5 ms·

To have that line of defense, the youtubers would have had to phrase their claims very carefully. I am willing to bet a fistfull of dogecoin that this was not t

by Iv 9y ago

To have that line of defense, the youtubers would have had to phrase their claims very carefully. I am willing to bet a fistfull of dogecoin that this was not the case of all of them. Make them discover these actions have consequences, I can only see good sides to this.

JumpCrisscross 9y ago
> the youtubers would have had to phrase their claims very carefully Ponzi schemes are one of those things you can't disclose your way out of. Sort of like HIPAA [1]. If you violate HIPAA, "we disclosed our non-compliance to the patient" is an inadequate--and borderline aggravating--excuse. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_and_Accountability_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_a... Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice.
- roel_v 9y ago
  Remind me, because your comments in this thread don't make it quite clear to me - are you a lawyer? Is this legal advice?
  - Marazan 9y ago
    I believe the reasonable person test would result in a court coming to the conclusion that he had presented himself as neither a lawyer nor that he was giving legal advice. However, I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice
    - avip 9y ago
      I think one should say "neither he had... nor was he giving..." However, I am not a native English speaker and this is not a grammatical advice
      - roma1n 9y ago
        this is not grammatical advice (uncountable, no 'a') Disclaimer: I am not a native English speaker and this is not grammatical advice
        Anderkent 9y ago
        Your advice was grammatical, actually. Disclaimer: I am not a native English speaker, and this is advice about grammar.
  - dang 9y ago
    This crosses into incivility and offtopicness. Please don't; it leads to junk, as the subsequent comments here demonstrate. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- aiCeivi9 9y ago
  Is disclosing yourself as not a lawyer enough to excuse from giving legal advice?
  - Y_Y 9y ago
    It's nonsense about letting people claim they thought you were their lawyer. Like the myth about cops not being allowed to lie about being cops. I am a lawyer, this is legal advice and you are now my client
    - skrebbel 9y ago
      Comments like these makes me sad I don't get a monthly supply of extra upvotes.
    - arethuza 9y ago
      I'm pretty sure a real lawyer would have ended that with "... and here is my bill" ;-)
  - daemin 9y ago
    I got told this from a friend that studied law (but is not a lawyer). That to put a disclaimer of "I am not a lawyer" when giving opinion about legal matters is so that they will not be prohibited from practising law in the future, or prosecuted for misrepresenting or impersonating a lawyer. I guess someone that has studied law more or is an actual lawyer can weigh in on this in an unofficial capacity (because we are not paying them for advice!).
    - TeMPOraL 9y ago
      I always assumed that the "this is not legal advice" part (and similarly, "this is not medical advice") are meaningfully used by actual lawyers (or doctors), so that you can't sue them for malpractice over something they said that was tangentially related to what they do for a living.
      - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
- paulie_a 9y ago
  Off topic: why do people put "I am not lawyer" disclaimer on posts? Ive rarely seen that sort of disclaimer about any other occupation
  - ncallaway 9y ago
    Because in many jurisdictions it is illegal to represent that you are a lawyer or provide legal advice if you are not a lawyer. http://hirealawyer.findlaw.com/do-you-need-a-lawyer/what-is-legal-advice.html http://hirealawyer.findlaw.com/do-you-need-a-lawyer/what-is-...
    - paulie_a 9y ago
      But that doesn't require a disclaimer, if anything that just requires you to not claim to be a lawyer. Additionally: what recourse does someone have even if they read a random internet comment as legal advice. Pretty much zero.
    - nkrisc 9y ago
      Lay people can comment and give their opinions on matters of law. They just can't claim to be or represent themselves as a lawyer if they're not. Of course that opinion is worth the paper it's printed on. I am not a lawyer.
  - 52804375092485 9y ago
    When actual attorney's are talking about legal issues, they'll usually say something like "I am not your lawyer" as a defense against entering into an attorney-client relationship which creates a bunch of complications. So I guess the "I am not a lawyer" is sort of a corruption of that, a magic spell invoked by not-lawyers to save themselves from not-problems.
    - Crespyl 9y ago
      I always understood it to be a caveat that the speaker does not have much or any formal legal education (much less in the specific state/country relevant to the conversation) and that nothing should be taken as actual legal advice by the reader, even if their situation seems similar.
saas_co_de 9y ago
Realistically nothing will happen. Law enforcement only deals with financial crimes where they have assets to seize or their is some PR benefit. They will probably take action against a few people at the top, especially if there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for them, but low level shills are not worth the effort.

by Iv 9y ago

JumpCrisscross 9y ago

> the youtubers would have had to phrase their claims very carefully Ponzi schemes are one of those things you can't disclose your way out of. Sort of like HIPAA [1]. If you violate HIPAA, "we disclosed our non-compliance to the patient" is an inadequate--and borderline aggravating--excuse. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_and_Accountability_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_a... Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice.

roel_v 9y ago
Remind me, because your comments in this thread don't make it quite clear to me - are you a lawyer? Is this legal advice?
- Marazan 9y ago
  I believe the reasonable person test would result in a court coming to the conclusion that he had presented himself as neither a lawyer nor that he was giving legal advice. However, I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice
  - avip 9y ago
    I think one should say "neither he had... nor was he giving..." However, I am not a native English speaker and this is not a grammatical advice
    - roma1n 9y ago
      this is not grammatical advice (uncountable, no 'a') Disclaimer: I am not a native English speaker and this is not grammatical advice
      - Anderkent 9y ago
        Your advice was grammatical, actually. Disclaimer: I am not a native English speaker, and this is advice about grammar.
- dang 9y ago
  This crosses into incivility and offtopicness. Please don't; it leads to junk, as the subsequent comments here demonstrate. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
aiCeivi9 9y ago
Is disclosing yourself as not a lawyer enough to excuse from giving legal advice?
- Y_Y 9y ago
  It's nonsense about letting people claim they thought you were their lawyer. Like the myth about cops not being allowed to lie about being cops. I am a lawyer, this is legal advice and you are now my client
  - skrebbel 9y ago
    Comments like these makes me sad I don't get a monthly supply of extra upvotes.
  - arethuza 9y ago
    I'm pretty sure a real lawyer would have ended that with "... and here is my bill" ;-)
- daemin 9y ago
  I got told this from a friend that studied law (but is not a lawyer). That to put a disclaimer of "I am not a lawyer" when giving opinion about legal matters is so that they will not be prohibited from practising law in the future, or prosecuted for misrepresenting or impersonating a lawyer. I guess someone that has studied law more or is an actual lawyer can weigh in on this in an unofficial capacity (because we are not paying them for advice!).
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    I always assumed that the "this is not legal advice" part (and similarly, "this is not medical advice") are meaningfully used by actual lawyers (or doctors), so that you can't sue them for malpractice over something they said that was tangentially related to what they do for a living.
    - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
paulie_a 9y ago
Off topic: why do people put "I am not lawyer" disclaimer on posts? Ive rarely seen that sort of disclaimer about any other occupation
- ncallaway 9y ago
  Because in many jurisdictions it is illegal to represent that you are a lawyer or provide legal advice if you are not a lawyer. http://hirealawyer.findlaw.com/do-you-need-a-lawyer/what-is-legal-advice.html http://hirealawyer.findlaw.com/do-you-need-a-lawyer/what-is-...
  - paulie_a 9y ago
    But that doesn't require a disclaimer, if anything that just requires you to not claim to be a lawyer. Additionally: what recourse does someone have even if they read a random internet comment as legal advice. Pretty much zero.
  - nkrisc 9y ago
    Lay people can comment and give their opinions on matters of law. They just can't claim to be or represent themselves as a lawyer if they're not. Of course that opinion is worth the paper it's printed on. I am not a lawyer.
- 52804375092485 9y ago
  When actual attorney's are talking about legal issues, they'll usually say something like "I am not your lawyer" as a defense against entering into an attorney-client relationship which creates a bunch of complications. So I guess the "I am not a lawyer" is sort of a corruption of that, a magic spell invoked by not-lawyers to save themselves from not-problems.
  - Crespyl 9y ago
    I always understood it to be a caveat that the speaker does not have much or any formal legal education (much less in the specific state/country relevant to the conversation) and that nothing should be taken as actual legal advice by the reader, even if their situation seems similar.

saas_co_de 9y ago

Realistically nothing will happen. Law enforcement only deals with financial crimes where they have assets to seize or their is some PR benefit. They will probably take action against a few people at the top, especially if there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for them, but low level shills are not worth the effort.