Re:Google promoted Texas gunman fake tweets
by ams6110 on Thursday November 09, 2017 @11:06AM
(#15663501)
Yes, exactly. The point of Limited Liability is not simply to create a guaranteed path to profit (in fact it does no such thing; LLCs go bankrupt every day, and members can lose every penny they have personally invested).
Though there is no explicit "benefit to society" clause, that is the basic rationale for limited liability. It's an incentive to allow members to define the extent of their personal financial exposure. In so doing, they are more willing to invest in businesses, which can produce a net benefit to society (e.g. by employing people, paying taxes, etc.).
Re:Google promoted Texas gunman fake tweets
by maxerickson on Thursday November 09, 2017 @08:53AM
(#15662325)
Special legal protections that make corporations more efficient aren't natural rights, if they don't come with an overall benefit to society there is no reason to tolerate them.
I think they probably do come with an overall benefit to society, but the idea that giant corporations are going to do what they are going to do is one worth fighting against.
From my understanding, a limited liability company exists to protect the business members and shareholders from legal action of their private persons. I.e. if the business goes under due to a poor product or something, they can't be held personally liable. That doesn't mean they are excused from criminal behavior, they can still be liable for some of that.
However, in either case there is no "benefit to society" clauses. It's simply a legal construct to protect people. In this case, Google did what they did... They probably weren't criminals though