I'm not a lawyer, nor have I played one nor am I related to one. But I watch them on TV and in movies. This is not to be taken as legal advice.
In the classic film Paper Chase, the inestimable John Houseman gives an introductory lecture on contract law. The setup goes something like this. Joe and Harry hit a bar. During a blurry conversation, Joe promises to give Harry a hundred dollars. Shortly afterwards Harry calls on Joe to pay up. Joe says hell no. Harry sues Joe for 'breach of contract'. Per Houseman. The court does not deny that an oral contract can be legally valid. Problem here is that Harry was not obligated to do anything in return, so it was not a true 'contract', just an ill-advised offer with no legal ramifications. Harry is SOL. Next case. I look at these phony email declarations the same way. I was not offered anything of value. You screwed up. There is no contract, no obligation on my part. I do not owe you anything whatever. Sod off. . . J.O.Skip Robinson Southern California Edison Company Electric Dragon Team Paddler SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager 323-715-0595 Mobile 626-302-7535 Office [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2016 12:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: (External):Re: Down with idiotic disclaimer footers and dumb surveys! On Sat, 17 Sep 2016 14:32:04 +0000, Mark Regan wrote: >For those of us who get emails with those idiotic disclaimer footers. > >http://www.networkworld.com/article/3118205/leadership-management/down- >with-idiotic-disclaimer-footers-and-dumb-surveys.html > What he says about unilateral contracts not being binding makes sense. But what about misplaced information? If I find a credit card or a medical record on the sidewalk, or someone emails me an E-ticket to Beyoncé (he must have presed Reply All), I don't believe I'm allowed to use it. There's probably fraud involved, disclaimer or not. -- gil ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
