Archive for September, 2008
On Line Sports Competition Laying – a Primer
Bond together everybody’s most important interests and you’ve got is something that’s known as a sportsbook wagering website. Seriously, what could ever be more ingenious… Imagine a band of fellas clapping to support any given preferred team, and always antes are certain to be geared up going with the rumpus. Wishing to get their piece of the pleasure, bystanders typically venture to infer who will win in the approaching contest. In the end, this will develop into a charming little contest called sportsbook wagering website.
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So it may well appear overpowering, but, rather, sportsbook wagering is essentially just an amusing entertainment and to bond with one’s fellow sports admirers. You can wager a a piddling amount of bucks and regardless enjoy yourself. Below, you’ll find some basics to get started sportsbook wagering.
If you want to bet, you will want to search out a sportsbook wagering website, i.e. a place that accepts sportsbook wagering website. In America, you’ll find four states where to do sportsbook wagering in a legit manner, but inofficially you can attempt it anywhere you like assuming that you can pinpoint a bookie *and* you’re a legal adult. Included track-and-field events you’ll be able to wager on are professional added to college basketball plus football, professional baseball and hockey, added to betting on. You’ll be able to wager on the complete combined score of a competition, when a contestant will be defeated, and even whether a coin toss in a competition comes down heads or tails.
The odds makers are dependant on number crunching make it easier for you establish which team you trust will win. First, you’ll see spread, or advantage in points assigned to the inferior team that is expected to take a licking by x number points. This comprises the bookie firm’s form of making even lays possible for a Sportsbook. Thus, we may choose to risk money on a party that is expected to take a licking and and regardless win that bet assuming that the team goes under by x number of points.
Why not just have a stab at it, and enjoy the amusement for good measure… Just make sure that you won’t get unduly carried away and fritter your complete pension plan on a whimsy… For you’re likely to end up feeling sorry about it till the end of your days…
Comments are off for this postNude Notary Reveals the #1 Misunderstanding about Notaries
It is dismaying that the general public has a huge misunderstanding about the functions of notaries, but we notaries often perpetuate the problems. I will often receive a phone call from a complete stranger asking if I am available to travel to his house or location at a nearby clothing-optional resort in order to notarize some document for him. I always answer “Yes!” unless I cannot physically be at his location when he needs me.
That scenario is played out many times by me or other notaries public. There seems to be nothing wrong with it, but there is. Notaries DO NOT (and hold on to your hats while I tell this to you) notarize documents. That’s right; we are not allowed to notarize documents.
We perform a very specific public function. We notarize signatures of people who acknowledge that they have signed a document of their own free will. We also administer oaths and affirmations and then notarize the signatures of those people who are declaring under oath the truthfulness of the contents of what they are signing in our presence.
I am as guilty as the next person of spreading the myth about what we do. I will not correct a potential client on the phone and tell him that I will not notarize his document, but I will notarize his signature. That type of parsing is too technical for a person who just needs to obtain a notary’s signature and seal on some form.
The next time you call for a mobile notary to do some work for you, display your knowledge and tell the notary that you need a signature, not a document, notarized. The notary will be appreciative of your insight.
Dr. Marc Seligman, the Nude Notary, is a notary public in Florida who primarily serves the nudist/naturist/clothing-optional communities. Along with performing day-to-day notarial acts, he enjoys officiating at nude weddings. Visitors to http://www.NudeNotary.com can learn more.
Comments are off for this postProtecting and Prosecuting Your Images
You’re sitting in your easy chair and surfing the web. You’re not paying much attention, until you see it. It’s your photo, but you did not post it there. You can’t believe they used your photo without your permission.
Do you care? Maybe your photo is being used by a family to decorate its news page. Maybe it’s being used to sell a product. Does that make a difference to you?
If the answer to both questions is no, then read no further. If the answer is yes to one or both, then pay attention.
Creating and Owning Your Copyright
A copyright is created at the moment the work is made into a fixed form. For photographers, it happens at the click of the shutter. The image then is protected by a copyright regardless of whether it is recorded on film or digitally. Copyrights give the owner the exclusive right to do, or to authorize others to do, specific things to the property. Specifically, the copyright owner has complete control to reproduce the image, to prepare derivative works based on the image, to distribute them by sale, rental or lending, and/or to display the image.
The photographer who clicks the shutter owns the copyright. The only exception to this rule is when you shoot the image in a work-for-hire condition. This relationship is created only in two situations: (1) when you are an employee hired to photograph for your employer, such as a photojournalist who is an employee of a newspaper; or (2) you are hired to photograph pursuant to a contract, and the contract specifically includes the provision that the copyrights to the images you shoot for the contractor belong to the contractor.
You own the copyright even if you don’t register it. Registration does not give you the copyright. The copyright is established when you take the photograph. Registration is only a legal formality that gives you certain additional rights.
You can only transfer your copyright in writing. Giving a slide to a publisher, giving digital files to a client or selling a print does not transfer the copyright. While these acts grant what is called “non-exclusive rights,” you still own the copyright to the image. The transfer must be specifically described in writing and it must be signed by the copyright owner.
Protecting Your Copyright
When you own a copyright, there are things you can do to protect your rights. The copyright notice – the “©” with a date and name of the copyright owner – is not required for protection, but it may help to guard your images. It may stop someone from copying your image, either because the person will be reminded that the image belongs to someone else or because your notice impairs the image for the person’s use. Also, it helps to include a copyright notice with your image because if it is stolen, the defendant is prevented from using the defense of innocent infringement.
Your image does not have to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office for you to use the notice. You also can include the words “all rights reserved” for some international protection.
Registering your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office is required to file suit against an infringer. Registration provides other advantages, as well. These include: establishing a public record of the copyright; establishing evidence of copyright ownership if registered within five years of publication; providing for statutory damages and attorney’s fees if registered before or within three months of infringement; and preventing the importation of infringing copies. You have more rights if the image was registered prior to infringement; but register it anyway, even if it is after the violation.
To make the registration process easier, bulk register both your unpublished and published images (separate bulks; not together).
Prosecuting Your Copyright
When your image is used without your permission, your copyright is infringed. You have several options at this point.
You always have the option of doing nothing. You may not care that the non-profit wolf society is using one of your wolf images. You may only want the society to give you proper credit. If so, write the society a letter officially giving it the right to use the image (be sure to designate the parameters of that use), but insist that you get a photo credit with a copyright notice. Also ask the society to add your website name. You may get additional work from the society or others.
Thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act enacted in 1998, you have another option when your copyright is infringed on the web. While the Internet Service Provider ["ISP"] is not liable for transmitting information that infringes a copyright, the ISP must remove the infringing materials from a user’s website after receiving proper notice of the violation. The notice must: be in writing, be signed by the copyright owner or the owner’s agent, identify the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed (or list of infringements from the same site) and identify the material that is infringing the work.
Additionally, the notice must include the complaining party’s contact information, a statement that the complaint is made in “good faith,” and a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in the notification is accurate and that the complainer has the right to proceed (because he is the copyright owner or agent). Because the notification requirements must be strictly followed, legal assistance can help to make the claim.
Your most aggressive option is to pursue your legal remedies by filing suit. Remember, your copyright must have been registered with the Copyright Office. To file suit, get an attorney to help you because the legal procedures are complicated.
Usually, your most profitable and easiest road is the middle one. Since you have your proof of registration, you need only to contact the infringer to put him on notice. If the infringer is a business-savvy person, he will know that he’s in trouble. If he doesn’t understand the trouble he’s in, he will as soon as he counsels with his attorney. He will want to avoid the legal fees that will be imposed both by his and your attorney. So make your demand for statutory damages by letter and you will get your just rewards much more quickly.
The weight of your demand letter is dramatically increased if it comes from an attorney. The infringer will recognize that you mean business and are prepared to go forward with suit if the infringer doesn’t respond appropriately.
It’s a Two-Step Process
Protecting and prosecuting your images go hand-in-hand. If you don’t protect them, you can’t prosecute them. If you don’t prosecute them, then infringers will continue to take advantage of artists, and soon you won’t be able to protect your images.
Take my advice; get professional help.
PhotoAttorney
— ABOUT THE AUTHOR —
Carolyn E. Wright, Esq., has a unique legal practice aimed squarely at the needs of photographers. A pro photographer herself, Carolyn has the credentials and the experience to protect photographers. She’s represented clients in multimillion dollar litigations, but also has the desire to help new photographers just starting their careers. Carolyn graduated from Emory University School of Law with a Juris Doctor, and from Tennessee Tech Univ. with a Masters of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in music.
She wrote the book on photography law. “88 Secrets to the Law for Photographers,” by Carolyn and well-known professional photographer, Scott Bourne, is scheduled for fall 2005 release by Olympic Mountain School Press. Carolyn also is a columnist for PhotoFocus Magazine.
Carolyn specializes in wildlife photography and her legal website is http://www.photoattorney.com
Comments are off for this postGetting an Easy Divorce In Florida
Clients often ask if a Florida “Easy Divorce” is attainable. Of course it is – whenever both husband and wife can agree to make the process work. A Florida “Easy Divorce” will not be possible if one of the parties wants to make things difficult. Just like every other state, Florida has mandatory rules that have to be met in order to be awarded a divorce. There is just no getting around this.
It can be asked, how might one of the spouses obstruct the Florida “Easy Divorce”? By contesting matters which need to be consented to, including divorce grounds, or in contesting matters including (a) how the property will be divided, (b) how the children’s residence will be decided & when each parent will have parenting time, or (c) how much child support should be remitted under the law.
Each and every issue that is required to be addressed to obtain the Florida divorce could be contested. And so, if either party would like to to delay or prevent an “Easy Divorce”, that is very possible.
Conversely, every family law matter can be resolved by an agreement. When both you and your spouse can agree to a Florida divorce, you must amicably agree on all of the outstanding issues and then the parties can enter into a Florida “Easy Divorce”. And so, the first topic that you need to resolve ought to be whether each of the parties will actually work out the issues in order to obtain a Florida “Easy Divorce”.
After both parties have agreed that you would like to obtain a Florida “Easy Divorce”, the two of you should figure out the best way to get the required court documents finished, served and filed. One common way to accomplish this is to retain a single lawyer to represent both parties and to finish the court documents. Some individuals are not comfortable working with just one attorney and prefer to have independent advise from their own attorney. But, it is also common to engage two attorneys and to direct one attorney to prepare all of the Florida divorce court documents that are necessary, then have the other attorney review the divorce documents.
Another way to acquire a Florida “Easy Divorce” is to agree to use one of the online divorce or separation forms services to obtain all of the papers that are necessary. You may locate an online divorce or separation forms service from one of the many that are available today. When you employ such a divorce service, you can rest assured that you will be obtaining the divorce documents that are pertinent to the state of Florida.
If you and your spouse want to use an online divorce or separation forms service to take care of your Florida “Easy Divorce”, you have your choice of hiring a service provider from three different type of services that are available. One type of online divorce or separation forms service will send you the blank forms for a Florida divorce. All of these blank forms arrive accompanied by instructions on how to complete them with the proper information, however, you will have to complete them on your own.
An alternative type of service is an online divorce or separation forms “complete form preparation” service. This kind of service will ask that you or your spouse fill out a questionnaire concerning your marriage. Then, this kind of online divorce or separation forms service would actually complete all of the necessary Florida divorce forms for you and return them to you with instructions on how you should go about filing all of the divorce documents. The third type of online divorce or separation forms service is a “complete” service provider and usually this type of service is provided by law firms. This category of online divorce or separation forms service will have you complete questionnaires, complete the necessary forms for your matter, get all of the necessary signatures from both parties, and then file the legal papers that are required by law. This type of divorce service is usually more expensive than the other types because you or your spouse must actually pay all of the mandated state filing fees to this service. When using the other two types of online divorce or separation forms services, you or your spouse must pay all of the filing fees directly to the court because you submit all of your own forms.
Comments are off for this postBetting vs. Checking with a Draw Hand
If you’re playing Texas Holdem and you flop a very strong drawing hand, such as an open-ended straight draw or a flush draw, should you bet or check? The answer will vary depending on the other players at your table as well as whether you are playing Limit Holdem or No-Limit Holdem.
In Limit Holdem, you will almost always want to bet your draws to get more money into the pot early. That being said, if you are facing an aggressive player who continually re-raises you, feel free to back off a little and wait to see if your draw comes and then let them bet it for you. You can win more money by acting weak if you know that another player will bet and then you can raise them.
In No-Limit Holdem it can be a bit more complicated. If the majority of players at the table are ultra-aggressive you could bet half the pot as blocking bet, but if instead there are a lot of calling stations you might check knowing you can see a free card and you will be able to get more money after you hit your draw. Also note that your position at the table is important. If you are in early position you may want to check to see what the other players do, but if you are in late position it is often smart to throw a bet out to signify that you already have a hand. This may help you get paid off if your draw hits. Regardless, playing draws can be tricky and you need to figure out which ways work best for you.
Comments are off for this postExplore How to Find the Best Broad Band for your Home
The up most primal thing with broadband packages is that you discover the most efficient one for you. What’s magnificent about Compare Broadband UK is that the corporation just provide unprejudiced home broadband and mobile broadband advice. Contrasting with other services they give out individual guidance on a diverse of contrasting internet providers, the firm support you to locate the finest deal for you so one can spend the smallest amount of cash achievable & conversely take on a fantastic deal from across your broadband provider.
Mobile Broadband is the name applied to describe many flavours of devices, including the wireless dongle USB from Three Broadband, which provide you with wire less high speed net access whilst expelling the wires and whilst expelling a fixed phone line connection. Mobile Broad Band gives you the convenience to use one’s laptop where ever you find yourself situated. All one actually need to do is slot in the USB dongle and off you go, uncomplicated wire less broadband wherever you are to be found. There are likewise lots of various offers to go for and tonnes of different packages to go for with many different providers. The broadband providers available are BT Broadband, Vodaphone, Virgin and AOL. These top companies have all taken the lead initiative in providing wireless web access. Yet the above mentioned cell telephone networks have initially concentrated on marketing the service to laptop computers, Wireless Broad Band has become astonishingly popular and just about two million United kingdom broadband customers presently connect wirelessly to the world wide web at flat, this is a statistic that is forever developing as lots of people get wise to all the benefits of wire less net access. Wireless broadband is brilliant for a home which caters for numerous flatmates all keen to use the the information highway, it means that if more than one recipient will be connected at the same time. And the magnificent benefit is that should you should not have a cable any longer. Therefore no more phone tangled cables and phone extensions coming from the wall and being connected to your home computer, fantastic don’t you think. Get some help with finding Mobile Broadband deals with Compare Broadband UK.
Comments are off for this postWhat Awesome Treatments Should Help to Stop a Receding Hair Line in Blokes
The depressing part of baldness for guys is that there is no miracle. Loss of hair has been a big issue for lads in the United Kingdom but there are brilliant treatments that could minimise further baldness.
There is a lotion based treatment for loss of hair called Minoxidil that can often be taken in tablet or topical lotion form and might help guys regrow their hair and reduce further hair loss. The hair loss lotion comes in a variety of strengths with two percent being the most popular. The baldness treatment is used under the supervision of a doctor and should be made aware that the baldness treatment is not an exciting miracle cure. However, the excellent success of this hair loss treatment is around two thirds. The hair loss treatment course is a minimum of two months before incredible results might show and all blokes are recommended to stay on the hair loss treatment for at least 7 months to a year.
For females that don?t note any hair growth with the hair loss treatment they might try hair loss surgery. Transplant surgery is a long term solution and involves transplanting the hair follicles on the head to reduce bald areas. Hair surgery can be high priced and involves a medical procedure so may not be for every lady.
Comments are off for this postWhat Do People Really Want for Christmas?
If you are aimlessly buying Christmas presents for people with hopes that just one of those things will please them, then you need to read this article. Discover ways to purchase what they desire, or ideally, provide them with a gift card and then enjoy the remainder of the day in each other’s company.
Each year Holiday spending gets more and more excessive. Christmas is time for picking up piles and piles of wrapping paper and trying to figure out how to fit gifts in cars, even though every year we swear that the next year we will be better prepared. When we are gift buying for adults, do we really need to go bonkers? Kids get excited for gifts, but adults buy for themselves what they want to have most of the time.
No one can ever know what everyone else knows. The theory is that if you buy the person a lot of gifts, chances are they will like at least one of them. It it best to do research before you put the time and effort into going all out for someone. Check with people who know what they want and need. Ask the person a few probing questions throughout the year so when gift time comes you will have something to go on. This will hopefully stop you from buying those useless gadgets and trinkets. If all these ideas do not work then there is nothing wrong with gift cards. These can be personalized by including a few ornaments or hand-baked cookies or even a personalized card telling them that you wished that they have the last say about their gift. Even if you get to spend all your time surrounded by gifts, the best gift of all is spending time with loved ones.
Many say that gift cards are impersonal, but think about it, isn’t buying someone something they don’t need or want impersonal too? Gift cards are a great back-up plan when research and questioning have failed to provide you with any ideas. More than often people really don’t know what they desire, or at least won’t admit to it. There are plenty of ways to please this group, too. Here is a great site for some gifts ideas for everyone.
Comments are off for this postElectronic Evidence as the Smoking Gun
NOTE: THIS IS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE.
Electronic communications–particularly email–may contain a treasure trove of evidence in commercial litigation matters. There are three key reasons for this fact. First, email is a very informal means of communication. Why? I don’t know, it just is. Though I personally insist on specific grammer and sentence structure in my “hardcopy” written correspondence, court pleadings, etc., in emails I sometimes choose not to follow the rules of written English.
Second, though intellectually many of us know it is not, email “feels” anonymous. I’m sure there have been studies conducted in effort to understand why email feels anonymous. Maybe it’s because of the instantaneous nature of email–you can simply vent your emotions and knee-jerk reactions immediately and press the send button, rather than having time to reflect on your written thoughts as you otherwise would if you were forced to sit down and write a letter; sign it with your own hand; put it in an envelope; put a stamp on in it; and take it to the mailbox and mail it. Whatever the reason(s), the fact of the matter is that email does feel anonymous.
The third reason email evidence can contain critical evidence in a commercial litigation case: permanence and retrievability. Most people don’t realize that when they “delete” an email from their email program it actually remains on the computer or network unless and until the portions of the computer’s memory containing the email are overwritten by other information. You can be certain, however, that every single electronic commuincation you make–email or otherwise–is being recorded somewhere. Perhaps on your company’s network server, perhaps at your Internet service provider, or perhaps on your own computer’s hard drive. Savvy litigators know this fact and, depending the stakes of the case, you could end up receiving a letter such as this should your business find itself in a business dispute:
Dear Mr. John Doe:
This is a notice and demand that evidence identified below in paragraphs 2 through 5 must be immediately preserved and retained by you until further written notice from the undersigned. This request is essential, as a paper printout of text contained in a computer file does not completely reflect all information contained within the electronic file.
The continued operation of the computer systems identified herein will likely result in the destruction of relevant evidence due to the fact that electronic evidence can be easily altered, deleted or otherwise modified. THE FAILURE TO PRESERVE AND RETAIN THE ELECTRONIC DATA OUTLINED IN THIS NOTICE CONSTITUTES SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE AND WILL SUBJECT YOU TO LEGAL CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES AND/OR EVIDENTIARY AND MONETARY SANCTIONS.
For purposes of this notice, “Electronic Data” shall include, but not be limited to, all text files (including word processing documents), spread sheets, e-mail files and information concerning e-mail (including logs of e-mail history and usage, header information and “deleted” files), Internet history files and preferences, graphical image format (“GIF”) files, all other graphical format images, data bases, calendar and scheduling information, computer system activity logs, and all file fragments and backup files containing Electronic Data.
1. Please preserve and retain all Electronic Data generated or received by the following persons:
John Doe, CEO
Mary Smith, CFO
Bill Brown, COO
2. Please preserve and retain all Electronic Data containing any information about the following subjects:
Emails sent to or received from any employee or representative of ABC Company, DEF Company, or XYZ Company.
3. You must refrain from operating (or removing or altering fixed or external drives and media attached thereto) standalone personal computers, network workstations, notebook and/or laptop computers operated by the following persons:
John Doe, CEO
Mary Smith, CFO
Bill Brown, COO
4. You must retain and preserve all backup tapes or other storage media, whether on-line or off-line, and refrain from overwriting or deleting information contained thereon, which may contain Electronic Data identified in paragraphs 2 through 4.
In order to alleviate any burden upon you, we are prepared to immediately enlist the services of a computer forensic expert to image and examine all drives and media in your custody and control which may contain Electronic Data relevant to this matter. If you enlist your own computer forensics expert to generate evidentiary images of all electronic evidence identified above, demand is made that such expert utilize industry standard computer forensic software in order to facilitate and enable the processing and exchange of such evidence in this matter.
Should your company receive a letter like this, you should take it extremely seriously. Continuing to use any computers or other devices identified in such a letter will result in data being overwritten, which the courts would interpret as destruction of evidence. Destroying evidence can not only result in serious sanctions against the company or individual in the case at hand, as we saw during the Enron mess it can also result in criminal prosecution.
Henry J. Fasthoff, IV
Principal & General Counsel
HoustonBusiness.com
Junk Faxes – New California Law Challenged
I hate junk faxes. You hate junk faxes. We all hate junk faxes! California legislators passed a law banning them, but it has been delayed to a legal challenge.
Junk Fax Prevention Act
In 2005, the State of California passed the Junk Fax Prevention Act. Legislators were reacting to the bevy of businesses screaming about the junk faxes being received daily. The problem with junk faxes, besides being annoying, is they put wear and tear on fax machines as well as using up paper and toner. In passing the new law, legislators sought to help businesses. In truth, I imagine they just wanted to free up their own faxes, but I digress.
The Junk Fax Prevention Act was set to go into force on January 1, 2006. In a rather shocking move, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed for an injunction, which was granted. Joining the Chamber of Commerce is Xpedite Systems, a fax company. Filed in federal court, the injunction was granted and the law stayed from being enforced. A hearing on the matter will be held January 23, 2006 with the earliest resolution of the matter being January 30, 2006.
At the heart of the dispute is an exemption to the law known as the previous business relationship exemption. Under federal law, a person may send a fax to a person or business with which they have had a previous business relationship. The problem, however, is there is no particular test for determining a previous business relationship. The California law seeks to require proof of such a business relationship.
Ironically, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was one of the biggest and boisterous supporters of the federal junk fax law. In a mysterious change of position, the Chamber of Commerce is now taking the position the California law is unduly burdensome on medium and small businesses.
This position is so much hogwash, a typical stance for the Chamber of Commerce. When evaluating such bland statement positions, it is always important to use common sense. In this case, a business sending faxes to clients is easily going to have proof of such relationships. Indeed, most businesses now communicate by email with their clients in lieu of a fax. If something written needs to go out, it is typically done by snail mail.
Intentionally or not, the only parties the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is protecting are the junk fax senders. What a shame. Let’s hope the court puts the Chamber in its place.
Richard A. Chapo is a San Diego business lawyer with www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com – a San Diego business law firm in San Diego, California providing business incorporation services.
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