MTG Salvation

Quote from Acrimone

(I haven't read everything on this thread... just the first three pages. If someone else has already said what I'm about to say, I apologize for the repetition.)

OK, I've seen a lot of people say "I'm not a lawyer."

I am. I'm a very good one.

Please note that the odds are roughly 98% that I am not licensed to practice in any given state, so what follows does NOT constitute either the practice of law or the giving of legal advice. (Also, I seem to recall that someone said this is in Virginia; definitely not licensed there.) What follows is merely some general musings about law and legal issues involved in the instant situation.

So, with that caveat, a couple of points:

* I suggest that you completely ignore *ANYONE* who talks about the law "in the U.S.". Because unless they're talking about federal jurisdiction, it's a matter of state law. And state laws vary TREMENDOUSLY on even very basic points.

* Parents are generally responsible for their children's behavior, yes. But financial liability will depend on the laws of your jurisdiction, the type of behavior, whether the losses are forseeable, etc. Parental liability is a form of "non-tortfeasor" liability, and there can (and often are) special rules about just how far people are going to go to punish someone other than the one who actually committed the tort -- which is probably something like conversion in this case.

* It's probably illegal where you live to threaten to go to the police, to use that as leverage to force a settlement. That's not to say that people don't do it, but that can be called, depending on where you live, extortion, blackmail, or abuse of process. It's probably legal to say that you don't WANT to go to the police, that you'd prefer an amicable settlement that keeps your business out of the public eye. But that's a really fine line to walk, and I've seen people get nailed for falling off of it.

* I wouldn't worry too much about your proof problems in court. The parents probably can't actually testify about the son's trading behavior, and his credibility is SHOT. You don't have hard evidence, but you do have a reasonable list and access to tons of documentary evidence for your valuations.

* Collecting on a judgment is a real pain in the ass if the other side isn't so afraid of the authorities that they just pay you. I once had a civil case where I spent two years collecting a lousy $25,000 judgment. If they won't pay, they risk contempt, etc. But YOU risk having to pay legal fees for collection. Most people are (properly) cowed by a judge telling them to pay $xxx.xx, however, and will just do it. Still, it's something to think about.

* Depending on the jurisdiction, even if it's a felony there's probably a nontrivial chance that the kid will just get probation and restitution if you go to the cops. I wouldn't worry about ruining his life. And criminal restitution is actually a surprisingly EASY way to get your money back that doesn't involve the Courts -- though you may not get it ALL back. My guess would be that, unless you live in a total crap hole, the cops would probably be eager to teach the kid a lesson to avoid this being a bigger problem down the line. Most police forces these days are very into community policing like that (though less so in the big cities).

Just some things to think about.

Now for some more obligatory bull****:

THIS HAS NOT BEEN LEGAL ADVICE. IT IS THE MUSINGS OF A PERSON WHO HAPPENS TO HOLD A LAW LICENSE IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT JURISDICTION. IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU ARE NOT MY CLIENT AND I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU FOOLISHLY DECIDE THAT I KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT YOUR JURISDICTION'S PARTICULAR LAWS. PLEASE CONSULT AN ATTORNEY LICENSED IN YOUR STATE BEFORE TAKING ANY LEGAL ACTIONS. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I REALLY AM. I COULD BE A SEVEN YEAR OLD GIRL WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION.

Quote from iTRV

Hey kirin, go read my edit to my post, thanks for jumping to conclusions and being fast with the infractions though.

Quote from Jermo48

Utter nonsense. I'm going to assume that whoever suspended him isn't great at reading and assumed he was telling someone how to infringe on copyrights directly and you're stubbornly defending him for no actual reason. No logic makes explaining how to proxy something legally the same as explaining how to proxy something illegally.

Hey guys, you go hunting by shooting animals with a gun (hopefully to eat), but make sure you wear bright clothes, have the proper licenses and go during the correct hunting season for that animal. CRAP! I just told you how to commit murder (perhaps even cannibalism). I'm the worst!

Quote from PopeJP

Some background info:

On Gatecrash game day, I was a little careless and left my "good stuff" binder a little out of sight. It was taken, I was crushed, etc.

Fast forward to September: I'm just hanging out at FNM and one of my friends shows me that he just traded for an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth from FTV: Realms. It's a small shop with a lot of casual players, so you don't see a lot of nice non-standard stuff roll through, so naturally I'm excited. I approach the kid he got it from, who I vaguely recognize, and ask to see his trades. The kid hands me my stolen binder.

After checking to make sure he was present on the day it was stolen, I confront him, he makes up some BS, I say we can get the cops involved, he relents, I take back what little of mine is left (ballpark is at about 10%) and he leaves. I decide not to get the police involved 'cause he's young (I later found out he's 14) and I go about trying to contact his parents instead.

So about a month ago his stepdad shows up at the shop and asks to talk to me. Reasonable guy; moral background, etc. Turns out the kid spilled his guts about what he did to his parents and his dad wanted to formally apologize in person. However, the dad was under the impression that everything that I took back was everything that was there, which was so wrong. After I pointed this out he told me to send a list and he'd look through the kid's stuff to try and find it.

So after I put together a list of only what I KNEW to be in there (I left out a few things 'cause I wasn't positive), I sent it off. The total tcg mid price of the list was in the ballpark of $1,000-1,100, which I mentioned to him in order to impress the gravity of the situation.

After two weeks without response, I sent a "any news?" e-mail yesterday and finally got a reply today. It basically said nothing could be found, but as punishment they were going to take the kid's $50 Christmas money and give it to me. That's all.

I'm dumbfounded. I'm not even sure how to respond or proceed. Legally, they have no grounds to stand on since he admitted to doing it and, as a contingency, I've kept one of the reclaimed cards completely untouched by me (meaning if my fingerprints are on it, it must be from some time ago). Financially, I'm not under the impression that the family has any issues, so I don't think they'd have to be taking out any bank loans to pay me back. I wasn't expecting the full value or anything but to be perfectly frank, offering me fifty bucks is downright insulting after how reasonable I've been about the situation.

So what should I do? How does small claims court work in regards to a theft case? Should I just try and push them to give me something more? If I do go with small claims, is my word enough to back up what was taken or would I have to prove that those cards were in that binder?

Quote from Captain_Olimar

need more players at card shop

Quote from Annorax

I received this box of Russian 9th today. The shrinkwrap has an odd-looking seam on it that pulls apart with no effort at all. I'm concerned that this may be an indication of opening and resealing. Has anyone seen this on R9 boxes in the past?

Quote from Chris2000

I got to buy a mint (it's in a white box and everything) FTV:20 at $40 because I'm buds with the shopkeeper.

So... what am I supposed to do with it? Keep it with me for a couple years then try to sell it off ebay? I play mostly Standard because that's the only format everyone else plays around here, so I don't have a need for any of the cards in the box.

Quote from chlb

I've been using Decked Builder, and been very happy with that. It's not a free app, though. One nice feature it has is "find decks" that lets you browse mtgo-stats.com from the app.

Quote from Silex Flint

As long as any information you give isn't false it's fine. If a player wants to know how many cards are in your hand you don't have to say it but you can display your hand clearly to them.

Also If a player wants to know how big a creature is you don't have to say it but you can't stop them from investigating your graveyard to find out how big a tarmogoyf is.