> >The government has always been involved. In general though, it is > > With the developers and servers in Germany? nl?
The presence of developers and servers in Germany does not limit the ability of the American legal system to reach the developers in the U.S. So, yes, despite developers in Germany, the government is, and always has been, involved. Think of the loop-hole if all you had to do was set up an office in Germany to avoid U.S. jurisdiction over persons and things in the U.S. This is such an obvious response, I fear I'm missing your point though. > >state law, not federal, that controls, and (if I remember > >correctly) most states impose personal liability (as in they come > >and take away your house and car) for unorganized groups such as > >Debian was. > > They could have not followed anything past the guy that caused it. > Now they can. With all due respect, I think you have it backwards. Now, the corporation protects not just those beyond the guy that caused the problem. It even protects that particular guy. Before though, in most states at least, anyone wronged by the unincorporated organization could have followed anything past the guy that caused it to all the other members. The other members only recourse would be against the guy who caused it; however, the members would still be liable directly to the injured party. That's the way it works, and that's the way it should work. A group of people cannot avoid liability by refusing to incorporate, and as soon as the group does incorporate, the law kicks in and makes certain requirements of the corporation, e.g., that it not be undercapitalized, for the benefit of third parties who deal with the entity. Paul Serice -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
