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Legal forum

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:20 am
by Roja
There are a fairly large number of licensing questions, legal questions, and so forth in general on a regular basis.

Perhaps make a legal issues forum, for discussing licensing, legal issues, and the like?

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:39 am
by Jenk
Whilst a good idea, wouldn't this be a bit risque? Person A get's what they take to be 'legal advice' from these boards, then goes off and does whatever, then blames the board for the advice?

Kind of ironic (well not really but it sounds like it) that a Legal forum could cause Legal issues for the board. :P

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:56 am
by feyd
The automatic response to threads would be "seek a lawyer" to nine out of ten threads.

;)

I dunno.. legal questions should always be given to lawyers.

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:47 am
by hawleyjr
Yeah, actually anyone giving 'legal advice' per say could be putting themselves in jeopardy...

lol, or everyone would have to start out with..."I'm not a lawyer but..."

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:00 am
by Jenk
This is kind of a private joke from a different forum, so may not be appreciated.. but we could always inform people to "blast off and nuke 'em from orbit, it's the only way to be sure."

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:04 am
by Weirdan
no, there should be a big ad in red letters at the top of the forum:
NOONE HERE IS LAWYER UNLESS HE/SHE STATE OTHERWISE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE BOARD OR ANY OF ITS MEMBERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS BOARD, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE
:)

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:06 am
by Maugrim_The_Reaper
Yeah, actually anyone giving 'legal advice' per say could be putting themselves in jeopardy...
It was not suggested Devnetwork engage in providing legal advice - the word "advice" was never even mentioned. If discussing legal issues on a public forums were to be construed as giving legal advice in the capacity of a registered solicitor/lawyer, then what about discussing such issues in any other public setting?

I see nothing wrong in a group of people discussing legal issues and offering some advice on some issues so long as it not under the guise of a professional opinion. Honestly, the world is going insane...;)

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:08 am
by John Cartwright
Weirdan wrote:no, there should be a big ad in red letters at the top of the forum:
NOONE HERE IS LAWYER UNLESS HE/SHE STATE OTHERWISE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE BOARD OR ANY OF ITS MEMBERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS BOARD, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE
:)
stop yelling at me :cry: just joking

I like the idea of a disclaimer :wink: The idea of a legal forum could perhaps be a good idea, although I don't know if we have that many people able to actively respond to questions.

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:48 am
by Jenk
Maugrim_The_Reaper wrote:
Yeah, actually anyone giving 'legal advice' per say could be putting themselves in jeopardy...
It was not suggested Devnetwork engage in providing legal advice - the word "advice" was never even mentioned. If discussing legal issues on a public forums were to be construed as giving legal advice in the capacity of a registered solicitor/lawyer, then what about discussing such issues in any other public setting?

I see nothing wrong in a group of people discussing legal issues and offering some advice on some issues so long as it not under the guise of a professional opinion. Honestly, the world is going insane...;)
Advice will be, aside from "That sucks, man." will be the only thing that forum will contain :)

If someone asks for opinions, and someone else replies with "Go and do x!" and x turns out to be an illegal activity in uzbekheswalimali, which just so happens to be the location of the server or any related party, there is a chance that some of the flak could land on devnet. :)

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:19 pm
by Roja
Jenk wrote:Advice will be, aside from "That sucks, man." will be the only thing that forum will contain :)

If someone asks for opinions, and someone else replies with "Go and do x!" and x turns out to be an illegal activity in uzbekheswalimali, which just so happens to be the location of the server or any related party, there is a chance that some of the flak could land on devnet. :)
Thats not what is already happening. People already ask legal questions here, and get suggestions - in many cases, substantial ones with solid references. Not just "That sucks, man."

Here are a few examples:

viewtopic.php?t=34602
viewtopic.php?t=43100
viewtopic.php?t=47397
viewtopic.php?t=47848
viewtopic.php?t=44350

Offering a forum for discussion (when that discussion is already taking place) does not place DevNet in the position of providing legal advice. As long as there is a clear disclaimer, denoting that the comments are purely suggestions, and not legal advice, there is no risk to devnet.

Again, I'm only suggesting a more specific forum to discuss what is already being discussed, because there seems to be sufficient interest, and it seems to make sense to have a seperate category.

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:31 pm
by RobertGonzalez
I don't know about this. Given the way lawsuits run rampant for even the smallest things in the US. Even worse in Caliornia. Nothing stops a lawsuit from costing money, even if the suit is without merit. I would hate for someone to implicate a poster or DevNet as part of a suit, even if it turned out it meant nothing. It would still cost some money to someone.

It is a good idea, but there would need to be some serious protection offered for those that engage in that type of advice-giving communication.

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:43 pm
by feyd
Discussions over licenses to choose and so forth I have no issue with. However, I have the itching suspicion the majority of questions will need actual answers from lawyers, so I'm torn.

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:59 am
by Maugrim_The_Reaper
A Disclaimer is a safety net. And yes, a lawyer should be called upon for a serious legal question - but in many cases people are simply seeking information on their rights, options and such. I'd simply call these open discussions - no one here ever claims to be offering advice as a substitute for a local solicitor. A disclaimer could make that perception formal and a forum rule to boot.

Fact is, Roja is quite right. Legal issues are being discussed frequently already. And I don't see the problem. I'm Irish so maybe I'm missing something. If I got accussed of offeirng legal advice on a forum and was sued over it I would quite literally break into giggles. Is there really US case law against public discussions where advice is offered from non-lawyers?

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:33 am
by Jenk
I don't know how well it works in other areas of the globe, but in the UK certainly, Disclaimers don't hold water when it comes to the crunch.

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:07 am
by Roja
Maugrim_The_Reaper wrote:Legal issues are being discussed frequently already.
Thats the real key. All the arguments being offered against the idea are ignoring the fact that these conversations already occur. If there is a risk associated with having the discussion, the risk is already here.

By adding a forum specifically about it, with a disclaimer, it would actually decrease the risk, by having a formal statement disclaiming that its not legal advice.
Maugrim_The_Reaper wrote:Is there really US case law against public discussions where advice is offered from non-lawyers?
Sort of. There are some specific cases that are rather harsh about non-lawyers pretending to be lawyers, and offering (bad) legal advice. However, especially recently, the courts have given wide latitude to ISP's and online forums for discussing a wide variety of topics. If anything, the current trend is towards favoring open discussion, not discouraging it.

But again, that presumes that the conversations aren't taking place. They are already occuring here. Adding a specific forum would improve the situation, not make things worse.