?
- 123
2
votes
1
answer
321
views
Is it illegal for a store to advertise a product and then never sell it?
Suppose (Store) is planning to sell (Product) at price $N. (Store) puts up a display inside the store for (Product), say an image and a price tag. (Product) is correctly listed as out of stock and (...
- 4,467
2
votes
2
answers
213
views
Is debt a publicly tradeable commodity?
Suppose I have debt – student loans or something. So the bank and I have a contract that says I owe them $500.
From what I understand, the bank can sell the contracted debt to some other ...
- 163
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
When is making and selling "snake oil" illegal?
There's an interesting story in the news lately about a company selling "Bio-frequency healing" stickers, made from "the same material used in NASA space-suits", that supposedly heal us using some ...
user3580
2
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Can a vendor cancel an order due to a pricing error?
I purchased some goods from a supplier which has now cancelled my order giving the reason as being a pricing error.
However I had paid for the item and in their online portal it stated that my order ...
- 123
2
votes
1
answer
80
views
Proving the contents of an item delivered via post
I have recently sold an item online of a moderate value (~$5k USD) that now must be delivered to the buyer. Short of personally delivering the item or using a neutral third party, I must rely on a ...
- 468
2
votes
1
answer
205
views
Can I use this code in my own commercial projects?
I am reading a programming book that was written by an author that is not around anymore and published by a company that also does not exist anymore.
This is the book.
When I load in the CD-ROM, I ...
- 41