Questions tagged [liability]
Use this for questions where the award of damages, or its possibility, is involved.
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Is it illegal to infringe copyright if your boss or your client ordered you to do it?
The first possible scenario is this: suppose you work in a company, and you need to install some software for a client. The software needs to be purchased, but the boss tells you to just download it ...
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What legal liability does one's participation on Stack Exchange carry?
This question is motivated by a question which came up recently on engineering.SE: Cracks on the wall. It may be closed in the future so I will summarize. The user posted pictures of (very large) ...
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USA: Is "I am not a lawyer" disclaimer generally necessary?
Is it legally necessary to disclaim "I am not a lawyer" when engaging in casual conversation, writing Internet posts, etc. to avoid civil or criminal liability for one's comments? Specifically, in ...
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Can I booby-trap my property against police?
Inspired by this question: Suppose I'm paranoid (perhaps justifiably) that law enforcement personnel might conduct a warranted raid of my property. So I setup booby-traps that are designed to either:
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My bag falls off the overhead rack of a train onto the seat below. In case of damage or injury, who is liable and what to do?
In most long-distance trains, notably in Europe, there are big racks for the larger bags and a shelf above the seats that runs the entire length of the car for smaller ones. The latter is also used ...
DavGin
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Can a website incur liability for linking to a funding campaign for a lawsuit against it?
A large website that hosts user-created content has recently announced that it is redacting links to a fundraising campaign for a lawsuit against it "under direction from [its] legal team." Is there a ...
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What are some possible law suits or civil actions the Las Vegas shooting victims could take?
I assume that many, if not all of the businesses, corporations and individuals who were operating and supplying services at the time of the Las Vegas Strip shootings (Wikipedia) - such as hotels, ...
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How do free-speech protections in the United States apply in public to corporate misrepresentations?
Last night, I was driving behind a truck that had a very official-looking sign like this:
(Sign says, "WARNING STAY BACK 200 FT. NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR BROKEN WINDSHIELDS!")
Some cursory Googling ...
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Contractor does work on the wrong house
I saw a post online where someone (in the UK) is claiming they accidentally went to the wrong house to replace windows and the homeowner let them in, let them perform all the work, and then thanked ...
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How to mitigate the risk of getting sued by clients (web dev contracting)
I'm a web dev and I'm thinking about becoming a contractor.
I feel a little uneasy about the possibility of someone potentially trying to sue me. If, for example, a client wants an e-commerce website ...
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Do cats have a "right to roam" in the UK?
I've seen numerous sources, including the RSPCA, making claims along the lines that cats in the UK have a "right to roam", are "free spirits", and therefore that cat owners cannot ...
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Can one be liable for poisoning food one expects to be stolen?
A friend of mine posted about how someone keeps stealing her food at work, and I recommended she lace it with some insanely hot hot sauce. Someone else commented that she could be liable for ...
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A car catches fire in a carpark. The resulting fire spreads destroying the entire carpark. Who is liable?
A car catches fire in a multi-story carpark. The fire spreads quickly from the car, igniting nearby vehicles, leading to a raging inferno that causes the collapse of the carpark. All the cars parked ...
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Why doesn't law take into account probability?
My question is based on my layman understanding, I'm not in law
When I think of "[damages]"* I think of "what is the expected liability from an interaction," as opposed to "...
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Can I sue an app for enabling harassment?
Can I sue an app for emotional distress?
My soon-to-be ex-husband has been using a fake phone number app in order to impersonate:
my child's school
the coroner's office
the police officers who are ...
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Is there liablility if Alice startles Bob and Bob damages something?
The other day I saw a random clip on YouTube, where Alice sneaks up to Bob, who is vacuuming, and scares Bob. Bob gets startled and swings the vacuum into (Bob's own) expensive television, breaking ...
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How would one protect one self from a suit while skiing?
I am skiing and cause unintentional injury to another slope patron/client.
How would I protect myself from being sued?
Is there insurance if sued that could protect my assets if found negligent and ...
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Can I be liable for vandalism if I have posted a political sign on the property?
I have posted a political sign on the front lawn of a house I am renting. The landlord has told me that if I don’t remove this sign, I will be liable for any vandalism occurring to the house, as he ...
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Liability of products that are inherently risky (e.g. skateboard)
How do manufacturers of products that necessarily imply risk deal with liability?
Are they only liable if the product malfunctions in an unexpected and unpredictable way (e.g., the board breaks)?
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Do warranty disclaimers in software licenses carry any legal weight?
Most open source software licenses contain, in capital letters, the following disclaimer:
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT ...
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By selling a flagged solution to a student to catch them cheating, would the seller be liable for the breach of contract?
This is a follow up question to this HNQ question from academia.
Suppose a student S posts an assignment for school/university/... on a freelancer website. A faculty member F sees this and agrees to ...
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Has it been Legally Confirmed that A Website is not Liable if passwords stolen from it are used on other sites?
Security Experts the world around all agree that you should not reuse passwords across sites. This is simply a matter of best practice, and it protects you such that if your StackExchange password is ...
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Is one obligated to disclose they are Divorced (rather than Single) on government and financial forms?
I'm a recent divorcee in the U.S. and over the course of the last year I've noticed on a number of different Medical, Insurance, Social Networking and Financial entry forms that when filling out ...
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How do trademarks apply to Open Source?
How do trademarks apply to open-source?
Hypothetical:
In the early 1990s, there is a company operating under the name Portable Network Graphics, who brands their products with the mark PNG. They ...
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If a stolen item is stolen again, who has the liability?
This is a follow up on a poorly phrased question. Assume a car is the only asset anyone has in this scenario.
Person B steals a car from person A by forging the registration in a fraudulent manner.
...
user31975
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Is homeowner liable for police injury during raid
Hypothetically speaking, let's say that a person is very paranoid about intruders, government, end of the world, so on. They decided to buy some land and have a fence around the property with clear ...
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Neighborly liability?
My wife and I have been building a playhouse for our kids on the backyard. Our neighbor keeps telling my wife that we must put up a fence and/or get lots of insurance because if her son gets hurt in ...
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Is saying "Sorry" assuming fault?
I am unsure where I heard of this, but the basic premise is that if an individual in says "Sorry" either to law-enforcement or to another party, they are in effect, assuming fault for a given action.
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If I accidentally leaked my school's IP address and someone attempts a DDoS attack on my school am I at fault?
I found my schools IP address and if it accidentally got out and my school got a DDoS attack am I liable for damages? (I'm in Colorado if that helps.)
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Karen sues a workshop for damages as she was trespassing and disregarding mandatory safety gear. Does she have a case?
Let's paint the scene: We work in the back of a metalworking workshop in Austin Texas. Huge machines make lots of noise, at times there are steel panels on the floor with access holes to access the ...
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Liability for explosive theft prevention
A man in New Orleans, USA, developed a method to prevent thieves from breaking into his car by rigging a flashbang to detonate if someone broke in. A flashbang is an explosive device that triggers a ...
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What is "unjust enrichment?"
What is unjust enrichment under the law? It's understandable if associated with liability for wrongdoing. Apparently, this is not a necessary condition. How does it operate independently of liability ...
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What liabilities do the police/CPS have if you are found innocent?
Being accused of a crime you did not commit is an expensive problem. The police may kick your door in and ransack your house looking for evidence. They may deprive you of your property (phones, ...
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Liability if someone is hurt on my property
My neighbor sometimes mows a ditch on a far side of our property without asking. The ditch is steep and I'm concerned he may tip over the mower and get hurt.
I have 2 questions:
If this does happen, ...
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Legal effect of "I am a health care professional" buttons on medical websites
Similar to this question.
Many websites containing medical information intended for medical professionals require that the user assert that he/she is one before the content can be accessed. Merck ...
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Are there any legal jurisdictions where members of parole boards are accountable for crimes committed by parolees?
It has been reported that spree killer Myles Sanderson was previously released on parole despite having been convicted of a large number of violent offences.
Since it is hardly the first time that ...
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Getting the neighbor kids off my lawn?
We've had 4 sets of neighbors kids grow up around us with no issue. Nice kids, nice parents, etc.
The latest family has two young boys who like to camp out on my lawn and in my garden. I'm aware of ...
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Do immunity agreements really work?
Suppose I commit a murder of a federal official and get away with it. Later I discover that some other unfortunate individual is being prosecuted for the murder I committed. I feel sorry for him, so ...
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If Person A gets permission to use Person B's computer, but uses it for illegal activities, who is held liable?
I had this idea to make a network where people can get paid to let other people use their computer for computing purposes. Let's say they got permission to use Person B's computer under terms and ...
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Liability of posting potentially dangerous articles on blog
I work with electronics and some of it requires working with potentially dangerous voltages which could cause severe injury or fatality.
So my question is this: If I decided to start a blog and write ...
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What are the legal risks associated with a business or organization that provides insurance for fare dodging?
I'm wondering about the legality of a system like planka.nu (Swedish subway fare dodgers) (More info here: NPR article and Planka.nu site) as they would be implemented in the USA. Is there any law or ...
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Can one be liable to pay an agreed sum if they break a promise?
Bob wants Alice to share a computer file with him. This could be a photo, a video/audio recording etc. — anything that only Alice has and that Bob craves a copy of. The copyright ownership shouldn't ...
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What is the legality of implementing an unrevealed killswitch in software?
In this hypothetical, the poster describes the following:
during employment with his/her employer, the poster invents and patents a method (in his/her free time) that it turns out, is useful for his/...
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broker cancelled life insurance policy without authorization [closed]
Back in 2018 we had a life insurance policy that was set up in 2007, we were selling our house and buying another, our broker wanted to make sure we were covered as we were taking on a bigger debt. ...
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What legal penalties may Twitter face as a result of the Eli Lilly fake tweet?
Twitter recently made it possible to get a verification check added to an account by just paying 8 dollars, causing a rash of fake 'verified' accounts. One of these accounts was for Eli Lilly, a ...
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When must someone identify themself after damaging someone else's property?
After a car collision the law (in the UK at least) requires the drivers to give their name and address to each other.
Does this apply to car accidents on private property, such as carparks?
Are there ...
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Public liability in the UK during building works on house
When building works are done on a house in the UK (specifically England, if it makes a difference), is the contractor who erects scaffolding required to have public liability insurance? If the ...
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USA: Does a user who has falsely stated that he/she has read an EULA or similiar agreement risk liability solely for the false statement?
Many software products and Internet services require that users agree to an EULA or terms of service agreement before the product or service can be used. The user is often required to state that he/...
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If you are a state employee, what responsibility does your employer have to provide legal council when you are acting on its behalf?
This question came up during public records training at a public organization in Washington state, but I am interested in the general case. That said, I've provided the specific hypothetical about ...
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Waiver of liability: can I be required to waive an institution from liability from its negligence?
A certain University in New Jersey is holding a conference and organising an afternoon of excursions and leisure activities. It requires that participants sign a waiver containing the clause (emphasis ...
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