In a message dated 98-12-13 14:21:53 EST, mike@lorrey.com (Michael Lorrey)
wrote:
> Corporations
> under the current mercatilist/socialist system carry such power to supress
> information only because the government lets them. In a system where civil
> law is the means of adjudicating all legal impacts, corporations have no
> standing as individual parties (whereas under the current system they are
> considered to be virtual citizens), so the officers and stockholders are
> individually liable. Operating in this manner would ensure that the
> stockholders take steps to ensure that the actions of its officers are not
> placing them in a position of liability.
I wonder about the implications of what you're proposing here, Mike. Consider that shareholder limited liability is one of the key elements supporting a secondary market for widely-held equity investment. Who will buy the stock of ABC Corp. on the secondary market if before they do they have to engage in a complete program of due diligence to be sure that they're not buying into personal liability for some then-well-hidden corporate policy? I know I wouldn't. Allowing corporations to be sued as legal persons actually benefits the plaintiff as much as limited liability benefits the shareholders: I only have to sue ABC Corp., not track down all of its (possibly millions of) shareholder.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<burchg@liddellsapp.com> Attorney ::: Director, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1 "Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience." -- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover