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Comment by 988747 | Hacker News Reader

Followed the comments thread and I wonder: can this https://twitter.com/DurvidImel/status/1615374036820697089?s=... be considered a legally binding contract? Because if so, then someone named Alec Ploof just made a lot of money :)

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It actually is

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/acceptance-of-contra...

That document fails to mention that this does not apply when one or both parties are clearly joking.

Also, actual contract law is a lot more nuanced than what this post on Bob Loblaw's Law Blog will have you believe.

Context: https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12...

There's this common thing where nerds expect the law to be written and enforced with mindless precision, like a computer.

Judges aren't robots, and they're not stupid.

It is absolutely a valid contract - if both parties are in the US it shouldn't be too hard to enforce.

lol, no.

Assent, offer/acceptance, consideration, and capacity - looks like a contract to me. I don't see the argument against it.

A careful inspection shows that at least one (but probably both) parties are clearly joking.

Not clear to me. Then again I am not very well versed in internet culture.

It is indeed legally bound

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/contracts-101-make-l...

No judge is going to enforce a contract between somebody selling their employer's computer to another person unless the employer itself agreed.

The buying party would get the true market value of the computer less the cost. It’s not their fault that they seller made an offer they weren’t authorized to make.

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