Stealing DMFA ideas and using for personal --

[superluser]

Having the letter  state that it comes from a lawyer would be the best indication that it doesn't come from a lawyer.  (The real sign that it comes from a lawyer is that it is often sent certified mail.)

Well, sure.  If you write in crayon I M TOTALY A LAYUR, then that's not going to cut it.  But if you write it on letterhead saying, ``FLEXNER, SWAINE, SNELL, WILMER, SHAUGHNESSY & PARTNERS, L.L.P.,'' and attach a boilerplate, they might not pay enough attention to figure out that it's bogus.

(Kids, don't pretend to be lawyers.)

[Naldru]

Having the letter  state that it comes from a lawyer would be the best indication that it doesn't come from a lawyer.  (The real sign that it comes from a lawyer is that it is often sent certified mail.)

Well, sure.  If you write in crayon I M TOTALY A LAYUR, then that's not going to cut it.  But if you write it on letterhead saying, ``FLEXNER, SWAINE, SNELL, WILMER, SHAUGHNESSY & PARTNERS, L.L.P.,'' and attach a boilerplate, they might not pay enough attention to figure out that it's bogus.

(Kids, don't pretend to be lawyers.)

Ah yes, but you don't know the secret handshake inserted by steganography into all legal documents.  Seriously, I haven't seen lawyers who write letters claim to be lawyers.  If a document is required to be prepared by a lawyer, they will indicate the nature of their authorization to present the document  (where are they licensed to practice law).  In fact, if you ask tham if they are a lawyer, they will say something like "I am not acting as a lawyer".  Now, they may list the title of Legal Counsel, but I don't believe that that means that they are a lawyer.

[superluser]

If it looks like this, they'll probably pay attention.  Also note that it wasn't sent by certified mail.

(But pretending to be a lawyer is still dumb)

[Naldru]

Take a look at the document again and the reference to the attachment.  The attachment is a legal court document and would include the certification information for the lawyer.  Nowhere in the letter does the writer indicate that he is a lawyer.  The only indication that it is from a legal firm is the message in the lower left hand corner.  All statements refer to what the city intends and not what the law firm intends.  It wasn't sent certified mail but Federal Express also provides proof of delivery.

What I'm saying is that if you knew enough to sound like a lawyer, you wouldn't pretend to be a lawyer.  Any deception is unnecessary and can come back to haunt you later.  (If you would lie about being a lawyer, what else might you have lied about.  If the lawyer can prove you lied about anything, he can ask the judge to distrust everything you say.  Of couse, it's up to the judge as to what he will actually believe.)

The person who wrote the letter is not practicing law because he (or she) isn't claiming to be a lawyer and isn't claiming to be doing anything.  (It's the city that is taking actions)  He isn't even saying "my client".  After this, I intend to say no more on this topic.

[superluser]

Nowhere in the letter does the writer indicate that he is a lawyer.

Well, it does say that he's from the firm representing the city.  You can find many other examples of Cease and Desist letters online.  Some state explicitly that they are lawyers.  Others do not.  Most come from letterhead that's pretty obviously a law firm's.

What I'm saying is that if you knew enough to sound like a lawyer, you wouldn't pretend to be a lawyer.  Any deception is unnecessary and can come back to haunt you later.

Yup.  All I'm saying is that nastygrams can convince some businesses to roll over--especially if they look reasonably realistic.

After this, I intend to say no more on this topic.

What he said.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

As with dealings with any other organization, try to be pleasant and cooperative at first.  You can always switch to the bitch from hell later, if necessary.  (I am hoping that this wording is acceptable on a PG board.  I will not take it amiss if the moderators want to replace some letters with asterisks.)

We presume that the PG rating is reasonably flexible, and that the readers are fairly intelligent and not easily upset. On that basis, the odd swear word is acceptable, as long as you don't abuse it.

Simple, really. Behave, and you get treated like an adult. Misbehave, and we deal with you like you're a child. *shrug*

... Nothing much, just Charline becoming the main villain, my corporate crew desinging a nice politically-correct cartoon movie series for direct-to-video release, ...

Er, yeah. How was that done? Remove all the singing that's in the script? ;-]

[Alondro]

... Nothing much, just Charline becoming the main villain, my corporate crew desinging a nice politically-correct cartoon movie series for direct-to-video release, ...

Er, yeah. How was that done? Remove all the singing that's in the script? ;-]

*Charline erms*  Yes!  That's exactly it!  You know how Disney always has too much singing!  That's exactly what I meant 100%.  Yup.   

[DarkAudit]

Just send a DMCA takedown notice to their ISP. if Slashdot is to be believed, the notice could be written in crayon on toilet paper and they'd still comply. 

[Zedd]

Only one thing to say...Dish out the happycats pirates!

[kalika36]

i dunno if anyone has checked recently but that girl who stole amber's stuff actually did post credit to her finally

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Nice to see she's gone that far. Although noting that the bit put at the top would probably have resolved the issue completely with only one sentence - "I've put this here because I keep losing the link" implies that it's not theirs, and they're copying it directly from somewhere else, which is enough, generally speaking.

All the rest of it is excess waffle. Appreciated, but excess waffle. ;-]

... comments about how it's linked on the top of Amber's homepage, and how hard it is to lose that, I'll just keep to myself. ;-]

[bill]

... comments about how it's linked on the top of Amber's homepage, and how hard it is to lose that, I'll just keep to myself. ;-]

Gaia member. Enough said.