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Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

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Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#141

Post by dzhiurgis »

casmike wrote: post #104
Roark66 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, it is a pretty cool system, but every time I look into it I'm puzzled by the variety of costs for essentially the same thing. You can buy a cheapest personal certificate that is recognised as equivalent to a physical signature for contract signing for 50eur for 1 year. Or you can spend 500EUR for the same thing. Some come with a smart card, some don't. For some you get software that works offline, for some yo…

In Lithuania, the majority of mobile providers offer an end-to-end solution to their customers at €1 per month or less. This includes pay-as-you-go plans and is likely to reflect the actual cost of this tech used on a large scale, given the significant adoption rate (which I estimate to be more than 5% of the Lithuanian population). To provide m-signature services, mobile carriers in Lithuania burn a client biometric…

As an Lithuanian expat - I absolutely hate this one and all other gov auth methods. They require to keep a contract with either a bank or telco which is an insane third-party dependency.

Fortunately they've introduced smartphone app just few weeks ago where you can finally use your national ID. It has to be pretty new one and I'm not sure how long before it expires (IIRC it used to be a mere 2 years until you need to physically renew), but it's a start.

It's probably one of the biggest mission of Lithuanian diaspora.

p.s. do you have a source that biometrics are "burned-in" into your SIM card? When I set mine up I don't remember anyone scanning it, just visually verifying.

p.p.s. above doesn't work with eSIM (not that any Lithuanian ones are useful, i.e. offering free wifi calling when roaming)

p.p.p.s. buying anything online in Lithuania is becoming near impossible - barely anyone offers option paying by card, only by a few selected online banks and no you can't just pay IBAN via some no-name digital bank.

Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#142

Post by jacquesm »

Closi wrote: post #30
jacquesm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's normal to pay speakers or to at least accommodate their expenses. This was just a scam.

I don’t think this is quite right with all conferences - I’ve personally found it quite common for these event companies to give talks to “platinum” sponsors as an indirect way of charging for them. (Although this particular instance sounds like a scam)

Yes, true, there are 'pay for play' conferences but that's not the kind of conference that these scientists are normally approached for.

Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#143

Post by LinAGKar »

EGreg wrote: post #42
bdjeudug wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re intentionally returning unsigned contacts to employers hoping they don’t notice? Seeing how you’re first action in each of your new jobs is done in bad faith I think I see why you’ve had to fill out six of them…

How does a handwritten signature prove anything? They are so easy to forge. I always wondered WHY ARE PEOPLE IN THE US ASKED TO SIGN A RECEIPT WHEN THEY PAY BY CREDIT CARD? I can draw literally any scraggles and they’ll accept it. Are they supposed to compare to the signature I put on my card?

Not just in the US. McDonald's does the same here in Sweden, or at least they used to (but AFAIK only McDonald's, and no one else). Always found that weird.

Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#144

Post by [deleted] »

Macha wrote: post #128
noodlesUK wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK and Ireland are uniquely countries in Europe that don’t have any form of national ID card. The UK was going to get (continental) EU style ID cards in 2008-2010 but this proved to be rather controversial at the time due to perceptions of government overreach and dragnet biometrics. Instead of just doing a simple ID card with just facial biometrics (like a passport), the whole project was scrapped. I don’t know…

> I don’t know why Ireland doesn’t have them but they have derogations from all the EU laws about it, though their passport card is essentially an EU ID card complete with chip. Due to the track record of the RIC, the British police prior to independence (and something that continued in NI until the 90s with the RUCs to keep the idea fresh), there is decently strong opposition to ID cards on the idea that police coul…

[deleted]

Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#145

Post by hnick »

baz00 wrote: post #106
jawns wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if they crossed out a few clauses and signed, and the employer never noticed. Are you saying that because they begin working for the company, that represents the company's tacit acceptance of the modifications to the contract?

This is exactly what I do. I have an amendment on my contract about intellectual property being owned by the company changed from "while under employment" to "using company equipment in employed hours". They sent me two copies they had signed, I modified both with the change, signed it and scanned the contract. The returned copy was accepted by HR via email (not sure if they ever read it or not) What will be interest…

In Australia it's common to initial pages to indicate they have been read, and next to altered terms specifically. Both parties write their initials in such cases, so you don't need a signature on each page.

I don't think it has a direct legal basis, but like most things to do with contracts it builds the picture of intent and acceptance and understanding of what they were getting into.

Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#146

Post by edmundsauto »

voisin wrote: post #123

> Many of the speakers, already busy studying COVID-19 and under pressure from the transition to remote teaching, did not notice these clauses. The pandemic “meant working 11 to 12 hours per day,” says another speaker, Johannes Müller, a mathematician at the Technical University of Munich. “The contract was unreadable [but] I eventually sent it.” Maybe I am cold hearted, but I don’t feel any sympathy for their positi…

Some of the scientists claim they did not sign the contract with the addendum for fees.

Also, apply your judgement - this is highly unusual and my first impression is it’s obviously a scam. If people sign contracts that are altered and a scam, should they be upheld just because someone agreed to it?

Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#147

Post by DANmode »

vlark wrote: post #136
throwawaymaths wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most UPS stores in the US offer notary services and advertise that they do.

UPS stores charge a fee for notary service. It's around $20 where I am in the Midwest.

(Comparable to most notary services in the same area, but with more or less hassle depending on your timeline and circumstances.)

Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#149

Post by cafard »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #55
baz00 wrote: post #2

Someone did this recently to me i.e. showed me something I'd signed which I didn't. Fortunately this lead to their demise as I am friends with their manager which was unknown by the party in question. Historically I tend to try something on with employment contracts too - I return an unsigned copy to the company. Only 1 out of 6 companies I worked for didn't just stick it in a filing cabinet and forget about it. Ulti…

> It must be the full document plaintext and date signed with your private key and should be verifiable with your public key by a court before a claim is even approachable. This is called a notary public. Its a routine requirement with immigration documents. .They can also certify copies as true. In UK for sone reason it costs over £100, and noone uses them, but in eastern europe its common and notarising documents i…

I believe that the states regulate notaries in the US. One in my neighborhood charges $5/document.

Re: Scientists hit with massive bills after speaking at COVID-19 ‘webinars’

#150

Post by anotheruser13 »

DANmode wrote: post #147
vlark wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UPS stores charge a fee for notary service. It's around $20 where I am in the Midwest.

(Comparable to most notary services in the same area, but with more or less hassle depending on your timeline and circumstances.)

Many public libraries have notaries on staff.
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