If one can prove that a party premeditated and willfully went against the terms of the contract in order to deceive the other party and profited from this deceit while also breaking laws, what is the legal reasoning behind calling it a breach instead of fraud?
> But why?
Because that's what the law says. :)
> If one can prove that a party premeditated and willfully went against the terms of the contract in order to deceive the other party and profited from this deceit while also breaking laws
Very, very simply: If you lied, it's fraud. If you didn't lie, then it's not fraud. It might well be some other crime, but it's not fraud, because fraud is a word that means lying. So you say:
> went against the terms of the contract in order to deceive
But it depends what you mean by that. If I meant to follow the contract when I sign it, but later change my mind, and you just assume I'm following it, you are deceived, but I didn't lie, and it's not fraud. If I didn't mean to follow it when I signed it then I'm lying and it's fraud. Similarly if I mean to follow it when I sign, later change my mind, and you then ask me "hey, are you following the contract?", and I say "yes" even though I'm not, then I'm lying, and it's fraud. The key element isn't whether or not you were deceived, or whether or not I actually followed the contract, but whether I lied, because that's what the crime is.
From this post and the article you linked above, the takeaway I get is to ask everyday "Are you following the contract?" I understand the legal definition, but I gather that the layman will still think it's fraud.
I guess a simple solution in that scenario would be to have a checkbox asking are you following the contract every time they login to the server.
Thanks, I learned a lot from you! :D
Now, if you can show the sole purpose of him forming the business with you was to steal your source code, then that's fraud.
> Is there anything in the law about good faith in contracts?
Not in the sense you mean, no. Generally speaking, if they sign it in bad faith (that is, with no intent to comply), and they do not comply, that would be fraud (ie, a crime). If they sign it in good faith (that is, with an intent to comply) but later do not comply, that's breach of contract (ie, a tort) but not fraud. In both cases the contract is broken, but only because they broke it. The intent to break it isn't really relevant to that.
Generally speaking the solution for your question is "make sure the contract contains a clause that automatically terminate the contract on initiation of a criminal investigation for child abuse by the authorities" if you're worried about that.
Edit: It's not directly relevant to your question, but I feel like I should link this article which is hilarious and disturbing, and goes into some details on the fraud/breach of contract distinction. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-05-23/countrywi...